Durumgiru (3.5e Race)

Author: Aelaris (talk) Date Created: 21 December, 2010 Status: In progress Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Durumgir

Thick-skinned, six-limbed, wall-climbing lizard-centaurs from underground. (Dwarf analogue.)

Name Notes

Durumgir is the name of the race. An individual of the Durumgir is a Durumgiru. The speak Durumgi, have Durumgi culture. Multiple Durumgir are... Durumgir.

Physical Description

Humanoid is a vague term. Are centaurs humanoid? If is, then perhaps the Durumgir are as well. On top of a thick, muscular neck is a scaled reptilian face. Saurian jaws dominate, as do prominent nostrils and multiple ear-holes, but in a particularly striking fashion, they possess no eyes... not even empty eye sockets on the sides of their head. Expression is a matter of the mouth, mostly.

Beyond the head, a durumgir's upper body resembles a massive, heavily muscled reptilian humanoid with a back so steeped with meat that it maintains a perpetually hunched posture. Its lower body, however, continues downwards and backwards, and resembles the body of a absurdly stocky gecko, complete with two sets of legs with four three-toed feet with peculiar grips that allow it to adhere strongly to any surface. The body then tapers into a stubby, almost vestigial tail.

Due to their features, some surface races have speculated that they are related to Centaurs. Any Durumgir will note that Centaurs are obviously a horrible magical melding of human and horse, while their own origins lies with being born of the Deep Stone Mother in millennia past.

Most Durumgir seen on the surface world are adventurers, seeking fame and fortune in a bid to win the favor of a Venerable Mother. Durumgir can carry a lot of stuff (even with average strength, 150 pounds won't even slow a Durumgiru), and prefer the heaviest armor they can find, trusting in thick steel and a hardy body more than in any ability to dodge. Some Durumgir have even taking to sleeping in Medium armor, as to avoid a dishonorable death. On top of the lower torso, there is generally an excessive pile of gear lashed down to the back of a Durumgiru's armor.

Of particular note is their habit of tying their possessions to themselves - while all races expect a dropped object to fall downwards, most races expect it to land at their feet - the Durmgiri have no such expectation, due to their habit of walking on what most people would term walls or ceilings.

Relations

The Durumgir are a subterranean race, generally at war with Drow and other races who threaten them (including most of the subterranean fauna). They are at an uneasy peace with races such as the svirfneblin (Deep Gnomes) and others which do not actively threaten them.

Of the Durumgir interaction with the surface, two main types are apparent: Trade, and adventurers. While the Durumgir do not trade with other underground races, much of what is common in the deep is often rare or valuable on the surface. Many Families trade worked metal and precious stones to surface races, in exchange for delicious surface-food as well as wood to supplement the oil and coal fires. Durumgir are famed for their workmanship, as many Durumgir seek fame through feats of talent and perfection at the forge.

The other interactions with the surface are adventurers. Most Durumgir adventurer seek fortune below, exploring the endless caverns of the underworld (and often adding a few of their own). A few, however, chose to seek fame and fortune above the surface, under the warm of the unfalling fire, on top the flat upwards boundary of the world. Here they are at a disadvantage - all the more chance to prove their worth.

Alignment

Internally, the Durumgir race is hierarchical and very respect-based. Age is associated with having survived and succeeded at incredible tasks - after all, the other alternative is to die trying. Towards each other, they are extremely Lawful, and, by the standards of most other races, "Good". There are a number of shamed outcasts who have not succeeded at great things, and yet have not died trying - these are shunned by other Durumgir, no matter their age.

However, towards other races, the Durumgir are not all LG. There is no defined way that Durumgir should treat non-Durumgir, and each member tends to come up with his own interpretations. Some see the other races as if they were Durumgir, and treat them with respect based on age and achievement. Some Durumgir find the other races disreputable, and treat them as if they were Durumgir outcasts, ambivalent towards their suffering or death. Others find out how the races they interact with interact with each other, and while they are on the surface, they do as the surface-dwellers do.

Needless to say, adventuring Durumgir run the whole gamut of alignments, at least with respect to other creatures.

Lands

Durumgir live in settlements the size of villages, towns, and cities - all of tunnels, and all beneath the ground. Unlike the realms of Drow and Deep Gnomes, which are often built in enlarged caverns, the Durumgir have no need for such vistas - instead each city is a fully three-dimensional maze of tunnels carved into solid stone. Gravity has some sway, as things do fall down, but the tunnels themselves may go at any angle, much to visitors' chagrin.

