Numen

Numen

Numen are the physical superior to typical humans. They are tall (6-7 feet tall) with heavy, sculpted, square features. Their hair never grows more than a few inches on males and many are bald. Women have hair that rarely reaches past their jawline and almost never to their shoulders. They never have excessive body hair and often have tanned or tea-colored skin that is stretched over their long, oblong, softer, facial features. They have wide shoulders and are well muscled by human standards, even when out of shape. These gentle folk are of a distant relation to both giants and humans, though they are genetically distinct enough to be classified as their own race. They disdain any sort of body modification (tattoos, earrings, etc) and tend to leave their overlong arms exposed in their clothing.

Despite their size and strength, numen are a gentle and compassionate people. They love all forms of entertainment and are particularly fond of music and good food. They are a jovial by nature and are generally a forgiving race on the whole. Unfortunately for them, numen tend to be easily taken advantage of. This is due to an innate trustworthiness they assign to others, not a lack of intelligence. Numen simply trust others and very rarely suspect that others would waste time on being deceptive. Culturally, those who lie or cheat are looked upon with pity rather than anger and so long as restitution is made it is forgiven (legally speaking).

Numen are not particularly spiritual, but do have an innate nobility about their actions and all strive towards a concept known as “nemeth”. It roughly translates to “world peace” or “happiness” but more literally means “global contentment”. They believe that if everyone trusted everyone else the world would be a better place. Numen live very open lives and intentionally hide very little. If they said something, they will own up to it even if it is wrong in light of new information. Their lives are open books and those who truly believe in nemeth will share it with you. In return, they expect forgiveness and understanding for past mistakes and extend the same courtesy to others. Secrets are considered tantamount to a hostile action in their society and if it is revealed that someone is keeping something from the community, they will generally have problems. Numen are not so bold as to assume that everything has to be shouted from the mountain tops and are discrete in delicate or private matters so long as the person is forthcoming. If questioned about such a thing, an adherent to nemeth may reply “Bill asked me not to talk about it. It would be best if you spoke to him about it.” or something to that effect.

A prominent philosopher-cult of nemeth holds sway in much of the lands of the numen. This social group sees themselves as enlightened passificts and are commonly in the upper echelons of society. As many are affluent and hold influential positions within numen society, they make a habit of dealing more favorably and much more frequently with others in their sect than “outsiders”. Many view this practice as being counter to the very core ideals of nemeth but they counter, saying that those who are a member of their society are working more readily towards nemeth and thus their affluence is more important in the long run. These philosopher-cults are independent of each other, unique to each city (large cities having multiple nemeth cults), and competitive in nature.

Numen are not weak-willed and pride themselves on being capable warriors. They generally ascribe to the the “walk softly but carry a big stick” philosophy. They are quite capable of defending their lands and always willing to aid an ally when called upon. They rarely fight wars of aggression or sheerly for conquest and maintain a military force for defensive purposes. While they are reluctant to engage in combat, they see it as a necessary evil that they can eventually eliminate once they reach nemeth.

Numen are often described as being liberators, having undertaken seemingly unprovoked military action against local slave camps and put political pressure on neighbors who partake in the act. They are generally a stabilizing, pacifying, positive presence in any region they are in and their settlements often turn into centers of trade and negotiation. While numen are accepting of this role, they reluctant to allow other races to settle in their cities. This often leads to small mercantile tent cities outside their walls or segregated districts. Their cities, neither technological marvels or squalid tribal settlements, are typical urban and fairly typical of the region they are found in.

## Racial Traits

* Ability Score Racial Traits (0): Numen are physical mighty, dwarfing even the most hearty of men. They also possess a profoundly enlightened sense of compassion but are habitually concerned with theory rather than practice. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, and -2 Wisdom.
* Size (0): Numen are medium creatures.
* Type (0): Numen are humanoids with the giant subtype.
* Base Speed (2): Numen have a base speed of 30 feet, and their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
* Languages (0): Numen begin play speaking Common. Numen with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Giant, Undercommon, Dwarven, Elven, or Gnoll.
* Trusting (-2): Numen never treat Sense Motive or Bluff as class skills.
* Tower Shield Proficiency (2) : Numen are proficient with tower shields and do not take the normal -2 penalty on attack rolls while wielding one because of the shield's encumbrance.
* Hopeful (2): Numen gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fear and despair effects. Also, once per day, after a natural roll of 1 on a d20 roll, a numen may reroll and use the second result.
* Nemeth Advocate (1): Once per day, a numen can roll twice when making a Diplomacy check and take the better roll.
* Jovial (2): Once per day a numen can use calm emotions as a spell like ability.

Racial Points: 7

## Random Numen 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 Numen Height and Weight

(6’2 - 7’0) | 140 lbs. | +2d10 x5 lbs

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## Alternate Racial Traits

* Open Book: A true practitioner of nemeth has no secrets from the world. A creature with this racial trait may never intentionally Bluff or knowingly attempt to lie. In addition, they never treat Bluff as a racial skill. They may use discretion in delicate matters but must be open about the nature of the information (“That is sensitive information that a friend asked me to keep private for the time being”). A creature with this racial trait may also resist freely disclosing information if they believe the creature has intent to cause harm to others or take malicious actions based on the information. Once per day, a numen with this trait can roll twice when making a Sense Motive check and take the better roll.

* + This replaces the Nemeth Advocate racial trait of the numen.
* Renaissance Numan: A numen with this racial trait embraces a renaissance man way of life. He gains the Skilled racial trait of a human.

* + This replaces the Nemeth Advocate racial trait of the numen.

## Nemeth (Deity/Concept)

The concept of universal oneness has created a kind of gestalt consciousness amongst its believers and it can grant divine powers. It’s symbol is simply a blue circle.

Alignment: CG

Favored Weapon: Shield

Domains: Community, Good, Healing, Liberation

## Gentle Giantkin

A numen with the feat has embraced their giant side, growing to enormous heights though a special diet and adherence to ancient physical practices.

Prerequisite: Constitution 15, Character Level 5

Benefit: A numen with this feat becomes large sized. He gains a +2 size bonus to Strength and a –2 size penalty to Dexterity. He takes a -1 size penalty to his AC, a -1 size penalty on attack rolls, a +1 bonus on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a -4 size penalty on Stealth checks. A Large creature takes up a space that is 10 feet by 10 feet and has a reach of 5 feet.

## Favored Class Options

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