Okay, first up are the Gith ancestors: the Kanaan.
Gith, Kanaan
Gith of the Tyr regions are known as brutish savages. Even the best of them are marauders, scavengers, or bandits. Few of the tablelands know that long ago the gith were very different from the savage beasts they have become. The original gith, who now call themselves GithKanaan (gith means people and kanaan means lost) are the strange forbearers that are found in isolated regions through out Athas. They often shorten this racial name to merely Kanaan (The Lost).
Personality
Perfection. Precision. Purpose. These are the aspects of kanaan that are revered most. They have a stoic drive to achieve absolute mastery over what they feel is most important to them. Unlike a dwarf’s focus, this goal of perfection never changes. Little else matters to the kanaan. Good and evil. Love and rage. These feelings and contemplations are almost foreign to the kanaan. They are very solitary minded and individualistic. They congregate together out of a sense of security, not out of a sense of racial community. Some kanaan will go weeks without speaking a single word to another being so caught up in their obsessive drive. Kanaan are often times considered selfish, self-absorbed, and apathetic towards others, and for the most part, this is quit true.
History
(to be developed in conjunction with other races at the same time, but fear not, the kanaan have had a rough time of things and are only coming about on their own in recent years)
Physical
Kanaan are quite tall, averaging 6 1/2 to 7 feet in height and unlike their degenerate cousins, they stand upright. Their skin is tough and leathery, stretched tightly over their lean builds. Along their shins and forearms are bony, ridge-like protrusions under the skin that give them an almost webbed effect. Their eyes are overly large and flat with a reflectivity that ranges in color from yellow, green, or violet. Skin tones are varying shades of gray. Black hair is the standard amongst kanaan and both sexes wear it long (normally past the waist) with beads and braids that give the kanaan a regal appearance under most circumstances, but a feral look in battle. Kanaan have no lips. Their teeth are sharp and exposed at all times with the skin thinning out just before the gum line. This makes it difficult for them to use foreign languages since they cannot pronounce certain letters (b, f, m, p, and v). Careful observers will note that there are a few extra rows of smaller teeth behind the front, which serve as replacements for those that fall out.
Relationships
Kanaan generally do not waste much time thinking of other races. They take little notice of other races in their homeland unless threatened, at which point they readily test out their martial perfection on the offending party. The only noticeable exception to this is towards the unfortunate gith, for whom they feel a great sense of pity. They have a difficult time understanding the feral, competitive nature of their cousins, who in turn have a hard time comprehending the more intellectual aspects of the kanaan. Kanaan find that they be more assertive with the gith who require being ‘put in their place’ at times. The gith on the other hand see the kanaan as superiors to themselves and so have no problem taken on a lesser role in the Spire Lands.
(More comparisons to other races and or nations as they become fleshed out . . .)
Alignment
Almost universally, kanaan are chaotic neutral. They are not wild anarchists, but their sense of individualism is so strong that it supercedes most anything else that they may think or feel. Player characters may of course by of any alignment and such feeling often-prompts kanaan to seek a life of an adventurer.
Lands
The kanaan have recently retaken some of their ancestral territory from savage tribes of silt runners and throgs, but the encroaching sea of silt has prevented them from rebuilding their ancient towers that mirrored the spires of rock that jutted up from the ground. Instead, they have built new cities high above the silt. Structures wrap around the columns of stone and walkways connect one column to the next. They still explore the ruins of their ancient cities that lie buried beneath the depths, but such is a perilous undertaking that has claimed many kanaan lives. The Land of Spires has long since past its golden years, but the kanaan still attempt to recreate the kingdom of old under the desert
Religion
There is no universally accepted religion amongst the kanaan, which is quite rare in a land so dominated by religious fervor and spiritual fanatics. Many other races flock to the Spire Lands to escape the persecutions of other nations, especially that of the Serpent Realm (although they are afforded little to no protection should their enemies come seeking them). Those kanaan who do follow a path of becoming worshipers of the elements tend to favor air, rain, water, or on rare occasion even sun.
Psionics
Practitioners of the Way are quite common amongst the kanaan. Its solitary nature appeals to their sense of self-sufficiency. Most are telepaths, seers, shapers, or egoists. The Order keeps a very close eye on the kanaan since many of those who chose this path through life will excel rather quickly. Unfortunately, these advanced psionicists do not normally find the Order’s stifling restrictions to their liking and often become hunted by the Order’s members.
