Dregh, please comment. (Not a crack-pot, cat race)

Ferret

Explorer
This is a 3.5 revitalisation attept, some of the stuff is the same but a lot is different...

Dregh

Personality
Naturally curious Dregh can find themselves in trouble faster then the proverbial cat, however with all of this inquisitiveness it is surprising that they don’t socialise with other races, perhaps it’s this shyness that stops them interfering with so many other things then already do. They share great respect for nature; most grow up learning about woodland lore. Among the other activities such as music and art they enjoy swimming, and water-fall diving, and due to a lack of common sense they rarely know when it is a safe time to stop. Often called foolhardy they can rarely distinguish which aims should be followed vigorously, and which can be shrugged off when a new interest arises. Dregh often only practice loose ownership on items and gladly share and borrow objects, this translates to children as well; they are rarely brought up solely by their birth parents.

Physical description
A Dregh stands around 6’6”-6’11”, most of this height is due to the large tail that supports their legless bodies, this bottom half resembles a snake’s lower half, covered in very small scales. All in all they can sometimes be measured up to 13’ in length, head to tail. A tail usually holds a common colour but erratic colour patterns are not unheard of. The torso is mainly covered in a velvet-length fur, this colour changes from season but can always be likened to a red or brown colour. Neither gender has any height over the other, but the male half has horns that curl around as the individual ages. It is rumoured some Dregh posses further snake like traits, but rumours of Dregh with fangs or tail-rattles are uncomfirmed.

Diet
Dregh usually subsist on vegetables, but not exclusively. They consider spices a delicacy, and trade for them when preparing for large celebrations. They are acutely susceptible to stimulants, what cannot be said is why.

Alignment
Trying to avoid outside conflict most Dregh remain neutral, however some take their curiosity out of their homeland and take sides.

Homeland
Dregh live near or in forests, and usually near steams from which they obtain their means of life; wood for shelter and fish for food. They favour flat ground and almost all humid climates over deserts or places with little shelter. Dregh are happy near almost every kind of forest. Dregh prefer natural houses, stone rocks tilted against each other, a tree hollowed out by lightning or other similarly simple and humble structures, but large congregations mean the need for buildings. Other populations of Dregh live in places other than forests but do not like cold climates not because of their cold-bloodedness, as they are warm blooded but out of preference.

Religion
Dregh worship Elhonia, some may vary but all the gods they pay tribute to have natural aspect, all except the evil Dregh who openly worship Merrshaulk and are some times friends of the Yuan-ti.

Language
Dregh speak their own language: Dreghn. This is a language that flows amiably, but has a few harsh inflections. They have an uncanny knack for languages and once they have been taught, most speak fluently

Names
For Dregh it is a rude to own a name with another Dregh, it demeans their individuality. Typical names include
Male: Andar, Kolai, Tehlk, Bneim and Reinohr
Female: Yeila, Naehu, Lír, Shrín, Phene and Inkolai


Racial traits:
Dregh are treated as large (long) creatures:
+2 Con -2 Wisdom
Movement rate of 30ft
Low-light Vision Dregh can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
+2 to Will saves against fear affects
+2 to Swim, search and survival checks
+2 to fortitude saves against natural poisons
Whilst being large, they still only need medium sized equipment, because they are long creatures they have 10ft square space but 5’ reach
Special attacks: If the Dregh wishes they may deal lethal unarmed damage using there horns.
The favoured class of Dregh is Druid.


I need outside views on this.
 
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Are the Dregh medium or Large? I know the height is under 7', but if they really hold that much of their bodies off the ground, and still have snake-like movement, they must be pretty big.

They need a favored class (I assume this is a PC-playable race). I would assume barbarian or ranger from the description, but maybe not.

Having a very non-standard way of getting around should have some effects. For example, I would imagine they are rather hard to trip :) . And if they are medium creatures, they should probably get the "very stable" modifier for resisting bull rushes and so on.

Do the males get a special attack with their horns? If so, it shouldn't be a big deal, but maybe let them do their unarmed damage as lethal bludgeoning or something like that.

And although it's not a "cruncy bit," if they are so paranoid about having the same name, the text should probably read "typical names" instead of "common names".
 

They are medium, I don't know how much would be needed to hold them up, but I have them as medium as they are 7ft tall, they are not long creatures though. I thought 3ish foot would be enough.

I've debated the trip and stability with someone, I don't remember how it went but I decided not to give it.

The special attack would be added into the normal routine but lethal bludgeoning is ok.

I will change the Names thing though.
 

IIRC, real snakes can only lift about 1/3 of their body off the ground, when they're stationary. I realize this is a fantasy race, but I think they will look odd if they don't have at least half their body length on the ground. That gives you a total length of 12-14 ft. If their upper bodies are comparable in size to a human, they're going to weigh at least 300 pounds. If they're medium, they're at the top end of it.

They would also have problems supporting their own weight with their arms (like when climbing) but the snake tail might cancel out that penalty. Real snakes are very good at climbing trees, but lousy at climbing cliffs. Don't know how you'd put that in a rule, though.
 


Hmm, good examples all, But I want the end result to be playable race so medium size is key also but secondly I want a tallish race, and thirdly I'm planning a Me-Sci-fi(medeval science fiction) so realisism is kind of important. I don't know if creating them as 4 or 5 foot tall with 3 or 4 foot tails. Not what I want but I want some form of realism, so a decent compromise this is.
 


Ferret said:
Hmm, good examples all, But I want the end result to be playable race so medium size is key also but secondly I want a tallish race, and thirdly I'm planning a Me-Sci-fi(medeval science fiction) so realisism is kind of important. I don't know if creating them as 4 or 5 foot tall with 3 or 4 foot tails. Not what I want but I want some form of realism, so a decent compromise this is.
Why can't they be playable if they're Large? You could even say they use Medium equipment and weapons (since their torsos are medium) but they'd get combat modifiers and carrying capacity for a large creature. If somebody's got a snake body, their size is the least of their playability issues.
 

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