Vespid PEACH [Archive] - Wizards Community

Vespid PEACH [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Jayne
03-21-07, 02:54 PM This is mostly an extension of the Tau and Kroot races that were created some time ago.

http://www.vortexzone.fr/Images/Nouveaut%E9s/Big%20Pics/Vespid3.jpg

This is mostly an extension of the Tau and Kroot races that were created some time ago.

Vespid LA +4

Personality:
• The Vespid society is based around individual hives, with each hive consisting of several hundred individuals living together in one of the massive honey-combed floating rocks that they use as nests. They are very community minded, and are entirely willing to give up their lives to serve the good of their hive (this was, in large part, the main reason that they were so accepting of the Tau's Greater Good.) At the same time, they are cold, almost impersonal to strangers; intents are proven by actions, and the Vespid are very keen on maintaining their society. Adventurers are rare, but occasionally a Vespid Queen will send out individuals to gather information in the wider world.

Physical Description:
• Vespids are fairly large, measuring 7 to 8 feet, tall, with large chitinous wings and a pale blue exoskeleton. The age of a Vespid can be rapidly learned by its appearance: The younger females are shorter, with underdeveloped wings, while the elder Vespid have larger wings and a more powerful build. Unlike many other sentient races, the Vespid are almost entirely female; with a fertile queen as the primary source of new Vespid, almost the entire population is infertile females (many biologists are quick to point out the similarity in nature of the Vespid and the bee). The male drone, as with the bee, is a short lived creature (about 3-4 weeks) and only serves to help continue the population growth. The Vespid possess two arms and two double-jointed legs, each ending in powerful, diamond-hard claws, which are used primarily as either a defense mechanism or to help bore out the tunnels needed to help house the expanding population. They also possess a powerful poisoned stinger, which adds to the frightful presence of the creatures. They grow quickly, and reach adulthood within a few years after birth. The (female) Vespid live fairly long lives, averaging 150-160 years, while Queens live longer, averaging 300-400 years, and are far larger, and entirely immobile and helpless, relying upon the infertile females for its needs. Males are smaller, with no claws or stinger, and are far weaker than the female Vespid.

Relations:
• Being a communal people, the Vespid deal well with urbanized life. A Vespid is slow to form bonds with other people, but it builds long term friendships, often lasting entire lifetimes. The Vespid focus less upon individuality, often to the point of the words "I" and "We" becoming interchangeable in conversation.

Alignment:
• Loyal to their hive, the Vespid are not above lying, cheating, stealing, or any other act to preserve their society. As such, they tend strongly towards Neutral alignments, though, as with any race, there are exceptions.

Lands:
• Unique amongst most sentient races, the Vespid race does not have (for any part of their civilization) a stationary "home." Instead, they make their hives inside of the massive rocks that roam their portion of the ocean, using them as both transportation and community. The rocks can be huge, with the average measuring about 1.5-2 miles in diameter, and approximately 1.5 miles deep, resembling an ultra-massive stalactite. The rocks are largely hollow, filled with chambers for the Vespid, as well as burrows for the predatory creatures that also inhabit the rocks. Structures within on the rocks are generally built of regurgitated rock, resembling primitive huts, but nearly as durable as the strongest walls. More enterprising Vespid convert the smaller islands into Bzzr'kk'an, or "world-ships." Sporting dozens, even hundreds of masts and sails, the islands slowly cruise the ocean, filled with literally thousands of tons of cargo, and, in the case of perishable goods, the capacity of growing more along the way.

Religion:
• The Vespid's religious tendencies are towards heavily regimented religions. However, because of the factionist overall nature of the race, this differs from hive to hive.

Language:
• The Vespid speak their own language, which resembles a mixture of clicks, buzzes, and emphatic telepathy. The language is nearly impossible for other creatures to articulate, as the vocalization of even the most basic words and phrases requires a complex system of tongue movement and instrument usage (By connection, the Vespid find conventional speech and music a mixture of whistles and gasps). Capable of learning Common, Vespid pronounce it with a significant lisp and burring, with most relying upon other telepaths to do the majority of their conversation.

Names:
• Vespids rarely have names within their own society. Generally, when out in the larger world, they use a nick-name given to them by an ally.

