Charr (4e Race)
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Charr[edit]
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| Charr concept art from Guild Wars 2 |
A race of monstrous, feline industrialists, the Charr are war-mongering innovators, propelling the realm into a new age of technology and science.
| Racial Traits |
| Average Height: 7'0"-8'0" |
| Average Weight: 200-400 lbs. |
| Ability Scores: +2 Strength, second choice varies based on legion choice (see below) |
| Size: Medium |
| Speed: 6 squares |
| Vision: Normal |
| Languages: Common, Choice of one other |
| Skill Bonuses: Based on legion |
| Flame-Tested: You have resist fire equal to 5 + half your level. The resistance increases to 10 at 11th level and 15 at 21st level. |
Orders of the High Legions: When creating your character, choose one Legion: Blood, Iron, Ash, or Flame. You gain skill bonuses, a racial power and a choice of ability bonus based on which legion you are a member of.
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| Call of the Khan-Ur: When your charr character gains a class utility power after 1st level, you can forgo taking a power granted to you by your class. Instead you gain a charr utility power of the same level or lower. |
Ash Tactics[edit]
You know the recipe for ash poison. During an extended rest, if you have a poisoner's kit, you can prepare one vial of ash poison. The vial contains a single use of the poison, which expires if it isn't used before the start of your next extended rest.
| Ash Poison | Level 1 Poison |
| This poison is used by charr on their own bodies to harm enemies that dare to touch them. | |
| Poison | |
Power (Consumable  Poison): ; As a standard action, you coat your own body with the poison. Until the end of the encounter, enemies that hit you with a non-weapon melee attack take 5 poison damage.
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Rely on Iron[edit]
| Rely on Iron | Charr Racial Power |
| ' | |
| Encounter | |
| Free Action | Personal |
| Trigger: You miss with a weapon attack. | |
| Effect: You can reroll the attack with a +2 power bonus. If you hit, you deal 2 extra damage. | |
| Level 11: 4 extra damage
Level 21: 6 extra damage. | |
Boiling Blood[edit]
| Boiling Blood | Charr Racial Power |
| Your hot-blooded tendencies explode and grant you a more powerful attack. | |
| Daily | |
| Minor Action | Personal |
| Effect: You may add your Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity Modifier to the Attack Roll or Damage Roll of any melee-range Power or Spell. This cannot be the same Modifier as what you normally use for the Attack or Damage Roll for said power (For example, if you use a Fighter power that uses Strength for Attack and Damage rolls, you must use Dexterity or Constitution as this bonus). | |
| Level 11: You can use this power twice per Day
Level 21: You may use this power to three times per Day. | |
Shaman Fire[edit]
| Shaman Fire | Charr Racial Power |
| You burst out with a roar, emitting searing flames. | |
| Encounter Fire
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| Standard Action | Close burst 1 |
| Target: All creatures in burst | |
| Attack: Charisma + 2 Vs. Fortitude | |
| Hit: 2d4 fire damage | |
| Level 11: +4 bonus, 3d4 fire damage
Level 21: +6 bonus, 4d4 fire damage | |
Play a Charr if you want...
- To be a race of industrial battle-lovers.
- To be an intimidating cat-like humanoid.
- To be able to call upon a last resort and power your way to victory
- To be a member of a race that favors many different classes depending on their background.
Physical Qualities[edit]
Charr are remotely feline, carrying characteristics of predatory cats. Females are generally more feline in shape when compared to the males, and oftentimes have slimmer, but still impressively powerful bodies. Males tend to be bulkier, and have faces more comparable to a wolverine or a bear, with long, jagged teeth jutting out of their muzzles. While both of these physical features are common, they are not absolutes. The easiest way to tell a male and female Charr apart is to inspect the tail: Males have a tail similar to a lion's, very slim and thin, with a tuft of fur at the end, whereas Females have tails which have a thick layer of fur all from the base to the tip, making for a feathery appearance. Their faces are framed by four long, curving horns which grow longer as they age. Charr also posses a total of four ears: the two on top have adapted to sense sounds at a higher frequency, the lower pair performing the opposite, being more sensitive to low-frequency sounds. Some Charr may take to decorating their horns in one way or another, whether carving them to a more fitting shape or placing ornaments upon them. The Charr are immensely strong, with heavily built muscles, and double jointed legs that make a large number of them as agile as they are powerful. They are covered in fur coats which can have an impressive variety of color and patterns to them. Charr tend to walk with a hunched-over gait, making them seem shorter, but thicker than they actually are.
Charr mature a bit faster than humans, being able to talk and read fluently at the age of 5, and reach adulthood by 16. However, after they have reached adulthood, they age slower, living to at most about 100 years, give or take. Despite their longevity, most Charr don't die of old age, as their lust for battle, adventurous nature, and frequent dangerous experiments tend too cut their lives a bit short.
