So.
I was reading up on interesting "alternates" for goblins and elves and such.
I came across THIS charming fellow, and realized that he's exactly what I needed!
... so, of course, I had to stat him out.
... which meant giving an origin story.
... which meant reading wikipedia entries on his cultural heritage as well as two or three random other websites.
... which meant developing a "campaign setting" (or at least a local area).
Which meant putting it all here, on Paizo!
Why, no, I certainly don't have enough of these floating around on these forums, that I don't revisit; why would you ever think such a thing this?
(Though, to be fair, number three is just a thought-experiment; number four isn't a setting, but a collection of thoughts of different people; number five is just a conversion of an adventure; and number six is actually being played!)
So, it's worth noting right off the bat, that I'm not from South America, have exceedingly limited exposure to South America (except for Mexico), and am thus about as culturally sensitive as a maddened rhinoceros stapled with staples made out of sovereign glue to a rabid buffalo. In a China shop (not the country).
My apologies for getting anything culturally insensitive - it is not my intent. I just thought the mythology was pretty cool and am co-opting it for a game I'm thinking of in the future. I strongly recommend checking out the history, myths, and legends of the Guaraní people: you can start here, and then move on to things like this! :D
EDIT: (to be a bit more clear) I honestly don't know if the style that people want, or not, or if they'd speak or tell stories in the manner I did below... but it's how it seemed to come out! Hop this is enjoyed!
Additionally, having the names changed is, in fact, part of the general plot element. The original language is lost, and the PCs will need to learn the language to get all the information they can, later.
I'm going to break up the information here a bit to help with digestion and flow.
ANYhoo. Here! We! Goooooooooooooooo~!
(In the next post!)
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Introducing, the Pombero (by myself via race builder)!
Category: Trait [Cost]
Type: Humanoid (reptilian) [0]
Size: Small [0]
Speed: Slow [-1]
Ability Scores: Greater Weakness (+2 DEX, -4 CON, -2 STR) [-3]
Ability Scores: Greater Weakness (+2 WIS, -4 CHA, -2 INT) [-3]
Ability Scores: Advanced Dexterity [+4]
Language: Xenophobic [0]
Magical: Lesser Hypnotic Gaze {females only, 2HD} [1]
Magical: Hypnotic [2]
Magical: Seducer [2]
Skills: Natural Craftsmen {+2 to all craft and profession checks with "natural" materials} [1]
Skills: Sneaky Rider [6]
Senses: See in Darkness [4]
Weakness: Light Blindness [-2]
Weakness: Negative Energy Affinity [-1]
Weakness: Vulnerability to Sunlight [-2]
8
Gender =/= Height =/= Modifier =/= Base Weight =/= Modifier
MALE ............. 2' ............ +2d4" ......... 23 lbs. .................. +2d4FEMALE ......... 2' ............ +2d4" .......... 23 lbs. .................. +2d4
Adult =/= Intuitive =/= Self-Taught =/= Trained
12 years ... +1d4 ........... +1d6 .................. +2d6
Languages: Pomben
Bonus Languages: Aklo, Cyclops, Drow Sign, Druidic, Infernal
These hideous creatures are supposedly the mythical spawn of ancient evil gods killed in a fire by the noble sacrifice of a human woman, yet raised by the malicious prank of a reincarnated crab god.
They are both scaled and furry, with heavy padding on their misshapen feet and hands that allow them to move quietly through most any environment. Colored like a mottled combination of various shades of ashes and rotting green leaves, that are, with their nasty hair (that reminds of nothing so much as strangled dehydrated seaweed and steel brushes), teeth (that look like a combination of piranha needles and canine canines with occasional flashes of serpentine injectors and sharp scales all 'round), eyes (that somehow manage to look bloodshot and jaundiced, even as they're hideous, dark, inhuman colors), and breath (that smells like rotting meat and vegetation), an all-around sensory experience that is generally loathed by all who ever experience it. Generally the go out only at night, though some exceedingly brave souls stick to the deep shadows of caves and overhangs, wearing wide-brimmed hats and covering rags, often of leaves.
