Ophidian - Serpents of Eden
Aug 9, 2018 1:31:41 GMT -6
Post by Amanojyaku on Aug 9, 2018 1:31:41 GMT -6
The Ophidians were originally a desert-dwelling people. A natural gift for finding underground water sources, paired with natural talents for tunneling, meant that they could carve out an existence in the most barren of deserts, and it is perhaps due to their presence that many desert civilizations were able to rise in the first place. Matriarchal by culture, with rigid caste lines, the Ophidians built their cities from the top down, with only the richest and most opulent homes actually above the desert surface and the rest of their people living in elaborate networks of underground tunnels and caverns.
Traditionally, Ophidians are committed to Bahamut. Their Maharani rule in his name, each seen to be an earthly embodiment of the Dragon God who go to join him in his paradise on their deaths. Their priestesses keep the word of Bahamut strong, enforcing the caste structure that sustains Ophidian society and preserving the traditions of their people. Ophidian culture is heavy on themes of death and rebirth, symbolized by the shedding of the skin.
Physical Characteristics
Average Length: 2.4-3.7m
Average Weight: 110-160kg
Languages: Trade, Draconic
Common Personality Traits: Aloof, focused, passionate, seductive, patient
Common Physical Traits: Staring eyes, hissing voice, serpent tail, forked tongue, shiny scales
Example Names: Deis, Mara, Isha, Piper, Zelia
Racial Statistics
Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Dexterity or Charisma
Skill Bonus: +1 to Politics and Persuasion
Power: Snake for a Butt!: You have only one Leg, but it has Armor 4. You take no penalties for having only one leg, can Stand as a free action, and gain +4 Speed for the purposes of the Run and Charge actions.
Size: 5
Racial Feats
Anathematic Abomination [Ophidian, Paragon]
The greatest of serpents are spoken of in legend, massive creatures dwarfed only by the largest of dragons whose venom is the death of worlds. Gain +1 Size, and the TN to resist the Toxic property of any of your attacks is 10 + 5 times your Excellence.
Aspect of Gorgon [Ophidian]
You have a flatter, narrower face, more reminiscent of an elf's with a crest of serpentine tendrils, that serves as a warning to go with your brass-scaled hands. Gain +2 Armor on each of your arms. You can cast Lignify using your Level + Composure instead of the normal magic test. If you can make eye contact, gain a free raise on the magic test. This feat can only be taken at character creation.
Forked Tongue [Ophidian]
Ophidians can be a very alluring people, when they choose to. You gain a free Fellowship specialty (Seduction).
Snake Hug [Ophidian]
You've spent plenty of time on the kegelcizer, and can use the muscles of your lower half to great effect. You get +1k1 on attempts to initiate a Grapple, and while in a grapple gain a natural weapon with the following profile: 3k2 I; Brawling, Snare. This weapon may always be used with special attacks that use the Grapple action.
Snakenosis [Ophidian]
By tapping into your serpent heritage and staring deep into a person's eyes, you can entrance them to a small degree. Roll Charisma + Charm against the target's Mental Defense, and if successful the target is affected as by the Charm Person spell. If you fail, the other party is not aware of anything other than that you stared at them really weird for a while.
Viper's Kiss [Ophidian]
Puffy cheeks and moles in certain places are "cute" to some humanoids; among Ophidians they mean you're much more dangerous. You gain Dark Sight and a Claws and Teeth weapon with the following profile: 1k1 R; Brawling, Toxic.
Physical Qualities
Ophidians are a strong people, with dense reptilian muscles and a lot more mass than their upper half would indicate. They are generally slender, with flat, wedge-shaped heads and blunt muzzles full of short, curved teeth. An Ophidian's eyes are large, often with slitted pupils, and are generally a vivid red or yellow shade. Ophidians use scale patterns to identify each other in the same way that other races might use hair color; theirs are generally earthen shades of brown or grey, but certain bright primary colors have become more common in recent years. Ophidians have long, forked tongues and a tendency to stress sibilant sounds.
Ophidians favor loose, somewhat revealing clothing, and armor tends to be smooth and curved like egg shells, with odd spiral grooves around leg sections to aid in traction. Their favored jewelry includes primarily piercings, which can be hooked through the scales without actually piercing skin, and they have a special soft spot for gold and Orichalcum, both associated with their traditional view of Bahamut. Ophidian architecture, perhaps as a kindness to their serpentine bodies, almost never has corners; buildings and corridors are designed to resemble eggs, both inside and out, with three-way confluences that resemble the forked tongue being far more common than the hard four-ways that other races would employ.
Ophidians lay eggs rather than bearing live young. An Ophidian egg takes about 3 months to hatch, and an Ophidian grows to maturity in about 10 years, to live about a century on average.
Playing an Ophidian
Ophidian culture is traditionally very formal and very structured; an Ophidian is raised from hatching to know their exact social standing, and to recognize the standings of those around them. They are expected to instinctually recognize their relative merit and behave accordingly, which doesn't really hold up so well in the cultural melting pot that is the Great Wheel. Exposure to the Wheel at large, though, has led to quite a rift in Ophidian society, as they learned to recognize some of their customs for what they are.
Historically, Ophidian societies tend to be theocratic, assuming a divine mandate given by Bahamut to the Maharani priestess-queens. This led to the regimented caste structure most Ophidians seem to observe nowadays, in which individuals are assigned to groups according to their notable features and abilities, with the cobra priesthood acting as a ruling class. Until very recently, though, this system of beliefs ascribed Samsara - the cycle of death and rebirth, symbolized by the shedding of the skin - to Bahamut, when in fact it resonates much more strongly with a darker goddess.
More "worldly" Ophidians tend to show greater interest in the meritocracy espoused by the Cult of Tiamat. Why shouldn't one be allowed to rise beyond one's accident of hatching to the level of one's ability? They call themselves Yuan-Ti, in the knowledge that Tiamat's name has become the root of several Draconic words meaning "adversary." Bahamut-fearing Ophidians have the opinion that anyone who worships Tiamat must seek to despoil everything they hold dear (and eat babies), but the Yuan-Ti simply want them to stop lying to themselves and accept they've been worshiping a lie.
The nature of Ophidian reproduction is such that they don't consider it to be worth the effort to figure out who their fathers are, and so regardless of which deity they favor they tend to form matriarchal societies and trace their families exclusively through the female line. Even some Yuan-Ti can be confused by the concept of tracing a family tree through two parents!
Ophidian Heroes
Recognized for his true faith to Bahamut, Isha was trialed and inducted into the Final Word of Kings. On his first mission to exterminate a nomadic warlord, he was struck down in combat. But before the final blow could be struck, Bahamut chose Isha as his champion, infusing him with a burst of energy from the sky. Filled with newfound power, he smote the warlord down and slaughtered the rest of the tribe. He returned, getting officially into his new life as an assassin.
Mara spent her life living in the deserts, teaching children and raising her own. But as she ages she grows weary of the same things over and over. She decides that she should do something else, and gives a heartfelt prayer to the moon. Luna responds, marking her with the "gift" of her embrace, making Mara a werewolf. After Mara loses control for the first time, she leaves her life behind and heads into the Great Wheel to find herself again.
While sleeping in an an underground cavern while traveling, Deis's body was infiltrated by a symbiotic warp rendering insect, fusing with him and imbuing him with power. It speaks into his mind, trying to be friendly and protective. It wants to help Deis become even better. Deis continues to wander the Great Wheel, now struggling with the life inside of him.
