Hello guys,
In our homebrew campaign I would like to use the Maenads as an aquatic off shoot race of the Azlantl and swore enemies of the Aboleths. They were previously servants of the before mentioned aberrations who eventually broke free of the control of the masters and rebelled against them (an aquatic version of to the Gith and Mind Flayers, probably need the gillmen into this).
I would like give the Maenads the aquatic ability, and thought of replacing the inner rage and ordered rage for the aquatic ability (see below) but I am not sure if that would be a balanced trade off.
Things I would like to keep: Ability bonus, Size, Speed, Naturally Psionic, Maenad Psionics, Sonic Affinity & Psionic Aptitude. I need to keep the psionic flavor, the rest can be adapted to their new flavor.
Maenad (alternate version)
Racial Traits
+2 to one ability score: Maenads gain a +2 bonus to one ability score chosen at creation, to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Maenads are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Maenads have base land and swim speed of 30 ft.
Naturally Psionic: Maenads gain the Wild Talent feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. If a maenad takes levels in a psionic class, he instead gains the Psionic Talent feat.
Maenad Psionics: Maenad gain the following psi-like ability. 1/day—energy ray. A maenad can deal only sonic damage with this ability. It is accompanied by a tremendous scream of rage. The manifester level is equal to 1/2 Hit Dice (minimum 1st). The DC for this power is equal to 10 + the power’s level + the maenad’s Charisma modifier.
Sonic Affinity: Maenads add a +1 to the DC of any spell or power with the sonic descriptor.
Outburst: Maenads can dampen their mental processes for an increase in raw power called an outburst. As a result, they take a -2 penalty to Intelligence and Wisdom but gain a +2 bonus to Strength. The character must spend one power point at the beginning of each round during an outburst and may stop an outburst at any time.
Replace the following:
Inner Rage: Maenads are able to rage one additional round per day should they have the rage ability and they gain an additional round per day every odd character level. In addition to using these rounds for rage, maenads may use them to fuel their outburst, instead of power points.
Ordered Rage: Maenads may take levels in the barbarian class even if they are of the lawful alignment.
with:
Aquatic: Maenad are aquatic and can breathe water. They are amphibious, but prefer not to spend long periods out of the water.
Natural Sailors: Maenads have a +2 bonus to Swim and Profession (sailor) checks. In addition, they gain a +2 bonus to Acrobatics and Climb checks made on sailing ships.
Weapon Familiarity: Eliminiate the following sentence: "Maenads are proficient with flails." (I don't think flails would work well in an aquatic environment). Keep the following sentence: Maenads treat any weapon with the word “maenad” in the name as a martial weapon rather than an exotic one.
Psionic Aptitude: When a maenad takes a level in a favored class, he can choose to gain an additional power point instead of a hit point or skill point.
Languages: Maenads begin play speaking Common and Maenad. Maenads with high Intelligence scores can choose can choose from the following: Aboleth, Aklo, Aquan, Azlanti, Draconic, Elven, and Sahuagin.
What do think?