I've got a loose idea going here - "civilized" races that aren't humanoid, similar to Giant Eagles or Worgs/Winter Wolves. These could be NPCs or possibly PCs if everyone involved is cool with the setbacks (like not having hands). This definitely wouldn't be for everyone, but I think it could be a fun addition for some. So to test this out, I need some help creating Lycans, which are simply wolves that are as intelligent as other races. To start, I ripped the evident stuff off of the basic wolf and applied it to these guys, and here's what I have so far:
Lycans
Lycans are magical beasts. They are wolves with the intelligence of men, making them dangerous indeed.
Physical Description: Lycans looks like, well... wolves. However, lycans tend to have strange, swirling markings throughout their coats.
Society: Loose affiliation of various packs.
Relations: Rarely interact with other races regularly - elves see them the most.
Alignment & Religion: Typically neutral, though neutral good and neutral evil are common as well.
Adventurers: Some lycans seek out adventure instead of starting their own packs. They may feel that their god has chosen them to protect the helpless, or perhaps they are bonded to other adventurers. Some lycans simply seek to protect their natural homes or to exact retribution on those who would defile them.
Lycan Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Charisma: Lycans are agile and have keen senses, but their fearsome mien offsets those not familiar with them.
Medium: Lycans are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Fast: Lycans have a base speed of 40 feet.
Handless: Lycans have no hands and cannot hold normal weapons and shields.
Keen Senses: Lycans receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Low-Light Vision: Lycans can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. See Additional Rules.
Maw: Lycans have fearsome jaws that grant them a natural bite attack, which deals 1d6+STR damage.
Quadripd: Lycans have four legs, granting them +4 to CMD against trip attacks.
Wild at Heart: Lycans receive Survival as a class skill, and they get +4 to Survival to track by scent.
Languages: Lycans begin play speaking Common and Sylvan. Lycans with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Orc.
Obviously, they can't hold stuff. To help offset this, they could "wear" weapons like metal claws, and I'm contemplating divine weapons like Okami-style swords that could possibly be inherent to the race or to new archetypes. If you haven't seen Okami, it'd be a magic sword that stays on the lycan's back, and the lycan could command it to swing at nearby enemies. I'm not shooting for 100% balance, but I want it to be something that could be fun for some people. I need suggestions for balancing the racial abilities as well as how lycans would work as some of the classes. Also, if you have a better idea for their name, let me know.
Looking for a Red XIII vibe or something else?
Red XIII is a strong influence here, as well as a quip I saw in a Star Wars Saga book about a quadriped Jedi, and tLoZ: Twilight Princess and Okami.
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Maybe not exactly along the lines you are lookng for but if you want some place to go with Wild Races and have they can be played as PC and so forth...
Take a look at fantasy adventure from a new perspective. Living secretly alongside the humans, elves, dwarves, and even orcs, Noble Animals are descended from god-touched bloodlines, capable of accomplishing amazing things. The Pathfinder edition of this Ennie Award-nominated book grants players and game-masters alike a new element to an ongoing campaign, or perhaps the foundation for an all-new campaign.
Features of this “Animal Player’s Handbook” include:
More than 60 playable species of Noble Animal
Adjustments to basic character classes, skills, feats, and magic to allow for animal characters
Hey, neat. That looks a lot like what I'm going for. Thanks for the link!
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Hey, neat. That looks a lot like what I'm going for. Thanks for the link!
Your Welcome. as a note... we tried to intermix regular classes with Noble Wild and it was a ton of RP fun. we had 4 regular race PC classes and 2 Noble Wilds... A Mouse / cleric and a Monkey / Monk (no pun intended)lol They were by no means overpowered... and fun to play.
Nice! Yeah, I could definitely see a monkey being a monk. Also contemplate a wolf druid. Scary! (But what does it wild shape into?)
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Nice! Yeah, I could definitely see a monkey being a monk. Also contemplate a wolf druid. Scary! (But what does it wild shape into?)
Good Question... Take the Wolf Shaman template
Totemic Summons (Su)- Wolf Pack
At 5th level, a wolf shaman may cast summon nature’s ally as a standard action when summoning canines, and these summoned creatures gain temporary hit points equal to her druid level. This ability otherwise functions as the bear shaman ability.
This ability replaces a thousand faces.
Answer - Wild Shape (Su) - Bigger more powerful wolf
At 6th level, a wolf shaman’s wild shape ability functions at her druid level – 2. If she takes on the form of a canine, she instead uses her druid level + 2.
Beast Shape III - lets you do magical Beasts
- Medium magical beast: If the form you take is that of a Medium magical beast, you gain a +4 size bonus to your Strength, and a +4 natural armor bonus.
-This spell functions as beast shape II, except that it also allows you to assume the form of a Diminutive or Huge creature of the animal type. This spell also allows you to take on the form of a Small or Medium creature of the magical beast type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities, you gain the listed ability: burrow 30 feet, climb 90 feet, fly 90 feet (good maneuverability), swim 90 feet, blindsense 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, constrict, ferocity, grab, jet, poison, pounce, rake, trample, trip, and web.
Worg
This unusually large wolf has an evil, almost intelligent light shining in its deep red eyes.
Winter Wolf
This bear-sized wolf has white fur and a rime of frost around its muzzle. Its eyes are pale blue, almost white in color.
Haha, sweet. If I were intent on someone in my game playing one of these, I would definitely pick that book up. We'll see if these guys are even going to be NPCs in our game, but if so, I'll just homebrew them.