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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Thurbane" data-source="post: 4053638" data-attributes="member: 43273">The race I was trying to think of was the Laika from the Savage Species web enhancement...<a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030207a" target="_blank">http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030207a</a>[sblock]Medium-Size HumanoidHit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)Humanoids use d8 Hit Dice, so that’s already settled. Iwant a laika to have a single racial Hit Die, so that it canchoose to trade that in for a class level, thus gaining allthe same benefits that a character would get at 1st level.Initiative: +0Speed: 30 ft.AC: 12 (+2 leather armor, +0 Dexterity)I assigned typical equipment to laikas, then determinedtheir AC from that and their Dexterity. I choseleather armor because it has no armor proficiencypenalty, and no hunter wants a penalty on MoveSilently checks.Attacks: Bite +0 melee, or short sword +0 melee, orcomposite longbow +0 rangedDamage: Bite 1d4, shortsword 1d6/19–20, compositelongbow 1d8/x3A humanoid has the same base attack bonus progressionas a cleric, so a 1-HD humanoid has a +0 BAB.The laika’s bite damage is standard for a Medium-sizehumanoid, and its weapons are those of a hunter.Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.Special Qualities: Laika traitsAs much as I would love to give laikas the scent specialquality, doing so would mean that a 1st-level laika charactercould detect and possibly pinpoint invisible creatures.Such an advantage would certainly be worth a level adjustment.I could go back and change the race’s size to Small,but even a normal wolf is Medium-size, and a Small doglikehumanoid seems sillier than I had in mind. See LaikaTraits, below, for what I do want to give them.Saves: Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0Humanoids get one good save. Usually that’s Reflex,but we want laikas to be particularly tough and hardy,so I made Fortitude the good save and applied the Constitutionbonus to its hit points.Abilities: Str 10, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 10These scores give the laika ability adjustments of +2Con and –2 Int. I think the bonus to Constitution isparticularly powerful for a player character race. Everytime a laika gains a class level, it benefits from thehigher Constitution. However, the benefit isn’t not aspowerful as a Strength bonus, so I’ll penalize only oneother ability score. I could reduce Dexterity to balancethe bonus, but a hunting creature would surely wantthe ability to use ranged weapons without penalty. Icould also penalize Charisma, but then I would beduplicating the dwarf racial ability modifiers. Therefore,I chose to penalize Intelligence.Skills: Knowledge (nature) +2, Listen* +4, Spot +2,Wilderness Lore* +3As a humanoid with an Intelligence score of 8, thelaika is entitled to 4 skill points. First I chose the classskills that I figured were appropriate for the laika—thefour given above. Then I spent its skill points, purchasing3 ranks of Knowledge (nature) and 1 of WildernessLore. Because it’s canine in nature, I also assigned it a+2 racial bonus (see below) on Listen and WildernessLore checks. I already plan on giving it Alertness as itsfirst feat, so the bonuses on Listen and Spot checks areincluded here as well.Feats: Alertness, Track (B).A laika is entitled to one feat, and I chose Alertness. Ialso gave it Track as a bonus feat, since it’s a hunting race.The rest of the stat block is meaningless for characters,but I’ve included it here for the sake of completeness.To create this section, I copied the informationfrom the wolf entry in the Monster Manualbut improved the treasure to Standard (reasonablefor a humanoid) and set the advancement to “Bycharacter class.”Climate/Terrain: Any forest, hills, plains, and mountainsOrganization: Solitary, pair, or pack (7–16)Challenge Rating: 1Treasure: StandardAlignment: Any neutralAdvancement: By character classLaikas are explorers, adventurers, and hunters. Laikapacks claim territories without regard for conventionalpolitical borders, and they roam throughout their landsin search of game. Although laika bards are uncommon,ordinary laikas love to sing together as a packafter their evening meal.A laika is the same height and weight as a human,and it ages approximately as fast as a half-orc. Its body iscovered with silver, white, black, brown, or reddish fur,and its eyes are blue, yellow, or brown. A laika has a pronouncedmuzzle, triangular ears set high on its head,and a fur-covered tail.Laikas are very gregarious among their own kind,but they tend to be aloof when dealing with otherraces. Once a creature earns the trust of a laika pack,however, it can be informally adopted by the pack andtreated as family.Laikas generally speak Common. Those with highenough Intelligence scores learn the languages offriends or foes in their territories.CombatLaikas prefer to attack in numbers and use cunning tactics.Often a few laikas distract their enemies with bowfirewhile others slip into ambush positions. Laikasregard biting as uncivilized, so they use their impressiveteeth only in ritual combat for pack hierarchy, orwhen no other weapon is available. A solitary laika usuallyattempts to escape confrontation unless its opponentis clearly outmatched.Laika Traits (Ex): Laikas benefit from a number ofracial traits.Balanced Ability Scores: A laika gains a +2 bonus toConstitution and a –2 penalty to Intelligence.Medium-Size: A laika gains no size bonus to ArmorClass, attack rolls, or skill checks.Base Speed: 30 feet.Low-Light Vision: A laika can see twice as far as ahuman in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similarconditions of poor illumination. It retains the ability todistinguish color and detail under these conditions.Speak with Animals (Sp): Once per day, a laika canuse speak with animals to communicate with canine animalssuch as wolves and dogs. This ability is innate tolaikas. It has a duration of 1 minute (the laika is considereda 1st-level caster when it uses this ability, regardlessof its actual level).Skills and Feats: *A laika gains a +2 racial bonus onListen and Wilderness Lore checks, and it receivesTrack as a bonus feat.Automatic Languages: A laika speaks Common.Bonus Languages: Dwarf, Elf, Giant, Gnome, Goblin,Halfling, Kobold, and Orc.Favored Class: A laika’s favored class is ranger. A multiclasslaika’s ranger class does not count whendetermining whether it takes an XP penalty (see XP forMulticlass Characters in Chapter 3: Classes in thePlayer’s Handbook).Laika CharactersA laika’s level adjustment is +0. Build laika charactersjust as you would using any standard race from thePlayer’s Handbook.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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