Scarabyn: Chivalrous Beetle Knights

[DatsVatSheSaid]

Hailing from a lush, temperate sphere dotted with riverlands and filled with thick forests this insectoid race grew to dominance due to their ability to populate in large numbers and their sheer resilience as a species. As their societies grew, they began to develop an aristocratic, hierarchical society with a romanticized view on chivalry and a value in skill at arms, the fine arts and personal honor.

The Scarabyn are a naturally exuberant, boisterous and well-spoken species and those that travel the wheel abroad in search of glory and adventure often find little difficulty interacting with other species. Though new to the wheel at large, they are quite respected near their originating sphere and continually send "knights" out on quests of diplomacy towards other spheres.

Physical Qualities:
Average Height: 2.7-2.9m
Average Weight: 300-500kg
Languages: Trade, Scarabyn, Tau
Common Personality Traits: Boisterous, Haughty, Honorable, Valorous, Verbose, Exuberant, Dignified.
Common Physical Traits: Vibrant Colors, Ornate Exoskeletons, Chitinous, Statuesque, Large Frames.
Example Names: Vingrace, Chaldrid, Breya, Varchild, Bronntis.

Racial Statistics:
Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Constitution or Composure
Skill Bonus: +1 to Persuasion and Scrutiny
Power:Coleopteran: Gain natural armor equal to Constitution + 1 on all Body Locations. This Doesn't stack with other sources of Armor. You gain Flyer equal to your Speed.
Size: 5



Racial Feats:

Horned Lancer[Scarabyn]: Gain a Natural Weapon with the following statistics: 1k2 R; Melee; Brawling, Unwieldy. This Weapon loses Unwieldy on attacks made at the end of a Charge. You ignore penalties caused by difficult terrain when you Charge.

Hercules Beetle[Scarabyn]: Your armor granted by Coleopteran power is Tripled but you are considered to be wearing Heavy Armor with a Max Dex of 1 and you lose the Flyer trait. You gain two free raises on any Opposed Strength test.

Bombardier[Scarabyn]: Once per scene you may emit a hot, noxious chemical spray as a natural weapon with the properties of a Flamer with the Toxic Property.

Scarabyn Royal[Scarabyn][Paragon]: You gain Air of Authority and Armor of Contempt, and you may add your Excellence*2 to your Mental Defense. You gain Aura equal to your Composure. If you have the Hercules Beetle feat, you do not lose the Flyer trait.

Physical Qualities:
The Scarabyn have large ornate and vibrant exoskeletons that is jewel-like and resembles a knight's armor. They have two pairs of wings: a set of forewings which are not used for flight, but instead form elytra which cover and protect the hind part of the body and the hindwings, the elytra are usually hard shell-like structures which must be raised to allow for flight.

Scarabyn are tall and statuesque, accompanied by their vibrantly colored bodies this makes them quite attention grabbing and has made them adept socialites. Their shelled bodies also give them a weight befitting larger creatures, this has led to them being rather slow and inflexible in movement but not without grace.

Playing a Scarabyn:
Scarabyn are a Boisterous, Exuberant and Verbose race, they live in the limelight and love to talk. They are energetic and extremely friendly, it is often difficult to find one that isn't in a good mood. They live life to their fullest and enjoy the fine arts, with a special appreciation for dancing and thespian pursuits. They have a love for naturalistic beauty and respect for societies that incorporate nature into their designs organically. They are haughty and strongly seek attention, but not to a degree that would ruin their reputation and disvalue their personal honor.

They have a aristocratic, feudal culture with a strong focus on knighthood and knightly virtues and honor. All Nobility must undergo a Knightship and hold themselves to the knightly virtues and honor before they can be allowed rulership. Scarabyn also are extremely well-spoken and find improper speech to be extremely rude to the recipient, this has led to them having a rather antiquated manner of speaking(Sounds Ye Olde English). Even the lower class scarabyn are quite happy even with their serfdom due to their sphere's plentiful food resources.

[Traskus]

Some concerns:

The armor and flying are too good together. Flyer at half speed is acceptable, but still.
There is no reward for taking composure unless you're a paragon, in which case you're getting it anyway.
The natural weapon is waaaay too powerful. Three kept dice on a brawling weapon? Damn.
Two raises on opposed strength tests is too much. One is sufficient.

[username]

I like the race but some of the feats seem a bit excessive, namely Hercules Beetle and Horned Lancer:

Horned Lancer[Scarabyn]: Gain a Natural Weapon with the following statistics: 1k3 R; Melee; Brawling, Unwieldy. This Weapon loses Unwieldy on attacks made at the end of a Charge. You ignore penalties caused by difficult terrain when you Charge.

Hercules Beetle[Scarabyn]: Your armor granted by Coleopteran power is Tripled but you are considered to be wearing Heavy Armor with a Max Dex of 2 , but you lose Flyer. You gain two free raises on any Opposed Strength test.

For Horned Lancer, 1k3 on a brawling weapon is quite insane since it immediately becomes 1k4, higher than anything in the book. Add in the fact that it is a natural weapon and suddenly it gets all those amazing transmutation benefits, namely Bloodwind to be able to smack people at a distance with it. I'd make it 1k2 natural with the extra +0k1 regulated to only applying when you Charge to encourage that usage.

For Hercules Beetle, due to starting with +1 con from the race you can immediately begin with 18 armor. Even a Darksteel Promethean doesn't get to 18 armor, only 16 ever and that is at Powerstat 5 instead of character creation. The Max Dex on it is 2 but since it counts as heavy armor you can use various different armor feats, abilities and bonuses to mitigate than and even boost your armor higher. Starting at 18 armor means -18 SD at start but once you get Heavy Armor proficiency that goes away entirely. I'd probably make it count as Extreme so that you can never really get away from some of the SD penalty, since even Armor Proficiency Extreme still inflicts half the armor rating to your SD.

Giving up Flight is tragic but there are several ways to mitigate that. Transmutation can for instance, while also boosting Constitution. A daemonhost can still hover while also getting bonuses to Constitution. Can even be a Daemonhost Transmuter for something truly awful.