Ursini

Ursini - Level Adjustment 0
Ursini names are very eastern in their influence, and almost always contain one or more parts, sounds, and syllables that emulate eastern speech,, such as '-suke', '-suki', '-ai', '-shi', '-ao', '-ming', '-uo', '-ian', '-iang', etc. Heavily influenced by specifically Chinese Verbiage and Naming conventions, while secondarily containing influences fromnese and minorly, Korean conventions.

Male: Bensuke, Kurosuke, Bao Ming, Chao, Heishan, Jing, Jao-Long, Wang, Tao-li, Yusuke, Gongming, Harashi, Kubo, etc...

Female: Mutsuki, Ai, Mei, Ling-Ling, Chen, Jushu, Zhen, Nua, Yuki, Mitsui, Yuna, Seo-yoon, Huang Feng,  etc...

Ability Score Modifiers: (+2 Constitution, +2 Strength, –2 Dexterity): Ursini are strong and durable, but not too nimble, their large, muscular bodies preventing them from moving too quickly or nimbly.

Size: Ursini are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Type: Ursini count as Monstrous Humanoids.

Speed: Ursini have a base speed of 30 feet.

Vision: Ursini have darkvision out to sixty feet.

Languages: Ursini begin play speaking Common and Maeish. Ursini with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: (Ursi, Sylvan, Dwarven, Old Dwarven, and Draconic)

Ferocity: Ursini fight with a savage ferocity few can endure, and even fewer can see and live to tell the tale. Whenever an Ursini is dropped to 0 HP but is not dead, it gains the staggered condition and begins to lose 1 HP a round until they die.

Gatecrasher: Ursini are adept at sundering weapons and armor of those they fight, and are naturally very capable of breaking objects during a melee, owing to their immense stature. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Strength checks to break objects and a +2 racial bonus on combat maneuver checks to sunder.

Advanced Strength: Ursini are incredibly strong, even when compared to other races. They get a +2 racial bonus to strength on top of ability modifiers.

Defensive training, Greater: Ursini are natural warriors, and are trained from birth in the way of martial combat. Due to their militaristic and highly trained natured, they get a +2 dodge bonus to AC.

Stability: Ursini are hard to move, and stand as immovable as mountains of fur and muscle on the battlefield, gaining a racial +4 bonus to CMD to resist bullrush or trip while standing on the ground.

The only race that has ever braved the journey to the west from the mysterious lands of the east due to reasons unknown, these hulking slabs of muscle stand universally above eight feet tall, possessing massive bodies seemingly cut from rock itself. Staunch, unbending warriors of great honor, these wandering creatures resemble massive bears standing on two legs, with thick fur that can range from black to silver and normal fur colors in between, long snouts, and powerful legs and arms, they make wonderful companions, even better warriors, and superb drinking companions due to their infectious, cheery laughter. While most have naturally magnetic, amicable and raucous personalities that lead them to pursue the pleasures of the flesh as they travel the lands to hone their blade, there are exceptions to the rule, and some are seen dour and downcast, silent and unbending warriors.

Ursini Alternate Racial Traits:
Ursini Daimyo: Become Large Size Creature; replaces advanced strength

Some Ursini stand as titans among their kind, exemplifying the very virtues of honor, pride, and peace both inside and out to their lesser kin, towering easily over twelve feet tall as massive mounds of fur and muscle. Such Ursini typically ascend to positions of great respect and leadership, and usually become great warriors, generals, and leaders.

Rich Cultural Heritage: Gain Skill focus in any skill of choice; replaces Gatecrasher

The Ursini culture is a storied and jaded one, and reaches back to a time far before Tamamo conquered the eastern lands as her own. Not even her brutal reign or policies are capable of stamping out the culture and traditions of the Ursini, and they are as varied as the humans are in the west, coming from all climes, knowing countless skills, and ways of thinking. No two are the same; such is the might of the Ursini...together, as one collective, despite their differences.

Words of Our Ancestors: Gain +4 Racial bonus on knowledge(history), always a class skill; replaces stability

Owing to their rich culture, the Ursini recall the past through the tales, stories, and myths spun by the tribal shamans that guide their people, both spiritually and in more grounded ways.

Inner Peace: Gain +5 racial bonus for saving throws against fear, charm, and mind-affecting effects; replaces ferocity

Very rare is the Ursini who has climbed the paths of their own soul to achieve enlightenment; these rare few who have attained inner peace are legendary amongst their kind, and have forgone the rage their kind is known for to better themselves and their people by giving up the trappings of wordly wants.

