Geckonid

Geckonids are slight lizard people about 5 feet tall with soft, mottled scales in brown, red, blue and green that shift a little with mood and surroundings. Their limbs are thin, tails stubby, and huge bulging eyes sit on either side of the head. Suction pads on fingers and toes let them walk up walls and across ceilings.

Their tiny teeth and claws cannot hurt anyone, so they prefer to flee. When forced to fight they cling to surfaces, leap up to 30 feet, often gain surprise, run along walls and spring to the ceiling to dodge. The listed AC applies where there are many surfaces (indoors, streets, forest, jungle); in the open it is 7, and immobilized it is 10.

All geckonids see invisible things without knowing they are invisible, and assume everyone else sees them too. Each has thief skills: Move Silently 75%, Hide in Shadows 50%, Climb Walls 95%, and a fondness for backstabbing.

Small tribes live in jungle and forest villages, but insatiable curiosity draws geckonids into cities, where many become thieves of up to 12th level or mages of up to 7th, gaining Hit Dice to match. They steal not from greed but to rummage, and love scampering up a wall to watch frustrated guards below.

Friendly and polite, they think strangely. One may croak in your face and pretend you said something meaningful in its language, or hold its jaws open for minutes waiting, it says, for the birds to emerge. Bored geckonids play odd, harmless pranks.

They eat insects, birds and small animals, and only their speed and climbing save them from the many predators that hunt them.

Tokays are the dark side of the race: nearly 6 feet tall, pink with gray spots, ill-tempered, and able to bite for 1d4. They lean neutral or neutral evil, often take up thieving to cause trouble, and share the geckonid sense of humor with a cruel streak. Their croak sounds like a barking dog.