"If you’re considering taking a scaled one along on an adventure, remember this important fact. The strange, inhuman glint in its eyes as it looks you over is the same look you might give a freshly grilled steak." —Tordek, dwarf Fighter and adventurer

Lizardfolk possess an alien and inscrutable mindset, their desires and thoughts driven by a different set of basic principles than those of warm-blooded creatures. Their dismal swamp homes might lie hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement, but the gap between their way of thinking and that of the smooth-skins is far greater.

Despite their alien outlook, some lizardfolk make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races. Such lizardfolk make faithful and skilled allies. Lizardfolk have colorful scales and exhibit a wide array of scale patterns. Their individual facial features are as varied as those of lizards.

Alien Minds

The lizardfolk’s reptilian nature comes through not only in their appearance, but also in how they think and act. Lizardfolk experience a more limited emotional life than other humanoids. Like most reptiles, their feelings largely revolve around fear, aggression, and pleasure.

Lizardfolk experience most feelings as detached descriptions of creatures and situations. For example, humans confronted by an angry troll experience fear on a basic level. Their limbs shake, their thinking becomes panicked and jumbled, and they react by instinct. The emotion of fear takes hold and controls their actions. In contrast, lizardfolk see emotions as traits assigned to other creatures, objects, and situations. A lizardfolk doesn’t think, “I’m scared.” Instead, aggressive, stronger creatures register to the lizardfolk as fearsome beings to be avoided if possible. If such creatures atack, lizardfolk flee, fighting only if cornered. Lizardfolk aren’t scared of a troll; instead, they understand that a troll is a fearsome, dangerous creature and react accordingly.

Lizardfolk never become angry in the way others do, but they act with aggression toward creatures that they could defeat in a fight and that can’t be dealt with in some other manner. They are aggressive toward prey they want to eat, creatures that want to harm them, and so on.

Pleasurable people and things make life easier for lizardfolk. Pleasurable things should be preserved and protected, sometimes at the cost of the lizardfolk’s own safety. The most pleasurable creatures and things are ones that allow lizardfolk to assess more situations as benign rather than fearsome.

Cold and Calculating

Most Humanoids describe cold-blooded people as lacking in emotion and empathy. The same label serves as an apt depiction of lizardfolk.

Lacking any internal emotional reactions, lizardfolk behave in a distant manner. They don’t mourn fallen comrades or rage against their enemies. They simply observe and react as a situation warrants.

Lizardfolk lack meaningful emotional ties to the past. They assess situations based on their current and future utility and importance. Nowhere does this come through as strongly as when lizardfolk deal with the dead. To a lizardfolk, a comrade who dies becomes a potential source of food. That companion might have once been a warrior or hunter, but now the body is just freshly killed meat.

A lizardfolk who lives among other humanoids can, over time, learn to respect other creatures’ emotions. The lizardfolk doesn’t share those feelings, but instead assesses them in the same clinical manner. Yes, the fallen dwarf might be most useful as a meal, but hacking the body into steaks provokes aggression in the other humanoids and makes them less helpful in battle.

Appearance

Lizardfolk typically walk on two legs, but are capable of moving on all fours. Their eyes have a cold, predatory gaze, and their snouts are lined with rows of sharp teeth. Lizardfolk come in a range of colors, including greens, browns, and grays, which help them blend into their natural environments.

Utility and Survival

The Lizardfolk mindset might seem unnecessarily cruel, but it helps them survive in a Hostile Environment. The swamps they inhabit are filled with a staggering variety of threats. Lizardfolk focus on Survival above all, without sentiment.

Lizardfolk assess everyone and everything in terms of utility. Art and beauty have little meaning for them. A sharp sword serves a useful and good Purpose, while a dull sword is a dead weight without a Whetstone.

Lizardfolk see little need to plan more than a season or so into the future. This approach allows them to maintain their current level of Influence in the world, but it limits their growth. Lizardfolk have no interest in developing writing, making long-term plans, or cultivating other methods to progress beyond their simple existence as hunters and gatherers.

Hapless Soft Ones

At their core, lizardfolk view other humanoids with an indifference verging on pity. Born into the world lacking stout scales and sharp teeth, it’s a wonder they have managed to survive for so long. The typical human would barely make it through a day in the swamps.

Still, if other creatures prove useful to lizardfolk, those creatures can trigger a protective response made all the stronger by their apparent weakness. The lizardfolk assess such beings as hatchlings, young ones incapable of protecting themselves but who might prove useful in the future if they receive care.

