Complete Attempt at the Chakat Race - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

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#1 Tectorman Oct 28, 2010 8:44:42	I've got another thread where I started this endeavor, but it's over a year old and in another forum, so I'm just putting the final version here. Most of the difference is not the race itself, but the addition of a good number of feats and a racial paragon path. Original thread found here: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...(PEACH)?post_id=334074470#334074470 Chakat Passionate defenders who combine civilized temperance with feral might. Racial Traits Average Height: 5’ – 5’8” Average Weight: 350 – 440 lb. Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom or Charisma Size: Medium Speed: 7 squares Vision: Low-light Languages: Common, choice of one other Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Insight Quadruped: You can carry, lift, and drag weight up to your Strength score times 12.5 (see Carrying, Lifting, and Dragging, page 222 PHB), as opposed to your Strength score times ten. In addition, when an attack would knock you prone, you can immediately make a saving throw to avoid falling prone. Resilient Physiology: +5 racial bonus to saving throws against poison. Atavism: You can use atavism as a daily power. Telempathic Projection: You can use telempathic projection as an encounter power. Atavism Chakat Racial Power Even as your ally takes a serious hit, you loose a terrific roar and resolve to finish off the menace once and for all. Daily Minor Action Personal Target: One enemy you can see who has bloodied an ally since the end of your last turn. Effect: The target gains vulnerability 4 to your attacks until the end of your next turn. Level 11: Vulnerability 7. Level 21: Vulnerability 10. Sustain Minor: The effect persists. Telempathic Projection Chakat Racial Power You take the feelings of confidence and doubt and twist them as you need to help your friend out. Encounter Minor Action Personal Effect: You use the aid another, aid attack, or aid defense action. If you use the aid another action, the target does not take a -1 penalty if you fail the skill or ability check. Additionally, you may target a creature within 5 squares, rather than an adjacent creature. The fluff for the race Show Chakats are the survivors from a long ago war. A nation of humans originally created these felitaurs to serve as soldiers in a conflict that overwhelmed both sides and left the land in ruins. Trying to learn from the difficult lessons of that awful past, the chakats now try to balance a peaceful nature with the bestial power they possess. Play a chakat if you want… to play an anthropomorphic character. to combine fast movement with powerful attacks. to be a character on the outside looking in. to be a member of a race that favors the cleric, ranger, and warden classes. Physical Qualities Chakats resemble a feline centaur. They stand just shorter than human height, but because of their dual torsos, a chakat can easily weigh twice as much as a human. They typically look like a fur-covered humanoid from the waist up, and one of the big cats from the waist down. Chakats have a fur coat with patterns ranging from the traditional stripes and spots of the big cats to any number of the more exotic designs. A chakat’s head is like that of a feline, but with a wider range of facial expressions and a long mane of hair. Their forelegs end in handpaws, where the digits are long and dextrous enough for the handpaws to serve as rudimentary hands (with very strong grips, but without the fine motor control of their true hands) and short enough to not interfere with their running. A chakat’s tail is about 5 feet long and prehensile, but being fur-covered, it cannot quite serve as a substitute for a true hand. Finally, all chakats are hermaphroditic and possess both sets of reproductive organs at the same time. Therefore, they have their own set of pronouns: “shi” (shay) instead of “he” or “she”, and “hir” (hare) instead of “him”, “his” or “her”. Chakats, due to the combination of having lower bodies that resemble wild beasts and being covered in fur (and thus more able to withstand cooler temperatures), typically do not wear more than a top for their upper bodies (and then, only for the sake of other, more modest species) and perhaps a series of belts and cargo saddles to help them carry their things. When chakats do dress up, they tend to go for attire that will show off their good looks. Chakats, due to their taurform bodies, are less well-matched for things bipedal humanoids take for granted. Being quadrupedal themselves, they are ill-suited to riding mounts. A specially-modified saddle still allows them to ride other larger creatures, but they usually forgo such measures. A chakat will also have a more difficult time dealing with things that assume a linear body, such as ladders and chairs, as well as confined spaces in general (such as simply turning around in tight corridors, which their feline spine can deal with, but it’s still a hassle). The typical lifespan of a chakat is about 150 years. Chakats in old age are known as “Longtails”. Playing a Chakat Chakats are very social creatures. They prefer to be around other people, both their own (rather extended) families and strangers that they meet for the first time. They almost crave interpersonal contact. Chakats usually opt for the group solution, wanting to fix problems as soon as they hear of them. Combined with their tendency to eavesdrop, this leads to a certain meddlesomeness in the way a chakat deals with others. They mean the best, but this over-helpfulness does serve to make them the targets of unscrupulous characters looking for someone to exploit. Fortunately, chakats have an innate talent for getting a good read of a person (which can border on supernatural empathy) that prevents this from happening too often. Chakats satisfy part of their need for socializing by creating very large families. They are always growing, limited only by how many mates a chakat will enter a relationship with (and it is rare that a chakat ever puts up a set limit). Love is an intangible thing, something that cannot be diminished no matter how many people it’s divided amongst, or so chakats believe. This is because chakats only seldom experience jealousy; often enough, a chakat won’t, nor will shi even understand it in others. A chakat’s family is also growing due to their love for children. Children are the bright hope of tomorrow and chakats go to great lengths to nurture and protect their young (and even the young of others). They are simultaneously male and female in both physical form and mindset. Usually, the two combine to form a more stable whole within the chakat, but the dual genders come with their drawbacks as well. Chakats are very protective of those they care for (their friends, their allies, their children). Sometimes, this triggers a darker impulse within them. Known as “atavism”, the chakat will fly into a rage and go to any length to end the threat they perceive, often farther than they otherwise would. They carry this tendency from their species’ past. Originally, the chakat race was known as the chakamils, powerful war beasts created by the top ritualists of Geminea to combat the threat of the demonic gnoll tribes. At the end of the Gnoll Wars, both sides had taken such heavy losses from the uncontrollable violence of the chakamils that the entire race had to be reborn. Chakats now possess the sensibility of any civilized race, but there is always that chance of losing control. The majority of the chakat race still lives in Geminea. They stand as equal citizens, but it’s always a struggle. The records of old tell the tale of the chakamils, and people view the chakats with distrust. Still others see a race, ready-made and manufactured, to be commanded and ordered like a horse drawing a cart. This has lead many chakats to leave for a land of their own, called Chakona. There, the chakats try to forge a new status for themselves, to create their own dealings with other nations while attempting to let go of what was, and just generally live by a “Do unto others…” philosophy. Still other chakats have traveled even farther, making their own impressions on the new races they find. They resonate with the dwarf devotion to their clan. They find a kindred spirit in the warforged. They take lessons from the balance genasi strike within their own sort of chaos. They agree with the practicality of the halflings. Some chakats even manage to make friends