The saba'aeti are a crocodile-like race of humanoids, averaging about
26 inches tall. Despite their size, they are incredibly strong, and
have vicious teeth and crocodile-like skin in various shades of dark
green. They are still a rare race and live in large underground den
cities. They are considered largely inscrutable, and their senses of
humor can come as a surprise to those who consider them emotionless.
They first appear in history as mummy pets in the tombs of pharaohs,
with the few mentions in records treating them as smart animals. They
disappear from history silently, with the last possible reference over
two thousand years ago. They reappeared to the outside world 140 years
ago, which coincides with the age of the oldest living saba'aeti.
The saba'aeti live in underground den cities, often found under
artificial hills. This is not to imply they're communal; spaces in the
city are owned personally and government is frequently less coercive
then that of the nearby human cities. They do have a communal
incubation chamber; on the occasions when that throws ancestry into
dispute, the saba'aeti have various forms of non-magical divination to
establish who the mother is. (Many saba'aeti would privately admit the
ineffectiveness of such tools but declaim the importance of the
question; physical ancestry is but a minor facet at best of family.)
The saba'aeti aren't very emotional; they deal with the world calmly
and patiently as it comes. They do have a strong dry sense of humor;
outside visitors to a saba'aeti city will almost invariably find
themselves invited to a snipe hunt, or on a search for sky hooks. Such
a joke can take hours and involve the meeting of most of the village,
who will participate in their own way. Saba'aeti in a hurry can
usually cut such rituals short, though refusing to play along at least
a little bit will generally rub the saba'aeti the wrong way and if the
(non-saba'aeti) visitors take offense, so will the saba'aeti.
In additional to not being very emotional, saba'aeti don't display
emotions loudly, at least not to non-saba'aeti. A saba'aeti's shaking
that is the equivalent of them rolling on the floor laughing is
detectable, if frequently not understood, but non-saba'aeti will
frequently not notice a deeply offended or enraged saba'aeti, even if
they are familiar with the species. (This is justification for
negatives on most Charisma-based rolls versus saba'aeti.)
To the outside human world, saba'aeti are frequently seen as a source
of labor. They do not enslave well, and many humans consider them
stupid. No saba'aeti has ever been taught arcane magic, and few
mainline churches have much interaction with them. (The saba'aeti tend
to worship the ancient Egyptian gods, anyway.)
Saba'aeti
Typical alignment: LG (LN) Humanoid (Saba'aeti)
Size: Small
STR +2, INT +2, DEX -2
20 foot move
+1 natural armor bonus to AC
Immune to light-based blindness and dazzling effects
60 foot darkvision
1d6 (+Str) bite attack
Immune to normal heat
Needs 1/2 as much water in hot conditions
Starting ages:
Adulthood: 15 years
Intuitive / Self-taught / Trained: +1d4 / +1d10 / +2d12
Height: 2 feet + 1d4 inches; 35 lbs + x2 lbs
This is more of a show-off, then any particular concern. The 1d6 bite is a bit extreme, especially at their size, but crocodiles do have really nasty bites, and while I'm not sure some optimization master couldn't make some super bad monk or something, I'm pretty sure it's not a problem with my group, (especially as I don't have monks, which is a story for another thread, and is not about their power level one way or the other). I've had discussions about the name; knowing a bit about linguistics, it's fine to me (the ' is a glottal stop, vowels as in Italian/IPA and consonants as in English), and I'll let my players mangle it down as they need.
I had the following chunk of text...
The past of the saba'aeti is unclear. For the future, while the
saba'aeti don't have great stomach for organized violence, saba'aeti
communities have plans on growing, and if they can get enough
purchase, they will resort to violence against their more aggressive
neighbors when they can find an excuse. Right now, they are trying to
grow and quietly absorb power and wealth that will hopefully come as a
surprise to the neighbors who consider them weak and stupid.
...but it seems out of place, more part of a writer's guide to a world then a PC race description. I don't know if there's anything important I've left unsaid. Maybe mention that witches (PC class) do appear among them? If I say there's only 340 of them, then perhaps witches are no more uncommon among them while being unheard of among them. Snipe hunt and skyhooks seem slightly out of place, but it's hard to replace them and be as clear about what's going on.
