Beast-men Racial Traits

Expansions Empires of Blood
1

I’ve been working more on the races from my Adurian expansion and here are the racial traits of the Beast-men race (I’ve completed the rest of the race description as well, but would like comment on this part). My main concern is if they should have a level adjustment of +1 or +2. Given their ability adjustments I went with +2.

BEAST-MEN RACIAL TRAITS
· +6 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Azrai infused his creations with great strength and constitutions, but at the cost of their intelligence and wits.
· Medium-size.
· Land speed of 30 ft.
· Natural Armour: +2 natural armour bonus. Beast-men retain their thick animal hides.
· Immunity to Bloodform: As a side affect of the original transformation, beast-men cannot be altered by the Bloodform blood ability.
· Infamous Reputation: Beast-men are well known for their hatred for all other races and they are treated accordingly. Beast-men receive a -4 racial penalty to Diplomacy and Gather Information checks, and a +4 racial bonus to Intimidate checks because of this reputation.
· Automatic Languages: Lucitian, Hurimar. Bonus Languages: human regional tongues, halfling, giant, gnoll, leonic.
· Favoured Class: Barbarian. Most beast-men choose to become powerful barbarian warriors.
· Level Adjustment +2

I have also completed the reworking of the Asla race, and finalised their racial traits. I’m not sure if I posted the final version of this info or not.

ASLA RACIAL TRAITS
· +2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma: Asla are very dextrous, but not especially bright or personable.
· Medium-size.
· Land speed of 30 ft.
· Darkvision: Asla can see in the dark up to 60 ft.
· Natural Armour: +1 natural armour bonus. The asla’s thick fur gives them additional protection against physical attacks.
· +1 racial bonus on Survival checks: Asla are taught the basics of surviving the dangers of their jungle home.
· +2 racial bonus on Hide checks: Asla are naturally camouflaged.
· Automatic Languages: Leonic. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Ghan, Giant, Lucitian, Neha, Troll, Žaya.
· Favoured Class: Ranger (Male), or Cleric (Female), Male asla are skilled jungle hunters and trackers, while females oversee spiritual matters for their tribes.

2

Hi,

Hard to say really, but if you go with the guidelines from Savage Species you will end up with a +2 adjustment. If, however, you take a closer look at the creature. I’m not so sure anymore. If you, like SS suggest, make a test of the race against other creatures, then I think a +1 adjustment is more appropriate.

Line of thinking:

  • Unbalanced ability scores +1 (but they are not THAt unbalanced, since there are massive penalties as well).
  • Special abs, in particular natural armor +1 (but they arenot that powerful really)

So, while the beastman is clearly a melee powerhouse, and with barbarian rage would end up with ogre+ strength, that all he has. Pit a 2nd lvl beastman bbn gainst a 4rd lvl human bbn, and he’ll be in serious trouble, even with maxed hp and rage (assuming 2h weapons, the beatman would do 3 pts extra damage per hit, but Attack bonus with be aout equal. However, the human can do a total of 8 extra pts of damage with powre Attack…so he’ll win out with his higher hps).

If will look a bit better with a 3nd lvl beastman bbn and a 4th lvl human bbn, and now I think the beastman will definitely win out. BAB is now much more equal, and the beastman has gotten his extra feat.

But that is looking at pure melee combat only. The same beastman is pretty helpless against missile fire (a 4th lvl elf fighter or ranger with bow feats), magic or even skill use. And that isn’t even counting social interaction and a host of other stuff that’s fun for adventures and NPCs alike.

So while he maybe almost strong enough for a +2 modifier, and probably a bit too too strong for a +1, I’d settle with the +1 since he’s only good for one thing - combat in melee.

B

3

If you compare the bestaman to another race with +2 adjustment and no racial HD - the drow, you see that the drow is much more balanced than the beastman.

The drow also have unbalanced ability scores, but his dex/con balance out his fighting prowess, and his SR and such are more useful overall that the beastmans abilities. But of course the drows greates advantage is versitality - good intelligence and charisma can mean a lot over the course of a campaign (which is what level adjustments measure, not raw combat power).

