Ancients (3.5e Race)

Ancients - Alterran

Personality

The Ancients, their true name being lost when the gods created them, are very similar to humans. In fact, they are the ancestors of Mankind. Once a mighty star-faring race, they are the builders of the Astra Portia, otherwise better known as the "Stargates" utilizing powerful magic which is now known as the 9th level spell, "Gate." While the vast majority of the Ancients "ascended" to a higher plane of existence, some wandered the stars in a ship, which crash-landed on a remote world. Cut off from most of their technology and forever exiled, they settled here, becoming the last remnants of a once proud race.

Physical Description

The Ancients are a humanoid race resembling humans, due to being the perfect stage of human evolution. The average height of an Ancient is similar to a human, being between 4’10” and 5’8” ft tall for males and between 4’05” and 4’10” ft tall for females, and weigh between 120 and 180 lbs for males, and between 85 and 120 lbs for females. The main difference is their incredible affinity for psionics, particularly the Psion class, while their exceptional memory makes them ideal Arcanists as well, particularly in the art of Wizardry. Unfortunately, their evil, more religious cousins, the Ori, have also followed them, preferring either the Cleric or Psion classes, though both sides also prefer the martial classes like Monk. Their lifespan is similar enhanced greatly due to their advanced physique and divinely-created bodies. Their brain capacity is five times larger than a human's, meaning that, as mentioned before, they make ideal mages. Alas, the Ancients and their evil brethren the Ori have long since been wiped from the universe and the Prime Material Plane leaving only rumors and small pieces of their civilization behind.

Relations

Ancients tend to get along well with humans, due to the above similarities. If the two races share a settlement, then the Ancients will be treated as (or mistaken for) regular people, and even in rare cases, Gods. They tend to isolate themselves from others, however, though they tend to live near human settlements. Ancients seem to interact with other varying species as well, and highly favor the Elves for their advanced minds.

Religion

Ancients are pious beings who see themselves as servants of a higher being. Even though they are the apex of human evolution, the Ancients believe themselves to be tools for the gods to serve. Ancients have been seen to serve any god they so choose from any alignment. In some cases, elder Ancients have even depicted themselves as gods and thus have been revered in human cultures as lesser deities even though they are not.

Age

Ancients are the pinnacle of human evolution and thus can live near endlessly it seems. However Ancients do have a finite lifespan even if greatly increased due to their physiology. The oldest living Ancient, a woman named Morgan Le Fey, lived to the age of 1,904 years old. Age is what gives an Ancient their power and thus allows them to become stronger. The older the Ancient is, the stronger it is. The young the Ancient is, the weaker it is. The maximum age of an Ancient is ~2,000 years old. However, the true age of a Ancient has never been reached as most die due to incredible old age around 1,500 - 1,750 years old.

Alignment

Ancients can be of any alignment, although they lean towards certain alignments of Lawful or Neutral, abiding by the laws of society or remaining neutral and thus not wanting to interact in the societies of lesser races. Ancients who adapt the alignment of Evil become forces to be reckoned with as they become feared as supernatural beings and weapons used by the Gods.

Combat

Ancients tend to remain neutral in all conflicts. This is true within the Ancient community as they choose to abstain from conflict. However, this all is thrown away when a serious conflict breaks out or an Ancient is truly angered.

Racial Traits

• Ancients gain a base +2 to Dex, Int, and Wisdom, but receive a -2 in Str, Con, and Cha.
• Ancients are classified as Humanoid type creatures.
• Medium: Ancients gain no size bonuses.
• Ancient base land speed is 30 ft:
• Racial Skills: Ancients gain a racial bonus to the following racial skills due to their vast intelligence and wisdom. +4 to Appraise, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Knowledge (all knowledge skills), and Sense Motive, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device.
• Ancients gain bonuses to their own abilities based on their age. The older the Ancient, the more powerful it is. However, the older the Ancient is, the more vulnerable it is to some negative side effects.

Age bonuses: As the Ancient ages they gain the ability to use powerful Psionic powers as seen in the chart below. The total amount of Psi Points an Ancient can use is based on their overall age as seen in the chart below. Expended Psi Points will be recovered after a long rest. They also gain cumulative bonuses to their ability scores the older they are.

Centinnial Gift (100 yr old) (Ex): Ancients when reaching the first centennial in their lifetime obtain the ability to speak telepathically to any creature (with an intelligence score of at least 1) within a 200' radius.

Ancient Gene (150 yrs old) (Ex): When reaching the age of 150+ years, the Ancient emits the power of their Ancient Genes, they gain a psionic aura of fire or force depending on their alignment. All evil alterran gain a fire aura of up to 30ft that deals 1d6 fire damage per round to enemies in range. All neutral and good alterran gain a force aura that keeps enemies up to 30ft away unless they pass a Strength check of 10 + level + WIS. Can be enabled/disabled as a standard action.

