Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ShadowGuard 03-23-08, 01:16 PM	Hello Race board, this is my first attempt to create a race. I have always liked the rust monster and I wanted to make a race that was a more humnoid version of them. P.S. Sorry if my english is off, I apologize in advanced. Ferrun ”You see a sword, I see a meal.” Ferruns are the originators of rust monsters, and have many of the same aspects. They are ancient aberrations that have stood the test of time and have produced many new creatures with their magic. At first glance they seem like a normal humanoid, but if they have their feelers out, they can be quite intimidating. They are known for their ability to eat metals for sustenance and their exploration into the mastery of the arcane. Personality: Ferruns take after humans. They are flexible, and adaptable. While they don’t encourage conflict, they can definitely end one. They can be kind or bitter, and their personalities vary just as much as a human would. They are secretive about their feelers, and try to keep that information away from other races. At home, Ferruns are a very community driven race. Family is important, as well as maintaining a stable environment around them, so that future Ferruns may grow and prosper. They have a love for the arcane and enjoy exploring the depths of knowledge. Thanks to their diet, Ferruns have a mastery over spells that involve electricity and metal. Mastering metal control is essential for Ferrun wizards, for metal is not only a means of nutrition, but a way of life. Being an aberration themselves, they have great interests in transmutation spells. Some of the most fearsome creatures have been concocted from Ferrun labs. They created rust monsters as an experiment to replicate themselves. Ferruns widely regard standard rust monsters as failures. From the creation of rust monsters, Ferruns have created other creatures as well. Ferrugons, which are the successful versions of their rust monster cousins, are primarily used as mounts and creatures of labor. Rust mites are swarms of termite-like bugs that devour enemies’ metal items and feast on the iron in the blood of their victims. They see Blacksmithing as a form of cooking rather than making weapons. While other races enjoy fine dining, Ferruns love to eat alloys and rare metals. They consider the rarer the metal, the greater the delicacy. Because they can’t normally touch metal, they use special gloves that allow them to wield and make it. A lot of the metal work that is produced by Ferruns have been said to rival that of the dwarves. Metal is woven into the lives of all Ferrun, so that crafting it is second nature. Usually Ferruns turn the rarer metals into works of art, to enjoy the beauty of it, and it allows them to store it for a later meal. Because of their ability to corrode metal on contact, they have taken up masonry and stone working to build their homes. Physical Description: Ferruns typically stand just less than 6 feet tall and weigh around 190 pounds, with males generally taller and heavier than females. They have light tan to dark tan skin, and their hair ranges from Onyx black to a rusty red. The eyes of a Ferrun ranges from steel blue, to golden yellow and can change color depending on their diet. For the most part they look much like humans; the only major difference is the feelers that jut from their shoulders. These are long and can extend far past arms length, but they do not grant extra reach. They have one feeler on each shoulder, and are easily controlled by the Ferrun’s mind. The feelers are flexible and can easily be hidden under garments. If they are away from their homeland, they dress to match the local region (to better pass themselves off as human), so they can vary in looks depending on the location. When in the privacy of their own homes, they often wear special clothing to allow their feelers to be free. They enjoy earth colors such as brown and green, but because of their nature, they often lack any jewelry. Thanks to their aberrant physiology, they maintain long life spans and if left with enough food, they could last as long as they need to. While they do age a lot slower than most races, older Ferruns gain steel streaks in their hair, while others gain a full head of silver hair. Ferruns do not sleep as other races do. Instead, a Ferrun meditates in a deep trance for 4 hours a day. A Ferrun resting in this fashion gains the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep. In such a trance, a Ferrun focuses on the inborn chemical reactions to change and repair any damage to the mind or the body. Relations: Ferruns can get along with almost anyone, mainly blending in with the local society and passing themselves off as humans. If the secret of their true nature is revealed, there is a good chance that they could be exiled or persecuted. It’s their aberrant mind set that often makes them seem odd or out of place. In their homelands they most often come in contact with dwarves, and thus have a great relationship with them. They share similar ideas about family and metal working, so trade is common and life is prosperous when they work together. Ferruns get exquisite meals from dwarven metal working and dwarves gain powerful arcane knowledge and lasting allies. While most dwarves can be seen as dour to other races, they often accept Ferruns for who they are and are least likely to exile them from the community. They may get a little annoyed that their fine dwarven craftsmanship is being eaten, but business is business. They see elves as equals at the art of the arcane, and