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Myou
2009-05-04, 04:02 PM
Hi guys, I recently made a thread looking for help with my races, and got lots of great help, but since I've added a few new races, tweaked a few existing ones, and greatly expanded the racial fluff I've decided to make a new thread, in the hopes that you can help me some more.

My greatest concern is making the races balanced against eachother, but comments and suggestions for the fluff and characterisation are welcome too (be gentle there though). :smallsmile:


Setting:

The setting is a world covered in small island chains and shallow seas, which was cut off from all other planes by a disaster about 100,000 years ago. Summoning is still possible, but you can't leave the material plane and summons can't stay long. Since the catastrophe the world has been effectively wthout gods, resulting in religions developing much as they have in the real world, with no-one sure which, if any, are 'correct', since divine power comes from collective belief rather than deities themselves.

It's a high-powered campaign world and a few points of note are that spellcasters get infinite cantrips (making 0th level spell-like abilities less valuable) and underwater exploration is made easy by gnomish aqualungs (simplistic but functional).


Humans:

Physical Description
Humans are a relatively short-lived species, reaching maturity in around 20 years. Most adult humans are between five and six feet tall, weighing between 125 and 250 pounds, males noticeably taller and heavier than females. Due to their proliferation and rapid reproduction humans are more physically varied than other races, with wide ranges of skin from pale to almost black and hair colour that ranges from white, to yellow, to red to black. Male human often grow facial hair and some grow light body hair. As in most other things, humans tend to show some of the greatest variation in grooming and dress.

Personality
Humans are a youthful an inquisitive race. They are one of the most recent to emerge, but even after thousands of years they retain a youthfulness that the older races lack. They lead unusually varied lives and often become adventurers or explorers, making them common across the world’s oceans. Humans are very quick to learn and often hold high ambition which more than makes up for their shorter lifespan, but at the same time their short lives can lead them to think only in the present and neglect the past and future.

Society
Just as humans themselves, human societies and cultures tend to change quickly and rarely last more than a few hundred years as new ideas and attitudes spread and take hold. Certain values and systems, such as liberalism and democracy tend to be more prevalent, but human societies are amazingly varied.

Language
Humans do not share a single language; instead they rely primarily on the common tongue, but often pick up other languages from the races they live around.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Humanoid (Human). As medium creatures humans gain no special benefits or penalties from their size.
• Human base land speed is 30ft.
• 1 extra feat at first level.
• +2 to two ability scores of choice.
• -2 to one ability scores of choice.
• Automatic Language: Common.
• Aging: Adulthood - 20, Middle Age - 40, Old Age - 60, Venerable Age – 80, Maximum age - +2d20



Elves:

Physical Description
Elves are an ancient and ethereal race, similar in appearance to humans, yet also markedly dissonant. They possess magical blood that resists harmful spells and makes their bodies lithe and flexible. It gives them fair and unblemished complexions and there is an air of nobility and grace to their features that makes them rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful of races.
Elves are somewhat lighter than humans, weighing between 100 and 200 pounds, but are approximately equal to them in height. There is little variation in weight or height between males and females, and overall they are less varied than humans. Their hair and skin seldom stay from a few tones, their hair normally tones of black, silver or gold, their skin rarely anything but pale pink. Occasionally elves are born with the recessive trait of white hair and black skin, but they are in other respects completely normal and treated as such. Elves cannot grow facial or body hair of any kind. They tend to wear finely made natural fabrics in tones of white, green or brown and often don intricate and highly ornate body paints.

Personality
Elves have deep connections to nature and the forests in particular, and those elves who do not find their place with their kin often choose to live free, solitary lifestyles in the wilderness. They tend to be calm and considered in thought and action, often looking to the larger view of events that their longevity gives them, but nonetheless they are a kind and benevolent race, with a strong sense of justice. When pursuing a goal they are focused and driven, with many elves dedicating their lives to a single calling.

Society
As a very long-lived race elven values and principles tend to run deep, and change is rare and gradual. Their societies tend to value closeness to nature and balanced, peaceful lifestyles that do not impact on their environment. Elves mix less commonly with the other races, preferring the calm ad quiet of the forest, constructing homes amongst the branches of tall trees, but some elves find themselves drawn to cities and there is often a small but active community of elves in most large settlements.

Language
Elves are taught the complicated and lyrical language of Elven from an early age, and many modern languages have evolved from or drawn upon it. Songs and poetry are often written in Elven, and many bards study the language to use it in their performances.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Humanoid (Elf). As medium creatures elves gain no special benefits or penalties from their size.
• Elven base land speed is 30ft.
• Darkvision: Elves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and elves can function just fine with no light at all.
• Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• +2 bonuses to Listen, Spot, Hide, Move Silently and Search checks. Their keen senses and nimble, lithe bodies allow elves to excel at these skills.
• +2 bonuses to Dexterity and Wisdom and a -2 penalty to Strength.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Elven.
• Aging: Adulthood - 300, Middle Age - 600, Old Age - 900, Venerable Age – 1200, Maximum age - +2d300



Dwarves:

Physical Description
Dwarves are a stout and heavily built race, unusually short for their mass, rarely standing more than four to four and a half feet tall yet equal in weight to humans. They are slower and but tougher and more enduring than other humanoids. Their thickset frames allow them to easily wear even the heaviest armours and make them tough warriors.
Male and female dwarves are distinguished only by the density and length of their facial hair, as male dwarves grow far more than females do. In other respects the two are virtually identical, females having no prominent breasts or a distinct figure and growing heavy body hair as males do. Dwarves tend to have middling to slightly tanned skin tones, with little variance – few dwarves are particularly pale or dark. Their hair is almost never anything but red, brown or black, but it tends to turn grey with age as human hair does. Dwarves tend to wear simple and practical clothes in browns and greys, normally using metal to add any decoration. They often pay greater heed to their facial hair than clothing, styling and tying their beards in various ways.

