Although you didn't mention it, Lizardfolk are also one of the main breeders of Giant Lizards for use as mounts, and for anyone who wants to get one for that purpose, due to the intensive amount of work required to properly train them for that purpose, basically the only way to get one is by trading with Lizardfolk tribes.
If you’re playing an evil character, always befriend your local Lizardfolk tribe. There’s no more efficient of a way to dispose of bodies than being friends with a tribe of human eating reptile people. Bring them a few corpses(the fresher the better) and they’ll love you for the next 2-5 months. The hungrier the tribe the more they’ll appreciate the gift when given, but they’ll forget about it sooner.
Best interrogation tool Party member: Where did you hide the loot? Bandit: (reluctant to take) Grrrrr... Lizard folk: I want to eat him. Bandit: 0_0 Lizard folk: Can I eat him? Party member: (thinks about it) Mmmmmmmm?
Yeah, this is what I mean. Coming straight from troglodytes. You cant DO this, with troglodytes. They will eat everyone talking.... Lizardfolk? ... Yes, that is a lizardfolk. He ASKED first. O_o
why is there that nonsense? Aren't they lizards? How for Satan's scrotum is that tough scaly skin not at least as impermeable as a tegu's? I've also seen an _armadillo_ race been described as "cold blooded reptiles"
@@rikospostmodernlife Most large reptiles on earth live in or near large water sources. Crocodilians (crocs, alligators, caimen) are all partially aquatic. This is the basis for lizardmen living in wet swampy enviroments. Desert living lizards are almost all small, as body temp modulation becomes more difficult for larger cold-blooded animals in a desert. Adding a special lizard-man varient to a campaign that is adapted to the desert would of course be fine. Slightly smaller, less bulky, faster, and with a more beaded scaling pattern in shades of brown, black and white would be a good start. As for armadillos being "cold-blooded reptiles", that's someone being dumb. Nothing to be done.
BSKE C Actually there are several very large species of lizards that live in the desert including several species of monitor lizard as well as armadillo lizards which can grow up to 3 feet
we actually have a species of crocodile that live in the desert. they live on tunnels they have dug under ground. so a big lizard in the desert is not impossible.
For the record, the name of Semuanya's mate is Kecuala. And Lizardfolk refer to themselves as Kecuala as well. Kind of how other races say Birdfolk, but they call themselves Aarakocra.
I was thinking about developing them a bit more by adding small-sized (skinks) and large-sized (Saurus) lizard folk. That would allow for a lost or unknown civilization with things like Mayan temples in the jungles and swamps, with cities built on lizard-made islands, like Tenochtitlan.
Your focus on lizardfolk psychology and culture makes this a required resource for D&D monsters. Excellent video AJ! So many plot hooks / reactions.... (GM smiles with evil glee).
Lizardfolk in 3.5 used to get a +2 str +2 con -2 int meaning from character creation a lizardfolk could have a 16 in Int. Because most tribes of lizardfolk value strength above all else and the only mental stat they care about is wisdom it makes perfect sense for a lizardfolk with high Int to be kicked out of the tribe. Im currently playing in a 3.5 campaign as a lizardfolk monk/druid. Also AJ only mentioned the Black scale lizardfolk but there are 2 other types i know about the Viletooth and poison dusk variants. Viletooth lizardfolk have black dragon blood and are not as physically strong as normal lizardfolk but are the smartest of all lizardfolk. Their black dragon ancestry gifts them with quite a few boons. First they can breath underwater. They have an acidic bite adding 1d6 acid damage. They are dragon blooded meaning they can count as a humanoid or dragon for the purposes of spells and effects. They stand the same height as normal lizardfolk but have onyx black scales and lack the frill that most lizardfolk have instead they have the forward facing horns of a black dragon. Poison dusk lizardfolk are small sized averaging 3'2" and weigh about 40-45 lb. Their scales would naturally shift colors to help them blend into their environment and they have bigger eyes then any other lizardfolk to help them see at night. They were able to apply poison on their weapons without risk of poisoning themself. They favor short bow (poisoned arrows normally with black adder venom) nets and slings. Lastly they knew a secret way to make their own poison that would cause paralysis but only would make and use it when needing to capture something alive so it could be used as a sacrifice.
One of the players in my d&d group likes to bring human characters to the game. I can imagine some really awkward campfire scenes with my character staring at them across the fire licking their lips whilst thinking about the best way to cook them (she is the party's cook), until finally dropping the question 'when you die can I eat you?' Lol.
ik a Dm/player who has like 5 Lizardfolk clerics or so, and depenidng on who the deceased teammate is, he might either eat you or (if you're lucky enough to earn this lizardfolk's respect) he'll cast Speak with Dead to ask your preference.
Lizardfolk as a playable race is actually fascinating, and says quite a bit in their differences from troglodytes. You CAN interact with them, if you know how. And in rare cases, Lizardfolk interact with other civilized races. It is probably not unreasonable to conclude that some lizardfolk ended up being raised by adoptive parents, such as halflings or elves or half-orcs. Can go both ways though. A half red dragon blackscale lizardfolk with class levels in berserker barbarian and hunter ranger. Favored enemy: humanoids. :(
Well my lizardfolk character would be a strange one to people and his own kind because he left with humans as he displayed interests in the outside world.
Ah just started a game as a player. Playing as a female Lizardfolk of the Barbarian Class with a slightly homebrew Cannibal path. The rest of the party are... humans and elves and all squishy. A lot of awkward situations have happen due to me desiring to eat the worthy enemy's heart. Recently, the High Elf Paladin condemned me for eating the heart of a warlock Drow... and I could only ask him. "Do you get mad when humans eat pork?"
Thank you so much for this! I'm currently participating in a campaign as a Tiefling ranger. I'm currently trying to raise a lizardfolk colony as allies to the nearby town. As you can imagine, I've had my hands full, this helps a lot.
