The Gecko-Men of Queddar

(pictured here is a real fan-fingered gecko, for inspiration)

The two main civilized races of my Barbarian Conqueror King setting are Men and Lizardmen; both have built mighty civilizations and impressive works of culture and craftsmanship. At the edges of civilization, however, there are other sentient species, two of which show enough variety in their personality and alignment to be potential player character races: Gecko-Men, who hail from the desert caves and cliffs of Queddar, and Bugmen, who lack a clear homeland and thrive wherever the opportunity for trade, scavenging and theft is open to them. Both are uncommon in the countryside of kanahu, but can be found in the city-states, though usually as a small minority compared to the vast masses of Men and Lizardmen.

Gecko-men look like upright, humanoid Fan-Fingered Geckos, thin and nimble, with large, lidless eyes (with slit pupils) dominating their faces. Their scaly skin ranges in colour from light grey, through yellowish-beige to brown, sometime spotted with yellowish spots. Unlike a Lizardman, however, their scales are gentle and soft, and thus give them little protection beyond what a Human skin can provide. There are very little external differences between males and females (unless the female is gravid and thus bloated), though a Gecko-Man will recognize the sex of a fellow Gecko-Man or Gecko-Woman at a glance (humans who are unfamiliar with Gecko-Men cannot recognize Gecko-Man gender; if familiar with them, they'll correctly recognize the gender on a roll of 11+). Gecko-Men prefer to be active after dark, and, in their natural habitat, wear very little clothes, but a good amount of jewellery.

Most Gecko-Men live in the deserts of Queddar, where their tribes inhabit barren stone cliffs and deep caves in the rocky parts of that wasteland. They are, first and foremost, hunters. A Gecko-Man (or, indeed, Gecko-Woman!) is content to spend countless hours motionless on a cliff wall, hanging from it with his or her adhesive toe-pads, lurking for prey to come - dinosaur, giant insect, or otherwise. When the prey comes near enough, however, the Gecko-Man acts quickly, with lighting reflexes, and with spear or bow it will bring the animal down and secure sustenance for him and his tribe for a few more days. From this predatory nature, arise the common psychological characteristics of the Gecko-men, and, first among them, seemingly endless patience and the penchant for plotting elaborate plans, which may lay dormant for years, then close on their subject like a well-placed trap.

Gecko-Man character classes are created using the Gecko-Man racial category and experience points. Requirements, class category values, hit points per level after 9th, and experience point progressions are modified as noted below.

Requirements:
All Gecko-Man classes require a minimum Dexterity of 12 or better and Constitution of 9 or better.

Class category Values:

• Fighting: A Gecko-Man character may have any Fighting Value as desired.
• Divine: Gecko-Men may not have a Divine Value higher than 2.
• Arcane: Gecko-Men may not have an Arcane Value higher than 2.

Gecko-Man 0 (XP Cost 250): at Gecko-Man 0, the character is a fully-fledge Gecko-man (or Gecko-Woman). At Gecko-Man 0, the class will have the following four custom powers:

• Low-Light Vision: Gecko-Men have eyes that are so sensitive to light that they can see twice as far as normal in dim light. Low-light vision is colour vision. A spellcasting Gecko-man with low-light vision can read a scroll as long as even the tiniest candle flame is next to her as a source of light. Gecko-Men can see outdoors on a moonlit night as well as they can during the day. However, Gecko-Men suffer a penalty of -1 to attack throws when in bright sunlight.
• Ambush: When attacking with surprise, a Gecko-Man gets a +4 bonus on attack throws and deals double damage on the attack.
• Gecko Climb: A Gecko-Man, having adhesive toe pads, may climb on most walls with no need for a proficiency roll, at 1/2 speed. Additionally, they may climb on any sheer surface (such as glass) or walk on ceilings using a proficiency roll of a Thief of their level; on such surfaces, climbing is done at 1/4 speed.
• Detachable Tail: A Gecko-Man wounded a mortal wound may sacrifice his or her tail. Sacrificing the tail will make the Gecko-Man roll on the Mortal Wounds table with a +20 bonus. HOWEVER, a tail is important to a Geckoman's health, as well as balance, and as long as he is tail-less, he will suffer a -2 penalty to his Dexterity and Constitution scores (if either of these scores is reduced to zero by this, the Geckoman must roll on the Mortal Wounds table with no bonus) until the tail regrows. Regeneration takes 2d3 months.
• Difficult to Spot: The Gecko-Man has the ability to seemingly disappear into rocky and rocky-desert surroundings with a proficiency throw of 3+ on 1d20. In dungeons, if the Geecko-man is motionless and quiet in cover, he can escape detection with a proficiency throw of 14+ on 1d20.
• Inhumanity: The character suffers a -2 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans. The character gets a +2 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of Geckomen.

Gecko-Man 1 (XP Cost 450): Gecko-Man 0 + Thief 1.

Gecko-Man 2 (XP Cost 650): Gecko-Man 0 + Thief 2.

Gecko-Man 3 (XP Cost 950): Gecko-Man 0 + Thief 3.

Gecko-Man 4 (XP Cost 1,350): Gecko-Man 0 + Thief 4.

Experience Point Progression After 8th Level
Gecko-Men increase the amount of experience required to gain each level after 8th by 25,000XP.

Even More Geckos!

Here are the latest pictures of my mother's resident (wild) house geckos, as well as the less common Bowfoot Gecko (Mediodactylus kotschyi) who snuck to the front porch from a nearby tree.

House Geckos:

Bowfoot Gecko:

 

Barbarian Conqueror King: Lizardmen Redux

I think I'll revise my base Lizardman race to be more balanced and playable than the canonical Thrassians, as Lizardmen are quite common in my Barbarian Conqueror King setting and, together with Geckomen, replace the default demihumans.

