Smiley
Archmage
Posts: 454
Location: Crystal Bay, Nv
Joined Date: March 28 2003, 21:54
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Gothic Inspired Races
The idea is to blend the colonial period of America (17th century) with the gothic horror (frankenstien, werewolves, vampires, etc.) The setting of the campaign is the New World (North America, South America, and the Carribean). Story arcs will include colonial conflicts, frontiermanship, science vs. mysticism, tradition vs. progress, hunter gather vs. home steader.
GOTHIC RACIAL LANGUAGES
There is no "Common" language, but French is considered the universal tongue (Lingua Franca). Since all the player character races are technically human they use their actual regional languages. Colonials use the languages of there homelands. Natives speak their tribal tongue but many learn a smattering of a European language for trade and diplomacy. The most common languages of the Americas of the New World are English, Spanish, French, and Dutch.
GOTHIC RACES
Instead of the classic fantasy races (elves, dwarves, etc.), the races of AMERICAN GOTHIC are human and altered human. Altered humans include tieflings, dhampir, reanimated, and shifters (lesser weres)
HUMAN
Humans are the primary race of the AMERICAN GOTHIC game. The other races available to player characters are variations rather than true genetic variations. Most humans and a deep seated fear of the races listed below with they consider abominations. Humans have the same statistics and racial feats at those presented in the PH.
PLAYING A HUMAN
The vast majority of sentient creatures on Earth are humans and you have the whole world culture to device the nature and physical appearance of your character. Since this campaign is based in alternate version of North American, you can be a member of the Native Nations, a Colonial, or a Foreigner. For employment you may choose to be a free citizen or indentured slave, soldier or pirate, preacher or merchant, rich wastrel or poorhouse laborer. You may have come to the New World to seek your fortune, escape religious persecution, or start your life anew in the Colonies. You can chose your own politics and be a crown loyalist, a colonial separatist, or one of those radical revolutionaries who proposes a democratic government.
TIEFLING
Tieflings are humans born from an infernal pact. Barren women sometimes will go to extremes to produce a child. In some societies, if the wife can not produce a male heir for her husband she may find herself destitute or murdered. Some women can not bear the thought of being childless and seek damnation to gain an infernal pregnancy. Those that worship infernal deities may The most infamous of all Tieflings was Prince James the false heir of Henry IIV. To please her king, Anne Bolin gave birth to the Tiefling prince. At the discovery of this crime, she and the infant child were both burned at the stake as heretics. It goes without saying that Tieflings are universally reviled by organized religions and can only expect persecution if their true nature is discovered. The most common mark of a Tiefling in AMERICAN GOTHIC is a small tail extending from the base of the spine that can easily be hid beneath their clothing. Tieflings have the same statistics and racial feats as “Tieflings”.
PLAYING A TIEFLING
Tieflings are the pawns of the Infernal Powers in a great game beyond human compression. When you reach adulthood, you will be periodically confronted by individuals that claim to represent the infernal powers. The infernal powers never have your best interests at heart and will seek to manipulate your actions and corrupt you. The actions you take when presented with temptation will determine whether you are a minion or adversary of the infernal powers.
DHAMPIR
Vampires of the Colonial Era have developed elaborate rituals and traditions which allow them to live among humans harmoniously and undetected. A few vampires remain rapacious, malevolent undead that prefer to feed on unwilling victims. Civilized vampires create a court of human admirers and sycophants that either wish to become vampires themselves or are addicted to the dark pleasure of a vampire’s embrace. Most treat their courts little better than cattle but a few have fallen in love with some of their admirers. The children of these unnatural unions are the source of the first dhampirs (humans with a measure of the abilities and weaknesses of the vampire). The modern majority of dhampirs are the fruit of a dhampir parent and another human.
Nearly every country has its own unique clan of vampires and secret blood harvesting sects. These vampires spend decades or even centuries among humans, and at least feel a sense of ownership if not loyalty to the land and citizens of the nations in which they live. Other undead races that feed on humans are the greatest threat and most hated foe of vampires. In this way a vampire and its dhampir minions can become guardian for their communities. Dhampirs often are the favored courtiers of vampires since their long lives allow them to accompany their undead patrons through multiple human generations. Other dhampirs become the dedicated foes of vampires in rejection of their dreadful heritage.