Magic
The secrecy of magic pervades the Scorched Lands and no truer is this fact seen than in the lands controlled by the kanaan. Few have ever witnessed the first hand devastation that a defiler can bring upon the land, nevertheless having found someone willing to reveal themselves to be a practitioner of magic and teach them. Of those rare individuals who do find a teacher, most only learn the basic fundamentals before leaving their studies go learn what they can on their own. They tend to favor becoming a preserver over a defiler, but if they are adamant at learning the Art, they will take whichever path is presented to them first.
Language
Kanaan speak a somewhat harsh yet flowing language. It consists of many soft sounds and words accentuated by guttural noises, hums, and growls. The language is rather easy to learn since the vocabulary itself is one of the smallest known amongst the intelligent races, but difficult to master due to the hundreds of accentuation of moans and hums. Kanaan do not normally learn the languages of other cultures and due to their unique mouths, and have a hard time being understood by other races.
Names
Kanaan names are quite short, consisting of no more than two syllables. The first part of their name is a family name and is kept throughout the kanaan‘s lifetime while the second part is their given name until such time as the young kanaan chooses his own.
Example Names
Male:???
Female:???
Adventurers
Kanaan normally become adventurers as a result of their obsessive drive and the desire for perfection. A fighter seeking to perfect his skills using a specific weapon may travel the lands looking for beings to test his skills upon and improve upon them. A cleric may seek to learn about his element of choice in order to achieve a more perfect understanding.
Role-playing Suggestions
Develop it yourself! Just kidding, not completed.
Racial Traits (bleh)
+2 Dexterity, +4 Intelligence, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma. The kanaan are very agile and graceful and are highly intelligent a, quick learners and creative thinkers, but their extremely self absorbed nature more than puts off other races (even members of their own race).
Medium-sized: As medium-sized creatures, kanaan have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Kanaan base speed is 30 feet.
Starting Languages: Kanaan, Gith. Bonus languages: None. The kanaan interact socially so very little with other races that few ever take the time to learn another language. Adventurers are the exception and may indeed purchase a language knowing its benefits while traveling.
Darkvision: Kanaan can see three times as far as a human in dimly lit conditions due to their large eyes and years spent in hiding under the ground, up to a range of 120' (more on that later ;) hint, hint)
Obsessive nature: Kanaan may freely multi-class as they choose, but they have no favored class and so any multi-class they take on gives them a permanent experience penalty.
Bonus Feat: Focus (see savage species book).
Level Adjustment: Oh I don’t know, +2 sound okay??
These stats and abilities are in very, very rough form, just thrown together to give you an idea of the race. I’ll work more on more appropriate racial features and such after I’ve fleshed out the other races. Fluff before mechanics.
EDIT:
Changed Low light vision to Darkvision
Changed Lame Mechanic to bonus feat.
Comming Soon: The twisted mockeries that call themselves, Wemics.
Originally posted by Mach2.5
Fluff before mechanics.
Heh, I'm just the opposite.
Comming Soon: The twisted mockeries that call themselves, Wemics.
Woo! Can't wait.
Really like what you have done so far on the Kanaan.
I like Kanaan too as a name.
Origins: I think Giths of Dark Sun are meant to be related to planar githzerais and githyankis. Not only is the name similar, but the features, tall pale-skinned humanoids, also are. It might be interesting to link your Kanaan with this planar history also.
Low-light Vision: If they have an underground history, they could simply get Darkvision. Just a suggestion.
Obsessive nature: An interesting idea. Note that if you want to make sure the bonus stacks with other bonuses, it should be an inherent or circumstance bonus, not a moral bonus (moral bonuses don't stack together).
However, if I may offer a suggestion, you could simply have Kanaan gain a bonus "focus" feat. They could therefore choose between Weapon Focus, Skill Focus, Spell Focus, Psionic Focus or Ability Focus (see Savage Species) This would grant them the same +2 bonus you were describing for skills, spells or class abilities, or grant them a +1 bonus to attack rolls with a weapon (which might be more balanced than a free +2 bonus on Base Attack Bonus). A simple and elegant solution, and a good use of the D&D mechanics, I think.
Level adjustment: I'd limit that to +1, especially if the Obsessive nature does not increase the BAB by +2.
