[HR] Minotaurs

General ACKS Forums House Rules
1

I like to play around with rules and see if I can do things that make sense to me within them. One of the character concepts that always intrigued me were the minotaurs of Krynn, who enjoyed sailing and were devastating fighters who didn’t seem to use much heavy armor. So, as an experiment, I decided to see if I could create a minotaur race for ACKS, loosely based on those minotaurs.

Minotaur 0 (225 XP)
Hardy People (as Dwarf)
Tough Hide (+1 AC, “reskinned” Scaly Hide)
My Skill Is My Protection (as Blade-Dancing)
Maze-Proof (as Avoid Getting Lost)
I make this out as 5.5 special abilities, -1 for level loss, +1 for an ability not available to humans, times 40 equals 220 XP, rounded to 225)

Minotaur 1 (725 XP)
As Minotaur 0, plus Hit Die 1

Minotaur 2 (1225 XP)
As Minotaur 0, plus Hit Die 2

Minotaur 3 (1725 XP)
As Minotaur 0, plus Hit Die 3

Minotaur 4 (2225 XP)
As Minotaur 0, plus Hit Die 4

This creates a race that is fairly defensively capable even if not a fighter class, since they get a flat +1 AC and an additional +1 AC if in leather or lighter (and, if permitted, can take Swashbuckling for an additional +1 AC), while even caster classes can have good hit dice at higher levels of the minotaur race. They’re good at navigating back to places they’ve been before, with the Maze-Proof ability, and have good saves with the Hardy People, which fits in with the concept of minotaurs being tough and resilient.

Minotaur Warrior
Minotaur 1 (725 XP), Hit Die 2 (1000 XP), Fighting 2 (1000 XP) - maximum level 12
Reduce armor choice to Narrow (300 XP) and remove missile damage bonus (150 XP)
Gain Heroic Spirit (maximum level increased to 13), Combat Trickery - Overrun, Running

This creates a minotaur fighter who’s tough (d10 hit dice), hits like a fighter in melee but is weaker at ranged combat, is limited to leather or lighter (swashbuckling becomes an obvious proficiency selection), and is capable of running through enemy lines to strike at spellcasters in the rear, gaining an extra 30’ of movement from Running and using Overrun.

It would probably be more efficient to replace Overrun with Swashbuckling, but that didn’t fit the concept quite as well, with minotaurs seeming like the type to bull through enemy lines (if you’ll pardon the choice of language).

To gain 2nd level, a Minotaur Warrior needs to gain 3,175 XP.

2

Huh. That’s pretty cool.

3

Nice. Being similarly fond of the Minotaurs of Krynn, I’ve included a region in my campaign world populated by Minotaur pirates. I may well steal this build for them!

Good work! :slight_smile:

4

Only thing they are missing is horns.

5

I thought about that, but using the Fangs and Claws power for the Thrassians as a baseline, Horns would be expensive for not a whole lot of benefit. Depending on the level of the power, it ranges from 1.25 to 1.5 average damage per slot used on the ability, so a Horns power would be something like 2 powers to gain a 1d4 attack, 3 for a 1d8-1, or 4 for a 1d10. It’s not very efficient, and if I remember correctly, the use of horns is also something the minotaurs of Taladas tried to avoid, seeing it as barbaric. Maybe it could be a power for a barbarian minotaur…