Hadozee
The Hadozee are a Dungeons & Dragons race originated from the Spelljammer setting.
In appearance, Hadozee are quite distinctive: they are large, roughly orangutan or chimpanzee-like, sapient apes with pronounced patagia (limb-linking membranous "wings", ala a flying squirrel). This allows "deck apes", as they are commonly called, to glide and is quite handy in their preferred environment: the rigging of ships.
Spelljammer[edit]
Hadozee first appeared in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition in The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook, a PC-orientated splatbook for Spelljammer. They shared this role as setting-unique races alongside the dracons, the Giff (who had first appeared as monsters in The Lorebook of the Void, one of the two booklets that made up the Spelljammer core boxed set), the grommams, the hurwaeti, the lizardfolk (who had earlier appeared with a racial writeup in The Lorebook of the Void), the rastipedes, the scro and the xixchil.
Originating from a warm, temperate world, the hadozee have a rare positive affection for the Elven Imperial Fleet (also known as the Imperial Elven Navy). The details are kind of obscured with the mists of time, but in a nutshell, the IEN once believed hadozee to be a kind of goblinoid, but were proven wrong when the hadozee were willing to help the elves during the First Unhuman War. To this day, the hadozee are amongst the rare races who not only speak nicely of the elves, but are actually eager to serve alongside them aboard spelljammers - even if the pointy-eared bastards look down on the hadozee like every other race.
Fans would later expand upon the hadozee background slightly, giving them the homeworld of Gaya, a subtropical world of high mesas and deep, jungle-filled canonys within a crystal sphere known as Grommspace, because the hadozee share Gaya as the homeworld with the grommams.
Nowadays, the hadozee can be found throughout Wild Space, as whilst serving on an IEN vessel is a particular honor, spelljammer in general is hugely exciting to them. They love to be aboard ships and whole troops (mixed-gender bands of 20-30 hadozee) will eagerly sign on to any ship that's willing to take them.
Most ships are quite willing to take them. Yes, the hadozee are infamously sharp-tongued, with a love of verbal coarseness, vulgarity, complaints and insults that can make all but the most seasoned star-sailors blush, but they're hard-working, friendly, diligent, and very loyal. Plus, gliding apes are naturals when it comes to working the rigging.
- +1 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
- Natural Climbers: +20% to Climbing rolls.
- Gliding: Can move through the air by gliding, moving forward 1' for every 1' fallen, with a movement rate of 18 and a manueverability class of D.
- Can dual-wield weapons without penalty, as if they had the Ambidexterity proficiency.
- Cannot wear shields; their patagia get in the way. Can use bucklers, though.
- Permitted Classes & Max Levels: Cleric (level 8), Fighter (level 14), Thief) (level 15), Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Cleric
- Thief Ability Adjustments: PP +5%, OL +5%, F/RT +5%, MS -5%, CW +20%, RL -5%
Third Edition[edit]
In 3rd edition, the Hadozee were brought back as one of the "aquatic themed" races in Stormwrack, being defined mostly for their status as a race of natural sailors rather than the amphibians and swimmers of their fellows.
For the most part, these hadozee haven't changed much. They're less foul-mouthed and no longer remember their homeland, but are still born sailors who have a strong wanderlust and love to travel the seas. Their entire culture is now bound up in their constant traveling, to the point that hadozee society mostly talks about their practice of establishing communally shared houses in ports where hadozee casually leave their kids behind until they happen to sail back that way again.
In a mythology gag, they do tend to be unusually fond of elves, though.
- +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
- Medium
- Base land speed 30 feet
- Gliding: Hadozee who are falling can use their patagia to glide. This negates all falling damage and lets them travel 20 feet horizontally (speed 40 feet, average manueverabilitry) for each 5 feet of descent.
- +4 racial bonus to Balance and Climb
- Superb Climbers: A hadozee does not lose its Dexterity bonus to AC whilst climbing, nor is it impeded if it tries to climb whilst holding something in one hand.
- Favored Class: Rogue
Fifth edition[edit]
Hadozee finally made a return to Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition as a playable race (well, prototype) in the Unearthed Arcana "Travelers of the Multiverse", alongside the Giff and two Spelljammer monsters; the Autognome and the Plasmoid. Fan hopes were thusly sparked for the impending release of something, anything, Spelljammer related for 5th edition - alas, it's shit.
Being a post-Tasha's race, they don't have racial ability modifiers.
- Creature Type: Humanoid
- Size: Medium or Small
- Speed: 30 feet, Climb 30 feet
- Dexterous Feet. You can take the Use an Object action as a bonus action.
- Glide. If you are not incapacitated or wearing heavy armor, you can extend your skin membranes and glide. When you do so, you can perform the following aerial maneuvers:
- When you fall, you can move up to 5 feet horizontally for every 1 foot you descend.
