These spacefaring monkey-folk were originally published in TSR’s RPG Star Frontiers, but have since made their way into Dungeons and Dragons, particularly the Spelljammer setting. In this article, we’ll go over all you need to know about the hadozee in 5E.
Disclaimer: Whilst the official plural of hadozee is ‘hadozees,’ the author of this article finds that silly and, as such, will use hadozee as both the singular and plural form of the race.
Of course, a wizard did it
The hadozee originated on the planet Yazir, where they were originally no larger than a common housecat. In their original form, the hadozee were a prey animal constantly hunted by larger predators, using their ability to climb and glide to avoid the dangerous ground below.
Their lives were forever altered by the arrival of a spelljamming wizard and their apprentices, who were directed to use magical traps to capture dozens of the small hadozee. With a scheme to alchemically alter the timid mammals into an army of warriors to auction off for the highest price, the wizard used an elixir upon the captured creatures. This elixir had a dramatic effect on the hadozee, making them grow substantially in size and intelligence, whilst forcing them to be bipedal and enhancing their natural defense mechanisms.
Sympathizing with the now sapient hadozee, the wizard’s apprentices set them free. In the resulting skirmish, they killed the wizard, and the hadozee escaped with all of the remaining elixirs and fed it to their smaller counterparts. Over time the effects of the elixir became inherent to being a hadozee, with each child born bearing all of its benefits.
Although changed into a humanoid by the elixir, modern hadozee share many traits with their forebears, such as, their deft ability to climb, the skin membrane connecting their arms and legs, allowing them to glide, and their incredibly dextrous feet, which even have opposable thumbs.
Monkeying around: Playing a Hadozee
Playing a Hadozee gives you the following traits:
Ability Scores – You can increase one ability score by 2 and a different score by 1; alternatively, you can increase three different ability scores by 1.
Size – Small or Medium, your choice.
Creature Type – Humanoid
Speed – 30 ft. and 30 ft. Climbing
Age – The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure.
Glide – As long as you are not wearing heavy armor or incapacitated, you can use your skin membranes to glide, giving you the following benefits:
- You can use your reaction to reduce damage from a fall to zero.
- For every foot you descend, you can move five feet horizontally. For example, dropping 5 ft. would allow you to move 25 ft. horizontally.
Dextrous Feet – You can use a bonus action to manipulate an object with your feet, including opening/closing a door or container, or picking up or putting down a tiny object.
Hadozee Resilience – You can use a reaction to reduce damage you just took by 1d6 + your proficiency bonus. You can use this ability a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.
Languages – You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.
We hope you’ve enjoyed gliding tree-to-tree with the hadozee, as much as we have. Have you played a hadozee yet? Are you planning to? If you want to learn more about other race options, check out our races section, or if you want to understand the world’s greatest roleplaying game better, check out our how to play section. Good luck out there adventurers, and until next time, remember, moisturize those gliding flaps!
