Scielly (Uncommon)

Sciellies are creatures that look like humanoid turtles. They dwell in cloistered communities deep in the wilderness, valuing wisdom and nature above all other things.

A Scielly will horde and enthusiastically exchange knowledge like traded goods with anybody willing to strike up a conversation with them.

Products of their environment, Sciellies become well accustomed with their immediate surroundings from a young age. They are happiest when their feet are planted firmly on soil or when swimming in the rivers or ponds of their homelands. Their connection to the natural world runs so deep that their legends claim that the first of their kind emerged from inside boulders which became their shells.

Many Scielly see violence as a last resort, but others whose communities are in constant conflicts with others may have a more confrontational disposition. Even developing philosophies and intricate teachings around the art of battle.

You Might...

Examine a flower or some berries that you’ve never seen before
Sing a folk song from your community during silences on your travels

Others Might...

Walk ahead of you by accident, forgetting about your slower pace
Ask you questions, in hopes of receiving sagely advice

Physical Descriptions

Sciellies range in sizes from 3 feet to 6 feet tall and are typically stout creatures due to the shapes of their shells that covers the entirety of their backs. The density of their armor ranges in degrees of density based on their heritage, from as flexible as leather to hard as stone. Despite not being able to wear conventional clothing, Scielly express themselves by decorating their shells with any fabrics, ropes or other objects they are able to strap to their shells. Some especially extravagant Scielly may even embed gems into their shells or paint them in vivid colors, others may even modify their shells even further.

Scielly are typically different shades of green with leathery or scaly skin that vary in patterns. Features may differ, Scielly can have beaked mouths and many have short snouts while others have snorkel-like noses, their hands and feet could be either claws or flippers, their tails either long or stubby. Scielly are considered adults at the age of 20 and on average live to be 500.

Society

Sciellies live in tight knit communities where young are raised communally. Children aren’t given names at birth, instead they’re named by members of their community depending on any trait that makes them stand out. They build houses out of clay or of any other minerals that are abundant in their environment. Sciellies rarely intermingle with other Scielly communities, each one having their respective traditions. Despite this, every community has a council of elders, some of whom have lived for 1,000 years. In Scielly communities the older somebody is the more respect they have. All Sciellies believe in stewardship of the land, always making sure they give back whatever they take from the lands they inhabit. They feel at peace when they live in harmony with their environment, like they are one with the land.

Beliefs

Next to nature, Scielly value information and knowledge above all else. They often times seek wisdom they can apply, usually to benefit the lives of their communities or their friends. They are experts at consolidating information, taking their time to mull it over even if it takes years. Sciellies acknowledge the deity or deities found in the natural world of their home. They often meditate on messages they believe are being sent to them through nature.

Popular Edicts: Planting seeds, sharing niche information, collecting mementos

Popular Anathema: Intentionally spreading lies, killing a plant, willful ignorance

Adventurers

A Scielly may choose to leave their communities in search of truths they can’t acquire at home. Some may even have been lost, or are following signs they believe their deity is giving them. Scielly are naturally inclined to be Druids, Rangers and Animists but more martially inclined Scielly may even be Monks or Fighters. THis ancestry is insatiable in their pursuit for truth, leading some to even step away from the natural world to become Wizards or Inventors, in order to broaden their horizons and dissect mysteries unfamiliar to their communities.

