Sessenek Pureblood (Serpent Folk) (2.5e Race)

Ability Adjustment:

+2 INT, +2 DEX, -1 CON, -2 CHA, -1 WIS

Hit Dice:

Sessenek Purebloods receive hit dice by class

Alignment:

PC Sessenek may be any alignment and may have two alignments if so desired.

Natural Armor Class:

Sessenek Purebloods have an natural AC of 4

Background:

The Pureblood Sessenek are an ancient and powerful race of Snakemen who are the progenitors of the Yaun-Ti. They are humanlike in appearance however the similarities stop there as they have 2 Snake heads and long flexible tails with which they can use to constrict their foes. They are 6-7ft tall and weigh 200-300lbs with their tails reaching lengths up to 12ft long. They are slim of build but muscular. The Sessenek are highly intelligent beings and each head has its own personality yet both are able to share each others thoughts and control the body, in this way one head could lash out and bite while the other speaks or one head can speak a different language while the other head translates or speaks in an entirely different language altogether.

  Ages ago, before the fragmentation of the elven races, the Sessenek ruled a powerful empire. They were great and powerful and their influence spread throughout many lands. Eventually they began to be worshiped like gods by humans and even some elves. The Sessenek eventually granted some of their most devout worshippers with the ability to become snakelike like themselves. Thus out of the human and elven worshippers, the first Yaun-Ti were born. Soon more and more elves and humans became drawn to snake cults and to the worshiping of the Sessenek. The Elven kingdoms grew angry over this, they would not tolerate their people worshiping snakemen and becoming reptilian monsters. Eventually war broke out between the Sessenek and the Elves, thus a 100 year war was fought. During the final battle, the patron god of the elves Corellon along with the rest of his pantheon fought against the sessenek god Serpos along with his allies the gods of the Naga. Though both Corellon and Serpos were greater gods, Corellon could not destroy Serpos outright. Instead he and the other elven gods pooled their power and were able to imprison Serpos within another dimension and sealed his powers into 11 magical jewels that were then scattered across the world. Once Serpos was defeated the Sessenek were overpowered and banished into the same dimension as their god. Yet not all the Sessenek met with the same fate, for some managed to escape to an ancient temple city that had been abandoned hundreds of years earlier, it was here that a few powerful Sessenek mages and priests learned that the banishment spell could be altered in order to weaken the barrier between dimensions enough so that after 20 000 years Serpos would be able to free himself from banishment along with the Sessenek, however the gems of Serpos would need to be found in order to restore their god to his former glory. And so fearing the elves would discover them, the survivors hid their their temple and sealed themselves within and put the entire remaining populace into stasis. Nearly 20 000 years have passed since then and a team of Archaeologists have discovered and accidentally released the Sessenek from their slumber, now they have awakened and though they number nearly a thousand individuals, some have emerged in order to seek out the Gems of Serpos and discover what changes have occurred since their absence while the rest try to rebuild their ruined empire...

Special Advantages:

The Sessenek Pureblood have 2 heads with often different personalities, this enables them to have 2 alignments instead of one, this also grants them more flexibility when it comes to knowledge. Each head of a Sessenek Pureblood may have its own separate class, however they can both only have one class, neither head may be multi-classed by itself (e.g. Head one may be a Mage while head two may be a Cleric, however head one could not be a multi-classed Fighter/Mage while the other head is a Cleric or a multi-classed Cleric/Thief.) Both heads may take the same class however the Sessenek Pureblood is treated as having just one class. The rules for multi-classing still apply to a Sessenek Pureblood though each head may have its own separate class. The two heads of a Sessenek Pureblood also enable spellcasters to never be interrupted while casting a spell as both heads concentrate on the spell(of course if death occurs to one or both heads while casting then the spell is interrupted). The two heads of a Sessenek Pureblood, while having distinct personalities are still connected through a telepathic bond and may share thoughts with each other and knowledge however one head who is a warrior could not teach the other head which is a mage how to use a sword effectively nor could the mage head teach the warrior how to cast a spell.

Sessenek Purebloods actually have long necks which they can retract into themselves and keep “folded”, this enables a Sessenek Pureblood to quickly stretch out its neck(s) and deliver venomous bites to their prey. They are able to bite twice a round and may choose to inflict venom or dry bite. Should they choose, a Sessenek Pureblood may use venom, which is paralytic in nature to paralyze a foe. The venom incurs a -2 penalty to save against and those who fail are paralyzed for 2d6 rounds. A bite deals 1d6 points of damage, and should a foe receive two successful bite attacks or become paralyzed due to venom, a Sessenek Pureblood can coil its long tail around its foe and squeeze them tight, constricting them.

A Sessenek Pureblood can constrict only man sized or smaller foes. Victims may attempt to make a save vs wands in order to avoid the constricting tail though a paralyzed foe is automatically constricted. Constricted foes who are not paralyzed may attempt a BBLG(bend bars lift gates) roll in order to break free, otherwise constriction deals 1d6 points of damage per round and immobilizes the victim. A Sessenek cannot move or perform any action while constricting, they must concentrate on constricting their foe otherwise they may release in order to do an action the following round.

