New Race, Idea taken from QtR.

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alhoon
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New Race, Idea taken from QtR.

Post by alhoon »

If this thread belongs to the general noticeboard, I kindly request it to be moved there. However since it is discussion about QtR probably belongs here.

On topic:
I don't like quo-toa. I think they are ugly and I don't like their abilities.
On the other hand, I loved the quo-toa presented in the QtR about the seas. They inspired me to create the race of amphibia, although they do not copy the quo-toa's immortality and infertility.
Thanks again to the one who got the idea and I apologize for not remembering his name.
So to solve this problem I inserted a new race here.

Amphibio (plural:amphibia)
This race of aquatic fighter-sorcerers resembles in appearance the Doppelganger's natural form as presented in MManual (big head, no hair etc) but has bluish-green skin, colorless white eyes and hymens between its fingers and toes. It also has sharp claws it can use to attack.
It is sexless and about 5'-5 1/2' feet tall.

Amphibia can survive out of the water for 2 hours per con point before suffocating. They can safely survive the pressure of up to 400' deep water. They are a race of evil fighter-sorcerers. They are not extremely evil or cruel and about 1/10th of the population is neutral. However less than 1/500 is good in alignment.

They usually go through variant stages of life:
They come to life as small non-sentient fish (resembling polliwogs) about 3" in diameter. They survive by eating plankton.
After 2 years of life, in which the polliwog grows to the size of the amphibio's head, they start transforming. Within 7 months, the "head" has grown a small body and gained semi-sentience (mental stats about 5-6). It now survives by hunting and eating small fish.
In a 8 - 10 more months, the body has come to the complete proportions of a mature amphibio and it has become sentient (mental stats 8-10). However, it hasn't reached his intellect's potentional yet and now starts developing its arcane powers. It is a juveline amphibio. To survive it has to rely on its martial skills.
To become a real, fully powerful "adult", with a complete array of magical abilities, the juveline needs about 10 - 18 months. After proving it has reached the natural step of the arcane abilities an amphibio must possess, it is considered an adult.

So, from birth to adulthood: 4 - 5 years.

After about 100 - 110 years of life, the amphibio may transform to a more powerful form, an elder. For this to be done, 2 elders must agree to perform a special arcane ritual on the amphibio. They do so only for the most loyal and useful amphibia (not necessarily the most powerful).
Elders are able to reproduce. Once every 2 - 3 years, they spur out one or two amphibia polliwogs. No mating occurs. Elder aging is far slower than the rest of the amphibia.

Amphibio: Adolesence Middle age: 100 years, Old age 115 years, venerable age 130 years. Death: after 2d6 more years.
As you can see, the amphibia spend most of their time as young, healthy adults, but once age comes up to them, they succumb within 30-40 years.

Elder: Old age: 300 years, venerable age: 400 years. Death: after 3d20 +10 more years.
Elders can be extremely long lived but their old age is also unusually short.


Amphibioi came to Ravenloft 60 years ago as outlanders. A small group of 50 passed through the mists while going for a surface raid, in an outlander world and ended up in a Lamordian coast. The quickly left this magic-forsaken land. Through these years, the amphibioi have multiplied rapidly, although their corrupted magic has costed them some power checks. Luckily for them, none has become a Darklord yet.
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Post by alhoon »

An adult amphibio has the following traits:

Medium, monstrous humanoid (Aquatic). 2 Racial HD (d8)
Abilities: str +2, cha +2
Swim speed 40', land speed 20'
Darkvision 60', low-light vision
As creature with a swim speed, it can take 10 to swimming checks in any circumstances, and gets a +10 to swim checks.
Class skills: Listen, Spellcraft, spot, survival, knowledge(arcana), swim
Bonus feat: Spell focus (necromancy)
Resistances: The amphibio get a +2 to saves against necromancy and enchantment spells and spell like abilities.
Skill afinities: The amphibio gets +2 racial bonus to spellcraft checks and underwater survival checks.
Natural attack: claw 1d4 +str damage
Natural armor bonus: +2

Spellcasting: An amphibio can cast spells as a sorcerer with caster level equal to its HD/2 +1. Gaining levels, increases the amphibio's HD and accordingly its caster level. For example a 2nd level rogue amphibio casts spells as a 3rd level sorcerer. These levels stack with sorcerer levels. An amphibio cannot have more caster levels than HD. That means that a 6th level sorcerer/2nd level fighter amphibio (10 total HD) casts spells as 10th level sorcerer, not 11th! This limitation forces amphibia to multiclass early on, usually to fighter/sorcerers or ranger/sorcerers.
It can select known spells only from the necromancy, illusion and enchantment schools (except if it takes the sorcerer class of course).

Favorite class: Fighter or sorcerer. Once the amphibio takes up one of this 2 classes, it becomes its favorite class.

Amphibia take up character classes early on and advance as soon as safely possible. They leave menial every-day chores to a servant race they have created, slaves they gather and enchant and undead they animate. In essence they are the nobles of their aquatic towns.
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Post by Augustus »

Perhaps a more Lovecraftian approach is needed. Maybe they could reproduce ala-Shadow Over Innsmouth by gradually transforming humans along the coast. Don't think monsterous beings make good hero's in Ravenloft IMO though.
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Post by alhoon »

I was talking about foes, not heroes :wink: . Also I agree with you but that would be a curse placed upon them after they increased to a significant number.
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Post by Augustus »

Ah sometimes my brains in the gutter, my players constantly petition for monstrous races and I hten have to beat them w/ the DM stick.
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Post by alhoon »

Hmm. I thought about the transforming of humans along the coast. That would make them conscript creatures to their number far more easily than I want.
Elders see most amphibia as dispensable (since they aren't needed for the race's future) as amphibia see most of their thralls, undead and slaves as dispensable.
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Post by Augustus »

Now that I think about it your new race would have a lot of enemies in the sea such as the reavers, krakens, aboleths etc. They might use conscription to boost their numbers, which I doubt would stay high for long. Things would balance out.
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Post by alhoon »

Augustus wrote:Now that I think about it your new race would have a lot of enemies in the sea such as the reavers, krakens, aboleths etc.
Krakens? I have saw them in the Mordent Gaz, but I have decided to not include them in the Core. Krakens are like dragons IMO. Such a lake as the Sea of Sorrows or the Nocturnal sea couldn't support more than one Kraken.

On topic: I agree. But since only the elders are needed to breed killing amphibia wouldn't impact the society much.

However: What's the point on having a nice, evil, dark magic using race if it rarely (if ever) interacts with humans?
alhoon wrote: They leave menial every-day chores to a servant race they have created, slaves they gather and enchant and undead they animate. In essence they are the nobles of their aquatic towns.
:wink: Transforming them to amphibia isn't the only option.
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
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