Ah... so in my campaigns my (created) dryland and desert versions of lizard men exist in the modern AD&D worlds. That is refreshing. This is a species that new players also underestimate. They are of human level intellect and extremely survival instinct prone in personality. Go on a video game mentality of monster clearing as them as monsters to be cleared, all of them will become a unified force against your party. They are not a collective, but if Lizardfolk is dying en masse because if your party, they will figure it out and unify against your party and even have strategies formed. I had a party doing a monster clearing mission of Lizard Men (a long time ago). I saw they were of average intelligence. They were clearing Lizard Men of the area and killing off other monsters. I played the intelligence card. I pondered how would humans react to an invading genocidal force if humans were minimalists who only cared about survival. They had their animals shun encounters while rallying their new common enemy allies. Swamp enemy encounters for animals were replaced by bullywugs and others. Giant swamp creatures each had a Lizard Man rider. I could go on. My encounter tables have kill-clear modifiers based on the life in the zone and behavior of the party. The bonus in this is that the party, in a mere Lizard Man cleaning as a side quest, did it for over a week and were pleased that they also cleared the Trolls from the swamp with a heafty reward in gold, some magical toys and reputation.
@Jakub Bończak Before I start running missions, I have the campaign world fleshed out, including the people in charge and what they do. Humans in my campaigns often reflect how they are in the real world. If the human is in a position of wealth, power, and authority... there is a good chance they did a lot of dirty things to get there or they were brats who simply inherited it. "Monster clearing" missions were always available between missions. My players took them when a valuable party member is forging or researching something. They never asked why. The humans in charge were bad guys, just "pro-human" bad guys so they seemed like good guys. They never asked why they only got paid depending upon producing the "monster's" ears, or tongue in the case of Lizard Men. They never asked why the "naturally smaller ones" were worth twice as much. And the nobility did want the land of the Lizard Men. They planned to but roads and settlements through it. The players also did not wonder why the other genocide-target races, races that were not friends of Lizard Men (Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, etc) started to be filler troops in Lizard Men encounters. It wasn't until the local Druids turned on the humans that the party figured out they were working for the wrong team.
@Jakub Bończak 1) I was going by who, on average, were in positions of power, historically speaking, all over the world. That's why only a handful of said powerful people managed to be remembered in a positive historical light, other than victors giving revised histories. 2) The land had strategic value, nothing more. It was also great land for building structures. Prospectors found all sorts of ore in that rock desert. And, in my campaigns, I leave a LOT of the long-term outcome based upon the players' decisions. The evil nobility was having necromancers' thralls recover the bodies. By the time the players' party figured out they were working for the bad guys in good-guy clothing, it was far too late. We're talking about the past, when we were in our early 20s, new options are not available.
@Jakub Bończak I don't know what just went on in your head, my friend. I triggered something or maybe you have some misconception about me or how I said it. And thanks, the other things change things a lot because you might have assumed I created a simpleton campaign. I haven't done that since I was 12 and that wasn't since 1984. I probably reminded you of an oaf you gamed with who assumed a lot and believed some kind of asinine narrative. You just, accidentally or not, proved my point. We lined up totally but you worded it as if you were arguing against my point of view. You even perfectly lined up with the comment you replied to. Even as a kid then later as a young man when I gamed, a lot of my life was not on the sunshine and rainbows side. I played humanity perfectly realistically. The only thing humans need to do to become monsters is the knowledge that they can get away with it. I saw that my whole life with people I knew in my decades of moving all over shady young life. I learned that with study halls spent in libraries. I learned that by having my history teacher also our 10th-grade detention monitor. Humans are altruistic when they are made that way because they need to be or deduce that is advantageous. As a historian, you know that. You can probably write a lot of essays on how most of history and its narrative is more interpretations than facts and even give some credence to some spoken-word history that is far more logical and understandable despite its defiance of the written records. But, I digress. I based humanity, at the time (80s campaign) on Saladin (a good but brutal leader), the Inquisition era Catholic Church (evil clergy of a good god), Richard the Lionhearted (faux hero but respected by all), the mythical Robin Hood (folk hero, bandit, murderer), Ghengis Khan (as close to the guy as I could), Xerxes (including his delusions of godhood and his fanatical following), and the actual Illuminati (those humans who were altruistic who want to protect and save all real knowledge from those seeking to destroy it). I put those humans in an AD&D setting with the various non-human elements. I don't understand what's going on here. Did I offend you? Did you assume something about me? It seems like you are like my dad (from when I was a kid) yelling at me for something that happened to him at work before he got home from work. I mean, there is no real debate nor argument here. We clash on nothing here. Your last comment proved we line up. What's going on? Did I accidentally step on a nerve? If so, I am sorry.
friend (rouge) * leaves a building after stealing an item * "that was a piece of cake " me, a lizardman * runs past him, crashes with the door back into the building and every guard is alerted *
Do dragonborn/half dragons see lizardfolk as hillbilly kin or do they see lizard folk as just another rival race? Also how prone to mutation are lizard folk? are they eay to mutate or are they difficult? Thanks for the video AJ!
Love your show and I really got a kick out of seeing the image of Ed Greenwood. I edited that image as the episode cover when I interviewed Ed for Episode 5 of The Dead Games Society Podcast. :)
Fantastic overview of a classic monster race. Thanks for yet another brilliant vid mate. The somewhat obscure Russian miniature/toy line "Tehnolog" makes an outstandingly cool Lizardman set; very Aztec looking in their garb/weapons,etc. This vid might just inspire me to grab a set and paint em up for future scenarios.
Absolutely, early South American empires provide a heap of resources for architecture, fashion and cultural flavourings, the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Huastec, Purepecha, Toltec, and Mexica (formerly known, incorrectly, as the Aztecs) are all great cultures to draw from.
One thought on the morality system; Medieval folk were often believed to extend morality mostly to their own society. So killing the guy from 3 towns over may not be considered necessarily “wrong”. Its part of why a lot of people focus on family or clan. This starts to change somewhat as people became united. So my question is; would a good way to portray societal alignment be in how they view morality with outsiders? And would a good way to view personal alignment be whether they use morality? I always thought of alignment as whether they hated people, but it might make more sense in thinking of alignment as whether they view other people as having intrinsic value; “Should I avoid hurting them just because it causes them pain?”
