Earthdawn Revisited - Obsidimen

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Contents

 * Appearance:
 * Mentality:
 * Background:
 * Names:
 * Mechanics:



Appearance:
Obsidimen are tall, reaching an average height of 7 feet 3 inches. Seen from a distance they seem squat, because their massive average weight of 900 pounds offsets their height. Their craggy skin and bodily tissue incorporate the properties of stone, and the most common coloration is black or gray. Their blood is blue-gray. The skin of a few obsidimen, usually those of high-ranking families, shows veins of semi-precious stone such as tourmaline. Obsidimen are mostly hairless, with internal ears completely covered by a thin layer of skin.

Mentality
Obsidimen mature physically by the end of their first century of life. Natural life span is hard for academics to agree up, because as they age, obsidimen spend more time attached to their Liferock, the largest source of stone within four hours’ walk of their birthplace. They may remain attached to the Liferock for decades, showing no signs of being aware of their surroundings, then emerge again in a time of crisis. In one indication of obsidimen lifespan, dwarven records show that individual obsidimen have traveled and lived away from their Liferock for at least 500 years after reaching maturity.

Background:
Obsidimen can live underground for short periods, but those who spend too many months in a dwarven city without traveling outside to the open sky fall into a hibernation-like state. Once carried outdoors again, the obsidiman will awaken in two to five days. It was this form of hibernation that allowed many Obsidimen to wait out the Scourge in Dwarven or Trollish Kaers (Dwarves were generally quite content with this arrangement as they were universally uncomplicated tenants).

Names:
All Obsidimen are named after the life-rock from where they came. Obsidimen life-rock names are generally untranslatable by dwarves and humans, so they tend to adopt the dwarven place-names of their liferock.

Mechanics:

 * The Vigour attribute starts at D6 instead of D4
 * The Strength attribute starts at D6 instead of D4
 * Obsidimen begin with an extra +2 to their toughness.
 * They also gain 2 points of natural armour.
 * Ponderous: Agility Penalty -2 (-3)
 * Big - Obsidimen with their less flexible hide find clothes, equipment and armour de need to be extremely uncomfortable and carefully custom-made (costing twice as much) and found items will generally not be useable. Generally Obsidimen don’t wear clothes or armour and getting any made can cost more than twice as much as normal and be quite uncomfortable. (-2)

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