with the rare gnoll or two. Chakat Characteristics: congenial, empathic, hardy, helpful, loving, optimistic, perceptive, practical, protective, sociable, well-adjusted Names: Brightspot, Darkstar, Forestwalker, Goldendale, Goldfur, Jinx, Late Bloomer, Midnight, Quickpaw, Stormchaser, Swiftwalk, White Tip, Windsong Chakat Adventurers Three sample chakat adventurers are described below. Brightspot used to live in the village of Ennien when a traveling party of humans and eladrin entered the community asking for help. Brightspot elected to join them, but in the process, shi has traveled very far from hir home. Seeing hir plight, the goddess Avandra imbued within hir her own divine power to help hir find hir way. Now a cleric of Avandra, Brightspot uses hir own travels to draw experience to help the lost of the world. Jinx is an unfortunate soul. Though chakats hate to resort to drawing on their heritage to defend their loved ones, it’s usually enough to win the day. Not so for poor Jinx, the atypical chakat. Twice has shi found love and twice have they been ripped away from hir. Shi now lives in the wild, one heart broken from the sorrow, and the other cold and hardened against loving again. Shi’s a ranger who specializes in the bow, a perfect analogy. Jinx distances hirself from hir foes the same way shi keeps hir relationships cordial at best. Late Bloomer was once a simple commoner, no more an adventurer than anyone else in town. The attack by a rogue group of gnolls changed this forever, though. The pack-leader triggered a racial memory in Bloomer that resulted in a vicious struggle the equal of any bout during the Gnoll Wars. Horrified by what shi had done, Late Bloomer fled the town, unwilling to risk being near anyone, not even hir mate and children. Shi eventually came upon an old warrior, gifted in the art of harnessing and channeling the primal powers. He taught hir the powers of the warden, and imbued within hir the confidence to take control of the wild and dangerous side of all things in nature, rather than let them control hir.
#2 rampant Oct 28, 2010 11:01:50	You know that power could probably be an encounter power. Also why vulnerability? generally going ape on someone nets a damage bonus. ( i know it's the same thing mechanically but I'm curious as to why)
#3 alitain Oct 28, 2010 13:23:54	Gotta go with Rampant, racial powers are encounters, aside from say the Changelings' Change Shape. But yeah racial powers should be encounters. With that I have to say remove the sustain minor. No sustaining on racials that I know of, and maybe that's why you made the power a daily, don't know. That said, it just feels like their something missing to the race, just seems bland. No offense I mean I tend to do a little too much to races myself. But right now the race only has increased carrying weight, and a poison resistance. Maybe do something with ignore difficult terrain like elves, or an increase to running over land? Something like that seems like it'd fit them. Just bring a little more flavor to the race. Again, just my opinion since increased carrying weight isn't exactly something I jump up and down for, and poison resistance is pretty easy to acquire. So something more I think may "spice" up the race more. But I mean aside from I think the racial power, the race is fine enough though if you wanted to leave it.
#4 rampant Oct 28, 2010 13:34:05	Geeze didn't even see the sustain minor. Yeah that's gotta go. Latent heritage is also too weak for a level 11 pp feature. I mean seriously that's less than a feat.
#5 Crimson_Concerto Oct 29, 2010 2:17:30	I'm going to agree with the above posters that the racial power should be an encounter power and that you should remove its ability to be sustained. I agree with Alitain that it seems somewhat lacking in features, but it's easy to miss Low-Light and 7 Speed, so it should probably be balanced just fine. That said, while it is balanced, it doesn't really have anything very unique other than its racial power, and that's a bit of a shame.
#6 Sabelkatten Oct 29, 2010 4:34:24	Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter? I think it could do without the sustain minor, thought - just make it "until the end of the encounter". As is it will be a lot more useful to classes that doesn't need to use their minor actions for class powers. About other racial features, how about a bonus to leaping? A bonus to running and/or overland speed? Something sense-based like a bonus if surprised or a bonus to tracking? About the "Tauric Pounce" attack, shouldn't that be a charge with the extra attack applied to the charge target? That's what it sounds like from the description, at least...
#7 Crimson_Concerto Oct 29, 2010 14:05:57	Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter? The problem is that it's counter to the entire design purpose of racial powers. The design purpose of racial powers is to make sure that you have something to do every encounter that is evocative of your race. Back in the previous edition, your race was something that was easy to forget about exactly because the benefits that you got from it just didn't come up very often or were very passive.
#8 alitain Oct 29, 2010 16:54:41	Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter? The problem is that it's counter to the entire design purpose of racial powers. The design purpose of racial powers is to make sure that you have something to do every encounter that is evocative of your race. Back in the previous edition, your race was something that was easy to forget about exactly because the benefits that you got from it just didn't come up very often or were very passive. I'm with Crimson on that, and I don't generally agree with Crimson too often, haha.
#9 Sabelkatten Oct 30, 2010 3:29:53	Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter? The problem is that it's counter to the entire design purpose of racial powers. The design purpose of racial powers is to make sure that you have something to do every encounter that is evocative of your race. Back in the previous edition, your race was something that was easy to forget about exactly because the benefits that you got from it just didn't come up very often or were very passive. That's not really a "problem", you know - that's a difference in opinion. I agree that every race should have something that makes it different in every encounter, but I see no reason that it absolutely has to be the racial power. So what I'm trying to say is that I see no reason to make the power encounter-type, but I'd like to see more other features that makes the race a bit different in play.
#10 Tectorman Oct 30, 2010 3:55:24	On vulnerability Show I chose vulnerability because I wanted to do something that was unique in comparison to other sources of extra damage. Extra damage dice are done again and again, flat out extra damage bonuses are already there, and bonuses to attack rolls and the ability to reroll attack rolls are also in the game already. Vulnerability is nice because (based on my understanding of the clarified rules) it doesn't stack with itself, so I can worry less about it being overpowered. Furthermore, my comprehensive search for other powers that impose encounter-long "vulnerability all" on an enemy suggested that the numbers I established (5/10/15) are reasonable, even if the (effectively) extra damage does get applied to every source of damage from the Chakat (multiple attacks per turn, thanks to action points; OAs, Immediate action attacks, etc.).
#11 Sabelkatten Oct 31, 2010 13:29:16	I just thought the name and fluff was strange on the PP encounter power - it sounds like a charge, but is actually a skirmish attack. The attack itself seems OK.
#12 salla Oct 31, 2010 15:34:25	It is supposed to represent the Chakat doing something so mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting that the Chakat in question wouldn't be able to bear bringing hirself to do it multiple times per day. It evokes a sense of true hatred, which they find completely distasteful. That bit by itself makes me think it shouldn't be a racial power at all. It's something everybody hates, but everybody can (and probably will) do it with any form of regularity? Doesn't ring true to me on some level (even ignoring the whole 'the whole race has the same opinions' thing). That, and it's not ... genetic. It's not innate to the species specifically, it's just getting ticked off which, as you yourself say, not everybody is going to do, want to do, or be able to do, as opposed to, say, eladrin teleporting, which is an innate ability. Especially considering how bloody powerful it is, I'd think it'd be a prime candidate for one of those 'take a feat, swap out a utility power' things.