Your videos have given me a much better appreciation for the scaly races and their significance as echoes of lost civilizations of ancient and terrible power. I'd love a video on the Sarrukh themselves, their civilization at its height and, if we dare, the potential implications of the odd survivor to contemporary civilizations? Locked and forgotten in stasis or secreted away in some remote demiplane? Waiting for a hapless adventurer or loyal servitor race to set one free?
As always Love you videos. It's amazing to me that I haven't listened to them all, because I've had days in the studio where you videos have played for 5 plus hours.
I had the concept for two different lizardfolk societies that I'll share here; *The Arctic Lizardfolk* In the arctic, the party are surprised by the roar of a dragon. Diving into a recess of rock and ice, they wait out the threat. Over their heads, The buffeting over their head they find that this is in fact not a dragon, but a gargantuan wyvern, which has been pierced by a powerful harpoon, rope trailing after it. From the rocks above them, lizardfolk launch into the air on a sled, carrying javelins and many fur coats, a massive plough behind them as they break up the ice underneath them. Are they ploughing the lands? Whatever the case might be, the wyvern does not survive this trip for very long. On the way back, through the trough that the lizardfolk have dug through the meters of snow, haul wyvern meat back to their cave systems, for warmth. *The Spawn of Lamashtu* The first, failed Vavakia experiments by the Goddess Lamashtu corrupted the now extinct worshipers of the god Curchanus. While humans lost their connection to the animals due to Curchanus' death, these creatures became more connected, grotesquely so, breeding with local scalykin in the Mwangi Expanse. From this arose a society of lizardfolk whom were conflicted between the legacy of impotent Curchanus (to them, Tzoltzalos), god of travel, the hunt and animals, Lamashtu, the demon lord of abominations and grotesque fertility and their Lizardfolk instincts. Their bloodline was one too rich with madness and instinct that made discipline a neccesity to survival, guided by Couatl serpents.
Perhaps they have a group of shaman that continually chant ritual spells on blocks of metal, heating a well insulated central cavern, with the pecking order of their society determining whom dwells closer or further away from the heat.Of course, they may have slave mammals ('Hot Bloods") who they pin down under fur and ropes, like some sort of living bed warmers.Interesting concept.
I know your probably not interested in doing it because it's not 5th ed; but what about Spelljammer Lizardmen, they were brought to the stars by the illithid and neogi as slaves and some freed themselves and built their own ships. There's also some political on the "Spelljammer" itself.
I'd love to hear more about the Creator Races, Ancient background fascinates me. Brings a lot of depth to my game. I've already added a Serpentine Elder race to my game, but would love to hear more about the E5 version.
Vollo is a pure Ed Greenwood creation (he was writing about Vollo decades ago), so I am greatly looking forward to seeing that in print, and I am sure it will have a lot of realms information in there.
What would happen if you hatched an egg in a pile of clear plastic shavings? Would the Lizard Folk be clear or white? What is their default color if no environmental factors were involved?
I'm dreaming up a homebrew: a neolithic setting inspired by the mesopotamian culture and the mesoamerican culture. double meso. One of the Human cities is build upon a conquered Lizardman city. It's a holy place to the lizardmen. Tribes mostly plan war of course, but there are some who just have to be there and survive in civilization.
I'd I remember right the ancestors of humans were supposed to be among the 5 original mortal races. Maybe even when the first gods showed up? And the Lizardfolk and Yuan-ti are supposed to be created by the reptilian race of the 5. So if the Lizardfolk predate humans by thousands of years and when Elves were primitive I gotta wonder what exactly went on with the human predecessor and its path to humans during this time. Also why it took so long for them to get traction, if they had help of gods and so on.
Good bit on lizardfolk tasting disgusting. I have a player who's excited to play a character who plans on creating a cookbook on the various monsters found in the realms. Granted, it would be kind of weird to cook lizardfolk on account of them actually haveing a culture, but at least I know in case it comes up!
Is it viable to have an outcast lizardman come to reign as the leader for a weak kobold tribe? Maybe such lizardman would also be a half dragon (using the half dragon templete rules)
Enjoyed this vid. But, what are the Lizardfolks attitude towards Druids, Shaman (pathfinder class), and Oracles (pathfinder class) of other species and races (since you basically called them "talking animals")? And is there any way to get one to be a somewhat dependable scout, hireling, and/or mercenary, let alone a whole tribe? Would they ever get the concept that "you can get food with gold?" Also, do you think barbarian would be a good class for a player character Lizardfolk? Since while they tend to be true neutral, you also said they tend to think with their lower and more aggressive brain?
Are there any videos about the Age of Thunder in general? I hear a lot about it in different videos, but haven't found anything about it in particular.
awesome video really informative... since you touch dinosaurs in this video ¿could you do a video about them and megafauna? (in the context of the game of course) consider it a humble request
Aside from the Ecology article from Dragon Magazine I mentioned specifically, I often reference multiple Wiki sources for information, I also have a collection of D&D books to check details (though most of that info can be easily accessed from web sites). More interesting is how I decide what not to include in the videos, as I said, the Lizardfolk have been in every edition of the game, and all those different settings.. if I went into detail on the Lizardfolk of Kryn, and Eberron, Mystara, Greyhawk, Athas.. this video would be an hour long, and a lot of the info would be conflicting and confusing in many cases. So, I try my best to present info that anyone can find for themselves, in a manner that is fairly easy to digest... with pretty pictures. :)
In the campaign I get to play in I have a gloomstalker ranger with the tasha's throwing ranger feature. It uses spears, javelins/harpoons, daggers and...nets. Nets are the best. Being invisible to most threats means advantage too. It was born male and ruled a tribe in the underdark, but after its tribe was destroyed the lack of females made it turn female. It plans to lay eggs in the sewers of Waterdeep and in Undermountain after it finds a suitable male. All it's gear is made from things it killed.
its quite viable, for instance, the intelligent precursor race that went underground and evolved into the Quaggoth, would have been a perfect option of a player character race.