The males and females are virtually indistinguishable to non-Pombero and have their true genitalia hidden by ugly folds of flesh. Often insensitive, rapacious, and invariably lustful and attracted to females of other races (whom they attempt to seduce with their weird powers); Pombero also have a deep love playing pranks - some needless, some charming, some harmless, and others quite deadly. Often they arrange elaborate or simple traps and tricks to catch the unwary, and will hide in a place that protects them from the light of the sun to watch the results. Usually the Pombero simply don't care about those they prank in such ways, seeing nothing wrong with the behavior. Though generally libidinous and occasionally quite cruel, it isn't unheard of for Pombero to become friendly if treated well and given respectful gifts. Such creatures' attitudes may even slowly shift over time to become friends and allies, albeit a capricious and strange one.
They have developed several strange weapons over the years of their existence.
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LIGHT WEAPON
piconoche: cost (6g), damage (1d4 or 1d6), critical (x4; see text), range (10 ft.), weight (2 lbs.), type (P or B), special (nonlethal, fragile, see text)This strange, small, beak-shaped hammer-like device called the piconoche, or "night beak", has a partially flexible handle and a kind of weighted leather "sack" on the end. This normally deals nonlethal damage. By removing the "sheath" of carefully arranged set of leathers, leaves, and similar and sliding the "hard bar" into place as a full-round action, you can make the item far more deadly, by revealing it's sharp corners. This removes the nonlethal special quality. It requires one full minute to put the nonlethal elements back together. When unsheathed, a piconoche functions like a pick.
Additionally, whenever it rolls a critical on its attack, it automatically deals lethal damage, though the bearer must make a DC 15 reflex save or the weapon will gain the broken condition. Similarly, whenever the wielder rolls a natural 1 on the attack, the weapon will gain the broken condition. If it is already broken, than under either of these circumstances, it is destroyed instead. A masterwork or magical version of the piconoche lacks these flaws.
The compounds used to build and glue a piconoche together will slowly decay in the sun. A piconoche takes damage from sunlight after five total hours of direct exposure (being kept in a sack or other total concealment doesn't count against this limit). It begins taking 1 hit point of damage per hour of exposure thereafter, slowly rotting and melting, and becoming worthless irrecoverable scrap and being totally destroyed after it hits 0 hit points. A piconoche is generally considered a light hafted weapon for purposes of hardness and hit points.
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ONE-HANDED WEAPON
pintonoche: cost (6g), damage (1d6 or 1d8), critical (x2), range (-), weight (5 lbs.), type (P), special (disarm, fragile, trip)This strange wood-and-rock construction resembling nothing so much but a clawed rooster toe with spur projecting from the side, functions extremely similarly to an ankus.
Additionally, whenever it rolls a critical on its attack, it automatically deals lethal damage, though the bearer must make a DC 15 reflex save or the weapon will gain the broken condition. Similarly, whenever the wielder rolls a natural 1 on the attack, the weapon will gain the broken condition. If it is already broken, than under either of these circumstances, it is destroyed instead. A masterwork or magical version of the pintonoche lacks these flaws.
The compounds used to build and glue a pintonoche together will slowly decay in the sun. A pintonoche takes damage from sunlight after five total hours of direct exposure (being kept in a sack or other total concealment doesn't count against this limit). It begins taking 1 hit point of damage per hour of exposure thereafter, slowly rotting and melting, and becoming worthless irrecoverable scrap and being totally destroyed after it hits 0 hit points. A pintonoche is generally considered a light hafted weapon for purposes of hardness and hit points.
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TWO-HANDED WEAPON
pitonoche: cost (8g), damage (1d8 or 1d10), critical (x2), range (20 ft.), weight (8 lbs.), type (P or B), special (brace, fragile, loud)This tapered pole bound in opposing kinds of woods and studded with rocks but with a drilled rock spike coming out of the top can be used as a heavy club or a kind of spear, even to stop a charge. Whenever it swings, it creates a sharp whistling sound, unique to each kind of attack (meaning a listener who is well-versed in such things, can actually tell where and how the weapon is being wielded and in what way). Unfortunately, this makes it nearly impossible to use quietly, as it provides a -10 to stealth when wielded in combat, though it can give people quite a fright, providing a +2 bonus to intimidate when used in a surprise round.
Additionally, whenever it rolls a critical on its attack, it automatically deals lethal damage, though the bearer must make a DC 15 reflex save or the weapon will gain the broken condition. Similarly, whenever the wielder rolls a natural 1 on the attack, the weapon will gain the broken condition. If it is already broken, than under either of these circumstances, it is destroyed instead. A masterwork or magical version of the pitonoche lacks these flaws.
