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2015-11-12, 10:46 AM
The Khaasta
http://www.worldofazolin.com/wiki/images/thumb/e/e3/Khaasta2.jpg/180px-Khaasta2.jpg
The Chant
Khaasta are hard to mistake, and a basher who sees a group of them (or even just one of the cutters) has every reason to be concerned. Opportunistic to the core, they have no compunction with tearing the berk that they’ve stabbed in the back to pieces. To a khaasta, turning stag on a more powerful adversary, leaving him up the Styx and giving him the laugh is an almost religious experience.
It’s dark as to where the khaasta originally called kip. Greybeards have said that they were originally a private army for an Abyssal Lord, created as he could not trust the tanar’ri on his layer not to turn stag. Others state that they were originally from a prime world, and were used as heavies by the rilmani, until they became too chaotic. Others say they moved to the Outlands for the plunder. The khaasta are staying tight lipped, and have no legends that could shed light on the dark.
Khaasta have a thick tail for counterbalance, have small, tough scales, and their green hides have hues and patterns that help to identify individuals. Their eyes range from bright ochre to bright yellow, and have a third clear eyelid (which greybeards claim is a remnant from a time that they inhabited arid regions). Often, a khaasta will paint the top of its head in a combination of colours before a challenge or battle. Khaasta wear armour, usually ones forged in the Outlands or Sigil.
Khaasta have no ability to planeshift, and therefore have to use portals and conduits to travel around the Great Wheel, or embark on campaigns of plunder on prime material worlds. The plunder taken can (and often does) include hapless sods, destined for slave markets.
Society
To the mind of a khaasta, three things matter – power, prestige and wealth. The code of the khaasha is so convoluted it is hard for outsiders to grasp, as it rewards deceit and betrayal. The belief in the rule of the strong is a constant. Ritualistic nonlethal combat is used to resolve differences, as the race almost put itself in the dead book long ago.
Khaasha travel in roving trader bands (nicknamed Murders), taking from the weak, and dealing with those they cannot control with brute force. However, they will use every trick in the book to peel those that fit in the latter category. When dealing with khaasha, a body has to show that he is too tough to challenge and too sharp to bob. Otherwise, they will take the berk for all he is worth, and maybe put the sod in chains and take him to a slave market for extra jink. After all, it’s in the Khaasta Code.
The Khaasta Code also has some choice words on fighting with honour. Namely, that only an addle-cove berk fights with it. A khaasta will use every dirty trick in the book during a fight – going for the eyes, kicking up dust, throwing dirt in the face, going for the zills, and using distractions. They have no problem with playing the numbers game, laying out a red carpet or attacking when a foe is weak, and if the battle starts to turn against them, doing the bolt from the battlefield.
Khaasta give birth to live young. Khaasta young are guarded by their parents until they are 7-10 years of age, and in an average Murder, these tend the pack lizards and the supplies. It is far from unheard for a mother to strap a child to their back and take on an enemy in combat, in order to get the biter used to battle.
Acting as the De Facto head of a clan, there is the Wise One. They serve as the advisor to the current chieftain, and the Wise Ones position cannot be challenged by challenge. Not every tribe has a Wise One, as it’s not a position that can be taken by any old berk – a new Wise One can only be appointed if the current Wise One gets put in the dead book or goes totally barmy. In his judgement, the Wise One can overrule the chieftain, and it is final.
Khaasta will eat almost anything, and this frequently includes fellow travellers and local natives, if that’s all there is to chow down on.
Language
Khaasta have their own language, with a unique alphabet that is written on animal hide. It is said by some greybeards that the khaasta have thirty different terms for money. Any khaasta could tell you that that’s screed. They have terms for money relating to time, value, size, relations within clan, how it’s used in relation to garnishes, power, betrayal (about 18 different terms) and how it is acquired. All are fluent in planar trade and common. Of course, a khaasta’s favourite language is “jink”.
Belief
The khaasta generally don’t believe in powers (why should some berk on a different plane get any of the credit for your backstabbing, machinations and cross-trading anyway?). A few become clerics of powers such as Semuanya however.