Hi, have you met player characters? I think every monster listing should have a bit of text on what they taste like, and what wine to serve beside the dish.
Sorry for posting on such an old post but this reminded me of the time me and my party discussed whether or not cooking would get rid of all the disease in goblin flesh
sure, start with a Dragonborn, remove the breath weapon and damage resistance, reduce intelligence and increase constitution, add the ability to hold their breath and give them a mean temper.
some accounts say the Slaadi ARE the Batriachi, and it was the massive artifact forged by Primus which transformed them. What is certain is that the Batriachi were responsible for the apocalyptic climate change and geological upheaval that destroyed the original civilizations.
I tried playing one, but the DM wasn't a fan of him in gameplay - since INT is the spellcasting stat if Artificers, it was especially hard to get decent spells off...on the brightside, he was the tankiest member of the party and the best in combat
Oh goodness, it wasn't like that. It was.because lizardfolk are canonically supposed to kill of the intellectual members of the tribe. He also wasn't a fan of how I had a habit of casting firebolt while holding guards by the face...STR was my second highest stat
@@dirtyblonde1011 fairly certain lizardfolk don't kill the intelligent members, they just don't like or encourage it, it mostly when people over-think things they absolutely hate
Asexual just means a lack of sexual attraction, so, the two gods were not romantically involved. Fun fact, it has been observed that Komodo Dragons can produce viable offspring in the absence of male Komodo Dragons (though it is likely the females had some male contribution stored away, just in case), a female in captivity in Europe managed to miraculously conceive a non-clone batch of viable eggs, much to the surprize of everybody."Nature finds a way:"
"Don't eat the cookie now, the cookie will bring you better cookies later"
Although you didn't mention it, Lizardfolk are also one of the main breeders of Giant Lizards for use as mounts, and for anyone who wants to get one for that purpose, due to the intensive amount of work required to properly train them for that purpose, basically the only way to get one is by trading with Lizardfolk tribes.
Excellent info, thank you :)
If you’re playing an evil character, always befriend your local Lizardfolk tribe. There’s no more efficient of a way to dispose of bodies than being friends with a tribe of human eating reptile people. Bring them a few corpses(the fresher the better) and they’ll love you for the next 2-5 months. The hungrier the tribe the more they’ll appreciate the gift when given, but they’ll forget about it sooner.
Best interrogation tool
Party member: Where did you hide the loot?
Bandit: (reluctant to take) Grrrrr...
Lizard folk: I want to eat him.
Bandit: 0_0
Lizard folk: Can I eat him?
Party member: (thinks about it) Mmmmmmmm?
Good cop, peckish cop routine
Yeah, this is what I mean. Coming straight from troglodytes. You cant DO this, with troglodytes. They will eat everyone talking.... Lizardfolk? ... Yes, that is a lizardfolk. He ASKED first. O_o
@@sagesheahan6732 I do hope that 5e includes a troglodyte race later though.
Right up there with Githyanki as one of my favorite species to use as recurring villains in a long-term campaign.
"They require moisture, and can't live in a desert environment"
Me: *Proceeds to play a Lizardfolk Ranger in a desert-based campaign*
why is there that nonsense? Aren't they lizards? How for Satan's scrotum is that tough scaly skin not at least as impermeable as a tegu's? I've also seen an _armadillo_ race been described as "cold blooded reptiles"
@@rikospostmodernlife Most large reptiles on earth live in or near large water sources. Crocodilians (crocs, alligators, caimen) are all partially aquatic. This is the basis for lizardmen living in wet swampy enviroments. Desert living lizards are almost all small, as body temp modulation becomes more difficult for larger cold-blooded animals in a desert. Adding a special lizard-man varient to a campaign that is adapted to the desert would of course be fine. Slightly smaller, less bulky, faster, and with a more beaded scaling pattern in shades of brown, black and white would be a good start.
As for armadillos being "cold-blooded reptiles", that's someone being dumb. Nothing to be done.
...Until a oiled, leather suit with a system of moisture-filled bladders is devised by an exceptionally clever lizard alchemist.
BSKE C Actually there are several very large species of lizards that live in the desert including several species of monitor lizard as well as armadillo lizards which can grow up to 3 feet
we actually have a species of crocodile that live in the desert.
they live on tunnels they have dug under ground.
so a big lizard in the desert is not impossible.
20:41 - "..change is bad...!"
Spoken like a true stagnant, ancient race!
Stagnant as the water they wallow in.
change IS bad though
I wanna stay 30 y.o. forever
@@AJPickett that probably means it's disease-ridden and parasite infested... Right?
For the record, the name of Semuanya's mate is Kecuala. And Lizardfolk refer to themselves as Kecuala as well. Kind of how other races say Birdfolk, but they call themselves Aarakocra.
Turn out "overlord" anime writer read d&d lizard folk lore
I was thinking about developing them a bit more by adding small-sized (skinks) and large-sized (Saurus) lizard folk.
That would allow for a lost or unknown civilization with things like Mayan temples in the jungles and swamps, with cities built on lizard-made islands, like Tenochtitlan.
So like argonians
Your focus on lizardfolk psychology and culture makes this a required resource for D&D monsters. Excellent video AJ! So many plot hooks / reactions.... (GM smiles with evil glee).
heh heh.. I really enjoyed talking about the way to handle trade with the Lizardfolk.
Lizardfolk in 3.5 used to get a +2 str +2 con -2 int meaning from character creation a lizardfolk could have a 16 in Int. Because most tribes of lizardfolk value strength above all else and the only mental stat they care about is wisdom it makes perfect sense for a lizardfolk with high Int to be kicked out of the tribe.
Im currently playing in a 3.5 campaign as a lizardfolk monk/druid.
