Vessel of Stars SJ Conversion pt 9

3e Neogi Conversion:
Small Aberration (3^Ò)
Hit Dice:  5d8+5 (27 hp)
Initiative:  +2 (dexterity)
Speed:  20 ft.
AC:  17 (+1 size, +2 dexterity, +4 natural)
Attacks:  1 Bite +5 melee, 2 Claws +3 melee
Damage:  Bite 1d6-1, Claws 1d4-1
Face/Reach:  5 ft. by 5 ft./ 5 ft.
Special Attacks:  Poison
Special Qualities:  Umber Hulk Leadership, +2 Cha bonus with respect to
Umber Hulks, Low light vision, Immune to umber hulk gaze
Saves:  Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +4
Abilities:  Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 13
Skills:  Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +9, Profession (slaver) +10*, Spot
+8, Sense Motive +8
Feats:  Multiattack, Weapon Finesse (bite, claw)
Climate/Terrain:  Usually Space
Organization:  Solitary, Pack (3^Ö8)
Challenge Rating:  3
Treasure:  Half standard, double gems/jewelry (^Óowner^Ô neogi only)
Alignment:  Always lawful evil
Advancement:  By character class

* Profession (slaver) grants knowledge of slaving organizations (and
those willing to trade with slavers), locations of slaver ports, the
ability to determine the value of a slave (based on age, race, physical
condition, skills, etc.), and so on.

The neogi appear as a cross between a wolf spider and a moray eel.  The
short, furry, eight-limbed body is topped by a lithe, bare, fleshy neck
with a serpentine head, its mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth.  The
ends of its limbs are tipped with small claws. The fur of the neogi is
a light tan, but dyed a variety of colors to signify rank, power,
accomplishments, and warnings to other neogi.  The older a neogi is,
the more colorful its hide becomes.
        Neogi are ruthless slayers and plunderers, and think nothing of eating
their enemies, servants, or fallen comrades.  They are a hateful,
xenophobic race.
        The neogi language is the same as that of umber hulks.  It is unknown
which race actually developed the language but in areas where both
species are known the language is referred to as neogi (and where only
umber hulks are known it is referred to as umber hulk).  Neogi speak
neogi and common and more intelligent neogi learn the languages of
commonly owned slaves.

Combat
Neogi prefer to use their slaves in combat rather than entering it
themselves.  Those who are spellcasters may also cast spells from
behind their slaves.  They only enter combat directly when forced to.
Neogi claws are far too small to hold any weapon and their legs are
improperly jointed for using a shield effectively but they are able to
handle wands, potions, and spell components.
Poison (Ex):  Neogi inject their victims with poison on a successful
bite attack.  A fortitude save (DC 13) must be made to avoid being
slowed for 1-8 rounds.  Additional bites increase the duration.  There
is no secondary damage.
Umber Hulk Leadership:  Neogi raise captive umber hulks from birth and
only umber hulks raised in this fashion are subject to this effect.
Neogi have a special racial ability to control these umber hulks.  When
a neogi meets such an umber hulk that is not owned by another neogi and
makes a successful intimidate check (DC 10+HD, 18 for an average umber
hulk) it has convinced the umber hulk to serve it.  Any particular
neogi can attempt to intimidate any particular umber hulk and gain it
as a follower/slave once/day.  A single neogi can attempt this against
as many eligible umber hulks as it likes per day and a single
uncontrolled umber hulk may be subject to as many of these attempts in
one day as it encounters neogi who have not yet gotten their maximum
possible number of umber hulk slaves of that level.  The number of
umber hulks a neogi can control is based on the leadership feat, where
a neogi is considered to have a base leadership level of 10 (2x the
neogi^Òs HD).  On the leadership table, 8 and 9 HD umber hulks are
considered to be 1st level with 3 HD per level thereafter so that 10-12
HD umber hulks are 2nd level and 22-24 HD umber hulks are 6th level.
The neogi^Òs level on the table is adjusted as usual by their charisma
score.  Additionally, the neogi^Òs level increases by one for every
class they have attained.  Umber hulks controlled in this manner will
generally do anything a creature operating under the charm monster
spell would do.  Rarely do neogi living aboard ship allow their umber
hulk slaves to grow to huge size as this makes them unable to properly
operate aboard ship as they take up too much space.
Low Light Vision (Ex):  Neogi have low light vision but not darkvision.
+2 Cha to Umber Hulks:  This applies only to umber hulks raised by
neogi from birth.  These umber hulks perceive neogi as having a Cha 2
points greater than they actually possess.  This affects Cha based
effects used by the neogi toward the umber hulks including skills (such
as intimidate), their umber hulk leadership power, and feats (such as
leadership).
Immunity to Umber Hulk Gaze (Ex):  Neogi are immune to the confusion
gaze attacks possessed by umber hulks.  They are not immune to any
other sorts of confusion effects.
Skills:  Neogi quickly learn to watch slaves carefully and so gain a +2
racial bonus to spot checks that are opposed to another creature^Òs
skills (such as hide and pick pocket).

