Estlor
Explorer
I've been working on the Savage Coast races off and on as I get a better feel for 4e and I'm finally to a point with this one where I'm able to share something. Before I get into the nuts and bolts, some thoughts about the design process:
"Savage" vs "Settled" Lupins: Lupins in BECM D&D have a split personality. Some are noble savages that live in the wild and hunt werewolves. Others are French-influenced schemers that live in the Savage Coast. Because I'm converting the races with more of a Mystara lean to them, you'll notice some aspects of the Renardois Lupins crossed with the Known World lupins. I tried to make it as easy as possible to drop either aspects.
Conversion Notes: Like anything in 4e, this isn't a straight conversion. This is an interpretation of the race that attempts to be true to what they were in BECM D&D, 2E, and 3.5E while casting them in a distinctly 4e mold. I think of lupin, rakasta, and tortles as "core" races and I didn't want to step on the toes of another core race as much as possible. I decided rather than design them toward a specific class, I'd design them toward a role. I chose Leader for the lupins because of the pack nature of wolves. It seemed to fit making them a race keenly designed toward making the other members of the party better.
So, on to the stats:
LUPINS
Gregarious, thoughtful scholars with a zeal for life.
(Or if you'd rather, Noble, nomadic hunters with a zeal for life.)
Play a lupin if you want…
Lupins resemble humanoid wolves. Their bodies are covered in short fur that ranges from tan to black in color and can be a mixture of color, typically growing lighter around the muzzle, hands, and feet. Lupins have longer, human-like hair on their heads that is usually worn long and straight, though braids are not uncommon. A lupin’s build is similar to a human’s though they tend to walk on their toes in a manner similar to canines and the palms of their hands and soles of their feet are dark, rough, and leathery. They have short, non-prehensile tails around two feet in length, though actual length is proportionate to the lupin’s height.
Lupins are born with better motor skills than humans, typically able to crawl within a week of birth. Otherwise they mature at a similar rate, reaching adulthood slightly earlier at an age of 15. They live about the same number of years as humans to slightly longer with the oldest known reaching 110 years.
PLAYING A LUPIN
Lupins display a pack mentality reminiscent of canines, making them slow to warm to strangers but fiercely loyal to their family and friends. This awkwardness around new faces typically manifests as rudeness that is sometimes interpreted as haughtiness despite the fact lupins do not consider themselves above any of the other civilized races.
In a civilized social setting, lupins tend to mimic humans as best they can, and entire lupin cities support an artisan lifestyle borrowed from humanity. In their natural, wild state, lupins tend to be hunters and herders and show the same sort of coordinated pack approach to every aspect of their lives. Settled lupins have elaborate religious orders for the gods (though they have renamed them as a variety of “Saimpts” that cast them as lupin heroes) that conforms to their lawful outlook on life.
Lupins typically keep to themselves when it comes to other races and, as such, are in good standing with most. They have had territorial disputes with rakasta that arise from their fundamentally different outlooks, but an individual lupin and rakasta are no more prone to animosity than any other dissimilar races. Lupins do harbor ill will toward shapeshifting races, particularly werewolves because of the chaos and mistrust they sow in an otherwise ordered settlement.
Lupins adventure to experience the world and belong to something bigger than their pack community. They hope to meet new people and learn new things to further their development as a person.
Lupin Characteristics: Dependable, structured, orderly, wary of strangers, eager to learn
Male Names: Adrien, Benoît, Christophe, David, Éric, Frédéric, Gaston, Gilles, Honoré, Julien, Luc, Michel, Pascal, Serge
Female Names: Adèle, Anouk, Camille, Dorothée, Élodie, Geneviève, Hèléne, Inès, Jeanne, Luce, Margaux, Noémi, Olivie, Sabine
LUPIN ADVENTURERS
Three sample lupin adventurers are described below.
Gilles is a lupin warlord whose skill in tactics helps his group of adventurers survive on the dangerous frontier. He accepts that he isn’t always the most important member of his fellows, but he relishes being the alpha in the heat of battle.
Olivie is a cleric devoted to the immortal lupin hero Saimpt Ralon. Inspired by his devotion to the hunt, she relishes the wilderness and the open road. Never quite at home in settled lands, she could spend the rest of her life on horseback.
Anouk is a lupin ranger. She is the understudy of a warden who watches the borders of lupin lands for foreign intrusion. She spends most days working to sharpen her sense of smell, hoping one day to be able to track even invisible foes by her nose alone.
