World Building Exercise - Cataclysm of Green

[Lord Tataraus]

Premise: The premise of this thread is to provide an exercise in world building, in terms of building cultures, relations, organizations, etc. around a given set of rules and basic setting. The aim of this exercise is to create the framework for a single world, contributers are encouraged to make various suggestions and discuss the plausibly and attraction of those suggestions, however as the director of this exercise, I reserve the right to make a final decision on any topic to keep it moving.

General Rules: The world will be built based on suggestions from various contributers which will be fully explored and developed through discussion or privately on the contributor's part. After which the suggestions will be combined and a vote shall determine which suggestion will be added to the project. The elements to be built will be outlined in the setting rules. All suggestions must be plausible within the limits of the setting basics such as the amount of magic, planar influences and already determined content. Be courteous and respect others views and contributions and ultimately, have fun!
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Cataclysm of Green
Setting basics: The Cataclysm of Green (CoG) setting is based in a smallish world consisting of a single continent and possibly a number of islands. The terrain is not limited beyond real-world examples (no lava lakes, floating islands, etc.) except as follows. The world has had a long history, though a major cataclysm of unknown effects and origin halted the former civilization. This period before the cataclysm shall be referred to as pre-Green while the time afterwards is known as the Green. The current time is a few thousands of years after the cataclysm. In the pre-Green period, civilization had reached its height just before the cataclysm, embodied in a world-spanning empire of splendor. The empire grew to enormous proportions, enveloping 80% of the landmass in a single city. The cataclysm destroyed that civilization. The city has been reclaimed by a massive jungle, meshing an ancient urban landscape with that of a wild jungle. The survivors of the cataclysm were thrown back into a dark age, forgetting all knowledge and history, except what they could learn from the remaining structures. Thus, each race/group had to start over and their culture and society is influenced by the behemoth structures and wonders that surround them. Magic is live, but is more wild, there are few wizards and those few learn only from the ancient structures and artifacts.

To be developed:
Each culture (does not have to be separated by race)
Special locations and the effects on the cultures (such as creating new ones)
Artifacts
Underdark or the equivalent
Wild areas
Civilized areas.
Prominent monsters and their responses to the civilization both old and new

[Lord Tataraus]

Cataclysm of Green
Cities and Settlements (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4024878#post4024878)
Dwarves
Waves of sand had turned the day into night, shifting entire 300ft dunes miles away. But now all was quiet, the moon rose high in the sky and the sand once again rumbled, but this time from underneath. Suddenly as many as four dozen enormous beetles rose from under the sand, many harnessed to even larger domes made of beetle carapaces and glass. The colony rose out of the sand and just as suddenly settled down. Doors opened from the wagon-domes and short, stout men emerged, wrapped head-to-toe is coarse white cloth with goggles covering their eyes. They walked clumsily, though with unnatural ease of the sand, their large flat feet were perfect for walking over the shifting and loose sand. The some figures fed and cared for their beetle-beasts while small groups of dozen or so wondered off in a random direction, lead by a figure wielding a strange staff with a flaming tip. After wandering for awhile, the lead figure halted and slammed the staff, blunt-end first, into the sand, sending it flying and creating a great hole. The followers scampered down and filled many bags with the sand below as well as collecting a variety of strange buried artifacts they found.

Personality: Dwarves are a gruff and slightly barbaric race of people. They are notoriously quiet and keep to themselves, choosing only to interact with others while trading. When amongst their own, they hold a strong allegiance to their clan, caring for the young and elderly as a group. These nomadic people are heavily devoted to their sacred beasts or burden, the glassbeetle who pull their homes and after death, donate their carapaces to the construction of new homes and their meat is served in memory of their servitude and reverence. The dwarves see no wrong in what many see as cannibalism, to them it is the ultimate sign of respect and service to one's clan, to feed the clan as their final act. Just as their beetles are consumed as their funeral, those who die an honorable death are consumed by the clan, the worst punishment of all is to be buried in the unforgiving sand, forever held to this world by its grip. This is the fate of the dishonorable.

Physical Description: When outside in the sand, dwarves resemble short, fat humanoids clothed completely in a coarse white cloth and eyes covered with goggles. However, once inside the dwarves strip themselves of this outer covering, revealing thick, black hair on head, chin and lip. The dwarves never cut their hair, but rather keep their head-hair wrapped in a turban and beards worn like scarves. Their skin is light brown in color and eyes are usually dark and large. Though they do seem to be rather stout, they are usually well-muscled and built for endurance, perfect for wondering the desert for days without food or water. Few dwarves have any fat on them, their is just not enough food. It is not uncommon for a dwarven clan to go without food for up to three days.

Relations: Dwarves keep to themselves, hardly even contacting other clans except to trade brides and goods. However, they have some contact with Gnorks near the border of the grasslands and jungle. Some times they trade, but just as often they fight. Many times neither side knows which it will be and with the Gnorks' short tempers and the Dwarves' stubborn nature, fights break out quite often.

Religion: Dwarves do not have a deity in particular that they worship as a race, however, they do worship the winds and their ancestors, believing that they are living inside those who partook in the Releasing Feast. In addition to eating their dead, dwarves use the skeletons of their dead to fashion tools and heirlooms. Dwarven ritual implements are often carved out of thighbones, and skulls make a handy goblet. Fingerbones are carved into dice, and most dwarves have a belt knife made from the mandible of a glassbeetle. (The molted shells of glassbeetles may be melted down and sold, but the shell that the beetle died in must be used. Unused portions of bone and broken or worn out implements are disposed of during the Ritual of Releasing, during which the dwarves make a large bonfire (often the only fire of the year) to burn remains, have a feast, and remember the dead.

Dwarven Lands: The dwarves live exclusively in the deserts, roaming the sands and dry earth endlessly. The dwarves claim only the deserts in general since their are nomadic in nature, they see no value in ownership of land. The see the sands and earth as worthless and unforgiving, just as the dwarves are. The only value lies in the worms, beetles, and precious minerals found throughout the deserts which drive them ever onward. The dwarves mine the sands and earth for a special sand to make the best glass and iron as well as ancient artifacts to trade to the eager Gnorks, though some are kept as trinkets or tools though most dwarves are ignorant of such technologies and magics.

Dwarven Racial Traits:
Medium Humanoid
+2 Con, -2 Cha: Dwarves are have great endurance to survive the desert, but are stubborn, isolated and ignorant of inborn magic.
Base Land Speed: 20ft
Superior Low-Light Vision: A dwarf has excellent night vision and is able to see 4 times as far as normal humans in shadowy and dim light.
Stability: Dwarves have an excellent sense of balance and gain a +4 bonus on checks to avoid being Bull Rushed or Tripped while standing on the ground.
Flat Footed: A dwarf's feet are large and flat, making it easier to walk on the sand. A dwarf may ignore terrain penalties due to sand, loose rubble and other desert conditions.
Desert Miner: Dwarves spend their lives searching for glass and raw minerals and thus gain a +2 Racial bonus on Appraise checks for glass, sand and other raw minerals as well as Profession (Miner), Craft (Glass), and Survival checks.
Desert Endurance: A dwarf has lived his entire life in the scorching heat of the desert and gains a +4 Racial bonus on Fortitude saves to resist the effects of hot weather exposure and may ignore penalties due to heavy clothing such as light armor. Additionally, a dwarf may go 2 days + (Constitution score) hours before beginning to experience the ill effects of thirst and starvation.
Magical Resistance: Just as dwarves are ignorant of inborn magic, they are naturally more resistant to it. A dwarf gains a +2 Racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like effects.
Favored Class: Barbarian


Glassbeetles
Glassbeetle
Size/Type: Large Vermin
Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (19 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. / 10 ft. (Sandswim)
Armor Class: 16 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+9
Attack: Bite -1 melee (1d8+1)
Full Attack: Bite -1 melee (1d8+1)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Darkvision, Vermin traits
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats: Endurance, Improved Natural Attack(Bite)
Environment: Desert
Organization: Domesticated
Challenge Rating: 1
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —

War Glassbeetle
Size/Type: Large Vermin
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. / 10 ft. (Sandswim)
Armor Class: 17 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +7 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+11
Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d8+4)
Full Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d8+4)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Darkvision, Vermin traits
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +4
Feats: Endurance, Improved Natural Attack(Bite)
Environment: Desert
Organization: Domesticated
Challenge Rating: 2
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —

A glassbeetle is a large beetle, resembling a scarab, with a crystal clear outer shell made of glass. The inside of the shell is coated with a white membrane to reflect much of the desert heat. Glassbeetles are used as mounts and beasts of burden by the Desert Dwarves.

A glassbeetle must ingest large amounts of sand to survive; the sand is used to grind the beetle's food, and its digestive system extracts silica to make it's glass shell. It is possible for a beetle to subsist on pulped food; however, without sand in its diet, it will die when next it molts. It will not be able to make a shell capable of sustaining its own weight.

Molted glassbeetle shells are used by the dwarves in their various glassworks; the shell is glass of unsurpassed clarity. It is possible to tint a glassbeetle's shell by feeding it large quantities of certain mineral sands shortly before it molts; some of the resulting hues are impossible through mundane glasswork.

Halflings
Saz stretched his arms into the sky, feeling the cool wind blow the sweat off his body. He stood for awhile feeling so free until a sticky tongue lapped his face. "Alright Clover, lets go home." Saz adjusted the saddle on the large lizard-dog and made sure his quarry was secure before climbing on and allowing Clover to take them home. With a happy bark, the tych jumped down from the high branch and glided down to a great tree hundreds of feet away. Immediately after landing she dashed down the great trunk, over branches and made a few more leaping glides. At last the hunter and his companion returned to their village high in the trees. The small man jumped down as the villagers gathered to unload the tych, gasping at the fine quality of the hunter's prey; hundreds of beautiful blood-berries picked from right under the nose of the vicious blood-flower.

Personality: Halflings are a happy, carefree bunch. They are very social and enjoy the world around them. Though they live in isolated villages throughout the interior of the great forests, they regularly gather for great feasts of blood-berries, scarfruit, and other produce of the carnivorous plants that make up their world. Halfling society is very communal-based, though family is important. The leaders are selected for their social skills and intellect, though the brave hunters are more respected.

Physical Description: Halflings are small folk, the largest growing to only 4 1/2 feet tall. They wear clothing woven from plant fibers and decorated with many leaves and flowers. Their skin is usually a dark brown to black with short, curly black hair and dark eyes. However, they normally decorate their faces with paints and dyes in a variety of mask-like designs which each hold different meaning.

Relations: Halflings try to get along with others and do have good relationships with nearby human and gnork settlements, though they are constantly at war with the nesters. Due to infractions long since forgotten that occurred during the pre-Green years, the nesters have never forgiven the halflings and attack whenever able. While the nesters are merciless and savage in their war with the halflings, the halflings themselves are not entirely innocent. Many times their hunters raid nester settlements, slaughtering the women and children to "prevent future attacks" though it never works that way.

Religion: Unlike most other groups, the halflings revere a number of gods and many are very religious. Village leaders are commonly priests to the nine gods: Tyif - the home, Ae - the light, Acg - the provider, Ajz - the healer, Vish - the protector, Ogi - the destroyer, Tcipf - the lover, Uhp - the luck-giver, Olck - the thief. No halfling chooses one god over another, rather they pray to whichever is more appropriate. Most prays are for blessings and thanks, though some are for appeasement, usually from Olck and Ogi. Halfling priests pray to each god once per day at a specific time as determined by their nature: Olck an hour before dawn, Vish at dawn, Ajz an hour after dawn, Tyif an hour before noon, Ae at noon, Acg at an hour after noon, Uhp an hour before dusk, Tcipf at dusk, and Ogi an hour after dusk. It is said that these times are when the god is listening and one cannot pray except at that time. However, hunters usually pray to Acg and Vish when they need to.

Halfling Lands: Halflings live exclusively in the heart of the ancient city amongst the trees. They inhabit the upper regions of the trees with villages built amongst the branches. Walkways are constructed out of vines and stiffened leaves and houses are no more than roofs of leaves with thin paper-like walls for private areas, but are otherwise open. Because of their lifestyle, the halflings usually control large areas around their villages since their hunters must range very far to find sufficient food. Though halflings pick trees which can support small farms, the food produced within the village is only to supplement what the hunters bring in.

Halfling Racial Traits:
Small Humanoid
+2 Dex, -2 Str: Halflings are very agile and dexterous, though their smaller frames make them proportionally weaker.
Base Land Speed: 20ft
Athletic: A halfling's life amongst the trees grants them a +4 racial bonus to Climb and Jump checks. Additionally, a halfling may use his dexterity modifier on Climb and Jump checks instead of his strength.
Innate Stealth: Due to a halflings innate stealth and perception they gain a +2 racial bonus to Move Silently and Listen checks.
Marksmen: Halflings are natural marksmen, the gain a +1 bonus on all ranged attack rolls.
Poison Resistance: Halflings frequently come into contact with various poisons, granting them a +4 racial bonus on all saves vs. poisons.
Poison Use: Halflings are used to dealing with poisons and are never at risk of accidentally poisoning themselves.
Favored Class: Rogue

Ptychine
An average Ptychine is a little more than three feet tall at the shoulder, and its scaly skin is covered in green to brown spots on a slightly darker background.

Ptychine
Size/Type: Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 4d10+ ( hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft., Climb 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+12
Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: None
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Glide, Feather Fall at will
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +3
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 10
Skills: Climb +8, Hide +6, Move Silently +6, Swim +6
Feats: Lightning Reflexes, Improved Grapple
Environment: Jungle
Organization: Solitary, pair (One Tych and a Halfling companion), bunch (5-12)
Challenge Rating: 2
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: 5-6 HD (Medium); 7-12 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +1 (cohort)

Combat
Tychs typically avoid combat unless cornered. If there is no escape possible, they will usually attempt to start a grapple and roll of the side of a branch. While in mid-fall, they break the grapple and glide to safety, leaving there foes plunging toward the ground.

Glide (Ex): By stretching the flap of skin between their limbs, Ptychines can glide short distances. They can glide 30 ft in a round, however, must launch themselves off of an elevated surface, and descend 10 feet for every 30 feet they glide.

Gatelings
Personality: Gatelings are the most civilized of the goblin races. Each gateling enclave is a community of thirty to forty adult goblins with approximately the same number of children. The enclave itself is a series of huts located just inside an entrance to the undercity, with gardens and a few domesticated animals tended just outside. Most enclaves also maintain a compound much deeper into the undercity to which they can retreat if threatened. Gatelings maintain the goblins' ancient pact with the worgs; in general an enclave will be allied with a local worg pack, a member of which accompanies any gateling who heads into the undercity or across the surface.

Gatelings style themselves as guides to the undercity, and they do know the local undercity rather well. Each enclave maintains a map, which is kept hidden, as it represents the enclave's livelihood. It is only brought out when new tunnels are to be added and to train a new guide. More experienced guides have the map memorized. A Gateling community so values its map, it would sooner destroy it than have it leave their hands, and they will go to war to retrieve it.

Expeditions into uncharted territories carry vials of pungent, aromatic oils to mark their trail; in this way, a lost gateling's worg companion can find their way back, and a rescue party can follow to see what happened to the explorer. Enclaves maintain a garden of herbs to prepare these pungent oils; because the oils take a long time to fade, gatelings only make a few exploratory expeditions each year.

Physical Description: a gateling appears as a goblin, but much better dressed. They wear leather shorts, shirts festooned with pockets, and well-made gloves. When outside the enclave, each gateling is always accompanied by a worg, and carries torches, rope, and some kind of weapon.

Relations: Gatelings are quite civil, for goblins. The guides can all speak common, though peppered with some unique slang. Periodically, a guide will make a circuit of the nearby communities, just to remind them of the gatelings presence, and to show off the kind of treasures that can be found in the undercity in an attempt to drum up business. Gatelings take just about anything in trade, however, a new pungent herb for their oil garden is better currency than gold.

Gatelings maintain an ancient grudge against halflings, dating back to before the Growth. The development of 'trychs put goblin worg-handlers out of business overnight. These days, a halfling who goes into the undercity with a gateling guide may never be heard from again.

Religeon: Most gateling enclaves worship their own, unique gods. A few, however, have had contact with kobold fiefdoms, and chose to worship the sleeping dragons instead. These communities may establish trade with the kobolds, and serve as middlemen providing metal to the surface.

Gateling Lands: Gateling enclaves lay claim to small patches of the surface outside of their enclaves, and to all of the undercity that they have explored. They do, however, make a point of not exploring parts of the undercity claimed by kobolds or other parties.

Gateling Racial Traits:
Small Humanoid (Goblinoid)
-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
Small Size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits ¾ those of Medium characters.
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60 ft.
Undercity Guide: Gatelings have a +4 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks.
Favored Class: Rogue



Gnorks, Orcs, and Gnomes

Personality: Gnork societies organize into squads: an extended family group that tends to live together in it's own group of houses and care for its own patch of land. Four to fifteen squads will generally ally into a larger group known as a clan. The clan is ruled by a council of six individuals powerful in magic, combat, and knowledge, two leaders representing each: The Wars, the Wierds, and the Wise. Generally, the Wars will be orcish, the Wise gnomish, and the Wierds Gnorks or Gnomes. Membership on this ruling council is based on merit; when a leader dies, or a credible challenge is issued, a contest is held in front of the clan. The rules can vary, as long as the contest proves worthiness in the appropriate attribute and is agreeable to both participants. Generally, the Wars will hold a tourament or battle royale, the Wierds will put on a pyrotechnic show, and the Wise will predict one treasure to be found and one tragedy to befall the clan before years end (It's generally assumed that if you can fake these, you must be pretty wise anyway).

Gnork society is agricultural. Gnomes tend to take care of much of the farming and upkeep of farm equipment and beasts of burden; Orcs perform heavy labor and keep up the clan's defenses, and Gnorks tend to be hunters (The occasional sorceror focuses on becoming a Wierd, instead)

Physical Description (Gnome): Gnomes wear well-made, earth-toned clothing. Their best suit of clothes is usually heavily embroidered with blue and white thread. Most gnomes are well-tanned, with fair hair and light blue eyes. They are often engaged in farming, and most carry a belt or bandolier with a few tools on it.

Physical Description (Orc): Orcs tend towards leather clothing, usually a leather vest (left open to display any scars they may have attained) and simple loincloth. Orcs who aren't currently working or are preparing for a fight often wear light armor instead. Their armor usually has a leering face painted on it in bright, garish colors.

Physical Description (Gnork): Gnorks are a halfbreed race that sometimes results from the mixing of orc and gnome blood (as often as not, the offspring of such a pairing is a full orc or gnome). Their skin is usually a light green, and their ears are pointed. Their hair and eye color covers the regular human range. A Gnork stands about 4'6" to 5' tall, and resembles a well built human. Gnorks favor soft leather clothing, with an array of pockets.

Relations: Gnorks are quite open to trade; and delight at the company of a friendly traveler. Unfamiliar stories will buy you room and board, and the right secret (whether how to make alchemists fire, the password to buy steel items from a kobold fief, where an old wizard lives, or even just an old book of recipes) can get you in the elder's good graces. Gnork communities don't have much to trade apart from leather, lumber, and food, but all of that is good quality. They'll take seeds, trinkets and currency in trade.

Religeon: Three races, three councils, three gods.

Adas, goddess of fertility and the harvest, is depicted as a pregnant woman sitting cross-legged. Gnorkish homes contain an altar to Adas (or a small brass idol if they can get one). An ear of corn is left to dry on the altar or in the lap of the idol for the whole year. Adas' festival is at harvest time; the whole clan gathers for a bonfire, and the corn is popped on the cob.

Achoch, a guardian diety, is depicted as a one-eyed orcish warrior. A depiction of him is carved or painted on the doorframe (so that it is hidden when the door is shut) of each home; that he can examine anyone who might threaten the family. His festival is on the winter solstice. From dusk until dawn on the longest night of the year, the man of each house covers his left eye, and sits in the doorway of his home with a weapon across his knees. This is to give Achoch the night off, in thanks for his vigilance the rest of the year.

Atavas, secret keeper, is depicted as a man with a quarterstaff. His face left blank. A relief of Atavas is carved into a tree beside each entrance to the clan's territory. Hunters rub the face of one of these effigies in prayer that he will show them the hiding place of their prey before a hunt; when returning from a successful hunt they make a tally-mark in blood on the tree. Atavas' festival is the spring solstice; every light in the village is extinguished from dusk till dawn, and guessing games are played.

Gnork Lands: Gnorks live in cleared sections of rainforest or grassland. There is usually a river or network of streams running through the cleared area, and they have cleared dirt roads for easy travel between squads, and perhaps friendly neighbors.

Gnome Racial Traits
Small Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 20ft
+2 Constitution, -2 Strength: Gnomes are hardy, but physically weak.
Low-light vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light.
Illusion Affinity: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions. Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat.
Targeted training:+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids (including goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears) and a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against creatures of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants). (I dunno about this one)
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus on Listen and Craft: Alchemy checks.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.
Favored Class: Bard


Gnork Racial Traits
Medium Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 30ft
+2 Str, +2 Dex, -4 Wis: Gnorks are tough and agile, but extremely short-tempered and often times irrational.
Darkvision: Gnorks have the ability to see in the dark despite the lack of any light. They have 60ft darkvision.
Athletic: Gnorks are very athletic and often climb, leap and dash through the jungles with ease. A gnork gains a +2 racial bonus to all Jump and Climb checks as well as a +4 bonus to Use Rope checks to swing across a gap.
Natural Magic: All gnorks are born with the innate ability to use wild magic. A gnork with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: Prestidigitation and Detect Magic each once per day per hit die. Additionally, a gnork Druid or Ranger may use his charisma score instead of wisdom for spellcasting.
Favored Class: Ranger


Orc Racial Traits
Medium Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 30ft
+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Orcs are strong, and that's about all they have going for them.
Darkvision: Orcs have the ability to see in the dark despite the lack of any light. They have 60ft darkvision.
Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell. (I think this should be removed for these orcs, what with living above-ground and all.)
Favored Class: Barbarian



Kobolds
Worker Kobolds
Personality They are generally fidgety and paranoid, always looking around thee area for something important or dangerous. They view craft and artifice as the best way to judge a peer, this had lead to walking into one of their dwellings without a guide both impossible and painful.
Physical description They are generally between three and four feet tall, and have small dirty brown scales that blend in well with mud.
Culture They spend almost all their time mining or digging new tunnels and it is not always clear which. All their free time is spent building or upgrading traps and fortifications in their homes. They generally live in communal dwellings full of small tunnels.
Joining the Military is a good way to get ahead as if you do anything noticeable useful the Royals are likely to make you sole ternate of an area of land, meaning you can just take some of the surplus off those working under you. In the military they generally fight as ambushers or ranged support, using dex or con poisoned hand crossbows.
Religion They reverently worship the local dragon as a "sleeping god" and view the Royals god-blooded stewards.
Kobold Lands They generally live in the side tunnels and pathways of the kobold citadels, the ghettos if you will. The kobold empire covers thousand of miles underground and is almost all covered in tunnels such as the ones they live and work in.
Kobold Worker Caste:
Small Humanoid (dragonblood)
-4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Natural Armor +1
Craft (trapmaking) always in-class
Natural Weapons: 2 claws (1d3) & 1 bite (1d3).
Automatic proficiency with Light & Heavy Picks.
Weapon Familiarity: Greatpick is considered a Martial Weapon.
Crafty: +4 Racial bonus on Craft(trapmaking), Profession(miner), and Search checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light
Warrior Caste
Personality Generally aloof and honourable, They are loyal to a fault to their masters. They view the warriors in their Company as family. They talk as little as possible to non-kobolds.
Physical description They are between five and a half and six in a half feet tall, They have dull green scales except for a large crest on there head, which is polished until it's reflective and tatted a colour denoting the warriors rank.
Culture The colour of the warriors crest is the most important part of their body. It can be anywhere from simply polished green(trainee) to bright Green(foot soldier) to blue(an officer equivalent to a sergeant or captain) to bright yellow(commander) to purple(Head of that states military) to, through the use of a strange and mystical treatment by the Royals, Clear and filled with Prismatic colours(Royal honker guard). They live very much in a police state, with every infraction is punished.
Religion see above
Lands They live in massive citadels and complexes that dot the land and serve as strongpoint.
Kobold Warrior Caste:
Medium Humanoid (dragonblood)
+2 Con, -2 Int
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Natural Armor +2
Automatic proficiency Warrior kobolds are automatically proficient with Ramseur’s.
Weapon Familiarity: The Awl pike is considered a Martial Weapon.
War-like: +4 racial bonus to Intimidate and Knowledge (tactics) checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light
Royals
Personality with a strong commanding presence, these kobolds are generally aloof and arrogant, although they are quite good at hiding it. They are quite intelligent and good at manipulating people, this may come from anyone not being able to read the surface thoughts of a dragon being killed, They are quite good a maintaining the illusion of godliness they project. The rare sorcerer is almost always actually likeable and adept at getting people who didn't know him a week ago to become friends.
Physical description Between four and five feet tall, they have scales that are a dull version of their dragons, with sorcerers beings noticeably more vibrant.
Culture They are at heart, a somewhat lopsided meritocracy, with the more powerful ones being able to pierce deeper into the dragons mind and thus having more power, and the sorcerers literally being able to call anyone who disagrees with them a demon in human flesh. Most don't as they're not idiots, but still....
Religion see above
Lands The dragonholds and most important fortresses are filled with arcane libraries and palaces where the Royals enjoy whatever comforts the wish as the most powerful and the prophets govern everything
Kobold Royal Caste:
Small Humanoid (dragonblood)
-4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Cha
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Magical Aptitude: +4 racial bonus on Spellcraft, Knowledge (arcana) and Use Magic Device checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light
Energy Breath: A royal kobold may use Acid Splash as a spell-like ability except with the element of their ancestral dragon at will but must wait 1d4+1 rounds betw
each use.
Kobold Society
The kobolds control pretty much the entire sewer system and have branched off thousand of miles of tunnels from it. The Main roads are Sewers that have been dammed and massive roads where all the smaller tunnels branch off. The Areas are modeled in such a way so that anything not populated is sheer rock, depleted mines are turned into residences and collapsed tunnels are redug. The only thing you can tell the difference between is mines, suburbs, fortresses and “Dragonholds”. The Empire is ruled by The Royal cast from each Dragonhold, who in turn owe allegiance (paid in lip service) to the strongest, the protection for the world only know Prismatic dragon.

Nesters
At your approach, the foliage of the tree shakes. You can see a dozen pairs of eyes staring at you from between the leaves, as apparently wordless chattering and shrieks drown out your thoughts. Then, the voices go silent. A single goblin descends the trunk of the tree, mounted on a huge, squirrel-like creature. It would be cute if not for the red eyes and fangs. The goblin is clad in a tattered loincloth with fur still on it, and clutching a stone-headed spear. "MUDFOOT!" It growls. "This is ourr trree. You leave now!" With these words, the shrieking resumes, and you are pelted with a few... objects.

Personality: Nesters are savage and easily excited. They form into loose troupes, which are composed mainly of one family. Each troupe is lead by a dominant male; who maintains his position through posturing and successful leadership. A troupe of Nesters is often allied with a family of Tree Wolves, colloquially called Squolves (Squirrel-wolves). They are used as mounts for the leader and other dominant males. Pregnant and nursing women stay at home; the rest of the tribe must provide for itself during the troupe's daily foraging. Nesters believe that setting foot on the ground makes one permanently unclean; it is rare for a nester to approach nearer than 20 feet to the ground. One that does set foot on the ground is forever shunned by their troupe; most simply find another and never mention the incident. Nesters are scavengers and foragers; the troupe forages in a single group with only obviously pregnant females and new mothers left at home. They employ snare traps, but never hunt. A spear or arrow, or the body of prey that falls to earth cannot be retrieved, and thus hunting is more effort than it's worth. They do, however, set snares for the creatures that live in the canopy. Nesters live in aggregations of leaves and sticks that resemble a squirrel's nest, or occasionally in the upper floors of a very tall building.

Physical Description: a Nester is physically very similar to a goblin. They tend to be clad in stitched-together, uncured pelts of small mammals or reptiles. Most foragers wield a weapon; stone knives and axes are common, as are hardwood spears. A metal weapon is a huge sign of status in Nester opinion.

Relations: Nesters are very protective of their territory, and jealous of any choice trees in possession of their neighbors. Thus, the base state of a troupe of Nesters is a sort of low-grade warfare. A Nester caught alone by a rival troupe is likely to be killed, and a tree on the border between two territories may be the site of daily screaming matches. Nesters may be a little more articulate with non-nester invaders; if a member of the tribe knows common he may attempt to warn them off. On the rare occasions a Nester has something to trade and relations can be established, paying in currency is a wasteful proposition. A nester is just as happy with a shiny bit of glass as a gold coin . Good cloth or proper leather, metal weapons (or even flint suitable for making stone weapons), the carcass of a large animal, something impressively shiny, or the teeth of some large carnivore make effective trade goods.

Religeon: Most troupes of nesters have no formalized religeon, and worship no god. They do have complex systems of superstitions, and the prohibition against touching the ground seems to be universal.

Nester Lands: Nesters live in the canopies of rainforests, whether those that start at ground level, or the vertical ones that climb the sides of skyscrapers. Most nester territories are rich in fruit trees, of a mix of varieties such that something is always in fruit.

Nester Racial Traits:
Small Humanoid (Goblinoid)
-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma: Nesters are puny, ugly, and abrasive.
Small Size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits ¾ those of Medium characters.
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Climb Speed: 20ft
Low-Light Vision: A nester can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions..
Treetop Dweller: A nester gains a +8 racial bonus to climb checks, and may always take 10 to climb. If it chooses an accelerated climb, it moves at double its climb speed and makes a single Climb check at a -5 penalty. It cannot run while climbing. It retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus on their attacks against a climbing nester. Also, nesters add their Dexterity modifier to Climb checks instead of their Strength modifier.
Accomplished Leaper: A nester gains a +4 racial bonus on Jump checks
Favored Class: Barbarian



Squolf
A typical squolf has brown or black fur, grows to 5 feet long and stands 3 feet tall at the shoulder. It weighs 200 pounds.

Size/Type: Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 4d10+8 (30 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40ft, Climb 40ft (10 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dex, +2 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Trip
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 10
Skills: Climb +11, Hide +4, Jump +6, Listen +5, Move Silently +4, Spot +5, Survival +2*
Feats: Alertness, Track
Environment: Jungle
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (6-11)
Challenge Rating: 2
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: 5-6 HD (Medium); 7-12 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +1 (cohort)
Combat
Mated pairs or packs work together to bring down large game, while lone squolfs usually chase down creatures smaller than themselves. Both often use hit-and-run tactics to exhaust their quarry. A pack usually circles a larger opponent, perching above and below their prey as well as on nearby limbs. Each squolf attacks in turn, biting and retreating, until the creature is exhausted, at which point the pack moves in for the kill. If they get impatient or heavily outnumber the opponent, squolfs attempt to throw their prey to the ground and a bloody end.

Trip (Ex)
A squolf that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent (+3 check modifier) as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the squolf.

Skills
A squolf has a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks, a +2 racial bonus on Hide checks and a +8 racial bonus to Climb checks. Additionally, a squolf may always take 10 on climb checks even while threatened. *A squolf has a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.

Greenspawn
A greenspawn appears much as it did when it was wholly animal. However, its skin turns a light green, as its blood is now saturated with chlorophyll. Its nails or claws are now bark, and its hair becomes feathery leaves or moss. Ungreen creatures may be more monstrous or plantlike at your discretion.

A greenspawn is able to control ungreen creatures whose hit dice do not exceed its own, however, an uncontrolled ungreen creature always follows the commands of a greenspawn. A greenspawn may rebuke ungreen three times per day.

Greenspawn do not accrue the physical penalties of aging, nor do they die of old age. A greenspawn that is killed makes a level check versus DC 25. If successful, the corpse bears fruit 1d10 days later. If one of these seeds germinate, the greenspawn grows anew over the course of 1d10 years. It will be a level lower than when it died, as though it were resurrected.

A greenspawn is tied to the location where it was when the Growth happened. It may not move farther than 20xCHA feet from that spot.

As long as it has an opportunity to take root, and at least 4 hours of sunlight in a day, a greenspawn does not need to eat. A greenspawn that only eats suffers no ill effects; though its foliage begins to look unhealthy.

A greenspawn is treated as a plant, but does not gain the plant subtype. It does, however, gain low-light vision, immunity to poisons (even those specifically targeted at plants), and a 25% chance to shrug off critical hits, as Light Fortification

A greenspawn is of one of the following types
Ash: The creature gains +4 to wisdom. The creature secretes a sugary substance known as manna (occasionally from its skin, but its sap always hardens into it) which functions as a potion of cure light wounds or remove disease (the greenspawn's choice). If allowed to ferment for a decade, the manna liquefies and can function as a potion of lesser restoration.

Flowering plant: the creature gains +4 to dex and +2 to charisma. Its bones become supple, giving it +4 to Escape Artist, but -2 to CON. The creature's hair, if it has any, becomes flowers of the appropriate type. Once per day, it may release a heady perfume, which functions as a Charm Person on creatures within a 20' radius. Alternatively, the creature may be a nightshade. Instead of perfume, it is able to bear fruit (a process taking 10 minutes) which contain a poison the DM deems appropriate.

Flytrap: As flowering plant; however, instead of the perfume or poison berries ability, a Flytrap is able to open their mouth impossibly wide, revealing broad rows of green fangs. A flytrap gains a bite attack as a creature of 2 sizes greater, and gains the benefits of Improved Grap and Swallow Whole with this attack.

Oak: The creature increases by one size category, and gains an additional +2 to STR and CON. Its skin becomes bark, giving +1 to natural armor, plus an additional point for every 3 hit dice. It gains two slam attacks.

Rowan: The creature gains +4 to intelligence. The creature gains spell resistance 10+hit dice. It can use augury 3 times per day as a spell like ability.

Willow: The creature gains +6 to dex. Like a willow, the creature grows back easily. It heals one point of lethal damage per hour. If it is killed and any of its limbs are planted in soil, no check is necessary to regrow, and the creature regrows in 1d2 years instead of 1d10.

Ungreen
An ungreen creature appears to be a corpse with plants growing through and on its body. Roots and stems enter and leave its flesh freely, and a spray of foliage often erupts from the eyes or mouth. The body is not entirely dead, however-- a closer inspection reveals that the flesh is puckered about the wounds caused by plant tendrils; and the body only dessicates, it does not rot.

An ungreen creature changes to the plant subtype.

Drop all hit dice from class levels; double the remaining hit dice and raise them to d12s.

Its natural armor bonus increases as a zombie's

Ungreen creatures do not use weapons unless under the control of a greenspawn; they instead use a slam attack

An ungreen creature is unable to use any of the base creature's special attacks.

An ungreen loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks.

An ungreen gains reduction 5/slashing. While the body is still somewhat alive, it is primarily kept alive by the plants inhabiting it.

Ungreen have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. An ungreen can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge. This does not apply while under the direct control of a greenspawn.

Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +½ HD + 2.

An ungreen's Strength increases by +2, its Dexterity decreases by 2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

An ungreen has no skills.

An ungreen loses all feats of the base creature and gains Toughness.

An ungreen that is not killed regains 1 HP per month as scar tissue slowly forms and plant stems fill in missing tissue.

[jagadaishio]

The underdark style area should be a massive network of abandoned sewers, subways, and other underground tunnels.

[Vadin]

I might be repeating myself (from Cyclone's similar attempt, though this one is certainly a tad more fleshed out already), but...

Orcs and gnomes. After the fall of a civilized world, it really does make sense.

Why?

Orcs
Aren't terribly bright
Like to hurt things
Are ok with people being expendable
Don't usually have much magic
Look for cheap and easy ways to make they and their tribe more powerful


Gnomes
Are often terribly clever
Like explosions and flashy magic
Understand they might take some damage in the name of their inventions
Are magically gifted
Look for cheap and easy ways to make stuff


After society fell, what did they do? They integrated. They banded together, the orcs providing protection for gnomes and gnomes providing stuff and (often very little) foresight ("Hey buddy...you probably shouldn't step on that glowing tile...<Orc steps on tile anyways>*BOOM*...told you so!").

Given time, they might even have produced a successful hybrid. A Gnorn? Physically, fairly average if not a bit tougher and slightly faster than your baseline human. Mentally, very quick to take in a situation and produce a solution to whatever problems might be evident. Not as readily booksmart as a gnome, but a blending of fast reflexes, generations of infallable battlesense, and impressive creativity and analytical skills. Not too patient with others, though, I'd imagine.

[tsuuga]

Gnorn?

Surely they would be called Gnorks? Gnork is fun to say, and I imagine orcs and gnomes would agree :smallbiggrin:.

I can picture city centers of this megalopolis, with ranks of skyscrapers with the windows busted out. Each floor of these buildings has accumulated enough dirt over the centuries that they're now elevated bits of jungle. You'd get birds and gliding mammals that spend their whole lives flitting from skyscraper to skyscraper never seeing a carnivore... except owlbears or something. And perhaps a tribe of gnomes with ornithopters, or some sort of flying mount.

There may even be humanoid civilizations trapped in the upper levels of such a tower, subsisting on the few plants and animals they can gather, and some sort of magical food generator that never went offline(after all, with 80% of the landmass covered in city, they need to eat somehow).

In cities at or below the water table, a subway/sewer system would have been flooded for a very, very long time without pumps running. Perhaps a section of city where the streets have caved in, and locals paddle about the resulting canals... but nobody knows how deep the tunnels really go.

I'm intrigued by the other 20% of the landmass. If the cities are pretty much overgrown by now, the other 20% should be pretty much virginal. There's probably some sort of desert, and maybe some really old growth rainforest and temperate forest. Going along with stereotype, either forest could be host to tribes of bronze-age elf tribes. Maybe even treetop halfling tribes; after all, they're agile and it's generally pretty safe.

For the desert, I like the idea of a civilization of dwarves that "mines" the sands for pre-green technology, preserved by the dry environment. They're short and tough, so wouldn't be as affected by blowing sand and burning heat as the next guy... and I picture them wrapped in white from head to toe, with goggles.

An undeveloped area (say, a tropical archipelago, where food is plentiful enough that the natives have some serious free time) with a cargo cult. Instead of boats, they build effigies of skyscrapers... their huts contain non-working "televisions" which they use as an altar... They've forgotten what the heck this stuff means, but it's just the way they do things now.

In a situation like this, I can picture goblins (without their Worg allies. I can't see much place for them in a huge city... unless they were domesticated; Maybe they work with halflings now.) degenerating quite a bit. Maybe becoming more of a Homo Habilis type clever scavenger, hanging out on the fringes of civilization

With worg allies, I could see them becoming nomads, in the mold of mongols, perhaps.

Also, it might be interesting to run into a golem that was left running since the cataclysm. Perhaps it was digging a tunnel, and it's finally reached the player's area... and something from the sewers has been following it across the continent. Or perhaps they simply find one at the end of a tunnel somewhere, its arms worn down to stubs after it's shovel failed. Maybe its still running a pump keeping the local underground dry, and now that it's been removed for study, the rising water table is driving up all sorts of nastiness.

[Icewalker]

I've got a nice help for you.

An Aztec/Maya modeled society seems like it might fit in pretty well here, as the jungle feels right for them. I'm working on an Aztec society for my campaign world, and already have a template, Bloodborn (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69871&highlight=Bloodborn), which is basically an animated capillary system. Undead, but not inherently evil. Comes with a Shell when you make it, which is the remaining skeleton and skin, and makes a mindless shambling zombie-esque creature. These are used as manual labor, while Bloodborn are usually the religious workers: acolytes.

If you don't like the magicy aspect to that, I can still give you the details of the general society once I finish making it.

[MagFlare]

Ideas:

The civilization was founded on cooperation between arcane and divine magics - let's say it was ruled by two leaders, a Consul Clericus and a Consul Arcanus - but things, as they often do, fell apart, and the Cataclysm is the result of a druidic "ultimate weapon" which was constructed just so's they could see the looks on the faces of those smarmy sorcerer bastards. They never meant to actually set the thing off.

All of society has regressed, but the dragons have it worst. They were too closely tied into the flow of magic, and when the Cataclysm fundamentally changed the way magic worked, so too did the dragons change. Now they roam the endless rainforest as savage predators - Tyrannosaurs with fire breath, Pteranodons that spit acid, etc., etc.

[Lord Tataraus]

Ideas:

The civilization was founded on cooperation between arcane and divine magics - let's say it was ruled by two leaders, a Consul Clericus and a Consul Arcanus - but things, as they often do, fell apart, and the Cataclysm is the result of a druidic "ultimate weapon" which was constructed just so's they could see the looks on the faces of those smarmy sorcerer bastards. They never meant to actually set the thing off.

All of society has regressed, but the dragons have it worst. They were too closely tied into the flow of magic, and when the Cataclysm fundamentally changed the way magic worked, so too did the dragons change. Now they roam the endless rainforest as savage predators - Tyrannosaurs with fire breath, Pteranodons that spit acid, etc., etc.

Hey that sounds pretty neat! I like that.

Gnorks do sound like a plausibility, I could see that happening. And tsuuga, very good ideas there. The desert dwarves would definitely be outcast from the rest of the world, just because they know nothing of the deserts and the elevated jungles idea is really cool. Any other comments on those suggested ideas? Or counter-ideas?

[Vadin]

tsuga...I believe you mentioned halflings and worgs?

Let me, for a moment, expound upon this and see where I end up. Goblins, who do so love shiny things, had little to offer to society at first glance. They are outclassed in almost every way by halflings. What, then, could they bring to the table that was uniquely theirs? What could they do, in ancient times, that would have gotten them a foothold in the city when it truly was just a city? Worgs.

Given time, reasonably similar physical situation (all the other kids (except the kobolds) would pick on them...:smallfrown: ), and both races' natural curiosities, halflings would probably learn how to ride and domesticate these Worgs as well. However, I can't see the two races really cooperating much beyond that. What I can see is typical halfling business sense setting up a rival Worg rearing operation. Halflings would eventually drive goblins out of the business, and goblins would have to retreat to the sewers and ghettos to survive (who would hire them when they could get a halfling instead?).

When the civilization falls, the halflings become fairly nomadic groups of limb leapers with Worg companions/mounts, typically in a 1:1 ration (a Worg per halfling).

And what do the goblins do? They come back out of the underground. Sort of. Too terrified to completely abandon their now ancestral homes, but too angered to abandon the chance to strike at their now ancestral foes (the halflings), they live in-between the two worlds, acting as guides, guardians, guests both above and below ground. They make camps around and inside the entrances to tunnels and sewers, helping those who come by for reasonable fees (it was bad business that did in their ancestors, and they likely won't repeat that mistake). If halflings ever come by, though...they're helped, all right. They're led right into the most dangerous places deep in the sewers, far away from their precious limbs and land.

Because of these treacherous and seemingly legit actions, the halflings haven't, and likely won't, realize whats going on. Some of them, so disillusioned with tales of how their forefathers made their fortunes on magic goods, Worgs, and banking, refuse to even consider that the art of Worg rearing might have even crossed the minds of such low-lives as Goblins.

In short, Goblins live near or in Underdark entrances, are sneaky and treacherous, but great at concealing it, and halflings roam the trees and forest floor and are agile, clever, and usually accompanied by a Worg companion.

[Lord Tataraus]

Admittedly, I must say that whenever I envision goblins, I see Jungle Goblins (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#jungleGoblins). This variant would make goblins significantly different from halflings and have an edge in the criminal world of the pre-Green megalopolis. Expert catburglars, climbing the skyscrapers to steal from the penthouses overlooking the city. Also, I find that this variant is more balanced than the normal goblins, making them on par with halflings. Just a suggestion to keep your mind open to variant races (http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/variantRaces.htm).

Otherwise, that is a very good idea if we choose to stick with traditional goblins and halflings.

[Demented]

A Sound of Thunder. Not the short story, the movie. Don't step in the monkey-crocodiles. =P

Architecture:
The problem with (modern, conventional) buildings is that water doesn't flow into them, air doesn't circulate, and light doesn't penetrate. Moisture is only at ground level and basements, only areas with access to the exterior have circulation, and indoor areas are likely to be pitch black without sources of light. As such, plants do not grow in buildings and animals do not habitate in them. For the most part, your average skyscraper and apartment building is going to be empty. At least, for the first few years.

Light Interiors:
On ground-level, the exterior areas of larger buildings and the interiors of smaller buildings would have the typical overgrowth, so long as there is access to light and moisture. Depending on time progressed since the overgrowth, there would be different densities of growth. Initially (months), there would be vines and creeping plants and environment trash tracked in by wandering animals. Later (years), weeds would grow on mats of dead vines and environment trash. Eventually (decades-centuries), rudimentary soil would develop, for saplings and brush. By the time full-size trees arrive indoors (centuries-millenia), hard-wooded plants will have destroyed a building's foundation, pulverizing it into soil after it has been weakened by time, moisture and chemicals.

On higher levels, the primary source of moisture will be condensation and precipitation, the primary source of light will be openings caused by weather damage, and larger plants aren't likely to appear since an entire ecosystem would have to develop based on what can be grown from rugs and wallpaper. Subterranean levels will probably be identical to your typical dungeon.

Dark Interiors:
The interior of larger buildings would probably resemble dungeons or caves, only that they're dry and dusty instead of moist and rocky. Minor creatures that live there are mainly pest species: rats and mice. Any creature that doesn't or can't forage outside the building (including spiders) will typically die off. Plants would be restricted to mold and pale vines. Anything else would only grow around moisture. Creatures of the underdark would love to live in building interiors, with the above provisions. From a building you have immediate access to the outside world when night-time falls. Most creatures would rather stay on the ground floor, giving anyone free reign of the upstairs levels. Basements provide a very underdarkian place to hold out, and could even provide access directly to the underground. Undead, of course, will stick it out almost anywhere, but as they prefer isolation, the upper levels of a skyscraper would provide an excellent place for someone worried about decomposition, not to mention that any Lich worth his salt should live in a penthouse.

[Lord Tataraus]

Architecture:
The problem with (modern, conventional) buildings is that water doesn't flow into them, air doesn't circulate, and light doesn't penetrate. Moisture is only at ground level and basements, only areas with access to the exterior have circulation, and indoor areas are likely to be pitch black without sources of light. As such, plants do not grow in buildings and animals do not habitate in them. For the most part, your average skyscraper and apartment building is going to be empty. At least, for the first few years.
Actually, with windows broken (which they assuredly are) there would be air circulation and lots of water. Have you even heard of a cloud forest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Forest)? I imagine that the upper portions of the skyscrapers would be very much like these real-world forests. Plant life would survive on the decay left in the buildings (did the cataclysm happen so fast that the residents died inside?) as well as the air-born nutrients and water. I've been to the Mounteverde cloud forest and seen plants that survive purely off the clouds high in the trees. The plants grow on the trees yes, but only to anchor there, all subsistence is gleaned from the air/clouds.


