Monday, September 9, 2013

Barbarian Conqueror King: Lizardmen Redux

I think I'll revise my base Lizardman race to be more balanced and playable than the canonical Thrassians, as Lizardmen are quite common in my Barbarian Conqueror King setting and, together with Geckomen, replace the default demihumans.

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Lizardmen are one of the two playable non-human races (the other being Geckomen) of the Barbarian Conqueror King setting  for the Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS). While other sentient species other than Men and Lizardmen exist in this world, most of them are monstrous and ardent followers of Chaos (Toadmen are an example of this). Lizardmen, on the other hand, exhibit a full range of beliefs and personalities, similar to what Humans do; some are Lawful and follow their goddess Ixchala; most are Neutral; and some are Chaotic and follow the dread gods of their old Serpentmen masters.

In this setting, not all Lizardmen are the savages depicted in the typical fantasy setting. While some live in savage barbarity in the jungles and swamps, others have built, and still inhabit, massive cities, not least of which is the city called Cibola by humans - a massive Class II market rich beyond belief and sprawling over several large islands in its lake.

A Lizardman in Barbarian Conqueror King looks like an upright, anthropomorphic Warer Monitor, with a long, thick tail, a forked tongue and a brain-case worthy of its human-like intelligence. Lizardmen are hardy survivors, bred for manual labor and as cannon-fodder by the dead Serpentmen eons ago. They fight very well and thrive in warm, humid, watery environments, such as their homeland of Punt. Lizardmen are warm-blooded (though they resent cold climate) and are omnivores, albeit with a taste for fresh meat and fish.

Lizardman character classes are created using the Lizardman racial category and experience points. Requirements, class category values, hit points per level after 9th, and experience point progressions are modified as noted below.
Requirements:
All Lizardman classes require a minimum Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution of 9 or better.
Class category Values:
  • Fighting: The build points allocated to the class’s Fighting Value may be increased by 1 or 2 points by the Lizardman Value (see below). Use the effective values to find the class’s fighting abilities, up to a maximum of 4 points.
  • Divine: Lizardmen may not have a Divine Value higher than 2.
  • Arcane: Lizardmen may not have an Arcane Value higher than 3.

Lizardmen, as a race (for custom classes), are almost always taken at level 2, representing a Lizardman (or Lizardwoman). Levels 0 and 1 are described below for the sake of completeness the rare case someone would like to play a magically-bred hybrid between Humans and Lizardmen (which is a rarity, but could plausibly exist in this setting).

Lizardman 0 (XP Cost 125): at Lizardman 0, the character appears largely human, but his skin is scaly, his teeth are pointed, and his fingernails are long and claw-like (though not powerful enough at this level to actually cause increased damage in melee). At Lizardman 0, the class will have the following four custom powers:
  • Scaly Hide: The character’s base unarmored AC is 1 instead of 0.
  • Swimming: The character gains a swimming movement rate of 60' per turn. The character may hold his breath for 12 rounds (2 minutes).

Lizardman 1 (XP Cost 300): at Lizardman 1, the character’s skin develops into a light, scaly hide, and the jaws of the head are elongated. A short, vestigial tail appears, and the fingernails develop into true claws. At Lizardman 1, the class will have the following five custom powers:
  • Fangs and Claws: The character gains a claw/claw/bite attack. The claws deal 1d2-1 damage each, while the bite deals 1d4-1 damage.
  • Inhumanity: The character suffers a -1 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans. The character gets a +1 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of lizardmen.
  • Scaly Hide: The character’s base unarmored AC is 2 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 90'.
  • Swimming: The character gains a swimming movement rate of 90' per turn. The character may hold his breath for 30 rounds (5 minutes).

Lizardman 2 (XP Cost 850): At Lizardman 2, the character is a full-blooded Lizardman. He stands 6' to 7' tall, and has the head and tail of a lizard. His hands have evolved into sharp claws, his reptilian mouth is filled with fangs, and his skin has developed into a tough scaly hide. At Lizardman 2, the class will have the following five custom powers:
  • Fangs and Claws: The character gains a claw/claw/bite attack routine. The claws deal 1d3-1 damage each, while the bite deals 1d6-1 damage.
  • Inhumanity: The character suffers a -2 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans. The character gets a +2 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of lizardmen.
  • Scaly Hide: The character’s base unarmored AC is 3 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 60'.
  • Superior Fighting: The class’s base Fighting Value is effectively increased by 1 for all purposes.
  • Swimming: The character gains a swimming movement rate of 120' per turn. The character may hold his breath for 1 turn.

A Lizardman’s claw and/or bite damage will be modified by the character’s STR adjustment and damage bonus. However, Lizardmen cannot use their fangs and claws while wielding weapons, using shields, or wearing armour heavier than chain mail.
Experience Point Progression After 8th Level
Lizardmen increase the amount of experience required to gain each level after 8th by 30,000XP.

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