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Lizardmen are one of the two playable non-human races (the other being Geckomen) of the Barbarian Conqueror King setting  for the Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS). While other sentient species other than Men and Lizardmen exist in this world, most of them are monstrous and ardent followers of Chaos (Toadmen are an example of this). Lizardmen, on the other hand, exhibit a full range of beliefs and personalities, similar to what Humans do; some are Lawful and follow their goddess Ixchala; most are Neutral; and some are Chaotic and follow the dread gods of their old Serpentmen masters.

In this setting, not all Lizardmen are the savages depicted in the typical fantasy setting. While some live in savage barbarity in the jungles and swamps, others have built, and still inhabit, massive cities, not least of which is the city called Cibola by humans - a massive Class II market rich beyond belief and sprawling over several large islands in its lake.

A Lizardman in Barbarian Conqueror King looks like an upright, anthropomorphic Warer Monitor, with a long, thick tail, a forked tongue and a brain-case worthy of its human-like intelligence. Lizardmen are hardy survivors, bred for manual labor and as cannon-fodder by the dead Serpentmen eons ago. They fight very well and thrive in warm, humid, watery environments, such as their homeland of Punt. Lizardmen are warm-blooded (though they resent cold climate) and are omnivores, albeit with a taste for fresh meat and fish.

Lizardman character classes are created using the Lizardman racial category and experience points. Requirements, class category values, hit points per level after 9th, and experience point progressions are modified as noted below.

Requirements:
All Lizardman classes require a minimum Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution of 9 or better.

Class category Values:

• Fighting: The build points allocated to the class’s Fighting Value may be increased by 1 or 2 points by the Lizardman Value (see below). Use the effective values to find the class’s fighting abilities, up to a maximum of 4 points.
• Divine: Lizardmen may not have a Divine Value higher than 2.
• Arcane: Lizardmen may not have an Arcane Value higher than 3.

Lizardmen, as a race (for custom classes), are almost always taken at level 2, representing a Lizardman (or Lizardwoman). Levels 0 and 1 are described below for the sake of completeness the rare case someone would like to play a magically-bred hybrid between Humans and Lizardmen (which is a rarity, but could plausibly exist in this setting).

Lizardman 0 (XP Cost 125): at Lizardman 0, the character appears largely human, but his skin is scaly, his teeth are pointed, and his fingernails are long and claw-like (though not powerful enough at this level to actually cause increased damage in melee). At Lizardman 0, the class will have the following four custom powers:

• Scaly Hide: The character’s base unarmored AC is 1 instead of 0.
• Swimming: The character gains a swimming movement rate of 60' per turn. The character may hold his breath for 12 rounds (2 minutes).

Lizardman 1 (XP Cost 300): at Lizardman 1, the character’s skin develops into a light, scaly hide, and the jaws of the head are elongated. A short, vestigial tail appears, and the fingernails develop into true claws. At Lizardman 1, the class will have the following five custom powers:

• Fangs and Claws: The character gains a claw/claw/bite attack. The claws deal 1d2-1 damage each, while the bite deals 1d4-1 damage.
• Inhumanity: The character suffers a -1 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans. The character gets a +1 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of lizardmen.
• Scaly Hide: The character’s base unarmored AC is 2 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 90'.
• Swimming: The character gains a swimming movement rate of 90' per turn. The character may hold his breath for 30 rounds (5 minutes).

Lizardman 2 (XP Cost 850): At Lizardman 2, the character is a full-blooded Lizardman. He stands 6' to 7' tall, and has the head and tail of a lizard. His hands have evolved into sharp claws, his reptilian mouth is filled with fangs, and his skin has developed into a tough scaly hide. At Lizardman 2, the class will have the following five custom powers:

• Fangs and Claws: The character gains a claw/claw/bite attack routine. The claws deal 1d3-1 damage each, while the bite deals 1d6-1 damage.
• Inhumanity: The character suffers a -2 penalty to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of humans. The character gets a +2 bonus to the reactions, loyalty, and morale of lizardmen.
• Scaly Hide: The character’s base unarmored AC is 3 instead of 0. The character has a base movement rate of only 60'.
• Superior Fighting: The class’s base Fighting Value is effectively increased by 1 for all purposes.
• Swimming: The character gains a swimming movement rate of 120' per turn. The character may hold his breath for 1 turn.

A Lizardman’s claw and/or bite damage will be modified by the character’s STR adjustment and damage bonus. However, Lizardmen cannot use their fangs and claws while wielding weapons, using shields, or wearing armour heavier than chain mail.

Experience Point Progression After 8th Level
Lizardmen increase the amount of experience required to gain each level after 8th by 30,000XP.

House Geckos at Kiryat Tivon

Visited my mother at Kiryat Tivon last week. And who did I meet? No other but the regular Mediterranean House Geckos who live in the cracks of her house and come out at night to feast on insects.

Also, a very long Lebanon Lizard on my mother's wall:

The Space Cockroach's Jewish New Year's Miniature Sale

For sale - a platoon of 15mm Grey Aliens from 15mm.co.uk, all fully painted and based (on "martian" soil, no less!). Please contact me at (golan2072 -at- gmail -dot- com) if you want them.

Price $30 including shipping worldwide in a padded envelope by registered airmail.

REMOVED FROM SALE - a squadron of 15mm Rising Sun MANITOUs from Kremlin Miniatures, all fully painted and based. Please contact me at (golan2072 -at- gmail -dot- com) if you want them.

 ITEM REMOVED FROM SALE