Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Reign_of_Ice 04-15-07, 02:59 PM	My idea was to create a Wolf-like Race of humanoids to inhabit my campaign world. I have another name for them but the name is also used by another gaming company so I don't want to post it here, I'll just call them the "Wolf-like". I just don't know if something exists already like what I want in D&D, and if not how I "should" go about stating them. I took a stab at it anyway, not sure if the way it turned out is really the way I want to keep them or not. I sure could use any help you guys could give me... Any way this is what I have at present: Rising up from a once nomadic barbarian people, the Wolf-like have become an industrious new race in the land. They are incredibly well organized, disciplined, and just. Their civilization in its self strangely mirrors the early days of the Roman Empire. The Wolf-like people build their reputation for strength, justice, and loyalty through their military campaigns. However, also like the Romans, they are masters of diplomacy and subterfuge, often lending assistance to other kingdoms in need of their help. Wolf-like are often known to be good to their word and often carry out treaties, pacts, and agreements to the letter. Personality: Fiercely loyal to their friends and devastatingly cruel to their enemies the Wolf-like are much like any other humanoid race. They value trust, strength, and a keen militaristic mind. They only truly trust their own kind but are willing to work with just about any other race (usually so long as they are of a lawful alignment). Wolf-like warfare resembles Dwarven warfare, only usually more organized and with larger forces. Physical Description: This race of canine humanoids looks to be human-sized wolves. Their bodies are covered in dark and/or light grey colored fur; they have canine muzzles and teeth, powerful jaws, and hazel, brown, or sky blue eyes. Their legs are very animal like and are reminiscent of a trained dog walking up on its hind legs. They are often one or two feet taller than humans and of a stockier build. They wear all styles of clothes but never wear their hair long as their fur coat sheds and regrows with the seasons. Wolf-like are almost always well groomed and dressed sharply, as they see it, they are clearly defining their differences from other canine humanoids such as Gnolls. Wolf-like weigh anywhere from 250 to 350 pounds and are about six and a half to seven and a half feet tall. Relations: Wolf-like and Dwarven warriors usually get along tremendously well as they share many of the same militarist and social views. Most of all Wolf-like have a deep respect and fascination with magic. While they have difficulties learning it often do to many of the verbal components difficult for them to pronounce, they seem to greatly appreciate it (many Wolf-like end up being clerics if they are not able to become wizards). This has lead to the false accusation (usually by Dwarves) that the Wolf-like worship Elves. Wolf-like are often overly kind to Elves believing (falsely) that they all wield magic - a power to be reckoned with. Wolf-like seem to have rivalry going with humans, as they both seem to be claiming and domesticating large territories throughout the world. Due to their diplomatic nature, they have not come to war with humans yet. However if a large conflict should arise it is doubtful the Wolf-like would back down. Wolf-like Lands: They have large kingdoms often in cold regions where they often thrive with little to no difficulty. Their thick fur protects them against the cold. They mine ore that they use in their weapons and armor and often control northern trade routes. Wolf-like who venture into human lands are typically warriors, mercenaries, or diplomats. Religion: Most Wolf-like worship the Norse Pantheon. Language: Wolf-like speak their own language, which has it’s own written pictogram script. Their language has a lot of canine vocal pitches in it among which are growls, grunts, and yips. Most Wolf-like are literate but ultimately this depends on whatever class they are. Other languages a Wolf-like often learns are Common, Giant, and Draconic. Wolf-like literature is not very evolved they primarily use their written language for militaristic and basic learning applications. Male Names: Etaroleteus, Lynor, Lucious, Darius, Gaius, Thracius, Usschiaus, Usteus, Xentheuss, Tertius. Female Names: Angerona, Aurelia, Cardea, Flora, Fabia, Constantina, Timothea, Valentina, Luciana, Tatiana. Alignments: Any but tends to be of a lawful alignment. Adventures: A Wolf-like adventurer is usually motivated to go out and bring honor to his name or clan; his deeds earn him respect and status. Defeating giants and claiming powerful magic weapons are sure ways for a Wolf-like to earn the respect of his peers. WOLF-LIKE RACIAL TRAITS · Medium: As Medium creatures, Wolf-like have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. · Wolf-like base land speed is 30 feet. However, Wolf-like can move at the rate of 40 feet when wearing medium or lighter armor and holding no items by moving on all fours. Low-Light Vision: A Wolf-like can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. · Wolf-like Reputation: This ability grants a Wolf-like a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks made to influence trade or discourage hostilities/combat. · Scent (Ex): This quality allows Wolf-like to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. (See the Monster Manual for full details). · Cold Resistance (Ex): A Wolf-like ignore the first 5 points of any type of cold damage, including magical cold. · Cold Endurance Feat [general]: gains the cold endurance feat automatically, and does not have to meet the prerequisite. · Automatic Languages: Wolf-like and Common. Bonus Languages: Giant, Dwarven, Elven, Draconic, and Goblin. · Favored Class: Knight
Neutronium_Dragon 04-15-07, 03:42 PM	I would suggest dropping Scent from the list, since it's a substantial ability in its own right and you've already got a pretty potent one with the land speed increase. That said, the land speed increase should probably not be dependent on armor (especially if Knight is a favored class), and might be a bit less LA-tempting if it was +5 rather than +10 Cold Resistance 5 is a good ability, but situational enough and small enough that I don't see it being a problem. If you drop Scent and change the speed to just being +5' anytime their hands are free, they'll come in at LA +0.
