Tauren

Tauren (shu'halo in their native language of Taur-ahe) are huge nomadic creatures who live on the grassy, open plains of Mulgore in central Kalimdor. Tauren are large, muscular humanoids and bovine in appearance, complete with hooves and horns. Long ago, they grew as tall as 12 feet tall and up to 900 lbs,[citation needed] but recently, due to stress and war, they now stand anywhere from six and a half to nine feet tall and weigh anywhere from 400 to 700 lbs.[citation needed] Their immense bodies are covered with fine, short fur that ranges in color from black, gray, white, red, brown and tan and any mottled combinations or variations thereof. After generations of nomadic existence, most of the tauren have recently made permanent settlements in Mulgore and the Barrens.

Background
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 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. Having reached the age of maturity, you must test your skills in the wild and prove yourself in the Great Hunt.

Appearance
Tauren are large, muscular humanoids with bull-like heads. Males average 7 1/2 feet tall and 400 pounds, while females are usually slightly shorter and lighter. Tauren are mostly made up of muscle, having incredibly developed physiques and brawny frames most suitable for combat. Soft, downy fur (usually quite short) covers the tauren body, with manes growing along head and neck, the lengths of the arms, and the shins. Tauren men and women almost always wear their hair long, and the males prefer braids to any other style. Coloration can range from solid black to blond and even to white, or mottled pelts with a range of spots and different colors. They have three fingers on each hand.

Horns are most prominent on males, although all tauren have horns. Tauren wear natural clothing — leather or hide, and some cloth. They prize jewelry, designing fine trinkets of ivory, bone and amber. From these materials they make bracelets or necklaces, and sometimes adorn their horns or locks with such beautiful displays of artistry.

In World of Warcraft, the playable race of tauren are 8 feet tall (still considered to be Medium).

Cultural Analog
The Tauren are based on Native American (aboriginal) culture in general and Lakota Souix culture in specificality. Although they have a permanent home in Mulgore, the Tuaren build teepees, have large totems, and practice shamanism. They value the hunt and worship the Earthmother. Recently, perhaps because of the Blood Elves, some of the Tauren have come to venerate their Sun god and are drawing on the sun god as both Priests and Paladins (sunwalkers).

Religion
For the tauren, nature is the mother of the world, and their faith holds a deep and resonant tone within their hearts. Tauren are connected to the ebb and flow of the world. They revere the spirits of the land and of their ancestors, and they turn to these spirits for wisdom and guidance. This connection manifests in their deeply animistic culture, where druids and shamans stand side by side with warriors and hunters. Tauren do not see a separation between the veneration of nature and the hunt; to hunt is to honor the spirits of nature.

Tauren Paladins: The recent embrace of the Light by the Taurens has produced priests and Paladins. A move towards civilization, to be sure. Taurens have made the move to Priest and Paladin seemingly on their own, but the Blood Elves and trolls may have had something to do with it. The new order are called the Sunwalkers.

Relationship with Other Races of the Horde
When the tauren first encountered the orcs of Thrall’s Horde, the tauren recognized the orcs as spiritual brethren. No other race shared such a similar outlook on the world, and the shamans of both races met frequently to discuss the matters of the spirit world. The tauren allied with the orcs out of a shared vision, one of a collective of allies keeping each other well guarded. While the tauren see the orcs and trolls as potential friends to welcome, they rarely trust the Forsaken with more than a nod and a place to set their withered feet.

Tauren also bear no ill will to the members of the Alliance unless threatened by them, although they do make an exception for high elves. The taint of magic on the high elven spirit is a poisonous air to the tauren, a stench of the soul that they cannot tolerate for long. Night elves are quite the opposite; tauren sometimes view them with awe and fear. Tauren and night elves have coexisted on Kalimdor for centuries, and tauren have long seen the Kaldorei as a mythic race of demigods, possessed of great magic and steeped in natural powers.

Tauren have an extremely close relationship with the orcs with whom they share a similar culture. The late Cairne Bloodhoof was also extremely close friends with Thrall. They are less thrilled at the presence of the Forsaken at Thunder Bluff, who they grudgingly tolerate due to their alliance. The tauren place a strong emphasis on the value of life, and the unlife of the Forsaken stands as an affront to their beliefs. Some tauren, like Mani Winterhoof, pity them.[citation needed] There are tauren that wish to cure the Forsaken like the Elder Council.

When the Blood Elves joined the horde, the Tuaren were wary of them. But seeing how the race's paladins and priests fought during the Burning Crusade and have redeemed themselves, the act of Redemption has inspired the Tauren to train some of their number as Paladins, the followers of the sun god An'she.

Racial Traits

 * Standard (0 RP), +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity -- Taurens are physically imposing and most seek a spirituality with Nature. However their large size and anatomy does not lend well to dexterity.


 * Normal Speed (0 RP): Tauren have a base speed of 30 feet.


 * Monstrous Humanoid (3 RP): The Tauren are considered to be Monstrous humanoids at 8 ft. tall and being, basically, humanoid aurochs. They do not have Darkvision, 60 ft however.


 * Medium (0 RP): Tuaren have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. A Medium creature has a space of 5 feet by 5 feet and a reach of 5 feet.


 * Weapon Familiarity (1 RP): Prerequisites: None; Tauren may treat tauren halberds and totems as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.


 * Skill Training (1 RP): Prerequisites: None; Tauren have Handle Animal and Survival as racial class skills.
 * Hoof Stomp (3 RP): Like slashing tail, hoof stomp is an ability by tauren to stomp the ground to unbalance their foes.  It's a natural attack that knocks their enemies supine for a time and causes 1d3 damage.
 * Natural Gore Attack (1 RP): Prerequisites: None; Benefit: A Tauren can gore with his horns for 1d4 damage.
 * Languages, Standard (0 RP): Tauren start with Orcish and Taur-ahe. They may also learn Thallassian, Goblinspeak, Zandali, and Undercommon. A few learn the Night Elf language and Common.

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World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game © 2005, Blizzard Entertainment

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Race Guide © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Jim Groves, Tim Hitchcock, Hal MacLean, Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Owen K.C. Stephens, Todd Stewart, and Russ Taylor.