[3.5 Race] Sieni, bring on the Fungelves

[Shades of Gray]

The following is an elven sub-race for my custom setting.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa279/oliver426/g6508.png

Sieni
- +2 Con, -2 Cha (replaces +2 Dex -2 Con of Elves)
- Immunity to Disease.
- No ability to Detect Secret Doors and no racial bonus on search checks
- Once per month they produce spores. The spores must be released into a living foe within one week of being produced, or the Sieni begins to experience withdrawal. They must take a fortitude save every day (DC 15+number of days since they produced the spores) or become fatigued. If they failed a second save they become exhausted. If they fail a third time then they are subjected to a dominate person spell, in which they are bidden to release their spores

{table=head]Name|Infection|DC|Incubation|Damage
Sieni Spores|Inhalation|10+1/2HD|12 hours|2d6 Con/day*[/table]

* When reduced to 0 hp, if the target is an elf, they become a Sieni. Their Constitution immediately is set to 4 (to compensate for the -2 con penalty becoming a +2 Con Bonus) and they recover 1 point of constitution every 12 hours. Ranger/Scout

In my setting, elves have the natural ability to lengthen the lifespan of trees and fungi by their mere presence. A vile fungus, known as the Sieni, infected a group of elves, growing on them. Usually it draws on the energy of the host, sucking out their life and leaving them a husk. But the natural ability of elves keeps them alive. They form a symbiotic relationship. The elves' body stops performing useless functions, such as developing skin pigment.

The elves' skin becomes pale and slightly gray. Their hair becomes lighter as well. Once you are infected you stop aging right before puberty (except for height.) The elves undergo accelerated aging, starting to age like a human. As they age the fungus gets more influence on them, their skin becomes more pale and gray, etc. In addition it begins to affect their mind. They eventually no longer see the fungus as an illness. Any attempt to remove the fungus, such as cutting off the fruiting body, will be useless. It will simply grow back in another place. A heal spell or remove disease spell during the process of becoming a sieni ends the process, but you cannot be healed of the disease after you are transforme except by wish or miracle.

New feat: Sieni Spawner
Prerequisites: Sieni
Benefit: You produce spores constantly. You still only have to release them once per month.
Normal: You may only produce spores once every month.

New Prestige Class: Feral Sieni

Some Sieni embrace their new forms, and seek to propagate their race. Oddly enough, most of these Sieni are those that have entered withdrawal due to refusal to release spores. Some speculate that they become feral as a result of their fungus' "reprogramming"

Requirements:
Race: Sieni
Feats: Sieni Spawner, Improved Grapple, Improved Trip
Skills: Survival 8 ranks.

Class Skills: The Feral Sieni's class skills (and the key attribute for each skill) are Climb (Str), Disguise (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Spot (Wis), and Survival (Wis)
Skill Points Per Level: 2+Int Modifier

Hit Die: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fortitude Save|Reflex Save|Will Save|Special
1|+0|+2|+0|+0|Fungal Physiology I, Expert Trip, Reserved
2|+1|+3|+0|+0|Fungal Physiology II
3|+2|+3|+1|+1|Fungal Physiology III, Extended Reach
4|+3|+4|+1|+1|Fungal Physiology IV, Fungal Body
5|+3|+4|+1|+1|Fungal Physiology V, Entangling Body[/table]


Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Feral Sieni gain proficiency with the Unarmed Strike and Any Natural Weapons they develop.

Fungal Physiology (Ex): At 1st level a Feral Sieni begins to develop unsightly fungal characteristics. They gain a +2 bonus to intimidate.

At 2nd level they gain immunity to extra damage from precision damage due to their warped physiology.

At 3rd level they gain immunity to critical hits as their body becomes a shell for the fungus.

At 4th level they gain immunity to all mind-effecting spells and abilities (except their base need to release spores, as described in the Sieni racial description) as they become more distant from their elven consciousness.

At 5th level they gain immunity to all poison, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning effects as they become more fungal.

Expert Trip (Ex): A Feral Sieni can add half of its class levels to any trip check it makes.

Reserved: Starting at 1st level, a Feral Sieni begins to distance itself from living creatures. Because of this change in its nature, a Feral Sieni takes a penalty equal to its Feral Sieni class level (–1 at 1st level, –2 at 2nd level, and so on) when using the following skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive.

Extended Reach: At 3rd level a Feral Sieni's arms become thin and long, giving it an additional 5-foot reach when attempting to grapple with a target. In addition, they count as one size larger for the purposes of grappling.

Fungal Body: At 4th level a Feral Sieni becomes immune to any ability that affects humanoids, but becomes susceptible to any ability that affects plants. If they are affected by the Plant Growth spell, they are affected as if Enlarge Person was cast upon them.

Entangling Body: At 5th level a Feral Sieni can extend its roots (For Biology Majors, Hyphae) outward, letting it cast entangle with a caster level equal to half of its HD once per encounter. In addition, they now count as two sizes larger for purposes of grapple checks.

[Solaris]

Perhaps a racial prestige class that turns them into more fungi-type critters? I rather like this, it's more unique than a lot of the stuff I've seen homebrewed. It could just use more filling out. What sort of culture do they have? Are they vulnerable to sunlight like drow (or maybe simply dislike it) or not at all? Do they get along well with other people, are they xenophobic, or are they simply predators like a fungal sort of vampire? You might want to do those spores up more as a disease than simply "Those who are not elves die after one day" - perhaps it causes 2d6 points of Constitution damage every handful of hours as they fungal growths begin to take over the victim's body, but instead of dying when they reach zero (if an elf) they turn into a sieni, whereupon their Constitution begins to recover at a normal rate.

[Shades of Gray]

A prestige class could be interesting, I'd take a page from the Warforged Juggernaut's book.

Most fungelfSieni colonies will set themselves up near a town, and prey upon them. Once they're found out they'll move. Other groups have made deals with local doctors, the terminally ill or dying take in a Sieni's spores as sort of Euthanasia, though this is much more rare. Some Sieni try to avoid releasing spores at all, trying to live normal lives. However the fungus takes over, causing them pain, becoming more of a zombie until they release their spores.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa279/oliver426/infection.png

I've written up the disease as just that, a disease.

[Shades of Gray]

Added a new prestige class and feat.

[Veklim]

Fungal Body: At 4th level a Feral Sieni becomes immune to any ability that affects humanoids, but becomes susceptible to any ability that affects plants. If they are affected by the Plant Growth spell, they are affected as if Enlarge Person was cast upon them. Other spells that usually affect non-sentient plants (such as plant growth) counting as similar spells (animal growth) is at the DM's discretion.
You may wish to change this a little, you use plant growth for both examples, could become confusing. What I think you meant was that plant growth can (at DM's discretion) count as either enlarge person or animal growth, which is redundant since animal growth only affects animals.


Entangling Body: At 5th level a Feral Sieni can extend its roots (For Biology Majors, Hyphae) outward, letting it cast entangle with a caster level equal to half of its HD once per encounter. In addition, they now count as two sizes larger for purposes of grapple checks.[/SPOILER]

Nice touch that.

All things in balance, it's powerful (immune to many, many things), but makes sense and doesn't seem too bad. I like :smallbiggrin: