Lesser Centaur (3.5e Race)

Lesser Centaur
Summary::Centaurs are part human, part horse tauric creatures known for their wild behavior and great speed. They are liminal beings, caught between two natures of human civilization and the embodiment of untamed nature. They are both warriors and teachers, monsters and friends. In a sense, they typify the struggle between civilization and barbarism.

Personality
Centaurs are beings of conflict. On one hand they are as reasonable and rational as humans, are legendary teachers of men and knowledgeable in the art of fletching and mounted combat. However their bodies are driven by primal lust, animal urges, and orgies of violence. When brought to emotion and passion they lose themselves in a drunken frenzy of wild madness. It is for this reason centaurs, wise and respected as they are, are treated with a sense of danger as well for even the most steady of centaurs hides an inner untamed beast. The centaurs are well aware of their wildness and some react by becoming as honorable and wise as possible.

Centaurs, like satyrs and other certain fey, enjoy revelry and partake in it often. Centaur parties are legendary, as is the humor, and damage, they cause while drunk.

Physical Description
Centaurs are tauric creatures combining the upper torso of a man and the body of a horse connected at its withers. Their powerful equine frames grant them a speed and strength beyond normal men, but they are limited to the side of human tools. Their upper halves may be adorned, while their lower halves typically remain bare. Differences in style vary as much as they do among humans and horses alike. They typically stand 7 feet tall and weigh as much as a mounted warrior. While mythology is dominated largely with the figure of the male centaur, female centaurs called kentaurides exist and often are associated with wild untamed beauty and female liberation.

Relations
Centaurs truly seem to desire contact with the civilized world. They try, and are much more connected to the modern world than any fey or other forestdweller can lay claim. However their natures prove strong and they soon find themselves no longer invited within the cities of man, and so they must find respite merely living close, visiting but never staying, or ever being on the move. They find dwarves tempting but dangerous, for their fine brews will soon drive them wild and upset lawful dwarven tendencies. Orcs and half-orcs mesh better, rejecting society and supplementing it with a barbarism the centaurs know well.

Alignment
Centaurs are usually chaotic, with strong trending to chaotic neutral.

Lands
Centaurs take homes in the plains and sparse forests near marks of civilization, engaging with them whenever possible and retreating back to their often nomadic homes when they find themselves losing their way. Any realm where horses may roam, centaurs may also follow.

Religion
Centaurs rarely follow religion, but when they do they follow gods of nature, celebration, alcohol, and the wild. Law and dogma are put aside, a waste of time in their eyes.

Language
Centaurs speak common, elven, and sylvan, as they often have contact with humans, elves, and fey in their journeys.

Names
Centaur names have strong, Greek-like tendencies. Male names include Chiron, Ixion, Peneus, and Sagittarius. Female names include Aphrodisias, Hylonome, Magnesia, and Nephele.

Racial Traits

 * ,, , : Strong and durable as a horse, they are plagued by their animal nature and their mental abilities suffer.
 * Type::Monstrous Humanoid: Centaurs are half man, half beast.
 * Large (long): As a Large creature, a Lesser Centaur takes a -1 size penalty to Armor Class, a -1 size penalty on attack rolls, a +4 size bonus on special attack (bull rushes, grapples, overruns, and trips) checks, and a -4 size penalty on Hide checks, but it uses larger weapons than humans use, and its lifting and carrying limits are twice of those of a Medium character. As they are large (long) they have a space or 10 feet but a reach of 5 feet.
 * Lesser Centaur base land speed is 50 feet.
 * Lesser centaurs have a +1 natural armor bonus.
 * Natural Weapons : Lesser centaurs half two hoof attacks which deal 1d6 + strength damage.
 * Stability : A lesser centaur gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
 * Tauric : Half-man, half-horse, their tauric nature is both a boon and bane.  They are always counted as mounted for the purposes of feats and abilities, and always count as having maximum ranks in Ride (though they never require ride checks, it is purely for qualifying pre-requisites).  They cannot use the Ride skill for evading attacks or any of its other normal functions.  In addition, they benefit from the increased caraying capacity of being both a large creature and a quadraped.  They require barding instead of normal armor (which at a large size is x4 the cost of traditional armor).  Finally their human halves are scaled for medium creatures and thus they use weapons as if they were medium sized.
 * Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, Sylven.
 * Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnoll, Gnome, Halfling, Orc.
 * Favored Class: and.
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::0
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1