Wukong (3.5e Race)

Wukong


In the jade forests of distant primordial land lived a pantheon of deities, unknown to history. All that was known is that they spent their days shaping the land, giving life and creation to this yet unfinished realm. As they pieced together the world from Chaos, Chaos grew restless and was threatened by its shrinking influence and power. It concealed its power within the stone of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, binding itself to the earth and in doing so accidentally giving life to the stone. Summary::So birthed the Wukong, primates given the power and sapience of man. They were the child of stone and chaos, and when the gods discovered this unexpected and unwanted life in their creation they knew not what to do with them. So they sought to expel them elsewhere, not expecting resistance from mere monkeys. But the leader of the wukong, the handsome monkey king, made discord and strife among the pantheon.

He was the strongest, the most cunning, and the toughest. The gods decided the monkeys had to go, so first they sent powerful wizards and monks after them, but the wukong quickly learned the tactics of their enemy, learning martial arts and magic, and turning the weapons of their enemy upon them. So then they brought forth the dragons of the four seas against them, but the wukong learned the source of their power and stole it away, leaving them uncontrolled. Then, the gods sent Death itself to them, but the wukong that were sent to the outer planes broke out from their cosmic prisons and crawled their way back to earth.

Alas, their persistence and strength had made the wukong proud. They turned on the gods and began rampaging through heaven, and winning. One by one the gods fell, until they finally met their match their match with the clever god of peace, who tricked them into accepting a bet that they could not win. As punishment for losing the bet, they were to be imprisoned under their mountain until they could make peace with creation. It would take many eons, but eventually the wukong found balance with the world. Though never losing their wild, dangerous, and mischievous aspects, they managed to return to the surface where they live to this day.

So the legend goes...

Personality
The wukong are beings of action. Why speak with your words, when you can speak with your hands? Why not show the world how great and deserving you are instead of being shy? While this is not entirely universal, the wukong are as a whole hotblooded, quick tempered, and troublesome. They often indulge in their favorite activity in excess, be it fighting, eating, art, or even being lazy. Yet they also have a strong tradition of trying to harness their inner spontaneity and vices and turn them into virtues. As a result they have turned holding back into a sport as well, to be compared, to be mastered, and to show off who can hold back the most. It's probably for the best.

Physical Description
The wukong are primates resembling some cross between humans and chimps. They stand upright and have mostly human features, but great amounts of body hair and a monkey tail to help them balance, as well as very hand-like feet (nowhere near as agile as a real monkey, but good enough to at least hold, but not wield, items). They tend to be slightly shorter than humans, and prone to toned bodies. Many are always in motion, making them overall a very healthy race.

Relations
The wukong work best when not dealing with "stuffy" races. As such, they often conflict with dwarves but they find brothers in orcs, humans, gnomes, and halflings. They tend to give elves headaches, showing little in terms of respect.

Alignment
The wukong are slightly chaotic and slightly good aligned, having a strong inner impulse yet a society which promotes acting in at least a civil manner. Though its uncertain if the stories of their creation are true, what is certain is that in ages past the wukong were forced to live underground. During this time, not all chose to obey the laws of their release, and remain trapped beneath, seething in their own hate.

Lands
The wukong live in the wallfall lined cliffs and mountains of certain distant lands, liking oriental areas with forests of bamboo to play around within.

Religion
The wukong are rather agnostic when it comes to religion, few having the temper to respect other beings, even gods. With that said, awe is not lost on them and they respect the gods as beings far stronger than they. Usually.

Language
The wukong speak Common.

Names
Wukong names tend towards the oriental sounding, as their homeland was based in a very oriental culture.

Racial Traits

 * ,, , , : The wukong are paragons of physical health, always in motion, and have the senses of a wild animal. However, they are less than cultured and have no time for intellectual pursuits.
 * Type::Humanoid: Wukongs are humanoids, even if they share a few animal traits.
 * Wukong base land speed is 40 feet. They also have a climb speed of 30 ft.
 * Athletic Lift : Wukong are naturally very fit creatures.  They can carry medium loads without being encumbered or taking any penalties, and they treat heavy loads as medium loads.
 * Defiant : Once per day, if a wukong fails a save against a mind-affecting effect he may reroll. He must take the second of the second roll, even if it is worse than the first.
 * Endurance and Diehard as a bonus feats.
 * Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. If they gain Improved Unarmed Strike (via feat or class such as monk), their unarmed strike damage goes up by 1 size instead.
 * +2 racial bonus on saving throws against divine spells and spell-like effects. They never did quite get along with the gods...
 * +1 natural armor bonus.
 * +4 bonus on Balance and Tumble checks, and they may use tumble untrained.
 * A wukong has a +8 racial bonus on any Climb check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it moves in a straight line.
 * Automatic Languages: Common.
 * Bonus Languages: Celestial, Draconic, Halfling, Orc, Sylvan, and Terran.
 * Favored Class:
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::1
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::2
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::1
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::2