I hope this is usefull and I look forward to reading more of your things!
*points at Nyt, See why I hate mechanics first ;)*
As for their origins, I think the official ruling is that DS is closed off from other planer sources like The outer planes and the astral. Even if these places exist within the Athasian multi-verse, access is absolutely impossible by any and all means including planar pathways, artifacts, Rajaat sneezing on a char and sending him to the Abyss, or any other imaginative method. At least, that's the stance I remember being last taken, please, correct me if I'm wrong here. But, its still your game and meant to be played however you wish. Plus, I wanted a twist of sorts since it was always the general assumption that the gith were in fact related to githyanki (who may still be around too, perhaps decended from or ancestors of the Kanaan). Everything else in DS was a twist of one kind or another. It was assumed that the Green Age was just like any other generic setting, but insights gleaned from the Last Sea and Windriders shows that even the Green Age was different and unique. It was assumed that humans/elves/dwarves were the original races, but it was the halflings who started it all. Never fall to an assumption on Athas seems to be a running theme.
As for my setting, I agree wholeheartedly. Demons are not creatures of the Abyss, but creatures of the black or grey or perhaps some other bizarre yet uniquely Athasian specific plane. Once again, we do see some internal contradictions between the different published materials, such as the Black Spine Adventure. When I ran that, it took place in the grey with a corrupted form of Kanaan (I had thought these guys up a long, long time ago). There's also the planar gate held by Dregoth. I always took this as a pathway to the 'known Athasian planes' (elemental, para-elemental, the grey, the black, even one way access to the hollow, and maybe even access to one or two as of yet unknown planes) and not to the planescape setting or to the manual of the planes default setting.
Thanks for the focus idea. I don't yet have the Savage Species book (its going to have to wait, along with the MM2 and fiend folio books for at least another 2 weeks) but I like that idea a heck of a lot better. I thought moral bonuses did stack though? Oh well, doesn't matter either way since I'm ditching it.
Originally posted by Mach2.5
Kewl, I like it.
*points at Nyt, See why I hate mechanics first ;)*
That's just the way I am, I can come up with mechanics, but I suck on the fluff in most cases.
As for their origins, I think the official ruling is that DS is closed off from other planer sources like The outer planes and the astral. Even if these places exist within the Athasian multi-verse, access is absolutely impossible by any and all means including planar pathways, artifacts, Rajaat sneezing on a char and sending him to the Abyss, or any other imaginative method. At least, that's the stance I remember being last taken, please, correct me if I'm wrong here.
I can't remember, hell I forgot what we voted on the cosmology thing, hence why I had to change the gray and black touched templates around. I'm pretty sure it was in between the two sects, somewhere between a part of the normal multiverse and not totally being cut off, or at least that is what I remember, because in order for some spells to work it can't be totally cut off.
I on the other hand will have my Athas cut off and just nix those spells that cause a problem, mwuahahaha, but I'm still going to keep the stuff Black Spine had and just say it was a portal that beaches the gray and goes into the Astral, just like I have at least three portals that breach the black and connect Ravenloft with Athas (another mwuahahaha). Cause as far as I'm concerned Ravenloft is a demiplane in the black just like the hollow is. The planar gate runs on the same rules because it's an artifact. So basically if you can create a damn powerful gate or use an artifact, you are not entering or leaving Athas, and I'm not one to throw these things around alot, hell I have issue giving out alot of magic items, let alone world breaking things.
Plus, I wanted a twist of sorts since it was always the general assumption that the gith were in fact related to githyanki (who may still be around too, perhaps decended from or ancestors of the Kanaan). Everything else in DS was a twist of one kind or another. It was assumed that the Green Age was just like any other generic setting, but insights gleaned from the Last Sea and Windriders shows that even the Green Age was different and unique. It was assumed that humans/elves/dwarves were the original races, but it was the halflings who started it all. Never fall to an assumption on Athas seems to be a running theme.
Good point.
As for my setting, I agree wholeheartedly. Demons are not creatures of the Abyss, but creatures of the black or grey or perhaps some other bizarre yet uniquely Athasian specific plane.
I'm actually trying to combine three worlds into one and using some of the elements of all three. Combination of Middle-Earth, Athas and The Wheel of Time world. That's down the road though.
