As dictated by the Book of Copyrights, Chapter 17, Verses 23- 39, and by the Book of T$R, Chapter 5, Verses 5-20, Tables 7- 10, with cross-references to the PHB, DMG, and Book of Humanoids: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This item incorporates or is based on or derived from copyrighted material of TSR, Inc. and may contain trademarks of TSR. The item is made available by MPG-Net under license from TSR, but is not authorized or endorsed by TSR. The item is for personal use only and may not be published or distributed except through MPG-Net or TSR. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd also like to point out that this has been made by me. I spent countless hours (about fifteen minutes) of hard labor (sitting at a computer and typing) on this, and I allow you to use it so long as you don't take credit for it. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are we done now? Yes? Good, let's move on... Has anyone ever noticed that the only benefits that the lizard man race gets is a nice base AC and the ability to swim, while suffering from lousy land movement, lousy weapon training, a desire for water that seems rather out of place, and the common sense of a rock? In short, has anyone noticed that the lizard man race tends to punish whoever chooses it? Yeah, that's what I thought. The thing that really bugs ME, though, is the aversion to heat. I grew up with endless numbers of campaigns where wandering through deserts, you had to watch out for lizard men. So then I come to find out that my lizard man can't live in the desert, is an absolute savage, and (worst of all) seem to be most at home in a swamp. This is not the lizard man I grew up with, folks. This, ladies and gentleman, is an affront. So, I went back and decided to rework the lizard man - the race and the entry in the infamous Monstrous Manual. But this does not REPLACE these entries - rather, it adds on to them. The lizard man presented below is a slightly differently evolved, and more advanced, form of the basic dude. (Their relationship to their primitive cousins is explained, too. {Race: Lizard Man, Desert (Reptar)} {Abilitiy Score Adjustments:} The initial score are modified by a +1 to Constitution and a -1 to Charisma. {Ability Score Range} Strength 7 / 18 Dexterity 3 / 18 Constitution 7 / 19 Intelligence 3 / 18 Wisdom 3 / 18 Charisma 3 / 17 {Class Restrictions} Warrior Fighter 13 Ranger -- Paladin -- Wizard Mage 10 Illusionist -- Priest Cleric 11 Druid -- Rogue Thief 10 Bard -- Psionicist 12 {Hit Dice:} PC desert lizardmen receive hit dice by class. {Alignment:} Desert lizardmen tend towards lawful neutral alignment. PC desert lizardmen may be of any lawful alignment. {Natural AC:} 5 {Background:} More than one adventurer has assumed that lizardmen only lived in the swamps, only to face off against numerous desert lizardmen. These intelligent, civilized beings prefer to be called reptars, as they feel it is less demeaning. Such beings look down upon their less civilized cousins in the swamp, seeing them as lesser beings, much as a human regards a chimpanzee. Unlike their cousins, reptars are at home in the dry heat of the desert, and the shifting sands. As such, they are hardier than normal lizardmen, since years of evolution have forced them to adapt away from their aquatic habitat. A reptar may feel primal urges surging within him as he enters a swamp, but none of the benefits that a lizardman feels. Reptars are organized into towns and villages, with a formal governmental structure and a cooperative society. They pity unorganized races - reptars prize order above all else. The group is just as important as the individual, and the needs of the many are of greater concern than the needs of the one. Their governmental structure is similar to the Roman republic. Philisophically, they tend to share some oriental views, and many sub-sections of their religious doctrine are centered around focusing the mind and body. This allows for proficient psionicists and martial artists. Unlike the typical lizardmen, males and females are obviously different. Males are bulkier, while females are more slender, and even have small growths on their chests that resemble the breasts of mammalian females. (Reptiles do not grow breasts, as they lack the mammary gland which allows mammals to nurse their young.) Also, both females and males tend to be about the same height and weight. This leads to a very equitable society - males and females are considered completely equal. Like lizardmen, reptars grow anywhere between 6'-7' tall. The reptars are slightly heavier and more robust then their relatives, weighing 205-260 lbs. Colorations can be light green, dark green, tan, brown, red-orange, yellow-orange, or anything within that scope (although the six listed colorations are the most common). Their eyes are either red, green, or yellow. Like lizardmen, their tails are up to 4' long and non-prehinsile (although it is possible for them to use it as an attack form). They have picked up many of the niceties of human society, and as such are fully clothed (although this usually means they wear armor - much less emphasis is placed upon clothes, which are supposed to be practical rather than ornamental). Reptars have a long reputation of being desert raiders. In truth, this is not the case. Very few bands are desert raiders, usually outcasts from society. However, these bands fight with excessive ferocity, as do most reptars, and their lethality, not nessecarily their frequency, has made these exceptions become the assumed norm. Civilizations that live near reptars, on the other hand, have usually found them to be excellent allies, and pillars of communities. {Languages:} Reptar, lizardman, common. If the DM deems it appropriate, a human or demihuman language may be learned, meaning that the reptar's village or town was located near a human or demihuman settlement, or that caravans passed through the reptar's home village or town. {Role-Playing Suggestions:} Reptars are not barbarians like their cousins - they are civilized creatures, only