LA+4

Racial Stats:
• Racial Hit Dice: 2d8
o Ability Adjustment: +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -4 Charisma. Vespids are strong, industrious creatures, but have difficulty associating with outsiders or dealing with issues of morality and intent.
o Land Speed: 40 feet

o Size: Medium

o Natural Weapons: A Vespid possesses four claws, located at the end of each limb. Used primarily to cut through rock, the upper claws also make effective weaponry, while the lower set, primarily used to anchor the Vespid while digging, is somewhat less effective, requiring the Vespid to be airborne while attacking. Each claw deals 1d4 slashing damage, and the 2 upper claws are considered the primary natural weapon, with the lower 2 counting as secondary weapons. The Vespid also possesses a stinger, which inflicts 1d6 piercing damage, and is considered a secondary weapon. The Vespid qualifies for the Multi-Attack feat, as well as conventional feats.
o Darkvision: Vespid possess Darkvision out to 60 feet.

o Sleepless: Vespid are immune to magical sleep effects.

o Weapon Familiarity: Vespids treat the shard-gun (see below) as a martial weapon.

o Natural Armor: Vespids possess a thick chitin shell, allowing them to better defend themselves. A Vespid possesses +3 natural armor.

o Automatic Languages: Common, Vespid

o Favored Class: Psionic Warrior. Being an inherently psionic people, most adventuring Vespid utilize their powers to aid them in their journeys.

o Deflect Arrows: Vespid characters gain Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat.

o Flight: The Vespid’s wings have become fully developed. The character gains a fly speed equivalent to their base land speed, with good maneuverability. They also qualify for the Fly-by Attack, Hover, and Wingover monstrous feats.

o Naturally Psionic: Vespids are naturally psionic and gain 1 bonus power point. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class. Power points do allow a character to make use of psionic feats and attempt to gain psionic focus.

o Powerful Claws: Vespid claws possess sharpness and durability to the point of becoming almost diamond-like in hardness. For all intents and purposes, the Vespid’s claws count as being made of adamantine.

o Poison: Vespid characters learn how to muster their naturally occurring venom in a quantity sufficient to inflict one poisonous sting per day. The poison delivered by the sting has an initial damage of 1d6 Dexterity, but the secondary damage paralyzes victims for 2d6 minutes (DC 13 + Constitution Modifier)

o Sonic Blast: A Vespid learns to use its wings, in conjunction to its increasing psionic abilities, to generate a sonic pulse that travels along the ground, throwing its foes to the ground. 3 times per day, the Vespid character gains the usage of the Stomp power as a psi-like ability (Manifester level equal to ½ HD, minimum 1st).

o Venomous Claw: A Vespid is capable to emit poison from its talons, allowing it to make one venomous attack per claw per day. The venom delivered by a successful attack deals an initial damage of 1d4 Strength damage, with a secondary damage of 1d6 Strength damage (DC 14 + Constitution Modifier)

New Equipment:
• Shard-Gun: Developed by the Vespid to help them deal with certain creatures in the tunnels of their homes, the shard-gun utilizes a gunpowder charge to fire off a large crystal. The crystal, mined from the cores of their floating homes by female workers, possess a sharp edge, and will cut through nearly anything. However, due to the poor metallurgy skills of the Vespid, the weapon’s range is far shorter than that of comparable weapons.

Cost: 550 gp
Damage: 2d12
Critical: x3
Range Increment: 45 feet
Weight: 15 lbs
Damage Type: Slashing/Piercing
Ammunition: Vespid Crystal Shard (15 gp for 5)
Reload Time: 2 Full-Round Actions
Firing Time: Standard Action
Jayne
03-22-07, 08:19 AM All set for your review.
Jayne
04-25-07, 04:53 PM Submitting this to user scrutiny one last time. If anyone has any ideas for improvements or suggestions for future projects, let me know.:)
Enderlaand
04-26-07, 02:56 PM Very cool, but I wonder about some of the abilities you've given them. Why are they so fast and strong? Why deflect arrows?
Jayne
04-26-07, 04:04 PM When I first started working on the idea for the Vespid race, Grave Accomplice had an idea

Maybe use the thri-kreen, removing a pair of arms for wings. Dragon Mag printed them with some basic psi-abilites. Their favored class could be psychic warrior.