Also AJ only mentioned the Black scale lizardfolk but there are 2 other types i know about the Viletooth and poison dusk variants. Viletooth lizardfolk have black dragon blood and are not as physically strong as normal lizardfolk but are the smartest of all lizardfolk. Their black dragon ancestry gifts them with quite a few boons.
First they can breath underwater.
They have an acidic bite adding 1d6 acid damage.
They are dragon blooded meaning they can count as a humanoid or dragon for the purposes of spells and effects.
They stand the same height as normal lizardfolk but have onyx black scales and lack the frill that most lizardfolk have instead they have the forward facing horns of a black dragon.
Poison dusk lizardfolk are small sized averaging 3'2" and weigh about 40-45 lb.
Their scales would naturally shift colors to help them blend into their environment and they have bigger eyes then any other lizardfolk to help them see at night.
They were able to apply poison on their weapons without risk of poisoning themself.
They favor short bow (poisoned arrows normally with black adder venom) nets and slings.
Lastly they knew a secret way to make their own poison that would cause paralysis but only would make and use it when needing to capture something alive so it could be used as a sacrifice.
One of the players in my d&d group likes to bring human characters to the game. I can imagine some really awkward campfire scenes with my character staring at them across the fire licking their lips whilst thinking about the best way to cook them (she is the party's cook), until finally dropping the question 'when you die can I eat you?' Lol.
*Teammates arm gets chopped off in battle.
Lizardfolk- 5 second rule! ... John! You taste amazing!
I'd say yes, but they have to keep the eyes.
That is just wonderful.
ik a Dm/player who has like 5 Lizardfolk clerics or so, and depenidng on who the deceased teammate is, he might either eat you or (if you're lucky enough to earn this lizardfolk's respect) he'll cast Speak with Dead to ask your preference.
Randomly sprinkling spices on everybody
Lizardfolk as a playable race is actually fascinating, and says quite a bit in their differences from troglodytes. You CAN interact with them, if you know how. And in rare cases, Lizardfolk interact with other civilized races. It is probably not unreasonable to conclude that some lizardfolk ended up being raised by adoptive parents, such as halflings or elves or half-orcs.
Can go both ways though. A half red dragon blackscale lizardfolk with class levels in berserker barbarian and hunter ranger. Favored enemy: humanoids. :(
Well my lizardfolk character would be a strange one to people and his own kind because he left with humans as he displayed interests in the outside world.
Rule # 2 of my table is as follows: There is always an exception to the rule.
Ah just started a game as a player. Playing as a female Lizardfolk of the Barbarian Class with a slightly homebrew Cannibal path. The rest of the party are... humans and elves and all squishy. A lot of awkward situations have happen due to me desiring to eat the worthy enemy's heart. Recently, the High Elf Paladin condemned me for eating the heart of a warlock Drow... and I could only ask him. "Do you get mad when humans eat pork?"
Had something similar happen in my campaign with my lizard wizard and the human paladin. There is no arguing with lawful stupid
It would be cool if their eggs near a river with gold dust in it to make a gold scale lizardfolk
You’re the first person I thought about being a patron to
Thank you so much for this! I'm currently participating in a campaign as a Tiefling ranger. I'm currently trying to raise a lizardfolk colony as allies to the nearby town. As you can imagine, I've had my hands full, this helps a lot.
Ah... so in my campaigns my (created) dryland and desert versions of lizard men exist in the modern AD&D worlds. That is refreshing. This is a species that new players also underestimate. They are of human level intellect and extremely survival instinct prone in personality. Go on a video game mentality of monster clearing as them as monsters to be cleared, all of them will become a unified force against your party. They are not a collective, but if Lizardfolk is dying en masse because if your party, they will figure it out and unify against your party and even have strategies formed.
I had a party doing a monster clearing mission of Lizard Men (a long time ago). I saw they were of average intelligence. They were clearing Lizard Men of the area and killing off other monsters. I played the intelligence card. I pondered how would humans react to an invading genocidal force if humans were minimalists who only cared about survival.
They had their animals shun encounters while rallying their new common enemy allies. Swamp enemy encounters for animals were replaced by bullywugs and others. Giant swamp creatures each had a Lizard Man rider. I could go on. My encounter tables have kill-clear modifiers based on the life in the zone and behavior of the party.
The bonus in this is that the party, in a mere Lizard Man cleaning as a side quest, did it for over a week and were pleased that they also cleared the Trolls from the swamp with a heafty reward in gold, some magical toys and reputation.
@Jakub Bończak Before I start running missions, I have the campaign world fleshed out, including the people in charge and what they do. Humans in my campaigns often reflect how they are in the real world. If the human is in a position of wealth, power, and authority... there is a good chance they did a lot of dirty things to get there or they were brats who simply inherited it. "Monster clearing" missions were always available between missions. My players took them when a valuable party member is forging or researching something. They never asked why. The humans in charge were bad guys, just "pro-human" bad guys so they seemed like good guys. They never asked why they only got paid depending upon producing the "monster's" ears, or tongue in the case of Lizard Men. They never asked why the "naturally smaller ones" were worth twice as much. And the nobility did want the land of the Lizard Men. They planned to but roads and settlements through it. The players also did not wonder why the other genocide-target races, races that were not friends of Lizard Men (Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, etc) started to be filler troops in Lizard Men encounters. It wasn't until the local Druids turned on the humans that the party figured out they were working for the wrong team.
@Jakub Bończak 1) I was going by who, on average, were in positions of power, historically speaking, all over the world. That's why only a handful of said powerful people managed to be remembered in a positive historical light, other than victors giving revised histories.
2) The land had strategic value, nothing more. It was also great land for building structures. Prospectors found all sorts of ore in that rock desert. And, in my campaigns, I leave a LOT of the long-term outcome based upon the players' decisions. The evil nobility was having necromancers' thralls recover the bodies. By the time the players' party figured out they were working for the bad guys in good-guy clothing, it was far too late. We're talking about the past, when we were in our early 20s, new options are not available.
