Plant Race, without plant type [Archive] - Wizards Community

Plant Race, without plant type [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Johnathan_Vagabond
03-19-08, 09:43 AM I'd like to introduce a plant race into my campaign, while avoiding that slightly too strong plant-type. I really don't know how to justify such a thing in the fluff though (they are plants, not just plant looking creatures) or how to balance it (which it seems will be difficult to do). Here's how I'm looking at the crunch so far.

Elden are a sentient race of trees. They gain special and different benefits depending on what kind of tree they hale from. Cross pollination amongst Elden always results in a single tree type, instead of a hybrid. Elden are bipedal tree like creatures with two main limbs used for arms and articulated hands. They have either a crest of leaves or a smattering of leaves all over their body. Elden are hermaphrodidic, like most plants.

Elden
*Stat +/-'s: +2 Wis, -2 Dex. Elden gain other +'s and -'s from their Tree Type.

Medium Humanoid Creature
Move Speed 20ft. (20/20)

*Encumberance: Elden do not suffer movement penalties when in medium or heavy armor or while carrying medium or heavy loads.

*Sleep Immunity: Elden do not sleep, however they must spend 4 hours each day rooted in place to gather nutrients. Areas with poor soil will require the Elden to add their own nutrients to the soil, in the form of foodstuffs. Elden with the Deep Roots feat can always find nutrients in any soil.

*Sunlight Dependency: Elden must spend at least 8 hours of the day in direct sunlight. Alternate light sources can provide them with half the nutrition, meaning they must spend 16 hours in an alternate light source. Elden who take the Cave Moss feat can spend 8 hours rooted in lieu of spending time in the sunlight (including the 4 hours all Elden must spend rooted).

*Treelike: Elden look convincingly like trees, and gain a +10 bonus to Disguise when trying to appear as a normal tree and a +5 to appear as any other kind of plant. They also gain a +5 bonus to Hide in a forest.

*Plant Traits: Elden gain some of the resistances that normal plants do, they have a +2 to save against mind influencing effects and stunning, and a +2 AC against critical confirmation rolls. Elden eat and breath, but do not sleep. Elden also gain some of the weaknesses that normal plants do, and suffer a -2 to save vs. Fire and Cold effects. Spells that have extra effects vs plants, such as Blight or Horrid Wilting, treat Elden as plants.

*Roots: Elden are especially stable when standing on the ground, and gain a +4 bonus vs Bull Rushs, Overruns, and Trips. An Elden can dig their roots deeper, spending a move action to push their roots further down, gaining a additional +1 per round to a maximum of 4 rounds. Being rooted also makes some strength checks easier (such as pushing or pulling something). The Elden cannot voluntarily move when their roots are dug in, and it takes as many move actions to pull their roots out as it did to put them in.

*Wood: Spells that affect wood, such as Woodshape or Warpwood have special effects against Elden. Woodshape grants an Elden a +5 to a disguise. Warpwood can cripple and elden, reducing their speed by 10 or incurring a -2 penalty to all rolls involving the arms or hands or inducing a 10% arcane spell failure.

Tree Types: All Elden select a tree type during character creation.
-Yew: +2 Dex, -2 Str. +2 to Escape Artist, +10ft Move speed. (Yews are affected by normal encumbrance rules).
-Pine: +2 Str, -2 Int. +2 to Survival, Knowledge: Nature, and +2 vs. Cold Effects.
-Oak: +2 Con, -2 Wis. +1 Natural Armor, Carrying Capacity +2 Str.
-Willow: +2 Cha, -2 Str. +2 Perform (any), +2 Swim, +2 to grapple checks.
-Cottonwood: +2 Int, -2 Con. +2 Knowledge (one), +2 Concentration.
-Bamboo: +2 Dex, -2 Cha. +2 to Balance, Tumble, and Swim checks.
Selgard
03-19-08, 10:00 AM Under the main heading you say they are not affected by encumbrance, but then for the Yew entry you say that they are. This needs to be clarified.
(is the extra speed reduced? is it overall speed? what's up?)
Johnathan_Vagabond
03-19-08, 03:04 PM I meant for Yew to be the exception, so that while they were faster than normal Elden, they suffered the same restrictions as other medium creatures with a 30ft move speed, instead of having a 30ft move speed regardless of encumbrance.