3DJutsu 04-15-07, 03:50 PM	Dragon Magazine has a race of wolf-like creautres called lupins. Not really all that cool though, they had a string sense of smell, wasn't even full scent.
taradusis 04-15-07, 03:58 PM	The lupins were updated for dragon compendium v1 and were made into a race of werewolf haters.I beleive savage species had a race of anthropomorhic wolf men as well?Yours looks to be balanced enough,have fun.
Reign_of_Ice 04-16-07, 12:43 AM	I will agree it is less tempting with their favored class to actually use that ability, however I know the movement in most heavy armor is 30 anyway. Which was my logic behind this but overall self-defeating I suppose. Maybe I'll allow their all-fours movment to overcome the movement of their armor for campaign purposes (up to 40), that's pretty powerful I know. I don't think I'm going to create this class now without some sort to Level Adjustment... I need to keep them with the scent ability but agree it is powerful as well. In all they have no stat adjustments, and basicly two monster feats from the go... So I'll have to give them a level adjustment to compensate for this, of +1. While they have no racial weapons, extra skill points, or many skill bonuses they are a tad on the powerful side. Overall for such abilities I feel this isn't so bad, but what do you think?
Neutronium_Dragon 04-16-07, 04:45 AM	Well, there's a problem there. They've got too much right now to really be LA +0, but there isn't nearly enough to make them playable at LA +1. Compare these to the catfolk and you'll see what I mean. On top of that, if you want them to be as dynamic as possible (and especially given their fascination with magic), you do *not* want them stuck with an LA because that pretty much kills viability as a spellcaster. Allow Scent to be taken as a feat (perhaps with a Base Fortitude Save requirement) if you want to keep that, or at least reduce it to Lesser Scent, which isn't as powerful.
Reign_of_Ice 04-18-07, 07:33 PM	Lesser Scent from Dragon Compendium (Lupin Race) will suffice, I will allow them to take the Monster Scent ability as per a feat at 3rd level or higher. Like I mentioned earlier the movement on all fours to increase land speed by 10 feet will remain, and everything else looks fine. This should work as a +0 character race in my opinion and yet allow it enough unique qualities to be worth playing.
Grizzled Gryphon 04-18-07, 10:14 PM	Nice job on the Wolfen, man. Err, I mean, uhh, wolf-like, yeah... LOL, I seriously doubt there is anything wrong mentioning the name, man. Just out of curiosity, do you also use the World they are from for your DnD games? I do, and it is a lot of fun. Especially as I have a LOT of the books on that place.
Reign_of_Ice 04-19-07, 12:52 AM	Yes and No. I altered alot, city names, territory boundaries, back stories...etc. I'd like to think the world I have set up is alot more dynamic and coherent. I made a great Library on a certain Island into a Magical Location out of the DMG II. I still had the back story where those poor Eberron Changelings are almost hunted to extinction. And Psions are feared and hunted as well. I used the summoning and true-name magic from Tome of Magic. I got to employ SandStorm for a wasteland that was once an Elven Kingdom. I use Strormwrack for a certain sea faring country at the top of the world. City Scape helped me make a certain empire to the West a lot more memorable and interesting. I replaced a certain Goblin-like canine race for Gnolls. And kept most of the D&D races and monsters as is. For the gods of the world I just employ the Deities and Demigods book for the Pharonic and Norse pantheons adding a new Wolf-like god to the Norse pantheon as I saw fit to do. I made a third pantheon composed of a warrior goddess of truth, a hunter god, and a brooding assassin/rogue god. I don't really use alot of those “un-named” systems source materials, and have my own political structures at work within the world at large. So you can see I have alot of parallels. On the other hand I have changed some things to be interesting as well. The ancient evil gods I replaced with the Lovecraft Pantheon having ol' Cthuhlu himself as the big boss who got put to sleep beneath a place in the Northwest that gets to employ Libris Mortis, Fiend Folio, and a couple Fiendish Codex books often and liberally.
