| InfoStorm |
Knowledge-Dungeoneering for Thaars (plural: Thaars):
DC10: Thaars are ruthless about removing anything they deem as a threat to themselves, which happens to include almost every living creature. They do this with crossbows build so sturdy they can also be used to hit people over the head with them without breaking. They have only ever been seen in supple leathers or chain mesh for protection.
DC15: Thaars are abominations with wormlike bodies of six to eight feet in length with two tentacular arms that end in fine tentacles for fine manipulation and two tentacles that end in paddles that can be used for heavy lifting (including acting as "legs", lifting the front of the creature off the ground in a humanoid-like stance). Their eyes have two pupils each, giving them good peripheral vision.
DC20: Thaars are very intelligent and live in very a ordered society centered around their Large mushroom-shaped towers. None but Thaars have even been seen within a mile of these towers. All others have been murdered on sight.
DC25: All Thaars appear to be of the same sex, it is unknown how they reproduce, but they do so at a rate allowing them to throw population into a conflict without worry of losses. Interestingly they have never been encountered during winter times.
DC30: Thaars appear to be omnivores, eating nothing but nuts and skinned small animals, mostly mice and rabbits coated in honey or fruit pastes. Their communities include many farms and ranches raising thousands of mice, rabbits, beehives and fruits. Their communities are never individually larger than a small town. They can be traded with at locations far away from their towns, but they are unscrupulous in their trading and cannot be trusted.
The history of the Thaars is unknown, but as they are now, they are a civilized race would love nothing more that to eradicate all of other beings. They are wormlike aberrations averaging 6 to 8 feet long when fully grown. About 1/3 of the way down their bodies are two sinuous tentacles ending in five smaller tentacles. This gives them fine motor skills, even though they are weaker than the average human. Another third of the way down their bodies are another pair of tentacles, thicker and stronger that the first pair, ending in large pads. They used these tentacles for standing into humanoid like stances, and even to walk as a slow pace. Their preferred movement however is to slither along the ground like a snake, where they average speeds faster than that of the common human. When slithering like this they cannot use their tentacles for another than to hold onto things. This slithering movement does give them an innate, though slow, climbing ability. They large eyes with two pupils, giving they excellent vision making them difficult to flank on combat, as well as giving them excellent darkvision. This skin is no tougher than most races, and most often colored in dark shades of green, red, or brown.
The Thaars are an industrious race, smart and skilled people. They population seems to be in eternal conflict for one reason or another. With others, they wage a constant war, pushing their boarders every outward, while internally they constantly try to best each other towards some unknown goal. It is a goal that only single Thaars can achieve each year, and any means except murder is allowed in this internal competition. From the few Thaars peacefully encountered outside their lands, traders mostly, they have a love for a complex chess-like game that borders obsession. They are somewhat skilled at stonework, thought they do not use it for their buildings. Fences buried deep underground are used to house their herds of mice and rabbits that make up the majority of their diet. Their building are made of wood and fur encased in adobe or even fired clay, topped with thatch roofs. The shape of construction is that of hyperboloids, wider at the bottom and top, with the thatch roofs a steep conical shape about 1/3 again the height of the main structure. The center building of any Thaars community is a huge hyperbolic tower with a midsection 1/2 the width of the base, and an upper section twice the width of the base. Thick timber beams of immense size are present to support this structure is events of severe weather.
The community surrounds this main structure from anywhere from 3/4 to 1 1/2 miles radius, and is always neat and orderly. Straight roads connect everything together with more important building closer to the main tower, and farms/ranches surrounding them. Even the farms are neat and orderly, the homes always in the south-east corner of the neat square farms, a pond for rain water next to it. The roads are always lined with nut trees, evenly spaced to always provide shade as well as the nuts they eat. At first appearance, a Thaars town would appears to be a pristine pastoral live.
This is not the case however. Their society is a strict police state completely devoted to their Great Mother. All other races to hear this have so far thought of this as a fanatical religious belief, but that is far from the truth. Not only is religion very low on the Thaars idealism, but the Thaars Great Mother is the continuation of any Thaars community. A Thaars Great Mother has only a years to live, and lay as many Thaars eggs as she thinks her community can support in the following spring. This is a quite literal issue, as the average Thaars must hibernate through the winter, unable to sustain their bodies in periods of extreme cold when their herds of mice and rabbits are also hibernating.
