Post/Author/DateTime	Post
041391klr 08-18-07, 04:04 PM	Ok, so I have posted this before on the forums to get it to the state its in right now.. anyway, Its a really interesting race, and I was wondering what kind of LA this things worth, and also, How far into that LA is it? (Strong +1, weak +2 etc) Also, any comments on the fluff or questions about the abilities would be great to make this race even better. Without further adieu Here are the Nameless: The Nameless Before you stands a humanoid figure of average height. His most prominent feature is two cloak like cloths hanging from his shoulders, where a humans arms would be. Suddenly, the cloaks jump to life, quickly twisting themselves, excluding the tattered ends of the cloaks, which now operate like fingers. The figure reaches out one of his makeshift arms. "Pleased to meat you" The Nameless began with a monastery dedicated to evil ideals. The monks of this monastery would go on raids of nearby towns, and capture the most beautiful women, then retreat back to the mountains before any of the villagers could fight back. After they arrived at the monastery, the monks would sacrifice the women to the God of Fist, Manaistreph, who they believed fed them the power of Ki. When the townspeople appealed to Pelor, he heeded their call, and removed the one thing that that gave the monks power, their arms. The villagers, took this opportunity, and destroyed the monastery, only sparing those who swore their allegiance to pelor. Months passed and the nameless, no longer evil, wanted to find a way to regain their abilities only their arms could achieve, so thus, they began searching the world for anyone who could help them achieve this. They found this person a week out of the village. He was an old man, who was clothed in the most royal looking clothing they had seen, it almost glew in the night. It was this man who grafted cloth arms on The nameless. Now, the nameless have slowly been spreading throughout the world, creating small societies of their race, and melding into human society. ~-2 Str, +2 Dex The nameless are very quick and agile with their actions, but their makeshift arms make them less brawny then other races. ~Cloak Arms- Because the nameless dont have arms or hands that keep a constant shape, wearing rings, gloves and braces is more of a nuisance than a benefit for them. They instead can get a maximum of four runes stitched into their arms, which have various magical abilities. A nameless may switch their arms between "Unfolded", where they just hang by their sides, and benefit from a few extra abilities(See below), or may use a standard action to twist their arms to manipulate objects. The arms incur no further penalties. Abilities While arms are Unfolded: ~Slow falling - While the Nameless' arms are "Unfolded" , they may reduce the damage they take from falling by 10 feet, this effect is not activated if they are bound, or unable to move. ~Improved Grapple - The Nameless gain the feat of the same name while their arms are "Unfolded" ~Blind - A Nameless can use its Unfolded arms to grapple an opponent up to three sizes larger than itself. The object makes a normal grapple check. If it wins, it wraps itself around the opponent’s head, causing that creature to be blinded until removed. ~Cloak flail - While the Nameless' arms are unfolded, they may use a standard action to flail their "Arms" and thus making it harder to hit them, giving them a +2 Dodge (?) bonus to AC Abilities while arms are folded: ~Deflect Arrows - While a Nameless' arms are folded, they may activate this feat. Activating it is a standard action, and lasts until the beginning of their next turn. ~Constrict - A Nameless who's arms are Folded can constrict and opponent dealing 1d4 damage plus 1½ times its Strength bonus with a successful grapple check against a creature up to one size larger than itself. Favored Class = Monk I will be posting some runes, and their costs on this thread, in case youwant to play this... suggestions for runes would be nice too.. Also, a few of the abilities could actually be switched into runes if they are overpowered, so that is always an option
sensestaker 08-19-07, 03:15 AM	Probably LA +1 Their arms give them lots of nice abilities, but since they're only accessible half the time (whether folded or unfolded), that halves their value. Do they get 4 runes stitched to each arm, or 4 runes total? Can their cloaks be Sundered or Dispelled and do they work in an Antimagic field?
Witch 08-19-07, 03:33 AM	Why are they nameless? You'd think they'd have been given a name pretty soon if they're so weird.
041391klr 08-19-07, 10:31 AM	The runes come in pairs, so each arm will have identical ones, this way, they'll have the same amount of magical items as normal people (2 rings, 1 gloves, and 1 bracers). The arms Don't work in an antimagic field... they're basically animated cloaks after all, unless animated objects arent affected by antimagic... as for sundering, yes they can be sundered, but only while their arms are unfolded, when they are folded, they have the same density as human arms. And no, they cant be dispelled. As for why they are nameless, I just havent been able to come up with a good name.. If you feel so inclined, Im taking suggestions.. Im also thinking about taking out the stats bonuses/penalties and leaving them for 0/0 like humans..I also think Im gonna take off arrow deflection, and the slow falling abilities and turning them into runes, would making these changes affect the LA? Im also going to be altering the original post in order to make it easier to tell folded/unfolded abilities apart.
sensestaker 08-19-07, 03:33 PM	Actually, after looking at this race again, after some sleep, it looks more like a LA +0 to me. Here's why: Str penalty and Dex bonus cancel each other out. Slow falling only works for 10 feet of a fall-a jump check can do that. Improved Grapple is nice, but just a bonus feat usuable half the time Blind is good, but will never work against somebody much larger, unless build is optimized for grapples Cloak flail gives +2 to AC in exchange for the ability to carry a shield or wield a weapon. Deflect Arrows is nice, but just a bonus feat usuable the other half of the time. Constrict is where any real argument for an LA to come in would be. If you beef this guy for grappling, he could do some damage, but, imo, the Str penalty balances this out. Basically, in the MM these would probably be a +1 LA race (because of the Constrict), but I'd let someone play one with a +0. I don't think that removing the Slow Fall and Deflect Arrows would change the LA. I also wouldn't bother developing them as Runes, since they aren't nearly as powerful as the magic itmes most people buy to fill those slots. Two last questions: Can the arms be Disjuncted, and can Runes be replaced/upgraded?
041391klr 08-19-07, 09:24 PM	Actually, after looking at this race again, after some sleep, it looks more like a LA +0 to me. Here's why: Str penalty and Dex bonus cancel each other out. Slow falling only works for 10 feet of a fall-a jump check can do that. Improved Grapple is nice, but just a bonus feat usuable half the time Blind is good, but will never work against somebody much larger, unless build is optimized for grapples Cloak flail gives +2 to AC in exchange for the ability to carry a shield or wield a weapon. Deflect Arrows is nice, but just a bonus feat usuable the other half of the time. Constrict is where any real argument for an LA to come in would be. If you beef this guy for grappling, he could do some damage, but, imo, the Str penalty balances this out. Basically, in the MM these would probably be a +1 LA race (because of the Constrict), but I'd let someone play one with a +0. I don't think that removing the Slow Fall and Deflect Arrows would change the LA. I also wouldn't bother developing them as Runes, since they aren't nearly as powerful as the magic itmes most people buy to fill those slots. Two last questions: Can the arms be Disjuncted, and can Runes be replaced/upgraded? Well I dont think dysjunction would work on the arms, but it would probably work on the Runes scribed into the arms. As for being upgraded, I think it would be interesting to have a Basic, Advanced, and Epic runes... It would be like adding more onto a tatoo..