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... Tectorman Nov 01, 2010 8:38:08	Update: will be adding the NAD bonuses as mentioned above to the Longtail's Latent Heritage path feature sometime later. Will add a racial encounter power to allow the Chakat to use the aid action (aid another, aid attack, or aid defense) as a minor action with a range of 5 squares. Will also add (and/or modify existing) feats to reflect this. No, it will not be replacing Atavism, though I might drop the numbers some (vulnerability 4/7/10 instead of 5/10/15). Have added the Mind Shuffle feat to allow the Chakat to sustain Atavism with a free action, rather than a minor action. I don't consider this a feat tax, or even always necessary, and I do want to retain the requirement to spend an action to keep this power going. It is supposed to represent the Chakat doing something so mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting that the Chakat in question wouldn't be able to bear bringing hirself to do it multiple times per day. It evokes a sense of true hatred, which they find completely distasteful. That bit by itself makes me think it shouldn't be a racial power at all. It's something everybody hates, but everybody can (and probably will) do it with any form of regularity? Doesn't ring true to me on some level (even ignoring the whole 'the whole race has the same opinions' thing). That, and it's not ... genetic. It's not innate to the species specifically, it's just getting ticked off which, as you yourself say, not everybody is going to do, want to do, or be able to do, as opposed to, say, eladrin teleporting, which is an innate ability. Especially considering how bloody powerful it is, I'd think it'd be a prime candidate for one of those 'take a feat, swap out a utility power' things. First off, what do you mean by the "the whole race has the same opinions" thing? I'm trying to establish enough of a common mindset for the race (eladrin are known for being haughty and arrogant, halflings are known for being bold and daring, etc.) without it being a universal constant, so if some of the fluff I've written is suggesting otherwise, please tell me. Secondly, yes it is the Chakat getting really mad, but isn't that what the Barbarian rage is? Or his Rampage, at the very least? Except it's not merely getting mad, it's getting mad in the special way and with the specific purpose that makes the Chakat's Atavism its own thing. As for it being innate to the species, oh, it is. In the source universe that this race is from, many creatures "get mad" but none but a Chakat does it like this. And it's not even a willing thing: the Chakat will walk into their home and discover their kid missing and fly off the handle before they even realize it (remember, there's a big difference between the Chakat character doing it willingly and the player of the Chakat character doing it willingly). Besides, some Chakats would eventually develop the mindset that they like doing this and even get a thrill out of it, so both player and character would be willing and eager to go feral (and it would still be physically exhausting, and therefore still a daily power). See also the alternative fluff and origin I created for the Chakat race in Eberron, which may serve to establish even further the Atavism being innate to the race. community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... I see your concerns about the validity of this power, but I just don't agree. From a combat standpoint, there's little about this race that's more iconic than the Atavism. Which is not to say it's the most iconic thing about the race, far from it, but 4E is not the sort of game where those things need quantifying.
#14 mandatorysuicide Nov 01, 2010 9:03:57	So i saw that they have the ability to catch themselves if they are going to be knocked prone, I assume its because they are feline, you could take that one step further as part of their racial abilities, i mean cats ALWAYS ;) land on their feet right? Maybe they get a bonus when it comes to all falls then, traps, cliffs, someone lights your magic carpet on fire etc. thats just an idea with what everyones been talking about, I think you did an amazing job I have considered trying to create races for my players I just havent had too many great ideas, though feline type was one i thought about doing, im a big fan of the sipderweb games and considered making some kind of nephil class either way have fun also the race could have some kind of extra hunting prowess (tracking and moving silently) lol I saw my buddies cat take out a rabbit once, Id like to think this thing would be a natural hunter as well =D
#15 salla Nov 01, 2010 14:12:06	Secondly, yes it is the Chakat getting really mad, but isn't that what the Barbarian rage is? Or his Rampage, at the very least? Except it's not merely getting mad, it's getting mad in the special way and with the specific purpose that makes the Chakat's Atavism its own thing. Exactly my point. It's something you LEARN, not something you ARE. You learn a class, you are a race. I guess my question is this ... if one of these things was raised completely isolated from its own kind, never knew there was another one anywhere, would it still do this?
#16 Sabelkatten Nov 01, 2010 16:06:23	Secondly, yes it is the Chakat getting really mad, but isn't that what the Barbarian rage is? Or his Rampage, at the very least? Except it's not merely getting mad, it's getting mad in the special way and with the specific purpose that makes the Chakat's Atavism its own thing. Exactly my point. It's something you LEARN, not something you ARE. You learn a class, you are a race. I guess my question is this ... if one of these things was raised completely isolated from its own kind, never knew there was another one anywhere, would it still do this? As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon. It's just a power that takes even more out of the character, and thus only useable once per day. PS. I would put the reduced vulnerability bonus at 3/6/9 just to make it look "natural" (3 points/tier).
#17 salla Nov 01, 2010 16:48:33	As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon. But why? This strikes me as a behavior, not innate to the species.
#18 Sabelkatten Nov 02, 2010 6:47:10	As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon. But why? This strikes me as a behavior, not innate to the species. As I understand it, it is innate - tied to the empathic abilities.
#19 Tectorman Nov 03, 2010 8:54:29	Update: Have added Telempathic Projection as a racial encounter and reduced Atavism to 4/7/10. Have updated the Longtail PP's Latent Heritage to include a bonus to a NAD (that part is lackluster, but I figure the bonus can make the path feature be worth a path feature and the cantrips can make up for any dullness that comes from the NAD bonus). Have added the Divine Empowerment, Enclave of Shored Endeavors, Felitaur Bond, Lingering Contact, Reverberating Exchange, Social Conduit, Taurform Soul, and Telempathic Spirit feats and revised the Chakat Soul and Empathic Arcane Attunement feats. As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon. But why? This strikes me as a behavior, not innate to the species. As I understand it, it is innate - tied to the empathic abilities. It's not tied to the empathic abilities, but it is innate. It's an instinctive response derived from the close emotional (which may or may not have an empathic/psychic component to it) connection between a chakat and hir loved one and what happens when the loved one is placed in dire peril due to another being (of course, to translate this to D&D, I had to relax "loved one" into "ally"). Again, this is something that the chakat isn't even necessarily aware is happening. The player may know "spend minor action to activate, spend minor action to sustain, will need to drop in order to sustain daily power, etc.", but the chakat character may only be aware of "sumbitch just hurt my friend, sumbitch goin die" (and even then, not on a coherent conscious level), and will not even know that shi just went crazy until later, when the adrenaline wears off and shi sees all the blood. Salla, think of it this way. It's as much a behavioral, learned thing as the human being adaptive and flexible (i.e., would a human raised away from humans still learn an extra skill, feat, at-will power?). ... One other thing I tried doing but that I could never figure out exactly how is letting the Chakat be able to serve as a proxy mount. Something along the lines of "when you move, you can allow a willing adjacent ally to spend his or her next turn's move action to move to a square adjacent to your destination square". It only allows you to move the ally to somewhere near where you end up, and he has to spend his actions as well, so you're not gaining all that much, merely the ability to move the ally a greater amount if you have better movement modes than he or she does (besides the Speed 7, you might have teleportation, or a better Athletics modifier for swimming, etc.). But I couldn't figure out how to phrase it such that the ally could spend more than one action if you made a double move, or how to allow the ally to remain with you if you move unconventionally (a leap or a teleport). I eventually passed that attempt by, but if anyone can think of how to phrase it properly, I might revisit this idea (and it would certainly emphasize the how "four-legged taurform" quality of the race).