As a not of reference, here are the Thri-keen rules.

+2 STR, +4 DEX, -2 INT, +2 WIS, -4 CHA.
Monstrous Humanoid
Base Speed 40 ft.
Darkvision 60ft.
Immunity to magic Sleep effects.
+3 Natural Armor.
Multiple Limbs (4 arms).
Natural Attacks: claws 1d4, bite 1d4.
Poison: Bite; DC 11 + Con Modifier; Inital Damage 1d6 DEX, secondary paralysis.
Leap: +30 on Jump Checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Gythka (Double weapon: 1d10/1d10), Catkcha (1d6/18-20/x2).
Naturally Psionic: +1 Power Point @ 1st level.
Psi-like Abilities: 3/day: Chameleon, Know direction; 1/day: Psionic Displacement, Metaphysical Claw.
Racial HD: 2 Monstrous Humanoid (2d8)
Racial Skills: 5x (2+Int)
+4 Hide (sandy or Arid)
Deflect Arrows
+1 feat
LA +4

The only actual changes between the two were:
Intelligence & Wisdom stat changes switched
Leap ability and bonus feat replaced by Flight
Favored Class switched
Hide bonus lost
Bite replaced by sting
Psi-like abilities replaced, reduced in number
Claw attacks reworked slightly (to fit physiology)
Claws made adamantine

Admitted the adamantine claws were a little on the extreme side, and the flight ability might not equivelate nicely, but things can get changed fairly readily.
mathiu
04-26-07, 04:17 PM The bit about the claws being unable to hold things seems to mean all claws, might want to clear that up.

Also, poison mentions a bite, which I don't see mentioned elsewhere. Overall I think it's pretty good. The 2 racial HD and +4 LA make me think it's a little too much as stomp isn't that spectacular and the poisons seem to be usable once per day.
Jayne
04-27-07, 11:42 AM Mathiu: Claws have been clarified, and the poison bit has been fixed. I had just taken the Thri-keen rules and reverse-engineered them. There was bound to be a hole somewhere.:)

As the poison usage is one per claw, it could (technically) mean 4/day, so that might bump it up slightly, but the actual LA is still up to debate.

