New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

I noticed that every single DF race that has a ST bonus (except dwarves, who only get Lifting ST) has enough reaction penalties that they aren't really welcome in town. They're all varying levels of stupid, too.

I'm attempting to make at least ONE alternative to that pattern. There's a Greek veneer to this race to fit into the campaign I'm working on, but I think they'd fit in with most fantasy hodgepodge games.

Kabeiroi, 25 points

The Kabeiroi are a friendly but determined people, prone to considering the situation, picking a position, and then loudly refusing to budge. They value being enduring over being reasonable, and prefer a direct approach over subtlety (their tendency to rattle and squeak usually ruins subtle efforts). A large group of Kabeiroi usually degenerates into a (loud) argument.

Kabeiroi of both genders have pointed, faceted features and a long limbed body type, hard metal skin (usually darkened bronze), and wavy hair that ranges from flaming red to coal black. Kabeiroi eyes are orange, copper, bronze, brown, pale green, or black, and their teeth are brilliant metallic bronze in color.

Kabeiroi figure height based on a human of their (unmodified) ST plus 3", and their weight based on a human of their (unmodified) ST plus 10 lbs.

ST +1, HT +1, Basic Speed -0.25
Extra Fatigue +2, Kabeiroi Wardancer Talent* +2, Penetrating Voice, Chummy, Noisy -1, Odious Racial Habit: "No Inside Voice"** -1, Stubbornness.

* Kabeiroi Wardancer Talent applies to Armoury, Dancing, Leadership, Smith, Spear, and Tactics. Reaction bonus from soldiers and metalworkers.

** No Inside Voice: Your talking is on the borderline of shouting, and you shout and yell and hoot when you get excited. You stomp about, kick doors open, slam your mug down on tables and rattle all the cutlery, and generally make it clearly known that you're in the area. Whispering is for feeble people that don't have the wind to project their voices, or the .


Origin in Myth
There's a lot of confusion between the Kabeiroi, and the Dactyls, Korybantes, and Telchines. The Kabeiroi above are a deliberate blend of all of the above with a fantasy spin and made into a separate race.

In some versions of Greek mythology, the infant Zeus was given to the Kabeiroi to hide him from Kronos. They danced around him in full armor and beat their shields with their spears so the noise would drown out his crying and Kronos wouldn't hear him (and eat him), and they kept this up the entire time the infant Zeus was maturing. They have a reputation for smithing excellence, endurance, and warrior skills (as well as macho types of dance), and may have invented bronze and ironworking.

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

Ooh, thanks for this, Bruno. It's unfortunate that high strength always seems to equal low intelligence.

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

An alternate version that I've been playing with is 30 points: ST +2, no HT or Speed modifier. Both are interesting, and I'm not sure which I like better.

Another idea is trading the +2 FP for Fit and the Robust Hearing perk from PU2:14

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

Fun idea; thanks for sharing.

So are we talking actually hard here, or just angular / hard-looking?

I like that one better. Just because they're big doesn't mean they take longer to get sick or resist an appropriate-sized dose of poison, and if your specific goal is to have a strong species that isn't stupid you might as well make them really strong IMHO.

Robust Hearing seems like a natural match for these guys, but +FP almost always feels better than Fit/Unfit to me for racial templates. If you're trying to satisfy a pentophiliac urge, you could round it off with some extra HP or a point of Flexible DR for the metallic skin or something... Maybe some Fearlessness...

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

... I apparently didn't include the DR 2 that I was working with in my notes. No wonder I suddenly got the cost down. *facepalm*

So yes, they're supposed to be sort of hard-skinned, but er, I seem to have suffered some sort of brain fart.

I like the idea of Flexible on the DR, I didn't think of that, and it works well with them being "near human".

Gimme 30 minutes to figure out what the heck I'm doing here.

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

I'm back! I got distracted, oops.

28 points!

ST +2
Damage Resistance (Flexible) 2, Kabeiroi Wardancer Talent +2, Penetrating Voice, Robust Hearing, Chummy, Noisy -1, OPH: No Inside Voice.

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

The cat-folk are an exception, but then they're not really a traditional race for the genera.

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

Cat-Folk have Striking ST, I wonder if Bruno missed that?

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

True! I did miss that, but I would have filed them with Dwarves anyways - "Doesn't count, isn't straight ST" ;)

Just the plain, old, "Big guy who's actually allowed in to the bar" niche (short of exceptional members of the standard races) seems echoingly empty.

Re: New DF Race - Kabeiroi
 

No more Stubbornness and +FP? I thought these guys had staying power...