"Savage" vs "Settled" Lupins: Lupins in BECM D&D have a split personality. Some are noble savages that live in the wild and hunt werewolves. Others are French-influenced schemers that live in the Savage Coast. Because I'm converting the races with more of a Mystara lean to them, you'll notice some aspects of the Renardois Lupins crossed with the Known World lupins. I tried to make it as easy as possible to drop either aspects.
Conversion Notes: Like anything in 4e, this isn't a straight conversion. This is an interpretation of the race that attempts to be true to what they were in BECM D&D, 2E, and 3.5E while casting them in a distinctly 4e mold. I think of lupin, rakasta, and tortles as "core" races and I didn't want to step on the toes of another core race as much as possible. I decided rather than design them toward a specific class, I'd design them toward a role. I chose Leader for the lupins because of the pack nature of wolves. It seemed to fit making them a race keenly designed toward making the other members of the party better.
So, on to the stats:
LUPINS
Gregarious, thoughtful scholars with a zeal for life.
(Or if you'd rather, Noble, nomadic hunters with a zeal for life.)
Torn between two destinies but slave to neither, lupins are an outgoing race eager to explore, experience, and learn. They may seem flippant or simplistic to others, but they are loyal allies to the end.
Play a lupin if you want…
- to look like a wolf.
- to put the good of others first
- to be a great leader, particularly a warlord.
Lupins resemble humanoid wolves. Their bodies are covered in short fur that ranges from tan to black in color and can be a mixture of color, typically growing lighter around the muzzle, hands, and feet. Lupins have longer, human-like hair on their heads that is usually worn long and straight, though braids are not uncommon. A lupin’s build is similar to a human’s though they tend to walk on their toes in a manner similar to canines and the palms of their hands and soles of their feet are dark, rough, and leathery. They have short, non-prehensile tails around two feet in length, though actual length is proportionate to the lupin’s height.
Lupins are born with better motor skills than humans, typically able to crawl within a week of birth. Otherwise they mature at a similar rate, reaching adulthood slightly earlier at an age of 15. They live about the same number of years as humans to slightly longer with the oldest known reaching 110 years.
PLAYING A LUPIN
Lupins display a pack mentality reminiscent of canines, making them slow to warm to strangers but fiercely loyal to their family and friends. This awkwardness around new faces typically manifests as rudeness that is sometimes interpreted as haughtiness despite the fact lupins do not consider themselves above any of the other civilized races.
In a civilized social setting, lupins tend to mimic humans as best they can, and entire lupin cities support an artisan lifestyle borrowed from humanity. In their natural, wild state, lupins tend to be hunters and herders and show the same sort of coordinated pack approach to every aspect of their lives. Settled lupins have elaborate religious orders for the gods (though they have renamed them as a variety of “Saimpts” that cast them as lupin heroes) that conforms to their lawful outlook on life.
Lupins typically keep to themselves when it comes to other races and, as such, are in good standing with most. They have had territorial disputes with rakasta that arise from their fundamentally different outlooks, but an individual lupin and rakasta are no more prone to animosity than any other dissimilar races. Lupins do harbor ill will toward shapeshifting races, particularly werewolves because of the chaos and mistrust they sow in an otherwise ordered settlement.
Lupins adventure to experience the world and belong to something bigger than their pack community. They hope to meet new people and learn new things to further their development as a person.
Lupin Characteristics: Dependable, structured, orderly, wary of strangers, eager to learn
Male Names: Adrien, Benoît, Christophe, David, Éric, Frédéric, Gaston, Gilles, Honoré, Julien, Luc, Michel, Pascal, Serge
Female Names: Adèle, Anouk, Camille, Dorothée, Élodie, Geneviève, Hèléne, Inès, Jeanne, Luce, Margaux, Noémi, Olivie, Sabine
LUPIN ADVENTURERS
Three sample lupin adventurers are described below.
Gilles is a lupin warlord whose skill in tactics helps his group of adventurers survive on the dangerous frontier. He accepts that he isn’t always the most important member of his fellows, but he relishes being the alpha in the heat of battle.
Olivie is a cleric devoted to the immortal lupin hero Saimpt Ralon. Inspired by his devotion to the hunt, she relishes the wilderness and the open road. Never quite at home in settled lands, she could spend the rest of her life on horseback.
Anouk is a lupin ranger. She is the understudy of a warden who watches the borders of lupin lands for foreign intrusion. She spends most days working to sharpen her sense of smell, hoping one day to be able to track even invisible foes by her nose alone.
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