The Shining South & PC Races

[Felon]

Is there much content geared towards new races in The Shining South? I saw a couple of illustrations of thri-kreen and loxos in the official gallery, so I'm hoping for some detail to back it up. Savage Species-style monster class writeups would be cool, but I was hoping for things like race-specific feats and equipment. Any such luck? How much does the book delve into non-core PC races? I've got a player who's nuts about thri-kreen.

 

[Khur]

The book has plenty to sink your teeth into, if you're running a FR campaign. It does have the "iconic" thri-kreen weapons and rules that slot loxos and thri-kreen into FR nicely. For example, the loxos and thri-kreen have gods specific to FR and such things. They both have their own FR regions.

This is also one of the few places you can get the 3.5 stats for these races.

All this said, if all you're after is the loxos and thri-kreen, this book probably isn't for you. Shining South doesn't have monster classes, nor does it really have truly race-specific feats for the loxos and thri-kreen. It lacks much more crunch about these races than their racial statistics and the like. (Think PHB and MM entries.) If you want to play a campaign set in the Shaar, however, complete with thri-kreen and loxos, this book will certainly get things going. (For wemics you'll need Races of Faerun.)

Did this help? I can give more info if not.

PS - Just in case it makes a difference, insofar as bias may be concerned, I helped edit Shining South. I, personally, have a thing for Halruaa and the Shining South--very exciting places to set FR campaigns. Almost as much fun as Unapproachable East.

 

[Felon]

It's very informative, thanks! How about monstrous races in general? I used thri-kreen and loxos as specific examples because they're the ones I spotted right away. Are there others open to PC's?

The Loxo had the ability to fly into a rage when a member of its clan was killed or incapacitated. Does this ability use more concise terminology to make it more useful for a PC (e.g. "ally" instead of "clan member")?

 

[Khur]

The loxo still uses the "clan member" terminology. (I think one would be justified in applying this to allies, especially in the case of a single loxo in a multiracial party, but that's only how it would play in my own games, not necessarily the "official" word.) Other possible races include the tasloi and the cycolpes. There are many cultures in Shining South, as well, including numerous human varieties (Halruaan , Arkaiun, Shaaran, Durpari), the gold dwarves, Luiren halflings, and the Crinti of Dambrath (half-drow). The Shaarans have the most feats, for their various tribes, but all the cultures have something going for them insofar as new rules. The book is meant to add depth to the whole Shining South region, so it doesn't focus on races like Races of Faerun does.