Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lobsopdoy 07-01-07, 11:01 PM	http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/8773/copsey2.jpg Overview: The Thox are an insectile race from...who knows? The Material Plane is vast, the Planes moreso. The Thox however, are not afraid to make themselves known, asking almost anyone it meets something...anything about whatever they think the person they just met may know. The profits of last month for an Inn, maybe the most popular potion in a magic store. They've gone to mountain hermits and bartered fairly just so they could be told what type of rocks on the mountains are heavier, which are more likely to fall, and which chip easier. There are many people who can attest to Thox perfectly memorizing entire years worth of ledgers for fun, for example. What is good to know is that when they are done asking questions and aren't distracted by the prospect of more questions being answered, they are loyal, compassionate, and honest. While there are differences in personality, and a few Neutral and even Evil Thox have been mentioned by others of their race, they are predominantly Lawful Good. Something that's helpful to them as much as to other races, as it helps those to whom they aim their questions deal with their strange appearance. Thox communicate via telepathy, and have some accomplished psions among them. They usually only temper their psionic powers for the purpose of communication, such as allowing two Thox to hold a conversation over hundreds of miles. Physical Characteristics: A Thox is an insectile abberation with a main body that is approximately 6 feet in diameter, and 4 chitinous legs that are about 4 feet long each. Although they have sharp jaws on their front under their eyes, these are solely for offensive or defensive purposes, their mouths are located on the underside of their main body. They are predatorial and will eat small animals such as squirrells, birds, or raccoons. Although they have long been civilized enough to not have to forage for food, each Thox is more then capable of hunting enough to survive on should this be required. It has four eyes which look almost disturbingly expressionless. Having evolved the ability to express emotions instanteously through telepathy, they really didn't see the need to evolve the ability to make gestures with their eyes. Finally, two tri-digited arms depend from their sides. These are dextrous enough to use all kinds of tools. Culture: The Thox live together in large colonies, usually in secluded areas such as underground caverns or mountains. Of course, a Patriarch of a colony would give it's left arm (it'd probably grow back over a few weeks anyway) to be able to move it's brethren into a ruin, where they could carefully glean knowledge about the past inhabitants by examining it. They live as a huge extended family, taking care of younger Thox until they are old enough to leave on their own if they wish. Most of them who do leave choose to keep in contact with their original colony. They have an odd religion, wherein rather then worshipping any diety, they instead worship the idea of knowledge. Their unstoppable thirst for any knowledge at all is driven by the central dogma of their culture. That nirvana will be achieved when the Thox learn all there is to know. Role-playing: A typical Thox will have a strangely hyperactive personality. It's incredibly intelligent, even putting a Mind Flayer to shame, but it's tendency to quickly run from person to person pumping them for information, coupled with it's subsequent tendency to get distracted by another font of knowledge can cause it to seem more childlike then it really is. When a Thox is actually focused on the situation (And they can become focused on things that don't actually involve learning things) they're very professional and can display an insectile singlemindedness, and even display a surprising amount of emotional empathy or depth. Otherwise, curiousity is the name of the game. Name Examples: Uristos, Xyruihm, Kyt'nasch. Preferred Class: Archivist, easily. Best stat: Their normal intelligence is 20, beating even a Mind Flayer. This allows them to be able to study almost anything in their search for omniscience. Their dexterity is second, then Wisdom, Then fortitude. Despite their chitinous shell, they are not armoured enough to stop a hammerblow from damaging them. Alignment: Usually Lawful Good Language: An urban Thox will understand Common and any other regional language. They speak via telepathy. So there's my second homebrew species. Like it?
Rerecros 07-01-07, 11:36 PM	:love: this is great, and the picture is great too. Crunch wise, I can only imagine them used as NPCs.
Poison_Dusk 07-02-07, 12:37 AM	I would love to see it finished, with stats and all.
