Spelljammer Conversions: Giff and Xixchil

[Viktyr Gehrig]

So far, I haven't been able to find conversions of these creatures as PC races, so I've rolled up my sleeves and done it myself.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Giff

• Large Giant.
• +8 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +6 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom
• Giff base speed is 30 feet.
• Natural Armor: Giff gain 3/adamantine DR and damage conversion 2 from natural armor. (this is the equivalent of +5 natural armor under the normal rules)
• Natural Weapon: Giff have an amazingly powerful headbutt; this natural weapon deals 1d8 + Str mod damage, doubled if the Giff is charging, and counts as an adamantine weapon for the purposes of bypassing hardness or damage reduction.
• In campaigns which include firearms, Giff automatically gain proficiency in the Firearms Weapon Group. (Primitive Firearms in settings which feature more advanced weaponry; Giff prefer the noise and smoke of primitive firearms.)
• Spell Resistance 14. Unlike other creatures with Spell Resistance, Giff cannot lower their Spell Resistance to accept beneficial spells, even if the spells are cast by the Giff himself. (Giff are very rarely spellcasters.)
• Favored Gestalt: Fighter/Noble. (In a non-Gestalt game, they'd have a Favored Class of Fighter)
• Level Adjustment +2

I need to come up with some racial feats, particularly to either allow the Giff to improve their racial Spell Resistance (allowing it to progress by level) or remove it entirely, so they can benefit from allies' spells.

I considered giving them some sort of further spellcasting penalty, but other decidedly non-magical races made the transition to d20 without picking these up-- in any case, mental penalties and a level adjustment of +2 should discourage most people from attempting to play them as spellcasters.

I hate racial HD, and I've removed them from most races intended for PC use. A more direct conversion of the Giff should probably include a handful of Giant HD.

Xixchil

• Medium Monstrous Humanoid.
• +4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -4 Charisma
• Xixchil base speed is 30 feet; they are not as fast as their more primitive cousins.
• Xixchil have 2/adamantine DR and damage conversion 2 from natural armor. (this is the equivalent of +4 natural armor under normal rules)
• Xixchil have Low-Light Vision and gain Blind-Fight as a bonus feat because of their antennae.
• Natural Weapons: Xixchil have three natural weapons: a bite which deals 1d4 damage as a secondary attack, and two scythe-like upper claws that deal 1d8 damage. Although Xixchil have four arms, their upper two claws cannot hold tools or weapons and their lower two hands no longer function as natural weapons.
• Xixchil have a poisonous bite, like the Thri-Kreen, but may also create a personalized venom once per day; to do so, the Xixchil must taste the opponent to be poisoned, either by making a successful (unpoisoned) bite attack or by tasting a weapon that has injured the victim. This poison will only affect the victim, but gains a +2 circumstance bonus to the poison DC and deals an additional 1d6 damage to the attribute of the Xixchil player's choice as both primary and secondary damage.
• Xixchil may produce a personalized anesthetic once per day, similar to the personalized poison, with primary damage of paralysis and secondary damage of unconsciousness.
• Naturally Psionic: Xixchil gain 1 bonus power point at 1st level. This does not give them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain this ability from another source, such as class levels.
• Xixchil gain a +2 racial bonus to Heal checks and Craft (alchemy) checks.
• Xixchil gain Surgery as a bonus feat.
• Xixchil gain Poison Use as a bonus feat. (This is the same as the Assassin class ability-- they don't risk poisoning themselves when applying poison to weapons.)
• Favored Gestalt: Rogue/Psion. Xixchil strongly favor Psychometabolism as their primary discipline, but are not limited in their choice.
• Level Adjustment: +2

Okay-- I'm not sure on the Level Adjustment. It's the same as the Thri-Kreen (since I removed their HD and weakened Multiweapon Fighting, but increased their poison usage).

I'm worried that the personalized venom ability is too powerful, but it's an ability I want to preserve in some fashion. The personalized anesthetic is less worrisome, especially since it's intended to be used on willing participants.

Three bonus feats strikes me as excessive, especially since one isn't standard to D&D. On the other hand, the Xixchil's phenomenal surgical ability was their main feature.

I am thinking, like the Thri-Kreen, that the Xixchil should have a handful of racial psi-like abilities, but I have no idea where to go with them.

