Lizardfolk

There's something old about the lizardfolk, something instinctual and primal, yet plodding and methodical, like an ancient piece of clockwork implacably turning away. They look at you like some feral beast that's only just learned you might have food and not to bite, and then they start to talk!
Fools look at the lizardfolk and see only primitive scaly humanoids, but the wiser know lizardfolk are perfectly refined instruments of survival honed through ruthless natural selection. From the moment they hatch, each lizardfolk is left to fend for themselves, learning the brutal rules of the wild.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Lizardfolk are bipedal humanoids. They have tails which can be as long as they are tall, and their hands and feet ending in five clawed digits. They have tough, scaled skin.

Genetics and Reproduction

Lizardfolk are naturally hermaphroditic, and lay eggs in clutches. However, the eggs are not laid in a single nest, but rather in mutliple hidden nests across a small area and which hatch across a span of days. This serves both to protect the eggs and hatchlings from potential predators, as the parents display no parental instincts, and from the hatchmates own siblings who will cannibalize their broodmates if given the chance. 

Growth Rate & Stages

When Lizardfolk hatch, they are immediately thrust into a brutal fight for survival. After chipping their way out of their eggs and clawing their way out of their hidden nests, they are roughly the same size as hatchling crocodillians. They grow slowly, and the first eight years of their lives are entirely focused on the two principal goals of foraging for food and avoiding becoming it. During this stage of their lives, lizardfolk live much like true beasts with limited intelligence and are largely instinctual, refinining their survival skills like the ability to climb trees and camouflage oneself, and ambushing smaller prey with their teeth and claws. During this stage of their lives, lizardfolk are entirely solitary
Around their eighth birthday, Lizardfolk begin to behave more like their adult bipedal forms. Now roughly the size of a human twelve or thirteen-year-old, they are more vulnerable and old hunting strategies begin to fail them, while the prey items from their hatchling days cease to satiate them. Forced to adapt, lizardfolk apply their cold intelligence to the problems of survival and start to develop limited tool usage. By their tenth birthday, juvenile lizardfolk have mastered the ability to create small traps and rudimentary weapons and tools, and identify hunting grounds. Around age twelve is also when the lizardfolk begin to develop speech skills, communicating with one another in a limited fashion and forming small hunting parties and social bands with peers. Lizardfolk are capable of reproducing by age fourteen and reach their approximate adult size two years later, although most lizardfolk agree a partner has not proven their value as a potential mate until nearly twice this age. Eventually, once lizardfolk reach adulthood and feel the association has outlived its usefulness or find a mate, they strike out on their own or with a hunting partner, and spend the rest of their adult lives in a fight for survival, rarely reaching sixty.

Ecology and Habitats

Lizardfolk can survive worldwide, but as a cold-blooded species they feel most at home in the warmer regions of the world. 
Compared to most "warmbloods," lizardfolk live primitively. Most survive as neolithic hunters, using bone and stone tools and rarely settled in one place for long. Lizardfolk are cunning artisans, pairing an intuitive understanding of the natural word with a methodical and ruthless exploitation of its rules and principles.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Lizardfolk prefer to be carnivorous, but they can survive on fruits and vegetables when required. They have a noted preference for raw meat- prefering it live if possible, and dislike having their food cooked.

Biological Cycle

Cold-blooded, lizardfolk must spend time basking each day or otherwise find a way to warm-themselves and increase their core temperature, becoming sluggish and less active in cooler climates and at night. As a result, lizardfolk are not generally found farther north than even mild temperate latitudes, and prefer tropical environments where there is little seasonal variation or such variation is between a wet and dry season.  
As juveniles, Lizardfolk shed their skin frequently, but this practice becomes less frequent as they age. By adulthood, lizardfolk cease to "shed" in the traditional sense, losing only scales or patches of scaly skin simiilar to how a human might experience patches of dry skin.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

As their name suggests, Lizardfolk look distinctly reptilian in appearance, although there is immense variation between different subpopulations.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Worldwide

Average Intelligence

Lizardfolk are intelligent, although their mindsets and thought patterns may seem alien and primitive to the "warmbloods."

