Shardmind: Like a Rock
Aug 10, 2018 12:43:58 GMT -6
Post by Traskus on Aug 10, 2018 12:43:58 GMT -6
If you ever pass by a large, rocky object in space and detect no signs of life, check it out anyway. Odds are you'll still find a Shardmind settlement. Shardminds are a sapient race of silicon-based life, forming and evolving naturally on rocky objects where there isn't enough carbon for carbon-based life to develop. They occur independently all over the Wheel, having no known origin point (if there is one). Hypothetically, they can develop on any rocky body larger than a mountain. They aren't believed to be created by the Syrne or the dragons, but their strength and dedication have led countless artificers and sorcerers to try and imitate them in various ways.
The term "Shardmind" is a catch-all for these beings. Shardminds are one of the more difficult races to socialize with. Their insistence on logic and reason has made them more enemies than friends, even those who have similar core values and goals.
Physical Characteristics
Average Height: 1.5-2.0 m
Average Weight: 90-110 kg
Languages: shardspeak, trade, 1 other "natural" language
Common Personality Traits: blunt, ponderous, duty-bound, wanderlust, logical
Common Physical Traits: chiseled features, sturdy jaw, stiff upper lip, being made of rock
Example Names: Sugilite, Tetrax, Hestia, Dwayne, Spock
Racial Statistics
Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Charisma or Intelligence
Skill Bonus: +1 to Crafts and Arcana
Power: Crystalline Body: A Shardmind is living stone, or a collection of them. They do not breathe, eat, or drink and are immune to toxic properties and disease. A Shardmind is medically treated via crafts rolls and not medicae. At SM discretion, things that would affect stone or earth-based natural and/or artificial constructs affects Shardminds.
Size: 4 or 5 (chosen at character creation)
Racial Feats
Brilliant Fusion (Shardmind)
Shardminds have an affinity for fusion with each other, but they can also briefly give up a piece of themselves to make an ally stronger. You may reduce any one of your characteristics to 0 for the next round as a half action to increase an ally of your choice's same characteristic by your dots in it for the next round (ex. If you have five dots in strength and use this power to aid another's strength, your strength is reduced to 0 and their strength is increased by 5). This is transferred by touch and qualifies as an Aid Another action in combat.
This lasts five minutes in narrative time.
Crystalline Self (Shardmind, Paragon)
The Shardmind has undergone tutelage to clear their mind and body like no other. The Shardmind gains a +1k0 bonus to resist deleterious effects per dot in Excellence. Armor provided by Mohs Skin also provides aura OR does not impose max dex, chosen when taking the feat or this asset (whichever happens second).
Geological Classifier (Shardmind)
You're one of a specific type of rock out there. Select one of the following:
Igneous: You're made of cooled magma. You're immune to being on fire and other non-weaponized heat, and your Resilience is treated as 1 higher when calculating damage taken from E sources.
Metamorphic: You're made of a transformation of rocks that underwent immense pressure to change. You may change your appearance at will, gaining the ability to disguise oneself as a member of another race at no penalty. This feat may be bought multiple times, changing the race of choice each time.
Obsidian: You're made of a sharp rock like obsidian. You have a natural weapon (0k1 R, Pen (Level), brawling, razor sharp).
Precious: You're a rock that people will pay top dollar for. You may your use base Fellowship in place of Wealth when making acquisition tests. When doing so, wealth strain affects Fellowship and wealth strain that causes permanent reductions instead last until (and affect) the next acquisition test made this way.
Sedimentary: You're made of settled dust and sand. Gain +2 HP. You gain a raise to avoid being knocked down or forced to move.
X-Type: You're an aggregate collection of rocks, rather than a solid piece. If you are dismembered, your missing body part regrows until all critical damage to your body is removed, at which point it is restored.
Mohs Skin (Shardmind)
Physical Qualities
Shardminds are made of stone, and their ethnicity determined by their lithological makeup rather than cosmetic coloring. They can look like pretty much any type of rock in a vaguely humanoid form, and have limited control over their physical structure. Some are even collections of thousands of smaller stones. They can look like pretty much anything within those constraints. Shardminds have a habit of altering their appearance to look like something they admire. One who has seen a tiefling and been impressed can change themselves to look like a statue of a tiefling over the course of a few hours.
Shardminds don't have biological processes as is conventionally understood, and as a result have different needs. They still need to eat and drink like the rest of us, but they more often than not need to consume materials rich in iron, carbon, silicon, and iridium among other things.
