Troglodyte
Oct 23, 2018 21:51:30 GMT -6
Post by Xornik on Oct 23, 2018 21:51:30 GMT -6
Homebrew Race: Troglodyte
Background
Spread far across the Great Wheel, there is an awful smell emanating from deep within the caves, tunnels and dungeons of many crystal spheres. A putrid stench which leaves the uninitiated incapacitated and those with common sense fleeing - for the odor of a Troglodyte is not to be sniffed at.
There are many stories about the origins of the Troglodyte race, some place them as distant genetic descendants of the great Dragonborn warriors or the Syrne's Viashino. Others tell stories of tribes of Kobolds that made pacts with aberrant beings and engaged in cannibalism, causing them to grow and mutate in to abhorred smelling fiends.
Historians however tend to throw their weight behind the common tale that told of a civilization that peaked before many others. Communicating only with a language based upon smells, they learned mastery over basic hunting and construction methods and of course crude weaponry. This led to dominance and enslavement of the lesser races with clubs and primitive weapons, which in led to their neighbors to advancing faster to survive the Troglodytes. Limited by their brain size, the Troglodyte society was rapidly dismantled and overthrown by those who could grasp the concepts of strategy, or sustained agriculture. Facing extinction, they fled into the dark caves and tunnels of their land - awaiting any outsiders foolish enough to venture within.
Unfortunately, due to the Troglodytes typical lack of intelligence, there is extremely little recorded history with only a few legends and myths to go by. So it is likely that their origins, much like Troglodytes themselves, will remain shrouded in the darkness.
Physical Characteristics
Average Height: 1.8 - 2.4m
Average Weight: 80-200kg
Languages: Trade, Saurian, Troglodyte
Common Personality Traits: Unpredictable, reclusive, eccentric, short tempered, dim
Common Physical Traits: Hunched posture, spinal protrusions in the form of spikes or sails, awful smell, long slender tail, rough slimy hide, patches of leathery scales, scraggy or hulking physique.
Example Names: One-Who-Climbs, One-With-Green-Frills, Him-With-One-Finger, She-With-Pale-Skin, One-Who-Watches-Rocks, Her-With-Red-Spines,
Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Constitution or Strength
Skill Bonus: +1 to Intimidation and Brawl
Power: Stench: Once per scene as a half action a troglodyte can secrete an oily, musk-like chemical stench cloud that nearly every form life finds offensive. Anyone with a sense of smell or taste (except troglodytes) within 10m must roll a Constitution test (TN 15) for each round they remain in range of the cloud or gain a level of fatigue. The cloud lasts for one round per level and the Troglodyte gains an additional use of this power per scene at level 3 and 5.
Beings with immunity to poison or that do not need to breathe are unaffected.
Size: 5
Racial Feats
Cave Dweller [Troglodyte]
Troglodytes have a strong preference for dark, dank places and those who have yet to venture out into the wheel have refined their senses to suit their environment.
You gain Dark Sight and have Heightened Senses (Smell).
Trog-Delite [Troglodyte, Paragon]
A Cave's ecosystem doesn't always provide the most nourishing food, and as such some Troglodytes can survive eating almost anything. You can consume raw, tainted, expired, poisonous, or disease ridden food and suffer no ill effects, instead recovering a hit point by doing so once per scene.
The Mariana Stench [Troglodyte]
Troglodytes smell horrible. You somehow manage to smell even worse. The Constitution test for your Stench ability is now (TN 20) and it's range is equal to 10m times your level.
Armor of Brawn [Troglodyte]
Without a much of a mind, many Troglodytes rely upon their raw muscle to endure hits. You may use Strength instead of Willpower for determining your Hit points.
Chameleonic Hide [Troglodyte]
Some Troglodytes are adept at blending into their surroundings, becoming one with the rocks and crags of the caves. They gain a +1k1 to stealth checks, this bonus doubles when in rocky or underground settings.
Physical Qualities
Troglodytes resemble reptilian-like creatures with tough mottled slimy skin with many having a smattering of leathery scales, this leaves them looking like the result of a darkness dwelling abberant having it's way with a lost Viashino. Their skin can vary in brightness from a light purplish-grey to a fair white-pink, with a wide variations of blue, red and green tones in their skin hue. Their face and neck are often framed by frills, spines or ridges of a brighter shade of their hue. Many have spine-sails or bony crests of a similar color starting at their forehead and traveling down their spine to their tail and it isn't uncommon for those with a more distinctive features to be associated with a leadership role.
