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lordofthe_wog
2008-05-15, 04:54 PM
A while ago I stumbled upon a rather good anime (to this day the only anime I like) called Elfen Lied. Look it up on Wikipedia or whatever for further details, but it had possibly the coolest idea for a race ever. Keep in mind that I mean for it to be this powerful, and if you compare the following creature to the show version, you'll find its got one hell of a nerf. Even so, its incredibly powerful and possibly more fitting of a flat out stat block, but that didn't seem right.

Keep in mind its my first race, so its bound to suck. Hard.

(This is a tad more custom suited to my campaign, where humans are more like the average ignorant twit and elves are pompous punks similar to modern day cut-class teenagers)

Diclonius (Di-clone-us)
Beings spawned from a disease that only affects the new born children of humans, Dicronius fill no niche of the world other then as outcasts and test subjects experiments deemed inhumane. Because of this, they have an inherent hate of livings things, mostly humans, but take peace in the company of small animals. Sick of the judgement passed down on them because of their horns, they are more then often driven into madness and insanity, taking pleasure only in death.
Physical Description: A Dicronius is exactly like a human in every way except two. The males stand anywhere from 5'8" to six feet, while females are slightly smaller. Dicronius tend to be skinnier then their hated human counterparts. Their differences are the only reason they are hated by humans so much. One, a male is born bald and never grows hair, facial or anywhere else, while females tend to have dark pink hair. Both male and female Dicronius have small horns on the side of their heads, two of them, and shaped like a fat triangle when they first develop at birth. As they become older and more powerful, the horns grow larger, until the protrude 6 inches away from the head. Because of this, they are unable to use Ioun Stones, and are uncomfortable with helmets, although they do not incur penalties of any sort. Dicronius prefer to hide their horns, be it using wigs, ribbons, or hats.
Relations: Although Dicronius are really just humans being furthered by evolution, humans hate them because of their differences, and the Dicronius return the favor. Dwarves hardly see the physical difference between the two races, and treat them with respect, although Dicronius are slow to accept this. Elves see the Dicronius as mockeries of the humanoid shape, and so the Dicronius hate the elves as well. The gnomes cheerful attitude and friendly demeanor is welcomed by the Dicronius, as one of the few friends they have. Halflings, like dwarves, don't care who they are as long as they can provide a source of fun, and while they try to convince the Dicronius to see the world as a better place, they rarely succeed. Half-Orcs and Half-Elves, outcasts as well, see the Dicronius as one of them, and welcome them into there groups.
Personality: Dicronius begin as humans with horns. The children tease them, but they are powerless to stop it. At age five, they begin to develop a schizophrenic personality that tells them to kill. By age nine, this personality reveals to the Dicronius its vectors, invisible arms that can manipulate even the most delicate of objects, but can just as easily forcefully remove a heart from a body, rip a head off, or move a nerve so that the person dies. They are untrusting of all, wary at all times for someone else who might try to hurt them in some way.
Dicronius Lands: Dicronius have no lands to call their own, they instead attempt to live within human lands, but soon they are exiled or driven out and make it through life wandering.
Religion: Most Dicronius, if not all, believe that no truly just god would allow the world to treat them as they are treated, some cases, Dicronius even give up a belief in gods. Because of this, Dicronius clerics are next to impossible.
Alignment: Because of they're social outcast status and tendency to do as they wish, Dicronius are almost always chaotic. Due to their hate of humans, love of killing, and the voice in their head, they are almost always evil as well.
Adventurers: A Dicronius, banished from civilization, might want to get back in, find acceptance, or just be greedy. Some Dicronius might want to further the race's development to conquer the humans by finding a mate, which he or she might lure in with the promise of riches.

