Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kage_no_Neko 11-10-06, 11:39 PM	Yes, yet another felinoid. That said, I created this race long before I actually started visiting these boards and saw all the cat races on it. I debated long whether or not to put this up, and though I have found some of the felinoids on the boards interesting I have not been terribly impressed with any of them, so here is my try. I started working on these after picking up Races of the Wild and being disappointed with the catfolk within. I did not get the race finalized until after I bought Magic of Incarnum, so if you did not like the race write-ups from there you will not like the format of mine. ________________________________________ NEKOJIN "These outsiders do not see that the path before them is closed. Since they do not see, I will have to show them." -Misha Musoka Surudoi Me, nekojin scout Nekojin are reclusive beings virtually unknown in the outside world, and they prefer it that way. Within the most hidden jungles, deepest forests, and farthest plains are the homes made by the nekojin. Rarely seen outside their lands, few outsiders know they even exist. Seemingly combining the best qualities of human and feline, the fiercely territorial nekojin rarely allow anyone to leave once that person stumbles upon their lands. NEKOJIN RACIAL TRAITS Nekojin are a cross between human and feline in appearance. They stand between 5 and 6 feet tall, but due to their extreme flexibility and the elasticity of their skeletons, can be almost a half-foot taller on a full stretch. They weigh between 90 and 200 pounds, with no significant height or weight difference between males and females. Nekojin are always lithe and muscular. They are covered in thin fur from head to foot, with full heads of hair. The hair and fur generally match (with the hair possibly a bit brighter) and range in color from white to a light blond, tan to a russet orange, all the way to a purple-red so dark as to be almost black. Stripes, spots, and rosettes in the fur are not uncommon. As nekojin fur gives them a broader temperature tolerance than most humanoids, they rarely see the need for extensive coverings or clothing, preferring belts to carry items and possibly a thin decorative wrap. As nekojin move about they exhibit a beautiful but predatory grace that other races find both alluring and somewhat frightening (never knowing if she is coming to talk to you or pounce on you, even for friends, goes a ways towards promoting this). Nekojin have faces crossed between that of a human and great cat, with a suggestion of a muzzle. Their eyes have slit pupils and come in a vibrant array of colors (pretty much any color is possible), often with flecks, stars, rings, or other shaped inclusions of other colors in them. Nekojin eyes appear to glow as cat's eyes do when light is shined on them. On the sides and tops of their heads are cats' ears, fully as mobile and able to independently track sounds as other cats. Out of their tailbones grows a tail half as long as the nekojin is tall, which is mainly used for balance while moving but is fully prehensile (though not strong enough to attack with, assume character Strength - 10 for effective lifting ability). Their legs are shaped differently from humans; with longer ankles meaning nekojin always walk on their toes, with their heels in the air. Nekojin are as comfortable moving on all fours as they are walking upright. While nekojin normally disdain such things; those times they find the need to wear shoes or boots the structure of the nekojin foot necessitates that such shoes be high heeled. This has sometimes led to short lived fads of high-society men and women adopting high heels after being visited by wandering nekojin (the fads are short-lived for while nekojin find high heels natural and unencombering, normal humanoids find them awkward [-4 to all balance checks and the wearer cannot run]). Out of the nekojin's fingers and toes come small retractable claws. Nekojin reach physical maturity about age 40, but are not considered adults until around age 90. All nekojin are long lived, with many living to be over 900 years old. Though slow to reproduce, nekojin are normally born as pairs or triplets of mixed sexes, so it is rare to find a nekojin without several brothers and sisters around somewhere. - +4 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, +4 Charisma: The nekojin are inherently lithe and graceful, with forceful and inquisitive personalities. - Medium: As Medium creatures, nekojin have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. - Nekojin base land speed is 40 feet. When they drop to all fours, a nekojin's base land speed increases to 50 feet; they are only able to get this increase if both hands are free. All nekojin have a Climb speed equal to half their base land speed plus class bonuses (round down). - Monstrous Humanoid: Nekojin are monstrous humanoids. - Keen Senses: Nekojin can see four times as well as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. In addition, nekojin have darkvision out to 60 feet. - Scent: All nekojin have the scent extraordinary ability. - Natural Weapon (Claws): A nekojin has claws with which she is always considered proficient. Attacks using her claws are considered armed attacks doing piercing and slashing damage, and damage with the claws is treated as one size category larger than her normal unarmed damage (therefore a nekojin does 1d4 damage without class or feat bonuses); a nekojin cannot deal subdual damage with her claw attacks. In all other aspects a nekojin's claws are treated as an unarmed strike, including being affected by class abilities that affect both unarmed and/or armed strikes. Nekojin cannot attack with her claws and a weapon wielded by the same hand. If the nekojin wishes to make a claw attack with an arm wielding a shield, she loses the shield's bonus to AC until the start of her next turn. - Natural Weapon (Rake): Nekojin gain two extra claw attacks using her legs when grappling a foe, these are at her highest base attack bonus and do not suffer the usual -4 penalty for using a natural weapon in a grapple. The nekojin must begin her turn grappling her foe to use this ability. She may also use both her rake attacks whenever she pounces. - Pounce: When the nekojin charges a foe she can make a full attack including her two rake attacks. - Temperature Tolerance: Nekojin have a broader tolerance for temperatures than humans, they are comfortable and take no penalties between 0 and 110 degrees (they are treated as having level one cold and heat protection). - Light Sleeper: A nekojin will awaken instantly to any sense of danger or the unusual around her and be ready to react immediately. This means the nekojin is always able to react the round after she succeeds on a Listen or Spot check to wake up (without having to succeed on a Will save like normal). In addition, while nekojin need eight hours of rest a day, they can spread that out into any number of shorter rest periods over the day (within reason, a minute here or there will not work) and gain the same benefit as a single full rest period; plus they can sleep in positions and places others could not find comfortable enough to sleep in. - Cats Always Land On Their Feet: Nekojin treat all falls as 10 feet shorter than normal. If she takes no damage from the fall she may choose to either be standing or on all fours at the end of the fall; if she takes damage she ends up on all fours. - Weapon Familiarity: Nekojin may treat Chakram and Shuriken as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons. - +2 racial bonus on Swim checks: Nekojin love water and so all learn to swim well early on. - +4 racial bonus on Jump, Move Silently, and Survival checks: Nekojin share cats' natural hunting instincts, granting them many bonuses towards stalking their prey. - +8 racial bonus to Balance checks: Like all cats, nekojin have an incredible sense of balance. - +4 racial bonus to Spot and +8 racial bonus to Listen checks: Nekojin have incredibly acute senses. - +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks: A nekojin must make Climb checks to scale any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but