Sea Ponies!
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Sea Ponies!
Dr Blight Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:41 am
Sea Ponies have long been considered a myth, the mad imagination of half-drowned ponies and seasick sailors. However, deep in the depths of the Mareianis Trench lies the truth. The lost city of Atlantis, home of the Sea Ponies!! The Sea Ponies spend their days among the waves, eating kelp, singing the song of their people, and maybe sometimes doing everything they can to convince some poor seasick sailor leaning over the side of the deck and his shipmates that he's gone insane.
Seaponies gain no cutie mark, instead they find their focus. An event where some topic or calling so enthralls their naturally inquisitive little minds that they feel compelled to learn anything and everything about it.
Old sea stories claim that the sea ponies, with their weird sea pony magic, rise from the waves disguised as regular folk. Coming into settlements with none being the wiser. To love, and play, and dance the day away! And then as the sun sets, they return to the sea leaving nothing but a laugh and a song on the winds.
Shoo be doo!
Got a little carried away there didn't I? I picked a lot of the traits for Sea Ponies based on mermaid stories, in particular the Little Mermaid being the inspiration for the Cultural Knowledge and Alter Ego traits. There are also some actual legends of mermaids pretending to be human women.
Clever Tail comes from what I imagine the sea ponies look like. I personally base them on Sea Pony Lyra by JohnJoseco visually. Meaning they have short fins and a very long tail. Considering that, I felt it'd be fitting that though they could use the fins as 'hands' to an extent they'd be much more adept at using their tails to manipulate things.
The last trait, Aquatic Equine was chosen because I really wanted it to come across that the Sea Ponies are aquatic creatures more at home at sea than on land or in the air and that underwater is where they're at their best. Rather than penalizing them on land, I felt it would be better to give them a boon in the water so I modded One with the Waves.
So what do you think? Good? Bad? Any suggestions?
Seaponies gain no cutie mark, instead they find their focus. An event where some topic or calling so enthralls their naturally inquisitive little minds that they feel compelled to learn anything and everything about it.
Old sea stories claim that the sea ponies, with their weird sea pony magic, rise from the waves disguised as regular folk. Coming into settlements with none being the wiser. To love, and play, and dance the day away! And then as the sun sets, they return to the sea leaving nothing but a laugh and a song on the winds.
Shoo be doo!
- racial traits:
- Build 1: Instant Awesome just add Water
Alter Ego (1)
Choose a Race. You may spend 5 minutes to shift between you race’s natural appearance and one of your chosen race, However, this appearance is unique to you, so you cannot impersonate another specific individual. Furthermore, you always look the same in a particular race’s form. For example, if you choose to appear as a minotaur; you will always look like the same unique minotaur. You cannot use a “different” minotaur form to escape being recognized, or take the appearance of the town mayor. However, if you want to take minotaur form to infiltrate a tribe of minotaurs - that’s totally fine.
Cultural Knowledge (1)
You gain the Freaky Knowledge utility talent.[*]
Clever Tail (1)
Your race’s tail can function much like another hand. You can use it to stealthily manipulate objects and make mechanics checks. When you do this, you gain a +5 bonus to stealth checks made to conceal this action, but suffer a -5 penalty to the actual manipulation. For example, if you try to surreptitiously pick a lock with your tail without attracting attention, you’d gain a +5 bonus to the stealth check to avoid attracting attention but suffer a -5 penalty to the actual act of lockpicking.
Aquatic Equine (3)
You can breathe underwater and get a +5 bonus to all checks made while in a body of water large enough for you to swim freely (roughly speaking, larger than a hot tub).
Build 2: Call upon the Sea Ponies
Pack Mentality (3)
Whenever a character of your race successfully aids a creature on a skill check, they provide a +4 bonus instead of a +2 bonus.
One with the Waves (1)
You can breathe underwater.
Cultural Knowledge (1)
You gain the Freaky Knowledge utility talent.[*]
Alter Ego (1)
Choose a Race. You may spend 5 minutes to shift between you race’s natural appearance and one of your chosen race, However, this appearance is unique to you, so you cannot impersonate another specific individual. Furthermore, you always look the same in a particular race’s form. For example, if you choose to appear as a minotaur; you will always look like the same unique minotaur. You cannot use a “different” minotaur form to escape being recognized, or take the appearance of the town mayor. However, if you want to take minotaur form to infiltrate a tribe of minotaurs - that’s totally fine.
Got a little carried away there didn't I? I picked a lot of the traits for Sea Ponies based on mermaid stories, in particular the Little Mermaid being the inspiration for the Cultural Knowledge and Alter Ego traits. There are also some actual legends of mermaids pretending to be human women.
Clever Tail comes from what I imagine the sea ponies look like. I personally base them on Sea Pony Lyra by JohnJoseco visually. Meaning they have short fins and a very long tail. Considering that, I felt it'd be fitting that though they could use the fins as 'hands' to an extent they'd be much more adept at using their tails to manipulate things.
The last trait, Aquatic Equine was chosen because I really wanted it to come across that the Sea Ponies are aquatic creatures more at home at sea than on land or in the air and that underwater is where they're at their best. Rather than penalizing them on land, I felt it would be better to give them a boon in the water so I modded One with the Waves.