Names

Roq, Klay, Slab, Crust, Redwood, Lilypad, Reed, Snailspace, Splash

Name	Source	Rarity	Trait	Level	Prerequisites	Summary
Scielly Lore	This site	common	Scielly	1		You embody the peaceful and hearty nature of Sciellies. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Survival and Occultism . If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.
Shell Storage	This site	common	Scielly	1		You’ve modified your shell with metal buckle loops, leather straps and/or hinges on removable scutes on your shell that act like trapdoors to store small items. Your shell has the Adjusted Storage trait and has the Storage adjustment.
Scielly’s Special Brew	This site	common	Scielly, Emotion	1		You can use the shedded layer from the scutes of your shell to make a delicious tea. You must take 30 minutes to prepare it before you serve it and you must have a closed container to store it if you plan to use it later. If a creature drinks the tea, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy checks for 1 hour.
Fraudulent Sage	This site	common	Scielly, Auditory, Linguistic	1	Trained in Deception	Thanks to peoples’ perceptions of Sciellies, you can deceive them by feigning wisdom you do not know. When asked a question about lore you are not proficient in, you can make a Deception check to lie instead of making a Recall Knowledge check with a +2 circumstance bonus to that Deception check to see if people believe you.
Stone Wedger	This site	common	Scielly	5	Soft-Back Heritage	Due to constant training, your shell’s flexibility is increased. You get a +2 item bonus to Acrobatics checks when it comes to taking the Squeeze or Escape actions even if you’re not trained in Acrobatics.
Scielly Ramblings	This site	common	Scielly, Auditory, Linguistic, Mental	5		As a result of growing up around a community of creatures who live for hundreds of years, you’ve heard a variety of tall tales and long monologues. Attempt a Diplomacy check against your opponent’s Will DC. Critical Success: Same as Success but they also take 1d4 Mental Damage Success: they become off-guard until they are attacked or an ally calls out to them. Failure: There is no effect
Back to Nature	This site	common	Scielly	5		Per Scielly mythology, you can transform into rocks or meld into stone like the creation myth of your culture. You can now cast One With Stone at will once per day as an innate spell.
Scielly Resilience	This site	uncommon	Scielly	5		Your mind is as hearty as your body. Whether it be from taking things slow and steady all your life or your naturally minimalistic disposition, you learned to endure through stressful moments. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to emotion and fear effects.
Exemplary Hospitali-tea	This site	common	Scielly	9	Scielly’s Special Brew	You’ve elevated the taste of your tea. Whoever drinks it will have their attitude condition towards you and your group improved by 1 stage. The effect wears off after 8 hours. After those 8 hours, that stage gets lowered by 1. If you manage to improve their attitude towards your party by another stage before the 8 hours is up, that stage is kept but the stage caused by the tea is reduced.
Polished Surface	This site	rare	Scielly	9		Your shell is so polished and well kept that certain attacks are able to ricochet off of it. If an enemy makes a ranged weapon and critically fails, the attack is sent back at them. They must roll the damage of the attack that you would’ve taken and roll for any saving throws caused by additional effects of that weapon attack, including from runes or spells (such as Shooting Star).
Lord of the Swamp	This site	common	Scielly	9		You can cast Corrosive Muck as an innate spell once per day.
Glossy Finish	This site	rare	Scielly	13	Polished Surface	Your shell is so well polished that it can deflect ranged spell attacks. If someone targets you with a spell attack and they critically fail to hit you, the spell is deflected back to them. They must roll the damage that you would’ve taken along with the effects of that spell including any saving throws. Your shell can only deflect spells that do damage and target 1 creature (ex. Lightning Bolt), including spells that target 1 creature but later targets others (ex. Chain Lightening). None others.
Nature's Diplomat	This site	common	Scielly	13		You can cast Speak with Stones and Speak with Plants each as an innate spell once per day.
Ironclad Mind	This site	common	Scielly	13	Scielly Resilience	Your +1 circumstance bonus is now a +2. You also can apply this bonus to any mental effect as well. You also treat a Critical Failure on saving throws against these effects as just a Failure.
World Turtle	This site	common	Scielly	17		A tree sprouts out of your back, no taller than 3 feet. The tree can take on any shape you desire and bears 3 fruits at a time. Each fruit can heal specific conditions. One fruit can heal one Sense Condition of the consumer's choice (aside from invisible and concealed). Another fruit is capable of sparing the consumer from death, if the consumer has the dying condition at any level, they get reduced completely, allowing them to wake up and become wounded 1 plus any additional wounded levels you may have. The last fruit allows whoever eats it to heal a number of hit points equal to double your AC regardless if they’re undead or living. Each fruit must be eaten one hour after being plucked, once one creature takes a bite of the fruit it loses its effect and whoever bit into it first gets the effect. After a fruit is plucked, it grows back within 1d4 days.
Spectral Shell	This site	common	Scielly	17		A spectral shell made of spiritual energy manifests from your shell. The shell covers an area in the shape of a 30 ft burst, that is also 30 ft high, from where you’re standing and stays fixed there until it’s destroyed. This shell protects only your allies, any enemy gets pushed out and takes 2d10 Force damage. The shell phases through any inanimate objects or walls that are in the way of its area. All creatures within that area are inside the shell. Creatures can’t escape or enter this dome except through magical means or teleportation. All creatures inside the dome are protected from outside damage until the dome breaks or disappears. No attacks can leave or enter this shell. The dome has the following statistics: HP: 100 Resistance: 15 Acid, Cold, Electric, Electricity, Fire, Sonic and Force damage Immunities: Bleeding, Drain, Mental, Poison Spirit, Vitality and Void damage This shell lasts for 1d4 turns (minimum 2 turns) or until the shell is reduced to 0 HP. Once it is destroyed or disappears it cannot be used again until the next morning.
Curse of the Heavy Shell	This site	common	Scielly	17		You point at an enemy that you can see and inflict them with a curse. They must succeed a DC 39 Will saving throw. If they do not, then they are cursed with a terribly heavy shell. They gain a check penalty of -3, a -10 speed penalty, a Strength Req of 4 and the shell has the hindering trait as its only trait. The shell’s AC is the same as the target’s AC. If the target had on armor, this shell replaces the armor for the duration of the curse. The shell has no rune whatsoever. Each turn the target can use an action to reroll the save, trying to beat it. On a success, the shell disappears and their armor turns back to normal (if they had any) as the curse ends. Critical Success: The target is unaffected Success: The target is affected for 1 round Failure: The target is affected for 1 minute or until it succeeds the Will saving throw Critical Failure: The target is affected for 1 hour or until it succeeds the Will saving throw