[Under Construction] Playable Medusa Race

[Ra_Va]

Medusa
Medium-Size Monstrous Humanoid

Racial Traits

Size: Medium

Average Height: 5'5" - 6'0"

Average Weight: 120 - 180 lb.

HD:

Init:

AC: Natural armor +2

BAB:

Attack:

Full-Attack:

Special Attacks:

Special Qualities: Low Light Vision

Saves:

Abilities:

Alignment:

Religion:

Ability Scores:
Female: +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma;
Male: +2 Strength, +2 Charisma

Speed:30 ft.

Skill Bonuses:
Female: +2 Arcana or Thievery, +2 Stealth;
Male: +2 Intimidate, +2 Bluff or Diplomacy

Medusa Weapon Proficiency: Both genders gain proficiency with the Short Sword.

Racial Traits
Both:
Serpent Resistance: You have resist poison 5 + one half your level. You are also immune to petrification.

Cure Petrification: Your blood can cure petrification. You lose [hp] give enough blood to be used to cure one petrification. The blood is effective for one day.

Medusa Blood (Ex): Medusas are immune to the gaze attacks of medusas, and vice versa.

Female:
Heroic Feats: Snaky Hair

Medusa Gaze: Female Medusa gain the petrifying gaze spell-like ability after level [?].

Male:
After level [?] Male Medusa can turn stone into flesh(food)

Sub-races:
Amphibious Medusa

Lore:

Spoiler

Show

While the solitary wild variants of the Medusa race lack the ability to turn off their gaze, small groups who have experienced generations of breeding with Half-Medusa have over these generations been able to control their power, though now using this power is far less instinctual.

[Ra_Va]

Any help or comments appreciated.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Is this fourth edition? If it is, I would recommend not giving them their petrification ability after a certain level. Instead, I would recommend giving them a weak petrification power at first level that they can scale.

You could have it be a racial at-will move action power that imposes a -2 Dexterity penalty (-4 at 20th.) If they sustain it on a single target long enough to drop them to 0 Dexterity, the target is then permanently petrified. You could then write a racial feat tree that adds other stuff like -1 to movement (minimum 1/2 reduction) each round, loss of move action if the medusa makes a Charisma vs Will attack, etc etc.

I don't know if there are special rules for gaze attacks in 4e that you could use. If that's too powerful, you could add a note to the ability stating that it doesn't work in poor lighting and against blind creatures, and that any creature that is aware of the medusa can take a minor action to shield its eyes, making it immune for 1 round (but it's then obvious to the medusa that it should pick a different target or use its move action for something that won't be blocked.) If you use that, you could add another feat that makes it so that the medusa can still make a Charisma vs Will attack even if the target takes the minor action to avert its eyes, and targets who have already been affected receive no benefit from averting their eyes.

Edit: Ooops, not Will, medusa saves in 4e are Fortitude.

[lunar2]

well, it certainly isn't 4e if it has a full attack action, or HD. hmm, for females, their natural weapon should be a bite 1d6 + poison (1dx dex/1dx dex) and 2 hair bites 1d4 as secondary.