The compounds used to build and glue a pitonoche together will slowly decay in the sun. A pitonoche takes damage from sunlight after five total hours of direct exposure (being kept in a sack or other total concealment doesn't count against this limit). It begins taking 1 hit point of damage per hour of exposure thereafter, slowly rotting and melting, and becoming worthless irrecoverable scrap and being totally destroyed after it hits 0 hit points. A pitonoche is generally considered a light hafted weapon for purposes of hardness and hit points.
They have also developed a very specific kind of armor... though it's not very good for non-Pombero... unless you pay to have it fixed! :D
LIGHT ARMOR
sacronoche: cost (11g), AC (+3), max DEX (+5), acp (-), asf (15%), speed (normal), weight (15 lbs.)A bizarre amalgam of wood, leather, feathers, simple cloth, and stone studding, the saconoche looks like a pile of detritus that has mostly assembled itself into a humanoid shape.
The arms are mostly covered in a sewn double-layer of cloth with thin strips of braided leather and wood giving a stiffness to the whole thing. The legs are predominantly cloth-and-leather studded with stones masterfully carved out as binders to keep the whole thing together. The torso appears to be slightly-heavier-than paper strips of wood threaded into supple, if crude, leatherworking. The whole thing smells strongly of alcohol and oil. In fact, the processes used to bind it, cure, and treat it, effectively make it naturally prone to catching on fire, imparting a -2 penalty on reflex saves against catching fire (though not against taking fire damage in general) and a +2 to the DC of putting any fires out.
The saconoche armor is an armor constructed exclusively by and for the Pombero, and do not fit other creatures very well. Unless expressly tailored (an act which usually costs about 50 gold), a saconoche imposes a -3 armor check penalty and has a maximum dexterity bonus of +1. Once the alterations are done, however, it functions normally.
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Introducing, the backstory of the Pombero (loosely adapted and then modified from the original legends)!
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"The old speech of the old people has passed away, but we still remember and in remembering we will keep our secrets, ancient and powerful, and our history shall persist forever." ~ from Sayings of the Shamans, the secret work of the ancient folk religions.
"Beware the darkness. Not because of the darkness - that cannot hurt you, and it is nothing - but because of what lives in the darkness. It is weak, and frail, and so is exceptionally cunning, and ruthless." ~ from Sayings of the Wise, a common collection of sayings.
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Once there was a story, and let me tell you it!
So all know of the sacrifice of Porâsý, that is Porsche or Porsha, and how she spoiled the plans of the seven evil brothers... but not all know what happened after!
First, let me remind.
As all know, Porsha was beautiful - perhaps the most beautiful in the entire land! - and was very, very clever and kind.
Now Moñái - that is Mayes - was lord of the open fields, but also a bandit, thief, and mischief-maker. Like all seven of the gods of the people-and-lands, he was terrible! He would hypnotize women and birds and eat them - though half of those would survive the experience, and I won't tell you which half, or explain it! He used to rob people so well and so cleverly and hide his things in caves so expertly that people used to fight each other, not realizing it was him! Then he'd sit back and laugh and laugh as people hurt each other, while he writhed in his own (new and ill-gotten) wealth! What a terrible critter!
So it was that the village folk couldn't stand it anymore. Too many feuds and too much loss and not enough reason.
Well, they had had enough! ... but what to do? How can one kill a god?
Well, you could wrestle it! But since Mayes was a giant snake with colorful hypnotic horns, that probably wouldn't end well for you. You could starve him in a pit! But... as "lord of the air" he could just hypnotic some birds down to him. You could easily get him to come to a party and get him drunk! But then you'd be dealing with a big drunken snake, and no one likes that! Whew! What to do? What to do?
Well, as I said, that Porsha, she was not just a pretty thing, but a clever one, too. She knew how much Mayes liked his liquor. And she knew how much he liked his women. And she knew how much he liked his partying! Ah! Ahah! A plan was formed!
So Porsha made it known that her poppa'd just got some niiiiii~iiiice new liquor - a brand new recipe that she'd discovered herself! -, and stored it in a hut out back, near the fields of tall grass. There, she waited with a few friends, each taking turns staying awake. Now, I'd like to say that Porsha was so good, she could just stay awake... but that's silly. People get tired sometimes! And so she did. But fortunately, a friend of hers, named Iksha - or maybe it was Ikshan, I don't know, exactly, and the old language doesn't say anymore, so I'll just choose at random - was awake and watching, even though it was late at night! Now Porsha was pretty, but Iksha was no slouch herself (or maybe himself?)... that person was pretty hot stuff! But Iksha'd been seen by Kurupi, and, well... couldn't go adventuring anymore! Not for a few more months! And Kurupi didn't even like men, nor did Ikshan! Still, Ikshan wanted to help Porsha as a friend (and there are other stories that might give other reasons... but they're not the kind I should talk about here!). Thus it was that Iksha noticed sly old Mayes carefully slinking up to the hut, quiet as you like, through the tall grasses, and woke up Porsha.
