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I've never really liked how lizardfolk have been treated in D&D and other countless games. For some reason people seem to assume that their ectothermic metabolisms would make them inferior next to the many mammalian races, when in fact it would probably be their greatest strength and would likely lead them to completely dominate those very races.
This variant race is my example of just such a scenario.

Note: I'm currently struggling with writer's block but I'm planning to add much, much more.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lizardfolk
Description: Lizardfolk, or "sisranu" as they call themselves, are powerful and intelligent reptilian creatures whose technological superiority have made them a force to be reckoned with.
They are omnivorous and universally enjoy sun-basking, bathing, and swimming. Although they are ectotherms, or cold-blooded, the large body mass of a lizardperson enables them to retain heat much longer than other smaller reptiles, which enable them to not be as dependent on external heat sources to regulate their body temperatures once they have heated up. Being ectotherms, lizardfolk consume much less food than the other races, and eat only one third of the amount that other humanoids need to get by.
Sunbasking in the mornings is an activity which can be found in all lizardfolk cultures, but this is not required to function normally. Because of their intellect and use of tools, lizardfolk have other important heat sources such as fire, cloth, and furs which serve crucial roles to control their body temperatures.
Lizardfolk have tetrachromatic vision and can perceive colors within the ultraviolet spectrum. This enables them to perceive a far greater range of colors than most other races, and distinguish between colors which to most other races appear to be identical. To lizardfolk, most other races are colorblind.

Physical Description: Possessing a muscular, lean, and agile build, lizardfolk look like large, bipedal lizards. They typically stand just a few inches taller than most humans, with an average height of a little over six feet, and are covered in blue scales with black stripes. Lizardfolk jaws are lined with sharp teeth, and they possess claws capable of rending a human to pieces.
A row of soft spines run down their backs from the top of their heads to the middle of their tails.
Eye colors range from amber, blue, green, and yellow.

Lizardmen are slightly more muscular than lizardwomen and their spines, especially the ones on their backs, are distinctly longer than those of the lizardwomen. Their scales are slightly darker than those of lizardwomen, and they have markings on their noses and foreheads; and stripes that go all the way down their tails, as well as thicker stripes in general.
The reproductive organs of lizardmen, called hemipenes, are somewhat different from those of the males of the other races and are held inverted within the body.

Lizardwomen are slightly thinner than lizardmen and their spines are barely visible on their backs. Their scales are slightly brighter than those of lizardmen, and they have markings around the eyes as well as thinner stripes.
They have a cloaca, a posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts.

Moulting: Like other lizards, lizardfolk shed their skin regularly during a period that can take one to two weeks. Adults only shed once per year, while children shed several times a year as their old skins are outgrown.
Bathing in warm water or applying oils to their skins are methods used by the lizardfolk who are able to, as this brings down the shedding period to only one week instead of two.
Shedding is a very uncomfortable process, which causes the lizardperson to feel both itchy and slightly restrained as the old skin is replaced by fresh, tender skin. This in turn leads them to be both irritable and grumpy.
While shedding, lizardpeople often request their companions, friends, family, servants, or slaves to rub or massage areas that they themselves cannot reach in order to relieve the itching and assist with the shedding process.
Once the old skin has been fully shed, lizardfolk who follow the religion of their people will take the skin to a local temple dedicated to Ushwaduri, the flayed goddess of renewal, and burn it as an offering. Though, those who are too far away from one of the goddess's temples may burn it as an offering anywhere.

Sex and Reproduction: The sexual behavior of lizardfolk are quite different from those of the other races.
A lizardwoman has multiple mates and produces clutches of eggs with multiple paternity. What this means is that if a lizardwoman has mated with more than one male, the eggs within a single clutch will have different fathers, which helps increase variation and survivability. This is thanks to the ability of the lizardwoman's body to store the seeds of her mates for up to six years to fertilize her eggs.
Males do not exhibit any sexual rivalry as all potential rivals help contribute to their mate's clutch, and it is often nearly impossible to identify the paternity of their individual children.
As long as her body holds the seed to fertilize her eggs, a lizardwoman will lay a clutch of about six eggs every four years. These eggs are kept somewhere warm and cared for by her mates, children, or servants for a period of six months, until they are ready to hatch.
As with most other reptiles, an egg's temperature will determine the gender of the hatchling, with a low temperature resulting in a female. Since lizardfolk society has a great deal of gender segregation, families often plan out the genders of their children in advance to serve their own needs.
Rape is virtually non-existant among lizardfolk, as they are incapable of even conceiving having sex with anyone who does not appear to be receptive. The rare occasion when it does occur, however, it is usually due to one party misunderstanding another.
The success of their species have made overpopulation a problem, and because of this lizardwomen often attempt to limit the number of clutches they have over the course of their lives. This leads them to find alternate means of sexual gratification in order to avoid conception, and some lizardwomen even dable with interspecies relationships to satisfy their needs.

