New Race - Cucarachan
by Cab DavidsonThese have been around in my campaign for a while. Working on a writeup. Here's a starting point...
Cucarachan
The insectoid Cucarachans of Skothar are among the most resilient intelligent creatures of Mystara. A rare race for most of their long history, they have rarely thrived but always survived.
They range from 4’ to 6’ tall, and about half as broad, the Cucarachans resemble gigantic cockroaches walking upon their back 4 legs, using their front 2 to grasp and manipulate tools. They have little talent for making such tools, but they can master the use of most devices. They are not the fastest, smartest, wisest or most nimble of creatures, and they are certainly not the most strongest. They are poor farmers, average hunters and mediocre at best when trying to gain treasures or wealth through brains or diplomacy. But there is something in the spirit of a Cucarachan that sets them apart from all other sentient life forms on Mystara. They are, simply, ineradicable. And it is this that gives the Cucarachans their occasional moment in the spotlight. Theirs was the first civilisation to rebuild in the ruins of the Hallucigenia war, they were the first to thrive after the extinction of the dinosaurs, and after the destruction of Blackmoor their population rose to a ridiculous decree, allowing them to create their first distinct nation and culture in the cruel mountains of Skothar.
Ability Scores
Cucarachans receive the following modifiers to their ability scores (generated using 3d6). Strength: -2, Intelligence: -4, Wisdom: -4, Dexterity: -1, Constitution: +2, Charisma: -3
Character Class and Experience
Cucarachans can pursue any character class available to humans, but they are slow learners at best, always requiring double the experience points per level of experience. Note that while they may theoretically pursue any class, Cucarachans adventuring as anything other than Fighters or Thieves are unknown.
Combat
Cucarachans gain the next dice up for hit dice, e.g. a Cucarachan thief gains 1d6hp per level as opposed to 1d4 (plus constitution bonus, if any), and a figher gains 1d10. There are few examples of armour made to fit the unique body form of Cucarachans, but they often wield shields, and have a base armour class of 3 (due to essentially being made out of chitinous armour).
They are not a clever people and struggle to learn complex concepts. No Cucarachan can ever be better than expert in any weapon.
Special Abilities
Cucarachans possess no obvious special powers. They have no special tricks, do not have any skill at hiding themselves or gift of seeing in the dark. But there is one ability they have that perhaps defines them. Cucarachans cannot fail saving throws. In fact, Cucarachans never make saving throws and are always assumed to have made them. This does not make them immune to attacks – they can be struck normally, and making a save often only reduces damage by half if a spell or breath weapon may cause damage. But they cannot fail to save, even when saving to deflect melee attacks.
Cucarchans are hard to drown (they suffer no ill effects even if completely submerged for up to 2 hours), they can survive in the void of space for up to 1 hour, and can’t easily be killed by falling – they take a quarter damage from all falls. They also have a curious ability to move on walls or ceilings at up to half of their normal (ground) movement rate. Radiance does no damage to Cucarachans, and environmental conditions other than perhaps the most crushing pressures of the abyss or the fires of volcanoes cannot impair them.
Society and Culture
Cucarachan males and females are similar in most respects. There are no differences in ability and little in appearance, and their society makes no distinction between the two. Cucarachans have no concept or understanding of family, typically laying hundreds of eggs near a food source and letting the young sort things out for themselves. Around 10 years later the few survivors will return to settlements to learn the ways of their people, and from the age of around 15 they begin to breed. And... Breed. Clutches of fertilised eggs are deposited by females up to four times per year, and both males and females remain fertile until they die, typically at around 30-40 years old.
Cucarachans have no regard for their young or the young of other races, no love or permanent relationships, and no interest or innate understanding of these things in other races. They have no specific concept of good or evil, existing to eat, rest, mate and sleep. A few choose to adventure to gain treasures to buy more food, territory, or better surroundings for better rest, but to think of them as being in any way mercenary misses the point. They have no morality, they have ‘useful’ and ‘not useful’. They have no pleasure, no joy, they have ‘sated’ and ‘needs to be sated’. They are more alien in outlook than most actual aliens. This makes them both confusing and, often, useful partners in trade or adventure.