Estlor
Explorer
For those not in the know, Disney's Gargoyles cartoon aired back in the '90s. The main characters were gargoyles - a race of winged humanoids that were guardians by nature and turned into stone in the sunlight. Below is my attempt to render them as a 4E race. With the turning to stone understandably dropped, we're left with a defender-focused race with wings for gliding and claws. I tried using the dragonborn and dwarves as a yardstick, as they fill similar niches as those races. I hemmed and hawed over whether having claws as a natural attack meant they should have one or two other racial benefits besides their wings. I eventually settled on two since the claws are basically daggers that can't be enchanted and don't tap into any class's dagger-dependent mechanics so the average 1st level character would do better with a weapon than a kindred using their claws.
Rending Strike as a 7th-level encounter power was kind of iffy as it was patterened after the rogue's 5th-level daily Deep Cut, but since ongoing damage requires two successful AC attacks and the non-ongoing portion of the damage is likely to be lower for Rending Strike I thought having the opportunity to use it 2 to 3 times a day instead of once wasn't overpowering. Basically it's a good encounter-starting move for a character with a high Strength score for it's ongoing damage alone.
Anyway, on with the race.
Kindred
Stoic, loyal defenders born of stone and tested by time
RACIAL TRAITS
Average Height: 6’4” – 6’8”
Average Weight: 250 – 340 lb.
Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Normal
Languages: Common, Giant
Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Intimidate
Kindred Claws: Your claws are not improvised attacks for basic attacks and powers with the Weapon keyword. You have a +3 proficiency bonus to attack and inflict 1d4 points of damage.
Kindred Fury: When you’re bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to defenses
Kindred Tactics: When you kill a creature, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attacks until the end of your next turn.
Kindred Wings: You can use kindred wings as an at-will power
Kindred Wings(Kindred Racial Power)
You catch the rushing air beneath your wings.
At-Will
Immediate Reaction Personal
Trigger: You suffer a fall of at least 10 feet
Effect: Reduce the distance of the fall to ½ for damage purposes. If the effective distance is less than 10 feet, you land on your feet.
Reduce distance to ¼ at 11th level, and 0 at 21st level.
Like the stone of a highland hillside, kindred have stood watch over their homes and adopted people for ages, undaunted by trial at arms or the passage of time. Though scattered and small in number, they will still be watching when time itself is gone – they are certain of this.
Play a kindred if you want…
·to be durable and fight to the bitter end.
·to have limited flight power.
·to be play a race that favors the defender role.
Physical Qualities
Sharing some resemblance with gargoyles, kindred are solidly built creatures. Their individual features can vary, though most have some form of bestial accent such as horns, fangs, or beaks. All kindred have nonprehensile tails that are 2 to 3 feet long and help to balance while gliding on their wings. Some kindred have batlike wings that stretch from beneath their arms to the outside of their legs and some have wings attached to the back of their shoulders that they can wrap around their body like a cloak when not in use. A kindred’s hide is tough and rugged, usually a shade of grey or brown like limestone or sandstone. Their hands have three fingers and a thumb, each ending in a daggerlike claw. Their digitgrade feet end in three clawed toes useful for climbing. Kindred have dark hair and eyes. When enraged, kindred eyes glow brightly from within, obscuring the appearance of the iris and pupil. Male kindred eyes glow white while female kindred eyes glow crimson. Kindred choose loose-fitting tunics and breeches or hides that do not interfere with their wings.
Though warm-blooded, kindred hatch from eggs. Kindred do not recognize specific parents, viewing every member of the previous generation in their community as their parent. Likewise, all members of the same rookery are considered siblings, referring to each other as “rookery brothers and sisters.” A kindred is considered an adult at age 25 and can live upwards of 200 years.
Playing a Kindred
Kindred as stubborn and unwavering like the bedrock they consider their ancestors. They are raised to be insular and look to their clan for fulfillment of their needs, as it is the duty of all kindred to grow up and replace their parents are protector of the clan’s sworn territory. This leads them to be somewhat mistrusting of strangers, though they are quick to set this impulse aside when someone weaker is in danger.
Kindred communities are closely connected to stone structures, often inhabiting mountain passes or abandoned human structures that have slowly fallen into disarray. A kindred clan will always inherently choose an easily-defensible location, making it difficult to wipe out a kindred community once it has time to establish itself. For this reason, kindred often live in semi-symbiotic relationships with neighboring intelligent humanoids that find it easier to accommodate the kindred than to remove them.
Kindred Characteristics: Stubborn, solid, unwavering, reliable, honorable, responsible
Kindred Names: Kindred do not name each other, using titles like “friend” or “brother” to refer to other kindred. Kindred with names have been given them by the races they live among and prescribe to the naming conventions of that race.
