Ursan (Er-san)
Imposing and indomitable, the ursan are bulky bear-like humanoids. Native to all the realms, the ursan a varied in their customs and believes, but all hold a strong respect for both nature and personal strength. Often exploited for their strength or marginalized by the fears of other races, the ursan struggle to find a balance between defending their territory and lashing out at the world around them.
Basic Information
Biological Traits
The ursan can unleash powerful roars, akin to mini sonic blasts, that can easily deafen those around them. With training, an ursan can instill their killing intent into the roar, causing creatures that hear it to panic or even freeze with fear.
Genetics and Reproduction
Most ursan are solitary, living only with their cubs, meeting up at sacred sites each year to mate and mingle with other ursan. Females will return to these sights when it is time to give birth, so that they may be protected by other members of the community during the process.
Growth Rate & Stages
Ursan cubs live with their mother until they reach adulthood at 13 years of age, at which point they usually leave to form their own den.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Most ursan are omnivorous, enjoying a wide variety of meats, fishes, and berries, but local customs vary. All ursan find Hiveling honey to be extremely addicting, and will often try to raid hives in the hopes of procuring some.
Biological Cycle
Many ursan hibernate during the winter, spending the time bonding and teaching with their cubs. In the spring, they migrate to various areas so that they can show their cubs the world, or mate with another ursan should they not have cubs in the summer. They make a return trip in the fall, so that they can make it home by the start of winter. In recent years, more and more countries have begun solidifying their borders and restricting movements, forcing many ursan to relocate to communal cave-cities, leaving many ursan struggling to find the space they need.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Ursan are solitary creatures, usually keeping to themselves and having very few overarching rules, but when debates do occur, the oldest female of the group is usually the one turned to. When meeting for large, important matters that concern an entire area of ursan territory, a council of elder females convenes, usually with one male warrior also joining them for his input.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Many hunters and poachers prize the skins and pelts of both the ursan and the bears in their territory, and thus many ursan are hunted illegally.
Facial characteristics
While they do have fearsome jaws and claws, an ursans limited range of movement means that theses natural appendences are little use in combat.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
While ursan as a whole are spread out throughout the realms, a majority of Materan ursan are located in a small area in the southwest of Central Matera, known as the Ursan Hold. While originally much bigger, most of its lands have been annexed by the neighboring country of Welthrone.
Average Intelligence
An ursans brain is hardwired for more simple concepts, such as finding food and impressing potential mates, and thus often struggle with more complicated subjects such as math and reading. However, when an Ursan feels up to it, they are impeccable hosts and gregarious partiers, although an ursans social energy only lasts a small period of time.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
While they have a slightly better sense of smell than humans, most ursan have no other extraordinary sensory capabilities.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Many ursan have regular bears roaming their territories, and while seldom trained in the manner of actual pets, the ursans innate connection with bears means that they can coexist quite easily.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
The ursan value strength and fortitude, as well as ones hunting practices. Similar to other beastmen, many ursan utilize smell rather just physical form to help decide beauty. A larger form represents an ursan who is well stocked for winter hibernation, and thus most ursan are more attracted to larger and stocky mates.
Gender Ideals
While individual customs vary, female ursan take charge of rearing the cubs, with most males not remaining with the family, but otherwise the genders are equal in ursan society.
Courtship Ideals
Ursan courtship takes many different forms, but usually occurs in an ancestral migration spot of the ursan. It often involves gifts of honey and food, as well as wrestling matches and races.
Relationship Ideals
Ursan are mostly friendly with each other, but are solitary creatures by nature and prefer to remain alone most of the time. They meet up during annual festivals to reconnect with relatives, mate, and introduce their cubs to other ursan. Their shrinking territories and lack of space means that many ursan families now must share territories, and fights and generational feuds breaking out are becoming much more common.
Average Technological Level
The ursan are distrustful of technology, as they have seen time and time again their woodland homes destroyed in the sake of advancing technology. This, compounded with their struggle to learn how to utilize more advanced items, have left most ursan feeling that life would be better if the other races returned to simplerj ways of living.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Most ursan speak only Ursan and have a rudimentary understanding of the Common dialect of their realm, as they often struggle with academic pursuits, such as learning a new language. Those that do manage to pick up another language often learn Alka, Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Neko, Tengu, or Terran.
Common Etiquette Rules
Many ursan must store food away for their winter hibernations, and thus gifts of food are quite common among the ursan.
Common Dress Code
The thick fur and solitary nature of the ursan mean most have little need for extensive clothing. They may wear cloaks or belts crafted out of successful hunts.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Fishing is a favorite pastime of the ursan, and many ursan hold fishing contests whenever they meet near rivers.
Common Taboos
Ursan taboos vary by village and realm, but most ursan dislike acts of cowardice and are very straight forward. Sleep and rest is an important aspect of ursan society, and thus no ursan will ever wake another from their slumber unless it is a life-threatening emergency.