Light Interiors:
On ground-level, the exterior areas of larger buildings and the interiors of smaller buildings would have the typical overgrowth, so long as there is access to light and moisture. Depending on time progressed since the overgrowth, there would be different densities of growth. Initially (months), there would be vines and creeping plants and environment trash tracked in by wandering animals. Later (years), weeds would grow on mats of dead vines and environment trash. Eventually (decades-centuries), rudimentary soil would develop, for saplings and brush. By the time full-size trees arrive indoors (centuries-millenia), hard-wooded plants will have destroyed a building's foundation, pulverizing it into soil after it has been weakened by time, moisture and chemicals.
Actually, a forest can reclaim land much, much faster than you say it does. The edges of the megalopolis would be completely reclaimed within 5 years or so, and over the course of a century the whole city would be reclaimed. After that point the jungle would build upon itself, stretching higher and into the darker regions. And our setting is based thousands of years after the cataclysm, more than enough time for the city to be completely overgrown.


On higher levels, the primary source of moisture will be condensation and precipitation, the primary source of light will be openings caused by weather damage, and larger plants aren't likely to appear since an entire ecosystem would have to develop based on what can be grown from rugs and wallpaper. Subterranean levels will probably be identical to your typical dungeon.
See my above point about cloud forests. Also, you overestimate the importance of light. Underneath the canopy of the jungle there is hardly any light, but still there is thick undergrowth. The plants don't need light as much as water which is abundant. However, in northern regions, this might not be the case.


Dark Interiors:
The interior of larger buildings would probably resemble dungeons or caves, only that they're dry and dusty instead of moist and rocky. Minor creatures that live there are mainly pest species: rats and mice. Any creature that doesn't or can't forage outside the building (including spiders) will typically die off. Plants would be restricted to mold and pale vines. Anything else would only grow around moisture. Creatures of the underdark would love to live in building interiors, with the above provisions. From a building you have immediate access to the outside world when night-time falls. Most creatures would rather stay on the ground floor, giving anyone free reign of the upstairs levels. Basements provide a very underdarkian place to hold out, and could even provide access directly to the underground. Undead, of course, will stick it out almost anywhere, but as they prefer isolation, the upper levels of a skyscraper would provide an excellent place for someone worried about decomposition, not to mention that any Lich worth his salt should live in a penthouse.
This is a pretty good point (except I'd still argue the validity of cloud forest-like foliage in the upper regions). Also, it would most likely be wetter as you go up, not dryer.

[Vadin]

Demented- all important things to remember when looking at how modern buildings would hold up in the campaign.

Can it be assumed that such a continent spanning civilization would, as a matter of necessity, have lots of easily available magic items? Kind of like Forgotten Realms, if I remember correctly.

The buildings, before the fall, would have had to have been lit on the interior levels. Now, which makes more sense: a very cheap one-time fee for a magical light that turns on with the sun on off a few hours after sunset or candles that need replacing or oil lanterns that need refilling all the time? Clearly, the magical lights. No fire hazard, no upkeep. Nice and simple.

But would that mean the entire continent lights up for awhile after sunset? Not at all. Only the important buildings and skyscrapers. For your average person, a simple on-off magic light makes more sense. These more simple lights, however, would have long ago been scavenged. After all, those lights would be portable, no?

Why wouldn't the 'scraper lights be gone? Tell me its easy to steal those big rectangular overhead lights with the plastic over them, and I'll tell you you're a liar. They're not all gone because they're part of the buildings. Taking one of them is about as easy as taking a part of the skyscraper ceiling.

On water, it say it comes from the weather. How does the weather get inside? There are windows, right? Right, but...glass breaks. Easily. And it rains. And, as the city is more or less rain forest, it rains quite a lot.

Also...its magic, which leads me to a few other random thoughts...

Why have potted plants when I can make a magical plant put roots right into the stone the building is made from?

Water jugs to keep refilling? Nah, endless decanters of water that keep a large-ish bowl of water full, and keeps the bowl and surrounding area free of harmful debris and the water clear of gunk do the job just fine.

All of that would seem to solve the problem of skyscraper vegetation and light, keeping the surface world on the surface world (for now) and the underdark in the underdark.

[EDIT] Tatatraus-Was typing this when you posted that! Very sneaky, sir...:smallwink:

All excellent points, and, imo, cloud forests at the top and between buildings would really add a lot to the setting and provide some excellent opportunities.


Also, Demented's mention of a Lich penthouse got me thinking...immortals and their ilk might be old enough, some of them, to remember The Growth (catchy name cataclysmic onset of the Green Age, eh?). Would their knowledge be sought? Dismissed as legend? Feared? After all this time, why wouldn't they have taken advantage of their knowledge to gain enough power to conquer the world? Has surviving The Growth done something to them to make that a bad idea? Are they afraid of opposing it? Crazy? Indifferent? Waiting? If so, for what? Or, perhaps oddest of all, did it make them a part of it? Did they survive because of their immortality? And how many people died? 50%? Probably not enough. 75%? A lot, but is it enough to leave very small bands of survivors alone throughout the world? 90%, but with small clusters of people and places left completely alone? Lots of questions that may need answers.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I love the ideas of Jungle Goblins. I always use them, whever possible.

I really like this idea. It brings up vivid images. Maybe you could have it so that the past was technology, and the present is magic. It's been done before, but that just proves its effective.

[Lord Tataraus]

Lots of questions that may need answers.

So, answer them. This setting belongs to its contributers, if you think of a question, answer it. Some one might dispute, or it might be agreed upon and become canon.

@ Gwyn_ap_Nud: Hm...that's an interesting idea, maybe the cataclysm was magic entering the world?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Another time-tested idea; At first there was technology, but then, magic came and et all tech's stuff.

[jagadaishio]

I picture gnarled, tough trees sticking out of the sides of some skyscrapers, up high enough for them to take advantage of the clouds. They would grow out sideways, then twist up. Their seeds and pollen would both have to be airborne. During the spring, you would probably see white fluff attached to seeds drifting lazily through the sun around you when you stand close to a building. The seeds that reach the ground would probably be edible and useless, only adapted to grow at the altitudes of a skyscraper. Therefore huge amounts of seeds would be produces, just so a few might drift into a broken window.

As for immortals, I could see a lich sitting in his shining penthouse, pristine and of a level of magic and technology unchanged by the cataclysm, not trying to conquer anything because for over a thousand years, there was nothing worth conquering, and by now he has grown accustomed to a life of leisure, contemplation, and solitude. I could reasonably see him restoring the ground floor and an elevator and putting some sort of intelligent undead at the desk down below. He might be the ruler of a small city not because he wanted to be, but because he was wise and powerful. A benevolent lich.

I also think that he would reasonably be very willing to hire adventurers to raid old library vaults, ones enchanted or of a sort of technology that the books would have been completely protected from the ages, preserved by moisture locking and enchantment. A lich of this power would undoubtedly be an epic wizard with the power of a demigod and antisocial tendencies, with max ranks in knowledge, craft, appraise, and most profession skills, to reflect his millenia of learning and sophistication.

He would need to have motivation for not restoring the world, or at least his small part of it. Perhaps he's neutral evil and likes solitude. Maybe he's true neutral and sees this reversion to nature as a balancing. At any rate, I could see him standing in a glass-walled penthouse, staring out at a sunset over a jungle of spires, watching as magically timed lights flick on, in sync with the emerging stars.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

That lich idea is awesome.

Oooh! I have an idea!

An area not affected by the Cataclysm. Everything is the same as before. Like, a "Bubble Kingdom", to quote Erfworld, on a plateau, where all the technology is still the same. If we go with the "Magic is the Cataclysm" idea, then here, there's a permanent Anti Magic affect.

[Vadin]

Also, Demented's mention of a Lich penthouse got me thinking...immortals and their ilk might be old enough, some of them, to remember The Growth (catchy name cataclysmic onset of the Green Age, eh?). Would their knowledge be sought? Dismissed as legend? Feared? After all this time, why wouldn't they have taken advantage of their knowledge to gain enough power to conquer the world? Has surviving The Growth done something to them to make that a bad idea? Are they afraid of opposing it? Crazy? Indifferent? Waiting? If so, for what? Or, perhaps oddest of all, did it make them a part of it? Did they survive because of their immortality? And how many people died? 50%? Probably not enough. 75%? A lot, but is it enough to leave very small bands of survivors alone throughout the world? 90%, but with small clusters of people and places left completely alone? Lots of questions that may need answers.

Fair enough, Tataraus. I'll take a whack at it and see what I come up with and what others think.

So...The Growth. It took about 10 minutes. One eclipse. And it was all over. All sorts of plants just appeared and grew. Not just on the ground, though. Everywhere. Almost everywhere, at least. Pockets of civilization, a mile or so across, were preserved all over the continent. The people in these pockets survived. What they saw outside was a scene of horror. The plants had grown immensely, and the areas not already covered in vegetation had grown an inch or so of small plants all over them. This area included the people. Those outside the safe areas had died, their bodies consumed by the tendrils of millions of small plants reaching inside them. This was enough to kill the living, but not the immortal. The liches and (maybe some elementals, some magic beasts, and some outsiders, too?) survived, though terribly different. They'd become Greenspawn, their bodies tied irrevocably to the places they'd been during The Growth, much like a Dryad and her tree. In addition to being so tied to a location, they gained new powers. Power over nature, and power over the bodies of those who had recently been alive. The Undead became the Ungreen. Where Undead were evil, however, the Ungreen are simply neutral. If left alone, they rarely attack those who leave nature alone. It should be noted, however, the Ungreen look dead, and are often brown and withered.

This is not to say that there haven't been any new Undead or liches or the like, of course.

So...thats all I can think of for now. What this necessitates:
-A Greenspawn template ('Greenspawn' could be changed I'm not too huge a fan of the name)
-An Ungreen subtype similar to but different from Undead
-Sample creatures for both

[EDIT] Seriously, why do I take so long to type? Jagadaisho, I'm diggin' your lich interpretation. Throw that in with a post-Green lich and his Ungreen minions, and I think we're seeing eye to eye on what immortality with power stuck in loneliness produces.

[Aptera]

I like the idea of the Desert miner dwarves.

I have this idea that Halflings should be the people that live on the skyscraper tops, with huge leg muscles to jump from building to building, and long arms to brachiate from vine to vine in the greast mass of corugated steel and the remnants of concrete that lay high above the clouds...

[tsuuga]

For the massive growth of plants cataclysm: Every seed sprouts and grows violently. Anyone who's eaten fruit in the last day or so now has plants growing throughout their bodies. Rather than pockets of unaffected survivors, instead those who survive unharmed are those who haven't eaten seeds. Those who are affected are either killed outright, or driven mad and violent with pain. A few kept their minds, and became the Greenspawn.

Speaking of how modern cities would hold up... There's a history channel documentary called Life After People which deals with this kind of thing. They're a little too in-love with their CGI buildings falling over, but it's a good use of an hour and a half.

Skyscrapers with windowed sides, like we build, become good plant habitats pretty quickly. Once the windows break, you'll get birds living in there. They'll poop and die up there too, getting seeds of food plants and fertilizer way above the ground. A building with the windows busted out is a giant trellis, vines will climb the side of the building with no problem. Then, there's blowing dust and rotting carpet.

Desert Dwarves need a way to mine in sand... Their magic users have probably discovered several of the spells that create wind, to blow temporary pits in the sand. The dwarves are nomadic. Their homes are low hemispherical structures, to provide less wind resistance. They are mounted on sledges, and pulled by some kind of desert-dwelling creature. Each home has an apparatus that can be used to vibrate the home, causing it to float to the top if it is buried in sand (something like an offcenter weight on a stationary bike, bolted to the floor.)

What are the homes made out of... could be anything. A tent would work, but wouldn't hold up well in a sandstorm. They could be made out of stone, but that would be a lot of weight to pull around. I'm thinking of some kind of huge desert dwelling arthropod or worm (like the Ohmu from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind) that has evolved an extremely strong, clear shell over its eyes to protect them from blown sand. These are harvested from shed skins, or rarely a kill, and are used to make everything from their goggles (which come from a much smaller variety) to their homes, which come from the very largest specimens. A much smaller species is used as beasts of burden, as they need no special accommodations to thrive in the desert.

As long as I'm thinking of Nausicaa, I may as well suggest some special materials.

Glassteel: A hard, light, clear material. When bent, or struck when hot, it merely whitens, so it must be melted and poured into a mold instead. When fashioned into a helm, it isn't necessary to leave the face exposed. An enemy takes -2 to critical confirmation rolls against you.

Ceramic: This smooth, white substance is incredibly hard and durable. It is only found in ancient structures, the application of which you cannot fathom. It counts as, and possibly replaces adamantine. However, as ceramic cannot be melted or forged, and instead must be sanded and laboriously chipped, the applications are limited by the shapes you can salvage. Pieces suitable for making more than a dagger or shortsword are very rare, and pieces of the right size and shape to make armor or shields are incredibly rare.

Greenwood: The wood of plants birthed in the Growth still retains some of it's primal energies. A weapon made of greenwood can, once per day, cause plants to sprout in wounds it causes. Over 1d6 rounds later, plants sprout explosively from the wound, causing as much damage again as the initial wound. The plants continue to grow at a much slower rate. 1d10 days later, if left untreated, the subject must make a fortitude save or become Ungreen. 1d10 days after that, if the first fortitude save succeeded, he must make another fortitude save or become Greenspawn. If both fortitude saves succeed, the mass of wood, roots, and leaves is expelled from his body. Or this would make an interesting poison (instead of wood from the Growth, it would perhaps be the seed of a plant which didn't sprout during the Growth, but retains its energies.)

[jagadaishio]

[EDIT] Seriously, why do I take so long to type? Jagadaisho, I'm diggin' your lich interpretation. Throw that in with a post-Green lich and his Ungreen minions, and I think we're seeing eye to eye on what immortality with power stuck in loneliness produces.

That's perfect motivation for the lich to remain neutral and detached from the world around him. That changed my idea slightly, though. Imagine a skyscraper poking out of the jungle, its lights lit all day long to serve as a haven for plant creatures. The lich would stay in his penthouse above, but it would have been converted primarily into a greenhouse. I could see him growing plants which produce fruits so that he could make his own wine.

The floors of the building would be filled with ungreen and plant creatures, moving around and doing things, but probably not talking. I could see them communicating through empathy/telepathy/pheramonal spores. We really need to make a functional plant character race if we're going to have a sudden plant sweep be that major of a plot point.

[Demented]

Actually, a forest can reclaim land much, much faster than you say it does.

I was thinking specifically of what would grow on raw concrete. (Possibly a bit biased from living in a desert environment, where you aren't lucky enough to have such things as seasonal floods that will smother your lovely concrete with a mud of leaf decay, skipping the first few stages of ecological succession all-together.)
But if you think otherwise, I'll go with it. The light issue, on the other hand...

My specific emphasis was on buildings that have a large number of interior rooms with no windows. Not that there are many skyscrapers these days that have rooms with no windows (aside from janitor closets, elevator shafts and restrooms), but a room with sufficient cover is nearly pitch black. A cloud forest is as bright as a tropical beach in comparison. Assuming that it can withstand a thousand tropical rainstorms, you'll have a jungle-covered building with a cave-like interior. That just seems too tempting to give up.

[Lord Tataraus]

I race I made awhile ago, it might fit this setting and spark some ideas for Greenspawn and such:

Lotequen
The Lotequen are a race of Flower people. They look much like a small humanoid with green skin and long arms. Their eyes are amber, though they are born with green eyes. Each Lotequen has a large flower on his or her head whose color determines his or her status in the Lotequen's caste system.

Ability Score Adjustments: -2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int, +2 Wis
Type Plant - Lowlight Vision, Immunity to poison, sleep, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning
Size: Small - +1 bonus to AC and attack rolls, +4 bonus to hide checks.
Base Land Speed: 20ft
Sentient: Due to the sentient nature of the Lotequen, they are subject to mid-affecting effects, unlike most plants. Additionally, because of this heightened awareness, Lotequen must have rest like that of normal humans, though they do not sleep, but rather enter a sleep-like trance state.
Fragile Form: Due to the humanoid form and necessary organs of the Lotequen, they are not immune to critical hits or precision damage like other plants, however, they do have a 25% chance to ignore a critical hit. Additionally, due to the mobile form of the Lotequen, they can never gain proficiency with armors and armors they do wear must be custom-made, doubling the cost.
Light-dependent: Lotequen are dependent on the light to give them the energy to digest food. Thus, a Lotequen must be exposed to light of equivalent strength to that of the sun for at least 6 hours a day. If they do not get this required sunlight they must begin making fortitude saves DC15+2 for each previous check or take non-lethal damage equal to the number of hit dice the Lotequen has. A Lotequen that falls unconscious from this effect cannot be awoken other than being exposed to sunlight for at least 6 hours straight, upon which all non-lethal damage is removed.
Flora Camouflage: When in a forested area, the Lotequen gain a +4 racial bonus to hide checks.
Spores: A Lotequen is born with the capability to produce three different types of spores. A Lotequen may release their spores as a full-round action 1/day per spore to effect a 30ft radius:
Daisy Spores: These spores require a Fortitude save DC10 +1/2 hit dice +constitution modifier or become sickened for a number of rounds equal to the Lotequen's constitution modifier.
Lotus Spores: These spores require a Fortitude save DC10 +1/2 hit dice +constitution modifier or cause sleep for a number of rounds equal to the Lotequen's constitution modifier.
Poppy Spores: These spores require a Fortitude save DC10 +1/2 hit dice +constitution modifier or cause the target to gain a +2 bonus to all attack rolls and will saves for a number of minutes equal to the Lotequen's constitution modifier.
Automatic Languages: Common and Sylvan.
Bonus Languages: Elven and Halfling.
Favored Class: Druid.

Racial Feats:

Enhanced Spores
Prerequisites: Lotequen, 4 hit dice, Constitution 15
Benefit: Choose one spore type, you can now use that spore a number times per day equal to 1 +1/4 your hit dice.
Normal: You may only use each type of spore 1/day.

Stiffer Form
Prerequisites: Lotequen, 1st level
Benefit: You may now where armor as normal and you may become proficient with armor. However, you lose the 25% chance to ignore critical hits.
Normal: Lotequen cannot become proficient with armor and must pay double to get specially made armor. Also, Lotequen have a 25% chance.

Now, to address the flood of ideas, great work guys! I'll address what I can:

@ jagadaishio: Great idea with the lich, love it!

@ Vadin: Greenspawn really fits this, what to make a template or shall I? Or some one else?

@ tsuuga: I really liked the idea of the desert dwarves and you did a good job of fleshing it out. Since I see no objection, I'll make it official.

@ Demented: Perfectly understandable, I don't except people to know much about cloud forests :smalltongue: As for the interior rooms, even with the magical lighting, I agree, there would be pockets of "underdark", possibly more for small bands of Orcs (or Gnorks) and other smaller underdark creatures.

[tsuuga]

I was thinking specifically of what would grow on raw concrete.

Plants will actually grow through bare concrete, rather than on top of it. Without people and cars running over them all the time, cracks in sidewalks or roads will get seeded with small plants and trees, which will further crack said surfaces, and tear it all up in a decade or ten.


you'll have a jungle-covered building with a cave-like interior.

This is exactly what I was thinking. The exteriors of the buildings and the space between is cloud-foresty, with maybe some enterprising lianas stretching between buildings. As you get away from the windows, you get into more of a forest floor ecosystem, and then further back you mainly get fungus and whatnot, 3 or 4 ecosystems all within a few yards. Farther back in the buildings, you would get bats, or the lairs of mammals or humanoids. And bats. Huge, huge numbers of bats. I don't even want to think about the sheer numbers of em.

Greenspawn

A greenspawn appears much as it did when it was wholly animal. However, its skin turns a light green, as its blood is now saturated with chlorophyll. Its nails or claws are now bark, and its hair becomes feathery leaves or moss. Ungreen creatures may be more monstrous or plantlike at your discretion.

A greenspawn is able to control ungreen creatures whose hit dice do not exceed its own, however, an uncontrolled ungreen creature always follows the commands of a greenspawn. A greenspawn may rebuke ungreen three times per day.

Greenspawn do not accrue the physical penalties of aging, nor do they die of old age. A greenspawn that is killed makes a level check versus DC 25. If successful, the corpse bears fruit 1d10 days later. If one of these seeds germinate, the greenspawn grows anew over the course of 1d10 years. It will be a level lower than when it died, as though it were resurrected.

A greenspawn is tied to the location where it was when the Growth happened. It may not move farther than 20xCHA feet from that spot.

As long as it has an opportunity to take root, and at least 4 hours of sunlight in a day, a greenspawn does not need to eat. A greenspawn that only eats suffers no ill effects; though its foliage begins to look unhealthy.

A greenspawn is treated as a plant, but does not gain the plant subtype. It does, however, gain low-light vision, immunity to poisons (even those specifically targeted at plants), and a 25% chance to shrug off critical hits, as Light Fortification

A greenspawn is of one of the following types

Oak: The creature increases by one size category, and gains an additional +2 to STR and CON. Its skin becomes bark, giving +1 to natural armor, plus an additional point for every 3 hit dice. It gains two slam attacks.

Flowering plant: the creature gains +4 to dex and +2 to charisma. Its bones become supple, giving it +4 to Escape Artist, but -2 to CON. The creature's hair, if it has any, becomes flowers of the appropriate type. Once per day, it may release a heady perfume, which functions as a Charm Person on creatures within a 20' radius. Alternatively, the creature may be a nightshade. Instead of perfume, it is able to bear fruit (a process taking 10 minutes) which contain a poison the DM deems appropriate.

Willow: The creature gains +6 to dex. Like a willow, the creature grows back easily. It heals one point of lethal damage per hour. If it is killed and any of its limbs are planted in soil, no check is necessary to regrow, and the creature regrows in 1d2 years instead of 1d10

Ash: The creature gains +4 to wisdom. The creature secretes a sugary substance known as manna (occasionally from its skin, but its sap always hardens into it) which functions as a potion of cure light wounds or remove disease (the greenspawn's choice). If allowed to ferment for a decade, the manna liquefies and can function as a potion of lesser restoration

Rowan: The creature gains +4 to intelligence. The creature gains spell resistance 10+hit dice. It can use augury 3 times per day as a spell like ability.

Ungreen

An ungreen creature appears to be a corpse with plants growing through and on its body. Roots and stems enter and leave its flesh freely, and a spray of foliage often erupts from the eyes or mouth. The body is not entirely dead, however-- a closer inspection reveals that the flesh is puckered about the wounds caused by plant tendrils; and the body only dessicates, it does not rot.

An ungreen creature changes to the plant subtype.

Drop all hit dice from class levels; double the remaining hit dice and raise them to d12s.

Its natural armor bonus increases as a zombie's

Ungreen creatures do not use weapons unless under the control of a greenspawn; they instead use a slam attack

An ungreen creature is unable to use any of the base creature's special attacks.

An ungreen loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks.

An ungreen gains reduction 5/slashing. While the body is still somewhat alive, it is primarily kept alive by the plants inhabiting it.

Ungreen have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. An ungreen can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge. This does not apply while under the direct control of a greenspawn.

Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +½ HD + 2.

An ungreen's Strength increases by +2, its Dexterity decreases by 2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

An ungreen has no skills.

An ungreen loses all feats of the base creature and gains Toughness.

An ungreen that is not killed regains 1 HP per month as scar tissue slowly forms and plant stems fill in missing tissue.


Apologies for the templates, I know they're not finished. Just wanted to get that out there.

And yes, ungreen were basically lifted from Zombies.

[jagadaishio]

Greenspawn

A greenspawn appears much as it did when it was wholly animal. However, its skin turns a light green, as its blood is now saturated with chlorophyll. Its nails or claws are now bark, and its hair becomes feathery leaves or moss. Ungreen creatures may be more monstrous or plantlike at your discretion.

A greenspawn is able to control ungreen creatures whose hit dice do not exceed its own, however, an uncontrolled ungreen creature always follows the commands of a greenspawn. A greenspawn may rebuke ungreen three times per day.

Greenspawn do not accrue the physical penalties of aging, nor do they die of old age. A greenspawn that is killed makes a level check versus DC 25. If successful, the corpse bears fruit 1d10 days later. If one of these seeds germinate, the greenspawn grows anew over the course of 1d10 years. It will be a level lower than when it died, as though it were resurrected.

A greenspawn is tied to the location where it was when the Growth happened. It may not move farther than 20xCHA feet from that spot.

As long as it has an opportunity to take root, and at least 4 hours of sunlight in a day, a greenspawn does not need to eat. A greenspawn that only eats suffers no ill effects; though its foliage begins to look unhealthy.

A greenspawn is treated as a plant, but does not gain the plant subtype. It does, however, gain low-light vision, immunity to poisons (even those specifically targeted at plants), and a 25% chance to shrug off critical hits, as Light Fortification

A greenspawn is of one of the following types

Oak: The creature increases by one size category, and gains an additional +2 to STR and CON. Its skin becomes bark, giving +1 to natural armor, plus an additional point for every 3 hit dice. It gains two slam attacks.

Flowering plant: the creature gains +4 to dex and +2 to charisma. Its bones become supple, giving it +4 to Escape Artist, but -2 to CON. The creature's hair, if it has any, becomes flowers of the appropriate type. Once per day, it may release a heady perfume, which functions as a Charm Person on creatures within a 20' radius. Alternatively, the creature may be a nightshade. Instead of perfume, it is able to bear fruit (a process taking 10 minutes) which contain a poison the DM deems appropriate.

Willow: The creature gains +6 to dex. Like a willow, the creature grows back easily. It heals one point of lethal damage per hour. If it is killed and any of its limbs are planted in soil, no check is necessary to regrow, and the creature regrows in 1d2 years instead of 1d10

Ash: The creature gains +4 to wisdom. The creature secretes a sugary substance known as manna (occasionally from its skin, but its sap always hardens into it) which functions as a potion of cure light wounds or remove disease (the greenspawn's choice). If allowed to ferment for a decade, the manna liquefies and can function as a potion of lesser restoration

Rowan: The creature gains +4 to intelligence. The creature gains spell resistance 10+hit dice. It can use augury 3 times per day as a spell like ability.

You should clarify what actually happens to a greenborn if it leaves or is taken from its proxy, as I suppose I would call the location to which it is bound.

On another note, we need to take into account for the dwarves the idea of darkvision in what is probably a bright desert. The only way that this would make sense to me is if they are nocturnal, which would make sense for a hot desert, and even then, I would just replace the darkvision with improved low-light vision. I would also remove their instinctual knowledge of stone, give them a bonus to ride and handle animal checks for worms, and maybe replace their bonuses against orcs and giants with a bit of fire resistance. They really do need to be tweaked quite a bit if they're going to fit into these deserts.

An option for keeping the orc bonuses would be that the gnorks compete with them to find the buried ancient artifacts. This competition would often prove violent among the less refined gnorks and orcs, and more of a competitive tradership with the gnomes and refined gnorks.

As for the greenborn, I could easily imagine very powerful beings bound to points in the jungles, either driven mad with isolation or lost in a nearly unbreakable meditative contemplation. The few that were least destroyed mentally would be able to offer great information about ancient items and information which may still exist. For a price.

[tsuuga]

You should clarify what actually happens to a greenborn if it leaves or is taken from its proxy, as I suppose I would call the location to which it is bound.

Yeah, um... I should have done that. How about: "A greenborn loses their ability to control ungreen if they move beyond this radius. For every day they remain outside the area, they take 1 point of CON damage. This may only be recovered by remaining rooted and motionless in their domain. They recover one point of con damage per day."


On another note, we need to take into account for the dwarves the idea of darkvision in what is probably a bright desert. The only way that this would make sense to me is if they are nocturnal, which would make sense for a hot desert, and even then, I would just replace the darkvision with improved low-light vision. I would also remove their instinctual knowledge of stone, give them a bonus to ride and handle animal checks for worms, and maybe replace their bonuses against orcs and giants with a bit of fire resistance. They really do need to be tweaked quite a bit if they're going to fit into these deserts.

I was just going to use Desert Dwarves (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertDwarves). Darkvision is a physiological, not cultural feature, and they wouldn't necessarily lose it after a few thousand years on the surface. Besides, it's great for keeping watch during the night, and exploring any ruins you happen to find.

[Lord Tataraus]

Alright, since the Dwarves are pretty much determined, lets get some stats and fluff set in stone:

Dwarves
Waves of sand had turned the day into night, shifting entire 300ft dunes miles away. But now all was quiet, the moon rose high in the sky and the sand once again rumbled, but this time from underneath. Suddenly as many as four dozen enormous beetles rose from under the sand, many harnessed to even larger domes made of beetle carapaces and glass. The colony rose out of the sand and just as suddenly settled down. Doors opened from the wagon-domes and short, stout men emerged, wrapped head-to-toe is coarse white cloth with goggles covering their eyes. They walked clumsily, though with unnatural ease of the sand, their large flat feet were perfect for walking over the shifting and loose sand. The some figures fed and cared for their beetle-beasts while small groups of dozen or so wondered off in a random direction, lead by a figure wielding a strange staff with a flaming tip. After wandering for awhile, the lead figure halted and slammed the staff, blunt-end first, into the sand, sending it flying and creating a great hole. The followers scampered down and filled many bags with the sand below as well as collecting a variety of strange buried artifacts they found.

Personality: Dwarves are a gruff and slightly barbaric race of people. They are notoriously quiet and keep to themselves, choosing only to interact with others while trading. When amongst their own, they hold a strong allegiance to their clan, caring for the young and elderly as a group. These nomadic people are heavily devoted to their sacred beasts or burden, the Glass-Beetle who pull their homes and after death, donate their carapaces to the construction of new homes and their meat is served in memory of their servitude and reverence. The dwarves see no wrong in what many see as cannibalism, to them it is the ultimate sign of respect and service to one's clan, to feed the clan as their final act. Just as their beetles are consumed as their funeral, those who die an honorable death are consumed by the clan, the worst punishment of all is to be buried in the unforgiving sand, forever held to this world by its grip. This is the fate of the dishonorable.

Physical Description: When outside in the sand, dwarves resemble short, fat humanoids clothed completely in a coarse white cloth and eyes covered with goggles. However, once inside the dwarves strip themselves of this outer covering, revealing thick, black hair on head, chin and lip. The dwarves never cut their hair, but rather keep their head-hair wrapped in a turban and beards worn like scarves. Their skin is light brown in color and eyes are usually dark and large. Though they do seem to be rather stout, they are usually well-muscled and built for endurance, perfect for wondering the desert for days without food or water. Few dwarves have any fat on them, their is just not enough food. It is not uncommon for a dwarven clan to go without food for up to three days.

Relations: Dwarves keep to themselves, hardly even contacting other clans except to trade brides and goods. However, they have some contact with Gnorks near the border of the grasslands and jungle. Some times they trade, but just as often they fight. Many times neither side knows which it will be and with the Gnorks' short tempers and the Dwarves' stubborn nature, fights break out quite often.

Religion: Dwarves do not have a deity in particular that they worship as a race, however, they do worship the winds and their ancestors, believing that they are living inside those who partook in the Releasing Feast. In addition to eating their dead, dwarves use the skeletons of their dead to fashion tools and heirlooms. Dwarven ritual implements are often carved out of thighbones, and skulls make a handy goblet. Fingerbones are carved into dice, and most dwarves have a belt knife made from the mandible of a glassbeetle. (The molted shells of glassbeetles may be melted down and sold, but the shell that the beetle died in must be used. Unused portions of bone and broken or worn out implements are disposed of during the Ritual of Releasing, during which the dwarves make a large bonfire (often the only fire of the year) to burn remains, have a feast, and remember the dead.

Dwarven Lands: The dwarves live exclusively in the deserts, roaming the sands and dry earth endlessly. The dwarves claim only the deserts in general since their are nomadic in nature, they see no value in ownership of land. The see the sands and earth as worthless and unforgiving, just as the dwarves are. The only value lies in the worms, beetles, and precious minerals found throughout the deserts which drive them ever onward. The dwarves mine the sands and earth for a special sand to make the best glass and iron as well as ancient artifacts to trade to the eager Gnorks, though some are kept as trinkets or tools though most dwarves are ignorant of such technologies and magics.

Dwarven Racial Traits:
Medium Humanoid
+2 Con, -2 Cha: Dwarves are have great endurance to survive the desert, but are stubborn, isolated and ignorant of inborn magic.
Base Land Speed: 20ft
Superior Low-Light Vision: A dwarf has excellent night vision and is able to see 4 times as far as normal humans in shadowy and dim light.
Stability: Dwarves have an excellent sense of balance and gain a +4 bonus on checks to avoid being Bull Rushed or Tripped while standing on the ground.
Flat Footed: A dwarf's feet are large and flat, making it easier to walk on the sand. A dwarf may ignore terrain penalties due to sand, loose rubble and other desert conditions.
Desert Miner: Dwarves spend their lives searching for glass and raw minerals and thus gain a +2 Racial bonus on Appraise checks for glass, sand and other raw minerals as well as Profession (Miner), Craft (Glass), and Survival checks.
Desert Endurance: A dwarf has lived his entire life in the scorching heat of the desert and gains a +4 Racial bonus on Fortitude saves to resist the effects of hot weather exposure and may ignore penalties due to heavy clothing such as light armor. Additionally, a dwarf may go 2 days + (Constitution score) hours before beginning to experience the ill effects of thirst and starvation.
Magical Resistance: Just as dwarves are ignorant of inborn magic, they are naturally more resistant to it. A dwarf gains a +2 Racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like effects.
Favored Class: Barbarian


Anyone want to stat up Glass-Beetles? And/or make up a better name? Any changes to the fluff? Additions?

I assume the glass-beetles would have a sand-swim ability like the *mumble* do (I don't remember the Sandstorm guys). But otherwise they would be like a horse but a vermin.
[hr]
Gnorks are also pretty well established as canon, but not much is known about them so...

Gnorks
<insert fluff here>

Gnork Racial Traits
Medium Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 30ft
+2 Str, +2 Dex, -4 Wis: Gnorks are tough and agile, but extremely short-tempered and often times irrational.
Darkvision: Gnorks have the ability to see in the dark despite the lack of any light. They have 60ft darkvision.
Athletic: Gnorks are very athletic and often climb, leap and dash through the jungles with ease. A gnork gains a +2 racial bonus to all Jump and Climb checks as well as a +4 bonus to Use Rope checks to swing across a gap.
Natural Magic: All gnorks are born with the innate ability to use wild magic. A gnork may use the spell Prestidigitation and Detect Magic each once per day per hit dice. Additionally, a gnork Druid or Ranger may use his charisma score instead of wisdom for spellcasting.
Favored Class: Ranger


What do you think? Stat changes? Additions? Got any fluff?

[Vadin]

tsuuga: Can the HD on an Ungreen creature not double? It would be great if that could be changed, as a Greenspawn could then control a lot more Ungreen.

On Greenspawn, I'm going to assume you mean 20 feet * the Charisma score, not the Charisma modifier. You might want to make a note of that, as many people will probably assume you mean the Charisma modifier. Also, alignment should change to neutral on the good-evil axis.

Making the Greenspawn neutral...I just can't see a creature made of plants seeking to do too much harm to other living things. It needs them, and it knows that. Definitely not inherently evil. I also can't see it doing too terribly much to help things survive, as rule one of ecology is to avoid overpopulation. It most likely wouldn't feel that way toward sentients, who are more or less outside of the ecosystem, but a wounded deer would find little sympathy beyond a pool from which to drink. Not good in the traditional D&D sense. Definitely neutral.

But given enough time, of course, even a lich can take Paladin levels...

[EDIT] There are far too many edits in my posts...Tartaraus! You made Gnorks! Excellent job. The dwarves...I approve, sir. Very unique. Very different from the Scottish clerics that have become so familiar.

On Gnork fluff...they often rise to prominence in Squads and Clans (Squad- An extended family group like a sort of mini-tribe that Orcs/Gnomes/Gnorks live with, Clan- A more traditional Orcish tribe, spread out over a larger area, it contains anywhere from four to fifteen Squads ruled by a council of six individuals powerful in magic, war, and wisdom, two leaders representing each- "The Wars, The Weirds, and The Wise"), though they rarely become Wise (War, Weird, and Wise should be prestige classes, methinks).

That rather huge parenthetical statement and such assumes, of course, that Orcs and Gnomes are cross-fertile and fused culturally. Also, while Human+Elf always makes a Half-Elf, Orc+Gnome can make an Orc, Gnome, or Gnork. Why? Who knows. It just does.

Also, anybody have any more thoughts on tree-halflings (potentially paired with worg companions-halfling and worg bonded at birth, very sacred and mystical and such) and tunnel goblins (Underguards? Neither of the surface nor the Underdark, but guardians of the passage between the two, maybe with a cultural fixation towards forced balance, a sort of backlash from the halflings ferocious business practices?)?

[tsuuga]

tsuuga: Can the HD on an Ungreen creature not double? It would be great if that could be changed, as a Greenspawn could then control a lot more Ungreen.

A Greenspawn can actually have as many ungreen doing its bidding as it wishes (an uncontrolled, ungreen creature will take verbal commands from a Greenspawn). The greenspawn which it directly controls are ones which it can contest control over; they are also capable of using manufactured weapons and receive both a move and standard action. As to the doubling Hit dice thing; that's just the way zombies work. It seemed analogous =P. Maybe the ability could be changed to "actively control all ungreen within the greenspawn's domain, or up to it's hit dice of ungreen outside its domain. It must relinquish control of one to assume control of the other"


On Greenspawn, I'm going to assume you mean 20 feet * the Charisma score, not the Charisma modifier.

Yep, exactly. My bad.


Definitely neutral.

I actually didn't picture them like that. My assumption was that they still retain the mind of the original in many cases; their concerns aren't necessarily those of a plant. Of course, most of them are ancient and priorities change over time, especially if you're bound to a place and only have ungreen for company.


tree-halflings... and tunnel goblins

I was going to post some thoughts on these guys later tonight. One of the big things I was going to say, though, is that halflings would shoulder out the goblins because their product is domesticated. A big, intelligent, friendly dog; as opposed to a big, intelligent, malevolent wolf. Also, I'm trying to figure out what adaptations would be necessary for a canine to adapt to treetop life... Maybe halflings have giant lizard mount/companions now?

Yeah... Goblins have a monopoly on worgs once again, because the domesticated versions ate dog food instead of meat... and dog food has grain in it. The domestics are extinct.

[EDIT:] I hit submit way too soon.

Tataraus: Love the desert dwarves. I do have some suggested changes, however. Rather than travelling submerged, they would probably have to travel on top of the sand. A house is a hell of a load for horse-equivalent creatures to pull through sand.

Rather than having some custom spell that creates a stable tunnel down into sand, I had actually pictured the use of Create Wind (or weaker spells) to create a downdraft or vortex which blows the sand away from a wide area while the caster stays in the eye of the storm. Then, they've got a few hours to scavenge whatever they've uncovered.

To harvest iron sand, they trail smooth, lozenge-shaped lodestones behind their homes. The children are tasked with harvesting the iron sand.

To produce their finest quality glass, they simply melt down glassbeetle shells. The beetles ingest large quantities of sand along with their food, and use it to grind up their food rather than chewing. They then absorb some of the silica and use it to build a new shell. A glassbeetle taken out of the desert must be fed sand. It can survive on pulped meat or vegetables, but when it molts, it will die (Without enough silica, it can't build a strong enough exoskeleton to support its own weight.).

The best way to get on a desert dwarf's good side is a sizeable gift (enough to feed the whole clan for a day)of non-perishable food. They will rarely trade anything of value for food, since the amount of food would far exceed what they can carry. White cloth and paint are favored trade goods, to make their clothing and paint their homes, respectively. Quality tanned leather is also a favorite good, as they have neither the water nor the expertise to tan hides properly.

As firewood is so rare in the desert, dwarven metal and glassworkers simply don't use it. Instead, each tribe has one sled dome that they keep meticulously covered in animal hide while traveling. On calm days, they uncover it. The dome is the single eye-covering of a monstrous sandworm. It focuses the rays of the sun into an area about a foot across, several feet below the base of the buildling. With the concentrated sunlight and an application of the heat metal spell, iron and glass can be made hot enough to work. A twist of the dwarf smith's own hair is traditionally burnt and worked into steel crafts. Because a part of the smith is put into the weapon; a desert dwarf smith refuses to make steel items of less than masterwork quality.


All gnorks are born with the innate ability to use wild magic. A gnork may use the spell Prestidigitation and Detect Magic each once per day per hit dice. Additionally, a gnork Druid or Ranger may use his charisma score instead of wisdom for spellcasting.

I assume the standard "must have 10 or higher charisma" applies? :smalltongue:

[Lord Tataraus]

Also, I'm trying to figure out what adaptations would be necessary for a canine to adapt to treetop life... Maybe halflings have giant lizard mount/companions now?
How about a squirrel-like dog? I ca image a dog-like creature with huge, curved claws excellent for climbing and powerful forelegs for climbing while the back legs are suited for jumping. (i.e. large, muscular torso, sinewy muscled posterior)


Yeah... Goblins have a monopoly on worgs once again, because the domesticated versions ate dog food instead of meat... and dog food has grain in it. The domestics are extinct.
Or Squolfs :smallbiggrin:

[Vadin]

Odd...I'd been thinking of all these little things, and not once did 'dogs cant climb trees' occur to me...d'oh!

Ok, yeah. Monigogs. Monitor (lizard) + Dog, but who has to know? Loyal, intelligent, and excellent at both climbing and jumping. No super-long tongue or creepy eyes (those things give me chills), and a more canine head.

So...goblins are to be rethought!

So, your Greenspawn retained their old mentalities, eh? I'd envisioned them being forced to become one with The Green to survive such a disaster mentally and emotionally, incorporating its magical energies into their being, growing plantlike physically and mentally. Hmm...the ones that coped would be neutral, but the ones that didn't? Probably crazy. Very crazy. And extra evil. Hmm...an alignment thing in Greenspawn: three options with different lists of what sort of tree the Greenspawn can become. Good Greenspawn have less control of the Ungreen and can move far further from their Home than others. Neutrals would be as is. Evil Greenspawn would be more fragile (D8 or D6 HD?) but have a deadlier list of tree abilities (more poison stuff, some life drain, negative levels, and the like). All of that...maybe. If added, it would have to be an optional sort of thing, with a note indicating that many Greenspawn simply became neutral, and only the most extremely aligned beings (devils and trumpet archons) would be likely to retain their alignments. After the Greenspawn is created, though, they may change alignments without changing abilities (they can't change them afterwards).

[EDIT] Squogs: also cool.

[EDIT EDIT] Ideas: Halflings each have a monigog. Goblins raise Squorg, Worgs adapted to running through forests and making short bursts up and down trees. They and Goblins could live in well hidden nests inside the bases of giant trees on the forest floor. Unlike monigogs, which are loyal and nice personal to each halfling and such, Squorg are more or less tools. They are used to gather food, move stuff, and conduct war. The idea of companionship doesn't even cross the minds of their Goblin handlers. Thoughts?

[Lord Tataraus]

I like the idea of a Squolf, but I'd rather not have the distinction of between domestic, wild, and intelligent like the wolf, so here is a modified worg to make the Squolf:

Squolf
A typical squolf has brown or black fur, grows to 5 feet long and stands 3 feet tall at the shoulder. It weighs 200 pounds.

Size/Type: Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 4d10+8 (30 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40ft, Climb 40ft (10 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dex, +2 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Trip
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 10
Skills: Climb +11, Hide +4, Jump +6, Listen +5, Move Silently +4, Spot +5, Survival +2*
Feats: Alertness, Track
Environment: Jungle
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (6-11)
Challenge Rating: 2
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: 5-6 HD (Medium); 7-12 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +1 (cohort)
Combat
Mated pairs or packs work together to bring down large game, while lone squolfs usually chase down creatures smaller than themselves. Both often use hit-and-run tactics to exhaust their quarry. A pack usually circles a larger opponent, perching above and below their prey as well as on nearby limbs. Each squolf attacks in turn, biting and retreating, until the creature is exhausted, at which point the pack moves in for the kill. If they get impatient or heavily outnumber the opponent, squolfs attempt to throw their prey to the ground and a bloody end.

Trip (Ex)
A squolf that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent (+3 check modifier) as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the squolf.

Skills
A squolf has a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks, a +2 racial bonus on Hide checks and a +8 racial bonus to Climb checks. Additionally, a squolf may always take 10 on climb checks even while threatened. *A squolf has a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.

[tsuuga]

Nowhere does it say there's only one culture for each species! heh. Why not gatelings (goblins that live at the border of the surface world and underdark) which work with worgs, and jungle goblins, with... um... squorgs. I'm thinking more of a giant gecko for the halflings (quick, brightly colored lizards seem more their style). Monitor lizards need to be able to submerge themselves in water, which doesn't really fit with a treetop existence. Monitogs would be a cool thing for a coastal tribe of kobolds to have, though. (Fun facts! Monitor lizards are capable of parthenogenesis, and have been observed counting up to six. Thank you, wikipedia!)

Oooh, I like the "Good or evil greenspawn are craaaaaazy" angle. Their identity isn't compatible with their existence, and their craziness ranges from "I'm Joan of Arc!" to "Must kill all animals, they're eating my leaves!" to "Hey, adventurer! Get me a sandwich, it's been ages since I've tasted mustard!"

As to varieties of greenspawn, my idea was that their plant type is usually whatever was nearby to merge with. A guy walking down the street may have simply been snatched and "devoured" by a rowan tree, and later spat out again as a greenspawn. OR some guy may have just been eating corn on the cob, and ended up as a corn greenspawn.

Also, I edited my last post with a lot of response to Tataraus' post... and since it was the last on the page, I bet nobody saw it.

[Lord Tataraus]

I missed your edit, so I'll just address it in a new post so sorry for the double post. (Of course, someone will probably post in the meantime so it won't matter :smalltongue: )


[EDIT:] I hit submit way too soon.

Tataraus: Love the desert dwarves. I do have some suggested changes, however. Rather than travelling submerged, they would probably have to travel on top of the sand. A house is a hell of a load for horse-equivalent creatures to pull through sand.
First, a disclaimer: The first bit of flavor was purely fluff as if it was an observer watching the dwarves from afar, not necessarily all canon.

That being done with, firstly, if you notice the houses rose up after a sandstorm that moved 300ft dunes miles away. The read is to assume that the houses got buried by who knows how much sand. It does not suggest that they travel submerged, its just that swimming through sand would be easier and faster than walking, the beetles could swim while not submerged. Also, no where does it suggest that each house is pulled by a single beetle only "...as many as four dozen enormous beetles rose from under the sand, many harnessed to even larger domes..." There are ~48 beetles, most of which are harnessed to an unstated number of homes, it could be that 40 are harnessed to a total of 10 domes.


