| Leliel the 12th |
First of all-I have no idea what I'm doing, so expect imbalance.
Cabal 6 HP
The Cabal are Large humanoids with the Cabal subtype.
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity: The Cabal is both highly intelligent and physically powerful, but they are almost completely incapable of introspection or changing their minds and their frames make them somewhat slower than smaller races (not helped by their need for enviro-suits).
Not Your Air: The Cabal's homeworld, and the ones they have terraformed, has air components most races would find toxic but is necessary for the Cabal to breathe easily. They must make a Fortitude save for every full hour of breathing oxygen without a filter or become sick, contracting a disease with physical symptoms that they may only save against in an environ with their natural air (which can be inside of an enviro-suit).
Strategic Masterminds: Cabal spend much of their time analyzing potential plans, contingencies, and stratagems for any battlefield situation. They have a +2 racial bonus to all Skill rolls made to construct or adjust a battle plan or analyze and exploit strengths and weaknesses in enemies they have encountered before or have had the opportunity to study (about a day's research on valid intelligence).
No Word for Retreat: It's not realistically true (the Cabal language does have words for "cut losses" and "losing more than we gain"), but that should tell you how bloody-minded and determined the Cabal are. They have a +2 racial bonus to resist fear.
| Patrick Newcarry |
Interesting, but what exactly does not your air do? What's it's purpose? Statistically, there has to be a condition caused by "being sick" that imposes a penalty on the character himself because "he's sick."
Plus, three bonuses is a lot, considering they (the race) also start out with 6hp. I think it would be best if you toned that back a bit. I'm not sure exactly why they get a +2 bonus to Int, considering the fact that "No Word for Retreat" suggests that they don't know when to back down and stay alive.
One more thing (sorry if I'm being hypercritical): the Vesk pretty much fulfill the combat tank role already. I don't see the exact purpose of having two combat roles in which one especially over shadows the other.
However, for something that just bounced off your head and onto the computer, it's a good first attempt. I just think it needs a little scaling back.
| Leliel the 12th |
Not Your Air Ambiguity: The result of not having my corebook open to the disease chapter.
I forgot there needs to be penalties that aren't implied by the "physical" portion. The big thing is that normal air will kill them and even in an enviro-suit it takes time to recover.
Reckless Intelligence: This is all Destiny lore though. The Cabal are the only organic species that can decipher Vex technology (the Vex are, it should be noted, a hive-minded race of cyborgs so advanced with temporal physics that nobody's sure when they come from or how they screw over time paradoxes so hard their basic guns shoot them as ammo) and have designed weapons that can destroy planets as basic military operations. They are not stupid when it comes to the hard sciences and strategy, it's their complete lack of ability to admit when it's time to change their opinions or understand emotional states that's the problem (hell, a major plot development in Destiny 2, spoilers, relies on their self-destructive bloody-mindedness). That seems like a deficient Wisdom score to me, not Intelligence. Think of them as very large, very mean, very serious Tinker Gnomes.
The core idea with them was to write a race that's good at both technology and fighting, but can't use magic worth a damn (Maybe a Charisma penalty? Cabal characters we read about are aloof or often mean-spirited). Also, they're meant to be a monster race, like Contemplatives; not always playable and heavily limited in some ways (see toxic air).
Good advice though.
| Leliel the 12th |
Actually, before I move on-here's Destiny's accidental evil kasatha counterparts. Also off the top of my head, hopefully better balanced (because there's less to screw up-they're essentially smarter, meaner, and less healthy kasatha):
The Fallen/Eliksni
Eliksni are Medium humanoids of the Fallen subtype.
+4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma: The Fallen are extremely nimble, taught by brutal experience how to plan and make repairs quickly, and even in their degraded state have a rich spiritual life and deep intuition. Their constant ether shortages take a toll on their health and their desperate, opportunistic personalities rub everyone (including themselves) the wrong way.
Ether Dependency: Without the Light of the Traveler, the eliksni have had to come up with a substitute to keep themselves alive. All Fallen biologically require a gaseous substance called "ether", produced by converting organic material through sentient drones called Servitors (though really, it's the eliksni who serve-the Servitors are regarded as living gods) or portable devices produced by the same. In game terms, this means a Fallen character must consume twice the normal amount of food per day (half being converted to ether), but do not need to breathe or suffer the ill-effects of vacumn, as the ether store serves as oxygen to them and provides a bare minimum of what the Traveler once did.
Four Arms: Like the kasatha they resemble and bitterly envy, eliksni have four functional arms. This trait is identical to the kasatha trait of the same name, though eliksni can regrow theirs (in fact, it's traditional to dock the arms until a young Dreg has proven himself as more than a waste of resources).
Clinging On: When one's existence revolves around the concept of stealing and surviving to the point of it being a religion, one tends to get good at it. Eliksni have a +2 racial bonus to Survival and Stealth checks.
Chasers of the Great Machine: Fallen literally worship technology, and while Splicers are the true engineers of their society, eliksni learn how to care for their gods and repurpose them as a matter of survival on their ramshackle scavenged ships, and many eliksni pick up a thing or two about driving their homes. Chose two of Computers, Engineering, Profession (Salvaging), or Profession (Spacer). These Skills receive a +2 racial bonus.