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Although lizardfolk do not posses ears or noses, their sense of hearing and smell is just as capable as a humans, and is served by a set of nostril slits on their snout and holes in the back of their head which can pick up the vibrations of sound waves. Their vision is generally akin to that of a human's, although they see in a different color spectrum and their protective eyelids enable them to see equally as well underwater.
As cold-blooded creatures, lizardfolk are capable of slowing their metabolism considerably and can reduce the amount of oxygen their cells consume. This enables them to hold their breath for long periods of time. However, their cold-blooded nature also has drawbacks, as they are naturally sluggish at colder temperatures.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Born with no parents around to name them and spending most of their early lives alone, Lizardfolk often have no conception of a name, finding little use for them. To a Lizardfolk, the question "what is your name" is more akin to asking "what have you been called," and the answers are often unrelated to personal identity and can differ from encounter to encounter. Instead, when asked to identify themselves by a name, Lizardfolk tend to take their name from the Draconic language- finding the words easiest to pronounce- choosing short, literal descriptives often based on how they have been described in the past or notable signifier. A lizardfolk with a prominent set of display frills might be Aryte ("Frills"), one who paints themselves green to blend into the jungle might be Achuak ("Green") or Listrix ("Tracker"), or the one who carries a steel axe from a victory over some trespasser might be Vyth ("Steel"), Garut ("Axe"). This can result in confusing situations in which the same Lizardfolk is known by different names, and so some Lizardfolk particularly accustomed to dealing with outsiders string the first sets of descriptors they use into a single name to simplify the situation, such as "Green Steel Frills." Lizardfolk names make no distinciton between male and female in their name conventions.

Major Organizations

While lacking formal geopolitical recognition, isolated pockets of Lizardfolk continue to carry out the ancient ceremonies of their fallen empire, awaiting the day they will rise to their former glory.

Beauty Ideals

Cold and emotionless, Lizardfolk have literally no sense of beauty. In aesthetic choices, their consideration is entirely limited to how effectively a choice furthers their own survival prospects. Lizardfolk have no interest in music, except insofar as it can ward of enemies or signal allies, nor do they car about scenic vistas but for their efficacy as a vantage point to spot potential threats. They are uninterested in gold and gemstones unless they can be traded to humanoids for more useful provisions and tools, and their construction and design choices are motivated entirely by pragmatism.

Gender Ideals

Naturally hermaphroditic and with no visible sex organs, Lizardfolk have no fixed concept of gender.

Courtship Ideals

Lizardfolk courtship is a matter of cold pragmatism oriented around producing offspring who are most likely to survive, and the concept of romantic love is nonexistent. When seeking mates, lizardfolk look simply for those partners with desirable traits to pass on, such as physical size or strength, hunting proficiency or exceptional cunning. Lizardfolk are direct when they are interested in mating, and such liasons are viewed as largely transactional.

Relationship Ideals

To lizardfolk, only three types of relationships exist with other beings; prey, peer, and predator. Relationships with prey- those beings incapable of defending themselves, are the most straightforward and desirable. These weak creatures are to be hunted and exploited however a lizardfolk sees fit, as is the natural order. Relationships with predators- those creatures who are physically superior to a lizardfolk and can exert their will over them, are similarly simple. Predators are to be evaded whenever possible, and when not possible, lizardfolk are likely to be completely pliant, accepting any demands made of them as the price for their continued survival. 
Most complex are lizardfolk's relationships with peers. As a rule, other beings are predators or prey until proven otherwise, so creatures can only prove themselves peers by demonstrating themselves to be sufficiently strong to resist domination by a lizardfolk. Relationships with peers should always be oriented towards eventually gaining dominance, recognizing the fact that peers are also potential rivals and predators. However, peers are entitled to a limited degree of respect and deference as equals with whom a conflict is not likely to be advantageous for a lizardfolk. Eventually, lizardfolk may even recognize the value of extended partnerships with peers for trade, technological exchange, or mutual aid, but these relationships still remain fundamentally transactional and are oriented around what a lizardfolk stands to gain from a peer. 
In some limited cases, lizardfolk may extend peer privilege to groups of humanoids, even indivdiuals too weak to defend themselves and usually be considered peers (such as the elderly or chidlren), recognizing that treating them as prey will alienate others (including true peers or even predators) and may result in the lizardfolk being treated with hostility by others. This grace has limits however, and if the creature is isolated or the lizardfolk otherwise believes their predation will go unnoticed, such persons are likely to find themselves treated as prey.