Personality
As a whole the dwarven race is gruff and unyielding, but while they seldom make friends easily, they are highly loyal and generous to those that they do grow close to. Dwarves often become miners or blacksmiths, as they value rare metals and gems highly and prize skilled metallurgy. They tend to be stubborn, proud and inflexible, but they are hard-working and have a very strong sense of tradition, honour and independence. Many dwarves resent intrusions by other races into dwarven affairs, and dwarves can be one of the most secretive races. Dwarves also have long memories, remembering old grudges – and old alliances and debts – though many generations.
When not working dwarves often drink large quantities of powerful ale and spirits, and commonly become extremely inebriated, only their tough constitutions allowing them to survive quantities of alcohol that would be fatal to a human.

Society
Dwarven societies are some of the most insular and xenophobic, but also some of the most ordered, stable and unchanging, even the greatest social and economic changes failing to penetrate dwarven laws, tradition and history. Dwarves often build impressive cities of stone and metal atop high mountains - or below them - and often settle in mining towns and villages or in areas where precious metals can be easily acquired. As dwarves do not welcome intrusion and can be very unfriendly towards intruders their cities and tend to have fewer members of other races, but those that do settle there are usually accepted as surrogate dwarves should they stay long enough.

Language
Dwarves speak Dwarven, a harsher tongue than Common, with a complicated runic alphabet that takes years to learn. Many works of dwarven literature give comprehensive local and global histories, or deal with law and crafts. Dwarves living in mixed communities often use Dwarven to communicate with each other as a way to gain greater privacy.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Humanoid (Dwarf). As medium creatures dwarves gain no special benefits or penalties from their size.
• Dwarven base land speed is 20ft.
• Low-Light Vision: Dwarves can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• A +4 bonus to saving throws against poisons thanks to their powerful constitutions.
• Proficiency with all types of armour, as their build allows them to use armour without training.
• Dwarves gain Toughness as a bonus feat at first level.
• A +2 bonus to Constitution and a -2 penalty to Charisma.
• Automatic Language: Common.
• Aging: Adulthood - 40, Middle Age - 80, Old Age - 120, Venerable Age – 160, Maximum age - +2d40



Gnomes:

Physical Description
Gnomes are a dextrous and quick-witted race, skilled with their hands. They are smaller and more fragile than other humanoids but have an aptitude for survival that few others can match. They are usually between two and a half and three feet tall and weigh between 30 and 40 pounds. Males tend to be heavier than females but not taller. Males often grow well-groomed beards or moustaches, but rarely have much body hair. They have relatively uniform pink skin, but some tend towards a yellow tint that is not seen in other races. Their hair is rarely anything but brown or blond, but can sometimes be black. Gnomes often wear leather and have a penchant for capes.

Personality
Gnomes are intelligent and highly inventive, and have a light-hearted attitude that is in strong contrast to their cousins, the dwarves. They love jokes, puns and games, but also have a deep affection for tricks and pranks. They are highly inquisitive, choosing often to learn through personal experience, which can lead them to be reckless, but also makes them great innovators and adventurers. Gnomes enjoy their freedom, but can also have good discipline when they find the motivation. They are especially drawn to gold and are known for having a greedy streak that often drives them to become merchants.

Society
Gnomes live in some of the most unstable and hostile environments the world has to offer – in glass cities under the ocean, among the freezing peaks of the tallest mountains, and on floating towns far out to sea. Their societies and cultures tend to be relatively anarchic yet stable, new inventions and ideas being absorbed rather than fuelling dramatic changes as they do in human cultures. Instead it is their settlements themselves that are constantly changing, new technologies and methods allowing gnomes to settle in ever-more extreme and unusual environments. Their adventurous nature makes gnomes one of the most widespread – if not numerous – races in Oceana, with at least a few gnomes found in almost every city and town.

Language
The gnome language, developed from a simplified form of Dwarven, is now utterly unrecognisable, well known for it’s use in technical treatise and it’s wealth of technical and scientific terms, a language commonly learnt by those with an interest in science whatever race they may be.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Small Humanoid (Gnome). As small creatures gnomes gain a +1 size bonus to their Armour Class, a +1 size bonus to their attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus to Hide checks, but they use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Gnome base land speed is 20ft.
• A +2 bonus to craft checks.
• A +1 bonus to all saving throws. Despite their frailty, gnomes are skilled at avoiding harm and resisting harmful effects.
• +2 bonuses to Dexterity and Intelligence and a -2 penalty to Constitution.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Gnome.
• Aging: Adulthood - 30, Middle Age - 60, Old Age - 90, Venerable Age – 120, Maximum age - +2d30



Orcs:

Physical Description
Orcs are a large and powerful race, bigger than other humanoids and wilder too. They have amazing strength and stamina, but despite their vitality they have short life-spans. They are not physically or mentally agile, but they grow to be between nine and twelve feet tall and weigh from 750 to 1100 pounds, giving them the ability to outreach opponents and easily dominate smaller creatures in combat as they throw their impressive weight around. Orcs have skin in varying shades of green, from light to dark, and almost invariably have black hair (although a rare few have brown hair). Female orcs are smaller than males, but otherwise are relatively similar in build. Orcs grow very little body hair and cannot grow facial hair at all, but they often grow long hairstyles that they bind elaborately. They seldom wear more than the lightest of clothing, favouring simple waist wrappings that hide their modestly and provide anchoring for weapons without covering their broad, impressive chests or powerful limbs.