Lizardfolk Personality

You can use the Lizardfolk Quirks table to determine a personality quirk for a lizardfolk character or to inspire a unique mannerism.

Lizardfolk Quirks

Lizardfolk Speech

Lizardfolk can master common, but their mindset results in a speech pattern distinct from other humanoids. They rarely use metaphors. Their speech is almost always literal. They might pick up idioms, but only with some difficulty. Names confuse them, unless they are descriptive. They tend to apply their own naming conventions to other creatures using common words.

Lizardfolk use active verbs to describe the world. A lizardfolk in cold weather might say, “This wind brings cold” rather than “I feel cold.” Lizardfolk tend to define things in terms of actions, rather than effects.

Lizardfolk Names

Lizardfolk take their names from the draconic language. They use simple descriptives granted by the tribe based on an individual’s notable deeds or actions. For example, Garurt translates as “axe,” a name given to a lizardfolk warrior who defeated an orc and claimed his foe’s weapon. A lizardfolk who likes to hide in a stand of reeds before ambushing an animal might be called Achuak, which means “green” to describe how she blends into the foliage.

Lizardfolk make no distinction between male and female in their naming conventions. Each example name includes its translation in parenthesis.

Lizardfolk Names: Achuak (green), Aryte (war), Baeshra (animal), Darastrix (dragon), Garurt (axe), Irhtos (secret), Jhank (hammer), Kepesk (storm), Kethend (gem), Korth (danger), Kosj (small), Kothar (demon), Litrix (armor), Mirik (song), Othokent (smart), Sauriv (eye), Throden (many), Thurkear (night), Usk (iron), Valignat (burn), Vargach (battle), Verthica (mountain), Vutha (black), Vyth (steel)

Lizardfolk Traits

Your Lizardfolk character has the following racial Traits.

Age. Lizardfolk reach maturity around age 14 and rarely live longer than 60 years.

Size. Lizardfolk vary in size depending on their subrace. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Bite. You have a fanged maw that you can use to make Unarmed strikes. When you hit with it, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier piercing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an Unarmed strike.

Natural Armor. You have tough, scaly skin. You gain an innate +1 to your natural armor (stacks with armor).

Hungry Jaws. You can throw yourself into a feeding Frenzy. As a bonus Action, you can make a Special Attack with your Bite. If the Attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary Hit Points equal to your Proficiency bonus. You can use this trait a number of times equal to half your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.

Random Height and Weight

You may roll for your character’s Height and Weight. The roll in the Height Modifier column adds a number (in inches) to the character’s base height. To get a weight, multiply the number you rolled for height by the roll in the Weight Modifier column and add the result (in pounds) to the base weight.

Frill-Neck lizardfolk are smaller in stature than their more common cousins, but make up for it with traits that let them avoid confrontation when possible, and strike precisely when necessary. As their name suggests, a Frill-Neck's defining feature is a large sail around their neck, that can be flared out to intimdate predators, and to assert strength in interpersonal disputes.

Venomous Glands. You know the Poison Spray cantrip.

Lightweight. When wearing light or no armor, you can run along the surface of water without falling during your move. If you end your movement while still on the water, you fall into it as normal. In addition your movement speed is increased to 35 feet.

Gatorfolk are much larger than the more common lizardfolk that most people are aware of. They are often seen as brutes or enforcers, and not without reason. Gatorfolk are the strongest breed of lizardfolk, and their capabilities in combat are unrivaled. Similarly to common lizardfolk, gatorfolk are most at home in swamps, and have mastered the art of hunting in swamps, using their environment to put down their foes with extreme efficiency.

Lockjaw. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon's damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit. You may use this with your Bite attack. If you do, add the maximum of the extra die.

Death Roll. You have advantage on checks to prevent a grappled creature from escaping.

Sandscale lizardfolk live in deserts that would inhospitable to most other races. Despite, or maybe because of these harsh conditions, Sandscale lizards have adapted to become ruthlessly efficient desert predators. Whether basking during the day or hunting in twilight hours, they are adept at remaining unseen among the shifting sands.

Desert Mirage. You have proficiency in the Stealth skill. In addition, you have advantage on Stealth checks made to hide in desert or rocky terrain.

Harsh Heats. You are immune to the negative effects of extreme heat and gain resistance to Fire damage.

Scalehide tend to have a more hunched posture and their bodies are well adapted for survival in aquatic or marshy habitats, with webbed hands and feet enabling efficient swimming. They are a little bulkier and taller than humans, and their colorful frills make them appear even larger.

Water Affinity. You have a swim speed of 30 feet and can hold your breath for one hour at a time.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.