Common Myths and Legends
A majority of ursan worship a member of the Ursan pantheon, with Materan ursan primarily worshipping the head of the pantheon, An, the Great Mother Bear, the original ascended ursan.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The ursan have a complicated relationship with other races around the world. Their great strength is respected by all, but their unwillingnesss to formally join with forces with nations and their desire to be left alone and not bother with the outside world has led to many countries pushing them out of territories or otherwise exploiting them. Such attempts are always done carefully, as not to invoke the creature's ire. They often get along well with the Rhoceni, as they are also powerful creatures often exploited. Hivelings dislike them, as all ursan have an intense addictive reaction to honey and sometimes raid hiveling homes in search of it.
Racial Table - Ursan: Hit Dice: D10; Class Skills: Climb, Intimidate, Perception, Survival, Swim; Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier; Weapon Proficiency: Simple, plus earthbreaker; Armor Proficiency: Light
| Level | BAB | Fort | Reflex | Will | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Animal Minded, Enduring, Deafening Roar |
| 2nd | +2 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Natural Armor, Stalwart |
| 3rd | +3 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Bear's Endurance, Frightening Roar |
| 4th | +4 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Natural Armor Increase, +1 Constitution, +1 Charisma |
| 5th | +5 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Paralyzing Roar |
Random Starting Ages
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 years | +1d4 years (14 - 17) | +1d6 years (14 - 19) | +2d6 years (15 - 25) |
Random Height and Weight
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 6 ft. 1 in. | +2d10 in. (6 ft. 3 in. - 7 ft. 6 in.) | 150 lbs. | +(2d10x5 lbs.) (160 - 250 lbs.) |
| Female | 5 ft. 11 in. | +2d10 in. (6 ft. 1 in. - 7 ft. 4 in.) | 130 lbs. | +(2d10x5 lbs.) (130 - 230 lbs.) |
Ursan Aging Table
| Middle Age (-1 to Str, Dex, and Con, +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Old (-2 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Venerable (-3 to Str, Dex, and Con, +3 to Int, WIs, and Cha) | Maximum Age (GM secretly decides maximum age) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 years | 47 years | 62 years | 62 + 2d20 years (64 - 102 years) |
Random Ursan Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-60 | Cave-City | Undaunted |
| 61-80 | Forest | Inspiring Rush |
| 81-95 | Non-Ursan Settlement | Memorable |
| 96-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland Table) |
Random Ursan Families
| % Rolled | Parental Status |
|---|---|
| 01-50 | Only Father is alive |
| 51-75 | Both of your parents are dead |
| 76-90 | Only Mother is alive |
| 91-00 | Both of your parents are dead |
| % Rolled | # of Siblings |
|---|---|
| 01-50 | No siblings |
| 51-00 | 1d2 Siblings |
Lifespan
64 - 102 years
Average Height
6 ft. 1 in. - 7 ft. 6 in.
Average Weight
130 - 250 lbs
Average Physique
The ursan are tall and mighty, having incredible endurance and are able to run or work for longs periods of time. They are excellent battlefield commanders, and are able to rely orders with strength and confidence, even if they don't entirely understand the orders themselves.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Ursans have a wide range of fur color, varying from realm to realm. Most Materan urasan have various shades of brown fur.
Ursan
Type
Monstrous Humanoid (Ursan)
Ability Score Modifier
+2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -2 Intelligence. Ursans are indomitable and commanding, but make for poor planners.
Size
medium
Speed
Ursans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Language
An ursan begins play speaking Common and Ursan. An ursan with a high intelligence score can pick from any of the following languages: Alka, Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Neko, Tengu, or Terran.
- Materil: Materan ursan can be tied to any of the Materils, although the racial variants are tied to the Materil of their realm. Materan ursan tend towards Earthbreakers or Watershifters.
- Animal Minded: An ursan gains a +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal and wild empathy checks towards bear-like creatures. This bonus increases by 1 for every two hit dice beyond the 1st the ursan possesses.
- Enduring: Ursans gain Endurance and Toughness as bonus feats.
- Roar (Su): 1/day an ursan can unleash a loud roar that can deafen creatures. Any creature within 30 feet that can hear the roar must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + ½ the ursan’s hit dice, + the ursan’s Charisma modifier) or deafened for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. Ursans are immune to the roars of other ursan. At 3rd racial level, an ursan can instead cause creatures to become frightened, and at 5th racial level the ursan can cause creatures to become paralyzed.
- Natural Armor: Starting at 2nd racial level, an ursan gains a +1 natural armor bonus to its AC. This bonus increases by one at 4th racial level.
- Stalwart: Starting at 2nd racial level, once per day when making a Fortitude saving throw an ursan can roll twice and take the better result. They must choose to use this ability before the saving throw is rolled.
- Bear’s Endurance (Sp): Starting at 3rd racial level, 1/day per day, an ursan can cast bear's endurance as a spell-like ability, using their total hit dice as their caster level. At 5th racial level, the ursan can affect other creatures with this ability, acting as mass bear's endurance, targeting a number of creatures equal to 1/2 its hit dice.
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