The Sessenek Pureblood also have a highly developed sense of taste, they taste the air just like an ordinary snake and may track as a ranger by tasting the air around a trail, footprints, or objects handled/left by their target, each hour since the trail was made incurs a cumulative -2 penalty to their tracking. Due to their highly developed sense they may also attempt to detect poisonous substances by taste, they have a 60% chance to detect common poisons, 40% chance to detect uncommon poisons, 20% chance to detect rare and deadly poisons, and 5% to detect unusual and magical poisons.

Furthermore Sessenek Purebloods also have 60 foot Infravision, are immune to all poisons, have a movement rate of 15 and may communicate with snakes and snakelike creatures.

Special Disadvantages:

The 2 heads of a Sessenek Pureblood have been known to argue from time to time due to conflicting personalities and may on occasion fight each other, this though happens rarely and usually only under times of extreme stress.

The Sessenek Purebloods have a great hatred for all elves, so much so that they may become blind with rage and attempt to kill an elf on sight. A Sessenek Pureblood may attempt a wisdom check with a -3 penalty in order to resist the rage, even still though, a Sessenek Pureblood has a -6 reaction penalty when dealing with elves. Elves in turn will automatically recognize a Sessenek Pureblood, and they will either be hostile or fearful towards them(50% of either) upon initial encounter with a Sessenek Pureblood. In battle a Sessenek Pureblood will always seek out and attack elves first and foremost, disregarding other types of combatants.

Sessenek Purebloods require twice the amount of experience required to advance class levels due to each head requiring to learn.

The Sessenek Purebloods are fascinated by beautiful music, so much so that they can become entranced and suggestible as per the Suggestion spell. A Sessenek Pureblood may attempt a saving throw vs spells in order to resist the entrancement by the music, however woodwind instruments such as flutes and pipes incur a -4 penalty to the saving throw, the save can be however adjusted by high wisdom. Should failure occur, the Sessenek Pureblood will become entranced with the beautiful music, swaying with the rhythm much like a snake to a snake charmer, and become highly suggestible. The entrancement will last until either a suggestion is made, the Sessenek Pureblood is attacked, or the music stops.

The Sessenek Purebloods are cold blooded, if they are exposed to prolonged periods of extreme cold they will fall into a torpor known as cold sleep. A Sessenek Pureblood can resist the torpor for 1d10 turns before becoming unconscious. Time can be doubled if a Sessenek Pureblood wears insulated clothing or uses other methods to attempt to stay warm, removal from the cold will revive a Sessenek in 2 hours however more than a day in the cold will cause death.

Should a Sessenek Pureblood ever have one of their heads killed, the surviving head must make a successful system shock roll or die from shock. If success occurs the Sessenek Pureblood does survive but is now functioning at a lesser degree, they lose 1 point of constitution permanently and have a -6 penalty to all rolls for 1d4 days. The slain head may be revived by a regeneration spell cast within 1d4 days plus their constitution score. After the allotted time has passed only a Wish can restore the slain head back to life.

Languages:

Sessenek(Bonus), Elf, Snake Language(Bonus), Common

Proficiencies:

Animal Handling(Snakes and Giant Snakes), Animal Training(Snakes and Giant Snakes), Scorpion Blade(Sessenek special weapon, scorpion barb may only be replaced by NPC Sessenek Weaponsmiths).

Scorpion Blade – The Sessenek Purebloods have a special weapon known as a Scorpion Blade. A scorpion blade is a sword that resembles a cross between a scimitar and a shortsword. The blade is so named because of the obsidian scorpion stinger on the pommel of the blade. The stinger contains a special toxin made from the blood and venom of a Sessenek Pureblood along with a variety of other ingredients(The toxin is a mutagenic toxin that can be saved against with a +3 bonus, if a saving throw vs poison is failed and the victim is neither human nor elven, then the victim suffers debilitating effects which incur a -3 penalty to the victims saving throws, attack rolls and damage rolls for 24 hours. Should the victim be an elf or a human nothing readily appears to happen, however 1d10 days later a fragment of the victims psyche has begun to become its own separate personality. 1d4 weeks later the victim has begun to grow scales and lose body hair and the secondary personality is becoming stronger and louder. 1d4 weeks later the victim is covered in scales and is steadily losing their human/elven features, an odd growth is now growing between the base of the neck and the shoulder of the victim. 2d4 weeks later the victims transformation is nearly complete, they now have two reptilian heads with the secondary personality inhabiting the new head, most of their human/elven features are gone with just a few remnants remaining. 1D4 weeks later the victim is now a full fledged Sessenek Pureblood gaining all the abilities of the new race and losing the abilities of their old one. Before the transformation is complete the victim may reverse the transformation and destroy the mutagen by having a cure disease spell and neutralize poison cast upon them, the victim will then return to normal within 1d10 days). The blade itself does 2d6 points of damage vs S-M creatures and 1d8 vs L foes, the stinger itself does 1 point of damage, the wielder may choose to either strike with the blade or strike with the stinger, the stinger falls off after a successful strike with it.

Thief skill Adjustments and Other Informatiion:

+10% Move Silently, +10% Hide in Shadows

The average lifespan/adventuring age of a Sessenek is 12-500 years

The Sessenek revere and worship the god Serpos (2.5e Deity)

---

Back to Main Page → 2.5e Homebrew → Races created by Fonrar Thunderclaw