Rather than having some custom spell that creates a stable tunnel down into sand, I had actually pictured the use of Create Wind (or weaker spells) to create a downdraft or vortex which blows the sand away from a wide area while the caster stays in the eye of the storm. Then, they've got a few hours to scavenge whatever they've uncovered.

To harvest iron sand, they trail smooth, lozenge-shaped lodestones behind their homes. The children are tasked with harvesting the iron sand.
It is unknown how exactly the mage cleared the area or how large an area was cleared or how long it was cleared.


To produce their finest quality glass, they simply melt down glassbeetle shells. The beetles ingest large quantities of sand along with their food, and use it to grind up their food rather than chewing. They then absorb some of the silica and use it to build a new shell. A glassbeetle taken out of the desert must be fed sand. It can survive on pulped meat or vegetables, but when it molts, it will die (Without enough silica, it can't build a strong enough exoskeleton to support its own weight.).
I really like that idea.


The best way to get on a desert dwarf's good side is a sizeable gift (enough to feed the whole clan for a day)of non-perishable food. They will rarely trade anything of value for food, since the amount of food would far exceed what they can carry. White cloth and paint are favored trade goods, to make their clothing and paint their homes, respectively. Quality tanned leather is also a favorite good, as they have neither the water nor the expertise to tan hides properly.

As firewood is so rare in the desert, dwarven metal and glassworkers simply don't use it. Instead, each tribe has one sled dome that they keep meticulously covered in animal hide while traveling. On calm days, they uncover it. The dome is the single eye-covering of a monstrous sandworm. It focuses the rays of the sun into an area about a foot across, several feet below the base of the buildling. With the concentrated sunlight and an application of the heat metal spell, iron and glass can be made hot enough to work. A twist of the dwarf smith's own hair is traditionally burnt and worked into steel crafts. Because a part of the smith is put into the weapon; a desert dwarf smith refuses to make steel items of less than masterwork quality.
Sounds good.


I assume the standard "must have 10 or higher charisma" applies? :smalltongue:
Yes.

[Vadin]

The halfling gecko dogs should be able to both glide and climb. Check these guys out:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Ptychozoon_kuhli.jpg

Ptychozoon geckos can glide. Very cool. Ptychines ("Tychs")? Throw some canine attributes in there (can someone draw one of those?), and I think we might be in business.

The different groups of goblins idea is also tre cool. The guards of the underdark and the goblins who live inside of trees with squorgs? Gatelings and Nesters?

[tsuuga]

Tataraus: Yeah, I misread that bit of fluff. I assumed the dunes were shaking because of the dwarves surfacing. Whoops.

I present to you:

Glassbeetles
Glassbeetle
Size/Type: Large Vermin
Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (19 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. / 10 ft. (Sandswim)
Armor Class: 16 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+9
Attack: Bite -1 melee (1d8+1)
Full Attack: Bite -1 melee (1d8+1)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Darkvision, Vermin traits
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats: Endurance, Improved Natural Attack(Bite)
Environment: Desert
Organization: Domesticated
Challenge Rating: 1
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —

War Glassbeetle
Size/Type: Large Vermin
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. / 10 ft. (Sandswim)
Armor Class: 17 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +7 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+11
Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d8+4)
Full Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d8+4)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Darkvision, Vermin traits
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +4
Feats: Endurance, Improved Natural Attack(Bite)
Environment: Desert
Organization: Domesticated
Challenge Rating: 2
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —

A glassbeetle is a large beetle, resembling a scarab, with a crystal clear outer shell made of glass. The inside of the shell is coated with a white membrane to reflect much of the desert heat. Glassbeetles are used as mounts and beasts of burden by the Desert Dwarves.

A glassbeetle must ingest large amounts of sand to survive; the sand is used to grind the beetle's food, and its digestive system extracts silica to make it's glass shell. It is possible for a beetle to subsist on pulped food; however, without sand in its diet, it will die when next it molts. It will not be able to make a shell capable of sustaining its own weight.

Molted glassbeetle shells are used by the dwarves in their various glassworks; the shell is glass of unsurpassed clarity. It is possible to tint a glassbeetle's shell by feeding it large quantities of certain mineral sands shortly before it molts; some of the resulting hues are impossible through mundane glasswork.



Stat-wise, they're heavy horses.

Desert dwarves keep tame Fire Beetles (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/giantFireBeetle.htm) in lieu of burning fuel for illumination.

In addition to eating their dead, dwarves use the skeletons of their dead to fashion tools. Dwarven ritual implements are often carved out of thighbones, and skulls make a handy goblet. Fingerbones are carved into dice, and most dwarves have a belt knife made from the mandible of a glassbeetle. (The molted shells of glassbeetles may be melted down and sold, but the shell that the beetle died in must be used. Unused portions of bone and broken or worn out implements are disposed of during the Ritual of Releasing, during which the dwarves make a large bonfire (often the only fire of the year) to burn remains, have a feast, and remember the dead.

Vadin: Seconded on all counts.

Additional plant type for Greenspawn:

Flytrap As flowering plant; however, instead of the perfume or poison berries ability, a Flytrap is able to open their mouth impossibly wide, revealing broad rows of green fangs. A flytrap gains a bite attack as a creature of 2 sizes greater, and gains the benefits of Improved Grap and Swallow Whole with this attack.

Gatelings
Gatelings are descendants of the goblins who descended into the sewers and subways beneath the metropolis to ride out the Growth, and the resultant chaos. Decades later, they emerged from hiding and began to live at the border of the surface world and the underworld.

Gatelings maintain their ancient pact with the worgs. In fact, they are the only subrace that does. Nesters abandoned the worgs when they fled to the treetops. Halflings had once domesticated a breed of worgs (angering the worgs, and depriving the goblins of their primary racial advantage); but the domesticated worgs died off during the Growth.

Gatelings style themselves as guides to the underdark, and they truly do know their way around better than most. However, neither Gatelings nor worgs have forgotten what the halflings did... and a party that includes a halfling may just find itself led into a sticky situation, and its guide vanished.

A Gateling community maintains a map of the local undercity, which is kept extremely secret. It is only brought out to add new passages, and to teach a novice guide. More experienced guides have the map memorized. A Gateling community so values its map, it would sooner destroy it than have it leave their hands, and they will go to war to retrieve it.

The undercity is filled with strange, strong odors; and thus the nose of a worg is all but useless for tracking. Instead, an exploring gateling (or the guide of a party which purchased a rescue policy) carries a pot containing a unique blend of powerful, aromatic oils. This functions as a "safety rope", allowing a rescue or salvage party to follow the trail, or for the goblin's worg companion to lead the pair back to safety if they become lost. Each gateling community maintains an herb garden to provide these oils. Since these oils take a long time to fade, the number of exploratory expeditions a gateling community will make is limited. Therefore, seeds and samples of a new odiferous herb are better currency than gold with gatelings.

Gatelings can use the standard goblin stat block.

[Lord Tataraus]

Nowhere does it say there's only one culture for each species! heh. Why not gatelings (goblins that live at the border of the surface world and underdark) which work with worgs, and jungle goblins, with... um... squorgs. I'm thinking more of a giant gecko for the halflings (quick, brightly colored lizards seem more their style). Monitor lizards need to be able to submerge themselves in water, which doesn't really fit with a treetop existence. Monitogs would be a cool thing for a coastal tribe of kobolds to have, though. (Fun facts! Monitor lizards are capable of parthenogenesis, and have been observed counting up to six. Thank you, wikipedia!)
Emphasis mine. Not only that, I made a point of saying that a variety of locations might create different cultures within a race.


Oooh, I like the "Good or evil greenspawn are craaaaaazy" angle. Their identity isn't compatible with their existence, and their craziness ranges from "I'm Joan of Arc!" to "Must kill all animals, they're eating my leaves!" to "Hey, adventurer! Get me a sandwich, it's been ages since I've tasted mustard!"
Ha! That made me laugh. I like the crazy greenspawn idea as well.

@ Vadin: I like that distinction. You going to stat out the gecko dogs/monigog/whatever you want to call it.

Edit:

Tataraus: Yeah, I misread that bit of fluff. I assumed the dunes were shaking because of the dwarves surfacing. Whoops.

I present to you:

Glassbeetles
*snipped*

Stat-wise, they're heavy horses.

Desert dwarves keep tame Fire Beetles (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/giantFireBeetle.htm) in lieu of burning fuel for illumination.

In addition to eating their dead, dwarves use the skeletons of their dead to fashion tools. Dwarven ritual implements are often carved out of thighbones, and skulls make a handy goblet. Fingerbones are carved into dice, and most dwarves have a belt knife made from the mandible of a glassbeetle. (The molted shells of glassbeetles may be melted down and sold, but the shell that the beetle died in must be used. Unused portions of bone and broken or worn out implements are disposed of during the Ritual of Releasing, during which the dwarves make a large bonfire (often the only fire of the year) to burn remains, have a feast, and remember the dead.
Like the glassbeetles, and thats exactly the dwarf flavor I was going for, you have to reuse everything, waste nothing. Even your ol' pappy for your next meal. These guys have real family heirlooms :smallamused: "Son, this necklace has been in our family for decades. See, this is your grandfather, and this is his father, and this is his father, and this......And when I'm gone and you honor me at my Releasing Feast, you shall carve my forger's-finger and add it to this necklace as I did for my father." Kind of creepy, but it actually works out pretty well.


Flytrap As flowering plant; however, instead of the perfume or poison berries ability, a Flytrap is able to open their mouth impossibly wide, revealing broad rows of green fangs. A flytrap gains a bite attack as a creature of 2 sizes greater, and gains the benefits of Improved Grap and Swallow Whole with this attack.

Gatelings
*snipped*
I can just see a crazy greenspawn smiling away and suddenly swallow you!

Also, nice Gateling flavor, though I don't know if we're going for the halfling "stole" the worgs idea, unless the tree-halflings and these halflings are different.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I just want to say that I absolutely love everything I see here.

[Lord Tataraus]

I just want to say that I absolutely love everything I see here.

Yes, I must say that this is exceeding my expectations. I can't wait to explore this as a player or DM.

On another note, I've added the Dwarves, Glassbeetles, Greenspawn, and Ungreen to the directory. Take a look. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3963976&postcount=2) I'm waiting to see how the Nestlings, tree-halfings turn out before I make Squolfs (or Squorgs if you really want it to be called that :smallannoyed: ) official. I also need fluff for Gnorks and Lets try to set up Nestling fluff in the standard Summary/Background - Personality - Physical Description - Relations - etc. form and I'll put that up after a number of okays (still need to stort out the whole worg/squolf/monigog/whatever thing with goblins and halflings)

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I think that halflings should get gecko's, while tree goblins get squorgs. Gatelings should get a worgs.

Edit: I just noticed; almost all of our races so far have a special animal of some sort.

Halflings -- Gecko
Tree Gobbo -- Squorg
Gateling -- Worg
Dward -- Glass beetle

[tsuuga]

Nesters
At your approach, the foliage of the tree shakes. You can see a dozen pairs of eyes staring at you from between the leaves, as apparently wordless chattering and shrieks drown out your thoughts. Then, the voices go silent. A single goblin descends the trunk of the tree, mounted on a huge, squirrel-like creature. It would be cute if not for the red eyes and fangs. The goblin is clad in a tattered loincloth with fur still on it, and clutching a stone-headed spear. "MUDFOOT!" It growls. "This is ourr trree. You leave now!" With these words, the shrieking resumes, and you are pelted with a few... objects.

Personality: Nesters are savage and easily excited. They form into loose troupes, which are composed mainly of one family. Each troupe is lead by a dominant male; who maintains his position through posturing and successful leadership. A troupe of Nesters is often allied with a family of Tree Dogs, colloquially called Squogs (Squirrel-dogs). They are used as mounts for the leader and other dominant males. Pregnant and nursing women stay at home; the rest of the tribe must provide for itself during the troupe's daily foraging. Nesters believe that setting foot on the ground makes one permanently unclean; it is rare for a nester to approach nearer than 20 feet to the ground. One that does set foot on the ground is forever shunned by their troupe; most simply find another and never mention the incident. Nesters are scavengers and foragers; the troupe forages in a single group with only obviously pregnant females and new mothers left at home. They employ snare traps, but never hunt. A spear or arrow, or the body of prey that falls to earth cannot be retrieved, and thus hunting is more effort than it's worth. They do, however, set snares for the creatures that live in the canopy. Nesters live in aggregations of leaves and sticks that resemble a squirrel's nest, or occasionally in the upper floors of a very tall building.

Physical Description: a Nester is physically very similar to a goblin. They tend to be clad in stitched-together, uncured pelts of small mammals or reptiles. Most foragers wield a weapon; stone knives and axes are common, as are hardwood spears. A metal weapon is a huge sign of status in Nester opinion.

Relations: Nesters are very protective of their territory, and jealous of any choice trees in possession of their neighbors. Thus, the base state of a troupe of Nesters is a sort of low-grade warfare. A Nester caught alone by a rival troupe is likely to be killed, and a tree on the border between two territories may be the site of daily screaming matches. Nesters may be a little more articulate with non-nester invaders; if a member of the tribe knows common he may attempt to warn them off. On the rare occasions a Nester has something to trade and relations can be established, paying in currency is a wasteful proposition. A nester is just as happy with a shiny bit of glass as a gold coin . Good cloth or proper leather, metal weapons (or even flint suitable for making stone weapons), the carcass of a large animal, something impressively shiny, or the teeth of some large carnivore make effective trade goods.

Religeon: Most troupes of nesters have no formalized religeon, and worship no god. They do have complex systems of superstitions, and the prohibition against touching the ground seems to be universal.

Nester Lands: Nesters live in the canopies of rainforests, whether those that start at ground level, or the vertical ones that climb the sides of skyscrapers. Most nester territories are rich in fruit trees, of a mix of varieties such that something is always in fruit.

Nester Racial Traits:
Small Humanoid (Goblinoid)
-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma: Nesters are puny, ugly, and abrasive.
Small Size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits ¾ those of Medium characters.
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Climb Speed: 20ft
Low-Light Vision: A nester can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions..
Treetop Dweller: A nester gains a +8 racial bonus to climb checks, and may always take 10 to climb. If it chooses an accelerated climb, it moves at double its climb speed and makes a single Climb check at a -5 penalty. It cannot run while climbing. It retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus on their attacks against a climbing nester. Also, nesters add their Dexterity modifier to Climb checks instead of their Strength modifier.
Accomplished Leaper: A nester gains a +4 racial bonus on Jump checks
Favored Class: Barbarian



[EDIT] Hah. Tataraus, I would read that post just moments after I post this. Reformatting.

[EDIT EDIT] Fixed the formatting.

[Vadin]

I think we could replace halflings 'stealing' the worgs with halflings improving the worgs. In typical halfling fashion, they sought to outdo their competition. They created Ptychines, "Tychs" for short. The Ptychines were a clever blend of canine, gecko, and giant lizard. They're the perfect size for halfling riders, and bond to another intelligent creature at a very young age. Except for tracking, they could do everything the Worgs could, but better. They ran faster, climbed better, were stronger, and could even glide a little. It wasn't long before Tychs replaced Worgs, and goblin Worg handlers were out of jobs all across the massive city.

Ptychine
An average Ptychine is a little more than three feet tall at the shoulder, and its scaly skin is covered in green to brown spots on a slightly darker background.

Size/Type: Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 4d10+4 (20 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft., Climb 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+12
Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: None
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Glide, Feather Fall at will
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +3
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 10
Skills: Climb +8, Hide +6, Move Silently +6, Swim +6
Feats: Lightning Reflexes, Improved Grapple
Environment: Jungle
Organization: Solitary, pair (One Tych and a Halfling companion), bunch (5-12)
Challenge Rating: 2
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: 5-6 HD (Medium); 7-12 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +1 (cohort)

Combat
Tychs typically avoid combat unless cornered. If there is no escape possible, they will usually attempt to start a grapple and roll of the side of a branch. While in mid-fall, they break the grapple and glide to safety, leaving there foes plunging toward the ground.

Glide (Ex): By stretching the flap of skin between their limbs, Ptychines can glide short distances. They can glide 30 ft in a round, however, must launch themselves off of an elevated surface, and descend 10 feet for every 30 feet they glide.


I'm thinking a feat for halflings that lets them bump down the level adjustment when a Ptychine is taken as a cohort. CR 2 or CR 3?

Anyone else, feel free to make this better. I more or less just lifted and slightly altered the Squolf, and I'm sure Tychs could be more unique than at present.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I would remove the Glide speed, and instead substitute a glide special ability.

[Vadin]

I think that halflings should get gecko's, while tree goblins get squorgs. Gatelings should get a worgs.

Edit: I just noticed; almost all of our races so far have a special animal of some sort.

Halflings -- Gecko
Tree Gobbo -- Squorg
Gateling -- Worg
Dward -- Glass beetle

The first thing, seconded. The second one, we should work on some other races as well (and it should be noted the orcs, gnorks, and gnomes are so far mountless. Not a problem, imo).

So...what are elves up to? Gettin' jiggy with the trees? Hatin' on the greenfolk (elves always struck me as so, so racist).

Humans? Are they united? Broken up into factions? A few main ones? Lots of chapters of a few groups? Are they the scattered remnants of what was the government? Speaking of which, what was the government?

Half-elves? What's up with them?

Kobolds? How are they getting along? I think I remember something about them being miners...oh! Dude! Crazy idea...they run the underdark. Or, as they call it, the Realm. They live in smallish cities run by dragons, roughly a dragon per city, and are very medieval feudal. Also, they're the only group (besides dark elves probably, but they're too busy with their magic to mine too much) with easy access to metals. Medieval qualities: xenophobic, haughty, well-equipped warriors. Also...can we make them medium? I have never understood why a race of humanoids descended from dragons, for god's sake, would be so tiny and pitiful. Personally, I'd see them as more likely to have a strength bonus, and probably an intelligence bonus, too. Or would that just be the warriors? Maybe the workers/serfs would be small? Oh! The caste system! Different castes have different stats!

And dark elves...are they present? If so, what are they up to? Is Lolth still around? Why haven't they used their magic and paramilitary priesthood to take over the world? Has something been keeping them busy in the underdark? Infighting? A new enemy? Some disease? Lolth left and took her magic with her?

[EDIT] Gwyp, could you give an example of what that looks like?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Glide (Ex)- By stretching the flap of skin between their limbs, Ptychines can glide short distances. They can glide 30 ft in a round, however, must launch themselves off of an elevated surface, and descend 10 feet for every 30 feet they glide.

Just a short one. Mostly because they cannot fly up, unless they use thermals, which is killing slightly too many catgirls to me.

[jagadaishio]

In the desert dwarf stat block it says that they can go for 2+Con score days before suffering starvation or dehydration. Assume that you meant 2+Con modifier days.

As for the various animal companions, I really like them all, even though the mixing of mammal with reptile always creates strangely disturbing creatures in my mind.

Did we settle on 10% of the world's population being unaffected, or are we still not sure about that? Also, what of the previously mentioned idea of there being an antimagic plateau where an ancient remnant of the super city still lies functional and inhabited?

[Aptera]

Urgh. The board has eaten my post twice now.:smallyuk:

Anyways, I think it would be cool for elves to be cannibalistic savages. They ambush you on the dark jungle paths, in the high frozen mountains, in the vast ruins of ancient cities. They eat you with tooth and claw, their strange ethereal warpaint magically enhanced to twist and turn on their skin. Might be fun to play with the Celticness of elves by increasing the "savage" aspect.

I really like the dwarves, and the gnorks. All very flavorful.

I think that the former city shoul be based in the center of the continent. The world also suggests being very lightly populated with only the isolated hamlet or town scattered across the vast ruins of a broken world. One or two "cities" exist, although they would have been villages in the days before the growth. Most of the world is inhabited by bandits or cannibals, and oft times something worse.

[tsuuga]

it would be cool for elves to be cannibalistic savages.... play with the Celticness of elves by increasing the "savage" aspect.

I really, really like this. Druidic cults that embrace the Growth, calling it the natural resurgence of the True World. Those that originally despoiled it (non elves, of course) are fit only to be food.


(elves always struck me as so, so racist).

They so are. All the elves are like this now, the druidic cultists just have an excuse :smallwink:


I think that the former city shoul be based in the center of the continent.
I was under the impression that the city covers 80% of the continent, it's more a question of "what parts WEREN'T city at one point?"


Kobolds? <snip>

Yes. Lovely. The dragons that didn't devolve into dinosaurs are in deep comas. Kobold cults lug their sleeping gods below ground, and worship them. They prepare for the day their sleeping gods will awake, Cthulu style :smalleek:

I had been thinking about the availability of metal in this setting, actually. A city spanning most of the continent is going to use up all the metal and fossil fuels it can get its grubby mitts on. Dwarves don't mine stone anymore because there's nothing to mine! What the kobolds know that the dwarves don't, however... is that when all that metal corroded, it washed down storm grates and sewers... to guess where? :smallbiggrin: Kobolds charge exorbitantly for the metal they sell to other races. And yes, the warrior caste needs to be medium. The small kobolds still set up their traditional "small creatures only" traps to defend their dwellings while the big guys are away, though...

I'm going to say, no, the Drow don't exist in this setting, simply because I can't think of a reason they haven't won everything yet. That, and this setting doesn't appear to have a true underdark, just abandoned mines and sewers. Speaking of, there are probably Sahuagin in the sewers of cities below sea level, and since algae and such is so ever present in seawater, it's likely none of them escaped mutation.

I like the Ptychine. I'm thinking that yes, a creature with fur and scales would look really freakin' weird. Perhaps its canine features are limited to, perhaps, facial shape and loyalty, and maybe vocalizations (howling, barking)

[Vadin]

Aptera, I like how you see elves. Vicious, arcane, and everywhere. Not literally everywhere, of course, but scattered all across the world and covered in all sorts of magical tattoos that make some of them giant, some of them flaming, and some of them ghosts. Crunchwise, this could be a whole new class that only elves (or those who train with them) have access to. I'm seeing a class that grants permanent magical effects with many different paths. Highly variable, quite potent. Similar to the binder, but more open-ended. Like everyday, they would go down to Build-A-Vestige Barn and pick out the days abilities.

Elves before: snobby, powerful, sneaky

Elves after: full of hate, just as powerful (but convinced they're stronger), able to hide whole tribes (really just a dozen or so elves) along the few roads remaining in use without anyone noticing at all (way more sneaky).

Very cool idea, Aptera.

[EDIT] Ok, change all that stuff I said above to working with half-elves. The snobby rationale: elves are very powerful, humans run most of the gov't, so half-elves must be the best of the best (at least, they assume so).

Elves being racist druidic cults who worship the Green...awesome. I can see them cursing their 'savage' brothers the half-elves, or, as they call them, the half-men, refusing to give a name to the other half of the half-men's ancestry.

And yeah, the Ptychines are reptiles that just look really doglike. No fur or anything. But they are warm-blooded. Warm-blooded reptiles own. Like dinosaurs. They own. And that's a fact.

[Lord Tataraus]

In the desert dwarf stat block it says that they can go for 2+Con score days before suffering starvation or dehydration. Assume that you meant 2+Con modifier days.
Actually no, it 2 days then an extra number of hours equal to Con score. So a Con score of 24 gives you 3 extra days, otherwise you don't last too long. Remember thats extending the possible amount of time to 5 days minium without water. Not bad, considering a dwarf could make the fort save for awhile.


Did we settle on 10% of the world's population being unaffected, or are we still not sure about that? Also, what of the previously mentioned idea of there being an antimagic plateau where an ancient remnant of the super city still lies functional and inhabited?
For the sake of standardization, I'll say that 10% (roughly) of the population survived the cataclysm in one way or another. This does not include the Ungreen or Greenspawn, they didn't "survive". And this effected all populations.

Alright a few more questions I'll address:

@ Gwyn_ap_Nud: I don't mind because it fits. Though I doubt any other races will get specific mounts, don't go out of your way to fit it in, but if it happens to work well then knock yourself out.

@ tsuuga: I love the Nesters. I really like what you did with them and the fear of touching the ground reminds me of those creatures on the shoe planet in Hichhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. On topic of the Nesters' mounts, I prefer the name Squolf and seeing as their are 3 (maybe more) spellings floating around lets take a quick poll. Just include the words NESTER MOUNT POLL # formatted as shown and replace # with one of the options:
Squolf
Squorg
Squog

@ Vadin: The Ptychine looks good, but change the glide like Gwyn_ap_Nud suggests. As for Koblods, I started this up without including them, but if consenus says to include them, fine but a few people need to agree. I don't really have anything against Kobolds, its just that I think their a bit redundant with what we have already. Gnorks (and Orcs and Gnomes) are artifact collectors and raiders, dwarves are miners, and Gatelings are the underdark guys. Maybe an aquatic underwater race would be different to live in the flooded sewers. As for dark elves, never liked them. Actually, most elves in my worlds tend to be evil anyway (or so arrogant they basically are evil).

@ Aptera: By elves being "cannibalistic savages" do you mean actual canibals like the dwarves? or just carnivorous savages (since technically, eating other races is not cannibalism). While it might be cool and I really wouldn't go against it if it worked, I think that style of elf would be too redundant since we already have a number of savages in a variety of senses. Both goblinoids are true savages as are Gnorks/Orcs/Gnomes and Dwarves are savage in the sense of ignorance and being cannibals.

Having said all that, I suggest the next race/society created is a "civilized" one. Maybe its the elves who have developed a small community in peace or bands of humans who bounced back from the cataclysm rapidly due to their great adaption or something else entirely, maybe a forgotten city untouched by the Green. Also, no one has really written up the fluff behind the Gnork/Orc/Gnome society beyond the common understanding and few bits here and there, anyone want to take it on? I'm just out of fluff at the moment.

[Vadin]

Civilized, hm? Maybe...humans? We humans do have this racial need for structure, and our inborn power lust helps that even more. If anyone were to try and rebuild society, it would probably be humans. Here a few thousand years later, I can envision several thousand strong nations developing around largish parts of the city that were salvaged almost immediately after the Growth. A nation bent on rebuilding, a nation bent on rebuilding (but completely opposed to the old city, claiming they were fools and being far more militant than the other Builders), and a larger nation thats really fairly stable and mostly wants to be left alone by the other two factions. Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, True Neutral.

And, on the topic of humans, I'm thinkin' bloodlines should be more common with them. Why? Lots of magic. Humans are fairly mutable as it is, and after a huge rush of magic, you'd have to think that some tieflings and assimar would be borne, and some ancient ties would be reawakened. Great-great-great grandma was a giant? Minor bloodline! Your uncle was a sorcerer? Intermediate bloodline! And so on and so forth. Not for every character, but certainly a few. As far as innately magical goes, my vote is for humans being not the best at wielding the arcane, but certainly good at mating with it.

[tsuuga]

since technically, eating other races is not cannibalism

Even more technically, it is cannibalism; most player races can interbreed and are thus a single species. :smalltongue:

But seriously: as I see it, a major theme of this setting is "Civilization is dead". Thus, a heck of a lot of the world is made up of small tribes of savages. What we've got so far are primarily "noble savages" - Ancestor worshiping dwarves, innocuous halflings, Gatelings that try to find a place in society, and, um... nestlings... who at least keep to themselves. Cannibal Elves, by contrast, are savage savages.

Also: that's the role that kobolds can play. They are civilized, they've got subterranean cities and a social system set up. It's just not a place your players are likely to ever be allowed to go. I'm totally open to villages and fiefdoms and whatnot, and that's probably where the human survivors hang out.

Speaking of orcs, I had this idea last night and forgot about it till now.

Fort Broken Thumb
This former prison was converted into a fortress by an enterprising orc warlord shortly after the fall. Though the chain link fences have rusted away, they have been replaced with wooden trellises, and thorny plants have been encouraged to grow there. The guard towers at each corner have been connected with stone walls, built up over the years. The interior of the fortress is ideal for fighting a running battle, for partitions and bars that were designed to prevent escape and hold back riots are equally effective at holding invaders out. Since then, Fort Broken Thumb has passed to any lieutenant able to wrest control, and it has never been taken by an outsider. Currently, it is garrisoned by 80 orcs and ruled by Warlord Grark, who keeps the surrounding lands free of ungreen and has vowed to protect the locals in times of trouble, in exchange for a share of their harvest.



Nester mount poll #1

[Vadin]

Yeah, when I said human 'nations' of a few thousand people, it should be kept in mind that rather smallish American cities and kinda biggish towns fit a few thousand people.

Kobolds are, indeed, far more spread out and civilized.

And Fort Broken Thumb- very cool.

Nester Mount Poll #1

[Lord Tataraus]

Alright, I revoke my protesting about elves and kobolds (not drow though). I like the direction your taking it; run :smallbiggrin:
[hr]
It seems that we have come to a point where a unknown world is getting in the way. So for some minor definition, I've used my l337 GIMP skillz (that's a joke, I'm not very good) to create the following maps. These are very rough, meant to display only very generic climate/forest make up.

The world:
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9295/cogmapclearbq8.png

The below map has a shadow that shows the area of the city:
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4249/cogmapcs1.png

KEY
{table=head]Color|Climate Type
Dark Green|Loose Jungle
Gray-Green|Temperate Forest
Light Green|Dense Rainforest
Olive-Yellow|Savanna/Grassland
Gold/Sand|Sandy Desert
Brown|Rocky Desert/Dry Earth
Blue|Marsh/Swamp
[/table]
So, interpret as you will.

[Yakk]

Pre-Green, the world was Psionic and Clerical magic.

In this world, the Gods are actually limited in how they can touch the world. They can create avatars, but if their avatar dies, so does the god. And they can grant powers to their clerics, and have a limited ability to watch the world.

(This matters, or otherwise everything becomes an act of the Gods, and I like the idea of the civilization doing it to itself).

By the height of the pre-green empire, the races where not the stereotypes of standard D&D. The building up of the empire took 1000s of years, and culture shifted.

What happened? Wizardry.

Psionics and Clerical magic worked, but one came from the Gods, and the other was random and in-born. Research into the fabric of reality generated a hybrid of the two kinds: it was mortal, like Psionics, but it was magical like the Clerics.

Advancement was slow, because it was very different than Clerical magic. But it was interesting, and it promised a way to gain control over the world that didn't rely on the chance of birth (Psionics) nor on the favor of the Gods (Clerics).

Wizardry simply required lots of study.

Schools of Wizardry opened up. Rules where created saying "no, using magic to do X was wrong", and then people did X anyhow, and X was accepted, and it went onward.

The upstart School of Wizardry gained in numbers. A humanoid breeding program created Sorcerers, who where imbued with living spells. New creatures where created to be useful, the bones of the dead where animated. Economic might started being concentrated in the School of Wizardry.

By this point, Psionics was overwealmed in numbers, but the Clerics still had the trust of the government. Draconian restrictions where imposed on Wizardry.

The Wizards ignored them.

Meanwhile, the Druids (who had control over their wilderness preserves) where getting worried. They had stepped out of civilization, but the increasing experiments on creating new creatures by Wizards had started messing up their ecologies.

So the Druids started developing counter-nature magic.

It was the assassination of the Archpsion of Grendwold, a small island off the coast, by an abomination rights activist that started the war. The crackdown by the Psions was responded to by the Wizards stepping in, which was responded to by the Clerics passing the spellbook burning law. An archmage responded by killing the avatar of the godess of prophesy, crying "I will have no fate bind me!"

Meanwhile, the Druid Synod was gathered, trying to figure out why their divinations of the future where failing. The moment the Godess of Prophesy died, they saw. It was over, all of it. The world was coming to an end.

They screamed -- a primal scream that crossed the world -- and looked, and smelt, and felt for a way out.

And then they wiped the intelligence of every being on the entire planet.

Reduced to beasts, civilization collapsed. Few of the humanoid-shaped beasts even managed to have children, and most of those died. But some lived. These children where little better off than their parents, but their children where better off...

[Vadin]

Not a bad map, Tartaraus. I've seen far worse, sir.

Around the plains, a few towns have banded together and pledged mutual protection. They number somewhere around twelve thousand and call themselves "The Confederacy". Humans, gnomes, orcs, gnorks, some gatelings, and even a few halflings make their homes within the Confederacy.

[Aptera]

You know, looking at the map there are three or four main areas for civilization to (re)apear.
-The north with that deserty isle, and the temperate forest,
-The east, where that long island and that long line of jungle extends. largest area, might be the place for most of our "civilization" to be.
-The west and the island chain, where the desert and those small islands meet.

The deserty northern island and the central area that was not in the city might also be seperate areas for seperate civilizations. The central part I have two ideas for:
1) A savage land with strange forgotten things from before the greening,
2)Home of fabled gnome/orc society.
I like option 1 best.

@ Vadin: Finally, I like the idea of the society that's abandoned the old past and forged a new way. I have this image of soldiers in black wielding pikes and guns (like the renaissance) marching forward under banners of a man in full officer uniform declaring "Break with the past! A new era dawns for humanity!" or something like that. Perhaps in the far islands? Isolated from the rest of the world, and in a fight with the savage dwarves of the sand wastes.

I envision three civilized races:
-Kobolds,
-Humans,
-Gnome/Orc (can we refer to this as gnorkish?)
I originally thought about them being Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic, but that doesn't really make sense.

Finally what races are definitely PC races? I'm getting confused.

[Lord Tataraus]

You know, looking at the map there are three or four main areas for civilization to (re)apear.
-The north with that deserty isle, and the temperate forest,
-The east, where that long island and that long line of jungle extends. largest area, might be the place for most of our "civilization" to be.
-The west and the island chain, where the desert and those small islands meet.
Interesting...I would have thought that the lone savannas/grasslands would naturally draw civilization, its really the only place to grow crops which is how Vadin interpreted it. I'm not saying this is an invalid conclusion, just that it is interesting...I'm starting to ramble.


Finally what races are definitely PC races? I'm getting confused.
Well, really any. I'm not the kind to limit race choices by alignment so or other factors unless there is a very good reason.

Dwarf (Desert)
Halfling (Tree)
Halfling (Other)?
Gateling
Nester
Orc
Gnork
Gnome
Human
Elf
Kobold

That is the list so far. Currently only the Gnork, Orc, Gnome, Dwarf, Gateling, Nester, Halfling (Tree), and Kobold have had much done with them and only a few of those have official stats and fluff.

That reminds me, I forgot to update the Directory with the Nesters, and tsuuga, could you reformat the Gatelings when you get the chance? Thanks.

[Aptera]

I think we have reached PC race saturation. With this many PC races, I think we can cover most situations.

I assumed the areas that were part of the city pre-Growth would be the areas that took longest to pull back together. If thats not what you guys think thats fine. I'm also wary of having to many nations/kingdoms/confederations. Gets rid of the post apocalypse feel for me.

Does anyone have any suggestions for the Elves? I want to write them up.
My ideas so far:
-No constitution minus. I'm thinking either Intelligence or Charisma,
-Bonus for unarmed combat and/or bite claw 1d4,
-No weapon proficiency,
-Ability to eat any meat, whether cooked or raw, fresh or rancid,
I cannot decide on their favorite class. On the one hand Druid fits with the savage Celt theme, while sorcerers represent a continuation of the previous arcane theme for elves, and monks are the unarmed fighters.

And to clarify when I said that elves were cannibals, I meant that they ate anything, if they could. I'm imagining that the elves live in small mobile bands, ruled by a "king" and/or "queen". Considering how long Elves live, a band probably consists of 10-30 adults and 1 children. Glades should probably be where they base themselves, and I have this idea that Elves come together maybe once a decade, in a large gathering in various sacred places. There they proceed to raid small villages, oft times emptying them out and then eat their inhabitants. Elvish religion should be based off spirits.

Lord Tartarus: mind If I borow that banner?

[jagadaishio]

Red Elves:
Red Elf
Medium Humanoid (Elf)
+2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence: Red elves are quick and agile but lack any sense of formal education and have a feral nature.
Speed: 30 ft..
Natural Weapons (Ex): Red elves carefully grow and sculpt their teeth and nails, giving them a secondary bite attack which deals 1d4 piercing damage and two primary claw attacks which each deal 1d3 damage.
+4 bonus to Hide and Move Silently rolls.
+2 bonus to Jump and Climb rolls.
Weapon Familiarity: Red elves treat bolas and nets as martial weapons.
Automatic Languages: Elven. Bonus Languages: Common, Sylvan, Auran, Terran, Ingan, Aquan.
Favored Class: Tattooed. A multiclass red elf's tattooed class does not count when determining whether he/she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

This is the way that I envisioned the savage elves. They file their teeth and nails, are stealthy and agile, are good at capturing opponents to be eaten, and their smarter individuals learn to talk to elemental spirits, which they worship. I'll draw up the tattooed class later if you want, it will be an auto-augmentative class which I've been wanting to make for some time.

[Lord Tataraus]

Looks pretty good. I like them...well, I wouldn't want to meet one...

I thought of an interesting twist to the elvish society. What if females are rare? As in 80% of all newborns are male? This would account for a low population and slightly savage, but might also give a more colony type feel. Like every tribe is ruled over by the queen which the males fight over to mate with every mating season by bringing in the best game and a little bit of infighting (possible non-lethal so as not to upset the small population). The queen would usually birth males who would be raised by the father, but if a female is born she is raised and then leaves with half the males to form a new tribe.

What do you think? A heavily masculine, yet matriarchal system where the males are literally fanatically loyal and would do anything to protect the queen since she is the one who allows them to survive.

Also, I would suggest looking into incarnum rules to gain inspiration for the Tattooed class.

On a side note, if you want the banner go ahead and take it, it is one of my better Gimp creations:
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6674/cogbannervp6.png (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73059)

[jagadaishio]

I really like the idea for the masculinely matriarchal society, but biology of that nature leads to another less savory possibility. Some tribes would keep their elven women as sex slaves, making her kick out as many babies as possible. Also, I expect most half-elves would be the result of rape on the part of male elves who didn't make the cut that mating season, so to speak. That feels, to me, very similar to the flavor of the traditional half-orc.

That said, because the half-elves would likely hate their elven fathers, they would probably be fairly different statistically. I'm thinking they would have their stats as they are now, plus a +2 to Charisma. They would try to be kind, smart, and alert to try to "make up" for the way they were brought into the world by being, in many ways, the antithesis of the red elves.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Looks good to me.

Intro

Personality: Red Elves are strongly territorial, and will kill on site if any trespass on their allotted land. One "King" would rule a small territory consisting of about 1 square kilometer, and rule over 30 subjects. Smaller bands rule smaller areas, and larger bands rule larger areas, the largest bands being about 100 elves, and controlling several kilometers. They will often foray into other areas to hunt, and will eat anything that's edible, be it animal, plant, beast, or humanoid. Women are rare; in the usual band of 30, there will only be around 5 women. Women are considered sex slaves; they are effectively considered baby factories. However, they have considerable power. They can pick only the most desirable Elves to mate with, elevating their status in society. The weaker ones resort to protecting the women, hoping that they could buy themselves in next round. Some resort to capturing and raping human's, resulting in half-elves.
Physical Description: Red Elves are taller than humans, and spindlier, but are no less strong for it. They are called Red Elves for their blood red hair, and their equally crimson eyes. They often bear tattoo's, each tattoo showing a different exploit of the Elf; the more tattoo's the higher in the social ladder the elf is, and the larger the tattoo, the more important the adventure.
Relations: Red Elves on the most part have cut off relations with other races, viewing them as no higher than the other animals on which they feast. They very rarely come in contact with other races at all, without there being a fight. The few races they have regular contact with are primarily humans and half-elves, the half-elves and the Elves sharing a mutual hate.

Religion: Red Elves do not worship a god in the usual sense of the word. They instead believe that there are spirits in everything, and they pray to these spirits, offering material sacrifices of wealth. As with just about everything in Red Elf society, this is a show of social standing. The more personal objects you sacrifice, the higher you are in society. Their funerals are quite particular. The deceased will be dressed in their best clothes, and all their belongings but on a pyre. Then, they will set fire to the pyre, body and all, but control the fire, so that the bones are not burnt. The bones are charred black, and 2 rubies are blaced in the eyesockets, and the skull is places inside an old dead oak, with the rest of the deceased's family's skulls. The bones are handed out, one to each tribe member, and the remainder thrown away.
Nester Lands: Red Elves live in isolated glades, in the temperate forests of the north. They prefer areas where the city has not reached, but will live in the city if pushed, whether by exile or war, or famine and hunger.

Racial Traits:
Red Elf
Medium Humanoid (Elf)
+2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence: Red elves are quick and agile but lack any sense of formal education and have a feral nature.
Speed: 30 ft..
Natural Weapons (Ex): Red elves carefully grow and sculpt their teeth and nails, giving them a secondary bite attack which deals 1d4 piercing damage and two primary claw attacks which each deal 1d3 damage.
+4 bonus to Hide and Move Silently rolls.
+2 bonus to Jump and Climb rolls.
Weapon Familiarity: Red elves treat bolas and nets as martial weapons.
Automatic Languages: Elven. Bonus Languages: Common, Sylvan, Auran, Terran, Ingan, Aquan.
Favored Class: Tattooed. A multiclass red elf's tattooed class does not count when determining whether he/she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

[Lord Tataraus]

I really like the idea for the masculinely matriarchal society, but biology of that nature leads to another less savory possibility. Some tribes would keep their elven women as sex slaves, making her kick out as many babies as possible.
Well, sure they might try to go the sex slsave route, though all the female has to do is kill herself and the elven tribe is screwed since there is absolutely no way they can get another female. In that manner, she has lots of power. And also, she has the power to say who can mate with her and you bet only the strongest will get that privilege and the weaker ones would protect the female in hopes that they will gain her favor for next season. I think it would work well.


Also, I expect most half-elves would be the result of rape on the part of male elves who didn't make the cut that mating season, so to speak. That feels, to me, very similar to the flavor of the traditional half-orc.

That said, because the half-elves would likely hate their elven fathers, they would probably be fairly different statistically. I'm thinking they would have their stats as they are now, plus a +2 to Charisma. They would try to be kind, smart, and alert to try to "make up" for the way they were brought into the world by being, in many ways, the antithesis of the red elves.
Sounds good.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Bloody Ninja's, all of you!

I'll add that into the personality section, and the relations section.

[Lord Tataraus]

Bloody Ninja's, all of you!

I'll add that into the personality section, and the relations section.

We seem to have a large ninja infestation problem in this thread :smallbiggrin:
[hr]
I was thinking about classes and I think we need to come up with a "core" set. I'm not going to outright ban any classes, but I don't think the normal core will work here. So, lets make a list of classes that should stay unaltered, those that should be altered slightly, those that should be removed and those that should be added (be it another printed class or a homebrew one).

Personally, I think Druid needs to be replaced with the Shapshift variant. Not only is it more balanced, but I think it fits better, it has a more feral feel. Instead of changing into existing animals, the Druid rapidly evolves into a feral beast or winged creature, or whatever and can hold the form for awhile. Acting more like a rage than wild shape. Comments?

[jagadaishio]

Personally, I think Druid needs to be replaced with the Shapshift variant. Not only is it more balanced, but I think it fits better, it has a more feral feel. Instead of changing into existing animals, the Druid rapidly evolves into a feral beast or winged creature, or whatever and can hold the form for awhile. Acting more like a rage than wild shape. Comments?

I agree wholeheartedly. I've always enjoyed that variant quite a bit more than the normal class.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I also agree. Another important decision is whether or not we are going to be using ToB. I think that the Tattooed class should be a PrC though.

[jagadaishio]

I also agree. Another important decision is whether or not we are going to be using ToB. I think that the Tattooed class should be a PrC though.

We should decide now whether we want it to be a base class or a prestige class. If it will be a prestige class, I'll put my auto-augmentative class towards another ends. Also, if we're going to do a tattooed prestige class, we may as well just resort to Tattooed Monk.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Actually, that's effectively what this is, except with less monk stuffs.

[Vadin]

I second the shapeshifting druid variant.

Barbarians should be in (though I'd like to give them different kinds of rage options- normal rage, stronger rage, faster/dodge rage, antimagic rage, etc.).

This fighter should totally be in. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56408)

And the tattooed, of course.

A druid variant with more feral shapeshifting and an improved animal companion and some other stuff, but no spells, would also be cool. That might be more ranger-esque.

[tsuuga]

Gatelings - reformatted
Personality: Gatelings are the most civilized of the goblin races. Each gateling enclave is a community of thirty to forty adult goblins with approximately the same number of children. The enclave itself is a series of huts located just inside an entrance to the undercity, with gardens and a few domesticated animals tended just outside. Most enclaves also maintain a compound much deeper into the undercity to which they can retreat if threatened. Gatelings maintain the goblins' ancient pact with the worgs; in general an enclave will be allied with a local worg pack, a member of which accompanies any gateling who heads into the undercity or across the surface.

Gatelings style themselves as guides to the undercity, and they do know the local undercity rather well. Each enclave maintains a map, which is kept hidden, as it represents the enclave's livelihood. It is only brought out when new tunnels are to be added and to train a new guide. More experienced guides have the map memorized. A Gateling community so values its map, it would sooner destroy it than have it leave their hands, and they will go to war to retrieve it.

Expeditions into uncharted territories carry vials of pungent, aromatic oils to mark their trail; in this way, a lost gateling's worg companion can find their way back, and a rescue party can follow to see what happened to the explorer. Enclaves maintain a garden of herbs to prepare these pungent oils; because the oils take a long time to fade, gatelings only make a few exploratory expeditions each year.

Physical Description: a gateling appears as a goblin, but much better dressed. They wear leather shorts, shirts festooned with pockets, and well-made gloves. When outside the enclave, each gateling is always accompanied by a worg, and carries torches, rope, and some kind of weapon.

Relations: Gatelings are quite civil, for goblins. The guides can all speak common, though peppered with some unique slang. Periodically, a guide will make a circuit of the nearby communities, just to remind them of the gatelings presence, and to show off the kind of treasures that can be found in the undercity in an attempt to drum up business. Gatelings take just about anything in trade, however, a new pungent herb for their oil garden is better currency than gold.

Gatelings maintain an ancient grudge against halflings, dating back to before the Growth. The development of 'trychs put goblin worg-handlers out of business overnight. These days, a halfling who goes into the undercity with a gateling guide may never be heard from again.

Religeon: Most gateling enclaves worship their own, unique gods. A few, however, have had contact with kobold fiefdoms, and chose to worship the sleeping dragons instead. These communities may establish trade with the kobolds, and serve as middlemen providing metal to the surface.

Gateling Lands: Gateling enclaves lay claim to small patches of the surface outside of their enclaves, and to all of the undercity that they have explored. They do, however, make a point of not exploring parts of the undercity claimed by kobolds or other parties.