Mushin: Gain Weapon focus as a bonus feat(Cannot choose magical attacks/rays); replaces defensive training

The Ursini culture is a warrior one, and as such, all Ursini who stride the path of combat seek to attain the state of being known as ‘Mushin’, or emptiness. The few who achieve this have universally gone on to become nigh-mythical folk heroes and warriors, their skill with their chosen weapon as infinite and bottomless as the cosmos itself.

Rimefur: Gain cold resistance 10; replaces stability and gatecrasher

The Ursini who dwell in the frigid lands of the North have become more adept at enduring the climate there, their fur taking on a hue as white as snow to match their terrain.

Sandfur; Gain fire resistance 10; replaces stability and gatecrasher

Polar opposites to their northern kin, some Ursini have taken to living amidst the enigmatic Dragonborn in the southern desert of Spineshatter canyon...their time there has made them more resistant to heat.

Runefur; Gain SR Equal to 11 + HD, replaces defensive training

A rare talent, or perhaps mutation, that manifests in rare Ursini, those who receive this gift are lauded as shamans and mystics, their fur itself glowing with arcane runes and magical power, as if it were a sign of a blessing by their ancestors.

Infectious Joviality: Gain racial +4 to Diplomacy and Bluff, one of these is always a class skill; replaces Gatecrasher

Some Ursini take their innate talents for socializing and bringing out the best in those they speak with to even greater heights, and forgo their warrior natures to become diplomats, emissaries, and even nobles in Tamamo’s court. Though rare amongst their kin, they are quite capable speakers, and more than one of them has gained very high positions in Tamamo’s Royal Court...some have even gained her trust as confidants and attendants.

Terrifying Ferocity: Gain a racial +4 to Intimidate and it is always a class skill; replaces gatecrasher

Opposite to those amongst their kind who forgo the ways of the warrior, some Ursini abandon all pretense of civilization and diplomacy and embrace their more savage side. They are much more adept and scaring and intimidating others with their mass than others amongst them, and most outsiders learn to respect these Ursini, and give them wide berths...though they mock them as savages behind their back.

Ursini Skyshaman: Replace ability scores with (+2 CON, +2 WIS, -2 DEX). Modifies Ability scores.

The Ursini Skyshamans are the spiritual leaders of their tribe, standing beside the mighty, towering Daimyo as those who guide any given tribe of Ursini towards their future. Looking to the stars for the guidance as they believe their ancestors join the sky as a star of their very own after they die, they use the guidance of their ancestors and the stars to make decisions, guide their people, and foretell the future so they can safeguard their tribe and people all the better.

Racial Feats:
Path of the Body:

Prerequisites: Ursini Race, 14 CON or 16 STR

Effects: Depending on the prerequisite you meet, you gain one of the following effects. If you meet both, you may pick which one you gain, but cannot gain both:

14 CON: 10% chance to negate a critical hit that it dealt to you. This effect stacks with light and medium fortification effects, but not heavy.

16 STR: Your carrying capacity is permanently doubled. This does not stack with Ant Haul effects, though you still receive Ant Haul effects for double the normal duration(You are treated as having tripled capacity instead of doubled for the duration).

One of the so called ‘Three Great Pillars’ that drive Ursini society and belief, The Body represents the physical shell that houses the soul and the mind, and is the source of many worldly wants and desires. Some Ursini who wish to attain enlightenment seek a greater understanding of their physical shells, and, as a result, unlock potential they slumbered within them so as to better ward off the sins and vices that come along with the physical shell. Fortifying their own shells and Learning how to better bear the weight of their own lives, empowered is the Ursini who reaches enlightenment on the Path of the Body, and begins their journey to enlightenment.

Path of the Body Inviolate:

Prerequisites: Ursini race, 17 CON, Character level 5th, Path of the Body

Effect: Gain fast healing 2.

Special: You may take this feat once more to gain fast healing 4, but cannot take it anymore beyond that.

While some Ursini spend their entire lives seeking the Nirvana that awaits them at the end of enlightenment, rarer yet is the Ursini who remains unsatisfied with the secrets of the Path of the Body. Spending countless hours, days, and even months and years searching for their own personal path to Enlightenment, Some Ursini discover ways and methods with which their physical shells might learn to knit itself back together in response to damage and harm, and reach ever higher on the Path of the Body.

Path of the Body Athletic:

Prerequisites: Ursini race, 19 STR, Character level 5th, Path of the Body

Effect: You cannot become fatigued or exhausted from forced marches, forgoing sleep, and you reduce the duration of any such effects from other non magical sources by half(Like from raging). You may still be forced into fatigue or Exhaustion through magical or supernatural effects.

