Rito (species)
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Avian humanoids adorned with feathers, rito (“REE-toh”) are particularly tall
and thin compared to hylians. Their narrow bodies and hollow bones make
rito very lightweight for their height and arm span, which eases flight. Indeed, rito have arms that can double as wings, and are able to fly as a bird does. Island rito have hylian-like arms that slide into "sleeves" they use as wings, while highland rito have functional hands on the tips of their wings.
The ratio of birdlike-to-humanlike of a rito characteristics varies with heritage. Some island rito for example have a bottom lip, hylian-like hands, and grow feathers only on their wings. Most highland rito by contrast are completely covered in feathers upon being hatched, with practically no mammalian traits.
Birds of a Feather
Rito form families and raise their hatched young one with care over many years, similar to hylians. Anywhere from one to six hatchlings are born at once and raised as siblings. Most form strong bonds to their family and community that last a lifetime.
A rito usually doesn't gain flight until an age of about 12 years, although the means of gaining flight varies between different rito tribes. An adult rito that is unable to fly, a fokka, is often banished from its tribe and alienated by most rito.
Because a rito's arms are its wings, it's very difficult for one to maintain flight while using their hands for anything at all. Only the most skilled rito hunters are capable of wielding and shooting a bow mid-flight, a feat few warriors can match.
Value in Valor
Mostly, rito are a prideful people with a strong respect for traditions. Despite their relatively sparse population, rito are widely respected and valued by other folk not only for their gift of flight, but also their legacy of duty, honor, and accountability.
Some say a rito will always see a job through. Rito soldiers are invaluable for their ability to scout and strike from the sky. In times of peace, few porters can be trusted to the extent of the swift and valiant rito. Long-distance communication is often carried in rito talons above all other options.
Cliffs & Coasts
Due to their ability to fly, rito villages are most foten built on sheer cliffs, isolated islands, or other locations where few monsters could reach. Such villages are usually situated near oceans, rivers, or other fish-filled reservoirs.
Although rito are omnivorous, their tribes survive primarily from hunting and fishing, and usually only partake in farmed food when it is produced by other folk.
Art & Trade
Most rito molt annually, and this creates an easy trade network back to hylians who enjoy bedding and clothing made from immaculate rito plumage. Routine exchange has made hylians and rito close allies whenever their communities overlap.
Although they aren't as industrious as hylians or gorons, rito are known instead for their oratory traditions and works of art. Many rito are natural songbirds, and their tales are often passed down through generations this way.
Lineage details
Size. Rito stand tall, usually around 7 feet. Despite this their bodies are lean and their bones hollow, each weighing in the neighborhood of 120 pounds (or 55 kg). Your size is Medium.
Age. A rito traditionally has a coming-of-age ritual somewhere between 12 and 18. Rito are not particularly long-lived, but usually live to see 60 years or more.
Alignment. Rito as a whole are known for their strong tendencies towards order and good, but even among rito there are exceptions.
Diet. As a Medium humanoid, each day you prefer at least 1 pound of food and 1 gallon of water. Rito are carnivorous, with a high preference for fish and hunted meat, though they can get by otherwise.
Names. Many rito names ends in "-li." The syllables within any rito's name tend to be short. Male examples include Gesane, Guy, Harth, Huck, Illari, Kaneli, Kass, Kogoli, Koboli, Komali, Mazli, Nekk, Quill, Revali, Teba, and Verla. Female examples include Amali, Bedoli, Cecili, Cree, Frita, Genli, Kaneli, Kheeel, Kotts, Laissa, Medli, Misa, Molli, Namali, Notts, and Saki.
| Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5′ 2" | +2d12 | 60 lb. | × (1d4) |
Character traits
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Dexterity score by 2.
Size. An adult rito has a height of about 5 to 7 feet. Your size is Medium.
Speed. You have a walking speed of 30 feet.
Talons. Your feet feature prominent talons which you can use to make an unarmed strike. On a hit, this unarmed strike deals slash damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, replacing the normal damage for an unarmed strike.
Mountain Born. Native to high peaks and chilly altitudes, rito are naturally acclimated to both thin air and extreme cold. You can endure such climates without making saves.
Poor Night Vision. If you make an attack against a target in dim light more than 10 feet away from you, your attack roll has disadvantage. This weakness is ignored if you have darkvision or another means of clear sight in darkness.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Hylian.
Heritage. You have one heritage of your choice from highland rito, island rito, and fokka.
Highland Rito
Unlike island rito, highland rito are completely covered in feathers of a typically vibrant color. The colors of these feathers vary greatly from one highland rito to another, and can include hues as diverse as blue, green, pink, brown, white, and more, but these hues tend to become more saturated as the rito ages.
A highland rito is hatched with wings and avian features that naturally form, and unlike island rito do not receive them from an external source.
Revali, Kass, Tulin, Teba, Kaneli, and Penn are highland rito.
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Charisma score by 1.
