[DF] Help stating Raccoon-man race

[JMason]

In my DF setting I got rid of Halflings. I always had a problem with a race that is said to be filled with a bunch of good natured homebodies, but everyone you ever meet is a filthy, backstabbing thief.

So, I decided to replace them with something that filled the same roll, but also had the rep that went along with that role.

Arakun
ST-3
DX+2

SM-2
HP+2
Per+2
Move+1

Catfall (?)
Claws (sharp)
Combat Reflexes
Fur
Night Vision 5
Teeth (sharp)

Kleptomania (12)
Social Stigma (Thief)


This is already pushing 50 points and I am not sure it really makes a good thief race, but what do y'all think? Any advice on how to make this work better?

[combatmedic]

Do you want the template to come out at fewer than fifty points?

If so, I'd suggest dropping combat reflexes.

[Ejidoth]

Two places came to mind as inspiration for raccoon stats. First, GURPS Bio-Tech has a Neo-Coon template, which is an uplifted raccoon. Second, the GURPS Animalia site tends to have detailed animal stats; while I think the author overcomplicates things more than necessary, it's a good place to check for traits you might need to build something properly.

So, let's say you want something that's a halfway point between a raccoon and a human, more or less. That should fill the Halfling role okay.

Animalia and Bio-Tech both suggest ST 5, so a decent halfway point would be ST 7. ST-3 is probably an appropriate template-value, then. So there's [-30].
Both sources also suggest DX 12, averaging that with human 10 gives you DX+1 as part of the template, for [20].
Bio-Tech puts neo-coons as HT 11 while Animalia suggests 12, so we'll figure HT+1 for [10].
I wouldn't mess with IQ for a humanoid race unless they're specifically smarter or dumber than humans.

So, for attribute modifiers, we have ST-3, DX+1, HT+1. Happily, that's exactly what Dungeon Fantasy halflings have, so it looks like you picked a good basis for a substitute!

On to secondary characteristics!
While Halflings have SM-2 (short for their ST), HP+2 (stocky-tough; heavy for their ST), and Basic Move-1 (stubby little legs), I feel like these creatures should have a more natural build for ST 7, which would put them squarely in SM-1 (about 70% the height and 35% the weight of a comparable human, in contrast to the DF halfling's 50% and 50%) and more or less negate the other two modifiers.
Both raccoon templates give a small bonus to perception, so +1 Per seems fair, for [5], while Will remains average and unmodified.

So for secondary characteristics we just have SM-1, Per+1. Easy, and with a total value of just [5] for the template so far.

Finally, racial traits...

Raccoons are nocturnal creatures. Our two sources put their night vision somewhere between 1 and 6; let's split the difference and say our raccoon-humanoids have Night Vision 1 [1] and can buy up to two points more as a racial power-up.
Just looking at them, they definitely have Sharp Teeth [1] and Sharp Claws [5], as well as Fur [1].

Now we're getting into the more subtle modifiers. Here you have some room to pick and choose what fits your vision of the race best. We're currently at a template costing [13], by the way.

I wouldn't put Combat Reflexes here. Raccoons can be quick but not especially more so than other animals, adding it inflates the cost of the template, and anyway a player that wants the advantage can learn it as a non-racial thing.

Flexibility is cheap at [5], adds a bonus to Climbing and Escape which are both raccoon-like and thief-appropriate skills, and makes sense, so I'd recommend that, possibly with Catfall [10] as well if you really want to emphasize them as climbers. That'd bring our total up to [28].

Racial disads will bring the cost down. Social Stigma for them is likely going to be similar to Social Stigma (Minority Group) [-10] -- just as historically many minority groups have been considered thieves by the local dominant cultures. Kleptomania (12) [-15] means that, in this case, the stereotype that they're all thieves is technically right, even if it's not wholly their fault. And at this point the whole racial template is just [3]!

Let's see if we can even it out completely. The bio-tech template suggests Sleepy (1/2 the time) [-8], meaning these guys need 12 hours of sleep a day instead of 8 to be well-rested (and likely means they're stereotyped by other cultures as lazy thieves.) That brings the template down to a nice 5-multiple at [-5], which you can improve with Silence [5] to make them good at sneaking.