Play a dhampir if you want…
• To be a hero with a dark side to overcome.
• To be fast, stealthy and resilient.
• To be a member of a race that favors the paladin, rogue, and warlock classes.
DHAMPIR
RACIAL TRAITS
Average Female Height: 5’ plus 1d10 inches
Average Female Weight: 100lbs plus 1d4lbs per inch over 5’
Average Male Height: 5'6” plus 1d10 inches
Average Male Weight: 120lbs plus 1d61bs per inch over 5’6”
Average Lifespan: 300 years +1d20 years
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Ability Scores: +2 CHARISMA, +2 DEXTERITY
Size: Medium
Speed: 7 squares
Vision: Low-Light
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Languages: By cultural background
Skill Bonuses: +2 Bluff, +2 Stealth
Bloodlust: You take a -2 penalty on any attack roll that does not include the nearest bloodied creature. If there are no bloodied creatures within 10 squares, you suffer no penalty to attack rolls. You also gain a +1 racial bonus to attack and damage rolls against bloodied foes.
Dhampir Regeneration: You can use dhampir regeneration as an encounter power.
Dhampir Regeneration
Dhampir Racial Power
You call upon your vampirism nature to shrug off fatigue and damage.
Encounter & Healing
Minor Action - Personal
Special: You must be injured to use this power.
Effect: Until the end of the encounter, for as long as you are wounded, you gain regeneration 2 (regeneration 4 at 11th level, regeneration 6 at 21st level).
PHYSICAL QUALITIES
Dhampirs usually pass for human at cursory inspection by those who are not knowledgeable in the supernatural or not paying close attention to details. Dhampir appear as attractive human with finely chiseled features, slightly pointed bat-like ears, and pale skin tones ranging from pale ivory to pallid grey to pure albino white. They always have vibrantly colorful hair in the normal human shades and soulful eyes that glow slightly with an inner fire when highly emotional. Dhampir possess small fangs that can be generally be concealed but still betray their nature to the careful observer and a taste for raw meat and blood infused wines.
PLAYING A DHAMPIR
Dhampirs have no lands or racial culture of their own. Most are indoctrinated their human parent’s culture or raised as part of a vampire’s court. If their heritage is known in human society, they oft times are forced to the fringes due to fear, resulting in many being outcasts. More often than not though, Dhampir learn at an early stage in life to disguise their nature to better blend in human society.
In most ways the dhampir acts as a normal member of their human culture. Dhampirs are very social by nature and are always drawn to others and prefer large communities such as cities and towns. Dhampirs are often vane, for they can tell at an early age that they are hardier, faster, and more attractive than ordinary humans. Many even go so far as to take on the opinion that non-dhampir are beneath them, becoming proud of their heritage. Other dhampir hate their heritage, depending mostly on their exposure to vampire culture or what they are taught about vampires in their youth.
The life of a dhampir is usually hard, being torn between their mortal natural and supernatural heritage having to contend with the dark curse passed to them by their vampiric progenitors. Likewise, dhampirs often retain some of their vampiric heritage, being driven, social yet often mysterious, power hungry, prone to mood swings of darkness and brooding and even a tendency and penchant for violence.
Dhampir do not tend to be religious or spiritual. Some however, choose to follow faiths that can either aid them to become more like their vampire heritage or to destroy those that created them.
Many dhampirs turn to the life of adventure, allowing them to use their skills and strengths in a way that is generally found acceptable by their peers. Many do so to hunt vampires if they were raised to despise their heritage, while others do so simple to strengthen themselves, or for the thrill of “cloak and dagger” intrigue.
Dhampir Characteristics: Agile, mysterious, quick, sinister, stealthy.
Names: Dhampirs are named based on the culture in which they are raised. Many routinely adopt aliases in order to hide their abnormally long lifespan.
DHAMPIR ADVENTURERS
Three sample dhampir adventurers are described below.
