Hotowa'e [Buffalotaurs, PF race, Vespuccia]

[Admiral Squish]

Hotowa‘e
Designed for Vespuccia

Personality: Hotowa’e are placid and calm, under most circumstances. They’re content to walk the plains, savoring their freedom, or to spend time in the village. But when riled to anger they are unstoppable engines of destruction and fury that trample or gore anything in their path. They are often stubborn, and when they make up their minds, it’s nearly impossible to change them.
Physical Description: Hotowa’e are tall humanoids, that look much like bipedal buffalo. They stand tall, looming between six and seven feet in height at the peak of their hunched, broad shoulders. Their arms, head, and the upper portion of their chest and back are covered with coarse, tightly curled hair. Everything below that is covered with short, stiff bristles. The curled hair is light brown, but the stiffer hair is darker brown. Their heads are exactly like a buffalo’s, but with more expressive eyes and lips. A pair of short, dark horns emerge from the sides of their head. Their arms are more like a human’s, with powerful muscle. Their legs, however, are more like a bison’s, with wide hooves.
Relations: Hotow’e are born in two worlds, the children of buffalo spirits and humans. As such, they are never truly sure what to do with their lives. Some live among their mortal parents, never quite fitting in, but usually accepted and treated with a touch of reverence. Others walk with the buffalo, defending them from over hunting and outsiders.
Alignment: Hotowa’e are usually neutral or good, with a strong chaotic streak.
{table=head]|L|N|C
G|10|10|20
N|5|10|20
E|5|10|10[/table]
Hotowa’e Lands: Hotowa’e live all across the native territories, but they are by far the most common in the great plains region. They hold no lands of their own, and most of them are at least partially nomadic.
Religion: Hotowa’e follow the gods of their parent tribes and revere the spirits that parented them.
Language: Most hotowa’e speak Athabascan, but they can learn any language of the area. When they speak to buffalo, their language is a mixture of snorts, puffs, grunts, stomps, and pawing.
Names: Hotowa’e are usually named much the same way as their mortal parents.
Adventurers: Hotowa’e adventurers are relatively common. Some of them are seeking revenge after their villages or herds were slain. Others are just unsatisfied with living somewhere where they never quite fit in and head on the move.

• +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence. Hotowa'e are strong and tough, but they aren't particularly clever.
• Type: Hotowa'e are Monstrous Humanoids
• Medium Size: Hotowa'e are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties based on size
• Normal Speed: Hotowa'e have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Darkvision: A hotowa'e can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Natural Weapon: A hotowa'e has a natural gore attack that deals 1d6 points of damage.
• Natural Armor: A hotowa'e has a +1 bonus to natural armor.
• Buffalo Tongue: Hotowa'e can speak with buffalo, as though constantly under the effects of a speak with animals spell.
• Crushing Overrun: When a hotowa’e makes a successful overrun attempt, it deals 1d8+1 and 1/2 times its strength modifier bludgeoning damage to its target.
• Language: Hotowa’e begin play speaking Athabascan.

[Admiral Squish]

Feats:

Driving Horns:
Prequisites: Hotowa'e
Benefit: If you make a successful gore attack against a target, you can make a bull rush attempt as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Rampaging Bull:
Perquisites: Hotowa'e, Rage
Benefit: While raging, a hotowa'e can take a full-round action to go on a rampage. While rampaging, a hotowa'e can move up to their speed, making gore attacks as free actions against any creature within reach. A hotowa'e cannot attack the same enemy twice while rampaging. Their movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.

Unstoppable Rush:
Prerequisites:Hotowa'e, Improved Overrun, +5 BAB
Benefit: Nothing stands between a hotowa'e and their target. A hotowa'e can make one overrun attempt as a free action while charging.

[Admiral Squish]

Added a few feats, but they're kinda rough at the moment. Anyone gonna comment on the balance?

[Tanuki Tales]

Quick nitpick before reading more indepth: Pathfinder doesn't use Level Adjustment.

