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Tectorman
2008-09-18, 11:29 AM
Chakat

A race of survivors whose gentleness belies their passion in the defense of their allies.

Racial Traits
Average Height: 5’ – 5’ 8”
Average Weight: 350 - 440 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom
Size: Medium
Speed: 7 squares
Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, choice of one other
Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Insight
Quadruped: You can carry, lift, and drag weight up to your Strength score times 12.5 (see Carrying, Lifting, and Dragging, page 222 PHB).
Resilient Physiology: +5 racial bonus to saving throws against poison
Berserk Rage: You can use berserk rage as an encounter power.


Berserk Rage Chakat Racial Power
You see your friend injured and under attack and blind animalistic fury
takes over. The next thing you know, you have repaid his attacker tenfold.
Daily
Minor Action Personal
Effect: You can channel your passion to gain a reroll on an attack roll
against an enemy that dealt enough damage to one of your allies to
render your ally bloodied (or worse) since your last turn. You must use
the second roll, even if it’s lower. If your attack hits and deals damage,
the target also takes ongoing 5 damage (save ends). You then suffer a
-2 penalty to all defenses until the end of your next turn.
Increase to ongoing 10 damage at 11th level and ongoing 15 damage at
21st level.
Special: To activate this power, you must also expend a healing surge.



Chakats are a race of felitaurs from a distant land. Their entire existence a triumph of dualities brought to a more harmonious whole, they combine both the sagacity of civilized man and the power of the wildest of beasts.

Play a chakat if you want…
• To play an anthropomorphic character.
• To make your enemies pay dearly when they hurt your allies.
• To be a member of a race that favors the cleric, paladin, or ranger classes.



Physical Qualities
Chakats are bestial centaur-like felines. They stand at about human height, but because of their taurform body, they also have length (approximately 5 feet from forehips to hindquarters). They also weigh considerably more. A chakat will typically look like a big cat (a lion, tiger, leopard, etc.) with the corresponding fur pattern, although more exotic looks aren’t uncommon either. From where the neck would be arises a human-looking torso continuing the same fur pattern as the “taurso”. A chakat’s head, though felinoid and fur covered, is capable of a much wider range of facial articulation than their feline relatives and is covered with a usually long mane of hair. Their forelegs end in handpaws that incorporate rudimentary fingers into the forefoot (very strong, but lacking in dexterity). Their tails extend about 5 feet behind them and are prehensile (though still not on par with their own hands, due to the tail being completely fur-covered with no pads). Also, all chakats are hermaphroditic, possessing both sets of reproductive organs at the same time. Thus, they require their own set of pronouns; “shi” (shay) and “hir” (hare) instead of “he” or “she” and “his”, “him”, or “her”.
Chakats typically wear little to no clothing, most of what they wear being confined to their upper torso (and usually for the sake of the modesty of other species). Otherwise, they would only wear practical apparel (belt pouches, cargo saddles, etc.). A chakat is typically comfortable in temperatures cooler than humans due to their fur, so the only clothing they wear for purposes of necessity would be thick and warm.
A chakat’s lifespan is about 150 years, when they become known as “Longtails”.

Playing a Chakat
Chakats, due to possessing a dual gender mindset, possess a special wisdom that can only come from being able to view a situation from both sides. This tends to make chakats exceptionally mentally stable. Combined with their special talent for reading people (bordering on supernatural empathy), this makes chakats particularly adept in the social realm. Indeed, chakats have an almost physiological need for community.
The inherit need for social interaction has lead to the development of greatly extended families; one of the most distinct of chakat organizations. Chakat families are always growing, due in part to the relative frequency that new mates are found and welcomed. Another unique aspect of chakat society is the race's love of children. Indeed, little can spark a chakat's ire more than hearing a child, be it their's or another race's, being mistreated.
For the most part, chakats adhere to little more than a “Do unto others…” philosophy of life. Chakats tend to deal with all things rationally and practically, and approach their relationship with the gods they worship in the same way. They hail from a faroff land where a massive collection of arcane and divine magic did what has never been done before or since: the creation of a new race. There, humans and chakats live together, their isolation from other sentient races leading them to think of each other as brother and sister races. However, every so often human tolerance wanes and though many chakats stay anyway and work things out in the end, enough have left to forge their own nation, a little known land called Chakona. Others have sought their destiny far away, and so have found other sentient races, such as the dwarves and the elves and the dragonborn.

