Kapa

What many kapa consider a simple life, others might call a life of adventure. Kapa are born near sandy coastlines, but as soon as they're able to walk on two legs, they become nomad survivalists eager to explore the wilderness, experience its many wonders, put their skills to the test, and make new acquaintances.
Ability Scores: Choose one of: 

• (a) Choose any +2; choose any other +1 
• (b) Choose any +1; choose any other +1; choose any other +1

Speed: 30 ft.
Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
Claws. You have claws that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour.
Natural Armor. Your shell provides you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn't affect this number). You can't wear light, medium, or heavy armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield's bonus as normal.
Nature's Intuition. Thanks to your mystical connection to nature, you gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth, or Survival.
Shell Defense. You can withdraw into your shell as an action. Until you emerge, you gain a +4 bonus to your AC, and you have advantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws. While in your shell, you are prone, your speed is 0 and can't increase, you have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, you can't take reactions, and the only action you can take is a bonus action to emerge from your shell.

Basic Information

Growth Rate & Stages

A kapa hatches from a thick-shelled egg and spends the first few weeks of its life crawling on all fours. Its parents, old and near death, spend what little time they have left telling stories to their offspring. Within a year, the young kapa becomes an orphan, though not before it learns to speak and to survive on its own.
A young kapa and its siblings inherit whatever tools, weapons, and gifts their parents left behind. Each young kapa is expected to fend for itself. It leaves the place of its birth and finds its own corner of the wilderness in which to hunt, catch fish, and get by. With each passing year, a kapa hones its survival skills. It forms friendships with its neighbors while also respecting their privacy. At some point, a kapa feels an almost overwhelming urge to venture far away from home and see more of the world. It gathers up its possessions and heads into the wilderness, returning months or years later with stories of its exploits and new skills.
When a kapa nears the end of its natural lifespan, it seeks out a mate and procreates. Kapa lay their eggs (numbering as few as one or as many as a dozen) in a fortified compound enclosed by stone walls that are easily defensible. If no such compound exists, they build one. The parents spend the remainder of their lives guarding the compound, defending their offspring, and sharing a lifetime of knowledge before they die. When the children are old enough to leave the compound, they pick up whatever weapons and tools their parents left behind and set out on their own.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Kapa have a saying: "We wear our homes on our backs." The shells they carry around provide all the shelter they require. Consequently, kapa don't feel the need to root themselves in one place for too long. A kapa settlement is primarily used as a kind of moot, where kapa can socialize with one another, share useful information, and trade with strangers in the safety of greater numbers. Kapa don't regard these settlements as places worth defending with their lives, and they will abandon a settlement when it no longer serves their needs.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Kapa prefer simple, non-gender-specific names that are usually no more than two syllables. If a kapa doesn't like its name for whatever reason, it can change it. A kapa might change its name a dozen times in its life.
Kapa don't have surnames or family names.
Male and Female Names: Baka, Damu, Gar, Gura, Ini, Jappa, Kinlek, Krull, Lim, Lop, Nortle, Nulka, Olo, Ploqwat, Quee, Queg, Quott, Sunny, Tibor, Ubo, Uhok, Wabu, Xelbuk, Xopa, Yog

Major Language Groups and Dialects

You can speak, read, and write Aquan and Common.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Kapa believe that night and day watch over them and other creatures. The moon is the eye of night that watches over them in darkness, and the sun is the equally vigilant eye of day. Kapa feel most at peace when one or both of these "eyes" are looking down on them. They become more nervous and uneasy when neither orb is visible in the sky. Kapa tend to be most uncomfortable underground, where neither the sun nor the moon is visible to them.
Blessed are the days when both the sun and moon are visible in the sky at the same time. Kapa often choose such days to leave their homes and begin a wilderness expedition, or perform some other task they know to be dangerous.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Although they spend a considerable portion of their lives in isolation, kapa are social creatures that like to form meaningful friendships. They have no inbred animus toward people of other races. In fact, a kapa will often seek out friendships with non-kapa to learn new customs and new points of view.

Lifespan

Young kapa crawl for a few weeks after birth before learning to walk on two legs. They reach adulthood by the age of 15 and live an average of 50 years.

Average Height

adults stand 5 to 6 feet tall

Average Weight

They average 450 pounds. Their shells account for roughly one-third of their weight.

Related Ethnicities

• Jianyu
• Yashiro