Kours Truiso is a dhampir warlock torn between good and evil. He longs to fit into the French society in which he lives and would like to call himself a moral man. At the same time, he fears that his soul is irretrievably tainted by the touch of evil – both the evil in his blood and his sinister violent rage. He feels as if he is on a tightrope between good and evil and might eventually fall either way. His companions recognize the good in his heart and trust him, and that trust has been enough on some days to keep him from sliding into evil. His life is tormented, and though he believes he is called to a great destiny, he is not sure whether he will become a hero or a villain.
Myra Byrd is a dhampir paladin and suffragette who prays daily her commitment to live justly and honorably will overcome her shameful heritage. She has no love for dogma and political debate, but she feels driven to nurture and protect humans (especially women and children) – the antithesis to all the evil in her heritage. She leads a group of adventurers in strikes against evil outsiders and undead, and dreams of one day leading an army in the destruction of vampirism. Through faith and martial discipline, she strives to keep her dark nature under tight control.
Tadidarius Flint is a dhampir rogue, a native of the streets and alleys of his sooty metropolis. He is no stranger to the dark side of human nature. As far as he’s concerned, good and evil are matters for philosophers to discuss in their universities. The reality of life of poverty is simple survival, and he’s willing to do what’s necessary to survive. As part of an adventuring group, he uses his natural talents to perform the dirtier jobs that others are unwilling or unable to do. However, he has had his first real taste of trust and friendship, and wishes to maintain the approval of his peers.
RACIAL FEATS - HEROIC
Any feat in the following section is available to a dhampir character of any level who meets the prerequisites. Heroic tier feats are the only feats you can take if you are 10th level or lower.
CELERITY [Dhampir]
Prerequisites: Dhampir, Dex 13
Benefit: You may add 1 extra square of movement each time you shift.
DHAMPIR RESISTANCE [Dhampir]
Prerequisites: Dhampir, Con 13
Benefit: You gain a +5 racial bonus to saving throws against disease and poison.
FRENZIED BLOODLUST [Dhampir]
Prerequisites: Dhampir
Benefit: Your racial bonus to attack and damage against bloodied foes increases to +2.
RACIAL FEATS - PARAGON
Any feat in the following section is available to a dhampir character of 11th level or higher who meets the prerequisites.
DHAMPIR HEALTH [Dhampir]
Prerequisites: Dhampir, Con 15
Benefit: You are immune to disease.
QUICK HEALER [Dhampir]
Prerequisites: Dhampir, Con 17
Benefit: Increase your healing surge value by your Constitution modifier, and increase your regeneration rating by 1.
IMPROVED CELERITY [Dhampir]
Prerequisites: Dhampir, Dex 15
Benefit: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift.
REANIMATED
A Reanimated is man or woman raised from the dead not through divine power but as a miracle of modern science. Unlike magic, electromagnetic conduced revival requires a fresh, health corpse in pristine undamaged condition. To meet these criteria, the surgeon must stitch together a body from the best preserved parts of a variety of human cadavers. The resulting patchwork body is larger than a normal human since the surgeon needs the extra elbow room to access all the organs of the corpse before it is revived. The reanimated corpse has little memory of his or her past life other than language comprehension and basic skill and must rebuild their life all over again. A reanimated man or woman can be killed again just like any other human, but gains a greater measure of strength and constitution than they had in their previous life.
Reanimated were once the just the scientific projects of eccentric geniuses, but have become a viable monetary product in the New World. The parts for these creatures are taken from the poor that die in the hundreds every year through out Europe. Once reanimated, these creatures are ship to the New World as slave labor resistant to tropical diseases. In the New World, few reanimated achieve freedom and most are despised by ordinary humans. What moral force behind freeing these laboring creatures is focused more on their destruction than on granting full human rights.
REANIMATED
Racial Abilities
Average Height: 7’ plus 1d12” tall
Average Weight: 200lbs plus 2d6lbs per inch over 7’
Average Lifespan: Resumes normal human lifespan
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Ability Scores: +2 STRENGTH and +2 CONSTITUTION
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Low-light vision
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Languages: Common, Giant
Skill Bonus: +2 Athletics, +2 Intimidate
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Hardened Fists: Increase unarmed attack damage to d6
Oversized: You can use weapons of your size or one size larger as if they were your size.