Here's the template I have, in the end:

ARAKUN [0]
Attribute Modifiers: ST-3 [-30]; DX+1 [20]; HT+1 [10].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -1; Per+1 [5].
Advantages: Catfall [10]; Flexibility [5]; Night Vision 1 [1]; Sharp Claws [5]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Silence 1 [5].
Perks: Fur [1].
Disadvantages: Kleptomania (12) [-15]; Sleepy (1/2 of the time) [-8]; Social Stigma (Minority Group) [-10].

How's that look?

[Dustin]

Move +1 seems odd, generally you need to buy *down* the Move of small bipeds. If they can go faster on all fours, buy it back up, but tied to a temporary disadvantage of No Fine Manipulators.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Ejidoth

Two places came to mind as inspiration for raccoon stats. First, GURPS Bio-Tech has a Neo-Coon template, which is an uplifted raccoon. Second, the GURPS Animalia site tends to have detailed animal stats; while I think the author overcomplicates things more than necessary, it's a good place to check for traits you might need to build something properly.

I would also recommend Chandley's GURPS TMNT stuff.

[JMason]

Originally Posted by Ejidoth

Here's the template I have, in the end:
ARAKUN [0]
Attribute Modifiers: ST-3 [-30]; DX+1 [20]; HT+1 [10].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -1; Per+1 [5].
Advantages: Catfall [10]; Flexibility [5]; Night Vision 1 [1]; Sharp Claws [5]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Silence 1 [5].
Perks: Fur [1].
Disadvantages: Kleptomania (12) [-15]; Sleepy (1/2 of the time) [-8]; Social Stigma (Minority Group) [-10].

How's that look?

This looks great. I am still tempted to lower the SM. I was originally envisioning them smaller than Halflings on average (2.5 - 3 feet), but I realize that ST 7 might be a bit much for that and low ST will be an issue for dealing damage.

Striking ST might assist, and raccoon can be pretty strong for their size.

I also considered giving them high manual dexterity to reflect their "clever little hands", since raccoons already have more hand dex than other animals.

Originally Posted by Dustin

Move +1 seems odd, generally you need to buy *down* the Move of small bipeds. If they can go faster on all fours, buy it back up, but tied to a temporary disadvantage of No Fine Manipulators.

I was just wondering how to model an creature that could walk upright but get a speed increase by running on all fours. Semi-upright would require DX be bought up to 12 in order to carry anything and I'm not sure feels right.


I'll need to think on these things and flip through my books when I get a chance.

[chandley]

I would dump Catfall (Racoons kind of fall like lead balloons actually...) and Combat Reflexes (kind of an iffy _racial_ trait). Otherwise Ejidoths build is pretty good, though for DF I would crank Night Vision back up to 5.

Turn Fur into a feature unless you intended to give them Temp Tolerance and/or DR as Racial power ups based on it. Its meant as a 1 point UB to gateway those traits, so they either need that or dont need the perk, especially in DF.

From a "We are invoking the style of the animal in this beastman", you might add High Manual Dexterity.

[simply Nathan]

Originally Posted by Ejidoth

Just looking at them, they definitely have Sharp Teeth [1] and Sharp Claws [5], as well as Fur [1].

You sure those are Sharp Claws and not Blunt Claws?

[JMason]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Move +1 seems odd, generally you need to buy *down* the Move of small bipeds. If they can go faster on all fours, buy it back up, but tied to a temporary disadvantage of No Fine Manipulators.

How does this look?

Natural Crawler [10]
(Extra Legs [5], Move+2 [10]; Temporary Disadvantage: No Fine Manipulators -30%)

[Ejidoth]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Latrans

You sure those are Sharp Claws and not Blunt Claws?

Fairly certain. GURPS Bio-Tech gives Neo-Coons sharp claws, the limited information I could find describes raccoons as having sharp but nonretractible claws, and raccoons will actively defend themselves with their claws in a way that dogs (the example for blunt claws) mostly don't, in comparison.