I know that in the original material, Xixchil didn't have hands and were incapable of using normal weapons, but I don't think this transfers well to the new edition and it seems generally incompatible with their more "advanced" status. I also really do not want to try to figure out how to use "weapon arms" in D&D, both because it seems very rules-awkward and because it's a ludicrous concept.

So... any ideas?

 

[Frostmane]

Actually, in Dragon articles, the Xixchil had hands. The SJ Handbook implied they did..except for the battle juggernauts who got surgically modified to pure mantis-forelimbs. In the last article published about them, it was said they were a four-limbed race, like their kreen cousins: Two upper mantis-like limbs for hunting, with dextrous 'hands' they used for everyday tasks, espeially surgeries, beneath. Are you going to include rules for Xixchil BodyAlteration?

Great job so far!

Edit: Oh sorry, I didn't see the natural weapon entry stating they had the second set of hands. You might want to offer the ability to turn their mantis-pincer/blade upper limbs to normal hands with body modification. It may not be utterly true to the original, but if they can turn the battle juggernaut's upper limbs into what amount to a 'dire scythe' and alter the lower hands to normal matis-blades, it stands to reason they ought to be able to replace the upper's natural mantis-arm with a functional hand and arm setup..though it might sacrifice Strength.

 

[Staffan]

Only thing I can think of off-hand is that Giff should probably be monstrous humanoids rather than giants. I mean, they're basically "really big people with hippo-heads", sort of like minotaurs are "really big people with cow heads."

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Actually, in Dragon articles, the Xixchil had hands. The SJ Handbook implied they did..except for the battle juggernauts who got surgically modified to pure mantis-forelimbs.

Base rules for the race state they can't use non-implanted weapons because their bottom hands are essentially scalpel-like manipulators-- like some Star Wars droids. That's as of Complete Spacefarer's Handbook; I don't think the Ecology article mentioned any use of hands.

Are you going to include rules for Xixchil Body Alteration?

Eventually. I'm going to pattern them off the Graft Flesh feat, with a list of Xixchil Grafts. May put together a Xixchil PrC that allows them to use other kinds of grafts, including race-exclusive grafts, and gives them Artificer-like bonuses to Graft Flesh and Scribe Tattoo.

It's too bad Xixchil aren't considered attached to Planesape, or I'd use them for Galactic Planescape; they'd really shine with access to bioengineering and cybernetics.

... it stands to reason they ought to be able to replace the upper's natural mantis-arm with a functional hand and arm setup...

I might include that as one of their grafts.

Only thing I can think of off-hand is that Giff should probably be monstrous humanoids rather than giants. I mean, they're basically "really big people with hippo-heads", sort of like minotaurs are "really big people with cow heads."

Yeah, I've been wrestling with that one-- I just wasn't sure whether to allow Dwarves and Gnomes to get their giant-fighting bonuses against them. In the end, since I compared Giff to d20 Future's Weren, I went with Giant.

Now that you mention it, though... both species would probably be better off as Monstrous Humanoids.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

One thing I discovered is that Beyond the Moons' version of the Xixchil has them typed as Aberrations. I'm not sure they qualify by virtue of their modifications-- if you assume their ancestors were Thri-Kreen, as Thri-Kreen of Athas heavily implies.

On the other hand... most races which use Graft Flesh are Aberrations.

I'm uncertain how to proceed with other Spelljammer races-- I've had considerably difficulty with the Dracon, and I just don't care enough about the Grommam, Hadozee, and Hurwaeti to put much effort into them. (If someone could give me a good reason-- say a cultural or mechanical niche-- I'd make the attempt.)

The biggest problem I'm having with the Dracon is their Favored Gestalt. They're obviously draconic in origin, beyond being simply reptilian, but in 2e they completely lacked any arcane ability. I was originally going to use Noble/Sorceror, to reflect their formal courtesy and draconic heritage, but I'm not sure I want to contradict the source material on this point.

The Beyond the Moons version of the Rastipede is very close, in my mind, to how it should be done, so I'm likely only to make minor tweaks-- for instance, I simply refuse to accept that a race that spends most of its early life in subterranean tunnels (and most of its adult life in marketplaces) as natural archers. Might replace the automatic bow proficiency with Crossbows (which make more sense underground), and make minor ability tweaks. Favored Gestalt is definitely Rogue/Wizard.