Bucca
Belonging chiefly to the world's waters and themselves, buccas are as independent and versatile as the opinions about them. A fisherman might say they ruined his business, an elderly woman could swear by their herbal remedies, and a young romantic might swim out to sea for one they saw.
Despite being an uncommon race, buccas fit nicely into most communities—especially coastal ones. They are a generally receptive people that like to please others if it does not require great amounts of effort. However, once they are wronged, they become capable of terrible acts of vengeance.
Ocean Ties
All bucca have pale gray skin, but it becomes tinged as they grow and interact with their environment. Their lives are woven together with magic and water, so each individual has some physical attributes tied to aquatic life. Craggy buccas can sport tendril-like whiskers and patches of shell, deep sea buccas often mimic predators like sharks and giant squid, and tidal buccas usually have frills and brighter colors. A bucca could even have a dorsal fin or be covered in scales.
Buccan scalps grow thick, rich hair that can be any dark color. They cannot grow true facial hair, but some like to pretend they can by putting briny pieces of seaweed and coral on their faces. Their eyes have large irises that can be any color of the rainbow, but never multi-colored.
Bucca Names
Buccas use names that they believe encapsulate what they are. Even if they are given a name at birth, they might choose a new one later. Such practice is even encouraged by their families, as independence is an important value to buccas. A confident female might name herself Aquamarine, while a not-so-confident male might name himself Softshell. Other examples include Blue, Flo, Hermit, Sandy, and Yellowtail.
Bucca Traits
You share several key traits with other buccas.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Dexterity scores both increase by 1.
Age. Buccas mature in their early thirties and live for about three centuries, or four if they're lucky.
Alignment. They have a deep connection to nature, but don't intensely want to protect it. They tend to be neutral or chaotic, and very few become evil.
Size. Buccas range from about 4½ to 5½ feet tall. They're usually lithe, and never rotund. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You also have a swimming speed of 30 feet.
Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
Compact Build. As long as you are not wearing heavy armor, you can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours and squeeze through a space that is large enough for a creature two sizes smaller than you.
Water Affinity. While submerged in a body of water, you have proficiency in the Athletics and Acrobatics skills. If you are already proficient in one of these skills, you instead add double your proficiency bonus to checks you make with it. Also, you can take the Dash action as a bonus action while swimming.
Languages. You know how to speak, read, and write Common and Buccan, which is a dialect of Sylvan.
Subrace. There are craggy, deep sea, and tidal buccas. Choose one of these subraces.
Craggy
Craggy buccas are the most solitary of their kind, prone to making homes in coves and beachside cliffs where they tend to their needs quite easily. They share the dwarves' penchant for digging but lack their lust for wealth, instead mining day and night for food and fortification of their chosen domicile. Their social interactions are lazy at best, but not unpleasant.
Ability Score Increase. Your body is built to handle the worst. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Steadfast Mind. You have resistance to psychic damage.
Tin-Eater. You can consume relatively soft minerals—such as copper, gold, graphite, platinum, silver, and tin—as food.
Tireless. You suffer no consequences from exhaustion while you have 2 or fewer levels of it.
Deep Sea
As a deep sea bucca, you've obtained the predatory nature of some of the most fearsome beasts in the ocean. Still, you can hold a conversation and enjoy life's luxuries.
This subrace gets along extremely well with sea elves and loves mutually beneficial agreements. Many will lead ships through rough waters and climb aboard to trade or escape a rival. Interactions like these can spark a bucca's curiosity and cause them to leave their hunting grounds. The only other reason to do so is if they are left with no better choice.
Ability Score Increase. Fine-tuned instincts and senses make for a deadly hunter. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Darkvision. Your life below the waves has given you superior vision in dim and dark conditions. You can see in dim light within 90 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Deep Sea Bucca
Natural Weapon. Your teeth are natural weapons that you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier. Your natural weapons are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Under Pressure. You've lived and thrived far beyond the ocean's drop-off. As a result, you can ignore any of the drawbacks caused by a deep, underwater environment.
Tidal
As a tidal bucca, interaction with other races has been unavoidable. In fact, many tidal buccas integrate heavily into local societies. Some even trick people into bringing them gifts in exchange for empty blessings. Others are either less mischievous or less selfish, and choose to become fishermen or craftspeople in order to earn their bread.
On the other hand, there are communities of tidal buccas that adhere closely to tradition. They cultivate edible algaes and keep aquatic livestock in their tide pools, just as their ancestors did for millenia. The most gifted members become tidecallers—revered controllers of wind and water that are sought for counsel by buccas and outsiders alike.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence and Charisma scores both increase by 1.
Shore Smarts. You gain proficiency with nets, spears, tridents, and one tool of your choice. Additionally, you know when to expect low and high tides on any normal day.
Windsong. You can choose to have your voice carry for up to 10 miles in the same direction that wind is blowing, even if it is only a breeze.
Racial Feats
The following feats are meant to expand on the uniqueness of the bucca race and allow players to further customize their characters. Your DM has the final say in whether any of these feats can be used in a campaign.
Racial Feats
| Race | Feat |
|---|---|
| Bucca | Land Legs |
| Bucca (craggy) | Hard Knocks |
| Bucca (deep sea) | Bloodthirst and Bonechill |
| Bucca (tidal) | Tidecaller |
The feats are presented below in alphabetical order.
Bloodthirst and Bonechill
Prerequisite: Bucca (deep sea)
The oceans have blessed you with superior hunting ability and acclimation. You gain the following benefits:
- You have resistance to cold damage.
- The damage die of your natural weapon increases to 1d6.
- When you force a creature that is below its hit point maximum to make a saving throw, you can impose disadvantage on that saving throw. Once you do, you must finish a long rest before doing so again.
Hard Knocks
Prerequisite: Bucca (craggy)
Right before making a melee weapon attack on your turn against a creature no larger than one size category above yours, you can prepare a powerful strike. To do so, you must forfeit 15 feet of your unused movement for this turn. If the attack hits, the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Consti-tution modifier) or become stunned until the end of your next turn in addition to suffering the attack's normal effects.
A creature can't be stunned this way more than once in a 24-hour period.
Land Legs
Prerequisite: Bucca
Life on your feet has become natural to you, as if you swim with your toes in the dirt. You gain the following benefits:
- Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- Your base walking speed increases by 5 feet.
- You have advantage on any saving throw you make to avoid being knocked prone.
Tidecaller
Prerequisite: Bucca (tidal)
Whether it was by birth or hard work, you have become one of your people's gifted seers. You gain the following benefits:
- You learn the druidcraft cantrip and one other cantrip of your choice from the druid spell list.
- You can cast a 1st-level spell of your choice from the druid spell list at its lowest level, without providing material components. Once you do, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. The 1st-level druid spell that you choose can be different each time you use this feat.
Choose either Intelligence or Charisma. The chosen ability becomes your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Credits
Original Homebrew Content by Acenm5. Take the Survey.
Context: D&D 5th Edition by Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
Page 47 Art: Nadia Reference by Hushabye Valley. (NSFW)
Page 48 Art: Chomps by Gpotious.
Made using GM Binder. Footer art by me! Learning people.
Tidal
Buccas
Buccas