Ursyan Racial Traits:
+2str, +2con, +2wis, -2dex: Ursyan are Strong and Hardy and Strongminded; but slow and clumsy
Humanoid: Ursyan are Humanoids with the Ursayan Subtype
Medium: Ursyan are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Speed: Ursyan have a base speed of 20 feet,their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance. Ursyans also have a Climb Speed of 20ft.
Ursyan begin play speaking Common and Ursa. Ursyan with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Elven, Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.
Improved Natural Armor: Urysans have a Thick Hide; they gain a +2 to thier Natural Armor Bonus.
Fat Reserves: Ursyan get Endurance as a bonus racial Feat
Natural Weapons: Urysan have 2 Primary Claws attacks (1d4); If a Urysan Uses weapons; it can not use it's claws at the same time.
Total RP: 11
Ursyan
Tribal people have long venerated the bear for its strength, its courage, and its similarity to humans. The Ursyan were said to have come into being, long ago, when a long forgotten people cried out to the gods with full faith and desire, asking to be given the form of the bears that they venerated, weaving a spell of great potency alongside their prayers. Whether it was the effects of the magic, or the gods truly did answer the prayer is irrelevant. All that matters is that this people were indeed transformed into beings neither bear nor human, but something in between and entirely new. These deeply spiritual people, with great stores of lore in healing and the ways of combat, were the first of the Ursyan, and they have spread across the world from these initial beginnings, though they favor the colder places, staying away from places too warm for their liking, seldom, if ever, venturing beyond places with a temperate climate.
Personality
A typical Ursyan is a smooth blending of extremes. Boisterous, overwhelming fits of mirth and celebration are soon followed by periods of quiet contemplation and careful consideration. Vicious, bloodthirsty combat on a level hard to imagine soon gives way to loving attention and skilled healing. Ursyan throw themselves into whatever they do, taking no half measures, and trying to live life to the fullest, making their presences charged with vital energy that often leaks into those around them.
Physical Description
If a bear were to stand upright and wear clothes, then that would be an adequate description of an Ursyan. Bears being incredibly humanoid in conformation already, there really is very little to differentiate a normal bear from an Ursyan, except for the more developed opposable thumbs, allowing the free use of tools, and the slightly more domed forehead, indicating greater intellectual ability. Ursyan types run the gamut of bear conformations, from the small sun, panda and black bears to the massive grizzly and polar bears of the coldest regions.
Relations
There are many races who prefer to stay on the good side of the Ursyan. Ursyan are very fond of elves, though elves tend to be a bit wary of the burly bearkin, and they are absolutely delighted at the presence of almost any of the smaller races (dwarves, gnomes and halflings), and like to make friends whenever possible. The Ursyan do not like evil races as a rule, because of their disharmony with the natural world, and the harm they usually cause in their grasping for power and material gain, which just helps to spread misery, and creates an uncomfortable situation for all involved.
Alignment
Because of their independent streak, and their extroverted, self-confident manner of carrying themselves, most Ursyan are Chaotic Good in alignment, though there are notable exceptions, many of them evil and quite dangerous, with a few Neutral and even Lawful Good members of the race who take even more readily to lives of quiet contemplation and meditation.
Lands
Because of their sheer physical might, only a very few people are able to tell a full-grown Ursyan what to do. For this reason, Ursyan usually find quiet, peaceful locations, removed from other people, and set up their homes there, with a loose gathering of mutual friends forming a small-scale mutual protection alliance to keep out others who might want to take the areas for themselves, setting up small but functional bands. It is quite common for ursa to allow human peasants to set up homes and farms on their lands, and the Ursyan are only too happy to do one of the things they do best – namely, crack heads – in exchange for food and various comforts.
Religion
The Ursyan are a highly spiritual people, despite their often boisterous, outgoing natures, and they are always sure to pay the gods they honor most proper obeisance. In general, Ursyan worship gods of strength and of healing, these being the attributes they value most of all. Kord is a perfect example of the sort of deity that Ursyan venerate, and Ehlonna is a decent example, as is Pelor. Ursyan also take pains to stay in harmony with the world of spirits and nature, and try not to get out of balance with the world around them.
Names
Ursyan names, as befits a people that once stemmed from tribal humans, are tribal in nature, usually the result of the first thing of note seen by the mother after she leaves the place where she gave birth, or else a distinctive physical trait of the newborn, or an attribute that the mother hopes the cub will develop. Also common are names stemming from tribes that live in the cold regions of the world. Bjorn, Kuoti, and Redpaw are common male names, while Freya, Shea and White Rain are common female names. Surnames are almost unheard of, because Ursyan do not form extended family units, cubs maintaining relations with their mothers and grandmothers, but almost never with their male relatives, except for their siblings.
Adventurers
While theoretically lives of adventuring and daring quests are considered the ideal for Ursyan culture, the reality is quite a bit more peaceful. The average Ursyan would rather hunt, fish and forage for a living, raising bees for honey and mead, perhaps lording over a few human peasants on their farms in exchange for protection, and let themselves grow fat and sedentary with the passing of years. However, there are indeed many who do follow the heroic ideal, and so it is quite common to see Ursyan roaming the land, looking to make names for themselves.
Random Urysan Weight and Height
{table]Gender|Base Height|Height Modifier|Base Weight|Weight Modifier
Male|5 ft. 1 in.|+2d12 in.|160 lbs.|+(2d12×7 lbs.)
Female|4 ft. 9 in.|+2d12 in.|120 lbs.|+(2d12x7 lbs.)[/table]
Aging Effects:
{table]Race|Middle Aged|Old|Vernable|Max Age
Urysan|125 years|188 years|250 years|250 + 2d% years
[/table]
Random Starting Ages:
{table]Race|Adulthood|Intuitive|Self-Taught|Trained
Urysan:|20 years|+1d6|+2d6|+3d6[/table]