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Maerok
2006-09-04, 07:48 PM
Ursham - People of the Great Cycle
[hr]
Balance is the key to the world, and no creature knows that better than an Ursham. These majestic creatures witness the eternal changes of the world for centuries, learning all its secrets and nuances. The balance most essential to the Ursham is the Great Cycle, the balance of moon and sun. Depending on what time one meets an Ursham, they are met with two strikingly different images.

At day, the Ursham are graceful. They stand at 6.5' with supple arms and legs, weighing only 100 pounds. They appear vaguely human, as if some intense force had blasted all features from their delicate forms. They bear three fingers and three toes, the only changes to break the uniformity of their smooth silver skin. For eyes, they had two pairs of horizontal eyeslits, usually slanted down to where the nose would be. These eyes glow a faint blue. The mouth of an Ursham is usually non-existent, only when eating does the lower half of the head divide off into three pairs of graceful mandibles. They can speak through the membrane that normally melds the mouth into the rest of the face.

At night, the graceful Ursham undergoes a very distinct change. Their skin blackens and hardens into a rough, charcoal-like skin. Up and down the arms and legs are rows of short spikes protuding from the skin. The three toes and fingers on each foot and hand fuse into two ungainly talons. The eyeslits combine into two, forming angles facing up to the top of its head; they glow a bright red. The Ursham grows to a height of 8' and its delicate limbs gain substantial mass, with a total weight of 300 pounds. Their mandibles reform into three tentacles positioned around a sharp beak.

Even if unaware of whether it is night or day, an Ursham will always change. The change takes place at sunset[into Night Ursham] and sunrise[into Day Ursham]. The change takes place over 3 rounds, at which time the Ursham is paralyzed. The process of the transformation is magical and may be interrupted by an anti-magic field. If that happens, the change is delayed until it leaves, unless the new form is invalid for the time of day (in which case, it doesn't change). Effects similar to sunlight or moon light do not change an Ursham: it is dawn and dusk that do, whether they are aware of the time or not.

For extraplanar travel, the Ursham immediately changes to adapt to the current day/night of the plane. If there is no alternating day and night system in that plane, the Ursham maintains its current form until it enters a plane with a sun and moon cycle.

If, for some reason, it is both day and night, the Ursham changes into one form at random. When the situation ends, it changes to the appropriate form.

Any items fitted for the Ursham change with them, but are resized upon their removal. A Night Ursham tends to be more dangerous and brash, but not necessarily. The same goes for the normally peaceful Day Ursham. Urshams tend to be feral, yet arranged in a tribal community. They are fierce defenders of nature and its balances. Druid is a common choice among feral Ursham. Civilized Ursham tend to use magics or fight as trained combatants and seek a life in the city.

For qualifying for PrCs, such as one that requires the caster to rebuke undead, use whichever form of the Ursham is required. However, class abilities of that class that requires rebuke undead, for instance, don't work until it is a Night Ursham (when it can rebuke undead as a cleric).

An Ursham doesn't sleep, but spellcasters must rest as normal to regain spells. They still become fatigued or exhausted. They eat and drink the same amount as a human.
[hr]

Medium Monstrous Humanoid

Alignment: Usually True Neutral (or Lawful)
30' land speed
Darkvision 30'
Immunity to sleep effects.
Favored Class: Druid
(Class Note: Clerics must have two opposing domains: Air-Earth, Fire-Water, Sun-Darkness, Good-Evil, Law-Chaos, etc. Additional domains gained from other classes may be chosen freely.)
Environment: Typically places of great ecological importance or major natural landmarks.
Languages: Common, Celestial, Infernal, Sylvan

Day Ursham:
- +10' land speed
-Dex +4, Con -4, Str -2
-Daylight, Searing Light - a total of 2 times in one transformation, CL HD
-Immunity to [Light] effects (not blinded, no damage, etc), -4 to saves against [Darkness] effects
-Clerics turn undead, cast healing spells spontaneously

Night Ursham:
- -10' land speed
-Dex -4, Con +4, Str +2
-Blacklight, Armor of Darkness - a total of 2 times in one transformation, CL HD
-Immunity to [Darkness] effects (can see through [Darkness] spells as if not there, for example), -4 to saves against [Light] effects
-Clerics rebuke undead, cast inflict spells spontanteously

LA+2

Umbral_Arcanist
2006-09-05, 05:55 PM
Very interesting.........


though the constant changing would be a little too much trouble for players.....