Kindred Adventurers
Three sample kindred adventurers are described below.
Granite is a kindred fighter who lived next to a human outpost in the mountains. Though the humans and their ways confused him, he came to view them as part of his clan. Now that a rival human army has sacked and destroyed the settlement and carried the women into captivity, Granite has sworn to do everything in his power to restore their land and freedom or die trying.
Tharturk, as he is known by the orcs, is a kindred warlord who has proven himself a bane to the highland orcs every time they clash. He heard of their expansionist ways long before meeting his first orc, and since then he is devoted to helping his fellows turn back the orcs no matter how long it takes.
Perra is a kindred cleric of Bahamut living among a dragonborn clan. When her own people were destroyed by tiefling warlocks she wandered endlessly until a vision of a great kindred in the sky told her to seek the scaled ones for they would become her new clan. It was the dragonborn that told her Bahamut had called her, and now she is his tool.
Racial Feats
Kindred have a number of feats all their own
Heroic Tier Feats
These feats are available to any kindred character who meets the prerequisites.
Improved Kindred Wings [Kindred]
Prerequisite: Kindred, Kindred Wings
Benefit: During a fall, you can shift 1 square for every ten feet reduced by your kindred wings power (minimum 1 square).
Rending Strike [Kindred]
Prerequisite: Kindred
Benefit: The rending strike racial encounter power replaces one of your encounter powers. The power it replaces must be 7th level or higher. If you do not yet have a 7th-level or higher power, you can replace it when you gain it.
Rending Strike (Feat Power)
You latch on with both claws and rip a bloody hunk off your opponent’s body.
Encounter * Feat, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Requirement: You must use your kindred claws.
Target: One or two creatures
Attack: Strength vs. AC (main weapon and off-hand weapon), two attacks
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage. If both attacks hit the same creature, ongoing damage equal to 1+ your Strength modifier (save ends).
Miss: Half damage, and no ongoing damage.
Paragon Tier Feats
This feat is available to any kindred character of 11th level or higher who meets the prerequisites.
Defense of Stone [Kindred]
Prerequisites: Kindred
Benefit: The defense of stone racial utility power replaces one of your utility powers. The power it replaces must be 12th level or higher. If you do not yet have a 12th-level or higher power, you can replace the appropriate power when you gain it.
In addition, when you use your second wind, you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until the start of your next turn.
Defense of Stone (Feat Power)
Through force of will alone, your body shrugs off wear that would cripple others.
Daily
Immediate Reaction Personal
Trigger: You suffer a critical hit.
Effect: The hit becomes a normal hit.
Critiques and criticisms are welcome!
Rending Strike as a 7th-level encounter power was kind of iffy as it was patterened after the rogue's 5th-level daily Deep Cut, but since ongoing damage requires two successful AC attacks and the non-ongoing portion of the damage is likely to be lower for Rending Strike I thought having the opportunity to use it 2 to 3 times a day instead of once wasn't overpowering. Basically it's a good encounter-starting move for a character with a high Strength score for it's ongoing damage alone.
Anyway, on with the race.
Kindred
Stoic, loyal defenders born of stone and tested by time
RACIAL TRAITS
Average Height: 6’4” – 6’8”
Average Weight: 250 – 340 lb.
Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Normal
Languages: Common, Giant
Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Intimidate
Kindred Claws: Your claws are not improvised attacks for basic attacks and powers with the Weapon keyword. You have a +3 proficiency bonus to attack and inflict 1d4 points of damage.
Kindred Fury: When you’re bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to defenses
Kindred Tactics: When you kill a creature, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attacks until the end of your next turn.
Kindred Wings: You can use kindred wings as an at-will power
Kindred Wings(Kindred Racial Power)
You catch the rushing air beneath your wings.
At-Will
Immediate Reaction Personal
Trigger: You suffer a fall of at least 10 feet
Effect: Reduce the distance of the fall to ½ for damage purposes. If the effective distance is less than 10 feet, you land on your feet.
Reduce distance to ¼ at 11th level, and 0 at 21st level.
Like the stone of a highland hillside, kindred have stood watch over their homes and adopted people for ages, undaunted by trial at arms or the passage of time. Though scattered and small in number, they will still be watching when time itself is gone – they are certain of this.
Play a kindred if you want…
·to be durable and fight to the bitter end.
·to have limited flight power.
·to be play a race that favors the defender role.