make always choose to take 10 even if rushed or threatened. A nekojin moves at her full Climb speed while climbing, but may take -5 to move at double her Climb speed (she cannot run while climbing). The nekojin retains her Dexterity bonus to AC while climbing, and her opponents get no special bonus on their attacks to hit her while she is climbing. - +2 insight bonus for all checks involving puzzles and riddles: Nekojin see the world differently from most other races, this gives them insight into things others find mysterious. - +4 insight bonus against all illusions and illusion type effects: The nekojin world view does not lend itself to illusion. - Prone Attack: Nekojin are as comfortable on all fours as they are upright, therefore they gain Prone Attack (Complete Warrior page 103) as a racial bonus feat. - Automatic Languages: Nekonese and Feline. Bonus Languages: Elven, Draconic, Dwarven, and Sylvan. - Favored Class: Scout (see the Complete Adventurer). - Level Adjustment +3. NEKOJIN SOCIETY Nekojin have a clan based culture where extended families settle near each other to create their communities. Several such clans may intermingle and choose to live near each other if the land can support such a group and it will not draw to much attention to the settlement. Alignment: Nekojin society holds to creativity and spontaneity, as such nekojin tend to be chaotic. They favor neutrality between good and evil, believing extremes of either can lead to overzealousness and misfortune. Lands: Nekojin lands are always beautiful, seemingly natural settings. Verdant forests, lush jungles, majestic mountains, and breathtaking beaches are only some of the areas that nekojin will choose to live; but no matter where they live, all their settlements will be near a large body of water. All nekojin settlements are far from the encroachment of "civilization" and guarded fiercely over a wide area from unwanted visitors. Settlements: Nekojin settlements blend into their surroundings, making use of the natural terrain and living environment. Depending on the area, the settlement may be built into the hills, along a cliff edge, or entirely off the ground in the treetops. Nekojin rarely see the need for worked metals or stone in their communities, preferring to make use of wood and other living things. Most nekojin societies spread out over a wide area so each household has plenty of individual space, but communal gathering areas are common and the design and beautification of them is shared by all members of the community. Couples in nekojin society are somewhat transitory, rarely lasting more than a decade or two; though some couples may get together again and again every few decades. As often as not, several nekojin friends will join together instead of a couple. Like other felines, nekojin females are only fertile during a period of heat lasting up to a month every couple of years. During this time she is more effervescent than usual; but even when not in heat nekojin find nothing wrong with being intimate with their friends, sharing the closeness and pleasure it brings. The exception to this transitory nature between pairs is when children are born; at which point the couple or group will settle down together, generally joined by a few members from each of their respective clans, until the children are ready to move out. Since nekojin have children so rarely, they are considered precious and given a lot of leeway to explore and grow. The children generally live with their parents and clan mates for the first six or so decades of their lives before moving into a communal house for adolescents in their communities. In the communal house all the juveniles share and participate in the responsibilities for maintaining the house until they reach adulthood and head out on their own. Beliefs: Nekojin revere nature, viewing all things as having spirits that need to be recognized and respected. While all spirits need to be respected, the two most honored are the Sun and his Sister Moon. Nekojin believe the spirit of the Sun created them with many natural gifts as predators, but it was his Sister Moon who gave them the greatest gifts, the knowledge of self and the ability to see beyond the normal boundaries of the world. Of those called to the divine paths, Shrine Maidens (a new class I am still working on) and Spirit Shamans (from the Complete Divine) are most common, followed by Druids and Incarnates (from the Magic of Incarnum). Of those who follow the way of the Cleric, their available domains are Animal, Charm (see the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting), Fate (see the Complete Warrior), Moon (see the F.R.C.S.), Plant, and Sun. For Favored Souls (see the Complete Divine), the Sun's favored weapon is the shuriken representing the sun's rays (claw for nekojin), and Sister Moon's favored weapon is the chakram representing the moon in the sky (claw for nekojin). The nekojin's connection with the spirits of nature is what leads them to live with their environment. As all living things can grow and change, they can be enticed to grow in new ways and forms without destroying or significantly changing what they are. By taking unchanging stone or metal, and forcibly changing it into something it was not you risk damaging the balance between the object and its spirit. This is not always the case, as an artist or sculptor may see something shown to him by the spirit of the object that others can not see; but stone and metalworking is very rare among the nekojin. The exceptions to this are obsidian and gems. Obsidian is seen as stone blessed by the Sun, so many objects and weapons are made from it. Gems are thought to be Sister Moon's tears swallowed by the ground, waiting for someone to come and bring back their glow through shaping and polishing. Relations: Nekojin are fiercely territorial, looking at most outsiders as a threat to be eliminated if possible and kept at a distance if not. Few nekojin see any reason to interact with other races at all, viewing them as crude and barbaric with their inability to live with nature. Of those races they have contact with, they are most comfortable with catfolk (see the Races of the Wild) whom they treat as distant, somewhat flighty cousins. In fact nekojin and catfolk are related, as catfolk are the only other race with whom nekojin can produce offspring (the child will always be of the race of its mother). Spirits and fey of the wilderness are seen as natural parts of the world and nekojin always try to include and interact with them whenever they meet. Elves, being the closest of the "civilized" races to share the nekojin reverence of nature, are the most likely of those races to develop stable contact with the nekojin. Over time some dwarven communities are able to earn a grudging respect of neighboring nekojin, though they always fail to understand the desire to live and work with stone. In either case, it can take several decades for hostilities to die down, and centuries after that before true dialog opens between the communities; always under the stipulation that those in contact with the nekojin do not pass on the knowledge of the nekojin to others. Most other races are not acknowledged, though goblinoids are generally killed on sight and humans are feared for their expansionistic ways (often leading to the nekojin destroying any human settlement that starts anywhere near a nekojin community). NEKOJIN CHARACTERS Nekojin characters are constantly on the move, quickly and silently moving to positions that allow them to attack their target from an advantageous position. Scouts and ninja are obvious choices for nekojin (see the Complete Adventurer). Of the martially inclined mystic classes, soulborn (see the Magic of Incarnum) and psychic warriors (see the Expanded Psionics Handbook) are much more common than either rangers or paladins. For mystic characters; divine classes (including shrine maidens) are most common, followed by incarnum users and psychics, with arcane users being very rare. Adventuring Nekojin: Nekojin outside their lands are typically the young responding to a strong sense of wanderlust that grips some rare nekojin. Most use this time as an opportunity to "stretch their