Hiver racial characteristics

[stofsk]

I remember what I did with the Droyne racial characteristics in this thread, and I decided to do the same for Hivers. My inspiration is Flynn's previous work going through the GtD race list and making them more compatible with the d20 system.

ALTERNATE HIVER RACIAL TRAITS

</font>

• +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma, -2 Dexterity. Hivers are a wise and alert species and are experts at communicating with others, but are slow to action and are less coordinated on average. Special: Hivers have difficulty manipulating objects designed for other races, and gain a -4 penalty to any checks when doing so.</font>
• Medium: As medium-sized creatures, Hivers do not suffer any penalties or enjoy any bonuses due to size.</font>
• Hiver base speed is 6 metres.</font>
• Exclusive Skill: Hiver Manipulation. This is always a class skill.</font>
• Special Feat: Manipulate (Species). Can be selected in place of any feat the Hiver character can normally select.</font>
• Hiver stability: Hiver physiology is low to the ground. Thus, every Hiver instinctively has sure footing and enjoy a +4 bonus to Balance checks.</font>
• Combat aversion trait: Hivers are extremely averse to physical danger and combat. Anytime the Hiver finds itself in close combat (melee or handgun range) he must make a Will Save at DC20 to avoid a flight/freeze response. If failed, the Hiver will either attempt to retreat or will freeze.</font>
• Automatic languages: Hiver, Galanglic.</font>

Notes: The ability modifiers are more in line with the D20 system. The racial mark up as presented in Gateway to Destiny would result in -2 modifiers (on average, with a 2d8 roll vs a 3d6 roll) to Str, Dex, Con, Wis, Cha, and Soc. However, from what I can understand only Dexterity is really referenced as being a poor physical attribute. As for the bonus to Wisdom and Charisma, I figured that the Hivers have both high awareness and a quite forceful personality (on average). Note that a -2 penalty to Dex is significant given it's combat applications, and is in line with D20 conventions.

The Hiver exclusive skill 'Manipulation' is modifed by Charisma. It is similar in effect to the exclusive skill 'Animal Empathy', although it applies to targets of a particular species. Using manipulation on an alien race requires the commensurate feat 'manipulate (species)'. It is trained only, but it is always a class skill. Manipulation is different from other skills such as Liaison and similar skills. Those sort of skills can be done at any time; manipulation is really only applicable the more the Hiver knows about a particular target.