Personality
Orcs are seldom great thinkers or innovators, preferring action to thought. They have hot tempers and seldom speak much, but they have a good nature despite their confrontational attitude, enjoying simple and relatively peaceful tribal lifestyles, working off their aggression hunting and sparring with each other. Orcs have poor self-control and enjoy the simpler pleasures in life, such as alcohol, food, singing and tests of physical strength and endurance. They have little patience for subtlety or learning and laws.

Society
Orcs place little value on rules or hierarchies, tending to live in loosely organised tribes in villages on the fringes of society, with little order or law, following only simple tribal traditions. However, many more disciplined orcs live in larger settlements with the other races, as bodyguards, soldiers or other labourers.

Language
Orcs speak Orc, a simple, guttural language with a limited alphabet. Orc is derived from Dwarven, as a number of languages are, but Orc has been simplified and distorted to the point that it is utterly incomprehensible speakers of Dwarven.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Large Monstrous Humanoid (Orc). As large creatures orcs suffer a –1 penalty to their Armour Class, a –1 penalty to their attack rolls, and a –4 penalty to Hide checks, but gain a +4 bonus to grapple checks and lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium characters.
• Orc base land speed is 30ft.
• Orcs take up a 10ft by 10ft space and have 10ft reach.
• Orcs gain Endurance as a bonus feat.
• Orcs gain a +2 bonus to Strength but suffer a -2 penalty to their Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma.
• Automatic Language: Common, Orc.
• Aging: Adulthood - 10, Middle Age - 20, Old Age - 30, Venerable Age – 40, Maximum age - +2d10



Kobolds

Physical Description
Kobolds are a somewhat short-lived race of burrowing reptilian humanoids, between three and three and a half feet tall and weighing from 100 to 150 pounds, females tending to be thinner but of equal height. They possess very thick, hard scales, which, combined with their thick build give them amazing toughness but poor agility. As creatures that normally live in underground burrows they have poor eyesight and suffer from sensitivity to light since their eyes are adapted to the dark. Kobold scales vary in colour from yellow to light orange to brown and green. As reptiles they do not grow body hair, but unlike other reptiles they are less vulnerable to temperatures, their body well-adapted to life away from the sun, having evolved to better retain heat. Kobolds normally wear only simple clothing made from cheaper fabrics, as they do not have the sensitive skin of other races. The often wear nothing but a loincloth, or a pair of trousers.

Personality
Kobolds are a wily race, great survivors like gnomes, having evolved relying on their wits and their tough hide to survive against larger and stronger creatures. They are natural diggers and often take to mining as dwarves do, but they do not share the dwarven fondness for precious metals or craftwork. They do often take to the craft of trap-making however, having a long history of using traps both to hunt and defend themselves. They can often be more paranoid than other races and tend to be short-sighted in mind as well as eye.

Society
Kobolds often live in large and relatively elaborate underground towns, using compressed earth and wooden supports in lieu of the dwarven method of stonemasonry and metalwork. Their societies are normally fairly simple, tribal organisations with few laws, but kobolds also happily live in more organised settlements with other races, seeing laws as a form of security which protects them from larger, more dangerous races.

Language
Kobolds speak a heavily simplified dialect of Draconic inherited from naga long ago. Kobolds seldom write at length and their alphabet is especially limited, so while a kobold could decipher the gist of a more elaborate Draconic text they would be likely to miss the subtleties and nuances of the writing and could not easily replicate it.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Small Humanoid (Reptilian). As small creatures kobolds gain a +1 size bonus to their Armour Class, a +1 size bonus to their attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus to Hide checks, but they use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Kobold base land speed is 20ft.
• Darkvision: Kobolds can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and kobolds can function just fine with no light at all.
• Low-Light Vision: Kobolds can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• Light sensitivity: Kobolds are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
• A +2 Natural Armour bonus thanks to their thick scales.
• A +4 bonus to Constitution and -2 penalties to Dexterity and Wisdom.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic.
• Aging: Adulthood - 15, Middle Age - 30, Old Age - 45, Venerable Age – 60, Maximum age - +2d15



Aasimar

Physical Description
Aasimar are descended from celestial beings who interbred with humans in the distant past when such holy creatures were more commonplace. Over time they eventually grew apart from the rest of human kind, becoming a distinct race of their own, while retaining many human features.
Aasimar are normally approximately equal in height and weight to humans, but they rarely weigh more than 200 pounds, as their celestial heritage prevents them from gaining fat build-ups that can cause obesity in humans. Aasimar have skin that ranges from pale white to bronze, with soft white or gold lines and markings. They also have golden hair that shines in the sunlight. Aasimar cannot grow body hair or facial hair.
Aasimar are supernaturally beautiful, one of the few races that can challenge elves in looks and grace, but they are not quite as lithe as elves, since they tend to have the slightly more heavily built body-shape of humans. They normally wear light clothing, preferring softer fabrics, often in colours of black and gold.

