Vespine (3.5e Race)

Vespine

Vespine are anti-social tropic dwelling carnivores resembling wasps with very slight humanoid features.

"The only thing more off-putting than a big wasp is one that tries to reason with you." ~A confused traveling merchant

Personality

Vespine loners are not very social, they rarely make casual contact with other races. They conduct business very frugally and tend to get straight to the point in conversation, but Vespine arent afraid to lie if the ends justify the means. Vespine always try to get a fair price on things and as such seem greedy on the surface, but Vespine actually highly value mutually beneficial relationships. Vespine that live in groups are far more social than the loner majority and value the well being of their kind over even their own lives. Those Vespine that live in groups have much more bright and frivolous personalities, and aren't reluctant to be expressive about their opinions.

Physical Description

In general Vespine resemble wasps in the shape of Goblins, in terms of physical appearance, size, and posture. Vespine are small bi-symmetric bipedal humanoids that stand anywhere from 2 to 3 feet tall and don't weigh any more than 40 pounds. The Vespine have exoskeletons that vary in colors like jet black all over the body, a bright yellow all over with thin black stripes, a deep blackish blue all over, and sometimes albino. They have a large arched thorax with 4 transparent wings tinted red, black, or brown measuring about 3/4 the Vespine's height that hang off of and cover the thorax and abdomen, female Vespine have wings large enough to cover their whole back thorax and abdomen. Their heads are triangle shaped pointing forward, with their black compound eyes on the sides of their heads making up about 1/4 of the heads size and about 6 smaller jet black ocelli eyes lined up on the edges of the face. They have two antenna that protrude from the back of the head forward and mandibles at the point of their face around their mouths. Vespine have two types of eyes, this allows for impressive performance while flying and the ability to see in complete darkness. Vespine also sport a large abdomen connected to the back end of their thorax. At the end of the abdomen Vespine have a large stinger that was used to defend themselves, but now that they have assimilated into society it is rarely used anymore. Vespine have 6 limbs attached to the thorax all spaced equally along the sides of the thorax, 4 ball socket attached arms with 1 elbow and 3 finger like grippers on the ends of each hand, the other two limbs are legs situated at the bottom of the thorax with the same anatomy as the arms, however the 3 grippers on the end of the legs are larger than that of their hands and far less flexible.

Relations

A vast majority of Vespine live their lives as loners, and a small fraction live in small tight nit communities. Such communities are seldom found in either deep jungle areas or tucked away in the slums, sewers, or back alleys of large cities. Those tight nit communities are the minority of Vespine that attempt to make an honest living within the pretenses of the law. The majority Vespine that live as loners make livings that require as little contact as possible with others and typically without regard of moral compass, like selling or smuggling contraband, being hired arms, and occasionally hired thievery. Vespine are known to be brutally honest and are considered to be both good business partners and poor friends for this reason. The line of work most lone Vespine are involved in cause an aversion to physically larger and more organized races such as humans, elves, and especially giants or ogres. This preference to avoid larger races leads them to do what little socializing they partake in with typically disorganized races such as goblins.

Alignment

Vespine aren't known to be particularly ruthless or merciful, and as such are usually found to be neutral. But Vespine loners are extremely likely to view the law as more of a boundary rather than an aid, so Vespine loners are rarely lawful.

Lands

Vespine are more comfortable in tropical areas, and areas with higher temperature than normal, but nothing hotter than a tropical desert. Some Vespine however are more adapted to cooler temperatures than are normally comfortable simply through exposure and tolerance. Vespine that live in urban settings are there to make a living due to loss of habitable land outside of the city, typically due to deforesting or rampant crime outside the walls of densely populated cities.

Religion

Vespine rarely bother with religious practices. However, those that do practice religion simply worship any deity that is convenient to their cause or way of life.

Language

Vespine are almost always able to speak Common, however they have a buzzing lisp on long and short s sounds. They also posses the ability to communicate exclusively with one another through a complex systems of low pitched hums. This communication is referred to as "Vespan". Vespine are also able to communicate in a basic way to a vast majority of insects through subtle gestures, sounds, and even odors.

Names

Vespine are typically never given names at birth, and are given the opportunity to name themselves and change their names whenever they desire. This typically results in a name that reflects a Vespine's surroundings, like a goblin name. However some Vespine that live in small communities have become privy to names derived from the name given to their race, names like Vasuro, Kesnan, and Vespasian.

Racial Traits

• +4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, −2 Strength, -2 Constitution, -4 Charisma: Vespine are an agile and resourceful folk, but are both physically nonthreatening and physically repulsive.
• Monstrous Humanoid: Vespine are not subject to spells or effects that affect humanoids only, such as charm person or dominate person.
• Small: As a small creature, Vespine gain a +1 size bonus to AC, a +1 size bonus to attack rolls, a +4 size bonus to Hide checks, and receive a -4 to bull rush, grapple, overrun, and trip. Vespine use small weapons and can only carry 3/4 of what a medium character could.
• Vespine base land speed is 15 ft.: Vespine can fly at a speed of 40 ft.
• Multiple limbs: Vespine have four arms, so they have access to the Multiweapon Fighting feat and the Multiattack feat from the Monster Manual.
• Natural armor: A Vespine has a hard exoskeleton granting +2 AC through Natural Armor.
• Exoskeleton: Having your skeleton on the outside has its advantages, however it also has its drawbacks. Vespine find it extremely difficult to swim as their skeleton wicks away the water on their relatively heavy exoskeleton and their wings act as drag, Vespine receive a -16 to Swim skill checks. Their exoskeleton makes it difficult to wear any armor due to their unique physical features, unless the armor is specially tailored to fit them. Vespine also experience massive damage at 25 hit points rather than 50 due to the hardest part of their body being used as the primary defense against injury.
• Flight: Vespine can fly at a speed of 40 ft. with good maneuverability. A flying Vespine produces a low pitched hum from rapidly flapping wings.
• Tropical Race: The Vespine's native lands are in the tropics, allowing them to exist comfortably in temperatures up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, however Vespine experience the negative effects of cold weather in 60 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, as opposed to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Darkvision: Vespine can see out to 30 feet in complete darkness with their second set of eyes.
• Compound Eyes: The Vespine's compound eyes give Vespine sharper vision than even elves. Vespine get a +4 to Search, and Spot checks. Their detailed eyes also give them a +4 bonus on appraisal checks.
• A Vespine has a natural weapon in the form of a stinger on the end of their abdomen, it is a sting attack that deals 1d4 piercing damage and poisons the target through injury, Vespine venom deals an initial 1d3 of Dexterity damage and a secondary 1d4 Dexterity damage. Each instance of damage can be negated by a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your Con modifier).
• Automatic Languages: Common, Vespan, and basic communication with insects. Bonus Languages: Any non-secret languages.
• Favored Class: Rogue.

Vital Statistics

Table: Vespine Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
2 years	+1d2	+1d3	+1d6

Table: Vespine Aging Effects

Middle Age^1	Old^2	Venerable^3	Maximum Age
10 years	16 years	22 years	+1d8 years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Vespine Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	1' 10"	+2d4	16 lb.	× (2) lb.
Female	2' 2"	+1d10	20 lb.	× (2) lb.

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