Lizardmen as PCs [Hackmaster]

Lizard Men at a glance
Strength +3
Intelligence -3
Wisdom -1
Looks: Special
Charisma: -3

Pros
*Low-light Vision
*Wide-angle vision (better die for initiative, 50% of backstabs are merely rearward strikes, defense die is always d12 or better)
*Natural Weapons: Speed 5 for natural weapons; 2d4p with claws, 2d6p for a bite. Bite may be used instead of the standard near-perfect defense. Attack routine when unarmed is claw, claw, bite (so, on second 5 they claw, 10 claw, 15 bite, 20 claw, usw)
*Natural Armor: 2 points of damage reduction. Wearing armor or using shields adds to this amount.
*Lizard Men fare well in warm climates. For purposes of heat stroke, they consider temperatures to be 20° F (9° C) cooler than they are; they do not begin accumulating penalties until it reaches 100° F (38° C).
*All lizard men receive a single purchase of Survival for free. Those from swamps and shorelines also receive a purchase of Swimming for free (the lizard men of the Khydobian desert are not noted for their aquatic skill).



Cons
*Poor sense of hearing (-20% to Listening checks)
*Native Language is Lizard Man (local). Additional languages, even those of other tribes lizard men, must be learned.
*-2 mastery die modifier for all skills for which intelligence is the sole relevant attribute
*-1 mastery die modifier for all skills in which intelligence is one of multiple relevant attributes
*Difficult Proficiencies and Talents: The following proficiencies and talents cost twice as much for a lizard man: Bilingual, Etiquette/Manners (for non-saurian cultures), Polyglot. They are completely unable to acquire the No Accent talent.
*Forbidden Flaws: Lizard Men may not have the flaws Hairy or Prematurely Grey. If rolled, reroll another flaw.
*Lizard men fare poorly in cold climes, but quite well in warm climates. They always consider the ambient temperature to be 20° F (9° C) cooler than it actually is.
• Whenever the temperature is below 60° F (actual; the lizard man will perceive it as a human might 40° F), lizard men acquire the Late Sleeper and Lazy flaws (training during the winter is not recommended for lizard men). If the temperature remains under 32° F (actual) for more than 48 hours, lizard men will enter a torporous state. Attempting to act in such a state is always at -2/-10% for every action, and the lizard man will attempt to sleep if at all possible. If not forced into action, lizard men in torpor consume 1/10th the amount of food, water, and oxygen (and so accumulate penalties for these at 1/10th the rate), and only revive when temperatures are consistently above 50° F for 72 or more hours.
• a -1/5% penalty to all rolls/checks when the temperature is below 60° F (actual)
• a -2/10% penalty to all rolls/checks when the temperature is below 32° F (actual).

Preferential Talent Access:
Lizard Men may purchase the following talents at a 50% discount
*Attack Bonus, Damage Bonus, Parry Bonus, Swiftblade (natural weapons only), Charm Resistant, Fast Healer, Illusion Resistant, Less Sleep, Pain Tolerant, Poison Resistant, Tough Hide

Sidebar: Life with No Looks
Lizard men (and troglodytes) do not have a Looks attribute as is conventionally understood. This is not to say that they don’t recognize differences in appearance or attractiveness amongst themselves, nor to say that an individual lizard man cannot be beautiful to look at. It is simply that the variation in their looks has no effect on humanoid perceptions of them; humans don’t instinctively trust “pretty” lizard men the way they do pretty elves or dwarves. As such, those two races have neither Charisma nor reaction modifiers due to looks. Only two skills key off of Looks, but these have very different reactions to this lack of an ability. Mastery in the Acting skill for Lizard men keys solely off the Charisma attribute; a lizard man can attempt to act, though they face some limitations in getting others to believe that they’re not lizard men (though they may, for example, convince people that they’re some other lizard man, or a troglodyte, or something similar). Seduction, however, must be taken twice… once for saurians, and once for humanoids. For saurians, Seduction is considered to have no looks component. When interacting with humanoids, the Looks of the lizard man is considered to be 1; -5 to all Mastery die rolls, with a base mastery score of 1. It’s hard to make them think you’re sexy when you’re 7 feet of claws and scales (and, in the case of troglodytes, smell like a mixture of rotting flesh and sulfur).


Reactions with other races:
Lizard Men tend to Dislike every other race, including other tribes of lizard men. They don’t tolerate them, per se, but don’t see that they have much in common with them, and, in the collective experience of lizard men, mammals get upset about weird things and are generally inscrutable. They’ll compete (or raid) due to need, not out of viciousness or hatred, as a goblin might. However, they also freely consider other races to be food, and so are not extended the same degree of toleration, especially by the smaller, tastier, races.

Dwarves: Disdain (dwarves have much less contact with lizard men)
Elves: Dislike (elves have, over the centuries, had occasional useful contact with lizard men)
Gnomes: Fear
Gnome Titans: Hate
Grel: Hate (Grel and lizard men frequently compete for living space and resources)
Half-elves: Dislike
Half-orcs: Disdain
Halflings: Fear
Humans: Disdain
Pixie-Faeries: Fear
Sil-karg: Disdain


Character Classes:
Barbarian: 20
Fighter: 30
Fighter/Thief: 35
Cleric: 40
Thief: 30
Assassin: 35
Mage: 50
Fighter/Mage: 35
Mage/Thief: 40
Ranger: 75
Rogue: N/A