Jason Shadow's Laboratory: Races for Pony Tales & Living Legends

Note: for those of you who are probably wondering why the pony races below do not have Cutie Marks, the following races were designed under the assumption that the racial system will soon be changed to the suggested 6+CM balance. As such, all of these races do not conform to the current rules set and ideally should not be used until revisions (to either these races or the rules system itself) have been made. Thank you.

Negasus (Bat Pony):
Nocturnal cousins of the common pegasus, negasi tend to be grim and reclusive when amongst strangers and out of their element. When in the company of friends and family, however, the average negasus is considerably more gregarious, and it is relatively common for colonies of negasi to flock together in dozens or even hundreds for raucous celebration or even simple relaxation.
Negasi resemble normal pegasi, but with bat-like, membraneous wings, slitted pupils, and tufted ears. Most have much darker coloration than their diurnal cousins.
Flight (3)
Negasi can fly with poor maneuverability (you take -10 penalty to precision and brawn skills while flying). It takes practice to fly with grace and options for that appear in the utility talents.
Echolocation (2)
Negasi can “see” in areas wherever sound can travel, including magical darkness, as easily as a normal pony could in broad daylight. They cannot, however, distinguish colors this way.
Night’s Cry (1) – At Will
You let out an ear-splitting shriek. Choose one:
A) Name any number of creatures that could recognize your voice. They hear your call 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.

Ahuizotl
Unsettling, bizarre predators from the deepest depths of the most remote jungles, the majority of ahuizotls are simply content to skulk in riverbeds and lure in prey with their penchant for mimicry. However, it is not unheard of for the occasional ahuizotl to take an interest in the world beyond its jungle home, and those who do often take to global schemes - whether for good or ill - with remarkable determination.
Ahuizotls are roughly dog-like in appearance, but with unusual coloration and strange, distorted proportions. Each has ape-like hands on both their forelegs and at the end of their sinuous tail.
Handy Tail (1)
An ahuizotl’s tail ends in 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.
River-Lurker (1)
You can breathe underwater.
Mimicry (1)
You can make your voice sound like anyone or anything, gaining a +6 bonus to Persuasion checks made to imitate the sound of another creature or thing.
Getting Away With This (3) – Magic
Trigger – The DM makes a D20 roll and you dislike the result
Effect - You can tell the DM to treat the result of the d20 roll as a natural 1. No rerolls are possible.

Crystal Pony
Long thought to be lost forever, the newly-rediscovered crystal ponies are usually much closer to dreamers than thinkers. Most tend towards idealism and sentimentality, and their moods are both mercurial and acute. However, when properly channeled, their emotions give the crystal ponies zeal and conviction, and as such they have long perservered where others would have faltered.
Crystal ponies resemble earth ponies, but with shiny, multicolored manes, gemlike eyes, and crystalline coats. Their cutie marks tend toward more archaic styles than that of other ponies, but this may just be due to their temporal displacement.
Shining Gaze (1)
Crystal ponies gain a +3 bonus to perception checks to notice physical details. For example, noticing a tiny crack in the wall would gain benefit from this, but things that require mental insight - figuring out if someone is lying, for instance - would not.
Lifted Spirits (1)
Whenever an ally successfully aids you on a skill check, you gain an additional +1 bonus to the check.
Heart of Crystal (4)
During character creation, a crystal pony can choose one of its Magic talents. Once per day, the character can use that talent without spending a Magic point.

(Also see Ravenscroft Raven's take on the Crystal Pony race.)

Umbral Pony
Never-before-seen in Equestria, the eerie and disquieting umbral ponies emerged shortly after King Sombra's return, yet whether this is mere coincidence or evidence of a deeper connection between the two has yet to be seen. For their part, while umbral ponies mostly lack true malevolence, they tend to both spook and be spooked easily, and so interaction between umbral ponies and other races tend to be brief and terrifying for all parties involved. However, those brave enough to successfully interact with an umbral pony without scaring it will usually find the shadowy creature to be softhearted and filled with almost childlike curiosity.
Umbral ponies have pitch-black, slightly-wispy bodies. Their eyes, mane, and tail glow brightly (usually purple, green, or red, but other colors are only slightly less common). Their cutie marks also glow, and tend to resemble arcane runes or sigils.
Shadow’s Grip (2) – At Will
Umbral ponies can use shadowy tendrils to pick up or manipulate an object within fifty feet that weighs 25 pounds or less. You can hold only one object at a time in this way.
Untraceable (2) - At Will
Umbral ponies are a slippery folk. Your features and identity blur in the minds of others, making you very hard to pin down. Whenever you like, you can choose a creature that you can see. For the next month, that creature finds it nearly impossible to describe your appearance to others or remember what your name is. They still remember all your actions and will recognize you if they see you again, but can’t seem to give a description of you to anyone that might ask.
Night Terrors (2) - 1/Day
Umbral ponies can summon up a tenebrous aura of writhing, grotesque shapes, terrifying a creature that can see you for the next minute. Creatures gain +5 to persuasion checks when attempting to intimidate a terrified creature.


Kitsune
Kitsune are magical, shapeshifting fox spirits with anywhere from one to nine tails. While usually found in Eastern lands, some will travel far and wide to indulge in their taste for mischief. To this end, kitsune have been known to put both their illusory magics and their shapeshifting abilities to good use, and many have fallen victim to their pranks. However, rarely do kitsune engage in harming much more than an individual's pride; aside from the wicked nogitsune, most seek to instruct or entertain with their jests.
Kitsune closely resemble regular foxes, save for their additional tails. As a kitsune increases in power and age, it gains more tails; a nine-tailed kitsune is a force to be reckoned with indeed.
Magical Attunement (1)
Kitsune can use perception to detect magic, though this does not let them decipher exactly what the magic does - that requires arcane knowledge.
Fox-Fire (1)
Kitsune are immune to any heat below the level of an adult dragon's breath, including natural fire and lava. Kitsune can also conjure up puffs of flame at will. These puffs of flame are identical to a torch in many respects and are capable of burning objects and lighting fires outside of combat just as a torch might. Puffs of flame are ordinary fire, they extinguish quickly without tinder.
Second Shape (1)
Choose a Race. You may spend 5 minutes to shift between your natural kitsune 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.
Deceive the Senses (3) - Magic
Your illusionary magic may change the appearance of all objects and terrain features within 50 feet of you - making them look, smell, sound, and sometimes even feel like something else. For example, you could make a flask of acid look like a bottle of wine, or make a priceless artifact look and feel like a clumsy wood carving.
Roll a d20+15. This number becomes the DC for a creature to see through your deception (using a Perception check). A creature automatically sees through the illusion if it takes damage from a disguised object or disguised terrain (such as walking on an illusory carpet that is actually lava).
The effect of your Deceive the Senses ends after 5 minutes.