[Admiral Squish]

Quick nitpick before reading more indepth: Pathfinder doesn't use Level Adjustment.

...Well, crap. Honestly, I don't think I CAN make this LA 0, not while keeping the same feel. I don't want them to just be fuzzy humans, they're supposed to be fundamentally different.

[Debihuman]

Pathfinder, unlike 3.5, doesn't recommend using powerful creatures as PCs. As a result, these would be foes and given a creature's stat block. Furthermore, these should probably have racial hit dice. Last of all, you need to make it clear whether these are bipedal or quadrupedal. Nowhere in the racial traits do you note that it is quadrupedal.

From the title it seems these are quadrupedal and thus giving them Powerful Build is overkill since they already have a greater than normal Strength score. Quadrupeds have an encumbrance benefit already (see Carrying Capacity). They can carry 1 and 1/2 times their strength score.

I also recommend changing the name from Crushing Hooves to Crushing Overrun as it is more clearly defined. Since this is an attack coming from a special ability, there should be a Reflex save to avoid the damage (not just halve the damage). Also, it should be 1 and 1/2 times the strength MODIFIER not the creature's strength. It makes a huge difference. The save should be dexterity based not strength based since the creature has an beastly high strength modifier.

Crushing Overrun (Ex): When a hotowa’e makes a successful overrun attempt, it deals 1d8 plus 1 and 1/2 times its strength modifier bludgeoning damage to its target. If the target makes a successful Reflex save, it avoids the damage. The save is Dexterity-based.

Debby

[Tanuki Tales]

Pathfinder, unlike 3.5, doesn't recommend using powerful creatures as PCs. As a result, these would be foes and given a creature's stat block.

That's news to me, especially since they have both "Monsters as PC" rules in their core rules and the Monstrous Race tier in the Advanced Race Guide.

[Admiral Squish]

Pathfinder, unlike 3.5, doesn't recommend using powerful creatures as PCs. As a result, these would be foes and given a creature's stat block. Furthermore, these should probably have racial hit dice. Last of all, you need to make it clear whether these are bipedal or quadrupedal. Nowhere in the racial traits do you note that it is quadrupedal.

From the title it seems these are quadrupedal and thus giving them Powerful Build is overkill since they already have a greater than normal Strength score. Quadrupeds have an encumbrance benefit already (see Carrying Capacity). They can carry 1 and 1/2 times their strength score.

I also recommend changing the name from Crushing Hooves to Crushing Overrun as it is more clearly defined. Since this is an attack coming from a special ability, there should be a Reflex save to avoid the damage (not just halve the damage). Also, it should be 1 and 1/2 times the strength MODIFIER not the creature's strength. It makes a huge difference. The save should be dexterity based not strength based since the creature has an beastly high strength modifier.

Crushing Overrun (Ex): When a hotowa’e makes a successful overrun attempt, it deals 1d8 plus 1 and 1/2 times its strength modifier bludgeoning damage to its target. If the target makes a successful Reflex save, it avoids the damage. The save is Dexterity-based.

Debby

Hmm. This is a thorny issue. I could try and pare them down to a basic humanoid chassis, but I feel that would rob them of a lot of their uniqueness. Or I could break the rules and make an above-standard race. I'm gonna have to puzzle on this.

Buffalotaur is more in the sense of minotaur than centaur, so they are actually biped. I should probably mention this somewhere.

Crushing overrun's certainly clearer. I think fact that you have to make a successful overrun attempt, to beat their check, which they can choose to avoid anyway, would mean it wouldn't need a save. As for the text of strength/strength modifier, I assumed it would be assumed. But I shall fix it.

That's news to me, especially since they have both "Monsters as PC" rules in their core rules and the Monstrous Race tier in the Advanced Race Guide.

Hmm... There's a big thing about Creating New Races in the PFSRD. There's a section at the top there, in the link, about treating characters with high RP as higher-level. I could, theoretically, determine the RP of my creation and indicate such. But then, it might just be easier to go and take it down to a standard power level.

