Golden-Esque
2009-04-04, 04:14 AM
Alrightie, I'm working on a new race and I was hoping to get some input / feedback on it, since the last time I was looking for some help worked out perfectly.
Now, personally I love Japanese culture, so I wanted to design a race that could embody Japanese elements in my campaign (human civilization is mostly Midevil Europe era, making it feel weird having Japanese-esque humans too) and I decided to do that with a humanoid fox race called the Vulpine.
I've been playing around with some ideas, and here's what I've come up with so far:
Vulpine Ability Modifiers:
+2 Wisdom / -2 Constitution: The vulpine are extremely cunning, but they have frail bodies.
Size - Medium: A vulpine gains no bonuses or penalties due to size.
Low-Light Vision: A vulpine can see twice as far in starlight or moonlight as a human.
Natural Reflexes: A vulpine is extremely springy and quick to react, granting them a +2 bonus to Reflex saves and Initiative.
Keen Senses: A vulpine has sensitive ears and eyes, granting them a +2 bonus to the Listen, Search, Spot, and Survival skills.
Weapon Familiarity: The vulpine are responsible for the creation of several weapons that other races see as strange and exotic. A vulpine treats the bastard sword, nunchuku, and kama as martial weapons.
Firefox: A vulpine's strong ties with nature grant them several powers. A vulpine can cast either Faerie Fire or Produce Flame a number of times per day equal to 1 + their Wisdom Modifier (minimum 1). Use half the vulpine's ECL, rounded up, as the caster level for these spells.
Woodland Stride: Vulpine live in the woods of the world and learn at a young age how to effectively travel through the undergrowth of the woods. Vulpine may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at their normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect them. If a vulpine gains Woodland Stride as a class feature, such as from the Druid class or the Ranger class, the vulpine gains the ability to use the run action through and while in undergrowth instead.
Base Languages: Common & Foxtrot
Bonus = Any non secret
Favored Class: Ranger
Vulpine, Children of the Earthmother
"The Vulpine live on the western-most continent on the campaign's map. Their lands are large, leafy forests that spread hundreds of miles in all directions across the landscape. Their buildings resemble the 1800s Japanese style, with the notable exception that all Vulpine buildings are designed to exist in harmony with their forests, rather then through hack-and-slashing away at the trees. This is done through a slow, natural process that the culture's druids and clerics guide.
The Vulpine, unlike every other race in the campaign, only worship one goddess, Alivia the Earthmother (homebrewed). Alivia's sacrifice of her own life, according to the Vulpine legends, created the primal magical energies called manna which tie the other four basic elements together, the five elements together comprising all of creation. Alivia lives on in all living creatures, and the vulpine believe she can manifest herself as pure energy. Alivia's creed is all about nature and harmony, and as a result vulpine clerics and vulpine druids aren't very different from each other in terms of their roles in the community.
As a race, the vulpine are pacifistic, though they do have a powerful armed guard. Their military forces are concerned with protecting their forest homes and the people who live there.
The Vulpine get along well with virtually every other race in the campaign; unlike dwarves they tend to measure people by merit of their actions rather then their ancestors. They specialize in divine magic and there are few arcane spellcasters in their ranks (though they are not unheard of)."
Vulpine Relations with Other Races:
Vulpine are the longest lived race in my campaign setting, and since I'm not using the woodsy elves as the "base elf", vulpine are my campaign's default tree-huger race. Elves in my campaign are highly magical and highly civilized, for those of you who played Warcraft, they're like the Quel'dorei. As a result, the elves see see the vulpine's devotion and concern with nature as a waste of a long, long life. Now, on the other hand, neither the elves nor the vulpine care for the drow, who are a fraction of elves who decided to remain to defend their homeland from an orc invasion, whereas the 'high' elves left for new territory. In the aforementioned conflict, the drow burned their once-beautiful island home to the ground and enslaved the orcs, something the vulpine see as abominable.
The Vulpine are pacifists, so they're often at odds with the Dwarves ideologically. While the Vulpine don't particularly mind the dwarves, the Vulpine's nature of preferring not to fight goes against the very foundations of dwarven society, so dwarves and Vulpine have a rather large barrier to cross in order to become friendly.
The Vulpine treat even the most sagely human scholars as if they were children (you would too if you lived to be a millennial old), so humans are often a little uncomfortable around a race that could have easily lived to see the founding of entire cities and nations.
The Vulpine enjoy a good time as much as anyone, so they get along particularly well with Gnomes, who are the universal bards in my campaign. Gnomes are defientely a party-race, and the Vulpine have a decent sense of humor to endure gnomish tricks and jokes.
The Vulpine treat Halflings much as they do humans, mostly because non Halflings have a tough time distinguishing my campaigns Halflings from human children. Although both races get along decently, the Vulpine have an accidental tendency to treat halfling scholars on their deathbeds as children.
