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There are some that say the Centaurian race arose long ago from a magical accident. Others say the gods created them thus when a human female and male unicorn implored the gods to unite them as one being in perfect love. Whatever the truth, they have been around as long as anyone can remember. Centaurs are woodland beings who normally shun the company of humans and avoid human cities. Of the PC races, centaurs most prefer the company of elves, trading with them freely. Centaurs live in harmony with nature, never over fishing or over hunting, and never taking more from nature than they replace. But some few centaurs have been known to freely mix with humans as well, despite the difficulties of limited access and racism directed towards them by the ignorant masses. Centaurs are cleaner than horses and have diets that clearly are on par with human cuisine. Centaurs do not eat straw, grass, or hey, for example. If allowed to do so, one might find them standing in a human tavern and drinking at the bar or eating in a restaurant (just not sitting down, mind you). But because of their size, they often dwell is open areas, camps, glades, and pasturelands (even if they don't graze). They are farmers, foragers, fishers, hunters, artisans, and are active in trade, particularly with elves, halflings, and gnomes. They tolerate dwarves and humans more often than not. Thus, PC centaurs may venture in towns and human dwellings, they may even venture into larger underground complexes, but they dislike going too far into the underdark since all those small, cramped places offer no room to move. They are also not overly found of ships and boats. Though they usually can swim, unless they actively learn this skill, they typically limit this activity to getting out of the water, bathing, wading, and fishing near the shore. Ships and boats are often too confining for them, so though they may book passage when the need arises, they never take to the sea as a way of life. Centaur societies are mostly tribal, and their tribes consist of several clans, each clan containing up to a dozen families. Families range from 3 to 12 individuals. Thus, clans may range in size up to 20 to 140 or more, while whole tribes may numbers in the thousands. Unfortunately, they are often boxed in by geography and by other races. They have limited opportunity to get this big. Most tribes number only a few hundred, consisting of small clans, and small families. Centaurs most frequently worship Skerrit, the Forester, a legendary hero and racial ideal who ascended to deity hood long ago. Centaurs will hardly ever wear anything like clothing since they clearly prefer warm forested areas. However, they have been known to wear clothing on their human-like torso, for protection and warmth, or sometimes just to help fit in should they venture into human societies or keep company with non-centaurs. They find the suggestion of wearing a saddle or being ridden highly offensive, and unless it was a matter of life or death, they would probably refuse to be ridden or treated as a pack animal. They may wear a mix of armors, but hate wearing anything heavier than leather. Their natural movement and speed affords them a good AC, so such protection often negates these advantages. Their natural AC starts at 11, and their DEX bonus applies on top of this. If they wear leather armor and barding, this cost two to three times what the human equivalent would cost, but it will improve their AC by +1 or +2, depending on quality. They may wear a chain mail shirt for a further +1 to AC, but never chain mail or plate barding. If they do, start their AC at 10 (not 11) and negate all DEX bonuses to AC. Centaurs reach majority at 18, taking slightly longer than humans to mature. But their age is comparable to that of humans that usually live to about 70, though over 100 is not unheard of. CENTAUR RACIAL TRAITS
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