Grippli

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Grippli

Cold hands, but a warm heart!

Origins

Of all the intelligent races, there are several that are aligned with animal spirits. The story of their origin is vague, but no matter where you go, the same general outline is agreed upon. That outline goes something like this:

In the Dawn Times, there were several civilized intelligent races. Who was the First Race is a matter of debate, but there is no doubt that there were Elves, Dwarves, and Humans very early, followed closely by Gnomes and Halflings. For a very long time, these were the dominant races.

After the Dawn Times but still very long ago, there were many animal Gods who wished to also have a race of intelligent creatures to worship them. As a result, there came to be hundreds of intelligent races, many of them aligned with animal spirits. This was a period of great strife and chaos as all the multitude of races strove among themselves.

Eventually, the Gods decided there would be a great contest, and from the hundreds of intelligent animal races there would be chosen five, to match the number of the First Races. The details of the contest can be found in thousands of myths all over the world, but in the end, there were indeed five animal races chosen to Bear the Spark of Civility.

Those five races exist to this day. The races that lost the contest were understandably bitter, as they were relegated to a lesser role. Some races, like the centaurs, moldered away into decline. Other races embraced their lesser status as a matter of pride, like the gnolls.

Of the five races who won that Great Contest, all are available as player races, as they have the Spark.

One of those races is the Grippli.

Grippli are small and sturdy, with powerful builds and wide, perpetually smiling faces. Their skin is smooth and soft, and they frequently have pale bellies. Their hands and feet are large, soft, flexible, and just a tiny bit tacky. This trait, combined with their strength and agility, makes them superb climbers.

Grippli are stereotypically swamp dwellers, but unlike the Vanx, they really do need moist climates to thrive. They love swamps, bogs, sloughs, rain forests, and any place where there is steady precipitation. Their small stature and grinning faces belie their racial potency: Grippli are not to be taken lightly, as many a larger race has learned to their chagrin.

Culture

Grippli culture is shaped and dominated by their environment. Grippli, unlike most intelligent races, are greatly dependent upon a moist environment in which to live. Grippli thrive in swamps, marches, and bogs, anyplace where there is an ample supply of water year round. Grippli are not greatly affected by temperature, and as long as liquid water is available, they will be happy and prosperous.

Grippli are affected by dry climates, and will take twice the effects of other races from climatic effects for deserts, but take no ill effects whatsoever from wet climates.

Grippli like to live in tight-knit communities, either on their own in large communal villages, or as tight-knit enclaves inside a larger settlement. Grippli are inveterate fishers and finders of rare herbs and spices, and can eke out a living in seemingly utterly inhospitable climes. Grippli are possibly the unusual looking among the races, being two to three feet tall with soft, slick skin which is mottled green, brown, and white. Some grippli have large protuberances on their skin, as well. They tend to be ivory white on the belly but not always. Their eyes are extremely large and can be very wideset, and can come in a variety of colors. Black eyes are the most common, with mottled yellow, mottled green, bright red, bright yellow-green, orange, and many other colors besides.

Grippli have large hands and feet, and their fingers are very pliable and can be extremely dexterous. Grippli have modest webs on their hands and fully webbed toes, which helps them when they are swimming. Grippli women only lay one clutch of eggs in their lives, and so they are quick particular about their mates. As a result, long, elegant courships are very common among the grippli, before they finally 'tie the knot' as it were.

Grippli are quite unconventional in their family structure, as they form line families, where mated couples are all 'married' to each other, and they all live and raise their children together. Such line families can be quite large, with up to thirty or more mated grippli and dozens of children. As a result, grippli tend to place a lot more emphasis on the process of finding a suitable mate than they do to the strictures of marriage and child-rearing. Grippli are rarely unfaithful, however! Offending everyone in your line marriage is a very bad thing to do, and very few grippli will risk the utter social ostracism that comes from such deeds.

Customs

Froggy

Starting Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	2 ft. 9 in.	+2d4 in. (2 ft. 11 in. - 3 ft. 5 in.)	50 lbs.	+(2d8×3 lbs.) (56 - 74 lbs.)
Female	2 ft. 7 in.	+2d4 in. (2 ft. 9 in. - 3 ft. 3 in.)	40 lbs.	+(2d8×2 lbs.) (44 - 56 lbs.)

Starting Ages

Adulthood	Intuitive	Self-Taught	Trained
10 years	+1d4 years (11 - 14 years)	+1d6 years (11 - 16 years)	+1d10 years (11 - 20 years)

PC's

Grippli have no class or alignment restrictions.

