Formians are a race of humanoid-insects native to Arcadia. Also called 'centaur ants', formians look like upright-walking ants about 5 feet tall. They have six limbs, two of which are used as arms and can manipulate tools or weapons. Like real ants, formians have a structured hierarchy within their society.
The workers, the most common formian, have low intelligence, are the size of a large dog, and are best suited to manual labour. The warriors, the next highest in station, are the size of ponies and serve mainly in defence of the hive. Myrmarchs are the size of horses, and rank above the warriors. The largest formians, the queens are the undisputed leaders of formian society. Of these four castes, only formian warriors are suitable as PCs.
While very lawful, formians do not truly have a hive mentality. They are loyal to the commands of their superiors, but can act independently of the queen. Queens have been known to give formian warriors a great amount of freedom during times of peace -- at least enough to join an adventuring party.
Formian warrior PCs are considered to be very young, and hence still developing in power. All formians are born into their station, and their station never changes. No formian seems to mind, and are content to benefit their community in any way they can. It is interesting to note that all formian warriors are female, but are incapable of reproducing (the sacred duty of the queen).
ABILITY ADJUSTMENTS: Formian warriors have immense Strength, granting a +2 bonus (or +20% if the formian has exceptional Strength). Their forelimbs are rather clumsy, and they are not used to thinking for themselves too much. Therefore, they also have a -1 penalty to both Dexterity and Intelligence.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: Formian warriors have infravision to 60'. Their tough chitinous skin gives them a beginning natural AC of 8. As formian warriors mature, their armour grows tougher, and they become more skilled at using their natural armour to its best effects. Every other level of experience gained, formians lose one point of AC (7 at 3rd level, 6 at 5th level, 5 at 7th, etc.).
A formian warrior may spend a weapon proficiency to become proficient with attacking with her mandibles. This attack, if successful, does 1d4 damage in addition to any weapon attacks. Any time after 4th level, formian warriors may spend a weapon proficiency to become able to attack with their claw-like forelimbs, for 1d6 damage each. A formian may not use a weapon or shield when attacking in this manner. Any time after 7th level, a formian warrior may spend a weapon proficiency to be able to attack with her deadly stinger. The stinger injects poison causing 2d4 damage. Without a successful save, this poison gives the victim a -2 to attack rolls for 2d6 turns.
Formian warriors may command formian workers at will. At 9th level, a formian warrior gains followers like any other fighter, but these followers come from the formian's hive. They consist of formian workers in place of 0-level warriors, and other formian warriors instead of cutters selected from the usual random table.
SPECIAL HINDRANCES: Formians are extremely strange-looking to most sentient races, to say the least. They have a -2 penalty to reactions to all NPCs except those native to Arcadia. A formian must maintain ties to her hive regardless of her adventuring career, and is always subject to the queen's wishes. Formian myrmarchs and queens can command all formian warriors at will. A formian will never undertake any action that could be harmful to her hive. Formian warriors must be some form of lawful alignment.
CLASS OPTIONS: All formian warriors are fighters. No other class is open to them.
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Vital Statistics ABILITY REQUIREMENTS (before ability adjustments are added or subtracted):
ABILITY ADJUSTMENTS
AVERAGE HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
AGE
AGING EFFECTS
( * -1 Str/Con; +1 Int/Wis, ** -2 Str/Dex, -1 Con; +1 Wis, *** -1 Str/Dex/Con; +1 Int/Wis) LEVEL LIMITS
Copyright 2000 by Greg Jensen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