#20 anniemayhem Sep 23, 2014 9:52:16	~~Chakat Weaknesses for Fantasy Universes Conceived for AD&D but would probably work for others. Bernard Doove has gone on record saying that chakats aren’t RPG characters and weren’t designed for game balance here: http://www.cayzle.com/screeds/lion022.html. He’s right – they’re munchkin magnets! I’ve tried to keep these weaknesses sensible instead of DM Ex Machina. They assume that the PC chakat has been dumped from hir original high-tech universe into the magical one recently, either alone or with a small group. If chakats are native to your universe, choose accordingly. Mix, match, and modify to your heart’s content! BTW, some of these weaknesses have already been detailed (by others) upthread. All credit to the original authors! I’m not trying to steal your work, honest. (One more caveat: I've barely read the free 5e PH and haven't bought the hard copy 5e PH yet). The weaknesses are classified as magical (G), mental (M), physical (P), and social (S). (G) Magical weaknesses: No spellcasting of any kind. Magic skill was one thing genetic engineering was unable to give the chakats. They don’t even have the potential for it. They will never be able to be magic-users, although future generations might be able to become clerics (not an option for the first generation, except in extraordinary circumstances – such as a deity shows up IN PERSON and DEMANDS the chakat serve them. If the DM wants to use this option, Bast or Rexfelis are recommended -- evil smile). Magic Item Limitation. They can only use magic items that don’t need triggering, either automatic or continual-effect. Furthermore, they can only use humanoid-style magic items on the corresponding humanoid parts of their anatomies, unless the item is specifically made for their cat portion (or for a taurform, if other taurs are common in your campaign). They can drink potions because these are automatic. Magic-vulnerable. They take an extra die of damage from a damaging spell targeted directly at them (i.e, not an area effect). At the DM’s discretion, they may also be vulnerable to magic targeting “beasts” and to seduction/influence magic (including charm). This doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed a saving throw, BTW, although if they make it, “half damage from the spell,” for instance, becomes “half damage plus one extra die.” Hope I made that clear! No resistance to magical diseases/curses. I don’t even want to know what happens when a chakat is bitten by a lycanthrope or vampire. (M) Mental weaknesses Empathic overload. When exposed to extremely powerful extraplanar creatures (deities, greater demons, eldritch abominations) a chakat must make a save versus death, then if shi survives, a save versus Wisdom or be overloaded. Symptoms of overload include bewilderment, confusion, temporary insanity, even catatonia. They also add to a chakat’s PTSD (see next entry). If the extraplanar creature is evil, the chakat makes both saves at disadvantage! They also automatically save with disadvantage versus any “aura” or “presence” attack. PTSD. Being stranded in a realm of magic means facing “the impossible” daily. Physics don’t work “like they’re supposed to,” mythical creatures are roaming the streets, and when a wizard waves a wand, it actually works! Chakats often run into things their superior senses tell them SHOULD be impossible – that zombie smells dead, it IS dead, but there it is, walking around and trying to kill me! While designed to be mentally stable and adaptable, even chakats have their limits. Worse, if there are other chakats nearby, they share the PTSD through their empathetic connection, so the PTSD is cumulative. Even cubs still in utero feel the resultant psychic shock(s). All NPC chakats will want to go home “where everything makes sense” ASAP. This could be the PC chakat’s motivation for adventuring. Cubs born in the magical universe will be pre-traumatized and mentally weaker than their parents (a justification for weakening the next generation’s stats accordingly, particularly if the DM wants to keep chakats as a PC-race). Psi-vulnerable. If psionics exist in the campaign, are chakats vulnerable to them? Would brain eaters find chakats extra-tasty? Loneliness, especially if separated from mate(s) and/or cub(s). If the PC is the only chakat in the magic universe, shi will be unfortunate indeed. If, through loneliness, the chakat forms an empathic bond with hir fellow adventurers, keep in mind that shi will feel any severe trauma inflicted on such a companion if the companion is within empathic range (roasted by dragonfire, tortured, petrified…adds to the PTSD). (S) Social: Prejudice. If humans exist in your campaign, it would only be natural for the chakats to seek companionship and help from them – after all, humans are their original creators and allies in their original universe. They are shocked to find that humans in THIS universe are far from accepting; chakats may even become a crusade target and/or catch the attention of powerful enemies. Not only are chakats treated badly, they feel every bit of their enemy’s negative emotions toward them if the enemies are within their empathic range -- an emotional strain, to say the least. Even the non-chakats in the adventuring party may have reservations about promiscuous pansexual incestuous beastkin hermaphrodites, especially if the chakats are their usual frank uninhibited starfleetopia selves. Reactions can range from awkward (“What’s that?” “It’s my penis.” “Your WHAT?!?!”) to Fursecution Turned Up to Eleven. Exploitation/enslavement targets. A super-race? Check. Can be magically controlled? Check. Make delightful sex slaves for certain tastes? Check. Can reproduce quickly and the cubs sold for profit? Check. Annoyances. Constantly mistaken for female and addressed with incorrect pronouns. Can also be mistaken for a monster and/or wemic. Unaware at first of other cultures’ social conventions. May have to learn the local tongue if it’s not equivalent to Star Fleet Terranglo. (P) Physical: Technology doesn’t work. That nifty gadget you brought with you? Doorstop. Oh, and Imperial Credits Won’t Be Fine. Um, you’re going to hunt instead of buy food? You DO know poaching in the king’s forest is punishable by death, right? Hot-climate vulnerable. Size and weight can be a problem. Can’t climb vertical surfaces. Oh, shi passed out and needs to be carried out of the deep underground complex? Problem! Discommodation. Want a meal at the inn? The tables and chairs weren’t designed for you. Let’s not even start on the bathroom facilities… Leonine scent. Undetectable to humans but can scare prey animals (like horses) and set dogs to barking (they can be trained to ignore it, but it takes time). Alternatively, can catch the attention of felinoid monsters, especially during hir heat. (“I don’t know how to tell you this, but that sphinx/griffin/wemic thinks you’re cute”). Needs extra resources – food, water, sleep, especially after reserves have been exhausted. A major problem if combined with a desert/savannah climate – one reason the chakats haven’t joined the wemics. They literally can’t take the heat. No proficiency at first with combat weapons, although chakats do hunt with spears or bows (or fish with spears or nets). Players who protest should explain to the DM exactly why their character routinely went hunting with a greatsword. It’d better be good… Chakats and related terms (c) Bernard Doove. Dungeons and Dragons and related terms (c)/(TM) Wizards of the Coast. Used without permission and for no profit.