Standard Racial Traits

All Grippli have the following Standard Racial Advantages:

• Attributes: Grippli may choose to gain one of the following ability score bonus sets when creating their character. No ability score may ever be modified above a 20 or below a 7.
  • +2 to two different stats, -2 to one stat
  • +2 to one stat, +1 to three different stats, -2 to one stat
  • +4 to one stat, -2 to two different stats

• Size: Grippli are size Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.

• Type: Grippli have the Humanoid type, with the Grippli subtype.

• Base Speed: Grippli have a base speed of 20 feet.

• Languages: Grippli begin play speaking Common and Slough. Grippli with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Boggard, Elven, Gàbhach, Goblin, Myerl, Terran, and Urbleburblelou. See the Languages page for more information about these languages.

• Normal Vision (Ex): Grippli have normal vision, and require bright light to see without penalty.

• Prehensile Tongue (Ex): Grippli have a very long tongue. For most Grippli this is merely cosmetic, but some Grippli may use their tongue for useful things.

• Climb Speed (Ex): Grippli have a Climb speed, as Greater Climb, that is equal to their base speed.

Major Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Major Racial Traits:

• Bounding Leaper (Su): A Grippli with this racial trait gains Acrobatics as a class skill and gains a +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics checks. This bonus increases to +4 if they have 10 or more ranks in the skill, +6 if they have 20 or more ranks in the skill, and +8 if they have 30 or more ranks in the skill. The Grippli is treated as always having a running start for jumps. In addition, jumps performed by this Grippli may exceed their maximum speed and are always resolved as a single move action.

• Slick Skin (Su): A Grippli with this racial trait gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC. This bonus increases to +2 AC at 25th level.

• Agile Tongue (Ex): A Grippli with this racial trait adds a reach of ten feet to his prehensile tongue ability. In addition, he can pick up items weighing no more than 5 pounds, make Sleight of Hand checks, perform the steal or disarm combat maneuvers, or deliver melee touch attacks with his tongue. The Grippli's tongue cannot be used to wield a weapon, nor does it deal any damage on its own. After you perform any of these actions, until the start of your next turn or until you release any held object (whichever is longer), you cannot speak or perform any action with a verbal component.

• Uncanny Stillness (Su): In any round in which you do not use a move action for movement, gain +1 to hit with all attacks until the beginning of your next turn. This bonus increases to +2 at level 15.

• Slime Coat (Su): A Grippli with this racial ability may voluntarily exude a thick coat of slime as a move action. This slime coat provides temporary hitpoints equal to your Con modifier, minimum 1.

Minor Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Minor Racial Traits:

• Wide-spaced Eyes (Ex): A Grippli with this racial trait does not grant attackers who are flanking the Grippli a bonus to hit (normally, flanking provides a +2 to-hit bonus). This does not prevent the Grippli from being flanked, nor does it protect them from abilities which are only usable if the Grippli is flanked (e.g. sneak attack).

• Sticky Tongue (Ex): A Grippli with this racial trait can use his prehensile tongue racial ability to retrieve small, stowed objects carried on his person and place the object into his hand as a swift action. The retrieved object cannot weigh more than 5 pounds. If the Grippli does not have a free hand to take the object, the Grippli can hold it with his tongue. He cannot retrieve another item until he drops the item or hands it off to his hand, nor can he speak or perform any action with a verbal component until the object is released.

• Amphibian Artistry (Ex): The Grippli with this racial trait gains the Profession skill as a class skill, and may add a +2 racial bonus to any profession skill related to an amphibious lifestyle in which they have at least 1 rank. This bonus increases to +4 if they have ten ranks in the skill, +6 if they have twenty ranks, and +8 if they have thirty ranks. This would apply to Profession (Sailor), Profession (Carpenter) when working with familiar woods, Profession (Tanner) when dealing with crocodile hides, etc.

• Perpetual Smile (Ex): The Grippli with this racial trait gains the Diplomacy skill as a class skill, and add a +2 racial bonus to the skill. If they have at least 10 ranks in the skill, this racial bonus improves to +3. At 20 or more ranks, it becomes +4, and at 30 or more ranks, it improves to +5. Additionally, when the Grippli reaches level 10, he gains Bluff as a class skill, and a +2 racial bonus to the skill. If he has at least 10 ranks in the skill, this racial bonus improves to +3. At 20 or more ranks, it becomes +4, and at 30 or more ranks, it improves to +5.

• Not Compensating (Ex): Grippli with this racial trait can wield weapons that are sized for Medium creatures without taking a size or handiness penalty.