Gateling Racial Traits:
Small Humanoid (Goblinoid)
-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
Small Size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits ¾ those of Medium characters.
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60 ft.
Undercity Guide: Gatelings have a +4 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks.
Favored Class: Rogue



I quite like the Red Elves. I'm thinking Tattooed ought to be a prestige class - All the elves do ritual tattooing or scarification, but only a few can actually use them in a magical manner. Most elves tattoo their hands and faces in a sort of camouflage pattern appropriate for the environment; the tattoos with supernatural properties are on parts of the body normally covered by clothing.

Shapeshift druids: Awesome, go for it.

Monk (and if allowing Tome of Battle, Warblade and Swordsage) just don't make sense to me. They all require formalized instruction in martial arts, and in villages of 30-40 you just don't get monasteries or even people whose only role in society is to fight.

Paladins and Clerics: Hmm. So far, the setting doesn't actually have any established gods. It would be interesting to have these characters be crusaders for the forgotten True Gods, seeking to bring the word of their patron diety to somebody-- anybody.

I am... well, not a fan of that fighter class. It's quite a bit stronger than other melee classes; and the fighter/monk sides seem vastly unbalanced. Armor skin in particular bothers me... it stacks with natural armor and bracers of armor? Seriously? A fighter who takes the armored path is going to be so far ahead of his party-mates that the DM has to choose between being able to hit the fighter, and slaughtering the rest of the party.

I do like these variants that he references, though: Bears With Lasers Fighter Fix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30692) and Otto the Bugbear's Fighter Rewrite (http://dsenchuk.googlepages.com/fighter)

[Lord Tataraus]

A possible Barbarian variant (not to replace the barbarian, just be an addition):

Savage Warrior
Hit Dice: 1d12
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 4x (4 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + int

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Illiteracy, Frenzy 1/day, Climb Speed

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Improved Intimidation

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Uncanny Dodge

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Frenzy 2/day

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Improved Climb Speed

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Improved Uncanny Dodge

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|DR 1/-

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Frenzy 3/day

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|-

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|DR 2/-

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|Improved Frenzy

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|Frenzy 4/day

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|DR 3/-

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4|Indomitable Will

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|-

16th|
+16/11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|DR 4/-, Frenzy 5/day

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5|Tireless Frenzy

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6|-

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|DR 5/-

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|Greater Frenzy, Frenzy 6/day
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A savage warrior is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).

Frenzy: This ability works in the same fashion as the barbarian's Rage ability. However when in a Frenzy the savage warrior gains a +4 bonus to Dexterity and Constitution and a +2 bonus on reflex saves. The savage warrior can use any skill except those which are intelligence-based or charisma-based with the exception of Handle Animal.

Climb Speed: At first level the savage warrior learns how to climb the trees with great ease and speed. The savage warrior gains a climb speed equal to 1/2 his base land speed. This climb speed grants a +8 bonus to climb checks and the savage warrior may take 10 on any climb check even while threatened. If the savage warrior already has a climb speed from a racial or class feature his climb speed is instead increased by 10ft.

Improved Intimidation A savage warrior learns to use fearsome poses to intimidate others. A savage warrior may use his strength modifier instead of his charisma modifier on Intimidation checks. Additionally, the savage warrior gains a +2 bonus on intimidate checks.

Uncanny Dodge: At 3rd level, a savage warrior retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a barbarian already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.

Improved Climb Speed: At 5th level the savage warrior learns to move much faster through the trees. A savage warrior's climb speed is now equal to his base land speed. If the savage warrior already had a climb speed from a racial or class feature, he instead may ignore any terrain penalties due to moving across branches or otherwise through the trees and automatically succeeds on all balances checks to do so. This allows him to move at full speed and run through the trees as well as charge even though the path may not be a straight line.

Improved Uncanny Dodge: At 6th level and higher, a savage warrior can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the barbarian by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has barbarian levels. If a character already has uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character.

Improved Frenzy: At 11th level, a savage warrior's bonuses to Dexterity and Constitution during his rage each increase to +6, and his bonus on Reflex saves increases to +3. The penalty to AC remains at -2.

Indomitable Will: While in a frenzy, a savage warrior of 14th level or higher gains a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist enchantment spells. This bonus stacks with all other modifiers.

Tireless Frenzy: At 17th level and higher, a savage warrior no longer becomes fatigued at the end of his frenzy.

Greater Frenzy: At 20th level, a savage warrior's bonuses to Dexterity and Constitution during his rage each increase to +8, and his bonus on Reflex saves increases to +4. The penalty to AC remains at -2.

[tsuuga]

Is the savage warrior intended as an archery type? Or maybe a weapon-finesse type fighter? What proficiencies do they get?

The above aside, neat class. It's good idea, considering the trees and buildings all over the place

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I think that nobody should get literacy for free, they should all have to pay for it. It would be another thing that was lost during the Cataclysm.

[puppyavenger]

an idea for kobplds, if the dragons are in a coma, then mayby it is possible(or all the other kobolds just believe it's possible) to use telepathy spells to communicate with them in vauge terms, this would basicily make any sorcerors or wizzards with a way of cumminicating with them priest kings and the rulers of soiciety.

[Lord Tataraus]

Is the savage warrior intended as an archery type? Or maybe a weapon-finesse type fighter? What proficiencies do they get?

The above aside, neat class. It's good idea, considering the trees and buildings all over the place
:smallredface: I forgot to include the proficiencies, I'll do that now. They can be either a archer or dex-based fighter it doesn't really matter. Frenzy works with both range and melee.


I think that nobody should get literacy for free, they should all have to pay for it. It would be another thing that was lost during the Cataclysm.
Very good point, in fact, I would suggest a higher cost for literacy, especially for the ancient written language.


an idea for kobplds, if the dragons are in a coma, then mayby it is possible(or all the other kobolds just believe it's possible) to use telepathy spells to communicate with them in vauge terms, this would basicily make any sorcerors or wizzards with a way of cumminicating with them priest kings and the rulers of soiciety.
Hm...interesting idea, I like it.

[Vadin]

On the ToB monastaries thing...in most of the world, you're right, such things would be quite rare. But in the Confederacy? There might actually be one or two organized combat schools. Also, whats a good name for the anti-past, highly militant, pro-human group on the Western Isles?

[seedjar]

So, the idea of treetop halflings got me thinking about how that might work - particularly, how it might work in a way that's cool and opens up options for DMs. Halflings could surely hack it on old-growth canopy alone, but plants now dominate this world. There are dozens of relatively large epiphytes in the real world that grow on canopies - lichens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen) and tillandsia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillandsia) come to mind in particular. I imagine that buffed epiphytes like these could create relatively solid turf up in the trees, if not exactly sturdy enough to support your average medium-sized humanoid. I'm picturing large stretches of forest and reclaimed city, with the treetops dominated by various shades of moss, lichen and fern. The understory in these colonized regions is totally without light in the densest areas. Smaller creatures stride on the pillowy treetops as easily as they would on solid ground, and some may even derive some jumping bonus from the springy resilience of the branches below.
That said, I think there are some simple conclusions that should be explored relative to the cataclysm. If plants now dominate the world, then chances are, plant-associated creatures have made a marked resurgence. Insects, in particular, should have a lot of new options available to them. I imagine colonizing bugs such as ants, bees and beetles are now bigger, badder and more sophisticated. Perhaps there could be a few hive intelligences of ant or bee colonies with a greenspawn or ungreen queen/queens at the core. Also, things that live off of plants, such as fungi and plant-borne diseases, have probably become more virulent in response to the increased vigor of their hosts. Big slug-like oozes with climb speeds and outrageous acid damage. Airborne, contact-based diseases and poisons that specifically effect plants. Herds of gargantuan pillbugs and other detritivores. (Didn't someone already mention Nausicaa?) In areas where single regimes of plants dominate, disease runs rampant and periodic die-off is a fact of life. Wild colonies of ungreen and greenspawn creatures have long since adapted to the environmental threats and tend to have adopted habits of cleanliness or rituals for purging themselves of pathogens. Genetic diversity among plants has become a paramount concern, and those few plants that do not exclusively use sexual reproduction have adapted clever means of coping with or circumventing disease and predation.
Also, it's probably just because my hobby is carnivorous plants, but I see carnivorous plants as being natural fit-ins for this setting. :D With more plants comes more bugs, and more bugs means more things for plants to eat. Also, if the cataclysm allowed plants to grow beyond their normal size, most of the genera of carnivorous plants extant today could take on large prey like birds and small mammals, possibly even larger critters. As for the plant creatures already in the MM, I say give them all 10-20 more HD and make them the respective Terrasques and Godzillas of the setting. (Maybe assassin vines should be the candidate PC plant race - I can see them making great PC-classed BBEGs.) I think any sort of plant that had mobility and some semblance of self-awareness before the cataclysm should probably be a raging, unstoppable juggernaut or a scheming evil genius afterwards. I would create new, sessile plant creatures based around real-life carnivorous plants (and also spiky plants that perhaps evolved a taste for blood after the cataclysm) and use them like encounter traps for above-ground scenarios.
I also have some ideas on the various ways that buildings could decay so as to give the forest canopy feel or the theme of cave on the inside, tropics on the outside - it's all about building practices. I'm thinking the largest skyscrapers were supported by large, mostly empty internal shafts that were generally closed off and used for structural purposes and utility routing. Working spaces were built around (or perhaps sometimes between) these support structures with open architecture so that residents could enjoy the view that their marvels afforded them. If you want caves, all you need is to section off the internal structure and make it accessible and more durable than the outside. For canopy, make the remaining supports skeletal rather than cavernous in nature and let the interior building materials be the less durable ones.
Anyways, I feel like I'm starting to ramble here, so I'll see what folks have to think about that. tsuuga, I second you on the bats.
~Joe

PS - OK, so, quick sketch of assassin vine as a PC race:
Striding Vine - as Assassin Vine except
Large Plant, 1HD
Speed: 30ft, Climb 30ft
Special Attacks:
Entangle: As Assassin Vine except 1/day.
Special Qualities:
Blindsight: As Assassin Vine, except see Eyebuds below.
Eyebuds: The Striding Vine has adopted more precise senses to complement it's increased mobility. Striding Vines grow small florets of 2-5 'eyebuds,' sterile flowers of the size of a small rose. Eyebuds have iridescent, reflective petals and small light-sensitive organs at their center. By unfurling or contracting the petals, a Striding Vines eyebuds act like rudimentary eyes. As a move action, a Striding Vine may lose it's blindsight in exchange for the following:
- Low-light vision
- Light Sensitivity (Ex): Striding Vines are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell (while using their eyebuds ability.)
While using it's eyebuds ability, a Striding Vine's fortification against critical hits drops to 75%. Any critical hit that deals damage destroys an eyebud. Any critical hit that lowers a Striding Vine's HP to 0 or below destroys all eyebuds. If a Striding Vine has only one eyebud remaining, it's vision is obscured as any other creature with one eye, DM's discretion. When a Striding Vine looses all eyebuds, the eyebud stalk wilts off and another begins to grow in it's place; in 2d4 days, the Striding Vine regains 1d4+1 eyebuds. Magical effects that would restore lost eyes restore the eyebud floret whole; single eyebuds may not be added after rolling for the initial 1d4+1. A Striding Vine can voluntarily shed its eyebuds, but regrowing them still takes 2d4 days. Eyebuds are indistinguishable from the rest of a Striding Vine's abilities while not in use, and are never injured at such times as a result of routine combat. They may, however, still be vulnerable to magical effects that confer blindness. The eyebuds ability can be ended at will as a free action, returning the use of the Striding Vine's blindsight.
Flimsy Build: The Striding Vine's anatomy is poorly suited to manipulating heavy loads. A Striding Vine is considered one size category smaller for the purpose of wielding weapons. (This has no effect on natural weapons or carrying capacity.) A Striding Vine may ignore this penalty, but its climb speed drops to 0 ft and its land speed drops to 5 ft.
-- Additional needs: Some racial skill bonus to Climb, possibly Jump. Maybe an ability to grow natural weapons to offset Flimsy Build. Level adjustment... +2? Telepathy? I'm thinking they communicate with other species via some sort of simple hand jive or maybe a percussive language in the fashion of Morse code or talking drums. I also wanted to propose a feat for creatures with no Int score/Int under 3, that allowed Wis to be used in place of Int, enabling animals and plants to learn languages, skills etc. while still being mindless/low Int. This, of course, would come free for Striding Vines.

[Lord Tataraus]

Wow, seedjar, thanks for the insight. That gives me a lot to think about and incorporate. On the note of halflings, I'd really like to get them finalized at this point and I think we should stick to one type of halfling: Tree Halflings. So, my suggestion for a start:

Halflings
Saz stretched his arms into the sky, feeling the cool wind blow the sweat off his body. He stood for awhile feeling so free until a sticky tongue lapped his face. "Alright Clover, lets go home." Saz adjusted the saddle on the large lizard-dog and made sure his quarry was secure before climbing on and allowing Clover to take them home. With a happy bark, the tych jumped down from the high branch and glided down to a great tree hundreds of feet away. Immediately after landing she dashed down the great trunk, over branches and made a few more leaping glides. At last the hunter and his companion returned to their village high in the trees. The small man jumped down as the villagers gathered to unload the tych, gasping at the fine quality of the hunter's prey; hundreds of beautiful blood-berries picked from right under the nose of the vicious blood-flower.

Personality: Halflings are a happy, carefree bunch. They are very social and enjoy the world around them. Though they live in isolated villages throughout the interior of the great forests, they regularly gather for great feasts of blood-berries, scarfruit, and other produce of the carnivorous plants that make up their world. Halfling society is very communal-based, though family is important. The leaders are selected for their social skills and intellect, though the brave hunters are more respected.

Physical Description: Halflings are small folk, the largest growing to only 4 1/2 feet tall. They wear clothing woven from plant fibers and decorated with many leaves and flowers. Their skin is usually a dark brown to black with short, curly black hair and dark eyes. However, they normally decorate their faces with paints and dyes in a variety of mask-like designs which each hold different meaning.

Relations: Halflings try to get along with others and do have good relationships with nearby human and gnork settlements, though they are constantly at war with the nesters. Due to infractions long since forgotten that occurred during the pre-Green years, the nesters have never forgiven the halflings and attack whenever able. While the nesters are merciless and savage in their war with the halflings, the halflings themselves are not entirely innocent. Many times their hunters raid nester settlements, slaughtering the women and children to "prevent future attacks" though it never works that way.

Religion: Unlike most other groups, the halflings revere a number of gods and many are very religious. Village leaders are commonly priests to the nine gods: Tyif - the home, Ae - the light, Acg - the provider, Ajz - the healer, Vish - the protector, Ogi - the destroyer, Tcipf - the lover, Uhp - the luck-giver, Olck - the thief. No halfling chooses one god over another, rather they pray to whichever is more appropriate. Most prays are for blessings and thanks, though some are for appeasement, usually from Olck and Ogi. Halfling priests pray to each god once per day at a specific time as determined by their nature: Olck an hour before dawn, Vish at dawn, Ajz an hour after dawn, Tyif an hour before noon, Ae at noon, Acg at an hour after noon, Uhp an hour before dusk, Tcipf at dusk, and Ogi an hour after dusk. It is said that these times are when the god is listening and one cannot pray except at that time. However, hunters usually pray to Acg and Vish when they need to.

Halfling Lands: Halflings live exclusively in the heart of the ancient city amongst the trees. They inhabit the upper regions of the trees with villages built amongst the branches. Walkways are constructed out of vines and stiffened leaves and houses are no more than roofs of leaves with thin paper-like walls for private areas, but are otherwise open. Because of their lifestyle, the halflings usually control large areas around their villages since their hunters must range very far to find sufficient food. Though halflings pick trees which can support small farms, the food produced within the village is only to supplement what the hunters bring in.

Halfling Racial Traits:
Small Humanoid
+2 Dex, -2 Str: Halflings are very agile and dexterous, though their smaller frames make them proportionally weaker.
Base Land Speed: 20ft
Athletic: A halfling's life amongst the trees grants them a +4 racial bonus to Climb and Jump checks. Additionally, a halfling may use his dexterity modifier on Climb and Jump checks instead of his strength.
Innate Stealth: Due to a halflings innate stealth and perception they gain a +2 racial bonus to Move Silently and Listen checks.
Marksmen: Halflings are natural marksmen, the gain a +1 bonus on all ranged attack rolls.
Poison Resistance: Halflings frequently come into contact with various poisons, granting them a +4 racial bonus on all saves vs. poisons.
Poison Use: Halflings are used to dealing with poisons and are never at risk of accidentally poisoning themselves.
Favored Class: Rogue

I might want to change the favored class to ranger, I don't know. Comments?

[jagadaishio]

Wow, seedjar, thanks for the insight. That gives me a lot to think about and incorporate. On the note of halflings, I'd really like to get them finalized at this point and I think we should stick to one type of halfling: Tree Halflings. So, my suggestion for a start:

Halflings
Saz stretched his arms into the sky, feeling the cool wind blow the sweat off his body. He stood for awhile feeling so free until a sticky tongue lapped his face. "Alright Clover, lets go home." Saz adjusted the saddle on the large lizard-dog and made sure his quarry was secure before climbing on and allowing Clover to take them home. With a happy bark, the tych jumped down from the high branch and glided down to a great tree hundreds of feet away. Immediately after landing she dashed down the great trunk, over branches and made a few more leaping glides. At last the hunter and his companion returned to their village high in the trees. The small man jumped down as the villagers gathered to unload the tych, gasping at the fine quality of the hunter's prey; hundreds of beautiful blood-berries picked from right under the nose of the vicious blood-flower.

Personality: Halflings are a happy, carefree bunch. They are very social and enjoy the world around them. Though they live in isolated villages throughout the interior of the great forests, they regularly gather for great feasts of blood-berries, scarfruit, and other produce of the carnivorous plants that make up their world. Halfling society is very communal-based, though family is important. The leaders are selected for their social skills and intellect, though the brave hunters are more respected.

Physical Description: Halflings are small folk, the largest growing to only 4 1/2 feet tall. They wear clothing woven from plant fibers and decorated with many leaves and flowers. Their skin is usually a dark brown to black with short, curly black hair and dark eyes. However, they normally decorate their faces with paints and dyes in a variety of mask-like designs which each hold different meaning.

Relations: Halflings try to get along with others and do have good relationships with nearby human and gnork settlements, though they are constantly at war with the nesters. Due to infractions long since forgotten that occurred during the pre-Green years, the nesters have never forgiven the halflings and attack whenever able. While the nesters are merciless and savage in their war with the halflings, the halflings themselves are not entirely innocent. Many times their hunters raid nester settlements, slaughtering the women and children to "prevent future attacks" though it never works that way.

Religion: Unlike most other groups, the halflings revere a number of gods and many are very religious. Village leaders are commonly priests to the nine gods: Tyif - the home, Ae - the light, Acg - the provider, Ajz - the healer, Vish - the protector, Ogi - the destroyer, Tcipf - the lover, Uhp - the luck-giver, Olck - the thief. No halfling chooses one god over another, rather they pray to whichever is more appropriate. Most prays are for blessings and thanks, though some are for appeasement, usually from Olck and Ogi. Halfling priests pray to each god once per day at a specific time as determined by their nature: Olck an hour before dawn, Vish at dawn, Ajz an hour after dawn, Tyif an hour before noon, Ae at noon, Acg at an hour after noon, Uhp an hour before dusk, Tcipf at dusk, and Ogi an hour after dusk. It is said that these times are when the god is listening and one cannot pray except at that time. However, hunters usually pray to Acg and Vish when they need to.

Halfling Lands: Halflings live exclusively in the heart of the ancient city amongst the trees. They inhabit the upper regions of the trees with villages built amongst the branches. Walkways are constructed out of vines and stiffened leaves and houses are no more than roofs of leaves with thin paper-like walls for private areas, but are otherwise open. Because of their lifestyle, the halflings usually control large areas around their villages since their hunters must range very far to find sufficient food. Though halflings pick trees which can support small farms, the food produced within the village is only to supplement what the hunters bring in.

Halfling Racial Traits:
Small Humanoid
+2 Dex, -2 Str: Halflings are very agile and dexterous, though their smaller frames make them proportionally weaker.
Base Land Speed:
Athletic: A halfling's life amongst the trees grants them a +4 racial bonus to Climb and Jump checks.
Innate Stealth: Due to a halflings innate stealth and perception they gain a +2 racial bonus to Move Silently and Listen checks.
Marksmen: Halflings are natural marksmen, the gain a +1 bonus on all ranged attack rolls.
Poison Resistance: Halflings frequently come into contact with various poisons, granting them a +4 racial bonus on all saves vs. poisons.
Poison Use: Halflings are used to dealing with poisons and are never at risk of accidentally poisoning themselves.
Favored Class: Rogue

I might want to change the favored class to ranger, I don't know. Comments?

Make their base land speed 20, give them a climb speed of 20, that will change their bonus to climb checks to +8. I think that you should also say that climb and jump checks can use Dex instead of Str. Just seems fitting.

[Lord Tataraus]

Make their base land speed 20, give them a climb speed of 20, that will change their bonus to climb checks to +8. I think that you should also say that climb and jump checks can use Dex instead of Str. Just seems fitting.

Oh, I forgot the land speed *fixes*. As for the climb speed, I specifically didn't give them one, for a number of reasons. I see halflings as creating a village in the trees with walkways and bridges and ladders; an overall civilized feel to it. However, the goblins can climb as well as they walk and have no need for any of that, instead their houses are linked only by the natural branches and the goblins skitter up trunks and branches to get where they're going. This separates the halflings from the goblins. Also, I want the halflings to be very dependent on the Tychs, and so they depend on them for transportation, since without them they couldn't move very quickly.

If the contributors as a group would prefer giving the halflings a climb speed, I will go along with it, though something would need to be dropped (or a penalty added).

[jagadaishio]

Oh, I forgot the land speed *fixes*. As for the climb speed, I specifically didn't give them one, for a number of reasons. I see halflings as creating a village in the trees with walkways and bridges and ladders; an overall civilized feel to it. However, the goblins can climb as well as they walk and have no need for any of that, instead their houses are linked only by the natural branches and the goblins skitter up trunks and branches to get where they're going. This separates the halflings from the goblins. Also, I want the halflings to be very dependent on the Tychs, and so they depend on them for transportation, since without them they couldn't move very quickly.

If the contributors as a group would prefer giving the halflings a climb speed, I will go along with it, though something would need to be dropped (or a penalty added).

I actually prefer your idea of it, where they don't have a climb speed and have real arboreal villages.

[Lord Tataraus]

I leave the halfling still out for a bit of discussion, but if there are no complaints for awhile then I'll make them official as is.

I would now like to turn our attention back to the elf fluff. What version are we going to accept? Women as sex slaves? Women as queens/rulers? Or something else? I guess the way I see it, it makes a little more sense to me for the women as queens bit. Elves are long lived and would thus remember the pre-Green era longer when they were more socialites (though still horribly racist, maybe they blame the cataclysm on the inferior races?). In the pre-Green era it would have been easy for a female elf to gain power since under laws they would be more protected from the males and thus the males would have to resort to earning favor from the women to mate. This could easily be carried over by the strongest of the female elves. They would have years of experience with social manipulation and intimidation through sheer force of personality and could reign in the males. Then once that system is set in place, the elves' conservative nature would make sure it doesn't change.

[jagadaishio]

I leave the halfling still out for a bit of discussion, but if there are no complaints for awhile then I'll make them official as is.

I would now like to turn our attention back to the elf fluff. What version are we going to accept? Women as sex slaves? Women as queens/rulers? Or something else? I guess the way I see it, it makes a little more sense to me for the women as queens bit. Elves are long lived and would thus remember the pre-Green era longer when they were more socialites (though still horribly racist, maybe they blame the cataclysm on the inferior races?). In the pre-Green era it would have been easy for a female elf to gain power since under laws they would be more protected from the males and thus the males would have to resort to earning favor from the women to mate. This could easily be carried over by the strongest of the female elves. They would have years of experience with social manipulation and intimidation through sheer force of personality and could reign in the males. Then once that system is set in place, the elves' conservative nature would make sure it doesn't change.

I definitely agree with you on that one. They could also always threaten suicide if placed in a sex slave situation, as you mentioned before. In the end, the queens would have control over whether a tribe survives or perishes.

[seedjar]

Striding Vine

Large Plant, 1d8

Land Speed 30 ft, Climb 30 ft

Space/Reach: 10ft/10ft (20ft with vine.)

+2 Str, +4 Con, 0 Int, -2 Wis, -4 Cha

Immunities as the plant type (except for such effects that specifically affect the plant type, IE poisons, etc.)

Immunity to electricity.

Natural slam attack (1d6.)

Constrict, Improved Grab.

Camoflage: since a striding vine looks like a normal plant when at rest, it takes a DC 20 Spot check to notice it before it attacks.

Blindsight 30ft (or eyebuds, see below)

Eyebuds: A vine may lose it's blindsight as a move action and switch to eyebuds, which grant low-light vision and light sensitivity (see kobold MM entry, etc.) Switching back is a free action. While seeing via eyebuds, a vine's fortification against critical hits drops to 75%. Damage from a critical hit results in the loss of one eyebud. Damage from a critical hit that drops a vine to 0 HP or less results in the loss of all eyebuds. Seeing with one eyebud incurs penalties as seeing with one eye, DM's discretion. After losing all eyebuds, 1d4+1 eyebuds grow back in 2d4 days. Eyebuds can be voluntarily shed as a free action but take just as long to grow back. Spells that restore an eye cannot add additional eyes beyond this 1d4+1 once it is rolled; restoring a vine's eyebuds results in a new stalk of 1d4+1 eyebuds. Eyebuds are not at risk of damage while not in use, but may be subject to magical blindness (such as in cases where eyes are targeted specifically, but not by effects such as excessively bright light.) A vine still has use of its auditory and olfactory senses while using eyebuds, but they are not focused enough to pinpoint enemies as with blindsense.

Flimsy Build: A vine wields weapons as though it were one size smaller. This quality does not effect other quantities related to size, such as natural weapon dice or carrying capacity.

Entangle: Once per day, as a free action, a striding vine can animate plants within 30 feet of itself as a free action (Ref DC, Wis based.) The effect lasts until the vine dies or decides to end it (also a free action.) The ability is otherwise similar to entangle (caster level 4th.)

Bouyancy: A vine is lighter than water when dry and can float at will by expanding fiborous cavities in its limbs. While floating, a vine rises to the surface of a body of water at a speed of 10 ft. Its carrying capacity is a light load, and a light load is 1/10 of the vine's bodyweight. Whether floating or not, a vine cannot swim with more than a light load.

Subliminal Communication: Striding vines communicate through a complex system of chemical messages, body movements and vibrations. A striding vine can perceive the communications of other plants with this ability within range of its blindsight (even while it is using its eyebuds.) Awareness of another vine's communication does not convey understanding; striding vines posses languages (such as plant common) that work across this medium.

Automatic Langauges: Plant Common, Elven, Sylvan / Bonus Languages: Common, Forest Shorthand, Halfling, Orc, Goblin
(Note: Striding vines, by themselves, lack organs for vocalization. While they are able to understand spoken language, the only spoken language they can produce is forest shorthand, which is based on the rhythmic percussion of drumming on tree limbs.)

+8 bonus on Climb.

+4 bonus on Hide and Move Silently in moderately dense or denser vegetation.

+2 bonus on Knowledge (Nature) and Survival.

Level Adjustment: +2 (+4?)


I'd still like to tweak it a little... add a subterranean variant and maybe a plains-dwelling one that doesn't have sensitivity to light. Need to come up with a guideline rule for nourishment. Maybe ditch the electricity immunity for resistance electricity 10/fire 5/cold 5. Need a feat for substituting Wis for Int for mindless/Int <3 creatures as a free racial feat for these guys. Also thinking of an optional feat that lets plant creatures vocalize as animals/humanoids/etc.
~Joe

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I have to say I'm not too happy with there being a full plant PC race. I think we have enough PC races as is, and we already have the two templates.

[seedjar]

That's cool - somebody mentioned it and I thought it was an interesting idea. Can somebody tip me off as to what the actual spoiler tag is?
~Joe

[Lord Tataraus]

That's cool - somebody mentioned it and I thought it was an interesting idea. Can somebody tip me off as to what the actual spoiler tag is?
~Joe

I had suggested a plant race before and didn't get much response, so I think we'll stick with greenspawn and ungreen. As for spoiler tags, you did it correctly but you can't have a value, just stuff

[seedjar]

Right on - I liked the idea at least. You're welcome to it if you change your mind. For the record, I would still like to see an assassin vine BBEG.
As for the elves, were they even around before the cataclysm? I think it would be interesting to present the elves as young avatars of nature's wrath, especially with the red elves write-up provided. I think the peaceful hippie elf as a totem of nature's ancient wisdom is pretty clichéd anyways.
~Joe

[jagadaishio]

Right on - I liked the idea at least. You're welcome to it if you change your mind. For the record, I would still like to see an assassin vine BBEG.
As for the elves, were they even around before the cataclysm? I think it would be interesting to present the elves as young avatars of nature's wrath, especially with the red elves write-up provided. I think the peaceful hippie elf as a totem of nature's ancient wisdom is pretty clichéd anyways.
~Joe

I would think that the elves would be a plant race if they were created by the cataclysm. After all, it seemed to be less of a nature-centric event and more of a plant-centric event. It seems like the sudden growth raped everything else in nature.

[Lord Tataraus]

I would think that the elves would be a plant race if they were created by the cataclysm. After all, it seemed to be less of a nature-centric event and more of a plant-centric event. It seems like the sudden growth raped everything else in nature.

Due to the apparent nature of the cataclysm (whatever it really was) I would agree that anything created by it would be plant. In fact, both the greenspawn and ungreen are both created by the cataclysm and are plants. However, I would prefer to think of the cataclysm as making changes, not creating new things. Sure, a number of plants became carnivorous and the trees got really big, but overall it was just extremely rapid growth and evolution.

On a slightly related note, I have been somewhat ignoring the "this is what the cataclysm was" ideas which is unfair to those posters. I think they are all very good ideas and are very interesting, however, I think it would be best for this setting if no one knew what the cataclysm actually was or what happened or caused it. In fact, I think the setting would work best if everything from the cataclysm back into the pre-Green period was completely forgotten. That way, all the technology and magic is a mystery and no one will ever know since those who were alive at that time are now insane greenspawn or just plain forgot over the years.

[seedjar]

Well, I'm not saying that the cataclysm made the elves - just that, the elves are elves as they are known because of whatever happened after the cataclysm. Maybe these elves are just humans that have become stronger and smarter (and prettier :P ) because life is just that harsh, but I don't really like that explanation. More that the cataclysm happened, everything went crazy, and sometime after that survivors began to encounter roving bands of cannibalistic red elves. I imagine that the red elves are fierce enough to stand up to greenspawn baddies and the like, and as such stand out among the humanoid races as mysterious, nearly mythic survivalists. I think that saying that no one had ever seen an elf before the emergence of red elves opens the possibility for very interesting backstory. Maybe the elves were created in the cataclysm, or they're a response to the resulting changes in the land, or perhaps there is no direct causal link between the two, but they were the coincidental results of the same series of events. I personally don't think their history should be explained; the tribes know what happened up to a few generations back, and survivors from the previous era know that red elves are scary and would rather make you into a nice stew than make friends.
I guess my point is that these elves are already a large departure from the archetypal pacifist elf. As the theme of the setting is a natural catastrophe, I think that introducing these elves as a young race emerging in the face of a new era nicely parallels the overall motif of a stable, civilized world suddenly overturned and replaced by primal chaos.
~Joe

PS - For whatever reason, this makes me think of the underdark component of the world. Seeing as everything on the surface has gone all end-of-the-world and chaotic, I would like to see a contrast with the underworld characterized by lawful forces. Not like some unified empire or anything, but just an emphasis on tight-knit militant tribes, organized city-states, etc. Take a selection of typically evil underdark races (devils, drow... uh... formians?) and recast them as exemplars of rigid lawfulness, nationalism and xenophobia.

[seedjar]

After all, it seemed to be less of a nature-centric event and more of a plant-centric event.

Ah, see, I never meant to imply that the elves were created by the cataclysm, or that the cataclysm itself was a natural phenomenon. (I thought it had already been decided that it wasn't natural, whatever it was.) Rather, that nature's response to the cataclysm may have resulted in the red elves.
~Joe

[Lord Tataraus]

PS - For whatever reason, this makes me think of the underdark component of the world. Seeing as everything on the surface has gone all end-of-the-world and chaotic, I would like to see a contrast with the underworld characterized by lawful forces. Not like some unified empire or anything, but just an emphasis on tight-knit militant tribes, organized city-states, etc. Take a selection of typically evil underdark races (devils, drow... uh... formians?) and recast them as exemplars of rigid lawfulness, nationalism and xenophobia.

Actually, if you look back at our discussions for kobolds, that's exactly what they are turning out to be. In fact, once we clear up the elves and halflings that will be next. Though we never have had the gnorks, orcs, and gnomes really fleshed out yet if anyone out their wants to work on them.

[seedjar]

I think the setting would work best if everything from the cataclysm back into the pre-Green period was completely forgotten. That way, all the technology and magic is a mystery and no one will ever know since those who were alive at that time are now insane greenspawn or just plain forgot over the years.

I agree entirely, which is why I like the idea of making the red elves nebulous and new to other races. It begs all sorts of questions, such as what they were beforehand (Did halflings get taller? Did orcs get more aerodynamic?) - what changed them (Nature's wrath, rival doomsday project, etc.) - and why no one knew of them previously (They were engineered, they're mutants, they were set down by the hand of God to punish the remnants of the mortals that tampered with the natural order.)
~Joe

PS - Re: the kobolds, very good. I hope that theme is continued with the other residents of the underground. I think it would be interesting if there were some politics going on underground that made it a place that, while not explicitly dangerous to PCs, is still not a place where most parties are welcome and can come rest, I.E. "Go find your own hole."

PPS - I nominate "Go find your own hole" as the name for this setting's underdark supplement. :P

[Vadin]

seedjar- I'm gonna go with people knew about them. They were elves. An entire race of aristocrats. And, when society breaks down and no one has any idea whats going on, what do the elves do? They take their culture (women subservient warrior men who love to show off) and their power struggles into the woods and hide and jump out and kill people (much like their societal tactics in pre-Green times). Of course, afterwards, their inherent magic starts showing up every now and then and the ritual tattoos those few wear become magical, which really gets the race that 'magical wild-folk' reputation.

On the Tattooed class, maybe a blending of equal parts incarnum and binding? Not a direct port of those, of course, but similar mechanics blended together.

[Lord Tataraus]

On the subject of the tattooed class, I'm a little torn. While the majority who voiced their opinion preferred the PrC approach, I am kind of leaning towards the base class idea, if for no reason other than to replace the monk as an unarmed warrior.

So, in that light I think a base class should be considered primarily as an unarmed warrior/ranger type with the tattoos as the secondary focus, or alternately, have features like "styles" with one being tattoos, another being some other kind of focus. Going off with this train of thought, how about the "tattooed" class be an arcane warrior? Not so much in the sense of Duskblade, but more like Soulborn or maybe Totemist, but with arcane roots.

Edit: seedjar, "Go find your own hole" made me lol!

[seedjar]

So, I skimmed the whole thread before posting so I'm pretty sure this hasn't been asked, but what kind of settlements do you see existing in this setting? It would be handy for us would-be contributors to have an upward bound. I'm imagining nothing much larger than large villages on most of the surface, with perhaps a few cloistered cities just emerging in the few relatively safe pockets. Underground, where the darkness has kept things slightly less deadly, remnants of subterranean races have fared slightly better than above, but have still been thrown into chaos by disruptions to the food chain and civilized commerce. What remains are grouped into larger, more advanced and stable settlements than above, but overall density is still very low, with each group claiming and holding large territories to gather adequate resources from the sparse terrain.
Other generals that would be helpful:
Deities? How many are there? How powerful/well-known/involved/real are they?
World size? Roughly how many square miles/km/Snickers bars are we talking here? How near are the outlying islands, and how much overall space to they allow? Are there aquatic races in the near waters? Are the continent and islands the only land in the entire world, or the previously known world? How much sea is out there? Flat earth or Copernican?
Modules allowed? Are we admitting psionics and other magic variants? Does enough technology remain that it matters?
~Joe

[seedjar]

seedjar- I'm gonna go with people knew about them. They were elves. An entire race of aristocrats. And, when society breaks down and no one has any idea whats going on, what do the elves do? They take their culture (women subservient warrior men who love to show off) and their power struggles into the woods and hide and jump out and kill people (much like their societal tactics in pre-Green times).

This also works, but I'm having issues with the versimilitude of a continent-sized city where elves are the ruling caste by race and all these other races still homogenize into one progressive civilization while maintaining relative genetic distinction, and yet these separate mating groups of the various races (genetically compatible, no less, as we've established with the gnork) are as a whole still willing to be subjugated by elves exclusively. It overcomplicates the backdrop. The point of the setting is that all that stuff is over - I don't think that there is a need for such detailed canon. Why did the red elves end up all cannibalistic and badass while the other races receded and still somehow maintained enough semblance of a history to remember the origin of the elves? Maybe I'm just not following, but this seems the wrong kind of hand waving for my taste. (Which is to say, my explanation is equally, if not more hand-wave-y.)
~Joe

[Vadin]

Yes! I wholeheartedly second that it should be a base class, if for no other reason than I totally want to use it in some of my games.

That being said, I think there should be a PrC version for other aces to use. After fighting the Red Elves for so long, I can see nestlings picking up a few things from the elves, combining their own goblinoid arcane traditions with their foes permapowers. Better than the 'arcane incarnum' prestige class from MoI. That was just terrible.

[EDIT] No one said the elves were the ruling race. They're just few in number, entirely beautiful by any standards, naturally adept at powerful magic, and raised on intrigue and power plays. Where will they end up? The upper echelons of society. Upper-middle class is about as low as they'll get on the socioeconomic scale. In such a civilization, I'm inclined to say there wouldn't be one ruling race, but humans would feature prominently in the government, of course. Power hungry little dirt monkeys...

[Lord Tataraus]

So, I skimmed the whole thread before posting so I'm pretty sure this hasn't been asked, but what kind of settlements do you see existing in this setting? It would be handy for us would-be contributors to have an upward bound. I'm imagining nothing much larger than large villages on most of the surface, with perhaps a few cloistered cities just emerging in the few relatively safe pockets. Underground, where the darkness has kept things slightly less deadly, remnants of subterranean races have fared slightly better than above, but have still been thrown into chaos by disruptions to the food chain and civilized commerce. What remains are grouped into larger, more advanced and stable settlements than above, but overall density is still very low, with each group claiming and holding large territories to gather adequate resources from the sparse terrain.
Firstly, I said this in response to Vadin's slew of questions: you tell me. I set up the basics and that's it, everything else is to be constructed by the contributers though I will interject to say "this is what I envisioned...." though it by no means is the end-all answer. So, if you have questions, answer them. It is then up to the other contributers to agree or disagree. So, this question was answered (indirectly) by Vadin (I think) who said the maximum city would be around 6000 or so. In the underdark it might be more.


Other generals that would be helpful:
Deities? How many are there? How powerful/well-known/involved/real are they?
You tell me. Some deities have been created as needed for the halflings' religion though if those deities actually exist is another question. So far, the world seems to have lost contact with any deities there might be.


World size? Roughly how many square miles/km/Snickers bars are we talking here? How near are the outlying islands, and how much overall space to they allow?
Whatever is convenient, there is no set distances or areas, even the map is just to show the approximate shape and climate of the world, but it does not claim to be to any scale.

Are there aquatic races in the near waters?
You tell me.

Are the continent and islands the only land in the entire world, or the previously known world?
In my outline of the basic rules, the "world" consists only of the single conteint and island. However, the term "world" refers only to everything encompassed in this setting and by no means limits the reset of the over-arching world to contain more, but it is irrelevant to this setting.

How much sea is out there? Flat earth or Copernican?
It is irrelevant. Due to the technological levels, anything that got that far away wouldn't return and is considered outside the "world" that is this setting.


Modules allowed? Are we admitting psionics and other magic variants? Does enough technology remain that it matters?
~Joe
You tell me.

Sorry if I frustrate you :smalltongue: but this is a community project, I don't want it to be my project with insight and suggestions from a few others. This is our project.

[Lord Tataraus]

This also works, but I'm having issues with the versimilitude of a continent-sized city where elves are the ruling caste by race and all these other races still homogenize into one progressive civilization while maintaining relative genetic distinction, and yet these separate mating groups of the various races are as a whole still willing to be subjugated by elves exclusively. It overcomplicates the backdrop. The point of the setting is that all that stuff is over - I don't think that there is a need for such detailed canon. Why did the red elves end up all cannibalistic and badass while the other races receded and still somehow maintained enough semblance of a history to remember the origin of the elves? Maybe I'm just not following, but this seems the wrong kind of hand waving for my taste. (Which is to say, my explanation is equally, if not more hand-wave-y.)
~Joe

Emphasis mine. This is answered in the original proposition for the idea of "badass, cannibalistic elves". The reasoning was that they are extremely xenophobic/racist and blame the cataclysm and everything that goes wrong on..well, everyone else. Thus, they are killing as a form of justice, and good sport and show-off-y-ness.

@ Vadin: While I agree with the base class idea (duh), I would rather it not be a racial class, it should be open to everybody. That's why I suggested making the tattoos a secondary focus, so that other races could take the class, but not have the same tattoo stuff. Actually, the way halflings stand, they are into body decoration with paint, that could work just like tattoos.

[Vadin]

A base class that grants powers incarnum/binder-esque, but the visual manifestation depends on the user? Many different tracks that grant many different kinds of powers and choices of vestiges/soulmelds? Goblinoids tend to focus on blasty, more traditional powers granted, elves almost always take constant or long-lasting effects, and halflings...just mix it up, though they don't usually use all that much magic. Orcs stay away from making their own magic usually, though their gnome and gnork cousins tend to use it very often and in as many ways as they need. So, the Tattooed class, the shapeshifting druid, and...maybe the psion recast as an naturally magic class?

[puppyavenger]

for kobolds, going off the previos idea, a ridiculusly small number of kobolds are sorcerors, and they are treated like phrophets, to get around this, mayby the highest cast of kobolds are almost entirely wizards who devoted there life to gaining access to the dragon.

[seedjar]

That's great. I only asked because I got the impression that there might be a few more guidelines that you had in mind but hadn't set out explicitly. I think 6000 sounds like a good number for the upper bound - how many make it to this big though? I'd say it would be limited to the single digits. As brutal as greenspawn and other such critters sound I think even five such settlements sounds generous.
As for world scale, I always like the possibility of taking a game into epic levels while still maintaining some setting continuity. I think it would be good to leave the scope of the world beyond the continent and locally accessible islands largely undefined. In general, I'd say the cataclysm reached virtually all of the world, not just its known regions. A few pockets of the past may remain out at sea, but let's leave that possibility aside for the time being. The cataclysm affected sea life as well and anything but local sea travel is impossible at pre-epic levels due to sea monsters and, perhaps, navigation and weather hazards.
Most 'civilized' folk only know what a map is and have never seen one in person. There is little question over whether the earth is flat or round, because most people wouldn't even think to ask the question. In pre-Green times, while much of the outlying seas were explored and well known, the question of the time was not whether or not the world was flat or round, but if it had bounds at all. Perhaps the question of the world's curvature, edges and overall size should be left to later discussion as well for purposes of developing a truly naïve pre-epic setting.
To discourage player reasoning and rules-lawyering on the setting, I propose that the continent be made relatively uniform in climate and seasonal cycle, with a somewhat oblong east-west shape. (If there is an east and west at all.) Is it on the equator? Is it too small on the scale of the world to experience regular climate systems? Does conventional meteorology apply at all? Again, putting the answer in the DM's hand for convenience.
Since the whole-continent-was-a-city idea is too striking not to emphasize, I'd say we could set the scale of the map pretty high, with an area in the neighborhood of 10mil to 40mil square miles - in the neighborhood of Asia or a supercontinent.
~Joe

[Lord Tataraus]

A base class that grants powers incarnum/binder-esque, but the visual manifestation depends on the user? Many different tracks that grant many different kinds of powers and choices of vestiges/soulmelds? Goblinoids tend to focus on blasty, more traditional powers granted, elves almost always take constant or long-lasting effects, and halflings...just mix it up, though they don't usually use all that much magic. Orcs stay away from making their own magic usually, though their gnome and gnork cousins tend to use it very often and in as many ways as they need. So, the Tattooed class, the shapeshifting druid, and...maybe the psion recast as an naturally magic class?

Exactly what I'm thinking. As for the psion recast as a natural magic class? Wilder.

So, classes thus far:
Barbarian
Druid (shapeshifter)
Fighter
Ranger
Rogue
Savage Warrior
Sorcerer
Tattooed (working title, should be renamed)
Wilder
Wizard

Anything seem missing? I don't know about clerics at this point, especially since there are few deities and nature is the most powerful force. And as I look at it more and more, I'm thinking that we might have a good reason to remove fighter entirely. Barbarians, rangers, savage warriors, and tattooed could make all of the martial warriors. Also, I think Scout might be a better replacement for rogue, or at least as a definite alternate.

[seedjar]

Emphasis mine. This is answered in the original proposition for the idea of "badass, cannibalistic elves". The reasoning was that they are extremely xenophobic/racist and blame the cataclysm and everything that goes wrong on..well, everyone else. Thus, they are killing as a form of justice, and good sport and show-off-y-ness.

Ah, I see now.
~Joe

PS - I think prestige classes can probably fill the cleric role, as study of deities seems like it might be a culturally specific thing in this world. Not to mention that necromancy is much more a lost art to most, taking away a large portion of the cleric's portfolio. Or will religious functions kick over entirely to the druid? How nature-related is this ranger - will they be part of most nature-worship circles? It would be nice to see something kind of like a paladin, but with less fighter-/cleric-ness and more barbarian-isity. Maybe merge fighter characteristics with monk flavor for melee type with dogma and light healing abilities to share with friends. I guess my concern here is that druids have hermit flavor to me - it would be good to see some options for the few folks who are telling the rest of their tribes which trees to hug and which mushrooms to eat.

[Lord Tataraus]

To discourage player reasoning and rules-lawyering on the setting, I propose that the continent be made relatively uniform in climate and seasonal cycle, with a somewhat oblong east-west shape. (If there is an east and west at all.) Is it on the equator? Is it too small on the scale of the world to experience regular climate systems? Does conventional meteorology apply at all? Again, putting the answer in the DM's hand for convenience.
Since the whole-continent-was-a-city idea is too striking not to emphasize, I'd say we could set the scale of the map pretty high, with an area in the neighborhood of 10mil to 40mil square miles - in the neighborhood of Asia or a supercontinent.
~Joe

At this point I'll put in my "this is what I envisioned" statement. It was sort of assumed with all the talk of jungles and rainforests that the continent lies, if not directly on, near the equator. I left it open to the contributors to decide the ranges of climate, but I think it is best to make it mostly uniform (as you can see by the map). As for the size, I think Asia is a bit too big, I was going for something around Australia in size. Large enough to be impressive, but its not Coruscant :smalltongue:

At this size, it is feasible to travel from one end to the other and back within a year, but its too large for any sane person to actually try. This way adventurers can reasonably adventure anywhere in the world without too much worry about how long it will take.

