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View Full Version : (3.5e / Pathfinder) Pyrebranded [Race] [PEACH]



Knight9910
2011-05-09, 09:26 AM
Pyrebranded
The pyrebranded are the children of the ancient Mother of Monsters, forged in the crucible of chaos and scattered throughout the planes. Pyrebranded are creatures of chaos, mutants so diverse that many people don't even consider them a single race. Even pyrebranded often consider themselves to be completely unique monsters.

Although they are the children of the Mother of Monsters they have no godly power. Nor are they considered favored creations, the ancient goddess having long since moved on to other toys. A pyrebranded who wishes to earn his mother's attention must do so the same way as any other being: by proving his devotion to chaos and destruction.

Physical Description: There is no typical pyrebranded. One pyrebranded might be a hideous abomination with the head of a horse and the legs of a frog, while another may appear indistinguishable from a human until he opens his mouth to reveal row after row of horrible, spine-like teeth.

The only common feature is that all pyrebranded have a generally humanoid appearance. They hold themselves upright, have two arms, a torso, a head, and two legs (unless they have a tail instead). Each of these body parts functions basically the same way it would on a human, even though it may look very different. (That is to say, their arms end in hands with opposable thumbs, they have two eyes located on the front of their head, their heart is located in their chest, etc.)

Society: Occasionally groups of pyrebranded with similar appearance will build their own societies, but this is very rare. Most pyrebranded live on their own, far away from humanoids and completely unaware that there are others like themselves in the world.

Relations: Pyrebranded get along poorly with the civilized races. Humans and elves tend to view pyrebranded as little more than monsters to be destroyed, and their chaotic and destructive natures do little to rectify this belief. Occasionally a pyrebranded will assume control over a tribe of orcs, goblins, half-ogres, or any other of the more chaotic humanoid species. Pyrebranded can tolerate ratkin but rarely consider them to be deserving of much more than the right to pick through their scraps.

Alignment and Religion: Pyrebranded tend to be selfish, impulsive, and destructive. They are almost always chaotic, and often evil as well. They are almost never lawful and only occasionally good. Many pyrebranded worship the mother of monsters, though just as many worship other gods or even no one at all. It is rare for a pyrebranded to worship a lawful deity and almost unheard of for one to worship a lawful good deity.

• +2 to One Ability Score: Pyrebranded characters get a +2 bonus to an ability score of their choice at character creation to represent their varied nature.
• Native Outsider: Pyrebranded are outsiders with the native subtype.
• Medium: Pyrebranded are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Normal Speed: Pyrebranded have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Darkision: Pyrebranded can see in the dark up to 60'
• Natural Attack: Pyrebranded always have a natural attack, though the exact nature of this attack varies between individuals. Roll on Table 1, below, or you may choose one.
• Monstrous Traits: Pyrebranded typically appear humanoid save for various monstrous traits. Roll on Table 2, below, or you may choose one.


Table 1: Natural Attack
{table="head"]1d20|Attack|Description

1-3|Bite|The pyrebranded has powerful crushing jaws and sharp teeth. He gains a bite attack dealing 1d6 +Str mod bludgeon, piercing, and slashing damage if medium.

4-6|Gore|The pyrebranded has horns or tusks. He gains a gore attack dealing 1d6 +Str mod piercing damage if medium.

7-9|Claws|The pyrebranded's hands bear terrible claws of any sort. He gains 2 claw attacks dealing 1d3 +1/2 Str mod slashing damage each if medium.

10-12|Slams|The pyrebranded's hands are strong and well-suited to powerful smashing blows. He gains 2 slam attacks dealing 1d3 +1/2 Str mod bludgeon damage each if medium.

13-15|Hoof|The pyrebranded's feet bear tough hooves, granting him a deadly kick. He gains a hoof attack dealing 1d6 +Str mod bludgeon and slashing damage if medium.

15-18|Tail|The pyrebranded grows a powerful tail in addition to its legs, or if he has a tail instead of legs his tail becomes strong enough to be used for combat. He gains a tail slap attack dealing 1d6 +Str mod bludgeon damage if medium.

