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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Race Building Advice - SARANIAN SNAKE PEOPLE (NAME PENDING)



Dark Kerman
2015-05-17, 06:21 PM
Hi all,

I'm building a race for a world I'm building, specifically on a continent called Saran.

This race is an alien race, with a humanoid(ish) upper body and a long tail. They're meant to be a slow steady creature, with leathery plates (like a rhino) along their body.

I want the race to be balanced and flavourful, but have caught a snag as I'm not sure how strong I currently have it.

The Snake people of Saran are a race of creatures with long serpentine bodies, and bright red or purple faces, like those of a bald uakari.

Often mistaken for Nagas and Marliths, the Snake People of Saran are an indigenous population to the continent, eking life out in the desert. They are pushed to the brink of extinction, with only a few thousand rumoured to live on the continent.

The Snake People of Saran are rumoured to have existed for thousands of years before the arrival of humans. In their creation myths, they speak of their ancestors as great priests and wizards who arrived from the stars following a War in Heaven.

The Snake People of Saran speak in a series of clicking and whistling noises.





This is what I have so far, any advice would be appreciated. Apologies in advance for typos etc.


+ 2 Str - 2 Dex - Strong at the core, but slow and heavily plated.

Implacable: Despite being of Medium size, the Snakemen have a base speed of 20ft a round. This is not subject to reduction or change by the presence of heavy armour, difficult conditions, or squeezing.

In addition, due to there shape, they have incredible stability, giving them a +6 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground, as well as any situation that would cause a loss of balance (such as an unsteady ship). This bonus does not apply when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground.

A snake person is unable to sprint, and as such there maximum speed bonus whilst running is x3. This however is not affected by Heavy Armour

-6 Racial Penalty to Disguise as any humanoid, + 6 to any serpentine creature (Yuan ti, Naga, Marilith)

Low Light Vision

+4 Racial bonus to Climb, Balance, Escape Artist, Hide and Move Silently - Due to their unconventional shape, Saranian snakes have the ability to contort and move in ways a biped is unable, despite there slowness

Natural armour Bonus +2 - The Saranian Snake men have thick leathery plates that run along there body like a Rhino.
Racial Proficiency Shields and Tower Sheild

Have no Boots Slot - Instead have An extra Belt Slot

Armour is 50% more Expensive for them due to the obvious constraints of there shape

Favoured Class - Warblade



Regards,

DK

ThreadNecro5
2015-05-19, 01:30 PM
I'm not the best person to say if something is balanced to not, but I would say this is, perhaps the slightest tad on the powerful side but not broken (I'm presuming 3.5, sorry if you noted it anywhere.), and it does what you wanted the race to do.

Gnorman
2015-05-19, 04:34 PM
This isn't even LA +1, though some people might balk at them getting a +4 bonus to five different skills. Drop that to two or three and you're golden (Hide, for example - how does their unique method of locomotion make them harder to see?). Your Implacable bonus arguably stacks with the Balance bonus, giving them +10 in a situation where they might lose their balance - I'm not sure if that's your intention. The drawbacks you've introduced are largely meaningless; a slightly-reduced run speed and a -6 penalty to disguise are situational at best.

Here's how I'd do it:

Snake Dudes:
+2 Strength, -2 Dexterity
Low-Light Vision
Implacable: Snake Dudes get a +4 bonus when resisting bull rushes and trip attempts when standing on the ground. Snake Dudes have a base land speed of 20', but can move at that speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or carrying a medium or heavy load.
Slippery: Snake Dudes get a +2 bonus to Escape Artist and Move Silently checks.
Scaly: Snake dudes get a +2 bonus to natural armor.
Non-Bipedal: Snake Dudes are considered "unusual creatures" for the purposes of armor cost/weight. They can't wear boots, so they have to make do with Tail Sheathes of Striding and Springing or whatever.

Dark Kerman
2015-05-21, 03:08 PM
@ ThreadNecro5 - You're quite right, my mistake, should have said it was 3.5/PF :P

@ Gnorman Good eyes, I totally hadn't noticed the stack with balance and the stability. Whoops. :smallredface:

The balance/Hide/Climb thing came about as I figured due to there weird shape they could contort themselves helpfully, so for example they could make sure they hid behind a bush because they could wrap them selves around, or some such. Still, I think the way you've got it going is much better. Definitely going to use that. :smallsmile: