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View Full Version : whats small, blue, and breathes fire?(new race)



swordmaster2000
2007-07-29, 03:25 AM
this a new race I designed calles the Firespitters. It's for my homebrew world in wich all gnomes origonated from a groub of beings composed of pure chaos. So I was really wondering if I could get some help with the mechanics. I don't know why but something seems wrong with it, maybe I sayed up too late, or maybe they're overpowered, or underpowered, but please I need advice. Warning: heavy Fluff zone ahead
Firespitters
Firespitters another sub race under the racial umbrella of gnomes, are one of the sub races closest related to the original devil gnomes and specifically related to the plane of fire. As such they are often viewed as evil demon spawned creatures, sent from demonic planes to wreak havoc on the prime material. However they are often evil which only fuels the fear, and prejudice against them, they have no more demonic blood then your average river gnome. Firespitters are most well known for their trademark ability to spew fire from their mouths.
Personality
Firespitters have a tendency towards having short attention spans and quick tempers. This is possibly one reason for the primitive state they live in and their horrible reputation. As descendants of beings of pure chaos Firespitters have a tendency to like rampaging things, such as fire, but even floods, are fascinating and wondrous to the firespitter. As such they are known to perform special rituals of prayer to bring about natural disasters: floods, fires, tornadoes ect. They often appear restless, ready to move on to the next thing. They have a deep loathing for rules, anything that constricts their chaotic nature. They however aren’t very smart, and thus tend to cause destruction wherever they go, even unintentionally sometimes.
Physical Description
Firespitters like most gnomes stand from 3 to 3 and ½ feet, and weigh anywhere from 35 to 40 pounds, they are lighter then most gnomes, Their skin can truly be a range of colors showing once again their chaotic nature. Their skin can range from the purest of white to the darkest of blacks, and nearly every color in-between, red, purple, and even blue, or pink. However their hair is only ever one color. Red, bright fire red. Unlike the incredibly long-lived river gnomes firespitters have very short lifespans, reaching adulthood at age 12 they rarely live out their lives what with constant tribe combat but if they do manage to somehow live their whole life out they generally die at the age of fifty at the oldest.
Relations
For the Firespitters, friendly relation with any other race is incredibly difficult if not impossible, for nearly everywhere, and by nearly every race, they are thought of as dangerous demonic nomads bringing chaos and destruction wherever they go. However these stories are highly over exaggerated, they are not without president. Also because of their incredibly short life span friendly relation with another race rarely lasts longer then the 10 or so years that the current ruler of the tribe is in power, also being a dull-witted race they rarely see the advantage in dealing with other races. If there is one race they do deal with well it is giants, fire giants in particular. This is mainly due to fear on the Firespitter’s part, so almost never will you see a relationship between giants and Firespitters where the Firespitters are the dominant.
Alignment
Being the nearly direct descendants of beings composed of pure chaos, Firespitters are nearly always chaotic. Also due to their, slow wits, short tempers, short attention spans, short lives, and destructive habits they tend towards evil, however there have been known to be neutral and even good firespitters however they are rare.
Firespitter Lands
Firespitters are tribal nomads, moving from place to place. They prefer large open areas such as plains or steppes, however any large open area is a perfect place for them to settler, and summon havoc. Some explorers claim to have seen tribes of them living in tundra areas however the truth of such reports is doubtful, however they have been known to settle for a time in mountainous areas especially if a large volcano is nearby.
Firespitters, usually only enter another race’s land for two reasons: as slaves, or as prisoners of war.
Religion
The Firespitters tdo not have a patron deity, the lord of chaos has long been dormant and so the Firespitters worship nature spirits instead. Espsessially those of chaotic natural disasters, storm spirits, and fire spirits. As such druids and shamans replace clerics in Firespitter society. Many have been made by established religions to “civilize” a Firespitter tribe however these attempts usually only end in disaster, usually for the missionary sent to the tribe.
Language
The language of the firespitters varies from tribe to tribe, however most of them know enough of general gnomish to hold a conversation, and communicate with others speaking the language. Each tribal language varies from each other greatly and is often changing. However this usually isn’t a problem as the language remains simple, as they have no patience for long conversations.
Names
Names in Firespitter culture are usually simple and to the point. They usually are based on an attribute of the particular Firespitter. They don’t have family names as families rarely last longer then the birth of a child. Thus names tend to resemble things such as this: Blue, Green, Orange, Big toes, forehead, one eye, big nose, lots of teeth, no hair and various other things of that nature
Adventurers
Because of their nature Firespitters are constantly leaving their tribes behind, to find themselves a greater future, and therefore Firespitter adventurers are surprisingly common, however dead ones are even more common. Because of their impatient nature they rarely last long in the wild, and many of them seek out danger they can’t yet defeat. They are to un-liked to last in a group of adventurers, and there for are almost always loners, and a lone firespitter is unlikely to last more then a day on his “wits” alone.
FIRESPITER RACIAL TRAITS
- +2 dex -2 str -2 wis because of their small size Firespiters are more agile then other races however they are incredibly dim witted and have very short attention spans, and they are weakwer then most races.
- Small: as a Small creature, a Firespitter gains a +1 size bonus to armor class, a +1 size bonus to attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use and has a lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
- Firespitter base land speed is 20 feet
- Resistance to fire 5
- +2 racial bonus on fortitude saves to remain unhindered due to the environment, other then when in arctic, tundra, forest, or jungle areas
- +2 racial bonus to diplomacy, bluff, and sence motive checks, with giants.
- Breath weapon once per day Firespitters can take their action to spew a 15 ft. cone of flame from their mouths that does 1d6 fire damage, with a reflex save equal to 10 + 1/2 the firespitter's hit dice + the firespitters con bonus. This breath weapon becomes more powerful as the Firespitter does. It deals and extra 1d6 fire damage for every three hit dice the fire spewer gains after their first. the amount of times a Firespitter can use thier breath weapon increases by once per day every five hit dice after the first.
- Automatic Languages: Gnome and their tribal language Bonus Languages: Giant, Goblin, Orcish, Common, Elven, Dwarven, Draconic. Firespitters pick up languages of those they are most likely to interact eith such as Giants and creatures that Giants dominate, and others that live in proximity to that particular Firespitter.
- Favored Class: Sorcerer
LA: +1

