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Was building this for my home game using the Advanced Races playtest and thought I might as well post it here as well and see what people think would love to hear your comments
Human Heritage: Amazons get a +2 to and one ability score of their choice
Medium: Amazons are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size
Normal speed: Amazons have a base speed of 30ft.
Defensive Training Greater: Amazons gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC
Skilled: Amazons gain an additional skill rank at 1st level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level
Sprinter: Amazons gain a +10ft racial bonus to their speed when using the charge, run or withdraw actions.
Weapon Familiarity: Amazons are proficient with the Amazon Axe, Leaf Spear, Longbow (and Composite Longbow), and Greatspear and treat the Razor Sword and Greatbow as Martial Weapons
Languages: Amazons begin play speaking Sylvan. Amazons of high intelligence can choose from the following: Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin
Notes: the Amazon axe is from Green Ronin's Eternal Rome supplement and the leaf spear, Greatspear, Razor Sword, and Greatbow are out of Nyambe African adventures book.
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I don't know how close this is supposed to be to the Ancient Greek warriors, but I will critique it as if they're supposed to be the same thing (sorry, I'm a mythology nerd):
--I might swap Greater Defensive Training (3 points) for both Lesser Defensive Training (1 point, against human subtype) and Silent Hunter (2 points). They are rarely shown doing anything but fighting humans, and they are good at hiding in the forests.
--I don't know if I would give them Razor Sword; I might switch it for shield bash, because they sometimes carried peltae (the crescent-y shields Ancient Greeks used for a while).
Actually, I kind of wish there was an Amazon archetype for ranger. I might have to make one...
They'd get bonuses with bows because
Fun fact.
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thank you both pieces were rather good. on the defensive training i thought it was a great general choice I felt overall in comparison to lesser since it would reflect their bit of xenophobia and how they would i think just generally be prepared to fight all comers. Think that makes a bit more since since we don't have elves or dwarves in ancient Greek mythology alongside them which i think they would have wanted to leave them the hell alone as well lol. That said I can still totally see that as an option and silent hunter is a cool choice as well, if i could find a way I would have also loved to have given them low-light vision to show them quickly chasing after someone in the dusky twilight or in the shadowy undergrowth of some primal forest. On the Shield bash will have to look into that shield and see what it looks like or if i can find some exotic shield to use for it, though i will say i loved nyambe's treatment of the weapon as a signature weapon of their amazons and felt having them also have a heavy two handed weapon all their own would be a nice send off and give them a unique great sword like weapon to call their own.
Also know all about that whole removal of the breast thing (I believe they always took the right) always thought it was a cool bit of the story that always gets very underrepresented when people make characters that are supposed to be amazons.
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They'd get bonuses with bows because
** spoiler omitted **
It's debated whether that's actually true or a piece of misunderstood etymology of their name. It has been said in popular culture (this being a fairly ancient example of popular culture, that of ancient Greece) that 'Amazon' is from 'a mazos' or 'without breast', whereas historical art shows no indication of this (they are always depicted with two breasts in classical and older art) and it is more likely that amazon is from the Iranian 'ha-mazan' meaning 'warriors'. A few other explanations have been suggested as well, none of them relating to the popular idea of self-mutilation for better archery.
How the hell did they cut off ONE OF THEIR BREASTS and not get the wound infected? For that matter, how the hell did they stop the f'ing bleeding? This IS BEFORE the advent of modern medicine after all. This whole breast lopping off sounds somewhat skeptical if you ask me.
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Okay...BURNING A BODILY ORGAN OFF WITH A BRAND? That would cause a person to go INTO SHOCK and also result in a HORRIFIC BURN that would most likely HAMPER movement rather than help! This simply doesn't make sense so, yeah, I'm gonna call bullpucky on Amazons losing a breast just to gain some sort of minuscule benefit in the skill of archery.
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To quote what my friend who is archer and onwer of quite big breasts herself (especially after pregnancy) said about removal of breasts by Amazons: "B#**@&+&. They would have to have enormously big or deformed breasts for it to be true."
This thread made me smile, since now I can laugh at my friend who said my all-female homebrew race wouldn't make viable Rangers just because the fluff is sorta Amazon-inspired. And he threw the same "lol one breast" jokes around as well.
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Well, I never meant they actually removed their breasts. Just that in the MYTHS they did. And anyway, Hippocrates says: "They have no right breasts...for while they are yet babies their mothers make red-hot a bronze instrument constructed for this very purpose and apply it to the right breast and cauterize it, so that its growth is arrested, and all its strength and bulk are diverted to the right shoulder and right arm."
But anyway, I'm pretty sure we've gotten off-topic discussing this...
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Applying a burning bronze brand to an infant would DEFINITELY send it into shock and kill it and even if the infant survived the pain from such a wound would last a lifetime and would most likely hamper movement rather than help. Hippocrates must have been an idiot!
Applying a burning bronze brand to an infant would DEFINITELY send it into shock and kill it and even if the infant survived the pain from such a wound would last a lifetime and would most likely hamper movement rather than help. Hippocrates must have been an idiot!
Applying a sharp knife to an infant's penis would DEFINITELY send it into shock and kill it and even if the infant survived the pain from such a wound would last a lifetime and would most likely hamper movement rather than help. Moses must have been an idiot!
You'd be amazed what infants (and people in general) can recover from. We have a recent example of a guy who, after going with no food or water for several days, managed to intentionally break off the bones in his own arm, saw off the remainder with a dull pocket knife, rappel down a 65-foot cliff face, and walk until he found help. With the exception of missing half his arm, he seems fine now -- and still climbs mountains.
Sorry. I'm still gonna call bullpucky. A burn doesn't heal NEARLY as well as a knife cut.
A burn doesn't heal NEARLY as well as a knife cut.
The whole point of the burn is that the boob doesn't grow there, remember?
Guys, it was a myth. The reasoning given is that the breast hampered their aim, and the truth is that breasts do not do that. Plus, in Greek art there are no depictions of Amazons missing breasts. The only evidence for the practice is something Hippocrates said, and I don't feel that this is sufficient evidence to believe it happened. Most likely, this was a metaphor for Amazons losing their femininity to be warriors or something along those lines or a mistranslation.
Supposedly, this was to keep the breast out of the way when fighting or drawing a bow. Having been trounced by several babes, some quite well endowed, in MA, and SCA bouts, they had no problems with boobies interfering with my demise. As for drawing a bow? I used to shoot weak (60-80 lb) longbows, drawn to the ear. Few exotic dancers would have any interference. Greek era bows were smaller and are usually shown drawing to the armpit of the arm holding the bow, or a bit more.
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Ignoring all the stuff about mutilations here.
To the OP, I think it is a fair start for a race. Now we need to expand upon it a bit. Variant preferred class bonus? something with the fighter and archery would be a good start. Perhaps a bonus for being a witch. Variant racial traits? Once again something to do with archery or maybe shield or spear use. Any thoughts to maybe a couple of feats that can only be used for the Amazon?
I would also love to see Myrmidons as well. Might be another couple of ideas that can be yanked from classical sources and made use of here.
I would offer suggestions but to be honest I had barely glanced at the racial building playtest guidelines. Been way too busy. Your post has however given me several ideas I may have to flesh out at some point.
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What I find interesting is that it is possible, especially if they were considered to have been very muscular, or low body fat, they may have looked like they were without breasts. If you look at quite a few female body-builders they tend to have smaller ones, almost seeming non-existent. The ancient greeks may have called them a-mazos because they LOOKED breast-less.
The myth could have been started from that...
Anyway, it's just my mind going off on a tangent.
Interesting ideas!