[seedjar]

At this size, it is feasible to travel from one end to the other and back within a year, but its too large for any sane person to actually try. This way adventurers can reasonably adventure anywhere in the world without too much worry about how long it will take.

That sounds right. I was more just thinking, "What would be unreasonably large for a city?" and the first answer that came to mind was Gondwanaland.
~Joe

PS - So, to run the numbers real quick, with a speed of 24 miles/day of overland movement, one year's travel is 24*365 = 8760 miles, half of which is 4380 miles. I think that 24 miles/day is a little slow in terms of what a party of PCs could accomplish, which is probably closer to 80, when you factor in things like mounts, magic and not rounding down while doing conversions from ft/round speeds to miles/day. If 4380 miles is the long span, then a short span of 2700 miles gives a shape that's nicely close to the golden ratio (which makes it good in my eyes. :P )

[tsuuga]

Red Elf Manhunter
Red Elf Manhunter
Hit Dice: d8
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Hide(Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge: Nature(Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Spot(Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 6x (6 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + int

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Favored Enemy, Tooth and Claw, Active Camouflage(+2)

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Track

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Multiattack

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Woodland Stride

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Rend (1d6), Active Camouflage (+4)

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Improved Natural Attack(Claws)

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|Rend (1d8)

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Improved Natural Attack(Bite)

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|Rend (1d10), Swift Tracker

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|2nd Favored Enemy, Scratch His Eyes Out, Active Camouflage (+6)

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|Rend (2d6)

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|Rend (Manufactured Weapons)

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|Rend (2d8)

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4|Fade From Sight

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|Rend (2d10), Active Camouflage (+6)

16th|
+16/11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|Evasion

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5|Rend (3d8)

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6|Hide in Plain Sight

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|Rend (3d10)

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|3rd Favored Enemy, Active Camouflage (+8)
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Red Elf Manhunter is proficient with all simple weapons, bite and claw attacks, handaxes, throwing axes, and kukri, light armor, and medium armor.

Favored Enemy: At 1st level, a Manhunter may select one from this list: Dwarf, Elf, Goblin, Gnome, Halfling, Orc. The Manhunter gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of this type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures.

At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the Manhunter may select an additional favored enemy from those given . In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by 2.

Tooth and Claw: a Red Elf Manhunter files his teeth and claws to points. He gains two claw attacks (primary) and a bite attack (secondary).

Active Camouflage a Red Elf Manhunter covers his face and hands with magical tattoos. These tattoos rearrange themselves to resemble the surface behind the Manhunter, giving him a +2 bonus to Hide checks. This bonus increases by 2 at level 5 and every 5 levels thereafter.

Track: A Red Elf Manhunter gains Track as a bonus feat.

Multiattack: A Red Elf Manhunter gains Multiattack as a bonus feat.

Woodland Stride: Starting at 4th level, a Red Elf Manhunter may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment.

However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect him.

Rend: If two or more of a Red Elf Manhunter's natural weapons deal damage to the same opponent in a round, the Manhunter latches on and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals extra damage as shown on the table. At 12th level, a Red Elf Manhunter can rend with manufactured weapons as well.

Improved Natural Attack: At level 6, a Red Elf Manhunter's claw attacks increase to 1d6 damage. At level 8, his bite attack does as well.

Fade From View: At 14th level and higher, a Red Elf Manhunter can use the Hide skill in any sort of natural terrain, even if the terrain doesn’t grant cover or concealment.

Evasion: At 16th level, a Red Elf Manhunter can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the Manhunter is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Manhunter does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Hide in Plain Sight: At 18th level and higher, a Red Elf Manhunter can use the Hide skill even while being observed.

Some Sort of Tattoo Based Magic: At some level, a Red Elf Manhunter can use magical tattoos. Or something.


EDIT: I agree that scout should replace Rogue. Open Lock, Disable Device, Use Magic Device, and even Forgery and Appraise just aren't sensible skills in our world. I propose a "Dungeoneer" prestige class that spends a lot of time delving in the undercity or poking around in ancient buildings to pick up those skills.

EDIT 2: I pictured most of these elf tribes having either a druid-type guy or a greenspawn serving as a tribe mystic. Tribes with Greenspawn undertake the "Ritual of Assumption" when they're old or just dying; voluntarily becoming ungreen to serve their spiritual leader. I haven't really weighed in on the womenfolk, so: I vote for "Matriarchal society, the women are in charge and don't dirty their hands"

I support halflings without climb speeds; they should be able to apply dex to climb and jump, but they're dependent on their lizards.

I'm also not a big fan of plants being a viable PC race. I'm currently thinking that the greenspawn template should grant INT 6 or so; instead of a race of sentient assassin vines, you'll sometimes run into a sentient greenspawn assassin vine.

I also agree that the nature of the cataclysm should be left open. Almost no knowledge remains from before that time; Gatelings hate halflings but they don't remember why, Greenspawn are either too forgetful or crazy to tell you, and immortals are too aloof.

If all elves are aristocrats, that doesn't mean all aristocrats are elves. Elves tended to live rich and glamorous lives (Making money isn't hard when you live for a thousand years and barely age). If they got into politics, they have a long time to practice, and can provide stability that the shorter-lived races can't. (Senator Llawanryoleth, the incumbent, has just been re-elected for his 334th term!) (Whoops, too late. What Vadin said.)

"Go find your own hole!" gets my vote :smallwink:

I would say that yes, there are surviving, air-breathing aquatic races. Due to the pervasiveness of algae in the oceans, the algal bloom caused by the cataclysm killed off intelligent life that couldn't stick its head above water. The only non-greenspawn, non-ungreen aquatic life left is from far enough down that light doesn't reach. That life has quickly adapted to fill niches higher up in the water column. At night, the sea veritably glows as all the light-up fishes eat each other. If you want to travel out to sea... watch out for the 200-foot long Gulper Eels and Vampire Squid. Don't even get me started on the Greenspawn Kracken with its legions of ungreen flying fish.

[Vadin]

The Manhunter: very good.

Though...Gnork and Human should be added to the list of possible favored enemies. They're still there to be eaten!

And the Tattooed magic...I'm thinkin' that should be a separate class. Like how the Fire Nation army is composed of multiclassed fighters and benders, the vicious arcane warriors of the elves would be multiclassed Weirds and Manhunters.

Speaking of the Weirds, Wars and Wise. That is, the mention of Weirds brings back up the three positions of honor in Gnorkish (Gnomes, Gnorks, and Orcs, not just Gnorks) society. Those could all be classes. Wars could replace armored fighters, paladins, and other heavy fighters (probably with a bit of bard thrown in). Weirds would be that new magic class that keeps gettin' talked about, methinks. And the Wise...Wizards? With some bard thrown in for extra knowledge and skills. Less spellcasting, more unique abilities, but definitely the guy who owns several (yes, more than one!) Old Book. He studies the Ancient Tomes, learns the spells, and reveres the lore in an almost religious sense. Thematically, not unlike the archivist, I suppose. A bard with a spellbook and something to replace bardic music (because that really doesn't fit).

[Lord Tataraus]

Warden
Warden
Hit Dice: 1d10
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 4x (4 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + int

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|Warden's Code, Wrath of the Warden

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|Vanquish 1/encounter

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|Nature's Blessing (Life)

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|Nature's Blessing (Fury)

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|Vanquish 2/encounter

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+5|Nature's Blessing (Call)

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+5|Warden's Step

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+6|Nature's Blessing (Resistance)

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+6|Nature's Blessing (Sight)

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+7|Vanquish 3/encounter

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+7|Nature's Blessing (Wrath)

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+8|Nature's Blessing (Growth)

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+8|-

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+9|-

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+9|Vanquish 4/encounter

16th|
+16/11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+10|Nature's Blessing (Ally)

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10|-

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11|Nature's Blessing (Servant)

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11|Nature's Blessing (Insight)

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+12|Vanquish 5/encounter
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A warden is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).

Warden's Code: A warden is a protector. He swears his life to a cause, be it the protection of his family, village, race, or all victims of the Red Elves. The warden assumes a personal code, promising to protect and defend with nature herself as his ally. Starting at 1st level a warden gains a +2 bonus to all Will saves verse compulsion effects.

Wrath of the Warden: Starting at 1st level a warden learns to use his great determination and conviction to bring all his fury against his enemies, one at a time. Each round as a free action, a warden may select any enemy within 30ft to become his prime target for that round. If the warden willingly moves more than 30ft away from his prime target the effect ends. The opponent has a -2 morale penalty to AC and attack rolls for as long as he is a prime target of a warden. However, while the warden has a prime target, he has a -2 penalty to AC.

Vanquish: Starting at 2nd level a warden learns to call upon nature herself to aid him in his battle for justice, destroying those who oppose him in primal fury. The warden makes a normal weapon attack against an opponent he has selected as a prime target a bonus to damage equal to twice his warden level. This ability is usable once per encounter at 2nd level. At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter the warden gains an extra use of this ability per encounter.

Nature's Blessing: Starting at 3rd level, the primal forces of nature grants the warden a portion of her power to help further his cause. A warden gains a number of Nature's Blessing uses equal to his level plus his charisma modifier.
Life: Starting at 3rd level, a warden may expend a use of Nature's Blessing to heal a touched creature a number of hit points equal to 1d8 for every 3 levels plus his charisma modifier.
Fury: Starting at 4th level, a warden may expend a use of Nature's Blessing to grant any number of creatures within 30ft a morale bonus to attack rolls equal to 1/4 his warden level for a number of rounds equal to his charisma modifier.
Call: Starting at 6th level, a warden may expend a use of Nature's Blessing to gain a bonus equal to his level on all wild empathy and handle animal checks for a number of rounds equal to his charisma modifier. Additionally, the animal or plant's initial attitude is increased by one step towards helpful.
Resistance: Starting at 8th level, a warden may expend a use of Nature's Blessing to grant any number of creatures within 30ft a morale bonus to all saves equal to 1/4 his warden level for a number of rounds equal to his charisma modifier.
Sight: Starting at 9th level, a warden may expend a use of Nature's Blessing to gain Darkvision 60ft or improve his existing darkvision by 60ft. The warden may instead choose to spend 2 uses to gain blindsense 10ft, 3 uses to gain blindsense 20ft, or 4 uses to gain blindsense 30ft.
Wrath: Starting at 11th level, a warden may expend a use of Nature's Blessing to grant any number of creatures within 30ft a morale bonus to all weapon damage rolls equal to 1/2 his warden level for a number of rounds equal to his charisma modifier.
Growth: Starting at 12th level, a warden may expend two uses of Nature's Blessing to grant a +2 bonus to a touch creature to either strength, dexterity, or constitution for a number of minutes equal to his charisma modifier. A creature may only have each ability score effected by one such increase at a time, any more uses will only reset the duration.
Ally: Starting at 16th level, a warden may expend two uses of Nature's Blessing to summon any number of animals or plants with a total number of hit dice equal to his warden level. These summoned creatures follow the warden's verbal commands without question for a number of rounds equal to his charisma modifier. After that duration the warden must make wild empathy checks as normal, but the creatures are considered unfriendly.
Meld: Starting at 18th level, a warden may expend three uses of Nature's Blessing to meld into his environment, effectively entering into the ground, tree, or other surface. The warden may move through the material as a move action with a speed equal to his base land speed. The warden is immune to any attacks, even those directed at the material he is occupying. No form of divination can reveal his location. A warden may exit and enter any material freely until the end of the duration. Once the duration has ended, the warden is pushed out of the material into the nearest unoccupied space. No abilities may be used while the warden is inhabiting a material under this effect and any attempt to use another Nature's Blessing immediately ends the duration. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the warden's charisma modifier.
Insight: Starting at 19th level, a warden may expend four uses of Nature's Blessing once per day to ask a single yes or no question of the primal forces of nature. The forces reply truthfully, but the forces can not be expected to know anything that has happened more than one week prior and may sometimes wish to conceal the truth or just not know the answer and will remain silent.

Warden's Step: Starting at 7th level, a warden may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment.

However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect him.


In progress, stay tuned. *ding* finished. How's this for a nature-paladin?

[seedjar]

The manhunter has interesting flavor value, but how different is it from the ranger? Likewise, the wilder opens up a wide array of mechanical options from psionics, but aren't sorcerers already a good innately magical class? My personal choice would be to leave psionics out altogether just for the sake of simplifying the rules. Likewise, manhunter should maybe become part of the red elf fluff; as a base class, that means I can have a gnork red elf manhunter. Rather, you could create a manhunter feat with red elf as a prerequisite that grants tattoos and a rend attack, add a natural attack specialization to the ranger, and maybe create a continuation of the manhunter feat that allowed tattoo effects and the rend attack to scale with ranger levels (or perhaps some more general level-based value.) It wouldn't all come in one package this way, but it would look cleaner IMO.
~Joe

[Vadin]

Very halfling (I'm getting those vibes-that what you had in mind, or is it being misinterpreted?). I'd suggest adding in a slowly progressing animal companion/mount sort of thing, probably at level 5 like a paladin. High enough to where it wont be as powerful as other party members (like a druid's animal companion at level 1), and low enough to where it is still useful when its obtained. Also, I'm seriously debating whether or not to consider suggesting reflex be made a good save instead of one of the other two. I'm just really not sure. What if they picked Nature's Blessing at level 1, and that determined what their good saves were?

[EDIT] I didn't realize Nature's Blessing was a gradual thing! I thought they were all different abilities they could choose. Ummm...nevermind about moving it! :smallredface: The save thing, though...others' thoughts?

[seedjar]

The warden is good start, but I feel the abilities are too close to the ranger, druid and others. I think another melee class specialized for the wilderness is kind of more of the same. Dropping the paladin removes a characteristic type of PC role, which is to stand out as a leader and tell other people what to do. A holy warrior by their own proclamation, without necessarily having much in the way of actual divine power. Drop the fighter, which is kind of flavorless and doesn't do anything others don't do. Use the fighter mechanic of bonus feats, as these leaders of barbarians are probably flashy and use strategic combat styles, add some healing abilities so that they can claim divinity and make a need for themselves, maybe add some party face elements. I guess I was hoping for more of a barbarian paladin, rather than a nature paladin. There are already a number of classes that can hack it out in the bush - the paladin replacement should be a type who might justifiably boss those tough survivalist types around into a working tribe.
~Joe

PS - To go with the 'warden's determination' and such, how about some ability that boils down to shouting at people? Flinching plus a bonus to intimidate?

[Lord Tataraus]

Wow! Another class! I guess I shouldn't have taken so long...oh well.

So the manhunter: personally, its not doing it for me. I like the direction its going, but I feel it was kept too rangery. I think the ranger stuff should be dropped completely, focus more on the natural weapon combat and other feral tactics. The favored enemy thing steps too much on the toes of the ranger, maybe change it to something else, maybe something all encompassing, but weaker?

Also, I've finished filling out the Nature's Blessing abilities and I decided to drop Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight, the stealth just didn't work for the class.

[tsuuga]

Though...Gnork and Human should be added to the list of possible favored enemies. They're still there to be eaten!

I can't believe I forgot that. Also, I meant to have Ref be the good save instead of Fort... thoughts?


Speaking of the Weirds, Wars and Wise...

I was thinking of Gnorkish society as a kind of meritocracy. As in, those who want to be Wars, when a position opens up, stage a tournament. Wierds have a magic-off of some sort (maybe they have to show off for the tribe, and then the tribe votes or what not) and the wise have a... trivia challenge or something. War, Wierd, and Wise are all prestige classes you can gain after get the leadership position, as you are made privy to secrets known by your two compatriots.


The manhunter has interesting flavor value, but how different is it from the ranger?

Well, it's not nearly as good with weapons as a ranger. They never get divine magic or an animal companion, and they're much better at hiding (and thus ambushing)


Likewise, manhunter should maybe become part of the red elf fluff; as a base class, that means I can have a gnork red elf manhunter.

Um, yeah. I should have added "Manhunter initiation ritual" or "Must be Red Elf" as a prereq.


Rather, you could create a manhunter feat with red elf as a prerequisite that grants tattoos and a rend attack, add a natural attack specialization to the ranger, and maybe create a continuation of the manhunter feat that allowed tattoo effects and the rend attack to scale with ranger levels (or perhaps some more general level-based value.) It wouldn't all come in one package this way, but it would look cleaner IMO.

As a single feat (or even short feat chain), the abilities granted by Manhunter are pretty vastly overpowered; and as a feat chain it would eat up pretty much all the character's feats. A Manhunter shouldn't get as many favored enemies as a ranger, since their list of enemies is much, much shorter.

Is it really cleaner to make a new class that's kinda like a ranger than to remake ranger and add a feat chain?


How's this for a nature-paladin?

Nice and flavorful. However, Vanquish seems a bit powerful. It does twice as much damage as a smite, and can be used on anything, and per encounter. And against an opponent already taking -2 to AC. You should at least add a clause prohibiting the damage from multiplying, especially if you add a special mount (Spirited charge, anyone?)

How, fluff-wise, does Wrath of the Warden work? It would make more sense to me to be limited to a target you've engaged in melee (and to perhaps give you some ability to follow that target if they move). This would also avoid charging lance multiplying Vanquish issues.

I'm also thinking of a "Speaker with the Forgotten Gods" base class, which would be a replacement for clerics. It would be a rare person who has been singled out by one of the old, true gods to bring their influence back into the world. They would be a spontaneous caster, and be able to revise their spell list after a week of grueling prayer or somesuch. They'd probably also get some sort of proselytizing ability. Thoughts?

EDIT: OK, yeah. The consensus is it's too rangery. Back to the eating-people board... :smallwink:

[seedjar]

Um, yeah. I should have added "Manhunter initiation ritual" or "Must be Red Elf" as a prereq.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I don't think base classes have prereqs. It's a good role for red elves to have available, but doesn't quite fit the conventions of the system as written. I think that this setting's ranger should use a non-casting variant anyways, and like I said before, give an option for natural weapon fighting as a specialized combat style. I'll agree that feats that scale are unusual in 3.5, but I think it could work if you attached it to BAB or something. Have a scale of 1-10 and assign a rend die to each one. If you can balance it in a base class, I bet you can balance it in a feat too. At worst, you could make ranger a prerequisite to the feat, which is kind of clunky but helps prevent abuse.
~Joe

[Lord Tataraus]

was thinking of Gnorkish society as a kind of meritocracy. As in, those who want to be Wars, when a position opens up, stage a tournament. Wierds have a magic-off of some sort (maybe they have to show off for the tribe, and then the tribe votes or what not) and the wise have a... trivia challenge or something. War, Wierd, and Wise are all prestige classes you can gain after get the leadership position, as you are made privy to secrets known by your two compatriots.
Sounds good, want to write up the Gnork/Orc/Gnome fluff?


Um, yeah. I should have added "Manhunter initiation ritual" or "Must be Red Elf" as a prereq.
I really don't like limiting class choices which is why I pushed for a generic unarmed/natural weapon class rather than the "red elf tattooed class".



Nice and flavorful. However, Vanquish seems a bit powerful. It does twice as much damage as a smite, and can be used on anything, and per encounter. And against an opponent already taking -2 to AC. You should at least add a clause prohibiting the damage from multiplying, especially if you add a special mount (Spirited charge, anyone?)
Oh, right. That was a rough concept, I've cleaned it up a bit. No more bonus to hit and their is a range requirement for Wrath of the Warden.


How, fluff-wise, does Wrath of the Warden work? It would make more sense to me to be limited to a target you've engaged in melee (and to perhaps give you some ability to follow that target if they move). This would also avoid charging lance multiplying Vanquish issues.
Basically the warden chooses one guy to pick on and gets really pissed off thinking about all the injustice that enemy has caused and basically intimidates the crap out of the guy.


I'm also thinking of a "Speaker with the Forgotten Gods" base class, which would be a replacement for clerics. It would be a rare person who has been singled out by one of the old, true gods to bring their influence back into the world. They would be a spontaneous caster, and be able to revise their spell list after a week of grueling prayer or somesuch. They'd probably also get some sort of proselytizing ability. Thoughts?
Hm...I don't know about a base class, but a PrC would work fine. I think all divine magic is basically through the druid class, but a character might find out it really comes from so-and-so deity.

[Vadin]

Yes on the cleric replacement, and VERY yes on your Weird, War, and Wise and Gnorkish culture interpretation. A meritocracy is very much how I saw them as well. Seriously, once you're a culture of the biggest and strongest warriors and the smallest and smartest casters and a whole race inbetween, who really cares about much beyond how good you are at what you do? The Wise...I'm seeing them have mystic contests. They prophesy as to the fate of someone who will die soon or be very mysteriously injured or something similar and the location of an ancient magic item. A Tragedy and a Treasure. Whichever one predicts things more accurately when their Tragedy will occur and when and where their Treasure will be found (both within a year at most) becomes/remains the Wise. Bonus points if their events happen on equinoxes, eclipses, holidays, and the like.

A favored enemy replacement: Manhunting. Just a general (and small) bonus to damage to humanoids and includes an increase (from x2 to x3 or x3 to x4) of the critical multiplier for their natural weapons against said humanoids.

[EDIT] The more I think about, the more I find myself disliking druids as they are. They gain very feral aspects, and they gain an animal companion, and thats all well and good, but their spells? I think maybe too powerful. Could their casting be bumped up a little and their personal combat prowess bumped down a bit?

[seedjar]

I'm also thinking of a "Speaker with the Forgotten Gods" base class, which would be a replacement for clerics. It would be a rare person who has been singled out by one of the old, true gods to bring their influence back into the world. They would be a spontaneous caster, and be able to revise their spell list after a week of grueling prayer or somesuch. They'd probably also get some sort of proselytizing ability. Thoughts?

Also good, but I'll agree with Tataraus that it's probably more appropriate as a prestige class. 10 levels, access 0 to 9 level cleric spells and some domains, not as many spells per day as a druid or a wizard but easily stacked onto other builds.
~Joe

PS - Vadin: I like the sound of manhunting. Are you thinking a replacement for favored enemy all-around or as an alternative class feature?

[seedjar]

[EDIT] The more I think about, the more I find myself disliking druids as they are. They gain very feral aspects, and they gain an animal companion, and thats all well and good, but their spells? I think maybe too powerful. Could their casting be bumped up a little and their personal combat prowess bumped down a bit?

That also came to my mind earlier. Maybe we could remove animal companion from the druid, grant one domain from a list of nature- and alignment-themed domains, and give wild shape to rangers (who then lose spells themselves, maybe replaced with some magical healing effect.) Then you have the casting-focused treehugger and the beatdown-focused treehugger.
~Joe

[Lord Tataraus]

A favored enemy replacement: Manhunting. Just a general (and small) bonus to damage to humanoids and includes an increase (from x2 to x3 or x3 to x4) of the critical multiplier for their natural weapons against said humanoids.
You mean for the manhunter? Love it.


[EDIT] The more I think about, the more I find myself disliking druids as they are. They gain very feral aspects, and they gain an animal companion, and thats all well and good, but their spells? I think maybe too powerful. Could their casting be bumped up a little and their personal combat prowess bumped down a bit?
Actually, the shapeshift variant removes the animal companion, but keeps spells. That is why the shapeshift variant is widely considered a much better druid since it is very balanced between casting and combat.

[tsuuga]

Revised Red Elf Manhunter:
Red Elf Manhunter
Hit Dice: d8
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Hide(Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge: Nature(Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Spot(Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 6x (6 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + int
Prefrequisites: Must be a member of a Red Elf tribe

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+0|Tooth and Nail, Manhunter (+1), Active Camouflage(+2)

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+0|Improved Natural Attack(Claws)

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+1|Multiattack

4th|
+4|
+1|
+4|
+1|Manhunter (+2), Improved Natural Attack(Bite)

5th|
+5|
+1|
+4|
+1|Rend (1d6), Active Camouflage (+4)

6th|
+6/+1|
+2|
+5|
+2|Ambush Predator

7th|
+7/+2|
+2|
+5|
+2|Rend (1d8), Guerrilla Tactics (Mobility)

8th|
+8/+3|
+2|
+6|
+2|Manhunter (+3), Mankiller

9th|
+9/+4|
+3|
+6|
+3|Rend (1d10), Guerrilla Tactics (Spring Attack)

10th|
+10/+5|
+3|
+7|
+3|Scratch His Eyes Out, Active Camouflage (+6)

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+3|
+7|
+3|Rend (2d6)

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+4|
+8|
+4|Manhunter (+4)

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+4|
+8|
+4|Rend (2d8), Guerrilla Tactics (Pounce)

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+4|
+9|
+4|Rend (Manufactured Weapons)

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+5|
+9|
+5|Rend (2d10), Active Camouflage (+8)

16th|
+16/11/+6/+1|
+5|
+10|
+5|Evasion, Manhunter (+5)

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+10|
+5|Rend (3d8)

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+6|
+11|
+6|Guerrilla Tactics (Charging Spring Attack)

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+6|
+11|
+6|Rend (3d10)

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+6|
+12|
+6|Active Camouflage (+10), Manhunter (+6)
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Red Elf Manhunter is proficient with all simple weapons, bite and claw attacks, handaxes, throwing axes, and kukri, light armor, and medium armor.

Manhunter: A Red Elf Manhunter is familiar with the ways of the lesser species of men. He gains a +1 bonus on Listen, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against intelligent, non-elven humanoids. Likewise, he gets a +1 bonus on damage rolls against intelligent, non-elven humanoids.

This bonus increases by 1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.

Tooth and Nail: a Red Elf Manhunter files his teeth and claws to points. He gains two claw attacks (primary) and a bite attack (secondary).

Active Camouflage: a Red Elf Manhunter covers his face and hands with magical tattoos. These tattoos rearrange themselves to resemble the surface behind the Manhunter, giving him a +2 bonus to Hide checks. This bonus increases by 2 at level 5 and every 5 levels thereafter.

Ambush Predator: A Red Elf Manhunter is adept at making hunting blinds which are convincing even to men. With this skill, a manhunter can craft a hunting blind in one hour with the Craft(woodworking) skill. This blind is suitable to hide one medium creature from view in a 180 degree arc, and provides a bonus to that creature's Hide skill equal to 1/4 the craft check. A Red Elf Manhunter can always take 10 on Hide checks while not being observed.

Guerrilla Tactics: At 7th level, a Red Elf Manhunter gains Mobility. At 9th level, he gains Spring Attack. At 13th level, if he charges a foe, he may make a full attack instead of a single attack. At 18th level, he may charge and then move again, following the straight line of the charge, and his total movement may not exceed double his speed. He does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the opponent that you attack.

Mankiller: a Red Elf Manhunter gains the benefit of Improved Critical(claws) and Improved Critical (Teeth) when attacking a non-elven, intelligent humanoid.

Multiattack: A Red Elf Manhunter gains Multiattack as a bonus feat.

Rend: If two or more of a Red Elf Manhunter's natural weapons deal damage to the same opponent in a round, the Manhunter latches on and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals extra damage as shown on the table. At 12th level, a Red Elf Manhunter can rend with manufactured weapons as well.

Improved Natural Attack: At level 6, a Red Elf Manhunter's claw attacks increase to 1d6 damage. At level 8, his bite attack does as well.

Evasion: At 16th level, a Red Elf Manhunter can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the Manhunter is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Manhunter does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Alternate Manhunting: At 5th level, the critical modifier for the natural attacks granted by Tooth and Nail increases to x3. Every 5 levels thereafter, it increases by another step, to a maximum of x5 at 20th level. This only applies against intelligent, non-elven humanoids.

Somebody come up with a better name for either the class or the ability. It's dumb that they both have the same name .

I may just write this up as an alternate combat style for the ranger, anyway.

As far as an unarmed combatant for those who AREN'T cannibals... well, hmm. I'm having a hard time imagining it. Super disciplined monastic traditions seem unlikely, at least on the surface; and I've got a hard time picturing civilized people using bite attacks and rending. This will require some thought...


Sounds good, want to write up the Gnork/Orc/Gnome fluff?

I may as well... I was avoiding doing anything with the halfling fluff since all I could think was "Ewoks."


I don't know about a base class, but a PrC would work fine

Yeah... it does make more sense as a prestige class. Suggesting it as a base class was really more of an attempt to shoehorn some healing into this world concept. Maybe we should just beef up the healing skill?

Also: A lot of people in this setting use stone or wooden weapons. Are we going to penalize their effectiveness? Or make steel better than it is in D&D? is there going to be no real difference?

Also, some culture should use macuahuitl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macuahuitl)... just because I love that word.

[seedjar]

On the final build of the warden class... I think empty levels 13 and 17 could be filled with an ability relating to intimidation and vocalization. Maybe an effect that leaves everyone in the area of the warden's voice shaken for a round and taking a penalty vs. Intimidate checks for the next few rounds. At a higher level, you can implant a suggestion and get more uses per day or something.
tsuuga, how should the greenspawn template apply to plants? I'll check to see if I misread, but I thought greenspawn were nonplants that were kind of parasitically dominated by plants. That's why I thought a sentient plant race might be significant - they aren't intelligences that were converted from other sentient races in the cataclysm - they're a race of plants that were awakened by it.
~Joe

PS - I think a more formal definition of the greenspawn and ungreen templates is in order.

[Lord Tataraus]

Revised Red Elf Manhunter:
*snip*

Somebody come up with a better name for either the class or the ability. It's dumb that they both have the same name .

I may just write this up as an alternate combat style for the ranger, anyway.
I don't see why they can't share a name with a class feature. While I am extremely against a race-specific class, this is really just a ranger variant and thus racial substitution levels, so I agree with it as such.


Yeah... it does make more sense as a prestige class. Suggesting it as a base class was really more of an attempt to shoehorn some healing into this world concept. Maybe we should just beef up the healing skill?
Well druids have healing and can take the Spontaneous Rejuvenation alternate class feature which is a spontaneous hgelaing thing that work great in combat. Also, the warden gets healing as the Cure X Wounds spells starting at 3rd level.


Also: A lot of people in this setting use stone or wooden weapons. Are we going to penalize their effectiveness? Or make steel better than it is in D&D? is there going to be no real difference?

Also, some culture should use macuahuitl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macuahuitl)... just because I love that word.
I think the material should be left at the fluff. I see no value in changing the crunch for just this one aspect. D&D weapons aren't realistic anyway, so it doesn't matter. The same can be said for the macuahuitl, it looks basically like a stone short sword or maybe longsword and we can treat it as one mechanically, but maybe the orcs use them...

@ seedjar: Hm, I like that idea, I'll try to come up with something, but right now its 3:40 am and I need sleep. I'll work on that tomorrow.

[tsuuga]

Gnorks

Personality: Gnork societies organize into squads: an extended family group that tends to live together in it's own group of houses and care for its own patch of land. Four to fifteen squads will generally ally into a larger group known as a clan. The clan is ruled by a council of six individuals powerful in magic, combat, and knowledge, two leaders representing each: The Wars, the Wierds, and the Wise. Generally, the Wars will be orcish, the Wise gnomish, and the Wierds Gnorks or Gnomes. Membership on this ruling council is based on merit; when a leader dies, or a credible challenge is issued, a contest is held in front of the clan. The rules can vary, as long as the contest proves worthiness in the appropriate attribute and is agreeable to both participants. Generally, the Wars will hold a tourament or battle royale, the Wierds will put on a pyrotechnic show, and the Wise will predict one treasure to be found and one tragedy to befall the clan before years end (It's generally assumed that if you can fake these, you must be pretty wise anyway).

Gnork society is agricultural. Gnomes tend to take care of much of the farming and upkeep of farm equipment and beasts of burden; Orcs perform heavy labor and keep up the clan's defenses, and Gnorks tend to be hunters (The occasional sorceror focuses on becoming a Wierd, instead)

Physical Description (Gnome): Gnomes wear well-made, earth-toned clothing. Their best suit of clothes is usually heavily embroidered with blue and white thread. Most gnomes are well-tanned, with fair hair and light blue eyes. They are often engaged in farming, and most carry a belt or bandolier with a few tools on it.

Physical Description (Orc): Orcs tend towards leather clothing, usually a leather vest (left open to display any scars they may have attained) and simple loincloth. Orcs who aren't currently working or are preparing for a fight often wear light armor instead. Their armor usually has a leering face painted on it in bright, garish colors.

Physical Description (Gnork): Gnorks are a halfbreed race that sometimes results from the mixing of orc and gnome blood (as often as not, the offspring of such a pairing is a full orc or gnome). Their skin is usually a light green, and their ears are pointed. Their hair and eye color covers the regular human range. A Gnork stands about 4'6" to 5' tall, and resembles a well built human. Gnorks favor soft leather clothing, with an array of pockets.

Relations: Gnorks are quite open to trade; and delight at the company of a friendly traveler. Unfamiliar stories will buy you room and board, and the right secret (whether how to make alchemists fire, the password to buy steel items from a kobold fief, where an old wizard lives, or even just an old book of recipes) can get you in the elder's good graces. Gnork communities don't have much to trade apart from leather, lumber, and food, but all of that is good quality. They'll take seeds, trinkets and currency in trade.

Religeon: Three races, three councils, three gods.

Adas, goddess of fertility and the harvest, is depicted as a pregnant woman sitting cross-legged. Gnorkish homes contain an altar to Adas (or a small brass idol if they can get one). An ear of corn is left to dry on the altar or in the lap of the idol for the whole year. Adas' festival is at harvest time; the whole clan gathers for a bonfire, and the corn is popped on the cob.

Achoch, a guardian diety, is depicted as a one-eyed orcish warrior. A depiction of him is carved or painted on the doorframe (so that it is hidden when the door is shut) of each home; that he can examine anyone who might threaten the family. His festival is on the winter solstice. From dusk until dawn on the longest night of the year, the man of each house covers his left eye, and sits in the doorway of his home with a weapon across his knees. This is to give Achoch the night off, in thanks for his vigilance the rest of the year.

Atavas, secret keeper, is depicted as a man with a quarterstaff. His face left blank. A relief of Atavas is carved into a tree beside each entrance to the clan's territory. Hunters rub the face of one of these effigies in prayer that he will show them the hiding place of their prey before a hunt; when returning from a successful hunt they make a tally-mark in blood on the tree. Atavas' festival is the spring solstice; every light in the village is extinguished from dusk till dawn, and guessing games are played.

Gnork Lands: Gnorks live in cleared sections of rainforest or grassland. There is usually a river or network of streams running through the cleared area, and they have cleared dirt roads for easy travel between squads, and perhaps friendly neighbors.

Gnome Racial Traits
Small Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 20ft
+2 Constitution, -2 Strength: Gnomes are hardy, but physically weak.
Low-light vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light.
Illusion Affinity: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions. Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat.
Targeted training:+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids (including goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears) and a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against creatures of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants). (I dunno about this one)
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus on Listen and Craft: Alchemy checks.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.
Favored Class: Bard


Gnork Racial Traits
Medium Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 30ft
+2 Str, +2 Dex, -4 Wis: Gnorks are tough and agile, but extremely short-tempered and often times irrational.
Darkvision: Gnorks have the ability to see in the dark despite the lack of any light. They have 60ft darkvision.
Athletic: Gnorks are very athletic and often climb, leap and dash through the jungles with ease. A gnork gains a +2 racial bonus to all Jump and Climb checks as well as a +4 bonus to Use Rope checks to swing across a gap.
Natural Magic: All gnorks are born with the innate ability to use wild magic. A gnork with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: Prestidigitation and Detect Magic each once per day per hit die. Additionally, a gnork Druid or Ranger may use his charisma score instead of wisdom for spellcasting.
Favored Class: Ranger


Gnork Racial Traits
Medium Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 30ft
+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Orcs are strong, and that's about all they have going for them.
Darkvision: Orcs have the ability to see in the dark despite the lack of any light. They have 60ft darkvision.
Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell. (I think this should be removed for these orcs, what with living above-ground and all.)
Favored Class: Barbarian



Yeah, 4 AM is time for me to turn in too.


While I am extremely against a race-specific class,

It's not so much a race-specific class as it is a culture-specific class. I would imagine that a non-elf who somehow impressed the hell out of a red elf group might be allowed to join... But yeah. I'll work up an alternate-ranger thing tomorrow. I think I made them way too good at hiding, anyway...

Also: The reason I've been including desired trade goods in my writeups is that I've been assuming that currency really isn't much of a commodity in this world. Those little round shiny things are no more useful than pebbles to, say, Desert Dwarves, who are insular, don't wear jewelry, and have no use for metal that soft. Or to Nestlings, who would just pierce them and wear them as a necklace. I would imagine that some societies would take coins, but they'd rather have an equivalent value of some commodity... It's in keeping with the post-apocalyptic feel of the setting, but do you guys feel its too much paperwork?

[Aptera]

****. You leave for a day and the thread grows by 30 pages. Oh well. Anyways a few ideas for elves (who by the way I'm loving so far!), and i wish I could do more, but real life is in the way.
-The moon is a sacred spirit. Had the idea that for every drop of blood spilled by an elf the moon gains a red splotch for that night.
-Gah! Whats the musical where we have the plant that feeds off of blood? Elves should worship something similar and bring them blood, in return for a bit of their "power" or help.
-Trees that have blood for sap. Elves feed them and then the leves with a greened leader can communicate, getting information on where people are in there forest.

I think we should use the totem barbarian variants. More flavor.

[Yakk]

Tattooed -- maybe use Psionic mechanics?

Each Tattoo represents a power, which burn the internal resources of the character.

For a twist: a Tattooed gains back a secondary power pool by killing. Ie, Tattooed magic is death magic?

Ie, you have a Life and a Death pool.

Life pool: Larger. All powers have to use at least 1 Life pool point. Refreshes on a per-day basis.

Death pool: Smaller. You gain power in the Death pool by killing. The Death pool can be "over-charged" by a factor of 2 for a single round, which dissipates itself if not used.

Good concept?

[Lord Tataraus]

So, responses:

@ tsuuga: Awesome! We finally have a Gnork/Orc/Gnome write up, yay!!!

And the trade goods thing, good idea. I imagine most cultures use the barter system, except kobolds.

@ Aptera: Yeah, we did a lot yesterday. The moon spirit idea is interesting, I have no preference either way. As for plants with blood, I did allude to one carnivorous plant called the blood-flower in the halfling write up which produces delicious blood-berries. It could be called blood-flower because it is carnivorous, or maybe it has a blood-like sap, either way I don't think its too far-fetched to have the elves worship such plants. As for totem barbs, sure, but the savage warrior was based off the Ape Totem and should effectively replace it.

@ Yakk: Interesting idea, want to give it a shot? I'd like to see how that pans out.

[jagadaishio]

I agree that rogue should be replaced by ranger. I also think that wizards should be exceedingly rare. This just doesn't strike me as a campaign setting with even remotely frequent access to books, let alone arcane libraries and tomes of magic to be researched and pored over. I could see wizards being so rare that they wouldn't even be available as a PC class except in very specific adventures.

The Active Camo ability of the Manhunter class is off. It should be +10 by 20th level, not +8. You listed +6 twice.

[puppyavenger]

I agree that rogue should be replaced by ranger. I also think that wizards should be exceedingly rare. This just doesn't strike me as a campaign setting with even remotely frequent access to books, let alone arcane libraries and tomes of magic to be researched and pored over. I could see wizards being so rare that they wouldn't even be available as a PC class except in very specific adventures.
.

So mayby the only wizards are the kobolds and exedinly rare anomalies? also mayby we should loook into variant spellbooks?

[Lord Tataraus]

Default classes as they stand now:
Barbarian
Druid (shapeshifter)
Ranger
Savage Warrior
Scout
Sorcerer
Tattooed (working title, should be renamed)
Warden
Wilder
Wizard

I think wizard should remain since the gnork society does have room for them and so does the kobold culture. Though I agree that they would be rare. Any comments?

[puppyavenger]

Default classes as they stand now:
Barbarian
Druid (shapeshifter)
Ranger
Savage Warrior
Scout
Sorcerer
Tattooed (working title, should be renamed)
Warden
Wilder
Wizard

I think wizard should remain since the gnork society does have room for them and so does the kobold culture. Though I agree that they would be rare. Any comments?

how are we going to define the difference between a savage warrior and a barbarian?

[Lord Tataraus]

how are we going to define the difference between a savage warrior and a barbarian?

The barbarian is the buffed up bloodthirsty bruiser while the savage warrior is the agile, tree-hopping savage swashbuckler. While they are similar, they also have major differences, see the savage warrior (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3975804&postcount=74) class.

[FlyMolo]

I saw this and thought, ech, boring. Then I read it. It's pretty amazing, you know.

If 80% of the continent was city, we're looking at vast skyscrapers covered in jungle. Truly vast. With reverse gravity and enough time, there's no limit on the height of a skyscraper. So there's going to be defunct magical stuff that's broken, overflowing and jammed "water fountains" providing moisture, lights still working after thousands of years, making some areas of ancient city jungles with no height restriction. Some areas are going to be desert, with no height restriction. Just heads of giant monuments poking out. Gravity spells decay, leading to weird effects hundreds of feet above the ground? And there's going to be vines and such strung between buildings, hundreds of feet above the ground. Thousands, maybe. There's simply so much light out there.

As for the actual Greening, a radical druidic sect lashes out against the overbearing capitalist tyranny, leading to a total breakdown of society, and the Greening. I feel like I should bold "Greening" for effect. Like, Greening.

[jagadaishio]

I saw this and thought, ech, boring. Then I read it. It's pretty amazing, you know.

If 80% of the continent was city, we're looking at vast skyscrapers covered in jungle. Truly vast. With reverse gravity and enough time, there's no limit on the height of a skyscraper. So there's going to be defunct magical stuff that's broken, overflowing and jammed "water fountains" providing moisture, lights still working after thousands of years, making some areas of ancient city jungles with no height restriction. Some areas are going to be desert, with no height restriction. Just heads of giant monuments poking out. Gravity spells decay, leading to weird effects hundreds of feet above the ground? And there's going to be vines and such strung between buildings, hundreds of feet above the ground. Thousands, maybe. There's simply so much light out there.

As for the actual Greening, a radical druidic sect lashes out against the overbearing capitalist tyranny, leading to a total breakdown of society, and the Greening. I feel like I should bold "Greening" for effect. Like, Greening.

That's a great theory, and probably one of the prominent ones amongst the populous. It's more fun to not choose a specific cause, though. The mystery and enigma of it really marks some of the flavor of the setting.

[Lord Tataraus]

I saw this and thought, ech, boring. Then I read it. It's pretty amazing, you know.
I'm glad you think so!


If 80% of the continent was city, we're looking at vast skyscrapers covered in jungle. Truly vast. With reverse gravity and enough time, there's no limit on the height of a skyscraper. So there's going to be defunct magical stuff that's broken, overflowing and jammed "water fountains" providing moisture, lights still working after thousands of years, making some areas of ancient city jungles with no height restriction. Some areas are going to be desert, with no height restriction. Just heads of giant monuments poking out. Gravity spells decay, leading to weird effects hundreds of feet above the ground? And there's going to be vines and such strung between buildings, hundreds of feet above the ground. Thousands, maybe. There's simply so much light out there.

As for the actual Greening, a radical druidic sect lashes out against the overbearing capitalist tyranny, leading to a total breakdown of society, and the Greening. I feel like I should bold "Greening" for effect. Like, Greening.
That's a good theory as are the number of other suggestions. However, as I've said before, I think it is best that the actual events remain unknown. The setting works best if the cataclysm and everything before it is forgotten for one reason or another. The cataclysm was a reboot to civilization, throwing every society back to the stone age. If it really bothers the players, the DM should feel free to create a story that fits his campaign and let the players figure it out somehow. I don't feel it is right for the setting designers to create that aspect of this setting since the actual events really has no current effect.

[tsuuga]

Feral Cannibal: The Red Elf Manhunter for everybody.
Feral Cannibal
Hit Dice: d8
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Hide(Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge: Nature(Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Spot(Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 4x (6 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + int
Alignment: A Feral Cannibal may be neither Lawful nor Good.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+0|Tooth and Nail, Manhunter (+1)

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+0|Improved Natural Attack(Claws)

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+1|Multiattack

4th|
+4|
+1|
+4|
+1|Manhunter (+2), Improved Natural Attack(Bite)

5th|
+5|
+1|
+4|
+1|Rend (1d6)

6th|
+6/+1|
+2|
+5|
+2|Ambush Predator

7th|
+7/+2|
+2|
+5|
+2|Rend (1d8), Guerrilla Tactics (Mobility)

8th|
+8/+3|
+2|
+6|
+2|Manhunter (+3), Mankiller

9th|
+9/+4|
+3|
+6|
+3|Rend (1d10), Guerrilla Tactics (Spring Attack)

10th|
+10/+5|
+3|
+7|
+3|Scratch His Eyes Out, Bite Deep (x3)

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+3|
+7|
+3|Rend (2d6)

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+4|
+8|
+4|Manhunter (+4)

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+4|
+8|
+4|Rend (2d8)

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+4|
+9|
+4|Guerrilla Tactics (Pounce)

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+5|
+9|
+5|Rend (2d10)

16th|
+16/11/+6/+1|
+5|
+10|
+5|Evasion, Manhunter (+5)

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+10|
+5|Rend (3d8)

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+6|
+11|
+6|Guerrilla Tactics (Charging Spring Attack)

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+6|
+11|
+6|Rend (3d10)

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+6|
+12|
+6|Manhunter (+6), Bite Deep (x4)
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Feral Cannibal is proficient with all simple weapons, bite and claw attacks, handaxes, throwing axes, and kukri, light armor, and medium armor.

Manhunter: A Feral Cannibal is familiar with the ways of the lesser species of men. He gains a +1 bonus on Listen, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against intelligent, non-elven humanoids. Likewise, he gets a +1 bonus on damage rolls against intelligent humanoids.This bonus increases by 1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.

Tooth and Nail: a Feral Cannibal files his teeth and claws to points. He gains two claw attacks (primary) and a bite attack (secondary).

Ambush Predator: A Feral Cannibal is adept at making hunting blinds which are convincing even to men. With this skill, a Cannibal can craft a hunting blind in one hour with the Craft(woodworking) skill. This blind is suitable to hide one medium creature from view in a 180 degree arc, and provides a bonus to that creature's Hide skill equal to 1/4 the craft check. A Feral Cannibal can always take 10 on Hide checks while not being observed.

Guerrilla Tactics: At 7th level, a Feral Cannibal gains Mobility. At 9th level, he gains Spring Attack. At 13th level, if he charges a foe, he may make a full attack instead of a single attack. At 18th level, he may charge and then move again, following the straight line of the charge, and his total movement may not exceed double his speed. He does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the opponent that you attack.

