Masterwork Characters: Legacy of the Serpent

[Crothian]

Written By: Adam Windsor
Page Count: 19 pages of content + OGL

Snakes fascinate us and frighten us on an instinctive level. They trigger a reaction in our subconscious that is stronger than the force of logic, causing us to shy away from a live serpent even when we have been told its breed is harmless. They also hypnotize us, with many unable to turn their gaze from a swaying cobra or writhing asp even though they know it could kill them with a simple bite. For players and GMs looking for an interesting motif to attach to their next character or NPC, the serpent can be an attractive symbol.

Fantasy fiction is filled with heroes who strike as fast as a viper or are as sly as a serpent, and there are legions of evil antagonists with snake-like attributes facing off against the assembled heroes of light. Taking the traits of the serpent and applying them to a character can create a unique and interesting PC, a goal that everyone strives for regardless of which side of the GM’s screen they sit. Legacy of the Serpent helps you meet that goal, providing you with a new player character race, 12 new feats, 3 new prestige classes, 8 spells/powers, and 9 new serpentine items ready to include in your campaigns.

 

[prodigyxss]

Legacy of the Serpent

Legacy of the Serpent

Legacy of the Serpent is pdf published by Clockwork Golem Workshop and written by Adam Windsor. It is a 19 page pdf detailing a new serpent type race, the Scalzians, new serpent related feats, new prestige classes, new magic and psionic powers and spells, and lastly new equipment.

When you first heard about this pdf, you probably thought of it as just another monster serpent race such as the lizard folk described in the MM, but this Serpent book takes a detour off the path of evil serpents who kill people for fun, and takes a new turn into introducing a new race that are actually human slaves that were given serpent like abilities from a trurer extinct serpent race and now hide among the humans that are hostile towards them, fearing what the next day will bring.

The Scalzians like I said are actually humans that have been granted Snake like abilities. They resemble humans, but constantly try to hide their true identity from the other races fearing what will happen to them and use psionics to help keep their identity hidden further or not if you dont run a campaign with psionics. The pdf does a good job of detailing them with a section on their history, their personality, physical description, a religion, scalzian lands, and more. Overall it is a very well written race that takes a new turn on serpents. Also like the pdf is aimed to do, this race isnt just for villains but can easily be for pc's wanting some good roleplaying oppurtunities, because this race will surely bring them.

The next section describes around 12 new feats specifically designed for the Scalzians or for anyone that has a bit of a serpent in them. These feats range from the predator which gives you a bonus for intimidate checks to demoralize others, to the Cobras Sway which lets you add your dexterity modifier to bluff checks. All in all, you probably have seen them before, just with different names.

Next section shows us 3 new prestige classes, which are the Cobra Knight, the Serpent Dancer, and the Skinshedder. The cobra knight is basically a warrior that acts as ruthless as traditional serpent races are. The Serpent Dancer is are music and dancing lovers that are spiritually connected to the natural world and were once druids and clerics because they also cast spells. The skinshedder are serpents that shed their skin to reveal new abilities and take on stronger forms each time they do so. The Skinshedder is probably the best of the new prestige classes and the Serpent Dancer just didnt grab me.

Next comes new magical and psionic powers designed for serpents. These spells range from the Cottonmouth with transforms your tongue into a poisonous snake, to the Elder Snake, which lets you turn a normal snake into a elder snake and ask a question that will help you on something your currently doing in the campaign. Overall these spells and powers are pretty cool. My favorite is the serpent arrow which lets you turn normal snakes into bolts and arrows.

Last section is some new equipment for serpents. Some of the magic items deal with poison which is commonly tied together with snakes as well as to cloak that when revealed gives you a bonus on intimidating checks. As well as there are magic items that heal like the Rod of Ascelpius which grants anyone who touches it to be immune to poison and can be activated a certain number of times a day to heal. That magic item for example goes together with the fact that some places think that snakes heal. Overall some of them have been done before, but then again some of them are unique and have a good serpent like feel to them.

Overall this book is great for Dm's that either want a lizard race in a homebrew campaign of theres, or if you want more options for your serpent race of some kind.