@Jakub Bończak I don't know what just went on in your head, my friend. I triggered something or maybe you have some misconception about me or how I said it. And thanks, the other things change things a lot because you might have assumed I created a simpleton campaign. I haven't done that since I was 12 and that wasn't since 1984. I probably reminded you of an oaf you gamed with who assumed a lot and believed some kind of asinine narrative. You just, accidentally or not, proved my point. We lined up totally but you worded it as if you were arguing against my point of view. You even perfectly lined up with the comment you replied to. Even as a kid then later as a young man when I gamed, a lot of my life was not on the sunshine and rainbows side. I played humanity perfectly realistically. The only thing humans need to do to become monsters is the knowledge that they can get away with it. I saw that my whole life with people I knew in my decades of moving all over shady young life. I learned that with study halls spent in libraries. I learned that by having my history teacher also our 10th-grade detention monitor. Humans are altruistic when they are made that way because they need to be or deduce that is advantageous. As a historian, you know that. You can probably write a lot of essays on how most of history and its narrative is more interpretations than facts and even give some credence to some spoken-word history that is far more logical and understandable despite its defiance of the written records. But, I digress.
I based humanity, at the time (80s campaign) on Saladin (a good but brutal leader), the Inquisition era Catholic Church (evil clergy of a good god), Richard the Lionhearted (faux hero but respected by all), the mythical Robin Hood (folk hero, bandit, murderer), Ghengis Khan (as close to the guy as I could), Xerxes (including his delusions of godhood and his fanatical following), and the actual Illuminati (those humans who were altruistic who want to protect and save all real knowledge from those seeking to destroy it). I put those humans in an AD&D setting with the various non-human elements.
I don't understand what's going on here. Did I offend you? Did you assume something about me? It seems like you are like my dad (from when I was a kid) yelling at me for something that happened to him at work before he got home from work. I mean, there is no real debate nor argument here. We clash on nothing here. Your last comment proved we line up. What's going on? Did I accidentally step on a nerve? If so, I am sorry.
@@That80sGuy1972 how do I share a comment. This is to good
@@44burn1 Um... I don't think sharing things is how it works here. Thanks, though.
friend (rouge) * leaves a building after stealing an item * "that was a piece of cake "
me, a lizardman * runs past him, crashes with the door back into the building and every guard is alerted *
Could there be a very confused Lizardfolk that was absolutely convinced it was a dragonborn paladin?
Some do revere dragons so wouldnt be to out of place to find a civilized one as a paladin to bahamut
Do dragonborn/half dragons see lizardfolk as hillbilly kin or do they see lizard folk as just another rival race? Also how prone to mutation are lizard folk? are they eay to mutate or are they difficult? Thanks for the video AJ!
It varies, I don't know that dragonborn really have generic views on many things, they are quite varied.
Ok - the 1975 Lizard Man design is now at the Top of my Favorites in terms Aesthetics
Okay, so question: is there a Tanarukk-esque type of "dire lizardfolk" that sees Large sized, dinosaur inspired lizardfolk?
Hmmm, I'm not sure, you could certainly create a template or rework a dinosaur as one, give it some demonic traits.
Leatherhead?
You can't just pre-determ that one would be carrying shield.
So Lizardmen has AC 13
Sorry, for being strict 😅
I think some food summoning spells would really motivate a Lizard Folk .
13:37 that's an Image from Star Craft II, where Kerrigan is getting her new form on zerus
Love your show and I really got a kick out of seeing the image of Ed Greenwood. I edited that image as the episode cover when I interviewed Ed for Episode 5 of The Dead Games Society Podcast. :)
Nice!
Fantastic overview of a classic monster race. Thanks for yet another brilliant vid mate. The somewhat obscure Russian miniature/toy line "Tehnolog" makes an outstandingly cool Lizardman set; very Aztec looking in their garb/weapons,etc. This vid might just inspire me to grab a set and paint em up for future scenarios.
Absolutely, early South American empires provide a heap of resources for architecture, fashion and cultural flavourings, the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Huastec, Purepecha, Toltec, and Mexica (formerly known, incorrectly, as the Aztecs) are all great cultures to draw from.
One thought on the morality system;
Medieval folk were often believed to extend morality mostly to their own society.
So killing the guy from 3 towns over may not be considered necessarily “wrong”.
Its part of why a lot of people focus on family or clan.
This starts to change somewhat as people became united.
So my question is; would a good way to portray societal alignment be in how they view morality with outsiders?
And would a good way to view personal alignment be whether they use morality?
I always thought of alignment as whether they hated people, but it might make more sense in thinking of alignment as whether they view other people as having intrinsic value;
“Should I avoid hurting them just because it causes them pain?”
Your videos have given me a much better appreciation for the scaly races and their significance as echoes of lost civilizations of ancient and terrible power. I'd love a video on the Sarrukh themselves, their civilization at its height and, if we dare, the potential implications of the odd survivor to contemporary civilizations? Locked and forgotten in stasis or secreted away in some remote demiplane? Waiting for a hapless adventurer or loyal servitor race to set one free?
I’m really tempted to make a Lizardfolk character who acts like Drax.
XD
That's basically how I'm playing my Lizardfolk character
Their backstory harmonizes very well with barbarian RP
@@pyrphoros8739 good rangers and druids too
As always Love you videos. It's amazing to me that I haven't listened to them all, because I've had days in the studio where you videos have played for 5 plus hours.
I had the concept for two different lizardfolk societies that I'll share here;
*The Arctic Lizardfolk*
In the arctic, the party are surprised by the roar of a dragon. Diving into a recess of rock and ice, they wait out the threat. Over their heads, The buffeting over their head they find that this is in fact not a dragon, but a gargantuan wyvern, which has been pierced by a powerful harpoon, rope trailing after it. From the rocks above them, lizardfolk launch into the air on a sled, carrying javelins and many fur coats, a massive plough behind them as they break up the ice underneath them.
Are they ploughing the lands? Whatever the case might be, the wyvern does not survive this trip for very long. On the way back, through the trough that the lizardfolk have dug through the meters of snow, haul wyvern meat back to their cave systems, for warmth.