- When you would take damage from a fall, you can use your reaction to reduce the fall’s damage to 0.
- When you take damage, you can use your Reaction to reduce the damage you take by (d6+Proficiency Bonus), to a minimum of 0 damage. You can do this (Proficiency Bonus) times per long rest.
Aaand they're censored[edit]
Because of internet bullshit about the background, everything has been removed from the profile and has been scrubbed from the D&D Beyond version of the book, but the race still remains, albeit now without any lore.
| Release version | Censored version |
|---|---|
| The first hadozees were timid mammals no bigger than housecats. Hunted by larger natural predators, the hadozees took to the trees and evolved wing-like flaps that enabled them to glide from branch to branch. Several hundred years ago, a wizard visited Yazir, the hadozee home world, with a small fleet of spelljamming ships. Under the wizard's direction, apprentices laid magic traps and captured dozens of hadozees. The wizard fed the captives an experimental elixir that enlarged them and turned them into sapient, bipedal beings. The elixir had the side effect of intensifying the hadozees' panic response, making them more resilient when harmed. The wizard's plan was to create an army of enhanced hadozee warriors for sale to the highest bidder. But instead, the wizard's apprentices grew fond of the hadozees and helped them escape. The apprentices and the hadozees were forced to kill the wizard, after which they fled, taking with them all remaining vials of the wizard's experimental elixir. With the help of their liberators, the hadozees returned to their home world and used the elixir to create more of their kind. In time, all hadozee newborns came to possess the traits of the enhanced hadozees. Then, centuries ago, hadozees took to the stars, leaving Yazir's fearsome predators behind. In addition to being natural climbers, hadozees have feet that are as dexterous as their hands, even to the extent of having opposable thumbs. Membranes of skin hang loosely from their arms and legs. When stretched taut, these membranes enable hadozees to glide. Hadozees wrap these wings around themselves to keep warm. Hadozees’ progenitors were mammals no bigger than housecats. Hunted by larger natural predators, they took to the trees and evolved wing-like flaps that enabled them to glide from branch to branch. Today, hadozees are sapient, bipedal beings eager to leave behind the fearsome predators of their homeworld and explore other worlds. In addition to being natural climbers, hadozees have feet that are as dexterous as their hands, even to the extent of having opposable thumbs. Membranes of skin hang loosely from their arms and legs. When stretched taut, these membranes enable hadozees to glide. Hadozees wrap these wings around themselves to keep warm. |
Hadozees’ progenitors were mammals no bigger than housecats. Hunted by larger natural predators, they took to the trees and evolved wing-like flaps that enabled them to glide from branch to branch. Today, hadozees are sapient, bipedal beings eager to leave behind the fearsome predators of their homeworld and explore other worlds. In addition to being natural climbers, hadozees have feet that are as dexterous as their hands, even to the extent of having opposable thumbs. Membranes of skin hang loosely from their arms and legs. When stretched taut, these membranes enable hadozees to glide. Hadozees wrap these wings around themselves to keep warm. |
So we go from "they be monkeys in space" in Star Frontiers to "African slave reference" from poorly thought out writing implication from 3rd to 5th to "they be monkeys in space" with a scrubed backstory. Thank you, Wizards of the Coast!
Gallery[edit]
| Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Races | |
|---|---|
| Core | Dwarf • Elf • Gnome • Half-Elf • Half-Orc • Halfling • Human |
| Dark Sun | Aarakocra • Half-Giant • Mul • Pterran • Thri-kreen |
| Dragonlance | Draconian • Irda • Kender • Minotaur |
| Mystara | Aranea • Ee'ar • Enduk • Lizardfolk (Cayma • Gurrash • Shazak) • Lupin • Manscorpion • Phanaton • Rakasta • Tortle • Wallara |
| Oriental Adventures | Korobokuru • Hengeyokai • Spirit Folk |
| Planescape | Aasimar • Bariaur • Genasi • Githyanki • Githzerai • Modron • Tiefling |
| Spelljammer | Dracon • Giff • Grommam • Hadozee • Hurwaeti • Rastipede • Scro • Xixchil |
| Ravenloft: | Broken One • Flesh Golem • Half-Vistani • Therianthrope |
| Complete Book Series | Alaghi • Beastman • Bugbear • Bullywug • Centaur • Duergar • Fremlin • Firbolg • Flind • Gnoll • Goblin • Half-Ogre • Hobgoblin • Kobold • Mongrelfolk • Ogre • Ogre Mage • Orc • Pixie • Satyr • Saurial • Svirfneblin • Swanmay • Voadkyn • Wemic |
| Dragon Magazine | Half-Dryad • Half-Satyr • Uldra • Xvart |