The Great Mother starts as one of three princesses whom are ready for their transformation. Having hibernated through the winter, the three princesses will awaken suffering from extreme hunger, and try to kill each other. Only 1 ever survives, and when she is done devouring her sisters, will kill last years great mother who alone guarded the entire community whom hibernated in her chamber. She will then go into a cocoon while the remainder of the community awakens and devours the great mother in a feeding frenzy. At this point the competition between the males will commence for the right to be the mutating princesses mate. Only the smartest will succeed, as Thaars favor brains over brawn. He will stay, while the rest of the community will see to the hatching of last years eggs, their embryos having grown throughout the winter.
The eggs themselves each originally contain three Thaars, but normally one will have eaten the other two during their development. When multiple 'births' occur, it is considered a good omen. When the new great mother emerges from her cocoon, she will promptly devour the male whole, but it is not his death. He will live on inside the new great mother, visible through her transparent skin, mating continually during her egg laying time, living off of her body until the winter famine, when her body will slowly devour his.
This cycle will continue until the community has reached it's maximum size, and two new community homes has been build in what will be new towns. On those years, two princesses will depart with 1/3 of the existing community to take residence on the new tower, where huge stores of food have been prepared for the spring awakening feeding frenzy, as there will be no great mother to devour. This is the most vulnerable time for the Thaars, and why they are so dogmatic in their elimination of all threats nearby, as entire communities are helpless during the winter months with no great mother to protect them.
The Princesses are similar in appearance to the average(male) Thaars, except they average twelve to sixteen feet long and have four long arm tentacles with no fine manipulators. Their skin is completely transparent, their internal organs visible to the naked eye. The princesses lives are short lived, with only 3 ever born each year. It takes 9 years for them to reach full size, and will mutate the following spring into a great mother, if they survive. They are deadly in their own right, able to destroy the mind of sentient being they encounter, turning that person into an obedient thrall. These people almost always become spies for the Thaars, unless they have talents that are more useful to the community.
The Great Mother is a monstrous being, over 24 feet long with six long tentacles and no ability to move. Knowing that the continuation of her race depends on her survival through the winter and protection of her sleep brood, her zealousness and control of her people is absolute. Any deviation from absolute obedience will mean the destruction of that being personality and replace with one of absolute servitude. Any who enter her chamber without her express permission may be killed or mentally destroyed as she see's fit.
All remaining Thaars are male, and 99.9% of the population. Their loyalty is absolute and their continued lives depend on their Great mother each year. Their pursuits are entirely focused in that direction, with only the side goal of being the next mate to look forward to. They know they must expand, or some or all of the community will starve the following spring because they grew too large in one place. Different Thaars communities will band together to aid their neighbors in their expansion needs. This process quickly grows into entire regions coming together forming great crusades to rid neighboring areas of all threats.
Thaars Stats:
Str: -2, Con: +2, Int: +2
Size: Medium
Base Move: 20' When upright, Climb 10', 40' when slithering
Dark Vision 90'
Mezmerise
+2 Racial bonus to Bluff, Intimidate, & Diplomacy skills
+8 Racial Bonus to climb checks.
Humanoid Abominations: Male Thaars are technically abominations, but they are close enough to humanoid that spells that effect humanoids will effect them.
Primarily Male: 99.9% of Thaars population are male (and only sex playable). Females are monster-like and never leave the brood home. (they have monster statistics only, and never live long enough to gain character classes)
Slither movement (Ex): Thaars can slither quickly across the ground in a manner similar to a snake, but when they do so, they are unable to use their arms for anything other than holding items. Changing from slithering to using their legs is a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Changing from standing to slithering is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Wide Angle Vision (Ex): Thaars's eyes have multiple pupils and are positioned so that they can see almost all around them. This grants them the Uncanny Dodge ability. If a Thaars takes classes that also grant Uncanny dodge, this does NOT stack with the class ability to provide improved uncanny dodge.
Weapon Familiarity: Thaars treat all weapons with Thaars in their name as Martial weapons.
Mesmerize (Sp): When in non-combat situations, a thaars can mesmerize a target. This can be performed in additional to normal conversation, and as identical to the effects of the Hypnotism spell. This ability can be used a number of times each day equal to their Charisma modifier (min 1).
Hard to Track (Ex): When slithering, the thaars tracks are difficult to follow, increasing the DC of anyone attempting to track them by +5.
Hibernation: When the weather get's too cold, the thaars hibernate together in a central chamber of their community.
Alignment: Most are LE in outlook, not caring who or what they step on to reach their goals. In the remainder of the population LN more common than NE, while other alignments very rare.