- Sea Pony Lyra by JohnJoseco:
So what do you think? Good? Bad? Any suggestions?
Last edited by Dr Blight on Mon Jan 21, 2013 5:29 pm; edited 2 times in total
Dr Blight- Best Pony
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Re: Sea Ponies!
Grey Pen The Flawed Mon Jan 21, 2013 10:01 am
They ought to have Pack Mentality. I've watched some of the older shows, and if anything EVER deserved a +4 Assistance, it would be Sea Ponies. They've EARNED it in my book.
Grey Pen The Flawed- Best Pony
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Re: Sea Ponies!
Dr Blight Mon Jan 21, 2013 5:26 pm
That is a good point. I suppose this is another possible build for it but it feels like it doesn't get across the "being a sea creature" thing quite as well. It does feature only official genetic engineering traits though...
- racial traits build 2:
- Pack Mentality (3)
Whenever a character of your race successfully aids a creature on a skill check, they provide a +4 bonus instead of a +2 bonus.
One with the Waves (1)
You can breathe underwater.
Cultural Knowledge (1)
You gain the Freaky Knowledge utility talent.[*]
Alter Ego (1)
Choose a Race. You may spend 5 minutes to shift between you race’s natural appearance and one of your chosen race, However, this appearance is unique to you, so you cannot impersonate another specific individual. Furthermore, you always look the same in a particular race’s form. For example, if you choose to appear as a minotaur; you will always look like the same unique minotaur. You cannot use a “different” minotaur form to escape being recognized, or take the appearance of the town mayor. However, if you want to take minotaur form to infiltrate a tribe of minotaurs - that’s totally fine.
Dr Blight- Best Pony
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Join date : 2012-08-01
Age : 33 -
Re: Sea Ponies!
ZamuelNow Tue May 07, 2013 8:40 pm
Been watching a lot of G1 recently and to really get them right, it seems like they really need new or modified racial traits.
Aquatic Adaptation feels like a more complete way of portraying them as a sea creature since they are really good in the water but may die on land. Plus, they simply lack legs. There's various ways to boost stats globally and arguably someone who wants to play a Sea Pony would probably expect to encounter this.
Shoo Be Doo = Call Out. Simple enough way to represent their iconic cry.
Call Upon the Sea Ponies is a modified Rainbow Dash to Your Side that expands what it can be used for but limits the uses.
- RACIAL TRAITS:
Aquatic Adaptation (3)
You can breathe underwater. You gain +10 Athletics, Endurance, and Acrobatics checks in bodies of water deep enough to submerge yourself and -10 to Athletics, Endurance, and Acrobatics checks outside of water.
Shoo Be Doo (1) – At Will
You let out a loud call. Choose one:
A) Name any number of creatures that could recognize your voice. They hear your howl automatically and know how far away from them you are and in what direction.
B) Every creature within one to ten miles (your choice) hears the call and knows where you are in relation to them. You make make it clear whether or not your call is meant as a warning, distress call, etc.
Call Upon The Sea Ponies (2) - 3/Day
One of your allies may summon your presence when they are restrained, lost, in combat and you are not, or some other distress. You gain a +30 to Athletics and Acrobatics checks to make your way to their side.
Clever Tail (1)
Your race’s tail can function much like another hand. You can use it to stealthily manipulate objects and make mechanics checks. When you do this, you gain a +5 bonus to stealth checks made to conceal this action, but suffer a -5 penalty to the actual manipulation. For example, if you try to surreptitiously pick a lock with your tail without attracting attention, you’d gain a +5 bonus to the stealth check to avoid attracting attention but suffer a -5 penalty to the actual act of lockpicking.
We’re Just Good At This Stuff (1)
Choose a skill. You gain training in that skill.
Aquatic Adaptation feels like a more complete way of portraying them as a sea creature since they are really good in the water but may die on land. Plus, they simply lack legs. There's various ways to boost stats globally and arguably someone who wants to play a Sea Pony would probably expect to encounter this.
Shoo Be Doo = Call Out. Simple enough way to represent their iconic cry.
Call Upon the Sea Ponies is a modified Rainbow Dash to Your Side that expands what it can be used for but limits the uses.
ZamuelNow- Freakin' Alicorn Princess
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Re: Sea Ponies!
Copper Rose Mon Aug 19, 2013 10:41 pm
What about merponies?
Merponies would have hooves, as well as their tail, and can also be unicorns (mericorn?) or pegasi, depending on parentage (typically a product of an earth pony/unicorn/pegasus and a sea pony, for back story purposes?). They would also have cutie marks, in my opinion, though that could also be determined by which parent is the non-sea pony or something (like they would have a cutie mark because their mother had one or something). They would usually live in places with air pockets because they can't breathe water like the sea ponies can, though because this is not common sea pony knowledge, a good number of them drown as foals, making them a notable occurrence in sea pony society. When they dry out, they lose their swimming tail and gain legs and a normal pony tail, so they can be indistinguishable from ordinary ponies. If they get wet in pony form, they turn back into a merpony.
