Posting as a just-in-case sort of thing, if anyone wants to use the race, go right ahead. I just made it for a home game and thought to share.
Lamia (surprisingly hard to find a SFW image of one..) are a half-human, half-snake hybrid race. From the waist up Lamias are 100% human, but below the waist, in place of legs, they possess a large powerful tail used for locomotion and self-defense. Despite their apparent reptilian nature, Lamias are actually mammals and give birth to live children, they do not lay eggs.
Physical Appearance; Lamias tend to have vibrant colored scales on their tails which match their hair color, most appear to be reds, blues, or a mix of the two, with a rare few being bright yellow or green. They also possess small fangs, but these are next to useless in combat due to their small size, and are not known to secrete poison. Lamias have equivalent body size to humans from the waist up, but their tails generally reach 6 to 7 feet in length near adulthood. This length can make them appear to be larger than they really are when stretched out, but idly standing with their tails coiled, Lamias really take up no more room than a woman in a wide skirt.
Alignment; Lamias tend toward Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Good alignments, seeking personal enjoyment or enjoyment for their close-knit group above almost all else. Evil lamia do exist, but are highly uncommon and if discovered are usually expelled from their community.
Relations; Lamia are quite kind and passionate beings, known to bond with others quite easily and form close-knit social groups, even outside their own race. Lamia's hold excellent relations with Humans and Elves, though Dwarves are usually suspicious of their snake heritage and Gnomes and Halflings can be intimidated by their predatory appearance.
While quite dextrous and friendly, Lamias can be grating to deal with, as they will constantly place themselves in a position of submission to those they trust (though no such deference is given to those they deem dangerous or unfriendly) and also tend to be a bit scatter-brained when it comes to common sense.
Racial Traits;
+2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Wisdom
Medium Size
60 ft. Darkvision
30 ft. Movement speed
Defensive Racial Traits;
Stability - Lamia's receive a +4 bonus to CMD vs. Bullrush and Trip when on the ground.
Offensive Racial Traits;
Natural Attack (Tail) - Lamia's can use their tail as a primary natural attack that deals 1d8+1 1/2 Str modifier in damage. A successful hit with this attack allows the Lamia to make a free Trip attempt without provoking an AoO on the target.
Language; Common + Draconic. A lamia with high intelligence scores may select; any human tongue, Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Draconic, Giant, Infernal, or Sylvan as a bonus language.
Special:
Heavy Armour not made specially for a lamia (which costs 50% more than the base cost of a given Heavy Armour to have specially made tail plates constructed) gives the lamia 2 less Armour Class than normal, as they cannot wear the protective leg gear.
Special;
Lamia may take the Final Embrace line of feats, ignoring the prerequisite of being a Naga, Seprentfolk, or possessing the Constrict quality, as long as they meet the other prerequisites.
I'm looking for some feedback on the Natural Attack (Tail) ability, this race was built using the advanced race guide, and thus there was no option for a tail slap built into the rules. Instead I've taken the Slapping Tail and Tripping Tail traits, plus an additional 1 RP for Natural attack, and combined them to provide the ability given above. Do you think it's balanced?
The cost in RP was prohibitive (the race is 11 points, with the tail totally 7), limiting what else could be added, but it's a very good natural attack to build around, especially at low levels. Perhaps I should instead leave it as just Slapping Tail + Tripping Tail (thus only usable for Attacks of Opportunity as a base, not as a natural attack) then provide a feat to gain that capability? Perhaps it should be a secondary attack with a feat to change that status? Any thoughts?
As a point of comparison, the Kobold Tail Terror feat grants Kobolds only a 1d4 secondary natural attack and proficiency with tail blade weapons, but Kobolds are notoriously weak as a player race anyway, so it's a bit pointless to call it the baseline. Either way, it's an established Tail natural attack....
If this race has no legs, then they should not have a CMD bonus against trip attacks -- they should be immune to such attacks.
Look up the Lillend Azata in the first Bestiary for some other mechanical ideas. It looks as though you are trying to reduce that creature to a playable humanoid race.
Also -- you may want to reconsider the name of the race. Lamias exist as a monster type and are generally of evil alignment. Maybe "lillendkin" or something along those lines?
Monster Girl Encyclopedia race, hm?
Concerning the natural attack, you needn't include 1-1/2 str, just the damage die, and that it is a primary attack. It is already covered in the rules for natural attacks that the bonus can be 1/2 str or 1-1/2 str, depending. I would remove the free trip attack.
I would give them some kind of skill bonuses, for flavor. Lastly, include something about being able to use their tail to reach much higher.
Monster Girl Encyclopedia race, hm?
I made a version of the Holstaurus as an option for my games, and fail to see a problem with this.
Monster Girl Encyclopedia race, hm?I made a version of the Holstaurus as an option for my games, and fail to see a problem with this.
I don't have a problem with it either. I had a house write-up of Aluraunes since 3.5. In fact, it's giving me ideas for a setting where magic is corrupting the world, and a sinister evil figure encourages it's use to speed a takeover of the world. Potential.
I do agree that the free trip on tail attack could be a bit much. Maybe write that up as a racial feat they can learn?
Yup, Monster Girl races are pretty sweet!
As for making them immune to trip/bullrush, I've been basing this race off of abilities with a known RP cost, and that would be higher. The goal is for the race to be balanced with the core races. I would be willing to change the name, but for now it's not that important.
As for the trip attack, very well. I shall instead append it to a racial feat and use the freed up RP to add in some skill bonuses.
As for the tail reaching much higher, I think that'd be relegated to role-playing, I don't want to give that a combat advantage, though perhaps as another racial feat, ala Lunge but relegated only to the tail, and permanent 5ft reach increase?
Overall;
-Free trip attempt
+Lamias receive a +2 racial bonus to diplomacy and When members of this race attempt to change a creature's attitude with a Diplomacy check and fail by 5 or more, they can try to influence the creature a second time even if 24 hours have not passed.
Racial feats;
Lamia Trip; Prerequisites; BAB +1, Lamia
When a Lamia hits with their natural tail attack, they may make a free trip attempt without provoking an attack of opportunity. (Or, alternate option, it does provoke, but Improved Trip negates it. Yeah, that's probably better..)
Lamia Lunge; Prerequisites; BAB +6, Acrobatics 1 rank, Lamia
The Lamia gains a 5 foot increase to her reach when using her tail slam.
Like it. My major gripe is with the name, as that is already a Bestiary monster.
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
You might also want to check out "Slithering In Moonlight" in Kobold Quarterly #23 which features 'lesser' lamia as a balanced PC race.
The article also features lamia racial feats, a new prestige class, a new oracle mystery (moon) and extensive details on lamia society, culture, religion and history.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Curse you, undead thread!