Here's a very old post, for 3.0, don't even remember which forum it was....
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Topic: Half-elf/Half-orc? (all problem)
Blake 1001
Member
Member # 15652
posted August 02, 2001 01:46 PM
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I came up with an odd take on this. There were no half elf/orcs, but there were half half-elf/half-orcs - that is, a child born of a half-elf or human with some elven blood and a half orc or human with some orcish blood.
The result was called a
Schlangar (a combination of the orcish and elven words for 'abomination').
Schlangar were not much like elves or orcs, they were basically of human build and coloration, but had disturbing jet-black eyes (no whites). They are insightful and observant, which tends to make them all the more disturbing to others.
Stats: Wis +2, CHA -2
Abilities: Schlangar have an expanded visual range - they can see twice as far in dim illumination, like an elf, and can see up to 60' in darkness, like an orc. But, they cannot use Darkvision if they are within the radius of ilumination of light as strong as a torch, and either form of enhanced vision takes a full round to 'adjust' to new conditions (a Schlangar thrust into darkness would be blind for a round, one suddenly coming into dim illumination would see normal distance for 1 round, then double on the next - one going from full darkness into bright light is also blind for a round).
Racial Skills: None. Schlangar are said to have keen senses, but, in reality, they just tend to pay more attention (higher WIS) to the world around them.
Blood: Schlangar are considered human for purposes of racial magic.
Languages: Common, may learn other languages for high INT, but usually not elven or orcish.
Favored class: Cleric. Schlangar gravitate towards a strange mystery religion. Clerics of this religion must have a neutral component to their alignment, and can be True Neutral; they choose from the domains of: Luck, Death, Knowledge, & Trickery. The 'holy' symbol used is a trisected cricle, and adherents of the religion do not cut their hair (usually braiding it or tying it back).
....
Why?
- Stats: The Schlangar are rare creatures, the blending of hated enemies with very different natures. Elves being long-lived, free-spirited, and fun-loving, orcs being short-lived, brutal, cruel. The combination of inborn impulses in a Schlangar is bizarre. They empathize with both bloodlust and love of beauty, with cruel ambition and carefree joy. This gives them a tendency to look at things from multiple perspectives, and to examine their own motivations deeply from an early age. Thus, the high Wisdom. Their insights, as well as their heritage and for that matter, creepy eyes, make them deeply disturbing to other races. Thus the reduced charisma.
- Abilities: Darkvision and Low-light are very different senses, and the Schlangar, though inheriting both, have trouble switching from one to another. The transition isn't just a little slow, but actually painful. To see the world in two completely different ways is quite a challenge.
- Racial Skills & Languages: Schlangar are hated and reviled by both elves and orcs (and most half-elves and half-orcs). They rarely ever learn the languages and skills of their full-blooded relatives. Those that display such knowledge are viewed as even greater 'abominations.'
- Blood: This is a hint at the campaign history and cosmology. Humans, elves and orcs all come from a common stock, and, in a 4-element based alchemical system, elves lack the Fire Element, while orcs suffer from an excess of it. Elven and orcish 'blood' thus cancels out, leaving the Schlangar very human-like. The implication is that humans are the result of ancient mixing of the elven and orcish lines.
- Favoured Class: Cleric seems obvious, with the Schlangar's high Wisdom, but, the low CHA also hurts them in this class. Schlangar are outcast from the usual spiritual support of elven, orcish, and even human cultures. Those that don't die or go mad seek out their own personal meaning. The mystery cult they are drawn to is intentionally, well, /mysterious/, saying much about it would spoil the effect. However, though they can't worship Correllon or Gruumsh, they can just as easily be Clerics of conventional deities.
[ August 03, 2001: Message edited by: Blake 1001 ]
