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View Full Version : Sorilar (3.5 Race); PEACH!



Schylerwalker
2012-11-19, 10:24 AM
This is technically an older version of the race meant for relatively vanilla 3.5. I made another version for my weird homebrewed 3.5/Pathfinder game, and thus the race is slightly more powerful and has access to "Racial Paths" (Currently being discussed in the 3.5 Board. Check it out!)

SORILAR
Ferocious predators and fiercely honorable warriors from a land covered in thick jungles and volcanic mountains, Sorilar fight in the names of strange and alien deities for a cause they hardly even understand. They are known for their impressive bulk, their savagery in battle, and the strange powers they are able to bring to bear against their opponents. The entities they worship lend them unique abilities and the aid of horrifying monsters from a far realm warped by chaotic energies and the dreams of the mad.
Personality: Emotions like compassion, kindness, and mercy are foreign to Sorilar society and way of life. They are wild and fierce and full of dangerous potential like the lands they hail from, but at the same time cool and in control of their emotions. Honorable to a fault and fearless in battle, Sorilar take slights to their character, skill, or heritage very seriously. Station and rank are very important in the Sorilar's highly developed and intricate caste system, which mostly revolves around one's lineage and their combat prowess. Time, place, and the conditions of a Sorilar's egg-laying and egg-hatching are extremely important, especially if it occurs on any holy days or other important events. They are a tribal race who fight ritualistic duels for social advancement, but when not fighting or praying, the Sorilar have been known to contribute to society and civilization as a whole.
Physical Description: The average Sorilar stands roughly seven feet tall, with impressive specimens of the higher caste reaching heights of nearly ten feet. With their bulging muscles, dense bone structure, and great breadth, it is not surprising that some Sorilar can easily weigh in excess of five hundred pounds. Sorilar have brown scales when they hatch, which deepens to jet black when they reach maturity. Towards the twilight of their life, it pales and becomes grey. Truly ancient Sorilar have pure white scales. Their tails are long and flat, used for swimming and balance. Atop their head is a bright red crest; larger and more intricate crests are a sure sign of higher rank. Their eyes are yellow or green, with silver or gold flecks.
Relations: Sorilar regard the elves as a weak and decadent race whose time has come, and enjoy capturing their lands, burning their forests, and taking them as slaves. Dwarves earn the gruding respect of Sorilar for their sheer tenacity and the skill they possess with forging and raising fortresses, and they have been known to hire dwarven mercenaries or ally themselves with certain dwarven nations. Gnomes and halflings earn nothing but the Sorilar's undying contempt and disgust, and members of the smaller races are favored dishes in Sorilar banquet halls. Trickery and deceit hold no value in their society, and so gnomes and halflings must constantly deal with Sorilar emnity. Humans, half-elves, and half-orcs are the target of undying hatred and lust for conquest, and even meetings between non-affiliated or outcast Sorilar are decidedly chilly.
Alignment: The majority of Sorilar are lawful, and tend towards evil or neutrality. Chaotic Sorilar are almost completely unheard of, while good Sorilar are likewise quite rare. Even adventursome Sorilar are likely to be lawful evil or lawful neutral due to their upbringing.
Sorilar Lands: Sorilar kingdoms are generally located in great swamps, jungles, or other regions where bogs and marshes or thick stands of trees can be found. They are also comfortable in deserts and savannahs, or any mountains hit by a warm, wet breeze. Generally, anywhere with rivers or a humid climate is preferable. The skylines of their cities are dominated with massive fortified temple-pyramids draped in vines and glowing lines of light. Most Sorilar cities feature the architecture of other races and cultures, as they are not adept builders and the majority of their settlements are taken from other races.
Religion: Sorilar worship an assembly of beings simply referred to as the Entities. They are ruled by the Greatest Entities, who in turn command the Great Entities, the Lesser Entities, and the Least Entities. Sorilar priests are often driven mad by the visions the Entities send them, visions of a plane where reason means nothing and physical forms are rent asunder with the slightest thought. Sorilar clerics have access to the domains of Destruction, Knowledge, Magic, and Strength.
Language: Sorilar do not have their own language, and generally either speak Draconic or a warped dialect of Common. They have also been known to learn Dwarven, as they are on neutral terms with this race, and Elven, to better mock and spy on their hated enemies.
Names: A Sorilar is born without a true name; each hatchling is referred to with a nickname or title, based on rank. Lower-ranked Sorilar typically have demeaning, insulting names to harden them for adult life, while higher-ranked Sorilar have impressive, noble names. Just before or just after a Sorilar reaches maturity, they are taken to the temple and imbibe potions and herbs that send them into a trance-like state. While in this trance they are sent a vision by one of the Entities, giving them their name and a small glimpse of what their future will hold. For a Sorilar, it is easy to tell the power of the Entity that gave another his name, and such knowledge is one of the greatest deciding factors in a Sorilar's rank.
Adventurers: The average Sorilar adventures to gain power and prestige for his family, tribe, and king. High level Sorilar laden with magic items and tales of their exploits can generally expect to be accepted into one of the great Guard orders that form the military of the Sorilar nations. Some Sorilar adventurers are outcasts and heretics, seeking to redeem themselves or simply trying to escape the lifestyle of their brethren.