Personality
Aasimar are a wise and insightful race, and like elves they too have strong connections to the natural world (although not as strong as the connection elves hold), but unlike elves they seldom hold religious beliefs, tending to feel that the heavenly realms have abandoned them and the world in which they live. Rather than worshipping gods they do their best to live up to their own morals and ideals, often pledging their allegiance to worthy causes such as peace or equality, which in turn often leads them to become clerics or paladins.

Society
While there is a strong camaraderie between fellow aasimar, they do not often band together in distinct societal groups, instead mixing with others as humans do. When aasimar do form their own societies they are usually marked by great freedom and socialist principles such as the sharing on wealth and resources, and freely dispensed healthcare.

Language
Aasimar speak Celestial, the holy language of the heavens, a soft and beautiful tongue that hurts the ears of evil beings. All aasimar are born with an innate knowledge of Celestial and often teach a little of it to friends and associates.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Outsider (Native). As medium creatures aasimar gain no special benefits or penalties from their size.
• Aasimar base land speed is 30ft.
• Low-Light Vision: Aasimar can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• Light Spell-Like Ability: Aasimar can cast Light at will as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to their character level.
• +2 bonuses to Wisdom and Charisma.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial.
• Aging: Adulthood - 200, Middle Age - 400, Old Age - 600, Venerable Age – 800, Maximum age - +2d200



Teiflings

Physical Description
Just as the aasimar are descended from celestial beings who interbred with humans, the teiflings are descended from demons who did the same. They bear striking markings and widely varied physical traits inherited from their evil ancestors, specific traits running in families. Most have unusual skin colour or markings and some form of horns. Many also have tails, but beyond that each lineage is unique and easily identified by those who know the teifling race well. Teiflings, like aasimar, are long lived, and like aasimar they share the same general body-type as humans, but teiflings can vary far more in height and weight than humans and aasimar do, thanks to their remarkable varied heritage.
Teiflings are seldom as beautiful as Aasimar, but they have a darker charm of their own, which they often choose to accentuate with revealing clothing and suggestive body language.

Personality
Teiflings are often highly charismatic and intelligent and few of their number choose to emulate their ancestors by turning to evil, but many teiflings are a little more self-centred than the other races. Teiflings often adventure in search of wealth or power, and often become arcane spellcasters, especially sorcerers. Teiflings tend to be relatively chaotic and seldom place high regard on inherited authority, seeing power gained from personal strength as the only kind worth respecting.

Society
Like aasimar teiflings rarely form their own societies. In the past they faced great struggles to find a place in the world, few members of the other races accepting the offspring of demons, but in recent times they have broken free of the influence of their ancestors, and while they are rarer than some of the other races they are slowly growing in number and are gaining acceptance into the cultures of the other races.

Language
Teiflings are born with knowledge of Abyssal, the language of their demonic forefathers. The Abyssal tongue is a harsh, dissonant tongue with an air of menace that makes it unpopular, such that even teiflings seldom use it.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Outsider (Native). As medium creatures teiflings gain no special benefits or penalties from their size.
• Teifling base land speed is 30ft.
• Darkvision: Teiflings can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and teiflings can function just fine with no light at all.
• Low-Light Vision: Teiflings can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• +2 bonuses to Intelligence and Charisma.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Abyssal.
• Aging: Adulthood - 200, Middle Age - 400, Old Age - 600, Venerable Age – 800, Maximum age - +2d200



Informis

Physical Description
Informis are an ocean-dwelling race that evolved on the sea floor and have only ventured onto land in more recent times. Their bodies are formed from featureless organic gelatine, thick but mutable and slightly transparent. They can solidify themselves into a humanoid form, taking on humanoid features such as eyes and mouths, but such features are non-functional (save mouths, which are required for speech and eating) as they see and hear via sensors that coat their bodies. Even in their solid form their bodies are soft and yielding, allowing them to store and carry items inside their mass. Their forms make them highly resistant to physical attacks and leave them without vital points that are vulnerable to attack, but also make it impossible for them to wear armour. Informis are able to freely shape and mould themselves when in their ‘liquid’ forms, and can also control and adjust the features and overall shape of their solid forms (but cannot properly control more than two ‘arms’ at a time).
Their greatest weakness is their vulnerability to the elements, each element having its own damaging effects on them. Acid quickly spreads through their partially-liquid bodies, spreading the damage through their entire form in moments, fire quickly begins to melt them, cold causes them to begin to crystallise, as the water in their bodies freezes, electricity destroys the enzymes that power their internal chemistry and powerful sound waves disrupt the bonds that give them their integrity, causing a similar effect to heat exposure.
Informis usually weigh between 100 and 200 pounds and when in their solid form normally have a similar shape and height to that of male humans. There is no gender among informis; they instead reproduce by splitting in two, the smaller half being the ‘offspring’ of the larger. As they reproduce their offspring tend to take on the colours of the minerals and chemicals that are present in their food, making their colouration highly varied. They seldom wear more than the simplest loincloth to preserve their modesty when in their solid form, and when liquid normally wear nothing.

