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EdroGrimshell
2013-11-03, 01:54 AM
N'mak

Derived from the Titan word for Sorrow and the Orc word for Burden, the N'mak are a widely misunderstood race of incarnum users. Tainted by wisps of incarnum aligned with sorrow and sadness, they are possessed of a racial sadness that is unnerving to most other races.

Personality: N'mak are almost always silent and reserved, with an almost constantly sad demeanor, a racial sorrow that manifests in every N'mak early in life, which few, if any, ever truly overcome. This, when combined with their size and many scars makes them quite unnerving, even more so when they level their gaze on someone. As a whole, however, the N'mak are a peaceful and friendly race that would prefer not to have the attention so commonly laid on them.

Physical Description: A N'mak is human-like race with grey-tinted skin that often bears many scars and marks from every injury the N'mak has received over the course of its life. They have sorrowful eyes that are commonly red, pale ice blue, sickly yellow-green, or near white lavender, their pupils are oddly shaped, some with horizontal bars, some with slits, some with X's or crosses, and some even have ridged circles. A typical N'mak towers over the average human, standing well over 7 feet on average with the tallest being upwards of 8 feet tall, but they only weigh about 200-250lbs on average, regardless of gender. A N'mak needs less sleep than a human, only needing 6 hours of sleep each night.

A N'mak reaches adulthood in their early 30s and can live in excess of 400 years.

Relations: The N'mak have good relations with Goliath, their similar height and strength putting them on equal ground, though the Goliath are still often unnerved by the stare of the N'mak. Half-orcs and dwarves respect the strength of the N'mak, though the almost sad demeanor of the N'mak only allows this respect to only go so far. Halflings and gnomes, already small, are barely noticed around a N'mak, which halflings find a boon while gnomes often find it annoying. Elves often take well to the slow and methodical methods of the N'mak, but rarely meet the large race outside of travelling.

Alignment: N'mak tend to follow the laws of the land they reside, but have no predisposition towards good or evil, instead leaning towards neutrality with a slight tendency towards good.

N'mak Lands: N'mak are nomadic by nature, travelling constantly from town to town, often travelling with groups of other humanoids or, rarely, other N'mak. A N'mak will often pull a cart with it when travelling with others, allowing them to ride the cart while they pull it.

Language: N'mak speak a soft dialect of giant, distinct enough that it is considered another language.

Adventurers: N'mak often travel, transporting other humanoids either by cart, dragged by their own hands rather than by horses, or by flat-bottomed, poled boat, but rarely do they seek out adventure. Those that do are often those that have befriended other adventurers and been convinced to come along for the ride.

N'mak Racial Traits
+4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma. N'mak are hardy and strong, but slow and melancholy.
Humanoid (Incarnum)
Medium.
Base Land Speed 30ft. Despite their size, the N'mak take methodical, slow steps, leaving them only as fast as an average human.
Powerful Build
Burdened Might: A N'mak can carry and drag tremendous amounts of weight with little trouble. A N'mak has the carrying capacity of a creature one size category larger, stacking with the increase from powerful build (essentially multiplying their carrying capacity by 4). Additionally, a N'mak can move at their normal speed when carrying a medium load and can run at their full speed when carrying a heavy load.
Essentia Pool: A N'mak's essentia pool is permanently increased by 1. If he doesn’t have an essentia pool, this trait grants him one with a single point of essentia. A N'mak may invest essentia to increase their carrying capacity as if their Strength Score was two higher for every point of essentia so invested.
Painless: A N'mak receives a +4 racial bonus on saves against effects that deal with pain or that deal nonlethal damage. Additionally, the N'mak reduces the amount of nonlethal damage it receives by it's Constitution Modifier + one quarter its character level.
Though normally slow and methodical with their steps, a N'mak is capable of incredible speed when it is called for. When a N'mak runs or charges, it adds 10ft to its base land speed for the purposes of its ability to run. This also grants a N'mak a +4 bonus on Jump checks when making a running jump.
A N'mak's size and soul piercing stare grant the N'mak a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate checks. This stacks with the bonus provided from Powerful Build.
The slow, methodical steps of the N'mak grant it a +2 racial bonus on Balance and Move Silently checks.
The N'mak's size makes it difficult to hide and harder to conceal its movements, giving it a -4 racial penalty on Hide and Sleight of Hand checks.
N'mak treat the Dire Staff (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?360124-Dire-Staff-What-s-the-base-damage-of-a-tree-Weapon-Feats) as a Martial Weapon.
Starting Languages: Common, N'mak. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, Terran.
Favored Class: Incarnate (may be changed when I make my meldshaping class later)
Level Adjustment: +1


