Maw Gazer

Maw Gazers are an entirely carnivorous race native to Nordred Island. Unlike most sentient races, Maw Gazers are actually incapable of digesting plant matter and become violently ill if they attempt it. Little is known of their origins, as when they first moved to Nordred Island they were embroiled in a war against the dark creatures beneath the mountain. During the first few years, much of their history was lost to the ages as most of the records from before were destroyed.

## Physical Description

Maw Gazers are all massive creatures, standing anywhere from 8 to 16 feet tall. Their entire face is taken up by a single eye, which opens from a vertical slit in the middle to reveal a gaping toothed mouth. Eye color tends towards the common, with most Maw Gazers having Brown, Green, or Blue eyes (typically dark). Both Male and Female Maw Gazers grow hair on top of their head but nowhere else and they are always careful to make sure it doesn't grow such that it would fall in their eye.

## Society

As an entirely carnivorous race, Maw Gazers tend to stick to their mountain home of Monocleus where they can feast on the vile creatures that swarm up from the depths. The society is led based on merit, with a council of elders determining the greatest threat of their time and choosing the one best fit to see them through. In times of war, they are lead by great fighters while in more peaceful times their leadership tends towards diplomacy.

### Naming Conventions

For whatever reason, Maw Gazer names tend to utilize the letter "A" more often than other vowels. Aside from that, a majority of their family names contain the vowel combination "AE". The letters "N" and "R" are common ends to male names while the female names tend towards ending on a vowel.

## Relations

While there are people all over the world aware of their existence, Maw Gazers rarely leave Nordred Island and as such don't really have relations with anywhere else. Those from Nodred know the Maw Gazers to be friendly, if a bit protective of their city. People are allowed in to visit and trade as with most cities, but the entire population keeps their eye out for any signs of trouble.

That said, they tend to be feared by most smaller races due to their diet and size. As such, their allies tend to come from amongst Giants, Orcs, and other more violently disposed races.

## Alignments and Religion

Maw Gazers tend towards Neutrality. As large carnivorous creatures, they don't always have the luxury of eating only non-sentient creatures and so a good alignment (while possible) tends to be a rare outlook. Their society though, was formed when they moved to Nordred to have a place with plenty of food that they could eat without killing normal sentient beings and so Evil Maw Gazers tend to either be exiled or sent into the depths to keep their depravity from spreading to others.

## Adventurers

Maw Gazers who become adventurers tend towards Martial classes, as their size and prolific strength lends itself well to such endeavors. Motivation for doing so is rarely very consistent, but in general most Maw Gazer adventurers look forward to trying new food.

## Creating a Maw Gazer (DM Permission Required)

Ability Score Racial Traits:

* Maw Gazers are strong and durable, but tend to be straightforward and somewhat naive, though not stupid. They get +2 Str, +2 Int, -2 Wis (0 RP)

Type:

* Maw Gazers are Monstrous Humanoids (Giant Subtype) and thus have Darkvision 60 feet and they breath, eat, and sleep. (3 RP)

Base Speed:

* Maw Gazers have a base speed of 30 feet. (0 RP)

Size:

* Maw Gazers are Large and so 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. (7 RP)

Languages:

* Maw Gazers begin play speaking Common and Giant. Maw Gazers with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: any human tongue, Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal, Goblin, Dwarven, and Sylvan. Note that Maw Gazers speak without opening their eyes/mouths.

Defense Racial Traits

* Damage Reduction: Maw Gazers have DR 5/magic (4 rp)
* Stability: Maw Gazers get a +4 racial bonus to CMD against bull-rush and trip when standing on the ground (1 RP)

Offense Racial Traits

* Bite: Maw Gazers gain a natural bite attack, dealing 1d4 + Str (1 RP)
* Reach: Maw Gazers have a reach of 10 feet (1 RP)

Weakness Racial Traits

* Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds members of this race for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area. (-2 RP)