I dislike giving them druidic, non-druids aren't supposed to learn that ever....

figure out an LA (i've no idea but 2 or 3 might be about right) and i'll likely vote yes, but not yet

Loren_and_Kivsith
2006-09-05, 06:09 PM
I like the concept, although I agree that the shapeshifting would be a bother to players.

Question: Do Ursham sleep? If they did, there would be no point to whichever form they slept through (depending on whether or not they're nocturnal).

Also, I agree with Umbral that they shouldn't learn Druidic unless there's a very good reason for it. Even fey don't know druidic if they aren't druids. Perhaps, if a nature-y feel is what you're going for, you could replace druidic with sylvan.

For the level adjustment, it should probably be high for a player race, since this race does have quite a few good benefits. I'd probably put it at +4, but that's just me.

Eighth_Seraph
2006-09-06, 10:14 PM
I agree with Loren. Druidic isn't a racial or magical tongue that druids learn as a connection to nature, it's effectively a code language that druids made and use to speak among themselves secretly and to maintain a sense of unity as protecters of nature.

As for LA, this actually seems very balaned in both its forms, what with the minuses to stats and/or speed. The Darkvision, spell-like abilities and immunities tell me a very strong +1 LA or a fairly weak +2 LA, but I'm leaning more towards +2 because of the exploitability of the shapechanging cycle.

Maerok
2006-09-07, 06:22 PM
Ok, I've changed around Druidic to Slyvan and taken care of the sleeping problem.

Now should an Ursham be able to change if its in an anti-magic zone? It seems like it would block the change if it were a magical innate transformation but not if it was a physical and biological shift. I haven't decided on which would be the better type of change based on my own description.

Loren_and_Kivsith
2006-09-07, 09:22 PM
Hmm. Both magical and biological explanations have their appeal. However, if a magically-changing Ursham /did/ enter an anti-magic zone, what would happen? They can't revert to their 'natural' form, because they don't have one. Would they just be stuck in whatever form they were in until they left the anti-magic zone? An interesting question.

However, despite the confusion the magical transformation ability is causing me, I think that is the better explanation. Saying its a biological change just sounds too un-fantasy.

Maerok
2006-09-07, 09:32 PM
Ok. Perhaps for the sake of easiness, the change itself is magical and can only happen outside an anti-magic field. Otherwise, the process waits until they leave (but if a Night Ursham is released in night after a week of captivity, they just stay as is).

fangthane
2006-09-07, 09:54 PM
Can a Daylight spell trick a Night Ursham into becoming a Day Ursham?

Maerok
2006-09-07, 10:48 PM
It's the dawn that brings about the change, not day(/sun)light

soylentplaid
2006-09-08, 03:02 PM
Epic spells magically speeding up the movement of the sun would be fun in Ursham communities.

Eighth_Seraph
2006-09-08, 08:33 PM
Yup, they would mess up the sleeping cycles of every living creature on the face of the planet, would burn/deprive foliage of sunlight, mess up any druidic rituals involving either heavenly body, drive astrologers gibbering madly into their closets and make it a real pain to incorporate undead into a campaign. :D

Depending on what role you're playing in the campaign, yeah, lotsa fun.

I_Got_This_Name
2006-09-08, 08:43 PM
Epic spells magically speeding up the movement of the sun would be fun in Ursham communities.

That takes too much energy. Easier to just turn the planet faster.