Stercules (3.5e Race)

Author: the bluez in the dungeon (talk) Date Created: 30/03/2023 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Stercules

A race of proud and strong beetle people, who love battle as well as introspection and art.

Personality

Boastful and strong, pious and wise are all true traits of stercules, an appraisal that they encourage. That of a stercules is a life of honor in battle, strength, learning, tradition and respect, a fact that they constantly remind themselves and others. They are sturdy and reliable, but also helpful and well-advised. They work hard and play harder.

Their society is divided in castes, and they respect a lot this division, an attitude that is expressed through their strict adherence to their social customs, though exploitation from upper classes is ill-advised because of the stercules' tendency to reject injustice (at least perceived injustice) with a strong spirit and head-on attitude.

Physical Description

They appear as small beetles-like creatures, with a long central horn on their heads, which has two small semicircles on its point, a chitinous carapace, that may be opened to reveal their back, strong arms, legs and a muscular chest. They are mostly dull grey, black, brown or dark green in color, but some present a more vivid or shiny coloration, with richer colour such as gold, red, pink, green and light blue, orange, or white. Some are even jewel like, and the most beautiful have the colour of lapis lazuli. They are very sectorial, so, the upper classes usually have the more beautiful colors, but it's also possibile for a peasant to be born handsome, while nobles can also be the color of mud. They tend to dress lightly, with cassocks and tunics, and prefer to heavily adorn themselves with make-up, facial hair (males are very prous of their chin beard and moustaches) and lots of jewels, usually with religious texts, which are not only worn, but even incorporated in their carapace, similarly to tatoos for other races.

Relations

They strong-minded society makes them respected almost among all civilized races, especially those that appreciated hardworking and skillfull builders.

The respect for their high-quality engineering is well deserved: even in ancient times, when they lived in giant dungball which they transported, with all their family, along desert routes, they managed to develop a gyroscopic mechanism which allowed the interior part of the dungball not to sping around while the stercules brought it on its shoulder, or rolling it on the ground.

Alignment

Mainly lawful, they respect almost any lifeview, but are wary of chaotic tendencies, which don't go well with their culture and society. They live in castes, which are defined by their occupations: mainly artisansa and lowly workers, warriors and guards, religious figures, administrative officials and governors.

Lands

Originally they lived in deserts where they organized in small communities

Stantial stercules live in villages and cities in arid environment, usually near sources of water, while nomad stercules still travel through harsh deserts, establishing commercial routes and searching for resources.

Both the stantial and nomad people are characterized by the use of dung balls for a variety of uses. While civilized stercules don't live anymore in dungball houses, they still retain the shape and craft of the art when making containers for goods and similar items. Another example is the use of the dungball shape and material for funerary purposes.

An old sterculean saying goes: "A good stercules is born, grows, work and dies in its dungball".

Religion and Society

Razur is their only deity, though it presents itself in various aspects, representing all sides of stercules' lives. They are fondly religious towards it, and respect other deities, as well as their ancestors' spirits.

Their social structure is very well defined, with only a little of social mobility, as the upper class (mostly the stercules with the most lustrous chitins) has ruled for centuries in an almost unchanged society, and there's really no push from the bottom to change things up. Despite this apparent hardness, sterculeian society isn't oppressive or that strict: they are just very comfortable doing what they know best, as long as it keeps working.

Language

They speak Common, but they have a great respect for the power of words, both spoken and written. As such, they tend to learn "high" languages as Celestial or Aklo, which they use extensively, especially in religious, official, commercial and judicial writings.

They also have a special, only written, language, the Razuglyph, a sacred alphabet taught to them by Razur itself. It is only used for the practice of azure sorcery, for holy texts or administrative ones. If the need of reading aloud arise, each language has a spoken translation for Razuglyph.

Names

They have such names as Nemek, Aken-thon, Inotef, Baasim, and so on. Their names often have religious meanings, or represent pleasant things, such as "Fresh Water".