limbs and their minds", learning about the outside world before returning home (though the next road is always at their feet). These traveling nekojin are expected to pass on what they learned when they return, and lead the communities in defense if those they have learned about begin to encroach. Even while traveling, most nekojin will prefer to avoid settlements of other races, sticking with a known group of trusted friends and fading to the fringes of any communities they run across. Nekojin society accepts these wanderers as a necessary and natural part of their existence. While the wanderlust in most nekojin causes them to move periodically between their settlements, those who feel the need to travel farther are accepted as a natural extension of this feeling. Indeed, while most nekojin feel little need to interact with the outside world, word of a far traveler arriving in a community with new stories of the outside will catch the curiosity of every inhabitant within moments. As long as these travelers keep their secrets, and do not bring home any stray pets (i.e. their traveling companions), they will always be welcomed home with open arms. The few times these wanderers bring their pets home they are still welcomed, but their friends will be tested and placed under close scrutiny, with the nekojin’s honor at stake should they slip up. Most nekojin adventurers already have had partial contact with the outside world before they head out, observing outsiders on patrols at the far boundaries of their community's territory. As part of an adventuring group they continue these activities, often acting as a scout or guard irregardless of their class. Unfortunately for the groups of adventurers they choose to join, the nekojin's inherent curiosity leads them into many situations most groups would like to avoid ("Oh, isn't that neat." Click! "Uh, oh ..."). Character Development: Nekojin use feats and skills to take advantage of their Dexterity, speed, and racial skill bonuses. With their high Dexterity most will avoid any form of heavy armor; luckily they usually will not need it. Nekojin emphasize skills and abilities that allow them to size up an opponent before the opponent has any idea she is there. Once in combat nekojin make the most of their natural attacks, often grappling those opponents they are fighting and then climbing away when they are ready to end battle. Character Names: Nekojin names are composed of three parts. The first is a given name consisting of one word decided by the child's parents when she moves out to live with the other juveniles. The second is chosen by the nekojin herself and reflects her current state in life, changing often as she grows. The last is her clan name. Male given names normally start with k, l, r, or z. Female given names generally start with f, m, n, or v. Male Given Names: Kado, Kaette, Kage, Kehai, Kesshin, Kiba, Kihin, Kirei, Kiri, Kota, Leto, Li, Lysir, Rakki, Ran, Rei, Risei, Zanshin, Zekko, Zen, Zenryo. Female Given Names: Fitaa, Fubuki, Fue, Fuichi, Maho, Majinai, Mau, Megumi, Meikyu, Meito, Mihari, Misha, Myrshan, Nagame, Namida, Nyal, Vilaa. Chosen Names: Hoshi Tsuiseki Sute (star chaser), Odorite (dancer), Musoka (daydreamer). Clan Names: Kuruyami Tume (dark claw), Surdoi Me (insightful/sharp eyes), Hayai Sosha (swift runner). ROLEPLAYING A NEKOJIN Remember that while the nekojin race is generally xenophobic, nekojin adventurers are more open and accepting of other races and peoples by their vary nature. Initial wariness and distrust is understandable, but do not allow paranoia to keep your character from experiencing new things and developing close connections with the other members of the group you choose to join. It may take a while to be earned, but once someone has obtained your trust be unfailing in your efforts to be the best friend you can. You are away from your family, friends, and race; the people you have chosen to travel with are your temporary family, so do everything you can to watch over and take care of them as you would for any sibling. Personality: Nekojin are slow to trust or accept, often preferring to destroy or flee from a potential threat than to see the possibility of a friend. The few people who do become friends with a nekojin find her be someone who is affectionate almost to a fault. Nekojin have absolutely no sense of personal space when it comes to their friends; constantly touching, caressing, leaning against, or holding them. When sleeping they prefer to sleep with their friends, much preferring the closeness of friends to sleeping alone (and often getting up in the middle of a nap half-asleep to join their friends, whether invited or not). When feeling affectionate or playful they will rough-house, lick, or even bite their friends. This need for closeness between friends is inherent to the nekojin makeup and often leads to tension in groups with outsiders, as nekojin are unable to understand others’ need for personal space and will feel saddened, put-off, and rebuffed when their friends try to explain such a need. Nekojin view the worlds differently than most others. They retain a nearly consuming curiosity their entire lives. The also have a tendency to break off what they are doing to observe new or pretty thing or happening, or even something no one else can see (though whether this is always the case, or they are just doing it to get a rise out of their friends, only the nekojin knows). This often leads outsiders to believe nekojin are flighty and unreliable, but nekojin often have surprising insights into a situation that are not obvious to anyone else. This knowledge helps nekojin see the enigmatic solutions to puzzles and riddles that others often miss, and leads them to an unending fascination with such challenges. Most other races find the nekojin to be full of energy, constantly moving or doing something, or seemingly just as often resting or sleeping (usually draped over a friend). The fact that the nekojin will stop what she is doing just to watch or participate in something new, and then pick-up right where she left off disconcerts many of the outsiders who meet them. Nekojin generally have no idea of the reaction they generate in those who meet them, especially the fascination with the predatory grace with which they move. Roleplaying Application: Your friends are introducing you to so many new things, so take the time to enjoy every new thing to its fullest. Make sure your new friends are able to see and experience the delight you have with the world around you. So many of your companions are dour and staid, they need you to help them truly experience the world as it is, not just how they see it. Show them the mystery that is the world, and do not hesitate to take them along as you explore some new riddle or puzzle. Behavior: Nekojin are constantly observing the world around them wherever they are. They do not hesitate to see what’s over the next hill or behind the hidden door. They are not foolish, just insatiably curious. Sometimes the nekojin sees something in the world which fascinates them that others can not see, this never seems to bother them, they just watch it till it’s gone and then move on. When the world around them is not doing something new they are watching or playing with their friends. After working for a little while, nekojin see nothing wrong with grabbing or curling up next to a friend for a quick nap. Roleplaying Application: Watch everything closely. Always take the time to observe something new, even if your friends are in a hurry. Do not be foolish when exploring the world around you, but remember that just because something may be trapped or secret does not mean it actually is. Sometimes the world shows you something unique, do not hesitate to study this for a time even if your friends can not tell what you find so fascinating (do not overplay this). Remember that your adventuring group members are your friends, so whenever you are not moving get close to them as you need the interaction to feel good. When bored do not hesitate to intently study or pounce upon your friend, and remember the best place to sleep is on or next to your friend. Language: Nekonese is a complex and intricate language that uses