Reign_of_Ice 04-19-07, 02:13 AM	Well I was creating something like, but not exactly the same as - something else. Even the world I use is different enough for my liking. The real reason I didn't use the Wolfen name on the race is the name Wolfen is copywrited. Below I put a bit of information out of their product's mainbook on their copywritten and registered trademarks... The Mind Mage, Diabolist, Summoner, Tristine Chronicles, Dragonwright, Wolfen, Baalgor Wastelands, Yin-Sloth Jungles, Adventures on the High Seas, Monsters & Animals, Beyond the Supernatural, Heroes Unlimited, Palladium Fantasy RPG, and other names and titles are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ...This was from that book alone, the list could go on and on. See I couldn't actually convert or make my own Wolfen race. The Wolf-like ;) are entirely different however and have enough set appart to make them suitable for my needs.:D
Grizzled Gryphon 04-19-07, 09:30 PM	Well, then, I guess it is a good thing that you didn't call your wolf-like race Wolfen. I also use the same world as you do, but it is mostly a carbon copy. As it stands, I am using Gnolls to replace a very wolf like race, and the other races that are similar to them, for the race in the north. However, in my world, they are not facing off against the Dominion because they both claim the same area in the east. In fact, they have just thrown off the yoke of Yeenoghu, and man, is he pis*ed off about that!! So, they have their own problems to deal with right now. It actually ties very nicely into the game I am currently running, too. The players haven't even learned of the land where the damned live, and have only barely heard of the Empire, that windy place in the south, or there neighbor tomorrow. They do know about the Island Kingdom to the north, and have heard rumors of 13 colonies. Most of the time, they have been in man's domain. That city at the end of the big river hasn't been the haven it could be, but they know of it. Mostly, they have been in a city called Mountaingate, that is east and a little south of a certian re-opened mine owned by Dwarves. In my game, though, that place is called God's Home. And, while it has been re-opened, that was several hundred years ago. As for the various monsters and races, most everything is out of the various monster manuals. I was considering using the Marru from Sandstorm for the race of wolf like creature's in the north, but I like them in the Baal*** Wastelands. The party is currently running through the Red Hand of Doom module, and I plopped that in the Old Kingdom. At the end of that, they will find out that in order to stop the destruction at the hands of the followers of Tiamat, they will need to find and destroy 6 temples dedicated to her. There are five lesser temples, one for each color of the chormatic dragons, and then the sixth is on an Island very far south and east from the main continent. Also, in my world, both for DnD and for that other, un-named game, there is another continent far to the west, and a very large chain of Islands far to the south. The western continent has a very fuedal Japan feel. The Islands to the south are the only remains of another continent that was sunk by a magic doomsday weapon in a war thousands of years ago. This is where a class I made, called Amazons, are from. I basically made a DnD class out of the Diablo II class of the same name. Well, I think I have tied up your post plenty, huh?
Reign_of_Ice 04-19-07, 09:42 PM	Nah, its fine, we should keep this topic more on the wolf-like race though. Maybe how you'd use such a race in your games or how you think they'd get along with most of the other D&D races might be intersting.
Grizzled Gryphon 04-19-07, 10:05 PM	Well, the Wolf-like pose an interesting dilema. To those that no of, or at least have heard of them, they will be very surprised to learn they have, all of a sudden, become 'civilized'. It would be similar, I think, to those Gnolls that have thrown off their racial heritage of worshiping Yeenagho (or whatever his name is). The average person or adventurer would expect a Gnoll to be a blood thirsty barbarian, ready to kill you and eat your children. Same for the Wolf-like, I would think. Most people think they are baby eating monsters. So, when you find out that that is the myth that it is, what do you do? This creature is called a monster by everyone you have talked to, but it sure doesn't act that way. In fact, it acts a lot like anyone else. So, it boils down to what happens upon first seeing one. Most adventurers will probably attack without a second thought. Other people will probably run screaming. However, if they actually have the time to talk to the creature, they will find it isn't the monster they thought it was. As word of peaceful contact with them starts to spread around, this will gradually lead to people not being so scared of them. However, in the mean time, this can lead to some rather fun things happening. A good way for the party to find out these guys aren't as bad as they thought goes something like this. The party is chasing some evil-doer. This nefarious fellow knows of a hunting lodge where these evil wolf-like creatures can be found, so goes there for aid. Perhaps the players know this, perhaps not. Either way, when the players track the guy to this lodge, they find him, alright. Have the players arrive just as the guy is about to be carted off to prison, or rather, to court. Make sure the players see how well treated the prisoner is. This will not mesh well with the chaotic and evil stories about these creatures they have heard. Instead, they are acting in a very lawful and, most surprisingly, good manner. Soon after, have a stealthy wolf-like find the party, and ask them to state their business in Wolf-like lands. When the scout finds they are here hunting the evil guy, and that they are all good (at least, relatively), he invites them in, and they can try and sue for the bad guy to be released into their custody so they can take him back for trial (or wahtever). What do you think?