Labored Flight. As an action, you gain a fly speed of 50 feet until the start of your next turn. If you start a turn while airborne without a fly speed, you must immediately use this action or Fall. You can’t use this action if you're grappling a creature, nor if you are wearing more than one piece of heavy attire. On a turn you use this action, you can use your bonus action to Attack with your talons.
Cold Resistance. Hailing from frigid climates, you have resistance to cold damage. Hylians even wear cold-protective clothing made from the molted feathers of highland rito.
Language. You can speak, read, and write Hebric. Alternatively, you can have proficiency with a musical instrument of your choice.
Island Rito
Compared to highlanders, island rito have a more complex physiology. They are born with beaks but are otherwise very close to hylians, including hylian-like hair of typically white color. They lack wings or other more avian features until a coming-of-age ritual, normally accomplished in the early teens.
An island rito gains a fresh dragon scale from a live dragon, and through this blessing gain more avian features, including feathered wings which they operate by sliding their arms into the wings like sleeves. This ritual is traditionally accomplished with a scale from the dragon guardian spirit Valoo on the eponymous Dragon Roost Island, but as island rito spread out from this island across the world they learned to accomplish this feat with the scales from other dragons — whether it’s a benevolent protector like Valoo, or something more monstrous.
Medli, Quill, and Komali are island rito.
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Wisdom score by 1.
Labored Flight. As an action, you gain a fly speed of 50 feet until the start of your next turn. If you start a turn while airborne without a fly speed, you must immediately use this action or Fall. You can’t use this action if you're grappling a creature, nor if you are wearing more than one piece of heavy attire. On a turn you use this action, you can use your bonus action to Attack with your talons.
Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
Navigation. Accustomed to flying over vast oceans, coastal rito are unusually skilled at maintaining direction and creating mental maps. You have advantage on ability checks made to navigate or avoid becoming lost.
Language. You can speak, read, and write Zoran.
Fokka
Rito are famous for their ability to fly through the skies with ease, but not all rito are so fortunate. Respected society tends to overlook or forget about flightless rito; about "fokka."
Fokka share the physiology of other rito, but for one reason or another are unable to fly. For island rito, this often occurs if the rito ages into an adult without acquiring a dragon scale. For highland rito, this flightless fate occurs only by injury. A fokka’s light body and stronger legs enable one to perform incredible jumps few folks can match, even if true flight is impossible.
By any other measure these rito are just as capable and respectable as any hylian or gerudo would be, but fokka often can't help but feel inferior when their families fly and they cannot. Among rito, flightlessness is widely seen as shameful, and rito villages are often unsafe for those who can’t even glide. Some unfortunate fokka are even ostracized.
These difficult origins can harden a fokka’s heart. The fortunate fokka find refuge with hylians or other kind folks—but some end up as ruthless monsters, or followers of Ganon. Many strike a middleground, turning to the valor and duty for which rito are known. These can make for ruthless soldiers willing to do anything to uphold orders; a fact a former King of Hyrule put to use with an elite order of fokka knights.
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Constitution score by 1.
Fleet of Foot. Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
Mighty Leap. When determining how far you can jump, treat your Strength score as being 10 points higher and your Strength modifier as being 5 higher.
Armor Adaption. The lightweight but terrestrial body of a fokka adapts particularly easy to armor. You can ignore the Heavy trait of one piece of attire you’re wearing. (If your campaign doesn’t use “attire,” then instead increase by 1 the maximum Dexterity modifier you can add to the AC of medium or heavy armor you wear.)
Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from leap, power beam, fire bolt, and prestidigitation.
Language. You can speak, read, and write one more language of your choice from Blin, Eldish, Hebric, and Zoran.
Lineage feats
The following feats are exclusive to members of this lineage.
| Name | Effects |
|---|---|
| Free Bird | Through training and perhaps even physical transformation, you have learned to fly effortlessly. It is easy for you to rapidly switch between flapping your wings and using your hands even while maintaining flight. This gives you the following benefits:
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Rito creatures
| Creature | Challenge | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| %PAGE% | 11 | This flightless rito is a legendary warrior, among the most mighty fighters in the Light Realm. Their kind has historically sided against Hyrule. |
| %PAGE% | 0.5 | While flightless rito are renowned as monstrous warriors, this one makes a peaceful living as a scout and hunter of game. |
| %PAGE% | 6 | A flightless rito that excels at high-leaping combat. They can even shoot beams from their blades. |
The material on this page is based on content found throughout the Legend of Zelda series, which is copyright Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- Talons trait
- Mountain Born trait
- Poor Night Vision trait
- Labored Flight trait
- Cold Resistance trait
- Oratory Tradition trait
- Keen Senses trait
- Navigation trait
- Fleet of Foot trait
- Mighty Leap trait
- Armor Adaption trait
- Cantrip trait
- Races
- Humanoids
- Rito
- Common
- Content originating from Adventure of Link
- Content originating from The Wind Waker
- Content originating from Breath of the Wild
- Content originating from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
- Content originating from Tears of the Kingdom
- Content originating from five or more Zelda games