Playing a Charr[edit]
Charr usually have very sporadic personalities. Many are warmongering and brutish, with a mild blood lust, while others are cold and calculating, as emotionless as the machines they strive to invent. Brutish Charr will most often give a battle cry before entering combat, no matter what Legion they hail from. The majority of Charr, while possibly harsh or rude, will cooperate with other races for the greater good.
Keep in mind: Charr may be feline, but they are by no means house cats. They are fierce warriors, assassins, sorcerers, and inventors. Also bear in mind that no female Charr will willingly be put in chains, even more than their male counterparts. It is considered the ultimate insult to present a female Charr with chains.
A common Charr curse is "Burn it" or something along the lines. It's generally a similar context as "Damn" is in Common. Another common phrase to use is "Rely on iron, not false gods". Charr often introduce themselves as such: their rank, then name (full if there's more than one part), then their Legion if they still posses one. For example: "Centurion Gruthar Dozerblade, Blood Legion" would be a common sort of personal introduction.
Religion[edit]
Of the four Legions, only one worships any other beings: the Flame Legion. Long ago the Flame Legion, seeking power in an ancient war, they coerced the other Legions into joining them in worship. They gained the power to strike back in their war, but the other four Legions paid the price. For hundreds of years they were essentially enslaved to the Flame Legion in their need to retain their power. At the beginning of their reign, a sole female Charr spoke out against the need for these idols, and as such became the first sacrifice, and, until much later, lead to the removal and enslavement of female Charr from combat (hence why modern female Charr, for the most part, would rather die than be put in chains, and not a single one would willingly accept being put into them, and why it is considered such a harsh insult to present a female Charr with chains)
Eventually the other three Legions revolted, and overthrew the Flame Legion's grip upon them, killing these so-called gods, partially with the help of the female Charr that the Flame Legion had thought to keep enslaved and out of battle. They renounced their old gods, and now only rely upon their own strength. To Charr outside of the Flame Legion who use Divine magic, it is not an act of worship, it is simply another tool to be mastered.
The Flame Legion, or, since their defeat have been known among other Charr, the Gold Legion (named for the frailty of the metal) still seek to gain power, and in some cases have taken to worshipping other deities, namely those who bring destruction and chaos.
The High Legions[edit]
As you probably saw above while choosing a second Feat, there are four Legions among the Charr: Flame, Blood, Iron, and Ash. Each has a selection of talented individuals who have a similar skill set.
Charr of the Blood Legion are the front line soldiers, the heavy hitters and defenders, generally preferring classes that are in the thick of combat such as Fighter and Barbarian.
Charr who hail from the Ash Legion lean towards stealthy classes who are good at sneaking in and getting their job done, whether it's retrieving information or killing off enemies before they know what hit them, such as Rogues and Assassin.
Charr from the Iron Legion are the thinkers, the tinkerers, the builders, and the leaders. They are the creators of the Charr's great war machines which lead to their supremacy on the field of battle, as well as the tacticians who direct their great armies if the need arises. They tend to prefer classes such as Artificer and Warlord.
Charr of the Flame Legion are the magic users, and the religious. They may prefer a wide variety of arcane and divine classes, but they particularly prefer Sorcerer, and even more particularly, Dragon Power Source.
Above all the Legions, however, is one Charr: the Khan-Ur, for all intents and purposes, the Charr Emperor. Long ago, the first Khan-Ur united the Charr before leading them onto conquest after conquest, before he was assassinated. After his death, his four cubs squabbled over the right to take his place, but instead this resulted in the creation of the Four Legions. His weapon, also known as the Claw of the Khan-Ur, is a historic relic to the Charr, and as such, if a Charr is deemed worthy and wields it, he shall become the new Khan-Ur. There have been few Khan-Ur's in history, considering the tendency for most of them to be killed of shortly after they rise to the throne, and they are far between. For the most part the Legions operate separately in essence, even if they may cooperate with each other.
