Beastman (3.5e Race)

Author: the bluez in the dungeon (talk) Date Created: 3 June 2024 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

Rate this article Your rating for this article: Favor Like Neutral Dislike Oppose Submit | Cancel Discuss this article

Beastman

A race of generic beastmen to fit any kind of world, with traits from the demihumans from Elden Ring. Can be used to replace goblins and/or orcs. The mysterious beastmen were present from the longest times, being recorded at the start of human history, with some, albeit debated, dwarven accounts even predating that era. They are a savage people of humanoid with various, unspecified beastial traits, both physical and mental. They live in wild areas, occupying the same ecological niche that ancient humans would, never having managed to raise above a primitive lifestyle, though it doesn't seem to bother them. Despite this condition, the beastmen's society is deeper and more culturally significant than other races think.

Personality

Beastmen are savages and brutes, with minimal social structures, though this doesn't mean they don't have complex and deep traditions. They are as varied as humans, being especially differentiated depending on their original tribe's culture, their experiences and where they live, but some common traits may be found: they value strength and raw power, as it gains honor and respect among them, which in turn means that a good portion of them, namely the weaker ones, live in deference and fear of stronger beastemen, making them appear frail and cowardly. Despite this, beastmen society have a use for everyone, and even the less brutish of them can help with stealth, craftiness, manual skill and similar abilities, which define their roles differently.

Despite being individually different, a part for their common cultural traits, they are collectively one of the most adventurous races, many of them taking a more vagrant lifestyle, or joining mercenaries companies.

Physical Description

They are humanoids, with a variety of body builds, different facial traits, color of skin and hair, height and weight. They look like humanoids with accentuated beastial traits, ranging from distored faces (assuming a human standard), or animalistic ones (feline, canine, rat-like, similar to bear snouts or other mammalian creatures), either coherent (like an all canine-looking beastman) or a mix of different creatures (like a boar snout and mouse-like ears). They have usually lanky limbs, also reminiscing of animal arms and legs (though sometimes they look and work like the real thing), muscular fit and they wear raggedy clothes and pelts, made from them or stolen, though they also have complex decorations, usually made from the bodies of preys or fallen foes, as a proof of strength, or with other objects of cultural or religious significance.

Relations

Most of the civilized races hate and despise the beastman, seeing them as no more than raiders and savages, sometimes persecuting them and considering them as animals.

Beastmen in return aren't very keen on them and frequently raid and pillage, or attack travellers, which only contributes to the stereotype (though it must be said that most beastmen tribes are only protecting their territories from those that seemingly invade them).

They are considered an abomination of nature, usually due to a curse, an unholy union of man and beast, the result of the experiments of a mad mage or the spawn of malevolent gods. Their true origin is still unknown, and many scholars have attempted to study them, usually by kidnapping them and exposing them to horribile experiments.

This has left the beastmen distrusting of other races, and only in recent times some scholars have attempted to contact them more peacefully and observe and understand their culture and social dynamics.

Beastmen from different tribes may hold grudges due to the two tribes' history with each other.

Alignment

By human standards, they are almost only chaotic, which is true for the most part, as true as an animal can be chaotic, and most often than not evil.

They are really mostly neutral, which implies the need of adaptability to survive an harsh world.

Lands

They can live almost anywhere humans live, though they occupy only wildlands, and don't build big settlements, contenting themselves to sleep under trees or in caves, though some have started using discarded wood and abandoned houses as shelters.

They live in tribes, which usually keep for themselves, sedentary or nomadic alike, and most of the times commanded by a queen, the maximum rank of the beastmen, which gives them a sort of matriarcal society matrix.

Religion

Not much is known of their religion, but they seem to have a shamanic cult of nature and ancestors, usually controlled by druids rather than clerics.

Language

They speak a form of Common, which scholars called Howling (a reminescence of racial connotation), which to Common-speaker may appear as a simplified version of the language, with bellows and animal sounds mixed in.

Names

They usually don't adopt names for themselves, and so it's mostly the other races to call them in some way, usually not flattering.

Some notable individual may choose or be bestowed a name, as a sign of power.

Racial Traits

• +2 Str or +2 Dex or +2 Cos, -2 Int or -2 Wis or -2 Cha: The natural inclination of beastmen is for physical prowess rather than mental faculties.
• Humanoid (Beastman): They are humanoids with beast-like features. 
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a beastman has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Beastman base land speed is 30 feet.  
• Low-Light Vision: A beastman can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. 
• Bestial: Despite not having true natural attacks, they have sharper fangs, claw-like nails, and sometimes things like horns or tails, which makes them somewhat on par with animals. When using an unarmed strike, they may choose to inflict piercing or slashing damage too, and they are treated as having natural attacks for the purpose of meeting requirements. 
• Demi-Human: Their animal features make them vulnerable to effects that affect animals specifically but they gain a +4 racial bonus on saves against such effects. They gain the same bonus against effects that target humanoids specifically, as their beastial form and mind makes them somewhat resistant. 
• Beastspeech: A beastman, like a druid can, may improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person, but the beastman makes a Handle Animal check (even if untrained), adding a +4 racial bonus, to influence the animal. The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly. To use beastspeech, the beastman and the animal must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. This racial trait counts as the wild empathy feature of a druid for the purpose of requirements. 
• Blood Boils (Ex): Beastman may enter a sort frenzied state, similar to the barbarian's rage or to the frenzy of an animal. Once per day, at night or when under half their hp, or afflicted by a negative condition, a beastman may choose to fall, as a swift action, under the effects of a rage spell, with caster level equal to its HD. Until the effect lasts, the beastman ignores the effect of its triggering condition and the dying condition, but may not ignore subsequent conditions that may occur during the time the effect takes place. This feature counts as the Rage feature of a barbarian for the purpose of requirements. 
• Illiterate: Just like a barbarian, beastmen are illiterate, and they need to spend 2 skill points to learn other languages other than their own. They may spend 1 skill point to speak proper Common.
• Automatic Languages: Common (Howling)
• Bonus Languages: Any
• Favored Class: Barbarian
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Pathfinder Options

Alternate Racial Features

• Shamanic Training: The tribe's shaman saw something in you and took you as an apprentice. Instead of strengthening your body, you developed mental abilities, and so you gain a +2 to any mental ability and -2 to any physical ability. This alternate feature alters the ability modifiers.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Races

the bluez in the dungeon's Homebrew (783 Articles)

the bluez in the dungeonv