Tortle



“And tosay the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,

Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.

And the tortles, of course... all the tortles are free

As tortles and, maybe, all creatures should be."

—Dr. Seuss, Yertle the Tortle

Hard Bodied, Soft Hearted

Tortles are humanoid tortoises. Most are peaceful beings, content to ignore the world outside their tribes. Others adapt to the more advanced cultures of the Savage Coast and live as peasants.

Each tortle stands approximately 6 feet tall and appears humanlike except they have a head, shell, and tail like that of a tortoise. The natural shell color of a tortle ranges from shiny black to a deep, lustrous purple; to a vibrant, healthy green and tortle chieftains often encrust their shells with sparkling gems or channel them with gold intaglios. The creature’s mouth is beaklike and toothless, and its head, feet, legs, and tail are green, yellow, or black sometimes one solid color and sometimes pied. Most tortles forego clothing, although warriors often don breastplates and greaves.

Tortles tend to avoid combat whenever possible. When danger threatens, a tortle’s first instinct is to plunge into any nearby water and hold its breath until the threat has passed.

A Simple Living

Most tortle tribes along the Savage Coast possess little technology and subsist primarily as hunter-gatherers. They maintain loose contact with other nearby tribes, joining them for hunts, hut building, and other communal activities.

A typical tortle village consists of a cluster of mud and thatch huts just off a beach. Sentry huts, each equipped with a gong or conch shell horn for sounding alarms, form a perimeter 200-300 yards from the central cluster. Notable tortle villages along the Savage Coast are Tlech’, R’nach, and Prash. The most unusual tortle settlement is the Free City of Dunwick, which was built around a fallen monastery. Most of Dunwick’s citizens are peasant tortles, but representatives from many intelligent races, including goblinoids, dwell there as well. Many of the tortles there embrace the ancient Order of Dunwick and become monks.

Since tortles are adept at working underwater cinnabryl deposits, tribes are often self-sufficient, acquiring their own cinnabryl as well as food, water, and shelter.

Creatures of Worship

Tortles are spiritual creatures. They worship Mother Ocean, the protector; Father Earth, the life-bringer; Brother Shell, the warrior; and Sister Grain, the patron of farmers and fertility. The typical tortle hut contains a seashell shrine dedicated to at least one of these deities.

Tortle Names

Tortle names vary greatly depending on their location and upbringing.

Male Names: Squirtle, Floyd, Cecil, Crush, Donatello,

Filbert, Gamera, Franklin, Flash, Scooter, Jet, Tank, Sunny

Female Names: Tokka, Squirt, Sandy, Pearl, Shelly, Jasmine,

Skittles, Terra, Victoria, Bertha

Clan Names: Koopa Clan, Disciples of Splinter

Tortle Traits

Your tortle character has a combination of defensive and amphibious abilities, due to their relation to turtles.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age. Tortles mature at the age of 14, their life span extends to around 180 years.

Alignment. Tortles tend towards Neutral Good because their gods alignments are such.

Size. Most tortles stand 4-5 ft. tall and weigh roughly 600 to 1000 lbs. Your size is medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet, and you have a swim speed of 15 feet.

Natural Armor. You have tough, scaly skin. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 14 + 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.

Withdraw. As a tortle you can not take the dodge action due to your bulky, slow nature. Instead, when not wearing armor, you may withdraw into your shell gaining the following benefits:

You fall prone.

Your AC is 18 + your shield bonus if you are holding one.

You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

Any time you must make a Dexterity saving throw, you instead make a Constitution saving throw in an attempt to withstand any damage.



While withdrawn your movement speed becomes 0, you can not take any action or reaction, nor can you make skill checks that require physical activity or sight (you can however still <a href=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Baby_Turtle.jpg>see).

By keeping your hands slightly outside of your shell, you can maintain your grip on anything you may have been holding.

Withdrawing is an action that lasts until you choose to exit your shell.

Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.