Hey, not sure if this has come up before (I don't visit this forum often), but I decided to try my hand at creating an alternate Minotaur race for players because I didn't like the one in the DMG. Critiques are welcome, but this is the first time I've built a race from scratch, so please be gentle. 
Minotaurs
Minotaurs are ferocious, monstrous beasts feared by most common folk (that is, common folk with any sense). Though many keep to themselves, those who live on the outskirts of other civilizations often have (and deserve) the reputation of being thieves, bandits, and murderers. Those who are not outright evil are often mercenaries, and very few are ever truly heroic.
Personality: Minotaurs are as vicious as trolls, as greedy as dwarves, and as cunning as kobolds. In battle they never surrender or retreat, and offer no quarter to those who do. Their society values only physical prowess, and as such very few ever become spellcasters, or have the talent to do so. Spellcasters are almost non-existent in their culture, and even their religious figures are usually fighters or have so little wisdom that they can't cast spells. There are rumors that they intentionally bred the ability to use magic out of their race.
Physical Description: Minotaurs are generally between 8 1/2 and 10 feet tall, weighing between 400 and 500 pounds. Their bodies are covered in thick fur that ranges from gray to brown to black. They bear the head of a bull, including horns, and often grow great shaggy manes of hair. Among some tribes of minotaurs it is considered fashionable to decorate these manes with small trinkets, including bits of gold, small bones from slain enemies, and other things of that nature. A minotaur's main source of pride is his horns, and any minotaur whose horns have been severed (or even damaged) is considered a disgrace to his tribe and is often exiled. Sometimes a minotaur's horns will be severed by his own people as punishment for some crime. In place of feet, minotaurs also have a bull's hooves. They tend to be extremely muscular naturally, and this is increased even more by the warrior-centric nature of Minotaur society.
Relations: On the whole, Minotaurs don't get along with members of their own tribe, much less members of other races. Their chaotic nature puts them out of place in human lands, and their notoriously short temperament (even shorter than a dwarf's) and war-like tendencies don't do much to help their relations with other races.
Alignment: Almost all Minotaurs are chaotic by nature, but a few have been known to be neutral. The vast majority of minotaurs are of chaotic neutral alignment, but good and even lawful Minotaurs are not totally out of the question.
Minotaur Lands: There is no recognized Minotaur homeland, but they tend to live in caves in mountainous regions. Their few cities are only accessible by laberynthine networks of tunnels, usually roamed by individual Minotaur guards. Those who do not live in these cities are usually members of nomadic tribes.
Religion: As a race, Minotaurs are somewhat atheistic: they don't have their own pantheon of gods and no one organized religion is predominant. Those who do worship a specific deity often revere gods of war, strength, or chaos.
Language: The Minotaur language is harsh sounding when spoken, and almost illegible when written. It has its own set of runes, though to the untrained eye these look like nothing more than random scratches.
Names: Minotaur first names are often taken directly from Dwarven or Orcish lists. They are usually rough on the ear and monosyllabic. Surnames are not taken from the family, but rather the tribe, and are often descriptive, multiple word affairs.
Male Names: See Dwarven and/or Orcish lists.
Female Names: See Dwarven and/or Orcish lists.
Example Surnames: Redclaw, Thunderhoof, Steelhorn, Bloodwash, Battlerage
Adventurers: Minotaur adventurers are usually mercenaries out to line their pockets while getting to bash heads in. They are a volitile group, and some may even take on a life of adventure to seek revenge for some insult.
Minotaur Racial Traits
I'm not really sure about the ECL, I just kinda made that up. If there's any system for figuring that up, please correct me.
Edited: Bumped up the Mino's stats a bit and fixed a typo.
Minotaurs
Minotaurs are ferocious, monstrous beasts feared by most common folk (that is, common folk with any sense). Though many keep to themselves, those who live on the outskirts of other civilizations often have (and deserve) the reputation of being thieves, bandits, and murderers. Those who are not outright evil are often mercenaries, and very few are ever truly heroic.
