Friday, November 30, 2018

The quissians of Scarhas (Fantasy Friday #24)

Quissians have darkvision out to 60 feet, which is worth 2 RP, and a trait equivalent to Camouflage (Desert), which is another 1 RP.  Their Skill Bonus to Climb costs them 2 RP, and +2 natural armor is their most expensive racial trait with 3 RP.  It’s not listed in their stat block in Mythic Races, but in the text it describes that the quissians don’t need to drink water to survive.  It’s a very small ability, but I’ll call it worth 1 RP.  Languages can be a bit difficult for me, as the existence of a near-universal Common language is utterly risible.  That being said, it is founded upon real things.  Latin was a scholarly language in medieval Europe, in which all the revered ancient texts, as well as anything involving the hegemonic Catholic Church, whereas Farsi’s importance as a poetic language, the language of Rumi and Hafiz and many others, earned it the right to function beside Qu’ranic Arabic (whose importance should be obvious, in light of the inerrancy required of reproductions of Islam’s holy text) allowed them to function the same way.  In short, these were languages that the educated and privileged classes could reasonably expect to be known by anyone they met in their travels or someone near to hand, if not.  Even the common folk picked up phrases here and there in these languages from hearing them repeated or out of sheer pragmatic necessity when dealing the courts or the church.

Of course, all three languages being born of empires certainly didn’t hurt.

Scarhasi religion isn’t textual the way Islam is, but it does have two empires that are important to the region.  The Hemeya Sea was not always a sea, but once was a mountainous empire of minotaurs that was punished by its gods for purging scientific inquiry from its culture.  A giant ball of flame and stone fell form the sky, and the empire’s peaks became islands.  It was in the wake of this catastrophe that the Haćo religion was first created.  The language of the minotaurs (Istahaanu) functions much like Quranic Arabic (and scholarly Latin, as many minotaurs never fully relinquished their scientific curiosity, even in the post-apocalyptic archipelago they found themselves in).  On the other hand, the dragon-kings who rule the city-states of the Dragon Coast have ruled those city-states ~ and have been worshiped by their citizens ~ since well before the minotaurs even founded their empire!  This immortality-backed continuity of government and economic hegemony have spawned the creation of a pidgin of the languages of these seven city-states that serves as the de facto diplomatic language of Scarhas.  It’s a Scarhasi Esperanto of sorts.

Quissians, obviously, have their own language “of hisses and pops that sounds like the primal communication of serpents”.  I’ll call it . . . Quissad.  But do they know either or both of Scarhas’s international languages?  They’re given Common in the text, but also described as isolationist, nigh unto xenophobia, engaging only in brief, perfunctory interactions filled sparingly with quick and honest speech unadorned by casual conversation.  With that in mind, as well as the very short list of three language options given in the text, I’m going to give them the Xenophobic trait (0 RP)

That means that the quissian’s total RP cost is 8 RP, which makes them equivalent to the half-orc, duergar, orc, vanara, and lizardfolk.  I call it good!  Here, then, is my conversion of the quissian race, in proper formatting (although, conversion might be a weird word for something this easy):

Standard Racial Traits
    Ability Score Racial Traits: Quissians are a naturally tough race, but their stern, withdrawn tendencies make them less sociable than other races.  +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma.
    Size: Quissians are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
    Type: Quissians are humanoids with the quissian subtype.
    Base Speed: Quissians have a base speed of 30 feet.
    Languages: Quissians begin play speaking Quissad. Quissians with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Istahaanu, Draconic Pidgin, Pearl Words.
Defense Racial Traits
    Natural Armor:  Their thick scales and tough skin give quissians a +2 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
    Camouflage:  Quissians gain a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks while within the desert.  With their earth-colored scales, quissians easily blend into their native environment.
    Skill Bonus (Climb):  Quissians gain a +2 racial bonus on Climb checks.  The quissians’ clawed hands and feet make them excellent climbers.
Senses Racial Traits
    Darkvision: Quissians can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Other Racial Traits
    Dry:  Quissians have no need of any kind of regular hydration.  A quissian can drink if they choose but does not need to for survival.

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