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Noctemwolf
2010-08-23, 10:52 PM
I have some homemade races I'm making for a campaign I plan on running when I get players near my area. Anyone wanna see if they would play them?
Please note: I mean to replace the normal races in the players handbook with these custom ones.

The Lupine

Half wolf, Half human creatures born from an explosion of magic at the end of the Great War.

Physical: Lupine usually stand between 5'6" to 6'6", and weigh between 145lbs and 165. The females are generally shorter and lighter than their male counterparts.
Being half-wolf, their fur color's tend to vary from blacks, grays, browns, and whites, with families and tribes having similar colorings. (Ex: tribe all have black spotched fur around eyes). Their eyes are almost always gold, but some rare members of the Race have blue, green, or even gray eyes.

Personality: Lupine are serious, survival oriented people. They are generally small in talk, big on emphasis. They are cautious, and bend neither towards optimism nor pessimism.

Culture: The Lupine Exist in two ways; those living farther to the south tend to live in tribes, existing as little more than primitives. Those that live farther north Live in towns and castles, existing for the most part similarly to their original human heritage.

Racial Traits:

+2 Dex, -2 charisma. The Lupine are dextrous, But their demenours often offset their relations with other races.
Base Land Speed: 30 ft.
Scent: The Lupine can track By Scent.
Low-Light Vision: Lupine can see in conditions where others would be nearly blind.
Cold resistance 2: The ice and snow of the northern regions has toughened the Lupines resistance to those elements.
Endurance feat for free at 1st Level.
+2 to listen checks, Notice secret doors within 5 ft.
+2 Intimidate Checks
Natural attack: The Lupine have a Natural Bite attack, treated as it's primary natural weapon.
Favoured Class: Fighter
Automatic Languages: Common, Lupine. Bonus Languages: (Human)Reigonals (Any), Diglian.

Humans:
Same as those presented in the players handbook, with the following exceptions:
Auto Languages: Common, (Human)Reigonal(Starting)

Asterlings

inquisitive, impish creatures.

Physical: Asterlings are between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall, weighing in between 30 and 35 pounds. The small Creatures have bald, potato shaped heads and long pointed ears. Their skin varies in range, all the way from near pale to near black. (Those with Darker skin tend to live underground, But Asterlings care little; they see each other as comrades nontheless). They have no hair on their bodies, and their cat slit eyes come in nearly any color (Save pure black and white).

Personality: Asterlings are Merchants, Rogues, Tricksters, and Assassins. They are cunning, resourceful, and tricky, and are as varied in their personalties as humans in the good/evil/ spectrum, but tend toward chaos in the law/chaos spectrum.

Culture: The Asterling, as they are, Have no formal cities. They live amongst all the other races, Finding their niches whever they happen to be. They tend to either be wanderers or travelers. Some do band together in caravans that travel around looking for new experience or work.

Racial Traits:

+2 dex, -2 str. Asterlings are fast, but are not very strong due to their small size.
Small size
Base land speed: 30 ft.
Darkvision: Asterlings can see even in pure darkness.
+1 to all saving throws
+2 to spot and listen checks
+2 to all craft and profession checks: Asterlings are Merchants and Crafters at heart.
+2 to diplomacy, always a class skill
Spell-Like abilities: (As a caster equal to 1/2 their level): Faerie fire 2/day
Slippery: As a free action, an Astering can secrete a slippery substance from it's skin. This acts like a Grease spell cats upon the Asterling (+10 to escape artist checks).
Favoured Class: Rogue
Auto Languages: Common + 1 nonsecret of players choice: Asterlings have no formal language. They instead pick up the languages of where they live.
Bonus languages: Any nonsecret

Diglians

Good natured, But hard of shell.

Physical: Diglians stand between 3 to 3'4" tall. They weigh in between 40 to 55 pounds. Diglians look somewhat like armadillos, with hard shells that are almost always an earthy brown. Their eyes very in shades of brown, and their skin is somewhat leathery (Also brown). all colors about Diglians are generally mute in shade.

Personality: Diglians are generally good natured, honest, hardworking people of the earth. They prefer a no-nonsense method of approaching problems, practical and efficient in all their tasks.