In terms of factions or sects, The Fated have a mindset that the khaasta can easily understand, and are prone to joining that sect. The Dispossessed are another sect that many outcast khaasta sign up to, especially those that have spent time in Carceri or Pandemonium. Some even become clerics of the Freedom Lord, and several have rose high in the ranks. In addition to the Chippers, there are a number of khaastas who have joined the converts, in accordance with their treacherous nature.
Roleplaying the Khaasta
Power. Simple power. That is what you were born to take with your claws. Relish it, breathe it in and use it to shape your destiny. Watch your back. And your brethren – so you know exactly when to plunge the steel between their shoulders. Dominate the untamed by your force that you can bear, garnish those greedy for coin, learn the laws of the civilised so you can run behemoths through the loopholes, and beguile those that are easy prey for a good word or three. Never forget your destiny – to wield power and to taste gold.
As a Khaasta, you have –
Ability Score Adjustment – Your Strength increases by 2 and your intelligence increases by 1.
Speed – You have a base speed of 30 feet.
Size – Khaasta stand between 6ft and 7ft, and weigh between 210 and 230 pounds. You are a medium sized creature.
Age – Khaasta reach adulthood at age 20, and can live to 120. Many of them die of natural causes – being shanked between the shoulders with a blade.
Darkvision – You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You cannot discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Rorty Scales – As a khaasta, you have a tough hide. You have a natural armour bonus of +2 to your AC.
Bonebox Strike – You have quite a set of muscles to power your nashers. You have a bite attack that deals 1d6 of bludgeoning damage using your strength.
True to Jink – You can add half your proficiency bonus rounded down to Deception and Persuasion checks it comes to trading for goods. You know just how to get the better of most berks on the planes.
Kooth Ritual – The khaasta know how to handle their ritual weapon with deadly accuracy. You have proficiency with the kooth.
Language – You know Khaasta and Planar Common. Khaasta is related to the language of the lizardfolk, but has many loanwords from Abyssal, as well as many from other planar languages.
The Khaasta first appeared in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Volume II, and were a playable race on mimir.net and the planewalker 3.5 update
Picture by Chris Byler.
http://www.worldofazolin.com/wiki/images/thumb/e/e3/Khaasta2.jpg/180px-Khaasta2.jpg
The Chant
Khaasta are hard to mistake, and a basher who sees a group of them (or even just one of the cutters) has every reason to be concerned. Opportunistic to the core, they have no compunction with tearing the berk that they’ve stabbed in the back to pieces. To a khaasta, turning stag on a more powerful adversary, leaving him up the Styx and giving him the laugh is an almost religious experience.
It’s dark as to where the khaasta originally called kip. Greybeards have said that they were originally a private army for an Abyssal Lord, created as he could not trust the tanar’ri on his layer not to turn stag. Others state that they were originally from a prime world, and were used as heavies by the rilmani, until they became too chaotic. Others say they moved to the Outlands for the plunder. The khaasta are staying tight lipped, and have no legends that could shed light on the dark.
Khaasta have a thick tail for counterbalance, have small, tough scales, and their green hides have hues and patterns that help to identify individuals. Their eyes range from bright ochre to bright yellow, and have a third clear eyelid (which greybeards claim is a remnant from a time that they inhabited arid regions). Often, a khaasta will paint the top of its head in a combination of colours before a challenge or battle. Khaasta wear armour, usually ones forged in the Outlands or Sigil.
Khaasta have no ability to planeshift, and therefore have to use portals and conduits to travel around the Great Wheel, or embark on campaigns of plunder on prime material worlds. The plunder taken can (and often does) include hapless sods, destined for slave markets.
Society
To the mind of a khaasta, three things matter – power, prestige and wealth. The code of the khaasha is so convoluted it is hard for outsiders to grasp, as it rewards deceit and betrayal. The belief in the rule of the strong is a constant. Ritualistic nonlethal combat is used to resolve differences, as the race almost put itself in the dead book long ago.
