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Gnorman
2009-08-16, 05:34 AM
So, I've put together some concepts for a campaign I'm going to be running soon - all the players will be crew members on an Abyssal pirate ship. As such, I'm throwing out the PHB races and inventing my own variations on the tiefling. These are just a few ideas I've been tooling around with - let me know what you think, if there's anything straight up imbalanced. Some are obviously better for some roles than others, but every one should follow a basic structure of +2 to two stats, -2 to another, and +2 on two skills.

Demon-Touched Tiefling
Medium Size
Land Speed: 30 ft.
Outsider (native)
All Demon-Touched Tieflings have 60' Darkvision, resistance to fire, cold, and electricity of 5.
Each Demon-Touched Tiefling can use each racial SLA listed in their entry 1/day at a caster level equal to their HD. The DC is Charisma-based.
Favored Class: Any (at least for this campaign)
LA: 0 (again, at least for this campaign).

Babau-Touched:
+2 DEX, +2 CON, -2 CHA
+2 to Hide and Escape Artist
Grease, Silence
Babau-Touched are sneaky and sly, but are withdrawn and dour in temperament. They excrete a foul-smelling slime that nevertheless makes them slippery and hard to grasp. They have sharp teeth and wide, leering smiles, and are often skeletal and thin, almost unhealthily so.

Balor-Touched:
+2 STR, +2 CHA, -2 WIS
+2 to Intimidate and Knowledge (dungeoneering)
Enlarge Person, Scorching Ray
Balor-Touched are strong and domineering, but often arrogant and oblivious to the world around them, caught in their own self-importance. They are at home in the deep, dark places of the world. Their skin is reddish and often hot to the touch. They often sport large, spiraling horns.

Glabrezu-Touched:
+2 CON, +2 INT, -2 DEX
+2 to Knowledge (the planes) and Appraise
Entropic Shield, Mirror Image
Glabrezu-Touched are hardy and wickedly intelligent, the legacy of their mortal-tempting progenitors, though somewhat clumsy. They are among the most traveled of tieflings, and know the value of wealth and treasure. They often have pronounced noses, almost snouts, and feral eyes. A few have bony protrusions jutting out from their shoulders, and many sport canine-like fur.

Hezrou-Touched:
+2 STR, +2 CON, -2 CHA
+2 to Concentration and Listen
Obscuring Mist, Touch of Idiocy
Hezrou-Touched are preternatural warriors, but are coarse and uncomfortable in social situations. They are focused combatants, though, and always aware of their surroundings. They are bulky and muscular, but walk with hunched shoulders. Their skin is often smooth and slightly clammy to the touch, mottled with spots, and their eyes bulge out of their heads.

Marilith-Touched:
+2 DEX, +2 CHA, -2 CON
+2 to Knowledge (nobility and royalty) and Diplomacy
True Strike, Protection from Arrows
Serpentine in both form and guile, Marilith-Touched are agile and adept at navigating the twists and turns of society. They are, however, somewhat fragile. They sport finely-scaled skin and a few have a pair of stunted, vestigial arms just underneath their normal, functional ones. If they have hair, it is black and slicked back against their scalps.

Nalfeshnee-Touched:
+2 CON, +2 WIS, -2 DEX
+2 to Knowledge (history) and Spellcraft
Command, Hold Person
Though shrewd, judgmental, and sturdy, the Nalfeshnee-Touched are somewhat clumsy. They take naturally to academic pursuits and often become scribes or archivists. They sport jagged, yellow tusks from their lower jaw and are often portly or paunchy. Many are covered with coarse, brown fur.

Succubus-Touched:
+2 INT, +2 CHA, -2 CON
+2 to Bluff and Sense Motive
Charm Person, Detect Thoughts
Amongst the comeliest tieflings, Succubus-Touched are also clever and scheming, though relatively frail in comparison to their peers. They are natural liars and experts at detecting the deceptions of others. They are by far the most human-looking of all tieflings. They nearly always have flaming red hair, and many have small horns on top of their heads that are easily covered.

Vrock-Touched:
+2 WIS, +2 DEX, -2 INT
+2 to Knowledge (nature) and Heal
Entangle, Gust of Wind
Vrock-Touched are natural warriors, quick and agile and possessed of keen senses, but they are somewhat slow and dull-witted. They have an affinity for plants and fungi, and often find ways to use such ingredients as poultices or potions. Vrock-Touched are often covered in fine, small feathers, and their feet are often twisted into bird's talons.

Armanite-Touched:
+2 STR, +2 CON, -2 INT
+2 to Handle Animal and Ride
Mount, Levitate
Armanite-Touched are hardy warriors blessed with great endurance, though they have trouble learning and focusing on intellectual pursuits. They often feel a strange connection with horses and other animals, and possess a natural empathy for them. Their feet are often cloven in hooves, and many of them sport long tufts of hair down the back of their head towards their spine, like a mane. They are quite pale, even sickly-looking.

Bar-lgura-Touched:
+2 DEX, +2 INT, -2 CHA
+2 to Balance and Jump
Jump, Spider Climb
Bar-lgura-Touched are crafty and agile, gifts from their ape-like forebears. However, they prefer to live solitary existences and are not adept in social situations as a result. They have powerful leg muscles that let them leap and perch with ease. They are often covered with reddish-orange fur and have simian faces, with small tusks and beady eyes. Their arms are longer than normal, and often drag along the ground as they stoop when they walk.

