Zygodact

Zygodacts are a bizarre race of Underdark-dwelling creatures native to the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons. Created in issue #267 of Dragon Magazine, they were one of three Underdark PC races created for that issue, alongside the Diopsid and the Sapromneme, and are without a doubt the weirdest of the bunch.

And considering their counterparts are stalk-eyed beetle-people and floating jellyfish-brain fungus creatures with the memories of dead people, that's saying something.

To try and put it simply, a zygodact looks like a man-sized turtle, standing upright on digitigrade, insectoid legs, but with no opening for a turtle's neck. Instead, the turtle's forelimbs are replaced with long round tentacles, tipped in appendages that are simultaneously six-fingered, radial symmetrical hands and functioning heads; each hand sports two eye-stalks where the ring and middle fingers should be, as well as a circular, fang-filled, lamprey-like mouth in the center of the palm. Yeah... these guys aren't your typical demihumans.

To quote the article...

The head/hand extremities of a zygodact can perhaps be best visualized as follows: imagine a human hand giving the Vulcan "Ling Long and Prosper" salute (fingers splayed so that the pointer and middle fingers are together, as are the ring and pinkie fingers). Bend the wrist forward so the fingers are pointed at you, and bend the thumb down so it's below the index and middle fingers. Now add a second thumb uinder the other two fingers, so the whole hand is more or less symmetrical. On the tips of the middle and ring fingers add a glistening, shiny black eye, and in the center of the palm add a circular mouth ringed with many sharp teeth, in the manner of a lamprey. Slap the the whole thing onto the end of a really fat elephant's trunk, and you get the general idea.

Biology

Obviously, the bizarre anatomy of zygodacts has its ups and downs. Thanks to the presence of durable yet transparent nictating membranes, they can freely use their heads to grip things, although they can only use one appendage as a hand at a time without impeding their overal perception. They have a reputation for intricate writing, leatherworking, painting, gemcutting and carving skills, since the fact their eyes are on their fingers gives them an unparalleled understanding of fine details. Being thickly armored means zygodacts have little concerns for physical danger; even their wizards will dare to jump into the fray, trusting their shells to keep them safe from harm - in fact, a charging zygodact can brutally smash its way through foes. The spikes on their knees can be used to stab and gouge nearby foes, and whilst their hand-mouths are clumsy weapons, they can rip massive bleeding wounds into anyone they grab hold of.

Zygodacts are omnivorous; they prefer meat, but will make do with lichens, mosses and fungi.

Tongue

The language of the zygodacts sounds almost reptilian, with an abundance of sibilant hisses, and certain sounds that can only be produced by two sets of vocal chords operating in unison. Though they can speak out of either mouth as needed - and in fact, they tend to begin a sentence with one head and then finish it with the other, which one-headed races find very distracting - their vocal chords are limited in the tonal and volume variation they can achieve; zygodacts seldom exceed a loud whisper and always have a blandly moderate tone, by the standards of other races. Add in how hard their facial expressions are to decipher and... yeah, great communicators, they are not.

Personalty and Culture

Zygodacts have a reputation for being haughty and superior, looking down on the "poor single-headers". They are also known for being absolutely enthralled with all forms of magic and magical items; a zygodact would prefer a dagger with a cheap lighting spell and no damage enhancements at all over a mundane greatsword, despite the latter's superior damage-dealing prowess. The vast majority of zygodacts are single or multiclassed wizards, druids or clerics; single-classed fighters and rogues are looked down upon by their fellows as being of clearly lower intelligence. However, they don't extend this attitude to non-zygodacts; in their view, having to struggle with only a single head is already enough of a burden, so humanoids warrant pity, not scorn, even if they can't use magic.

Such is their reverence for magic that zygodacts fear and loathe anything that is antimagical; dead magic zones or areas protected by anti-magic are are abhorred to the point a zygodact will usually flee an opponent cloaked in an anti-magic shell, whilst they despise beholders and disenchanters for their magic-nullifying abilities. Even magical items that are used to counter or defeat magic, such as Wands of Negation and Rods of Cancellation, are seen as inherently evil, and they destroy these items with as much fervor as a paladin going after unholy relics.

This love of magic even influences their diplomacy; zygodacts would rather deal with races that routinely work and utilize magic, even malevolent ones, than with races that fear or abhor magic. In the eyes of a zygodact, a drow or a svirfneblin is morally superior to a dwarf.

The one exception to this fixation upon magic is cursed items. Though zygodacts mourn their wasted potential, they view them as dangerous failures, and so destroy them whenever they can.

AD&D PC Stats

Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 3/17, Dexterity 8/18, Constitution 3/18, Intelligence 6/18, Wisdom 6/18, Charisma 3/15

Ability Score Adjustments: +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom, -1 Strength, -1 Charisma

Available Classes: Fighter 8, Wizard 12 (General and Specialist allowed), Cleric 10, Druid 10 (must be a Gray Druid), Thief 6

Multiclassed Zygodacts must be Priests or Mages

Racial Thieving Skill Adjustments: +10% Pick Pockets & Open Locks, -10% Move Silently & Hide in Shadows, -5% Climb Walls

Infravision 120 feet

Natural Armor: 3 (7 for extended arm/necks, which require a Called Shot to attack)

Special Advantages:

Armored Shell: Zygodacts take half damage from blunt weapons and falls.

Natural Weapons: A charging zygodact inflics 1d6 bludgeoning damage on anyone it charges into. It can gouge with its knee-spines for 1d3 damage. A bite attack suffers a -4 to hit roll penalty, but does 1d4 damage on a hit and automatically inflicts 1d2 damage per round after, due to the bleeding grip. Dislodging a biting zygodact requires a Strength check with a -2 penalty.

Spell Adaptations: Zygodact spellcasters can ignore the material components of any spells whose material component value is 10 gold pieces or less; instead, they rely on unique verbal components that can only be spoken from their two mouths.

Special Disadvantages:

Bizarre Anatomy: Zygodacts cannot use two-handed or hurled weapons, armor, shields, or the following clothing items: boots, hats, helms, robes, gloves, gauntlets, slippers and girdles.

Poor Climbers: Zygodacts are extremely poor climbers, hence the racial penalty.

Freaky-Looking: Zygodacts suffer a +2 penalty to initial reaction rolls.