here is my new take on the Nekogami inspired by a series of freeform characters of mine (toned down in comparison to them) who were descended from the god of all things feline. i tried to balance these guys against planetouched. specifically the Ifrit and the Suli
+2 Dexterity, +2 wisdom, Nekogami are nimble and tend to have keen senses.
Outsider (Native) (Yokai) a Nekogami is an outsider native to the material plane, they are not affected by spells that specifically target humanoids, whether they be harmful or beneficial. In addition, they have the Yokai subtype.
medium size, no bonuses or penalties due to size
Darkvision 60 feet, this works exactly like the dwarf/half orc ability by the same name
Observant; Nekogami receive +2 on Perception and Sense Motive checks, in addition, a Nekogami may make an additional active perception or sense motive check once per round as a swift action.
Mobile; Nekogami Receive a +2 on Acrobatics and Escape artist checks, in addition, a Nekogami's base land speed is 40 feet. which is faster than normal for her size category.
Nekogami Weapon familiarity; being an outsider, a Nekogami is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, additionally, they may choose a single exotic weapon appropriate to their home region and consider themselves proficient with that weapon. or In place of an exotic weapon, they can instead choose to have a pair of claw attacks that deal 1d6 points of slashing damage each as primary natural weapons
Eternal Youth; a Nekogami permanently stops aging upon adulthood. She has no age categories and cannot die from age, she is also immune to aging effects. Different Nekogami specimens may appear to be of different age categories, but this has no effect upon their statistics. for example, some could appear to be old wise men, or others could appear to be young prepubescent girls, this is purely cosmetic and has no impact upon their statistics.
Pass for Human; A Nekogami counts as a human when a specific racial prerequisite is required for anything in particular, whether it be feats, magic items, a racial prestige class or whatever. In addition, they gain no penalty on disguise checks made to pass themselves off as a human. this does not allow them to be affected by spells that affect humans nor does it serve as a backdoor to human racial abilities such as skilled or the bonus feat. A Nekogami may (upon character creation) choose whether or not to have the ears of a feline creature. These ears are concealable at will (as a free action) and provide no real mechanical bonus or penalty.
Automatic Languages: Common, Feline, 1 regional human language of their choice; Bonus languages; Any (including secret languages such as Druidic or Thieves Cant)
many people believe this race was initially intended to minmax a rogue.
nope. it's initial 3.5 version was technically built to be an effective shadow hand swordsage. it's original version had some very good (yet shoehorning) abilities for +1 ECL that i dropped (for pathfinder)
human's skilled racial ability
free weapon finesse
slight build (reverse powerful build)
free combat bonuses with a wakazashi
halfling save bonus
and scent
if you were willing to be a wakazashi wielding shadow hand swordsage. this used to be the perfect race for it.
