Burad (Race) (Homebrew) (3.5 + 4.0)

Originally the Burad was created to fill a whole in my world. I wanted the slowly move into a steampunk like setting and needed the technology to come from somewhere. Gnomes in my game were illusionists and secret keepers. While they had their hands in creation it was generally the arcane variety.

Some of the original inspiration came from Jack Mann's race the Drazai, but they just didn't fit like I needed them to.

Here's what I ended up running with in 3.5:

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Burads
Small Humanoid (Reptilian)

Burads live deep in their own separated communities with mountain tunnels. There they study arduously, trying to find as much knowledge as they can. Burads appear to be small, reptilian humanoids. Their skin is covered in brown scales, and has no hair or fur. Behind follows a very short stubby tail, an their fingers are adorned with very small black claws. Most noticeable however are their heads, perched atop a slightly elongated neck, their heads draw out into a snout and look surprisingly like a dragons.

Society: Burad society places strong emphasis on community and have no sense of privacy in work or personal life. Their knowledge pursuit is focused on engineering and magic, making them natural artificers and wizards. Burads also recognize knowledge through more philosophical means and many devote their lives to art or the divine. Burads put little emphasis however on the martial skills and exceptionally few become warriors, preferring to rely on others means for protection.

Personality: Burads are naturally curious and knowledge driven individuals. They have a very difficult time grasping other peoples ideas of modesty and privacy, and this can sometimes lead to trouble. They are often artistically expressive, eloquent and ambitious. As Burad society teaches knowledge can be gained through all things, they tend to be very respectful of all peoples beliefs no matter what they may be.

Physical Description: Burads appear to be small, reptilian humanoids. Their skin is covered in brown scales, and has no hair or fur. Behind follows a very short stubby tail, an their fingers are adorned with very small black claws. Most noticeable however are their heads, perched atop a slightly elongated neck, their heads draw out into a snout and look surprisingly like a dragons. The males stand at about three-and-a-half feet tall, with the females slightly smaller. Eye color is almost always yellow with occasional variation. They tend to wear any clothes they find practical and comfortable with no thought to style.

Relations: Burads generally have very little contact with the world outside their community. Their most common neighbors are elves and gnomes who they get along with quite well. They consider gnomes to be very distant cousins, and sometimes they become part of a Burad Community. Elves on the other hand are an excellent source of information but have "very strange ways". While Burads try to stay friendly to any they come in contact with (who are not violent towards them) there is an uneasiness toward Dwarves. In the past there was some kind of unknown conflict there. They are generally viewed as aggressive and greedy.

Alignment: Burads tend toward lawful and good as it just seems more efficient in their minds.

Religion: The Burads worship all gods equally and purposefully so. Their belief in knowledge from all sources means most of their clerics serve the entire pantheon at once not wanting to offend any of the others by favoring one.

Language: Burads speak Draconic, and Burad (a standard repetition of the word Burad with different inflections, pauses and hand gestures).

Adventurers: Burads will often adventure out of their community seeking knowledge and components for their devices but almost always return home to share their finding with the community.

Government: Burad communities are governed by distribution of hats. There are generally a set number of hats, based loosely on population within any community. Those who wear the hats are leaders. If you want to be a leader you simply need to snatch a hat off someones head and wear it yourself. Most of the time though a Burad tires of leadership quickly, generally not lasting more than a couple of days and will simply put their hat on someone else's head.

Aging: Burads age surprisingly quickly, reaching adulthood at 14, middle age at 26, old age at 40 and venerable at 54.. They also breed a surprising amount.

Burad Racial Traits
-Darkvision 60' ft
-Base Speed 20 ft.
--2 Str, -2 Con, +2 Int
-+2 to all craft checks
-All xp costs for crafting are reduced by 25%
-All Knowledge skills treated as class skills
-+1 natural armor
-Natural Attacks: bite (1d2)
-Spell like abilities: May Cast Mending up to 2 times per day total.
-Automatic Languages: Draconic, Burad and Common. Bonus Languages: Terran, Elven, Gnomish, and Celestial.
-Favored Class: Artificer
LA +0

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Now in 4th edition my world has changed significantly. It's a little harder for the Burads to stay in their own isolated communities . As such they had to adapt a bit to public life. While they still strive for knowledge they're vast workshops are mostly gone and its hard for them to accomplish the feats of creation they once knew. They've adapted a bit to fill in other holes that a community might need. The Burad language is now only know in exclusively Burad communities.

Burad

Average Height: 3’4 – 3’8
Average Weight: 35-60 lbs

Ability Scores: +2 Dex, +2 Int
Size: Small
Speed: 5 squares
Vision: Low-Light
Languages: Common, Draconic
Skill Bonuses: +2 Insight, +2 Arcana

Always Improvising: You can use improvised tools and weapons with a +2 Bonus, instead of +0.

Clever Defense: You gain Clever Defense as an encounter power.

Clever Defense Burad Racial Power
You think quickly to get out of a bind.

Encounter
Immediate Reaction Personal
Trigger: You are hit with a melee attack.
Effect: Before damage is rolled, make the attacker reroll vs your Reflex.