Once again, we do see some internal contradictions between the different published materials, such as the Black Spine Adventure. When I ran that, it took place in the grey with a corrupted form of Kanaan (I had thought these guys up a long, long time ago).
Interesting way of doing it, I like it. :D
Race #2 done for your viewing displeasure. I din't finish it since there's a few other things I need to get started on, like a website, since this isn't going to work very well here. Also, these guys are tough. Perhaps even too tough. But if I can at least get them to fit to a +3 level adjustment or less without becomming too plain, then that works for more.
Shadow Wemic
The noble race of wemics once roamed over vast savahanas during the green age. They were as noble as they were fierce. At their height, they controlled a territory the size of the entire Tablelands. A High Chieftan united the prides and forged a fledgling nation to combat the slaughter of the one known as the Annihilator. Viespar the Champion waged a war most terrible against the wemics, one that seemed to claim the life of the great lions of the plains to the last and for over 2,500 years (unknown, cannot find Athasian Timeline at the time of this writing), the race of wemics vanished from the face of Athas.
History
(to be developed in conjunction with other races at the same time, the wemics have faced terrors the likes of which no other race in Dark Sun has ever seen and come out alive, but some may say, not for the better of it. In a nutshell however, a large tribe of wemics were secluded away out of reach of the Champion who would later be known as Tektutitilay by an unknown benefactor. Several hundred strong, the wemics were sent to the Black and have managed to survive there. The foul nature of the plane changed the wemics, both physically and mentally and now, they have returned.)
Personality
Once the most defining characterisic of a wemic would have been pride, now it is anguish. For dozens of centuries the race of wemics languished in misery on the Black, searching for a way to return once more to their beloved plains only to find harsh deserts and broken wastelands. They faced terrible nightmarish beasts on the Black, overcoming these creatures only to return and find their former homelands overrun with beasts just as foul. The years spent in the Black has indeed twisted their minds and now they are a maniacal lot, prone to bouts of depression and rage. They seethe inside with turmoil, expressing it in melancholy and depression one moment and savage bloodlust the next. (very weak and very lame, needs a rewrite, but this is just a jagged version, so there!)
Physical
The upper torso of a wemic is that of a muscular human while their lower half resembles the fore and hind section of a lion. Overall they are as tall as a human, averaging 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet, while their lower chest to rear quarters can be as long as 11 feet. They can reach a weight of almost 850 lbs, but most average 100 lbs less than this. Females are typically shorter by 1/2 foot and lighter by perhaps 200-300 lbs.
Wemics once had beatifully shaded pelts of tan, golden yellow, and medium browns. They were as imposing as they were awe inspiring. Now, their appearance has been twisted and they inspire nothing more than fear or revulsion. Their pelts are gloss black with ash gray accents on the chest and under the lower section. Males have large thick manes while females have a thick ridge of fur that runs the length of their spine. Their manes or fur ridge are almost universally black with the hair becoming almost immaterial near the tips, and wisps of shadow substance trail off into the air. This gives them a hazy and sinister appearance. The very same shadow substance sometimes eminates from within the wemic while he breathes (especially when they exert themselves and are breathing heavily). Their eyes so white as to almost glow in dark conditions, with black on black pupils. Their jaws are much wider than a human’s jaw and support a set of curved tusks that extend over the upper lip. Squat noses and a large brow ridge finish off their facial features.
Relations
Wemics still function in medium sized groups called prides. Males are mostly dominant over females and deal with the day to day goings on of the pride, selecting hunting grounds, and in the rare instances of settling down, building structures and dealing with trade. Females, though technically weaker than males, are more aggressive and serve as the hunters of the pride, chasing and catching prey to bring back to the rest of the group. When not hunting , females rear the cubs.
Even though wemics are driven to bouts of insanity, they always treat each other with respect, so long as that respect is earned and maintained. Cowardice has no place amongst the pride. Valor in battle merits the highest respect and though males rule the tribe, many outsiders feel it is because that is the role that the females allow them to have. Even the rulers bend an ear to the words of the pride’s great huntresses and a proven hunter’s words can carry a great deal of weight.
There is no hope for one who does not have the respect of the pride. Death is always swift once judgment is passed by the . Wemics do not believe in any other forms of punishment for transgressions against the pride.