Battlefield Respite: You can use Burst of Angst as encounter power.
Burst of Angst
Reanimated Racial Power
You sweep your weapon around, forcing your enemies to step back and giving you a break in the midst of a roaring battle.
Encounter • Healing, Weapon
Standard
Close burst 1
Attack: Strength vs. Fortitude
Hit: The target is pushed 1 square.
Effect: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until the beginning of your next turn.
Special: At the end of your turn, if there are no enemies adjacent to you, you may spend a healing surge.
PHYSICAL QUALITIES
The reanimated have the lingering surgical scars form their creation and is often a patchwork of parts taken from multiple cadavers. In addition a reanimated often gains an unusual skin tone such as stone grey, orange, purple, green, or light blue. The very size of the reanimated leaves little room for doubt about the creatures origin since at over seven feet both male and female reanimated tower above the human average.
PLAYING A REANIMATED
The world sees you as either property or a dangerous abomination, but you possess all the thoughts and feelings of any ordinary human. Your very nature is a paradox. You don’t fit in with other humans do to you bizarre nature and the loss of the memories your previous life as a human. The undead see you as a food source since you are still a living creature that can bleed and age as any ordinary human. Many reanimated are resigned to a life of slavery since they see no other option. Just as many resent their condition and will strike out at their creators and owners in retaliation. Some reanimated seek to create their own communities and a new family away from other humans. Others struggle to regain their human rights and dignity. Built for strength a reanimated occasionally trained for combat and blood sports as often as manual labor. As an adventurer, you are most likely a run-away slave or an escaped science project. You suffer from the stigma of your nature wherever you travel, but you can gain acceptance with other through you actions and accomplishments.
Common Characteristics: Strong, sullen, shy, uncouth, vengeful, stoic, or suspicious
Names: Reanimated rarely are given proper names by their owners or creators and are often assigned only a number. The first thing you do as recently escaped slaves do is chose a name of you own devising.
Racial Feats - Heroic
COSMETIC SURGERY [Reanimated]
Prerequisite: Reanimated, Bluff Skill
Benefit: Your scars have been surgically removed, your height reduced by 20%, and your skin tone re-tinted so you can successfully fool others into believing you are an ordinary human being.
CROSS STITCHED [Reanimated]
Prerequisite: Reanimated, CON 13+
Benefit: You have been put together extremely well and gain a +1 hit point bonus on all healing effects place on you by others.
DRAWN AND QUARTERED [Reanimated]
Prerequisite: Reanimated, STR 13+
Benefit: Your arms and legs are proportionally longer and stronger than an ordinary human and you gain a +1 bonus on your grappling attack rolls.
Racial Feats - Paragon
LEVERAGED TAKEOVER [Reanimated]
Prerequisite: Reanimated, Weapon Focus: Any two-handed weapon
Benefit: If you are armed your weapon focus two-handed weapon and hit with a charge attack, you can make bull rush after dealing damage against the same target.
BOLTED ON [Reanimated]
Prerequisite: Reanimated, Cross Stitched
Benefit: Your bones are reinforced with steel and are extraordinarily hard to break. You recover two additional hit points on all healing surges you use.
WINDMILL DEFENSE [Reanimated]
Prerequisite: Reanimated
Benefit: If a bulrush attack fails against you, you can immediately make and an opportunity attack against the foe.
SHIFTERS
Shifters are a minority of those infected with the lycanthropy virus without completely losing their humanity. These humans gain a measure of supernatural power and some of the features of the beast including pointed teeth, animal like eyes, and excessive hair. They are not carriers of lycanthropy but their tainted nature often moves ordinary humans to fear, hatred, or pity. Many shifters lose their place in civilized society are forced into hermitism, crime, or rebelion. Many white men find a place in the native tribes that seek their beast nature as a spiritual blessing.
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If you like this check out: CABBAGES AND KINGS
Last edited by: Smiley on 09-24-09 14:53:05 IP: Hidden |
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03-04-09 05:18:08 
