Hero's Journey - Ideas

I thought maybe I would post updates on the development of Hero's Journey intermittently.

Races and Classes
For my races, I am replacing all of the standard demi-humans with ones of my own, as I mentioned before. The new races will be humans (called the Furst), Katumon (a cat race), Sha-Lans (a sort of blue-skinned gnome), Horka (ram/goat people), and Villow (flightless bird people). Each race will initially have a basic description of their culture and appearance, leaving enough room for the GM to customize them to fit whatever world they like.

For classes I have boiled it down to four basic choices; warrior, rogue, priest, and sorcerer. Each class has certain abilities, and bonuses that will effect the core character, much like his race does. There will be the option to multi-class, handled in a manner similar to that of 3E.

I am also introducing what I call "Traits" to both races and classes. Racial Traits are fixed. They are basically the racial abilities you find in previous editions, and each race has four. Class Traits are class abilities that the character can choose to take as they gain levels. There are several to choose from, so the player can customize his character how he likes.

Here is an example of an original race:

Katumon
Tall and broad, the Katumon are a consummate warrior race. Their culture is a feudal one, with a clear cut caste system, ruled by local warlords, who in turn serve the Khan. Katumon are honorable to a fault, and loyal. Their social belief system is complex, and involves blood-oaths, bonds of servitude, and individual deeds over those of a group. They are very feline in appearance, with long tails, and are covered in soft pelts of fur that vary widely in colors and markings between individuals, though those closely related to one-another will appear similar. They do have retractable claws, but rarely use them in combat, as they consider such actions dishonorable. Scratching is either considered an insult, or a way of marking ownership/mastership. Katumon generally eschew clothing, save for silks that cover their bodies in modesty. Warriors will often wear a leather harness with accoutrements that denote their social class.

Katumon have the following Racial Traits:
• Ambidextrous: Automatically gains the Two-Weapon Fighting Trait.
• Rage: Katumon have a 2 in 6 chance of going into a rage when hit in combat (successful WIS check, DC 10 +damage taken, negates). A raging Katumon is +2 to hit and +2 to damage, and ignores the effects of injuries until he comes down (including dropping below 0 HP)
• Disease Resistant: +1 per 2 levels on any Life Drain save against disease
• Darkvision: Katumon can see heat patterns up to 60’ in absolute darkness

As you can guess from some of the items, I am also revamping how such things as saving throws work. More on that, and other changes/additions later.