So I've gone and revised my Chelonei species, and was curious as to what you guys think about them.
Lots of comments please.
Chelonei Racial Traits
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity
Medium Size: Chelonei are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Cold Blooded: When suffering Cold Damage Chelonei take half again as much (+50%) more Cold Damage.
Keen Senses: Chelonei receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks
Low-Light Vision: Chelonei can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. See Additional Rules.
Natural Swimmer: Chelonei have a swim speed of 30ft., and may hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to (6 multiplied by their constitution score) before drowning risks. This natural swim speed also grants them a +8 on all Swim Checks.
Slow and Steady: Chelonei have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Snap Jaw: Hard-Shelled Chelonei have a Hooked Snapping Jaw which gives them a Natural Bite attack at 1d6 damage.
Claws: Chelonei have two Natural Claw Attacks which deal 1d3 damage.
Hard Shell: Chelonei have tough, resilient shells which encompass their bodies, this grants them a +1 Natural Armor Bonus.
Shelled Structure: Due to having a large shell that encompasses their body Chelonei are unable to wear normal humanoid armors. This means that any armor above light must be specially constructed by multiplying its cost by 2.
Age: Adult 25, Middle Age 85, Old 145, Venerable 205, Maximum 205 +1d%
Languages: Chelonei begin play speaking Chelonei and one additional language in their list. Chelonei with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Common, Draconian, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, and Terran.
I could remove the claws and give them a +2 natural armor instead of +1.
Yeah, I pretty much just looked around at different turtles.
Soft shelled, hard-shelled, semi-aquatic, aquatic.
I then said to myself, Well I'll make a hard shell, and a soft shell. But while doing the soft shell, I wasn't sure what abilities I could give them. While looking for hard shell, I focused on the snapping turtle.
So I sort of rolled with that. Gave myself some nostalgic vision of that one mutant snapper that Shredder had for himself against the T.M.N.T.
Anyway.
I was thinking of racial feats, maybe one that grants them natural shell spikes (Would work like spiked armor, could only be taken upon character creation, would let them have natural armor spikes... I dunno.
Then again, maybe I could replace the claws with that.
Was thinking of perhaps giving them some sort of quick snap or something. I have no clue.
I could modify them around a bit, I'm just not sure. But yeah, this version is much more simplified and balanced.
From what I saw a snapper's shell they can't exactly withdraw. That helped me drop that ability. It caused too many problems. >< Was a cool concept, but oi ><
On second thought, not sure spikes would be good, yeah maybe just the removal of claws for a +2 nat armor
It'd be all like, "I'm gonna chop your head off". Then you'd be all like. "Nuh Uh!" -Pulls head inside shell-
or
Alright guys, throw me at them! -Hops into catapult and withdraws-
or
ROLL AWAY! -Propels self down hill towards the enemies at full rolling speed!-
Yeah, I liked that ability ><, but was so bad for game mechanics >< lol
If you want the withdraw thing you could make it into a feat chain. Also I like the race how it is now but I might go back with a Wisdom bonus (if it were me I'd probably replace the strength bonus but that's up to you), I don't know what it is but I always think of turtles as wise, with the exception of Michelangelo :P although I'd probably make the majority of the ninja turtles Monks so I guess he would have at least decent Wisdom
That's the problem, my Chelonei are now based off of snapping turtles.
Thus the bonus to str, as I felt it fit. Though perhaps I could modify that to wisdom >< But then I think he'd have the same stat modifiers as a dwarf as well, not sure.
I was gonna keep the strength, and then redo my description of them.
As for withdraw as a feat chain, I could.. but how could I make it work and be balanced yet useful ><
Well you could go with Strength and Wisdom instead of Constitution and Wisdom, that would make them different from Dwarves and give them a unique set of abilities. As far as a Withdraw feat chain goes, your 1st feat could let them go into their shell for a bonus to an AC then from their you could add in sliding towards/away enemies, being thrown at people, etc.
True enough, but the reason I choose constitution is because to me it represents a turtles long life and health. Where as you see the turtle as wise, I see it as long lived, which in turn grants its experience.
Thus I suppose from a stand point Wisdom and Constitution are the two proper skill sets.
But I really do think Strength is the good setting point here for this race ><
I'm not sure.
What you think about me removing the claw ability and increasing the natural armor bonus by +1 to a total of +2
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Yes, but the shell has problems with realistic mechanics.
Such as the following; Prone, Perception, Movement, Defensive Capability due to Dexterity and Dodge bonuses. ><
I've gone and removed the strength mod after some research and replaced it with the Wisdom Mod.
Thus the species new racial modifiers are as such
+2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex.
Am also thinking of possibly removing the claws and replacing it with either an additional +1 to the Shell Natural Armor or giving them the ability to stretch their necks, thus giving their bite attack a reach of 10ft, as opposed to natural reach of 5 ft for medium creatures.