Society: Lizardfolk societies tend to be incredibly sophisticated and successful, and this success is due to their ectothermic metabolisms. Because they are cold-blooded, lizardfolk eat much less than the other races, which lead them to produce a much larger food surplus than those of other societies, which can in turn support a larger number of specialists. What this means in the long run is that lizardfolk societies can afford more extensive bureaucracies, larger professional armies, a larger aristocracy, as well as more doctors, teachers, and scholars than any endotherm civilization. For these reasons, lizardfolk tend to dominate their warm-blooded neighbors. Of course, ectothermy does have its downsides, as lizardfolk are suceptible to cold, which limit their expansion in colder regions.

Due to their biology, lizardfolk are universally matriarchal and practice polyandry, a form of polygamy whereby lizardwomen take several husbands at the same time. In a typical lizardfolk household, there is a matriarch who rules the family, her husbands who work for the household, and the children who are raised by both the matriarch, her husbands, and their older siblings. A household also includes any servants or slaves of the family.
The lizardfolk family unit differs somewhat from that of the other races, in that it includes the matriarch's adult daughters and their husbands, as well as the freedmen of the household.
While the matriarch is the absolute head of the family, she is also expected to provide for all of its members, including their slaves and animals (even though they are considered to be property).

Lizardfolk societies tend to have a good deal of sex segregation. This begins at an early age as the lizardmen provide the majority of the parenting of the male children, while the lizardwomen provide most of the parenting of the female children. While educational institutions tend to be open to both sexes, the education of males and females tend to differ greatly: males are primarily taught labor- and service-oriented skills, while females are primarily taught leadership and administrative skills.
While most occupations are very clearly dominated by one sex or the other, some are more mixed, for instance the military. However, even there sex makes a difference as females are trained as officers whereas males are not.
Magically or artistically talented individuals are the exception to this rule, as such individuals are seen as too valuable and in demand to waste. Instead, these lizardfolk can look forward to a prestigious education and apprenticeship.

Racial Traits
+2 Strength, +2 Dexterity: Lizardfolk are both strong and agile.
Humanoid (Lizardfolk)
Medium: As Medium creatures, lizardfolk have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Lizardfolk have a base speed of 30 feet.
Bite: Lizardfolk have a natural bite attack, dealing 1d6 damage.
Claws: Lizardfolk have two claw attacks, dealing 1d4 damage each.
Cold-Blooded: The body temperature of lizardfolk fluctuate with the temperature of the environment. They are initially less susceptible to damage from high or low body temperature, gaining a +2 Fortitude bonus on their first hourly roll against hot conditions or cold weather, and they take a -2 Fortitude penalty against non-environmental cold effects. However, this penalty is negated if the lizardfolk character wears a cold weather outfit.
Because of their cold-blooded metabolism, lizardfolk consume only 1/3 the amount of food other Medium-sized races eat, and require only 6 ounces of decent food per day to avoid starvation.
In conditions of severe cold, exposure, or if unprotected in cold weather, lizardfolk move 10 feet slower, take a -2 penalty to their Dexterity, and take a -2 Fortitude penalty to fight the cold. In extreme cold conditions, lizardfolk move 20 feet slower, take a -4 penalty to their Dexterity, and take a -4 Fortitude penalty to fight the cold.
Hard Scales: +1 natural armor bonus.
Public Education: Lizardfolk gain Skill Focus as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Swim: Lizardfolk have a swim speed of 30 feet and receive the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants.
Languages: Lizardfolk begin play speaking two languages which are based on the region. Lizardfolk with high Intelligence scores can choose from a pool of seven languages.

