Centaurs

## Racial Traits

### Standard Racial Traits

* **Ability Score Modifiers**: Centaur characters gain a +2 racial bonus to Wisdom, and an additional +2 to their choice of Strength or Dexterity.
* **Type**: Monstrous Humanoid
* **Size**: Centaurs are Large creatures with a long body type, and thus receive a -1 size penalty to attack rolls and Armor Class, a -2 size penalty to fly checks, and a -4 siize penalty to stealth checks. They also receive a +1 size bonus to their CMB and CMD.
* **Base Speed**: Centaurs have a base speed of 50 feet.
* **Languages**: Centaurs begin play speaking Low Elvish (Lumoran Common).

### Other Racial Traits

* **Natural Armor**: Centaurs have tough skin, granting them a +1 natural armor bonus.
* **Darkvision**: Centaurs have darkvision and so can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
* **Weapon Familiarity**: Centaurs are proficient with greatbows (including composite greatbows), longbows (including composite longbows), atlatls, firearms, and lances.
* **Quadruped**: Centaurs have four legs, giving them a +4 CMD versus Trip attempts, and also increases their size-based carrying capacity multiplier as shown on Table 7-4: Carrying Capacity.
* **Disastrous Climber**: You take a -8 racial penalty on Climb checks.
* **Undersized Weapons**: The creature uses manufactured weapons as if it were one size category Smaller than the creature’s actual size.
* **Item Replacements**: In lieu of armor, centaurs may choose to wear barding, Instead of boots, shoes, and slippers centaurs and other quadrupeds equip horseshoe items. A character who can craft an armor, boot, shoe, or slipper magical item also knows how to craft its horseshoe or barding version, with an identical cost.

## On Centaurs

The horsefolk of the untamed crossing *(Avarga Tӧm, she means)* remain one of the largest mysteries to us. The crossing has never been conquered, and even served as a refuge for escaped humans before their rebellion. It is singularly inhospitable and brutal, and their insular communities tend to expel our Lodge agents without fail.

Regardless, as the Red-Pennants *(She’s referring to the Kilouse, a tribe that frequently comes into clashes with House Daughtry on the border. They often wear a red pennant or cloth on their arms when they ride into battle.)* describe it, when they first arrived in the region, the bulettes and araatan *(The Daughtrys refer to them as the land sharks and leviathan-wyrms)* would prey upon them relentlessly, and it wasn’t until their chieftain at the time snuck into a herd of wild horses *(Until that point untamed)* and conquered it did their fortunes change. He quickly taught the rest of the tribe, and the first successful slaying of an araatan soon followed after. His oracle spoke to him the night of that hunt of the favor he had earned from the Fist of the Gods, Bro’kar.  When the tribe awoke the next day, many of the horses of the tribe found themselves with new forms, “To facilitate the bonds of inseparable companions'' *(To this day actually, the Kilouse treat their horses like close friends, and numerous tales are told of Bro’kar granting his blessing to particularly auspicious horses.)* Notably, centaurs are likely more human than a separate race, as they rarely mate with other centaurs, nor with horses, taking almost exclusively companions from among humans. Uniquely, their offspring seem to be a relatively even mix of human or centaur children, bucking the usual trend with the races of men. *(This is not the only origin myth told in the region, although is the one most likely, as the death of the araatan was recorded by the elves at the time, and the centaurs were first recorded around then as well.)*

Honestly, they seem to have no native culture of their own, being, by my reckoning, offshoots of humans. In the crossing, they adopt the culture of the tribe they are a part of, and those which roam into the other human lands simply adopt the local culture. The only thing consistent between them is a general attitude against allowing themselves to be ridden except by exceptionally close friends, family, or lovers.

*It’s funny, your Highness, you’d almost think they were envious of our bond with other species. You seldom see an elf comfortable with a dog, let alone a horse or an ox. Even their rangers seldom take companions from the wilds. A natural desire to dominate, making them ineffective at properly taming animals, perhaps? Maybe the dogs can smell the arrogance on them. - S.H.*