Saturday, July 15, 2017

Races: Phytokinoesians, Part I Basics


Phytokinoesians

  Background

     Phytokinoesians can be broken into three groups: Lesser or Floral Servant; Phytokinoesian or Sylvane; Greater or Sylvani. The three groups vary in abilities and strengths. All of three of the groups of Phytokinoesians are non-sessile plants with a varying degree of intelligence. They are a younger race that has only been around for roughly five human generations (about 200 years). In that time they have been able to spread quietly throughout several differing terrains and climates.
     Their faith and mythology has only a few important personages. The four major gods of their pantheon are Ajyaxway the Green Spirit, Kerha the Smiling Mother, Jē a yōd'dhā the Reaper, and Sito the Crone. Each of these gods are associated with a different season and their holiest days coincides with the equinoxes and solstices. The other major god of their pantheon is the evil trickster god who had put them into slavery and servitude to the humans and elves. He is so feared that they do not name him in order to prevent his returning and to keep hidden from him.
     The Lesser Phytokinoesians are the least intelligent of the three. They do not speak but will understand the common tongue or elvish, depending on their background. They are generally skilled in a single physical job or trade. They lack sufficient intellect to do more than the job they were trained for.
     The Phytokinoesians, or Sylvane as they call themselves, are of more average intelligence. They are more varied in their skills and do their best to care for their less intelligent kin. A very few of the Sylvane are skilled in combat, as a species they would rather hide than fight. Those who are skilled warriors fight with guerrilla style tactics, mostly hit and run, to get opponents to move away from their homes. There are a few among them with arcane spell knowledge and a bit more of them are able to wield divine magics.
     The Greater Phytokinoesians, or Sylvani as they are called, are the most intelligent of the three. They are also the most magical. The Sylvani are the leaders, and the most dangerous warriors.
     Phytokinoesians do require water (1 gallon/week, 2 gallons if in the desert), air (can survive in space for short times), soil or mulch (3 lbs/week, 5 lbs if in tundra or colder temperature), and sufficient light (continual exposure of bright light for at least 4 hours daily, more if the light is dimmer) to continue to thrive.
     On a Spelljamming vessel they freshen the air of the ship just like other plants. For every Phytokinoesian on board the air supply of the ship is extended by 1 week/ton. So, for example, if a 10 ton vessel has 10 Phytokinoesians on board the air supply would be extended by a week. 20 Phytokinoesians would extend it by two weeks, etc. The maximum the air supply could be extended is one month.

Floral Servants

Floral Servants

      The Lesser Phytokinoesians, or Floral Servants as they are known by their former human masters, are plants of limited intelligence (Ability Score of 3) that can do tasks of only a few sentences long. They do not speak but can understand the language of their masters, mostly Common or Elvish, and will learn their names. They can be taught to fulfill a particular function with proficiency but then are no longer able to learn any other skill (a single Proficiency slot or Secondary Skill, at a skill check of 9).

     Most of the Floral Servants in existence are trained as household servants, laborers, or sailors. For the purposes of holding or carrying things they have a Strength of 15, for combat purposes their Strength is 9. They range in height from 4' 8" to 5'10" tall and weigh and average of 175 to 225 lbs.
     Floral Servants are without gender, though they do resemble humanoid males or females. They do not have flowering buds like the other Phytokinoesians and  do not reproduce. It has been theorized that there must be some magical method for their creation. They do vary in appearance enough to distinguish between individuals, with varying bark and leaf colors. Floral Servants are the only Phytokinoesians known to wear clothing. Generally they will wear the clothing appropriate to the tasks or functions they have been trained for and in the style chosen by their masters.
     Those Floral Servants that have been freed by their Sylvani brethren continue to work at the same jobs they were trained for as slaves, as they lack sufficient intelligence to learn new things.

Sylvane

Sylvane
  
     Phytokinoesians, or Sylvane as they call themselves, are plants of generally average intelligence (Ability Score of 9 to 13). They speak the language of their former masters (elvish or common) and any additional languages as the DM, or player, sees fit. All of their Ability Scores (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha) range from 6 to 18. They range in height from 5' to 6' tall and weigh around 200 to 300 lbs. They do not wear clothing but will make use of backpacks, bags and belts or harnesses to carry things with them they may have need of.
     Phytokinoesians are able to blend into any natural surroundings and can only be seen with a true seeing or similar spell. They can speak with plants at will, Charm/Hold only effective if they can affect plants, and Psionic contact is at a -8 to the power score. They have a base AC of 8, due to their strong bark. It should be noted that their fists acts as clubs when it comes to combat (1d6 damage). Also, they have the ability to see up to 60' with Infravision.
     There are two genders of Phytokinoesian and though they are humanoid in appearance they are plants and reproduce as such. Their flowering buds are what allow them to reproduce and their humanoid appearance does not denote their actual gender. They also need a pollinating bird or insect to allow for reproduction. Once pollination has been completed the buds will close and fruit will form. Sylvane seeds need to be planted and their seedlings protected until they reach sapling age, roughly 1 year. Once the saplings uproot themselves they will continue to grow until they are mature Sylvane, roughly 4 years under ideal conditions.
     Sylvane culture is an interesting mix of Human and Elven cultures. Many of the Sylvane who worked on spelljamming and sea ships have taken to a swashbuckling/pirate culture and the Sylvane who were working for the elves have taken more to a quiet hidden existence all over areas that would surprise most. Such as alpine, tundra, swamp, steppe, and even scrub desert. Whereas the more domestic and rural Sylvane have become fierce defenders of grasssland, woodland, and timberline areas. Rumors have also been noted of Sylvane wandering the Outer, Transitive and Inner Planes though no confirmation has been made.


Sylvani

Sylvani
      Greater Phytokinoesians, or Sylvani as they call themselves,
are generally the leaders of the Sylvane and are far more aggressive in protecting their territories. They speak the language of their former masters (elvish or common) and any additional languages as the DM sees fit. All of their Ability Scores (Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha) range from 13 to 18, except for Str, which ranges from 15 to 21. They range in height from 5' 6" to 7' tall and weigh around 225 to 350 lbs. They do not wear clothing but will make use of backpacks, bags and belts or harnesses to carry things with them they may have need of.
     Roughly 1 in 1,000 Sylvane born, mature into being a Sylvani. Sylvani do not reproduce, their seeds are sterile except as used for the use as described below. Since they do not reproduce on their own they are rare.
     They have all of the abilities of Sylvane, excepting that their base AC is 3 and their fists do 1d8 damage. Additionally, they can only be hit by a magic weapon of +1 or better (they can also hit a creature that requires a +1 magic weapon), control plants in a 20' radius at will & are immune to normal fire (+2 save vs magic fire, -1 per die of damage). Sylvani are also able to use the following spell-like abilities 2x Day*: Rasa Mon's Binding Seeds, Rasa Mon's Bladegrass, Rasa Mon's Deadly Kudzu (Heals 1d6 hp per round) & Rasa Mon's Deadly Roots as 13th level wizards and fight as 8th level warriors.

Kerha the Smiling Mother


* The spell descriptions for these abilities will be in a later post. Links will be added when the post goes live.

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