Saurial

Saurials are clever, upright reptiles descended from dinosaur-like stock on another Prime world. A rotting god of corruption hauled most of those here as slaves; after his death they chose to stay, and they now share one village in a hidden mountain valley beside a great desert. Still recovering, few wander far. Locals named the four races present; their real names mix sounds and scents.

All are green-scaled with yellow back markings unique to each, plus claws and tails; pure white hatchlings are very rare. Their true infravision sees heat but not cold objects in the dark. Poor at holding body heat, they fall into a deathlike cold sleep in freezing air after about one turn per foot of height (3 turns for a 3-foot flyer, 5 for a 5-foot finhead), doubled if bundled up. Warmed, they wake within an hour or two; a full day in freezing weather kills them.

In the heat they wear only loincloths and loose cloaks, keeping fine robes for ceremony, and dislike armor. Mages tattoo or carve magical symbols into scales or bony plates. Their voices are too high for human ears without magic, but their moods leak out as scents. They understand human speech but none speak it, and they write by notching lines into sticks.

Finheads are shorter than humans and close to human shape, with a head fin. Bright, emotional and impulsive, they see the world in black and white, usually become fighters, and are the saurials most often met abroad.

Bladebacks are tall and stocky, with sharp scales running from crown to tail tip. The most social and trusting, they anger slowly, fight passionately, hold grudges, and often lead or advise; exceptional ones tend to be priests.

Flyers are small and delicate, with winglike flaps under the arms, awkward on the ground but graceful aloft. Twitchy, chattering gossips, they flee rather than fight and serve as scouts and messengers; exceptional ones are fighters or thieves.

Hornheads are giants with horned heads, a bony neck frill and long tails. They speak slowly but think sharply, love crafts and science, and can follow any class.

Saurials fight as their class dictates. Their short-gripped, barb-tipped blades give humans -1 to hit, just as human weapons give saurials -1. Unarmed and cornered: finheads claw for 1d3/1d3 or tail-whip for 1d2; bladebacks claw for 1d4/1d4 and slash rear attackers with the tail for 1d6; flyers claw and bite for 1d2 each; hornheads claw for 1d4/1d4 plus a 2d4 tail sweep, or charge with horns for 2d6.

Armor helps only if it beats their natural hide, so leather does nothing for a finhead. They gain +2 on saves against sound attacks such as a harpy's song or shout, but take -2 against gases like poison gas and cloudkill.

The valley holds 110 adults forming one mixed tribe, led by an aged hornhead wizard of 14th level with three apprentices and a 7th-level bladeback priest of a human harvest goddess with five acolytes. The rest are farmers, hunters and craftsfolk; the rot god slew every child they had, though 20 eggs have hatched since. Races live together peacefully, though the big ones are fewer since they eat so much.

Abroad, every ten ordinary saurials bring one exceptional member of level 1-10: 40% fighter, 40% mage, 10% priest, 10% thief, unarmored but armed by class. Priests keep their spells if their deity has a local counterpart.

Mated for life, a pair lays 1-2 eggs a year and shares all the raising. Young reach full size in five years but mature mentally at a human pace, and lifespans are long; their wizard is over 200 years old without magic.