Personality
Informis are a race greatly interested in exploration, not only in the geographical sense, but in terms or experience and sensation, often travelling great distances to see and try new things. They especially enjoy new tastes and flavours, food being a great passion to many of their kind. Those informis who do not travel often become chefs or artists, seeking to create new experiences and ideas at home rather than seeking them out. They tend to value art and other creative endeavours more highly than they value knowledge or learning, and few informis become scholars or great thinkers (although they are seldom unintelligent).


Society
Informis are as at home in a bustling city as they are living quietly on the sea-bed, visited only by the merfolk form time to time. Their societies are usually small and simple, with few laws, if any, and a relaxed lifestyle with large amounts of free time devoted to creative activities and crafts. In mixed-race cities informis are often craftsmen or even entertainers.

Language
Informis, like merfolk, speak Aquan, a language developed for communication underwater, where the other languages become distorted and unintelligible. Its alphabet uses curved stokes and wave-like patterns and spirals that instantly evoke the imagery of the sea. Spoken Aquan is incomprehensible out of the water, and so Informis on land rely on Common, or other shared languages to communicate.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Aquatic, Shapechanger). As medium creatures informis gain no special benefits or penalties from their size.
• Informis base land speed is 20ft.
• DR 50%/-. As a result of their soft and malleable form they take less damage from physical blows.
• Elemental Vulnerability: Informis take 50% more damage from all damaging elemental attacks, spells and effects.
• Informis are unable to wear any type of armour.
• Amphibious: Informis can breathe both water and air and cannot drown.
• Informis gain a +10 bonus to all escape artist checks, and the ability to take a 10 even when threatened or distracted.
• An informis’ width is considered to be 1 inch for the purposes of squeezing through tight spaces.
• Thanks to their unusual anatomy and physiology, informis are immune to poison, paralysis, polymorph, critical hits and precision damage.
• A +2 bonus to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to Strength.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Aquan.
• Aging: Adulthood - 60, Middle Age - 120, Old Age - 180, Venerable Age – 240, Maximum age - +2d60



Centaurs

Physical Description
Centaurs are large, powerful beings that combine an upper body reminiscent of a human with a lower body similar to that of a horse. They stand between 7 and 8 feet tall and weight between 2,000 and 2,500 pounds. Females are shorter and lighter than males, but the difference is slight. Centaurs most commonly have pale pink skin, and brown hair covering their equine half, but some centaurs have lighter or darker colouration and some are even born with jet black skin and hair, or are pure white from head to hoof. The body hair on their humanoid half always matches the hair on their lower bodies. Centaurs rarely grow facial hair, but some few do have beards (all of them male). Centaurs rarely wear clothing of any kind, but some do don specially made armour before battles.

Personality
As a race the centaurs are wise and thoughtful, close to nature, often enjoying simple nomadic lifestyles. They often like to travel, covering great distances in short periods thanks to their powerful legs. Centaurs often take up crafts, such as weaving and leatherworking, gathering materials from the wilderness around them to create goods that can be traded or used.

Society
Centaurs commonly live in small familial groups, hunting and travelling together across the plains and forests of the world’s larger islands. They are, like orcs, not common in towns and cities, but they have a more disciplined and organised view of the world than orcs do, which combines with their calm temperament to allow those that wish to fit in well in civilisation. On the whole centaurs prefer not to interfere in the affairs of the other races, and those that do join the other races in towns and cities rarely take interest in politics or law.

Language
Like many other races that live closely with nature, centaurs speak Sylvan, the language of the forests. The language is perhaps one of the most ancient, and seldom heard outside of the tranquil glades of deep forests where it first grew. The language is light and playful, yet complicated and mysterious, with an alphabet of stylised letters that are often mistaken for artwork.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Large Quadruped Monstrous Humanoid. As large quadrupeds centaurs suffer a –1 penalty to their Armour Class, a –1 penalty to their attack rolls, and a –4 penalty to Hide checks, but gain a +4 bonus to grapple checks and lifting and carrying limits triple those of Medium characters.
• Centaur base land speed is 60ft.
• Centaurs take up a 10ft by 10ft space and have 5ft reach. Centaurs use medium-sized weapons just as a medium creature does.
• A centaur's hooves can be used as natural weapons. They attack with 2 hooves, dealing 1d8 slam damage with each.
• A centaur is considered mounted for all mechanical purposes.
• A +2 bonus to Strength and Wisdom.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan.
• Aging: Adulthood - 50, Middle Age - 100, Old Age - 150, Venerable Age – 200, Maximum age - +2d50



Satyrs

Physical Description
Satyrs are a race of magical creatures resembling children from the waist up but with hind-legs and a tail more reminiscent of a horse. They are believed to be closely related to centaurs, but while centaurs are large and powerful, satyrs are normally between three and four feet tall, and weigh between 60 and 80 pounds. Their small, light build makes satyrs quick on their hooves, but also leaves them relatively weak. Males and females are very similar, but males have short, blunt horns atop their heads, which make them easily distinguished. Many satyrs have brown hair and pale ink skin, but there is a great variety of colour in both, across a similar range to that of humans. Satyrs ever grow body- or facial hair on their upper bodies. Satyrs have a magical quality to them and able to produce lights and sounds at will, an ability evolved to frighten predators and allow them to forage for fruits and berries uninterrupted.