Racial Traits

• +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity: Resilient and well built, they lack agility.
• Humanoid (Anthro) 
• Small: As a Small creature, a stercules 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.
• Stercules base land speed is 20 feet.  
• Elytron Carapace: Stercules are covered in a chitin carapace which keeps them safe, and grants them a +1 armor bonus to AC, no maximum dexterity bonus, no armor check penalty, and does not count as armor for class features or pre-requisites. This chitin carapace prevents them from wearing actual armor, but it may be enhanced as if it was masterwork armor. 
• Strength of the Scarab: They are deceptively and incredibily strong, despite their size. They have the Powerful Build feature, making them count as one size larger when they are subject to a size modifier and it would be advantageous, or in any case in which being larger would be beneficial. They can also use weapons designed for creatures one size larger than them. They count as Large quadrupedal creatures when determining carrying capacity (that is, they multiply their actual Strength score x3 to determine their ability to carry load). Lastly, they have a +4 racial bonus to Strength-based skill and ability checks. 
• Life in the Desert: Stercules are quite resistant to the effects of heat, gaining a +2 racial bonus on such saving throws. They also move well in sand, avoiding reduction to their speed due to it. 
• Builder's Craft: Having very crafty minds, no stercules is strange to at least some degree of engineering and craftmanship. They have a +2 racial bonus Craft and Knowledge (Engineering) checks. They also always treat Knowledge (Engineering) as a class skill. They gain the Give Me a Lever skill trick for free. 
• Magic of the Scarab (Su): Stercules have been blessed by Razur with some magical prowess. They may perform the following supernatural ability (use your HD to determine the caster level):

Cerulean Ward: Once per hour, you can invoke the divine protection of spirits as a free action and replicate the effects of the spell cerulean ward on yourself. 

• Beetle Horn: They have a horn feral strike, with the staticts presented below. 
• Vermin-like: Being sentient insects, they are still affected by effects that work on vermins or insects, but they gain a +2 racial bonus against such effects.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Razuglyph, Celestial or Aklo
• Bonus Languages: Any, except for secret ones
• Favored Class: Fighter, Cleric or Ba Summoner
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Beetle Horn

One-Handed Melee

Cost:	— gp
Damage (Small):	1d6
Damage (Medium)1:	1d8
Critical:	20/×2
Weight2:	— lbs
Type3:	Bludgeoning
HP4:	10
Hardness:	5

1. See Damage Increases by Size to calculate the damage for a weapon larger than Medium or smaller than Small.
2. Weight figures are for Medium weapons. A Small weapon weighs half as much, and a Large weapon weighs twice as much.
3. When two types are given, the weapon is both types if the entry specifies "and", either type (player's choice at time of attack) if the entry specifies "or", or each end of the double weapon is a different type if the entry specifies "/".
4. The hp value given is for Medium armor, weapons, and shields. Divide by 2 for each size category of the item smaller than Medium, or multiply it by 2 for each size category larger than Medium.

Racial Options

Feats

• Azure Sorcery

• Jeweled Elytron

WIP:

• Jewel Wings

Pathfinder

In Pathfinder games add the following traits:

• +2 to Strength

Alternate Racial Features

• Good Fate: A stercules with this trait has been touched by a special fortune. It gains the Luck domain's granted power, which stacks with the actual power. It can also use it to force another creature within 60 feet to reroll a roll it just made. It may share this trait's benefit with another creature by letting the creature touch it. All benefits from this trait are transferred to the creature until the next morning, if you haven't already used it. This alternate racial feature replaces either Strength of the Scarab or Magic of the Scarab.

• Astrologer's Craft: Instead of studying architecture and engineering, you deepened your connection to the arcane through the study of the star. You gain a racial +2 to Profession (Astrologer) and Spellcraft checks, and always treat Profession (Astrologer) as a class skill. Once per day, by observing the stars for 1d4+1 minute, you may replicate the spell vision of the future. This alternate racial feature replaces Builder's Craft.

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