No race in my campaign is particularly found of Orcs or Half-Orcs, but the Vulpine are the most tolerant to the greenskins of any race, in some cases feeling pity over their enslavement to the revenge-crazed drow.
My Comments, or "What I'd Like You To Do"
Here's what I'm looking for (so suggesting stuff isn't a lot me saying "Well I don't really like that . . ."). Now, text that is tiny is stuff that I've said, but have decided to update. I don't want to change my words so anyone looking at this can see my thought processes and where I'm coming from.
1) I'm not sure whether or not to call them a Monsterous Race. I was Reading the Savage Species book and nothing really sounded that civilized out of it. The Fox people match the description of "having animal features", but I'm trying to play them up to be kind of like elves; that is an elder, long-lived race (they actually outlive my campaign's elves 0_0) that's seen as knowledgeable and wise. Also, if they are a Monstrous race, do you think Dark Vision would be more appropriate then Low-Light vision? After much thought, I've decided to classify the Vulpin as humanoids. I've also decided to go with Devil's Advocate's observation that since Dark Vision is more for cave-dwellers, Low-Light Vision would make more sense.
2) I'm trying hard to keep the different races in my campaign at ECL +0. I don't really want to have to go through the complications of keeping track of varying levels due to Racial powers. Please, don't make it that good . . . .
3) As a general rule, this race hits adulthood at 25 years and ages extremely slowly. Their Maximum Age is in the lower thousands. Tail growth, as a result, is slow. Naturally, one of the Fox people is born with one tail. I was thinking of having the second grow in during childhood and the third emerging as a symbol of adulthood. Right now, I'm looking at something like this:
1 - Birth
2 - Age 10 - 15
3 - Age 25 - 30
4 - Age 100
5 - Age 200
6 - Age 400
7 - Age 800
8 - Age 900
9 - Age 1000
However, I'd also like to hear opinions on bonuses themselves. I mean, realistically few players are ever going to see their character age into the thousands. Is it even worth awarding bonuses for this? Should it just me a cosmetic note I add in the racial physiology description? Hrm. If I do scrap this idea, what other racial bonuses do you think I need / would be good? Is it fine the way it is? I'm scrapping this idea. Instead, I want to work the Multiple Tails ability into a bloodline-esque Feat. Something that you pay XP to every few levels and it causes you to grow a new tail, and with it a new power.
4) What I REALLY want is a discussion. I don't want to just have a bunch of people say "Do this." I want to see different ideas, ask questions about other people's suggestions, and make something that's my own while still getting help on it. So far
Finally, before I submit / end this post, I'm going to add a little description about the race.
Hrm, I hope it's enough, and thanks for considering to help me out :D.
Now, personally I love Japanese culture, so I wanted to design a race that could embody Japanese elements in my campaign (human civilization is mostly Midevil Europe era, making it feel weird having Japanese-esque humans too) and I decided to do that with a humanoid fox race called the Vulpine.
I've been playing around with some ideas, and here's what I've come up with so far:
Vulpine Ability Modifiers:
+2 Wisdom / -2 Constitution: The vulpine are extremely cunning, but they have frail bodies.
Size - Medium: A vulpine gains no bonuses or penalties due to size.
Low-Light Vision: A vulpine can see twice as far in starlight or moonlight as a human.
Natural Reflexes: A vulpine is extremely springy and quick to react, granting them a +2 bonus to Reflex saves and Initiative.
Keen Senses: A vulpine has sensitive ears and eyes, granting them a +2 bonus to the Listen, Search, Spot, and Survival skills.
Weapon Familiarity: The vulpine are responsible for the creation of several weapons that other races see as strange and exotic. A vulpine treats the bastard sword, nunchuku, and kama as martial weapons.
Firefox: A vulpine's strong ties with nature grant them several powers. A vulpine can cast either Faerie Fire or Produce Flame a number of times per day equal to 1 + their Wisdom Modifier (minimum 1). Use half the vulpine's ECL, rounded up, as the caster level for these spells.
Woodland Stride: Vulpine live in the woods of the world and learn at a young age how to effectively travel through the undergrowth of the woods. Vulpine may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at their normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect them. If a vulpine gains Woodland Stride as a class feature, such as from the Druid class or the Ranger class, the vulpine gains the ability to use the run action through and while in undergrowth instead.
Base Languages: Common & Foxtrot
Bonus = Any non secret
Favored Class: Ranger
Vulpine, Children of the Earthmother
"The Vulpine live on the western-most continent on the campaign's map. Their lands are large, leafy forests that spread hundreds of miles in all directions across the landscape. Their buildings resemble the 1800s Japanese style, with the notable exception that all Vulpine buildings are designed to exist in harmony with their forests, rather then through hack-and-slashing away at the trees. This is done through a slow, natural process that the culture's druids and clerics guide.