relational modifiers to indicate how objects in a statement interact, not placement in the sentence. This often leads to confusion for outsiders who expect to hear the words spoken by a nekojin in a different order than they are given. The feline tongue of the catfolk is a structured and lessened version of nekonese that arose through constant contact with outsiders (people who speak feline can understand roughly a third of what a nekonese speaker says). The nekojin’s insight into riddles and puzzles seems to do them well in linguistics, allowing them to learn other languages with ease. Unfortunately for linguists, the nekonese script (which is not used in feline) in no way resembles other common scripts. Being originally derived from claw marks on trees and other surfaces, the pictographic script is unique to the nekojin. Many of the pictograms are simple, but most are actually quite complex requiring all five claws on a hand as well as one or more wrist twists. Because each pictogram is effectively written as one action, and each represents one word or concept, a nekojin writing in nekonese can generally write the equivalent of a passage in one-half to one-third of the time it would take an outsider in their own native tongue. Unfortunately for outsiders, the extreme complexity of the nekonese script means that without claws they require three to five (or more) times the time to draw out the characters as a nekojin. Roleplaying Application: From time to time throw out a sentence with an unusual word order (A quote as an example, "Always in motion, the future is." - Yoda). Do not hesitate to use unusual word choices in your conversations (a thesaurus might come in handy). When passing around notes, or just on your character sheet, include some fanciful and complex runes composed of straight and curving lines. And do not forget to allow your constant curiosity to come through in your conversations. NEKOJIN ADVENTURES Most nekojin adventures will involve the nekojin trying to live and adjust to the outside world. Rarely will an unknown party have enough standing to prove themselves to a nekojin community before they are killed to protect that community. + A town the adventurers are passing through has had many sightings of foot prints of a large cat around the village. There are even indications that the cat has passed through the village at night. The townsfolk turn to the party to save them from this terrible beast. After much searching the adventurers find the camp of a wandering nekojin who has decided to watch the village and see how it and its inhabitants interact with the world around them. + In a tavern near the docks a strange feline creature is trying to book passage on a ship to a different land. Unfortunately several of the local toughs seem to have decided she looks like easy pickings. She seems to be holding her cool until one of the thugs makes a lewd comment and tries to grab her tail, at which point all hell breaks loose. + While off their usual trails, the party encounters a group of goblinoids. After slaying them they find a young nekojin captive. Unaware of the danger they are in the party offers to escort the child home. After several days travel they are fallen upon by a group of adult nekojin who have been hunting the goblinoids. Now that the party knows about the nekojin, they have to prove their worth or they will be executed. NEKOJIN AGE, HEIGHT, AND WEIGHT The details of your nekojin's age, gender, height, weight, and appearance are up to you. However, if you prefer some rough guidelines in determining these details, refer to the information below. NEKOJIN AGE Your nekojin's age is determined by your choice of class as follows: Base Age: 86 Simple Classes1: +4d6 Moderate Classes2: +6d6 Complex Classes3: +10d6 1: Barbarian, rogue, sorcerer, soulknife, and wilder. 2: Bard, fighter, paladin, psychic warrior, ranger, shrine maiden, and soulborn. 3: Cleric, druid, incarnate, monk, psion, totemist, and wizard. As your nekojin ages, her physical ability scores change as described in the Player's Handbook. Middle Age: 500 Old: 650 Venerable: 800 Maximum Age: +3d% NEKOJIN HEIGHT AND WEIGHT As stated above, nekojin normally stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and weigh between 90 and 200 pounds. Choose your characters height and weight from within those ranges or roll randomly as follows: Base Height: 4' 7" Height Modifier: +2d10 Base Weight: 85 lb. Weight Modifier: x (1d6)
JLaurHughes 11-11-06, 02:45 AM	I read this entire race, the set up that you created for this race is great. Very well thought out. I was wondering if you also have a setting to go along with this race, if not, I would like to offer one that I am still working on.
TheAnthroDM 11-11-06, 03:12 AM	- +2 racial bonus on Swim checks: Nekojin love water and so all learn to swim well early on. - +4 racial bonus on Jump, Move Silently, and Survival checks: Nekojin share cats' natural hunting instincts, granting them many bonuses towards stalking their prey. - +8 racial bonus to Balance checks: Like all cats, nekojin have an incredible sense of balance. - +4 racial bonus to Spot and +8 racial bonus to Listen checks: Nekojin have incredibly acute senses. - +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks: A nekojin must make Climb checks to scale any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but make always choose to take 10 even if rushed or threatened. A nekojin moves at her full Climb speed while climbing, but may take -5 to move at double her Climb speed (she cannot run while climbing). The nekojin retains her Dexterity bonus to AC while climbing, and her opponents get no special bonus on their attacks to hit her while she is climbing. - +2 insight bonus for all checks involving puzzles and riddles: Nekojin see the world differently from most other races, this gives them insight into things others find mysterious. - +4 insight bonus against all illusions and illusion type effects: The nekojin world view does not lend itself to illusion. More bonuses than a barrel of dwarves! :OMG!
mkill 11-11-06, 05:44 AM	I don't want to spoil the party, but the race has a +3 level adjustment. While that may be balanced given the huge amount of bonus stuff, it severely limits what you can do with the race. First of all, if the campaign starts at first level, you can't play one. If you want to play anything that relies on spellcasting, such as a druid, you never really become useful because every other caster has more and more powerful spells. If you want to play something that fights, your character very likely never survives the first adventure because he will have around 15 hitpoints less than everybody else, and the race gives no constitution bonus. It pretty much amounts to that everybody thinks they are cute but nobody wants to play one (anymore after the first session). So, what you may want to do is, cut back their benefits to make them about equal with the standard elf, so they have a +0 LA and can be played like any of the standard races. Basicly that means reducing their stat benefits to something like Dex +2, Wis -2 or so, reducing their skill benefits to +2 each. Reduce base land speed to normal. Cut the weapon proficiencies. No prone attack. Reduce bonus against illusions to +2. Btw, how do you make Spot checks when sleeping? Don't they close their eyes? I deleted that. And I really don't get the part about cat people being superior swimmers. I don't see anything in their physique that makes them better swimmers than say, an elf. The stuff in the description of the Climb bonus can be left out, too, as you gain most of it anyway from the natural climb speed. I also made some simplifications, such as claws = natural weapon. The LA +0 version would look like: * * * - +2 Dexterity, -2 Wis: The nekojin are inherently graceful, but their playful personalities lack seriousness. - Medium: As Medium creatures, nekojin have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. - Nekojin base land speed is 30 feet. When they drop to all fours, a nekojin's base land speed increases to 40 feet; they are only able to get this increase if both hands are free and when not more than lightly encumbered. All nekojin have a Climb speed equal