Minotaur

History

One of the Native races of Anor Mundus, Minotaur or Bovinefolks are large sized bovine humanoids spread across most of the world.

Minotauroi are renowned for not only their great physique but also their strong personality, often being stubborn, and aloof until angered.

There is a saying that nothing hold a grudge like a Minotaur.

## Description

The average minotaur stands around ten feet tall and well over a yard in shoulder width. Most minotauroi are covered with thick hair save for the Water Buffalo breed native to Uldaar.

Minotauroi have a thick protective hide and horns for defense, which they are rarely hesitant to use. Headbutting is a common way among minotauroi to express disagreement.

Five breeds of Minotauroi are known across Anor Mundus; the auroch of Centros, the yaks of Hurekami, the Muskox of Vorjskan, water buffalo of Uldaar, and the bison of southern Midken.

Minotauroi take great pride in their appearance, keeping their fur clean and untangled. Many braid their hair with hunting trophies, beads or shamanistic tokens. Another aesthetic practice is to engrave their horns with patterns or symbols or even have them gilded.

Despite being akin to non-sentient bovines, Minotauroi are voracious omnivores and have no compulsion against eating lesser bovines.

Although Minotauroi can speak a variety of languages, their voices are invariable deep regardless of sex, speech is a little slow and somewhat monotone. Minotaur tend to punctuate their speech with tongue click, grunts, snorts or bellowing.

### **Lifecycle & Sex**

Minotauroi are mammals who reproduce sexually, with the female bearing a single young at a time for about three hundred days before a calf is born.

Sex difference between Minotauroi and most other races cannot tell the difference of a fully clothed minotaur. Both sexes are bulky, but females have smaller horns and their four teats are larger than their male counterparts.

The young reach adolescence by age ten and full maturity at fifteen. Provided sickness or injury does not befall them, a minotaur can live up to eighty years.

## Culture

### **Society**

Traditional minotaur society is nomadic, mixing herding with hunting and gathering for survival. Few minotaur tribes settle down to work the land, although individual can often find great reward joining a farming community thanks to their strength.

Minotaur culture is inherently tribal, with family being at the core of their society. Although Minotaur are adults at fifteen, most remain with their birth family well into their twenties. Family leaders are almost always older women versed in the shamanistic ways. When multiple family come together as a clan, the wisest mother becomes a surrogate mother for the whole clan.

Males rarely assume position of leadership but play a vital role in hunting and foraging to feed the tribe. Females who were not called to serve as religious leaders primarily tend to the tribe's flock and craft the leather, weapon, tools and cloth.

Minotauroi typically do not claim mate as their own and do not form continuous relationship. Males typically are the one to leave to join another tribe to enter where they try to court the females for their favor. Children are typically raised communally by the mother until their fifth summer upon which the boys will join their father and uncles to learn hunting while the girls will either become the next generation of shamans or artisans.

### **Religion & Faith**

Most Minotauroi are animistic, worshiping the nameless spirits inhabiting the land and its inhabitants. Performing prayers and offering to the spirits for good luck, healing or to saveguard the souls of the departed. When a minotaur dies, they are typically curried under stone cairns along with their possessions and offerings for them to carry into the afterlife.

Midkenian Minotauroi have adopted druidism above shamanism and are typically more communal than other breeds. On Centros, Minotauroi who have assimilated into imperial culture rarely practice the faith beyond token efforts and many have hidden shrines to traditional spirits.

### **Language**

Most Minotaur speak Ku'rok, the language they share with Minogidas and Centaurs. Minotauroi have long standing relationship with Goblinoids and other beastfolk across the world and also typically speak Ocryn and/or Praal. Uldaari Minotauroi often speak Gnoll, while Vorj Minotauroi speak Giant.

## Gameplay

### **Ability Scores**

Minotauroi are powerful and enduring, but also clumsy, neither are they particularly intelligent or personable. (+4 STR, +4 CON, -2 DEX, -2 INT, -2 CHA — this includes modifiers for size.)

### **Base Traits**

* **Size:** Large, (Large creatures gain a +2 size bonus to Strength and a –2 size penalty to Dexterity. Large races take a –1 size penalty to their 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.)
* **Slow Speed:** 20' per round, Minotaur are not slowed by encumbrance.
* **Darkvision 60'**
* **Relentless:** Minotauroi gain a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks made to bull rush or overrun an opponent. This bonus only applies while both the member of this race and its opponent are standing on the ground.
* **Gatecrasher:** Minotauroi gain +2 racial bonus on Strength checks to break objects and a +2 racial bonus on combat maneuver checks to sunder.
* **Tough Hide:** Minotaur have a +1 natural armor bonus to AC.
* **Horns:** Minotaur have a natural gore attack which deals 1d8 points of damage.
* **Sprinter:** Members of this race gain a +10 foot racial bonus to their speed when using the charge, run, or withdraw actions.
* **Fearless:** Minotauroi gain a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear effects.

### **Alternate Traits**

* **Stench**: Some minotaur are renowned for a terrible stench. All living creatures (except those with the stench aura ability) within 15' must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the user’s character level + the user’s Constitution modifier) or be sickened for 5 rounds. Creatures that succeed at the saving throw cannot be sickened by the same creature’s stench aura for 24 hours. A delay poison or neutralize poison spell or similar effect removes the effect from the sickened creature. This is a poison effect. This trait replaces Gatecrasher and relentless