Bulezau-Touched:
+2 STR, +2 CON, -2 WIS
+2 to Climb and Swim
Longstrider, Barkskin
Peerless athletes, Bulezau-Touched are often rash, contentious and prone to fits of rage, making them poor decision-makers. They have powerful limbs and can glide through the water or scamper up a cliff easily. They often have curved horns like that of a ram, cloven hooves, or a prehensile tail. Some have all three.

Chasme-Touched:
+2 DEX, +2 INT, -2 STR
+2 to Sleight of Hand and Disable Device
Feather Fall, Summon Swarm
Chasme-Touched are agile and cunning, with exceptional motor control and a scheming, elaborate thought process. Their frames are somewhat weak, with spindly, narrow limbs. Their fingers are long and precise, giving them excellent manual dexterity. Chasme-Touched have chitinous plates covering their skin, and upon close inspection have compound eyes like that of an insect.

Lilitu-Touched:
+2 WIS, +2 CHA, -2 CON
+2 to Knowledge (religion) and Use Magic Device
Divine Favor, Enthrall
Lilitu-Touched are seductive and strong-willed, though like their cousins the Succubus-Touched are frail of form. They have a natural bent towards divine magic, and instinctively know how to "trick" magic items. They too are quite human-looking, though many have a wicked barbed tail that they try to hide. Their eyes are odd-looking, too - their pupils are entirely white.

Molydeus-Touched:
+2 CON, +2 CHA, -2 INT
+2 to Survival and Knowledge (geography)
Endure Elements, Shatter
Molydeus-Touched are confident and robust, though they disdain cerebral pursuits and thought, preferring action and activity. They are especially adept at surviving in hostile, unknown locations, with a natural sense of direction. Their skin is usually bright crimson and they sport sharp, cruel fangs. Many of them hiss like snakes whenever they talk and some sport bushy, furry tails.

Nabassu-Touched:
+2 DEX, +2 STR, -2 WIS
+2 to Move Silently and Tumble
Ray of Enfeeblement, Ghoul Touch
Gaunt, sinewy, and at home in the dark and amongst the dead, Nabassu-Touched often let their irrational hatred of the living cloud their judgment. They are exceptionally agile, padding around quietly and slipping through their opponent's clutches. They often have scaly, stone-colored skin and burning yellow eyes. Their hands and feet only have four digits, and are tipped with wicked-looking talons.

Yochlol-Touched:
+2 DEX, +2 CHA, -2 STR
+2 to Disguise and Gather Information
Disguise Self, Web
Yochlol-Touched are expert infiltrators, both in terms of mortal societies and tight spaces - their forms are flexible and bend in ways they logically shouldn't. This trait leaves them somewhat lacking in musculature, however. They are natural spies and information gatherers. Yochlol-Touched often resemble drow, with ebon skin and slim forms, though their skin is like jelly to the touch.

Carnevus-Touched:
+2 STR, +2 INT, -2 DEX
+2 to Decipher Script and Knowledge (arcana)
Comprehend Languages, Hideous Laughter
Carnevus-Touched are natural scholars, gifted with academic prowess. And yet they are also strong, with muscular, bulging arms. They are somewhat awkward with these oversized limbs, however, affecting their agility and poise. They are excellent linguists and translators, as well. They are slightly larger than the average tiefling, and their faces are marked by the disconcerting presence of two distinct mouths. When they speak, it is as if two voices speak at once.

Oculus-Touched:
+2 DEX, +2 CON, -2 STR
+2 to Search and Spot
Alarm, See Invisibility
Oculus-Touched are peerless scouts, quick and capable. They are relatively weaker than their other kin, being slight of build and willowy. They are experts at visual detection with keen eyesight. Oculus-Touched look somewhat human, but they are marred by large, twisted horns and strange markings over their body that resemble eyes.

Omegonthesane
2009-08-16, 07:02 AM
The skill bonuses, stat-ups, and darkvision simply don't add up to enough to make LA +1, and Darkness is really easy to bypass. The energy resistances are - maybe - keeping it teetering on the edge of LA +1, so maybe they can be reduced or dropped - it's not like a tiefling is a full-blooded Tanar'ri anyway.

deuxhero
2009-08-16, 10:56 AM
Now net +2 atributes (outside of pathfinder where that is the norm IIRC) and free martial weapon proficiency are a little less clearly "+0". I'm on the side of everyone is going to pick human anyway because all the races not stolen from Tolkien are +1, so go and make them +0 anyways.

Belobog
2009-08-16, 11:59 AM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you're trying to present is that the Demon-Touched stuff is the basic stuff that all Tieflings get, and the variations in the spoiler are additions onto that to give it a +1 LA?

It looks okay, but it's a common conception that Plane-touched are a very weak race for their LA. Tieflings could easily use a boost, and if you don't plan on doing so, you might want to drop the LA altogether, especially if they're the norm in this campaign. As it is, the ability bonuses, skill bonuses, and a few other options just don't match the high end of LA 0 (Human, Strongheart Halfling, etc).

Gnorman
2009-08-16, 03:37 PM
Fair points. I was really just trying to make them all "subsets" of tiefling, hence why I kept most of the attributes the same.

DracoDei
2009-08-16, 05:32 PM
This seems a good idea, regardless of campaign. I am not sure if they would be LA +1 in other campaigns, but I can see the wisdom to LA 0 if everyone is going to be on the same footing... you can always dump an LA on every later, just by uping the ELs and giving experience appropriate to the new APL from then on.

Frog Dragon
2009-08-17, 12:49 AM
LA 0 for those guys. Hell I run tieflings LA 0. Isn't really at all better than the dwarf to my eyes.

Copacetic
2009-08-17, 10:41 AM
Crunch (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=147389), without feats.