Sphinxes (3.5e Race)

Sphinxes

Personality

Sphinxes tend to be strong-willed and intelligent creatures. Even the youngest of Sphinxes have lived for hundreds of years gathering knowledge throughout the world. They seek challenges to their knowledge and as such, they love solving complex puzzles and riddles. They have even been know to decipher unknown, ancient languages in their free time.

Sphinxes also are natural-born leaders. They seem to put off an aura of command that makes other races prone to following their advice. Sphinxes tend to be good, but in rare cases evil Sphinxes have terrorized entire nations with their intellectual prowess.

Physical Description

Sphinxes come in two types. The first is a subrace, the Chisisi, that has the head of a human and the body of a lion. These are the most well-known of the Sphinxes. They travel between cities accumulating the knowledge of different cultures by searching through city libraries and listening the stories of other peoples. Sphinxes of this type are particularly drawn to trading material goods for knowledge and stories.

The second subrace, the Bomani, has the head of a lion and the body of a human. Unlike the first subrace, these Sphinxes are the warrior clans. They have a strong sense of justice and constantly seek truth. Through their battles, they search for truth and loyal comrades in their journey. They are quick to anger if betrayed.

In general, Spinx women tend to be slightly larger than their male counterparts are they are the providers for their families. Sphinxes tend be solitary or move with a partner or family. The human part of Sphinxes tend to have olive-colored skin with dark hair. The lion part is as a typical lion, although female Sphinxes also have manes. In addition, they often wear golden or silver jewelry as a sign of their power and affluence.

Relations

Sphinxes tend to get along well with most other races. However, they have little patience for people whom they consider to be less intelligent than themselves. As such, they are often put off by Dwarves because of their gruff nature. Though, if they consider the Dwarf an equal, they will show no prejudice toward them.

Alignment

Usually Good.

Lands

Sphinxes are nomadic, so they rarely have their owns lands. They travel freely between cities of different nations, although they often stay in a certain region where they know of other Sphinxes. Often the Chisisi are solitary or travel in pairs, though in rare cases, they travel in family groups. The Bomani, however, often travel in prides of 3-6 for protection.

Religion

Sphinxes often worship Fharlanghn because they often travel and are on the roads for months at a time. However, it is not unusual for Sphinxes to not worship gods. They value their own intelligence and development over help from a deity. Unfortunately, this has gotten them into trouble in the past.

Language

Common, Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elvish, Celestial, Infernal, Terran.

Names

Female: Amaunet, Bakat, Eopei, Hasina, Ketet, Iseret, Nefer-ra, Sen-Nu, Uertheku. Male Names: Anemher, Het-ei, Nahab, Rashaken, Sa-Amen, Tothi, Uapat.

Racial Traits

• +4 Intelligence, +4 Charisma. Sphinxes are known for their intelligence and proclivity to solve riddles and create new logic puzzles. As such, their minds are sharp and they are quick to solve any problems they come across. In additions, Sphinxes are known to be creatures of honor and beauty so other creatures tend to be inclined to follow them.
• Humanoid(Sphinx): There are two types of Sphinxes. The most common is for the creature to have the body of a lion and the head of a human. However, in rare cases, Sphinxes have the body of a human and the head of a lion.
• Medium: None.
• Sphinxes base land speed is 40 feet.
• Darkvision: The subject gains the ability to see 60 feet even in total darkness. Darkvision is black and white only but otherwise like normal sight. Darkvision does not grant one the ability to see in magical darkness.
• Lowlight Vision: Elves can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• Sands of Time: Sphinxes can summon a small sandstorm to direct at one person. The attack requires a reflex save of 15 + Dex Bonus. The attack does 1d6 damage + the choice of the Strength, Dexterity and Constitution bonus. The player must make the choice for life and the choice can never be changed.
• Hypnotism: (Range 25 ft.)Your gestures and droning incantation fascinate nearby creatures, causing them to stop and stare blankly at you. In addition, you can use their rapt attention to make your suggestions and requests seem more plausible. Roll 2d4 to see how many total Hit Dice of creatures you affect. Creatures with fewer HD are affected before creatures with more HD. Will Save: (15 + Wis modifier + Character Level) negates. Only creatures that can see or hear you are affected, but they do not need to understand you to be fascinated. While the subject is fascinated by this spell, it reacts as though it were two steps more friendly in attitude. This allows you to make a single request of the affected creature (provided you can communicate with it). The request must be brief and reasonable. Even after the spell ends, the creature retains its new attitude toward you, but only with respect to that particular request. A creature that fails its saving throw does not remember that you enspelled it.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Dwarvish, Elvish, Celestial, Infernal, Terran.
• Spell-Like Ability: 3/day &mdash Clairaudience/clairvoyance, detect magic, read magic, see invisibility. 1/day &mdash comprehend languages, locate object, dispel magic, remove curse (DC18), legend lore. Caster level is 14th. The save DC is Charisma-based.
• Favored Class: Rogue.
• Level Adjustment: +1

Vital Statistics

Table: Sphinx Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
250 years	+4d6	+6d6	+10d6

Table: Sphinx Aging Effects

Middle Age	Old	Venerable	Maximum Age
500 years	1200 years	2000 years	None
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: Sphinxs Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Female (Lion Head/Human Body)	6' 8"	+2d8	220 lb.	× (4d10) lb.
Female (Human Head/Lion Body)	5' 2"	+4d6	600 lb.	× (1d100) lb.
Male (Lion Head/Human Body)	6' 0"	+2d8	200 lb.	× (4d10) lb.
Male (Human Head/Lion Body)	4' 6"	+4d6	500 lb.	× (1d100) lb.

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