Shobhad

Category:Races
These fabled four-armed giants are a hardy desert folk native to a low-gravity planet and renowned across several worlds for their ferocity in battle. They disdain what they call “the soft races,” by which they mean those people who reside in cities or give up the arts of hunting and war in favor of safer pursuits. To a shobhad, letting muscle turn to flab is an insult to one’s ancestors as well as a source of personal shame. Those who follow the soft path get what they deserve, becoming faceless, nameless drones in societies where they’ll be quickly forgotten after death. To shobhads, a glorious death in battle is vastly preferable to a quiet passing, and they strive to record the brave deeds of their ancestors through oral histories.
== Physical description ==
Typical shobhad warriors stand 12 feet tall and weigh 500 pounds, and their lean bodies are corded with ropes of muscle. Most shobhads prefer to go naked save for loincloths and the leather harnesses that crisscross their chests and secure their weapons in place. When they wear clothing, its either practical such as hide armor and wrappings that protect against biting sandstorms, or ceremonial like the brightly colored skins and feathers chieftains and shamans wear.
== Society ==
Most shobhads are born and come of age in fierce tribal clans known collectively as the Shobhad-neh, and disdain the “soft living” practiced by many other humanoid races—they believe the abandonment of nomadic culture is a slippery slope that leads away from individual honor and into marginalization. Whether with flashing swords and lances or mysterious longrifles capable of picking off targets on faraway horizons, the clans of the Shobhad-neh constantly vie for resources in the hard deserts and mountains where they live, their need to survive trumped only by a still greater desire for honor.
Though considered barbaric by many, the Shobhad-neh operate under strict codes of conduct that dictate how a warrior may gain status via ritualistic challenges or daring coups in territorial squabbles. Unfortunately for other races, these rules almost always apply exclusively to interactions with other shobhads, and the Shobhad-neh see “lesser” races as little more than sheep to be culled.
Though shobhads can be found on occasion working as lone mercenaries in cities, such urban individuals are the exception rather than the rule. Shobhad shamans preach that in human cities, an individual is little more than a faceless cog in a machine, remembered by no one. Yet a shobhad warrior who rides heroically into battle atop her armored reptilian steed is never forgotten—neither by her own kin, nor by the families of those she defeats. Thus, in battle, a shobhad is made truly immortal.
== Traits ==
=== Standard racial traits ===
* Ability Score Modifiers: Shobhads are nimble and perceptive. They gain +2 Dexterity and +2 Wisdom)
* Type: Humanoid (shobhad)
* Size: Shobhads are Gargantuan creatures. They suffer a -4 size penalty to AC and attack rolls. They gain a +4 size bonus to CMB and CMD but suffer a -12 size penalty to Stealth checks. It has a space of 20 feet by 20 feet but has reach of 15 feet.
* Base Speed: Shobhads have a base speed of 30 feet.
* Languages: Shobhads speak Hiksos and Giant. A shobhad with a high Intelligence score can choose from the following: Dwarven, Draconic, Gnoll, Orc, and Sphinx. See the language page for more information on these languages.
=== Other racial traits ===
* Desert Stride: Shobhads move through non-magical difficult terrain in desert environments at normal speed.
* Ferocity: A shobhad remains conscious and can continue fighting even if its hit point total is below 0. It is still staggered and loses 1 hit point each round and still dies when its hit point total reaches a negative amount equal to its Constitution score.
* Greater Defensive Training: Shobhads have a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class.
* Jumper: Shobhads are always considered to have a running start when attempting Acrobatics checks to jump.
* Multi-Armed: A shobhad has four arms. One hand is considered its primary hand; all others are considered off hands. It can use any of its hands for other purposes that require free hands. (4 arms; 8 RP)
* Racial Weapon Proficiency: Shobhads treat any weapon with shobhad in the name as a martial weapon.
* Stalker: Perception and Stealth are class skills for shobhads.
== Unique equipment ==
=== Shobhad longrifle ===
A shobhad longrifle is treated as a Gargantuan rifle with a range increment of 200 feet, but it functions only on low-gravity worlds such as Godfather.