since they have long life spans, they can often relate to Elvin views. Alignment: Ferruns, like humans, can be of any alignment but because of having a strong family lifestyle and Lineage system, they most often lean towards the lawful. Ferrun Lands: Ferruns can be found in the same places as dwarves and humans. The main Ferrun settlements are in mountains and underground, to maintain their food supply. Thanks to dark vision, Ferruns are natural underground dwellers and thus often share spaces with dwarves. It is not uncommon to see a Ferrun community merge with a dwarven one. Religion: Ferruns at home often accept deities of dwarfs, or that of metal gods. In other communities they often lean towards the main religion of their surroundings. Language: Ferruns mainly speak Common. Being so connected with dwarves allows them to pick up their language as well. Living within the earth also exposes them to Terran and Undercommon. They also have a comunication system using thier pulse fields. Names: For the most part Ferruns like to keep their names down to earth. Since Ferruns have connections with Dwarves and Humans, the names can probably be a mixture of the two. Because of strong family ties, Last names are passed down and something to treasure. (Ferrun) RACIAL TRAITS -2 Cha Medium: As Medium creatures, Ferruns have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. Aberration Base speed is 30 feet Dark Vision 60 feet Pulse Field (Ex): Due to the pulses that their feelers send out, Ferruns can detect metal objects of any size up to 60. This ability can detect the presence or absence of metal. It can detect the total amount of metal in the area and what it is made of. Then it details the shape and size of the metal in the area. This feature acts like blindsense but only for metal. This ability also acts as a way of communication for the Ferruns. In order for two Ferruns to communicate they must have their Pulse Fields touching to allow them to trade signals. In this way Ferruns can communicate to other Ferruns with out talking. If there are multiple Ferruns then only one has to have a connecting field in order to talk to all the other Ferruns. (For example Ferruns A, B, and C are all communicating with their fields, A is connected to B and B is connected to C, and this allows A to transmit to C as well. If Ferrun D comes into the conversation, having his pulse field connect to A, then he can communicate with both B and C without his fields actually having to touch theirs.) Like talking, this ability is used as a free action. As long as the pulse field connects they can communicate, even around corners. Corrosive Skin (Ex): A Ferrun that makes a successful touch attack with its feeler causes the target metal to corrode, warp, and crack. Any metal weapons, armor, and shields carried by a creature struck are weakened by this effect. A Ferrun may use this ability twice per round. The bonus to AC provided by an armor or shield drops by 2 and an additional 2 every time the Feeler hits to a minimum of 0. Weapons suffer a –2 penalty on attacks and damage, and an additional 2 every time the Feeler hits with a maximum penalty of -8. Magic armor and weapons, and other magic items made of metal, must succeed on a Reflex save equal to 10 + ½ Ferrun HD + Con modifier to resist this effect. These penalties last for a number of minutes equal to 10 + ½ HD. A Ferrun that spends 2 minutes devouring a metal object (whether magical or mundane) transforms it into rust, destroying it permanently. A metal weapon that deals damage to a rust monster also suffers this warping and corroding effect. Wooden, stone, and other nonmetallic weapons are unaffected. At 8 HD the corrosive acid that the Ferrun secrets gets stronger and a Ferrun that makes a successful touch attack with its feelers causes the target metal to corrode, falling to pieces and become useless immediately. The touch can destroy up to a 10-foot cube of metal instantly. Magic armor and weapons, and other magic items made of metal, must succeed on a Reflex save equal to 12 + ½ Ferrun HD + Con modifier or be dissolved. A Ferrun may do this ability twice per round, once for each feeler. Since the skin is corrosive as well a metal weapon that deals damage to a Ferrun corrodes immediately. Wooden, stone, and other nonmetallic weapons are unaffected +2 racial bonuses to Craft checks that are related to Metal Automatic languages: Common. Bonus languages: Dwarven, Terran, Undercommon Favored Class: Wizard STARTING AGE Adulthood: 19 Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer: + 1d4 Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger: + 2d4 Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard: + 3d4 AGING EFFECTS Middle Age: 200 years Old: 400 years Venerable: 1000 years Maximum Age: As long as there is a steady food supply, a Ferran can maintain its body forever. Im looking for feedback, and I'm trying to decide what LA they should be. Thanks for taking time to read this.
M-bark 03-23-08, 02:10 PM	The fluff is great, and I like the race. Their rusting ability is a bit too strong, but if you would cut down on it a bit or have it scale by level, it'd be good, and would make it LA+0. They may be able to rust things, but they can hardly use any equipment, because most weapons and armour is made out of metal, and metallic magic items should be things that should be kept out of their hands in a party. I would like to know the reason behind the +2 Int and -2 Cha, though. I mean, a spellcasting class would fit them due to not being really fit as fighting types, but why these stats like this?
