Chupacabra

**Chupacabras** are a group of humanoid creatures closely related to the gnolls. Unlike gnolls however they more closely resemble xolo dog's than hyenas. Chupacabras are sanguivores, which means that they use blood feed themselves and to keep themselves hydrated in the arid desert lands which they call home. However when they get the opportunity to eat another type of soft food, such as a piece of fruit or eggs, they will gladly take it. Chupacabras travel under the shifting sands of the Coarse Sea in giant Death Worms which they call Desert Subs. They often only come to the surface in order to trade with others for livestock and other necessities.

## Description

Chupacabras are tall and lean, with the average member of the race standing on average between 1.80 to 2.10 meters and weigh usually between 75 to 125 kilograms. In part because of their height and lean musculature, chupacabras are surprisingly nimble compared to other races such as humans.

Chupacabra come in two variations, coated and hairless. The skin of a chupacabra can vary from glossy black, to light grey, to green. The fur of the coated variant can range from ashen, to light yellow, to orangey-red, with occasional black or white stripes. besides their hide the only other hair that grows beyond a few inch is the mane that grows as a necklace around their neck and can grow to the point that it starts to resemble an coat.

Chupacabras have adapted their to life in the desert by developing a diet that allows them to get most of their water from the food they eat. In order to stay hydrated, they have become sanguivores , meaning that they live of the blood of other creatures, though primarily from livestock such as goats. When outside of their own communities, they will try out other foods, but chupacabra tribes it is frowned upon to consume anything but blood. They aren't used to regularly drinking water, meaning that they can die from thirst when not eating enough wet foods, and living of mostly dry foods for a long time period can also lead to diabetes. This unfamiliarity with drinking water has the unfortunate side-effect of making chupacabras unable to drink more than 3 beers before starting to vomit from an overfull stomach, making them prefer to make and drink highly concentrated alcohols. Their urine is also highly concentrated to preserve as much water as possible, giving it a very strong smell.

Female chupacabras are indistinguishable from their males by counterparts, in spite of a reputation for being shorter. In fact, so similar are male and female chupacabras in appearance that they are often mistaken for one another until they start to talk.

Chupacabra have slightly longer lifespans than gnolls, but still very short ones for a humanoid race. they grow up at the same speed as gnolls, being able to walk after a few months and reaching adulthood at an age of 6. After reaching adulthood chupacabras start to grow the mane on their body which grows out into an almost robe like model, which becomes a mark of wisdom and demands respect from the younger chupacabras. When chupacabras die they are usually fed to the Sand Worm as fuel to keep the tribe from being swallowed.

## Abilities

Chupacabras are swift and nimble creatures who are able to easily evade their bigger cousin's attacks. Chupacabras where originally hunters of the night, similarly to other bloodsucking creatures, but nowadays use to see inside of their Sand Subs. They combine this sight with a strong sense of smell that they can use to sniff out the warm blood of their prey.

Chupacabras posses strong but fragile sabre tooth fangs that they can use to scrape a wound open from where they lick the blood that drips out. Consuming blood gives a chupacabra an invigorated feeling, but they will only try this during combat when they know that they can restrain their pray.

## Psychology

Chupacabras are nomadic by their very nature. In the early days they travelled around to stalk their prays in the arid savannas. Later they began to trade with agrarian communities who thought them how to herd livestock which shifted the focus of their travels from stalking prey to finding greener pastures for their flock to graze on. Eventually however they would be pushed back to less and less favourable lands as their old homes were taken over by peoples who preferred a more stationary lifestyle. Eventually they were pushed all the way back to the coasts of the Coarse Sea. Here they would learn how to tame the mighty Death Worms which allows them to travel around the desert with ease. Chupacabra's prefer the quiet of nature and the tribe over the hustle and bustle of civilisation. In those rare cases that a chupacabra does decide to settle down they get looked at with suspicion as most people believe them to be nothing but vampiric menaces who suck those around them dry.

Chupacabras often come over as very charming, if a bit odd and direct to those who trade with them. They have a friendly demeanour and don't like to brag. However when they interact with other chupacabras or with gnolls their less charming side comes out. They often yell at each other or command each other around in a bossy and rude voice. The reason why they do this is because chupacabras hold the believe that in a distant past they were the traditional royal class of the gnoll family. Gnolls who hear this however are quick to put them back into their place with a quick slash.

