Bestiary: The Swordurchin
Image: Alfred Goldsborough Mayer, Purple Sea Urchin ( from Sea-Shore Life: The Invertebrates of the New York Coast and the Adjacent Region ), 1906. Public domain source.
Swordurchin
HD 2, Armor as Unarmored, Attack as equipped weapons
+Dexterity, +Grappling
Each swordurchin has 4d6 limbs (half arms, half legs). It makes attacks equal to it's number of limbs divided by 4. When they take damage, they lose that many limbs as well.
Impulses: To divide. To multiply. To tumble and roll. To gesticulate passionately. To hurl volleys of rocks and knives.
Approximately 8 feet in diameter, the swordurchin bristles with arms and legs, each terminating in a normal, human looking hand or foot. Swordurchins are intelligent and capable of speech - their voice emanates from a single humanoid head attached to their torso. They tend to go unclothed or dressed in loose-fitting garb specifically designed for their complex anatomy. They are frequently encountered in small groups, often preferring to associate with their own kind.
Swordurchins possess miraculous regenerative power. Their limbs are flexible and pull away from their body easily (if not entirely painlessly). When this happens, as long as the wound is not exposed to fire or acid, d4 random limbs (flip a coin for arms or legs) grow back in their place over the course of a week. Elder swordurchins have been known to be split entirely in half, gradually growing into two sentient beings.
Rumors disagree on the origin of the swordurchins. Some situate them as the long tail byproduct of a wizarding experiment gone wrong. Others suggest that they might be the result of an ill-considered Wish. In religious circles, they are often considered to be the favored children of gods of strife, travel and commerce, perhaps molded from the same clay that humans and other folk emerged from but with different intent. Swordurchins themselves vary in their beliefs, though certain enclaves might hold the issue as a matter of spiritual significance.
Species-as-Class: The Swordurchin
Starting Gear: Loose robes and a short, sharp sword.
Starting Skill: 1 Artisan | 2 Scout | 3 Wrestler
A Limbfare, Detachment
B Rapid Regrowth
C Rotational Freedom
D Bisection
Limbfare
You gain +1 attack for every 4 limbs you have.
Detachment
When you would take damage, you may lose any number of limbs to the blow. If you do, subtract that many points of damage from the incoming blow.
Rapid Regrowth
When you lose a limb, over the course of the next week you regrow d4 new limbs in its place. Flip a coin to determine whether they are arms or legs. Fire or acid prevent this.
Rotational Freedom
You can move freely and at the same speed in any direction or angle of rotation. You never suffer negative effects from being upside down.
Bisection
If you are cut perfectly in half (by a freak accident or trained specialist), a new swordurchin grows from the detached stump and your wound heals over the course of a month. They look exactly like you but have none of your memories. Make a reaction roll. If it's at all favorable they consider you family and will happily follow you on your adventures. Otherwise, they leave.
Just a weird creature / class born from a conversation about multiclassing into every fighter with +1 attack in its first template...