Thanks.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jayne 03-21-07, 02:54 PM	This is mostly an extension of the Tau and Kroot races that were created some time ago. http://www.vortexzone.fr/Images/Nouveaut%E9s/Big%20Pics/Vespid3.jpg This is mostly an extension of the Tau and Kroot races that were created some time ago. Vespid LA +4 Personality: • The Vespid society is based around individual hives, with each hive consisting of several hundred individuals living together in one of the massive honey-combed floating rocks that they use as nests. They are very community minded, and are entirely willing to give up their lives to serve the good of their hive (this was, in large part, the main reason that they were so accepting of the Tau's Greater Good.) At the same time, they are cold, almost impersonal to strangers; intents are proven by actions, and the Vespid are very keen on maintaining their society. Adventurers are rare, but occasionally a Vespid Queen will send out individuals to gather information in the wider world. Physical Description: • Vespids are fairly large, measuring 7 to 8 feet, tall, with large chitinous wings and a pale blue exoskeleton. The age of a Vespid can be rapidly learned by its appearance: The younger females are shorter, with underdeveloped wings, while the elder Vespid have larger wings and a more powerful build. Unlike many other sentient races, the Vespid are almost entirely female; with a fertile queen as the primary source of new Vespid, almost the entire population is infertile females (many biologists are quick to point out the similarity in nature of the Vespid and the bee). The male drone, as with the bee, is a short lived creature (about 3-4 weeks) and only serves to help continue the population growth. The Vespid possess two arms and two double-jointed legs, each ending in powerful, diamond-hard claws, which are used primarily as either a defense mechanism or to help bore out the tunnels needed to help house the expanding population. They also possess a powerful poisoned stinger, which adds to the frightful presence of the creatures. They grow quickly, and reach adulthood within a few years after birth. The (female) Vespid live fairly long lives, averaging 150-160 years, while Queens live longer, averaging 300-400 years, and are far larger, and entirely immobile and helpless, relying upon the infertile females for its needs. Males are smaller, with no claws or stinger, and are far weaker than the female Vespid. Relations: • Being a communal people, the Vespid deal well with urbanized life. A Vespid is slow to form bonds with other people, but it builds long term friendships, often lasting entire lifetimes. The Vespid focus less upon individuality, often to the point of the words "I" and "We" becoming interchangeable in conversation. Alignment: • Loyal to their hive, the Vespid are not above lying, cheating, stealing, or any other act to preserve their society. As such, they tend strongly towards Neutral alignments, though, as with any race, there are exceptions. Lands: • Unique amongst most sentient races, the Vespid race does not have (for any part of their civilization) a stationary "home." Instead, they make their hives inside of the massive rocks that roam their portion of the ocean, using them as both transportation and community. The rocks can be huge, with the average measuring about 1.5-2 miles in diameter, and approximately 1.5 miles deep, resembling an ultra-massive stalactite. The rocks are largely hollow, filled with chambers for the Vespid, as well as burrows for the predatory creatures that also inhabit the rocks. Structures within on the rocks are generally built of regurgitated rock, resembling primitive huts, but nearly as durable as the strongest walls. More enterprising Vespid convert the smaller islands into Bzzr'kk'an, or "world-ships." Sporting dozens, even hundreds of masts and sails, the islands slowly cruise the ocean, filled with literally thousands of tons of cargo, and, in the case of perishable goods, the capacity of growing more along the way. Religion: • The Vespid's religious tendencies are towards heavily regimented religions. However, because of the factionist overall nature of the race, this differs from hive to hive. Language: • The Vespid speak their own language, which resembles a mixture of clicks, buzzes, and emphatic telepathy. The language is nearly impossible for other creatures to articulate, as the vocalization of even the most basic words and phrases requires a complex system of tongue movement and instrument usage (By connection, the Vespid find conventional speech and music a mixture of whistles and gasps). Capable of learning Common, Vespid pronounce it with a significant lisp and burring, with most relying upon other telepaths to do the majority of their conversation. Names: • Vespids rarely have names within their own society. Generally, when out in the larger world, they use a nick-name given to them by an ally. LA+4 Racial Stats: • Racial Hit Dice: 2d8 o Ability Adjustment: +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -4 Charisma. Vespids are strong, industrious creatures, but have difficulty associating with outsiders or dealing with issues of morality and intent. o Land Speed: 40 feet o Size: Medium o Natural Weapons: A Vespid possesses four claws, located at the end of each limb. Used primarily to cut through rock, the upper claws also make effective weaponry, while the lower set, primarily used to anchor the Vespid while digging, is somewhat less effective, requiring the Vespid to be airborne while attacking. Each claw deals 1d4 slashing damage, and the 2 upper claws are considered the primary natural