Playing a Shardmind
Shardminds behave more or less like anyone else, but have the odd belief that working for mutual benefit is morally better than altruism and/or selfishness on their own. They attempt to go out into the wheel, but few combustible materials on their worlds and difficulty to detect make actually meeting one relatively rare. Shardminds have a keen interest in ruins. They don't care much for the treasure, what they seek is understanding. They know they've missed out on a lot, and they aim to know who left what behind.
Their core values are admirable, but their methodology is absurd. They are slow, ponderous, and logical to a fault. Their logic is so unmoving that they have few allies as a race, but are considered invaluable on an individual basis. Shardminds are sure of themselves and insistent that their way is right, and they are often validated when they get their way. The problem is they are so blunt with others they seldom do. Their speech is somewhat slow compared to most, and they're so stoic that they have to clarify their emotion to non-Shardminds before speaking to ensure their meaning is appreciated. Debates wage for days on single topics even without filibuster.
When naming a Shardmind, their last name is always the stone that forms them. This has been compared to the ancient human tradition of a last name being their profession. If a Shardmind is only known by their stone/surname, that means they are a legend. In order for a Shardmind to only be known by their rock name, their deeds must exceed that of their predecessor. If Kaleido Ruby wants to be known only as Ruby, she must become greater than the current Ruby. Not an easy feat, since the current Ruby has saved his world on multiple occasion.
Shardmind Heroes
Mauler Magma is an unfortunate soul. He was cursed to believe he is the last of his kind, and that any other Shardmind he sees is just an illusion. He has wandered around, looking for an answer to where his people have gone. He wasn't always magma. He was once a collection of crystals before his curse, gifted with immense psychic power. He can't remember who cursed him, but he knows they also melted him down.
Master Diamond was a legendary conqueror of the Shardminds. In ancient times, he was believed to have seeded the Shardminds all over the Wheel in anticipation of some cataclysmic event only known as "The Shadow over All." Historians, mythologists, and archaeologists have agreed that if he existed then he operated almost immediately after the Syrne disappeared. His claim to fame was that he held the power of all other Shardminds within himself. He was unstoppable in battle, wielding a sword and gauntlet each embedded with gems of ultimate power.
Ruby and Sapphire wandered their world for 80 days to prove which of the two was the better caretaker to their Bound partners. The course of their adventure led them to defeating champions, enthralling masses, and saving their world from tectonic and abyssal calamity. Over time, their rivalry evolved into a mutual display of love. On their wedding night, they were so engrossed dancing together that they and their monsters disappeared in a flash of light. A Shardmind named Phantom Quartz was born from this fusion, and the monsters were replaced with a pegasus that could lay waste to entire armies.
The term "Shardmind" is a catch-all for these beings. Shardminds are one of the more difficult races to socialize with. Their insistence on logic and reason has made them more enemies than friends, even those who have similar core values and goals.
Physical Characteristics
Average Height: 1.5-2.0 m
Average Weight: 90-110 kg
Languages: shardspeak, trade, 1 other "natural" language
Common Personality Traits: blunt, ponderous, duty-bound, wanderlust, logical
Common Physical Traits: chiseled features, sturdy jaw, stiff upper lip, being made of rock
Example Names: Sugilite, Tetrax, Hestia, Dwayne, Spock
Racial Statistics
Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Charisma or Intelligence
Skill Bonus: +1 to Crafts and Arcana
Power: Crystalline Body: A Shardmind is living stone, or a collection of them. They do not breathe, eat, or drink and are immune to toxic properties and disease. A Shardmind is medically treated via crafts rolls and not medicae. At SM discretion, things that would affect stone or earth-based natural and/or artificial constructs affects Shardminds.
Size: 4 or 5 (chosen at character creation)
Racial Feats
Brilliant Fusion (Shardmind)
Shardminds have an affinity for fusion with each other, but they can also briefly give up a piece of themselves to make an ally stronger. You may reduce any one of your characteristics to 0 for the next round as a half action to increase an ally of your choice's same characteristic by your dots in it for the next round (ex. If you have five dots in strength and use this power to aid another's strength, your strength is reduced to 0 and their strength is increased by 5). This is transferred by touch and qualifies as an Aid Another action in combat.
This lasts five minutes in narrative time.
Crystalline Self (Shardmind, Paragon)
The Shardmind has undergone tutelage to clear their mind and body like no other. The Shardmind gains a +1k0 bonus to resist deleterious effects per dot in Excellence. Armor provided by Mohs Skin also provides aura OR does not impose max dex, chosen when taking the feat or this asset (whichever happens second).
Geological Classifier (Shardmind)
You're one of a specific type of rock out there. Select one of the following:
Igneous: You're made of cooled magma. You're immune to being on fire and other non-weaponized heat, and your Resilience is treated as 1 higher when calculating damage taken from E sources.