to half their base land speed. - Humanoid - Keen Senses: Nekojin can see four times as well as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. In addition, nekojin have darkvision out to 60 feet. - Natural Weapon (Claws): A nekojin has claws as primary natural weapons. Attacks using her claws are attacks doing piercing and slashing damage for 1d4 damage. Nekojin's claws are treated as an unarmed strike if that is beneficial for the nekojin. - Natural Weapon (Rake): Nekojin gain two extra claw attacks using her legs when grappling a foe, these do not suffer the usual -4 penalty for using a natural weapon in a grapple. The nekojin must begin her turn grappling her foe to use this ability. If the nekojin has the pounce ability, she may use both her rake attacks whenever she pounces. - Temperature Tolerance: Nekojin have a broader tolerance for temperatures than humans, they are comfortable and take no penalties between 0 and 110 degrees (they are treated as having level one cold and heat protection). - Light Sleeper: A nekojin will awaken instantly to any sense of danger or the unusual around her and be ready to react immediately. This means the nekojin is always able to react the round after she succeeds on a Listen check to wake up (without having to succeed on a Will save like normal). In addition, while nekojin need eight hours of rest a day, they can spread that out into any number of shorter rest periods over the day (at least 30 minutes) and gain the same benefit as a single full rest period. - Cats Always Land On Their Feet: Nekojin treat all falls as 10 feet shorter than normal. If she takes no damage from the fall she may choose to either be standing or on all fours at the end of the fall. - +2 racial bonus on Jump and Move Silently checks: Nekojin share cats' natural hunting instincts, granting them many bonuses towards stalking their prey. - +2 racial bonus to Balance checks: Like all cats, nekojin have an incredible sense of balance. - +2 racial bonus to Spot and Listen checks: Nekojin have acute senses. - +2 racial bonus to Climb checks - +2 insight bonus for all checks involving puzzles and riddles: Nekojin see the world differently from most other races, this gives them insight into things others find mysterious. - +2 insight bonus against all illusions and illusion type effects: The nekojin world view does not lend itself to illusion. - Automatic Languages: Nekonese and Feline. Bonus Languages: Elven, Draconic, Dwarven, and Sylvan. - Favored Class: Scout - Level Adjustment +0. * * * Then, create a Nekojin Paragon Class. This way, you can take 3 levels in Nekojin Paragon, and you won't have the problem of bad saves, bad base attack bonus and lack of hitpoints. Basicly, the class should give all the abilities that were cut from the race to make it LA 0. Draft: Nekiojin Paragon BAB: 0 / +1 / +1 Good reflex save, bad will and fortitude save 4 skill points Lvl 1 Chakram and Shuriken exotic weapon proficiency, +2 Balance Lvl 2 Prone Attack, +2 Move Silently Lvl 3 Base land speed +10 ft., Cha +2, +2 Climb
Kage_no_Neko 11-11-06, 09:34 AM	Btw, how do you make Spot checks when sleeping? Don't they close their eyes? I deleted that. Spot checks are used for any sense checks that are not listen while sleeping. While yes this means you do not see your foe, when that stealthy rogue accidentally brushes up against you walking through your camp you make a spot check to realize it, as an example. The stuff in the description of the Climb bonus can be left out, too, as you gain most of it anyway from the natural climb speed. Any race with a climb speed normally has this information in their skill description, so I added it here. Yes, it does come directly from the Climb speed description, but most people are unwilling to look up that information which is why it is included in the skill description. And I really don't get the part about cat people being superior swimmers. I don't see anything in their physique that makes them better swimmers than say, an elf. It's in the societal description saying that all nekojin are taught to swim at an early age by their society, and they love spending time in water. I understand that a racial bonus might not be the proper type for this case, but I could not think of a better one. Personally I am completely happy with the +3 LA. Sure some people will not want to play it, but this is a flavor race, not a perfect be-all end-all race, as such that really does not matter to me. As such, thanks for the sentiment, but no thanks; a LA +0 felinoid race is a dime a dozen on these boards. ________________________________________ I was wondering if you also have a setting to go along with this race, if not, I would like to offer one that I am still working on. No I do not. I just wanted to create a felinoid race that had enough flavor and quirkiness to match a real society based upon the cats I have known. I would love to hear about the world you are working on if you feel like posting it. ________________________________________ By the way, I forgot the Scent ability when I transferred this over last night. I have now added it back.
JLaurHughes 11-12-06, 02:13 PM	I don't know yet how to explain the world I have created, I'm still working out many of the bugs with it. Here's the basic outline. ~~~~~~~~~~Kiar~~~~~~~~~~ There is a magical energy running through this world that provides power to all creatures. Everyone has been touched in small ways by the power. Arcodin takes the form of crystals known as arcodias, which is mined from the heavy concentrations in the Ra'ur mountain ranges or from the concentrations in the country of Dekiur. The crystalized form powers several insturments, including the Seros lamp found in the center of Thalrin, a major trade center of Izaata, that provides lighting and heat to the city. The three countries are Dekiur, Ra'ur, and Izaata are separated by a mountain range. Dekuir is almost desert like, filled with nomadic tribes. Ra'ur is secretive, most ninja and samurai classes come from the lands. There are healer ninja, an adapted ninja class that I have yet to work out completely. This is just basic info really. Izaata is the trade capital, where most raw materials from Ra'ur and Dekiur get processed and refined into weapons, and other magic items, or jewelery. All this is basic information for the main continent, I haven't figured out the other two continents, though one of them has a giant arcodias crystal that is worshiped by the locals on that continent. If it interests you, just ask for my email address through private messages.
Grey_Mage 11-12-06, 05:53 PM	cut the skill bonuses in half, and lose the temperature tolerance. Give them LA +2 instead of +3.... and all of a sudden I can see them as playable. Seriously... a +8 to a skill is HUGE.... but it isnt worth enough to satisfy an LA +3. Not by a long shot. Also... for gods sakes, give them common as a language, or atleast a bonus language!
Kage_no_Neko 11-12-06, 07:57 PM	cut the skill bonuses in half, and lose the temperature tolerance. Give them LA +2 instead of +3.... and all of a sudden I can see them as playable. Seriously... a +8 to a skill is HUGE.... but it isnt worth enough to satisfy an LA +3. Not by a long shot. I agree they are a bit underpowered for a +3, but certainly greater than a +2 where they are. As to removing some of the bonuses; which ones? The +8 to climb comes from the climb speed so does not change; otherwise the +8 bonuses are only on balance and listen. The swim bonus is flavor and because most wild cats do enjoy swimming. The bonuses to spot, move silently, jump, and survival seem fine. I wanted them to be exceptional at what they do (i.e. being a cat) and I think they are as stands. Personally I would be more interested in what you think I should add to them to make them a playable +3. Also... for gods sakes, give them common as a language, or atleast a bonus language! Why? From a pure flavor standpoint they are violently xenophobic, seeing no interest in learning any other languages (unless wanderlust grips them). Anyways as stated in the SRD: RACE AND LANGUAGES - All characters know how to speak Common. So, though I do not necessarily agree with it, your complaint is already handled.