Racial Feats
Bulldoze [Racial]
You use your enhanced strength to plow through obstacles.
Prerequisites: N'mak
Benefit: While you have essentia invested to increase your effective strength score for carrying capacity, you gain a +2 racial bonus to Strength Checks made to break down doors, obstacles or items per point of essentia invested into it. You may make Strength Checks to break items that would obstruct your movement as a free action when making a charge attack to break obstacles in your path.

N'mak Juggernaut [Racial]
Obstacles like stone walls and trees mean little to you when you make an attack.
Prerequisites: N'mak, Bulldoze
Benefit: The bonus from Bulldoze increases to +4 per point of essentia and may automatically make a sunder attack on obstacles you attempt to break when charging. You may ignore any hardness below 10 of an obstruction if you moved at least 20ft with your charge before reaching the obstruction.

N'mak Armor Training [Racial]
You've grown accustomed to mitigating armor encumbrance with your incarnum powered musculature.
Prerequisites: N'mak, Proficiency with Heavy Armor
Benefits: While you have essentia invested to increase your effective strength score for carrying capacity, you also reduce your armor check penalty from armor by 1 per point of invested essentia and increase the maximum dexterity bonus by 1 per two points of invested essentia.

EdroGrimshell
2013-11-03, 01:59 AM
Okay, as an intro, this idea came to me while listening to a song the other day, and I decided to roll with it. The N'mak are not actually all that powerful (I probably gave them too high an LA), and what they do have for abilities (mainly an increased carrying capacity) isn't all that potent unless you're going for a guy that literally carries everything you could ever need, which is impractical.

This race is a pack mule, essentially, with a few good combat skills and a few miscellaneous bonuses.

Amechra
2013-11-03, 03:46 AM
I'm curious...

You repeatedly describe them as "slow and methodical."

Why, then, do they run so fast?

EdroGrimshell
2013-11-03, 03:52 AM
I'm curious...

You repeatedly describe them as "slow and methodical."

Why, then, do they run so fast?

Think about it this way, they're tall, so they'd naturally have a long stride, which would normally mean a faster standard move speed. They don't get that and instead have a speed for a normal medium creature. When they run, they use their full stride, not the slow and methodical method. I sorta forgot to add that into the fluff behind the ability.

EDIT: Added.

Morithias
2013-11-03, 04:00 AM
This is just begging to be made into a hulking hurler.

EdroGrimshell
2013-11-03, 04:23 AM
This is just begging to be made into a hulking hurler.

Except they don't qualify because they're medium, not large, and powerful build doesn't let them qualify by RAW.

Morithias
2013-11-03, 06:31 AM
Except they don't qualify because they're medium, not large, and powerful build doesn't let them qualify by RAW.

Half-minotaur template, or half-giant, you get the drift.

Debihuman
2013-11-03, 08:40 AM
If they are slow, they should have a speed of 20 feet not 30 feet. 30 feet is standard speed for Medium sized characters. Also, powerful build does not actually make you bigger or faster it just lets you use beneficial modifiers as if you were a size larger.

They should have a land speed of 20 feet to be considered slow.

Debby`

EdroGrimshell
2013-11-03, 11:40 AM
If they are slow, they should have a speed of 20 feet not 30 feet. 30 feet is standard speed for Medium sized characters. Also, powerful build does not actually make you bigger or faster it just lets you use beneficial modifiers as if you were a size larger.