Dicronius Racial Traits
- No bonuses or penalties to ability scores because of racial size.
- Medium-size: No special abilities or disadvantages because of side.
- 30 ft. Base speed
- +1/vector AC bonus against projectiles. A vector can block most projectiles with ease.
- +5 racial bonus to Climb check when using vectors
- +10 to Jump checks when using vectors
- +2 attack and damage bonus with thrown weapons, as well as adding 20 extra feet to the range. The Dicronius' vectors can hurl objects at incredible speed.
- 4 extra skill points at first level and 1 additional skill point at each additional level
- 1 extra feat at first level
- Vectors (Su): The main thing that sets apart the human and the Dicronius is the invisible hands the Dicronius has. These can be used as incredible weapons, or just as an extra writing hand. They cannot be harmed or removed from the Dicronius' body in any way.
Dicronius have an amount of vectors equal to their Wisdom modifier times 2, and the range the vectors can reach is equal to her Wisdom modifier. With a wisdom modifier of two, the vectors can reach 2 squares in any direction).
Dicronius, with enough practice, can use these to kill at a whim. There are two ways to do this.
The main thing that sets apart the human and the Dicronius is the invisible hands the Dicronius has. These can be used as incredible weapons, or just as an extra writing hand. They cannot be harmed or removed from the Dicronius' body in any way.
Dicronius have an amount of vectors equal to their Wisdom modifier times 2, and the range the vectors can reach is equal to her Wisdom modifier. With a wisdom modifier of two, the vectors can reach 2 squares in any direction).
Dicronius, with enough practice, can use these to kill at a whim. There are two ways to do this.
To tear a limb off, the Dicronius vectors must have a Strength of 26 or higher (magic items don't affect vectors, but spells do). It can then start a grapple with the creature as long as the creature is in range of its vectors. If the grapple succeeds, then the Dicronius can remove a limb once per round by succeeding on a Strength check equal to 10 + 1/2 the creature's hit dice + any natural armor bonus + its Constitution modifier. A head removed causes instant death unless a creature is immune to vorpal effects.
The second way consists of having the vector painlessly but noticeably pass through the skin of the forehead and displace a nerve, killing the creature instantly. The Dicronius must have a Dexterity of 30 (Magic items don't affect vectors, but spells do) to do this and requires two attacks. The first is a touch attack using the vectors to paralyze the target. If the target is immune to paralysis, the attack automatically fails. However, should it hit, the target takes no damage and is instantly paralyzed, standing rigidly still in its square. The next turn, the Dicronius must make a Heal check, with the DC being 10 + the creature's HD to find the nerve that will prove fatal, and then make a touch attack using her Dexterity modifier instead of her Strength. Should the attack succeed, the target instantly dies. Creatures immume to death effects are also immune to this, taking 2d10+Dex Modifier worth of damage instead. Abberations and Outsiders, although killable by this, add +10 to the DC to find the nerve.
Vectors have a separate Strength and Dexterity score then the Dicronius herself. They are each +4 higher then the Dicronius' score with her own hands.
- Horns (Su): The horns are mostly cosmetic, but they also gauge the power of the Dicronius and provide her one weakness. As the Dicronius grow more powerful, their horns grow as well. At level 1 (character level), the horns protrude an inch from the head, to no effect. At level 9, the horns grow two inches, growing to three inches and increasing the each vectors range by one square, and giving each vector a +2 bonus to Strength and Dexterity, and giving the Diclonius a +2 bonus to Intelligence. At level 18, The horns are fully grown, protruding 6 inches from the head and adding an additional +2 Strength and Dexterty modifier to the horns, as well as a +2 bonus to the Dicronius' Wisdom (adjust vectors accordingly). However, the horns also present a glaring weakness. By breaking one of the horns, the Dicronius automatically takes 2d8 points of damage and enters terrible pain. She falls to the ground and becomes unconscious 1d4+2 rounds later, in a state she will remain for the next 1d3 days until the horn grows back. Holding the horn up to where it broke off and casting cure critical wounds reattaches the horn. The Dicronius will wake up an hour after the horn is reattached. Until the horns are healed again, the Dicronius cannot use her vectors.
If both horns are broken, in addition to what is described above, all vectors instantly vanish and her Wisdom drops to zero and she goes into a nightmare filled sleep, in which she remains until her Wisdom regenerates (1 point every 2 days). When she awakes, she is fatigued, but cannot sleep again for 12 hours. All magic or spell-lke abilities will not work until 24 hours after she awoke from her coma has passed. Likewise, her vectors will not come out until she sleeps again.
Automatic Languages: Common Bonus: Any
Favored Class: Rogue
Level Adjustment: Undecided, apparently around strong +1 or +2.

Reinboom
2008-05-15, 05:20 PM
Hm.. a lot of these doesn't match a lot of the diclonius concepts.
And some of the main examples in the show.

For example, to tear off a limb - you need a strength of 24. Lucy, Nana, and especially number 27 doesn't have that much strength - only their vectors do.

Another is horn size - but, eh, custom.

I also wouldn't consider the LA to be 'very high'. But it depends on what your goal in balance is. With their limited range, putting on even a +2 LA for the vectors makes them a glass cannon.

lordofthe_wog
2008-05-15, 05:30 PM
Meh, been a while since I saw the thing, and even when I did, I was paying more attention to the actual show then the idea of putting it into DnD 3.5 form. I also have no idea how to really implement a separate vector Strength score.

