LA +1 Centaur [3.5, PEACH]

[Amechra]

Centaur

The Centaur people have wandered the planes of the Material since time immemorial; they are half-feral nomads in eternal migration.
Personality: Centaurs tend to be rather gruff to strangers; however, they will happily trade nearly anything for anything else of equal value. Their entire culture, due to lack of any central location, is almost entirely based off of trade and what they refer to as the "migration" of material goods. They tend to take being referred to in terms of horses rather well; after all, why take offense to being likened to such graceful and noble creatures?
Physical Description: Centaurs are easily recognized; while above the waist they appear to be entirely human, their lower bodies appear to be a mixture of that of a horse and a deer, delicate and graceful. Centaur dress tends towards the spare, spartan, and functional; however, tribes with a trade connections to more "civilized" areas tend to dress to impress, with ceremonial barding and colorful sashes being favored.
Relations: Centaurs are on friendly terms with most races, though they prefer to spend time with elves, as the slower pace of their culture suits them just fine. There are several tribes that have formed alliances with small Halfling communities, allowing themselves to be ridden into battle, granting a definite advantage.
Alignment: Centaurs are restless and wild to a fault; they are heavily biased towards being Chaotic, though they show no true preference towards Good or Evil. After all, what use are such things out on the plains and steppes?

	L	N	C
G	5	10	15
N	5	15	20
E	5	10	15

Lands: Most Centaurs spend their entire lives as restless nomads, wandering a wide circuit around the steppes and plains they call home. They tend to remain in areas that are unsuitable to farming, as in many cases those are the only areas where they can wander without the pitchforks and torches coming out.
Religion: Centaur religious practices are eclectic, at best, as they pick up customs, teachings, and relics in their travels. However, of the many gods (or parts of gods) that they revere, Fharlaghan is the one most commonly prayed to, as their entire lives are spent on the road, his domain.
Language: Most Centaur can speak Common with a decent degree of fluency; however, amongst themselves they speak a low fluting language, which has at least one dialect per clan.
Names: Centaur names are unisex and functional, seldomly longer than a few syllables; they tend to be heavy on vowels. Centaurs that spend time interacting with other races will tend to adopt a nickname or two; many Centaurs end up jokingly nickname themselves after a friend's horse.
Adventurers: Centaurs will often turn to the adventuring life purely out of curiosity; there is also the lure of gold, which they've found to be a rather valuable trade commodity.

• +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Int Centaurs tend towards the agile and hawk-eyed, with a keen memory; however, they tend towards being a little slow-witted at times.
• Type: Centaurs are creatures of the monstrous humanoid type.
• Size; Centaurs are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to size.
• Rapid Speed: Centuars have a base land speed of 40 feet.
• Low-Light Vision: Centaurs can see twice as far as normal in conditions of dim light.
• Quadruped: A Centaur is a quadruped; as such, they may carry a load 1-1/2 times that of a normal creature their size, get a +4 bonus to resist being Bull-Rushed, Overrun, or Tripped, and are required to pay twice as much for armor.
• Cervine Body: A Centaur is considered to be both mounted and not mounted at any given time, whichever would be better for them; if a particular effect would affect their mount, they are considered to be their own mount.
• Solid Hooves: A Centaur receives a pair of Hoof attacks, dealing 1d4 bludgeoning damage as a Secondary natural weapon.
• Level Adjustment: +1

[Kazyan]

If you're going for LA+0, this is closer to Lesser Aasimar than Gnome. Might be appropriate in the sorts of games that usually get piles of homebrew requests, but you should be aware. +2 net ability scores, natural weaponry, and +10 speed are all big strokes in this race's favor.

What immediately springs to mind about Cervine Body is taking Mounted Combat for a "make a Ride check in place of AC" counter every round, which could be a major defense, much better than the Wall of Blades maneuver due to action economy and how easy it is to pump skill checks. Did you intend this?

[Amechra]

Yes, that is intended; in retrospect, might be a bit too strong (they have no other reason to grab Ride, after all). I might bump this guy up to LA +1 if it is warranted...

I wonder what else I can toss on to lower this down to LA +0? They already need to pay double for armor...

Perhaps have Ride always be a cross-class skill? That way, they have to wait until 6th level to grab Mounted Combat unless they take Knight levels...

Eh, I could turn the latter benefit for Cervine Body into a racial feat if push comes to shove.

[Twogunkid]

I agree always being mounted is a huge swing in the centaur's favor. On top of that I don't think of them as being dexterous due to their lengthy body. I agree it seems to be an LA 1

[Amechra]

I think I'll just make them LA +0 then.

The +2 Dex is because their lower bodies are more like deerlike than the standard "Centaur" image, and as such they are agile.

[vasharanpaladin]

...Is it bad that I intended to just point out that bariaurs are a thing? Just with goats instead of deer.

Also, I saw the word "cervine" and immediately thought of deer-legged rabbits.