
Zebrian                       jimv/1996
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Frequency: Rare               Habitat: Forest, Cities
# Appearing: 1-4 or 5-50      % in Lair: 10%

Move: 12"                     Size: M (6' tall)
Intelligence: Average/Varies  Alignment: Lawful Evil

Hit Dice: 2                   Thaco: 16
Armor Class: 10 (by Armor)    Magic Resistance: Standard
# of Attacks: 1               Damage/Attack: By Weapon
Special Attacks: None         Special Defenses: None

Treasure Type: L&M each       Experience: 20+2/hp

Zebrians are a race of humanoids with a peculiar "morphing"
ability which allows them to mimic humans and other humanoid
races both visually, in voice, and in manner as well. In order to
affect the change, the Zebrian must first see the individual in
question (who must be between 5 and 7 feet tall, the limit to
which Zebrians are able to modify their height). They may also
mix and match traits of different people they have mimicked,
effectively creating an entirely new face.

They are intently perceptive of even the most minor details
involved in their impersonation and will typically have a
repertoire of one individual per every point of intelligence they
possess. Of course, they are not always perfect at what they do,
and the GM should take secret rolls for characters who know the
individual being mimicked (rolling on the detect invisibility
table, DMG:p60) in order to determine whether or not they notice
anything strange.

Unlike Dopplegangers (MM1:p29), Zebrians are not able to mimic
clothing and tools carried by the individuals they mimic, and
they often need a few minutes with a good mirror in order to
effectively mimic a new face they have seen. Note also, they are
not able to sprout extra arms or legs, and they do not gain any
special abilities (such as infravision and the like), nor are
they even able to modify their attribute scores (other than
comeliness) via this "morphing" ability.

Zebrian society is strange in that it is effectively split down
the middle, one half staying to the woods away from civilization
in a loosely clan-based and somewhat nomadic way of life, and the
other half venturing within cities, preying upon civilization by
practicing murder and thievery via their art of impersonation.
Despite this, Zebrians have strong intra-racial loyalties, and
many individuals roam from forest to city and back to forest
again, bring back with them the goods of civilization to share
with their kin. The source of this cohesion, however, probably
has more to do with their hatred of humans than anything else.
Ancient legend tells that the Zebrians were created from the
ghosts of fallen elves by some deity of the woods, and that they
were seared with a hatred of Humanity because of the wholesale
destruction of their people. Whether there is any truth to the
legend, however, has yet to be determined.

