House Rules for Warriors of the Red Planet (part III)

A Sword & Planet adventure is not complete without a myriad of strange new races of humans. In my last installment, I introduced the world of Cluros through a map that would represent an alternate setting for the Warriors of the Red Planet RPG. In this post, I wanted to go further by sharing some of the new inhabitants of this world. In this post, I give you three new races I planned to put in these rules, including: the Lacertilitan (Reptilian), the Anuran (Toadling), and the Great Brain. 

LACERTILIAN: REPTILIAN

Lacertilians are one of the only races indigenous to Cluros, but are similar to Reptilians found on other planetoids. Lacertilians are taller than Humans, and have a natural antipathy towards them. They share swamp and forest habits with their sometimes friend, sometimes enemy, the Anurans, but also can be found in drier desert climates. They are a warrior race made up of clans who honour the best warriors with leadership roles. They have sought alliances with Mantics and even Sorcerers of the Black Gate at times to curb the expansion of the all too plentiful Clurians. An important marker of distinction amongst Lacertilians is their range of colors. Roll 3 times on the chart on the following page for the character or NPC’s colour. For example, a player may roll “yellowish dull white” as the colour of his or her character. If a player rolls repeating colours that don’t make much sense, such as “greenish sparkling green,” simply roll 3 times again for a combination that works:

LACERTILIAN SKIN COLOUR (d10 three times)
COLOUR MIX (1d6)	SHADE (1d10)	MAIN COLOUR (1d10)
1. greyish 2. bluish 3. yellowish 4. orangish 5. greenish 6. brownish 7. blackish 8. reddish 9. pinkish 10. purplish	1. light 2. bright 3. dark 4. sparkling 5. neon 6. organic 7. eggshell 8. dull  9. swirly 10. blotchy	1. grey 2. blue 3. yellowish 4. orange 5. green 6. brown 7. red 8. black 9. white 10. beige

BONUSES AND LIMITATIONS

• Reptilian Martial Disposition:
• +2 Strength, -2 Wisdom or Intelligence

• Attacks: claw 1d3+1 damage, bite 1d3+2 damage, or by weapon.

• Scaly Hide:
• +1 AC, Note: using armour made from Lacertilian Hide (+1 AC to standard leather AC) is normally met with social sanction out of fear of vindictive Lacertilian deity.

• Cold-blooded:
• -3 on Saving Throws vs cold or ice, +2 extra HP damage from cold or ice attacks.

• Tail Caudal Autotomy:
• can self-amputate tail at will to automatically escape a combat or pursuit at any time during their turn. The self-amputated tail will convulse and jump on the ground and distract enemies for 2 turns from any kind of pursuit until it is too late to find the Lacertilian. The self-amputation will inflict 1d3 HP damage on the Lacertilian, and take a 1 week to grow back.

• Level Advancement:
• Unlimited as Fighting Men, but limited to 6th level in other classes.

ANURAN: TOADLING

The Anuran are a short warty and arrogant green toad people that prefer swamps and forest habitats where they build walkways, huts, and a tree house for their chieftain. Anurans are noted for unusually large heads with large dark eyes, and wide mouths. They are indiscriminate about food, but tend to prefer small mammals and insects that they grab with their tongues. They generally don’t like contact with other races as they believe that their lifestyle is the greatest and will go to great pains to prove this, much to the consternation of their sometimes allies, Lacertilians. In general, adventuring Anurans are rare outcasts, but in a few rare cases are on a mission for their Chief.

Anurans suffer from great discomfort using gadgets, and often regard technological devices with deep suspicion. Their origins are not completely known even to themselves, but it appears they are the product of an apparently nameless mad scientist attempting to create amphibious humans to conquer and control swamps. The Anurans have over time deified this scientist with temples dedicated to him, simply calling him the Grand Maker. Rumours (outside of the Anuran world), suggest this scientist was probably eventually eaten by his own creations. But who really knows?

BONUSES AND LIMITATIONS

• Arrogant Trickster:
• +2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom or Charisma, +1 Surprise rolls

• Toad-like Combat:
• Combat Choices: bite 1d3 damage, tongue attack, weapon, or mighty jump

• Tongue Attack: on a successful to hit their tongues wrap around anything up to the size of a humanoid. The target won’t be able to move, but may try to escape each round with a General Save. For each round the character is caught, he or she suffers 1d3 damage. At 0 HP, such characters will go unconscious until freed.

• Giant Leap: one giant leap (20 feet in any direction) for each character level a day on a successful d20 roll using the Scoundrel TN of the character’s level even if they are not a Scoundrel - to perform any kind of leap, such as jumping up to a ledge, escaping an attack, or jumping on top of someone.

• Fast Swimmer:
• Webbed hands and feet: 2x as fast in water.

• Lightening Vulnerability:
• Suffer +2 extra HP damage from lightening attacks, and -2 on saves against them

• Metabolic depression - can slow their metabolism as follows:
• Feign Death: 1x a day for 1d6 hours. During this time their hearts and breathing will be imperceptible, and they will appear to be dead. They will not wake up until the end of this time.

• Suspended Animation: instead of taking cold damage, Anurans can entirely freeze themselves if exposed to cold, and remain that way until thawed. 

• Level Advancement: 
• Unlimited as Scoundrels, but limited to 6th level as Fighting Men. They may not be another class.

GREAT BRAIN

Great Brains are created much like Manics (Mutants), but they see themselves as unique mad geniuses scheming for power and knowledge at any cost. Occasionally Great Brains agree to use their powers to help people. Some are even known to be simply idealistic and ethical. Great Brains like discussion and argument, and can often be persuaded by other adventurers, particularly Tellurians (native Humans), to lead better lives. But left to their own devices, Great Brain Scientists establish fortress laboratories for experiments and operations, and create Automatons, Mantics, or gadgets. Most Great Brains dream of having their brain transplanted into a Human body. This involves miniaturing their brain to fit into a typical Human body. The Great Brains have enormous swollen heads on diminutive weakened atrophied bodies. It does not help matters any that they also have pointy ears. A brain transplant means the Great Brain could have an infinite lifespan, become physically strong, and become an object of romantic appeal rather than derision.

BONUSES AND LIMITATIONS

• -2 Charisma, and re-roll: Intelligence, Strength, and Constitution ability scores as follows:

INTELLIGENCE TABLE (d6)		STR & CON TABLE (d6)
1-4. 17	5-6. 18	1. 3	2-4. 4	5-6. 5

• Genius Brain:
• 1 extra gadget at character creation

• Minor Telepathy once a day as per Mentalist class

• Control Person once per day as per Mentalist class

• +2 on saves vs mentalism

• Unusual Skin Colour: 
• Roll 3x on the Lacertilian Skin Colour Table

• Pointed Ears:
• Transmogrification (#7) –> Pointed Ears

• Physical Debility: 
• -2 saves vs Poisons, Falls, and anything physical.

• After level 1, only add 1/2 HD of HP per level.

• Human Aspiration:
• If a Great Brain character, studies and learns how to do a brain transplant, and can train a fellow Scientist or Great brain for a year (and can trust them!) to do a brain transplant, there is a 4 in 6 chance of success (using a captured victim or vat grown body). 

• If this fails, the Great Brain’s brain must be kept in a stasis chamber communicating via a computer until another attempt is made. If the operation succeeds, the Great Brain can re-roll physical stats and HP (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), and remove all penalties for physical debility and Charisma.

• Level Advancement
• Unlimited as Scientists, but may not be another class.