Ronso
Hit Dice: 1d8 per point of CON or 1d8 per two points of CON with full CONd8 after 6th level after 1st (DMs choice).
Mutations
Physical: Base - Increased Strength (M 16: +4d6 melee damage/F 8: +2d6 melee damage)
Increased Dexterity (M 8: -2 to AC/F 16: -4 to AC)
Increased Smell (13)
Increased Taste
Natural Weapons (claws (13: 1d8), bite (11: 1d6) and horn (12: 1d6) for males)
Night Vision (6)
3rd level - Draining Touch (16: 3d6 points of draining per round)
Quickness (M 6: 50 ft. combat movement speed and mental actions take half as long/F 14: 60 ft. for combat movement speed, mental actions take a third as long and female ronso gain an extra attack per round).
5th level - Adrenal Control (14), Increased Balance (10),
Mental: Base - Combat Empathy (13: +1 to hit and +3 to damage)
3rd level - Fleet of Foot (12: ronso can jump four times the length and height a normal human can).
Abilities: Ronso are strong and agile people by human standards, with the men stronger than they are agile and the inverse true of their females. Male Ronso gain a +3 to Strength and a +2 to Dexterity while ronso females gain a +2 to Strength and a +3 to Dexterity. Both are highly sturdy by human standards, thus granting both ronso sexes a +2 to Constitution.
Ronso also must have a minimum of 12 to Willpower and Dexterity and 14 to Strength and Constitution.
Description: With the males standing in at towering 6'6" tall and weighing an impressive 300 lbs. and females six inches shorter and 40 to 60 lbs. lighter, the ronso are the undisputed masters of the frozen wastes. Being in all cases mighty thewed warriors and hunters packs of these noble felioid barbarians in many case have been all that stood between the free world and its domination or even ruin and destruction. Their thick insulating fur comes in various shades of blue, with white patches on their underarms, inner thighs and the case of males, their chests. While both sexes possess manes, in males they are much longer and typically braided or knotted. Males also possess rhinoceros-like horns in the center of their foreheads', which are seen as signs of strength and virility by the ronso. In addition to their more obvious traits ronso possess two superhuman abilities that make them stand apart from other barbaric folk. One, ronso can leap farther and higher than almost any other creature their size. Two, they can drain the life from their foes with a mere touch.
Culture: The ronso have an odd warrior culture. They extol martial virtue and warlike ferocity, yet never initiate hostilities towards their neighboring cultures. They will however respond with swift and brutal retaliation towards their aggressors. Thankfully this doesn't extend to attacking noncombatants, such as the elderly and young. They do make one exception, demons. History is filled with tales of ronso expeditions into human settlements to kill hellspawn where ever they're found. In fact the ronso have specialized demon hunters called the Claws of the Righteous. With their claws, massive swords and ornate spears the Claws of the Righteous have developed and mastered a unique martial art that allows them to slay possessing demons without harming their hosts. Of course they don't feel the need to explain this to any easily frightened possession victim they meet.
While they do hunt for their meat this by no means hampered the ronsos development of agriculture and civilization, nor does their lack of beasts of burden. This just means that ronso lack conventional livestock, but instead maintain vast hunting preserves for their kind. At the same time they've developed irrigation, building, sewage, wells, mining and metallurgy. As befitting their shamanic ways and guidance from their patron spirits, ronso do not practice such mining techniques as mountaintop removal and have set up barriers to prevent or at reduce the chance of groundwater contamination. The sheer fact that ronso can grow crops in what should be frozen wastes is a testament to their skill in geomancy.
Each ronso tribe or village is led by a chieftain with his, or in rare cases her, council of elders. In kind each 5-9 (2d3+3) chieftains is led by a jarl or king, who is appointed by a combined gathering of elders from among all the tribes' chieftains. Upon election this chieftain steps down from his tribal duties and names a group of potential successors to be voted on by his tribe's or villages council. He or she rules with a council of elders, one taken from each village. Last but not least is the high chieftain of the ronso, elected to office by the councils of elders of all lesser ronso jarls. He or she is both head of state and the spiritual leader of his people. Like the jarls and chieftains below, he or she rules with a council of high elders, each one drawn from a different jarldom of the ronso. Chieftains, jarls and the high chieftain rule at the pleasure of their councils.
Due to their more primitive lifestyle ronso suffer a -10% Technology Roll Modifier.
Alignment: Usually Lawful Good.