The Vulpine, unlike every other race in the campaign, only worship one goddess, Alivia the Earthmother (homebrewed). Alivia's sacrifice of her own life, according to the Vulpine legends, created the primal magical energies called manna which tie the other four basic elements together, the five elements together comprising all of creation. Alivia lives on in all living creatures, and the vulpine believe she can manifest herself as pure energy. Alivia's creed is all about nature and harmony, and as a result vulpine clerics and vulpine druids aren't very different from each other in terms of their roles in the community.
As a race, the vulpine are pacifistic, though they do have a powerful armed guard. Their military forces are concerned with protecting their forest homes and the people who live there.
The Vulpine get along well with virtually every other race in the campaign; unlike dwarves they tend to measure people by merit of their actions rather then their ancestors. They specialize in divine magic and there are few arcane spellcasters in their ranks (though they are not unheard of)."
Vulpine Relations with Other Races:
Vulpine are the longest lived race in my campaign setting, and since I'm not using the woodsy elves as the "base elf", vulpine are my campaign's default tree-huger race. Elves in my campaign are highly magical and highly civilized, for those of you who played Warcraft, they're like the Quel'dorei. As a result, the elves see see the vulpine's devotion and concern with nature as a waste of a long, long life. Now, on the other hand, neither the elves nor the vulpine care for the drow, who are a fraction of elves who decided to remain to defend their homeland from an orc invasion, whereas the 'high' elves left for new territory. In the aforementioned conflict, the drow burned their once-beautiful island home to the ground and enslaved the orcs, something the vulpine see as abominable.
The Vulpine are pacifists, so they're often at odds with the Dwarves ideologically. While the Vulpine don't particularly mind the dwarves, the Vulpine's nature of preferring not to fight goes against the very foundations of dwarven society, so dwarves and Vulpine have a rather large barrier to cross in order to become friendly.
The Vulpine treat even the most sagely human scholars as if they were children (you would too if you lived to be a millennial old), so humans are often a little uncomfortable around a race that could have easily lived to see the founding of entire cities and nations.
The Vulpine enjoy a good time as much as anyone, so they get along particularly well with Gnomes, who are the universal bards in my campaign. Gnomes are defientely a party-race, and the Vulpine have a decent sense of humor to endure gnomish tricks and jokes.
The Vulpine treat Halflings much as they do humans, mostly because non Halflings have a tough time distinguishing my campaigns Halflings from human children. Although both races get along decently, the Vulpine have an accidental tendency to treat halfling scholars on their deathbeds as children.
No race in my campaign is particularly found of Orcs or Half-Orcs, but the Vulpine are the most tolerant to the greenskins of any race, in some cases feeling pity over their enslavement to the revenge-crazed drow.
My Comments, or "What I'd Like You To Do"
Here's what I'm looking for (so suggesting stuff isn't a lot me saying "Well I don't really like that . . ."). Now, text that is tiny is stuff that I've said, but have decided to update. I don't want to change my words so anyone looking at this can see my thought processes and where I'm coming from.
1) I'm not sure whether or not to call them a Monsterous Race. I was Reading the Savage Species book and nothing really sounded that civilized out of it. The Fox people match the description of "having animal features", but I'm trying to play them up to be kind of like elves; that is an elder, long-lived race (they actually outlive my campaign's elves 0_0) that's seen as knowledgeable and wise. Also, if they are a Monstrous race, do you think Dark Vision would be more appropriate then Low-Light vision? After much thought, I've decided to classify the Vulpin as humanoids. I've also decided to go with Devil's Advocate's observation that since Dark Vision is more for cave-dwellers, Low-Light Vision would make more sense.
2) I'm trying hard to keep the different races in my campaign at ECL +0. I don't really want to have to go through the complications of keeping track of varying levels due to Racial powers. Please, don't make it that good . . . .
3) As a general rule, this race hits adulthood at 25 years and ages extremely slowly. Their Maximum Age is in the lower thousands. Tail growth, as a result, is slow. Naturally, one of the Fox people is born with one tail. I was thinking of having the second grow in during childhood and the third emerging as a symbol of adulthood. Right now, I'm looking at something like this:
1 - Birth
2 - Age 10 - 15
3 - Age 25 - 30
4 - Age 100
5 - Age 200
6 - Age 400
7 - Age 800
8 - Age 900
9 - Age 1000
However, I'd also like to hear opinions on bonuses themselves. I mean, realistically few players are ever going to see their character age into the thousands. Is it even worth awarding bonuses for this? Should it just me a cosmetic note I add in the racial physiology description? Hrm. If I do scrap this idea, what other racial bonuses do you think I need / would be good? Is it fine the way it is? I'm scrapping this idea. Instead, I want to work the Multiple Tails ability into a bloodline-esque Feat. Something that you pay XP to every few levels and it causes you to grow a new tail, and with it a new power.
4) What I REALLY want is a discussion. I don't want to just have a bunch of people say "Do this." I want to see different ideas, ask questions about other people's suggestions, and make something that's my own while still getting help on it. So far
Finally, before I submit / end this post, I'm going to add a little description about the race.
Hrm, I hope it's enough, and thanks for considering to help me out :D.