Mankiller: a Feral Cannibal gains the benefit of Improved Critical(claws) and Improved Critical (Teeth) when attacking an intelligent humanoid.

Multiattack: A Feral Cannibal gains Multiattack as a bonus feat.

Scratch His Eyes Out: A Feral Cannibal may take a -4 penalty on the roll to confirm a critical hit. If successful, he can forgo the extra damage and instead permanently blind his foe.

Rend: If two or more of a Feral Cannibal's natural weapons deal damage to the same opponent in a round, the Cannibal latches on and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals extra damage as shown on the table. At 12th level, a Feral Cannibal can rend with manufactured weapons as well.

Improved Natural Attack: At level 6, a Feral Cannibal's claw attacks increase to 1d6 damage. At level 8, his bite attack does as well.

Evasion: At 16th level, a Feral Cannibal can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the Cannibal is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Cannibal does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Bite Deep: At 10th level, the critical modifier for the natural attacks granted by Tooth and Nail increases to x3. At 20th level, it increases to x4. OR: instead of manhunter, bite deep increases at level 5 and every fifth level thereafter, to a max of x6. (with the damage bonus from manhunter, criticals get way too explosive, in my opinion.)

OR: Tooth and Nail Ranger Combat Style

Combat Style (Ex): If the ranger selectes Tooth and Nail style, he gains two claw attacks and a bite attack, each dealing 1d4 damage. (the claws are primary). He also gains the Multiattack feat.

Improved Combat Style (Ex): If he selected Tooth and Nail at second level, at sixth level he gains Improved Natural attack for his bite and claws, raising the damage to 1d6. He also gains the ability to rend, which increases at every even level as shown above (one level later than the Cannibal)

Combat Style Mastery (Ex): If he selected Tooth and Nail at second level, at eleventh level he gains the feats Mobility and Spring Attack.

Honestly, I prefer it as its own class. The Feral Cannibal is an ambush predator, whereas the Ranger is an endurance predator.

Speaker for an Old God
Speaker for an Old God
Hit Dice: d8
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Survival (Wis)
Skill Points at 1st Level: 4x (2 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + int
Prerequisites: Alignment must be the same as the patron deity; must have Wisdom of at least 14. Some sort of level requirement, around level 7ish.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Turn Plants, Freedom, Domain|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3|-|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

3rd|
+1|
+3|
+1|
+3|-|4|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

4th|
+2|
+4|
+1|
+4|-|4|2+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-

5th|
+2|
+4|
+1|
+4|-|5|3+1|2+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-

6th|
+3|
+5|
+2|
+5|-|5|3+1|3+1|2+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-

7th|
+3|
+5|
+2|
+5|-|6|3+1|3+1|3+1|2+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-

8th|
+4|
+6|
+2|
+6|-|6|3+1|3+1|3+1|3+1|2+1|2+1|1+1|-|-

9th|
+4|
+6|
+3|
+6|-|6|3+1|3+1|3+1|3+1|3+1|2+1|2+1|1+1|-

10th|
+5|
+7|
+3|
+7|-|6|3+1|3+1|3+1|3+1|3+1|3+1|2+1|2+1|1+1
[/table]

Turn Plants (Su): The Speaker may turn plant creatures in the same way a cleric turns undead. If the patron deity has the Plant domain in his portfolio, the speaker may instead rebuke and command plant creatures. Use your Speaker level instead of cleric level, and Knowledge(Plants) instead of Knowdlege(Religeon).

Freedom (Su): For a total time per day of 1 round per speaker level you possess, you can act normally regardless of magical effects that impede movement as if you were affected by the spell freedom of movement. This effect occurs automatically as soon as it applies, lasts until it runs out or is no longer needed, and can operate multiple times per day (up to the total daily limit of rounds).

Domain: Select one domain from your god's portfolio. You gain the benefits of that domain as a cleric does. Your domain slot may be used to cast the appropriate spell from the Plant, Travel, or your chosen domain list. This spell is cast spontaneously

Aura (Ex): A speaker of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details).

[B]Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A speaker can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s. Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Spells: A speaker casts divine spells which are drawn from the cleric spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time.

To learn or cast a spell, a speaker must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a speaker’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the speaker’s Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a speaker can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. This is the number before the + on the class table.

A speaker’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A speaker knows a number of spells of each level equal to the number of spells of that level he can cast (not including the domain slot). A speaker may contact his deity to replace the spells he knows; this is a drawn out, grueling process taking one week per spell level of the highest level spell to be replaced. The speaker must spend at least 8 hours a day in prayer; an interruption ruins prayer for the day and he may resume on the morrow.

Unlike a wizard or a cleric, a speaker need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his spells per day for that spell level. He does not have to decide ahead of time which spells he’ll cast.

Edit: I also vote for "The greening" as the official name of the apocalypse. Every single time I try to type growth, I type greening instead. :smallconfused:


I saw this and thought, ech, boring. Then I read it. It's pretty amazing, you know.

Thanks, tell your friends! :smallbiggrin:

[Lord Tataraus]

Feral Cannibal: The Red Elf Manhunter for everybody.
This looks a lot better and it is more race-neutral.


OR: Tooth and Nail Ranger Combat Style
I think we can keep this style and the Feral Cannibal, both look good.


Speaker for an Old God
I'm uncertain about this one. I really like the concept, the only thing is that it gets spells really fast, and different spell levels really fast. How about, it instead allows you to replace the druid list with the cleric list (or augment), but you keep the former's progression?


Edit: I also vote for "The greening" as the official name of the apocalypse. Every single time I try to type growth, I type greening instead. :smallconfused:
Sure, I never really bothered to determine a name for the cataclysm (which does get a bit anoying to type). Though, I think "The Greening" sounds too...well, it sounds like "cleansing" or something. I guess it fits, but it doesn't have the right feel. Oh well, since we already have the pre-Green and the Green, I guess the Greening logically follows from it.

[Vadin]

Gnome Racial Traits
Small Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 20ft
+2 Constitution, -2 Strength: Gnomes are hardy, but physically weak.
Low-light vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light.
Illusion Affinity: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions. Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat.
Targeted training:+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against enemies of one subtype (such as Fire or Evil), and a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against enemies of another creature type (such as monstrous humanoid or abberation). (Very minor, imo)
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus on Listen and Craft: Alchemy checks.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals. A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.
Favored Class: Some casting class to be determined


Another crack at gnomes.

<Been far too busy today!>

[jagadaishio]

Gnome Racial Traits
Small Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 20ft
+2 Constitution, -2 Strength: Gnomes are hardy, but physically weak.
Low-light vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light.
Illusion Affinity: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions. Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat.
Targeted training:+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against enemies of one subtype (such as Fire or Evil), and a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against enemies of another creature type (such as monstrous humanoid or abberation). (Very minor, imo)
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus on Listen and Craft: Alchemy checks.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals. A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.
Favored Class: Some casting class to be determined


Another crack at gnomes.

<Been far too busy today!>

I've always thought that gnomes should have a +2 Int or +2 Cha. I just don't think that a gnome should be as durable as a dwarf. That just seems wrong.

[Lord Tataraus]

Gnome Racial Traits
Small Humanoid
Base Land Speed: 20ft
+2 Constitution, -2 Strength: Gnomes are hardy, but physically weak.
Low-light vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is color vision. A spellcaster with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light.
Illusion Affinity: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions. Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat.
Targeted training:+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against enemies of one subtype (such as Fire or Evil), and a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against enemies of another creature type (such as monstrous humanoid or abberation). (Very minor, imo)
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus on Listen and Craft: Alchemy checks.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals. A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.
Favored Class: Some casting class to be determined


Another crack at gnomes.

<Been far too busy today!>

I don't think this is any different than what we already have, but I would like to express my opinion for some changes:
Remove the illusion aspect and make it a more general magical aptitude.
I don't think targeted training really fits the gnome flavor, something more "wise" would be better. Maybe Spellcraft, Knowledge (Arcana), and/or Use Magic Device bonuses.
Spell-like abilities could be increased a bit and not be overpowering, kind of like the gnork's spells that scale with hit dice.

Edit: Ditto on the change +2 Con to +2 Cha, they are supposed to be more magically adept.

[tsuuga]

I'm uncertain about this one. I really like the concept, the only thing is that it gets spells really fast, and different spell levels really fast. How about, it instead allows you to replace the druid list with the cleric list (or augment), but you keep the former's progression?

What I was going for, with Speaker for an Old God, is an already powerful person, who a god chooses to bring their religion back to the world. If you have 7 levels of another class (lets say fighter), and then start adding on Speaker levels, you don't actually catch up with clerics until 16th level. When you've taken the final level of Speaker, you would have: the same BAB as a cleric. a slightly better fort save and a worse will save than a cleric. An extra domain. 0/0/0/1/1/1/1/1/0/0 fewer spell slots, and a load fewer spells than a cleric, and 4 extra feats. I was considering maxing out spell slots at 3 per level... do you think that would be more balanced? I also intended this class to be basically NPC only.


Targeted training:+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against enemies of one subtype (such as Fire or Evil), and a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against enemies of another creature type (such as monstrous humanoid or abberation). (Very minor, imo)

This makes a lot more sense. We haven't even discussed giant humanoids... and honestly, each village is going to train itself against whatever the local threats are. Speaking of targeted training, who don't Gnorks and Orcs receive this? Should we add it to all the races, or make it a societal bonus feat or some such?


1/day—speak with animals.

Did you intend to remove the "Burrowing animals" restriction?

EDIT: Anyone have comments on the Gnork religion? I wrote that part at 4 AM and I'm not sure how much sense it makes. Also the names were just pulled out of a random name generator... I'm sure they could be better.

[Lord Tataraus]

What I was going for, with Speaker for an Old God, is an already powerful person, who a god chooses to bring their religion back to the world. If you have 7 levels of another class (lets say fighter), and then start adding on Speaker levels, you don't actually catch up with clerics until 16th level. When you've taken the final level of Speaker, you would have: the same BAB as a cleric. a slightly better fort save and a worse will save than a cleric. An extra domain. 0/0/0/1/1/1/1/1/0/0 fewer spell slots, and a load fewer spells than a cleric, and 4 extra feats. I was considering maxing out spell slots at 3 per level... do you think that would be more balanced? I also intended this class to be basically NPC only.
Hm, alright. I guess that does work out, though do lower the spell slots for good measure. Though I think it should be a viable option for a PC, it would make a great story arch.


Did you intend to remove the "Burrowing animals" restriction?
I have a feeling that burrowing animals a bit more rare. It makes it too limited in my opinion.

[Lord Tataraus]

EDIT: Anyone have comments on the Gnork religion? I wrote that part at 4 AM and I'm not sure how much sense it makes. Also the names were just pulled out of a random name generator... I'm sure they could be better.

A lot of creative stuff is made during the early hours :smallbiggrin: I like how you set up the religion, it really fits the culture.

As for different names, I like to draw from dead/near-dead or extremely unusal languages for my names (all the halfling gods are named by a mangling of a direct Burmese translation of the word).

I think old norse fits the orcs/gnorks/gnomes very well so how about:
Kona or Matr - fertility goddess (literally woman / food)
Rekkr or Vaka - warrior god (literally warrior / watch)
Svinnr or Luan - secret-keeper god (literally wise / hide)

[tsuuga]

Kona or Matr - fertility goddess (literally woman / food)
Rekkr or Vaka - warrior god (literally warrior / watch)
Svinnr or Luan - secret-keeper god (literally wise / hide)

Each god having two aspects and being worshiped under two different names depending on what you want out of them... and fits better with the council of six thing. Now I have to come up with three more festivals :smallbiggrin:

[Lord Tataraus]

Dwarves seem to be outcast from most of the world so here is a PrC to bring them into the forests due to wanderlust.

Scholar of Scihon
Scholar of Scihon
Life in the unforgiving desert is dangerous and trying. The dwarves survive only through pure stubbornness and determination. However, this is not enough for some. A few dwarves begin to question their lot in life and in their questioning discover the lost god Scihon. Scihon teaches that the desert is to be tamed and harnessed, that its elements can be used to protect and defend. Many of this scholars leave their clans who do not understand the scholar's intimacy with the sand and desert, taking only a single heirloom to remind them of their people. These adventurers travel all over the desert and even outside of it, but they always carry the desert with them, in their souls.

Prerequisites:
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Race: Dwarf
Skills: Survival 8 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 10 ranks

Hit Dice: 1d10
Class Skills: Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 4x (4 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + int

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Heirloom, Sigil of Scihon (Sun)

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Glass Blade

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Unleash the Sands 2/day

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Sigil of Scihon (Shifting Dunes)

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Sigil of Scihon (Sand)

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Unleash the Sands 4/day

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|Sigil of Scihon (Shimmering Heat)

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Cleansing Sands

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|Unleash the Sands 6/day

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|Sigil of Scihon (Soul)
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A scholar of scihon is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).

Heirloom: At 1st level a scholar of scihon is granted a heirloom craved from the bones of his ancestors to help lead him on his path as a scholar. The heirloom is usually in the form of a piece of jewelry or a small weapon such as a dagger. The heirloom does not take up any magic item slots, nor does it need to be worn to gain its power, only on the dwarf's person. The heirloom grants its scholar a +2 insight bonus to either intelligence, wisdom, or charisma chosen at the time it is gained. If the heirloom is stolen or lost, the scholar takes a -4 penalty to all will saves and loses all class abilities except the Sigil of Scihon.

Sigil of Scihon: Starting at 1st level the scholar of scihon learns how to craft sigils and harness their power. It takes 10 minutes to trace the symbol onto a surface either with paint, chalk, dirt, or any other way to create visible markings. A scholar may leave and come back to an unfinished symbol if it has not been destroyed or vandalized as often as needed. After the tracing is complete the scholar must meditate on the symbol for one minute, any interruption requires the scholar to start over. After the ritual is complete the sigil is active indefinitely. Only the scholar who created the sigil can remove the markings, whereby the sigil is dispelled.

Sigil of the Sun: At 1st level the scholar of scihon learns to create a sigil of the Sun. The sigil causes all invisible creatures to become visible within a 30ft radius +5ft per scholar level. Additionally, all creatures take a -20 penalty to hide checks while within the radius. If the sigil is scribed unto a piece of armor or other clothing the wearer fails all hide checks and observers gain a +10 bonus to spot checks to see him. Additionally, the sigil glows brightly creating a 20ft radius of dim light and another 20ft of shadowy illumination.

Sigil of Shifting Dunes At 4th level the scholar of scihon learns to create a sigil of Shifting Dunes. The sigil causes the ground to become unstable beneath the feet of nearby creatures. Treat this effect as a grease spell with a reflex save DC of 10+scholar level+Intelligence modifier. If this sigil is scribed unto armor or clothing the wearer is not affected by this sigil, but is treated as being covered in a grease spell.

Sigil of the Sand: At 5th level the scholar of scihon learns to create a sigil of the Sand. This sigil causes all enemies of the scholar to rapidly dehydrate, dealing 1d8 nonlethal damage per scholar level each round to any creature that is within a 30ft radius +5ft per scholar level. The effected creature may make a fortitude save DC10 + the scholar level + intelligence modifier for half damage. If this sigil is scribed unto armor or clothing the wearer takes half damage dealt each round and is not allowed a fortitude save.

Sigil of Shimmering Heat At 7th level the scholar of scihon learns to create a sigil of Shimmering Heat. The sigil causes the air to ripple, and surfaces to appear reflective. This sigil causes all creatures within a 30ft +5ft per scholar level radius to take a penalty to spot and search checks equal to the scholar's level and provides concealment (allowing hide checks and a 20% miss chance).

Sigil of the Soul: At 10th level the scholar of scihon learns to create the sigil of the Soul. This sigil grants all creatures and objects within a 30ft radius spell resistance equal to their hit dice +10. If this sigil is scribed onto armor or clothing the wearer may not cast any spells or gain the effects of worn magic items.

Glass Blade: Starting at 2nd level the scholar of scihon is granted the ability to summon forth a weapon made of glass to defend himself. The scholar must first prepare a weapon by spend 2 days in meditation and fasting. After which time the weapon dissolves into sand and is contained within the scholar's heirloom. As a move action the scholar may summon his weapon into his hand just as it was during the meditation except it seems to be made entirely of glass. The weapon remains with the scholar until he dismisses it or until 2 hours have passed. The scholar may also dismiss the weapon as a swift action, but the weapon cannot be recovered for 2 hours. If the weapon would be disarmed or sundered it immediately disappears, but can be recovered in the next round. The scholar may change weapons by preforming the same ritual after recalling the weapon with a 1 hour meditation.

Unleash the Sands: Starting at 3rd level the scholar of scihon is granted the ability to harness the power of the desert sand. Twice per day the scholar can unleash a torrent of sand and wind in a 120ft cone. All creatures within the cone are pushed directly back until they exit the cone. These creatures take 1d8 non-lethal damage per 10ft of movement. A successful reflex save DC 10 + scholar level + intelligence modifier ignores the damage. The creature may make a strength check as if being bull-rushed opposed to the reflex DC. On a successful check the creature resists 10ft of movement and an additional 10ft for every 5 the check exceeds the DC. At at 6th and 9th level the scholar of scihon may use this ability twice more per day.

Cleansing Sands: Starting at 8th level a scholar of scihon learns the secrets of the cleansing sands. By rubbing dirt or sand on any sigil, rune, or other magical symbol as a full-round action the scholar may dispel the sigil, rune, or symbol as a Greater Dispel Magic spell with a caster level equal to 15+his scholar level.

So, what do you think? It might be a bit overpowered...

Edit:

Each god having two aspects and being worshiped under two different names depending on what you want out of them... and fits better with the council of six thing. Now I have to come up with three more festivals :smallbiggrin:

Oh...actually, I was just giving you multiple options, but ok.

[jagadaishio]

I actually like the dual aspect idea. As for the Scholar of Scihon, none of its abilities are more powerful than spells that a character would normally have access to at that level.

[tsuuga]

Scholar of Scihon <snippy>

Heirloom: Seems like a mage-oriented ability for a really non-magey class.

Sigil of the Sun: Cool and flavorful. Maybe add a snippet about making the marked object perfectly visible at night, as well?

Sigil of the Sand: Yikes. that is way powerful. It's a permanent horrid wilting that treats everyone as a plant. And somehow knows who the caster's enemies are.

Sigil of the Soul: Again, cool and flavorful

Unleash the Sands: At level 3, you can do 24d8 damage, no save? :eek:

Glass Blade: Cool, but there's some stuff to be addressed. What happens if your weapon is shattered? Where does the original go?


Oh...actually, I was just giving you multiple options, but ok.
I picked up on that, but inspiration struck :smallbiggrin:

To come: My own take on the Scholar

[Lord Tataraus]

Heirloom: Seems like a mage-oriented ability for a really non-magey class.
Well, most of the scholar's abilities are int-based and you are assumed to have some spell casting before hand, I might add a bit of spellcaster increase.


Sigil of the Sun: Cool and flavorful. Maybe add a snippet about making the marked object perfectly visible at night, as well?
Ah, right I'll add that in.


Sigil of the Sand: Yikes. that is way powerful. It's a permanent horrid wilting that treats everyone as a plant. And somehow knows who the caster's enemies are.
Note that it deals non-lethal damage. Though, I think I'll remove the enemy thing and make it target all creatures in the area.


Sigil of the Soul: Again, cool and flavorful
Thanks!


Unleash the Sands: At level 3, you can do 24d8 damage, no save? :eek:
Right...I think I'll change the damage per 10ft. Also, remember it is non-lethal damage.


Glass Blade: Cool, but there's some stuff to be addressed. What happens if your weapon is shattered? Where does the original go?
The original is dispersed into sand but otherwise its just within you, maybe it goes into your heirloom...as for sundering, I'd say you can summon it again next round. Remember the weapon only looks like glass, all original properties are the same.

Edit: Alright, I made some changes to the Scholar of Scihon to balance out Unleash the Sands and Sigil of the Sand.

[puppyavenger]

Here's a bunch of ideas on kobold culture take it or hate it.
(sorry, it's a sunday couldn't wait till 4 am.:smallsmile: )
[spoiler]
kobolds are divided into 3 main castes.
the weakest and least of them are the commoners, They have brown scalesand use the reguler kobolds stats, with rouge as a favored class.
They spend almost all there time farming or mineing to make enough for a profit after taxes and any free time is spent leaning trapmaking or combat. anywhere that wariors and royals don't go is only small enough for one of them and filled with peep-holes and traps. Soicial standing in there circles is based entirely on how good you are at makeing things. The two most common classes are expert and rouge. They're role in the millitary is that of skirmishers and ambushers, with any civilians fortyfieing the city. Being part of the millitary is highly desirable because if you do anything noticeable or heroic then the royals are likely to give them a mine or piece of land to build and rent out, meaning that they have more free time to fortiefy it and, well have free time.
[spoiler] I'll do the warriors and the royals tomarrow if anyone is intrested in these.

[Vadin]

So, bit of an abrupt change, but gnomes and orcs and gnorks:

Should they all gain targeted training? Orcs, imo, need a little something else and should probably lose light sensitivity.

The illusion thing could go as well, for gnomes.

Keen Senses...why does it grant them a bonus to Craft:Alchemy? My vote says it grants a +2 to listen and spot checks.

As far as the stat bonus, I'd say +2 Int instead of +2 Con.

And the spell-like abilities...I like Speak with Animals (it would be quite useful in post-Green times), but the other ones I'm not such a fan of. Prestidigitation is alright, but dancing lights and ghost sounds? Too illusion focused. Maybe Detect Magic and a Detect Trap kind of spell?

[Lord Tataraus]

@ puppyavenger: looks great! I can't wait to see more....well, actually I can wait, but you know what I mean :smallwink:


And the spell-like abilities...I like Speak with Animals (it would be quite useful in post-Green times), but the other ones I'm not such a fan of. Prestidigitation is alright, but dancing lights and ghost sounds? Too illusion focused. Maybe Detect Magic and a Detect Trap kind of spell?

Well, my gnorks have Prestidigitation and Detect Magic.

Edit: This is a bit unrelated, but I was looking over the elf stuff since that's basically finalized, but I noticed that the fluff is still "women as sex slaves" while it was decided to have them as matriarchal rulers with extremely small numbers per tribe (no more than 5 I'd say). Could some one update that fluff?

[Vadin]

Yeah, and thats good. I was thinking that the gnomes could have those too, with another spell in there that detects incoming danger (like traps, or monsters of a certain amount of power (like CR>(Gnome's HD+5))) so as to validate their role as problem solvers/preventers.

[tsuuga]

Gnomes get that +2 to Craft:Alchemy due to keen noses, according to the SRD. I can take it or leave it =P

Orcs get +4 Strength, and that's usually heavily weighted in race descriptions. I would remove the light sensitivity though, and probably drop the -2 to Charisma. They've formed a nice, civilized society, no reason to penalize that anymore.

[puppyavenger]

Here's a bunch of ideas on kobold culture take it or hate it.
(sorry, it's a Sunday couldn't wait till 4 am.:smallsmile: )
[spoiler]
kobolds are divided into 3 main castes.
the weakest and least of them are the commoners, They have brown scales and use the regular kobolds stats, with rouge as a favoured class.
They spend almost all there time farming or mining to make enough for a profit after taxes and any free time is spent leaning trap making or combat. anywhere that warriors and royals don't go is only small enough for one of them and filled with peep-holes and traps. Social standing in there circles is based entirely on how good you are at making things. The two most common classes are expert and rouge. They're role in the military is that of skirmishers and ambushers, with any civilians fortifying the city. Being part of the military is highly desirable because if you do anything noticeable or heroic then the royals are likely to give them a mine or piece of land to build and rent out, meaning that they have more free time to fortify it and, well have free time.
[spoiler] I'll do the warriors and the royals tomorrow if anyone is interested in these.

and since my computer clocks an hour fast....
Warriors.
The middle class of kobolds, these are the mainstay of the kobold armies. Between 5 and 6 feet tall, They have dull greenish brown scales except for a crest on there head, which is polished vigorously and died to signify the rank of the kobold. They generally fight in a three rank staggered line, with short spears, then long spears, then hand crossbows and short spears as back up. They are deeply honourable in a strange way, they view killing one of there own as an unthinkable crime and killing a royal as tantamatont to Dracocide. They would have no physical stat penalties, maybe a con bonus? and nat. armour plus 2.

Royals
The rulers of kobold society, Royals are all supposedly descended from the dragon that rules there. This combined with the fact that they are able to communicate with the dragon gives them the divine right to rule as stewards until it awakens. They are four to five feet in height and are generally a dull version of there dragons colour. They generally spend they're life studying wizardry until they master some basic spells. At that point their entire purpose in life is to learn the spell detect thoughts. Anyone who can not master it is cast out into the wild. Very, Very, very rarely a child will be born who is vibrantly collared the colour of the dragon. This child is destinies to be a sorcerer and is treated as a prophet come to earth. These sorcerers have a innate ability to sense the dragons basic emotions, these are not especially helpful considering it's in a comma, but the lower casts don't bother thinking about that to much. They would be either small or medium (whets the cut off height for small again?) and an intelligence bonus from centuries of natural selection. Their favoured class would be wizard.

[Lord Tataraus]

Kobold Warrior Caste:
Medium Humanoid (dragonblood)
+2 Con, -2 Int
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Natural Armor +2
Automatic proficiency Warrior kobolds are automatically proficient with ranseurs.
Weapon Familiarity: The Great Spear is considered a Martial Weapon.
War-like: +4 racial bonus to Intimidate and Knowledge (tactics) checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light

Kobold Royal Caste:
Small Humanoid (dragonblood)
-4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Cha
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Magical Aptitude: +4 racial bonus on Spellcraft, Knowledge (arcana) and Use Magic Device checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light
Energy Breath: A royal kobold may use Acid Splash as a spell-like ability except with the element of their ancestral dragon at will but must wait 1d4+1 rounds between each use.

A start, what do you think? Maybe give the Royals a few innate spells in exchange for the -2 Con?

Edit: Just so its here:
Kobold Worker Caste:
Small Humanoid (dragonblood)
-4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Natural Armor +1
Craft (trapmaking) always in-class
Natural Weapons: 2 claws (1d3) & 1 bite (1d3).
Automatic proficiency with Light & Heavy Picks.
Weapon Familiarity: Greatpick is considered a Martial Weapon.
Crafty: +4 Racial bonus on Craft(trapmaking), Profession(miner), and Search checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light

[puppyavenger]

Kobold Warrior Caste:
Medium Humanoid (dragonblood)
+2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Cha
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Natural Armor +2
Stealthy: +4 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks.

Kobold Royal Caste:
Small Humanoid (dragonblood)
-4 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Int
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Magical Aptitude: +4 racial bonus on Spellcraft, Knowledge (arcana) and Use Magic Device checks.

A start, what do you think? Maybe give the Royals a few innate spells in exchange for the -2 Con?

mayby an acid splash equivelent for there dragons favoured elelment? and we should probably replace stealthy with something else, just because they generaly view stealth as a toll for the skirmishers on the battlefield and they can realy only walk on the main streets in their cities.

[Lord Tataraus]

mayby an acid splash equivelent for there dragons favoured elelment? and we should probably replace stealthy with something else, just because they generaly view stealth as a toll for the skirmishers on the battlefield and they can realy only walk on the main streets in their cities.

Hm, good idea with the acid splash thing, I've added that and made a few other changes as well as add the normal kobold stats. However, I suggest we use the alternate racial feature Slight Build kobolds for the workers. Basically they gain this:

Slight Build: The physical stature of kobolds lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category smaller. Whenever a kobold is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as Hide), the kobold is treated as one size smaller if doing so is advantageous to the character. A kobold is also considered to be one size smaller when "squeezing" through a restrictive space. A kobold can use weapons designed for a creature one size smaller without penalty. However, the space and reach of a kobold remain those of a creature of their actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject's size category.

[jagadaishio]

I think that royals should have a +2 Charisma instead of Intelligence. That way, they can be fairly average wizards, but the rare sorcerer is especially potent.

[Lord Tataraus]

I think that royals should have a +2 Charisma instead of Intelligence. That way, they can be fairly average wizards, but the rare sorcerer is especially potent.

I think you're right. Dragons are more charisma-friendly since they are sorcerers, not wizards. Also, I'm going to cut the +2 Str and -2 Cha from the Warrior Caste, it just doesn't fit a kobold at all, its exactly opposite what kobolds are.

[jagadaishio]

I think you're right. Dragons are more charisma-friendly since they are sorcerers, not wizards. Also, I'm going to cut the +2 Str and -2 Cha from the Warrior Caste, it just doesn't fit a kobold at all, its exactly opposite what kobolds are.

That sounds fine to me. We don't want them to just end up being glorified lizardfolk.

[tsuuga]

Also, remember it is non-lethal damage.
I hate to harp on this, but (in my opinion, anyway) non-lethal damage is a better type than lethal damage in almost every situation, simply because you can question them afterwards.

Also, I'm thinking that the scion should get some kind of immunity to his own damage - not many classes smack themselves in the face they way Sigil of Sand does.

Also, some more suggested sigils:

Sigil of Shifting Dunes The sigil causes the ground to become unstable beneath the feet of nearby creatures. Treat this effect as a grease spell with a reflex save DC of 10+1/2 character level+Intelligence modifier. The insciber of the sigil and any creature wearing the sigil are not affected.

Sigil of Shimmering Heat The sigil causes the air to ripple, and surfaces to appear reflective. This sigil penalizes spot checks by (some number) and provides concealment (allowing hide checks and a 20% miss chance)

[puppyavenger]

Hm, good idea with the acid splash thing, I've added that and made a few other changes as well as add the normal kobold stats. However, I suggest we use the alternate racial feature Slight Build kobolds for the workers. Basically they gain this:

Slight Build: The physical stature of kobolds lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category smaller. Whenever a kobold is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as Hide), the kobold is treated as one size smaller if doing so is advantageous to the character. A kobold is also considered to be one size smaller when "squeezing" through a restrictive space. A kobold can use weapons designed for a creature one size smaller without penalty. However, the space and reach of a kobold remain those of a creature of their actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject's size category.

looks good, but as I said, maybe replace the wariors "Stealthy" with, say some racial proficiencies?

[Lord Tataraus]

looks good, but as I said, maybe replace the wariors "Stealthy" with, say some racial proficiencies?

Check them again, I overhualed the warriors a bit.


I hate to harp on this, but (in my opinion, anyway) non-lethal damage is a better type than lethal damage in almost every situation, simply because you can question them afterwards.
You are one of few in my experience. Most players I know would rather kill than question and non-lethal can be resisted easier.


Also, I'm thinking that the scion should get some kind of immunity to his own damage - not many classes smack themselves in the face they way Sigil of Sand does.
The desert does not determine from friend or foe, Scihon teaches that you may harness the desert's power, but you can't tame it or befriend it.

So, I don't think that fits. A Scholar of Scihon learns to fear even his own sigils and must use them with care. That's part of the cost for an at will, unlimited duration ability.


Also, some more suggested sigils:

Sigil of Shifting Dunes The sigil causes the ground to become unstable beneath the feet of nearby creatures. Treat this effect as a grease spell with a reflex save DC of 10+1/2 character level+Intelligence modifier. The insciber of the sigil and any creature wearing the sigil are not affected.

Sigil of Shimmering Heat The sigil causes the air to ripple, and surfaces to appear reflective. This sigil penalizes spot checks by (some number) and provides concealment (allowing hide checks and a 20% miss chance)
I like those, I'll add them in. And good thing they have that nice little alliteration :smallbiggrin:

[puppyavenger]

Check them again, I overhualed the warriors a bit.


I don't know, It just feels strange for creatures that can't even get into the good hideing spaces and onl walk on the main streets of their cities to be good at hideing and sneaking. And maybe replace gretpick wth a sper? they aren't the ones who do the mining.

[Lord Tataraus]

I don't know, It just feels strange for creatures that can't even get into the good hideing spaces and onl walk on the main streets of their cities to be good at hideing and sneaking. And maybe replace gretpick wth a sper? they aren't the ones who do the mining.

I changed the skill bonuses, but forgot to change the name! Also, I just changed the proficiencies to Ranseur and Great Spears as martial.

[puppyavenger]

I changed the skill bonuses, but forgot to change the name! Also, I just changed the proficiencies to Ranseur and Great Spears as martial.

may I ask what great Spear is? and I'll Get the thing up with formating sometime today.

[Lord Tataraus]

may I ask what great Spear is? and I'll Get the thing up with formating sometime today.

It is to the longspear what the Greatpick is to the Heavy Pick. Essentially the same weapon (shared focus even) except the damage is increased by one step and its exotic. Its from CW.

[puppyavenger]

Heres an idea for the cosmolagy
When the growth hapened, the sudden destruction of civilisation combined with the loss of almost all inteligence (and thus belief and souls) shunted the planes away from the earth, the result is needing a prestige class to be a cleric and not haveing to worry about planer adventures and Outsiders.
EDIT. and heres the kobolds

Kobolds
Worker Kobolds
Personality They are generally fidgety and paranoid, always looking around thee area for something important or dangerous. They view craft and artifice as the best way to judge a peer, this had lead to walking into one of their dwellings without a guide both impossible and painful.
Physical description They are generally between three and four feet tall, and have small dirty brown scales that blend in well with mud.
Culture They spend almost all their time mining or digging new tunnels and it is not always clear which. All their free time is spent building or upgrading traps and fortifications in their homes. They generally live in communal dwellings full of small tunnels.
Joining the Military is a good way to get ahead as if you do anything noticeable useful the Royals are likely to make you sole ternate of an area of land, meaning you can just take some of the surplus off those working under you. In the military they generally fight as ambushers or ranged support, using dex or con poisoned hand crossbows.
Religion They reverently worship the local dragon as a "sleeping god" and view the Royals god-blooded stewards.
Kobold Lands They generally live in the side tunnels and pathways of the kobold citadels, the ghettos if you will. The kobold empire covers thousand of miles underground and is almost all covered in tunnels such as the ones they live and work in.
Kobold Worker Caste:
Small Humanoid (dragonblood)
-4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Natural Armor +1
Craft (trapmaking) always in-class
Natural Weapons: 2 claws (1d3) & 1 bite (1d3).
Automatic proficiency with Light & Heavy Picks.
Weapon Familiarity: Greatpick is considered a Martial Weapon.
Crafty: +4 Racial bonus on Craft(trapmaking), Profession(miner), and Search checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light
Warrior Caste
Personality Generally aloof and honourable, They are loyal to a fault to their masters. They view the warriors in their Company as family. They talk as little as possible to non-kobolds.
Physical description They are between five and a half and six in a half feet tall, They have dull green scales except for a large crest on there head, which is polished until it's reflective and tatted a colour denoting the warriors rank.
Culture The colour of the warriors crest is the most important part of their body. It can be anywhere from simply polished green(trainee) to bright Green(foot soldier) to blue(an officer equivalent to a sergeant or captain) to bright yellow(commander) to purple(Head of that states military) to, through the use of a strange and mystical treatment by the Royals, Clear and filled with Prismatic colours(Royal honker guard). They live very much in a police state, with every infraction is punished.
Religion see above
Lands They live in massive citadels and complexes that dot the land and serve as strongpoint.
Kobold Warrior Caste:
Medium Humanoid (dragonblood)
+2 Con, -2 Int
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Natural Armor +2
Automatic proficiency Warrior kobolds are automatically proficient with Ramseur’s.
Weapon Familiarity: The Awl pike is considered a Martial Weapon.
War-like: +4 racial bonus to Intimidate and Knowledge (tactics) checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light
Royals
Personality with a strong commanding presence, these kobolds are generally aloof and arrogant, although they are quite good at hiding it. They are quite intelligent and good at manipulating people, this may come from anyone not being able to read the surface thoughts of a dragon being killed, They are quite good a maintaining the illusion of godliness they project. The rare sorcerer is almost always actually likeable and adept at getting people who didn't know him a week ago to become friends.
Physical description Between four and five feet tall, they have scales that are a dull version of their dragons, with sorcerers beings noticeably more vibrant.
Culture They are at heart, a somewhat lopsided meritocracy, with the more powerful ones being able to pierce deeper into the dragons mind and thus having more power, and the sorcerers literally being able to call anyone who disagrees with them a demon in human flesh. Most don't as they're not idiots, but still....
Religion see above
Lands The dragonholds and most important fortresses are filled with arcane libraries and palaces where the Royals enjoy whatever comforts the wish as the most powerful and the prophets govern everything
Kobold Royal Caste:
Small Humanoid (dragonblood)
-4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Cha
Base Land Speed: 30ft
Darkvision: 60ft
Magical Aptitude: +4 racial bonus on Spellcraft, Knowledge (arcana) and Use Magic Device checks.
Light Sensitivity: 1 to Attack rolls, Spot checks, and Search checks in bright light
Energy Breath: A royal kobold may use Acid Splash as a spell-like ability except with the element of their ancestral dragon at will but must wait 1d4+1 rounds betw
each use.
Kobold Society
The kobolds control pretty much the entire sewer system and have branched off thousand of miles of tunnels from it. The Main roads are Sewers that have been dammed and massive roads where all the smaller tunnels branch off. The Areas are modeled in such a way so that anything not populated is sheer rock, depleted mines are turned into residences and collapsed tunnels are redug. The only thing you can tell the difference between is mines, suburbs, fortresses and “Dragonholds”. The Empire is ruled by The Royal cast from each Dragonhold, who in turn owe allegiance (paid in lip service) to the strongest, the protection for the world only know Prismatic dragon.


more to come! I'll wright up Soiciety tomarrow here it is!

[jagadaishio]

I have a question concerning the kobolds. How does the Dragonwrought feat and its derivative feats play into this, and what does being Dragonwrought imply for the social position of such a kobold if the feat remains?

[puppyavenger]

I have a question concerning the kobolds. How does the Dragonwrought feat and its derivative feats play into this, and what does being Dragonwrought imply for the social position of such a kobold if the feat remains?

That would probably be a good way to mark a sorcerors divine power, or maybe as a right of passage for the Royal cast. It would be Royals only of course.

[tsuuga]

It is to the longspear what the Greatpick is to the Heavy Pick. Essentially the same weapon (shared focus even) except the damage is increased by one step and its exotic. Its from CW.

It also has a range increment of 10' instead of the ability to be set against a charge... which is a bit silly when you think about it: they weigh the same, but the one that requires special training to wield 2-handed is more aerodynamic? :smallamused:

Also: Thinking of doing a little 5-level "Tunnel Rat" prestige class for commoner kobolds who specialize in hit and run tactics, trapping, and the use of murder holes in defending their cities.

Edit: because I never seem to say all I want to say the first time round...


Slight Build: <snip>

Do they get this?: Small size. +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks

[puppyavenger]

It also has a range increment of 10' instead of the ability to be set against a charge... which is a bit silly when you think about it: they weigh the same, but the one that requires special training to wield 2-handed is more aerodynamic? :smallamused:



might want to change it to longspear then, as I'm imagining the kobolds main stratagy is to shoot with reapeating crossbows and then let the enemy impale itself on the second ranks spears

[Lord Tataraus]

Do they get this?: Small size. +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks

No, they count as tiny for those purposes. Basically they get all the benefits of being tiny but no damage or carrying capacity penalties. So they get +2 to AC and attacks and +8 to hide.


might want to change it to longspear then, as I'm imagining the kobolds main stratagy is to shoot with reapeating crossbows and then let the enemy impale itself on the second ranks spears

Well, the longspear is a simple weapon so automatic proficiency doesn't really do anything. Possibly another type of spear? How about an Awl Pike (DR331 p24)? It is exactly the same as a longspear except it has 15ft reach.

[Vadin]

Now that sorcerers have been brought up, I'd like to propose something:

Sorcerers have access to all spells. Not like they know all of them, but they can choose from the Wizard/Sorcerer/Cleric/Druid/Shugenja list. I use this in my games, and works out very well. Not once have I had a character complain about the Wizard having so many spells to choose from every day. They know Cure Light Wounds, Summon Monster (With heavy focus on positive energy plane monsters), and Summon Nature's Ally. They are truly conduits of raw magical force. When a spell shows up on multiple lists, they gain it at the lowest available level (unless the class that learns it at a lower level is Bard, Paladin, Ranger, etc.).

That, or we remake the Sorcerer class into a caster that chooses various Areas Of Power that grant some minor special abilities and different spell lists they can choose to learn from. Kind of like expanded Domains and Psionic Disciplines.

[puppyavenger]

Well, the longspear is a simple weapon so automatic proficiency doesn't really do anything. Possibly another type of spear? How about an Awl Pike (DR331 p24)? It is exactly the same as a longspear except it has 15ft reach.

That would be perfect, and for no reason at all, heres an idea of the kobold military formation, lines of one because that number of each rank varies depending on how wide the tunnel is
C dex or con poisened repester crossbow and shortspear
L longspear
A Awl Pike with shortspear

C
L
A
C
L
A
A
repeat.
EDIT, kobold prety much done, any thoughts?

[tsuuga]

Gnorkish society recognizes two gods and a goddess, each worshiped in two aspects with two names.

The goddess is depicted as a pregnant woman sitting cross-legged. Every home contains a shrine or small statue of her, always carved out of wood and polished.

In her aspect as fertility goddess, she is called Kona. A couple who wishes to conceive gifts an item of jewelry to the goddess, it is left on the shrine or hung about the idol's neck. It is left to hang there until the resultant child turns 16; the child then takes the item of jewelry as their own and carves a copy out of wood and twine. The wooden copy is left with the idol forever. If no child is conceived or a child dies before turning 16, the piece of jewelry is to stay with the idol forever. Only midwives celebrate the festival to honor Kona, the details are kept secret.

In her aspect as harvest goddess, she is called Matr. An ear of corn is left with each statue throughout the year. Matr is honored in a festival on the night the harvest is complete. The whole clan gathers for a bonfire, the dried ears of corn are popped, and there is general revelry and drinking.

The first god is depicted as a one-eyed orcish warrior. His image is carved or painted on the door frame of every home.

In his aspect as guardian of the home, he is called Vaka. From dusk until dawn on the longest night of the year, the man of each house covers his left eye, and sits in the doorway of his home with a weapon close at hand. This is to give Vaka the night off, in thanks for his vigilance the rest of the year.

In his aspect as warrior god, he is called Rekkr. A man going to battle knocks three times on the carving to ask his protection the fight to come. Some orcs will paint a black splotch over their left eye in further reverence. After a battle, the womenfolk apply a smear of unguent and a small bandage to the carvings, in recognition that Rekkr may have taken blows in place of their loved ones. Rekkr is not called upon at other times, nor does he have a festival; it is believed that this would invite conflict. Men going to train for battle knock once to let Rekkr know there is nothing to be concerned about.

The last god is depicted as a faceless man. A bust of him is carved in a tree near each entrance to the lands claimed by the clan.

In his aspect as secret keeper, he is called Luan. Hunters rub the face of a bust in a prayer that he will reveal the hiding place of their prey; when returning from a successful hunt they leave a tally mark in the prey's blood on the tree. Luan's festival is on the spring solstice; every light in the village is extinguished from dusk till dawn, and guessing games are played.

In his aspect as god of wisdom, he is called Svinnr. He is very popular with the Wise, who often depict him as a faceless man in a robe carrying a quarterstaff; their books are usually marked thus. Svinnr's festivals are held when a new Wise is appointed. I can't seem to think of a festival or ritual for Svinnr...

Comments, suggestions?

I should really work on prestige classes for Wars, Wierds, and Wise.


No, they count as tiny for those purposes

Gotcha, I had just assumed they were medium... but that raises another question for me. How are these guys built? Pretty much like a gekko? Because they can fit into a 1-foot-square space, and still fight. They can also count as weighing 8 pounds. You should also specify that this doesn't apply to stat changes, or you'll get another 2 dex from the size change rules. I really like this as an ability on a medium creature... on a small humanoid creature, not so much.

[puppyavenger]

Gotcha, I had just assumed they were medium... but that raises another question for me. How are these guys built? Pretty much like a gekko? Because they can fit into a 1-foot-square space, and still fight. They can also count as weighing 8 pounds. You should also specify that this doesn't apply to stat changes, or you'll get another 2 dex from the size change rules. I really like this as an ability on a medium creature... on a small humanoid creature, not so much.

yep, , t's actualy given as an idea to power up kobolds in the ROTD web enhancment, also excuse my noobiness, but what a raunser ?

[tsuuga]

A Ranseur is a type of spear with a pair of spikes below the head. It's a piercing reach weapon that does 2d4 damage and x3 crits.

[Vadin]

Svinnr: They recite the entirety of the Lore Of The World for roughly a week, sharing tales of epic heroes and ancient battles and monstrous foes and wondrous treasures earned at the ends of mighty quests.

[puppyavenger]

A Ranseur is a type of spear with a pair of spikes below the head. It's a piercing reach weapon that does 2d4 damage and x3 crits.

gtoch, I'll replace long--spears with those in the battle formation. A crit againstsomeone chargin you with one of ths would kill.

[tsuuga]

Huh... My description was incomplete. They also can't attack at 5-foot range, they can't be set against a charge (sorry :smallfrown:). They also get a +2 bonus on disarm attempts

[puppyavenger]

Huh... My description was incomplete. They also can't attack at 5-foot range, they can't be set against a charge (sorry :smallfrown:). They also get a +2 bonus on disarm attempts

ah, I'll change it back, so anyone have any thoughts about the kobolds?

[Lord Tataraus]

Huh, I though ranseurs could be set against a charge, wierd. Well, Awl Pikes can be so they're still good.


ah, I'll change it back, so anyone have any thoughts about the kobolds?

Looks pretty good. You have a few grammatical and spelling errors, but that's easily fixed.

[puppyavenger]

Looks pretty good. You have a few grammatical and spelling errors, but that's easily fixed.

Hopefully fixed most of the spelling errors, I'll get Soiciety up either later tonight or tomarrow.okay it's up now, unless anyone wants more information kobolds aredone and any comments are of courser welcomed.

[Aptera]

Some thoughts on Elvish religion,
Elves have many spirits and gods, which they divide into three categories:
The Male Elf, the Female Elf, and the Non-Elf (or weak. The names are interchangeable). Elves also use these categories for life, and organize most things around them. For instance the Female spirit/god of the celestial bodies, is the moon, and the male (as subservient to the female) are the stars. Both of these help the elves during the night, providing the small amount of light needed for the hunt. The sun is the Non-Elf celestial body, being the leader of the weak Non-Elfs. Elves worship other spirits like blood, body and food (female, male, non-elf) local spritis tribe spirits and others.
Just some ideas.

[Lord Tataraus]

I don't know if the sun could be "Weak" compared to the moon and stars, it just seems too backwards. I don't know how else to really do it though...with a "celestial bodies" theme that is. Of course, they could just be even more "savage" and revere no gods, seeing themselves as the sole rulers of the world. Or they might revere nature spirits and spirits of emotion, consuming the flesh of others to harness those spirits' powers. Though, I could see a monotheistic religion, believing in the great Queen Elf or something like that, but that's too Drow for me.