[SuperDave]

I like that you made them more like half-elves or half-orcs, rather than a separate race which shares characteristics with two species. I feel that this gives them a plaintive, misfit feeling, which translates well to travel adventuring. (On a related note, do Hotowa'e breed true?)

However, there is a central issue with their fluff: if you see the buffalo as being intelligent and capable of holding conversation, it becomes nearly impossible to allow humans to hunt and kill them, no matter how respectfully it may be done. And if the Hotowa'e do allow humans to hunt their cousins, they would also have to allow the buffalo to trample humans and their villages underhoof. Fair's fair, after all. From time to time, they might even take it upon themselves to cull the human herds, in response to things like excessive inbreeding, environmental mismanagement, and the use of certain forbidden magics.

On second thought, this kind of worldview makes them a lot less like "fuzzy humans" and more like a force of nature. They're almost Druidic, in a way. Perhaps it'd be a good idea to include after all.

I guess that what I'd like to know most of all is What kind of roles do you see the Hotowa'e filling within their chosen society (human, buffalo, or other), and what roles will they fill in an adventuring party?

With regard to the first half of the question: Do they ever form societies of their own? This would be a lot easier if you decide they do breed true. Would they be nomadic, settled, or some combination of the two?

With regard to the second half of the question, I know this isn't something you can really answer until you've got specific numbers for the various modified classes you're introducing, but I think it's something you'll want to keep in mind as you stat 'em up. Just make sure that the Hotowa'e feel and play sufficiently different from the Tuniit.

Overall, I like 'em so far. I'd be interested in playing one, but I might like a deeper breakdown of their culture, and maybe some suggested plot-hooks or backgrounds.

Edit: Also, they could use a character portrait. Might I humbly suggest this one?

[Admiral Squish]

So, I ended up flipping a coin. Here's a version that describes a much more human-scale hotowa'e.

• +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence. Hotowa'e are strong and tough, but they aren't particularly clever.
• Type: Hotowa'e are Monstrous Humanoids
• Medium Size: Hotowa'e are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties based on size
• Normal Speed: Hotowa'e have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Darkvision: A hotowa'e can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Natural Weapon: A hotowa'e has a natural gore attack that deals 1d6 points of damage.
• Natural Armor: A hotowa'e has a +1 bonus to natural armor.
• Buffalo Tongue: Hotowa'e can speak with buffalo, as though constantly under the effects of a speak with animals spell.
• Crushing Overrun: When a hotowa’e makes a successful overrun attempt, it deals 1d8+1 and 1/2 times its strength modifier bludgeoning damage to its target.
• Language: Hotowa’e begin play speaking Athabascan.

[Admiral Squish]

I like that you made them more like half-elves or half-orcs, rather than a separate race which shares characteristics with two species. I feel that this gives them a plaintive, misfit feeling, which translates well to travel adventuring. (On a related note, do Hotowa'e breed true?)

However, there is a central issue with their fluff: if you see the buffalo as being intelligent and capable of holding conversation, it becomes nearly impossible to allow humans to hunt and kill them, no matter how respectfully it may be done. And if the Hotowa'e do allow humans to hunt their cousins, they would also have to allow the buffalo to trample humans and their villages underhoof. Fair's fair, after all. From time to time, they might even take it upon themselves to cull the human herds, in response to things like excessive inbreeding, environmental mismanagement, and the use of certain forbidden magics.

On second thought, this kind of worldview makes them a lot less like "fuzzy humans" and more like a force of nature. They're almost Druidic, in a way. Perhaps it'd be a good idea to include after all.

I guess that what I'd like to know most of all is What kind of roles do you see the Hotowa'e filling within their chosen society (human, buffalo, or other), and what roles will they fill in an adventuring party?

With regard to the first half of the question: Do they ever form societies of their own? This would be a lot easier if you decide they do breed true. Would they be nomadic, settled, or some combination of the two?