Few cultures today remember the nobility of the ancient wemics. Their sudden appearance in the middle of the serpent kingdom of Sumatra and subsequent war to escape those lands has given many peoples pause. The friend of my enemy is my friend has cause many local nations to approach the wemics with the hopes of an alliance, but of the few that survive the encounter with the irrational and tempermental wemics, always report that the wemics are neither friend nor enemy. Wemics themselves look at most other races as soft. They feel that others do not understand all that they have gone through and this in turn fuels their madness to its extremes.
Wemics view only one other race as natural allies to be trusted, the zijen, a strange race of beings native to the Black who escaped to Athas along with the Great Pride. Almost universally due wemics afford the zijen the same level of respect as a full fledged member of a pride. Whether or not the zijen will continue to receive this trust and respect in the coming years is yet to be seen.
(more comparisons to other races and nations as they become fleshed out)
Alignment
Wemics are almost never of lawful alignment. Some wemics are in fact good, but their madness can boil forth in uncontrollable ways. Those that have succumb fully to their derangements are chaotic or neutral evil.
Lands
Since their return to Athas almost ten years ago, the temporary Great Pride that fought its way out of Sumatra has disbanded into many smaller prides. A few still continue fighting the yuan-ti and their allies on the borders of the serpent controlled lands while others have ranged far in the interveining years. Several smaller prides have set up camps in lands where the hunting is slightly better. These camps are slowly becoming forts that may one day become villages or towns, if they survive long enough.
Religion
Long ago the wemics worshiped the spirits of he land, but their years in the Black have erased all religious piety from their memories. They spent a great many centuries as slaves and servants to the dark denizen of the Black and now view such worship as an emotional slavery of sorts. Clerics are an extremely rare sight amongst the various prides. There are some fledgling druids emerging amongst the prides, those few individuals contacted by spirits of the land who have seen through the taint of the wemics and recognize their old allies inside. The majority though treat these new druids as willing slaves to the spirits of the land and kill them as soon as it becomes known that they are such. Druids hence must work in secret, protecting the land and the hunting grounds of the pride.
Magic
With the exception of the druid, other types of spellcasters are entirely unknown amongst the wemics. The beings who enslaved the prides on the Black were spellcasters of the highest caliber and their art was considered taboo amongst the wemics. Even now they bear a respect for the power that magic holds, but do not view a practicioner as inheirently evil for using it. Little do the wemics know that it is defilers as well as the war amongst the elemental lords that is responsible for the current state of Athas or things would be very different. Once a pride has seen the harm a defiler can wreak on the land, it commonly changes its stance to view magic as evil and corrupting and slay spellcasters on sight.
Psionics
Wemics have always been partial to psionics, including psychometabolism and psychokinesis. (blah, blah, more later)
Languages
Yeah, they talk.
Names
Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion (show your age and guess whether he’s from Daktari or Bring ‘Em Back Alive; sorry, I had to)
Racial Traits
+6 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -4 Wisdom, -6 Charisma; Wemics are a tough and durable people and though they may be fast, they lack the manual agility possessed by other peoples. Their mental aflictions inhibit them when being rational and when interacting with others.
Large-sized: Wemics are large sized quadrapeds and as such, they receive a -1 size penalty on their Armor Class, a -1 size penalty on attack rolls, and a -4 size penalty on all hide checks. They can use standard sized equipment and have a carrying capacity 3 times that of humans. The face/reach for a wemic is 5’ x 10’/5’.
Black Trait, Darkvision: Wemics have darkvision vision to a range of 60’
Base Speed: The base speed for a wemic is 40’
Natural Weapons: Wemics can use their natural weapons instead of fighting with crafted ones if they so choose. They can rake with both front claws for 1d6 points of damage.
Leaping: A wemic can leap twice the normal ranges as given for humans.
Pounce: A wemic can execute a pounce attack during combat. They may leap their full distance and still perform a full attack on an opponent. They must be at least 10 feet away from the opponent in order to pounce. The opponent is afforded an attack of oprotunity against the pouncing wemic, provided he is aware of the attack and has an attack of opprotunity available.
Scent: Wemics have such an acute sense of smell that they aquire the special quality of scent.
Black Traits, Resistances: A wemic receives a DR of 10 against all magical and non-magical cold energy attacks. They also receive a +4 competence bonus to all saves regarding paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects and any necromantic effects.
Unnatural Aura (Su): Both wild and domesticated animals can sense the unnatural presence of a wemic at a distance of 10 feet. They do not willingly approach nearer than that and panic if forced to do so; they remain panicked as long as they are within range.
