Monday, August 3, 2015

Heritage Day special - Bee People

Note: A Canadian long weekend holiday in august brings us the beginning of bug month.

In many areas there are the hives of the Bee People.  Hive dwelling anthropods with communities that stretch on for miles.  They are always going out and collecting new material to bring back to the hive, which brings them into conflict with their neighbors.   One of the most legendary ones is the 100 foot hive which is fairly close to Brandon Manitoba.  Other prominent locations include the former states of Arizona, Texas and Florida. 

It is believed it is an invasive species that came from the insect infested continent of Africa.

While not a true hive species, the Bee People have close family connections based on clutches.  Bee People start as eggs and then hatch as larva.  These clutches are raised as a community, until they are spun into cocoons and molt into adults.  This stage of life is harsh and disciplined for they want only the strong to survive.

However, once they reach the adult stage, the social pressure lets up significantly.  Most young adults usually enter an age of exploration to discover the world and themselves.  There is a great degree of individuality and use personality and actions to attract mates.   Testing is a regular occurrence and they strive for a meritocracy whenever possible. However, they also have their own holidays, which can best be described as “spring break.”

                Once this period is completed, they return to the hive to ensure the next generation survives and can prosper.

                While they usually make their own mounds, they are notorious for repurposing old buildings.  In fact one of the larger urban hives is located in the hundred islands region in northern Ontario.

Most Races find the Bee People alien, and that includes the desecrators and undead races.  They usually do seem to make a conscious effort to try to get along within a party. 

What is particularly noteworthy is they are one of the few races that don’t get along with Little Bears.  They have a tendency to raid their hives for “honey”.

They seem to have the most solid relationships with the plant races: Harvesters and Stumpies. They seem to have the least amount of issues with Snake People and Ungo.

However, there are two races that Bee people get into friendly rivalries with:  Dwarves and Trolls.  In fact there is this weird ritual that often happens in the ruins of Winnipeg once a year where the three races intermingle to do “building challenges.”

When Bee People go adventuring, it’s for prestige and an attempt to be considered awesome by the community. Even Exiled Bee People usually work under the delusion that if they do something awesome enough, they will return as a conquering hero.  This is usually followed by a manic laugh that is both disturbing and annoying to most other races.

Recommended Class/Path:   
The most common classes for adventuring Bee People are adventurers/prowler and combatant/soldiers.  There are quite a few Ritualist/Rainmaker as well, as weather is very important to the community.

While most are dedicated to work, there is a great degree of leeway in how they respond to each other.  Some would argue that they never grow up and come off as slightly immature, although usually well meaning.    
Female Bee People are usually more colorful then the males, but there is no sexual dimorphism and otherwise appear identical to outsiders, other than often being referred affectionately by the term “ladybug.”  In fact, the ruler of most hives is a queen. 
In their adult stage, Bee People are of both genders and are multi-armed beings with slight wings.  The 2nd set of arms can be used as either arms or legs. The have an exaggerated upper body that looks like they are wearing football gear and and have fuzzy shoulders.  The Bee People abdomen and thorax are segmented.  While they come in a range of yellow and blacks, body painting is common for style. 

Height: 3’2” Height mod: +2d6 inches
Weight: 30 lbs. + Height mod x 4 in lbs.
Age: Starting: 5 +2d4 years (+1d4 years for spellcasters).
Middle Age: 20 years; Old: 40 years; Venerable: 60 years; Max
Age: 60 years +3d10 years
Note: this is for the adult cycle.

Bee People
Creature Type: Humanoid
Template: None to start. The character can take templates as a humanoid creature.
Racial talent tree access:  Arms/Hands (See below), Flight, Venom, Vision

Ability Score Adjustments:   No Attribute changes.  They are surprisingly strong for their size.

