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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Lesser Naga (Race, PEACH)



Solaris
2014-12-25, 11:49 PM
Male nagas are called nags, female nagas are called nagins. Nagas are an ancient and long-lived race. They are related to kobolds, troglodytes, and lizardfolk, as well as the greater nagas.

Personality: Nagas are curious and resourceful creatures. They are also surpassingly patient, though they can be rash and prone to anger when threatened with violence. Nags tend to think in terms of predator and prey, hunter and hunted, winners and losers, problems and solutions, while nagins prefer to examine all aspects of a problem. Nags are swift and dramatic in action when they feel it is called for, while nagins are slow and methodical at the best of times.

Physical Description: Nagas have humanoid torsoes and heads but have serpentine tails where a human would have legs. They rise to about four feet in height, though their tails are around eight feet long and they weigh around four hundred pounds. Nags are larger and heavier than nagins; unlike most reptillian creatures, the males are larger than the females. A nag's skin is covered in thick, rigid scales, bony alligator-like scutes on the back and shoulders while the underbelly has lighter-colored scutes like those on a serpent's belly. His head is large and monstrous, something like a draconic snake while his neck flares out into a hood like a cobra's. Nags are preferentially carnivores, though they can eat some fruits and vegetables, while nagins are omnivores who eat as wide a variety of foods as humans. A nagin has a human-like head and torso with smooth tan skin and long, human-like brown or black hair, while her serpent tail has lighter, smoother scales, a narrow ridge down the spine, and a sharp stinger at the end. Naga eyes have round pupils with brown, green, or grey irises. Naga scale colors vary, but they are most commonly a complex pattern of browns, blacks, and greys with white and green highlights. Nagas often paint their scales with bright colors, typically patterns of blue, red, yellow, or green. Because nagas often apply oils to their skin to preserve and protect it, they only rarely molt after reaching adulthood.

Nags typically do not wear any but the most practical garments, often just a belt with pouches, a vest with pockets, or a warrior's harness. Nagins, on the other hand, don blouses with sashes wound round their waists. When called to battle nagas don chainmaille hauberks under loose tunics, wielding shields and spears, falchions, daggers, and shortbows. They have a wide variety of esoteric weapons that more advanced naga fighters wield, such as the sai, the bagh nakh, chakram, punching daggers, and others. Nagas consider it barbaric to fight with their natural weapons, though there is significantly less stigma against a nagin's sting than there is against a nag's bite.

Nagas reproduce by laying eggs, though they only do this once every century or so. Young nagas are relatively self-sufficient, living on their own as ordinary serpents for the first few years of their lives. Once they begin to develop arms, their parents take them in and raise them. Only about one or two in a clutch of a dozen eggs will survive the first few years, and even under the best of circumstances a full half will remain mere serpents their entire lives, but nagas see this as a necessary thing to strengthen their race. They are mature at about age fifteen and most only live to see sixty or seventy, though nobility and others who have access to superior medicine can live for a thousand years or more.

Relations: The race nagas interact with most are the scaled ones of the Szatac. They feel smugly superior to the dimwitted lizardfolk, but there is little more animosity between the lizardfolk and the nagas than there is between the human peasant and the aristocrat.

Alignment: Nagas have a tendency towards lawfulness, but run the range of alignments.

Naga Lands: Nagas are most commonly found in tropical jungles, where they establish small settlements in secluded areas far from humanoid civilization. They often have tribes of lizardfolk enslaved as warriors, guards, and laborers. Such lizardfolk are generally better-
equipped than their fellows.

Religion: Nagas revere the ancient spirits of the land and their ancestors - including the great primordial beasts, dinosaurs. Nagas regard dinosaurs as sacred beasts, and one consumed by a carnivorous dinosaur is considered blessed in their next incarnation. They believe that lives are like the skins they shed; each incarnation is merely another skin the true self, the soul, wears in its metalife as it grows towards enlightenment.

Language: The naga language draws heavily from Draconic, particularly the dialect spoken by green dragons, and is recognizable as a variant of such.

Names: Nagas name their offspring once they adopt them into their homes. Nags traveling abroad use their father's name for a surname, while nagins use their mother's. Both genders append the name of their home town to their name. Thus, a nag named Sisuroman from Chali whose father was Karkotaka would call himself Sisuroman Karkotaka of Chali.
Male Names: Aswasena, Balarama, Karkotaka, Mucalinda, Sisuroman,
Female Names: Harina, Kuthara, Manasa, Padmavati, Sukhana, Ulupi, Vasuki.

