The first thing one of my players asked me about after I published my
February 7th post Kicking
My Imagination in the Butt (or Ask and Ye Shall Receive) was “Can I play
one of these guys?”
And I was all like, “What? No,
these are the perpetually restless natives that are going to make your
adventuring lives a living heck!”, but then I thought about it. I have these tribes of Aztecosaurs living all
throughout my map so inevitably some of them are likely to prove friendly to
the player-characters and humanity and demi-humanity in general (random rolls
on the Monster Reaction table ensure that!).
So okay, “Yes,” the possibility of an Aztecosaur (really have got to
come up with my own name for these guys as I’d hate to end up forcing the nice
people over at Kingsisle Entertainment to sue me for copyright infringement)
player-character is no longer out of the question. But how should they be perceived by their
human and demi-human friends? In other
words, what 'race-as-class' should they be?
I’d already planned on my Avemetatarsalia
inspired tribesmen being ‘Hunter/Gatherers.’ So naturally, my savage dino-men would best be
represented as Huntsmen! Happy accident indeed, most of the hard work
is already done! So how are my dino-sapiens
different from human Huntsmen? Dino-men? Sauro-sapiens? Sauro-men (no! no Tolkien puns!)? I guess dino-sapiens will do as a general
term but I think I’ll take my cue from the creative people at Kingsisle for the
more specific names…
Anyway, let’s look at the stat blocks I came up with for them and work
from there, just like I did with the Goblins. Only, wait.
I haven’t come up with any stat blocks or I’d have posted ‘em here
already, right? So much for the work being
already done! But I’ll need the stat
blocks sooner or later anyway so let’s cobble ‘em together, shall I?
Based on the original illustration (above) and Mr. Stater’s article on
the LAND OF NOD site different types of dinosaurs equate to different (in my case) tribes
of dino-sapiens. So looking at the
original art from Kingsisle starting on the left we have an obvious carnivore
or raptor inspired tribe; being meat-eaters and knowing that their dinosaur
equivalents ate other dinosaurs they will serve as my ‘bad’ tribesmen, filling
the role of headhunters, cannibals and such.
Clearly Chaotic. Now I need to
name them.
A quick review of ancient Mesoamerican cultures via Google turns up a
number of possible name sources. In no
particular order I have the Aztecs
(unavailable), Olmecs, Toltecs, Zapotecs, Incas and Mayas; remember I’m not trying to be
exhaustive about this or anything, just looking for some good names. For our carnosaurs I’m liking Toltecosaur, no
particular reason; though the word Toltec does put me in mind of the German
word for the dead, Tote. Anyway, these mobs
should be fast, relatively protected and their natural attack is clearly a
nasty bite.
Next up is what looks like a Hadrosaur inspired tribesman. I’m thinking they should be slower than the
dino-sapien norm and rather hardy. A
tail sweep melee attack seems in order to help them survive. All mobs in melee range should save vs.
Dragon Breath or be knocked off their feet.
As for a name, I’d like to differentiate this vegetarian race from the
Toltecosaurs so I’ll steer away from the –ec ending names and I think I like
Mayasaur for these gentler dino-sapiens.
Thirdly, we have a beefy looking tribesman apparently inspired by Styracosaurus, at least if I'm reading that head frill correctly. Again I’m thinking he should be slower than
your average dino-sapien, but tougher too.
A good fighter. Maybe a charge or
a gore attack? Might as well make it a
gore attack, what’s that horn for otherwise?
As for their name, I like Olmecosaur, puts them on equal footing with
the Toltecosaurs.
Because I could easily see Mayasaurs and Olmecosaurs banding together
for mutual protection and greater numbers, I believe that they both should be
Lawful in alignment.
Finally (sorry, no undead dino-sapiens, at least not yet!) we have the
pterosaur inspired tribesmen. Fast, even
light on their feet (hollow bones, you know) but not as hardy as the other
types. The pterosaur appears to be another
meat-eater from the looks of those teeth, likely fish and other small game that
they swoop down upon, so their attack will be a bite as well. As these pterosaurs don’t have the
plant-eaters’ herding instints nor the carnosaurs aggressiveness I’m thinking
their alignment should be Neutral. As I
don’t much care for the alternative, I’ll call the pterosaurs Incasaurs.
Okay, time for the stat blocks:
Dino-sapiens
Toltecosaur Mayasaur Olmecosaur Incasaur
Armor Class: 6 7 5 7
Hit Dice: 1 1+1 2 1-1
Move: 120' (40')
90’ (30’) 90’ (30’) 120’ (40’)
Flying: -- -- -- 180’ (60’)
In water: -- 120' (40') -- --
Attacks: 1 bite or 1 tail sweep 1 gore or 1
bite or
weapon or
weapon weapon weapon
Damage: 2-7 or special or 2-7 or 2-7
or
weapon + 1 weapon
+ 1 weapon + 1 weapon + 1
No. Appearing: ----------------- 2-8 (6-36) -----------------
Save As: Fighter: 1 Fighter: 1 Fighter: 2 Fighter: 1
Morale: 10 7 12 8
Treasure Type: D D D D
Alignment: Chaotic Lawful Lawful Neutral
Dino-sapiens are a varied race of intelligent humanoid reptiles with many
characteristics common to dinosaurs.