humanoids because they are not as widely accepted by the humans and demihumans, as well as being slightly less advanced. Reptars see the world as orderly, and disagree with any views that see things differently. Chaotic-aligned individuals tend to seriously rub reptars the wrong way, and neutral-aligned individual are viewed as too reckless to be fully trusted, although certainly more trustworthy than chaotic individuals. Of course, reptars are still, at their heart, lizardmen. They do feel peace when in a swamp, and some of them even exist on a "survival of the fittest" prinicipal that parallels the lizardman's "eat or die". But through order, they overcame this. Through order, they have tried to emulate humans and demihumans - even become better than them. Some suspect that the feminine traits of the female reptars were endowed by a wish. Whatever the case, the reptars aren't complaining. Reptar clerics and psionicists both have a definite religious and philisophical angle on the world. They borrow certains Eastern philosophies and goals. The basic tenets of their religion and philosophy is that through unity of mind, body, and spirit, they can achieve unity with the One - the great, singular, eternal conciousness that all living beings are a part of. All of their deities are lawful in their alignment, gods of order and alignment, that clerics use to help them come closer to the One. Psionicists train the mind and body, working towards the One through a different route. Unity with the One provides someone with clarity of vision and action, relazation that reality is ultimately an illusion, and a cycle of death and rebirth guides us towards spiritual perfection. However, not all reptars share this philosophy, although most adopt it. Some adhere to more Western ideals and religions. These groups can be clerics, but psionicists of this sort do not see themselves as religious figures. As are lizardmen, reptars are omnivorous, preferring a diet of meat balanced with some plants. Since plants are hard to come by in the desert, this usually is a workable diet. Few of them will willingly eat the flesh of humans, nonhumans, or humanoids - they consider it demeaning and disharmonious. Unlike lizardmen, a reptar is NOT alien to society - he understands it well. Society's reaction to him, on the other hand, is another story. While he can intermingle with normal society once he is accepted, reptars are distrusted by many, due to their bad reputation (this is elaborated upon below). A reptar in combat will always fight as part of a group if possible. As such, many armies realize the advantage of reptar troops, who are unfailingly loyal and intensely combative, willing to hold the field until the last man falls. Of course, this doesn't mean that the reptars are easily accepted. Reptar adventurers could be former soldiers in an army, disenchanted with the disorder he saw in the ranks, hoping that a smaller group can be more organized. {Special Advantages:} A reptar can use its natural weaponry if needed - claw swipes with its hands, dealing 1d3 damage, and lashing opponents with their tail, which deals 1d4+1 damage. Reptars need very little water. A flask per week is all they need to sustain them. In addition, they gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against poision, as their bodies are unusually resistant to poison and toxins. (Note: The following advantages only apply if Player's Option: Combat & Tactics is being used.) If using pummeling, a reptar's fists are effectively small, hard objects. This would seem to make practicing Style A of martial arts less than useful. However, reptars have refined this style into two types, A-1 and A-2. A-1 emphasizes speed - on a no-move attack, the character may make their pummeling attack in the very fast phase. On a half-move attack, the attack may be resolved first in the phase in which it occurs. A-2 emphasizes damage - the damage is increased to 1d4+1. {Special Disadvantages:} A reptar is not accustomed to cold climates. In prolonged cold, the reptar goes into cold sleep the same way that saurials do. The longstanding reputation that reptars have make anyone who recognizes them more hostile. All reactions to the reptar are at -2, plus any penalties for low Charisma, unless the individuals in question are friendly to the reptar for whatever reason. Any desert inhabitants that have not lived in a symbiotic relationship with the reptar have all reactions at -4, as do normal lizardmen. However, reactions by reptar to lizardmen are also at -4. (Neither race likes the other much.) This can be averted if at least one character in the reacting group knows the whole story about the reptar, which negates the penalty if they all have this knowledge, and lowers negative modifier by one if they do not all have this knowledge (-1 for most people, -3 for desert inhabitants). Lizardmen are unaffected by this. The other way to avert this penalty is for the reptar to disguise himself as a lizardman - most people identify reptars by their armor and weapons. Of course, female reptars look sufficiently different from female lizardmen to make this ineffecient against lizardmen, but people unfamiliar with reptars will still accept the disguise. The society of reptars is very tight-knit, and dissentation is looked down upon. If for any reason, a reptar becomes neutral or chaotic rather than lawful, then their mind begins to unravel, as they cannot cope with such disorder. Every day spent chaotic or neutral, the reptar must save vs. death. Failure means that they lose one point of Wisdom. Success has no beneficial effect if the new alignment was brought about by the reptar's own choices. If the alignment change is magically induced, however, then a successful save vs. death allows them to make a second save vs. spell. If successful, the magical change is beaten back for the day, the reptar's alignment returns to what it was beforehand, and clerics and psionicists may use their powers again. This still must be repeated the next day, as the reptar can only stave off the change