New Player Race - The Metalborn

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Do you like this race?

Yes, I like it a lot.
4
67%
No, I don't like it.
0
No votes
I'm undecided on this
2
33%
 
Total votes: 6

Sword Guy
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 121
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New Player Race - The Metalborn

Post by Sword Guy »

Metalborns:

Steel for strength, mithril for speed,
This metalborn lives by a single creed,
Mercury blood, copper for thought,
Look at this marvelous thing we have wrought,
Nickel for beauty, lead for weight,
Something that no one else can create,
Titanium hair, platinum skin,
This being is now one of us, our kin,
Zinc to protect from the ravage of rust,
This is a creature we can truly trust,
Aluminum plating, trimmed with tin,
Metal does not commit human sins,
Gold luxurious, silver devout,
Iron within, iron without

Metalborns are a mysterious race. No one knows exactly where they originated, how many there are. Metalborns are not even a race, some whisper, but a experiment in constructs gone wrong. But whatever someone may think of them personally, there is always one thing they agree on: when judged for sheer power, a metalborn can beat the best.

Personality: Metalborns are known for their serious demeanors, their excellent strategies, and the lengths of their lives. They make casual friends easily, but few ever move beyond that. Those that do, however, find that a metalborn can be their best friend, truest ally, and most reliable comrade. Metalborns are not likely to jest, and have very little patience for those who are excessively foolish. Those who take the time to think about an action, including the wider or more lasting effects, will often earn a metalborn’s respect.

Physical Description: Metalborns vary widely in appearance, depending on the individual. All have skin that appears slightly metallic, but the colors change drastically. Their hair has the consistency of wire, and they have short, square-angled beards that are kept trimmed. Their eyes are usually either orange or ice blue, with the occasional individual having grey eyes with a hint of silver. They are between 5 and 6 feet tall, and weigh somewhere in the range of 170 to 220 pounds. No metalborn in known history has ever died of old age, and there are no children metalborns ever seen. Old metalborns have been seen, usually claiming to be between 1000-2500 years old.

Relations: Metalborns, due to their very nature, get along well with dwarves. To gnomes they are a curiosity, but never a victim of a large prank. Halflings dislike them, because they cannot appreciate the finer things in life. Humans are such a varied bunch, but they generally feel slightly uneasy around them. Elves find their artificiality disturbing, and will make no efforts to become close friends with such a mockery of nature. Half-orcs are usually unopinionated about them, their respect and disgust vying for each other’s control. Among all the races, only half-elves really identify with metalborns, seeing in them the same placement outside the norm, the same loneliness.

Alignment: Metalborns are never chaotic, but there are a great many devoted to neutrality. Lawfulness is not an uncommon trait, either, but almost no metalborns have been recorded as being extreme in any trait. Metalborns tend very mildly towards good.

Metalborn Lands: There are no discovered metalborn lands to speak of, but there are a very few places on Mechanus where the metalborns have set up colonies. There, they are seen as unlawful, and generally looked down upon. Here, they are often the opposite, and discriminated against for the same reason.

Religion: Most metalborns have a passing relationship with Dotrak, the Great Engine. Fewer recognize Moradin, because the extreme pursuit of good as an abstract concept rankles slightly.

Language: Metalborns speak Mechados, the language of Mechanus. It has its own alphabet, usually consisting of a series of interlocking shapes. Some races even buy tapestries of the language and display them, relying on the subtle intricacies to impress guests. Many metalborns often learn Dwarven, Terran, and some even know a smattering of Draconic.

Names: Metalborns have such widely varied names that they are exotic everywhere, but each metalborn is often given a “third name,” which is really nothing more than a designation used among other metalborns.

Designations: Ares, Delta, Great, Artemis, Guard, Nova, Perfect, Avatar, Xi, Storm, Deus, Grand, Spirit, Panzer.

Adventurers: A metalborn may be driven to exploration by the urge to seek out others of their kind, their desire to expand and test their own abilities, or even the simple temptation of power. There are as many reasons as the stars in the sky for a metalborn to go wandering, and every one is used at one time or another.

Metalborn Racial Traits:

+2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma, +2 Constitution: Metalborns are durable and smart, but often lack common sense. They don’t get along with everyone the best, either.

Medium: As Medium creatures, metalborns have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Metalborn base land speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision: Metalborns can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but is otherwise like normal sight, and metalborns can function just fine with no light at all.

+4 racial bonus on Craft (blacksmithing), Craft (mechcraft) and Knowledge (steam engines) checks.

+2 Natural AC Bonus.

Automatic Languages: Common and Mechados. Bonus Languages: Terran, Dwarven, Draconic.

Favored Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass metalborn takes an experience point penalty, the metalborn’s highest-level class does not count.

(The last line of the poem is taken from Warhammer 40,000.)
DragonMech DM soon, with any luck.

Owner of all DragonMech books, Etherscope core book, and DCC 12.5: Iron Crypt of the Heretics.
Reese
Mighty-Thewed Reaver
Posts: 291
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:31 pm

Post by Reese »

one comment, your race whould have atleast a +1 level adjustment (uneven stats, con and int aren't worth wis and chr) and natural armor

(i was checking some stuff in savace species, and it has guidelines for determining level adjustments, and i recall that both of those are, individually, reasons for a +1)
Namfoodle "Sparklediver" Raulnor
{Wounds -12; HP = 11/23}
Sword Guy
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 121
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2004 9:28 am

Post by Sword Guy »

Maybe. I based it off of the dwarf, which had bonuses against specific races, but I felt that the general natural armor bonus wouldn't be too much of a problem. (A lot of magic items and class abilities give a natural armor bonus, but those bonuses do not stack.) I wanted to remove some of the dwarf's specific bonuses, and instead give more general abilities.

I also must point out that in the DMG, page 173, it shows a table for figuring out which stats are worth more than others. This is under the Creating New Races section. By that table, the statistics penalties and bonuses are balanced. I'm not sure whether Savage Species changes that table, or has more specific guidelines. But I was working off the core books here, cut me a break. :wink:
DragonMech DM soon, with any luck.

Owner of all DragonMech books, Etherscope core book, and DCC 12.5: Iron Crypt of the Heretics.
walrusjester
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Location: Surrounded by corn

Post by walrusjester »

It's an interesting idea. I'd like a little more specific information -- where do they think they came from? Why are they so detached about ethical and moral questions? What gives them the skill bonuses they have? Shouldn't they have a favored class, in keeping with the d20 precedent of non-human races favoring certain classes? As for balance, my gut says they should lose one of the following: darkvision, the AC bonus, or one of the stat bonuses.

That said, it's a neat concept. If you iron it out a little (ha!), post the results!
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