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

Tectorman

Oct 28, 2010 8:44:42

I've got another thread where I started this endeavor, but it's over a year old and in another forum, so I'm just putting the final version here. Most of the difference is not the race itself, but the addition of a good number of feats and a racial paragon path.

Original thread found here:
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...(PEACH)?post_id=334074470#334074470

Chakat

Passionate defenders who combine civilized temperance with feral might.

Racial Traits
Average Height: 5’ – 5’8”
Average Weight: 350 – 440 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom or Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 7 squares
Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, choice of one other
Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Insight
Quadruped: You can carry, lift, and drag weight up to your Strength score times 12.5 (see Carrying, Lifting, and Dragging, page 222 PHB), as opposed to your Strength score times ten.
In addition, when an attack would knock you prone, you can immediately make a saving throw to avoid falling prone.
Resilient Physiology: +5 racial bonus to saving throws against poison.
Atavism: You can use atavism as a daily power.
Telempathic Projection: You can use telempathic projection as an encounter power.

Atavism Chakat Racial Power
Even as your ally takes a serious hit, you loose a terrific roar and resolve to finish off the menace once and for all.
Daily
Minor Action Personal
Target: One enemy you can see who has bloodied an ally since the end of your last turn.
Effect: The target gains vulnerability 4 to your attacks until the end of your next turn.
Level 11: Vulnerability 7.
Level 21: Vulnerability 10.
Sustain Minor: The effect persists.

Telempathic Projection Chakat Racial Power
You take the feelings of confidence and doubt and twist them as you need to help your friend out.
Encounter
Minor Action Personal
Effect: You use the aid another, aid attack, or aid defense action. If you use the aid another action, the target does not take a -1 penalty if you fail the skill or ability check. Additionally, you may target a creature within 5 squares, rather than an adjacent creature.

The fluff for the race

Show

Chakats are the survivors from a long ago war. A nation of humans originally created these felitaurs to serve as soldiers in a conflict that overwhelmed both sides and left the land in ruins. Trying to learn from the difficult lessons of that awful past, the chakats now try to balance a peaceful nature with the bestial power they possess.

Play a chakat if you want…

to play an anthropomorphic character.

to combine fast movement with powerful attacks.

to be a character on the outside looking in.

to be a member of a race that favors the cleric, ranger, and warden classes.

Physical Qualities

Chakats resemble a feline centaur. They stand just shorter than human height, but because of their dual torsos, a chakat can easily weigh twice as much as a human. They typically look like a fur-covered humanoid from the waist up, and one of the big cats from the waist down. Chakats have a fur coat with patterns ranging from the traditional stripes and spots of the big cats to any number of the more exotic designs. A chakat’s head is like that of a feline, but with a wider range of facial expressions and a long mane of hair. Their forelegs end in handpaws, where the digits are long and dextrous enough for the handpaws to serve as rudimentary hands (with very strong grips, but without the fine motor control of their true hands) and short enough to not interfere with their running. A chakat’s tail is about 5 feet long and prehensile, but being fur-covered, it cannot quite serve as a substitute for a true hand. Finally, all chakats are hermaphroditic and possess both sets of reproductive organs at the same time. Therefore, they have their own set of pronouns: “shi” (shay) instead of “he” or “she”, and “hir” (hare) instead of “him”, “his” or “her”.

Chakats, due to the combination of having lower bodies that resemble wild beasts and being covered in fur (and thus more able to withstand cooler temperatures), typically do not wear more than a top for their upper bodies (and then, only for the sake of other, more modest species) and perhaps a series of belts and cargo saddles to help them carry their things. When chakats do dress up, they tend to go for attire that will show off their good looks.

Chakats, due to their taurform bodies, are less well-matched for things bipedal humanoids take for granted. Being quadrupedal themselves, they are ill-suited to riding mounts. A specially-modified saddle still allows them to ride other larger creatures, but they usually forgo such measures. A chakat will also have a more difficult time dealing with things that assume a linear body, such as ladders and chairs, as well as confined spaces in general (such as simply turning around in tight corridors, which their feline spine can deal with, but it’s still a hassle).

The typical lifespan of a chakat is about 150 years. Chakats in old age are known as “Longtails”.

Playing a Chakat

Chakats are very social creatures. They prefer to be around other people, both their own (rather extended) families and strangers that they meet for the first time. They almost crave interpersonal contact. Chakats usually opt for the group solution, wanting to fix problems as soon as they hear of them. Combined with their tendency to eavesdrop, this leads to a certain meddlesomeness in the way a chakat deals with others. They mean the best, but this over-helpfulness does serve to make them the targets of unscrupulous characters looking for someone to exploit. Fortunately, chakats have an innate talent for getting a good read of a person (which can border on supernatural empathy) that prevents this from happening too often.

Chakats satisfy part of their need for socializing by creating very large families. They are always growing, limited only by how many mates a chakat will enter a relationship with (and it is rare that a chakat ever puts up a set limit). Love is an intangible thing, something that cannot be diminished no matter how many people it’s divided amongst, or so chakats believe. This is because chakats only seldom experience jealousy; often enough, a chakat won’t, nor will shi even understand it in others. A chakat’s family is also growing due to their love for children. Children are the bright hope of tomorrow and chakats go to great lengths to nurture and protect their young (and even the young of others).

They are simultaneously male and female in both physical form and mindset. Usually, the two combine to form a more stable whole within the chakat, but the dual genders come with their drawbacks as well. Chakats are very protective of those they care for (their friends, their allies, their children). Sometimes, this triggers a darker impulse within them. Known as “atavism”, the chakat will fly into a rage and go to any length to end the threat they perceive, often farther than they otherwise would. They carry this tendency from their species’ past. Originally, the chakat race was known as the chakamils, powerful war beasts created by the top ritualists of Geminea to combat the threat of the demonic gnoll tribes. At the end of the Gnoll Wars, both sides had taken such heavy losses from the uncontrollable violence of the chakamils that the entire race had to be reborn. Chakats now possess the sensibility of any civilized race, but there is always that chance of losing control.

The majority of the chakat race still lives in Geminea. They stand as equal citizens, but it’s always a struggle. The records of old tell the tale of the chakamils, and people view the chakats with distrust. Still others see a race, ready-made and manufactured, to be commanded and ordered like a horse drawing a cart. This has lead many chakats to leave for a land of their own, called Chakona. There, the chakats try to forge a new status for themselves, to create their own dealings with other nations while attempting to let go of what was, and just generally live by a “Do unto others…” philosophy. Still other chakats have traveled even farther, making their own impressions on the new races they find. They resonate with the dwarf devotion to their clan. They find a kindred spirit in the warforged. They take lessons from the balance genasi strike within their own sort of chaos. They agree with the practicality of the halflings. Some chakats even manage to make friends with the rare gnoll or two.

Chakat Characteristics: congenial, empathic, hardy, helpful, loving, optimistic, perceptive, practical, protective, sociable, well-adjusted

Names: Brightspot, Darkstar, Forestwalker, Goldendale, Goldfur, Jinx, Late Bloomer, Midnight, Quickpaw, Stormchaser, Swiftwalk, White Tip, Windsong

Chakat Adventurers

Three sample chakat adventurers are described below.