Khaasha travel in roving trader bands (nicknamed Murders), taking from the weak, and dealing with those they cannot control with brute force. However, they will use every trick in the book to peel those that fit in the latter category. When dealing with khaasha, a body has to show that he is too tough to challenge and too sharp to bob. Otherwise, they will take the berk for all he is worth, and maybe put the sod in chains and take him to a slave market for extra jink. After all, it’s in the Khaasta Code.
The Khaasta Code also has some choice words on fighting with honour. Namely, that only an addle-cove berk fights with it. A khaasta will use every dirty trick in the book during a fight – going for the eyes, kicking up dust, throwing dirt in the face, going for the zills, and using distractions. They have no problem with playing the numbers game, laying out a red carpet or attacking when a foe is weak, and if the battle starts to turn against them, doing the bolt from the battlefield.
Khaasta give birth to live young. Khaasta young are guarded by their parents until they are 7-10 years of age, and in an average Murder, these tend the pack lizards and the supplies. It is far from unheard for a mother to strap a child to their back and take on an enemy in combat, in order to get the biter used to battle.
Acting as the De Facto head of a clan, there is the Wise One. They serve as the advisor to the current chieftain, and the Wise Ones position cannot be challenged by challenge. Not every tribe has a Wise One, as it’s not a position that can be taken by any old berk – a new Wise One can only be appointed if the current Wise One gets put in the dead book or goes totally barmy. In his judgement, the Wise One can overrule the chieftain, and it is final.
Khaasta will eat almost anything, and this frequently includes fellow travellers and local natives, if that’s all there is to chow down on.
Language
Khaasta have their own language, with a unique alphabet that is written on animal hide. It is said by some greybeards that the khaasta have thirty different terms for money. Any khaasta could tell you that that’s screed. They have terms for money relating to time, value, size, relations within clan, how it’s used in relation to garnishes, power, betrayal (about 18 different terms) and how it is acquired. All are fluent in planar trade and common. Of course, a khaasta’s favourite language is “jink”.
Belief
The khaasta generally don’t believe in powers (why should some berk on a different plane get any of the credit for your backstabbing, machinations and cross-trading anyway?). A few become clerics of powers such as Semuanya however.
In terms of factions or sects, The Fated have a mindset that the khaasta can easily understand, and are prone to joining that sect. The Dispossessed are another sect that many outcast khaasta sign up to, especially those that have spent time in Carceri or Pandemonium. Some even become clerics of the Freedom Lord, and several have rose high in the ranks. In addition to the Chippers, there are a number of khaastas who have joined the converts, in accordance with their treacherous nature.
Roleplaying the Khaasta
Power. Simple power. That is what you were born to take with your claws. Relish it, breathe it in and use it to shape your destiny. Watch your back. And your brethren – so you know exactly when to plunge the steel between their shoulders. Dominate the untamed by your force that you can bear, garnish those greedy for coin, learn the laws of the civilised so you can run behemoths through the loopholes, and beguile those that are easy prey for a good word or three. Never forget your destiny – to wield power and to taste gold.
As a Khaasta, you have –
Ability Score Adjustment – Your Strength increases by 2 and your intelligence increases by 1.
Speed – You have a base speed of 30 feet.
Size – Khaasta stand between 6ft and 7ft, and weigh between 210 and 230 pounds. You are a medium sized creature.
Age – Khaasta reach adulthood at age 20, and can live to 120. Many of them die of natural causes – being shanked between the shoulders with a blade.
Darkvision – You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You cannot discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Rorty Scales – As a khaasta, you have a tough hide. You have a natural armour bonus of +2 to your AC.
Bonebox Strike – You have quite a set of muscles to power your nashers. You have a bite attack that deals 1d6 of bludgeoning damage using your strength.
True to Jink – You can add half your proficiency bonus rounded down to Deception and Persuasion checks it comes to trading for goods. You know just how to get the better of most berks on the planes.
Kooth Ritual – The khaasta know how to handle their ritual weapon with deadly accuracy. You have proficiency with the kooth.
Language – You know Khaasta and Planar Common. Khaasta is related to the language of the lizardfolk, but has many loanwords from Abyssal, as well as many from other planar languages.
The Khaasta first appeared in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Volume II, and were a playable race on mimir.net and the planewalker 3.5 update
Picture by Chris Byler.