Lobsopdoy 07-02-07, 10:44 AM	I'm glad that you guys all like The Thox, they're honestly one of my favourite races that I've made up (they even beat The Nameless, to an extent). I wouldn't mind meeting one in real life, even. I'm bad at crunchy stuff, so if any of you would like to try it, then go ahead. I could see a lot of Thox living in Sigil, since it's so cosmopolitan that there would be TONS of people to get information from, so they would love to get to set up shop there. I should probably point out that part of what makes them Lawful Good is that they aren't ruthless in their drive for knowledge, even though it's part of what defines them as a species. They would never even consider vivisecting a drow to see what makes it tick, for example. However, they wouldn't be averse to dissecting a dead one that they found or just had to fight. They also don't lie to each other (deceit breeds false knowledge and therefore impedes progress towards learning true knowledge), and therefore a Thox that is relatively new to living out of a colony will be pretty naive and guileless. Their telepathy may allow them to discern whether someone is telling the truth or not if they were powerful enough psionics. Additionally, the telepathy requires a link to be made between it and whatever it's communicating with. This "link" is not a major thing, it takes a second to start and then it can be disconnected at anytime. It's like an Internet connection. However, the difficulty of making a link will depend on how "alien" the mindset of the subject is. So a human, elf, or half-orc is pretty much seamless (despite the anatomical differences, they're pretty similar. They're made of the same "stuff"). But an Aboleth or a Beholder is going to be either incredibly difficult or downright dangerous for an inexperienced Thox. Things that are pretty much pure insanity like a Gibbering Mouther or an Obyrith, or even a tanar'ri is right out.
Poison_Dusk 07-02-07, 02:09 PM	SO in other words, it functions more like mind link than telepathy. Also, if they are aberrations than it would be easier for them to make a connection with a beholder or aboleth than a human or what not.
Lobsopdoy 07-02-07, 05:07 PM	SO in other words, it functions more like mind link than telepathy. Also, if they are aberrations than it would be easier for them to make a connection with a beholder or aboleth than a human or what not. Yes, precisely! Except that the link is one way. The Thox will send messages telepathically to the conversant, but that conversant would then reply in their language, be it verbal or some kind of sign language. Of course, it would be two-way if the subject is also telepathic. I'm calling them Abberations because they look alien. I really can't think of a much better term for them. They obviously can't be monstrous humanoids because they're not humanoid at all. I don't think that they're magical, either. Finally, I kinda originally made them up for a sci-fi universe (Games of the Mad). Hence, they would be aliens, and from what I've heard, all aliens are abberations (Although not all abberations are aliens). If there is a better term for them then I'm all for it. Also, I'm working under the assumption that not all abberations are alike. An Aboleth has an almost completely alien thought-process that involves hundreds of thousands of years worth of memories. A Thox communicating with it would probably be like putting a drop in an ocean. A Beholder...well they're just crazy. I just enjoy making up new species that look alien, but aren't evil, which seems to be the knee-jerk response. You know...Tentacles = SATAN! It always bothered me that most of the Celestials looked basically human (except Hound Archons, I know), while Fiends look inhuman.
kaionon 07-02-07, 05:20 PM	Perhaps they could simply be outsiders instead of abberations? As you didn't say where they are from they could originate from lawfull good plane? Or perhaps they actualy come from the plane that was the "center" of the D&D great wheel? They could have a huge presence in Sigil since it would basicly be the center of all knowledge in the universe.
Lobsopdoy 07-02-07, 05:39 PM	Perhaps they could simply be outsiders instead of abberations? As you didn't say where they are from they could originate from lawfull good plane? Or perhaps they actualy come from the plane that was the "center" of the D&D great wheel? They could have a huge presence in Sigil since it would basicly be the center of all knowledge in the universe. Eh, I don't like to think of them as Outsiders, or being specifically tied to any alignment. They're Lawful Good because that's what their society is. Nothing biological or magical about it. I believe that the "centre" of the Great Wheel is none other then the Prime Material Plane. Which is where I would have them come from. I think that the best classification is somewhere between Magical beast and Abberation. A Magiberrationeast? o_O Edit: Or an outsider with the native subtype, I suppose. I just wouldn't feel it was right for them to be "made" out of lawful good.
Poison_Dusk 07-02-07, 06:23 PM	Native outsiders are do not need to e "made of" an alignment. Look at the Draegloth. While they are usually Chaotic Evil, they are not "made of" it.
