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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GoodKingJayIII" data-source="post: 2243741" data-attributes="member: 13804">The ProtossHere's the initial writeup.  Feedback is more than welcome.  Please keep in mind that I've done everything in my power to keep the Protoss at +0 LA.  Write now I believe the balance is pretty good, but I am concerned about the flavor.  The Dex penalty fits, and yet the base Protoss unit dual wields (Zealots), making every dual-wielding Zealot incredibly exceptional compared to the rest of their race.  Anyway, enough of my rambling.  I'd be happy to hear some of your thoughts.ProtossCreated by the enigmatic Xel’naga, the Protoss are a powerful race known for their strength, speed, and innate psionic ability.  With the subtle assistance of the Xel’Naga, Protoss technology advanced by great leaps and bounds.  Much of their technology is powered and maintained by their psionic abilities.  A serious and devoted race, the Protoss have organized themselves into a complex caste system; many adhere to the Khala with rigid consistency.  Their home planet of Aiur is a lush, forested world on the far reaches of the galaxy.  Their architecture is not overly elaboratePersonality:  First and foremost, the Protoss are rigid adherents to their duty.  Once he has undertaken a task, the average Protoss will see it through to its completion or the end of his life, whichever comes first.  Typically they are highly thoughtful and introspective as well.  In combat they are fierce warriors, unrelenting and vicious.  The average zealot warrior with twin psiblades is a frightening sight on the battlefield.Physical Description:  Protoss are very large humanoids.  The average Protoss male stands approximately 6-1/2 feet tall.  Their frames lithe and fluid, but by no means fragile, typically weighing in between 200 and 250 lb.  The most startling feature about the Protoss is their lack of mouths and ears.  Instead they have long, loose nerve endings extending from the backs of their skulls, which they use to project their telepath.  The have three fingers and an opposable thumb, as well as a two knee joints, one of which is inverted.Relations:  The Protoss are divided as a race, and even they do not always get along with one another.  The Judicators are typically the leaders of the Protoss people, and while the Templar typically listen to their elders, their have been those who have gone against the will of the Khala.  Most Protoss have a mild distaste for Terrans, believing them to be wild and uncivilized.  However, individual Terrans have proven their valor in the past, and many of the more traveled Protoss are willing to let them prove their worth.  They abhor the Zerg and will do what they can to have them terminated on sight.Religion:  Though not a religion in the original sense, the Protoss adhere to the Path of Ascension quite strictly.  The Khala is drawn from ancient Protoss lore.  It is said that a Protoss known only as Khas tapped into the power of a Xel’Naga Khadarin crystal.  With this power he rediscovered the Protoss latent psionic potential.  The Path of Ascension is a caste system, divided into three groups:  the judicators, who serve primarily as the elders and statesmen of the people, the Khalai—who embody the majority of the Protoss people—and the Templars, the fierce warriors and defenders of Aiur, who follow the discipline of the Khala to ever increasing paths of psionic power.Language:  The Protoss language is based largely on telepathy, received and sent by their head tales.  This language can be received and understand by most any sentient beings.  Though they have no ears to hear the typical vocal language, the Protoss use their empathy and telepathy to understand the foreign languages of other people.Adventurers:  The typical Protoss adventurer explores because of a strong sense of wanderlust or inquisitiveness.  The Protoss are a curious people, and they enjoy travel as much as the next person.  Some might explore for religious reasons, understanding the paths of the Khala not only through meditation but exploration as well.  Their encounters with the Xel’Naga may have made some Protoss into caretakers, searching the stars for species to nurture or dominate.  Some Protoss might even be exiles, wandering the galaxy because they are no longer welcome on their home planet.Racial Traits•    +2 Strength, -2 Dexterity:  Protoss are incredibly strong, but are not particularly agile.•    Medium:  As Medium creatures, Protoss have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.•    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. •    Automatic Languages:  Common, Protoss•    Bonus Languages:  AnyEdit:  Because a lot of you are insisting that Protoss are size large, I've considered that in my racial stat block.  Here as an ability I took from the half-giant racial write-up (with a few changes for personal taste) that should make up for some of the Large issues.  I personally want them to be as playable as possible, and in my experience players do not like LA.  So here's the adjustment if you'd like to make it.  This is much closer to the flavor of "Large" protoss, but is not quite worth a +1 LA.•    Powerful Build:  The physical stature of protoss lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger.  Whenever a protoss is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the protoss is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him.  A protoss is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole).  However, the protoss’s space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size.</blockquote>

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