Qilian (3.5e Race)

Author: RelentlessImp (talk) Date Created: Oct 2024 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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A Wizard did it. A wizard who liked monkeys enough to have one as a familiar, and to keep cats, and to have grown powerful enough to need servants - so that wizard combined their favorite things into a race of slaves. That wizard is dead now - from old age - and their creation has wandered into the world.

Personality

Qilian most strongly exhibit the primary behaviors found in both cats and monkeys; community, playfulness, and spite. Qilian are extremely social creatures.

Physical Description

Qilian are a small species, rarely topping 4'6 (137cm), with slight frames, with the females of the species typically being larger than the males, but the males being heavier. They are covered in a layer of silken fur that ranges in color from coal black to jet white, and often shows cat-like patterns such as tortoiseshell, and can range from shorthair to longhair. Their fur also pulls away from primary and secondary sexual characteristics, leaving them furless there. Their faces are humanoid in shape, though furred, and they sport large, cat-like ears atop their heads. They also grow human-like hair, which many keep short, or at least well above their tail. Their hands are slightly off-shape from a humanoid's, with long, spindly fingers and long thumbs, and their feet are prehensile and shaped much like their hands, while their arms are slightly longer than average for a humanoid (armspan is roughly 1.25x their body length). Their tails are usually 3/4ths the length of their body, though can on rare occasions be up to twice their body length, and are also prehensile and capable of supporting a Qilian's body weight. Qilians walk upright, but favor a stooped knuckle-walk when in a hurry.

Relations

Qilian look upon most other species as potential members of a community.

Alignment

Qilian are typically Good-aligned, and trend towards Lawful with their community-based outlook, but Qilian are capable of adopting any alignment.

Lands

Most Qilian prefer to live on mountains, in forests, or both on and in forested mountains.

Language

Qilian speak Common and Qilspeak - a language that can't be fully understood or communicated except by other Qilians, utilizing a mixture of verbal sounds, posture, ear positioning, eye movement, and facial expression.

Names

Qilian begin life with a birth name, and may have many other names assigned to them throughout their childhood based on events their family or community share with them. Come adulthood, a Qilian adopts a new name, chosen by themselves or as a collaborative effort among their friends and family; this is often accompanied by a ritual not unlike a birthday party. A Qilian may also change their name multiple times throughout their life to reflect developments or personal growth, and hosts a ritual like their adulthood naming ceremony with close friends each time they choose to do so.

Racial Traits

• -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma: Qilian are slight and nimble, but not typically very strong, and their upbringing and instincts towards community makes them personable.
• Humanoid 
• Small: As a Small creature, a qilian gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –4 size penalty on special attack (bull rushes, grapples, overruns, and trips) checks, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but it uses smaller weapons than humans use, and its lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Qilian base land speed is 30 feet. Qilian also have a Climb speed of 30ft. 
• Darkvision: A qilian can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and a qilian can function just fine with no light at all. 
• With their large eyes capable of seeing in the dark and their large felinoid ears, Qilian gain a +2 bonus on Spot and Listen checks, and always treat Spot and Listen as class skills. 
• Prehensile Limbs (Ex): A Qilian may use their feet and their tail as fully functional limbs, including wielding weapons, though their tails take a -2 penalty when making attacks with manufactured weapons. A Qilian may spend a year in training to remove this penalty, and many adventuring Qilians do this as their last task before leaving home. A Qilian qualifies for Multiweapon Fighting and may apply it to any combination of Hands+Tail, Feet+Tail, Hands+Feet (when hanging by their tail), or Hands+Feet+Tail (when magically flying, for example). A Qilian is always capable of supporting their own body weight and up to a Light Load when hanging from their tail, as long as what they hang from is capable of also supporting that weight. 
• Light-Footed (Ex): A cat, even one warped into a monkey, always lands on their feet. Qilians suffer half falling damage. 
• Beyond the Binary (Ex): Qilian are so community-focused that they often find themselves needing to fit into the community in one way or another. They are capable of altering their physical sex in response to a community's needs or their own personal whims, which begins with a week of concentration for an hour a day, after which the swapping process begins. Over the next six months, a Qilian will lose or gain primary or secondary sexual characteristics of the physical sex they are swapping to. A Qilian may choose to retain primary sexual characteristics as they wish during this process. 
• Qilian have a +8 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks. They can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. They use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb checks.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Qilspeak
• Bonus Languages: Any, except secret languages such as Druidic.
• Favored Class: Any, chosen at 1st level.
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Vital Statistics

Table: Qilian Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
15 years	+1d4	+2d4	+3d4

Table: Qilian Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
35 years	60 years	90 years	+3d20 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: Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	3'4"	+2d8	60 lbs lb.	× (2d10) lb.
Female	3'6"	+2d10	50 lbs lb.	× (2d8) lb.

Pathfinder Favored Class Bonuses

A Qilian can use Catfolk, Vanara, and Human favored class bonuses if they wish.

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