Size: Small:

Base land speed: 20 feet (4 squares)  

Basic Features
·         Alignment:  Any, but usually Lawful
·         Vision:   Normal
·         Languages:  Bug Talk
·         Partial Quadruped: If the Bee People decides to forgo any multitasking advantages, they gain +10 feet to their base ground speed as they move.  They may not move and draw weapons or equipment in the same turn they use this feature, even with quick draw.  Hand slot items, such as knuckledusters and buckler shields do not have to be sheathed or dropped to use this feature.  This will not add to flight speed, but may add to swimming and climbing speeds within the normal restrictions of those rules.
·         Hemophilia:  They take an additional point of damage for every die of bleeding damage.
·         Bonus Talents: They start with the Budding Wings, Four Arms and Scent talent
·         Chemical signals:  The Bee People generates chemical markers to relay messages that are one word long.  They can be interpreted with scent and if you understand the language bug talk.

Arms/Hands Talent Tree

Four Arms (Ex)

You now have four arms, instead of the standard two.   
Benefit:  You have two extra arms that allow you to have additional weapons drawn and perform actions while your normal hands are currently armed (i.e you could attempt a grapple as long as your one set of hands are free, though can still only grapple one target at a time).  These do not give you additional extra actions; they just give the option of performing different actions while other limbs are currently busy.  These also do not add to your carrying capacity, ability score and do not add additional item slots (other than being able to hold weapons).  You may attempt normal unarmed combat with your hands using the normal rules to do so.  You may hold and use a pair of two-handed weapons in each set of arms, though all other normal combat rules apply with them.
Special:  If you already have extra arm-like limbs from other talents, this benefit is not cumulative with those effects. You still may gain benefit from a tail or other natural attacks that are not clearly extra arms. 
Limit:  You must wear non-humanoid armor for your size.

Six Arms (Ex)

You now have six arms, which can very unsettling to both your enemies and friends.
Prerequisites:  Arms v.4.0
Benefit 1:  You now have 6 arms total.  This works in the same way as Arms v.4.0, giving you two extra hand/weapon slots to do actions with.  You could potentially wield three two-handed weapons at once.
Benefit 2:  You may now wield weapons or items that are 1 size larger for you than what your normal size would allow, though this requires you to do so with three of your arms/hands.

Hedge Hog (Ex)

You can effectively wield two shields at once. 
Prerequisite: Arms v.4.0
Benefit 1: You may apply two shields you are wielding at time, their AC shield bonuses stack.  You must wield two completely different shields to apply this benefit, and each one must be in a different hand. 
Benefit 2:  If you have Arms v.6.0, you gain additional +1 AC shield bonus as long as you are wielding at least one shield.
Normal:  You may only apply the bonuses of one equipped shield at a time. 
Limit:  If you are denied your AC shield bonus, it is denied for both of your shields and benefit 2 of this talent. You must be proficient with the shields you are wielding for all of these benefits to apply.  Any armor penalties from the shields are cumulative.

Multi-Load (Ex)

You extra hands give you the ability to draw and load weapons quickly.
Prerequisites: Arms v.4.0
Benefit 1:  You gain both the Quick Draw and Quick Reload feat (DRev Player’s Guide). 
Benefit 2:  If you have Arms v.6.0, you gain a+3 bonus to your initiative rolls.

Multi-Grapple (Ex)

You can either attempt to grapple a number of targets at time, or focusing on pinning a single target with your arms.
Prerequisites: Arms v.4.0
Benefit 1:  You may grapple up to two targets at once (one with each pair of arms), without additional penalties for grappling multiple targets, all other grapple rules apply.  While you are arms are occupied in grappling you may not use them for other actions.
Benefit 2:  If you have Arms v.6.0, you may grapple up to three targets at once using the same rules.
Benefit 3:  Instead grappling multiple targets, you may gain a +2 bonus to your CMB checks to grapple if you use 4 arms to target a single creature.  You gain a +4 bonus to CMB if you use all 6 arms to target a single creature for grappling. 

Multi-Tasking (Ex)

Your training and physiology has been completely optimized for multiple arms. 
Prerequisites:  Arms v.4.0, Arms v.6.0, Hedge Hog, Multi-Load, Multi-Grapple
Benefit 1:  Whenever you declare a full attack option to make multiple attacks based on your BAB, you gain one additional attack equal to your best BAB.  This additional attack will not suffer two weapon fighting penalties.
Benefit 2:  You gain 2 additional attacks of opportunity that you may use normally.

#drevrpg #d20 #apocalypse #races

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