Society
Neogi society is based on the idea that all creatures are slaves.  Even
neogi are slaves until they can gain an umber hulk slave (through the
use of their umber hulk leadership power).  Neogi tattoo their slaves
to denote ownership, even tattooing those neogi they own.  Every group
of neogi has only one ^Ómaster neogi^Ô.  This master owns all the other
neogi in the group and has at least one umber hulk slave.  All the
neogi serving under a single master form a ^Óclan^Ô or a ^Ópack^Ô.  A
single master may control several ships, forming a fleet.  All the
ships in the fleet are operated by humanoid slaves (including humans
and demi-humans as well as the occasional semi-human such as a wemic or
a centaur) and each has one or more neogi aboard that is the ^Ócaptain^Ô.
 The master may or may not choose to be captain of its own vessel.
        Once a neogi gains an umber hulk servant it is still a slave of the
master neogi but it may now own other slaves and accumulate wealth
(personal property).  It is now know as an ^Óowner^Ô neogi.  If [all] its
umber hulk slave[s] is[/are] lost the ^Óowner^Ô becomes a slave once
more.  Masters always take the umber hulks of the ^Óowners^Ô they own if
their own umber hulks become too few in order to ensure they will
remain masters.  This may mean killing the owner whose umber hulk they
are acquiring.  Only ^Óowners^Ô will have treasure as listed above.
Neogi masters have twice the usual listed treasure (this is effectively
the ^Óclan^Òs^Ô treasure).  At this point a neogi can build up enough
funds to gain their own ship.  If a neogi does so and purchases its own
ship it will leave the service of its former master, in effect buying
its way out of slavery.  More often, however, master neogi are attacked
by up and coming juniors and turned into Great Old Masters.  Every
remaining neogi that has at least one umber hulk slave then lays claim
to some portion of the fleet and it disperses.  Masters with only one
ship generally have subordinates that fight until only one possible
master (i.e., neogi with a living umber hulk servant) survives.  Of
course, masters with only one ship may allow several juniors to have a
single umber hulk slave each so that they are more likely to try to
figure out any possible succession questions before attacking their
captain.
        Neogi gods are very mysterious to outsiders and neogi clerics are very
rare.  Many believe neogi have no gods of their own and are usually
unwilling to subject themselves to yet another layer of enslavement.

Neogi Characters
A neogi^Òs favored class is wizard with most neogi who attain a class
becoming wizards (this is as much as 1 in 10 neogi or more in some
powerful clans).  Neogi masters tend to be wizards and those neogi with
their own umber hulk servant that gain the chance usually study
wizardry in order to gain an advantage over their rivals.  Neogi druids
and rangers are unknown, probably because neogi society has no
connection to or care about the environment around them.  It is
doubtful any neogi would take the time to attempt a career as a monk
but such a creature could be quite deadly.


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