Starcraft and d20 Future

[C. Baize]

Protoss should be a pretty powerful race proably be 1 or 2 ECL. Just look at a protoss zealot compared to a terran marine, the Zealot has more than double the HP!

I have to agree with this.

Being faithful to the source material is more important than nerfing a race down to a LA +0...

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

According to the box the original StarCraft came in, a Protoss is typically 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) tall and weighs 450 pounds. (That might include his armor, however.)

A Protoss is Large. And if that doesn't convince you... why does a Protoss take up two slots in a shuttle? The size gives him reach (and Strength) and that will boost his LA.

Dark Templar are even worse, though. Free cloaking? I've tried numerous times to create a Dark Templar writeup for D20, and failed every one of them.

Protoss base speed is 40 feet.
• Low-light vision.
• Naturally Psionic: Protoss gain the Wild Talent feat as a bonus feat. (see the Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 52)
• Limited Telepathy: Protoss can communicate telepathically with any other Protoss within 50 feet. Protoss must still learn the languages of other sentient creatures in order to understand their thoughts. Other creatures must still learn the Protoss language to understand what is projected into their thoughts.

You're right about the speed (Dark Templar wear light armor and have speed 23. A Terran civlian has speed 19. I'm a real nerd about these things.)

I don't think Protoss need to learn English to speak with a Terran. They have communications devices instead (which effectively translate brain waves into speech, and vice versa). Scouts, for instance, who often communicate at long distances, have something like that in their ship. Zealots have one around their neck.

 

[lonesoldier]

What SeveredHead said. I wholeheartedly agree.

I'll get to work on the something...

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

A Protoss is Large. And if that doesn't convince you... why does a Protoss take up two slots in a shuttle?

Meh, that doesn't convince me in the slightest. The game is full of inconsistencies like this. Check this out: http://www.battle.net/scc/GS/damage.shtml It shows the sizes and damage types of the units, and both marines and zealots are size small (check out the chart). I have not seen any flavor text on the Protoss that marks them as size Large. When I do I'll consider changing the statistics

Being faithful to the source material is more important than nerfing a race down to a LA +0...

I do not think I nerfed the race at all. I simply believe that the elite Templar of the Protoss military are atypical examples of the Protoss people. The average Protoss is strong, fast, with telepathy. That is their physiology. But they are not all super-powerful fighters with incredible psionic might. The Templar are experienced warriors with advanced technology, which is what gives them their real power. They can't even manifest their psi weaponry without the help of equipment. The potential is there, but the experience is needed first.

Looking forward to your versions of the race, however. It'll give me a chance to improve upon my own and steal liberally from the pool of good ideas Tomorrow I'll have some write-ups on weapons and things. This is going rather haphazardly, as I'm trying to famliarize myself with d20 Modern and d20 Future. As more stuff comes together I'll go back and make more coherent posts.

 

[arscott]

Yet another protoss, with a little bit more focus on their communal link. This one needs a Level Adjusment, or perhaps even some racial hit dice:

+6 str, -2 dex, +2 con
Size Large
speed 40

Naturally Psionic: 2 bonus power points per day

Limited Telepathy: Protoss do not speak. Instead they may communitate psionically with any creature with whom they share a language provided the creature is within 50 ft.

Communal Link:
Protoss who follow the Khala are in constant mental contact with one another. This grants the following powers. A Protoss who cuts of his nerve tendrils has permanently severed his psionic link and loses these benifits, but they can no longer be used against him.

Minor Bestow Power--As a standard action, a protoss may spend two power points to grant one power point to another protoss within 20 ft. who retains his communal link.

Extended Telepathy--The range of telepathic communication between communally linked protoss extends to 1000 ft., and they need not share a common language.

Communal Awareness--It is difficult to keep secrets from other Protoss. A communally linked protoss receives a +2 bonus on spot, listen and sense motive rolls opposed by the hide, move silently and bluff checks of other communally linked protoss. In addition, protoss gain +2 to their save DCs when using psionic powers to read the minds of other psionic protoss. A comunally linked protoss can always tell when another comunally linke protoss within 50 ft. is using his telepathy, though he cannot determine what is being said.

Influence--through their communal link, protoss can encourage dissenters to confirm to the majority veiwpoint. A group of communally linked protoss may use any [compulsion] power upon a smaller group of comunally linked protoss, at no cost, provided the following is true: a) the majority group outnumbers the minority group (5 x point cost of power) to 1, and b) the majority group is considered the proper authority under the Khala. The saving throw for this power is 10 plus the reputaion bonus of the highest ranking authority figure in the majority group, and is made individually for each member of the minority group. If a protoss sucessfully saves, he is immune to any use of this power for one week.

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

What a cool, cool idea. I had it a few weeks ago and didn't want to go to a lot of trouble. I was all keen until it came to making the mechs and such.

I was thinking that I could probably set it up easier with Grim Tales than anything else though, though I thought it was much like D20 Modern.

