Chitin And Creativity, Part III — In 3D!

And the bad 80’s references continue…

First, a quick catch-up for our audience (hah!) just now tuning in…

In Part I, I introduce the Cha’k, an insectile race being designed for 4e.

In Part II, there is slightly less random blather and a lot more actual design.

So here we are at Part III, where I will finish the Castes and move on to things like racial feats.

All the actual crunch is after the break…

Caste-ing Call, Continued.

I know, I know. That’s probably unforgiveable. Anyway…

More castes!

Skywatcher Caste: You have fine, chitinous wings which can unfold to catch the air. You gain a +2 bonus to Acrobatics checks made to reduce falling damage and a +2 bonus to saving throws to avoid being moved into dangerous terrain. In addition, you may use Dragonfly’s Leap as a Daily power

Dragonfly’s Leap Cha’k Racial Power

You strain mightily, and your thin wings lift you into the air.

Daily

Move Action; Personal 

Effect: You gain a Fly speed of 6 until the beginning of your next turn.

Sustain Healing: You may spend a healing surge at the beginning of your next turn as a free action. If you do, the power is sustained until the end of that turn.

Design notes: Flight is often a dangerous power, but Eladrin can teleport 1/encounter, so flight 1/day is hardly unbalancing. I was tempted to let the Cha’k spend healing surges repeatedly to keep sustaining the power, but that could be a real problem if a character has a lot of surges or some means of healing without them — a fighter with, say, 12 surges could easily be airborne for most of a battle, which could be very unbalancing, especially at low levels.

Messenger Caste: You are slimmer and lighter than most of your hatch-mates, bred to speed through tunnels and evade foes. You lose Diehard and Cha’k Tenacity, but gain a +1 racial bonus to Reflex Defense and a +1 bonus to AC against Opportunity Attacks. You may also use Messenger’s Desperation as a daily power.

Messenger’s Desperation Cha’k Racial Power

You burn through your body’s resources to fuel your desperate race.

Daily, Stance

Minor Action

Effect: So long as you are in this stance, your speed increases to 8 and you cannot be Slowed. If you are Immobilized or Restrained, you may end the condition by spending a healing surge as a minor action. 

Special: You take 1 point of damage for every point of movement you expend while in this stance. Normally, this is 1 per square, but if you cross difficult terrain, etc, it can be higher. This damage cannot be prevented by any form of damage reduction, nor does it ever come from temporary hit points. 

Hmf. I started a bit late today, so this has less content than I’d hoped. Ah well, tomorrow will be longer, and, with luck, on Saturday I’ll do the promised FantasyCraft version.