Bladelings

Bladelings

Ripe with rage from the implosion of their own brutal warrior culture, bladelings are wayward survivors adrift in other societies. Once a proud and cruel warrior culture known as savage marauders, they are now a scattered people who live on the goodwill of others. They are commonly found in mercenary companies, day labor crews, or as criminal enforcers. Bladelings are attracted to the evil and chaotic alignments and have a notoriously short temper. Despite all this bladelings are fiercely loyal to those who earn their trust and will literally die for them. Bladelings favor the martial classes and have particular cultural respect barbarians and fighters.

Bladelings stand a head taller than a human with dark green or slate blue skin that cover large sinewy muscles. Their most prominent feature is the various subdermal plates that send up rough blades through their skin. While not entirely covered with blades, each limb generally has 2-3 long blades on it, a few small spurs on the torso, and their face and scalp has various tiny spikes protruding where a human might have hair.

The chin of a bladeling hints at its heritage. It is either split in two with sharp points or it hangs down with a single dermal plate that rests near their collarbone. These physical traits (and the physical variances within them) are good indicators of lineage. Three major clans exist. One, generally referred to as the “splits” are comprised of bladelings who have a split chin and can claim lineage to a warlord known as “Jak’khaj” who lived hundreds of years ago. Splits (or “splitz”) are stereotyped as being career criminals, skilled warriors, and untrustworthy to anyone but their clan. The “longtusk” clan is a group of bladelings who have rather short low hanging dermal plates from their chin that are wide. These longtusks (abbreviated “Lngtsk” or “Lt”) are assumed to be rich merchants, liars, but wise. Finally, the fairbrow are mainly comprised of bladelings with long thin chin protrusions that are regarded as being cruel, barbarous, and stupid. None of these assumptions have proven to have much basis and since the breakup of their empire very few bladelings have any clan affiliation. None the less, the stereotypes persist and many bladelings suffer prejudice from others of their kind because of it.

A unique aspect of their culture is that other races can “become” a bladeling, culturally. If someone has earned the respect and honor of a bladeling in combat, he may be offered right to be called a “bladeling” and join their culture. Joining bladeling culture means forsaking your own, going through a trial by combat, and then receiving full-body tattoos that are meant to mimic the placement of spikes on the body of a bladeling. They attract many exiles from other cultures, with bladelings seeing one’s worth rather than their race.

## Racial Traits

* Ability Score Racial Traits (0): Bladelings are brutal and cruel but crafty. They gain +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, and -2 Charisma.
* Type (0): Bladelings are humanoids with the bladeling subtype.
* Size (0): Bladelings are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Base Speed (0): Bladelings have a base speed of 30 feet.
* Languages (1): Bladelings begin play speaking Common and Orc. Bladelings with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic).
* Spiked Skin (4): Bladelings act as if they were wearing armor spikes (though without the armor), and deal 1d6 extra piercing damage on a successful grapple attack. A bladeling can also make a regular melee attack with the spikes. The spikes cannot be made into magic weapons in their own right. However, these spikes and subdermal plates are noisy and they take a -4 penalty on Stealth checks.
* Natural Armor (3): Bladelings have thick natural plates under their skin like armor, granting them a +2 natural armor bonus.
* Low-Light Vision (1): Bladelings can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

Racial Points: 9

## Alternate Racial Traits

* Longtusks (4): The bladelings who fall in line with a more “longtusk clan” way of life develop a tongue as serpentine as it is verbose. They gain +4 Wisdom, +2 Charisma and -2 Constitution.

* + This replaces their default ability scores and reduces their natural armor bonus to a +1.

## Honorary Bladeling

Once you are sworn in, you must leave your old culture behind for you are reborn as a proud bladeling warrior!

Prerequisite: Non-Bladeling, must have gone through ritual of acceptance

Benefit: You count as both your base race and as a bladeling for any effects related to race. For example, if you are a dwarf, you are considered both a dwarf and a bladeling for the purpose of taking traits, feats, how spells and magic items affect you, and so on.

## Spiked Shifting

Prerequisite: Bladeling, wild shape class feature

Benefit: When you use your wild shape class feature you retain the armor spikes from your spiked skin racial trait. The damage of the armor spikes scales with the size of the creature you shift into.

Special: If you have the Honorary Bladeling feat this applies to any armor spikes you wear.

## Random Bladelings Starting Ages

(16-19) | +1d6
(16-21) | +2d6

1 This category includes barbarians, oracles, rogues, and sorcerers.

2 This category includes bards, cavaliers, fighters, gunslingers, paladins, rangers, summoners, and witches.

3 This category includes alchemists, clerics, druids, inquisitors, magi, monks, and wizards.

## Random Bladelings Height and Weight

(6’0-7’6) | 240 | +2d10x5 lbs
(5’7-7’1) | 205 | +2d10x5 lbs

## Favored Class Options

The following favored class options are available to all bladling characters who have the listed favored class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time the favored class reward is selected.