They stand a little taller than the height of humans, despite many reports of Troglodytes being towering behemoths - this is likely due to their menacing appearance and the high number of encounters in dark confined spaces. Their imposing nature also helps, which makes them ideal thugs and bruisers. Troglodytes are best known for their rancid stench, those intelligent enough to understand the concept of 'decency' will often bathe regularly to separate themselves from their more tribal relatives and refrain from releasing their stench in public. This doesn't stop anyone from making a face in anticipation of the potential smell upon sighting one, as often the potent odor often still lingers.
Playing a Troglodyte
Troglodytes tend to elicit reactions among most of those that they encounter, if it's not their intimidating appearance - it's their smell. It's not uncommon for a Troglodyte to be refused entry to nicer establishments, or for people to cross to the other side of the street preemptively. When they do interact with other beings, their lack of intelligence is usually easily apparent. Even the friendliest and most charismatic trogs will find themselves easily being swindled or tricked into being used as fodder by members of other races daring enough to risk wronging a Troglodyte. As a result, Troglodytes will often be as distrustful of others initially and often seek comfort in solitude.
The natural Troglodyte language is quite unique in that it is an Olfactory based language. Each Troglodyte can carefully release smells, stanks, odors and scents that represent different words, using their advanced sense of smell to identify each aroma and carefully release a reply. Anyone nearby 'listening in' who was not prepared to smell the conversation may find themselves running to open a window.
Most Troglodytes are fairly reclusive creatures by nature, preferring to live out their days dwelling in deep and dark places, either in isolation as hermits or in small tightly-knit tribes. Troglodyte villages tend not to last very long, as they usually exhaust their local food source fairly quickly - the inhabitants of neighboring villages. The lack of a sustainable food source often leads to Trog turning against Trog and inevitably ends with some form of cannibalism, with the survivors moving on.
This Trog-eat-Trog world is a harsh one indeed, which is often a motivation for young troglodytes to set out on their own to seek a different life filled with adventure... Or, failing that - a stomach filled with adventurers.
It's interesting to note that one can often encounter Trogs thriving in the depths of the Underdark and other parts of the Webway. Some say that thousands of years ago before the construction of Commorragh, this was where the Trogs originated and that Lolth and her Dark Eldarin were the race that originally drove them into hiding. Though, it's possible they were migrants attracted by the endless pitch black tunnels, or that they are simply descendants from escaped slaves. Still, there are some that even dwell within the dark city itself. Trogs that do live in civilization such as these prefer dark, enclosed environments and will happily live alone in minimalist small abodes and usually will conduct their business outside of the home during the night. They find themselves easily falling into jobs which cater to their preference of darkness, enjoyment of isolation and their brutish nature - Bouncers, Night fill, Repo Men, Security Guards and surprisingly - Janitors.
Troglodyte Heroes:
Him-That-Stalks was a rather friendly Troglodyte - relatively speaking, until he discovered a magical artifact ring. Now he spends his days crawling the depths of his tunnels with his precious find, viciously attacking those who would attempt to take it from him.
Her-With-Scary-Skin was a fairly aggressive Troglodyte with a knack for biting off more than she could chew, leading to her deciding to visit a Modron Tomb World. After a Mech-Priest happened upon her remains surrounded by chunks of Necrodermis and broken machines, she was reforged into a Promethean and now wanders the wheel looking for a worthy challenge for her new form.
Hairy-One-That-Stops-Problems doesn't think much about what life used to be like before he was bitten and hired as a bodyguard. Hairy-One-That-Stops-Problems doesn't think much at all about anything, he doesn't have to. A hallway isn't really any different to a tunnel, and ripping apart anyone who gets to close to his employer isn't that different from stripping the meat from captured kobolds.
It wasn't until he set his stench miasma alight and burned down all of the thatched roofed cottages in his village that he realized that he was a descendant of She-Who-Lays-With-Dragon. With a mutated big beefy arm that doesn't change when taking dragon form, and a crippling addiction to the new drug - 'Consummate V' - The-One-Who-Burninates is ready to take on the strongest of bads.