EDIT: In the manga, Lucy rips the head off of at least two people with her bare hands.
DOUBLE (and unnecessary) EDIT: If it was truly canon, all that could hit Lucy would be ray effects and magic missiles, and she would still have a wicked dodge bonus because she could just jump away from them. Using vectors. Fuun.

Vadin
2008-05-15, 06:04 PM
Before anything else is said, I must ask:

Is it Diclonus or Dicronius? DIE-CLONE-US or DIE-CRONE-EE-US?

Please, enlighten me. I'm so hung up on that one little thing that I can't even focus on the rest of it.

(No, I'm really not kidding. I am genuinely a) confused and b) curious. I keep glancing up at the top there and looking about, trying to figure out just what these guys are called.)

lordofthe_wog
2008-05-15, 06:07 PM
Pronounced DIE-CLONE-US, but because of the Japanese language and its rule about r and l, its spelled Dicronius. Well, its spelled like that in the manga, anyway, which is what I tend to go by.

D Knight
2008-05-15, 07:38 PM
it sound very good and i would play a rouge with this race but that is me. to me it sounds like a strong LA 1 but not sure. ask other for their view befor taging the LA on. by the way good job.

lordofthe_wog
2008-05-15, 07:45 PM
it sound very good and i would play a rouge with this race but that is me. to me it sounds like a strong LA 1 but not sure. ask other for their view befor taging the LA on. by the way good job.

Danke. But can I ask why a rogue? The abilities that control the Dicronius' abilities of its own match up with the monk's. I think.

Vadin
2008-05-15, 07:54 PM
Then could it, for those of us who support the phoenetic spelling of things form languages written in non-latin script (which would be everything but English and languages that use the same alphabet (like French and German)), could it be spelled like that? One translator's dumb mistake is a silly reason to turn the 'la' sound into the 'ra' sound. Sorry I'm getting hung up on this, it just seriously bugs me. The Japanese language might have a rule about r and l, but in the alphabet system, they are independent sounds. It should be spelled like it sounds, not how something silly says it should.

Moving on to something relevant, its probably because rogues usually outclass monks in terms of...everything. SA trumps unarmed damage, the skills are better, and uncanny dodge and evasion make up in spades for the two lower saves the rogue has.

Reinboom
2008-05-15, 11:57 PM
It is neither "r" or "l". English does not have a true equivalent.
It's similar to an "r", except, the tongue hits the teeth as you would with an "l".
Which is why it gets mixed with both. However, 'R' is still closer.
On the other hand, the writer may have intended the name to be an "L" (which, I believe is the case)... but since there is no equivalent to "lo" in japanese, they use "ro" instead.



I would also set this closer under Rogue than Monk as well.

Things to consider:
Skill bonuses. (+ to jump checks, + to climb checks...)
and

- 4 extra skill points at first level and 1 additional hit point at each additional level
Did you mean 4 ex skill points at first and 1 additional skill point at each? Or 4 ex hit points? Or are they separate? (If they are separate, I would consider putting them on separate lines)

Vadin
2008-05-16, 02:22 PM
It is neither "r" or "l". English does not have a true equivalent.
It's similar to an "r", except, the tongue hits the teeth as you would with an "l".
Which is why it gets mixed with both. However, 'R' is still closer.
On the other hand, the writer may have intended the name to be an "L" (which, I believe is the case)... but since there is no equivalent to "lo" in japanese, they use "ro" instead.

Things like this reinforce my preference for Indoeuropean languages.

In other news, this race seems like it might be a bit better suited to another minor ability or two and a +2 LA as opposed to it being a quite powerful +1 LA race.

lordofthe_wog
2008-05-16, 02:25 PM
It is neither "r" or "l". English does not have a true equivalent.
It's similar to an "r", except, the tongue hits the teeth as you would with an "l".
Which is why it gets mixed with both. However, 'R' is still closer.
On the other hand, the writer may have intended the name to be an "L" (which, I believe is the case)... but since there is no equivalent to "lo" in japanese, they use "ro" instead.



I would also set this closer under Rogue than Monk as well.

Things to consider:
Skill bonuses. (+ to jump checks, + to climb checks...)
and

Did you mean 4 ex skill points at first and 1 additional skill point at each? Or 4 ex hit points? Or are they separate? (If they are separate, I would consider putting them on separate lines)

I meant skill, but I was tired and they have an "i" in them.

Jump and Climb checks looks good as well