Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MalkavianMadMan 05-03-07, 09:45 PM	Ok i was just thinking about my faveorite race for warhammer fantasy the skaven and have attempted to create a balanced version of these little rat men for D and D. Constructive critiscism is apreciated. Skaven Racial Traits - +2 Dex -2 int -2 cha. Skaven are quick and agile but usually stupid and antisocial - Small. Skaven are smaller then a man comparable in height to a halfling. As such they are small creatures - Skaven base land speed is 40. - Darkvision 60 ft - Black Hunger. A skaven must eat twice as much per day to stave off hunger. But may call upon the power of the black hunger once per day as a barbarians rage for an equivilent level barbarian. HOWEVER they must gorge themselves on food afterwards (effected by starvation if they do not) - Carrion feeder. A skaven can subside themself on the dead flesh of their enemies. They may eat flesh from recently killed victums without penalty they must eat approximitly their body weight in meat for it to count as their daily food need. Any NPC who sees this has a - 2 reaction penalty towards the skaven - Scent. Skaven have a highly developed sense of smell - +2 to spot search listen hide and move silently. - +2 reflex save - Skaven may not be Druids or Rangers Languages: Common, Undercommon and skaven. May choose Skaven sign language, dwarven, gnome or goblin as bonus languages Favoured Class: Rogue Also some Skaven only feats Tail Fighter Prerequisits: Dex 17, Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved two weapon fighting, base attack bonus +6. Skaven only Advantage. A Skaven may carry a light weapon in his or her tail gaining an extra attack at a -10 penilty. Clan Eshin Adept Born with black fur into the clan eshin you have trained in the arts of stealth under deathmaster snikitt. Wherever there is shadows their is a reason to fear you. Prerequisits: 1st level only. Rouge Monk or ninja only Skaven only Advantage: +2 Dex +2 inititive +1 dodge AC StormVermin You were born the strongest of your litter carrying the feirce black fur. You are larger and stronger then most skaven. Prerequisits: 1st level only. Barbarian, Fighter or Paladin only Skaven only Advantage: +2 strength, +2 intimidate and gain a natural 1D6 Bite attack but become a medium creature with a speed of 30 Whitefur Though not as strong as others you are destined for greatness, the horned rat blesses you. Magic flows through and around you and you know it is a gift only you can control Prerequisits: 1st level only, Bard, Sorcerer, Cleric or wizard only Skaven only Advantage: +2 cha or int (your choice) +2 concentrate and spell craft please post any critiscim
j0lt 05-11-07, 04:29 AM	Have you looked at the Nezumi race from Oriental Adventures/Rokugan?
MalkavianMadMan 05-11-07, 04:12 PM	Sadly i have not got access to those books
The_Keeper_Of_The_Flame 05-12-07, 04:27 PM	I think the race is a little overpowered because: 1. Scent allows you to detect invisibility 2. It gives you +2 in 5 different skills 3. The Black Hunger and Carrion Feeder abilities allows you to get a barbarian rage and then eat the corpses of the people you killed Also, I don't think the Skaven are stupid (take for example Clan Skryre), they just lack common sense. -2 Wisdom would make more sense.
Ruerl 05-14-07, 05:03 AM	Not to mention that you have omitted the part that compared to an average human, a skaven is pretty weak, and cowardly. True, according to the core warhammer rules they have the same strength as a human, but please keep in mind that the warhammer system only has 10 points to do with, a goblin in warhammer has strength 3 too, so does an elf and a dwarf. My point here is that the races above are having a very different strength "story" wise, this is something you can represent in D&D by ability modifiers. Give the skaven a racial penalty to con of -2 and I think the table would look somewhat more balanced. Regards Ruerl p.s. Agreeing with "the_keeper_of_the_flame" skaven are not directly stupid, they tend to have brilliant minds that tend to forget to think things over more than once, a penalty to wisdom would be more appropriate than one to int.
Vulkhar 05-14-07, 03:30 PM	I think those Skaven "Feats" would work better as Prestige Classes, with "Skaven" as prerequisite or as substitute levels.
spyone 05-24-07, 09:47 AM	- Small. Skaven are smaller then a man comparable in height to a halfling. As such they are small creatures I'm only going by the figures here, as I am unfamiliar with Warhammer's rules, but the Skaven I've seen were definitely not Small. Hulking is the word that leaps to mind. Shorter than a man only because they stand hunched over, with their heads never rising above their shoulder, a Skaven standing erect would probably be over 7 feet tall (2.13m). Also muscular: barrel-chested and broad shouldered, with thick, powerful arms. I think they need a STR bonus far more than to DEX. Also, I'm not sure they need to be balanced. Unless things have changed substantially in Warhammer's setting in the last few years (decade? gosh I'm old.), Skaven are unquestionably evil, and serve an evil god. So, they fall more in the category of "monster" than "PC race". Of course, one is always free to change their backstory to include them in some other setting. And I can see them being a fun PC race, but I'd be inclined to call it "similar to Skaven" instead, just to avoid people assuming they're all Evil. ;)
Rhialto 05-24-07, 10:56 AM	According to WFRP 1E, "Skaven take the form of a giant rat in a twisted parody of human form, between 4 and 6 feet tall". That's medium size, folks. Incidentally, according to the basic skaven profile from there, they should also get a Dex penalty. A bit odd, if you ask me. probably factors out to zero when you also note their above-human-average initiative stat. My take... +2 Agility, -2 Dexterity (if you distinguish between these, otherwise, no modifiers) -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma (These guys are noted for playing with guns with the safeties off, plus squabbling is rife) (nb. The above modifiers are perfectly inline with their WFRP profiles) - darkvision 90 feet (that's exactly what WFRP gives them) - medium size (4-6 feet tall) black hunger - um, no. There are creatures in WHFRP which are noted as having a special hunger/adrenalin rule (minotaurs iirc), but nothing in the source rules says skaven get this. carrion feeder - um, if we must. But then, so can any human desperate enough. This isn't a rule that need apply specifically to skaven. This concept is actually more inline with WH ghouls anyway. Skaven are at least cultured enough to cook the meat. - Scent: +2 on spot/listen checks - Agile: +2 on reflexes save - Weak-willed: -2 on willpower save (not too sure on this one, but it balances the reflex save bonus) - Disease-resistant: +2 on all resist disease checks (they live in the sewers after all...) For the (coughcough) Battle Axe project, we are revamping the class system heavily (druids folded into priest, paladins and bards dropped, rangers have no spells, etc). Skaven favoured class is rogue, and no class is particularly noted as being banned. Classes particularly associated with a specific clan are: Eshin (Sneaks): monk (ie ninja/assassin type), rogue Skryre (Engineers): wizard Pestilens (Monastics): priest (Horned Rat) Moulder (Beastmasters): - Mors (Warlords): fighter Gray Seers: priest (Horned Rat), aristocrat I can definitely see room for skaven-specific feats. But not tail-fighter - their tails just aren't strong enough to bear weight (unless chaos-mutated), although they could make a great balancing aid.
MalkavianMadMan 05-28-07, 12:04 AM	I can definitely see room for skaven-specific feats. But not tail-fighter - their tails just aren't strong enough to bear weight (unless chaos-mutated), although they could make a great balancing aid. wow i forgot about this board lol. Anyway. ever heard of deathmaster snikket? (SP?)