Gate Builder (200 yrs old) (Ex): By the time an Ancient becomes "ancient" in human standards of age they have become masters of their Psionic abilities. Ancients when using the Craft skill automatically succeed the check.

• Age Negatives: Due to their rarity, Ancients cannot use the skill Hide, or Disguise Self, nor do they gain any bonuses to this skill. When using either of these skills it is considered as an automatic failure. Any spell or spell-like ability that gives bonuses to these skills are negated. However, an Ancient may still use spells that would magically conceal them from other creatures.
• Level Adjustment: +1
• Automatic Languages: Common and Celestial. Bonus Languages: If Ancient is Evil-Alignment they also know Abyssal, if Ancient is Neutral-Alignment they also know Elvish.
• Favored Class: Monk, Wizard, Psionic

Ascension (Su): Once an Ancient reaches the age of 250 years or older they gain this Psionic ability (see table below). This supernatural ability can be used by expending 20 Psi Points. Like the Monk ability "Perfect Self," the Ancient has tuned their body with skill and quasi-magical abilities to the point that it becomes a magical creature. The Ancient is forevermore treated as an outsider (an extraplanar creature) rather than as a humanoid for the purpose of spells and magical effects. For instance, charm person does not affect it. Additionally, the Ancient gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows it to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn't have similar damage reduction (see Damage Reduction, page 291 of the Dungeon Master's Guide). Unlike other outsiders, the Ancient can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type. Furthermore for 1d4 rounds, an Ancient can become pure psionic and magical energy of mental prowess. While in this form the Ancient is considered Ethereal, can use its standard action to strike out at foes (1/every 5 levels) with mental bursts of psionic energy dealing damage equal to (1d6/player level), and causes the opposing creature(s) to make a Will save (DC: Player Level + 10 + Wis Mod) or take 3d4 Intelligence damage.

Ancient Age Statistics

Table: Ancient Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex	Advanced
16 years	+2d8	+3d10	+5d12	+7d12

Table: Ancient Aging Effects

Middle Age	Old^1	Venerable^2	Enigmatic^3	Primeval^4	Primordial^5
50 years	80 years	115 years	150 years	180 years	250 years
At old age, +1 to Dex, Int, and Wis; -1 to Str and Con, and +1 Cha. At venerable age, +2 to Dex, Int, and Wis; -1 to Str and Con, and +1 Cha. At enigmatic age, +3 to Dex, Int, and Wis; -1 to Str and Con, and +1 Cha. At primeval age, +4 to Dex, Int, and Wis; -1 to Str and Con, and +1 Cha.. At primordial age, +5 to Dex, Int, and Wis; -3 to Str and Con, and +1 Cha.

Table: Ancient Psi Point Total

Age Req.	Psi Points
20 years	4 Psi Points
40 years	6 Psi Points
60 years	14 Psi Points
80 years	17 Psi Points
100 years	27 Psi Points
120 years	32 Psi Points
140 years	38 Psi Points
160 years	44 Psi Points
180 years	57 Psi Points
200 years	64 Psi Points
250 years	80 Psi Points

Table: Ancient Psionic Abilities

Age Req.	Psi Points	Psionic Ability	Psionic DC	Save	Description
20 years	1 Psi Points	Ancient Ancestry	11 + Int Mod	Fort	Like spell Feat Leech, except permanently gain any feat (not limited to psionic feats) limit 3.
40 years	1 Psi Points	Age Other, Psionic	11 + Int Mod	Fort	Like spell Age Other, except age a creature up to 1d10 years/lvl.
60 years	3 Psi Points	Dimension Door, Psionic	N/A	Will	Like spell Dimension Door.
80 years	3 Psi Points	True Creation, Psionic	N/A	N/A	Like spell True Creation, except no exp required (only material component).
100 years	5 Psi Points	Disintegrate, Psionic	15 + Int Mod	Fort	Like spell Disintegrate.
120 years	5 Psi Points	Telekinesis	15 + Int Mod	Will	Like spell Telekinesis.
140 years	7 Psi Points	Enigmatic Mind	17 + Int Mod	Will	Like spell Ultrablast, except can spend 1 additional psi point for 1d4 dmg.
160 years	7 Psi Points	True Seeing, Psionic	N/A	N/A	Like spell True Seeing.
180 years	9 Psi Points	Astra Portia	N/A	N/A	Like spell Gate, except can be made permanent, turned on/off as a swift action.
200 years	9 Psi Points	Etherealness, Psionic	19 + Int Mod	Will	Like spell Etherealness, except you may attack and cast spells.
250+ years	20 Psi Points	Ascension	N/A	N/A	Like monk ability Perfect Self, except Ancient can take the form of pure energy for 1d4 rounds/level.

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