Brightspot used to live in the village of Ennien when a traveling party of humans and eladrin entered the community asking for help. Brightspot elected to join them, but in the process, shi has traveled very far from hir home. Seeing hir plight, the goddess Avandra imbued within hir her own divine power to help hir find hir way. Now a cleric of Avandra, Brightspot uses hir own travels to draw experience to help the lost of the world.

Jinx is an unfortunate soul. Though chakats hate to resort to drawing on their heritage to defend their loved ones, it’s usually enough to win the day. Not so for poor Jinx, the atypical chakat. Twice has shi found love and twice have they been ripped away from hir. Shi now lives in the wild, one heart broken from the sorrow, and the other cold and hardened against loving again. Shi’s a ranger who specializes in the bow, a perfect analogy. Jinx distances hirself from hir foes the same way shi keeps hir relationships cordial at best.

Late Bloomer was once a simple commoner, no more an adventurer than anyone else in town. The attack by a rogue group of gnolls changed this forever, though. The pack-leader triggered a racial memory in Bloomer that resulted in a vicious struggle the equal of any bout during the Gnoll Wars. Horrified by what shi had done, Late Bloomer fled the town, unwilling to risk being near anyone, not even hir mate and children. Shi eventually came upon an old warrior, gifted in the art of harnessing and channeling the primal powers. He taught hir the powers of the warden, and imbued within hir the confidence to take control of the wild and dangerous side of all things in nature, rather than let them control hir.

rampant

Oct 28, 2010 11:01:50

You know that power could probably be an encounter power.

Also why vulnerability? generally going ape on someone nets a damage bonus. ( i know it's the same thing mechanically but I'm curious as to why)

alitain

Oct 28, 2010 13:23:54

Gotta go with Rampant, racial powers are encounters, aside from say the Changelings' Change Shape. But yeah racial powers should be encounters. With that I have to say remove the sustain minor. No sustaining on racials that I know of, and maybe that's why you made the power a daily, don't know.

That said, it just feels like their something missing to the race, just seems bland. No offense I mean I tend to do a little too much to races myself. But right now the race only has increased carrying weight, and a poison resistance. Maybe do something with ignore difficult terrain like elves, or an increase to running over land? Something like that seems like it'd fit them. Just bring a little more flavor to the race.

Again, just my opinion since increased carrying weight isn't exactly something I jump up and down for, and poison resistance is pretty easy to acquire. So something more I think may "spice" up the race more. But I mean aside from I think the racial power, the race is fine enough though if you wanted to leave it.

rampant

Oct 28, 2010 13:34:05

Geeze didn't even see the sustain minor. Yeah that's gotta go.

Latent heritage is also too weak for a level 11 pp feature.

I mean seriously that's less than a feat.

Crimson_Concerto

Oct 29, 2010 2:17:30

I'm going to agree with the above posters that the racial power should be an encounter power and that you should remove its ability to be sustained.

I agree with Alitain that it seems somewhat lacking in features, but it's easy to miss Low-Light and 7 Speed, so it should probably be balanced just fine. That said, while it is balanced, it doesn't really have anything very unique other than its racial power, and that's a bit of a shame.

Sabelkatten

Oct 29, 2010 4:34:24

Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter? I think it could do without the sustain minor, thought - just make it "until the end of the encounter". As is it will be a lot more useful to classes that doesn't need to use their minor actions for class powers.

About other racial features, how about a bonus to leaping? A bonus to running and/or overland speed? Something sense-based like a bonus if surprised or a bonus to tracking?

About the "Tauric Pounce" attack, shouldn't that be a charge with the extra attack applied to the charge target? That's what it sounds like from the description, at least...

Crimson_Concerto

Oct 29, 2010 14:05:57

Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter?

The problem is that it's counter to the entire design purpose of racial powers. The design purpose of racial powers is to make sure that you have something to do every encounter that is evocative of your race. Back in the previous edition, your race was something that was easy to forget about exactly because the benefits that you got from it just didn't come up very often or were very passive.

alitain

Oct 29, 2010 16:54:41

Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter?

The problem is that it's counter to the entire design purpose of racial powers. The design purpose of racial powers is to make sure that you have something to do every encounter that is evocative of your race. Back in the previous edition, your race was something that was easy to forget about exactly because the benefits that you got from it just didn't come up very often or were very passive.

I'm with Crimson on that, and I don't generally agree with Crimson too often, haha.

Sabelkatten

Oct 30, 2010 3:29:53

Personally I don't see any problem with a daily racial power. So what if that's not the traditional way, as long as it's balanced what's the matter?

The problem is that it's counter to the entire design purpose of racial powers. The design purpose of racial powers is to make sure that you have something to do every encounter that is evocative of your race. Back in the previous edition, your race was something that was easy to forget about exactly because the benefits that you got from it just didn't come up very often or were very passive.

That's not really a "problem", you know - that's a difference in opinion. I agree that every race should have something that makes it different in every encounter, but I see no reason that it absolutely has to be the racial power.

So what I'm trying to say is that I see no reason to make the power encounter-type, but I'd like to see more other features that makes the race a bit different in play.

#10

Tectorman

Oct 30, 2010 3:55:24

On vulnerability

Show

I chose vulnerability because I wanted to do something that was unique in comparison to other sources of extra damage. Extra damage dice are done again and again, flat out extra damage bonuses are already there, and bonuses to attack rolls and the ability to reroll attack rolls are also in the game already. Vulnerability is nice because (based on my understanding of the clarified rules) it doesn't stack with itself, so I can worry less about it being overpowered.

Furthermore, my comprehensive search for other powers that impose encounter-long "vulnerability all" on an enemy suggested that the numbers I established (5/10/15) are reasonable, even if the (effectively) extra damage does get applied to every source of damage from the Chakat (multiple attacks per turn, thanks to action points; OAs, Immediate action attacks, etc.).

#11

Sabelkatten

Oct 31, 2010 13:29:16

I just thought the name and fluff was strange on the PP encounter power - it sounds like a charge, but is actually a skirmish attack. The attack itself seems OK.

#12

salla

Oct 31, 2010 15:34:25

It is supposed to represent the Chakat doing something so mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting that the Chakat in question wouldn't be able to bear bringing hirself to do it multiple times per day. It evokes a sense of true hatred, which they find completely distasteful.

That bit by itself makes me think it shouldn't be a racial power at all. It's something everybody hates, but everybody can (and probably will) do it with any form of regularity? Doesn't ring true to me on some level (even ignoring the whole 'the whole race has the same opinions' thing). That, and it's not ... genetic. It's not innate to the species specifically, it's just getting ticked off which, as you yourself say, not everybody is going to do, want to do, or be able to do, as opposed to, say, eladrin teleporting, which is an innate ability.

Especially considering how bloody powerful it is, I'd think it'd be a prime candidate for one of those 'take a feat, swap out a utility power' things.

community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

Tectorman

Nov 01, 2010 8:38:08

Update: will be adding the NAD bonuses as mentioned above to the Longtail's Latent Heritage path feature sometime later.