for so long. Wisdom is recovered 1 point/3 days. {Monstrous Traits:} Bestial appearence. {Superstitions:} Disorder is highly feared among reptars - it can bring down armies. {Weapon Proficiencies:} Any eligible for humans or nonhumans. Optionally, if the reptars are supposed to be particularly isolated, then the weapons are from the previous era (i.e. in a campaign set at the time of the Hundred Year's War, weapons available are chosen from the Crusades list). {Nonweapon Proficiencies:} Any. Lizard Man, Desert (Reptar) ================================================ CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Commonly desert, although they can survive in any non-arctic climate. FREQUENCY: Rare ORGANIZATION: Centralized Republic ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any DIET: Omnivore INTELLIGENCE: Average to Very (8-12) TREASURE: A, B ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NO. OF APPEARING: 6-15 (1d10+5) ARMOR CLASS: 4, 3 (5) * MOVE: 9 HIT DICE: 3 THAC0: 17 NO. OF ATTACKS: 2, 1 (3) * DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8/1d8, 1d8 (1d3/1d3/1d4+1) * SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil SIZE: M (6'-7' tall) MORALE: Fanatic (18) XP VALUE: 65 * Note: Reptars may show up armed with a sword and shield, two swords, or may be unarmed and/or unarmored. The stats in parentheses are the stats for unarmored, unarmed reptars. The first stat outside of parentheses is the number for a reptar wielding two swords. The stat after the comma outside of parentheses is the stat for a reptar with a shield and sword. Relatives of lizardmen, reptars are far more intelligent and advanced than their savage cousins. They have carefully organized societies, as well as numerous settlements in many deserts. Unfortunately, the race has a bad reputation for being desert raiders, although this is largely untrue. Like lizardmen, reptars grow anywhere between 6'-7' tall. The reptars are slightly heavier and more robust then their relatives, weighing 205-260 lbs. Colorations can be light green, dark green, tan, brown, red-orange, yellow-orange, or anything within that scope (although the six listed colorations are the most common). Their eyes are either red, green, or yellow. Like lizardmen, their tails are up to 4' long and non-prehinsile (although it is possible for them to use it as an attack form). They have picked up many of the niceties of human society, and as such are fully clothed (although this usually means they wear armor - much less emphasis is placed upon clothes, which are supposed to be practical rather than ornamental). Males and females are noticably different, with females being more slender, as well as having two growths on the chest that resemble breasts. COMBAT: Reptars are fierce fighters. Once engaged, they will fight until unable to do so anymore, or somehow convinced to break off the confrontation, usually through a superior order. The majority of reptars encountered (50%) fight with sword and shield. Many, however, fight instead wielding two swords (48%). Very few reptars (1%) are completed unarmored and unarmed, usually considered outcasts and barbarians. There is also a chance (1%) that the reptar will be either unarmed or unarmed (50% no armor, 50% chance no weapons). Any fighting group is not controlled by a single leader - all of the reptars work together to direct their strategies. Although mages, psionicists, and clerics exist among the reptars, they are somewhat rare, and usually do not involve themselves in a fight. Encountered mages, clerics, and psionicists are usually somewhere between 3rd-6th level. They will usually lead any group they are part of. Also, more elite groups of reptars exist, with 3rd-7th level fighters and possible one or two magic users, and maybe a psioniicist. HABITAT/SOCIETY: Reptar society is tightly ordered, with a very well-defined social ladder and order. The society is very equitable to both sexes. Although reptar society is not known to be fully centralized, all known reptar governments are in alliance, and respect each other's officials. There have been rare cases of reptars becoming Chaotic Evil and discarding the reptar society. This is unusual, as most reptars who lose lawful alignment go thoroughly insane, whether the change is magical or self-induced. But those reptars who have survived the change to Chaotic Evil make up numerous bands of desert raiders. These raiders are well-known for their ferocity, and although they disdain reptar society, they still fight with the same pattern they learned with the reptars. For this reason, many people mistakenly believe that reptar society endorses these raiders, giving the society a bad reputation on a whole. Those who are aware of the truth, however, are usually well-accepted in society. A fierce hatred exists between the reptars and the lizardmen. Indeed, the lizardmen would happily wage a holy war against the reptars, if it were not for the fact that deserts - the chosen home of the reptars - are hell incarnate to lizardmen. If ever a lizardman and a reptar meet, they will likely attempt to kill one another on sight. Some human scholars claim this is a sign of an unadvanced race, but the reptars always point out the fierce rivalry between the dark elves and the rest of the elven community. ECOLOGY: Reptars largely have a diet consisting of mostly meat, with whatever vegetables they can get their hands on. They disdain eating the flesh of any intelligent being, unlike lizardmen, and will make every effort to avoid doing so. Reptars do produce art and music, although such things are an acquired taste to all except reptars. These works of art are usually abstract, and the music is often low and haunting. The flesh of a reptar can be fashioned as a suit of armor, like that of the lizardman, providing Armor Class 6 to those who wear it. The flesh of reptars is edible, but tastes rancid. -Eliot "Got coffee, got donuts, got porno - what's to complain about?" Lefebvre "Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground and missing." -Douglas Adams