Culture: Diglian culture is base on family and connection. Diglians live underground near volcanoes, figting with Afflicted for the best drinking water, and lava pools for fishing for lava fish. They trade for goods they otherwise would not get. Diglians do not live deep in the earth, but closer to the surface than some of them might prefer. At their worst, Diglian societies can be xenophobic at times, in order to keep themselves safe.

Racial Traits:

+2 Cons, -2 Str. Diglians are tough, but weak due to their smaller size.
Small Size
Fire Resistance 2
Darkvision
+2 natural armour bonus, due to their shell and leathery skin.
Curl: As a standard action, a diglian can curl into a ball. This Grants him an additional +2 to his natural armour bonus, as well as granting him a damage reduction of 1/- and additonal bonus to hiding in rocky areas (+5). They can roll around at their land movement speed, but cannot attack or cast spells.
Spell Like abilities (as caster of 1/2 level): Light 1/day, Heal Minor wounds 2/day
Stonecunning: As the Dwarven ability of the same name.
+1 on attack rolls against afflicted (My worlds version of orcs).
Favoured class: fighter
Auto languages: common, diglian
Bonus languages: (Human)Regional, Lupine, afflicted.

Avian

Thin, Feathery, and vastly intelligent.

Physical: Avian are unusually tall, standing at 5'11" at their shortest, and extending all the way to 7'7". Weight is about the same as humans. their scaled legs blend seamlessly into the skin of their upper bodies, which range from a light pale to a light tan. Their skin generally have a similar hue to their feather color. Feathers adorn their bodies in the same way hair might accompany a human. Colour is both an indicator of clan and class. their long fingers are adorned with small claws instead of fingernails. A pair of wings grow from their shoudlers. (No beaks; they seem almost like humans who had been on the stretching rack for too long. No beards of feathers; the feathers are short).

Personality: Avian question everything, from the color of the sky to what exist deep below the ocean. They are generally shy and close-minded to those they do not trust. They are studious and can sometimes be stuffy.

Culture: Their culture focuses on the mind over the body. They welcome spellcasters and fighters to them with equal awe, for both thirst for knowledge, albeit in different ways. They look to learn and understand their world, and live alongside it. Their cities are very organic and natural looking.

Racial Traits:

+2 Int, -2 Cons. Avian are smart, but not as tough as other races.
Low-light vision
+2 to spot, always a class skill
+2 to climb, always a class skill
Immune to sleep effects
Iron will feat for free at 1st level
Gain the ability to fly ay 6th level (Good manuverablity, 60 ft.)
Natural attack: Rake (Feet claws, secondary natural weapons).
Favoured Class: Wizard
Auto Languages: Common, Avian
Bonus: Any (nonsecret)

This list is incomplete. To be added:
Half-Afflicted
Timeclocks

Edit:
Asterlings grease changed.

DrWeird
2010-08-23, 10:53 PM
Lupines were already made in the Dragon Compendium.

Noctemwolf
2010-08-23, 11:03 PM
I'm sure a lot of what I have has been done in one fashion or another. Though since I only have the core books to work with, I made my own. Thanks for letting me know though.
:smallbiggrin:

Zaydos
2010-08-23, 11:13 PM
Lupine:
Looks decent; it's bite attack could be quite useful and it looks pretty strong at Lv 1. It's abilities become less useful later on, though. But the natural weapon should always be useful and the +2 Dex should help melee types. I assume notice secret doors is a free check like elves get and not automatic success.

Asterlings:
Are they small or medium sized? You don't list in the stats and the fluff says 3 to 4 feet in height so about gnome sized so I would think they should be small. Also if they're natural merchants shouldn't they have Diplomacy (i.e. the skill used for bartering)?

Digilians: Good mages; +2 Con, +2 AC. Not necessarily worth losing the human bonus feat for but good. As worded they can cast spells while using Curl (as it is not an attack action to do so) so you might want to reword that ability a bit. Otherwise really excellent Lv 1 mages.

Avians: Good wizards, although the Con penalty hurts. Their flight (better than a raptoran's; or WotC LA 0 flying race) combined with the Int bonus makes them some really nice wizards especially at Lv 6 to 8 where there isn't really a long duration flight spell available.

Noctemwolf
2010-08-23, 11:22 PM
Once again, I find you peaching my homebrew, Zaydos =D. Changes made. I will respond in this post to you in depth in the morning, when I can see clearly past my nose.