As Mayes pulled out the big jugs of liquor, Porsha stood up and walked over to him, to enact her plan! That clever Porsha - she told Mayes that she'd never seen such hypnotic horns, and where there's a big horny snake, there's her heart! She has such a way with words! So she tricked Mayes, and told him she loved him, and couldn't get him out of her head - which was half true, at least, as the nasty god'd become quite a problem for all the people!
So went to wed Mayes and asked he bring all his brothers together for a big party, in order to trick the wicked spirit to gathering all seven of the evil spirits together. And so it was that Mayes gathered Mbói Tu'i (that is, Monroe), Kurupi (that is Kanan or Kanana or Seda), Jasy Jatere (that is Rochelle), Teju Jagua (that is Lena or Lenyadri), Ao Ao (that is Anuhea) and of course the one known only as Luison.
Such a din was heard that day! Porsha, our sweet Porsha, sacrificing herself for us all! O, how noble! O, how brave! And that, of course, is the beginning of winter - you all know how Porsha's mother wept before her light returned - ah, but that is another story.
Now, Mayes was a clever horny serpent - he was no fool, oh, not at all, despite his weakness for liquor - yes, so he had taken his bride and sealed her in the cave. How you may ask? By a stone! A really big stone! He knew she could never move it herself!
Now Porsha, she, too, was a clever creature herself - oh, so brave and noble! - and was not ready to escape just yet! She was clever, but had a plan... a plan that relied upon looking like she wanted to be there! So she stayed, soft and appearing submissive, but oh, no, not Porsha! No way! She secretly arranged this and that in the cave, mixing a bit of this, and a bit of that, and readying the party drinks... and then readying more party drinks! ... and then readying even more! So much liquor! She made it all, and made it hard - hehe, that's a joke... er... nevermind - and made plenty for everyone! Of course, her new spouse would think it was a gift, as all knew how much he liked his liquor! But she also knew she couldn't do this alone. She left a trail of bird feathers - feathers from the cloak made for her as a gift from the hides of birds eaten by Mayes - all the way to the cave for eagle-eyed Iksha and all their friends to follow! And follow they did, very slowly...
So together the seven siblings were brought down to a cave to dwell and party. And party they did! They quickly got outrageously drunk. Outrageously! Oh, the obscenities flew about that day! Oh, did the adults shudder for their terror and disgust at the drunken creatures! Oh, wow, was there a lot of innuendo! ... don't worry about what that means, you'll learn more later, when you're older.
Anyway, so when most of the seven siblings were too drunk to move, Porsha - brave, sweet, clever Porsha - made her move! She left, and escaped... almost!
See, her new husband had gotten the idea in his head that he liked the whole marriage thing, and wanted to make it real, as it were - really real! And he kind of wanted to make sure that Kanan didn't steal the bride away while she was sleeping! So he'd enjoyed his liquor - a lot! - but made sure his brothers enjoyed it even more! More than that, he slowly put spiders in their drinks, letting them get the spider poison to slow them down! Now that crafty old big horny serpent drank the lot of them - the lot of them! - under the table, as a result! Then, making sure they were all asleep, he stole Rochelle's magic staff - his own sibling's magic staff! - and hid it in a side-cave under a tree that he'd hidden from the 'big' one! He was gonna use the staff it to make his brother cry like a baby - a little baby - and get treasure from him! Woof! What a guy!
So he goes to hide the staff, and notices that his wife isn't there! He looks around to find Porsha, and sees her just in time to grab her and throw her into the secret room that was the tree cave! He just throws her in there, like she's a child's straw-dolly. Oh no! What would Porsha do?! Well, Porsha was brave and tough, and frightened of nothing! This was her chance! She told that big old horny serpent that he was just a bad'un, and as a bad'un, he deserved what he got! But Mayes was too drunk to get it. He was really smashed, after all.
So Porsha yelled to her friends to light the cave on fire!