Necropolitan 11-12-06, 08:00 PM	If your pegging this as +3; perhaps giving it a +3 and a Highre ECL with some Racial HD might prolong it's survivability a bit? The Flat +X templates should really give good ass-saving bonuses for that blatent loss of HD.
mkill 11-12-06, 08:03 PM	It's in the societal description saying that all nekojin are taught to swim at an early age by their society, and they love spending time in water. I understand that a racial bonus might not be the proper type for this case, but I could not think of a better one. Well, characters do get skill points, so if you want to play a first level character that can swim no problem there... I mean, I was taught to swim "at an early age" and I don't think I have a +2 racial bonus... Personally I am completely happy with the +3 LA. Sure some people will not want to play it, but this is a flavor race, not a perfect be-all end-all race, as such that really does not matter to me. Flavor race or not, that does not help if the campaign starts at 1st level. Also, even if I was completely unconcerned about power or even usefulness of a character, and would just play the race out of love for cat people, it would still ruin my fun if I had to play a character with less than 10 hit points in a ECL 4 adventure. Or rather, it would ruin my fun when my character go hit even though I tried to avoid the combat, and the damage that everybody else could shrug off at that level plain killed me. At least they do get *something* for their LA +3 instead of some attribute and skill bonuses, that any level 3 character can already have by magic items anyway. Look at other LA +3 races... svirfneblin, half-dragon, sprite, wyrmling black dragon (!), sahuagin, shadow, harpy... So I could have flight, acid breath, 4 arms, tons of spell-like abilities and other goodies instead... As such, thanks for the sentiment, but no thanks; a LA +0 felinoid race is a dime a dozen on these boards. Well, that's because there is no reason to design cat-people with a level adjustment. Have you considered that there might be dozen of these because it is obviously a good idea?
Grey_Mage 11-12-06, 10:35 PM	I agree they are a bit underpowered for a +3, but certainly greater than a +2 where they are. As to removing some of the bonuses; which ones? The +8 to climb comes from the climb speed so does not change; otherwise the +8 bonuses are only on balance and listen. The swim bonus is flavor and because most wild cats do enjoy swimming. The bonuses to spot, move silently, jump, and survival seem fine. I wanted them to be exceptional at what they do (i.e. being a cat) and I think they are as stands. Personally I would be more interested in what you think I should add to them to make them a playable +3. Why? From a pure flavor standpoint they are violently xenophobic, seeing no interest in learning any other languages (unless wanderlust grips them). Anyways as stated in the SRD: So, though I do not necessarily agree with it, your complaint is already handled. To make them playable as a +3? Give them +2 con and the improved toughness or toughness feat for free. They need the hitpoints like nobodies buisness. Give them the pounce ability. That would do alot right by itself. Hmm... and maybe a +2 racial bonus on attack and damage vs rakshasas. I can see these guys being really really ticked off about the similarities there. *shrugs* Hmm... theres no real magical flavor to these guys... so I have a hard time with giving them spell like abilities. However yousaid that they are rarely arcane casters... perhaps this shows a resistance to magic... maybe Spell resistance 5+class levels. Not exactly overpowering... but rather useful. As for common as a language... its customary to have included in the race. Even Xenophobes would have a use for common. If nothing else, knowing how to right "**** off and be gone" correctly lol.
Qube 11-13-06, 04:40 AM	i would cut down on the skill bonusses, and then they would be a goof LA+3 race. (or at least thats my oppinion)
mkill 11-13-06, 10:34 AM	i would cut down on the skill bonusses, and then they would be a goof LA+3 race. (or at least thats my oppinion) Well, the skill bonuses only need to be reduced if the race is reset to LA +0. May I remind you that there is a core race LA +0 that gets an effective +10 bonus to one skill, and a very useful one? Changelings get a +10 to disguise, and while that is not a core dungeoneering ability, it does allow to pull some amazing stunts with a little thinking on the player's side. In that light, the Nekojins +8 to Climb and Balance don't seem too overpowered. The bonus to Climb comes with a climb speed anyway, and the bonus to Balance is hardly gamebreaking, considering that the best effect you can get from it is to ge safely from A to B and sooner or later all characters have some means of flying and teleporting anyway. The only bonus that is in fact way over the top is the +8 bonus to Listen checks. Listen is one of the most-rolled checks in the game, and combined with the +2 bonus to wisdom that gives them one of the keenest ears in the whole game. So, in the end, the Nekojin is good at hearing the monster approach and running away from it (40 ft. move). With an effective -3 level to any fighting ability though, that's their best tactic. Not worth it.
Kage_no_Neko 11-13-06, 12:59 PM	Listening to everyone's recommendations I decided to add a +2 bonus to Constitution and give the nekojin the pounce ability. Are they now able to stand as a +3 LA, or are they still short?
JLaurHughes 11-17-06, 09:59 AM	I have seen a lot of complaints, and suggestions to strengthen the +3 adjustment on the Nekojin weren't really necessary with all the changes that the race creator has made without suggestion - I still enjoyed the original and your additions of scent and pounce make sense for this race Kage. IMHO this race was lacking ability score balance and could be balanced better with a negative modifier to strength or to intelligence.(ie -2 str to balance +2 of the +4 Dex, -2 Int to balance +2 Wis, +4 Cha because unless the cat has some serious illness that disfigures it they are asthetically pleasing to the eye). I think some people should really read the table on balanced ability scores table on p.173 titled Ability Score Equivalencies plus the entire section on Creating New Races that goes along with it. - +4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, +4 Charisma: The nekojin are inherently lithe and graceful, with forceful and inquisitive personalities.Originally the nekojin did not have the +2 con bonus. This is seriously unbalanced for ability score adjustments, under the LA calculator system I'm using this is a 1.5 adjustment to the level. While everyone believes that a Con adjustment is necessary, cats don't have that strong of a constitution. Cats actually are a little more susceptible to sickness than other animals. - Medium: As Medium creatures, nekojin have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. This is true of all Medium sized characters, no adjustment points. - Nekojin base land speed is 40 feet. When they drop to all fours, a nekojin's base land speed increases to 50 feet; they are only able to get this increase if both hands are free. All nekojin have a Climb speed equal to half their base land speed plus class bonuses (round down).There are no adjustment points for the land speed, but the Nekojin does have a climb speed which does provide a bonus, I will get to that under skill bonuses. This climb speed gives an adjustment point of .75. - Monstrous Humanoid: Nekojin are monstrous humanoids. - Keen Senses: Nekojin can see four times as well as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. In addition, nekojin have darkvision out to 60 feet.Though this is better than the normal creature of the same size, comparing this to a human, there is no real combat affecting or game play affecting point here. No adjustment points. - Scent: All nekojin have the scent extraordinary ability.Here's an ability that is found in many animals, but a common housecat does not have this ability for some reason, a jungle cat may or may not have this under their creature stats. This is an extraordinary ability, providing an adjustment point of .75. - Natural Weapon (Claws): A