Adventurers: Nagas, a curious and resourceful race, take well to adventuring.

Naga Racial Traits
- Ability Modifiers: Nagas have a -2 penalty to Wisdom, being either rash and prone to anger or circumspect and slow to act.
- Medium-Sized: As Medium creatures, nagas have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
- Monstrous humanoid (reptilian, shapechanger). Unlike most monstrous humanoids, nagas lack darkvision.
- Speed: Naga base land speed is 20 feet.
- Low-Light Vision (Ex): A naga can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. It retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions
- Natural Armor: Nagas have a +1 natural armor bonus.
- Natural Weapon: Nags have a bite attack which deals 1d4 points of damage as a primary natural weapon. Nagins lack the bite, and instead have a sting attack which deals 1d4 points of damage as a secondary natural weapon. Both genders can use their natural weapons in conjunction with weapons wielded in their hands as secondary natural weapons. If the naga has the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, they can instead opt to use their natural weapon as an off-hand weapon.
- Stability: A naga gains a +2 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
- Nagas have a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Climb, and Swim checks.
- Naturally Psionic: Nagas begin play with a power pool of 1 point. This does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as a psionic class.
- Weapon Familiarity: Nagas treat bagh nakhs, chakrams, and sais as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
- Serpent Form (Ps): The naga can assume the form of a snake, type chosen at 1st level and cannot be changed afterwards, either a viper or a constrictor. Transformation requires a full-round action and provokes an attack of opportunity. Doing so consumes 1 power point, plus 1 pp per hour spent in snake form after the first. Regardless of the type, the naga can assume Small and Medium serpent forms at 1st level. If the form is Small, the naga takes a -2 penalty to Strength but gains a +2 bonus to Dexterity.
Both types of serpent forms lose their hands, but gain a climb and swim speed of 20 feet. They also gain a +8 racial bonus on both of those skills, as well as the ability to take 10 on Climb and Swim checks. A naga in serpent form can use the run action while climbing or swimming, provided it does so in a straight line. They have a bite attack as a primary natural weapon that deals 1d6 damage, and nagins retain their sting attacks. Nagas in serpent form also gain the scent ability, and are able to track and locate opponents by scent alone.
Constrictor nagas in serpent form have improved grab with their bite attack. If they hit with their bite, they can attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the constrictor naga wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict. The constrictor naga deals 1d4 + 1-1/2x Str damage with a successful grapple check.
Viper nagas in serpent form deliver a venom with their bite that deals 1d3 Strength damage. The save DC is 10 + 1/2 naga's Hit Dice + naga's Constitution modifier.
A nagin is able to assume the form of a human woman as well as that of a snake. She always assumes the same appearance each time, and her features are recognizeable between both her forms. This is a less demanding transformation, and she requires only 1 power point per eight-hour period to maintain the transformation. In human form the nagin loses her sting attack but is able to use human equipment and pass among humans without notice (effectively a +10 racial bonus on Disguise checks to pass as a human).
- Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic. Bonus Languages: Goblin, Sylvan, Giant, Orc. Nagas learn the languages of those they deal with.
- Favored Class: Psychic Warrior.
- Level Adjustment: +0.

Debihuman
2014-12-26, 02:44 AM
You need to note their Type and Subtype. Nagas are Aberrations in 3.5 and do not have arms. Obviously, the female lesser nagas are far more powerful than standard nagas so calling them "lesser" and making them Humanoid (Reptilian, Shapechanger) is a far cry. LA should be higher. Nagins should have a +1 level adjustment for having a natural secondary weapon that causes 1d6 points of damage.

Since they are naturally psionic they start play with 1 HD as Naga and when they gain a class, they gain a second HD rather than substitute their racial HD. You should mention this.