The smallest division of Durumgir society is the Family, consisting of one Venerable Mother, her suitors, her middle-aged and old friends, and her off-spring. A small Family is the population of a village, and a large Family can be as much as a town. Cities, in the Durumgir sense, are collections of several Families living together.

Racial Traits

• +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity: The durumgir are a hardy race, but agility and fine motor control are nearly non-existent.
• Humanoid (Reptilian): The durumgir were made by the gods (or evolution) from reptilian stock
• Medium-sized.
• Durumgir base land speed is 20 feet. Durumgir can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
• Durumgir climb speed is equal to their base land speed. Durumgir can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations). Due to their peculiar senses, a Durumgiru can always tell whether a climbing surface can support their weight, and the weight they carry.
• Blindness and Blindsight (Ex): The Durumgir are all blind, with no sight and no eyes. Instead, they possess Blindsight through a constant pulsing of echolocation and the sensation of vibrations through the ground. While this is blindsight, the Durumgir have no maximum range for their ability - instead, they must make spot and listen checks as normal to notice things. Due to the natural of their blindsight, a deafened Durumgiru is instead treated to have only tremorsense (still with no maximum range, and needing spot checks), and for a Durumgiru not in contact with the ground (or for a target not in contact with the ground) the Durumgiru gets a -4 to spot and listen checks.
• Medium Quadruped: +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed, overran, or tripped, lifting and carrying limits one-and-a-half times those of Medium bipedal characters.
• Dead Reckoning (Ex): A Durumgiru always knows where they are in three-dimensional space relative to places they have been. This is negated by teleportation, and similar forms of space-warping transportation. Not knowing where one is can be very disconcerting, and a Durumgiru is shaken until the end of the day, or until it directly recognizes a place it has been before.
• Endurance (Ex): A Durumgiru gets Endurance as a bonus feat.
• Stone-headed (Ex): A Durumgiru nature gives +2 to Will and Fortitude saves against magical effects, but -2 to all reflex saves.
• Six-limbed Grappling (Ex): Durumgir get natural advantages when grappling, due to having four legs, all of which have gripping abilities. A Durumgiru gets +4 to all grapple checks.
• Old Stone Vigor (Ex): The Durumgir do not weaken with age, nor do they have a maximum age. Instead of getting -1 to Str, Dex, Con, and +1 to Wis, Int, Cha each age category, instead they gain +1 to Constitution, Wisdom, and Intelligence, -2 to Dexterity, and both other stats stay the same.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Durumgi.
• Bonus Languages: Draconic, Gnomish, Undercommon, and Terran. (Also any other other underground or saurian languages in the setting, including Dwarvish if Dwarves are not replaced.)
• Favored Class: Fighter, or any other class that provides Heavy Armor Proficiency
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Vital Statistics

Table: Durumgir Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
35 years	+3d6	+6d6	+9d6

Table: Durumgir Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Durumgir5	4'11"	+1d6" +1" per decade of age	200 lb.	× (2d6) lb.

Table: Durumgir Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable Mother3	Stone Grandmother4, 5
175 years	285 years	395 years	Each 100 years more
At middle age, −2 to Dex; +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.) At old age, −2 to Dex; +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.) At Great Mother age, −2 to Dex; +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.) Additionally, a Durumgir gains the ability to bear children as a female at this age, thus the name. Every 100 years past Venerable Mother age, (E.g. 495, 575, etc.) apply another −2 to Dex and +1 to Con, Int, and Wis. (As per Old Stone Vigor ability, cumulative.)

Special notes on age and gender: Durumgir are all born with male sexual characteristics, at about the size of a halfling. About 50 years later, somewhat after physical maturation, the Durumgiru's male sexual characteristics become active, and theoretically he could mate at that age. At around the age of 200 years, the Durumgiru's male sexual characteristics begin to fade, and he begins to evolve female sexual characteristics, and eventually become fertile nearly two centuries later. With fertility comes a change in socially constructed gender. Most Durumgir do not manage to live this long, and Venerable Mothers are highly respected. To mate with a Venerable Mother is a great honor for a Durumgir, and the life of a male Durumgir is filled with a quest to prove oneself worthy of a Venerable Mother's interest... this is perhaps related to how few of them live to become Venerable Mothers. Whether a Venerable Mother retains the male sexual characteristics is a question of much curious speculation among the other races - the Durumgir themselves never say...

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