Tengu

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Tengu

Sharp eyes, sharp beak, sharp wits, and all will be well.

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 Tengu.

Starting Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	4 ft. 9 in.	+2d6 in. (4 ft. 11 in. - 5 ft. 9 in.)	50 lbs.	+(2d8×5 lbs.) (64 - 130 lbs.)
Female	4 ft. 7 in.	+2d4 in. (4 ft. 9 in. - 5 ft. 3 in.)	20 lbs.	+(2d8×5 lbs.) (34 - 100 lbs.)

Starting Ages

Adulthood	Intuitive	Self-Taught	Trained
15 years	+1d6 years (16 - 21 years)	+2d6 years (17 - 27 years)	+3d6 years (18 - 33 years)

PC's

Tengu have no class or alignment restrictions.

Standard Racial Traits

All Tengu have the following Standard Racial Advantages:

• Attributes: Tengu 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: Tengu are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

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

• Base Speed: Tengu have a base speed of 30 feet, but their speed is greatly affected by weight if they are flying. Halve all of a Tengu's weight allowances to avoid encumbrance if they are using a Fly speed.

• Languages: Tengu begin play speaking Common and Tengu. Tengu with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: . See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

• Hawk Sight (Ex): Tengu need bright light to see without penalty, but in bright light, their vision is exceptional. All range modifiers applied to visual perception rolls in bright light are at -1 per fifty feet instead of -1 per ten feet.

• Winged (Ex): Even though Tengu do not always have a Fly speed, they always have wings. A Tengu's wings extend from their arms, often giving the impression that they are wearing wide, loose sleeves made of dark feathers. The wings can be folded out of the way, and do not hamper the Tengu's ability to use her hands and arms normally.

Major Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Major Racial Traits:

• Soaring (Ex): A Tengu with this racial trait can use her Winged racial trait to fly. The Tengu gains Lesser Flight with a speed of 30, but while in the air, she may not use her hands or arms for anything except sustaining her flight. The Tengu may continue to hold weapons, shields and items in her hands while flying but may not use them until she lands, nor may she cast spells or use abilities requiring a somatic component. At level 10, the Tengu's flight speed improves to 40, and becomes strong enough to allow a single attack action to be performed without landing or losing altitude. At level 20, the Tengu's flight speed improves to 50, and she may use her hands and arms normally while flying with no loss of altitude (she still uses her arms to flap her wings, but she has learned to act quickly between beats). At level 30, the Tengu's flight speed improves to 60 and becomes Greater Flight.

• Stones in the Vase (Ex): Tengu with this racial trait gain a +1 racial bonus to INT. This bonus may be applied to her INT even if she has already added a racial ability score modifier to INT, though her total modified INT cannot exceed 20. This racial bonus to INT increases to +2 at 20th level.

• Flashing Beak (Ex): A Tengu with this racial trait can slash at the eyes of an enemy with his beak in an attempt to blind them. Once per round during a full attack action, the Tengu may select one enemy he successfully hits with a melee attack and force that enemy to make a Reflex save (DC of 10 + 1/2 the Tengu's character level + the highest of the Tengu's physical ability scores (STR, DEX or CON)) or that creature gains the Blind status condition until the start of the Tengu's next turn. This trait can never affect more than one target per round, even if the attack used to deliver it affects multiple targets.

• Sum of Our Parts (Su): Once per day, a Tengu with this racial trait may spend a move action to choose 1 saving throw type (Fort, Refl, Will) and determine the highest value of this save among himself and all allies within 10 feet of him. The Tengu and any ally within 10 feet of him may use this value instead of their own until the end of the encounter. If any ally leaves the radius of the trait's effect, they no longer enjoy its benefits, though the saving throw's value does not change, even if the original bearer of the chosen value leaves the area. At 10th level, this trait applies to all allies within 15 feet of the Tengu. At 20th level, it applies to all allies within 20 feet, and at 30th level, it applies to all allies within 30 feet.

• Trickster's Deceit (Su): Once per encounter, a Tengu with this racial trait may expend a move action to choose an enemy within 30 feet, and become invisible to that enemy until the Tengu attacks that foe, or includes that foe in any attack, spell or effect. There is no saving throw against this trait's effects, and it lasts until broken or the encounter ends. If used outside of combat, the trait cannot be used more often than once per hour and it lasts 1 minute or until the Tengu attacks the subject. The invisibility may only ever be applied to the Tengu with this trait. Invisibility provides total concealment (50% miss chance) and a +20 bonus to stealth checks against creatures whose senses are affected by invisibility.

Minor Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Minor Racial Traits:

• Feathery Rush (Ex): When charging, a Tengu with this racial trait may select one creature on the battlefield. The Tengu does not provoke attacks of opportunity from that creature during his charge. The selected creature does not have to be the target of the charge attack.

• Cloak of Feathers (Ex): Using her Winged racial trait, a Tengu with this racial trait can mask her movements as though skillfully brandishing a cloak. This trait grants the Tengu a +2 racial bonus on Bluff checks made to feint, and, if the feint maneuver is successful, she gains a +1 dodge bonus to her Armor Class until the start of her next turn (in addition to the effects of the feint itself).

• Opportunist (Ex): A Tengu with this racial trait adds a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls during attacks of opportunity.

• Dangerously Clever (Ex): A Tengu with this racial trait may put ranks into one Bailiwick skill that is not granted by his character class and add a +2 racial bonus to his checks. This bonus increases to +3 if they have 10 or more ranks in the skill, +4 if they have 20 or more ranks in the skill, and +5 if they have 30 or more ranks in the skill. This racial trait does not make the chosen Bailiwick skill a class skill, however.

• Shiny! (Ex): A Tengu with this racial trait gains the Appraise skill as a class skill and may add a +2 racial bonus to all Appraise checks. This bonus increases to +4 if he has 10 or more ranks in the skill, +6 if he has 20 or more ranks in the skill, and +8 if he has 30 or more ranks in the skill. At 10th level, the Tengu may always identify the most valuable item he can see in a given room after looking around for a full round, although to determine the exact valu will require a successful Appraise check. If a Tengu with Shiny! ever fails an Appraise check by more than 5, he treats the result as having failed by less than 5.