Lobsopdoy 07-02-07, 11:09 PM	Okay then, Native Outsider works fine! They could have originally come from the Lawful Good Plane, but that could be many millenia ago. An average Thox would live to be about 500 or so. Oh yeah, if it isn't already implied by me posting it on a public message board, you guys can use the Thox. I mean, it's not like I'd be able to stop you anyway :P
TamianTheRanger 07-02-07, 11:57 PM	i know every one else has said it but this creature is so awesome, i like the quest for knoledge its alot like the gnome family quest in Dragon lance, any way i think it has alot of cretivity its pretty cool :clap: :w00t: :bow:
Genetic 07-03-07, 01:12 AM	Mechanical stuff: Type: Outsider (psionic, native) Size: Medium. Base speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 20 ft. Ability score adjustments: Int +10, Wis +6, Dex +4, Con +2, Str -4. Thox are very intelligent and have naturally strong and dexterous bodies. However, their continued studies give them a tendency to neglect their physical strength. Naturally Psionic: A Thox gains two bonus power points at first level. Mindlink (Ps): At will, a Thox can use mindlink (as the power) as a psi-like ability with a manifester level equal to its hit dice. Favored Class: Erudite. Level Adjustment: +4 This was all done off the top of my head very quickly, with no use of various systems (Savage Species, FeaturePoints, etc). So feel free to fix/balance/change things.
Mai_ariti 07-03-07, 12:28 PM	Sorry to come late to this discussion but how about these two things: Abberation (Psionic, Extraplanar) Environment: The Thox are native to [insert LG Plane of choice here, Celestia?], and are considered extraplanar when not on that plane. This makes them from a extraplanar source, and a LG one, without making them an outsider. I like it better than the Outsider (native) but then I like abberations. Just a question: Int > Dex > Wis > Fort? Why is fortitude listed under best stats? Do you mean Con?
Poison_Dusk 07-03-07, 01:40 PM	As a quadreped the speed should be a 40. Just my opinion.
obrysii 07-03-07, 02:12 PM	Nonhumanoid races = win
Lobsopdoy 07-03-07, 07:45 PM	Sorry to come late to this discussion but how about these two things: Abberation (Psionic, Extraplanar) Environment: The Thox are native to [insert LG Plane of choice here, Celestia?], and are considered extraplanar when not on that plane. This makes them from a extraplanar source, and a LG one, without making them an outsider. I like it better than the Outsider (native) but then I like abberations. Just a question: Int > Dex > Wis > Fort? Why is fortitude listed under best stats? Do you mean Con? Oh my, that's my newbishness showing through. I accidentally put Con and Str both under Fort without even realizing I had forgotten one. Their Constitution is better then their strength. Maybe a single bonus point to the rolled up total for constitution. Since having a shell is going to automatically be better then just skin in any case. Thanks to those who have pitched in mechanical information. You're far better then I could've done. :bow: I like Abberations, but I REALLY don't want them to be considered extraplanar. At most, I would say that they originated from...Celestia I guess...although I don't think they look too Archony...oh well, that can be a reason why they left in any case. But that would have been so long ago that the species has lost their outsider traits (Being unable to be resurrected easily on the Material Plane, having their soul and their bodies as a single unit, for example). Of course, when they die, I guess their souls go up to Celestia again and commence pumping Archons and whatever new petitioners show up for information :D So, to make up for this, I'll just give some additional cultural information. A Thox's preferred weapon is a dagger. It's small, easy to hide, and is much easier to use for something with it's body shape then a quarterstaff, for example. They DO wear clothes. These are mostly harness-like covers that have tons of pockets and compartments for tools within easy reach. I think I'll post up a new race in a couple days (using one of my own pictures, so prepare for a...not-so-good illustration). The Lawful Evil Castoffs of Celestia...The Erharidu. But hey, as long as people are posting and asking questions, I'll answer! :)
Genetic 07-03-07, 10:47 PM	A hardened shell should probably grant natural armor, rather than an increase in constitution.
Lobsopdoy 07-04-07, 02:35 PM	Sure sure then, go with that.
ServanWolf 07-04-07, 04:32 PM	add maybe to of them...but if you could make it without LA it would be good...dont forget that a creature like this will hardly be unseen in ahuman city or so *maybe even attacked* im impatient to see the stats
Lobsopdoy 07-06-07, 01:07 AM	There is pretty much no way that this race could be done without LA. I mean, they're very different from humans or any of the other PC races. I don't think that they would get attacked very much. It would depend on whether or not there is a colony nearby. A town that has never seen a Thox before would be understandably freaked out. They are pretty damn big bugs. But one that is close to a community of them would probably be alright with them. I imagine that a Thox would be an asset for any business, especially information recording or reference. It'd probably work in a library for free, for example. Not to mention the trading they'll do.