Edit: I can see now :smallwink:

The Anarresti
2010-08-24, 11:35 AM
I'd drop the energy resistence from 5 down to 2: 5 is rather powerful. Also, if the fluff says they got such resitence from living in cold/hot areas, then you should probably give them the general arctic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#arcticRaces) or desert (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertRaces) trait.

Noctemwolf
2010-08-24, 03:21 PM
Thanks for the links to the arctic and desert varients!

I thought resistance meant they got a bonus on their rolls against such things (Like spells or cold weather, for instance).... Is is instead like damage resistance for those types of things? If so, I would definately drop it some.
In addition, I believe I would leave them with those; I may not have written it in for them, all the races other than humans were created after a powerful magical explosion... so, I guess it could be magically based defence..?
Though I may still add in the +4 against the respective elements for the Lupine and Diglians, epecially since I think that the resistances might not technically apply to weather conditions.

Aran Banks
2010-08-24, 03:51 PM
Asterlings need to lose the 1/day grease. That's an amazing ability (far outshining ever other race) at levels 1 through 3. At higher levels, it becomes much less useful. But any Cha-based character would love that free SoS.

They seem chaotic. You can give them shatter.

Noctemwolf
2010-08-24, 05:46 PM
huh... What about grease makes it too powerful? And replace it with a level 2 spell over a 1?

Shatter seems good too, but I was thinking of something a little more... Subtle. And shatter seems more powerful to me, But maybe thats because It has less uses for things than grease does?

I was thinking of simply making their skin secrete a substance to give them bonuses on escape artist checks and such.

Noctemwolf
2010-08-26, 06:12 PM
bump... maybe?

I thought resistance meant they got a bonus on their rolls against such things (Like spells or cold weather, for instance).... Is is instead like damage resistance for those types of things? If so, I would definately drop it some.
In addition, I believe I would leave them with those; I may not have written it in for them, all the races other than humans were created after a powerful magical explosion... so, I guess it could be magically based defence..?
Though I may still add in the +4 against the respective elements for the Lupine and Diglians, epecially since I think that the resistances might not technically apply to weather conditions.

Zaydos
2010-08-26, 06:45 PM
bump... maybe?

I thought resistance meant they got a bonus on their rolls against such things (Like spells or cold weather, for instance).... Is is instead like damage resistance for those types of things? If so, I would definately drop it some.
In addition, I believe I would leave them with those; I may not have written it in for them, all the races other than humans were created after a powerful magical explosion... so, I guess it could be magically based defence..?
Though I may still add in the +4 against the respective elements for the Lupine and Diglians, epecially since I think that the resistances might not technically apply to weather conditions.

Yes energy resistance is like DR versus energy.

Yes Grease is one of the strongest 1st level spells, and one of the ones that remains useful in combat into the higher levels; although I wouldn't advice Shatter either.

Noctemwolf
2010-08-26, 07:40 PM
Yes energy resistance is like DR versus energy.

Yes Grease is one of the strongest 1st level spells, and one of the ones that remains useful in combat into the higher levels; although I wouldn't advice Shatter either.

any ideas, or would it be okay the way it is? I don't see too much of a problem... at least in my games. Players I play with never go for optimization. they just enjoy playing.

Zaydos
2010-08-26, 07:49 PM
any ideas, or would it be okay the way it is? I don't see too much of a problem... at least in my games. Players I play with never go for optimization. they just enjoy playing.

Hmm... a good low level subtle spell (speaking of which coating a 10-ft square with grease isn't the most subtle thing imaginable)...
Could get the cantrip Ghost Sound a few times per day.
Or Ventriliquism.
If you still want a battle spell...
You could give them the ability to use Doom or Bane maybe. Not the best spell, not sure if I'd even use the ability more often than not, and rather out dated by higher levels, but something. Maybe the cantrip Daze with it eventually (at higher level) becoming Daze Monster with a hit dice cap of your character level?

Noctemwolf
2010-09-01, 09:10 PM
I'll do a small revamp of the races.
The only reason I was using Grease was because it was a spell similar to a racial feature I was going to give them that would allow them a bonus on escape artist checks.

Noctemwolf
2010-10-21, 07:33 PM
More races up!


The Paragon
(Only partially thought out. Anything to help flesh them out some more would be appriciated!)


Sand warriors from the great Desert dunes. Servants of good, and blessed by Malefius.

