Lizardfolk & Lizard-kin: A Supplement for Volo's Guide to Monsters
Reptiles are vastly varied, taking niches everywhere from tiny insect-eaters to marine herbivores to giant carrion-eaters. The Volo's guide to monsters includes a single race for all lizardfolk, which seems a bit off to me. I will try to remedy that in the following pages. The basic lizardfolk traits and the ablities (NOT the ASI) blackscale lizardfolk are lifted directly from the lizardfolk entry of Volo's Guide to Monsters, although they have been edited some.
Lizardfolk
The lizardfolk descriptions are the same as in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
Lizardfolk Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
Age. Lizardfolk reach maturity around 14 and rarely live longer than 60 years.
Alignment. Most lizardfolk are neutral. They see the world as a place of predators and prey, where life and death are natural processes. They wish only to survive, and prefer to leave other creature to their own devices.
Size. Lizardfolk are a little taller and bulkier than humans. Your size is Medium.
Your lizardfolk character has the following racial traits
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Bite. Your maw is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Cunning Artisan. As part of a short rest, you can harvest bone and hide from a slain beast, construct, dragon, monstrosity, or plant creature of size Small or larger to create one of the following items: a shield, a club, a javelin, or 1d4 darts or blowgun needles. To use this trait, you need a blade, such as a dagger, or appropriate artisan's tools, such as leatherworker's tools.
Hunters Lore. You gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, or Survival.
Natural Armor. You have tough, scaly skin. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.
Subrace. Three subraces of lizardfolk exist: greenscale lizardfolk, sandscale lizardfolk, and blackscale lizardfolk. Choose one of them for your character.
Greenscale Lizardfolk
Found in the canopies of tropical rain forests, greenscale lizardfolk are the smallest of the true lizardfolk, often topping out at 5 and one-half feet tall. The skin coloration of greenscale lizardfolk changes with their emotions and the background, but most default back to a yellow-green hue. Best known for their bulbous eyes and long tongues, some scholars think that greenscale lizardfolk are descended from the chameleon.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom Score increases by 1.
Speed. You have a climbing speed of 20 feet.
Chameleonic Skin. Your skin often changes color based off of your emotions and surroundings. When you make a Dexterity (Stealth) check, you can use your bonus action to grant yourself advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks for the next 10 minutes. You can't use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest. Because your skin also reflects your emotional state, you always have disadvantage on Charisma (Deception) checks.
Chameleon Eyes. You have proficiency in the Wisdom (Perception) skill
Sandscale Lizardfolk
Sandscale lizardfolk hail from deserts and wastes, such as Anauroch in Faerûn, or the Land of Ash and Smoke in Chult. The sandscale lizardfolk are colored to match their surroundings. For example, a sandscale from Anauroch would be beige, while one from the Land of Ash and Smoke would be ash gray. They have brightly colored crests that they unfold in moments of stress or excitement. They ae among the largest of the lizardfolk, standing anywhere from 6 to 7 feet tall.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Desert Born. The desert has bred you to be able to survive on minimal food and water. You can eat half-rations for 4 days or eat and drink nothing for 2 days before suffering levels of exhaustion. You also suffer none of the ill effects of extreme heat, as described in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. You can also expertly traverse the desert, giving you advantage on checks made to travel across, find food, and avoid obstacles desert areas.
Gorge. The scarcity and barrenness of the desert has accustomed you to eating large amounts quickly. As part of a short or long rest, you can eat up to 10 pounds of food. At the end of this, you gain 1 level of exhaustion unless you have one or more already. This food lasts as many days as it would last normally without you having to eat during that time.
Venomous Bite. Your species can produce a slowing toxin in you saliva. Once per turn, when you hit with your bite attack, you can choose to excrete venom. They take an extra 1d4 poison damage and are reduced to half movement for the next 1d4 rounds. You can use this ability once, and regain all expended uses after a short or long rest.
Blackscale Lizardfolk
The blackscale lizardfolk are the most primitive and bestial of the lizardfolk species, with long, knobbly snouts and eyes and nostrils on situated on top of its head. They are ambush hunters in swamps of Faerûn, and their scales, as their name suggests, have murky black scales to better blend in with the swamps where they live. This based on the lizardfolk from Volo's Guide to Monsters, although some abilities have been edited to make its power level in line with the rest of the lizardfolk.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Speed. You have a 30 foot swim speed.
Limited Amphibiousness. You can breath underwater for up to 8 hours at a time.