B

4

Hmm. Maybe instead of the Beastmen just use the Half-Ogre stats? They’re pretty balanced and I think they give most of the stuff that people are looking for.

If it should be an ECL 2 monster it should possibly have a single HD of monstrous humanoid. That way you’d give it a slight boost in power so it adds up with the ECL 2, since I agree that +2 level adjustment is a bit much for what is a total of +2 to stats and natural armor 2.

5

What are the half-orge stats exactly?

6

From Savage Species, page 218:

+6 str, -2 dex, +2 con, -2 int, -2 cha. The difference here is lower dex and higher wisdom than Beast-men. Wisdom is used for tracking and other such feral matters.
Large size
30 ft speed
Darkvision: 60 feet
Giant blood: For all special purposes and effects Half-ogres count as being Giants
Favored class: Barbarian
Level adjustment: +1

So half-ogres are larger (getting penalties and bonuses from that), but are otherwise pretty much like those Beast-men.

7

One of the things that I love about BR is that the all of the races have a “flavor” to them that reaches beyond traditional D&D: Elves are mystical and inhuman, dwarves are sturdy and tied to the earth, halflings are these weird half-cerilian/half-shadowillian things. The special abilities of the races reflect these flavors beyond what +/- stats can. I think you might contemplate having some special abilities that completely set apart the beastmen. Here are some suggestions:

Caustic Blood (Ex): The beastman’s black blood becomes a mild form of acid after being exposed to the air. Character’s sprayed by blood (Reflex check, DC 15, to avoid), which happens after hitting a beastman for more than 10 hit points in any one attack or after a critical hit, suffer 1d4 damage. Weapons exposed to beastman blood and not cleaned immediately after battle must make a fortitude check (DC 15) or corrode. Caustic blood only retains its acidity for a few hours. Note that beastmen are also affected by blood that hits them.

Frightful Presence (Ex): A beastman’s very presence makes humans unsettled. This effect takes effect automatically when the beastman performs some sort of dramatic action (such as charging, attacking or bellowing). Opponents within range who witness the action may become frightened or shaken (pages 84-85 DMG). The range is 30 feet and the duration is 5d6 rounds. This ability only affects creatures of 4 or fewer hit dice and can be resisted with a successful Will save (DC 12). An opponent who makes the save is immune to that creature’s frightful presence for one day.

Healing (Ex): Beastmen have tremendous healing abilities. They heal at twice the normal rate of humans. As well, they have a mild form of regeneration: blinded eyes heal themselves, severed limbs can be reattached hours later, etc. Beastmen automatically stabilize in two rounds after being brought below 0 hp.

Light Sensitivity (Ex): Raised in the deepest forests Beastmen suffer a -1
penalty to attack rolls in bright light or within the radius of a light spell.

Scent (Ex): Beastmen have exceptional noses and may detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes and track by sense of smell. Other creatures can be detected within 30 feet, 60 feet if upwind, 15 feet if downwind. Strong scents can be detected at twice normal range. If the scent is within 5 feet, it can be pinpointed to its source. Tracking can be done by making a Wisdom check to find or follow it. Typical DC is 10 for a fresh trail, for every hour it decreased by 2.

Azrai not only made his creations stronger and faster, but gave them tools to be engines of destruction: they can track by scent, they heal even the worst damage (important because perhaps their Azrai-worshipping shamans don’t have access to healing spells?), when their enemies do land a blow, their success turns against them as the spattered black ichor burns through their skin and the very appearence of the creatures is enough to make hardened soldiers break and run. A creature like that would be a terrifying thing to behold and be more than enough to keep the Anuireans in little forts along the coast for generations of Empire.

8

I would like to ask a question here
is every one here use the Bob Hoskins previous Empire of Blood supplement?
I saw that the site Empire of Blood is dead for now 6 or 7 years, for i founded it anew but nothing had changed
is there is someone finishing the job?
i would like to know where is the new site or new job