Shocker Lizard, Civilized (3.5e Race)

Author: ErikOfWiki (talk) Date Created: Jun 8, 2022 Status: Complete. Editing: Clarity and Spelling

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Shocker Lizard, Civilized

Shocker lizards found in the Monster Manual are feral. These are more socialized creatures with less impressive physical traits. Feral specimens use the attributes listed for the shocker lizard in the SRD.Shocker lizards originally were printed in 3rd edition with an intelligence score of 5, indicating a greater than animal intelligence. This was errata'd to 2, which in my mind was the real mistake. This writeup is for the intelligent shocker lizard. The Lethal Shock ability is a neat idea for group hunting, and is a fairly novel way to cooperate, but it is straight up broken as 12d8 is not acceptable for 6x CR 2 creatures, so this race includes a fix for that as well.

A group of shocker lizards is called a bolt.

Personality

A typical day for shocker lizards involves relaxing on tree branches or playing in waters. They live a fairly idyllic life in nature. It is the rare shocker lizard that feels their life will be more fulfilling by striking out on their own.

Physical Description

A shocker lizard has a pale gray or blue underside, shading to a darker hue on its back. It has blue-black markings along its back and tail. A young shocker lizard is about 1 foot tall at the shoulder and weighs about 25 pounds. As shocker lizards age they may go through an additional growth cycle instead of advancing in age category, where they gorge on food and rest for weeks, advancing to Medium size, later on this growth cycle may be repeated, advancing to Large size and sprouting additional limbs while developing a more powerful electrical discharge, and finally, some paragons evolve into Behir.

Relations

Shocker lizards do not have a sophisticated society, but they are social. They are pack hunters who had no evolutionary pressure to develop technology, relying on their ability to bring down prey with electrical discharges. Most humanoids treat shocker lizards as animals despite their intelligence. Feral shocker lizards have no language, communicating simple concepts via gestures and electrical fields. Civilized shocker lizards also learn Common and use it to communicate with fellow shocker lizards as well as outsiders.

Alignment

Most shocker lizards tend toward Neutral.

Lands

Shocker lizards prefer rain forests, warm climates with trees they can climb and waters they can swim in. Their hunting territory can be quite large as they will roam for hours seeking out prey to surround and bring down with their shock attacks.

Religion

Civilized shocker lizards practice a simple religion worshiping the Current, a mystical force of nature associated with change and fate. Important decisions facing a bolt of shocker lizards may be decided by choosing a champion for each side and dueling, usually via grappling to submission or unconsciousness, to determine the victor and righteous course of action. These duels almost never result in death. Clerics of the Current may select from the domains- Community, Luck, Protection, Scalykind, or Water.

Language

Common

Names

Shocker lizard names are in Common and usually nicknames given by their fellow bolt members from simple descriptors of their behavior or appearance: Stubnose, White Stripes, Long Fang, Chases Tail, and so forth.

Racial Traits

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma: Shocker lizards found in the Monster Manual are feral. These are more socialized creatures with less impressive physical traits. Feral specimens use the attributes listed for the shocker lizard in the SRD.
• Magical Beast (Electricity) 
• Small: As a Small creature, a civilized shocker lizard gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –4 size penalty on special attack (bull rushes, grapples, overruns, and trips) checks, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but it uses smaller weapons than humans use, and its lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Civilized Shocker Lizard base land speed is 20 feet. climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft. 
• Darkvision: A civilized shocker lizard can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and a civilized shocker lizard can function just fine with no light at all. 
• Electricity Sense (Ex): Shocker lizards automatically detect any electrical discharges within 100 feet. 
• Stunning Shock (Su): Once per round, a shocker lizard can deliver an electrical shock to a single opponent within 5 feet. This attack deals 2d8 points of nonlethal electricity damage to living opponents (Reflex save for half). The save DC is Constitution-based. 
• Lethal Shock (Su): Once per day, whenever two or more shocker lizards are within 20 feet of each other, they can work together to create a lethal shock. This effect has a radius of 20 feet, centered on each contributing lizard. The shock deals 4d8 points of electricity damage. A Reflex save (DC 10 + number of lizards contributing) reduces the damage by half. This ability overrides Lethal Shock from a feral Shocker Lizard. 
• Electricity Immunity (Ex): A civilized shocker lizard has immunity to electricity damage and electricity effects. 
• Natural Armor (Ex): A civilized shocker lizard has +1 Natural Armor. 
• Skills: Shocker lizards have a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks due to their coloration; this bonus is lost if wearing clothing or armor over their body's scales. Shocker lizards have a +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks. 
• Shocker lizards use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb and Jump checks. 
• A shocker lizard has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. 
• A shocker lizard has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line. 
• Inhuman Form: Shocker lizards are not of humanoid form, and thus wear armor as a non-humanoid creature (twice the base cost). In addition, they lack specialized gripping hands and cannot easily wield weapons or use tools, taking a -4 penalty on checks associated with hand-held weapons or hand-held tools. This limitation can be reduced by taking the Dexterous feat. 
• Quadrupedal Movement: If both of their hands are free, then the civilized shocker lizard can gain +10' to their base movement speed by moving as a quadruped.
• Automatic Languages: Common
• Bonus Languages: Any (except secret languages)
• Favored Class: Any
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Vital Statistics

Table: Civilized Shocker Lizard Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
9 years	+1d4	+1d8	+1d10

Table: Civilized Shocker Lizard Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
20 years	30 years	40 years	+1d20 years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

In lieu of aging effects, the shocker lizard may opt to enter their growth cycle and advance using the Paragon Shocker Lizard feat.

Table: Civilized Shocker Lizard Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	1' 3"	+1d6"	25 lb.	× (1) lb.
Female	1' 3"	+1d4"	25 lb.	× (1) lb.

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