Physical Qualities
Sharing some resemblance with gargoyles, kindred are solidly built creatures. Their individual features can vary, though most have some form of bestial accent such as horns, fangs, or beaks. All kindred have nonprehensile tails that are 2 to 3 feet long and help to balance while gliding on their wings. Some kindred have batlike wings that stretch from beneath their arms to the outside of their legs and some have wings attached to the back of their shoulders that they can wrap around their body like a cloak when not in use. A kindred’s hide is tough and rugged, usually a shade of grey or brown like limestone or sandstone. Their hands have three fingers and a thumb, each ending in a daggerlike claw. Their digitgrade feet end in three clawed toes useful for climbing. Kindred have dark hair and eyes. When enraged, kindred eyes glow brightly from within, obscuring the appearance of the iris and pupil. Male kindred eyes glow white while female kindred eyes glow crimson. Kindred choose loose-fitting tunics and breeches or hides that do not interfere with their wings.
Though warm-blooded, kindred hatch from eggs. Kindred do not recognize specific parents, viewing every member of the previous generation in their community as their parent. Likewise, all members of the same rookery are considered siblings, referring to each other as “rookery brothers and sisters.” A kindred is considered an adult at age 25 and can live upwards of 200 years.
Playing a Kindred
Kindred as stubborn and unwavering like the bedrock they consider their ancestors. They are raised to be insular and look to their clan for fulfillment of their needs, as it is the duty of all kindred to grow up and replace their parents are protector of the clan’s sworn territory. This leads them to be somewhat mistrusting of strangers, though they are quick to set this impulse aside when someone weaker is in danger.
Kindred communities are closely connected to stone structures, often inhabiting mountain passes or abandoned human structures that have slowly fallen into disarray. A kindred clan will always inherently choose an easily-defensible location, making it difficult to wipe out a kindred community once it has time to establish itself. For this reason, kindred often live in semi-symbiotic relationships with neighboring intelligent humanoids that find it easier to accommodate the kindred than to remove them.
Kindred Characteristics: Stubborn, solid, unwavering, reliable, honorable, responsible
Kindred Names: Kindred do not name each other, using titles like “friend” or “brother” to refer to other kindred. Kindred with names have been given them by the races they live among and prescribe to the naming conventions of that race.
Kindred Adventurers
Three sample kindred adventurers are described below.
Granite is a kindred fighter who lived next to a human outpost in the mountains. Though the humans and their ways confused him, he came to view them as part of his clan. Now that a rival human army has sacked and destroyed the settlement and carried the women into captivity, Granite has sworn to do everything in his power to restore their land and freedom or die trying.
Tharturk, as he is known by the orcs, is a kindred warlord who has proven himself a bane to the highland orcs every time they clash. He heard of their expansionist ways long before meeting his first orc, and since then he is devoted to helping his fellows turn back the orcs no matter how long it takes.
Perra is a kindred cleric of Bahamut living among a dragonborn clan. When her own people were destroyed by tiefling warlocks she wandered endlessly until a vision of a great kindred in the sky told her to seek the scaled ones for they would become her new clan. It was the dragonborn that told her Bahamut had called her, and now she is his tool.
Racial Feats
Kindred have a number of feats all their own
Heroic Tier Feats
These feats are available to any kindred character who meets the prerequisites.
Improved Kindred Wings [Kindred]
Prerequisite: Kindred, Kindred Wings
Benefit: During a fall, you can shift 1 square for every ten feet reduced by your kindred wings power (minimum 1 square).
Rending Strike [Kindred]
Prerequisite: Kindred
Benefit: The rending strike racial encounter power replaces one of your encounter powers. The power it replaces must be 7th level or higher. If you do not yet have a 7th-level or higher power, you can replace it when you gain it.
Rending Strike (Feat Power)
You latch on with both claws and rip a bloody hunk off your opponent’s body.
Encounter * Feat, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Requirement: You must use your kindred claws.
Target: One or two creatures
Attack: Strength vs. AC (main weapon and off-hand weapon), two attacks
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage. If both attacks hit the same creature, ongoing damage equal to 1+ your Strength modifier (save ends).
Miss: Half damage, and no ongoing damage.
Paragon Tier Feats
This feat is available to any kindred character of 11th level or higher who meets the prerequisites.
Defense of Stone [Kindred]
Prerequisites: Kindred
Benefit: The defense of stone racial utility power replaces one of your utility powers. The power it replaces must be 12th level or higher. If you do not yet have a 12th-level or higher power, you can replace the appropriate power when you gain it.
In addition, when you use your second wind, you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until the start of your next turn.
Defense of Stone (Feat Power)
Through force of will alone, your body shrugs off wear that would cripple others.
Daily
Immediate Reaction Personal
Trigger: You suffer a critical hit.
Effect: The hit becomes a normal hit.
Critiques and criticisms are welcome!