*The Spawn of Lamashtu*
The first, failed Vavakia experiments by the Goddess Lamashtu corrupted the now extinct worshipers of the god Curchanus. While humans lost their connection to the animals due to Curchanus' death, these creatures became more connected, grotesquely so, breeding with local scalykin in the Mwangi Expanse.
From this arose a society of lizardfolk whom were conflicted between the legacy of impotent Curchanus (to them, Tzoltzalos), god of travel, the hunt and animals, Lamashtu, the demon lord of abominations and grotesque fertility and their Lizardfolk instincts. Their bloodline was one too rich with madness and instinct that made discipline a neccesity to survival, guided by Couatl serpents.
Perhaps they have a group of shaman that continually chant ritual spells on blocks of metal, heating a well insulated central cavern, with the pecking order of their society determining whom dwells closer or further away from the heat.Of course, they may have slave mammals ('Hot Bloods") who they pin down under fur and ropes, like some sort of living bed warmers.Interesting concept.
Trevor Cormier Think Iceland; geisers and the like, but underground. Sleeping inside carcasses, etc. etc.
How about lizardfolk with feathers?
+AJ Pickett (The Mighty Gluestick) Shamans could be blessed with flight and feathers if the turn to the Loa Spirits.
I did consider that, yes!
Kroq Gar does make for a good example, defending his kin and repelling foreign powers from the homeland.
I know your probably not interested in doing it because it's not 5th ed; but what about Spelljammer Lizardmen, they were brought to the stars by the illithid and neogi as slaves and some freed themselves and built their own ships. There's also some political on the "Spelljammer" itself.
I'd love to hear more about the Creator Races, Ancient background fascinates me. Brings a lot of depth to my game. I've already added a Serpentine Elder race to my game, but would love to hear more about the E5 version.
I could do that, two source books that are vital reading for that stuff are Lost Empires of Faerûn (2005) and Serpent Kingdoms (2004).
I own Serpent Kingdoms, May have to pick up Lost Empires. Wasn't sure if there would be additional lore added in E4 and E5.
Vollo is a pure Ed Greenwood creation (he was writing about Vollo decades ago), so I am greatly looking forward to seeing that in print, and I am sure it will have a lot of realms information in there.
Thanks mate, these videos are great for building up story ideas.
that awkward moment when Lizardfolk sound to be more civilized than Goblins!
(yeah, not watching it in order)
Order?! This channel is chaotic good.
More like Chaotic Neutral
AJ Pickett or as a barbarian would say, neutral neutral
Just making a comment that shows love
My favorite race. such a joy to play a insane lizardman
Im playing a lizard man bard as my first character, this is gonna be go badly huh
What would happen if you hatched an egg in a pile of clear plastic shavings? Would the Lizard Folk be clear or white? What is their default color if no environmental factors were involved?
eat the meat, tan the hide, animate the bones. non-evil necromancer get!
Lizardfolk are just like MC hammer! Thay are worried to be ”to cool” 😎
I'm dreaming up a homebrew: a neolithic setting inspired by the mesopotamian culture and the mesoamerican culture. double meso. One of the Human cities is build upon a conquered Lizardman city. It's a holy place to the lizardmen. Tribes mostly plan war of course, but there are some who just have to be there and survive in civilization.
I was just reading about Ancient Sumerian culture today, it's interesting stuff!
I'd I remember right the ancestors of humans were supposed to be among the 5 original mortal races. Maybe even when the first gods showed up?
And the Lizardfolk and Yuan-ti are supposed to be created by the reptilian race of the 5.
So if the Lizardfolk predate humans by thousands of years and when Elves were primitive I gotta wonder what exactly went on with the human predecessor and its path to humans during this time.
Also why it took so long for them to get traction, if they had help of gods and so on.
Stop calling me a lizardfolk, landstrider, I am a kekuala.
I’ve never had the chance but I’ve always wanted to run a lizard folk merchant.
Well looks like it's time for another Lizardman campaign on Total War: Warhammer.
Good bit on lizardfolk tasting disgusting. I have a player who's excited to play a character who plans on creating a cookbook on the various monsters found in the realms. Granted, it would be kind of weird to cook lizardfolk on account of them actually haveing a culture, but at least I know in case it comes up!
Also I love lizardmen just as much as dragons and would love more coverage on them
Hopefully helping
in the algorithm
Is it viable to have an outcast lizardman come to reign as the leader for a weak kobold tribe? Maybe such lizardman would also be a half dragon (using the half dragon templete rules)
I wonder if kobolds would see a lizardman as a giant kobold.
Awesome video! I just stumbled across you channel, really liked this video and subscribed. :-)
Thanks! Many more to come, and plenty to browse through :)
AJ Pickett
Going through a few more right now. These are good. 👍 :-)
I understood everything he said except what the dex was. Can someone tell me the Dex of lizard folk?
Enjoyed this vid. But, what are the Lizardfolks attitude towards Druids, Shaman (pathfinder class), and Oracles (pathfinder class) of other species and races (since you basically called them "talking animals")? And is there any way to get one to be a somewhat dependable scout, hireling, and/or mercenary, let alone a whole tribe? Would they ever get the concept that "you can get food with gold?" Also, do you think barbarian would be a good class for a player character Lizardfolk? Since while they tend to be true neutral, you also said they tend to think with their lower and more aggressive brain?
Not sure about that 'cookie' analogy AJ. 8)
haha
I'm sharing this video with my friend. He wants to put lizardmen in his campaign.
Are there any videos about the Age of Thunder in general? I hear a lot about it in different videos, but haven't found anything about it in particular.
awesome video really informative... since you touch dinosaurs in this video ¿could you do a video about them and megafauna? (in the context of the game of course) consider it a humble request
Thinking of making a lizardfolk ranger
Is how monsters taste actually part of the ecology write ups now? lol
Good stuff!
Sometimes :)
This has been very helpful :)
Do you just make these details up or do you rely on specific references and resources? what's your source for all this information?
