Quetzal [race, playable naga, Vespuccia]

[Admiral Squish]

Quetzal
Designed for Vespuccia

Personality: Quetzal have strong personalities, and they can be quite convincing when they want to be. Their society heavily favors the intelligent over the physically strong, due to their ability to use their mind to manipulate objects, so schemers are not only politically powerful, but physically as well. They are highly zealous, and have a tendency to be immovable on a point once they make up their minds.
Physical Description: Quetzal are massive snakes, some 10-12 feet in length, the diameter of their body about as thick as a human neck, covered with feathers down their back and sides. Their heads are human, and usually rather attractive, with particularly long feathers mimicking hair on a normal human. These feathers and the ones around their neck rise and fall with their mood, flaring out into a spectacular frill when angry or eager to impress, flattening down when frightened or sad. Their plumage is most commonly green, with bright streaks of red, yellow, and orange color in the longer feathers around the head and neck that are only exposed with they fan them. However, it’s not unheard of for some quetzal to come in brighter colors all over. Their stomach-scales are usually yellow, with a narrow red strip running down both sides of the broad scales. Quetzal can open their mouths unnaturally wide to unfold their long, sharp fangs, but they generally avoid this, as it's considered extremely uncivilized. Quetzal males outnumber the females about 4:1, but the females are notably larger and generally rule the groups.
Relations: Quetzal are highly regarded by the Aztec, who believe them to be the children of Quetzalcoatl. The quetzal rarely have contact with outsiders, and those who do meet them are usually at the business end of a sacrificial dagger, so they don’t often have a high opinion of them. Within quetzal communities, females are regarded highly, being larger and usually stronger. Most females will have at least one mate, and the whole harem will share responsibility for raising children. The preisthood, however, is usually male. Priesthood is considered one of the few ways for a male to reach a status equal to a female.
Alignment: Quetzal are usually strictly lawful, but they range between good and evil evenly. They have a tendancy to reach the extremes of good and evil, getting swept away in their zeal.
{table=head]|L|N|C
G|20|10|5
N|15|10|5
E|20|10|5[/table]
Quetzal Lands: Quetzal dwell in and around temples to the Aztec gods. Their priests and clerics dwell in the temples itself, but entire quetzal clans often live in the immediate surroundings. Quetzal communities often subsist entirely upon the offerings and sacrifices made to the gods in some of the larger temples. Other communities supplement the tribute with hunting, fishing, and farming.
Religion: Quetzal are often preists of the Aztec gods, but they revere Quetzalcoatl above all the others. Some believe they are his children. Others believe they are simply made in his image. Still others believe the resemblance is just a happy coincidence.
Language: Quetzals speak Nahuatl. They rarely have use for other languages, but some learn them out of curiosity.
Names: Quetzal do not have last names, using a single name. The names are usually determined by meaning, but sometimes they can be named after heroes or the day they were born.
Adventurers: Quetzal adventurers are usually zealots. There are some clerics, but zealots are more common, as clerics have a secure position in the preisthood. Zealots are usually the ones who have the drive required to leave their temples and communities.

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Strength. Quetzal are quick and flexible, with strong personalities, but they aren’t particularly strong.
• Type: Quetzal are Abberations
• Medium: Quetzal are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Slow Speed: A quetzal’s base land speed is 20 feet.
• Low-light Vision: Quetzal can see twice as far as a human in moonlight, starlight, torchlight, or other conditions of poor visibility. A quetzal retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• Serpent Body: Quetzal have serpentine bodies, which leads to some challenges. A quetzal cannot wear bracers, boots, gloves, or cloaks. A quetzal cannot use a claw or rake attack. A quetzal can wear an additional necklace and an additional belt, and can wear rings, though they wear them on their fangs. Armor for a quetzal costs twice as much as normal armor.
• Phantom Limbs: A quetzal can use telekinetic force to mimic the use of limbs. This force is approximately as dextrous as hands, but there are a few limitations. The phantom limbs reach out to five feet, and cannot affect anything that the quetzal does not have line of effect to. The strength of the limbs is proportionate to your mental strength. This lets a quetzal use their intelligence modifier instead of their strength modifier for most purposes. A quetzal uses their intelligence modifier instead of their strength modifier for attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and CMB checks. They still use their strength score to determine their carrying capacity, but may lift objects as though using their intelligence. They can also use their intelligence modifier in place of their dexterity modifier for physical ranged attack rolls, disable device, and fly checks. A quetzal wielding a weapon with their phantom limbs cannot be disarmed.
• Skills: A quetzal gains a +4 racial bonus to escape artist checks and climb checks.
• Bite: Quetzal have a bite attack that deals 1d4 points of damage.
• Languages: Quetzal begin play speaking Nahuatl.