Metamorphic: You're made of a transformation of rocks that underwent immense pressure to change. You may change your appearance at will, gaining the ability to disguise oneself as a member of another race at no penalty. This feat may be bought multiple times, changing the race of choice each time.
Obsidian: You're made of a sharp rock like obsidian. You have a natural weapon (0k1 R, Pen (Level), brawling, razor sharp).
Precious: You're a rock that people will pay top dollar for. You may your use base Fellowship in place of Wealth when making acquisition tests. When doing so, wealth strain affects Fellowship and wealth strain that causes permanent reductions instead last until (and affect) the next acquisition test made this way.
Sedimentary: You're made of settled dust and sand. Gain +2 HP. You gain a raise to avoid being knocked down or forced to move.
X-Type: You're an aggregate collection of rocks, rather than a solid piece. If you are dismembered, your missing body part regrows until all critical damage to your body is removed, at which point it is restored.
Mohs Skin (Shardmind)
Your skin is tough. Gain the armor plating trait equal to your Level on all locations. This feat may be bought a second time, doubling its value. Doing this makes you count as wearing heavy armor with max dex of 3 at all times.
Shard Swarm (Shardmind)
Your wounds have broken your mental hold on your physical form, but a flicker of psionic energy within you lets you reconstitute your body. Whenever you take wounds from an attack, you may perform a Healing Surge.
Physical Qualities
Shardminds are made of stone, and their ethnicity determined by their lithological makeup rather than cosmetic coloring. They can look like pretty much any type of rock in a vaguely humanoid form, and have limited control over their physical structure. Some are even collections of thousands of smaller stones. They can look like pretty much anything within those constraints. Shardminds have a habit of altering their appearance to look like something they admire. One who has seen a tiefling and been impressed can change themselves to look like a statue of a tiefling over the course of a few hours.
Shardminds don't have biological processes as is conventionally understood, and as a result have different needs. They still need to eat and drink like the rest of us, but they more often than not need to consume materials rich in iron, carbon, silicon, and iridium among other things.
Playing a Shardmind
Shardminds behave more or less like anyone else, but have the odd belief that working for mutual benefit is morally better than altruism and/or selfishness on their own. They attempt to go out into the wheel, but few combustible materials on their worlds and difficulty to detect make actually meeting one relatively rare. Shardminds have a keen interest in ruins. They don't care much for the treasure, what they seek is understanding. They know they've missed out on a lot, and they aim to know who left what behind.
Their core values are admirable, but their methodology is absurd. They are slow, ponderous, and logical to a fault. Their logic is so unmoving that they have few allies as a race, but are considered invaluable on an individual basis. Shardminds are sure of themselves and insistent that their way is right, and they are often validated when they get their way. The problem is they are so blunt with others they seldom do. Their speech is somewhat slow compared to most, and they're so stoic that they have to clarify their emotion to non-Shardminds before speaking to ensure their meaning is appreciated. Debates wage for days on single topics even without filibuster.
When naming a Shardmind, their last name is always the stone that forms them. This has been compared to the ancient human tradition of a last name being their profession. If a Shardmind is only known by their stone/surname, that means they are a legend. In order for a Shardmind to only be known by their rock name, their deeds must exceed that of their predecessor. If Kaleido Ruby wants to be known only as Ruby, she must become greater than the current Ruby. Not an easy feat, since the current Ruby has saved his world on multiple occasion.
Shardmind Heroes
Mauler Magma is an unfortunate soul. He was cursed to believe he is the last of his kind, and that any other Shardmind he sees is just an illusion. He has wandered around, looking for an answer to where his people have gone. He wasn't always magma. He was once a collection of crystals before his curse, gifted with immense psychic power. He can't remember who cursed him, but he knows they also melted him down.
Master Diamond was a legendary conqueror of the Shardminds. In ancient times, he was believed to have seeded the Shardminds all over the Wheel in anticipation of some cataclysmic event only known as "The Shadow over All." Historians, mythologists, and archaeologists have agreed that if he existed then he operated almost immediately after the Syrne disappeared. His claim to fame was that he held the power of all other Shardminds within himself. He was unstoppable in battle, wielding a sword and gauntlet each embedded with gems of ultimate power.
Ruby and Sapphire wandered their world for 80 days to prove which of the two was the better caretaker to their Bound partners. The course of their adventure led them to defeating champions, enthralling masses, and saving their world from tectonic and abyssal calamity. Over time, their rivalry evolved into a mutual display of love. On their wedding night, they were so engrossed dancing together that they and their monsters disappeared in a flash of light. A Shardmind named Phantom Quartz was born from this fusion, and the monsters were replaced with a pegasus that could lay waste to entire armies.