weapon, with the lower 2 counting as secondary weapons. The Vespid also possesses a stinger, which inflicts 1d6 piercing damage, and is considered a secondary weapon. The Vespid qualifies for the Multi-Attack feat, as well as conventional feats. o Darkvision: Vespid possess Darkvision out to 60 feet. o Sleepless: Vespid are immune to magical sleep effects. o Weapon Familiarity: Vespids treat the shard-gun (see below) as a martial weapon. o Natural Armor: Vespids possess a thick chitin shell, allowing them to better defend themselves. A Vespid possesses +3 natural armor. o Automatic Languages: Common, Vespid o Favored Class: Psionic Warrior. Being an inherently psionic people, most adventuring Vespid utilize their powers to aid them in their journeys. o Deflect Arrows: Vespid characters gain Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat. o Flight: The Vespid’s wings have become fully developed. The character gains a fly speed equivalent to their base land speed, with good maneuverability. They also qualify for the Fly-by Attack, Hover, and Wingover monstrous feats. o Naturally Psionic: Vespids are naturally psionic and gain 1 bonus power point. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class. Power points do allow a character to make use of psionic feats and attempt to gain psionic focus. o Powerful Claws: Vespid claws possess sharpness and durability to the point of becoming almost diamond-like in hardness. For all intents and purposes, the Vespid’s claws count as being made of adamantine. o Poison: Vespid characters learn how to muster their naturally occurring venom in a quantity sufficient to inflict one poisonous sting per day. The poison delivered by the sting has an initial damage of 1d6 Dexterity, but the secondary damage paralyzes victims for 2d6 minutes (DC 13 + Constitution Modifier) o Sonic Blast: A Vespid learns to use its wings, in conjunction to its increasing psionic abilities, to generate a sonic pulse that travels along the ground, throwing its foes to the ground. 3 times per day, the Vespid character gains the usage of the Stomp power as a psi-like ability (Manifester level equal to ½ HD, minimum 1st). o Venomous Claw: A Vespid is capable to emit poison from its talons, allowing it to make one venomous attack per claw per day. The venom delivered by a successful attack deals an initial damage of 1d4 Strength damage, with a secondary damage of 1d6 Strength damage (DC 14 + Constitution Modifier) New Equipment: • Shard-Gun: Developed by the Vespid to help them deal with certain creatures in the tunnels of their homes, the shard-gun utilizes a gunpowder charge to fire off a large crystal. The crystal, mined from the cores of their floating homes by female workers, possess a sharp edge, and will cut through nearly anything. However, due to the poor metallurgy skills of the Vespid, the weapon’s range is far shorter than that of comparable weapons. Cost: 550 gp Damage: 2d12 Critical: x3 Range Increment: 45 feet Weight: 15 lbs Damage Type: Slashing/Piercing Ammunition: Vespid Crystal Shard (15 gp for 5) Reload Time: 2 Full-Round Actions Firing Time: Standard Action
Jayne 03-22-07, 08:19 AM	All set for your review.
Jayne 04-25-07, 04:53 PM	Submitting this to user scrutiny one last time. If anyone has any ideas for improvements or suggestions for future projects, let me know.:)
Enderlaand 04-26-07, 02:56 PM	Very cool, but I wonder about some of the abilities you've given them. Why are they so fast and strong? Why deflect arrows?
Jayne 04-26-07, 04:04 PM	When I first started working on the idea for the Vespid race, Grave Accomplice had an idea Maybe use the thri-kreen, removing a pair of arms for wings. Dragon Mag printed them with some basic psi-abilites. Their favored class could be psychic warrior. As a not of reference, here are the Thri-keen rules. +2 STR, +4 DEX, -2 INT, +2 WIS, -4 CHA. Monstrous Humanoid Base Speed 40 ft. Darkvision 60ft. Immunity to magic Sleep effects. +3 Natural Armor. Multiple Limbs (4 arms). Natural Attacks: claws 1d4, bite 1d4. Poison: Bite; DC 11 + Con Modifier; Inital Damage 1d6 DEX, secondary paralysis. Leap: +30 on Jump Checks. Weapon Familiarity: Gythka (Double weapon: 1d10/1d10), Catkcha (1d6/18-20/x2). Naturally Psionic: +1 Power Point @ 1st level. Psi-like Abilities: 3/day: Chameleon, Know direction; 1/day: Psionic Displacement, Metaphysical Claw. Racial HD: 2 Monstrous Humanoid (2d8) Racial Skills: 5x (2+Int) +4 Hide (sandy or Arid) Deflect Arrows +1 feat LA +4 The only actual changes between the two were: Intelligence & Wisdom stat changes switched Leap ability and bonus feat replaced by Flight Favored Class switched Hide bonus lost Bite replaced by sting Psi-like abilities replaced, reduced in number Claw attacks reworked slightly (to fit physiology) Claws made adamantine Admitted the adamantine claws were a little on the extreme side, and the flight ability might not equivelate nicely, but things can get changed fairly readily.
mathiu 04-26-07, 04:17 PM	The bit about the claws being unable to hold things seems to mean all claws, might want to clear that up. Also, poison mentions a bite, which I don't see mentioned elsewhere. Overall I think it's pretty good. The 2 racial HD and +4 LA make me think it's a little too much as stomp isn't that spectacular and the poisons seem to be usable once per day.
Jayne 04-27-07, 11:42 AM	Mathiu: Claws have been clarified, and the poison bit has been fixed. I had just taken the Thri-keen rules and reverse-engineered them. There was bound to be a hole somewhere.:) As the poison usage is one per claw, it could (technically) mean 4/day, so that might bump it up slightly, but the actual LA is still up to debate. Thanks.