Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tectorman 04-18-08, 12:20 PM	Alians Long ago, the gods of the elves and the orcs, Corellon Larethian and Gruumsh, respectively, warred against each other in a great and epic battle. Towards the end, Gruumsh lost his eye to Corellon Larethian and was forced to withdraw. Typically, the story depicts the eye as being destroyed in the fight. That is not what happened. Much, much later, a human nation called Alia was founded near the site of that epic battle. Shortly thereafter, citizens of that nation found Gruumsh’s lost eye, intact and retaining much of its godly power. The king of Alia, being a very ambitious man, put forth the question to his people. “Should we deny this gift, left for us to find, or should we find a way to take this gift and make it our own?” The people of Alia, being equally ambitious, said “Yes.” And so, after much toil, and delving far into the recesses of magic, the nation of Alia found a way to disseminate the eye of Gruumsh, and all its godly power, into the entire population. Needless to say, when Gruumsh found out, angry and humiliated, his wrath was terrible. He never struck down the nation for their hubris and their theft, being held at bay by the other gods, but still he gained a measure of revenge. The orc race, his own creation, couldn’t go into the light, but this race of upstart humans dare to steal his eye? Gruumsh afflicted the nation of Alia with a curse, that their godly sensitive eyes would become too sensitive to tolerate the light of day. Of course, the nation being founded on a part of the world where the sun shines brightly didn’t help matters much. Eventually, the outflow of citizens due to the now-overbrightness of the sun forced the nation to be abandoned until all that remains today are ruins. The alians, as they came to call themselves, now pass themselves off as humans, lest anyone find out about their past and condemn them for it. Personality: Alians run the gamut of personalities, being about as flexible and adaptable as their human ancestors. Their ambition, being their curse, will fluctuate wildly between humility for the crimes of their past and outright greed for yet more power to take. However, all alians know that consequences, foreseen or otherwise, always follow one’s actions, and so are more likely to look before they leap, to plan before they act. Otherwise, their personalities vary widely. Physical Description: Alians typically stand from 5 feet to a little over 6 feet tall and weigh from 125 to 250 pounds, with men noticeably taller and heavier than women. Roughly the same as humans, alians are very diverse physically. Alians are more likely to be of fair skin, simply because of their preference for low illumination habitats. The most noticeable attribute is their eyes. Always of a pale, bright color, they almost seem to glow except for the pupils; when stared into, the centers of an alian’s eyes look as deep and black as the night sky. Being highly visual creatures, alians tend to dress either flamboyantly (to show off their style and tastes) or moderately (knowing that the most miniscule of details can still make all the difference, at least to the discerning eye). Alians typically age and live like their human ancestors. Relations: Alians, when passing themselves off as human, generally relate to others on those terms. People who know an alian as an alian (and know the past history of the alian race) instead relate to alians depending on their religious views. Binders and psionics would generally not have a problem, but clerics and paladins are another story. Furthermore, due to the crimes inflicted on their god, orcs generally hate alians. Drow, on the other hand, don’t know what to make of them. Alians have godly power that they took for themselves, whereas drow were created that way by a goddess; such ambition fits rather well in drow society, if only the whole “took power from a god” thing wouldn’t muddy it up. Alignment: Alians tend toward no particular alignment, not even neutrality. The best and the worst are found amongst them. If anything, an alian who has committed himself towards a particular outlook tends to follow that commitment rather strongly, but this is dependent on the alian making a commitment in the first place. Alian Lands: The expanse of their nation now lost to time, alians are found throughout human lands. However, due to the conflict of their anatomy (their intolerance of light combined with their diurnal lifestyle), they can just as often be found in the settlements of creatures who, like them, prefer the dark to the light. Religion: Alians typically have a dual outlook on worshipping gods. Some make endless supplications, hoping desparately for forgiveness for the misdeeds of their ancestors. Others have nothing to do with the gods, realizing that nothing, not mortal nor divine, is without end or vulnerability. In any event, it’s more of a question of finding a god who’ll have them. Language: Alians speak Common. They typically learn the languages of creatures who spend their lives in the dark. Though the drow invented sign language, no one has made better use of it than the alians, sneaking up on their foes, conversing in total silence and darkness, and gaining the advantage before there was any to be had. Names: Alian names vary greatly, and an alian’s name is often simply a human name, especially those born in human lands. Alians living in the lands of dark-thriving creatures, such as drow, likewise would take on