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Nonanonymous
2007-10-21, 05:28 PM
Defunct
Niendi

The Niendi are one of the minor races in a campaign I'm attempting to put together, and I'd like to know if they're broken, what the LA would be, and how to fix them if they are broken.

The Niendi are a subterranean race of eyeless, highly mobile, batlike nomads that occasionally lead hunting parties to the surface. Though originally believed to have been settled around the eastern coast, the planar anomalies and Kuo-Toan invasions have driven them to the Frozen Heart, where they have begun to culturally merge with the Midnight Troupe. A typical Niendi has a thin, small build with a crouching posture on two limbs, or an animal like posture while crawling or galloping on all fours. A Niendi is generally about 4' to 4' 6” tall, and their posture places them at about 3' tall, and weigh about 50 to 55 pounds. Niendi women are slightly taller than the males are, and are much more common as societal leaders than the males as well. Niendi skin is a pale gray color, with a fairly common strain of albinism. They have no hair on their bodies aside from the tops of their heads, jet black in color and which stops growing at neck length Though to the naked eye, a Niendi's face is devoid of any true facial features, their faces are covered with individually unique patterns that only show up through the use of echolocation. A Niendi dwelling in the surface world will often have these patterns tattooed so as to provide a suitable identifier to any companions he might have who are not gifted with their method of blindsight. Niendi have a serpent like tail, webbed, clawed, and prehensile hands and feet, noticeably large animal like ears, and arm-flaps which allow them to glide.

Niendi Racial Traits

• +2 Dexterity, –2 Charisma. Niendi are nimble, but unnerving in appearance to most other races.
• Small: As a Small creature, a Niendi gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• A Niendi’s base land speed is 20 feet (40 feet when galloping on all fours)
• A Niendi’s base swim speed is 25 feet. A Niendi has a +4 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. A Niendi can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. A Niendi can use the run action while swimming, provided he swims in a straight line.
• Gliding: Niendi can use their arm-flaps to glide, negating damage from a fall of any height and allowing them to travel 20 feet horizontally for every 5 feet of descent. A Niendi glides at a speed of 40 feet (average maneuverability).
• A Niendi's base climb speed is 15 feet. A has a +4 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks: Niendi
are natural climbers and have no fear of narrow pathways. A Niendi does not lose her Dexterity bonus to AC while climbing and can climb unimpeded while holding something in one hand.
• A Niendi has clawed hands and feet, which normally assist it in climbing, but can be treated as its unarmed strike. A Niendi's claws can deal 1d4 damge, while a Niendi with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat can deal damage 1d6. A Niendi monk's unarmed damage progresses as though they were of a medium size, though they do not lose any of their size bonuses or penalties for being a small creature aside from this.
• Hold Breath (Ex): A Niendi can hold his breath for a number of rounds equal to 8 × his Constitution score before he risks drowning. For a typical Niendi, this is 80 rounds.
• A Niendi has a +4 racial bonus to Listen checks.
• Echolocation: A Niendi can emit high-frequency sounds, inaudible to most other creatures, that bounce off nearby objects and creatures. This ability enables it to discern objects and creatures within 60 feet. The Niendi usually does not need to make Spot or Listen checks to notice creatures within range of its blindsight. A silence spell or deafening effect negates this ability, leaving them completely blind to their surroundings.
• Automatic Languages: Undercommon, Niendi. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Common, Umbral, Terran
• Favored Class: Swordsage. Niendi are extremely mobile and steeped in mysticism, making them predisposed to the Swordsage class.

ForzaFiori
2007-10-21, 05:45 PM
• +2 Dexterity, –2 Charisma. Niendi are nimble, but unnerving in appearance to most other races.

• Hold Breath (Ex): A Niendi can hold his breath for a number of rounds equal to 8 × his Constitution score before he risks drowning. For a typical Niendi, this is 96 rounds, or almost 10 minutes.


it definitely needs an LA, not sure how much.

i have a a question about Hold Breath though. the typical niendi, being able to hold its breath for 96 rounds, would have a con of 12. However, there is no racial bonus to con, which means that they would have a typical constitution of a human, or a con of 10 or 11, rather than the 12 that would be needed to hold their breath for 96 rounds.

wadledo
2007-10-21, 06:23 PM
The hold breath thing is taken from the Sea Kin, correct?
I don't think it fits.
Take out the water based stuff, and make Eco location a standard action, and I'd say it would be 0 LA.
Right now it's trying to do to much, and the race seems hodgepodge because of it.

Nonanonymous
2007-10-22, 06:48 PM
Since I had three other races in mind, each with one of the non-base types of movement speeds listed here (Except for the gliding, which was replaced with a fly speed), I could probably just scrap this race in favor of the others. Still, I don't know how to work out level adjustment, and the other races would all have a few spell-like abilities at their disposal.

Magnor Criol
2007-10-22, 07:01 PM
I'm afraid I can't help you with the LA; I don't have a good grip on adjustments either. However, the class seems to be well-written and probably would accord a +1 or +2, in my limited-experienced opinion.

A thought about the echolocation: Since the ability means that their ears are more sensitive than most creatures', wouldn't it be appropriate for them to have some sort of penalty to resist deafening effects, and / or some sort of sensitivity to sonic-based attacks? That would also help lower the LA, at least a little.

EvilElitest
2007-10-22, 10:03 PM
Cool, just two things
1. a little bit more about their culture would be nice
2. Could you do a picture, i'm having a hard time picturing them.
from,
EE

DracoDei
2007-10-23, 04:43 AM
I don't see a PARTICULAR reason they can't be equally comfortable near the surface of the water and "falling with style" in the air.