Aside from the Ecology article from Dragon Magazine I mentioned specifically, I often reference multiple Wiki sources for information, I also have a collection of D&D books to check details (though most of that info can be easily accessed from web sites). More interesting is how I decide what not to include in the videos, as I said, the Lizardfolk have been in every edition of the game, and all those different settings.. if I went into detail on the Lizardfolk of Kryn, and Eberron, Mystara, Greyhawk, Athas.. this video would be an hour long, and a lot of the info would be conflicting and confusing in many cases. So, I try my best to present info that anyone can find for themselves, in a manner that is fairly easy to digest... with pretty pictures. :)
They're a player race now
This is what I am in my friends campaign 👌
Hmm...
Can a Lizardfolk Cleric cast 'Purify Water and Drink' to cure their party members of poison?
Another excellent monster ecology video, cheers to your hard work.
Thank you Chauser!
Do you think or can they conjure up dinosaurs kind of like sauron in X-Men or some sort of deep lying reptile in the ocean
That avian ancient in the picture looks like a Chozo
I wish you had talked about the Black scale and stuff more.
They may show up in an explores series video, after all, there are a huge number of different lizard folk tribes across the realms.
In the campaign I get to play in I have a gloomstalker ranger with the tasha's throwing ranger feature. It uses spears, javelins/harpoons, daggers and...nets. Nets are the best. Being invisible to most threats means advantage too. It was born male and ruled a tribe in the underdark, but after its tribe was destroyed the lack of females made it turn female. It plans to lay eggs in the sewers of Waterdeep and in Undermountain after it finds a suitable male. All it's gear is made from things it killed.
You ever wonder why D and D has never created a days of Thunder campaign setting?
its quite viable, for instance, the intelligent precursor race that went underground and evolved into the Quaggoth, would have been a perfect option of a player character race.
Why would someone eat lizard folk (I am saying that because you said they taste disgusting and how else would we know?)
Hi, have you met player characters?
I think every monster listing should have a bit of text on what they taste like, and what wine to serve beside the dish.
Sorry for posting on such an old post but this reminded me of the time me and my party discussed whether or not cooking would get rid of all the disease in goblin flesh
Have you ever considered doing gods like Tiamat Bahamat or the Demon lords?
Demons, yes, I had not considered doing things without stats, per se, but I guess I could do some gods later on.
3.5 was the best imo.
I love the lizardfolk lol.
So Shrek's of the d&d world?
No Shrek is the Shrek of the d&d world
Could summon reptile work on dinosaurs and Drake's ?
In my games, probably not.
@@AJPickett not even a small dino? Or a monitor lizard or dire snapping turtle?
@@thehillz726 no Dino, yes turtle and lizard
@@AJPickett I'll take what I can get I suppose
Is a lizardman a playable character?
sure, start with a Dragonborn, remove the breath weapon and damage resistance, reduce intelligence and increase constitution, add the ability to hold their breath and give them a mean temper.
Fair play then, thanks for the rapid response.
No problem, happy to help :)
Moregasm the Powerful Yeah in Volos Guide to Monsters they have rules for Lizardfolk Player Characters
This is why I love D&D, always evolving! (unlike the lizard folk, who are fine just the way they are).
Dinosaurs are considered a reptile I figured that with the spell he would be able to control dinosaurs as well
Dinosaurs are Saurians, not reptiles.
Dang so you don't think they would be able to control them with the spell
@@samstapleton3739 good time to research a new spell 😎
did the batriachi also spawn the slaad?
some accounts say the Slaadi ARE the Batriachi, and it was the massive artifact forged by Primus which transformed them. What is certain is that the Batriachi were responsible for the apocalyptic climate change and geological upheaval that destroyed the original civilizations.
Skinks!
War hammer!
I just thought about an Artificer Lizardfolk. Everything made out of bone and rough hewn stone. 😆
I tried playing one, but the DM wasn't a fan of him in gameplay - since INT is the spellcasting stat if Artificers, it was especially hard to get decent spells off...on the brightside, he was the tankiest member of the party and the best in combat
@@dirtyblonde1011 It's rough when the DM isn't feeling your character build. Usually makes for a short life.
Oh goodness, it wasn't like that. It was.because lizardfolk are canonically supposed to kill of the intellectual members of the tribe. He also wasn't a fan of how I had a habit of casting firebolt while holding guards by the face...STR was my second highest stat
@@dirtyblonde1011 😄 nice!
@@dirtyblonde1011 fairly certain lizardfolk don't kill the intelligent members, they just don't like or encourage it, it mostly when people over-think things they absolutely hate
Im working on a bounty hunter loosely based on Gurruk from magic the gathering, who always look for the biggest hunt.
Who else thinks that Lizard folk were bred by the ancient Yuan-Ti civilizations as soldiers?
"C H A N G E I S B A D"
See me once ya?
Hahaha......"lizard folk" it sounds almost quaint. 😂
😍😍😍
HEY AJ ITS NIKO BACK AGAIN WITH SOME NIT PICKS AND BRO THAT INTRO AINT IT CHIEEEEEF
Is there like, a family of Santos folks who are all watching my vids?
VIDEO FROM 2016 NIKO... moving on
take many warhammer pics
Wouldn't it make more sence if instead of asexual the lizard folk god was both genders.I mean how does a genderless being split into both genders?
Asexual just means a lack of sexual attraction, so, the two gods were not romantically involved. Fun fact, it has been observed that Komodo Dragons can produce viable offspring in the absence of male Komodo Dragons (though it is likely the females had some male contribution stored away, just in case), a female in captivity in Europe managed to miraculously conceive a non-clone batch of viable eggs, much to the surprize of everybody."Nature finds a way:"
:-)
I want to see some Gnoll and Lizardfolk cross breeding. Not the final outcome of their deed, just the deed itself, yay! :D
Find lizard creatures looks interesting
Lizardfolk are robots they feel nothing in D&D
Striaght up copied from the Lizardmen of Warhammer
You know Warhammer is based on d&d right?