[Admiral Squish]

Feats:

Phantom Guard
Prerequisites: Quetzal, Int 13+
Benefit: A quetzal with this feat can use their phantom limbs to protect themselves in combat. They gain a deflection bonus to AC equal to 1/2 their intelligence modifier. They lose this bonus if they are flat-footed.

Flawless Guard
Prerequisite: Quetzal, Int 15+, Phantom Guard
Benefit: The deflection bonus to AC you gain from Phantom Guard is now equal to your full intelligence bonus.

Phantom Reach
Prerequisite: Quetzal, 10 HD
Benefit: A quetzal with this feat's reach with their telekinetic abilities increases by five feet, allowing them to manipulate objects within 10 feet.

[Admiral Squish]

Hey there! This is the first complete race of my new campaign setting, Vespuccia.

The idea for this race, an armless serpentfolk race, has actually been around in my brain since I was working on my long-past Tryor project.

I'm actually still trying to come up with what other penalties they would get for not having proper arms, or bonuses they'd get for a serpentine body plan. So, I figure you guys can help me out.

[SamBurke]

Hmmmm.

That is a preeeeeetty hefty penalty, there, for that class. Not being able to use bracers, rings, boots, cloaks, gloves... Tough bunnies, right there.

That means that they are categorically worse at high levels: 6 fewer slots for Magic Items. Perhaps you can make that up by allowing them to have tooth rings, extra necklaces, or something?

Benefits: Escape Artist should get some nice bonuses.

Snakes often have a climb speed IRL.

A Tail Slap? With accompanying flanking bonus?

Flank with yourself?




Question: If it's telekinetic, can they lose their grip on a weapon through a disarm? It is a force effect.

[Cicciograna]

Just passing by: check the html link to your setting in the first post, it doesn't work

[Admiral Squish]

Just passing by: check the html link to your setting in the first post, it doesn't work

Thanks for the catch! Fixed.

Hmmmm.

That is a preeeeeetty hefty penalty, there, for that class. Not being able to use bracers, rings, boots, cloaks, gloves... Tough bunnies, right there.

That means that they are categorically worse at high levels: 6 fewer slots for Magic Items. Perhaps you can make that up by allowing them to have tooth rings, extra necklaces, or something?

Benefits: Escape Artist should get some nice bonuses.

Snakes often have a climb speed IRL.

A Tail Slap? With accompanying flanking bonus?

Flank with yourself?

Question: If it's telekinetic, can they lose their grip on a weapon through a disarm? It is a force effect.

Yeah, but the fact they can use int for strength in pretty much every case is a pretty huge benefit, too.

I could see some leeway with stuff like tooth-rings and an extra necklace. I was planning to give them some pretty sweet feats to help mitigate a bit, too.

I could definitely see an escape artist bonus, and probably a climb bonus. Maybe not a climb speed, though.
Not sure about tail slap. I've tried things that let you flank with yourself, it just gets weird. Maybe I could give them poison to go with the bite?

Good point about the force-effect disarm.

Edit: I just added in the feats, and I fixed the first post. The skill bonuses, the extra belt/necklace, rings on teeth, the disarm-proof grip. All that stuff.

[Pokonic]

I like it a lot. Is there any plans for them to be able to upgrade there bite to having a poison vi feat or prestige class? While it is noted that it's rude, it seems that it would be useful neverless.