Preferred classes: Like humans, most Thaars are NPC classes. Those that take PC classes prefer take levels in fighters, rogues & wizards who favor illusions & enchantments. In wilderness bordering areas, rangers are also quite popular.
Thaars Weapons:
Exotic:
Thaars Light Crossbow
Cost: 40gp
Melee Damage(S): 1d4 Melee Damage(M): 1d6 Melee Critical: 20/x2
Ranged Damage(S): 1d4 Ranged Damage(M): 1d6 Ranged Critical: 19-20/x2
Range: 60'
Weight: 5#
Type: Melee: B, Ranged: P
Special: Can swap between using Ranged and Melee as a free action*
Thaars Heavy Crossbow
Cost: 60gp
Melee Damage(S): 1d6 Melee Damage(M): 1d8 Melee Critical: 20/x2
Ranged Damage(S): 1d6 Ranged Damage(M): 1d8 Ranged Critical: 19-20/x2
Range: 100'
Weight: 10#
Type: Melee: B, Ranged: P
Special: Can swap between using Ranged and Melee as a free action*
The Thaars Crossbows are larger than the average crossbow, but most of the size increase is in the reenforced stock. This tougher stock allows the crossbow to be used as a two-handed melee weapon a well as a crossbow. Changing grip is a free action that does not provoke an attack of oppostunity. The Thaars crossbow has the drawback that cannot be used in melee while loaded without the bolt falling out and the string releasing.
Writer's Note: The inspiration for the Thaars was the evil villian race from the TSR Sci-Fi game Star Frontiers, the Sathar. I tried keeping the general idea for them consistant while altering them for a fantasy setting.
(Thaars Princess and Thaars Great Mother statistics written, will post once I get it into a good looking post)
| InfoStorm |
Thaars Princess CR?
XP X,XXX
LE Large Aberation (InfoStorm Creation)
Init -1; Senses Darkvision 90ft.; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 8, flat-footed 17 (-1 Dex, +9 natural, -1 size)
hp 38 (5d8+15)
Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +4
Defensive Abilities: Frightening Aura, Wide Angle Vision (grants Uncanny Dodge); DR 5/Magic; Immune Enchantment/Charm;
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft.,Climb 10 ft., Slither 30 ft.
Melee: 4x Tentacles +6 (1d6+3(bludgeon) plus Grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks: Pull (15ft), Persona Destruction
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 8, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 17
Base Atk +3; CMB +7(+11 Grab); CMD 15
Feats: Ability Focus(Persona Destruction), Toughness
Skills Climb +18, Swim +10, Intimidate +11, Perception +9, Knowledge(local) +9
Racial Modifiers Thaars Princesses have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks(included).
Languages: Slith, Common
Special Qualities: Bizarre Anatomy
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Persona Destruction (Sp)
As a standard Action, a Thaars Princess can work to destroy the persona of any creature in it's space. Those creatures must make a Will save DC 18 or take 1d4 points of Charisma damage. The princess normally uses this ability on creatures it has grappled and pulled to her. Anyone reduced to 0 Charisma will have their Charisma scores restored to normal, and are now completely loyal to the Thaars Princess and will do anything requested, even self destructive orders. Only a Greater Restoration, Wish, or Miracle spell can restore as person effected in this manner. (The DC is Charisma based (15+Cha))
Bizarre Anatomy (Ex)
The anatomy of a Thaars princess is extremely different that that of other creatures, giving them a 25% change to ignore any critical or sneak attack.
Frightening Aura (Su)
Thaars Princesses are imposing in appearence and demeanor. Anyone within 30' of a Thaars princess must make a Will save DC15 or be shaken for the remainder of the encounter. A Thaars princess can exclude individuals from the effect at will as a free action. (The DC is Charisma based (12+Cha))
Pull (Ex)
Anyone grappled by a tentacle attack of a Thaars princess will be pulled against them on the following round if the Thaars princess succeeds a CMB check. A Thaars can pull as many being as she has grappled as a single standard action. The tentacled can be severed with slashing weapons (AC12, 6hp, DR 5/magic) to prevent being pulled in by the princess, but they regrow instantly.
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Thaars Great Mother CR?