[Vadin]

On the elven religion thing: I think the idea of the moon representing Lady Elven and the stars being her Consorts Supreme could work (names-courtly+mythical). That, however, is at night, when Lady Elven is weaker and needs protection. During the day, she reigns as the Elven Empress, a harsh and unforgiving mistress with no need for defense. Even when the Multitude doth darken the Lady and her Consorts (clouds block out the sky), it is only a matter of time before the Queen of Elves resumes her place of honor and power in the sky. In such times, though the High Queen shall take back her throne in time, it is typically custom to cease work at such time and aid her in her quest to restore her power by ridding the world of the masses, so that the Multitude above might likewise be slain.

This would establish elves as: monotheistic, racist, matriarchal, having religious reasons to defend one's Queen (to ensure a place among the Consorts Supreme), bloodthirsty, and especially bloodthirsty when its cloudy outside (both at night and during the day, though they'd usually be asleep during the day and would usually only do this at night).

Difference between an Elven raiding party in clear sky and on a cloudy night: On a clear eve, they'll take what they need and back out with their stolen goods if the opposition proves too strong; when cloudy, they can allow no survivors and will fight to the last man without regard for personal safety.

[Lord Tataraus]

On the elven religion thing: I think the idea of the moon representing Lady Elven and the stars being her Consorts Supreme could work (names-courtly+mythical). That, however, is at night, when Lady Elven is weaker and needs protection. During the day, she reigns as the Elven Empress, a harsh and unforgiving mistress with no need for defense. Even when the Multitude doth darken the Lady and her Consorts (clouds block out the sky), it is only a matter of time before the Queen of Elves resumes her place of honor and power in the sky. In such times, though the High Queen shall take back her throne in time, it is typically custom to cease work at such time and aid her in her quest to restore her power by ridding the world of the masses, so that the Multitude above might likewise be slain.

This would establish elves as: monotheistic, racist, matriarchal, having religious reasons to defend one's Queen (to ensure a place among the Consorts Supreme), bloodthirsty, and especially bloodthirsty when its cloudy outside (both at night and during the day, though they'd usually be asleep during the day and would usually only do this at night).

Difference between an Elven raiding party in clear sky and on a cloudy night: On a clear eve, they'll take what they need and back out with their stolen goods if the opposition proves too strong; when cloudy, they can allow no survivors and will fight to the last man without regard for personal safety.

That works beautifully. And it gives a new meaning to the term "a rainy day" for the people in this world.

[Vadin]

"And it had started off like such a great day, too. The moon had been full and setting, the giant Tiku Birds had been screeching their love songs, and the caravan's load of Skyfish had been packed faster than expected. It was early morning, just before sunrise, and we'd decided to head out instead of waiting an hour or so until our originally planned time. It was only a short trip, and we all wanted to rest in our own beds that night. Oh, what fools we mortals be! A few miles down the well-worn road, we noticed trouble. The animals seemed a bit on edge, though we attributed it to the storm that had started brewing. We were only half right. When the first thunder rolled, the nightmare began. Arrows from the roadside fell with the rain and several of our guards and passengers hit the ground. It was those damned Elves! I put two and two together and knew there wasn't much chance of survival for any of us. I dove into my pocket for my 'just-in-case' talisman and focused my will on escape."


The soldier did a double-take as the wagon master disappeared and a tiny bird flew off in his place. That glance almost cost him his life, though, as an unarmored elf approached with a malicious smile. "<Meet your doom, usurper!>" the tattooed monster said with a grin. Draconic? The soldier had picked it up in the Realms while training, of course (the renowned Master Tk'chiss would speak nothing else), but where had an elf learned it? He decided the question was better left for calmer times and focused his will on his blade. He swung a few times as he and the elf, who laughed at the apparent display of theatrics, circled each other, both waiting for the other to strike. Little did the elf know he had begun the Striking Serpent technique, an ability that would let him reach his blade much farther than usually possible. As the elf's tattoos flashed a bright blue, he grew enormous muscles and became three heads taller. This display of magic would be his downfall, however, as the soldier took advantage of his foes distraction and leapt with his sword. The blade grew three times as long and easily sliced through the neck of the elf. By this time, the others of the caravan were dead, kidnapped, or had fled, and the other elves had either died or disappeared. Now that his foe had fallen, he had time to take stock of the situation. Upon inspection, the solder found the slain enemy was no more than a youth! Any victory over an elf would usually be worth a few drinks at the local pub and a substantial bounty, but this? This was no victory. This was a tired old man and a dead boy (with an air of confidence he himself had radiated years before), a boy who had had a long life ahead of him. In a particularly pensive moment, he thought, 'If only it hadn't rained, lad...if only it hadn't rained...' and walked back towards the town. Never would he speak of this day, though often would he remember it.

Some fluff for the magic class/elves.

[tsuuga]

On the elven religion thing: <snip>

Totally awesome.


Some fluff for the magic class/elves.

Also awesome.

I'll try and get something written up tonight, but no promises. My muse is hiding today.

[Vadin]

In unrelated news, have we got any artists in here? If anybody (feel free to jump in at this point, new people!) can make OotS style art, it would be awesome if we could get a few examples for each race and subrace so far. We could vote on which ones are the best and have them be the 'icons', if you will, for the different races and classes. Also, some avatars we could have available would be come.

If we don't have/can't find any artists, would you mind heading up a thread(assuming you're ok with the CoG art and avatars) asking for help in the Arts and Crafts board, Tartaraus?

[seedjar]

Just a brief thought for classes. How about a UMD specialist? Not an artificer - no crazy bonuses to magic item creation ability, or spells for that matter - but a class that allows the PC to augment the abilities of magic items, better identify them, maybe a little trapfinding/dungeoneering skill as well. The idea would be a mundane class that specializes in exploiting the remnants of the previous era, without much focus on the study of magic itself. Kind of like the way an archaeologist doesn't have to be a mathematician to understand that Egyptians used geometry to parcel their land; this improvisationalist understands how to make a wand of cure mod. wounds get two castings out of a single charge not because of his knowledge of cure spells, but because he's familiar with the way that wands were made and the conditions under which they function best. To round out it's place in the class hierarchy, I would support the magic item skills with some party face/investigative abilities (if the player needs magic items, there should be class abilities to help them find magic items,) probably mid BAB (might need to swing a sword if there aren't any spell completion items handy,) and some tactical jazz that allows a modest degree of defense/field control (like a lightweight trapsmith; improvising cover, tripwires, etc.)
Such a class might already exist for all I know; you could probably dress a trapsmith to fill the role mechanically. Game-wise, I feel like a magic item scavenger is a natural addition; they fit right in with the dwarves, but I think you could reasonably find one of these types just about anywhere in this world. Which brings up a question - anybody got a campaign-appropriate world name yet? (IE, one that works both in character and out of character without being unwieldy or too generic.)
~Joe

[jagadaishio]

Just a brief thought for classes. How about a UMD specialist? Not an artificer - no crazy bonuses to magic item creation ability, or spells for that matter - but a class that allows the PC to augment the abilities of magic items, better identify them, maybe a little trapfinding/dungeoneering skill as well. The idea would be a mundane class that specializes in exploiting the remnants of the previous era, without much focus on the study of magic itself. Kind of like the way an archaeologist doesn't have to be a mathematician to understand that Egyptians used geometry to parcel their land; this improvisationalist understands how to make a wand of cure mod. wounds get two castings out of a single charge not because of his knowledge of cure spells, but because he's familiar with the way that wands were made and the conditions under which they function best. To round out it's place in the class hierarchy, I would support the magic item skills with some party face/investigative abilities (if the player needs magic items, there should be class abilities to help them find magic items,) probably mid BAB (might need to swing a sword if there aren't any spell completion items handy,) and some tactical jazz that allows a modest degree of defense/field control (like a lightweight trapsmith; improvising cover, tripwires, etc.)
Such a class might already exist for all I know; you could probably dress a trapsmith to fill the role mechanically. Game-wise, I feel like a magic item scavenger is a natural addition; they fit right in with the dwarves, but I think you could reasonably find one of these types just about anywhere in this world. Which brings up a question - anybody got a campaign-appropriate world name yet? (IE, one that works both in character and out of character without being unwieldy or too generic.)
~Joe

A rogue with the right combination of feats could do exactly what you're proposing. One thing that I'm wondering about is how heavily high-security locations have degraded. Could the players break into a 2000 year old air-tight bank vault to find stacks of magical tomes in a safety deposit box? Could they break open a safe buried fifty feet under the earth containing the prototypes of the magic item factory that once sat above it? This could add a whole new type of treasure hunter option to the campaign setting, where a character has to fight their way through a bank vault turned kobold fief in order to reach the never-opened vault doors in the sub-basement.

[tsuuga]

A rogue with the right combination of feats could do exactly what you're proposing.

There's not actually much room for a default rogue in this setting. Communities are too small for stealing to be a valid way of life, and most are rural enough that you'd never see a trap or lock. The rogue would at least need to be reflavored from an urban assassin/thief to a more rough-and-ready Indiana Jones type Combat Archaeologist.


One thing that I'm wondering about is how heavily high-security locations have degraded. Could the players break into a 2000 year old air-tight bank vault to find stacks of magical tomes in a safety deposit box? Could they break open a safe buried fifty feet under the earth containing the prototypes of the magic item factory that once sat above it? This could add a whole new type of treasure hunter option to the campaign setting, where a character has to fight their way through a bank vault turned kobold fief in order to reach the never-opened vault doors in the sub-basement.

That sounds like a fun adventure... especially when you realize that you'll never be able to carry out even 1/4 of what's in the safe - so make a decision quick and skedaddle before they catch up with you. Now you've just got to deal with a greatly strengthened (due to magical artifacts that you didn't take) kobold nation that's annoyed at you personally :smallbiggrin:

[puppyavenger]

That sounds like a fun adventure... especially when you realize that you'll never be able to carry out even 1/4 of what's in the safe - so make a decision quick and skedaddle before they catch up with you. Now you've just got to deal with a greatly strengthened (due to magical artifacts that you didn't take) kobold nation that's annoyed at you personally :smallbiggrin:

I can imagine it now..remember kids, don't leave the magic enhancing ones in the hands of the mageocracy:smallbiggrin:

[Vadin]

There's not actually much room for a default rogue in this setting. Communities are too small for stealing to be a valid way of life, and most are rural enough that you'd never see a trap or lock. The rogue would at least need to be reflavored from an urban assassin/thief to a more rough-and-ready Indiana Jones type Combat Archaeologist.

Since it seems like we're moving on to classes (for now-and...humans aren't statted out-can we assume they're the default human?), my two cents on the rogue thing: class options. Many more of them. In this world, you probably wouldn't find a halfling rogue who could open locks (though he would probably be great at ambushing and sneak attacking) if he was from the trees, but a rogue from the Confederacy or the Imperium, who could have grown up in a city (without skyscrapers, but with two or three story buildings not being unheard of) might be great at cracking safes and opening locks. Likewise, I think that the magic-item specialization could be a useful substitution for sneak attack. So he didn't learn where to hit the enemy for that extra damage; he learned how to make this Fireball Fist shoot without using up any charges every now and then. With enough options, all varieties of rogues (from assassins to Indiana Jones to hobbits with jewelry) could be feasible.

[puppyavenger]

Since it seems like we're moving on to classes (for now-and...humans aren't statted out-can we assume they're the default human?), my two cents on the rogue thing: class options. Many more of them. In this world, you probably wouldn't find a halfling rogue who could open locks (though he would probably be great at ambushing and sneak attacking) if he was from the trees, but a rogue from the Confederacy or the Imperium, who could have grown up in a city (without skyscrapers, but with two or three story buildings not being unheard of) might be great at cracking safes and opening locks. Likewise, I think that the magic-item specialization could be a useful substitution for sneak attack. So he didn't learn where to hit the enemy for that extra damage; he learned how to make this Fireball Fist shoot without using up any charges every now and then. With enough options, all varieties of rogues (from assassins to Indiana Jones to hobbits with jewelry) could be feasible.

Confederacy? Imperium? we need to detail human culutres some more,and for wizards, may I suggest varient spell-books being common?

[Vadin]

Ah. Right. I believe the Confederacy and such has been briefly mentioned elsewhere. They're a mixed race group (but mostly humans) of small to medium size cities centered in the plains area. Mostly they just want to survive without going to too much trouble. They won't start any wars or anything, and they're advanced enough to have a few monasteries scattered around within their borders and a university of magic in the capital (for 0-4th level spells and the associated levels of casters-nobody too powerful around there).

The Imperium, on the other hand, is an island based, heavily militant, group of humans on the Western Isles who strive for advancement and stability. Very lawful. They blame the Growth on the previous civilization and seek to rebuild the world, but not in the same way as before. Their ideal world is lawful and rigid, with no room for anything crazy or wild that might cause some unforseen tragedy like before. "Out with the Old, nice and fast, in with the New, good and slow." is their motto. The only other cultures they come in contact with are the dwarves on the western shore of the island and the various aquatic races that lie around the islands.

Others' thoughts?

[puppyavenger]

Ah. Right. I believe the Confederacy and such has been briefly mentioned elsewhere. They're a mixed race group (but mostly humans) of small to medium size cities centered in the plains area. Mostly they just want to survive without going to too much trouble. They won't start any wars or anything, and they're advanced enough to have a few monasteries scattered around within their borders and a university of magic in the capital (for 0-4th level spells and the associated levels of casters-nobody too powerful around there).

The Imperium, on the other hand, is an island based, heavily militant, group of humans on the Western Isles who strive for advancement and stability. Very lawful. They blame the Growth on the previous civilization and seek to rebuild the world, but not in the same way as before. Their ideal world is lawful and rigid, with no room for anything crazy or wild that might cause some unforseen tragedy like before. "Out with the Old, nice and fast, in with the New, good and slow." is their motto. The only other cultures they come in contact with are the dwarves on the western shore of the island and the various aquatic races that lie around the islands.

Others' thoughts?

for the confederacy, maybe they're the ones the kobolds sell thier mtal to. After all, there aren't that many entrpeneurs looking for opertunities in the sewers, so maybe they have a tradeing outpost in one of the confederate towns?

[Vadin]

I could see that happening. The Confederacy has to get metal somewhere (or do they?), and they're too far away from any dwarves. A Kobold surface outpost in the capital of the Confederacy would be fairly feasible. It would also protect both of them. Kobolds get attacked by some sewer monsters, Confederacy sends some soldiers down to help. Don't wanna lose their metal, right? Confederacy gets attacked by a large group of elves in one of their once-in-a-decade get-togethers, the Confederacy's allied Kobold fiefdom helps out with magic. Kobolds can't lose their business, of course, and they don't want to be next. Works out great for everybody. It should be noted, however, that those Kobolds who sell inside the Confederacy's capital would be the envy of most all the other fiefdoms.

[Lord Tataraus]

There's not actually much room for a default rogue in this setting. Communities are too small for stealing to be a valid way of life, and most are rural enough that you'd never see a trap or lock. The rogue would at least need to be reflavored from an urban assassin/thief to a more rough-and-ready Indiana Jones type Combat Archaeologist.

Which is exactly why I suggested to (and did) replace the rogue with the scout. That is exactly what the scout is. Plus, I think the halflings would have favored class scout with the mounted scout variant (possibly).

That being the case, I suggest that the magic item specialist be a variant of the scout.

As for the Confederacy and the Imperium, they were both mentioned and approved, but more in depth description is needed.

For the name of the world, I have begun thinking about that too since we need one at this point. So, I've come up with a few possibilities: Verrid (or Virrid), Terop, Lukar. I personally like Verrid/Virrid, but I'll leave that up to you guys, if anyone can come up with other names, we'll add them to the list and vote.

As for getting artwork, that would be awesome, however, I have past experience with requesting artwork and I didn't get much and that was for the Avatar D20 project.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I vote for Verrid, as it has the "ver" bit, which means green in my head.

[Lord Tataraus]

I vote for Verrid, as it has the "ver" bit, which means green in my head.

Well, I took it from the latin word for green: viridis, so that makes sense and slightly inspired by the old norse word for world: verfold. It just fit too well.

[tsuuga]

I vote for verid, with one 'r'. It just looks better to me. Also Verfold would be a great name.

I'm working on making up some tattoos for the Red Elves. The way I'm thinking of working it is heavily based on psionics: By taking the "Tatooed" feat, you learn to harness some form of energy blah blah you get power points equal to your level. Tattoos are magic items, which must be activated by paying power points as if you were manifesting. If you want to augment it, that cost is factored in when making the tattoo, and you can only use it with that augmentation. In general, the cost of these tattoos is that of a psicrown (375*1/2 the number of PP spent rounded up*number of PP spent). So a tattoo of Catfall (10 ft.) (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/catfall.htm) would cost 375 gold and 1 PP to activate. That particular example is a bit much, but something like Claws of the Beast (5d6) (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/clawsoftheBeast.htm) costs 64125 GP, and you can only activate it at level 19.

You would also be limited to one active at a time (without a feat), and I would probably add a feat giving you an extra 1 PP per level (but limiting you to spending no more than your level per round). Maybe even a prestige class which gives you access to specialized tattoos... or latent affect ones... and extra PP.

EDIT: the great thing about non-lootable magic items is it lets you throw humanoids at your characters all day, and keep some semblance of wealth by level.

[Lord Tataraus]

That tattoo idea sounds really good. How about we allow for arcane, divine and psionic tattoos? We could just use the spell point system for all magic or just allow sorcerers, rangers druids, etc. to expend a spell to gain the correct number of effective spell/power points to use the tattoo.

Also, on the topic of alternate spell books, I don't really know if they are needed, only wizards use them and those are rare and learn from ancient tomes anyway. However, in the Confederacy, their might be wizards who would take on a more monk-like approach. They would just use tattoos or staves. Not the magic item staff, but a spell book written on a staff in symbols, somewhat like ancient Chinese texts that where written on bamboo plates which is part of the reason they use characters instead of letters. With characters, you can fit a lot more on a piece of wood, so a wizard would start out with a staff which has all their spells carved into it. The staff would be able to hold the minimum number of spells and all the extra spells would need to be tattooed. What do you think? We could even add on the the Imbued Staff variant where the staff is the spellbook and familiar.

[tsuuga]

Oh sure, no problem at all. I just said "psionics" because it's a power point system and psionics has all those "natural weapon enhancers".

Ooooh, that would be a cool idea. A wizard who actually doesn't know any spells, he just burns them for power points to fuel a selection of tattoos, many of which are unique... And which he would get at about the price of a scroll. Pick up a feat allowing him to modify already tattooed (or put on a stave, whichever) tattoos... sweet.

[tsuuga]

Tattoo Magic
A feat grants you 1 "power point" per character level. You can take it again to gain another power point per character level, but you may not spend more than your level pp/round. You are normally limited to one active tattoo at once, you may dismiss one with a free action. These tattoos are of a type that can be used by anyone. They always target the caster, and generally modify his body, grant an extra sense... Spells that shoot things or target others are the realm of casters. Activating a tattoo is by default a standard action.

These tattoos are costed using the rules for psicrowns. In other words, 375*caster level*spell level. Since lots of these are psionic, use power points spent instead of caster level, and half that number rounded up to a maximum of 9 as spell level.

Proposed Tattoos

Tattoo of Catfall
You recover instantly from a fall and can absorb some damage from falling. You land on your feet no matter how far you fall, and you take damage as if the fall were 10 feet shorter than it actually is for every power point spent. This tattoo affects you and anything you carry or hold (up to your maximum load). You can manifest this power with an instant thought, quickly enough to gain the benefit of the power while you fall. Manifesting the power is an immediate action. You can manifest this power even when it isn’t your turn.

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
10 ft.|1|375 gp
20 ft.|2|750 gp
30 ft.|3|2250 gp
40 ft.|4|3000 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Bolts
You create 2d4 ectoplasmic crossbow bolts, arrows, or sling bullets, appropriate to your size, which dissipate into their constituent ectoplasmic particles when the duration ends or after being fired. Ammunition you create has an enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls.

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
+1|1|375 gp
+2|4|3000 gp
+3|7|10500 gp
+4|10|18750 gp
+5|13|34125 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Inertial Armor
Your mind generates a tangible field of force that provides a +4 armor bonus to Armor Class. Unlike mundane armor, inertial armor entails no armor check penalty or speed reduction. Because inertial armor is composed of psychokinetic force, incorporeal creatures can’t bypass it the way they do normal armor.

Your inertial armor can be invisible or can appear as a colored glow, at your option.

The armor bonus provided by inertial armor does not stack with the armor bonus provided by regular armor.

Duration: 1 hour/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
+4|1|375 gp
+5|3|2250 gp
+6|5|5625 gp
+7|7|10500 gp
+8|9|16875 gp
+9|11|24750 gp
+10|13|34125 gp
+11|15|45000 gp
+12|17|57375 gp
+13|19|64125 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Biofeedback
You can toughen your body against wounds, lessening their impact. During the duration of this power, you gain damage reduction 2/-.

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost|PP|Cost
2/-|1|375 gp|3|2250 gp
3/-|4|3000 gp|6|6750 gp
4/-|7|10500 gp|9|16875 gp
5/-|10|18750 gp|12|27000 gp
6/-|13|34125 gp|15|45000 gp
7/-|15|45000 gp|18|60750 gp
[/table]

Comment: Yeah, two sets of costs on this one. The spell is first level for psychic warrior, second level for for psions and wilders... so I'm not sure how to cost this. I'd make a decision, but I've never actually played a character who had damage reduction.

Tattoo of Body Equilibrium
You can adjust your body’s equilibrium to correspond with any solid or liquid that you stand on. Thus, you can walk on water, quicksand, or even a spider’s web without sinking or breaking through (this effect does not confer any resistance to particularly sticky webs). You can move at your normal speed, but you cannot run (×4 speed) on an unfirm surface without sinking or breaking through.

If you fall from any height while using this power, damage from the impact is halved.

Duration: 10 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|3|2250 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Energy Adaptation, Specified
Your body assimilates some of the effect of an energy attack and converts it to harmless light. You gain resistance 10 against acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. The type is chosen when the tattoo is inked.

The resistance provided by this power does not stack with other forms of energy resistance.

This power’s subtype is the same as the type of damage it protects against.

Duration: 10 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
Standard Action|3|2250 gp
Immediate Action|7|10500 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Energy Adaptation
Your body assimilates some of the effect of an energy attack and converts it to harmless light. You gain resistance 10 against any attack that deals acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage.

When you absorb damage, you can choose to radiate visible light that illuminates a 60-foot radius for a number of rounds equal to the points of damage you successfully resisted, or merely dissipate the energy without giving off a visual display.

The resistance provided by this power does not stack with other forms of energy resistance.

Duration: 10 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
10 points|7|10500 gp
20 points|9|16875 gp
30 points|13|34125 gp
10 points immediate action|11|24750 gp
20 points immediate action|13|34125 gp
30 points immediate action|17|57375 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Sustenance
You can go without food and water for one day. Each time you manifest this power, your body manufactures sufficient solid and liquid nourishment to satisfy your needs for that time.

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|3|2250 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Body Adjustment
You take control of your body’s healing process, curing yourself of 1d12 points of damage. As usual, when regular damage is healed, an equal amount of nonlethal damage is also healed.

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
1d12|3|2250 gp
2d12|5|5625 gp
3d12|7|10500 gp
4d12|9|16875 gp
5d12|11|24750 gp
6d12|13|34125 gp
7d12|15|45000 gp
8d12|17|57375 gp
9d12|19|64125 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Thicken Skin
Your skin or natural armor thickens and spreads across your body, providing a +1 enhancement bonus to your Armor Class.

Duration: 10 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
+1|1|375 gp
+2|4|3000 gp
+3|7|10500 gp
+4|10|18750 gp
+5|13|34125 gp
+6|16|48000 gp
+7|19|64125 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Chameleon
Your skin and equipment take on the color and texture of nearby objects, including floors and walls. You receive a +10 enhancement bonus on Hide checks.

Duration: 10 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
10 minutes|1|375 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Burst
This power increases your land speed by 10 feet. (This adjustment counts as an enhancement bonus to speed.)

You can manifest this power with an instant thought, quickly enough to gain the benefit of the power on your turn before you move. Manifesting this power is a swift action. You cannot manifest this power when it isn’t your turn.

Duration: 1 round


{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|1|375 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Bite of the Wolf
Your posture becomes stooped forward, and you grow a muzzle complete with fangs. You gain one bite attack each round, instead of or in addition to any other attacks you have, that deals 1d8 points of damage (assuming you are a Medium creature) when it hits.

Your bite attack is a natural weapon, so you are considered armed when attacking with it, and it can be affected by powers, spells, and effects that enhance or improve natural weapons. You can choose to deal nonlethal damage with your bite, taking the standard -4 penalty on your attack roll. If you bite as your only attack, you use your highest base attack bonus on the attack roll, and you can apply your full Strength bonus to damage. If you bite in addition to making other attacks, the bite is a secondary attack.

If you are not a Medium creature, your bite attack’s base damage varies as follows: Fine 1d2, Diminutive 1d3, Tiny 1d4, Small 1d6, Large 2d6, Huge 2d8, Gargantuan 4d6, Colossal 6d6.

Based on your psychic warrior level, your bite increases in ferocity as noted here: at 5th level your bite deals an extra 1d8 points of damage, at 10th level an extra 2d8, at 15th level an extra 3d8, and at 20th level an extra 4d8 points.

Duration: 1/5/10/15/20 minutes.

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost|PP|Cost
1d8|1|375 gp|1|375 gp
2d8|1|1875 gp|5|5625 gp
3d8|1|3750 gp|10|18750 gp
4d8|1|5625 gp|15|45000 gp
5d8|1|7500 gp|20|67500 gp
[/table]

Comment: The first set of prices and PP is by the psion item creation rules for CL 1/5/10/15/20. For some reason, this scales with level and doesn't require extra PP. That's pretty insane. The second set is more sane. I'm thinking the higher levels are too expensive, however.

Tattoo of Painful Strike
Your natural weapons cause additional pain. Each successful attack you make with a natural weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of nonlethal damage to the target.

Duration: 1 round/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
Standard Action|3|2250 gp
Swift Action|5|5625 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Claws of the Beast
You call forth the aggressive nature of the beast inherent in yourself, psionically transforming your hands into deadly claws. You gain two natural attacks with your claws, each dealing 1d4 points of damage (1d6 if you are Large, or 1d3 if you are Small) plus your Strength bonus.

Your claws are natural weapons, so you are considered armed when attacking with them, and they can be affected by powers, spells, and effects that enhance or improve natural. You can choose to deal nonlethal damage with your claws, taking the standard -4 penalty on your attack roll.

Your claws work just like the natural weapons of many monsters. You can make an attack with one claw or a full attack with two claws at your normal attack bonus, replacing your normal attack routine. You take no penalties for two-weapon fighting, and neither attack is a secondary attack. If your base attack bonus is +6 or higher, you do not gain any additional attacks—you simply have two claw attacks at your normal attack bonus.

You can manifest this power with an instant thought, quickly enough to gain the benefit of the power on your turn before you attack. Manifesting this power is a swift action You cannot manifest this power when it isn’t your turn.

You can call or dismiss the claws as a swift action during the duration of the power. If you attack with a manufactured weapon or another natural attack, you can’t make any claw attacks in that round. You can still hold and manipulate items with your claws or cast spells just as well as you could with your hands.

Duration: 1 hour/power point

{table=head]Small|Medium|Large|PP|Cost
1d3|1d4|1d6|1|375 gp
1d4|1d6|1d8|3|2250 gp
1d6|1d8|2d6|5|5625 gp
1d8|2d6|3d6|7|10500 gp
2d6|3d6|4d6|11|24750 gp
3d6|4d6|5d6|15|45000 gp
4d6|5d6|6d6|19|64125 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Oak Body
This power transforms your body into living oak, which grants you several advantages.

You gain damage reduction 10/slashing and a +5 bonus to natural armor that overlaps (does not stack with) any natural armor bonus you may already have. You are immune to ability damage, blindness, deafness, disease, drowning, poison, stunning, and all powers, spells, or attacks that affect your physiology or respiration, because you have no physiology or respiration while this power is in effect.

You take only half damage from cold effects of all kinds. However, you become susceptible to all special attacks that affect wood, and you gain vulnerability to fire.

You gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength, but you take a -2 penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum Dexterity score of 1), and your speed is reduced to half normal. You can speak but cannot drink (and thus can’t use potions) or play wind instruments. You have an armor check penalty of -4 and an arcane spell failure chance of 25%.

Your unarmed attacks deal damage equal to a club sized for you (1d4 for Small characters, 1d6 for Medium characters), and you are considered armed when making unarmed attacks. When you make a full attack against an object or structure using your unarmed strike, you deal double damage.

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|9|16875 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Truevenom
f you have a claw attack (either from an actual natural weapon or from an effect such as claws of the beast), you can use this power to produce a horrible poison that coats one of your claws. On your next successful melee attack with the claw during the power’s duration, the poison deals 1d8 points of Constitution damage immediately and another 1d8 points of Constitution damage 1 minute later. The target of your attack can negate each instance of damage with a Fortitude save.

Duration: 1 min./power point or until discharged

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|7|10500 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Energy Claw
If you have a claw attack (either from an actual natural weapon or from an effect such as claws of the beast), you can use this power to energize that weapon. The claw attack deals an extra 1d6 points of cold, electricity, or fire damage (as chosen at the creation of the tattoo) on a successful hit. On a critical hit, it deals an extra 1d10 points of energy damage. If the claw’s critical multiplier is ×3, add 2d10 points of energy damage instead; if the multiplier is ×4, add 3d10 points of energy damage.

This power can be manifested on a claw attack that already deals energy damage, but if the claw already deals the same type of damage as the power, the effects stack. If this power is manifested on a claw attack already benefiting from the effect of the power, the newer manifestation supersedes the older manifestation, even if both manifestations are of different energy types.

This power’s subtype is the same as the type of energy infused in the natural weapon.

Duration: 1 round/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|7|10500 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Claws of the Vampire
If you have a claw attack (either from an actual natural weapon or from an effect such as claws of the beast), you can use this power to change the nature of that weapon. When this power is manifested, your claws take on an ominous glimmer. Each time you make a successful claw attack against a living creature of Small or larger size, you are healed of some amount of damage.

You heal a number of hit points equal to half the base damage dealt by your claws of the vampire, rounded down (additional damage dealt because of a high Strength score or other enhancements does not count toward the amount you heal). You heal as many hit points as can be gained while the creature remains at 1 hit point or higher. Any damage that would reduce the creature to 0 or fewer hit points does not benefit you.

You do not heal damage if your attack deals nonlethal damage, such as when you attack a creature that has the regeneration ability. Moreover, you gain no healing from attacking any creature that is under the effect of biofeedback. Using fission on yourself and then attacking your duplicate also fails to grant any healing.

Duration: round/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|5|5625 gp
[/table]


Arcane/Divine Tattoos

Since regular D&D magic scales without additional costs, I'm just winging PP.

Tattoo of Animal Shape
You transform up to one willing creature per caster level into an animal of your choice; the spell has no effect on unwilling creatures. Use the alternate form special ability to determine each target’s new abilities. All creatures must take the same kind of animal form. Recipients remain in the animal form until the spell expires or until you dismiss it for all recipients. In addition, an individual subject may choose to resume its normal form as a full-round action; doing so ends the spell for that subject alone. The maximum HD of an assumed form is equal to the subject’s HD or your caster level, whichever is lower, to a maximum of 20 HD at 20th level.

Duration: 1 hour/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
11 HD|11|24750
12 HD|12|27000
13 HD|13|34125
14 HD|14|36750
15 HD|15|45000
16 HD|16|48000
17 HD|17|57375
18 HD|18|60750
19 HD|19|64125
20 HD|20|67500
[/table]

Tattoo of Arcane Sight
This spell makes your eyes glow blue and allows you to see magical auras within 120 feet of you. The effect is similar to that of a detect magic spell, but arcane sight does not require concentration and discerns aura location and power more quickly.

You know the location and power of all magical auras within your sight. An aura’s power depends on a spell’s functioning level or an item’s caster level, as noted in the description of the detect magic spell. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Spellcraft skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura; DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + one-half caster level for a nonspell effect.)

If you concentrate on a specific creature within 120 feet of you as a standard action, you can determine whether it has any spellcasting or spell-like abilities, whether these are arcane or divine (spell-like abilities register as arcane), and the strength of the most powerful spell or spell-like ability the creature currently has available for use.

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|5|5625 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Barkskin
Barkskin toughens a creature’s skin. The effect grants a +2 enhancement bonus to the creature’s existing natural armor bonus. This enhancement bonus increases by 1 for every three caster levels above 3rd, to a maximum of +5 at caster level 12th.

The enhancement bonus provided by barkskin stacks with the target’s natural armor bonus, but not with other enhancement bonuses to natural armor. A creature without natural armor has an effective natural armor bonus of +0.

Duration: 10 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
+2|3|2250 gp
+3|6|6750 gp
+4|9|16875 gp
+5|12|27000 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Blink
You “blink” back and forth between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. You look as though you’re winking in and out of reality very quickly and at random.

Blinking has several effects, as follows.

Physical attacks against you have a 50% miss chance, and the Blind-Fight feat doesn’t help opponents, since you’re ethereal and not merely invisible. If the attack is capable of striking ethereal creatures, the miss chance is only 20% (for concealment).

If the attacker can see invisible creatures, the miss chance is also only 20%. (For an attacker who can both see and strike ethereal creatures, there is no miss chance.) Likewise, your own attacks have a 20% miss chance, since you sometimes go ethereal just as you are about to strike.

Any individually targeted spell has a 50% chance to fail against you while you’re blinking unless your attacker can target invisible, ethereal creatures. Your own spells have a 20% chance to activate just as you go ethereal, in which case they typically do not affect the Material Plane.

While blinking, you take only half damage from area attacks (but full damage from those that extend onto the Ethereal Plane). You strike as an invisible creature (with a +2 bonus on attack rolls), denying your target any Dexterity bonus to AC.

You take only half damage from falling, since you fall only while you are material.

While blinking, you can step through (but not see through) solid objects. For each 5 feet of solid material you walk through, there is a 50% chance that you become material. If this occurs, you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet so traveled. You can move at only three-quarters speed (because movement on the Ethereal Plane is at half speed, and you spend about half your time there and half your time material.)

Since you spend about half your time on the Ethereal Plane, you can see and even attack ethereal creatures. You interact with ethereal creatures roughly the same way you interact with material ones.

An ethereal creature is invisible, incorporeal, and capable of moving in any direction, even up or down. As an incorporeal creature, you can move through solid objects, including living creatures.

An ethereal creature can see and hear the Material Plane, but everything looks gray and insubstantial. Sight and hearing on the Material Plane are limited to 60 feet.

Force effects and abjurations affect you normally. Their effects extend onto the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, but not vice versa. An ethereal creature can’t attack material creatures, and spells you cast while ethereal affect only other ethereal things. Certain material creatures or objects have attacks or effects that work on the Ethereal Plane. Treat other ethereal creatures and objects as material.

Duration: 1 round/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|5|5625 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Blur
The subject’s outline appears blurred, shifting and wavering. This distortion grants the subject concealment (20% miss chance).

A see invisibility spell does not counteract the blur effect, but a true seeing spell does.

Opponents that cannot see the subject ignore the spell’s effect (though fighting an unseen opponent carries penalties of its own).

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|3|2250 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Divine Favor
Calling upon the strength and wisdom of a deity, you gain a +1 luck bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls for every three caster levels you have (at least +1, maximum +3). The bonus doesn’t apply to spell damage.

Duration: 1 minute

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
+1|1|375 gp
+2|6|5625 gp
+3|9|16875 gp
[/table]

Comment:Crikey, that's expensive. To justify the cost, how about making it not count towards the limit on active tattoos? stacking is pretty much the point of Luck bonuses anyway.

Tattoo of Divine Power
Calling upon the divine power of your patron, you imbue yourself with strength and skill in combat. Your base attack bonus becomes equal to your character level (which may give you additional attacks), you gain a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength, and you gain 1 temporary hit point per caster level.

Duration: 1 round/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|7|10500 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Detect Whatever
You can detect Whatever as the spell. I don't want to do this like 8 times.

Duration: As the spell. substitute power points for level.

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
alignment|1|375 gp
magic|1/2|172 gp
poison|1/2|172 gp
Scrying|7|10500 gp
secret doors|1|375 gp
Snares and Pits|1|375 gp
Thoughts|3|2250 gp
Ungreen(undead)|1|375 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Darkvision
You gain the ability to see 60 feet even in total darkness. Darkvision is black and white only but otherwise like normal sight. Darkvision does not grant one the ability to see in magical darkness.

Duration: 1 hour/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|3|2250 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance
You become stronger, faster, or harder. You get a +4 enhancement bonus to STR, DEX, or CON.

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|3|2250 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Endure Elements
A creature protected by endure elements suffers no harm from being in a hot or cold environment. It can exist comfortably in conditions between -50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit without having to make Fortitude saves). The creature’s equipment is likewise protected.

Endure elements doesn’t provide any protection from fire or cold damage, nor does it protect against other environmental hazards such as smoke, lack of air, and so forth.

Duration: 24 hours

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|1|375 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Iron Body
This spell transforms your body into living iron, which grants you several powerful resistances and abilities.

You gain damage reduction 15/adamantine. You are immune to blindness, critical hits, ability score damage, deafness, disease, drowning, electricity, poison, stunning, and all spells or attacks that affect your physiology or respiration, because you have no physiology or respiration while this spell is in effect. You take only half damage from acid and fire of all kinds. However, you also become vulnerable to all special attacks that affect iron golems.

You gain a +6 enhancement bonus to your Strength score, but you take a -6 penalty to Dexterity as well (to a minimum Dexterity score of 1), and your speed is reduced to half normal. You have an arcane spell failure chance of 50% and a -8 armor check penalty, just as if you were clad in full plate armor. You cannot drink (and thus can’t use potions) or play wind instruments.

Your unarmed attacks deal damage equal to a club sized for you (1d4 for Small characters or 1d6 for Medium characters), and you are considered armed when making unarmed attacks.

Your weight increases by a factor of ten, causing you to sink in water like a stone. However, you could survive the crushing pressure and lack of air at the bottom of the ocean—at least until the spell duration expires.

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|15|45000 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Jump
The subject gets a +10 enhancement bonus on Jump checks. The enhancement bonus increases to +20 at caster level 5th, and to +30 (the maximum) at caster level 9th.

Duration: 1 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
+10|1|375 gp
+20|5|5625 gp
+30|9|16875 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Magic Fang, Greater
This spell functions like magic fang, except that the enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls is +1 per four caster levels (maximum +5).

Alternatively, you may imbue all of the creature’s natural weapons with a +1 enhancement bonus (regardless of your caster level).

Greater magic fang can be made permanent with a permanency spell.

Duration: 1 hour/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
+1 (to each)|5|5625 gp
+2|8|12000 gp
+3|12|27000 gp
+4|16|48000 gp
+5|20|67500 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Pass Without Trace
The subject or subjects can move through any type of terrain and leave neither footprints nor scent. Tracking the subjects is impossible by nonmagical means.

Duration: 1 hour/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|1|375 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Regenerate
The subject’s severed body members (fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, legs, tails, or even heads of multiheaded creatures), broken bones, and ruined organs grow back. After the spell is cast, the physical regeneration is complete in 1 round if the severed members are present and touching the creature. It takes 2d10 rounds otherwise.

Regenerate also cures 4d8 points of damage +1 point per power point (maximum +35), rids the subject of exhaustion and/or fatigue, and eliminates all nonlethal damage the subject has taken. It has no effect on nonliving creatures (including undead).

Activation: 3 full rounds

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
4d8+13|13|34125 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Righteous Might
This spell causes you to grow, doubling your height and multiplying your weight by 8. This increase changes your size category to the next larger one, and you gain a +4 size bonus to Strength and a +2 size bonus to Constitution. You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your natural armor. You gain damage reduction 3/evil (if you normally channel positive energy) or damage reduction 3/good (if you normally channel negative energy). At 12th level this damage reduction becomes 6/evil or 6/good, and at 15th level it becomes 9/evil or 9/good (the maximum). Your size modifier for AC and attacks changes as appropriate to your new size category. This spell doesn’t change your speed. Determine space and reach as appropriate to your new size.

If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, you attain the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using your increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If you fail, you are constrained without harm by the materials enclosing you— the spell cannot crush you by increasing your size.

All equipment you wear or carry is similarly enlarged by the spell. Melee and projectile weapons deal more damage. Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any enlarged item that leaves your possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage (projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them).

Multiple magical effects that increase size do not stack.

Duration: 1 round/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|9|16875 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Spider Climb
The subject can climb and travel on vertical surfaces or even traverse ceilings as well as a spider does. The affected creature must have its hands free to climb in this manner. The subject gains a climb speed of 20 feet; furthermore, it need not make Climb checks to traverse a vertical or horizontal surface (even upside down). A spider climbing creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing.

Duration: 10 min./power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|3|2250 gp
[/table]

Tattoo of Status
When you need to keep track of comrades who may get separated, status allows you to mentally monitor their relative positions and general condition. You are aware of direction and distance to the creatures and any conditions affecting them: unharmed, wounded, disabled, staggered, unconscious, dying, nauseated, panicked, stunned, poisoned, diseased, confused, or the like. Once the spell has been cast upon the subjects, the distance between them and the caster does not affect the spell as long as they are on the same plane of existence. If a subject leaves the plane, or if it dies, the spell ceases to function for it.

This tattoo is attuned to a group of tattoos worn by your comrades. You can sense them whether their tattoos are active or not. This tattoo can be re-attuned with a ritual requiring 100 GP and the presence of a member of the new group.

Duration: 1 hour/power point

{table=head]Intensity|PP|Cost
-|3|2250 gp
[/table]



More to come. Just wanted to throw out some examples, get some feedback. Later on I'll actually rename these for some flavor, and change the text around so it doesn't refer to whatever the original casting class was. I also missed a few powers in there that manifest as swift actions, I believe.

Edit: New tattoos added.
Edit again: More tattoos added. That's all the tattoos that I think are appropriate from the psionics handbook.
Edit once again: Added arcane/divine tattoos through D
Edit one last time: All arcane/divine tattoos added, that I think are appropriate anyway :smallamused:

[jagadaishio]

I like the idea of a wizard tattooing their spellbook onto their body, but that raises one major question in my mind. What happens if a wizard gets badly burned? That would likely mar any arcane symbols or diagrams inked into their skin. Would we include some sort of mechanic for that?

[tsuuga]

I like the idea of a wizard tattooing their spellbook onto their body, but that raises one major question in my mind. What happens if a wizard gets badly burned? That would likely mar any arcane symbols or diagrams inked into their skin. Would we include some sort of mechanic for that?

That's occurred to me as well... you know that's the first thing the players are going to think of. The second thing they're going to think of is attempting to graft a tattoo off a corpse onto themselves.

I guess there's a couple options:

Give tattoos hardness and HP, and treat them as a small item. If it's successfully broken, it's gone for good. Less than that, and it simply adheres to the new shape of your skin

Tattoos can be struck and damaged with called shots with a piercing or slashing weapon. Any damage is enough to prevent the tattoo from being used; as your body heals the tattoo grows back together. The tattoo is unuseable until you heal the damage taken from the called shot. A crit with a slashing weapon can sever the skin the tattoo is on, if it is not reattached with magical healing within... 2 minutes, the skin and tattoo die.

Tattoos are capable of movement and just skitter out of the way.

[Lord Tataraus]

Tattoos can be struck and damaged with called shots with a piercing or slashing weapon. Any damage is enough to prevent the tattoo from being used; as your body heals the tattoo grows back together. The tattoo is unuseable until you heal the damage taken from the called shot. A crit with a slashing weapon can sever the skin the tattoo is on, if it is not reattached with magical healing within... 2 minutes, the skin and tattoo die.


I like this one the best. Your tattoo magic writeup looks pretty good, I approve. As for a wizard/sorcerer that only uses tattoo magic, wouldn't that just be a base class?

Tattooist
Hit Die: 1d6
Class Skills: Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Tattoo) (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Psionic Device (Cha).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 4x (4 + int)
Skill Points Each Level: 4 + int

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Tattoo Points

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Tattoo, Scribe Tattoo|
0

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Tattoo|
1

3rd|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+3|Tattoo|
3

4th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Tattoo|
5

5th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Tattoo, Efficient Scribe|
7

6th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+5|Tattoo|
11

7th|
+5|
+2|
+2|
+5|Tattoo|
15

8th|
+6/+1|
+2|
+2|
+6|Tattoo, Repair Tattoo|
19

9th|
+6/+1|
+3|
+3|
+6|Tattoo|
23

10th|
+7/+2|
+3|
+3|
+7|Tattoo|
27

11th|
+8/+3|
+3|
+3|
+7|Tattoo, Faster Scribe|
35

12th|
+9/+4|
+4|
+4|
+8|Tattoo|
43

13th|
+9/+4|
+4|
+4|
+8|Tattoo|
51

14th|
+10/+5|
+4|
+4|
+9|Tattoo|
59

15th|
+11/+6/+1|
+5|
+5|
+9|Tattoo, Resilient Tattoo|
67

16th|
+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+5|
+10|Tattoo|
79

17th|
+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+5|
+10|Tattoo|
91

18th|
+13/+8/+3|
+6|
+6|
+11|Tattoo|
103

19th|
+14/+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|Tattoo|
115

20th|
+15/+10/+5|
+6|
+6|
+12|Tattoo, Master Scribe|
127
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A tattooist is proficient with all simple weapons and light armor.

Tattoo Points: A tattooist has a pool of tattoo points which act like power points but may only be applied to tattoos. A tattooist base tattoo points is listed on the table, however he also gains bonus tattoo points as if they were points. These bonus tattoo points is based on the tattooist's intelligence.

Tattoo: Starting at first level and every level thereafter, a tattooist gains one free tattoo with a power point cost no greater than his character level.

Scribe Tattoo: At 1st level the tattooist gains the Scribe Tattoo feat as a bonus feat.

Tattoo Artist: Starting at 2nd level the tattooist has studied the art of tattoo scribing and learns how to most effectively scribe tattoos on himself through years of practice. A tattooist pays 10% less than the cost to scribe a tattoo on himself. This decrease stacks with any other decreases in the cost.

Efficient Scribe: Starting at 5th level, the tattooist becomes more efficient with his tattoo scribing. The cost for scribing tattoos is decreased by 25%.

Repair Tattoo: Starting at 8th level the tattooist has learned how to use his gift with mystic tattoos to repair those that are damaged. The tattooist may expend a number of tattoo points equal to the power point cost of activating the touched tattoo to repair it of all damage.