Average Technological Level

By adulthood, most lizardfolk have developed the basic survival skills to be rugged survivalists, excelling even lifelong rangers. They are highly proficient natural artisans, capable of making weapons and armor out of natural materials like bone, hide, and organic fibers. Virtually every lizardfolk carries some form of flint or obsidian blade as a crucial survival tool. 
However, their rugged individualism also leaves them firmly embedded in the neolithic. Almost without exception, every skill and discovery a lizardfolk has ever learned has been self-taught. Lizardfolk struggle with concepts like advanced metallurgy, capable only of working soft metals like gold or bronze, and the limited pottery and woven goods they create are primitive.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Lizardfolk have very little use for language. Even after maturing, lizardfolk tend to find that amongst themselves, instinctual body language like hisses, bared teeth, roars, or other limited vocalizations more than serve to convey their intended messages to strangers. Amonst cllose companions, like mates or hunting parties, a more intuitive understanding of one anothers' needs develops, and lizardfolk prefer to use hand signals, frills, or changes in body coloration to communicate more subtly- often an advantage while hunting prey or in dangerous terrain. 
This means that the lizardfolk have no true language of their own. Some fragmented communities of lizardfolk, still clinging to the vestiges of their ancient empire have slightly more complex social relationships and dynamics which necessitate more communication, but even these vocalizations are just a small part of a much more nuanced language which relies on body language or pigmentation, context, social cues and ritual. Moreover, these communities have diverged so far from the ancient form that if they were reunited, they would struggle to communicate, and their present languages are at best a vulgar and highly simplified version of their ancient precursors. 
Although those lizardfolk who do make it frequent enough practice to warrant learning a language eventually can learn Concordance Common, the have physical difficulty pronouncing the words due to their reptilian mouths and voices which makes speaking Common challenging. Instead, most social lizardfolk prefer to speak with non-lizardfolk in Draconic, finding it more naturally suited for their vocal structures. In fact, those few lizardfolk who set their local dialects to writing have adopted the draconic script to approximate the natural sounds of their own languages.

Common Dress Code

Most lizardfolk easily understand why the warmbloods choose to cover their soft skins with hardened hides or metal layers- after all, they have no toughened scales of their own to protect them against the cutting undergrowth and biting flies. They can understand why they dress in such bright fabrics- they lack a lizardfolk's frills and pigmentation, how else could they signal against rivals or attract mates? However, the lizardfolk have all these things, and generally see no reason to wear such items themselves. Emotionless and often asocial, and lacking gender roles or even obvious genitalia, lizardfolk have nothing approaching a social sense of shame to compel them to dress themselves, and struggle to understand such an impulse in others. 
Most lizardfolk wear almost nothing, finding that in their natural environment clothing can be an unnecessary hindrance. For those few articles of apparel lizardfolk do carry, they almost always have a clear purpose, and are invariably simply crafted from whatever materials the lizardfolk had on hand. Lizardfolk may fashion turtleshell, wood, bone, or hide into additional armor or shields, or use bladders and stomachs to craft waterproof bags and waterskins. In some communities, lizardfolk wear elaborate feathered headdresses as a signal against rivals and to show potential mates their agility and dexterity in catching birds high in the branches. In others, shiny torcs are fashioned out of soft metal fished from riverbeds or lake bottoms to show a lizardfolk's diving proficiency, or they may wear the skull of a particularly fierce jungle predator they have vanquishe to show martial prowess. Lizardfolk may paint themselves bright colors to intimidate rivals, showing they are strong enough not to concern themselves with blending into their surroundings, or may paint themselves deep earthy or forest tones to better hunt. Regardless, every aesthetic decision a lizardfolk makes is not due to any personal preference, but are rather calculated decisions meant to further some clear purpose.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Most lizardfolk are utterly unaware of the past history and glories of their species. They grow up in a cultural vaccuum, hatching independently and with no parental guidance to teach them. 
In a few isolated cases, small communities of lizardfolk have rediscovered (or cling to the vestiges of) their ancient influence and power. These communities work to fulfill the "Precursor's Plan," trying to interpret the ancient carvings and glyphs on old lizardfolk temples and playing out crude imitations of their ancient rituals in ruined cities.

History

Much of the lizardfolk's history is lost to time, even to themselves, and can only be pieced together through the limited bits and pieces scholars of the other species have uncovered. However, even to truly ancient races like dragons and giants, the lizardfolk are old, and are perhaps the first sapient humanoids to arise on the planet.

Lizardfolk

ability score increase: Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

age: Lizardfolk reach maturity around age 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 creatures to their own devices.

Size: Medium

speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.

race features:
Bite. Your fanged 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. 
Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes at a time. 
Hunter's Lore. You gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and 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. 

Lifespan

60 years

Conservation Status

Lizardfolk can be found worldwide, although their numbers are in decline and populations are isolated.

Average Height

5'6" - 7'8"

Average Weight

180-300 lb

Average Physique

Lizardfolk tend to be bulkier and taller than humanoids, although their physique can vary greatly.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Lizardfolk come in an immense diversity of colorations, patterns, and markings, often closely related to their subgroup and regional origin. The most common colors are are sort of natural camouflage pallete of mottlled greens and dusty brown earth tones, but lizardfolk can also be found in vibrant reds, electric blues, and bright yellows, and in far more distinctive patterns and markings including clear stripes, spots, or even iridescent frills. 
Additionally, the some lizardfolk possess the ability to dramatically change their body coloration and markings coinciding with their mood or surroundings, while this ability is far less pronounced and more involuntary amongst Saurians.

Related Ethnicities

• Anole
• Saurian