ShadowGuard 03-23-08, 02:32 PM	I gave the Ferruns a hit to Cha because being an aberration would give them an odd mind set. I see them much like Elans in that aspect. The bonus to int was for their background in the arcane, but to be honest it was more of a last minute thing. Originally I had different bonuses granted depending on the metal consumed. Gold would be +Int Steel would be +Str and so on. I spent allot of time looking at the periodic table and all the metals and alloys I could do. I decide to make it simpler and just gave them a straight + Int bonus. If you would like I could expand on my earlier idea. I do agree that the Rust could be very powerful. I do not think the power limits their choices in classes too much. They may have to use different armor, but the make great Caster types. In the fluff I did note that they have gloves that allow them to use metal. This means they could still wield metal, just not wear it. I think I should separate the Corrosive skin into separate powers. I have read the retooling of the 3.5 rust monsters, and I think I will use their rust ability instead, then when they hit 8th level it evolves into the Rust power I have out now. Thanks for responding, and I look forward to more input.
ShadowGuard 03-23-08, 05:48 PM	Okay I reworked the Corrosive skin ability, Hopefully It is more scaling. The reason I chose 8 HD is because Characters should now have access to 4th level spells. Since rusting grasp is a 4th level spell, I thought it was a good place to go. If its still too soon I don't mind pushing it back to HD 10. Oh If anyone is Interested in the Multiple bonuses based on Metal Consumption, Let me know and I'll try to get it up as best I can. Thanks again to all those that have taken an interest in my race.
ShadowGuard 03-24-08, 01:10 PM	Plans for Ferrun: I like the Idea of using the Races of _______, to model the info for the Ferrun. So to match that style I want to make sets of substitution levels for Wizard, Monk, and Ranger. I would also like to detail some Ferrun created items, like metal tablets to trigger the metal metabolism effect, and the gloves that allow Ferrun to wield metal items. Also if I get positive feedback about the race, I think I might detail the two creatures that the Ferruns created, the Ferrugons and the Rustmites. If I do stat out the Ferrugons, then I will be able to do the two prestige classes that I had in mind. One is called the Rust rider: it focuses on the Ferrugon mount, and charging capabilities of the player. The other prestige class would be the Metalomancer, which would be like Magneto with dungeons and dragons flair. Thanks again for taking the time to read my work. I still apologize if my English is off; let me know if there are any formatting problems that I need to change.
ShadowGuard 03-26-08, 11:04 AM	Hello, I just made a quick update with the Metal Metabolism ability. I added some new metals and reduced the power of the poison metals. Here are just some concepts for the racial substitution levels. Ranger: Instead of Track as a bonus feat, The Ferrun would gain the ability to evolve the Metal Sense into a Metal Detection. It would act like Blindsight but just for metals. It would tell the shape of the metal and where it is located. I like the idea of Ferrun rangers knowing where Metal beings or obstructions are in their forest. They would get the option to gain a Ferrugon as an Animal companion. They could also have a special favored enemy for those who wear metal or are made of it. Wizard: Maybe getting a Rust monster as a familiar. They could get Dual Specialization for Conjuration and Transmutation or Transmutation and Evocation. For a bonus feat they could get Increased CL for Metal and Electrical spells. Monk: They would have an ability to mix the feelers and unarmed strikes into combat, and that would replace flurry of blows. To mesh with the Metal Metabolism ability, the monks would gain more benefits depending on the metal, like treating their unarmed strikes as cold iron if they ate a piece of it. Instead of getting immunity to poison they get a built in fortification that scales with level, because of their aberrant physiology. These are just ideas that I have been toying around with in my head. I would appreciate it if I could get some feed back on the race. Thanks again for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to working with the race boards to make the Ferrun race all it can be.
ShadowGuard 03-26-08, 06:19 PM	So are there any thoughts about the race or the metal metabolism ability? Is the race good to go as is or do I have to tone down the rust ability some more. If I do implement the metal metabolism ability would it unbalance it for 0 la, if so how should I make it 1 la? Are there any thoughts about the racial substitution levels? I would love to get some more feed back to finalize this race.
ShadowGuard 03-29-08, 10:06 AM	Okay so I edited the Main page to include the metal metabolism ability. I decreased the range of the detect metal ability and improved what it could do. Now it includes an ability to comunicate as well.