Black Affliction: In situations of stress, wemics are liable to crack up a bit. Whenever a wemic fails any kind of die roll more than 4 times in a row, they become manic. Their alignment shifts to neutral evil and they gain +1 Strength, +1 on all damage rolls, -2 to their Armor Class and will likely assault the person or thing that caused them duress in the first place (even inanimate objects are not immune to the crazed wemic’s rage and fellow adventurers learn this lesson quickly or never get a second chance). This lasts for no less than 2 rounds at which point the wemic may attempt a wisdom check against a DC of 14 (-1 per round after the first check is made) to get a grip. Once out of this manic state, the wemic enters a new state of depression that lasts for 10 minutes per round that they were manic. While in a depressed state, their alignment shifts back to normal but they are considered emotionally exhausted, suffering a -6 to Strength and Dexterity and unable to move beyond half-speed. They are unable to perform any action that would cause them to become fatigued.
Level Adjustment: Unfortunately, I’d have to give this a +3 or even +4. They gain a lot of abilities, and their main drawbacks will be role-playing ones (or the other PCs if they go ballistic a few times while trying to divvy up treasure).
Originally posted by Mach2.5
*PooF*
Race #2 done for your viewing displeasure. I din't finish it since there's a few other things I need to get started on, like a website, since this isn't going to work very well here.
Shoot me an email so I can get your addy.
[email=nytcrawlr@crimsonsun.org]NytCrawlr[/email]
I can put your stuff up on my site in a different section if you want.
I'll just whip up some little basic do-dad as a placeholder for the files on the web. I'd have no problem with direct linkage if you wanted to do that though, plus it would cut down on the amount of bandwidth on your end (not that I expect tons of downloads or anything, but why not have some freebie provider pay for it).
My email address is [email=darkstarfalling@sbcglobal.net]here[/email] in case you need it.
I'll have my layouts done sometime tomorrow and have it up and running by Monday at least.
Flavor comments: its 1500 years (or just about) that King Tek took to "Annihilate" the Wemics. I like your idea for sparing some of them though... Reminds me of the Shades of Netheril (FR). I really love the physical description, but I'd forfeit the pupils altogheter, levaing theirs eyes completely white.
Mechanical Suggestion: Have you looked at the conversion of the Wemic in Races of Faerun?
Abilities: I like the physical adjustments, and I think they represent the lesser built of this wemic (standard wemics have +8 Str and +2 Con), but I'd be cautious with the mental abilities, though I think I understand that you want to make them slightly mad. Maybe -2 wisdom -4 charisma.
Face: D&D 3.5 no longer has different face values. Large creatures always have a face of 10ft. (10ft x 10ft)
Darkvision: Its good, but if you don't mind the extra power, the story you gave them would justify them having the See in Darkness ability (which allows them to see as darkvision through total darkness caused by magical effects).
Leaping: The easiest way to represent this ability is to give the wemics a good jump bonus. Races of Faerun gives them +8. I think that would be good.
Black affliction: A good idea. Maybe you could use the critical failure rule instead as the start of this. It might be simpler than counting your failures on the same types of checks. Also, I would simply make Wemics fly into a rage when they become manic. It would give out similar adjustments than the one you described, and is already covered in the D&D rules. When they go depressed, you could have them become exhausted instead of fatigued, just like you described. Very original idea. I like it!
Other abilities: I think everything else is very nice.
Natural Armor: Large creatures and beastlike skin always grants at least some natural armor to creatures in D&D. The standard wemic has +4. Since that one could conceavably be less hardy, you could lower it to +2, but I'd give him some anyways.
Monstrous Hit Dice: I know you didn't want to raise to power of this creature too much, but I would be really weird if it didn't have racial hit dice. All large creatures have racial hit dice (Large Skeletons have 2, and they are the ones who have the least in all D&D). The standard wemic has 5. Since this one is more frail, I would go with maybe 3 hit dice. It's almost a necessity, if you care about consistency with d20. Also, playing a character which takes out 3 or 4 levels without any bonus HDs makes it unreliable at best at low to mid level.
