Carcinians

Physical Description: Carcinians look like typical giant crabs, though soft shelled. Some have strange colorations or appear to be made of materials such as metal or stone due to the magical influence. They stand about as tall as a dwarf.

Society: Carcinians live in nomadic societies. Their voracious hunger leads them to clean areas of food if they linger long enough to create their own society. Rather than knowingly starve themselves they travel, usually in rotations. This allows the waters to replenish while they are gone.

Relations: Carcinians tend to be egoistic, believing they are the next step in evolution that will eventually lead to the pinnacle of creation. As such those not mistaken for mere giant crabs tend to get snubbed away by other races.

Alignment and Religion: Carcinians believe they are the future of crustacean kind. That only their minds became enhanced by the very essence of magic, it tells them that their physical forms are nigh perfect and that it is their minds that must be enhanced. Due to this they tend to worship other, larger crustaceans if possible.

Adventurers: Carcinians will often adventure in order to prove their worth and superiority.

Male Names: I don’t know? Crabby names?

Female Names: I don’t know? Crabby names?

Carcinian Racial Traits
Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence: Carcinians are durable and strong, but are lacking in brainpower.

Size: Carcinians are Medium Creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Magical Beast (Aquatic): Carcinians are magical beasts with the aquatic subtype, but do not gain the low-light vision magical beasts normally get. Magical beasts have the darkvision 60 feet racial trait. Magical beasts breathe, eat, and sleep.

Languages: Carcinians begin play speaking Aquan and Carcinian. Carcinians with high intelligence scores may choose from the following: Aklo, Common, and Undercommon.

Normal Speed: Carcinians have a base land speed of 30 feet.

Swim: Carcinians have a swim speed of 20 feet and gain the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants.

Crab Slots: Magic Slots: The available magic item slots for Carcinians are armor, belt, chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, ring, shoulders, wrist. Carcinians make use of all their limbs and body when wearing magic items. Their eight legs allow them to accommodate the ring, bracer, and wrist magic item slots. Belts can be wrapped around their body or the base of one of their claws. Etc. Regardless of how the carcinian wears their magic items they have one slot for each listed item type, except for rings which have two slots.

Water Dependency (Ex): Carcinians can survive out of the water for 1 hour per point of Constitution. Beyond this limit, a carcinians runs the risk of suffocation, as if it were drowning.

Claws: Carcinians receive two claw attacks and have no hands. These are primary natural attacks that deal 1d4 slashing and bludgeoning damage.

Crab Battle: Carcinians gain the Catch Off-Guard as a bonus feat. A carcinians’s claws are treated as hands for the purposes of wielding weapons and shields they are proficient with. Any claw being used to wield a weapon or shield cannot be used to make claw attacks.

Crab Facing: Thinking is not something a crab usually has to worry about. Due to this carcinians have had some difficulties adjusting to using their minds and bodies at once and must choose their facing. This means that a carcinian standing in a given square has eight possible facings. The three squares the carcinian is pointing toward are its front area. The three squares behind it are its rear area. The squares to its left and right are its flanks. All forward and backward movement is treated as difficult terrain. If they move forwards or backwards while already in difficult terrain increase the movement consumption by 5 feet per square. As a carcinian moves, they can freely change their facing, rotating their facing to an adjacent edge to their current facing as they step into each new square. In addition, a carcinian can change facing at the end of their move. A carcinian may change their facing in place of a 5-foot-step, turning to face any direction they like (This does not count as movement). A carcinian can also change facing as a move action when they don't perform any other kind of movement. A carcinian can only attack into squares in his front area or flanks. Carcinians can make ranged attacks and attacks with reach into any square beyond their front area within the attack’s range without penalty. A carcinian is able to flail their claws and impede oncoming attacks. Any attack that targets the carcinian and passes through the carcinians’s front area or flanks takes a -1 penalty to the attack roll.

Crab Legs: Carcinians get a +12 racial bonus to CMD against trip attempts due to their many legs.

Crustacean Empathy: Carcinians race gain a +4 bonus on Handle Animal checks made to influence crustaceans.

Voracious: Carcinians can only go without food for 12 hours before they begin to starve, and when they do starve, the DC of the Constitution check to avoid taking damage increases by 5. If a carcinian feeds on fresh, raw flesh (no older than 1 hour) from another crab, they gain a +1 morale bonus on all saving throws for 24 hours.

Limited Regeneration: Carcinians can regrow lost body parts as part of their natural healing ability. If a crab loses a limb or eyestalk, the lost part regrows as soon as the damage is healed by any means.

Alternate Racial Traits
Barroom Crab: Barroom Carcinians do not gain Catch Off-Guard as a bonus feat, instead they gain the Barroom sphere as a bonus combat talent. They gain the Teetotaler drawback, granting the Barroom Expert talent normally. This modifies the crab battle racial trait.

Compact Crab: Some carcinians are built more compact. Carcinians with this racial trait are small sized, and have +2 Dexterity instead of +2 Strength. This modifies the carcinian’s size and racial ability scores.

Favored Class Options
Barbarian: Increase the penalty for attacks that target the barbarian and passes through the carcinians’s front area or flanks by 1/5. This option has no effect unless the barbarian has selected it five times (or another increment of five).

Monk: Add +1 to the monk’s base speed when moving sideways. In combat this option has no effect unless the monk has selected it five times (or another increment of five). This bonus stacks with the monk's fast movement feature and applies under the same conditions as that feature.

Constricting Claws (Combat)
Your claws are able to crush those within their grasp.

Prerequisite: Str 15, Carcinian, Grabbing Claws, base attack bonus +3.

Benefit: You gain the constrict special attacks with your claws. Your constrict attack deals damage equal to your claws.

Darting Claws (Combat)
You have evolved an ability to swiftly catch prey with your claws.

Prerequisites: Dex 13, Carcinian, Grabbing Claws

Benefit: When making a full attack, if you miss with both of your claw attacks, you can make an additional claw attack at a -2 penalty against any creature within your reach that you threaten.

Grabbing Claws (Combat)
You are adept at grabbing foes you have caught with your claws.

Prerequisite: Str 13, Carcinian, base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: Once per turn when you successfully hit an enemy with one of your claw attacks you may attempt a grapple check as a free action.

Hard Shelled (General)
You have evolved a hard shell.

Prerequisites: Con 15, Carcinian

Benefit: You gain +2 natural armor bonus due to having a hard shell.

Powerful Claws (Combat)
Prerequisites: Carcinian

Benefit: Your claw attacks ignore up to an additional 5 points of hardness when damaging objects.

Scavenger (General)
Prerequisites: Carcinian

Benefit: Your head magic item slot also counts as a feet magic item slot. You wear the boot(s) on your head as if it were a hat.

Sideways Scuttle (Combat)
Prerequisites: Carcinian

Benefits: When a carcinian takes a 5-foot step, it can move up to 10 feet instead of 5 feet as long as it does so in a straight line relative to its flanks. It can do this whether it is walking or swimming.