I'll reword it.
Grimgrin
03-19-08, 03:39 PM I like it, not overpowered at all. I tried to create a similar rules to convert any type of plant into a 0 ECL flora sapien race: http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=944026

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Johnathan_Vagabond 03-19-08, 09:43 AM	I'd like to introduce a plant race into my campaign, while avoiding that slightly too strong plant-type. I really don't know how to justify such a thing in the fluff though (they are plants, not just plant looking creatures) or how to balance it (which it seems will be difficult to do). Here's how I'm looking at the crunch so far. Elden are a sentient race of trees. They gain special and different benefits depending on what kind of tree they hale from. Cross pollination amongst Elden always results in a single tree type, instead of a hybrid. Elden are bipedal tree like creatures with two main limbs used for arms and articulated hands. They have either a crest of leaves or a smattering of leaves all over their body. Elden are hermaphrodidic, like most plants. Elden Stat +/-'s: +2 Wis, -2 Dex. Elden gain other +'s and -'s from their Tree Type. Medium Humanoid Creature Move Speed 20ft. (20/20) Encumberance: Elden do not suffer movement penalties when in medium or heavy armor or while carrying medium or heavy loads. Sleep Immunity: Elden do not sleep, however they must spend 4 hours each day rooted in place to gather nutrients. Areas with poor soil will require the Elden to add their own nutrients to the soil, in the form of foodstuffs. Elden with the Deep Roots feat can always find nutrients in any soil. Sunlight Dependency: Elden must spend at least 8 hours of the day in direct sunlight. Alternate light sources can provide them with half the nutrition, meaning they must spend 16 hours in an alternate light source. Elden who take the Cave Moss feat can spend 8 hours rooted in lieu of spending time in the sunlight (including the 4 hours all Elden must spend rooted). Treelike: Elden look convincingly like trees, and gain a +10 bonus to Disguise when trying to appear as a normal tree and a +5 to appear as any other kind of plant. They also gain a +5 bonus to Hide in a forest. Plant Traits: Elden gain some of the resistances that normal plants do, they have a +2 to save against mind influencing effects and stunning, and a +2 AC against critical confirmation rolls. Elden eat and breath, but do not sleep. Elden also gain some of the weaknesses that normal plants do, and suffer a -2 to save vs. Fire and Cold effects. Spells that have extra effects vs plants, such as Blight or Horrid Wilting, treat Elden as plants. Roots: Elden are especially stable when standing on the ground, and gain a +4 bonus vs Bull Rushs, Overruns, and Trips. An Elden can dig their roots deeper, spending a move action to push their roots further down, gaining a additional +1 per round to a maximum of 4 rounds. Being rooted also makes some strength checks easier (such as pushing or pulling something). The Elden cannot voluntarily move when their roots are dug in, and it takes as many move actions to pull their roots out as it did to put them in. Wood: Spells that affect wood, such as Woodshape or Warpwood have special effects against Elden. Woodshape grants an Elden a +5 to a disguise. Warpwood can cripple and elden, reducing their speed by 10 or incurring a -2 penalty to all rolls involving the arms or hands or inducing a 10% arcane spell failure. Tree Types: All Elden select a tree type during character creation. -Yew: +2 Dex, -2 Str. +2 to Escape Artist, +10ft Move speed. (Yews are affected by normal encumbrance rules). -Pine: +2 Str, -2 Int. +2 to Survival, Knowledge: Nature, and +2 vs. Cold Effects. -Oak: +2 Con, -2 Wis. +1 Natural Armor, Carrying Capacity +2 Str. -Willow: +2 Cha, -2 Str. +2 Perform (any), +2 Swim, +2 to grapple checks. -Cottonwood: +2 Int, -2 Con. +2 Knowledge (one), +2 Concentration. -Bamboo: +2 Dex, -2 Cha. +2 to Balance, Tumble, and Swim checks.
Selgard 03-19-08, 10:00 AM	Under the main heading you say they are not affected by encumbrance, but then for the Yew entry you say that they are. This needs to be clarified. (is the extra speed reduced? is it overall speed? what's up?)
Johnathan_Vagabond 03-19-08, 03:04 PM	I meant for Yew to be the exception, so that while they were faster than normal Elden, they suffered the same restrictions as other medium creatures with a 30ft move speed, instead of having a 30ft move speed regardless of encumbrance. I'll reword it.
Grimgrin 03-19-08, 03:39 PM	I like it, not overpowered at all. I tried to create a similar rules to convert any type of plant into a 0 ECL flora sapien race: http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=944026