Level Adjustment: Because of all their abilities, you couldn't really make it below +3 or +4, especially without Hit dices to soften up the level adjustment. The standard Wemic has a level adjustment of +3. However, yours has more low to moderate abilities, although he has lower ability adjustements, natural armor, and has a mixed blessing in his affliction. I would therefore keep the level adjustment to +3, but only with 3 HDs to compensate a little. That means your Wemic would have an ECL of 6 though... :sad: But I don't believe it can really be lower than that, HD-wise and LA-wise.
Just my thoughts anyways...
Originally posted by Mach2.5
Heh, you seem to have alot on your plate already without having me buggin you all the time ;)
I'd have no problem with direct linkage if you wanted to do that though, plus it would cut down on the amount of bandwidth on your end (not that I expect tons of downloads or anything, but why not have some freebie provider pay for it).
Uploading files doesn't take that much time, it's stuff I could easily do at work.
I also don't pay for the site or bandwidth, one of the perks you get for working at an ISP. ;)
But it's cool either way.
Hmm, okay. I've no problem at all with you hosting this stuff. Saves me from one headache then. I'll zip up and send you the files after I clean them up a little.
Second To Shie:
I still can't seem to track down the old Athasian Timeline. Lastard's Freedom page had an interesting idea that the wemics were the first to get entirely slaughtered. Using that, I figure they got wiped out before the second half of the Clensing Wars.
Face/reach: Ugh . . . 3.5 . . . err, I mean, I can't wait to chunk out another 90 bucks . . . its nice that a gargantuan serpent will always be coiled up then, isn't it?
Darkvision: I think I'll stick with the lesser of the two, since the attempt is to downgrade the race.
Leaping: Real world lions normally only leap a few feet, but they can attain a 30' jump with ease. This would give them . . . . +20 to their jump for an average of 30 feet. (I hope 3.5 makes more sense out of jumping).
Black Aflliction: Not my idea. Its Nyt'sblack touched template, albeit a bit modified.
Natural armor and hit dice should have been in there. Based on the thri-kreen model: monsterous humanoid, +2d8 hit dice, +2 bab, +2 will and ref saves, etc, etc. Since they are about the same size, wemics should be medium creatures as well, not large (unless I'm mistaken and the kreen has been revamped). I blame old age for forgetting this part.
After looking through the Masters of the Wild, I may opt for them to have a modified frenzy instead (+3 str, one extra attack, -4 AC, 2 points of subdual damage each round, frenzy for 3+con modifier rounds, will save against a DC or 20 to end it early, continues to attack the same target till frenzy ends). As Nyt so dastardly pointed out with the tari adjustments, no other race has a core class feature or it would takes away from the core class itself (core meaning DS core I'd imagine). Frenzy fits a little better than rage, plus I like the subdual damage.
Pounce should only work for making claw attacks and cannot be used during frenzy.
I'd settle for +3 LA. If I could.
For the affliction thing, I think its a good idea. Class features chould ideed ideally not be granted to races.
Glad to offer suggestions when I can!
It could be that Planar travel was alot easier in earlier days... witness the Psurlons.
Speaking of the Grey, thought how cool it would be to have an adventure/region that was like a city suspended in the Grey, in a place similar to the Hollow. Maybe make it the last great city to stand up to Rajaat. Instead of leveling the city, he just threw it into its own demi-plane, where it has been trapped ever since.
Originally posted by Mach2.5
First To Nyt:
Hmm, okay. I've no problem at all with you hosting this stuff. Saves me from one headache then. I'll zip up and send you the files after I clean them up a little.
Cool.
After looking through the Masters of the Wild, I may opt for them to have a modified frenzy instead
Frenzy would probably work better, though I feel touched that you wanted to use my idea.
As Nyt so dastardly pointed out with the tari adjustments, no other race has a core class feature or it would takes away from the core class itself (core meaning DS core I'd imagine).
Actually what I meant/said (I probably didn't make it clear) is that no race gets a class ability, that I know of, whether it's DS core, D&D3e core, DL core, etc. I disagree with this slightly, but it's probably a good idea not to do it.
Pounce should only work for making claw attacks and cannot be used during frenzy.
Pounce is such a great ability.
ECL +3 (total, can't remember what the LA was, or maybe the LA was +3 *shrug*) is good, don't have many of those running around, and I think we are good on the LA +2 and lower area when it comes to races.
As for the timeline, that's on flip's site.
