Tunnel-Dwelling Insectivores

Cristata are a race of humanoid insectivores, found most often deep in underground caverns, tunnels, or other cave-like areas. Stout in size, Cristata are characterized as hard workers, spending most of their days digging underground labyrinths that would be impossible for the average adventurer to navigate. This manner of living finds most Cristata leading rather lonely, isolated lives.

Busy-Bodies

Cristata take great pride in their tunneling capabilities and generally dislike downtime. Some will gladly take on work for mining operations—quickly becoming foremen on their crews as their work ethic has them cracking down on the job long after others have quit for the day. Others will find themselves working for cartographer guilds, their natural instincts making them experts in subterranean geography. And even a few Cristata may find themselves joining an adventuring party, as their tremorsense can aid in locating a monster or searching for treasure.

Displaced People

Most Cristata trace their lineage back to the caverns of The Dark Below, where they lived more communally until the unfortunate arrival of the fleeing mages from the surface. These proto-Edynites (as their beloved Edyn had not yet planted itself into the bedrock) found caverns dominated primarily by Cristata to be a suitable location for their subterranean city and thus claimed them as their own. Adding insult to injury, the Edynites erected their artificial sun in this region, shedding bright light in the dark depths which irritated the Cristata to no end.

Over the generations that followed, the Cristata often found themselves at odds with the Edynites, as these interlopers’ near-constant expansion and tunneling kept forcing the Cristata to uproot and move further and further away. This displacement has caused most Cristata to harbor feelings of ill will toward the Edynites and to be especially sensitive to others being forced from their homes. Cristata will normally side with the downtrodden and look for ways to help mitigate their struggles.

Hardy Disposition

Cristata stand between three and four feet tall, with stout bodies covered in coarse, wiry hair over taut muscles. Small beady eyes mislead the careless into assuming that they’re unobservant, as generations spent in the near pitch-black tunnels and caves have caused them to develop a reliance on senses greater than sight. Most often known for their red-colored, star-shaped noses, a Cristata’s sense of smell is second to none; their ever-twitching snouts are even said to be able to detect changes in air pressure and gauge the depths of their descent while burrowing through the crust of the earth with their massive claws. Cristata are said to be able to burrow for days at a time, almost as if entering a state of catharsis while carving through the depths.

Cristata Names

Cristata tend to have very guttural, deeply resonating names.

Male Names: Clog, Boghat, Dug, Gurgug, Igabat, Lugdum, Oguk, Purbag, Targhed, Wrukog.
Female Names: Arog, Burzog, Gharol, Gulfim, Hormaz, Morog, Oghash, Ragash, Sharog, Urog.

Cristata Traits

Cristata are subterranean humanoids with powerful claws for tunneling, tremorsense to detect movement, and a deep connection to the underground. Their history of displacement has made them resilient, hardworking, and fiercely independent.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet 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.

Claws

You can use your claws to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with one, the strike deals 1d6 + Strength slashing damage instead of bludgeoning damage.

Quick Burrow

When a creature targets you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to burrow 5 feet underground, forcing the attack to be made at disadvantage. You must be on sand, dirt, mud, snow, or similar terrain to use this feature. Once used, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again.

Stereo Smelling

Your sense of smell is so powerful that each of your nostrils can smell and distinguish between two different scents at once. You have disadvantage on Constitution checks made to resist becoming poisoned by odors, such as a troglodyte’s Stench trait.

Sunlight Sensitivity

While in direct sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Cristata (Adamantian)

The adamantian cristata ventured further from the Cristata Caverns, digging into the unknown depths of the Dark Below where they encountered rich veins of magical adamantine. Over generations, the exposure to the magical metal transformed their bodies, their skin toughening with growths granting them stone-like resilience. In addition, their bodies became shorter and more dense than their cristata cousins. The adamantians are expert miners of precious metal, and they are known for their smithing prowess and the prestigious armor that they supply to other denizens of the Dark Below.