But they wouldn't do it! Oh, how terrible! Mayes - drunken Mayes - thought that she was trying to light him on fire in another way! Oh dear! And it worked!
But Porsha yelled again! She told them, she said it, she told them to set it on fire, or else she'd set something on fire and none of 'em would like it! She told them that an evil snake god was no kind of husband!
But they couldn't hurt her! No, she was just too pretty! Maybe they could get the rocks out of the cave entrance? But without her able to push 'em from the other side, they couldn't do it! Oh, no!
So Porsha yelled again, and screamed, and said things that made them realize they had no choice! The evil snake was upon her, and she told them that she'd made her choice, and they needed to respect that! So... finally... it was Ikshan who did it. Stories say that the friend cried not one tear as the torches were dipped, lit, and set in the tree. Not a single tear. Because if Iksha started crying, they say, the rains would come, and the fire wouldn't light. But Iksha didn't cry, and Porsha wrestled the snake, as they say, and the fire burned and burned and burned. It didn't take long, as the rains hadn't been coming lately, and it was dry and ready, and had been well-soaked in liquor by Porsha in advance, and well-stocked in it, besides.
So the seven wicked sons of Tau (that is Alvah) and Kerana (that is Aarti) were all burned up, and broken up, and destroyed! They were gone! Gone forever! ... or so the stories say.
And so the story of Porsha. And you all know what happens next - her soul was turned into a small but shiny light, just like the fire she lit in the hearts of all who saw her and just like the fire she prepped for her snake husband and his brothers! And that's why we have a world, because she lights the fires in the sky that keep us safe!
And so we got back the fruit, and fields, and swamps, and rivers, and fish, and naps, and hills and mountains, and even making children and... uh... having fun... all belong to us again!
But there were a few things that we didn't get back. Caves are where the remains of the evil were left, so they kept those, even though they were dead. And one of them was already master of all that was dead, so being dead didn't change that too much. And then, of course, was the crab, Japeusá (that is Karka, or Akan or Anweir), who was dead by now, but that doesn't really stop the trickster. So it was that Akan came upon these caves and decided to do something backwards, as was his want.
Many crabs gathered in the caves over the next few days - the shore was very nearby, you see - and gathered bits together. A little magic from a certain burned wand, a little power of death, and a little seed spilled from an exceptionally long member, with ferocity, and the mind-bending voice of a parrot-snake, all shoved into a little tiny package - there wasn't really too much left, after all - and walked backwards out of death with the bits of woman left by Porsha, and voila: the Karai Pyhare (that is, Pombero) were born!
And, because Luison was the one that left the most essence behind, while Lena left the most parts behind, and Seda left the most seed behind... well, that's why they look like they do! That's also why they can't stand the day, and don't heal from the right spells... they're already dead!
But remember, children, say your prayers, be very grateful, speak nice things, and keep your hands and eyes clean, and the Pombero can't get you!
Now sleep well and tight in your rooms, and have good night!
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Still working through it, I do have a couple questions regarding your typing process
1) do you inject Ritalin directly into the fingers
Or
2) is it some sort of crazy Matrix s*%@ you enter into as soon as you sit in front of the keyboard :-)
Thats a lot of awesome there:-)
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Hah! Option 3: I spent most of a day (or two? I dunno) obsessing over it, and writing it out into a word document, copy/pasting the whole thing on the bottom of said word document and then (sometimes successfully, sometimes poorly) editing it for forum consumption, the copy/pasting it into the forums in three parts.
((I'm actually quite frustrated that some of my precisely-placed italics in the "story" part were nixed, as I forgot to code them properly in my "forum version" part of the document... but, well, I was literally falling asleep at the keyboard...))
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Lol I actually had to forbid myself from writing at night, if you look thru my iron gods thread you can see where I start to trail off, then picked it up fresh in the morning:-D
I'm a morning person to the extreme, and am one of those people that thrives on 5-6 hours of sleep :-)
Some notes about the Pombero.
As a culture, they tend to be nomadic and ill-organized. As far as surface-dwellers know, they also tend to be loners... though a few villages have discovered (usually far, far too late) that they also organize in marauding hordes.
Despite this, they seem to have a weird sense of honor about them - a kind of obsessive loyalty of some kind or another - with very obscure and specific taboos that they simply will not cross... though what, exactly, those taboos are, remain practically unknowable to the surface-dwelling races.