Grizzled Gryphon 04-27-07, 01:25 PM	So, in short, some will hate them, for what they are or what they thought they were, and others won't care either way, and others will be surprised to find they are what they are, instead of what they had heard they were.
Grizzled Gryphon 05-25-07, 01:26 AM	You might want to consider something else, though. The Palladium world is rife with 'secret societies' and the like. I can only imagine there is one (or twenty) very anti wolf like organizations that aren't going to believe that there chosen enemy isn't the baby eating monster they have always believed, and will go to some lengths to make sure the truth doesn't get out. After all, if their enemy isn't as bad as they claim, and is, in fact, quite an honorable race, then they look bad, and they can't have that.
Grizzled Gryphon 11-19-07, 08:18 PM	Say, I looked over the copyright laws a while back. Basically, you can't reproduce a copyrighted subject (like Wolfen, for example) for profit. So, as long as you don't do that, you can use the name. Just don't make even a thin nickle in its use, or THEN you are violating copyright laws. however, just using the name in a work of fiction isn't enough. Now, if you published a gaming book called "The Wolfen Empire", well that would certainly cuase some issues. But, if you wrote a book where in the main character played rifts and you mentioned how he like playing a Wolfen, that isn't a problem.
baby_kamikaize_kobold 11-27-07, 05:14 PM	I have a suggestion for the scent. Why not do what they did with the nezumi and give it to them as a feat option if they have a wisdom of 13 or higher. and if you still want the not so wise to be able to find give them a +2 to search checks? How does that sound?
Finfreeze 11-28-07, 09:08 PM	LA +0. No ability bonuses, minor ice resistance, a limited movement mode, two skill bonuses, and scent. Hardly overpowering. Frankly, in the vast majority of cases I'd rather play a human.
Grizzled Gryphon 11-29-07, 08:33 PM	Frankly, in the vast majority of cases I'd rather play a human. That has little bearing on if this race is good or not. That is almost always the case with EVERY LA+0 race out there. IF you are playing a certain class, or plan on going into a certian PrC, THEN you would probably choose another race. The only time people play a race that ISN"T human is when they want the stat bonus the race provides, or for flavor reasons. If you are trying to optimize your character, it is almost always in your best interest to play a human for tha extra feat. Every now and then you might pick a different race solely because of the attribute bonuses. So, for those of us that like to do things differently instead of optimizing, this class is great. It isn't borken, and it isn't weak. With the right class, this race could be tons of fun. I like the idea of a Wolfen Paladin, purely because of the racial background of these guys. Or better yet, the Fantasy Knight class in my sig. Reign of Ice, what happened to the formatting in the OP?
Nat_20 11-30-07, 07:32 PM	So is scent to good for a Lvl Adj +1 race? I made a similar race as well and it had scent as a +1 race and it didnt seem all that overpowered.
Grizzled Gryphon 12-01-07, 05:15 PM	I would think that Scent in and of itself isn't worth an LA+1. This race, even with scent, is not up to the power level of other LA+1 races, like the Assimar, or a human (or whatever) with the Draconic Template.
Nat_20 12-02-07, 06:02 PM	I would think that Scent in and of itself isn't worth an LA+1. This race, even with scent, is not up to the power level of other LA+1 races, like the Assimar, or a human (or whatever) with the Draconic Template. Assimar are low as far as a +1 Lvl Adj races go. Instead of the Endurance general feat, you could give them Cold endurance (+4 on fort saves Vs. cold weather. they have it like that in the weather books. All in all, i like this race, i had one similar to it but it was level adjusted. this would work well as a base race. :tiphat:
CombatMedic 12-02-07, 10:29 PM	I like the adaptation. I think that other game has some very cool stuff in it, and I wish we could see more adaptations to systems I actually like to play, such as GURPS or D&D. Now, these guys are very different from your wolf-men, but check out the Vargr from Traveller: http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Vargr They'd make a decent D&D race, I should think. In fact, since there is a licensed Traveller D20 game, stats should be easy to come by.