Chakat Characteristics: empathic, friendly, good-natured, hardy, joyful, loving, optimistic, perceptive, practical, sociable, well-adjusted

Names: Brightspot, Darkstar, Forestwalker, Goldendale, Goldfur, Jinx, Late Bloomer, Midnight, Quickpaw, Stormchaser, Swiftwalk, White Tip, Windsong

Chakat Adventurers
Three sample chakat adventurers are described below.
Brightspot met a crew of humans (and an eladrin) at an early age and was soon inspired to lead a similar lifestyle. Deciding that good was not simply that which was not evil, but rather that which opposes evil, shi took up Pelor’s mantle to roam the lands and fight in his name. Shi wears the name of paladin proudly, standing as a true defender of the innocent, protector of the weak, and all-around good guy (term used loosely). Pelor’s simultaneous compassion and kindness and unceasing vigilance against evil suit Brightspot in hir own travels.
Jinx (so named for hir childhood proclivity for entwining hirself around other people’s legs) took to a life in the wild after a string of bad luck (and this didn’t inspire hir to change hir name, either). Atypically for a chakat, shi tends to avoid deep relationships with others, as twice before shi’s been the sole survivor in a terrible trek. Jinx hopes one day to redeem hirself before hir peers. Shi specializes in the bow to avoid the same death that shi has witnessed time and again.
Late Bloomer is as firm as bedrock and as reliable an ally as any dwarf lord. From the day shi was born, shi always did things late (shi was even born two days late, an event unprecedented in chakat medical history). Late Bloomer has no tolerance for wishy-washiness and is disinclined to change hir mind on a whim. Shi became a cleric of Avandra, the goddess of freedom and adventure, in the hopes of exploring that new frontier first, of changing the world for the better first, so that the inevitable change that Avandra inspires starts out good and can only get better. Let the world change for the better, but let it go right the first time.

Tectorman
2008-09-18, 11:30 AM
Heroic Racial Feats

Experienced Sentinel [Chakat]
Prerequisite: Chakat
Benefit: You no longer suffer a -2 penalty to all defenses for using the berserk rage power.

Paragon Racial Feats

Senses Open to the World [Chakat]
Prerequisite: Chakat
Benefit: When you make an Insight check or a Perception check, roll twice and use the higher result.

Tectorman
2008-09-18, 11:35 AM
I'm mostly pleased with the race, but I'm not confident in the racial power or the racial feats (well, Experienced Sentinel, really; Senses Open to the World is on par with Agile Athlete so I'm all right with it).

What I'm looking for are some suggestions/alternatives to the Berserk Rage. I definitely want it to be a daily power and I definitely want it to be used only against an enemy that attacked (preferably bloodied) one of your allies. Beyond that, any suggestions are welcome.

Make it a stance? It doesn't need to cost a healing surge/put a penalty to your defenses/both? Instead of ongoing damage, make it a straight up 1d6 (2d6 at 11th, 3d6 at 21st)? Or make it a condition (dazed, stunned, surprised)? Instead of a reroll, make it a +1 power bonus to attack? These are ideas I've toyed with but haven't been able to decide on.

Oh yeah, Google "chakat" or "Bernard Doove" if you want to see the race as originally conceived.

KKL
2008-09-18, 11:56 AM
/me slams his head into his desk repeatedly

Why do you use the word furry incorrectly? If it's just an anthropomorphic race, it's not furry, it's only furry if you view it sexually. Also, the racial ability is terrible. You have to spend a healing surge (wtf) and it's just a basic attack with ongoing 5 damage, and you lower all of your defenses by 2. It's so...gimped.

Tectorman
2008-09-18, 01:20 PM
"Yeah, this guy came on the forums and asked us to help him with this homebrew he came up with. You want to know what the first thing we did was? Criticize him on his use of the word 'furry'."

Anyway, if it needs saying, this is my first ever 4e homebrew. Of course it's not going to be balanced right off the bat. So please do me a favor. Don't just tell me such-and-such is off, suggest something to fix it.

Devin
2008-09-18, 04:51 PM
KKL, you are wrong. Any material involving anthropomorphic animals can be considered furry, regardless of presence or absence of sexual content. For example, the furry webcomic Class Menagerie.

Shadow_Elf
2008-09-18, 06:28 PM
I strongly agree that the racial power is heavily underpowered, but everything else seems fine to me.

Perhaps you would consider an Encounter Power involving charging? If I were a quadruped with a +2 STR bonus, I would charge people a lot.

Something Like:

Protective Rage
"A nearby wounded ally is sorely pressed, and you enter a primal rage to rush towards their defence"
Encounter * Weapon
Standard Action * Close Burst 5
Target: One bloodied ally in Burst you can see
Effect: You run to a square adjacent to that ally, passing through and past enemies. Make a melee basic attack against each enemy you pass, including passing through their squares. This provokes attacks of opportunity. You may slide the ally one square for every attack of opprtunity this attack provokes.

Not sure about power (made it up on the spot) but something lie this would be nice.

KKL
2008-09-18, 08:04 PM
"Yeah, this guy came on the forums and asked us to help him with this homebrew he came up with. You want to know what the first thing we did was? Criticize him on his use of the word 'furry'."
That's how I roll.


Anyway, if it needs saying, this is my first ever 4e homebrew. Of course it's not going to be balanced right off the bat. So please do me a favor. Don't just tell me such-and-such is off, suggest something to fix it.
If I tell you where it's off, you can use that information to fix it.

