Jozhal

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Jozhal are... well, you know how Dark Sun made a big deal out of killing off lizardfolk, only to stop and realize "Oh shit! Reptilian humanoids are a great fit for this kind of Post-Apocalyptic Sword & Sorcery setting!" Jozhals are amongst the myriad attempts TSR made to fix that mistake.

Standing about four feet tall, a jozhal is a small, slender, bipedal reptile with long, lanky limbs, a serpentine neck and tail, and dexterous clawed hands. Basically, they're a miniature theropod-type dinosaur, like a Compsognathus or the smaller raptors, but fully sapient. Seriously, they basically look like a miniature version of the erdlu or crodlu. Their mostr unique physical trait is their chameleon-like ability to change colors in order to blend into their environments.

Living in small family groups that average four to five creatures, the jozhal are highly intelligent omnivores who are defined by the unusual trait of both having a deep appreciation for magic but also an intense reverence for nature; as a result, they strive to make sure to never overstress their native environment and often wield surprisingly powerful spells, which can be either elemental cleric, druidic or preserver in nature. They regard Athasian humans and demihumans as dangerous, foolish creatures (and, let's be fair, it's not hard to see why), so they do their best to avoid them... except when they sense that travelers have magic items, in which case they'll do their best to nick said items.

The fanmade 3e update for Jozhal in "Terrors of Athas" expands on this point considerably, noting that the jozhal go so far as to cannibalize their dead and salvage their hides and bones for gear out of a desire to live in balance, and they particularly revile humans and elves for their destructive behavior.

Playing Jozhal

Jozhal actually make an appearance as a non-hostile race in the Prism Pentad, and even help out the protagonists. So, whilst TSR never revisted their list of playable Dark Sun races beyond the Aarakocra, Pterran and Dray, fans decided to take up the slack, converting jozhal into a PC race for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition in the Complete Book of Athasian Humanoids.

Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 5/18, Dexterity 8/20, Constitution 5/20, Intelligence 8/20, Wisdom 5/20, Charisma 5/17

Ability Score Adjustments: +1 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -1 Constitution, -2 Charisma (note: increase Cha by +2 when dealing with NPCs of the same race)

Racial Class/Level Limits: Fighter 10, Gladiator 8, Ranger 8, Preserver 12, Cleric 12, Druid 8, Thief 10, Psionicist Unlimited

Racial Thieving Skill Adjustments: Pick Pockets +5%, Open Locks -5%, Move Silently +10%, Hide in Shados +15%, Climb Walls -15%, Read Languages +5%, Detect Magic +10%, Detect Illusion +5%, Forge Documents -5%, Bribe Officials -10%

Natural Armor Class: 5

Movement: 18

Camouflage: By changing their color to blend in, jozhal can attempt to become invisible; a creature must successfully pass a Wisdom check to detect a camouflaged jozhal.

Ambush: If a jozhal makes a surprise attack after having gone unseen and undetected, its target suffers a -2 penalty to their Surprise check.

Natural Weapons: A jozhal can make either 2 Claw attacks (1d4 damage) or one Bite attack (1d8 damage) per round.

10% Magic Resistance

Infravision 60'

From 4th level, regardless of class, a jozhal can cast Detect Magic 1/day.

Jozhal cannot wear armor of any kind; they are too small and wierdly shaped.

Roleplaying Disadvantage: The jozhal love for magic (and willingness to steal magical gear) is well known. Creatures with a low opinion of magic users will often dislike jozhal, and of course, they will immediately be blamed for magical stuff going missing.

Mandatory Initial NW Proficiency: Spellcraft

Naturally, this was then followed into Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition with Terrors of Athas:

Ability Modifiers: +4 Dexterity, +4 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -4 Strength, -2 Constitution

Size: Small

Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft

Speed: 30ft

Weapon Proficiency: All Simple Weapons, Jozhal NAtural Weapons

+4 racial bonus on Hide checks.

+4 racial bonus on Use Magic Device checks.

+1 natural armor bonus.

Natural Weapons: Bite (1d4 damage)

Special Attacks:

Psi-Like Abilities: Burst 3/day, Empty Mind (+4 bonus) 3/day, Dimension Swap 1/day. Manifester level 6th and included. Save DCS are Charisma based.

Special Qualities:

Spell Resistance (Ex): A jozhal has spell resistance equal to its Hit Dice + 5.

Automatic Languages: Jozhal, Common. Bonus Languages: Aarakocra, Elven, Dwarven, Thri-Kreen, Pterran.

Favored Class: Cleric

Level Adjustment: +2