Liontaurs

LIONTAURS

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
• Large: Liontaurs are large sized (long)
• Normal Speed: Liontaurs have a base speed of 40 feet.
• Natural Armor: Liontaurs have a +1 Natural Armor Bonus
• Racial feat: Toughness
• Natural Attacks: two paws for 1d4 damage (slashing, crit 20, x2)
• Low light vision
• Flexible: +2 Racial bonus on Acrobatics skill checks
• Sneaky: +2 Racial bonus on Stealth skill checks.
• Waterphobic: -2 penalty on Swim checks
• Dyslexic: -2 penalty on Linguistics checks
• Paws: Liontaurs have paws, and can not make use normal or magical footwear. They do not have the Foot slot.
• No Pants: Liontaurs may not wear normal or magical pants.
• Liontaur begin play speaking Liontaur and Tauric. Liontaur with high intelligence scores can choose from the following: Common, Minotaur, Centaur. Note that Liontaur do not automatically know Common.

• See this page for height, weight, and age.

LARGE SIZE

• AC: -1
• To Hit: -1
• +1 to CMB/CMD
• Fly Skill: -2
• Stealth Skill: -4
• Special attacks: Size bonuses often figure into special attacks.
• Carrying Capacity is doubled for minotaurs
• Centaurs occupy a 10x5 space, and have a 5' reach.
• Armor for large size weighs double and costs twice normal (costs for magic enhancements are not doubled)
• Weapons for centaurs are large. If a centaur uses a weapon sized for a medium creature, the taur suffers a -2 penalty using the weapon. Weight and price for large-size versions of weapons is double normal. Damage for large-size versions is greater (see PHB and this page).

LIONTAURS IN COMBAT

Liontaurs use the same rules as all D&D creatures for natural attacks and attacks with manufactured weapons. As a standard attack, liontaurs can make one paw attack or one weapon attack. As a full round attack, liontaurs can make usual weapon attacks and two secondary paw attacks at -5 to hit. Liontaurs can take the Multiattack feat to reduce this secondary attack penalty from -5 to -2. Liontaurs can also take a unique Liontaur Charge feat:

Liontaur Charge [Racial]

• Benefit: Once per encounter, you may end a charge with a full attack, instead of a standard attack. A fighter may select Liontaur Charge as one of his fighter bonus feats.

LIONTAUR INFO AND ROLEPLAYING NOTES

Liontaurs originated on the mainland, but over 400 years ago a small number of them set off, believing prophesies that the gods were going to destroy much of the mainland. A small group of refugees made it to the Taur Isles, adapting from a hunter lifestyle to a mercantile existence. Merchant wemics were responsible for instigating the great Taur Civil War, which pitted centaur against minotaur, while the merchants profited from both. But in the end, the liontaurs were punished, exiled to the smallest of the Taur Isles, and plagued by hell hounds.

There is one town on Liontaur Isle, called (in common) Chessford. A few merchant clans are based there. Elsewhere on the isle, wemics live a more tribal, herding life, rejecting the merchant life that some say was the source of their downfall. But the biggest prey to hunt on the Isle (aside from hell hounds) are deer and wild sheep. There are no big predators, like wolves or bears. So the wemics (some of them, anyway) dream of leaving the island, returning to the Northern Continent that was their ancient home, and hunting worthy prey again. But they cannot, because the North was devastated by the Great Cataclysm, and because they have not finished their penance -- to reunite the Taur races in peace.

Liontaurs don't grow grapes or make Purple or Blue Wine, but they have a fondness for it and a greater-than-other-humanoids tolerance for these potent potables (as do minotaurs and centaurs.) Some liontaurs are fond of tobacco and long-stemmed pipes.

They never use the Ride skill because there is no domesticated animal large enough for them to ride. They generally feel that it is beneath themselves to serve as mounts for other races.

Liontaurs were always a proud people, and these island-dwelling liontaurs are even prouder, like small people everywhere who have had to fight against great hardship just to survive. Liontaurs see themselves as naturally superior to other folk, but the best of them are noble and gracious to lesser races, not haughty or boastful.

Liontaurs honor Domi as the lord of the hunt. They call him Tomi, because in some liontaur dialects the "d" sound is missing. In their own language, liontaurs call themselves "wemics."

Liontaurs are not natural island-dwellers -- they love wide open plains and vast savannah. One reason that the liontaur population remains low is because their island just can't support very many creatures with liontaur bulk and meat requirements. And there is another hazard on the island of the liontaurs, more deadly than overpopulation and scant resources. Hellhounds have ripped through the liontaur population, and many have died.

But some liontaurs have overcome the feline aversion to water -- they have carved out niches as sailors and merchants. These coastal liontaurs dwell near the only harbor on Liontaur Island, where hell hounds seldom are seen. They have more contact and trade with other Taurs and with Humans. These are more "civilized."

PERSONALITY:

Liontaurs are predators. They specialize in selecting and hunting prey. Some liontaurs, having adapted to their new island home, have become skilled traders. They have put their hunting instincts to good use, outsmarting marks and pouncing on bargains. They wait patiently for the right moment, then move swiftly for the metaphorical kill.

Other liontaurs have remained hunters in the true sense, tracking prints, finding trails, lying in wait, and then rushing to the kill. These tend to live in the small inland interior of the island, and they look down on their more civilized kin.

Liontaur Tale

Here is a story about a meeting of two liontaurs.