With regard to the second half of the question, I know this isn't something you can really answer until you've got specific numbers for the various modified classes you're introducing, but I think it's something you'll want to keep in mind as you stat 'em up. Just make sure that the Hotowa'e feel and play sufficiently different from the Tuniit.

Overall, I like 'em so far. I'd be interested in playing one, but I might like a deeper breakdown of their culture, and maybe some suggested plot-hooks or backgrounds.

Edit: Also, they could use a character portrait. Might I humbly suggest this one?

Yeah, I thought giving them a sort of 'misfit' feeling would be ideal for adventuring. As for breeding true, I think they would, but being rather rare, it's not likely they'd form stable breeding communities.

Well, in the myth these guys are based on, the buffalo teach the people the buffalo dance and a song. The buffalo dance lets the buffalo know that the hunters are among those who honor the buffalo, and the song, sung the night of a successful hunt, is supposed to restore all the slain buffalo back to life. Of course, you can't make it too easy for them. So, the buffalo being slain means little in the long run, as long as the hunters are the good ones who restore the buffalo later. But I certainly could see hotowa'e leading buffalo stampedes over villages that fail to restore the buffalo they slay or mismanage their environment.

As for what roles they fill.

I don't think there are enough of them to form their own societies. In most cases, they'd be nomadic, or at least semi-nomadic, the buffalo instinct driving them to travel, even if they lived in fully agrarian societies. In buffalo society, they'd be guardians, warriors, and even diplomats, bearing the words of the buffalo to the ears of mortals. Among humans, they're stronger than their human brothers, and as such they make themselves useful by plowing, lifting, or even forging.

True. Well, as it stands now, the hotowa'e are probably going to be barbarians or shamans, for the most part.

I'll try to come up with a number of plot hooks after work tonight.

[DracoDei]

I would just suggest that you keep both versions (the one with LA and the one without) accessible, and, ideally, in the first post of the thread. Believe me, I have experience with having to have multiple versions of the same thing. Mostly monsters and templates that have rules that most people consider to obscure and/or complex, but which, to me, are important for their flavor.

[Admiral Squish]

I would just suggest that you keep both versions (the one with LA and the one without) accessible, and, ideally, in the first post of the thread. Believe me, I have experience with having to have multiple versions of the same thing. Mostly monsters and templates that have rules that most people consider to obscure and/or complex, but which, to me, are important for their flavor.

Well, nertz, the one in the first post was the only copy, and now I've fully replaced it. Honestly, the unique abilities are still the same, the only difference is that now they're much closer to human scale.

[Debihuman]

So are these bipedal or not now? You still haven't mentioned it and calling them buffalotaurs does suggest 4-legged critters.

Debby

[Admiral Squish]

So are these bipedal or not now? You still haven't mentioned it and calling them buffalotaurs does suggest 4-legged critters.

Debby

It's officially replaced. The physical description specifically mentions them being bipedal. Also fixed it to make them less enormous.

[SuperDave]

It might be worth noting that a lot of naturalists now believe that the enormous herds of buffalo which famously took several days to pass by may have been a post-contact development.

Native American populations were so devastated by the arrival of smallpox (some estimates place the Native mortality rate as high as 80% to 90% - for comparison, the Black Death had a mortality rate of about 33%). With their only major predator gone, the populations of the herds exploded . But Europeans didn't notice this explosion, because they weren't there to see the pre-smallpox populations, of both Native Americans and buffalo. They had no idea of the speed with which smallpox had traveled across the continent, eradicating entire villages before they even saw their first white man. So when they arrived in a landscape that was empty of people, they assumed that it had always been thus.

So, players interested in playing as Hotowa'e should keep in mind that while the buffalo herds were very large before the arrival of Europeans, they may not have been quite so large as the herds which Europeans actually saw with their own eyes.

[Source: 1491 (Second Edition): New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann. Chapter 10: The Artificial Wilderness, pp. 360-75.]