The musties were a pretty big hit with folks over on Instagram, so I thought it appropriate to flesh ’em out a little more and design a playable race for them.
I pretty much came up with the guys just going through the Monster Manual Appendix A in alphabetical order. But man! They’re pretty cute, right?
Instead of going with a mean, violent wolverine-type of badger, I thought it was more fun to make them wise, inquisitive Small humanoids.
Errata:
- 9/21/2018 – Gave the musty playable race a claw attack similar to Tabaxi’s.
Musties for Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons
Musties, also known as badgerfolk, are small, furry humanoids that resemble badgers. They’re quiet creatures, often lost in thought, and are typically guided by their own internal moral compass.
Deep Thinkers
If the Dwarves are stoics, the halflings hedonists, and the gnomes tinkerers, then the musties must be the philosophers of the world. Naturally inquisitive about the nature of, well, everything, musties wander the countrysides pondering the bigger questions in life. They’re dreamers, poets, writers, and deep thinkers, sometimes obnoxiously so. Instead of the enthusiastic “how?” of the gnomes, musties often lead with a quizzical “why?”, no matter the severity of any given situation.
Natural Anarchists
Musties have trouble conforming to societal standards. That doesn’t mean they’re totally reckless and destructive either! Instead, musties fall back on what they consider “the fundamental morals” of the world. Before doing anything that might be in a morally or ethically gray area, a musty will ask itself, “How would this affect me were it to happen to me?” This idea helps a musty decide whether or not it should proceed. Often, more complicated decisions take a longer time to consider, sometimes days or even months!
Thanks to these values, most musties find laws redundant. After all, if a creature requires laws to guide its behaviors, then the creature is probably corrupt at its core anyway, right?
In Touch With Nature
While they aren’t fey or fey-related, musties have a closeness with nature and the Feywild unlike any other creature on the Prime Material. Many musties slip towards druidic ways and those that don’t often become barbarians or rangers. In addition, musties have a close kinship with animals and possess a natural ability to train completely wild beasts such as insects and reptiles.
Musty (Badgerfolk)
Small humanoid (musty), chaotic good
Armor Class 13 (chain shirt)
Hit Points 11 (2d6 + 4)
Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Abilities Str 13 (+1), Dex 10 (+0), Con 15 (+2), Int 13 (+1), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 10 (+0)
Skills Investigation +5, Perception +6
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Musty
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Inquisitive Mind. The musty can take the Search action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Keen Smell. The musty has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Actions
Multiattack. The musty makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (2d4 + 1) slashing damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, range 80/320. Hit: 3 (1d6) piercing damage.
Musty (Badgerfolk) Berserker
Small humanoid (musty), chaotic good
Armor Class 15
Hit Points 78 (12d6 + 36)
Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Abilities Str 16 (+3), Dex 14 (+2), Con 17 (+3), Int 11 (+0), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 10 (+0)
Skills Athletics +5, Investigation +5, Perception +6, Survival +4
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Musty
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Inquisitive Mind. The musty can take the Search action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Keen Smell. The musty has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Reckless. At the start of its turn, the musty can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.
Unarmored Defense. While the musty is wearing no armor, its AC includes its Constitution modifier.
Actions
Multiattack. The musty makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its greatsword.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.
Musty (Badgerfolk) Druid
Small humanoid (musty), chaotic good
Armor Class 12 (16 with barkskin)
Hit Points 66 (12d6 + 24)
Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Abilities Str 11 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 15 (+2), Int 13 (+1), Wis 16 (+3), Cha 10 (+0)
Skills Animal Handling +4, Investigation +5, Nature +3, Perception +6
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Musty
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Inquisitive Mind. The musty can take the Search action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Keen Smell. The musty has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Spellcasting. The musty is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following druid spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): druidcraft, produce flame, shillelagh
1st level (4 slots): animal friendship, cure wounds, speak with animals
2nd level (3 slots): barkskin, heat metal
3rd level (2 slots): call lightning, dispel magic, meld into stone
Actions
Multiattack. The musty makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (2d4) slashing damage.
New Player Option: Musties (Badgerfolk)
What follows is a playable race for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition.
Musty Traits
As a musty, you have a variety of traits specific to the badgerfolk race.
Ability Score Increases. Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. Musties reach adulthood at age 10 and can live up to 70 years.
Alignment. Nearly all musties favor chaos over law. However, they are driven by an internal moral compass which keeps them good.
Size. Musties are between 3 and 4 feet tall. Generally, they weigh between 55 and 70 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 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.
Inquisitive Mind. You can take the Search action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Keen Smell. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Badger Claws. Because of your claws, you have a burrowing speed of 10 feet that you can use to move through sand, earth, mud, or ice, but not solid rock unless you have a special trait that allows you to do so. In addition, your claws are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Musty.
Thanks for reading!
Hopefully, these Musties will be a great addition to your fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. They’re free to use for personal use, just not commercial. And the art is borrowed from the terrific artists: Reverse Blade on Deviant Art, and Caravan Studio.
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And if you’re looking for some more, cool playable races, check out the listing on laicosts (mousefolk).
See you next time!