those names. Adventurers: Alians adventure for a variety of reasons. Their daring and ambition are rivaled only by humans. Such alians tend to venture out in pursuit of more power. Alians that know the history of their past and the reason for their being shunned from the light typically try any and all means to temper this ambition. Instead, they adventure to make a positive difference in the world, to seek forgiveness, or to distinguish themselves from their past. Alian Racial Traits • Alian base land speed is 30 feet. • Medium: As Medium creatures, alians have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. • Humanoid (Human): Alians are of human descent and are affected by spells and the like as if they were purely human. • Darkvision (Ex): Alians can see in the dark up to 90 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and alians can function just fine with no light at all. • See in Darkness (Su): An alian can see perfectly in darkness of any kind out to 90 feet. • Perfect Sight (Su): An alian can see ethereal and invisible creatures and objects as easily as she sees material creatures and objects out to 90 feet. An alian can easily distinguish between ethereal, invisible, and material creatures and objects because ethereal and invisible ones appear indistinct and translucent, respectively. • Talented Eyes: Spot is always a class skill for an alian. • Light Sensitivity (Ex): Alians are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the area of a daylight spell or similar effect. • Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Dwarven, Goblin, Orc, Undercommon. • Favored Class: Shadowcaster, Spellthief, or Wizard. A player with an alian character picks one of these three classes to be his or her specific alian character’s favored class the first time he or she takes a level in any one of these classes and may not change this choice later. • Level adjustment: +1. I had made a thread earlier, trying to balance an LA +1 against True Seeing. Well, I realize it wouldn't have worked, so it's down now to just See Invisibility and the See in Darkness that devils get. If I ever decide to put in the rest, it'd just be as a Paragon class. How'd I do? The favored classes were a bit tricky. I don't actually believe in favored classes or multiclassing penalties, seeing as how the penalties apply when they shouldn't and don't apply when they should, but other people still use them and they help with the flavor anyway. I put in Wizard because it's related to the pursuit of power through study and effort. Spellthief is in there because of the whole "stealing magic" thing. I also put in Shadowcaster because of their preference for darkness and the way the fluff for the Shadowcaster kind of fits here. Can anyone think of any others I should have considered?
Tectorman 04-22-08, 09:57 AM	And now, the paragon class... Alian Paragon Alignment: Any. Hit Die: d6. Class Skills The alian paragon’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Base Attack Fort Ref Will Mysteries/ Level Bonus Save Save Save Special Spellcasting 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 See Through Illusions - 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 See Transformed +1 level of existing mystery- or arcane-casting class 3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Ability boost (Int or Cha +2) - Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Alian paragons are proficient with all simple weapons and with light armor. See Through Illusions (Su): A 1st-level alian paragon can see through illusions in a manner similar to the true seeing spell. The alian paragon has a chance to automatically see through any illusion in this manner so long as the illusion is of an effective spell level equal to the alian paragon’s total hit die divided by two rounded up (i.e., up to 3rd level illusions at 5 HD, up to 6th level illusions at 11 HD). The percentage chance is equal to (the effective spell level of the illusion subtracted from ten) times ten (i.e., an alian paragon has a 60% chance of automatically seeing through a 4th-level illusion effect, so long as the alian paragon has 7 or more HD). An alian paragon that fails to automatically see through an illusion in this manner would still interact with it as normal (including Will saves to disbelieve or otherwise “see through” the effect). Mysteries/Spellcasting: At 2nd level, you gain new mysteries or arcane spells per day and an increase in caster level (and mysteries or arcane spells known, if applicable) as if you had also attained a level in a casting class to which you belonged before adding the paragon class. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, such as bonus feats for mystery paths known, or improved familiar for wizard or sorcerer. If you had more than one casting class before becoming an alian paragon, you must decide which class to add this level for the purpose of determining mysteries or spells per day, caster level, and mysteries or spells known. See Transformed (Su): A 2nd level alian paragon has the ability to see the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things in a manner similar to the true seeing spell. Activating this ability is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity and will last until the end of the round. It is usable a number of rounds equal to the alian paragon’s HD (these rounds need not be consecutive). Ability Boost (Ex): At 3rd level, an alian paragon increases either his Intelligence score or his Charisma score by 2 points.