Personality
As a race satyrs are clever and wise, most at home in tranquil woodland and forests. They have a childish attitude and enjoy play and games, but can be serious if the situation demands it. They often play tricks on intruders into their realms, using their abilities to spook and drive off both animals and humanoids that disturb them. Their natural talents are also often used as entertainment, as they compete to produce beautiful light shows and music and win each other’s praises.

Society
Like their centaur cousins, satyr groups have no real laws or government, indeed they seldom gather in groups large enough to warrant such things. They normally live in groups of no more than 20, deep in the hearts of forests, or in some cases form small villages, if the forests are large enough. They do sometimes come to towns and cities to explore, or to learn and trade with the other races, but seldom stay for long.

Language
Like centaurs, satyrs too speak Sylvan, the language of the forests. The language is perhaps one of the most ancient, and seldom heard outside of the tranquil glades of deep forests where it first grew. The language is light and playful, yet complicated and mysterious, with an alphabet of stylised letters that are often mistaken for artwork.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Small Humanoid (Fey). As small creatures satyrs gain a +1 size bonus to their Armour Class, a +1 size bonus to their attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus to Hide checks, but they use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Satyr base land speed is 30ft.
• Low-Light Vision: Satyrs can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• Ghost Sound and Dancing Lights Spell-Like Abilities: Satyrs can cast Ghost Sound and Dancing Lights at will as spell-like abilities with a caster level equal to their character level.
• A +2 bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom and a -2 penalty to strength.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan.
• Aging: Adulthood - 35, Middle Age - 70, Old Age - 105, Venerable Age – 140, Maximum age - +2d35



Merfolk

Physical Description
Around the same time that humans began to appear in the world, so too merfolk began to emerge from the sea and join the other humanoid races on the land. Merfolk have lithe, toned bodies built for speed and agility in the water. From their waist down they have flowing, glistening tails and both their humanoid upper bodies and fish-like lower bodies are adorned with ornate fins, colourful skin and shining scales that lend them amazing grace and beauty under the water. There are as many variations of merfolk as there are fish in the sea, each family line unique and readily identified by other merfolk.
Despite this great variation though, there are some regular features – almost all merfolk are between six and eight feet from head to tail, and weigh between 200 and 300 pounds. Female merfolk are normally thinner and so weigh a little less, but are seldom shorter.
Perhaps the most fantastic thing about the merfolk is that when they leave the water their fins melt into their body and their long, powerful tails quickly split in two, and transform into humanoid legs that allow them to freely walk about dry land, leaving them with the appearance of oddly-patterned humans with webbed fingers and toes. Due to their ability to change their shape in this way, merfolk seldom wear clothing beyond simple items to preserve their modesty when they are on dry land. While out of the water merfolk are vulnerable to extreme heat (such as a fireball spell) and so often carry a water supply to refresh themselves.

Personality
A happy and playful race, one of the youngest to grace the ocean, merfolk are very friendly and welcoming. They enjoy relaxed, simple lifestyles, and subsist primarily on fish that they catch themselves and fruit which they gather. Few merfolk choose to live more adventurous lives, as they are normally content to enjoy the beautiful seas and islands of their home in peace, but they will go to great lengths to protect their homes and friends. They get along well with the gnomes and informis who share some of their underwater haunts, the three races giving each other plenty of space.

Society
Merfolk often make their homes among the other races along coastlines and rivers, but they also have many undersea villages and towns that few outsiders visit. Merfolk settlements usually follow a simple code of laws, placing peace and protection on the citizens first. Merfolk seldom use developed democratic systems - they normally follow the group consensus when things need to be done, but happily following a minority if its members feel strongly enough.

Language
Merfolk speak Aquan, a language developed for communication underwater, where the other languages become distorted and unintelligible. Its alphabet uses curved stokes and wave-like patterns and spirals that instantly evoke the imagery of the sea. Spoken Aquan is incomprehensible out of the water, and so Merfolk on land rely on Common, or other shared languages to communicate.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Humanoid (Aquatic). As medium creatures merfolk gain no special benefits or penalties from their size.
• Merfolk base land speed is 30ft.
• Low-Light Vision: Merfolk can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• Merfolk have a swim speed of 30ft.
• Merfolk gain a +10 bonus to all swim checks, and the ability to take a 10 even when threatened or distracted. They can also use the Run action while swimming.
• Amphibious: Merfolk can breathe both water and air and cannot drown.
• Heat Sensitive: Exposure to extreme heat sources (boiling water, fire, etc) fatigues merfolk until they are doused in cooling, moisturising water.
• A +2 bonus to Dexterity and Charisma.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Aquan.
• Aging: Adulthood - 80, Middle Age - 160, Old Age - 240, Venerable Age – 320, Maximum age - +2d80



Naga

Physical Description
The naga are widely acknowledged to be the oldest of all the races that live on the ocean. From the waist up they look similar to humans, but they have a serpentine grace to their features that humans lack. Rather than legs, naga posses long, powerful tails that account for most of their size, making them one of the heaviest races. Their scales are thick yet flexible, affording them excellent protection, and their senses are exceptionally sharp. They have thick, curved horns and colourful, patterned skin and scales that rival the merfolk in both spectacle and variation.
When full-grown naga are usually between 25 and 35 feet in length, weighing from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds. Naga females are shorter and lighter than males, and normally possess more muted colours and smaller horns. Naga bear young in the manner of mammals, but have longer pregnancies, usually lasting several years. Naga, of course, do not grow any form of body hair. While they love to bask in the sun they are warm-blooded and tend to be active and cheerful even on the most overcast days. They tend to wear few clothes, often little more than a loincloth, letting the tropical weather keep them warm. They do however, favour elaborate jewellery and decorations.