Hungry Jaws. In battle, you can throw yourself into a vicious feeding frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your bite. If the attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary hit points (minimum of 1) equal to your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. You can use this ability once, and regain all expended uses after a short or long rest.
Lizard-Kin
Lizard-kin, also know as lesser lizardfolk, are much shorter than normal lizardfolk. Unlike other creatures, lizardfolk and lizard-kin often work together, with the different regional variants sometimes even living and working together in the same clan.
Lizard-Kin Traits
Your lizard-kin character has the following racial traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Age. Lizard-kin mature quickly, reaching adulthood less than 3 years after they are hatched. Most live short lives, dieing before their 30th year, although some have survived to over 80.
Alignment. Most lizard-kin are neutral, for many of the same reasons as lizardfolk.
Size. Lizard-kin are quite short, being less than 4 feet tall. Your size is small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Speed of the Small. You can draw upon your fight or flight mechanism. As a bonus action, you can increase your base movement by 10 feet for the next 10 minutes. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Slippery Scales. You can move through Tiny spaces without losing movement. If you try to hide in this spot, you make your Dexterity (Stealth) roll with advantage.
Hunters Lore. You gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, or Survival.
Natural Armor. You have tough, scaly skin. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.
Subrace. Four subraces of lizard-kin exist: wall-walker lizard-kin, frillneck lizard-kin, glider lizard-kin, and quick-tooth lizard-kin. Choose one of them for your character.
Wall-Walker Lizard-Kin
Wall-walker lizard-kin are found in the same places as greenscale lizardfolk, and they often work together. They can climb almost unclimbable surfaces, including upside down on ceilings.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Speed. You have a 35 foot climb speed. You can climb up walls and across ceilings without making a Strength (Athletics) check.
Detachable Tail. Your tail can come off, making for an excellent distraction. As a reaction to taking damage, you can detach your tail. The damage is halved, and the attacker rolls attacks with disadvantage until the end of your next turn. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Frillneck Lizard-Kin
Frillneck lizard-kin are found in deserts and wastes, much like sandscale lizardfolk. They appear drab at first, with their main coloration being various shades of beige and gray, but when they feel threatened they can show a brightly colored frill previously folded at their neck.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Desert Born. The desert has bred you to be able to survive on minimal food and water. You can eat half-rations for 4 days or eat and drink nothing for 2 days before suffering levels of exhaustion. You also suffer none of the ill effects of extreme heat, as described in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. You can also expertly traverse the desert, giving you advantage on checks made to travel across, find food, and avoid obstacles desert areas.
Hidden Frill. You have a hidden, brightly colored frill folded over your neck. As a reaction, when a creature makes an attack against you, you can unfurl your frill and hiss. The target must beat a contest between their Wisdom (Insight) check and your Charisma (Intimidation) check or waste the attack. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Glider Lizard-Kin
Glider lizard-kin are found among the highest treetops. With the ability to flatten their ribs and glide from tree to tree, the glider lizard-kin are known to have large, thinly spread clans. Known to be the most powerful shamans among all the lizard tribes, many trek to the glider lizard-kin's tree-homes to have a powerful hex broken or a fatal disease cured. Most glider lizard-kin can manifest small amounts of divine magic from a young age, which has led some to think that the gliders were the first of the lizard-races.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Speed. You have a 20 foot climb speed.
Glide. You can flatten your body, stretching skin between your elongated ribs to slow your fall and allow for gliding. You fall at a rate of 70 feet a round, you take no damage from falls less than 100 feet, and half damage for any fall greater than 100 feet. You can also, as you are flying, glide forward, moving 2 feet forward for every foot you fall.
Shaman. As a ritual, you can cast the Lesser Restoration spell. Once you reach 5th level, you can cast Remove Curse as a ritual.
Quick-tooth Lizard-Kin
Living among blackscale lizardfolk, they are regarded as equals by their larger, more brutish cousins. They are much more shrewd and cunning than most lizard-kin, and when they are found among other humanoids they are often regarded as no-good thieves, using their natural nimbleness to evade capture. They are one of the most nocturnal variants of the lizard-kin, and have several adaptions because of it.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Speed. You have a 30 foot swimming speed.
Darkvision. You live a semi-nocturnal existence, allowing you to see better than most in dark or dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 30 feet of you as though it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Midnight Camouflage. The patterns of stealth are so ingrained in your racial memory they are almost instinctual. You can hide from creatures when lightly obscured, and you may add your Intelligence modifier to your Dexterity (Stealth) checks.