Author Topic: Chapter Two: Races  (Read 2526 times)

Offline DonQuixote

  • Honorary Mod
  • *****
  • Posts: 2946
  • What is sickness to the body of a knight errant?
    • View Profile
    • The Spellshaping Codices (Homebrew Board)
Chapter Two: Races
« on: September 13, 2012, 02:50:42 PM »
Chapter 2: Races
The raw magic of spellshaping has been embraced by a wide variety of races.  Cambians, with their severed memories, enjoy the spontaneous nature of spellshaping, as it requires little in the way of study or preparation.  By contrast, the otherworldly caymir pursue spellshaping as a part of seeking a greater understanding of the world.  Living spellshapes, literally born of arcane power, are fascinated by the forces that have shaped them, and thirst for more arcane power.  Masked ones seek powerful secrets in dark places of the world, freed from a centuries-long imprisonment in the shadows.  Suits of spellsoul armor, animated by the very forces that they shape, wander the world in search of purpose.  The element-blooded stoichen find the nature of spellshaping to be more suited to their primal power.  Along with humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and halflings, these beings of magical heritage can be found embroiled in life and politics of many lands.

Choosing a Race
After you roll your ability scores and before you write them on your character sheet, choose your character's race.  At the same time, you'll want to choose his or her class, since race affects how well a character can do in each class.  Once you know your character's race and class, assign your ability score rolls to particular abilities, alter those abilities according to race (see Table 2–1: Racial Ability Adjustments), and continue detailing your character.

Racial Characteristics
Your character's race determines some of his or her qualities.

Race Adjustments
Find your character's race on Table 2–1: Racial Ability Adjustments.  Apply the ability adjustments given on the table to your character's ability scores.  If these changes raise your score above 18 or below 3, that's okay, except in the case of Intelligence, which does not go below 3 for characters.  (If your cambian or caymir character would have an adjusted Intelligence of 1 or 2, make it 3 instead).  In addition, Table 2–1 gives each race's favored class and automatic languages.
   A character's favored class doesn't count against him or her when determining experience point penalties for multiclassing (see XP for Multiclass Characters, page 60 of the Player's Handbook).  All of the favored classes on Table 2–1 are spellshaping classes, presented in Chapter 3 of this book.
   All characters know how to speak Common, and many races speak racial languages as well.  Smart characters (those with an Intelligence bonus) speak additional languages, one extra language per point of bonus.  Select your character's bonus languages (if any) from the lists found in each race's Racial Traits summary.
   Literacy: Unless your character is a barbarian, he or she can read and write all the languages he or she speaks.

TABLE 2–1: RACIAL ABILITY ADJUSTMENTS
Race   
Type
   
Ability Adjustments
   
Favored Class
   
Automatic Languages
Cambian   Humanoid   +2 Cha, -2 Int, -2 Wis   Impulse mage   Common
Caymir   Fey   +2 Wis, -2 Int   Anchorite   Common, Sylvan
Living spellshape   Ooze   +2 Int, -2 Str, -4 Dex   Spellsage   Common
Masked one   Aberration   +2 Int, -2 Con   Savant   Common
Spellsoul armor   Construct   +2 Wis, -2 Dex   Spellshape champion   Common
Stoichen   Humanoid   +2 Cha, -2 Wis   Elemental adept   Common, various


Cambian


Caymir


Living Spellshape


Masked One


Spellsoul Armor


Stoichen


Vital Statistics
The tables in this section extend the information about generating starting and maximum age, height, and weight for player characters presented in Chapter 6 of the Player's Handbook to include the new races detailed in this chapter.

   Age: As described in the Player's Handbook, you can choose your character's starting age or determine it randomly by consulting Table 2–2: Random Starting Ages.  A stoichen elemental adept, for example, starts at an age of 20 + 3d6 years, or you can choose any age, with a minimum of 23.
   Living spellshapes and suits of spellsoul armor come into existence as adults, and have no childhood or adolescence.  Suits of spellsoul armor show signs of physical deterioration after 150 years, but have no further aging effects after that point and no maximum age.  Living spellshapes do not suffer aging effects, and have no maximum age.
   Table 2–2 divides the available character classes into the categories of simple, moderate, and complex.  The notes under the table indicate which classes are in each category.

   Height and Weight: Again, as explained in the Player's Handbook, you can choose your character's height and weight based on the ranges shown on Table 2–4, or you can randomly generate these figures.  Living spellshapes and suits of spellsoul armor have no gender and very little physical differentiation, and always vary in weight proportional to their height.


TABLE 2–2: RANDOM STARTING AGES
Race   
Adulthood
   
Simple1
   
Moderate2
   
Complex3
Cambian   
14 years
   
+1d4
   
+1d6
   
+2d6
Caymir   
18 years
   
+1d6
   
+2d6
   
+3d6
Living spellshape   
0 years
   
+2d6
   
+3d6
   
+4d6
Masked one   
15 years
   
+1d4
   
+1d6
   
+2d6
Spellsoul armor   
0 years
   
+1d4
   
+1d6
   
+2d6
Stoichen   
20 years
   
+2d4
   
+3d6
   
+4d6
  • Anchorite, barbarian, impulse mage, rogue, and sorcerer.
  • Bard, fighter, paladin, ranger, savant, and spellshape champion.
  • Cleric, druid, elemental adept, monk, spellsage, and wizard.


TABLE 2–3: AGING EFFECTS
Race   
Middle Age1
   
Old2
   
Venerable3
   
Maximum Age
Cambian   
30 years
   
45 years
   
60 years
   
+2d10 years
Caymir   
62 years
   
93 years
   
125 years
   
+3d20 years
Living spellshape   
   
   
   
Masked one   
35 years
   
53 years
   
70 years
   
+2d20 years
Spellsoul armor   
150 years
   
   
   
Stoichen   
50 years
   
75 years
   
100 years
   
+5d20 years
  • At middle age, -1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
  • At old age, -2 to Str, Con, and Dex; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
  • At venerable age, -3 to Str, Con, and Dex; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.


TABLE 2–4: RANDOM HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
Race   
Base Height
   
Height Modifier
   
Base Weight
   
Weight Modifier
Cambian, male   
4' 6"
   
+2d4
   
100 lb.
   
x (2d4) lb.
Cambian, female   
4' 4"
   
+2d4
   
90 lb.
   
x (2d4) lb.
Caymir, male   
4' 7"
   
+2d4
   
100 lb.
   
x (2d6) lb.
Caymir, female   
4' 9"
   
+2d4
   
130 lb.
   
x (2d6) lb.
Living spellshape   
2' 7"
   
+2d4
   
30 lb.
   
x 1 lb.
Masked one, male   
4' 7"
   
+2d8
   
100 lb.
   
x (2d4) lb.
Masked one, female   
4' 5"
   
+2d8
   
80 lb.
   
x (2d4) lb.
Spellsoul armor   
5' 10"
   
+2d6
   
270 lb.
   
x 4 lb.
Stoichen, male   
4' 10"
   
+2d10
   
120 lb.
   
x (2d4) lb.
Stoichen, female   
4' 5"
   
+2d10
   
85 lb.
   
x (2d4) lb.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2013, 01:08:08 AM by DonQuixote »
“Hast thou not felt in forest gloom, as gloaming falls on dark-some dells, when comes a whisper, hum and hiss; savage growling sounds a-near, dazzling flashes around thee flicker, whirring waxes and fills thine ears: has thou not felt then grisly horrors that grip thee and hold thee?”