Sydonai
2010-08-21, 11:56 AM
I'll just write the fluff. If you want to stat this out yourself your welcome to any of the material here.
I have an idea for a new monster/race, but I'm not sure if they could work. Please tell me your opinion.
My ideas for a name are "Balaur", "Kaliya", "Nehebkau", "Orochi", "Ladon", or "Shesha".
They look like snakes, but they have three "tails" and three "necks". Their torso looks like that of an ordinary constricter snake(think Anaconda) as does thier primary(central) tail, their secondary tails are noticeably thinner than the primary and split into five smaller(and much shorter) tails, these "toes" are as flexible as human fingers but are mainly used for movement rather than fine manipulation; their primary tail stabilizes them and they use their secondary tails to pull themselves along.
Their secondary "necks" are thinner than the primary and split into five smaller necks, these "fingers" are roughly half an inch thick, about seven inches in length and are each topped with a small snake's head, these "hands" are usually used like a humanoid's hands.
Their primary neck ends in a head that looks like a normal snake's head at first glance, but then you notice that they have multiple smaller snakes coming from their scalp(if you can apply that term to reptiles) like a Medusa's "hair", and that their lower jaw is spit along the middle(most snakes have a split lower jaw, but its not visible unless you look at an x-ray).
Beyond that their faces, all of them, can form remarkably human expressions, becuase their heads tend to be completely non-anthropomorphic this tends to create an effect called "Uncanny Valley (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UncannyValley)", that is made even more disturbing by their emotionless, monotone voices.
As a result the whole race has taken up the habit of wearing masks while in the presence of humanoids.
(They can see and taste with all of their heads but must rest one or more of their heads on the ground to hear anything, they "hear" by sensing vibrations through their jawbones. They have a natural talent for lip-reading, and can comprehend any language that they can understand as long as they can see it being spoken.)
They have a worldview similar to that of the Neogi; everything and everyone is the possesion of someone or something else. They differ from the Neogi in two ways, they view all of their possessions as extensions of themselves; "You hurt my friend, my friend is a part of me, I am a part of the Priesthood, the Priesthood is a part of Ouroboros, therefore you have hurt Ouroboros.", and they view possession as a cyclical thing; "The world is a part of us, we are a part of Ouroboros, Ouroboros is a part of the world."
This tends to make associating with them confusing at first, as they try to establish where you rank in their order of possession, but most people that they call friends are grateful(and more than a little suprised) at the level of protectiveness/possessiveness displayed.
They worship the World-Serpent Ouroboros, their religion states that everything is a cycle and that everything is mad up of one or more of the six elements.
Life and Death are a cycle, anything outside of that cycle is an abomination, but the only things truly outside of that cycle are Undead, Deathless, and Vestiges. These must be "Laid to Rest"(read:Destroyed) at all costs, if they don't want to be Laid to Rest then they can have reincarnate cast on themselves(They prefer reincarnate to Raise Dead.), the point is that they shouldn't exist as monsters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151033).The six elements are Fire, Air, Water, Flesh, Earth, and Root. Flesh is connected the Elemental Plane of Flesh (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53869) and Root is connected to the Elemental Plane of Wood(Planar Handbook).
In a D20 setting the number of "hair" snakes they have is equal to Constitution+Con Modifier(14+2=16, 18+4=22), this doesn't really have a mechanical effect beyond being able to tell how healthy they are, and it only counts permanent constitution; Ability Drain can kill the snakes but not Ability Damage. They may advance by Class levels or HD, whichever the indvidual prefers, they gain an increase in Size for every six Monstrous Humanoid HD they have. Their favored Class is "Favored Soul".
Please tell me what you think, and try to stat out this mess. I'd just screw up somehow if I tried.
I have an idea for a new monster/race, but I'm not sure if they could work. Please tell me your opinion.
My ideas for a name are "Balaur", "Kaliya", "Nehebkau", "Orochi", "Ladon", or "Shesha".
They look like snakes, but they have three "tails" and three "necks". Their torso looks like that of an ordinary constricter snake(think Anaconda) as does thier primary(central) tail, their secondary tails are noticeably thinner than the primary and split into five smaller(and much shorter) tails, these "toes" are as flexible as human fingers but are mainly used for movement rather than fine manipulation; their primary tail stabilizes them and they use their secondary tails to pull themselves along.
Their secondary "necks" are thinner than the primary and split into five smaller necks, these "fingers" are roughly half an inch thick, about seven inches in length and are each topped with a small snake's head, these "hands" are usually used like a humanoid's hands.
Their primary neck ends in a head that looks like a normal snake's head at first glance, but then you notice that they have multiple smaller snakes coming from their scalp(if you can apply that term to reptiles) like a Medusa's "hair", and that their lower jaw is spit along the middle(most snakes have a split lower jaw, but its not visible unless you look at an x-ray).
Beyond that their faces, all of them, can form remarkably human expressions, becuase their heads tend to be completely non-anthropomorphic this tends to create an effect called "Uncanny Valley (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UncannyValley)", that is made even more disturbing by their emotionless, monotone voices.
As a result the whole race has taken up the habit of wearing masks while in the presence of humanoids.
(They can see and taste with all of their heads but must rest one or more of their heads on the ground to hear anything, they "hear" by sensing vibrations through their jawbones. They have a natural talent for lip-reading, and can comprehend any language that they can understand as long as they can see it being spoken.)
They have a worldview similar to that of the Neogi; everything and everyone is the possesion of someone or something else. They differ from the Neogi in two ways, they view all of their possessions as extensions of themselves; "You hurt my friend, my friend is a part of me, I am a part of the Priesthood, the Priesthood is a part of Ouroboros, therefore you have hurt Ouroboros.", and they view possession as a cyclical thing; "The world is a part of us, we are a part of Ouroboros, Ouroboros is a part of the world."
This tends to make associating with them confusing at first, as they try to establish where you rank in their order of possession, but most people that they call friends are grateful(and more than a little suprised) at the level of protectiveness/possessiveness displayed.
They worship the World-Serpent Ouroboros, their religion states that everything is a cycle and that everything is mad up of one or more of the six elements.
Life and Death are a cycle, anything outside of that cycle is an abomination, but the only things truly outside of that cycle are Undead, Deathless, and Vestiges. These must be "Laid to Rest"(read:Destroyed) at all costs, if they don't want to be Laid to Rest then they can have reincarnate cast on themselves(They prefer reincarnate to Raise Dead.), the point is that they shouldn't exist as monsters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151033).The six elements are Fire, Air, Water, Flesh, Earth, and Root. Flesh is connected the Elemental Plane of Flesh (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53869) and Root is connected to the Elemental Plane of Wood(Planar Handbook).
In a D20 setting the number of "hair" snakes they have is equal to Constitution+Con Modifier(14+2=16, 18+4=22), this doesn't really have a mechanical effect beyond being able to tell how healthy they are, and it only counts permanent constitution; Ability Drain can kill the snakes but not Ability Damage. They may advance by Class levels or HD, whichever the indvidual prefers, they gain an increase in Size for every six Monstrous Humanoid HD they have. Their favored Class is "Favored Soul".
Please tell me what you think, and try to stat out this mess. I'd just screw up somehow if I tried.