19-20|Sting|The pyrebranded has a tail ending in a hollow spine that injects foes with an energy-infused liquid. He gains a sting attack dealing 1 piercing damage if medium and 1d4 acid, cold, electric, or fire damage. (The energy type is chosen at character creation and can not be changed later.)
[/table]


Table 2: Monstrous Trait
{table="head"]1d20|Trait|Description

1-2|Snake Tail|The pyrebranded's legs are replaced by a snake-like tail. His land speed is reduced by 10, but he gains a climb speed equal to his land speed and a +8 racial bonus on climb checks. A pyrebranded can not have both this trait and the hoof natural attack.

3-4|Godly Beauty|Closest to their goddess, this pyrebranded is always exceptionally beautiful. He gains a +2 bonus to diplomacy and bluff checks.

5-6|Bird Feathers|The pyrebranded has feathers over its body. He gains a +2 racial bonus to acrobatics and receives half damage from falling.

7-8|Predator Sense|The pyrebranded has the honed senses of a predator. Such pyrebranded usually (but not always) also have one of more physical traits of a predator suitable for their area, such as wolf fur, a lion's mane, etc. He gains a +2 racial bonus to perception, and the Scent special ability.

9-10|Amphibious|The pyrebranded has webbed fingers and toes (unless he has hooves), gills, and possibly even fins. His skin is usually slick and possibly scaly. He gains a swim speed equal to his base land speed and has a +8 racial bonus to swim checks. Additionally, he can hold his breath underwater for a number of minutes equal to his constitution modifier.

11-12|Horrid Visage|The pyrebranded's features are particularly feral, hardened, or hideous. He gains a +2 racial bonus to intimidate checks. Additionally, the save DC for all of his abilities and spells that cause fear effects is increased by 1.

13-14|Elementborn|The pyrebranded is attuned to a specific element and naturally resists the corresponding energy type. He gains resistance 5 to either acid, cold, electricity, or fire. This is chosen at character creation and can not be changed later.

15-16|Tough Hide|The pyrebranded has thick scales, rough fur, very tough skin, is numb to pain, or naturally resists blows in some other way. He gains +2 natural armor.

17-18|Conjure Energy|The pyrebranded has great control over an element and is able to summon flames, acid, ice, or lightning, but only in short range - only enough to boost his own weapon attacks or spells. As a swift action his next attack deals +1d6 acid, cold, electric, or fire damage. (The energy type is chosen at character creation and can not be changed later.) This ability is usable once per day.

19-20|Crushing Gaze|The pyrebranded can curse others with a look. As a standard action it can attempt to lock eyes with an enemy. The enemy must make a will save or take a -2 penalty to one of the following for 1 hour: AC, saves, skill checks, ability checks, or attack rolls. (Which of these is affected is chosen at character creation.) The DC for the save is equal to 10 +1/2 the pyrebranded's HD, +the pyrebranded's charisma mod. Creatures which can not see are immune to this ability and creatures actively attempting to divert their eyes have a +4 bonus to the save. This ability does not stack with itself.

[/table]

<hr>

Basically what I wanted was a playable chaotic race that's actually chaotic rather than just...well...frog. I went for a random traits table to make it more akin to the ei'risai from Pathfinder.

I originally made this race to work as the children of a chaotic evil fire goddess from a homebrew campaign world. That's the reason for the name "Pyrebranded." I've been working on making them more universal, but not quite there yet I think.

Some ideas for a new name would be appreciated, as well as help on making the monstrous traits more balanced.

Lappy9000
2011-05-09, 11:52 AM
Neat! They remind me of Hordlings from 1st edition. Any chance of getting a table for purely cosmetic physical randomness?

Edit: Mind if I steal these as well? They're very well done.

LOTRfan
2011-05-09, 12:22 PM
Oh my god, these are so cool!

I was actually going to post an Elder Evil with a similar theme (minus the control over fire), and these would fit perfectly with it. Would you mind if I included them in the backstory of the Mother?

Knight9910
2011-05-09, 04:34 PM
If I didn't want people to use them I wouldn't have posted them, so go ahead. Just as long as you don't try to claim you made them.

I actually originally included a table(s) for cosmetic touches, but one of my friends told me it was a bad idea. ^^;; I could always make a new one(s).

Lappy9000
2011-05-09, 10:16 PM
If I didn't want people to use them I wouldn't have posted them, so go ahead. Just as long as you don't try to claim you made them.Never hurts to ask :smallsmile:


I actually originally included a table(s) for cosmetic touches, but one of my friends told me it was a bad idea. ^^;; I could always make a new one(s).From a rules standpoint, I'd just let it be optional and call it a day.