ShadowGuard 03-30-08, 06:21 PM	191 Views and only 1 Response. Sigh Is my race really that bad?
Last_Chronomancer 04-01-08, 06:17 PM	Nice idea, I've got no good constructive criticism now though.
ShadowGuard 04-02-08, 06:51 PM	Nice idea, I've got no good constructive criticism now though. Thank you :D
Grod_The_Giant 04-02-08, 08:05 PM	I like it. A very original race. However, it seems to me that the duration of their Metal Metabolism should be based on the amount of metal they eat, not their HD. I also think they seem a little powerful for LA+0. I would replace the Cha penalty with a diplomacy penalty, or even nothing (being weak-willed and socially awkward doesn't seem to fit your fluff), and make it LA+1.
ShadowGuard 04-02-08, 08:22 PM	I like it. A very original race. However, it seems to me that the duration of their Metal Metabolism should be based on the amount of metal they eat, not their HD. I also think they seem a little powerful for LA+0. I would replace the Cha penalty with a diplomacy penalty, or even nothing (being weak-willed and socially awkward doesn't seem to fit your fluff), and make it LA+1. Thanks for the Input. I understand where you are coming from on the Metal Metabolism ability. So maybe it should last a number of hours equal to 1 + 1/2per 1 square inch of metal? I'm not sure. On the issue on LA, Im trying to keep them at a LA 0 so that they would be well suited for a caster race. If I had to boost them to a LA +1 I would try to include an ability to make them a Caster friendly race.
ShadowGuard 04-04-08, 06:59 PM	Okay I made the Metal Metabolism ability based on the amount of metal, not the hd of the character. This is also a BUMP, to figure out how to either make this a 0+ LA or a LA+1 that does well with casters.
ShadowGuard 04-06-08, 03:12 PM	BUMP:)
Velvet_and_Iron 04-08-08, 05:06 PM	Looking over your race, I'd say that if included, it becomes the best race available at LA +0. Choosing other races, especially at higher levels, would be a bad choice on a player's part. Now, as far as balancing it, I'd say giving it a certain number of uses per day of its racial abilities and requiring feats or a Prestige Class to gain some of the enhanced abilities or additional uses per day would make the race attractive while not too far above avarage for LA +0. You might even consider relegating some of the ramping up of abilites to a prestige class that gives a bonus to spellcaster level/spells known. Perhaps a three level class for increasing the type of metal the race can handle, perhaps a ten level spellcasting PrC class that allows for all the metal metabolism abilities to be reached by level 10, adding the ability to completely corrode at will at level ten as well. I understand how frustrating it can be to come up with a race thats really spectacular and then having to balance it with the other LA +0 ones myself. One of these days I'm just going to edit every race to have a progression of some ability so that they balance with my concepts more readily :P
ShadowGuard 04-08-08, 07:06 PM	Thanks for the reply I have been thinking it over and I do agree that the Metal Metabolism does seem more adequate as feats or a racial substitution levels. I could live with them with different penalties, maybe - 2 to Wis or Cha, but I am trying to stay away from a negative Int. Rethinking my out look on the race, it seems that the Corrosive skin, and Pulse Field could easily just be the two race abilities it needs, and the Metal Metabolism does seem excessive. I want the one Negative stat, and no bonus stat to help balance out the Main two abilities, and with the metabolism, I can defiantly see it pushing 1+ LA So I will take away the Metabolism ability, and see how it goes from there Sorry if this is hard to read.
Velvet_and_Iron 04-08-08, 07:44 PM	This race feels balanced now, the ability penalty without the bonus, counterbalanced against the rusting attack makes it attractive, but not overly attractive compared to the other core races.
ShadowGuard 04-12-08, 01:42 AM	Bump, Just to make sure that it is now balanced.
Bujio 04-15-08, 02:06 AM	Hey there!! I'd like to see you complete your work!! Please do detail about your Prestige Classes and your creation monsters and the like. If you'd like, I'd even help you set up a small website dedicated to this, so that you could make it look all official and such. :) I absolutely LOVE this race!!
ShadowGuard 04-15-08, 04:22 PM	Hey there!! I'd like to see you complete your work!! Please do detail about your Prestige Classes and your creation monsters and the like. If you'd like, I'd even help you set up a small website dedicated to this, so that you could make it look all official and such. I absolutely LOVE this race!! Thanks for the kind words, I think that I might do the later prestige classes and such at a later time. I thank you for the offer of doing a website, but for right now I am happy with just having it on the boards. My other races can be located Here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1016377)