Description
Art by

I've never really liked how lizardfolk have been treated in D&D and other countless games. For some reason people seem to assume that their ectothermic metabolisms would make them inferior next to the many mammalian races, when in fact it would probably be their greatest strength and would likely lead them to completely dominate those very races.
This variant race is my example of just such a scenario.

Note: I'm currently struggling with writer's block but I'm planning to add much, much more.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lizardfolk
Description: Lizardfolk, or "sisranu" as they call themselves, are powerful and intelligent reptilian creatures whose technological superiority have made them a force to be reckoned with.
They are omnivorous and universally enjoy sun-basking, bathing, and swimming. Although they are ectotherms, or cold-blooded, the large body mass of a lizardperson enables them to retain heat much longer than other smaller reptiles, which enable them to not be as dependent on external heat sources to regulate their body temperatures once they have heated up. Being ectotherms, lizardfolk consume much less food than the other races, and eat only one third of the amount that other humanoids need to get by.
Sunbasking in the mornings is an activity which can be found in all lizardfolk cultures, but this is not required to function normally. Because of their intellect and use of tools, lizardfolk have other important heat sources such as fire, cloth, and furs which serve crucial roles to control their body temperatures.
Lizardfolk have tetrachromatic vision and can perceive colors within the ultraviolet spectrum. This enables them to perceive a far greater range of colors than most other races, and distinguish between colors which to most other races appear to be identical. To lizardfolk, most other races are colorblind.

Physical Description: Possessing a muscular, lean, and agile build, lizardfolk look like large, bipedal lizards. They typically stand just a few inches taller than most humans, with an average height of a little over six feet, and are covered in blue scales with black stripes. Lizardfolk jaws are lined with sharp teeth, and they possess claws capable of rending a human to pieces.
A row of soft spines run down their backs from the top of their heads to the middle of their tails.
Eye colors range from amber, blue, green, and yellow.

Lizardmen are slightly more muscular than lizardwomen and their spines, especially the ones on their backs, are distinctly longer than those of the lizardwomen. Their scales are slightly darker than those of lizardwomen, and they have markings on their noses and foreheads; and stripes that go all the way down their tails, as well as thicker stripes in general.
The reproductive organs of lizardmen, called hemipenes, are somewhat different from those of the males of the other races and are held inverted within the body.

Lizardwomen are slightly thinner than lizardmen and their spines are barely visible on their backs. Their scales are slightly brighter than those of lizardmen, and they have markings around the eyes as well as thinner stripes.
They have a cloaca, a posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts.

Moulting: Like other lizards, lizardfolk shed their skin regularly during a period that can take one to two weeks. Adults only shed once per year, while children shed several times a year as their old skins are outgrown.
Bathing in warm water or applying oils to their skins are methods used by the lizardfolk who are able to, as this brings down the shedding period to only one week instead of two.
Shedding is a very uncomfortable process, which causes the lizardperson to feel both itchy and slightly restrained as the old skin is replaced by fresh, tender skin. This in turn leads them to be both irritable and grumpy.
While shedding, lizardpeople often request their companions, friends, family, servants, or slaves to rub or massage areas that they themselves cannot reach in order to relieve the itching and assist with the shedding process.
Once the old skin has been fully shed, lizardfolk who follow the religion of their people will take the skin to a local temple dedicated to Ushwaduri, the flayed goddess of renewal, and burn it as an offering. Though, those who are too far away from one of the goddess's temples may burn it as an offering anywhere.

Sex and Reproduction: The sexual behavior of lizardfolk are quite different from those of the other races.
A lizardwoman has multiple mates and produces clutches of eggs with multiple paternity. What this means is that if a lizardwoman has mated with more than one male, the eggs within a single clutch will have different fathers, which helps increase variation and survivability. This is thanks to the ability of the lizardwoman's body to store the seeds of her mates for up to six years to fertilize her eggs.
Males do not exhibit any sexual rivalry as all potential rivals help contribute to their mate's clutch, and it is often nearly impossible to identify the paternity of their individual children.
As long as her body holds the seed to fertilize her eggs, a lizardwoman will lay a clutch of about six eggs every four years. These eggs are kept somewhere warm and cared for by her mates, children, or servants for a period of six months, until they are ready to hatch.
As with most other reptiles, an egg's temperature will determine the gender of the hatchling, with a low temperature resulting in a female. Since lizardfolk society has a great deal of gender segregation, families often plan out the genders of their children in advance to serve their own needs.
Rape is virtually non-existant among lizardfolk, as they are incapable of even conceiving having sex with anyone who does not appear to be receptive. The rare occasion when it does occur, however, it is usually due to one party misunderstanding another.
The success of their species have made overpopulation a problem, and because of this lizardwomen often attempt to limit the number of clutches they have over the course of their lives. This leads them to find alternate means of sexual gratification in order to avoid conception, and some lizardwomen even dable with interspecies relationships to satisfy their needs.