If anybody sees something wrong with this, or has any ideas for how this can be improved, please tell!
- Spoiler:
- Alter Ego (1)
Choose a Race. You may spend 5 minutes to shift between you race’s natural appearance and one of your chosen race, However, this appearance is unique to you, so you cannot impersonate another specific individual. Furthermore, you always look the same in a particular race’s form. For example, if you choose to appear as a minotaur; you will always look like the same unique minotaur. You cannot use a “different” minotaur form to escape being recognized, or take the appearance of the town mayor. However, if you want to take minotaur form to infiltrate a tribe of minotaurs - that’s totally fine.
Clever Tail (1)
Your race’s tail can function much like another hoof. You can use it to stealthily manipulate objects and make mechanics checks. When you do this, you gain a +5 bonus to stealth checks made to conceal this action, but suffer a -5 penalty to the actual manipulation. For example, if you try to surreptitiously pick a lock with your tail without attracting attention, you’d gain a +5 bonus to the stealth check to avoid attracting attention but suffer a -5 penalty to the actual act of lockpicking.
Diving Breath (1)
Allows you to hold your breath under water up to 100 times longer, depending on your level (starts at 5 times at lvl 1, goes up by 5 every other level). Taking damage can reduce this time proportional to the amount of damage taken.
Merponies would have hooves, as well as their tail, and can also be unicorns (mericorn?) or pegasi, depending on parentage (typically a product of an earth pony/unicorn/pegasus and a sea pony, for back story purposes?). They would also have cutie marks, in my opinion, though that could also be determined by which parent is the non-sea pony or something (like they would have a cutie mark because their mother had one or something). They would usually live in places with air pockets because they can't breathe water like the sea ponies can, though because this is not common sea pony knowledge, a good number of them drown as foals, making them a notable occurrence in sea pony society. When they dry out, they lose their swimming tail and gain legs and a normal pony tail, so they can be indistinguishable from ordinary ponies. If they get wet in pony form, they turn back into a merpony.
If anybody sees something wrong with this, or has any ideas for how this can be improved, please tell!
Copper Rose- Epic Pwny
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Re: Sea Ponies!
ZamuelNow Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:55 pm
Despite being an interesting lore quirk, it would probably be overly restrictive to not have them breathe underwater. If you still wanted to go that route, it might be better to use a different option that's already in the system.
This would give a temporary super swim that would have to be deactivated to do other things. Breathing underwater during that time period could be role played as simply holding their breath.
- Temp swimming...:
- Naturally Skilled (2)
Characters of your race gain an additional utility talent at character creation. You may take this racial trait multiple times.- Form of the Dolphin - 1/Day
Preparation Time: 5 seconds
You enter the Form of the Dolphin. In the Form of the Dolphin, you gain the ability to breathe in water and a +20 bonus on all Athletics and Acrobatics checks you make while swimming. While in the Form of the Dolphin, you cannot use any of your other utility or combat talents. You may end this effect at any time.
- Form of the Dolphin - 1/Day
This would give a temporary super swim that would have to be deactivated to do other things. Breathing underwater during that time period could be role played as simply holding their breath.
ZamuelNow- Freakin' Alicorn Princess
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Join date : 2013-03-19
Re: Sea Ponies!
Copper Rose Wed Aug 21, 2013 12:44 am
I see where you're coming from.
However, since merponies aren't actually a cannon race (as far as I know), players who choose to play one can easily tweak it to fit what they think should be a merpony. My post about them is merely what I think personally they should be like. Because the merpony is a cross-breed between sea pony and normal pony, in my head they have some, but not all, abilities of both. The non-sea pony genetics would dilute the ability to breathe under water, though it would still be present. A merpony would have great advantages in an environment like a marsh, but would encounter problems on land if they got rained on.
If you're interested in making a merpony that has One with the Waves (1) You can breathe underwater, then feel free. Heck, if you just want to make sea pony with hooves, keep all the abilities the same and call it a merpony, I doubt anyone would complainmuch.
Whenever I make a character, I'm if nothing else if not prone to feeling like I'm somehow making it overpowered, so I'm probably setting myself up for a severely under-powered character. At least it will be interesting, right?
However, since merponies aren't actually a cannon race (as far as I know), players who choose to play one can easily tweak it to fit what they think should be a merpony. My post about them is merely what I think personally they should be like. Because the merpony is a cross-breed between sea pony and normal pony, in my head they have some, but not all, abilities of both. The non-sea pony genetics would dilute the ability to breathe under water, though it would still be present. A merpony would have great advantages in an environment like a marsh, but would encounter problems on land if they got rained on.
If you're interested in making a merpony that has One with the Waves (1) You can breathe underwater, then feel free. Heck, if you just want to make sea pony with hooves, keep all the abilities the same and call it a merpony, I doubt anyone would complain
Whenever I make a character, I'm if nothing else if not prone to feeling like I'm somehow making it overpowered, so I'm probably setting myself up for a severely under-powered character. At least it will be interesting, right?
Copper Rose- Epic Pwny
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