Athas Timeline
Looks like he needs to clean his site up some though, and he was getting on to me about my site. hehehehe
So, you almost never stumble on a gate or portal, and your summoning spells don't work in the same way, your teleportation and planar travel spells and powers don't always work, or more accurately: seldom succeed.
I like that, a lot! There are places were you can reach other planes, but there's like 1 for each plane, aside from the grey and the black and the inner planes, in the entire Tyr Region. I think that's a good thing, and makes adventures linked with planars, like Black Spine, especially interesting and important.
Also, unlike many, including the official Dark Sun writers (not athas.org, I mean the original writers), I REALLY liked the idea of linking Kalidnay with Ravenloft! A terrible magical accident tearing through the multiverse and plunging that realm into the demi-plane of dread. This is not a natural gate, it was caused by accident, and by magic of tremedous power. I really like that. I say the orbs of Kalid-ma in the Psionic Artifacts supplement, and I think they pretty much tear down the ravenloft idea, but I don't care. I like the original idea better!
Anyways, I think its a matter of perception and preferences. I am still wondering how summon monster spells will work...
Originally posted by Shei-Nad
I think it's pretty clear from Wizards of Athas that planar travel is POSSIBLE, but VERY HARD to do, and very dangerous. It's just much rarer than, say, Forgotten Realms, where almost ALL races are planar in origin (did anyone here read FR3e's history??? Man! Elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, gnomes... all planar).
Hmm, don't remember that being part of the history in FR2e, guess I need to read up on that some since I will be running a Epic campaign in FR soonly. :sigh: So much to read, so little time.
Also, unlike many, including the official Dark Sun writers (not athas.org, I mean the original writers), I REALLY liked the idea of linking Kalidnay with Ravenloft! A terrible magical accident tearing through the multiverse and plunging that realm into the demi-plane of dread. This is not a natural gate, it was caused by accident, and by magic of tremedous power. I really like that. I say the orbs of Kalid-ma in the Psionic Artifacts supplement, and I think they pretty much tear down the ravenloft idea, but I don't care. I like the original idea better!
Yeah, I love linking the two together. Last DS/RL campaign I ran started in the Kalidnay in RL and they were going to end up on Athas prime eventually. I had two of the orbs in the Kalidnay area of RL and the rest spread throughout Athas prime. One of the players was playing a templar and didn't like how Thaka-An (probably botched that) was running things, so he stopped serving her and went on a quest to find out what happen to Kalid-Ma, he then got a vision from Kalid-Ma that he would make him his high templar if he helped him return to Athas prime in full dragon form, but he needed to orbs and someone to eat the orbs to do so. He also had a defiler running around with him that wanted the orbs because he thought he could gain the power of Kalid-Ma with no ill effect, so naturally he tagged along and helped. mwuahhaha
Anyways, I think its a matter of perception and preferences. I am still wondering how summon monster spells will work...
If I remember correctly, they work as normal officially. However, someone suggested that once the duration is up they can't return to their home plane. I don't really care for that idea though. Someone else said they just turn into ectoplasm after the duration, hence the reason Athas is so psionic rich. I like this idea more but not sure I want to go with that. Don't plan on running Athas anytime soon though, so I don't have to worry about it just yet. Want to find some players that will enjoy it more before I run it again.
Personality
"Wemics now are more serious and severe than their earlier counterparts.
While in the past, wemics loved to celebrate and sing and dance, they now see these things as vices. Instead they channel their artistic ability into weapon-smithing and inventing new fighting styles and techniques. Their music has become sad and mysterious. Their bards' performances are extremely intense. Bards have the ability to use "Warcry" during battle. This cry causes fear in non-wemics.
Wemics are extremely proud and will fiercely defend what is theirs."
The twisted fear/warcry thing might be something for your shadow wemic...
:D
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what about the yak people from monster manual 2?
living in giant mud cities? a race of traders and warriors? that decided to cut themselves from the rest of the world?
mach, the other person who suggested yak-men before was...
me.
so there isnt anyone else who likes them -sob sob-
I dont know why, but they look cute to me (bizzare anyway).
anyway, I like the idea of a race living in great clay or dry mud mounds or fortresses (doesn't have to be yakmen...)
Might use something like that for a few of the less advanced or less intelligent races.
BTW, I'd love to have someone helping with ideas. I kinda run out at times and it would be great to have a few people to bounce things back and forth about. Anyone else interested besides eyalrein?