Society: Lizardfolk societies tend to be incredibly sophisticated and successful, and this success is due to their ectothermic metabolisms. Because they are cold-blooded, lizardfolk eat much less than the other races, which lead them to produce a much larger food surplus than those of other societies, which can in turn support a larger number of specialists. What this means in the long run is that lizardfolk societies can afford more extensive bureaucracies, larger professional armies, a larger aristocracy, as well as more doctors, teachers, and scholars than any endotherm civilization. For these reasons, lizardfolk tend to dominate their warm-blooded neighbors. Of course, ectothermy does have its downsides, as lizardfolk are suceptible to cold, which limit their expansion in colder regions.

Due to their biology, lizardfolk are universally matriarchal and practice polyandry, a form of polygamy whereby lizardwomen take several husbands at the same time. In a typical lizardfolk household, there is a matriarch who rules the family, her husbands who work for the household, and the children who are raised by both the matriarch, her husbands, and their older siblings. A household also includes any servants or slaves of the family.
The lizardfolk family unit differs somewhat from that of the other races, in that it includes the matriarch's adult daughters and their husbands, as well as the freedmen of the household.
While the matriarch is the absolute head of the family, she is also expected to provide for all of its members, including their slaves and animals (even though they are considered to be property).

Lizardfolk societies tend to have a good deal of sex segregation. This begins at an early age as the lizardmen provide the majority of the parenting of the male children, while the lizardwomen provide most of the parenting of the female children. While educational institutions tend to be open to both sexes, the education of males and females tend to differ greatly: males are primarily taught labor- and service-oriented skills, while females are primarily taught leadership and administrative skills.
While most occupations are very clearly dominated by one sex or the other, some are more mixed, for instance the military. However, even there sex makes a difference as females are trained as officers whereas males are not.
Magically or artistically talented individuals are the exception to this rule, as such individuals are seen as too valuable and in demand to waste. Instead, these lizardfolk can look forward to a prestigious education and apprenticeship.

Racial Traits
+2 Strength, +2 Dexterity: Lizardfolk are both strong and agile.
Humanoid (Lizardfolk)
Medium: As Medium creatures, lizardfolk have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Lizardfolk have a base speed of 30 feet.
Bite: Lizardfolk have a natural bite attack, dealing 1d6 damage.
Claws: Lizardfolk have two claw attacks, dealing 1d4 damage each.
Cold-Blooded: The body temperature of lizardfolk fluctuate with the temperature of the environment. They are initially less susceptible to damage from high or low body temperature, gaining a +2 Fortitude bonus on their first hourly roll against hot conditions or cold weather, and they take a -2 Fortitude penalty against non-environmental cold effects. However, this penalty is negated if the lizardfolk character wears a cold weather outfit.
Because of their cold-blooded metabolism, lizardfolk consume only 1/3 the amount of food other Medium-sized races eat, and require only 6 ounces of decent food per day to avoid starvation.
In conditions of severe cold, exposure, or if unprotected in cold weather, lizardfolk move 10 feet slower, take a -2 penalty to their Dexterity, and take a -2 Fortitude penalty to fight the cold. In extreme cold conditions, lizardfolk move 20 feet slower, take a -4 penalty to their Dexterity, and take a -4 Fortitude penalty to fight the cold.
Hard Scales: +1 natural armor bonus.
Public Education: Lizardfolk gain Skill Focus as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Swim: Lizardfolk have a swim speed of 30 feet and receive the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants.
Languages: Lizardfolk begin play speaking two languages which are based on the region. Lizardfolk with high Intelligence scores can choose from a pool of seven languages.