Will add a racial encounter power to allow the Chakat to use the aid action (aid another, aid attack, or aid defense) as a minor action with a range of 5 squares. Will also add (and/or modify existing) feats to reflect this. No, it will not be replacing Atavism, though I might drop the numbers some (vulnerability 4/7/10 instead of 5/10/15).

Have added the Mind Shuffle feat to allow the Chakat to sustain Atavism with a free action, rather than a minor action. I don't consider this a feat tax, or even always necessary, and I do want to retain the requirement to spend an action to keep this power going.

It is supposed to represent the Chakat doing something so mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting that the Chakat in question wouldn't be able to bear bringing hirself to do it multiple times per day. It evokes a sense of true hatred, which they find completely distasteful.

That bit by itself makes me think it shouldn't be a racial power at all. It's something everybody hates, but everybody can (and probably will) do it with any form of regularity? Doesn't ring true to me on some level (even ignoring the whole 'the whole race has the same opinions' thing). That, and it's not ... genetic. It's not innate to the species specifically, it's just getting ticked off which, as you yourself say, not everybody is going to do, want to do, or be able to do, as opposed to, say, eladrin teleporting, which is an innate ability.

Especially considering how bloody powerful it is, I'd think it'd be a prime candidate for one of those 'take a feat, swap out a utility power' things.

First off, what do you mean by the "the whole race has the same opinions" thing? I'm trying to establish enough of a common mindset for the race (eladrin are known for being haughty and arrogant, halflings are known for being bold and daring, etc.) without it being a universal constant, so if some of the fluff I've written is suggesting otherwise, please tell me.

Secondly, yes it is the Chakat getting really mad, but isn't that what the Barbarian rage is? Or his Rampage, at the very least? Except it's not merely getting mad, it's getting mad in the special way and with the specific purpose that makes the Chakat's Atavism its own thing.

As for it being innate to the species, oh, it is. In the source universe that this race is from, many creatures "get mad" but none but a Chakat does it like this. And it's not even a willing thing: the Chakat will walk into their home and discover their kid missing and fly off the handle before they even realize it (remember, there's a big difference between the Chakat character doing it willingly and the player of the Chakat character doing it willingly). Besides, some Chakats would eventually develop the mindset that they like doing this and even get a thrill out of it, so both player and character would be willing and eager to go feral (and it would still be physically exhausting, and therefore still a daily power).

See also the alternative fluff and origin I created for the Chakat race in Eberron, which may serve to establish even further the Atavism being innate to the race.

community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

I see your concerns about the validity of this power, but I just don't agree. From a combat standpoint, there's little about this race that's more iconic than the Atavism. Which is not to say it's the most iconic thing about the race, far from it, but 4E is not the sort of game where those things need quantifying.

#14

mandatorysuicide

Nov 01, 2010 9:03:57

So i saw that they have the ability to catch themselves if they are going to be knocked prone, I assume its because they are feline, you could take that one step further as part of their racial abilities, i mean cats ALWAYS ;) land on their feet right? Maybe they get a bonus when it comes to all falls then, traps, cliffs, someone lights your magic carpet on fire etc.

thats just an idea with what everyones been talking about, I think you did an amazing job I have considered trying to create races for my players I just havent had too many great ideas, though feline type was one i thought about doing, im a big fan of the sipderweb games and considered making some kind of nephil class either way have fun

also the race could have some kind of extra hunting prowess (tracking and moving silently) lol I saw my buddies cat take out a rabbit once, Id like to think this thing would be a natural hunter as well =D

#15

salla

Nov 01, 2010 14:12:06

Secondly, yes it is the Chakat getting really mad, but isn't that what the Barbarian rage is? Or his Rampage, at the very least? Except it's not merely getting mad, it's getting mad in the special way and with the specific purpose that makes the Chakat's Atavism its own thing.

Exactly my point. It's something you LEARN, not something you ARE. You learn a class, you are a race.

I guess my question is this ... if one of these things was raised completely isolated from its own kind, never knew there was another one anywhere, would it still do this?

#16

Sabelkatten

Nov 01, 2010 16:06:23

Secondly, yes it is the Chakat getting really mad, but isn't that what the Barbarian rage is? Or his Rampage, at the very least? Except it's not merely getting mad, it's getting mad in the special way and with the specific purpose that makes the Chakat's Atavism its own thing.

Exactly my point. It's something you LEARN, not something you ARE. You learn a class, you are a race.

I guess my question is this ... if one of these things was raised completely isolated from its own kind, never knew there was another one anywhere, would it still do this?

As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon.

It's just a power that takes even more out of the character, and thus only useable once per day.

PS. I would put the reduced vulnerability bonus at 3/6/9 just to make it look "natural" (3 points/tier).

#17

salla

Nov 01, 2010 16:48:33

As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon.

But why? This strikes me as a behavior, not innate to the species.

#18

Sabelkatten

Nov 02, 2010 6:47:10

As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon.

But why? This strikes me as a behavior, not innate to the species.

As I understand it, it is innate - tied to the empathic abilities.

#19

Tectorman

Nov 03, 2010 8:54:29

Update: Have added Telempathic Projection as a racial encounter and reduced Atavism to 4/7/10.

Have updated the Longtail PP's Latent Heritage to include a bonus to a NAD (that part is lackluster, but I figure the bonus can make the path feature be worth a path feature and the cantrips can make up for any dullness that comes from the NAD bonus).

Have added the Divine Empowerment, Enclave of Shored Endeavors, Felitaur Bond, Lingering Contact, Reverberating Exchange, Social Conduit, Taurform Soul, and Telempathic Spirit feats and revised the Chakat Soul and Empathic Arcane Attunement feats.

As I understand it, yes it would - just like an Eladrin would still teleport and a dragonborn would still have a breath weapon.

But why? This strikes me as a behavior, not innate to the species.

As I understand it, it is innate - tied to the empathic abilities.

It's not tied to the empathic abilities, but it is innate. It's an instinctive response derived from the close emotional (which may or may not have an empathic/psychic component to it) connection between a chakat and hir loved one and what happens when the loved one is placed in dire peril due to another being (of course, to translate this to D&D, I had to relax "loved one" into "ally").

Again, this is something that the chakat isn't even necessarily aware is happening. The player may know "spend minor action to activate, spend minor action to sustain, will need to drop in order to sustain daily power, etc.", but the chakat character may only be aware of "sumbitch just hurt my friend, sumbitch goin die" (and even then, not on a coherent conscious level), and will not even know that shi just went crazy until later, when the adrenaline wears off and shi sees all the blood.

Salla, think of it this way. It's as much a behavioral, learned thing as the human being adaptive and flexible (i.e., would a human raised away from humans still learn an extra skill, feat, at-will power?).

...

One other thing I tried doing but that I could never figure out exactly how is letting the Chakat be able to serve as a proxy mount. Something along the lines of "when you move, you can allow a willing adjacent ally to spend his or her next turn's move action to move to a square adjacent to your destination square". It only allows you to move the ally to somewhere near where you end up, and he has to spend his actions as well, so you're not gaining all that much, merely the ability to move the ally a greater amount if you have better movement modes than he or she does (besides the Speed 7, you might have teleportation, or a better Athletics modifier for swimming, etc.). But I couldn't figure out how to phrase it such that the ally could spend more than one action if you made a double move, or how to allow the ally to remain with you if you move unconventionally (a leap or a teleport).