Adamantian Resilience
As a bonus action, you can hunker down, presenting your toughened growths. Until the start of your next turn, you gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that are not adamantine. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses after a long rest.

Adamantian Sentry
As a bonus action, you can plant yourself firmly in place, taking a defensive stance for up to 1 minute (requiring concentration). While in this stance, each creature of your choice within 5 feet of you has half cover (+2 to AC and Dexterity saving throws). While in this stance, your speed becomes 0. The stance ends early if you are incapacitated. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses after you finish a long rest.

Metal's Endurance
As a reaction to taking damage, you can reduce the damage by an amount equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1). You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses after you finish long rest.

Cristata (Aurum)

The aurum are the branch of cristata that are seen most often in the regions around Edyn (and also the most common of cristata races to venture to the surface world). The aurum are known for their elegance and charm, with a seemingly magnetic aura that draws others toward them. When venturing off from the parent cristata line, these cristata found large deposits of gold and set down roots to capitalize on the abundance of wealth. Over the generations, their hides began to take on a golden luster, developing a golden carapace, and they became well-known merchants and renowned experts in trade. Many of the aurum act as mediators, diplomats, and purveyors of wealth, using their strengths to support their own communities and the civilizations of others as advisors. Unlike most cristata, aurum are not loners, preferring to spend time with others and create complex societal structures.

Gilded Speech
You have proficiency in the Charisma (Persuasion) skill. Additionally, you have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks when dealing with nobles, merchants, or other politically powerful figures.

Golden Glow
You emit a faint golden radiance, shedding dim light in a 15-foot radius. You can suppress or activate this glow as a bonus action. While glowing, creatures within the area have advantage on saving throws against being charmed by creatures other than you. Additionally, once per long rest, a creature that succeeds on a saving throw against being charmed by you must reroll the save and use the new result.

Resplendent Molting
Once every 30 days, you can spend 1 hour shedding the outer layer of your golden carapace, which breaks apart into valuable fragments worth 1d100 gold pieces. These fragments are highly sought after by artisans and spellcasters, making them useful for crafting, enchanting, or currency. After using this feature, your carapace takes 30 days to regrow.

Cristata (Burrower)

Cristata are a race of humanoid insectivores, found most often deep in underground caverns, tunnels or other cave-like areas. Stout in size, cristata are characterized as hard workers, spending most of their days digging underground labyrinths that would be impossible for the average adventurer to navigate. This manner of living finds most cristata leading rather lonely, isolated lives.
Burrower is the most common version of the Cristata and often considered to be the original Molefolk, with the other subspecies having branched off due to environmental factors. The primary features of the Burrower are: Keen Hearing and Smell, Treacherous Traveler, and Tremorsense.

Keen Hearing and Smell
You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Tremorsense
You have tremorsense (30 feet), which allows you to detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations if you and the source are on the same connected surface.

Treacherous Traveler
You ignore nonmagical difficult terrain.

Cristata (Mercuria)

Members of the mercuria traveled deeper than even the adamantian cristata, down into the depths of the earth, looking for heat to provide a hospitable home or source of constant ignition for crafting. Their journeys led to the discovery of pools of magical quicksilver, and as they established worksites nearby their exposure to the liquid metal caused rapid changes to their physical bodies, causing them to drip with a metallic ooze at all times. Now known for being swift and embodying the fluidity and adaptability of the quicksilver metal, these cristata excel at evasion, stealth, and quick strikes, able to slip through cracks and navigate the world with an almost liquid grace. Their combat style is fluid, using their enhanced mobility to outmaneuver foes.

Mercuria Movement
Your speed and burrow speed increase by 10 feet, and you have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.

Mercury's Touch
Your fluid nature allows you to slip free of restraints. You can automatically escape from nonmagical grapples as a bonus action. Additionally, as a bonus action, you can blend into dim light or darkness, gaining advantage on Stealth checks for 1 minute. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses after you finish a long rest.

Quickstrike
When you hit a creature with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to move or burrow up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses after you finish a long rest.