Debby

Solaris
2014-12-26, 03:33 AM
You need to note their Type and Subtype. Nagas are Aberrations in 3.5 and do not have arms. Obviously, the female lesser nagas are far more powerful than standard nagas so calling them "lesser" and making them Humanoid (Reptilian, Shapechanger) is a far cry. LA should be higher. Nagins should have a +1 level adjustment for having a natural secondary weapon that causes 1d6 points of damage.
Their type is monstrous humanoid with reptilian and shapechanger as a subtype. I know that's breaking a rule about the reptilian subtype (it's only supposed to apply to humanoids), and I'm okay with that (goblinoid is only supposed to apply to humanoids, too, and MM V has it on monstrous humanoids). Lesser nagas are much more human-like than the aberration nagas of the MM (and decidedly less powerful to boot), and I classed them as monstrous humanoids on the basis that they're about as human-like as centaurs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/centaur.htm).

Nagins don't have a bite attack, only the nags do. It's balanced against the nagins having the ability to assume a humanoid form, and the fact that both use them as secondary natural weapons rather than the nag being able to use his bite as a primary natural weapon when wielding a manufactured weapon.


Since they are naturally psionic they start play with 1 HD as Naga and when they gain a class, they gain a second HD rather than substitute their racial HD. You should mention this.

Debby

None of the psionic races in the EXP except the thri-kreen do this - including the elan (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicRaces.htm#elans), an aberration. The elan's monster entry (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/elan.htm) supports that interpretation of the elan's stat-block as requiring a class, not a racial HD, for its first HD. Similarly, the monstrous humanoid dromite (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicRaces.htm#dromites) takes no monster HD in its monster entry (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/dromite.htm).

Debihuman
2014-12-26, 03:54 AM
Dromite is LA +1. Elans do not start with a pool of power points, so if they do not take a class that has it they have no power points to spend. Hence the need for these nagas to keep their racial HD.

Sorry, missed that they were Monstrous Humanoid. And yeah, the Subtype Reptilian isn't really needed since it doesn't fit.

Debby

Solaris
2014-12-26, 04:23 AM
Naturally Psionic: Elans gain 2 bonus power points at 1st level. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class.

Elans do have power points - two of 'em. Synads, another psionic aberration with no RHD (found in Complete Psionic p 139), have three PP at first level.

Where are you getting the precedent that creatures with power points must have a racial HD?

Debihuman
2014-12-26, 05:49 AM
Sorry was going off the SRD and hadn't looked at the Racial traits. Whoops. I shouldn't be posting so late as that is making me a bit bleery.

Yes PC elans have 2 power points. I missed that. I'm not as familiar with psionics as I should be.

"Natural Weapon: Nags have a bite attack which deals 1d6 points of damage as a primary natural weapon. Nagins have a sting attack which deals 1d6 points of damage as a secondary natural weapon. Both genders can use their natural weapons in conjunction with weapons wielded in their hands as secondary natural weapons."

Between the naturally psionic and the additional attack these are too powerful for starting characters, hence the need to start with a racial die. Or give them LA +1.

Also Monstrous Humanoids get Darkvision 60 feet from their Type. If nagas do not have it (as elans do not gain darkvision) you should state it.

Debby

Solaris
2014-12-26, 03:50 PM
Yeah, I'd linked the SRD several times for a reason.

I... really don't see 1 PP as being worth a level adjustment (especially considering they have a Wisdom penalty, which impacts every build - but especially the psychic warrior), though I did reduce the natural weapon to be on par with the other LA +0 natural weapons at 1d4 damage instead of 1d6.

I'm still on the fence about what to do with their darkvision, whether to give it to them or not.

Zaydos
2014-12-26, 04:24 PM
I'd have to look over the snake form stats but...

The natural weapon is weird, natural weapons don't normally interact with 2 weapon fighting instead becoming Secondary Natural Weapons when a manufactured weapon is also used. +1 Natural Armor and a bite attack (which can be used with a 2 handed weapon as a secondary natural weapon) is a nice combination but not worth LA with a net -2 to ability scores especially since a Wisdom penalty always hurts at least somewhat.

I'm not familiar with the weapons they're familiar with so can't comment there.

I will say, however, they ought to have Stability like dwarves, or more the modifiers to bull rush and the like due to having a tail instead of 2 legs ought to be included in their racial stat bloc.

Looking at the creatures they can transform into I'd suggest not allowing Constrictor snakes immediately (17 Str and Dex combined with a Psion who is only minorly impacted by lack of hands or Wisdom penalty) and making Giant Constrictors require a higher level. Note that they get CR 2 Vipers at Lv 6 and CR 5 Constrictors at the same level, while the constrictor looses more in hit dice it is a much stronger combat form. Even Large Viper is possibly weaker than normal Constrictor (possibly, I'd probably pick the viper but it's close).

