freyar said:
I think there will actually be one more lizardfolk race coming up (judging from posts in the "Paging Echohawk" thread). So don't disappear too soon!
There is a prophet among us!
Malpheggi Lizard Men
The Malpheggi are a race of swamp-dwelling lizard men. They're sly and cunning survivors, among the most mercenarty sentient races of the Hollow World, and challenge the notion that lizard men are just dumb brutes with scaly hides.
Appearance and Dress
Malpheggi lizard men stand from 6' to 7' tall. They stand like men, walking on two lower legs and manipulating weapons and objects with their forelimbs. But they are very reptilian in appearance, with fine-scaled skin, lizard-like heads, and strong tails. Their hands and feet are clawed and are webbed (to help propel them when they swim) between their digits.
Malpheggi coloration ranges from yellow through all sorts of greens, to pure black; a very few Malpheggi lizard men are albino (pure white, with pink eyes).
Malpheggi lizard men don't wear clothes, but do wear belts and baldrics for their weapon-sheathes and other useful pouches.
Customs
Malpheggi lizard men are cunning and suspicious. They trust one another, and can come to trust representatives of other races who prove their trustworthiness over a period of
years, but will otherwise never take someone at face value.
These lizard men are very protective of their young and their swamp. The swamp is theirs, and anyone entering it had best be bringing them gifts or business, or at least be willing to leave by the most direct route when confronted by a lizard man... otherwise, the intruder will find himself chased out or killed as soon as possible.
They're a clever race. They don't care for direct confrontation, they don't stand up in front of intruders in combat lines and allow themselves to be conveniently cut down. Instead, they use the terrain to their advantage, swimming stealthily beneath the black surface of the water, kidnapping stragglers from intruder parties, ambushing scouts, whittling down the numbers of opposition.
They're mercenaries. They hire out their services to anyone willing to pay their price. Their usual services include guiding war-parties through the fringes of the swamps so those parties can launch sneak attacks on nearby enemies, or to accompany war-parties on aquatic expeditions (in order to scout out enemy positions, cut subterranean nets or harbor defenses, etc.).
Most Malpheggi lizard men worship the Immortal Ka, who is their patron.
Names
Malpheggi names are short and sibilant, using many consonants and diphthongs which can easily be hissed: 'f', 'h', 'l', 'r', 's', and 'sh' especially.
Names such as Sliss, Haarss, Hlaar, Shlirt, and so forth are very common.
Roles and Genders
By ancient tradition, the Malpheggi are ruled by a queen. Beyond that tradition, males and females are equal in stature.
Language
The Malpheggi speak their own lizard man tongue, the dragon language, and the Neathar human language.
Allies and Enemies
The Malpheggi sell their services as scouts and warriors to the Azcans and the Schattenalfen, but do not like or trust representatives of either or those races. The Malpheggi help the Azcans against the Schattenalfen, and the Schattenalfen against the Azcans; they lead the Azcans against the Oltecs; and they have no personal interest in
any of these struggles.
The Malpheggi do hate one sort of human, the Nithians, whom they remember from their most ancient legends. Though no living Malpheggi lizard man has ever seen a Nithian, were he to see a human matching the description of Nithians, he'd fly into a murderous rage. In ancient times, the Nithians of the outer world brought a fatal plague to the outer-world lizard men and nearly destroyed the race.
The Malatran lizard men have been expunged from the "to be converted list". Here are the Malpheggi, please excuse the slight delay:
New Character Race: Malpheggi Lizard Men
If you want to create a Malpheggi lizard man character, here is how you do it:
Racial Ability Modifiers
Malpheggi lizard men receive a +2 bonus to Strength ability scores, and a -2 to Dexterity. (Change all results of 19 or 20 to 18's instead, and results of 1 or 2 to 3's instead.) In spite of popular belief, Malpheggi lizard men do
not suffer penalties on Intelligence scores.
Saving Throw Table
Lizard men save as clerics of the same experience level:
Level 1-4 5-8 9-12
Death Ray or Poison 11 9 7
Magic Wands 12 10 8
Paralysis or Turn to Stone 14 12 10
Dragon Breath 16 14 12
Rod/Staff/Spell 15 13 11
Experience Table
Malpheggi lizard men can rise to 12th experience level, according to the following table:
Experience Experience Hit
Level Points Dice
1st 0 1d8
2nd 1,500 2d8
3rd 3,000 3d8
4th 6,000 4d8
5th 12,000 --
6th 25,000 5d8
7th 50,000 6d8
8th 100,000 7d8
9th 200,000 8d8
10th 300,000 --
11th 400,000 9d8
12th 500,000 10d8
Gaining New General Skill Slots
Above 12th level, the ceiling for Malpheggi characters, the lizard men get another general skill slot with every 400,00 points earned.
Prime Requisite
Strength is the prime requisite for Malpheggi lizard men. A lizard man with a Strength score of 15 gets +5% experience bonus; one with a score of 18 gets a +10% bonus.
Minimum Scores
A Malpheggi lizard man must have a score of at least 13 in Strength and 9 in Constitution.
Weapons and Armor
Weapons and armor permitted to Malpheggi lizard men include these:
Cultural Melee Weapons: Axe/battle, axe/hand, dagger, sword/short, sword/normal (broad), sword/bastard, hammer/war, hammer/throwing, spear, javelin, trident, net.
Cultural Missile Weapons: Crossbow/light, crossbow/heavy.
Cultural Armor: Shields only (horned shield, knife shield, sword shield, tusked shield allowed).
Shamans Can Use: Axes and hammers, shields.
Wokani Can Use: Dagger, net.
Shamans and Wokani
Malpheggi lizard men can reach 6th level as shamans and 4th as wokani.
Special Hindrances
Lizard men can wear no armor, though they can carry shields (and thus lower their AC by 1).
Special Abilities
These lizard men have numerous special abilities:
Though they are slow on land than many other races, they aren't as slow as most lizard men. Their land movement rate is 90' (30').
They can
breath water, as in the spell of the same name, but with unlimited duration; they swim very well, and have a swimming rate of 120' (40').
Lizard men have a naturally tough hide; they have a basic AC of 5.
Even when unarmed, Malpheggi lizard men still have their claws. When striking barehanded, with their claws, they get
two 1d4 attacks.
Languages
Malpheggi lizard men speak their own language, the dragon language, and Common (Neathar).
Alignment
Lizard men may be of any alignment, but most are neutral.
General Skills
Malpheggi lizard men must take the Survival (Swamp) general skill.
. I'm not sure I'd classify them as a separate creature.
