Beastfolk, Roos (3.5e Race)

Roos

(Note: Roos are based on the race of the same name from the movie Warriors of Virtue.) There are many places of power in the world. These are places where the boundaries between worlds grow thin, and power sometimes flows freely. Most of these places are sacred, and a great many occur in the wide, flat, hot plains, where heat lightning plays across the land, and any trees or rocks of significant size are special places full of supernatural portent. Roos hold that they were made by the gods for the sole purpose of defending these special, sacred places, raised from the simple kangaroos that roam the same places where they are called a protectors, and serve this ancestral duty with their whole souls, traveling in semi-nomadic tribes in a constant patrol around the sacred place entrusted to them by their ancestors and the gods, subsisting off the land, and continually honing their skills in battle, ever ready for any foe that might try and take possession of the sacred lands that they guard.

Personality

Roos are honorable almost to a fault. They serve a higher cause than mere mortal survival, and they know it, and carry themselves accordingly, with unflinching vigilance and determined tenacity. However, because of the sheer stressful nature of their gods-given task, when roos relax, they really know how to party, and can be very fun-loving and boisterous when they let their serious demeanors drop for a while. However, these are fairly rare times, and much of the time a roo is thoughtful and mildly contemplative, though also pleasantly friendly and even a little jovial at times, with the calm, quiet confidence that comes from knowing one’s place in the world, and holding to it with steadfastness

Physical Description

With long, pointed ears, sleek tan, reddish, or grey fur, incredibly powerful legs, and a thick, muscular tail, roos look like humanoid kangaroos, ranging in height from 5’6” to a tall 7’, with sleek, powerful bodies designed for hopping about with incredible speed and distance.

Relations

Despite the seriousness of their racial tasks, roos are a surprisingly friendly people to visitors, so long as those visitors behave and do not attempt to approach the guarded sacred sites without a very good reason. However, there are many races who simply will not leave well enough alone. Gnolls are notorious for attempting to contact the demonic forces that they worship, and the sites guarded by roos are often perfect conduits for the hideous rites of the hyenafolk to summon evil beings from beyond. Hobgoblins seek the lands of roos for the sake of conquest, often not understanding the importance behind the territory they wish to rule, and orcs simply cannot leave well enough alone in their savage raids. Besides these foes, all manner of evil cultists and dark spellcasters constantly try to drive off or slay the roos and take the sacred places for their own foul purposes. For a roo, unless one is an enemy, which is decided through one’s actions, one is considered a friend. And considering the number of enemies that want the lands of the roos, they need as many friends as they can get.

Alignment

Unflinching, stalwart, honorable, brave and true, roos are Lawful Good by nature, and ever eager to prove their mettle in a good fight against the forces of evil.

Lands

Each tribe of roos claims a single notable feature of the dry, windswept grassy plains in which they live as their place of guardianship. These are usually rock formations and quiet groves. All of these places have something supernatural about them, either as a spot sacred to a god, a hidden opening to another realm, or a place especially important to druids and the fey. Whatever the reason for its importance, the roos keep up a steady migratory patrol around this place of power, never straying more than a few miles, and even then always keeping within sight of the place. While generally friendly to other races, and unconcerned about allowing travel through their lands, roos get more aggressive and uneasy the closer a visitor to their lands gets to the sacred place at its heart, and unless that visitor has good reason to be there, then the roos will use whatever force is necessary to keep intruders away, preferring nonlethal force first, but resorting to killing when there is no other choice.

Religion

The religion of the roos is one of quiet, calm contemplation, a union with nature, and guardianship of the sacred places assigned to their tribes. They tend to revere gods who fill these roles, such as Heironeous, Ehlonna, and Pelor, tending only to worship those deities who had good alignments, or else are very devoted to their tasks of guardianship. Roos believe it was the gods of good themselves who fashioned them to defend their sacred lands, and the deepest and truest expression of their faith is the unwavering defense of their tribal trusts.

Language

As connected to a divine calling as they are, roos speak a debased dialect of Celestial as their native tongue, and also speak the Common language in their dealings with other races. They can select bonus languages from Avian, Draconic, Elven, Feline, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, and Wolfen.

Names

Roo names are very naturalistic, using animals, plants, and features of the land to describe a roo, creating a connection between the newborn roo and the world, which acts as a constant reminder to a roo that he or she is a literal part of the world, and especially the sacred places that they guard. Common male names are Dingo Paw, Lightning-Strikes-The-Mountain, and Tallest Tree, and common female names include Desert Blossom, Rain-On-Parched-Lands, and Wind-From-The-Plains.

Adventurers

Roos are generally concerned with living and watching over the lands that they wander, making their living in simple ways, and ensuring that no harm befalls their sacred trusts. However, individual roos occasionally go on what they call a ‘walkabout,’ where the roo will wander off for a time to get a fresh perspective away from the other roos of the tribe, as well as to simply get away for a while, to escape the daily grind and experience something new. A walkabout can last for months or even years, and the disappearance is not considered terribly disturbing, nor is it considered very odd when the roo returns at the end, as life takes up where it left off as best as everyone in the tribe can manage, not speaking or asking about the walkabout except as the roo who came back feels the need to share. It is during walkabouts that roos are likely to join an adventuring party, becoming one with another group apart from their own so as to increase their understanding and escape for a while even as they put their skills to good use.

Racial Traits

• +2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +4 Wisdom, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -4 Charisma
• Monstrous Humanoid
• Medium-sized
• Roo base land speed is 40 feet
• +8 to Jump skill checks.
• A roo takes no penalty for jumping without a running start.
• +2 to Balance and Tumble skill checks.
• Natural Weapon: 2 kicks (slam attack, deal damage identical to unarmed attacks with fists and grant two more attacks when using flurry of blows at the same modifier as the first two.)
• Damage dealt with unarmed attacks acts as if you were two size categories larger this change only affects attacks and does not have the other benefits and penalties as being larger would.
• +2 Natural Armor
• Leap of the Kangaroo (Sp):Jump: 1/day— Caster level is equal to the Roo's character level.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial. Bonus Languages: Avian, Draconic, Elven, Feline, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, Wolfen.
• Favored Class: Monk.
• Level Adjustment: + 4

Roo Subrace: Wallaby Hopper

Smaller (between 3’2” and 4’6” in height) and less robust than the roos, the wallaby hoppers nevertheless have similar origins, and they do their best to carry out similar tasks, though in smaller, less noticeable ways, with smaller areas over which they watch, but with greater fierceness and determination. Because of their lack of physical strength, wallabies are forced to be masters of guerilla tactics, leaping suddenly from hiding, and then fading quickly away. They also tend to be even more friendly with those they have found to be friends, knowing that they need all the allies they can get.

Racial Traits

• +2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence
• Monstrous Humanoid
• Small-size: +1 size bonus to AC, +4 size bonus to Hide checks, and a –4 size penalty to Grapple checks
• Wallaby hopper base land speed is 30 feet
• +4 to Jump skill checks.
• +2 Natural Armor
• +2 to Balance and Tumble skill checks.
• Natural Weapon: 2 kicks (slam attack, 1d4 damage each)
• Leap of the Kangaroo (Sp):Jump: 1/day— Caster level is equal to the Roo's character level.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial. Bonus Languages: Avian, Draconic, Elven, Feline, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, Wolfen.
• Favored Class: Monk.
• Level Adjustment: 0

Vital Statistics

Table: Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
years	+	+	+

Table: Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
years	years	years	+ years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	' "	+	lb.	× () lb.
Female	' "	+	lb.	× () lb.

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