XP X,XXX
LE Huge Aberation (InfoStorm Creation)
Init -2; Senses Darkvision 120ft.; Perception +13
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 6, flat-footed 18 (-2 Dex, +12 natural, -2 size)
hp 95 (10d8+50)
Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +7
Defensive Abilities: Frightening Aura, Wide Angle Vision (grants Uncanny Dodge); DR 10/Magic; Immune Enchantment/Charm;
OFFENSE
Speed 0 ft. (non-mobile)
Melee: 6x Tentacles +14 (1d8+7(bludgeon) plus Grab)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks: Pull (20ft), Persona Destruction
STATISTICS
Str 24, Dex 6, Con 19, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 19
Base Atk +7; CMB +16(+20 grab); CMD 22
Feats: Ability Focus(Persona Destruction), Toughness, (+3 more)
Skills Climb +20, Swim +20, Intimidate +17, Perception +13, Knowledge(local) +14
Languages: Slith, Common
Special Qualities: Bizarre Anatomy, Rejuvinate Thaars
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Persona Destruction (Sp)
As a standard Action, a Thaars Great Mother can work to destroy the persona of any creature in it's space. Those creatures must make a Will save DC 19 or take 1d4 points of Charisma damage. The great mother normally uses this ability on creatures it has grappled and pulled to her. Anyone reduced to 0 Charisma will have their Charisma scores restored to normal, and are now completely loyal to the Thaars Great Mother and will do anything requested, even self destructive orders. Only a Greater Restoration, Wish, or Miracle spell can restore as person effected in this manner. (The DC is Charisma based (15+Cha))
Bizarre Anatomy (Ex)
The anatomy of a Great Mother is extremely different that that of other creatures, giving them a 50% change to ignore any critical or sneak attack.
Frightening Aura (Su)
Thaars Great Mother are imposing in appearence and demeanor. Anyone within 30' of a Thaars great mother must make a Will save DC16 or be shaken for the remainder of the encounter. A Thaars great mother can exclude individuals from the effect at will as a free action. (The DC is Charisma based (12+Cha))
Pull (Ex)
Anyone grappled by a tentacle attack of a Thaars princess will be pulled against them on the following round if the Thaars great mother succeeds a CMB check. A Thaars can pull as many being as she has grappled as a single standard action. The tentacled can be severed by slashing weapons (AC12, 8hp, DR10/magic) to prevent being pulled in by the great mother, but they regrow instantly.
Rejuvinate Thaars (Ex)
A Thaars Great Mother can heal any injuries or maladies suffered by a Thaars. So long as the Thaars is still alive, she can heal them completely. This process takes 1 minute per HD of the injured Thaars, and requires her to hold them with all 6 of her tentacles.
Movement
A Thaars Great Mother can move, thought they almost never do. Their movement is very slow, and effectively 0 in combat.
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Thaars Warrior CR 1/2
XP 300
LE Medium Abberation(humanoid) (InfoStorm Creation)
Init +0; Senses Darkvision 90 ft.; Perception -1
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14 (+4 Chain Shirt)
hp 8 (1d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will -1;
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., Climb 10ft., Slither 40 ft.
Melee Thaars Heavy Crossbow +1 (1d8)
Ranged Thaars Heavy Crossbow +1 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks: Mezmerise (1/day)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 11, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 9
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 11
Feats: Rapid Reload
Skills: Survival +1, Climb +12, Intimidate +5
Racial Modifiers: Thaars have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. Thaars also get a +2 Racial bonus to Bluff, Intimidate, & Diplomacy skills.
Language Slith, Common, +1 other (varies).
SQ Wide Angle vision
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Slither movement (Ex)
Thaars can slither quickly across the ground in a manner similar to a snake, but when they do so, they are unable to use their arms for anything other than holding items. Changing from slithers to using their legs is a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Changing from standing to slithering is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Wide Angle Vision (Ex)
Thaars's eyes have multiple pupils and are positioned so that they can see almost all around them. This grants them the Uncanny Dodge ability. If a Thaars takes classes that also grant Uncanny dodge, this does NOT stack with the class ability to provide improved uncanny dodge.
Mezmerise (Sp)
When in non-combat situations, a Thaars can mezmerise a target. This can be performed in additional to normal conversation, and as identical to the effects of the Hypnotism spell. This ability can be used a number of times each day equal to their Charisma modifier (min 1).
Hard to Track (Ex)
When slithering, the Thaars tracks are difficult to follow, increasing the DC of anyone attempting to track them by +5.
Humanoid Abberations:
Male Thaars are technically abberations, but they are close enough to humanoid they they have the humanoid subtype, meaning that spell effects that target humanoids will effect them.