Things like Ghost are a prestige class, or maybe just a Smart/Charismatic advanced tree. Have to think about psionics. But it allows a bunch of "Marines" to be different, which is good .

However, their equipment would be much the same. It's not like you could give them all Goliaths and expect them to be much different.

Thinking.. abandoned marines salvaging a power core (Ahh, cold fusion!) from the center of an abandoned ship.

As all the players had played Starcraft, they'd know what that bit is from .

 

[arscott]

Zergling: CR 1; Medium aberration [zerg]; HD 1d8+1; hp 6; Mas —; Init +5; Spd 40 ft, burrow 20 ft; Defense 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+1 Dex, +5 natural); BAB +0; Grap +4; Atk +2 melee (1d4+2, claw); Full Atk +2 melee (1d4+2, 2 claws) and -3 melee (2d4+1, bite); FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SQ darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 1, zerg traits; AL cerebrate; SV Fort +1, Ref +1 , Will +0; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 14, Dex 12, Con 12, Int —, Wis 6, Cha 2.
Skills: None.
Feats: Improved Initiative.
Advancement: 2–5 HD (Medium).


Proposed Zerg traits:
+4 on saves vs. poison and disease
Immunity to death from massive damage
can resist environmental effects (up to and including vaccum) for one hour.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Again, part of my goal was to create a race that did not have a level adjustment. While I agree that Protoss units are typically much more powerful than Terran equivalents, I believe that can be expressed through class levels rather than racial power. I think Zealots are far more devoted to fighting than Marines, on average.

While the Protoss are tall, I do not think they are large. Probably anywhere from 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 feet.

My friend and I debated this for a while, and we both agree that Protoss should not get mental stat boosts. Their evolution was considerably coaxed by the Xel'Naga. This coupled with their long lives makes them better able to develop advanced technology (think of how many experiments get screwed b/c a scientist dies in the middle of research). The Protoss lifespan is what gives them ample time to develop the kind of technology they've created.

That's an interesting idea. I was considering the Dragoon to be a four-legged permanent mecha. Most zealots would never choose to become a Dragoon, but some zealots are crazier than eithers. A template might be really interesting though.

Edit: I'll have the terran wraith write-up later this evening. I've also started working on the zealot class, which may see the light of day tomorrow or saturday.

Hmm...I think I can proably agree with you, at least to an extent about while protoss are more powerful on average that doesn't necesarrily mean they're racially stronger. They could be more powerful just because of their long lives meaning they have more time to devote to training i.e. class levels (maybe the average terran marine is level one or 2 where as the average zealot is 3-5).
I am almost cofident that a protoss is about 9 ft tall however.
I guess you could treat the dragoon as a mech that a protoss is simply 'permanently' piloting, I don't think protoss usually choose to become dragoons but after being seriously wounded in battle it is often the only way for them to continue to fight for Aiur.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Meh, that doesn't convince me in the slightest. The game is full of inconsistencies like this. Check this out: http://www.battle.net/scc/GS/damage.shtml It shows the sizes and damage types of the units, and both marines and zealots are size small (check out the chart). I have not seen any flavor text on the Protoss that marks them as size Large. When I do I'll consider changing the statistics

I'm very familiar with damage types, but they don't mean what you think they mean. (A Mutalisk is size Small, for instance.)

Why don't you look at the StarCraft: Ghost pics? There, the Protoss are again much bigger than the Terrans.

PS considering how weak-minded Zerg are, I think they should be a creature type called Alien Beast.

This is my interpretation of a Hydralisk. It is 17 feet 7 inches long, which comes out to Large since it curls up a bit in combat, and with upgrades it moves faster than a Terran civilian.

Hydralisk: CR 5; Large Alien Beast; HD 4d10+8, hp 30, Mas 15; Init +2, Spd 40 ft.; Def 18 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural); BAB +4, Grap +10; Atk needle spines +6 ranged (2d6+2) or 2 needle spines +4 ranged (3d6+2) or 2 claws +5 melee (1d6+2); S/R 10 ft./5 ft.; SA needle spines; SQ burrow, fast healing 3, sensitivity to psionics, Zerg traits; AL Zerg Swarm, Brood; SV Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +0; AP 0, Rep +0; Str 15, Dex 16, Con 15, Int *, Wis 9, Cha 8.
Skills: Hide -1 (+9 burrowed), Listen +2, Spot +3.
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot.

* According to StarCraft: Revelations, it's measurably smarter than a Zergling.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

http://www.blizzard.com/ghost/wallpaper/

Bottom left-hand picture. Both the ghost and the protoss are crouching, so it's difficult to say what their heights are. But I think if they were both standing the protoss would not be three feet taller than her. That's enough of the height discussion for me. I'll keep looking for flavor that spells out their heights, but until I find it the write-up stays. Oh, and I edited the Protoss post to add an optional ability for all of you Large-lovers out there