Saurial (3.5e Race)

Author: Darth Rabbitt (talk) Date Created: May 29, 2024 Status: Should be done. Editing: Clarity edits only please

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

Saurial

Peaceful dinosaur people pulled from an alternate world, saurials are a reclusive race. A Forgotten Realms race that can easily be adapted to other campaign settings

Personality

Saurials are really four races (possibly more that have yet to be found), and vary to some degree based off of that, even though saurials see themselves as saurials first and their subrace second:

Bladebacks are the most straightforward and social of saurials, working hard to understand others' point of view and slow to anger. However, their long memories mean that once they are offended, they are slow to forgive. They often serve as saurial community leaders, advisors and clergy. Bladebacks are herbivores.

Finheads are the most curious and outgoing of the saurials, and the ones most likely to become adventurers. They are alert, bright and good with their hands but have a tendency to see things in black and white. Combined with their enthusiasm in trying new things, this results in them often jumping into dangerous situations. Finheads are omnivores.

Flyers are the noisiest and most nervous of the saurials, with a tendency to talk at length about whatever topic comes to mind. They tend to be gossips, both easily irritated by and irritating to others, and usually serve as the scouts of saurial communities. Finheads are carnivores, though due to their size they require the least food of any saurial subrace.

Hornheads are careful and rational planners, slow of speech but sharp of mind. These traits lead them to be excellent crafters and wizards. Their great size means they require the most food and can often be found eating vegetation; like bladebacks, hornheads are herbivores. Despite their size and strength, hornheads are the most peaceful of the saurials.

Saurials mate for life, and bond to their mates more intimately than most humanoid races. They lay 1-2 eggs a year, and parents equally share the duties of protecting the eggs and tending to their young once they hatch. Saurials take 5 years to grow to physical maturity, but take another 10-15 years to reach mental and emotional maturity. Saurials live about as long as dwarves.

Physical Description

Saurials all have a roughly humanoid body shape, with two arms ending in clawed hands, two feet, and a lizardlike tail, all covered in brightly colored scales (usually varying shades of green with yellow patterns unique to each individual). Each subrace is named after their most prominent physical feature:

Bladebacks are large and stocky, averaging 7 feet tall, with spike-tipped tails about as long as that. They have friendly faces and large plates jutting from their back.

Finheads are the closest to humans in shape, though at about 5 feet tall they are shorter on average than humans. They are named after the prominent fins on their heads, and have tails about half as long as the finhead is tall.

Flyers are the smallest subrace, standing about three feet tall, with thin frames, short tails and flaps of scaly skin coming from their arms that serve as wings. They use these wings to glide; exceptional individuals can even fly with them.

Hornheads are the largest saurials, standing around 10 feet tall, with tails even longer than their body. They have three long horns growing from their face, and many shorter ones protruding from the tips of the bony plates on the top of their necks.

Most saurials don't wear more than loincloths and/or simple cloaks, as they most commonly live in the tropics they are well adapted to. They will wear more elaborate robes for special occasions, and bundle up heavily to protect themselves in cold areas. Saurials find armor uncomfortable, but saurial adventurers will typically use it if they are proficient in it.

Relations

Since saurials tend to live in secluded areas, they tend to be unfamiliar with (but not unfriendly to) other races, and find their varying sizes and shapes fascinating. Usually a saurial's impression of a race is colored by the first member of said race that the saurial in question meets.

Alignment

Saurials can be any alignment, but their friendly nature makes them lean towards good alignments.

Lands

Saurials prefer to live in remote jungles, not really being used to the world at large. Ironically, their curious nature combines with this isolation to produce most of their adventurers.

Religion

Saurials most often worship deities that approximate the deities of their old world. Gods of nature, justice and luck most often fit this. Druidic religions are also common among them, as they have a strong reverence of nature.

Language

Saurials speak a high pitched form of Draconic, punctuated with scent cues and birdlike chirps. Other humanoid races can't hear the pitch, while fey and dragons can (though fey seldom understand Draconic). While saurials can hear and understand other forms of Draconic they sound dull and tired without the proper scent cues. Especially intelligent and/or skilled saurials learn to read and understand other humanoid languages, but it takes great effort for them to learn how to speak them in a manner that other races can hear. Saurials write their form of Draconic by carving lines on sticks, though they usually only bother doing so for magical writing and recording very important events.

Names

Saurial names are a combination of high pitched noises and scents that do not translate well to humanoid speech. Most adopt names loose translations of their given names or nicknames in Common.