Personality
Naga possess not only highly toned and flexible bodies, but powerful minds and personalities that make them one of the most capable races. They are also one of the most openly affectionate and caring races, valuing physical contact and placing love and family above all things. They were the first race to delve into magic and are highly attuned to the arcane arts. Unlike other reptilians they seldom become sorcerers however, as they tend to be very scientifically-minded, and thus more often become wizards.
Those naga who do not study magic often instead choose other mundane forms of study, as naga value learning and science greatly. Thanks to their great life-spans they often take to exploration, their keen thirst for knowledge seldom satisfied by books and lessons. Those who return from adventures often write and teach about their experiences to the next generation of young naga.
Naga have incredibly long racial memories, thanks primarily to their life-spans, but in part due also to their excellent record-keeping and love of history.

Society
Naga societies tend to favour freedom and equality, with great focus on justice and learning. They do not change much with time, as naga live for so long that the passage of time has little effect on them. Nonetheless, they are quick to welcome new innovations and knowledge, and it was from their cities that the other race gained technology and learning.

Language
Naga speak ancient Draconic, perhaps the most elaborate and complex of languages, filled with hidden meanings and nuances. Its alphabet uses a huge array of symbols, each as detailed as an entire sentence in another language. Draconic is also the favoured language of those who study the arcane arts, as arcane understanding was originally inherited from the naga.

Racial Traits

• Creature Type: Medium Quadruped Humanoid (Reptilian). As medium quadrupeds naga gain lifting and carrying and carrying limits 1.5 times those of normal medium characters.
• Naga base land speed is 30ft.
• Darkvision: Naga can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and naga can function just fine with no light at all.
• Low-Light Vision: Naga can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
• Scent: Naga have an excellent sense of smell, and so possess the Scent special ability, which allows then to detect faint scents and hidden foes.
• Their thick scales give naga +2 natural armour.
• Naga gain +2 bonuses to their Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
• Naga have a Level Adjustment of +1.
• Automatic Language: Common, Draconic.
• Aging: Adulthood - 500, Middle Age - 1000, Old Age - 1500, Venerable Age – 2000, Maximum age - +2d500



Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated! ^^

Myou
2009-05-10, 08:12 AM
Does anyone want to help?

Satyr
2009-05-10, 09:25 AM
From a balance issue, there is quite a lot amiss. If you take the humans you describe as the average, you come to the following balancing issues:

Elves: Way overpowered. Just slap LA+1 on them, and they should work.

Dwarves: Slightly underpowered, especially the armor trait is effectively worthless, since almost every class is automatically familiar with the armor it works best with. Needs a little power-up-

Gnome: Slightly overpowered. Either you add some disadvantages or take away from their strengths to make them balanced LA 0's or you slap a bit more power on them to qualifiy them for LA+1.

Orcs: Way, way underpowered. In the way they are now, these poor fellas deserve a negative LA.

Kobolds: Slightly overpowered. See Gnome. Reducing the Natural Armor to +1 would make them pretty balanced.

Aasimar: Very Slightly overpowered. Can be left as they are.

Tieflings: See Aasimars.

Informis: Slightly underpowered - for LA+2. Either reduce their power to make them balanced LA+1's, or add stuff to bring them fairly into LA +2 territory.

Centaurs: As they are, they are overpowered for LA +0. As LA+1, they would be fine.

Satyrs: Way overpowered. Like the Elves, just call them LA+1 and they are complete.

Merfolk: See Elves and Satyrs. LA+1

Naga: Well balanced for LA+2. At LA+1, they are way too powerful.

Lappy9000
2009-05-10, 10:40 AM
The way I see it, orcs look balanced. However, whether or not anyone will want to play one is another factor entirely.

I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record at this point, but with a Large race, your options are:

Make it Large with a ton of penalties.
Make it Medium with Powerful Build.
Make it Large with Slight Build.

Personally, I'm inclined to think the last one is the best.

Myou
2009-05-10, 03:30 PM
From a balance issue, there is quite a lot amiss. If you take the humans you describe as the average, you come to the following balancing issues:

Elves: Way overpowered. Just slap LA+1 on them, and they should work.

I'm really surprised to see someone saying elves are overpowered here, I didn't think they were a problem. o.o

What is it that you feel makes them overpowered?


Dwarves: Slightly underpowered, especially the armor trait is effectively worthless, since almost every class is automatically familiar with the armor it works best with. Needs a little power-up-

Yeah, I've been wondering about that myself, do you have any suggestions on what would bring them up to par?


Gnome: Slightly overpowered. Either you add some disadvantages or take away from their strengths to make them balanced LA 0's or you slap a bit more power on them to qualifiy them for LA+1.

Gnomes too? o.o
Maybe it's humans that are slightly too weak?