Physical: Paragons stand on average as tall as humans, though are a little broader in size and larger in weight. their skin are many shades, from a light brown tan to a deeper caramel color. They always have blond hair, but rarely a paragon is born with grey hair. Their eyes are any shade of yellow up to a nearly blond shade. Otherwise, they look very similar to humans.

Personality traits: Serious, Grave, Suspicious, heavy-hearted, tend towards good.

Culture: The Paragon live in isolation, serving the one purpose their race was blessed for; to keep the great and powerful evil god Mordikizer encased in his mountain tomb. They are practical, but enjoy giving their buildings an artistic flair (a pseudo Arabian/Egyptian mix).
Some of the younger generation doubt the rumous of the great evil, and may wander off to learn more of the world.
They have a powerful warrior heritage and culture.

Racial Traits:

+2 constitution, -2 Wisdom.
Base land speed: 30 feet.
+2 to sense motive: Always a class skill.
+2 on saving throws againt poison.
Detect magic 1/day as a 1st level caster
Endurance as a bonus feat
Darkvision.
Stability (As dwarves).
Treat Pole swords as martial weapons.
Favoured Class: SwordSage OR fighter (If one is chosen the other is not considered a favored class).

Pole sword:
Exotic two-handed weapon. 125 gp cost; 1d6/1d6 small damage; 1d8/1d8 medium damage/ Range increment n/a; Weight 11 pounds; Critical x3; tryp Piercing or slashing.
Special rules: Can be used as a reach weapon (In which case it is a piercing weapon) OR as a double bladed weapon, in which case it is a slashing weapon.

Melayl
2010-10-24, 09:42 PM
More races up!


The Paragon
(Only partially thought out. Anything to help flesh them out some more would be appriciated!)


Sand warriors from the great Desert dunes. Servants of good, and blessed by Malefius.

Physical: Paragons stand on average as tall as humans, though are a little broader in size and larger in weight. their skin are many shades, from a light brown tan to a deeper caramel color. They always have blond hair, but rarely a paragon is born with grey hair. Their eyes are any shade of yellow up to a nearly blond shade. Otherwise, they look very similar to humans.

Personality traits: Serious, Grave, Suspicious, heavy-hearted, tend towards good.

Culture: The Paragon live in isolation, serving the one purpose their race was blessed for; to keep the great and powerful evil god Mordikizer encased in his mountain tomb. They are practical, but enjoy giving their buildings an artistic flair (a pseudo Arabian/Egyptian mix).
Some of the younger generation doubt the rumous of the great evil, and may wander off to learn more of the world.
They have a powerful warrior heritage and culture.

Racial Traits:

+2 constitution, -2 Wisdom.
Base land speed: 30 feet.
+2 to sense motive: Always a class skill.
+2 on saving throws againt poison.
Detect magic 1/day as a 1st level caster
Endurance as a bonus feat
Darkvision.
Stability (As dwarves).
Treat Pole swords as martial weapons.
Favoured Class: SwordSage OR fighter (If one is chosen the other is not considered a favored class).

Pole sword:
Exotic two-handed weapon. 125 gp cost; 1d6/1d6 small damage; 1d8/1d8 medium damage/ Range increment n/a; Weight 11 pounds; Critical x3; tryp Piercing or slashing.
Special rules: Can be used as a reach weapon (In which case it is a piercing weapon) OR as a double bladed weapon, in which case it is a slashing weapon.

While it is difficult to properly parse your race without knowledge of the world and role they belong in, I'll try:

Since Survival (which would be very important for a desert-based race based off of the Fremen) is Wisdom based, the Wisdom penalty doesn't make sense. Particularly with the bonus to Sense Motive. Being Blessed by a god seems to lend more towards a Divine class (perhaps a Ranger re-write?), which would also need Wisdom. Just my thoughts.

Also, Darkvision doesn't strike me as being particularly useful in a desert (since they tend to be overwhelmingly bright during the day).

A desert-dwelling race would benefit from Heat Resistance, as well as the ability to get by on less water than other races (but I don't know how much play the latter would see in your world).

If you have access to Sandstorm, it could provide you with good inspiration.

Good luck with your project.

Noctemwolf
2010-11-10, 08:47 PM
Thank you. Truth be told, I'm gonna drop the paragons. too much like humans anyway, might as well make em that way. I could make up some regional feats or something for humans to take as a bonus feat at first level instead.