This is due to snappers being able to apparently extend their necks back to half their shell. Thus I imagine a large one would utilize such a method with their own attack.
Hmm... Comments?
Perhaps, but would that work for a base race?
Aside from that, yes, but once evolved into walking, talking humanoids. I would imagine they'd be a bit more presentable, regardless of their physical appearance.
With your suggestion the final out come would be -->
+2 Str
+2 Con
+2 Wis
-2 Cha
-2 Dexterity
As I stated previously, I'm not certain a cha penalty would suit them due to my fluff for them. Hmmm.. Balance wise though, once again -> Would that work for a base race.
My new rough-draft fluff for the race.
Chelonei (Pronounced - Shell low N'eye, or Shell low N'eh) Although this humanoid turtle species is not very well known, if at all in lands not their own. Chelonei are an interesting species to study due to their aggressive appearance, yet peaceful culture.
Chelonei: tend to live in locations with fairly large bodies of water. Rivers, lakes, swamps, and oceans, near forested lands are all desirable. Places where crops will grow, and aquatic food sources thrive. Chelonei dislike the cold with a passion and steer clear of regions with even light winters. They are a semi-aquatic species and although they are capable of living on land, prefer to stay to the waters. Thus they build small villages on land in addition to their nearby underwater homes.
Physical Description:
Chelonei females on average stand tall from 3'6" to 4'2" as opposed to males who on average stand tall from 3'8" to 4'4" The females tend to be between 180 to 300 lbs., and the males are around 200 to 320 lbs. They are bipedal and have no hair on their bodies. Their skin is smooth and leathery to touch, where as their shells vary from being smooth to rough with serrations/spikes. Their colours range from darker shades of brown, black, olive-green, and yellow. They have muscular limbs, a large head, and a serpentine neck, in addition they also have a tail that is about half the length of their body.
Alignment: Chelonei are a people of peace, close knit family life, co-habitation with nature, and structured community life. This leads them to usually be Lawful, Neutral or Good. However, some Chelonei may succumb to their desires and break free of the community. Such incidents however, are very seldom.
Religion: Chelonei do not follow the mainstream religions that have been accepted by most species. They tend to live a more spiritual life with nature, and very seldom is it that they stray from this path.
Languages: Chelonei speak their own slow paced language named after themselves. It may require great patience to hold a conversation with a Chelonei if you are not accustomed to their slow speech.
Names: Most Chelonei only have a single name that they are given at birth, family names are foreign to them. This is because they are so closely tied to their villages as they are family, that everyone is family within their village. Thus a Chelonei family name is the villages name.
Adventurers: Chelonei take up the tedious task of adventuring usually for the purpose of educating themselves with the wonders of the world, or a deeper understanding of life and more spiritual natures. They may even take up this duty to right wrongs that have been done upon themselves or their families. Chelonei tend to find that life among other races is far too fast paced for them. This is greatly known to other races who have met Chelonei and experienced their tendency towards lifestyles that allow them to take a slow pace. However, some find that an increase in pace can be intriguing for short times. Chelonei value knowledge, and some even love to debate various issues pertaining to existence, family, love and much more.
Don't do the Charisma penalty!!! I need a Cleric race other than Aasimar and Human :P I'm just kidding of course they're your race after all.
Hey, you guys can use this all you want. Feel free, I'm just happy so long as you help me finalize them a bit more through the revisions.
I've decided to remove the claw attacks and increase their natural armor bonus to +2. So letting you know of that update.
Heh, this makes me think of Oogway from Kung Fu Panda. Monk Chelonei FTW!
Heh. Newest version. I made a change to Shelled Structure.
Chelonei Racial Traits
+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity
Medium Size: Chelonei are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Cold Blooded: When suffering Cold Damage Chelonei take half again as much (+50%) more Cold Damage.
Keen Senses: Chelonei receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks
Low-Light Vision: Chelonei can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. See Additional Rules.
Natural Swimmer: Chelonei have a swim speed of 30ft., and may hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to (6 multiplied by their constitution score) before drowning risks. This natural swim speed also grants them a +8 on all Swim Checks.
Slow and Steady: Chelonei have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Snap Jaw: Chelonei have a Hooked Snapping Jaw which gives them a Natural Bite attack at 1d6 damage.
Hard Shell: Chelonei have tough, resilient shells which encompass their bodies, this grants them a +2 Natural Armor Bonus.
Shelled Structure: Due to having a large shell that encompasses their body Chelonei are unable to wear normal humanoid armors. This means that their armor must be specially constructed by multiplying its cost by 2.
Age: Adult 25, Middle Age 85, Old 145, Venerable 205, Maximum 205 +1d%
Languages: Chelonei begin play speaking Chelonei and one additional language in their list. Chelonei with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Common, Draconian, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, and Terran.