SORILAR RACIAL TRAITS
* +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity: The Sorilar's great size and density makes them hard to kill, but it also makes them slightly clumsier and more awkward than other races.
* Medium: As medium creatures, Sorilar have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Sorilar base land speed is 30 feet. Sorilar have a swim speed of 10 feet.
* Darkvision: Sorilar can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and Sorilar can function just fine with no light at all.
* Thick Hide: Sorilar receive a +1 natural armor bonus to their armor class.
* Natural Weapons: A sorilar receives two claw attacks and a bite attack. Their primary attack is the claws, and their secondary attack is the bite. The claws each do 1d4 damage, and the bite does 1d6.
* Sorilar need only four hours of sleep to function, but they still need eight hours of rest to recover and cast spells.
* +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease: Sorilar are naturally resistant to disease due to their long habitation of marshes and jungles.
* +2 racial bonus on Intimidate and Survival checks: Sorilar frighten other races with their great size and mosntrous appearance, and they are skilled hunters and frontiersmen.
* +2 racial bonus on Balance checks and a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks: A Sorilar's long, flattened tail grants better stability when balancing on narrow surfaces and when swimming in hazardous conditions.
* Favored Class: Cleric. A multiclass Sorilar's cleric class does not count when determing whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. The typical Sorilar warrior is a religious fanatic who fights for a holy cause.

JerichoPenumbra
2012-11-19, 10:40 PM
I like em. Not enough "monstrous" humanoids in my opinion.

Have you made any races on the opposite side of the spectrum? Like a race of laid back spider or frog people or something that value arts over combat and philosophy over fanatical belief?

Also, when are you gonna post your classes?

willpell
2012-11-19, 11:18 PM
The natural weapons and being a MoHu (immune to Hold Person etc.) are probably sufficient to bump this race up to LA +1, fyi. Maybe give them a Strength bonus to finish putting them over the top. Also, you don't need to mention the Darkvision since MoHus get that automatically. And I like how they hate the Elves while having the exact same problem (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0623.html) as spellcasters.

Schylerwalker
2012-11-20, 01:18 AM
The natural weapons and being a MoHu (immune to Hold Person etc.) are probably sufficient to bump this race up to LA +1, fyi. Maybe give them a Strength bonus to finish putting them over the top. Also, you don't need to mention the Darkvision since MoHus get that automatically. And I like how they hate the Elves while having the exact same problem (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0623.html) as spellcasters.

I...didn't actually say they were Monstrous Humanoids anywhere. JP just jokingly referred to them as such.

willpell
2012-11-20, 02:04 AM
In that case, I re-iterate (this is often used to mean simply "repeat", but in this case I'm using it accurately as "present a new iteration") my previous post:

The natural weapons are probably sufficient to bump this race up to LA +1, fyi. Maybe give them a Strength boost and make them a MoHu (immune to Hold Person etc.) to finish putting them over the top. Also, you then won't need to mention the Darkvision since MoHus get that automatically. And I like how they hate the Elves while having the exact same problem (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0623.html) as spellcasters.

Vrakil
2012-11-20, 02:13 AM
From the description, and maybe I just missed it, but it sounds like these are a form of lizardfolk without quite saying it. In fact, the black scales, large tails and red crest sound like several lizardfolk I've come across. Also, give the 7-10 ft height range and the 500+ weight mentioned in the physical description, the particular critters would easily be in the large category, not medium.

willpell
2012-11-20, 02:48 AM
From the description, and maybe I just missed it, but it sounds like these are a form of lizardfolk without quite saying it. In fact, the black scales, large tails and red crest sound like several lizardfolk I've come across. Also, give the 7-10 ft height range and the 500+ weight mentioned in the physical description, the particular critters would easily be in the large category, not medium.

There's some wiggle room about the overlap between size categories; this size is possible on the extreme high end of Medium, albeit that it strongly recommends the Powerful Build ability seen on Goliaths and Half-Giants, who are also in this size range (and both races are LA +1, which is another recommendation for my idea).

Schylerwalker
2012-11-20, 03:27 AM
There's some wiggle room about the overlap between size categories; this size is possible on the extreme high end of Medium, albeit that it strongly recommends the Powerful Build ability seen on Goliaths and Half-Giants, who are also in this size range (and both races are LA +1, which is another recommendation for my idea).

So do you think in addition to your previous suggestions, I should give them powerful build?

willpell
2012-11-20, 10:54 AM
Yeah, pretty definitely if they're supposed to be that big. Might be getting a little powerful by now, but I think they still come out no stronger than Goliaths, and probably weaker than Half-Giants just because psionics is the awesome.

Anyway, while I haven't read the whole thing, I'm really liking these guys as long as the mechanics work to represent the concept (which is the goal with my suggestions of PB and MH and maybe some Strength). I'm a huge fan of lizardman-types in general, and these guys feel more like a version of Batman's Killer Croc (in his earlier, more humanoid incarnations), who was always one of my favorite baddies in the comic (along with The Lizard in Spiderman...yeah okay it's kind of a theme with me, though my favorite is still an old Lost Worlds combat book).