nekojin has claws with which she is always considered proficient. Attacks using her claws are considered armed attacks doing piercing and slashing damage, and damage with the claws is treated as one size category larger than her normal unarmed damage (therefore a nekojin does 1d4 damage without class or feat bonuses); a nekojin cannot deal subdual damage with her claw attacks. In all other aspects a nekojin's claws are treated as an unarmed strike, including being affected by class abilities that affect both unarmed and/or armed strikes. Nekojin cannot attack with her claws and a weapon wielded by the same hand. If the nekojin wishes to make a claw attack with an arm wielding a shield, she loses the shield's bonus to AC until the start of her next turn. - Natural Weapon (Rake): Nekojin gain two extra claw attacks using her legs when grappling a foe, these are at her highest base attack bonus and do not suffer the usual -4 penalty for using a natural weapon in a grapple. The nekojin must begin her turn grappling her foe to use this ability. She may also use both her rake attacks whenever she pounces.Here are some Natural weapons, one of which is really a special situationally modified attack. These deserve 1.5 adjustment points combined. - Pounce: When the nekojin charges a foe she can make a full attack including her two rake attacks.Though this is an exceptional ability, there are ways in game play for a human fighter to get the same kind of ability through the use of feats. No adjustment points. - Temperature Tolerance: Nekojin have a broader tolerance for temperatures than humans, they are comfortable and take no penalties between 0 and 110 degrees (they are treated as having level one cold and heat protection). - Light Sleeper: A nekojin will awaken instantly to any sense of danger or the unusual around her and be ready to react immediately. This means the nekojin is always able to react the round after she succeeds on a Listen or Spot check to wake up (without having to succeed on a Will save like normal). In addition, while nekojin need eight hours of rest a day, they can spread that out into any number of shorter rest periods over the day (within reason, a minute here or there will not work) and gain the same benefit as a single full rest period; plus they can sleep in positions and places others could not find comfortable enough to sleep in. - Cats Always Land On Their Feet: Nekojin treat all falls as 10 feet shorter than normal. If she takes no damage from the fall she may choose to either be standing or on all fours at the end of the fall; if she takes damage she ends up on all fours. - Weapon Familiarity: Nekojin may treat Chakram and Shuriken as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.All of this does not really affect the adjustment on the race, in fact a temperature tolerance provides a bit of a negative on the adjustment, because it gives a range of temperature that the nekojin is comfortable in. -.5 adjustment points. Light sleeper, this is what a cat's normal senses provide. Looking at a house cat for example, you can never really sneak up on one though it may seem like you can, the moment you touch the cat there are two reactions, either it pretends not to notice and stretches so you can pet it, or the cat jumps and glares at you for daring to touch it while it was relaxing. -.1 adjustment points. Cat's always land on their feet, this is similar to the Monk's slow fall in many ways. +.1 adjustment points. Weapon familiarity, also a non affecting stat on the nekojin, as a few other races in even the PHB have familiarity with weapons of their race, example the dwarf and his familiarity with the dwarven urgosh or warhammer. No adjustment points. What do I have here so far in the calculation, overall adjustment points 4.0 adjustment points, and if you base it on the savage species in v3.0 this is a level adjustment equivalent of +4 already...+1 for the unbalanced scores, +1 for climb speed, +1 for natural weapons, +1 for scent special ability. And I haven't touched on the skill check bonuses yet. So this as it stands is a bit strong for a +3 already, I'm not done the adjustment calculation yet so we will see. - +2 racial bonus on Swim checks: Nekojin love water and so all learn to swim well early on. - +4 racial bonus on Jump, Move Silently, and Survival checks: Nekojin share cats' natural hunting instincts, granting them many bonuses towards stalking their prey. - +8 racial bonus to Balance checks: Like all cats, nekojin have an incredible sense of balance. - +4 racial bonus to Spot and +8 racial bonus to Listen checks: Nekojin have incredibly acute senses. - +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks: A nekojin must make Climb checks to scale any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but make always choose to take 10 even if rushed or threatened. A nekojin moves at her full Climb speed while climbing, but may take -5 to move at double her Climb speed (she cannot run while climbing). The nekojin retains her Dexterity bonus to AC while climbing, and her opponents get no special bonus on their attacks to hit her while she is climbing. - +2 insight bonus for all checks involving puzzles and riddles: Nekojin see the world differently from most other races, this gives them insight into things others find mysterious. - +4 insight bonus against all illusions and illusion type effects: The nekojin world view does not lend itself to illusion.+2 swim, +4 jump, move silently, and survival. This if already 4 skills with racial bonuses, I think a reduction to the survival and move silently racial bonus would help to reduce the overall points I will be assigning to this section. +8 to balance, I will agree that this seems a little high, first there is already a +2 coming from the dex ability adjustment, second cat's may be able to balance on the slightest of edge, but they still aren't that good at maintaining the balance, the slightest bump will cause it to lose the precarious perch it has on a fence. I would personally reduce this to a +4 at minimum. +4 spot and +8 listen, these are both covered under the light sleeper, and should be equal, take adjustment of these to a +6 maximum bonus evens out the senses, and evens out the adjustment points. Finally, the only skill bonus I will not allow changed, for two simple reasons - First, the nekojin DOES have a climb speed, entitling it to a +8 bonus. Second, all cats CAN climb, though in the MM they don't all have the climb speed added. I see the insight bonuses, one of which is actually a racial bonus against spells and spell effects cast out of the illusion school which require will saves either when cast or when interacted with. The one insight bonus to puzzles and riddles, covers puzzle spells and spell effects, and this allows the nekojin to solve the puzzles, mazes, or riddles with an intelligence check I believe. You can correct me if I'm off on this assumption Kage. Overall, as the racial skill bonuses stand currently this is a 1.75 point adjustment. - Prone Attack: Nekojin are as comfortable on all fours as they are upright, therefore they gain Prone Attack (Complete Warrior page 103) as a racial bonus feat.This is the final thing we need to look at in the race designed here, racial feats. Now the racial feats can come from two sources, the first from monsterous hit die, which provide at least one feat for the first hd, and one additional for each 3 additional hit die. Each feat under the point system is worth .25, and since there is only one here, this is the adjustment point I will set this at. Now lets look at the overall score here, that's a whopping +6.00 points or Adjustment equivalent of +5(Savage species adjustment method: +1 for the unbalanced scores, +1 for climb speed, +1 for natural weapons, +1 for scent special ability, +1 for 2 or more racial skill bonuses.)
fullmetal80110 11-18-06, 04:53 AM	I don't see what you're talking about......... This race can kick any spellcasters butt, they're not the best spell casters but neither are orcs =P On top of that he had a cool creation of a race that is on average more powerful than the average elf and the race is balanced out, I have it copied and fully intend to try one out if my character in the current campaign dies.