Personality: Minotaurs are as vicious as trolls, as greedy as dwarves, and as cunning as kobolds. In battle they never surrender or retreat, and offer no quarter to those who do. Their society values only physical prowess, and as such very few ever become spellcasters, or have the talent to do so. Spellcasters are almost non-existent in their culture, and even their religious figures are usually fighters or have so little wisdom that they can't cast spells. There are rumors that they intentionally bred the ability to use magic out of their race.
Physical Description: Minotaurs are generally between 8 1/2 and 10 feet tall, weighing between 400 and 500 pounds. Their bodies are covered in thick fur that ranges from gray to brown to black. They bear the head of a bull, including horns, and often grow great shaggy manes of hair. Among some tribes of minotaurs it is considered fashionable to decorate these manes with small trinkets, including bits of gold, small bones from slain enemies, and other things of that nature. A minotaur's main source of pride is his horns, and any minotaur whose horns have been severed (or even damaged) is considered a disgrace to his tribe and is often exiled. Sometimes a minotaur's horns will be severed by his own people as punishment for some crime. In place of feet, minotaurs also have a bull's hooves. They tend to be extremely muscular naturally, and this is increased even more by the warrior-centric nature of Minotaur society.
Relations: On the whole, Minotaurs don't get along with members of their own tribe, much less members of other races. Their chaotic nature puts them out of place in human lands, and their notoriously short temperament (even shorter than a dwarf's) and war-like tendencies don't do much to help their relations with other races.
Alignment: Almost all Minotaurs are chaotic by nature, but a few have been known to be neutral. The vast majority of minotaurs are of chaotic neutral alignment, but good and even lawful Minotaurs are not totally out of the question.
Minotaur Lands: There is no recognized Minotaur homeland, but they tend to live in caves in mountainous regions. Their few cities are only accessible by laberynthine networks of tunnels, usually roamed by individual Minotaur guards. Those who do not live in these cities are usually members of nomadic tribes.
Religion: As a race, Minotaurs are somewhat atheistic: they don't have their own pantheon of gods and no one organized religion is predominant. Those who do worship a specific deity often revere gods of war, strength, or chaos.
Language: The Minotaur language is harsh sounding when spoken, and almost illegible when written. It has its own set of runes, though to the untrained eye these look like nothing more than random scratches.
Names: Minotaur first names are often taken directly from Dwarven or Orcish lists. They are usually rough on the ear and monosyllabic. Surnames are not taken from the family, but rather the tribe, and are often descriptive, multiple word affairs.
Male Names: See Dwarven and/or Orcish lists.
Female Names: See Dwarven and/or Orcish lists.
Example Surnames: Redclaw, Thunderhoof, Steelhorn, Bloodwash, Battlerage
Adventurers: Minotaur adventurers are usually mercenaries out to line their pockets while getting to bash heads in. They are a volitile group, and some may even take on a life of adventure to seek revenge for some insult.
Minotaur Racial Traits
- +6 Strength, +4 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma. Minotaurs are extremely strong, but not particularly bright or friendly.
- Large. As Large creatures, Minotaurs take a -1 size penalty to Armor Class, a -1 on attack rolls (against medium-size creatures), but they may use larger weapons than medium size creatures.
- Minotaur base speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision.
- +1 on all attack rolls against dwarves. Centuries of warfare have taught Minotaurs the best way to fight dwarves.
- Automatic Languages: Common and Minotaur. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Orcish, Gnoll, and Goblin. Minotaurs' voices are not well suited to speaking either Elven or Gnome.
- Favored Class: Barbarian
- ECL: +2
I'm not really sure about the ECL, I just kinda made that up. If there's any system for figuring that up, please correct me.
Edited: Bumped up the Mino's stats a bit and fixed a typo.
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) you were talking about my version!