Each Legion has it's own chain of command, with differing ranks to separate them. The highest rank within a Legion is Imperator, who presides over the entirety of their Legion. Below them is Tribunes, then Centurions, then Legionnaires, Soldiers, and the lowly Gladiums, who are CURRENTLY without a Warband or essentially a Legion (it is suggested that, unless your party is entirely made of Charr, that the player makes their rank Gladium, as it is the easiest to explain why they are out on the field cooperating with other races, unless they have a reason for it as an order or mission or the like. Also note that, while they do not have a CURRENT Legion, Gladiums still hailed from one, so this does not make their Legion Feat pointless. Gladiums are also sometimes picked up by other Warbands, which means that, while for your sheet, your training may have been, for example, the Blood Legion, but due to some odd circumstance you are now working in an Ash Legion Warband). As the ranks go higher, so do the number of Charr that they command (A Legionnaire is the head of a Warband, a Centurion leads several Warbands, and so on and so forth). Charr can be promoted in several ways. The most common is if they perform well on the field of duty, if they perform a great feat or do a great favor for the Legions, or if they defeat their current superior in a duel, sometimes even to the death. The latter is most commonly seen in the Blood Legion where tempers run high, but is still possible within other Legions (It is suggested that, for GM's, if the player is more prone to try and gain power by the last method, to set a limit by making the NPC's of higher rank of them of a significantly higher level than them, to dissuade them from constantly resorting to this method)
On Warbands and Surnames[edit]
A Warband is a squad of Charr, no less than five, and no more than twenty in number. To the vast majority of Charr, their Warband is their family, if not closer than their family (Charr are rather lax parents, only taking care of their cubs together for a few years at most before sending them to a day care/training facility known as the Fahrar, and returning to the field of duty. Charr also do not "love". They mate, breed, and move on. They may keep going back to the same mate, but it isn't a truly romantic experience. This is not an absolute however, a very small number of Charr who have distanced themselves from the Legions often do have to raise and train their own cubs, often in the same manner that they themselves learned from the Legions, so even if your Charr was raised away from the Legions, they still have to have a Legion Feat). The bond between bandmates is often considered unbreakable, and Charr who abandon or betray their Warband are considered the lowest of the low, oftentimes killed or exiled.
If you decide to make a surname for your Charr, titular ones that reflect on their character are perfectly fine, however, most Charr have a name based on their Warband. Each Warband has a name such as Wild, Mane, Gear, or Rust, generally referring to a shared trait, or job. One part of a Charr's surname is their Warband name, the other part is something more personal like a skill or a preferred weapon, or even the color of their mane, or any number of personal affiliations. For example one could infer a Charr named Rath Wildshot is part of the Wild Warband, and has a talent or enthusiasm for ranged weapons. Generally the Warband name is part of the first half of the surname, but this is not always the case.
Keep in mind the nature of Band names: The Imperator of each Legion commands a Warband with the name of their Legion. So if your Charr has a surname with the word Ash, Blood, Iron, or Flame (or Fire), they are a part of the Imperator's Warband. These Warbands are generally comprised of the best of the best, and as such it is suggested that players stray away from such surnames.
Charr Characteristics: Bold, Brutish, Loyal, Emotionless, Cold, Destructive, Maniacal, Judgmental, Powerful
Male Names: Darogg, Mordius, Rytlock, Skaro, Agras, Smodur, Sukarno, Ajax, Rath, Vargun, Igrun, Pyre, Gaheron, Tybalt, Gruthar
Female Names: Brasia, Ameledi, Scarles, Syrena, Galina, Zendia, Genomi, Drakia, Kiali, Vashna, Bathea, Kalla, Scylla
Charr Adventurers[edit]
Three sample Charr adventurers are described below.
Gruthar is a Charr Fighter who takes pride in his heavy armor, fullblade, and his skill on the field of battle. He is generally seen out on the field, taking out dire threats to the Legions as they are discovered. He spends a proper amount of time training while he's off duty, and often volunteers to keep watch on any prisoners. His sense of duty, justice, and companionship are hard to match even among other Charr. If anyone wants to harm his allies, they'll have their work cut out for them.
Brasia is a Charr Elementalist with insane pyrotechnic tendencies. As a novice, her nature allowed the energy of the elemental chaos flow through her with more ease than would have been thought impossible before. One day, her own legion plotted against her, it's leaders thinking that she'd become far too powerful, that she may usurp them. While on patrol, Brasia was attacked by the twelve platoons of twenty Charr she was leading. She managed to wipe out half, but she was on the brink of death. Seeing it as a mutiny, a group of adventurers saved her, and she pledged allegiance to them in exchange for helping wipe out the treacherous proprietors of her legion.
Mordius is a Charr Artificer who spends unbelievably unhealthy amounts of time on forging weaponry. His skill became unrivaled in weapon-forgery and was rather glorified in the other branches of his craft. Upon extensive studying in a library, he found a text explaining branches of Artifice that have never been mentioned before. He came to the conclusion that Artificers were once far more powerful than they are now, and joined a group of adventurers to re-discover the old arts.
Charr Racial Feats[edit]
| Name | Description |
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| Improved Call of the Khan-Ur | The powerful blood in your veins bolsters your racial capabilities |
| Overwhelming Flame | You impose your burning passion into your evocative fire tactics |
| Name | Description |
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| Name | Description |
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Charr Utility Powers[edit]
When your charr character gains a class utility power after 1st level, you can forgo taking a power granted to you by your class. Instead you gain a charr utility power of the same level or lower.
| Call of the Khan-Ur | Charr Racial Power |
| The strength of the Charr Emperor runs through you, imbuing you with massive power and accuracy | |
| Encounter | |
| Minor Action | Personal |
| Effect: The next attack you use gains a +1 bonus to the Attack Roll and gains 1d4 damage. | |
| Level 11: +2 bonus, 2d4 bonus damage
Level 12: +3 bonus, 3d4 bonus damage | |
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