An idea about Chameleon Men
by Gabriele FerriI had LOTS of things to do this
month, but I've got a quite nice idea: I was looking in the B1-9
OD&D module, and I found that creature, the chameleon man. Hey,
it's nice!
So here's what I thought:
the chameleon men's race is really ancient and is related to elves
and, as some scholars say, metamorphosis. They have the ability to
change their skin's colour in a very fast and accurate way without
using any magic. They can also teleport in a 36 meters range
without errors (this is a magical ability).
Their culture is primitive (stone age), but they are powerful
druids.
a typical chameleon men's
village:
is a big room dug underground (5/10 meters deep) in a forest. In
this main room the tribe eat and makes social relationships. Some
tunnels lead to other areas: there are a smaller room where the
tribe sleeps, a small temple, a store-room and the chief's room.
Note that CM aren't very good diggers, so their tunnels aren't like
the dwarven ones.
the temple:
CM worship Csyamanog, a minor immortal CM who has been sponsored by
Terra and now try to protect his people. CM are really religious
people, they honour their Immortal many times a day, and every
activity is done for his glory. This feature makes them close
toward strangers. Not xenophobes, but diffidence especially with
men and humanoids, mainly because only very few of them have ever
seen a man: so they have legend about mankind ('You know, if you
don't go to bed now, I'll call the bad
creature-who-cannot-change-his-colour who will eat
you!')
economy and culture:
CM are mainly hunters, but they also grow giant mushrooms in an
underground room dug under a great oak's (or similar tree) roots.
They don't know how to produce bronze or iron, and those who find a
steel dagger abandoned near a human village are looked with awe and
respect. They usually fight and hunt with bow and bone-edged
arrows, but they also use clubs and primitive axes. They know the
fire and they can write complex ideograms.
the tribe:
the average CM tribe is composed by 25 hunters (both males and
females), 15 mushroom-farmers, a chief and his harem (4/5 females),
a shaman (cleric of Csyamanog) and 7/8 young CM. In war-time both
hunters and farmers (without difference between males and females)
fight.
CM druids:
They're just like the normal one, but they're highly respected by
the CM. They are the ones who see more frequently humans
(especially other druids).
Mystara CM population:
There are CM settlements in Karameikos and Darokin. A more advanced
tribe lives in the Thanegioth Isles (I hope I wrote it right...),
where it's at war with koprus.
Thanegioth CM:
They were kopru's slaves until 975 AC, when they rebelled leaded by
a CM cleric inspired by Csyamanog. After that, this tribe has been
Csyamanog's primary interest: he's teaching them how to work iron
and how to fight better. The war they're fighting could end in
about 1025 AC.