cecaelian physiology?

[flamewolf393]

These are things that have actually come up because one of my players is playing a cecaelian.

First, would they lay eggs like octopi, or give live birth like huimans. If they give live birth, that means they have a proper vagina, so does the male have a human penis, or the octopus tentacle psuedo penis that detaches? Is one of their tentacles just a ****?

Second, would they have 3 hearts like a octopus, or one heart like a human?

[MisterKaws]

That's a Dndwiki race. It's better for you to homebrew one yourself than using Dndwiki. The LA is also horrendously overrated. That race is at most a +3. Also, if you didn't notice, that race as-is can't breathe air, even though it has a land speed. And giving players Blindsight makes life harder on you as a DM.

You'd be better off making it yourself using the Tauric Creature template, except give it a land speed better than 5ft splash, plus water breathing. If it ends up underpowered you can just adjust a bit more.

Now, on the anatomy of it all, since the lower body is replaced by an octopus, I'd say they breed like octopi: by hand-holding(L-lewd!). The octopi hearts are in the head, so they'd be replaced by the human body, which should have a single heart, although stronger, to nourish the whole body.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by flamewolf393
These are things that have actually come up because one of my players is playing a cecaelian.

Is this a cecaelia (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/more-races/monstrous-races-21-30-rp/cecaelia/) from Pathfinder’s Blood of the Sea, or is this a homebrew race?

[Maat Mons]

Hey! This thread has nothing to do with snake-like amphibians (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caecilian)!

[MisterKaws]

Is this a cecaelia (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/more-races/monstrous-races-21-30-rp/cecaelia/) from Pathfinder’s Blood of the Sea, or is this a homebrew race?

Huh, so it's actually PF. Googling only gave me Dndwiki. That one looks more balanced, and did at least mention being amphibious. Though, even taking away all RP traits, it's still slightly too strong if you give it to a player on an otherwise normal-race party, but not overly so.

My comment on anatomy stands, but you can ignore the rest in case you're playing PF.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by flamewolf393
If they give live birth, that means they have a proper vagina....

Not necessarily. Some snakes have live birth, which is accomplished through a very different internal arrangement.

As for the hearts of cecaelians, the key question is whether they have gills in the same arrangement as octopi, since two of the latters' hearts are dedicated to the gills. Since octopus gills are located in the mantle, which cecaelians don't have by definition, I would remove the gill-hearts, and would give cecaelians one strong heart in the ordinary human location. How exactly cecaelians do breathe is another question altogether, especially since they're amphibious.

These issues are completely untouched in Blood of the Sea, which spends much more time on the cecaelians' personalities and motivations. Fair enough, but sometimes enquiring minds do want to know.

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[flamewolf393]

Not necessarily. Some snakes have live birth, which is accomplished through a very different internal arrangement.

As for the hearts of cecaelians, the key question is whether they have gills in the same arrangement as octopi, since two of the latters' hearts are dedicated to the gills. Since octopus gills are located in the mantle, which cecaelians don't have by definition, I would remove the gill-hearts, and would give cecaelians one strong heart in the ordinary human location. How exactly cecaelians do breathe is another question altogether, especially since they're amphibious.

These issues are completely untouched in Blood of the Sea, which spends much more time on the cecaelians' personalities and motivations. Fair enough, but sometimes enquiring minds do want to know.

.

Most pictures show gill slits on the neck.

[MisterKaws]

Most pictures show gill slits on the neck.
Which means there's both lungs and gills, so there's some funky system going on there, maybe some thing like a second pharyngeal sphincter that acts as a switch between two tracheas, one pointed at the lungs for air, and another at the gills for water? Also, neck gills are hardly functional because of the short length between mouth and neck. I personally think Sharkboy-style gills would be more accurate, but I'm pretty sure I killed at least a family worth of catgirls with this single paragraph.