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View Full Version : Licorne [Race that I need help with]



Deme
2007-02-11, 10:12 AM
This is my first post, and also my first homebrewed race...and I admit, I'm bad at balancing -- I know this. My group doesn't care much about mechanics, so it becomes very hard for me to tell what is mechanically balanced/appealing and what isn't....I mean it. anyway, enough excuses. How does this look in terms of a race? (this is mostly meant to be used in a world without elves. I really, really hate elves. which is funny, because I adore classical faerie stories...but DnD elves just have such messed up logic it drives me crazy. so assume that this world has no elves.) This race was largely designed because I always said I would go and design a race like this.

Licorne

Physiology
Their bodies and faces are largely humanoid, ears are like a horse's, and fully mobile(mounted like a human's), and they are covered in a very light coating of fur.fur, from a distance, might only be noticed as a color thing, but be revealed to be fur close-up and in texture.their fur is more noticable in winter. Baldness is very uncommon in licornes, only seen in the very old and very sick, but facial hair can be seen in older males, but only on the underside of the jaw. They have tails like a lion's, often feathered, that extends from the tail-bone. it should be noted that chairs made by the licorns tend to have a small groove in them, and usually a hole in the back, for comfort's sake. the tail is vaguely prehensile, but far from being equivelent to a third hand. they have a horn extending from the forehead above the browbone, but it is not sharp enough or big enough to be used for a gore attack. They stand on their 'toes'(more accurately, their toes and the balls of their feet- tippy-toe posture for them resembles the posture of one dancing ballet). While the construction of their foot is for the most part human, they only have 2 toes on each foot, though they cover about the space of human toes. Their ankles(or, what would be the ankles on a human) tend to have slightly longer fur growing from them. their tonails are hard and horn-like, with the bottoms of their toes and pads very sensitive. feet may be feathered. They are usually a bit taller than a person with the same build, but a human with the same build, when forced on their toes the way a licorne stands, will probably be the same height. they tend to be slender, and their fur can be any natural color, with hair often different from their fur, with white a common color. their eyes are often purple, gold, blue or green, with brown and grey possible but less common.

Names, Society, all that jaz.
Names are very important to licornes, with the average licorne having a number of names and more as their life goes on. these names are usually given to them by the first person to encounter them in a very new social situation- that being whenever the licorne deems it so. being asked to give a name is a great honor- when dealing with names their enemies can call them, the licorne will choose his or her own(usually a tribe or family name is chosen). This is usually a very large insult. names Licornes give themselves or eachother tend to be nature-based names, and will often ask a name-giver to give them a name like that. clan names tend to also be nature-based, usually translated into common as being adjective-noun, or adverb-verb.

Licorne society is tribal, usually with a spellcaster at the head of a tribe. they farm a lot and value art and music in their few cities. they worship one deity: a supreme mother deity with many, many names that they say takes the form of all the other deities- even the male ones- as she so wishes. They also worship many local nature spirits.

In human society, licornes are most often spellcasters wandering the world in search of more power,travelling artists or craftsmen, or retainers in the households of human nobles- it's considered a symbol of high status to have a licorne, no matter what the purpose, working in a house.

Stuff I need help deciding if it works.
+ size: med
+ base land speed: 35 feet (the feet are in a constant sort of 'sprinting position')
+ +2 to cha, +2 to int, -2 to strength. Licornes are quick-witted and sociable, but noticably lacking in upper body strength.
+ 1/day- purify food and drink. for licornes with a charisma of at least 10: 1/day - detect poison, 1/day light, 1/day presdidigitation as spell-like abilities.
+ +2 to heal checks.
+ automatic languages: sylvan, common. (can't decide on bonus languages)
+ favored class: sorcerer. Magic comes natrually to licornes. (or maybe druid....or bard.)
+Ages like a dwarf, basically.

...yeah, I know. *goes and crawls into a small corner*

Note: fixed up and edited a bit... also, playtested a lot, and on the whole, the people who like it like it a lot, in a particular niche, and the people who don't like it have played it and just decided they'd rather be human. I put a lot of consideration into whether or not to make my character human or licorne, and it has to be because o the mechanics, since when it comes down to flavor and looks I adore them.

Inyssius Tor
2007-02-11, 11:25 AM
Well, it needs at least a +1 LA. I mean, look at the perks: +2 to two ability scores (I'm not sure on the suggested modifier charts, though), +5 speed, immune to sleep effects, +2 against enchantments, four spell-like abilities, and +2 to listen and heal.

A -2 to strength just isn't going to cut it.

Of course, I'm probably wrong, because I'm... not very good at balancing.

Deme
2007-02-11, 11:42 AM
...hmmm....what do you think should be toned down? I'm trying to avoid needing a level adjustment.

Ajikozau
2007-02-11, 11:57 AM
First it depends on what you intend as frail, because as I inted frail the -2 Adjustment would go to CON, instead of STR. As you described their background and for their abilities a +2 Wis make more sense than the +2 Int, due to the constitution of their feet they'll probably suffer a -2 malus on Balance checks.
Set the charisma adj to +4 and the Level Adjustment to +1 and you are set

Deme
2007-02-11, 12:34 PM
still trying to avoid a level adjustment....but I like the wis thing. the balance check this is debatable. I can see the logic in it, but I walk like that a lot, and usually fare better while balancing in motion on the balls of my feet. *thinks about that*hmmm.....

Deme
2007-06-12, 08:10 AM
Edited a bit.