And I'd give them Low-Light Vision with a note they keep it as a snake, instead of Darkvision.

Solaris
2014-12-30, 12:14 PM
The natural weapon is weird, natural weapons don't normally interact with 2 weapon fighting instead becoming Secondary Natural Weapons when a manufactured weapon is also used. +1 Natural Armor and a bite attack (which can be used with a 2 handed weapon as a secondary natural weapon) is a nice combination but not worth LA with a net -2 to ability scores especially since a Wisdom penalty always hurts at least somewhat.

I figure that if it's legit to use an unarmed strike in dual-wielding, it should be legit to use a natural weapon in dual-wielding.


I'm not familiar with the weapons they're familiar with so can't comment there.

They're all pretty meh. The sai is the most useful one; it's basically a dagger that gives a bonus to disarm.


I will say, however, they ought to have Stability like dwarves, or more the modifiers to bull rush and the like due to having a tail instead of 2 legs ought to be included in their racial stat bloc.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that. I'll give 'em half the bonus dwarves have.


Looking at the creatures they can transform into I'd suggest not allowing Constrictor snakes immediately (17 Str and Dex combined with a Psion who is only minorly impacted by lack of hands or Wisdom penalty) and making Giant Constrictors require a higher level. Note that they get CR 2 Vipers at Lv 6 and CR 5 Constrictors at the same level, while the constrictor looses more in hit dice it is a much stronger combat form. Even Large Viper is possibly weaker than normal Constrictor (possibly, I'd probably pick the viper but it's close).

I've reworked it, and I think that addressed the balance issues you've brought up. What do you think?
(Also, I switched the viper naga over to deal Strength damage instead of Constitution damage.)


The naga can assume the form of a snake, type chosen at 1st level and cannot be changed afterwards, either a viper or a constrictor. Transformation requires a full-round action and provokes an attack of opportunity. Doing so consumes 1 power point, plus 1 pp per hour spent in snake form after the first. Regardless of the type, the naga can assume Small and Medium serpent forms at 1st level. If the form is Small, the naga takes a -2 penalty to Strength but gains a +2 bonus to Dexterity.
Both types of serpent forms lose their hands, but gain a climb and swim speed of 20 feet. They also gain a +8 racial bonus on both of those skills, as well as the ability to take 10 on Climb and Swim checks. A naga in serpent form can use the run action while climbing or swimming, provided it does so in a straight line. They have a bite attack as a primary natural weapon that deals 1d6 damage, and nagins retain their sting attacks. Nagas in serpent form also gain the scent ability, and are able to track and locate opponents by scent alone.
Constrictor nagas in serpent form have improved grab with their bite attack. If they hit with their bite, they can attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the constrictor naga wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict. The constrictor naga deals 1d4 + 1-1/2x Str damage with a successful grapple check.
Viper nagas in serpent form deliver a venom with their bite that deals 1d3 Strength damage. The save DC is 10 + 1/2 naga's Hit Dice + naga's Constitution modifier.


And I'd give them Low-Light Vision with a note they keep it as a snake, instead of Darkvision.

That makes sense - I'll do that.

Zaydos
2014-12-30, 12:31 PM
I figure that if it's legit to use an unarmed strike in dual-wielding, it should be legit to use a natural weapon in dual-wielding.

It's because unarmed strikes function by manufactured weapon rules using iterative attacks and the like (such as dual-wielding), natural weapons really don't... then again how natural weapons mix with manufactured ones is significantly stronger than the dual-wielding version, but once you include it you have to address can you make iterative attacks with it and the like.


They're all pretty meh. The sai is the most useful one; it's basically a dagger that gives a bonus to disarm.

That's what I thought.


Good point, I hadn't thought of that. I'll give 'em half the bonus dwarves have.

Reasonable mechanically, though, you might want to double check the rules on tripping to see if there's something about immunity for snake-like creatures in there; if there is you probably should note the specific exception.


I've reworked it, and I think that addressed the balance issues you've brought up. What do you think?
(Also, I switched the viper naga over to deal Strength damage instead of Constitution damage.)

With that change I'd definitely let their natural weapon work as normal for natural weapon and manufactured weapon interactions. Overall it looks pretty good, but why can they only assume female human forms?