Racial Traits

Saurials all share the following traits:

• See below for ability score changes.
• Humanoid (Reptilian): Saurials are humanoid dinosaurs. Although they are originally from an alternate Prime Material Plane, the Primes of other campaign settings are close enough to theirs that they are not treated as extraplanar.
• Despite being humanoids, saurials' unusual body types mean they have to pay for armor as a nonhumanoid of their size.
• Cold Torpor (Ex): Saurials are warm-blooded creatures, but they retain heat poorly in cold environments. A saurial suffers a -5 penalty to Fortitude saving throws made to avoid nonlethal damage from cold environments and takes double the normal amount of nonlethal damage for failing those saving throws.
• Language Barrier: Saurials communicate primarily through scent and have difficulty speaking languages other than their form of Draconic (they can read and write any languages they know without difficulty, however). This means that they effectively cannot speak languages other than Draconic. They may spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to speak every language they know.
• Natural Armor: Saurials gain a +1 (finheads and flyers) or +2 (bladebacks and hornheads) natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
• Natural Weapons: All saurials have two natural claw attacks (1d4 for a Medium saurial), and one other weapon unique to their subrace. The claws are their primary natural weapons.
• Protection from Sonic Attacks (Ex): A saurial's earholes are well protected, giving it a +4 racial bonus to saving throws against sonic effects and attacks.
• Scent: A saurial can detect opponents by scent within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range increases to 60 feet; if downwind, it drops to 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at triple normal range. When a saurial detects a scent, the exact location of the source is not revealed—only its presence somewhere within range. The saurial can take a move action to note the direction of the scent. Whenever the saurial comes within 5 feet of the source, the saurial pinpoints the source’s location.
• Vulnerability to Gas Attacks (Ex): A saurial's metabolism and reliance on scent makes it vulnerable to attacks conveyed through gas, including stinking cloud, cloudkill, and poisonous gas. Saurials suffer a -4 penalty to saving throws against gas-based effects and attacks.
• Automatic Languages: Draconic.
• Bonus Languages: Celestial, Common, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Sahuagin, Sylvan, and Yuan-Ti.
• Favored Class: Any.
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

In addition to these racial traits they gain the following adjustments as according to their subrace of saurial:

Bladeback Saurials

• +2 Strength, +2 Charisma, -2 Dexterity: : Bladebacks are naturally strong and outgoing, but are somewhat slow to react.
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a bladeback saurial has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Bladeback saurial base land speed is 30 feet.
• Natural Weapons: In addition to their claws (1d4 each), bladeback saurials have a tail attack that deals 1d8 points of bludgeoning and piercing damage.
• Trip (Ex): When a bladeback saurial hits with its tail, it can make a trip attempt as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the bladeback saurial.

Finhead Saurials

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom: Finheads have good reflexes and exceptional insight.
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a finhead saurial has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Finhead saurial base land speed is 30 feet.
• Natural Weapons: In addition to their claws (1d4 each), finheads have a tail attack that deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage.

Flyer Saurials

• +4 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma: Flyers can soar through the air with exceptional grace, but they are physically frail and often irritating to others.
• Small: As a Small creature, a flyer saurial 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.
• Flyer saurial base land speed is 20 feet.
• Natural Weapons: In addition to their claws (1d3 each), flyers have a bite attack that deals 1d4 damage.
• Wings (Ex): Flyer saurials have wings, which allow them to glide, negating falling damage from any height and allowing them to move horizontally up to 4 times the vertical distance fallen. For purposes of turning this is treated as average maneuverability flight. A flyer saurial that is unconscious or otherwise unable to spread its wings cannot glide; if a flyer saurial is rendered unconscious or helpless while gliding they slowly drop straight down, taking 1d6 falling damage (regardless of height). At 5 HD flyer saurials gain a fly speed of 50 ft. (average maneuverability.)

Hornhead Saurials

• +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity: Hornheads are strong and have sharp minds, but they favor thought over action and their large size makes them somewhat clumsy.
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a hornhead saurial has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Hornhead saurial base land speed is 30 feet.
• Natural Weapons: In addition to their claws (1d4 each), hornhead saurials have a gore attack that deals 1d8 damage.
• Powerful Build: The physical stature of hornhead saurials lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever a hornhead saurial is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the hornhead saurial is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to them. Hornhead saurials are also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect them. Hornhead saurials can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, their space and reach remain those of a creature of their actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.
• Powerful Charge (Ex): Whenever a hornhead saurial charges, it may make a single gore attack that deals 2d6 damage plus 1-1/2 times its Strength bonus.

Vital Statistics

Table: Saurial Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
14 years	+2d4	+2d6	+3d6

Table: Saurial Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
125 years	188 years	250 years	+2d% 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.

Table: Bladeback Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	6' 6"	+2d8	550 lb.	× (1d6) lb.
Female	6' 4"	+2d8	535 lb.	× (1d6) lb.

Table: Finhead Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	4' 6"	+2d10	150 lb.	× (1d4) lb.
Female	4' 4"	+2d10	140 lb.	× (1d4) lb.

Table: Flyer Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	2' 8"	+2d4	65 lb.	× (1d3) lb.
Female	2' 6"	+2d4	62 lb.	× (1d3) lb.

Table: Hornhead Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	8' 11"	+2d6	720 lb.	× (2d6) lb.
Female	8' 9"	+2d6	700 lb.	× (2d6) lb.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Races