JackMage666
2007-07-29, 04:38 AM
So many words... Not gonna critique or base anything off you fluff, just cause I'm tired and thats alot of words.


FIRESPITER RACIAL TRAITS-

+2 dex -2 int -2 cha because of their small size Firespiters are more agile then other races however they are incredibly dim witted and have very short attention spans, and they are hated by most races.
Sounds more like a Wis penalty than Int, particularly the short attention spans bit. Also, they're as strong as a Human is right now, so a -2 Str might be worthwhile. I'd say +2 Dex, -2 Str, -2 Wis

- Small: as a Small creature, a Firespitter gains a +1 size bonus to armor class, a +1 size bonus to attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use and has a lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
- Firespitter base land speed is 20 feet
Groovy, no problems here.

- Resistance to fire 5
Makes sense, cause they breathe fire.

- +2 racial bonus on fortitude saves to remain unhindered due to the environment
Any environment? Might they have a hard time in frozen tundras? Didn't read the fluff, so I don't really know about this or not. Doesn't often come up in game, though.

- +2 racial bonus to diplomacy, bluff, and sence motive checks, with giants.
Essentially, Giant Empathy. It works. I assume it has to do with fluff.

- Breath weapon Firespitters can take their action to spew a 15 ft. cone of flame from their mouths that does 1d6 fire damage, with a reflex save equal to 10 + the Firespitter’s wisdom bonus for half. This breath weapon becomes more powerful as the Firespitter does. It deals and extra 1d6 fire damage for every three hit dice the fire spewer gains after their first.
Ah, the key ability. Damage scales nicely, so it's not useless at higher levels. Is it at will? I'd give it a times/day limit (that can scale with levels, once every 5 HD). Also, the save DC is screwy, comparatively. Generally, a breath weapon DC is 10+1/2 HD+Con. 10+Wis doesn't scale all that well.

- Automatic Languages: Gnome and their tribal language Bonus Languages: Giant, Goblin, Orcish, Common, Elven, Dwarven, Draconic. Firespitters pick up languages of those they are most likely to interact eith such as Giants and creatures that Giants dominate, and others that live in proximity to that particular Firespitter.
- Favored Class: Druid
Groovy. The -2 Wis I suggested makes them poor Druids, though.

As is, it's a +1 LA. Maybe even +2, if the firebreathing ability is usable at will. Top it off with a resistance to the most common element (fire), and he's really well off. Compared to the Dromite (EPH) he's much better, and the Dromite is +1 LA. It's eiher a strong +1 LA or a weak +2 LA, your pick. It's definately +1 at least, though.

Are you using Chaos Gnomes from Races of Stone as your default gnome? If so, the +1 LA isn't going to matter. I'd just recommend lowing all your races LAs by one, so the Chaos Gnome and Firespitter can be considered +0. In a regualr campaign, though, +1.

swordmaster2000
2007-07-29, 01:28 PM
I like your suggestions and I will put them in, and change their favored class to sorceror(can't spell). Thanks for the help :smallbiggrin:

firepup
2007-07-29, 06:40 PM
Neat... Yoinkage!

jindra34
2007-07-29, 06:44 PM
Neat... Yoinkage!
So you yoinked yourself?