Huecoyotl [Coyotes] [PG-13]

Huecoyotl, Tales and Tricks

“The coyote sat down by a spring under a walnut tree, thinking about the soldiers that he knew were after him. He swept the ground clean under the tree and strung his money up on its branches. Pretty soon the soldiers came along, and the coyote said, ‘I’m going to tell you about this tree. Money grows on it and I want to sell it. Want to buy?’
The soldiers were interested, and the coyote told them, ‘It takes a day for the money to grow and ripen. Today’s crop is mine, but tomorrow it’s all yours. I’ll sell you this fine tree for all your pack mules.”
-Folk Legend

Rated PG-13

The following material contains brief mention of sexual themes, and may not be appropriate for all groups and/or players. Please do not use this material in a game without approval from the GM as well as the other players.

Playtest Version

This material is still in the process of being playtested. It is fully usable as written, but may be refined or changed in later versions. As always, this content should only be used with GM permission.

The Huecoyotl

With sandy or warm gray fur, a narrow muzzle full of sharp teeth, and fingers and toes tipped with blunt, non-retractable claws, the huecoyotl closely resemble a humanoid version of the coyotes they are named for. Like coyotes they are swift and sneaky scavengers who, at first glance, seem to thrive off of the labor of others, but on deeper inspection are often a vital part of the underlying natural cycles of their environment. If defenses can be breached, they will find a way. If people are in need, they will obtain what is required.

Wise Coyotes

The word “huecoyotl” literally means “wise coyote,” to distinguish them from the beasts they resemble. Their origins are unclear and there is much conflicting folklore, but the most commonly told tale is that they are distant descendants of some deity or archfey who the huecoyotl refer to as “Old Grandfather.” The stories of Old Grandfather tell of him walking freely between the form of a human and the form of an actual coyote. Like Old Grandfather before them, the huecoyotl are inventive, friendly risk-takers, and often call upon powerful magic.

Gleeful Tricksters

While they instinctively delight in harmless pranks and comedy, the trickster nature the huecoyotl inherited from Old Grandfather runs deeper. As a spiritual archetype, tricksters are responsible for inventing (or stealing from the gods) many of the luxuries that people take for granted. They also often become thieves or shamans (or both), and have an uncanny talent for persuading others, either with a silver tongue or with disarmingly simple words. Despite embodying roles that are considered outsiders in most societies, they are seen as heroes to common people as often as menaces, and they remind people of the important parts of life that should be relished regardless of law and order.

Live in the Moment, Live to Excess

To a huecoyotl, anything worth doing is worth doing with total abandon. Don’t just eat that turkey drumstick, feast on it and go back for five more. Don’t just sing a sad song, cry out the lament with all your soul. Don’t just tease the guard who needs to lighten up, mock him absurdly. Don’t just filch a few copper pieces from a nobleman, con him out of dozens of platinum. A life without daring and testing your wits and skill is a life for other, far more dull, people. But remember, don’t just avoid getting caught, make sure you escape to laugh about it around the campfire, as well.

What is a “She”?

Similar to the elves, the huecoyotl have a more diverse range of physical sexes. Unlike the elves, however, huecoyotl society views gender as an entirely individual matter that is unique to each individual and thus more akin to personal fashion than a social grouping. Sexual preferences may favor particular “types” but they rarely limit their choices along anatomical lines. Even their dialect of Common does not even have words for distinguishing male or female and the only linguistic division of pronouns is “he” for any living things (even including plants) and “it” for entirely inanimate objects. Curiously it is not strictly masculine words that are retained in their dialect—all siblings are “sister,” for example. They sometimes struggle to understand the concept of dividing up people into sets by gender, but most are clever enough to catch on that it is important to other folk and are eager to learn about strange customs like this, even if it takes them a while to figure out how it works.

Huecoyotl Names

Huecoyotl are given a personal name at birth, and when they come of age they are given a byname by an elder based on either some notable antics, a defining personality trait, a prophecy about their future, or some other aspect of their life. Typically only family, close friends, and childhood peers will continue to use an adult’s personal name.

Example Personal Names: Ahuiliztli, Citlali, Chantico, Chimalman, Ichtaca, Meztli, Moyolehuani, Namacuix, Oxomoco, Teicuih, Teyacapan, Xipilli, Xochipepe, Yohualticetl

Example Bynames: Armadillo’s Friend, Burning Tree Singer, Chief’s Loincloth Thief, Eighty Thousand Words, Eagle Is His Sister, His Knives Are Sharp, In Shadows Of A Cactus, Jousts On A Mule, Kind Claw, Mocking Shaman, Long Tooth, Outruns Sandstorms, Pepper Night, Rain Drum, Sells Acorns To Squirrels, Ten Wineskins, Thread of Steel

Huecoyotl Traits

Your huecoyotl character has a number of innate traits due to their form, their instincts, and their spiritual associations.
    Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma scores each increase by 1.
    Age. Huecoyotl develop more slowly than humans, reaching physical maturity around age 21, however their coming of age ceremony occurs at age 37. They remain youthful for a very long time, not reaching middle age for at least another century beyond that, and their elders sometimes live to be over 350 years old.
Alignment. Huecoyotl live for thrills and levity, chafing at any sort of strict organizational structure, and as such almost none of them favor lawful alignments. Most do not intend malice with their pranks, and some actively seek to educate and improve others with them, but as a whole, they have the full range of good and evil among their numbers.
Size. A huecoyotl is usually between just under five feet to just under six feet tall, and usually weighs between 110 to 170 lbs. Your size is Medium.
    Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
    Bite. Your teeth are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with your bite, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + either your Strength or Dexterity modifier. Your bite is considered to be a finesse weapon as well as an unarmed strike.
    Clever Tongue. You know the friends cantrip and can cast it without material components. Furthermore, the affected creature does not realize you used magic to influence it when the spell ends, but does realize it was manipulated. Whether the creature becomes hostile as a result is a matter of GM discretion.
    Cunning. You gain proficiency in the Deception and Survival skills, and you also gain proficiency in Thieves Tools.
    Gluttonous Healing. Each day that you eat twice as much food as normal, for the next day, when you regain hit points by spending a hit die you add your proficiency modifier to the result.
    Lusty Fortune. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can re-roll the die and must use the new roll. You may use this ability any number of times, but only if you have had sexual relations with a consenting creature that has an Intelligence score of at least 5 since the beginning of your last long rest.
    Wild Scavenger. You have advantage on saving throws against disease, and have resistance against damage dealt by them.
    Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Base Weight	Height Modifier	Weight Modifier
4’6″	100 lbs	+2d10	x(1d6)

New Feat

Storyteller

You have a way with words and are a clever and engaging teller of tales.
During any rest, you may spend at least 30 minutes to tell a story relating in some way to a personality trait, ideal, bond or flaw of a character who can hear and understand you. That character gains inspiration. You can use this ability three times before taking a long rest, but it must apply to either a different character or a different personality trait, ideal, bond, or flaw with each use. This ability may be used more than once during a rest, if time allows.

Legal Appendix

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System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

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