(3.5)Wanted-the anthropomorphic turtle.

[Ilmryn]

A friend of mine wants to play an anthropomorphic turtle. However, as the turle is no in the MM, there are no stats for it. So I ask the playground for some homebrew.

[LOTRfan]

There was a thread for something like this somewhere before. Give me one second, I'll see if I can find the link for you (It doesn't use the anthropomorphic template, but I hope it'll still help you).

EDIT: Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164846) it is. There are four different versions, and none of them have fluff.

[Tetrasodium]

crucian is mentioned in that other thread, has a huge natural armor bonus :). I think it's a significant LA that goes with it though :(

[Fizban]

There's a snapping turtle in Stormwrack. Using that and the standard anthropomorphic template, I wrote this down a while back:

Koopa
Anthropomorphic Snapping Turtle (Savage Species, Stormwrack)
2HD medium monstrous humanoid, speed 5' swim 20' (or 30' swim 20' fudging "aquatic").
bite 1d6 primary, improved grab, +4 natural armor
str +6, dex -4, con +6, int +0, wis +4, cha -2
compare to lizardfolk for LA+1

The movement speed fudge is because using the RAW you'd only have the turtle's standard land speed of 5'. Since the turtle is clearly aquatic and we have to estimate the LA anyway, it's more than fair to use the template as if it were an aquatic creature and give a 30' land speed. As for the LA, the race compares well with the Lizardfolk, so compared to the "WoTC book scale", it should be LA+1. Personally I think the two racial hit dice are more than enough on their own.

Bonus round:

"King Koopa"
Anthropomorphic Archelon (Savage Species, Stormwrack)
3HD large monstrous humanoid, speed 20' swim 20'
bite 1d8 primary, +12 natural armor, hold breath 10*con
str +10, dex -2, con +8, int +0, wis +4, cha +0
Three racial HD and high but not insane stats make me think LA +2 compared to the books, or +1 in more optimized games.

Bowser: Draconic King Koopa HD 3/LA 3/ [Dragon Shamon (Red) 4+]

[Ilmryn]

What I'm looking for is more of an archetypal slow turtle, preferably with no LA.

[Esser-Z]

Step 1: Get a regular turtle
Step 2: Dump it in mutant ooze
Step 3: ???
Step 4: PROFIT

[Silverscale]

What I'm looking for is more of an archetypal slow turtle, preferably with no LA.

If you're going for the typical slow turtle with no LA then go with the 5ft land speed (or 10ft if you don't want to totally cripple the character) and pick what looks best from the attempts above ............. a pinch of salt and bring it to a slow boil, and you've got your Turtle-Anthro.

[Esser-Z]

But a slow turtle can't be a ninja :smallfrown:

[Mystic Muse]

But a slow turtle can't be a ninja :smallfrown:

Ninjas are bad in D&D anyway.:smalltongue:

EDIT: Anthropomorphic animals have been done here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165439)

[Xefas]

I love me some turtles, so I'll throw together some homebrew right this second...

Turtlefolk
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad91/bluejanus/Turtle.png
Monstrous Humanoid
Small Size
Speed: 20ft, 40ft Swim
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma, -2 Dexterity: Turtlefolk are stronger, tougher, smarter, and just plain more badass than any human. They're also slower to react or whatever. But I mean, that's a good thing. Stupid humans and their reflexes; what do they know?

Sturdy (Ex): Turtlefolk gain a +4 bonus to resist being bullrushed or tripped. Take that, human swine.

Inconvenient Shell (Ex): Turtlefolk have a hard time getting up after being knocked onto their backs. Instead of hopping up from Prone deftly like everyone else as a move action, they instead must spend an entire full-round action with a "D=" face, flailing their tiny adorable arms until they can roll to safety. A fact those craven, gutless humans never stop reminding them of. They think its funny; well, it's not!

Natural Defense (Ex): Turtlefolk cannot wear armor due to their massive shells. However, being far more advanced and sensible than humans, their shells have evolved to be incredibly durable. They grant a +8 Armor bonus to armor class, with no reduction of speed, armor check penalty, or arcane spell failure, and is considered light armor for effects dependent on it. In addition, they may have their shells enchanted as if it were normal armor. It's okay humans; it's only natural for your disgusting gooey pink skin, which affords you no special protection, to ooze disgusting jealously as it often does when you are out in the sun for prolonged periods of time.

Deliciousness (Ex): The single greatest threat to Turtlefolk kind is their embarrassingly delicious taste to nearly every form of sentient being. Cooking and eating one is always considered an evil act, due to how gumdrops-adorable they are, but they grant a +4 Perfection bonus to any Profession (Cooking) check made with them.

Favored Class: Swordsage; Fire-breathing, minor teleportation, and flying ass-kicking leaps all come naturally to Turtlefolk.

Level Adjustment: +0

[Chrono22]

^Wow that is one broken race.

I have a suggestion too, though.
It's a pathfinder race, and would probably translate to a weak LA +1 in 3.5, but BySwarm created the Testudo (an anthropomorphic turtle race).
Testudo (http://byswarm.com/dark-golden-age/monster/race-testudo-tortoises-pf-points)
Please give the site credit if you use this. It has other material too! I participated in a session run by this company at GenCon, their modules are top quality.

Rokugan or Oriental Adventures has a piece of equipment called a Kapa shell: in my opinion the Testudo race as presented is somewhat weak, I'd say it wouldn't be out of line to allow their shell to function in the same fashion as the Kapa shell with the same limitations it imposes.

[Xefas]

^Wow that is one broken race.


Well, I was going to give it +1 Level Adjustment, but then I thought "What if this person doesn't use LA buyoff? Then it'd be underpowered at mid-high levels, and being worse at asskicking is definitely not supposed to be associated with Turtles."

[Mystic Muse]

Well, I was going to give it +1 Level Adjustment, but then I thought "What if this person doesn't use LA buyoff? Then it'd be underpowered at mid-high levels, and being worse at asskicking is definitely not supposed to be associated with Turtles."

It has an overall +6 ability bonus and its shell is the equivalent of plate armor without any of the penalties, plus it can be enchanted. In addition it has a swim speed. I think the player will be just fine at mid-high levels.

[Xefas]

It has an overall +6 ability bonus and its shell is the equivalent of plate armor without any of the penalties, plus it can be enchanted. In addition it has a swim speed. I think the player will be just fine at mid-high levels.

Psh, sure, but in exchange it would have -1 Spellcasting or Initiating level. While all of his Human Warblade/Wizard/Jade Phoenix Mage "friends" are getting their new Power Word Blinds and such, the poor Turtlefolk is stuck with what? Chain Lightning and some armor? And all the humans are so smug with their free feats...gettin' their Divine Metamagics and so forth. Think they're so great.

(I hope you understand every post I've made in the thread so far has been tongue-in-cheek.)

[Andion Isurand]

You could play a Tortle from Dragon Magazine

-2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Cha
medium size
low-light vision
+3 natural armor
speed 20 ft
swim 10 ft.
+8 racial bonus on swim checks
favored class: cleric

[LOTRfan]

Which Dragon Magazine is that from?

[Andion Isurand]

Dragon Magazine 315