While some Ursini spend their entire lives seeking the Nirvana that awaits them at the end of enlightenment, rarer yet is the Ursini who remains unsatisfied with the secrets of the Path of the Body. Spending countless hours, days, and even months and years searching for their own personal path to Enlightenment, Some Ursini discover ways and methods with which their physical shells learn the ways of resisting Fatigue and Exhaustion, their shells becoming untiring, and inexhaustible so as to better journey down the path to Nirvana with steady feet, and make the long, long road to enlightenment that much more easy to bear.

Path of the Mind:

Prerequisites: Ursini Race, 17 INT or 17 WIS

Effects: Depending on the prerequisite you meet, you gain one of the following effects. If you meet both, you may pick which one you gain, but cannot gain both:

17 INT: You can reroll a concentration or caster level check once a day, but you must take the second result even if it worse

17 WIS: For every 10 points of damage you receive(Lethal or Nonlethal), you gain a +1 bonus to any saves made against spells with the emotion or mind-affecting descriptors until you recoup that damage.

One of the so called ‘Three Great Pillars’ that drive Ursini society and belief, The Mind represents the slumbering psyche that lies shackled within the physical shell, constrained yet defined by the mortality, emotions, and worldly desires inflicted upon it by the Body. The Ursini who seek to walk the path to Enlightenment down the Path of the Mind spend many a week and month in contemplation, seeking the answers from the gods and the heavens with which they might unshackle the psyche from the physical form. The lucky and gifted Ursini who successfully tread the Path of the Mind learn how to better hone their psyche when concentrating or focusing their magical might, as well as becoming more and more serene with each blow that glances their bodies, their minds becoming more peaceful and serene with the knowledge that eternity awaits them.

Path of the Mind Unbound:

Prerequisites: Ursini race, 17 INT, Character level 5th, Path of the Mind

 

Effect: You can reroll two concentration or caster level checks a day, and you may choose which rolls to take. Replaces the Path of Mind ability if you chose the INT-based one.

While some Ursini spend their entire lives seeking the Nirvana that awaits them at the end of enlightenment, rarer yet is the Ursini who seeks higher realms and secrets after learning and treading the Path of the Mind. Spending their long lives in thought and contemplation, some Ursini who tread this path gain greater insights into the ways of the Psyche that lies within them, and gain a greater control over their own minds so as to better concentrate and bring their intellect to bear in times of crisis or need.

Path of the Mind at Peace:

Prerequisites: Ursini race, 17 WIS, Character level 5th, Path of the Mind

Effect: Once you drop below 30% health(Nonlethal or lethal), you become immune to spells with the Mind-affecting and emotion descriptors until you return to above 30% health. Replaces the Path of Mind ability if you chose the WIS-based one.

While some Ursini spend their entire lives seeking the Nirvana that awaits them at the end of enlightenment, rarer yet is the Ursini who seeks higher realms and secrets after learning and treading the Path of the Mind. Spending their long lives thinking and ruminating on what the universe holds for them and how best to learn such things, Some Ursini who tread the path of the mind find the secrets that they so desperately sought, the path to enlightenment they walk becoming clearer with each step they take...to these Ursini, they can see the ephemeral, ever-changing pathway to enlightenment as clear as daylight, and become as peaceful, serene, and still as water the closer they come to shedding the physical shell...for they know the path does not end there. Eternity awaits beyond the material.

Path of the Soul:

Prerequisites: Path of the Body, Path of the Mind

Effects: Any enemies who are attempting to affect you with a mind-affecting, poison, or sleep effect must roll twice and take the lower result. If you must make a DC check to endure it instead, roll twice and take the higher result.

The rare, formless Third Pillar of the ‘Three Great Pillars’ that drive Ursini society and belief, the Soul is the formless, undefinable mass that lies beneath the Psyche and deep within the shell, and represents the collective wisdom, knowledge, and identity that they have gained thus far in their many lives. A unique identifier and representation of everything they are, the Soul is a path most Ursini never discover, for it is an elusive thing, shapeless yet so stable and present they know they could not exist without it. So, for the Ursini who, either through long months and years of travel upon the path to Enlightenment or through a chance insight into the nature of life, Nirvana and enlightenment become a goal which lies just beyond mortality. Experts of both the body and mind, these Ursini wield Psyche and the Physical as easily as others wield weapons, their very existences refusing any harmful effects that would strive to inflict harm upon their Body or Mind.

Warrior's Code:

Prerequisites: Ursini Race, Character level 3rd

Effects: Gain the use of the Samurai's Challenge ability once per day.

Ursini culture is one deeply rooted in the ways of the warrior, and no Ursini exists who is unfamiliar with the ways of Honor or the blade, whether or not they choose to follow such paths. Some Ursini are born with an innate understanding of these Ideals their people hold so dear, and gain an innate use of them at birth.