[Admiral Squish]

I like it a lot. Is there any plans for them to be able to upgrade there bite to having a poison vi feat or prestige class? While it is noted that it's rude, it seems that it would be useful neverless.

I was considering it, but PF does poison weird and I have to go learn how it's handled. I could come up with something, I'm sure.

[SuperDave]

Quetzal Story Hook:

A Scarred Monk, recently returned from a missionary work at a trading post in Aztlan, is stirring up unrest in the southern Colonies. He has been travelling from town to town with a caged Quetzal, displaying it before horrified crowds as “proof certain that the Aztekas do moste vilely mock our Lord and Saviour, worshipping as they do this hideous merging of sinful Man and wicked Serpent.” If this treatment of a sacred Quetzal becomes known to Aztec authorities, it will surely be taken as an unforgivable blasphemy, and will certainly mean a war between the two empires. The Scarred Monk must be silenced, and the creature returned, alive and unharmed, to his native lands.

And as long as we're on the subject of Aztlan...

Aztlan priests receive a mysterious directive from Huitzilpochtli, the god of the sun, commanding them to build him a temple “in the land where my eye never closes”. But such a place surely cannot exist in this world. Can it?

[SuperDave]

By the way, not to over-complicate things, but does Tezcatlipoca (Quetzalcoatl's chief rival, and the other major god of the Aztecs and Maya) have "children" of his own? Or does he prefer to "adopt" human priests? Maybe he replaces one of their legs with a poisonous snake, like his own. That'd be kind of sweet, actually.

[Admiral Squish]

Quetzal Story Hook:

Ooh, I like! Definitely gonna include that.

By the way, not to over-complicate things, but does Tezcatlipoca (Quetzalcoatl's chief rival, and the other major god of the Aztecs and Maya) have "children" of his own? Or does he prefer to "adopt" human priests? Maybe he replaces one of their legs with a poisonous snake, like his own. That'd be kind of sweet, actually.

Hmm. I don't want them all to have children, for a number of reasons. For one, it'd be too easy/contrived, I think. for another, part of the quetzal's thing is that they themselves aren't really CERTAIN they came from the god, but it seems likely. It muddies the waters a bit and gives them more options. I mean, if you KNOW you're a child of the god, then you're most likely going to be a cleric, but if you're not certain, there's a lot more options.

[4th number]

Brief thoughts: armor cost increase? Barding costs double for odd-shaped animals. If Quetzal needing armor is relatively common, maybe a requirement that any metal armor for them must be masterwork or better. (if Vespuccia deals with armor differently, this is less important).

Could add flight to the end of the reach feat chain.

[Admiral Squish]

Brief thoughts: armor cost increase? Barding costs double for odd-shaped animals. If Quetzal needing armor is relatively common, maybe a requirement that any metal armor for them must be masterwork or better. (if Vespuccia deals with armor differently, this is less important).

Could add flight to the end of the reach feat chain.

Ooh, good catch, hadn't thought of that. I've added in a line about quetzal armor costing twice as much as a usual in the Serpent Body ability.

I used to have a flight feat for them, but then we in the thread decided there will be no PC-available flight in this setting.

[SuperDave]

I don't know if this counts as necro-ing, but I think that I may have found you a portrait for these guys. Lemme know what you think.

Spoiler: JF III - Quetzalcoatl Deus, by gureiduson

Show

(Sorry it's so huge; that's the only size I could find.)

[Admiral Squish]

Well, it's still part of an active project so I don't think it counts as necromancy.

Very cool picture, but it doesn't have a human head. Though, I suppose with the incoming update, I was gonna reference their serpentine nature more strongly, I may just end up ditching the human head.

some potential new angles on them:
They are to new world dragons as kobolds are to normal dragons.
They have a stronger connection to death, birth, and the underworld, as the snake was often used as a symbol for such things in mesoamerica.

Also, I'm thinking I should rename them to be 'coatls'. Quetzal just means feathered, whereas Coatl, meaning snake, would be more appropriate.