They should have a land speed of 20 feet to be considered slow.

Debby`

True enough

I thought that, since the race was much taller than most and logically would have a longer stride (just as the dwarf is shorter and has a shorter stride), they'd logically have a faster base land speed, but they don't in this case because of their slower steps. If it's really an issue I can change it, but I believe my version (the reverse of the reason for the dwarf's lower speed) is a plausible explanation for the race's speed and description

Haluesen
2013-11-03, 02:38 PM
Hmm overall it is pretty good, and I like the fluff behind it. The only thing I would consider is maybe putting something of a limit of that burst of speed. I think it is okay to have it, but maybe go like the cheetah and make it only usable once an hour or after some fair recharge time or something. Like they put all their minds into a great burst of speed for a while, but then that racial melancholy hits them again and they go back to be slow, as before. And with that you're right, everything else is either in line with the base races (skill bonuses, powerful build, racial ability bonuses) or rather situational (the improved carrying, the resistance to pain effects), so +1 LA might be enough for it.

Also, to Morithias, yeah it does seem like this would work well to hulking hurler, and if someone was willing to go to a template and focus on being a hulking hurler, then that is their optimization choice right? No bearing on the race itself. :smalltongue:

Morithias
2013-11-03, 02:47 PM
Also, to Morithias, yeah it does seem like this would work well to hulking hurler, and if someone was willing to go to a template and focus on being a hulking hurler, then that is their optimization choice right? No bearing on the race itself. :smalltongue:

Yes, but I question if the race is going to be mostly used for that as a First-Order-Optimal strategy. Ignoring the incarnate and all that kind of stuff.

I'm just saying, he makes the race with all this fluff and stuff, and all anyone uses it for is half-giant hulking hurlers.

I'm trying to think how a player would see this, instead of a designer.

Zaydos
2013-11-03, 02:50 PM
Actually looking at the burst of speed if the fluff on it is that they have longer legs and thus would have 40-ft movement speed if they were going all out wouldn't it do better to give them an untyped +10-ft increase to their land speed when running then doubling their running speed which leads to a hasted one running faster than a cheetah? As is they also fly faster with the fly spell than other species at least when going at full speed.

Also they should get a bonus to jump checks which only apply when using Burst of Speed (although the +10-ft increase would do that by itself because of the +4 to jump checks per 10-ft above 30-ft speed you've got).

Haluesen
2013-11-03, 02:55 PM
Yes, but I question if the race is going to be mostly used for that as a First-Order-Optimal strategy. Ignoring the incarnate and all that kind of stuff.

I'm just saying, he makes the race with all this fluff and stuff, and all anyone uses it for is half-giant hulking hurlers.

I'm trying to think how a player would see this, instead of a designer.

Maybe, but then that's more a problem of the gaming community than anything else. :smallannoyed: If the majority of people who see this will just automatically go with some template then hulking hurler, then that just shows a lot of people take practicality over new ideas of roleplaying concepts. Which frankly is annoying. But not much can be done for it. People either will see this or not, and make their own ideas on how it would be used.

I guess I am just a strange kinda player though. I go out of my way to avoid what most other players would do. So take all this with a grain of salt (whatever that phrase even really means :smallconfused: :smalltongue: ).

EdroGrimshell
2013-11-03, 03:16 PM
Actually looking at the burst of speed if the fluff on it is that they have longer legs and thus would have 40-ft movement speed if they were going all out wouldn't it do better to give them an untyped +10-ft increase to their land speed when running then doubling their running speed which leads to a hasted one running faster than a cheetah? As is they also fly faster with the fly spell than other species at least when going at full speed.

Also they should get a bonus to jump checks which only apply when using Burst of Speed (although the +10-ft increase would do that by itself because of the +4 to jump checks per 10-ft above 30-ft speed you've got).

I like this one better, actually. Thanks for the idea.

EDIT: Added in and made the standard.

Amechra
2013-11-03, 05:28 PM
I personally wouldn't go for a template with these guys.

There are other ways to hit Large size that would work out.