## Culture

### Birthdays

The Chupacabras celebrate the birthday of their pups by hanging a dead Sand Shark, which they call the *Sharkiñata*, filled with small rodents who either have been freshly butchered or knocked unconscious from the top of their desert sub. They usually do this in by drilling a special rope in a teeth on the top row of the Death Worm's mouth which they also use to lift heavy loads from outside the worm into their living area.

During the celebrations the pups get blindfolded, spun around 33 times, and then have to find the shark with their own smell. Once they find the Sharkiñata they have to rip through the though sand shark skin with nothing but their their bare fangs. During the celebrations it is a common and amusing sight is to see an entire litter hang a few meters above the ground with their teeth stuck in the shark, none of them willing to give up no matter how much the adult shakes it. When the pups finally manage to rip the the shark open the rodents will fall out for all to grab. All attendants are then allowed to pick up at least rodent (although the pups usually get more if available) to suck dry as a celebratory treat.

Al thou it is a lot rarer to see, some adult chupacabras also like to use a Sharkiñata on their birthdays for the sake of nostalgia. However they usually feed the rodents rotten fruits beforehand to fill them with alcohol and knock them out. Then when the chupacabras suck the alcohol filled creatures dry they get intoxicated themselves. This is often done by chupacabra's who have turned away from their traditional lifestyle and have taken up residence in a city as they have more free time and expandable resources than their nomadic brethren.

### Coming of Age

The chupacabra have an inherent hatred for the vampiric jackalope, and will fight them on sight. When the chupacabra were still primitive the two species would do this for dominance and the right to feed off the locale prey. Nowadays wrestling with a jackalope is seen as a right of passage in which a young chupacabra proofs that he is strong enough to be considered a man. Young chupacabras will go on a quest which sometimes takes well over a year to find one. They have to travel far outside of their desert homeland to find the mighty, and nearly extinct beast, all the way back in the forests near the lands were their species once evolved. Most chupacabras do not know this, but they do feel a hinge of familiarity when entering there.

## Name

**Male names**: Alejandro, Bernardo, Carlo, Diego, Esteban, Facundo, Gabrielle, Heitor, Ignacio, Juan, Kaneen, Leonardo, Marco, Nicolau, Octavio, Pablo, Quanah, Roldao, Simon, Tito, Umberto, Valerio, Wayra

**Female names**: Andreia, Bia, Constanza, Dores, Estela, Febe, Genoveva, Hauca, Iria, Jade, Kachin, Loma, Marisol, Nina, Oneida, Perla, Querida, Renata, Sophie, Tatiana, Ulloraiq, Victoria, Winona, Ximena, Yesenia, Zoe

## Ingame-statistics

Your Chupacabra character shares a number of with other Chupacabra.
***Ability Score Increase.*** You can increase one of your ability scores by 2, and another one by 1. These increases can’t raise a score above 20.
***Darkvision.*** Because of your life inside the desert sub you have become used to living in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of gray.
***Keen Smell.*** You have Advantage on wis (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
***Bloodsucker.*** When you grapple a creature you can use your bite attack once to drain your target to gain 1d6 temporary hitpoints. You regain the ability to do so again when you finish a short rest.
Your fanged bite is a natural weapon, which counts as a simple melee weapon with which you are proficient. You add your strenght modifier to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with your bite. Your bite deals 1d4 piercing damage on a hit. While you are missing half or more of your hit points, you have advantage on attack rolls you make with this bite. When you use your bite and hit a creature that isn’t a Construct or an Undead, you can empower yourself in one of the following ways of your choice:
\* regain hit points equal to the damage dealt by the bite
\* gain a bonus to the next ability check or attack roll you make; the bonus equals the damage dealt by the bite
You can empower yourself with your bite a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
***Languages.*** You can speak, read, and write Common and Gnarlish. While most humans find the bestial tongue known as Gnarlish hard to speak, the language comes quiet naturally to the fanged muzzle of a chupacabra. Gnarlish is made out of a myriad of sounds such as howls, yips, and growls.