| x9ss |
Posting as a just-in-case sort of thing, if anyone wants to use the race, go right ahead. I just made it for a home game and thought to share.
Lamia (surprisingly hard to find a SFW image of one..) are a half-human, half-snake hybrid race. From the waist up Lamias are 100% human, but below the waist, in place of legs, they possess a large powerful tail used for locomotion and self-defense. Despite their apparent reptilian nature, Lamias are actually mammals and give birth to live children, they do not lay eggs.
Physical Appearance; Lamias tend to have vibrant colored scales on their tails which match their hair color, most appear to be reds, blues, or a mix of the two, with a rare few being bright yellow or green. They also possess small fangs, but these are next to useless in combat due to their small size, and are not known to secrete poison. Lamias have equivalent body size to humans from the waist up, but their tails generally reach 6 to 7 feet in length near adulthood. This length can make them appear to be larger than they really are when stretched out, but idly standing with their tails coiled, Lamias really take up no more room than a woman in a wide skirt.
Alignment; Lamias tend toward Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Good alignments, seeking personal enjoyment or enjoyment for their close-knit group above almost all else. Evil lamia do exist, but are highly uncommon and if discovered are usually expelled from their community.
Relations; Lamia are quite kind and passionate beings, known to bond with others quite easily and form close-knit social groups, even outside their own race. Lamia's hold excellent relations with Humans and Elves, though Dwarves are usually suspicious of their snake heritage and Gnomes and Halflings can be intimidated by their predatory appearance.
While quite dextrous and friendly, Lamias can be grating to deal with, as they will constantly place themselves in a position of submission to those they trust (though no such deference is given to those they deem dangerous or unfriendly) and also tend to be a bit scatter-brained when it comes to common sense.
Racial Traits;
+2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Wisdom
Medium Size
60 ft. Darkvision
30 ft. Movement speed
Defensive Racial Traits;
Stability - Lamia's receive a +4 bonus to CMD vs. Bullrush and Trip when on the ground.
Offensive Racial Traits;
Natural Attack (Tail) - Lamia's can use their tail as a primary natural attack that deals 1d8+1 1/2 Str modifier in damage. A successful hit with this attack allows the Lamia to make a free Trip attempt without provoking an AoO on the target.
Language; Common + Draconic. A lamia with high intelligence scores may select; any human tongue, Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Draconic, Giant, Infernal, or Sylvan as a bonus language.
Special:
Heavy Armour not made specially for a lamia (which costs 50% more than the base cost of a given Heavy Armour to have specially made tail plates constructed) gives the lamia 2 less Armour Class than normal, as they cannot wear the protective leg gear.
Special;
Lamia may take the Final Embrace line of feats, ignoring the prerequisite of being a Naga, Seprentfolk, or possessing the Constrict quality, as long as they meet the other prerequisites.
I'm looking for some feedback on the Natural Attack (Tail) ability, this race was built using the advanced race guide, and thus there was no option for a tail slap built into the rules. Instead I've taken the Slapping Tail and Tripping Tail traits, plus an additional 1 RP for Natural attack, and combined them to provide the ability given above. Do you think it's balanced?
The cost in RP was prohibitive (the race is 11 points, with the tail totally 7), limiting what else could be added, but it's a very good natural attack to build around, especially at low levels. Perhaps I should instead leave it as just Slapping Tail + Tripping Tail (thus only usable for Attacks of Opportunity as a base, not as a natural attack) then provide a feat to gain that capability? Perhaps it should be a secondary attack with a feat to change that status? Any thoughts?
As a point of comparison, the Kobold Tail Terror feat grants Kobolds only a 1d4 secondary natural attack and proficiency with tail blade weapons, but Kobolds are notoriously weak as a player race anyway, so it's a bit pointless to call it the baseline. Either way, it's an established Tail natural attack....