Ipotane
Image © Mike Garvey, accessed at Mythical Beast Wars here
[”There is a land of the Dingling People. Its people have hairy legs below their knees as well as horse hooves. They are adept at running.” -Guideways Through Mountains and Seas
Yes, I’m going to be covering some of the many chimeras, monstrous races and miscellaneous weirdos found in Guideways Through Mountains and Seas, the classic Chinese cosmology/bestiary. But why aren’t I calling this the Dingling? Because I did some research, and the Dingling were a real ethnic group. I greatly enjoy monstrous humanoids, but have no desire to perpetuate 2000+ year old racism. So even though the name ipotane for a horse-legged humanoid is dubious at best, it’s a name.]
Ipotane CR 1/2 CE Humanoid From the waist up, this humanoid is indistinguishable from a human, but they have the hoofed legs of a horse and a long tail. They wear a suit of heavy armor.
The ipotane are brutish and warlike humanoids known for their speedy and devastating raids on other peoples. Most ipotanes are evil, and they view other cultures as weak and worth preying on if they cannot defend themselves. They see little virtue in making things for themselves if they cannot be stolen, and arms and armor are the rare crafts they take any pride in. An ipotane’s voice is harsh, but can become surprisingly melodious, and they train at mimicking the sounds of beasts in order to lure prey—both animal and humanoid. Ipotanes tend to get along well with orcs—the ipotane are faster and benefit from their allies’ darkvision. Such mixed bands are particularly devastating to settled communities; the ipotanes strike in the day and the orcs at night, leaving no time to rest or recover from their depredations.
Although ipotanes are often drunken and dissolute in their free time, they are skilled at the art of war. Ipotanes advance by character class, and most of them are fighters or barbarians. Few ipotanes have the patience or mental skill for wizardry or alchemy, but clerics, druids and sorcerers are known among them. The most feared and ambitious ipotane leaders are anti-paladins, and these scourges can take an ipotane troop from a localized threat to greater influence and widespread terror.
Ipotanes as Player Characters An ipotane does not have racial Hit Dice and advances by character class. An ipotane character has the following traits
+2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int Ipotanes are strong and hardy, but have little appreciation for intellectual pursuits Medium size An ipotane gains no benefits or penalties from its size Speed 40 ft. Natural attacks An ipotane gains a hoof attack that deals 1d4 points of damage. This is always a secondary attack, even if the ipotane makes no weapon attacks in the same round it attacks with its hoof. Agility An ipotane gains a +4 racial bonus to all Acrobatics checks Sound Mimicry An ipotane can perfectly imitate the sounds of animals. To use this ability, the ipotane makes a Bluff check opposed by the listener's Sense Motive check to recognize the mimicry, although if the listener isn't familiar with the person or type of creatures mimicked, it takes a –8 penalty on its Sense Motive check. The creature has a +8 racial bonus on its Bluff check to mimic animal sounds it has listened to for at least 10 minutes. The ipotane cannot duplicate the effects of magical abilities (such as bardic performance or a harpy's captivating song). This ability does not allow an ipotane to speak or understand languages it doesn't know. Languages An ipotane begins play speaking Ipotane and Common. An ipotane with a high Intelligence score may choose from the following bonus languages: Abyssal, Gnoll, Halfling, Orc
