Tauren (Warcraft)

For countless generations, the bestial tauren roamed the plains of the Barrens, hunted the mighty kodos, and sought the wisdom of their eternal goddess, the Earth Mother. Scattered across the land, the wandering tribes were united only by a common hatred for their sworn enemy, the marauding centaur. Seeking aid against the centaur, the chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof, befriended Warchief Thrall and the other orcs, who had recently journeyed to Kalimdor.
With the orcs’ help, Cairne and his Bloodhoof tribe were able to drive back the centaur and claim the grasslands of Mulgore for their own. For the first time in hundreds of years, the tauren had a land to call their own. Upon the windswept mesa of Thunder Bluff, Cairne built a refuge for his people, where tauren of every tribe is welcome. Over time, the scattered tauren tribes united under Cairne’s rule. There are a few tribes who disagree about the direction their new nation should take, but all agree that Cairne is the wisest and best suited to lead them towards the future.
Though the noble tauren are peaceful in nature, the rites of the Great Hunt are venerated as the heart of their spiritual culture. Every tauren, warrior or otherwise, seeks identity both as a hunter and as a child of the Earth Mother.
Great tragedy has rocked the tauren tribes and shaken their once-stalwart devotion to the Horde. A disagreement between the new orc Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, and the beloved tauren chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof, led to a duel that ennded in Cairne's death. With his loss, the vile matriarch Magatha Grimtotem launched a murderous attack, attempting to sieze control of Thunder Bluff for herself. However, Cairne's brave son, Baine Bloodhoof, successfully repelled the attack and banished the surviving Grimtotem to the farthest reaches of the land. Under Baine's hopeful leadership, the tauren people seek to heal their wounds and restore the balance between the various factions of the Horde. To this end, a new generation of tauren "Sunwalkers" has arisen to lead their people into the Light of a new dawn and the promise of rebirth. As a proud tribesman of Mulgore, you must uphold the honor of your people and safeguard the lands of your ancestors.

-Tauren Racial Traits- (RP: 13)
- +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity. Considerably larger than the races around them, the tauren's gentle natures can be surprising. When among the other races, the fragile natures and small size of things around them make them appear clumsy.
- Monstrous Humanoid: A monstrous humanoid race has the following features:
* Monstrous humanoids have the darkvision 60 feet racial trait.
* Monstrous humanoids breathe, eat, and sleep.
- Medium Size: Tauren are Medium size, but possess the Powerful Build trait (see below).
- Languages: Tauren begin play speaking Common and Taurahe. Half-orcs with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Orc, Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, and Goblin.

Defensive Traits: (1 RP)
- Hardy Body: Their immune system is compounded with a deep connection to the natural world, thus they have a passive natural resistance to everything from poisons and acids to the weather. When an effect would repeat damage or drain ability score more than once (and is still the same effect - like a lingering disease or bleed, but not a new source of the effect), reduce any effect by half, starting the second round.

Skill and Feat Traits: (1 RP)
- Cultivation: Being great huntsmen and natural wanderers with a certain natural affinity, the tauren developed a deep knowledge of the botanical life of Azeroth, using it in various shamanistic rituals, as well as for medical treatment. Because of this the tauren are natural herbalists. Tauren treat Knowledge: Nature and Survival as class abilities.

Offensive Racial Traits: (2 RP)
- War Stomp: Hunting the kodo and wandering the wilds has not been easy for the tauren, and facing the centaur has made it no easier. All tauren are born with the ability to communicate with the spirits in times of need, beseeching them to shake the earth and stun their enemies. This ability has been nicknamed the 'War Stomp' by the tauren's enemies. This ability can be used once per day. All creatures adjacent to the tauren must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the tauren's level + the tauren's Strength modifier). Failure indicates the subject is dazed for one round.

Other Racial Traits: (6 RP)
- Endurance: Their natural body structure grants them not only great strength, but an incredible endurance to damage. Tauren recieve a bonus hit point every level.
- Powerful Build: The physical stature of tauren lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever a tauren is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the tauren is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A tauren is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. A tauren can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.