Dino-sapiens are tribal, living in small, extended family groups. Because of their reptilian strength, all
dino-sapiens gain a bonus of + 1 on damage rolls.
The Toltecs are meat-eaters and aggressive, with a reputation for cruelty
and savagery.
The Mayasaurs eat plants and are by far the friendliest of the dino-sapien
species. Mayasaurs enjoy swimming and
are quite good at it. A Mayasaur’s tail
sweep inflicts no damage but requires everyone in melee range to save against
Dragon Breath or be knocked prone.
Mayasaurs can be found in larger villages living with Olmecosaurs.
The Olmecosaurs are also plant-eaters but tend to be more assertive
than their Mayasaurian cousins, with whom they often live.
Incasaurs eat meat but are not as aggressive as the Toltecosaurs. Incasaurs can fly under their own power and
can hunt while doing so.
Okay, stat blocks are done.
Good work everybody! Now let’s
take a look at the huntsman class in light of this new information. Hmm, Hit Dice and Armor Class are the two
points at which we have issues. I can
increase the Hit Dice for the dino-sapiens but that’ll mean a big bump in
current XP requirements. Also, looks
like our dino-sapien hunters may be foregoing any non-magical armor as their
natural Armor Classes are equal to or better than most leather armor!
Okay, finally, back to the original point of this post; I present:
The Dino-Sapien
Class
Dino-sapiens are a varied species of intelligent humanoid reptiles with
many characteristics common to dinosaurs.
They live primitively because their civilization is nearing the end of
its decline, though the ruins of their former greatness dot the verdant
landside. Like human Huntsmen, the
dino-sapiens are prized for their wilderness survival skills and the additional
combat power of their animal companions.
Dino-sapiens are often hired out as local guides or even porters for
their familiarity with the wilderness.
Players must specify which particular race of Dino-sapien their
character is from and gain that race’s specific natural attack for d6 damage
plus any Strength bonuses.
The prime requisites for a dino-sapien character are Strength and Intelligence.
If a dino-sapien has scores of 13 or
better in both Strength and Constitution, the character will gain a 5% bonus to
earned experience. If the dino-sapien's
Strength is 13 or better and his or her Intelligence is 16 or better, the
character will earn a 10% bonus on earned experience.
RESTRICTIONS: Dino-sapiens use eight-sided dice (d8) to determine
their hit points. They may wear nothing more protective than leather armor, and
may not use a shield. They may, however, use any type of weapon. A dino-sapien’s combat ability progresses as
a Cleric. A dino-sapien character must
have a minimum Intelligence score of 9.
Dino-sapiens make their saving throws as a Thief of equivalent level.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: If a dino-sapien surprises a target, usually by
making a successful Move Silently or Hide in Terrain roll, he gains a +4 bonus
to hit and inflicts double damage with any ranged weapon during the surprise
round. At 3rd level huntsmen may tame
and train an animal companion who will fight for and beside them. Only normal or giant animals can be tamed and
the animal’s hit dice cannot be greater than the dino-sapien’s level. A dino-sapien's skills includes learning how
to plan ambushes and set snares, survive in specific environments, move
silently in natural settings, hide in terrain, read tracks, remove snares,
pitfalls and other natural traps and spot ambushes, and how to hear noises in
the wild better than other humans. As a Dino-sapien
progresses in level, he or she becomes more proficient in these wilderness
skills. Use the same table as huntsmen for determining a Dino-sapien's
success in each category (depending on his or her level of experience).
Advancement:
A Dino-sapien may only advance up to 9th level (Master Dino-Huntsman).
However, this is balanced by the dino-sapien's special abilities, especially
their combination of strong natural and regular weapon attacks, natural armor
class, animal companion and wilderness skills.
Dino-sapiens may still found a lodge, which might well become the center
of a new village!
Level
|
|
|
1
|
0
|
Dino-Skinner
|
2
|
1944
|
Dino-Trapper
|
3
|
3888
|
Dino-Wrangler
|
4
|
7776
|
Dino-Seeker
|
5
|
15552
|
Dino-Tracker
|
6
|
32400
|
Dino-Stalker
|
7
|
64800
|
Dino-Hunter
|
8
|
129600
|
Dino-Huntsman
|
9
|
259200
|
Master Dino-Huntsman
|
Just to show how
out off-base I was with my dino-NPCs only plan, while I was writing this post one
of my other players got in touch with me and when I told him about the contents
of this post he was all over me saying he’d assumed that the dino-sapiens would
be a player character option from the moment he read the first post and what
the heck was I thinkin’ thinking otherwise!
Regretfully, I can see it now, an all dino PC group bent on fighting the incursion of
the humans and demi-humans into their tribal lands and not at all in favor of
desecrating the final resting places of their ancient ancestors!
Not at all the D&D campaign I was setting out to
make…