I eventually passed that attempt by, but if anyone can think of how to phrase it properly, I might revisit this idea (and it would certainly emphasize the how "four-legged taurform" quality of the race).

#20

anniemayhem

Sep 23, 2014 9:52:16

~~Chakat Weaknesses for Fantasy Universes

Conceived for AD&D but would probably work for others. Bernard Doove has gone on record saying that chakats aren’t RPG characters and weren’t designed for game balance here: http://www.cayzle.com/screeds/lion022.html. He’s right – they’re munchkin magnets! I’ve tried to keep these weaknesses sensible instead of DM Ex Machina. They assume that the PC chakat has been dumped from hir original high-tech universe into the magical one recently, either alone or with a small group. If chakats are native to your universe, choose accordingly. Mix, match, and modify to your heart’s content!

BTW, some of these weaknesses have already been detailed (by others) upthread. All credit to the original authors! I’m not trying to steal your work, honest. (One more caveat: I've barely read the free 5e PH and haven't bought the hard copy 5e PH yet).

The weaknesses are classified as magical (G), mental (M), physical (P), and social (S).

(G) Magical weaknesses:

No spellcasting of any kind. Magic skill was one thing genetic engineering was unable to give the chakats. They don’t even have the potential for it. They will never be able to be magic-users, although future generations might be able to become clerics (not an option for the first generation, except in extraordinary circumstances – such as a deity shows up IN PERSON and DEMANDS the chakat serve them. If the DM wants to use this option, Bast or Rexfelis are recommended -- *evil smile*).

Magic Item Limitation. They can only use magic items that don’t need triggering, either automatic or continual-effect. Furthermore, they can only use humanoid-style magic items on the corresponding humanoid parts of their anatomies, unless the item is specifically made for their cat portion (or for a taurform, if other taurs are common in your campaign). They can drink potions because these are automatic.

Magic-vulnerable. They take an extra die of damage from a damaging spell targeted directly at them (i.e, not an area effect). At the DM’s discretion, they may also be vulnerable to magic targeting “beasts” and to seduction/influence magic (including charm). This *doesn’t* mean they aren’t allowed a saving throw, BTW, although if they make it, “half damage from the spell,” for instance, becomes “half damage plus one extra die.” Hope I made that clear!

No resistance to magical diseases/curses. I don’t even want to know what happens when a chakat is bitten by a lycanthrope or vampire.

(M) Mental weaknesses

Empathic overload. When exposed to extremely powerful extraplanar creatures (deities, greater demons, eldritch abominations) a chakat must make a save versus death, then if shi survives, a save versus Wisdom or be overloaded. Symptoms of overload include bewilderment, confusion, temporary insanity, even catatonia. They also add to a chakat’s PTSD (see next entry). If the extraplanar creature is evil, the chakat makes both saves at disadvantage! They also automatically save with disadvantage versus any “aura” or “presence” attack.

PTSD. Being stranded in a realm of magic means facing “the impossible” daily. Physics don’t work “like they’re supposed to,” mythical creatures are roaming the streets, and when a wizard waves a wand, it actually works! Chakats often run into things their superior senses tell them SHOULD be impossible – that zombie smells dead, it IS dead, but there it is, walking around and trying to kill me! While designed to be mentally stable and adaptable, even chakats have their limits. Worse, if there are other chakats nearby, they share the PTSD through their empathetic connection, so the PTSD is cumulative. Even cubs still in utero feel the resultant psychic shock(s). All NPC chakats will want to go home “where everything makes sense” ASAP. This could be the PC chakat’s motivation for adventuring. Cubs born in the magical universe will be pre-traumatized and mentally weaker than their parents (a justification for weakening the next generation’s stats accordingly, particularly if the DM wants to keep chakats as a PC-race).

Psi-vulnerable. If psionics exist in the campaign, are chakats vulnerable to them? Would brain eaters find chakats extra-tasty?

Loneliness, especially if separated from mate(s) and/or cub(s). If the PC is the only chakat in the magic universe, shi will be unfortunate indeed. If, through loneliness, the chakat forms an empathic bond with hir fellow adventurers, keep in mind that shi will feel any severe trauma inflicted on such a companion if the companion is within empathic range (roasted by dragonfire, tortured, petrified…adds to the PTSD).

(S) Social:

Prejudice. If humans exist in your campaign, it would only be natural for the chakats to seek companionship and help from them – after all, humans are their original creators and allies in their original universe. They are shocked to find that humans in THIS universe are far from accepting; chakats may even become a crusade target and/or catch the attention of powerful enemies. Not only are chakats treated badly, *they feel every bit of their enemy’s negative emotions toward them if the enemies are within their empathic range* -- an emotional strain, to say the least. Even the non-chakats in the adventuring party may have reservations about promiscuous pansexual incestuous beastkin hermaphrodites, especially if the chakats are their usual frank uninhibited starfleetopia selves. Reactions can range from awkward (“What’s that?” “It’s my penis.” “Your **WHAT?!?!**”) to Fursecution Turned Up to Eleven.

Exploitation/enslavement targets. A super-race? Check. Can be magically controlled? Check. Make delightful sex slaves for certain tastes? Check. Can reproduce quickly and the cubs sold for profit? Check.

Annoyances. Constantly mistaken for female and addressed with incorrect pronouns. Can also be mistaken for a monster and/or wemic. Unaware at first of other cultures’ social conventions. May have to learn the local tongue if it’s not equivalent to Star Fleet Terranglo.

(P) Physical:

Technology doesn’t work. That nifty gadget you brought with you? Doorstop. Oh, and Imperial Credits Won’t Be Fine. Um, you’re going to hunt instead of buy food? You DO know poaching in the king’s forest is punishable by death, right?

Hot-climate vulnerable.

Size and weight can be a problem. Can’t climb vertical surfaces. Oh, shi passed out and needs to be carried out of the deep underground complex? Problem!

Discommodation. Want a meal at the inn? The tables and chairs weren’t designed for you. Let’s not even start on the bathroom facilities…

Leonine scent. Undetectable to humans but can scare prey animals (like horses) and set dogs to barking (they can be trained to ignore it, but it takes time). Alternatively, can catch the attention of felinoid monsters, especially during hir heat. (“I don’t know how to tell you this, but that sphinx/griffin/wemic thinks you’re cute”).

Needs extra resources – food, water, sleep, especially after reserves have been exhausted. A major problem if combined with a desert/savannah climate – one reason the chakats haven’t joined the wemics. They literally can’t take the heat.

No proficiency at first with combat weapons, although chakats *do* hunt with spears or bows (or fish with spears or nets). Players who protest should explain to the DM exactly why their character routinely went hunting with a greatsword. It’d better be good…

Chakats and related terms (c) Bernard Doove. Dungeons and Dragons and related terms (c)/(TM) Wizards of the Coast. Used without permission and for no profit.