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View Full Version : The Cursed Ones [race] (PEACH)



Magnus_Samma
2006-09-29, 02:06 AM
I'm probably going to tinker with the flavor on these guys quite a bit more- at the moment what I'm mostly concerned with is the crunchy bits. Have I overlooked something and made these guys too powerful? Or, on the other hand, have I made them too gimpy or too complicated or otherwise not even worth playing? Be brutal if you have to, I'm still new at this. :P

The Cursed

It is perilous to meddle in the affair of spellcasters, for they posses the power to warp the very fabric of reality. Once, long ago, the ancestors of the people known as the cursed discovered this first hand- to their eternal shame. Transformed by powerful magics into a strange race of monstrous creatures, the cursed live with the knowledge that they suffer for no greater reason than the ancient vengeance of some random wizard. Many cursed learn to ignore this pettiness, and go on to live happy, productive lives. For others, their disfigurement is a constant thorn in their side, and they seek to reverse the ancient magic that transformed their people at all costs. Some even succeed.

Personality: The personality of a cursed one is heavily dependant on their attitude towards their cursed state. Nowadays, many cursed find their physical form to be entirely comfortable and natural, and have no desire to change it or feel particularly bad about having it. Some will even take offense at the notion that they should want to be anything else. Others, however, observe what they feel to be the far more attractive humanoid races, and feel resentment that they should be so much different when they could have been the same. These cursed are driven by the thought of reversing their curse and reassuming their ancient form.
In general, the knowledge that they are cursed from birth tends to give the cursed a stoic, accepting disposition. While this can make them seem pessimistic, they are also all the more grateful for fortunate circumstances because they don’t necessarily expect them. The cursed tend to value the basic necessities of life and enjoying the simple pleasures that they afford. Also, because of their animalistic nature, they revere nature and protect it whenever possible.
Physical Description: Whatever their original form, today the cursed resemble nothing so much as walking, talking frogs. Rather squat, they never grow to more than 5 feet tall, and rarely weigh much more than 100 pounds. Their bodies are fairly humanoid in build, with powerful legs and four fingers and toes, while their heads are entirely frog-like. Their skin is similar to a frog’s as well, though it retains moisture much better, and usually has a pattern of mottled green and black on the dorsal side of their bodies with a lighter color underneath. The shades of color vary widely between individuals. Males and females are extremely similar in build, and it is difficult for other races to tell cursed ones of different genders apart.
Relations: Though their origins lie in a mass ancestral curse, today the cursed don’t tend to draw an imbalance of ire from other species. If anything, other creatures are apt to be sympathetic, though this varies depending on individual temperaments. Cursed ones get along well with dwarves, with whom they share a taste for simplicity and order, and with halflings, who can often empathize with the cursed ones’ feelings of alienation from other races. The cursed have a difficult time trusting gnomes and elves because the two races have a distinct connection with arcane magic, which naturally makes any cursed one suspicious. They are often friendly with lizardfolk simply because the two races somewhat resemble each other and because they tend to enjoy the same habitat. Most other races they are fairly ambivalent towards.
Alignment: The cursed mostly tend towards neutrality, accepting the world for it is and being extremely pragmatic in how they react to it. Many cursed ones have a desire to rise above their unfortunate circumstances, however, and they tend towards good more than they do evil.
Cursed Lands: Small communities of cursed can be found all over, as they have spread widely since their creation many centuries ago. They prefer swampy or forested areas, though many do take up residence in cities.
Religion: Cursed don’t have a racial deity of their own, but they will often revere any god with a connection to nature. They categorically dislike gods of arcane power.
Language: Whatever racial language the cursed spoke before their transformation, they have since forgotten it, and today mostly speak common, draconic, and sylvan.
Names: Cursed ones typically have an individual name and a surname that they share with the rest of their kin. The cursed do not tend towards any particular group of names, often using names of other people that they know and like regardless of their race or the language the name originated from. Surnames tend to be simple, naturalistic kennings like Treeclimber, Waterstrider, or Leafjumper.
Adventures: Most cursed adventure out of a simple desire to see more of the world, or to discover things about themselves. Many cursed will set out on quests to right wrongs that they perceive in the natural world. The most driven of cursed adventurers, however, are those that seek to discover and acquire the means to reverse their racial curse.

Racial Traits

+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: The cursed are fast on their feet and very aware of their surroundings, but they are not particularly tough and their strange appearance can be off-putting to other creatures.

Monstrous Humanoid: As Monstrous Humanoids, cursed are not subject to spells or affects that affect only humanoids, such as charm person or dominate person.

Medium: As Medium creatures, the cursed have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Cursed base land speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision: Cursed can see in the dark out to 60 ft. Darkvision is black and white only, but is otherwise like normal sight, and cursed can function just fine with no light at all.

Water Acclimated: Cursed are not truly amphibious, but they are built for the water. They receive a +4 racial bonus to Swim checks, and cursed can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to triple their Constitution score before making a Constitution check to avoid drowning.

+2 racial bonus to Jump and Spot checks. Cursed ones have large eyes and powerful legs.

Automatic Languages: Common and sylvan. Bonus Languages: Draconic, dwarven, elven, gnoll, and gnomish.

Favored Class: Ranger. A multiclass cursed’s Ranger class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. Having a deep connection with nature, many cursed ones become rangers to better hunt for food and explore their woodland homes.