Kage_no_Neko 11-18-06, 12:43 PM	Let's take a look at this race using YabaTheWhat's Feature Points. - +4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, +4 Charisma - (9 FP + 3 FP) + 4 FP + 4 FP + 9 FP = 29 FP - Medium - 0 FP - Nekojin base land speed is 40 feet. When they drop to all fours, a nekojin's base land speed increases to 50 feet; they are only able to get this increase if both hands are free. 10 FP + (10 FP * 1/2 [limited use]) = 15 FP - All nekojin have a Climb speed equal to half their base land speed plus class bonuses (round down). - 6 FP - Monstrous Humanoid - 0FP - Keen Senses: Nekojin can see four times as well as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. In addition, nekojin have darkvision out to 60 feet. - 3 FP + 2 FP = 5 FP - Scent: All nekojin have the scent extraordinary ability. - 6 FP - Natural Weapon (Claws): A nekojin has claws with which she is always considered proficient. Attacks using her claws are considered armed attacks doing piercing and slashing damage, and damage with the claws is treated as one size category larger than her normal unarmed damage (therefore a nekojin does 1d4 damage without class or feat bonuses); a nekojin cannot deal subdual damage with her claw attacks. In all other aspects a nekojin's claws are treated as an unarmed strike, including being affected by class abilities that affect both unarmed and/or armed strikes. Nekojin cannot attack with her claws and a weapon wielded by the same hand. If the nekojin wishes to make a claw attack with an arm wielding a shield, she loses the shield's bonus to AC until the start of her next turn. - 1 FP + 1 (minimum damage) + 4 (maximum damage) - (1 + 4; takes weapon slot) = 1 FP - Natural Weapon (Rake): Nekojin gain two extra claw attacks using her legs when grappling a foe, these are at her highest base attack bonus and do not suffer the usual -4 penalty for using a natural weapon in a grapple. The nekojin must begin her turn grappling her foe to use this ability. She may also use both her rake attacks whenever she pounces. - 1 FP + 1 (minimum damage) + 4 (maximum damage) * 2 for two * 1/2 for limited use = 6 FP - Pounce: When the nekojin charges a foe she can make a full attack including her two rake attacks. - 4? FP - Temperature Tolerance: Nekojin have a broader tolerance for temperatures than humans, they are comfortable and take no penalties between 0 and 110 degrees (they are treated as having level one cold and heat protection). - 0 FP - Light Sleeper: A nekojin will awaken instantly to any sense of danger or the unusual around her and be ready to react immediately. This means the nekojin is always able to react the round after she succeeds on a Listen or Spot check to wake up (without having to succeed on a Will save like normal). In addition, while nekojin need eight hours of rest a day, they can spread that out into any number of shorter rest periods over the day (within reason, a minute here or there will not work) and gain the same benefit as a single full rest period; plus they can sleep in positions and places others could not find comfortable enough to sleep in. - 1? FP - Cats Always Land On Their Feet: Nekojin treat all falls as 10 feet shorter than normal. If she takes no damage from the fall she may choose to either be standing or on all fours at the end of the fall; if she takes damage she ends up on all fours. - 1? FP - Weapon Familiarity: Nekojin may treat Chakram and Shuriken as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons. - 1/2 FP + 1/2 FP = 1 FP - +2 racial bonus on Swim checks - 1 FP - +4 racial bonus on Jump, Move Silently, and Survival checks - 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 FP - +8 racial bonus to Balance checks - 4 FP - +4 racial bonus to Spot and +8 racial bonus to Listen checks - 2 + 4 = 6 FP - +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks: A nekojin must make Climb checks to scale any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but make always choose to take 10 even if rushed or threatened. A nekojin moves at her full Climb speed while climbing, but may take -5 to move at double her Climb speed (she cannot run while climbing). The nekojin retains her Dexterity bonus to AC while climbing, and her opponents get no special bonus on their attacks to hit her while she is climbing. - 0 FP (included in climb speed) - +2 insight bonus for all checks involving puzzles and riddles - 1? FP - +4 insight bonus against all illusions and illusion type effects - 2 FP - Prone Attack: Nekojin are as comfortable on all fours as they are upright, therefore they gain Prone Attack (Complete Warrior page 103) as a racial bonus feat. - 3 (base) + 1 (Dex requirement) + 1 (prereq. feat) + 0 (base attack bonus) = 5 FP - Automatic Languages: Nekonese and Feline. Bonus Languages: Elven, Draconic, Dwarven, and Sylvan. - 0 FP - Prehensile Limb (tail) as described in the race's description - 3 FP The total comes to 103 FP, or a well underpowered +4 LA or overpowered +3 LA. Removing either the Constitution bonus or the scent ability would definitely remove them from the LA +4 range. I am thinking of the Con bonus only because I added it to quiet some of the people asking for increased hit points for the race. ________________________________________ JLaurHughes did bring up the point that the current ability score spread is unbalanced; this is true. Honestly though, any creature with a level adjustment has no need to have balanced ability scores, only scores appropriate to the LA. JLaurHughes why don't you post a link to your LA evaluator so we can all see where you are working from. I personally like the system YabaTheWhat created and use it as a benchmark to test races I create (though I found it after creating this one, so had not run the evaluation until now). That said, remember that all these evaluations are examples and not set in stone; I figure with a few final tweaks this race will definitely be a solid +3 LA.
JLaurHughes 11-18-06, 09:53 PM	I don't actually have a link to the system I use to evaluate a race. It's loosely based on the method used in Savage Species and I haven't worked out all the bugs to the system yet. I also need a system that I can understand, and Yabathewhat's feature point system is confusing, since I can't seem to find an explaination of the system itself. Yes I know about the link you and another have posted on this thread, but I still don't seem to see where the system is actually explained.
Kage_no_Neko 11-19-06, 11:56 AM	I also need a system that I can understand, and Yabathewhat's feature point system is confusing, since I can't seem to find an explaination of the system itself. Yes I know about the link you and another have posted on this thread, but I still don't seem to see where the system is actually explained. That is the only problem I have with Yaba's system. I know enough about it from reading through the entire thread. He released a document with his system, but since he was pressured by all the requests to release the system half finished, the document does not included all the information necessary to make it easy to use. Sadly he has also said he no longer has the time to continue working on the project and has moved on. There is another person (sorry I do not remember the name right now) who is taking up where Yaba left off with a different system; perhaps you should try there, the links to his threads are on Yaba's thread.
JLaurHughes 11-19-06, 03:43 PM	Eh, if I create my own method, then I can understand it. I've done pretty well with using the method in 3.0 Savage Species. On page 11, which is easy enough for me to understand in conjunction with the table in the DMG on p.173 that hasn't changed since v3.0.
Kage_no_Neko 11-21-06, 10:44 PM	I decided to go ahead and remove the Constitution bonus. This brings the nekojin to a solid +3 LA. I think overall they are pretty good, hope you agree. :D
JLaurHughes 11-21-06, 10:55 PM	That looks like a solid +3LA to the race to me.
Kage_no_Neko 03-05-07, 01:01 PM	:bump: Has anybody played one of my nekojin?
JLaurHughes 03-05-07, 09:55 PM	Haven't had a chance yet.