Tsem

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This article contains rules relating to the 3.5 Edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

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## Lizard cats

### Distinctions

Long, furry body with a scaly tail and feet. Wide, insectoid eyes. Tall fluffy ears. Bio-luminescence

## Meta

### First appearance

* Conception: October, 2020
* On the wiki: 06/16/2021

## Tsem Lore

Standing at roughly half a metre tall (1'8"), with a total body length of 120-180cm (4-6 feet), the Tsem are a small, telepathic sentient species native to the island of Koer Kokh. They have fur along their bodies, while their tails and feet are covered in thick scales. The claws on their feet can shred through flesh, while their teeth are designed for puncturing the thick hides of the local fauna. Because the flora/fauna of Koer Kokh have extremely similar DNA, they make no distinction between them in their search for food, though reportedly find the more mobile creatures, akin to "animals" in other regions, to be "much more tasty".

They have a symbiotic relationship with the Scaci peoples of The Interior. Lacking any way of finely manipulating tools (only having their tails and mouths), they cannot fulfil their best potentials. Where the Scaci are the hands, the Tsem provide protection with their keen hearing, where Scaci are almost deaf. The Tsem seem to have some sort of extrasensory perception of danger, being always ready when things go wrong.

They made contact with the Scaci when they moved from the northern rivers to the central Interior. Tsem possess the ability to communicate telepathically with one another, and can generally get their emotions across while looking into another creature's eyes, but cannot speak. This confuses most non-Scaci, thinking of them more as "pets" than "equals" to the Scaci, lacking the required context to understand their social structure.

### Alignment

Tsem typically gravitate towards Neutrality, only particularly caring about their friends, families, and communities. Their unstructured societies are more Chaotic than Lawful, but not entirely so. The life of a Tsem is based off balance and good intentions.

### Religion

Tsem are not known to have a religion of their own, but share a mutual respect of spirits, the environment, and their ancestors with the Scaci. They help build the Gahala'i, protective totems, with the Scaci.

### Language

Tsem sign language was developed to fill the role of communicating with races other than their own or their Scaci allies. It consists of various tail wiggles to convey their thoughts. Despite seeming simple, it is as effective as any other natural language for communicative purposes.

Despite their inability to speak normally, Tsem still understand spoken and written language, so long as they have studied it.

### Names

Tsem do not have typical names and instead take a nickname by whatever group they choose to be apart of at the time. This makes their "names" much more fluid than other cultures, however, there may be a particular name they take a liking to that they will stick with for some time.

## Playing a Tsem

* **Attribute Adjustments:** +2 DEX, +2 INT
* **Type:** Magical Beast
* **Size:** Small (+1 AC, -1 CMB/CMD, +2 Fly, +4 Stealth)
* **Speed:** 40 feet
* **Darkvision:** 120 feet
* **Languages:** Tsem, Scaci
* **Natural Weapons:** You gain one Bite (1d6) and Claw (1d8) per turn as Natural Attacks. You may use your tail (Standard Monk) or Natural Weapons in place of traditional kicked and punches as a Monk.
* **Nimble Tail:** Your tail acts as your single method of finely manipulating the world around you. Although prehensile, it lacks the fine movements of hands. For any tasks requiring fine movement of one's hands (such as reading, writing, using weapons, shields, tools, wands, and casting spells with Somatic components), all Tsem receive a \*\*-4 Penalty\*\* and taking 10 or 20 on an action takes double the normal time to complete.
* **Arboreal Society:** You gain +2 to all Climb and Acrobatics checks
* **Danger Sense:** You gain +4 to all Perception checks
* **Voiceless:** You cannot speak aside from grunts and chitters. However, you can still read and understand language. You can still communicate using Tsem sign language using your tail, assuming the other creature can understand it.
* **Telepathy:** You gain Telepathy with all creatures who can speak at least one language within 60-ft of you. You can convey simple emotions to all non-Tsem, but with a successful [DC 20] Concentration check, you can convey words or phrases. You can bypass this check when attempting communication with another Tsem or a Scaci.