Faster Scribe: Starting at 11th level the tattooist has practiced enough with scribing tattoos that it takes only a fraction of the normal time for him. The time it takes for scribing a tattoo is decreased by 50%.

Resilient Tattoo: Starting at 15th level the tattooist has learned the technique to make his tattoos more resilient towards attacks. All tattoos the tattooist scribes gain +50% hardness and hit points.

Master Scribe: At 20th level the tattooist has become a true master of his art, he can scribe tattoos at 50% the normal cost. This replaces, not stacks with, the Efficient Scribe ability.

So, what do you think?

Edit:
Scribe Tattoo [Item Creation]
Prerequisite: Craft (Tattoo) 6 ranks
Benefit: You learn to craft tattoos of magical power. You may craft a tattoo on yourself or others with a power point cost of less than of equal to your ranks in Craft (Tattoo) -3. You must make a Craft (Tattoo) check with a DC equal to 10 + the power point cost to learn the tattoo, this process takes 1 week, you may take 10 on the check. For every 5 you exceed the DC, the time is reduced by 1 day to a minimum learning time of 1 day. Tattoos have their gp cost in their description and take 1 day per 1000gp of the base cost to create.
Special: You may spend a number of tattoo points equal to the power point cost to learn a tattoo in half the time.

[tsuuga]

As for a wizard/sorcerer that only uses tattoo magic, wouldn't that just be a base class?

Yep, pretty much. The main difference is that they'd be able to sacrifice a bunch of low level slots to power high-end magic; and it's also a way for them to have casting abilities without having a slew of arcane knowledge, they don't necessarily even know how some of their tattoos work. They just know if they pour enough power into this part here, the boom gets bigger.


Resilient Tattoo: Starting at 15th level the tattooist has learned the technique to make his tattoos more resilient towards attacks. All tattoos the tattooist scribes gain +50% hardness and hit points.

The variant you liked doesn't give them hardness or hit points :smalltongue:


So, what do you think?

Well, this is just a personal thing, but I loathe experience point costs. Since tattoos are powered by the wearer, not the scriber, I was thinking of drastically reducing or eliminating the normal XP cost for magic items. Or maybe just give tattooist an experience pool like the Artificer.

Since a tattoo is basically just a pattern for the energy to be expended by the recipient, I was thinking of there being no requirements to scribe it (spells known, caster level) other than knowing the tattoo pattern and having the Scribe Tattoo feat (which teaches the minor incantations said over each needle prick; telling each dot of ink which are its neighbors, thus allowing the tattoo to re-knit correctly when damaged)

And the fluff I was thinking of was that tattooing is an art practiced by red elf queens, who claim the patterns they know are revelations from the High Queen. Each tribe seems to know different tattoos. There are a group of mages in the Confederacy who have been studying tattoo magic for nearly a century now; they have learned to reproduce certain tattoos. They'll pay a handsome bounty for a live elf with a tattoo they've never seen before...

[Lord Tataraus]

The variant you liked doesn't give them hardness or hit points :smalltongue:
Oh...well, I liked elements of both. The tattoos are esentially unsloted magic items so they should have a hp and hardness like one.


Well, this is just a personal thing, but I loathe experience point costs. Since tattoos are powered by the wearer, not the scriber, I was thinking of drastically reducing or eliminating the normal XP cost for magic items. Or maybe just give tattooist an experience pool like the Artificer.
I am very against XP costs as well and originally had huge xp cost cuts in the class, but then I looked at the psionic item crafting stuff (which we are basing the tattoos off of), no xp costs, only pp and gp costs. :smallbiggrin:


Since a tattoo is basically just a pattern for the energy to be expended by the recipient, I was thinking of there being no requirements to scribe it (spells known, caster level) other than knowing the tattoo pattern and having the Scribe Tattoo feat (which teaches the minor incantations said over each needle prick; telling each dot of ink which are its neighbors, thus allowing the tattoo to re-knit correctly when damaged)
We are thinking the same here, I haven't drawn up the Scribe Tattoo feat yet.


And the fluff I was thinking of was that tattooing is an art practiced by red elf queens, who claim the patterns they know are revelations from the High Queen. Each tribe seems to know different tattoos. There are a group of mages in the Confederacy who have been studying tattoo magic for nearly a century now; they have learned to reproduce certain tattoos. They'll pay a handsome bounty for a live elf with a tattoo they've never seen before...
Sounds good, though I could see Halflings and possible Nesters using tattoos as well.

[Lord Tataraus]

With the large number of mounts around, I think it is appropriate to have a mount-based PrC, so.....

Rider
Prerequisites:
Base Attack Bonus: +3
Skills: Ride 8 ranks, Handle Animal 8 ranks

Hit Die: 1d8
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Use Rope (Dex)
Skill Points Each Level: 4 + int

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+2|
+2|
+0|Special Mount
2nd|
+3|
+3|
+1|Mounted Skirmish +1d6/+1
3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|Joined Attack
4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|Mounted Skirmish +2d6/+2
5th|
+4|
+4|
+2|Joined Threat
[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A rider becomes proficient the heavy lance and light shields.

Special Mount: Starting at 1st level a rider gains a special mount who forms a close and mystic bond with the rider. The rider must own or befriend his most requiring a DC60 complex Handle Animal check with increments of one day and the animal must be applicable to this feature (see Available Mounts table). If the mount is killed or the rider chooses to release the mount, the rider must wait 1 week before preforming the bonding ritual again. As the rider grows in rider levels, so does the mount (see Mount Progression table).

Mounted Skirmish: Starting at 2nd level the rider gains the skirmish ability as the scout ability except it only applies while mounted. If the rider already has Skirmish from another source, the bonuses stack when applicable.

Joined Attack: Starting at 3rd level the rider learns to fight with his mount as one. The rider may choose to have his mount and himself to attack the same target in unison by the rider making an attack action and the mount expends the same action for this ability. The rider makes a single attack roll with a bonus equal to his mount's base attack bonus plus his mount's strength or dexterity, whichever is normally applied to his mount's attacks. If the attack hits both the rider's damage and the mount's damage is dealt.

Joined Threat: At 5th level the rider learns to synchronize with his mount to make the perfect fighting team. While mounted, all creatures both the rider and his mount threaten are considered flanked whenever the rider attacks.

Available Mounts
{table]Glassbeetle|Ptychine|Squolf
Thunderbird|Worg|Warhorse
[/table]

Mount Progression
{table=head]Level|Bonus Hit Dice|Natural Armor|Intelligence|Special
1st|
+0|
+2|
5|+10ft Speed
2nd|
+1|
+3|
5|Evasion, Empathic Link
3rd|
+2|
+4|
6|Improved Physique
4th|
+3|
+5|
7|+10ft Speed
5th|
+4|
+6|
7|Improved Damage
[/table]
+10ft Speed: All of the mount's speeds increase by 10ft, this increase cannot be more than twice the base speed.

Evasion: The mount gains evasion.

Empathic Link: The rider has an empathic link with his mount out to a distance of up to 1 mile. The rider cannot see through the mount's eyes, but they can communicate empathically. Note that even intelligent mounts see the world differently from humans, so misunderstandings are always possible. Because of this empathic link, the rider has the same connection to an item or place that his mount does, just as with a master and his familiar.

Improved Physique: The mount gains a permanent +2 bonus to Strength and Dexterity.

Improved Damage: The base damage of all natural attacks are increased as if the mount was one size larger. This stacks with the Improved Natural Attack Feat.

[tsuuga]

With the large number of mounts around, I think it is appropriate to have a mount-based PrC, so.....

Quite true.


heavy lance

I can't seem to find a heavy lance in 3.5... the regular 3.5 lance is the same as the 3.0 heavy lance (except it's only a 1 handed weapon while mounted)



Mounted Skirmish: Starting at 2nd level the _ gains the skirmish ability as the scout ability except it only applies while mounted. If the _ already has Skirmish from another source, the bonuses stack when applicable.

You might want to remind players that skirmish damage doesn't multiply, since the double damage on charges is very much the point of a lance. You may also want to change "when applicable" to "when mounted" since regular skirmish doesn't work while mounted.

Everything else looks great. Enhancing the mount would cause some weirdness if a pally took this class...but since this setting doesn't have paladins, everything's peachy.

[Lord Tataraus]

I can't seem to find a heavy lance in 3.5... the regular 3.5 lance is the same as the 3.0 heavy lance (except it's only a 1 handed weapon while mounted)
Right, I meant the normal lance.


You might want to remind players that skirmish damage doesn't multiply, since the double damage on charges is very much the point of a lance. You may also want to change "when applicable" to "when mounted" since regular skirmish doesn't work while mounted.
Unless you take the variant Mounted Scout whose skirmish is Mount Skirmish and thus only applies while mounted. So, I would prefer to keep the wording as is so that normal skirmish doesn't stack but other Mounted Skirmish does and "while mounted" could imply that normal skirmish would work while mounted as well.

By the way, any ideas for a name? Also, more mounts would be nice and we should stat up the Tiku Bird since they have more involvement than just fluff now :smallbiggrin: (yes, I stole that from Vadin's fluffy post awhile back)

[tsuuga]

I wasn't aware of the Mounted Scout variant :smalltongue:

Proposed rules for sundering tattoos (It's ridiculous that there's like 6 supplements with rules for magic tattoos, and none of them seem to have rules for sundering.)
[SPOILER]The ac of a tattoo is (owner's current AC-armor-shield+tattoo's size modifier) Tattoos are almost all Fine objects. A tattoo has hardness equal to its caster level (PP/2 rounded up) and HP equal to double its PP cost. The owner of the tattoo takes damage equal to the damage absorbed by the tattoo's hardness. If the tattoo is successfully damaged, it cannot be activated until the wound that damaged it is healed.[SPOILER]

So what happens when a tattoo is destroyed? Does the effect end immediately or run out normally? does the same thing happen when the tattoo is only damaged?


any ideas for a name?

Ritter? Cataphract? War Rider? Border Rider?


yes, I stole that from Vadin's fluffy post awhile back

Smooth :smallbiggrin:

[Lord Tataraus]

I wasn't aware of the Mounted Scout variant :smalltongue:
I'm sure I mentioned it somewhere on the first 3 pages...


So what happens when a tattoo is destroyed? Does the effect end immediately or run out normally? does the same thing happen when the tattoo is only damaged?
I would that if the tattoo is damaged it can't be activated until repaired but it still is active otherwise and a destroyed tattoo immediately ends the duration.


Ritter? Cataphract? War Rider? Border Rider?
I was thinking War Rider, but that's too....savage? I'm thinking that it would mainly be halfling hunters who take the class. I was thinking Tree Rider, but that wouldn't work so well with a dwarf with a glassbeetle mount.

[Vadin]

And the fluff I was thinking of was that tattooing is an art practiced by red elf queens, who claim the patterns they know are revelations from the High Queen. Each tribe seems to know different tattoos. There are a group of mages in the Confederacy who have been studying tattoo magic for nearly a century now; they have learned to reproduce certain tattoos. They'll pay a handsome bounty for a live elf with a tattoo they've never seen before...

I like that. Especially the elven kidnapping thing. It's a well known fact that the Wizards will take a tattooed elf, preferably alive (though any state of life or unlife will do), and examine his magics. The practice, however, is seen as unnatural and more than a bit shameful by those who are more accustomed to those who consider magic something to be celebrated and revered.

Also, Kobolds-they have more magic than most other groups (or so it would seem so far), though no real need for open warfare with each other or the surface. Its mostly used for defense/show. In addition to magic (and unrelated from the previous line of thought), I propose they have martial adepts. Not the crusader, swordsage, and warblade, however. Full BAB adepts tend to send some people over the edge a little, and none of those entirely fit the flavor of the ancient kobold art of "Krashall" (in common, 'Blade Arcana'), the use of magic (maneuvers) in combination with skilled and practiced combat. Might I suggest a more generic, in terms of mechanics, martial adept (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=948233) to replace those others?


By the way, any ideas for a name? Also, more mounts would be nice and we should stat up the Tiku Bird since they have more involvement than just fluff now :smallbiggrin: (yes, I stole that from Vadin's fluffy post awhile back)

It may sound a little "Duh!" but just 'Rider'. And the Tiku Bird...think a Roc of Paradise. Huge, colorful, unstoppable, and fairly benign. Because of their sheer size (on the scale of dragons, in terms of physical strength, age, and size), they tend to ignore lesser beings (so long as those beings in turn ignore them). They screech and yell in patterns (long and melodic, like whales-weird, but not unpleasant), the females calling their mates home to the nest every few full moons. Where are the males the rest of the time? Few know, for few can venture as high as they do. Those who claim to know where they rest tell tales of a massive skybound turtle whose shell is full of tunnels in which the male Tiku Birds make their homes.

All in all, there aren't more than five dozen Tiku Birds around, and, as far as the lesser races are concerned, that's perfectly fine. When one of them gets mad...let's just say there's a reason the saying is "Madder than a Tiku in a thunderstorm."

And no, Tiku Birds don't hoard treasure (though they do make their homes in the mountains, where various ancient lairs and such have sat undisturbed for thousands of years, every inhabitant thinking they were strong enough to ward off the Tiku Birds when they were on a rampage. They were all, perhaps unfortunately, wrong).

[tsuuga]

martial adept (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=948233) to replace those others?

Ah, I like this one. These guys make great elite warriors, and Desert Wind could be cool with damage type substitution based on the type of dragon they worship.


It may sound a little "Duh!" but just 'Rider'

Yep... Preface it with whatever's appropriate. Tych Rider, Beetle Rider... maybe something a little less generic than "Horse Rider".


think a Roc of Paradise.

Nobody ever illustrate this. It'll be cooler in people's heads. (Birds of paradise look ridiculous.)

[puppyavenger]

Also, Kobolds-they have more magic than most other groups (or so it would seem so far), though no real need for open warfare with each other or the surface. Its mostly used for defense/show. In addition to magic (and unrelated from the previous line of thought), I propose they have martial adepts. Not the crusader, swordsage, and warblade, however. Full BAB adepts tend to send some people over the edge a little, and none of those entirely fit the flavor of the ancient kobold art of "Krashall" (in common, 'Blade Arcana'), the use of magic (maneuvers) in combination with skilled and practiced combat. Might I suggest a more generic, in terms of mechanics, martial adept (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=948233) to replace those others?


Yep, they have a monopaly on a highly sought after resource, st as happy with the way things are.
For the martial adepts, maybe the houner guard are taught the magic nescasary for the maneveurs along with thier crest transformation? also here are the most importent kobold Dragoonholds(massive fortress cties that house dragons)

<The Barrow of the Great One>
the "Capital" of the kobold Empire, It houses the worlds only Prismatic dragon and has the most royals of any hold. It is ruled by the three most powerful royals and any prohpets in a consel. The most influential member is Dragon Speaker Zithsolth a the only known sorceror powerful enough to cast polymorph any object, and uses it to transform himself back to youth whenever he nears death by old age.

Dragon Speaker Zithsolth Level 16 N sorceror. The oldest and most powerful kobold alive, he has pretty much absolute control over the capital. He is deeply devoted to the prismatic One and the cities treasury was made into his horde, a trend that is followed with varieing degrees of intensity by almost every hold. He is effectivly imortal from age and disease due to his possesion of permenant mild shapchanging.
Revered Prophet Selthel Level 12 CN sorceror. A young but powerful and influential prophet. He wishes to expand the empire and is a firebrand in the capital.
Hounerd Imperial commander Thisk level 8 LN fighter. The leader of the warrior cast in the city, she is generaly nothing more than a glorified poilice chief, and as such he is very harsh on criminals and tresspasers (read univited non-kobolds)
Trapmaster Kil a level 7 NN expert, a highly skilled and inteligent kobold. He is ery influential in the worker circles and generaly has the backing of the royals bevause he is the one they hire to trap thier palaces. Breaking into' Kil's house is a saying for suicidel stupidity in worker circles.
Prismatic Master Serth Level 12 LN blade scholar The head of the Dragonspeakers hounour guard, he is the most powerful warrior in the city. Stern, aloof and loyal to a fault, he is a paragon of what the honour guard is. most of the workers that se him and his unit think that they are some kind of construct, and his ersilience in battle seems to back up the claim
<Portal to the high-lands>
A trading post between the Empire and the Confederacy. This is the envy of all other holds, as it has complete control of the meta prices. Due to the fact that there is no need to actualy mine metal, the majority of workers create tools or weapond out of the metal. It is also famous for its single prophet and the treaty it has with the town above.
power players

Dragonspeaker Selathren level 11 N sorceror. The cities only prophet, he deals with the rest of the empire for metals in exchange for Confederate gods, or the arcane texts provided by the treaty. In person he is generaly laid back and peacful.
Counciler Trintherth Level 12 LN wizard. The most powerful royal the city, she is in charge of trade between the confederate town and the management of the city.
Imperial commander Fisp level 12 LN fighter. The commander of the cities military, he and his troops are all very well trained due to frequent above ground missions. He is aloof to outsiders but very amniable to anyone who gains his trust.
Sihk level 6 N rogue. A very cunning merchant prince, he is generaly the one who brings the metal to the humans, gets a cut of the pay, and takes a bit anyway. quickwitted and amniable.


I'll add more at some later date.

[Vadin]

Dragonholds- still pretty awesome.


In other news: Humans. Are we going to go with the standard human, or take a bit more exotic route? We could let humans take any feat they want at first level as their bonus feat, or we could force a little flavor in there.

Observation: Humans adapt well genetically and socially.
Observation: Humans will mate with just about anything (centaurs, satyrs, and just about every other half-human beastie out there).
Observation: The Growth caused massive stress on the environment and society.
Observation: Humans survived and adapted.
Conclusion: Not all humans are entirely human. In addition, most have adapted for certain cultural niches.
Conclusion: Their bonus feat has to be spent on a Heritage feat (we should get a list- part of a list already (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/featsform.pl)) or a Background feat (list needed) or a Bloodline feat (also part of a list (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/featsform.pl)). That, or they get a fairly average and flavorless combat-neutral ability.

[tsuuga]

Observation: Humans will mate with just about anything (centaurs, satyrs, and just about every other half-human beastie out there).

Humans have interbred themselves out of existence. The rare full-blooded human is the rare offspring (about 1 in 529) of two half-bloods.

I'm kidding.


Conclusion: Their bonus feat has to be spent on a Heritage feat (we should get a list- part of a list already) or a Background feat (list needed) or a Bloodline feat (also part of a list). That, or they get a fairly average and flavorless combat-neutral ability.

Sounds good.

And I'm not kidding.


Hmmm.... city in an old strip mine.

[jagadaishio]

If humans have a restriction on what feats they can take with their bonus feat, they'll need a bit more incentive for people to still want to play as one. After all, getting to take an extra feat of your choice at first level is what made them, you know, good.

I would suggest either increase the skill points or give them a small palette of extra features, of which they could have one. These features could be stuff like +5 ft to base move speed, +1 to any one ability score, +2 to any one skill, or other stuff in that vein. Small but custom.

Alternatively, if we're doing flaws, we could say that humans can take up to 3 instead of the normal 2. This could reflect the bad genetic traits which entered humanity along with the good ones from their crossbreeding. A feat of limited choice plus a feat paired with a flaw about equals one freely chosen feat as far as I'm concerned.

[Lord Tataraus]

Ugg....I've just endured the most excruciating physics lab ever, 3 hours and 40 mins where in the last 40 minutes we realized something was terribly wrong when our acceleration was .23 when it should have been 9.12, not good.

Sorry, I had to get that out and I'm back now so....

On the Rider, I honestly did not think of that, that problem solved.
On the martial adept, looks good.
Dragonholds - awesome, I love fleshing out empires/kingdoms/whatevers
Human Bloodline/heritage/background feat idea, I like it, but as jagadaishio said, give them an extra minor boost to keep them on par. I like the +1 to a stat idea and maybe throw in a +2 to any skill.

Edit: Oops, I forgot to comment on the Tiku Birds, sounds really cool, though I was hoping for a more CR2 large flying mount, though I guess juvenile Tiku Birds could work right?

[tsuuga]

It might be a good idea to make a new set of feats to choose from. The bloodlines are awesome for sorcerors, but I would pretty much never take a Heritage feat - they're just too specialized. I'm not finding many background feats, but they're probably static skill bonuses, yes? Probably more for NPCs than characters...

Background Feats

Musician - +2 to one Perform skill and Sense Motive
Courier - +5 to land speed, +2 Tumble (to weave through a crowd, of course)
Stablehand - +2 to Handle Animal and Ride
Scribe - Automatic literacy, +2 to Decipher Script (or Forgery)
Thug - +2 to Intimidate, +2 to Bluff
Guide - +2 to Knowledge(Local), 2 extra languages
etc.


Bloodline Feats

Hybrid Vigor: You've got a lot of weird stuff in your family tree. Thankfully, it pretty much averages out. +2 on fort saves
Kobold Bloodline: Puberty is awkward when you erupt in scales instead of hair. Low Light vision? Diplomacy bonus with kobolds? (You just "smell right" to them)
Nester Bloodline: One of your great-greats must have been desperate. You just like high places. You spent a lot of your childhood on the rooftops, and the practice was worth +2 to climb and Balance
Dwarf Bloodline: Low Light Vision, +1 to fort saves, +1 to resist bull rushing.
Tiku Bird Bloodline: Let's not go there.
etc.



Human Bloodline/heritage/background feat idea, I like it, but as jagadaishio said, give them an extra minor boost to keep them on par. I like the +1 to a stat idea and maybe throw in a +2 to any skill.

Y'know... That's much easier than what I had in mind. And hey, if they want the extra feat, they can take plain, white bread, unbuttered popcorn human.

[tsuuga]

Thunderbirds are a species of huge raptor which nests exclusively on Uaki Mesa; a huge sandstone tower on the Green Sea (actually a prairie). The youths will sometimes climb the tower and steal an egg while the mother is out getting food (a very dangerous proposition, but his street cred is assured.) The eggs used to be eaten until a Confederacy merchant found out about this...

A thunderbird chick must be imprinted on its intended rider; it will never obey anyone else. Over two years, the chick matures to a young adult stage, it is now old enough to be ridden. basically it's a hippogriff. But a real bird, not a monstrosity. Over the years, it'll advance in size and hit dice, but since a thunderbird lives for several hundred years, you'll never find someone riding a full sized bird. People just don't live long enough.

[Lord Tataraus]

Thunderbirds are a species of huge raptor which nests exclusively on Uaki Mesa; a huge sandstone tower on the Green Sea (actually a prairie). The youths will sometimes climb the tower and steal an egg while the mother is out getting food (a very dangerous proposition, but his street cred is assured.) The eggs used to be eaten until a Confederacy merchant found out about this...

A thunderbird chick must be imprinted on its intended rider; it will never obey anyone else. Over two years, the chick matures to a young adult stage, it is now old enough to be ridden. basically it's a hippogriff. But a real bird, not a monstrosity. Over the years, it'll advance in size and hit dice, but since a thunderbird lives for several hundred years, you'll never find someone riding a full sized bird. People just don't live long enough.

Perfect! By like a hippogriff, I assume you mean just the stats, but the look is more giant eagle/hawk?

[jagadaishio]

Thunderbirds are a species of huge raptor which nests exclusively on Uaki Mesa; a huge sandstone tower on the Green Sea (actually a prairie). The youths will sometimes climb the tower and steal an egg while the mother is out getting food (a very dangerous proposition, but his street cred is assured.) The eggs used to be eaten until a Confederacy merchant found out about this...

A thunderbird chick must be imprinted on its intended rider; it will never obey anyone else. Over two years, the chick matures to a young adult stage, it is now old enough to be ridden. basically it's a hippogriff. But a real bird, not a monstrosity. Over the years, it'll advance in size and hit dice, but since a thunderbird lives for several hundred years, you'll never find someone riding a full sized bird. People just don't live long enough.

Couldn't you feasibly see an elf or dwarf who "obtained" an egg in childhood and now has an enormous, fully grown bird? Or is their life span even longer than that of an elf?

[tsuuga]

Couldn't you feasibly see an elf or dwarf who "obtained" an egg in childhood and now has an enormous, fully grown bird? Or is their life span even longer than that of an elf?

Probably more like... 3-400 years? In any case, a dwarf that wants a flying mount is a freak... and... um... nobody sells stuff to elves? Anyway, they're most at home in grasslands, where they can actually see land-dwelling prey. In any case, that situation would be unique and maybe an adventure hook. They're monopolized fairly efficiently.


Perfect! By like a hippogriff, I assume you mean just the stats, but the look is more giant eagle/hawk?

Yep. Except its land speed is 10 instead of 50.

[Lord Tataraus]

Recently there was a show on the History Channel, called "Life After People". This is an amazing look at what would happen to the earth if everyone disappeared. I think this will provide a lot of useful information such as all the underground tunnels becoming flooded after 36 hours. If you want to check it out, you can get the whole program on Veoh here. (http://www.veoh.com/videos/v3310103J8brcRpd) (You need the free player to watch more than the 5 min preview)

So, based off that scientific analysis and assuming that the pre-Green civilization was equivilent to our modern world, and assuming that the green was more of a natural process. The following can be concluded:

within 1 week: Almost all underground tunnels, sewers, etc. are mostly flooded.
within 50 years: Most streets cave into the underground tunnels, sewers, and drainage systems and become streams and rivers throughout the city. Additionally, at this point nature has completely taken over all urban environments regardless of size. They actually said in the video that skyscrapers would contain mini-forests on each level with plants adapted to draw nutrients from the air. Wooden structures have either been burnt or rotted away.
within 150 years: most metal objects such as cars have been completely reverted into iron-oxide, film and books are destroyed unless kept in prime locations.
within 500 years: The skyscapers have fallen and all structures except the hardiest of concrete are gone.
within 1000 years: All traces of cities are gone.

So, first off we shall assume the following:
The pre-Green people had magic.
The pre-Green people preserved the largest structures and many documents with resistant magic.
The pre-Green people made efforts to ensure that many arcane and other valuable and useful items were stored in mundanely stable and perfect conditions.
The overall climate is generally wet rainforest or dry desert.
The Greening was a short span of time (undefined, but no more than a decade) in which nature reclaimed the city at a rapid pace, up to 20 times the normal.
The effects of the Greening that destroyed the population did not cause physical damage to the city (i.e. only natural forces and accelerated natural forces changed the city).
The Greening decayed weaker forms of magic into wild arcane energies.
Wild magic can be and is absorbed by living things as a natural process.
All magic decays overtime, albeit very slowly.

Given that, the deserts contain the most documents and artifacts which are kept in underground caves and vaults with preservative magic. These artifacts are the most important from pre-Green times. The plants absorbed most of the wild magic enabling them to grow much larger and stronger than normal. Structures with preservative magic don't decay and resist damage, but only up to a point. Because of this, the skyscrapers exist, but as skeletons with the multi-layered interior jungles. Trees grow as tall, or taller than the skyscrapers. The actual jungle floor in 50% of the forests is under 1-6ft of water. However, roots provide some semblance of a floor. However, due to most of the ground being underwater, the underdark is not in the assumed state of being the abandoned tunnels since those are at the bottom of the deepest lakes and rivers. Instead, the underdark is the roots of the colossal trees and the lower levels of the buildings. Due to the density and height of the trees, the lower areas of the forests are pitch black most of the time. Due to the centuries of decay of iron and concrete structures combined with decayed foliage, the ground is in the forests have high concentrations of iron ore and other metals, this is true for up to 20ft or more and at the bottom of the rivers, lakes, and streams.

So, what do you think of that?

[tsuuga]

Life After People was neat (even though they were so in love with their CGI buildings falling down)

The "underdark" may even have corridors and caverns formed from the roots of ancient trees that grew over a buildling, and then the building collapsed.

I agree with all of your assumptions.

Edit:

No, they count as tiny for those purposes. Basically they get all the benefits of being tiny but no damage or carrying capacity penalties. So they get +2 to AC and attacks and +8 to hide.

If this is the web enhancement racial variant, they only get the modifier on opposed checks like hide, when squeezing, and when attempting to wield weapons for a tiny creature. So they only get +1 to AC and attacks for being small, but get +8 to hide as if they were tiny. Sorry to drag this up after so long :smallconfused:

[Lord Tataraus]

f this is the web enhancement racial variant, they only get the modifier on opposed checks like hide, when squeezing, and when attempting to wield weapons for a tiny creature. So they only get +1 to AC and attacks for being small, but get +8 to hide as if they were tiny. Sorry to drag this up after so long :smallconfused:

From the description: "Whenever a kobold is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as Hide), the kobold is treated as one size smaller if doing so is advantageous to the character."

It says a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check. The bonus to AC and attack rolls is a size modifier.

[Vadin]

I'm reading a book right now, Cerberus, by Jack Chalker. Its sci-fi, but quire relevant. The concept of most of the actual land being kind of underwater a little...nice. Anyways, the book ties in...right about here. The whole of the planet Cerberus is covered in water, between 20 meters and 3 kilometers. The only 'surface' is on huge trees. And, among those trees, there are many different varieties. And some varieties have...hollow trunks. I can see the Underdark as the lowest level of the surface, right above the water. Huge trees with hollow trunks fell long ago, and around those hollow trunks, the current rainforest laid its roots. Long story short, the Underdark is a series of tunnels covered by roots instead of earth (though many of these roots have decayed into soil, making much of the Underdark look like everyone expects it to). Constant layers of roots being laid down over the old ones means that in the Underdark, tunnels happen just like when its underground, and, in most of the rainforest, there is in fact a discernible and dense layer of soil. Higher up in the canopies and such, though, there wouldn't be any real land. Just a sort of pseudo-soil like ground in a swamp. You step on it and you're too heavy, and it falls pretty fast. If you're light enough, however, you barely notice the springiness of the ground beneath your feat.

(the tl;dr => Huge, dead, hollow trees and roots make the underdark more or less the same as everyone imagines it, if not a tad wetter.)

[tsuuga]

From the description: "Whenever a kobold is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as Hide), the kobold is treated as one size smaller if doing so is advantageous to the character."

It says a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check. The bonus to AC and attack rolls is a size modifier.

I guess it depends on how you parse the sentence. It's equally correct to group "size modifier" and "special size modifier" as to group "special size modifier" and "opposed check". I read it the second way... I guess it doesn't really matter.


You step on it and you're too heavy, and it falls pretty fast. If you're light enough, however, you barely notice the springiness of the ground beneath your feat.

The halflings weave lianas and strangler figs so that their trunks form solid platforms for farming and walkways; kobolds make floating rafts for extra... mushroom growing space.


The Wise
The Wise

Prerequisites:
Special: Must have won the contest to be named a clan Wise

Hit Dice: 1d4
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script(Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Wis), Knowledge(all but The Planes) (Int).
Skill Points at 1st Level: 4x (8 + int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 8 + int

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Collected Wisdom, Village Archives, Augury 1/day, Read Magic 1/day

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+2|Augury 2/day, Read Magic 2/day, Divination 1/week, Foresight 1/week

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Augury 3/day, Read Magic 3/day, Legend Lore 1/month, Knowledge Domain

[/table]
Class Features

Collected Wisdom: The Wise collects stories from the people who live in his clan. He gains +2 to Gather Information. He also gains bardic knowledge, with all character levels counting as Bard levels. Collected knowledge never gives access to information that no one in the village would know.

Village Archives: grant a +5 bonus on knowledge history and knowledge local. +2 bonus on decipher script if an example exists in the archives.

Divinations: The Wise can cast these as spell like abilities the at the indicated intervals. His caster level is equal to his character level.

Knowledge Domain: If the Wise is a divine caster, he gains the Knowledge domain. If not, he gains domain slots as though a cleric equal to his character level, and the ability to cast Knowledge domain spells.

[Lord Tataraus]

The Wise looks pretty good, are the War and Weird coming soon?

Also, I just found out that google video has "Life After People" if you don't have Veoh (though it isn't as good quality), right here. (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4939078184096254535)

[jagadaishio]

Can we assume that enough of the major skyscrapers were saturated with preservation magics that their basic structure is still there? I would think that a hyper-advanced magic wielding urban civilization would have loaded them up with enough spells that, other than being green, they wouldn't even begin breaking down for at least a century.

[Vadin]

The biggest skyscrapers, the richest apartments, the wealthiest banks, the smartest Universities. All of those would be protected. They can afford/do that sort of magic. However, Aunt Ginny can't even dream of something like that, and neither can your boss Tad (even though he makes ten times as much as you). It would be the kind of thing where if you had to ask, you couldn't afford it.

This also ensures that the only buildings that have been preserved to the point of recognition (that meaning the paint is just beginning to peel a few thousand years later now) are (still covered in plants, of course-just in far better shape) more likely to be filled with forgotten treasures. And multilevel dungeons, of course.

[Lord Tataraus]

The biggest skyscrapers, the richest apartments, the wealthiest banks, the smartest Universities. All of those would be protected. They can afford/do that sort of magic. However, Aunt Ginny can't even dream of something like that, and neither can your boss Tad (even though he makes ten times as much as you). It would be the kind of thing where if you had to ask, you couldn't afford it.

This also ensures that the only buildings that have been preserved to the point of recognition (that meaning the paint is just beginning to peel a few thousand years later now) are (still covered in plants, of course-just in far better shape) more likely to be filled with forgotten treasures. And multilevel dungeons, of course.

Exactly. All skyscrapers and other major corporate, government, and military buildings would be preserved. The magic that preserves them and various artifacts would take millennia to completely decay, but enough time has past that a significant amount of magic has decayed and mutated the plants and trees around them.

[tsuuga]

are the War and Weird coming soon?

Hopefully. I threw the wise together during a networking class... I'm actually kinda busy this week.

[Yakk]

Well, everyone would use preservation magic -- they would just use less reliable magic.

So random places would be in good shape.

...

Second, might we want to avoid "each demihuman race is a single culture"? Why cannot blood elves have multiple societies?

Ie:
#1: Matriarchal, Human-killing, and Expansionistic. Males compete for battle honor in order to gain breeding rights. Complex interconnection of clans funneling up to the high Queen.

#2: Patriarchal, Human-killing, and Raiders. Females are slaves. Primitive.

#3: Balanced, Human-slaving, and Structured. Elves are the royalty. Half-humans are the least nobility. Probably most elf blood is contaminated: male:female birth rate even among the royals is 2:1. Humans are serfs.

Same biology, same race -- 3 different societies.

[Lord Tataraus]

I think there is a valid argument for both sides of this topic. I decided, that a rough estimate of the population would help and in figuring that out I decided to change the percentage that survived the Greening from 10% to less than 1% so its not too crowded, it turned out that 10% would assure that the world would return to normal very quickly because a significant number of people survived to rebuild. So, I'll walk you through my thought process:

Total Land Area: ~7,500,000 sq km (roughly the size of Australia)
Population Density (pre-Green): 100 per sq km (roughly equivalent to the E.U.)
Approximate pre-Green Population: 750,000,000
10% of the population would be 75,000,000 way too many people, in fact a good population would be closer to 0.01% (750,000). Also, assume this number does not reflect survivors of the Greening, but rather the current population as compared to right before the Greening

Now the racial percentages of the population, we are assuming each race is roughly as adaptable as the next so the percentages carry over from pre-Green to present. Assume that the percentage of a race is inversely proportional to its lifespan (this can be seen in real life).

Life Spans (based off venerable age):
{table=head]Race|Venerable Age
Dwarf|250
Elf|300
Halfling|100
Human|70
Gnome|80*
Goblin|50
Kobold|30**
Orc|60[/table]
* - yes, I dropped the gnome's age to fit the orc's a bit better.
** - a guess, I assume it varies based on caste anyway, so let's just go with that.

Pop. %:
{table=head]Race|Percentage|Pre-Green Pop.|Present Pop.
Dwarf|3%|22,500,000|22,500
Elf|1%|7,500,000|7,500
Halfling|13%|97,500,000|97,500
Human|15%|112,500,000|112,500
Goblin|18%|135,000,000|135,000
Gnome|14%|105,000,000|105,000
Kobold|20%|150,000,000|150,000
Orc|16%|120,000,000|120,000[/table]

On to focus on elves. We have determined that ~80% of all elves are male. That means that only 1,500 female elves exist. Each tribe has an average of 10 female elves so you have ~150 tribes with 10 females and 40 males on average. I think this ratio is still a bit too even, I suggest that only 5% of all elves are female, so there are 19 males per female and you end up with ~35 tribes with an average of 10 females and 190 males.

You might ask: Ok, what does any of this have to do with multiple societies within the one elvish race? Well, as I said before, you can argue both sides because given the extremely small population, there is less likely to be a difference in the societies since their are only 35 tribes. However, their could be a small number of factions. However, I think that elves would be very conservative and not easily change their ways so that these elves all come from common situations and backgrounds and their predictability and conservative nature act against there being multiple societies. I think all elves should act in basically the same fashion. Other races, however, should have varied societies and mixed societies.

[tsuuga]

Well, everyone would use preservation magic -- they would just use less reliable magic.

Yep. Just like we build skyscrapers to withstand earthquakes and windstorms, but people who live in hurricane-prone areas just put plywood on their windows.


Why cannot blood elves have multiple societies?

There's no reason why not. Write 'em up! :smallbiggrin:

Edit: And thank you, Lord Tataraus, for the demographics :smallsmile:

[Vadin]

Gosh I love it when elves are the villains...it just makes me so happy!

Lord Tartaraus: This might sound odd, but math makes fantasy believable. Very nice.

tsuuga: What, praytell, are you planning for the War and the Weird? I'm quite curious.

So...to flesh out and legitimize blade magic a tad in the setting, I thought I'd go ahead and stat up this Master Tk'chiss I mentioned earlier. Not the Master Tk'chiss players will meet, of course, but a young Tk'chiss. Say...age ninety or so. The Tk'chiss worth meeting is at least a hundred and fifty, of course. Almost two hundred, and far more powerful. Level 15 at least. This brings me to another question...wizards can grow far older than other members of their race simply by virtue of residual magic (if most fantasy it to be accepted), or things like lichdom and epic spells. Martial adepts...imo, there should be a 'Master' template that can be taken. Probably broken down into a few levels, this template would eventually grant immortality as long as someone knows their name and someone else wishes to find them. It should require some followers (Leadership), and a certain degree of power (level 14 or so?), and be applicable to most classes, though the official title would vary: Archmage, Sorcerer Supreme, Master, Guru, Yogi. All would be applications of the Master template. Stats...might come later. But I probably won't be doing them (not if I have anything to say about it, at least-also I'm pretty busy).

Rambling aside, here's a young Master Tk'chiss:


The tall kobold warrior in front of you seems...different. The other members of the warrior cast you've met have been loud and haughty, bragging of their exploits to any and all who would listen (and many who wouldn't) and espousing the superiority of kobold magics over those of the lesser races. This one seems...again, different. Though you asked him where you might find a certain Master Tk'chiss, who you've sought out for years and traveled many miles to find, he has yet to answer. You ask him again, "Well? Do you know or don't you, man? Spit out already!" Before you can even think about reacting, you're on the ground, pinned by the strange kobold. "Wha-?" you begin. "Silence, boy! I am he you seek, and I will tolerate no insolence! Your training begins now. You have until First Light to find a way to flip yourself onto your back while under my hold or you will stay here for the next year as a servant, after which you may consider trying again. Understand?" he asks sternly. You grin and answer, "Of course, sir. It's an honor to be training with you."

Master Tk'chiss, Level 11 Blade Scholar

Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Dragonblood)

Hit Dice: 11d8+22 (80 hp)

Initiative: +7

Speed: 30 ft.

Armor Class: 20 (+0 size, +3 dexterity, +2 armor, +3 int., +2 natural armor), Touch 16, Flat-footed 17

Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+11

Attacks: (1d20+11) (+12 with his +1 weapons)

Face/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Damage: (1dX+3) (1dX+4 with his +1 weapons)

Special Attacks: Maneuvers

Special Qualities: Intelligence Bonus to AC, Darkvision 60 ft., Light Sensitivity, Book of Geometry, Lore of True Stamina (+2 to Fort.)

Saves: Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +10

Abilities: Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 14

Skills: Bluff +10, Balance +11, Appraise +9, Concentration +10, Decipher Script +10, Heal +10, Hide +10, Intimidate +12, Listen +10, Move Silently +5, Martial Lore +17, Knowledge (Tactics) +13, Sense Motive +9, Spot +10, Ride +10, Swim +9, Tumble +16

Feats: Scribe Martial Script, Improved Recovery, Academic Blade Scholar, Improved Initiative, Extra Readied Maneuver, Shifting Winds, Quick Draw, Weapon Proficiency (Ranseur)

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Extra Items: Leather Armor (+2 AC), +1 Scimitar, +1 Longsword, and +1 Shortsword, Book Of Chiss'goria

Book Of Chiss'goria: The ancient book of Chiss'goria, ancestor of Tk'chiss and progenitor of blade magic, contains most known maneuvers. It is of incalculable value and esteemed by many martial masters as something of a holy relic. Though it holds the secrets to many extremely powerful maneuvers, few have reached a level of skill where those techniques could even be attempted, though this book's artful depictions and insightful explanations of how to initiate them have helped those who tried. Any martial adept who learns even a single maneuver from this ancient book gains a permanent +1 bonus to his initiator level for the purposes of initiator based maneuver effects, but not for maneuvers readied, stances active, or other level dependent abilities.

Disciplines With Associated Weapons
Scimitar- Desert Wind, Shocking Strom, Diamond Mind, Arctic Zephyr (1d8 damage)
Longsword- Iron Heart, White Raven, Devoted Spirit, Caustic Fog (1d8 damage)
Shortsword- Setting Sun, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon, Tiger Claw (1d6 damage)

6 Maneuvers Readied

Maneuvers Known
1st Level Maneuvers
Distracting Ember (Boost, Desert)
Burning Blade (Boost, Desert)
Crusader’s Strike (Strike, Devoted)
Vanguard Strike (Strike, Devoted)
Moment of Perfect Mind (Counter, Diamond)
Icy Stab (Boost, Arctic) (Burning Blade)
Mighty Throw (Strike, Setting)
Counter Charge (Counter, Setting)
Clinging Shadow Strike (Strike, Shadow)
Stone Bones (Strike, Stone)
Shocking Pierce (Boost, Shocking) (Burning Blade)
Leading the Attack (Strike, White)

2nd Level Maneuvers
Fire Riposte (Counter, Desert)
Flashing Sun (Strike, Desert)
Foehammer (Strike, Devoted)
Caustic Dodge (Counter, Caustic) (Fire Riposte)
Action Before Thought (Counter, Diamond)
Wall of Blades (Counter, Iron)
Stone Vise (Strike, Stone)

3rd Level Maneuvers
Fan The Flames (Strike, Desert)
Revitalizing Strike (Strike, Devoted)
Insightful Strike (Strike, Diamond)
Mind Over Body (Counter, Diamond)
Shadow Garrote (Strike, Shadow)
Bonecrusher (Strike, Stone)
Shocking Cloud (Strike, Shocking) (Fan The Flames)

4th Level Maneuvers
Divine Surge (Strike, Devoted)
Ruby Nightmare Blade (Strike, Diamond)
Lightning Recovery (Counter, Iron)
Strike of the Broken Shield (Strike, Setting)
Bonesplitting Strike (Strike, Stone)
Overwhelming Mountain Strike (Strike, Stone)
White Raven Strike (Strike, White)

5th Level Maneuvers
Lingering Inferno (Strike, Desert)
Staying Chill (Strike, Arctic) (Lingering Inferno)
Iron Heart Focus (Counter, Iron)
Bloodletting Strike (Boost, Shadow)
Elder Mountain Hammer (Strike, Stone)
Static Shock (Strike, Shocking) (Lingering Inferno)
Flanking Maneuver (Strike, White)

3 Stances Readied, 1 Stance Active
Stances Known:
Island of Blades (Setting)
Martial Spirit (Devoted)
Punishing Stance (Iron)
Dance of the Spider (Shadow)
Hearing the Air (Diamond)



Shifting Winds is the temporary name of the feat whose name I now can't remember that was on the boards awhile ago that granted a few extra disciplines that were just the Scorching Wind discipline with energy substitution.

[tsuuga]

Gosh I love it when elves are the villains...it just makes me so happy!

Me too! It adds verisimilitude.... What, you don't think hippies are evil? :smallwink:


Master Tk'chiss <snip>

Sweet.


Shifting Winds is the temporary name of the feat whose name I now can't remember that was on the boards awhile ago that granted a few extra disciplines that were just the Scorching Wind discipline with energy substitution.

I can't seem to find this feat either. Shifting Winds sounds like a good name to me... and it's wierd that martial adepts deal fire damage only. (ok, shadow hand can do a little cold. Still.)

[Yakk]

Time has passed: people will breed up.


According to historical and ethnographic studies, the density of hunter-gatherer populations has ranged from an estimated 1.15 inhabitants per square kilometer for the Amerinds of pre-conquest western North America, to 0.15 inhabitants per square kilometer registered in the 1960s among the Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert of Botswana in southern Africa.

So at 7,500,000 sq. km, at western North America population densities, that's about 8.6 million people.

The pre-change population doesn't have to line up with current population percentages. Death rates will be high, and the less competent will be wiped out quickly.

Assuming lots of resources, you can easily pull off a 5% growth rate per year on your population. In order to boost your population by a factor of 1000, that takes ~150 years. At 2% growth rate per year, a factor of 1000 takes ~350 years.

Pretty short periods, especially if we want the green to be non-recent history.

In short:
What matters is territory and resource consumption.

Territory roughly as good as western North America (which includes some huge mountain ranges and deserts) can support hunter-gatherers at over 1 person per square km.

Even primitive agriculture boosts this way up.

Another look at pop density:
http://migration.ucc.ie/population/eupophistory.htm

From this:
1/10 per sq. km is "hunter-gatherer".
1 per sq. km is "new stone age".

...

Note that with life expectancies that long, you have a problem. The Green would either have to include a memory wipe of some kind, or there would be only a handful of elven generations between the Green and today, or the Green has to be really really old.

...

With 5% to 20% of the elves being female, the key number is how many female elves there are.

...

But, in short, figure out how much territory. Figure out what tech level (including magic-tech, like Druidic yield boosts). Figure out how fertile the land is. And from that you can determine population levels.

If a single female elf gives birth to a baby every year, with a 5% chance of it being female, and a 20 year sexual maturation time...

Every 20 years the number of female elves double, assuming no losses. That's 3.5% per year.

If menopause happens at 50% of max age, that allows 10 doublings before the oldest elves die off.

...

That does give me an idea: Blood Elves are the result of an experiment to save the elven race. Wiped out to a handful of 1000 individuals, somebody used magic to increase the speed at which Elves bred.

It only partially worked. Before, elves where 50/50 male/female, and could get pregnant every 10 years. Afterwards, they could get pregnant every year: but 95% of births where male. And what elves where born where Blood Elves, warped by the savage magic used.

...

I'm still looking for population densities of early agricultural societies.