Lappy9000
2008-09-18, 09:41 PM
From where the neck would be arises a human-looking torso continuing the same fur pattern as the “taurso”.

Nice Pun :smallbiggrin:

Don't know squat about 4e, so I'll critique your fluff!


Also, all chakats are hermaphroditic, possessing both sets of reproductive organs at the same time. Thus, they require their own set of pronouns; “shi” (shay) and “hir” (hare) instead of “he” or “she” and “his”, “him”, or “her”.

Just a heads up, you're just asking for trouble here from player characters. Please don't make me go into the specifics of that analysis :smalleek: (the pronouns was a nice touch, though)


This need for social interaction leads to one of the most famous of chakat organizations: their very extended families.

It's gramatically correct, but it's a little awkward. You may wanna try something like, "The inherit need for social interaction has lead to the development of greatly extended families; one of the most distinct of chakat organizations."


The other part is the chakat love of children. Indeed, little can spark a chakat’s ire more than hearing of a child (their child, someone else’s child, a child of another race) being mistreated.

Same. I'd try, "Another unique aspect of chakat society is the races' love of children. Indeed, little can spark a chakat's ire more than hearing a child, be it theirs or another races, being mistreated."

It looks pretty good for the most part (wouldn't a quaduped race be overpowered almost by default?), but why is one of their favored classes the paladin? I can see ranger and cleric, what with their down-to-earth sentiments and peacable attitudes, but don't paladins often submit to an overly-idealistic religious dogma?

Shadow_Elf
2008-09-19, 07:06 AM
It looks pretty good for the most part (wouldn't a quaduped race be overpowered almost by default?), but why is one of their favored classes the paladin? I can see ranger and cleric, what with their down-to-earth sentiments and peacable attitudes, but don't paladins often submit to an overly-idealistic religious dogma?

The race is mechanically geared very much towards paladins. +2 STR and +2 WIS makes for a great striker pally.

Lappy9000
2008-09-19, 08:16 AM
The race is mechanically geared very much towards paladins. +2 STR and +2 WIS makes for a great striker pally.

Ah, that makes sense. I actually own a 4e Player's Handbook and have read through it a little, but that still doesn't make me qualified enough to critique 4e crunch.

Tectorman
2008-09-19, 11:19 PM
Nice Pun :smallbiggrin:

Don't know squat about 4e, so I'll critique your fluff!

Thanks (and I'm not actually using it as pun, but the guy that originally came up with the usage probably did).


Just a heads up, you're just asking for trouble here from player characters. Please don't make me go into the specifics of that analysis :smalleek: (the pronouns was a nice touch, though)

I know, but I'm not changing that part. Bernard Doove originally created the chakats that way, and I was the one to take that race and put it in D&D terms for 3.5. I intend to retain that title, so if I just create a race, slap the name "chakat" on it and don't try to come as close as I can, I'm not doing the intended goal justice.


It's gramatically correct, but it's a little awkward. You may wanna try something like, "The inherit need for social interaction has lead to the development of greatly extended families; one of the most distinct of chakat organizations."

Same. I'd try, "Another unique aspect of chakat society is the races' love of children. Indeed, little can spark a chakat's ire more than hearing a child, be it theirs or another races, being mistreated."

Thank you, I'll borrow that if you don't mind.


It looks pretty good for the most part (wouldn't a quaduped race be overpowered almost by default?), but why is one of their favored classes the paladin? I can see ranger and cleric, what with their down-to-earth sentiments and peacable attitudes, but don't paladins often submit to an overly-idealistic religious dogma?

They wouldn't be overpowered (so far as I know (which is so far as page 222 of the Player's Handbook is telling me), quadrupeds only gain increased carrying capacity, and personally, I think this is sufficiently outweighed by the decreased capacity to ride a mount). And I picked Paladins over Fighters because Paladins lean more towards Leader and Fighters lean more towards Striker.

@Shadow_Elf: It needs to be a Daily power. Out of all the chakat fanfiction on the Internet, I can only think of possibly four times where a chakat ever actually goes into one of these "rages", precisely because it is exhausting in every way it can be (physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, etc.). Ergo, I begin with it being a Daily, and then I figure out (well, try to) how powerful it should be to be worthy of being a Daily.

(Oh, and the name comes from the Loxos racial ability of the same name and general effect from the Savage Species book. So I'm not changing the name.)

I appreciate the suggestion, but I'm not so much looking for a one-shot attack (I charge, hit, and done) as looking for some kind of lasting effect. It needs to reflect the chakat's increased desire to remove the target as a threat. Something along the lines of the Fighter's Villain's Menace attack.

Except I want it to be attack-range mutable. The Tiefling's racial power doesn't care whether it's melee or close or area or ranged. The Dragonborn racial power is close, but that's pretty much the in-between. And having it be a charge kind of steps in on the Minotaur's shtick.

Good suggestions, please keep them coming.