The Builders (or the Deep Ones, or the Craftsfolk of the Gods, or the "AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaAAAAAArrrGGGggh!", depending on who you talk to and when), however, know quite a bit more about the Pombero. Said Ancients have successfully enslaved groups of them and tormented them with strange and terrible experiments, using their alchemy and their weird magic to create specific servitor-breeds.
More maddening creatures and their servants from below the depths took them and created strange monstrocities, who, in turn, introduced susceptible vessels (weakened against their abilities) which were released back into Pombero society.
The Pombero themselves, however, revere their serpentine forebears, as gods... though some have broken away from said traditions.
When the Pombero do live together, they tend to have a matriarchal society, though in practice this means little, as they are functionally relatively egalitarian (few are the times that any of them particularly care enough about the males to bother doing something specific to lord it over them). They tend to nest in warrens and travel in packs and fight in swarms of screeching assailants.
The most common class is easily the expert. Warriors are not rare, though adepts are exceedingly so - around only once every generation or so, per village (though Pombero legends insist of the occasional duo or trio that arise). The Pombero adepts follow a unique tradition that grants no familiar nor any ability to stabilize or cure wounds (all three of which the race would find worthless), but instead grants the adept proficiency with Pombero weapons and armor (and no others).
When they do appear, adepts are revered almost like gods, and few are those who manage to reject the mania-inspiring siren allure of being "divine" to keep a steady head. Often, the simple presence of an adept is enough to set up almost an entire generation of violence and destruction by the Pombero - a kind of violence that leaves few (if any) survivors until the horde gathers so much wealth they drink themselves into an internal fight that almost always ends in fire - literally, destroying the adept and most of the gathered Pombero. Of those very, very who know of the tendency of this cycle, it is mostly thought of as a kind of curse to reenact the hubris and destruction of their ancestors... quite possibly placed by the Crab Lord himself.
More on their classes, though only a short more:
They gain two more archetypes (in addition to the adept archetype listed above) and almost all fall into one of their racial archetypes.
For the warrior, they lose all martial proficiency (except for their racial weapons) and heavy and medium armor proficiency, instead gaining two additional skill points that must be used in Craft and Profession skills related with their race.
For the expert, they take a -2 penalty to their fortitude and will saves in exchange for a free Skill Focus feat at first level, and they must take Collector and either the hedonistic, meticulous, or pride drawback to compensate. This is in addition to any other traits and drawbacks allowed or permitted by the GM.
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I love the story. It feels so much like the mythology I've read—clever, semi-humorous, kinda crude, and totally b!!$!@+. You really wrote it to suit the oral tradition I'm envisioning. I want to read a whole Campaign Setting sourcebook written in that style!
I love the story. It feels so much like the mythology I've read—clever, semi-humorous, kinda crude, and totally b%+&%!#. You really wrote it to suit the oral tradition I'm envisioning. I want to read a whole Campaign Setting sourcebook written in that style!
Hah! I'd like to do that, but I almost certainly don't have that kind of focus...
I suppose it's obvious, but just in case (for others) the idea was that a man was telling the oral histories to a bunch of kids.
For the mechanics, I wanted to put as much of the original lore into the mechanics as possible, though I'm thinking it's too "one-sided" at present. While the original lore was rather one-sided, I'm thinking of modifying their "lesser hypnotic gaze" to only affect a single gender, but to have it the specific gender that the given Pombero fancies (which varies from Pombero to Pombero). Given that they're otherwise identical, I'm also thinking of having the Pombero be effectively a hermaphroditic mono-gendered species, thereby eliminating any unfortunate implications as are in the current write-up, racially, while still allowing them to function as a species. The idea previously was to make them a functional race but allowing them to have "human" (or "human-like") children, (hence, adding in "females"), but keep them within the scope of the legend (women-seducers/source of "unknown" children; "night man" concept, etc.), and have them be "workable" in play.
I think my current idea would allow that, but change them enough to be alien and weird, while also meshing with the implications of the legend I was telling about their forebears, and more or less leave everything else the same.
Going back and forth on whether or not to have them be small or medium... hm...
I'm also considering having their human-progeny be variant dhampirs that replaces their spell-likes with weapon- and armor-familiarity or maybe even the "skilled" race trait. This would mean their children would be odd. Their subtype, however, would likely still be (reptilian) instead of (dhampir). They would be limited to "one generation" (unless purebred) i.e. if they had children with a human, they'd be human/with a Pombero, they'd be Pombero.
Anyway, those are just thoughts for now.