Genetic 07-06-07, 10:33 AM	Updated version: Type: Aberration (psionic) Size: Medium. Base speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), climb 20 ft. Ability score adjustments: Int +10, Wis +6, Dex +4. Thox are very intelligent and have naturally strong and dexterous bodies. Naturally Psionic: A Thox gains two bonus power points at first level. Tough Hide: A Thox has +2 natural armor. Speechless (Ex): A Thox cannot communicate verbally. However, it can use its mindlink psi-like ability to communicate telepathically with creatures. Mindlink (Ps): At will, a Thox can use mindlink (as the power) as a psi-like ability with a manifester level equal to its hit dice. Favored Class: Erudite. Level Adjustment: +3 Edit: Once again, needs to be checked against featurepoints or something.
Lobsopdoy 07-06-07, 01:22 PM	That looks really great. Although I'm not familiar with the Erudite class. I had thought that they would be more likely to take the Archivist class from Heroes of Horror
Genetic 07-06-07, 10:18 PM	That looks really great. Although I'm not familiar with the Erudite class. I had thought that they would be more likely to take the Archivist class from Heroes of Horror Erudite is a variant psion class in Complete Psionic. They're basically obsessed with learning because they have to record their powers instead of just knowing them. Basically a psionic wizard. An archivist would work as well. Just picked erudite because of the psionic themes the race has.
Lobsopdoy 07-07-07, 04:45 PM	I think that it should be up to the DM. If they're playing a Psion game, then it would probably be best to have the Thox prefer to be Erudites. But if you want to highlight how they learn from mundane sources, then they can be Archivists. Is there anyone here who would actually use them in their games? I think they would probably be best as NPCs, but hey, far be it for me to say what can and can't be done. :)
Genetic 07-07-07, 07:25 PM	Ok, I checked the level adjustment against FeaturePoints and it seems to indeed work out to a LA of +3. I present the above as the final mechanics stuff of the Thox except with "Favored Class: Archivist" instead of "Favored Class: Erudite" (make Erudite a variant favored class).
Lobsopdoy 07-08-07, 07:17 PM	I'll see if I can build up an example of a Thox, whether NPC or PC. Thanks for all the help Genetic
Lobsopdoy 07-22-07, 07:27 PM	I've decided to make some changes to the Thox, after some thinking. -They are no longer from Celestia, as that would make them unable to be Abberations and that's the flavour I was going for. The population of Thox that now live in Oerth are the descendants of an exploration team of Thox that were sent from an alternate Prime Material Plane to...explore, of course. The team, in their inborn obsession with knowledge, decided to stay there until they had learned all they could. This has become a generational mission spanning tens of thousands of years. In the main colonies, there is a planar gate which is used to communicate with their original world and update them on their progress. It is NOT going to be used for an invasion. -Communication between colonies is done via large crystals of Thox make that amplify the mind-link ability enough to have a conversation with someone from many miles away. These crystals are, however, exceedingly large and grown in the colonies. Each colony would have only a dozen, at most. I'd guess that they would look like crystal formations of about 14 feet in height, with siguls that describe where the crystal's "twin" is, (more on that later). These crystals can only be used to speak to a Thox (or possibly another Psionic species, they haven't really tried that) that is on another crystal. Crystals are grown in pairs between colonies. One crystal will be connected to the crystal of another colony, and will only facilitate communication between it's twin crystal. Thus, colonies try to have at least one crystal for each colony. -The Thox are not related to the Far Realm, but their Prime Material Plane has taken a very different evolutionary path then Oerth. Here's their reworked stats: Stats: Type: Aberration (psionic) Size: Medium. Base speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), climb 20 ft. Ability score adjustments: Int +8, Dex +2, Str -2. Naturally Psionic: A Thox gains two bonus power points at first level. Tough Hide: A Thox has +2 natural armor. Speechless (Ex): A Thox cannot communicate verbally. However, it can use its mindlink psi-like ability to communicate telepathically with creatures. Mindlink (Ps): At will, a Thox can use mindlink (as the power) as a psi-like ability with a manifester level equal to its hit dice. Favored Class: Archivist Level Adjustment: +3 Racial Ability: A Thox gets a +3 bonus to any knowledge checks provided that they use knowledge skills that they have at least 5 ranks in. There, I think that works. I decided to forego a Wis enhancement to show that the Thox have a different mental set-up then us. Their brains are adapted for storing and retrieving information, but not so much for applying it to real-life situations. They aren't stupid, nor do they have lower wisdom then regular races because with all that knowledge they obviously would have SOME ability to apply it, but it isn't one of their talents. The str penalty makes more sense then a constitution penalty because I don't think it would make much sense for a creature to have a natural armour bonus, yet still be somehow more fragile then a human.