Orcs: Way, way underpowered. In the way they are now, these poor fellas deserve a negative LA.

I'm sorry, I can't say I agree. ^^;
Being large is a very big advantage.


Kobolds: Slightly overpowered. See Gnome. Reducing the Natural Armor to +1 would make them pretty balanced.

Aasimar: Very Slightly overpowered. Can be left as they are.

Tieflings: See Aasimars.

Ok, I'm pretty sure now that the issue is that humans are a little underpowered then.


Informis: Slightly underpowered - for LA+2. Either reduce their power to make them balanced LA+1's, or add stuff to bring them fairly into LA +2 territory.

Huh, well, others here helped me design them, so I'll wait and see what others have to say.


Centaurs: As they are, they are overpowered for LA +0. As LA+1, they would be fine.

Satyrs: Way overpowered. Like the Elves, just call them LA+1 and they are complete.

Merfolk: See Elves and Satyrs. LA+1

Naga: Well balanced for LA+2. At LA+1, they are way too powerful.

I really can't see how centaurs, satyrs or merfolk are LA +1. o.O

You do understand that all these races are meant to be more powerful than the D&D norm right?

I think the problem must just be that humans are a little underpowered.

Myou
2009-05-10, 03:34 PM
The way I see it, orcs look balanced. However, whether or not anyone will want to play one is another factor entirely.

I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record at this point, but with a Large race, your options are:

Make it Large with a ton of penalties.
Make it Medium with Powerful Build.
Make it Large with Slight Build.

Personally, I'm inclined to think the last one is the best.

Thank you. :3
I've spent a lot of time trying to make orcs balanced, so I'm glad you agree on them.

Ouranos
2009-05-10, 06:19 PM
the age bothers me. 2d300 for elves? kinda... oddball measurements. if you want a similar effect, make it 6d100. Same for aasimars, you have them set for 2d200, make it 4d100.

have never seen a d200 or d300 :P

Satyr
2009-05-11, 08:26 AM
I'm really surprised to see someone saying elves are overpowered here, I didn't think they were a problem. o.o

What is it that you feel makes them overpowered?

Darkvision is equal in usefullness as a standard feat, 5 Skill bonus, especially to elementary skills like Search, Spot and Listen are very good, too, the Save bonus againt spells is pure gold, and a bonus to a casting skill which is counterweighed to the least important ability (strength is only relevant for melee fighter types, and doesn't matter much for characters who aren't intrinsically subpar).
So, yes, in the combination, the Elves are way more powerful than any of the other of the converted core species.


Yeah, I've been wondering about that myself, do you have any suggestions on what would bring them up to par?

You could pretty much use the standard SRD dwarf. There is nothing wrong with it and replace the combat bonuses to "Dwarves gain an additional hitpoint per level".


Gnomes too? o.o
Maybe it's humans that are slightly too weak?

Gnomes would be excellent wizards, and for wizards, being small is not a drawback - it is an advantage. Being small is only a disadvantage for the sword-swinging types, and again, those are genuinely buggered in D&D anyway. Any advantage for a spellcaster should therefore a lot more than any disadvantage for a melee fighter, and vice versa.


I'm sorry, I can't say I agree. ^^;
Being large is a very big advantage.

No, it really isn't. Being large alone is pretty ambivalent, for melee characters, while it is one huge disadvantage for the characters who are more than sidekicks. Reach is a great advantage for melee characters, but only for them. And a bonus to Strength is nice when you are big, but a penlaty to Dexterity and Intelligence just isn't worth it.
Being large only means, you do one or two points more damage on average, and you are a better mule.


Ok, I'm pretty sure now that the issue is that humans are a little underpowered then.

Why aren't you using the standard issue human as a base and add something like "+2 to one ability score of choice, -2 to another ability score". That would make the humans tolerable.


I really can't see how centaurs, satyrs or merfolk are LA +1. o.O

Satyrs have no real drawbacks, but several bonuses that would make them very good wizards, clerics, or druids. That is what counts in standard D&D.

Centaurs qualify through the two natural attacks and again the wisdom bonus without a drawback (except the size). Even though they would actually be a bit weak compared to the other potential LA+1 species. You could probably make them LA 0 and add one hit dice of monstrous humanoid, and they would work fine.

The Merfolk... are a bit problemtic, because stuff like amphibious and swim speed are either mostly useless or a true surce of happiness, depending on the campaign. In a campaign setting which takes place in a major regard under water, these are significant boons. Again, the bonus to a caster ability makes te difference.


You do understand that all these races are meant to be more powerful than the D&D norm right?

Yes, that is understandable. I used the human you gave as a fix point, and that write-up is not much stronger than its SRD counterpart, while your dwarf is significantly weaker and the Orc is just a mockery which is shoehorned into the "dumb brute" cliche.
If you use the standard rules for classes, being good at smashing things is almost always inferior to spellcasting bonuses.
If you want to see what I regard as well balanced species write up (again, balanced to each other, not against the SRD standard species), try the Serpets and Sewers menagerie (http://wiki.faxcelestis.net/index.php?title=Serpents_and_Sewers:_Species_and_T emplates).

ericgrau
2009-05-11, 06:14 PM
Dwarves seem slightly shafted since toughness is a front-loaded feat and armor proficiency and poison saves are situational.

Kobolds' defensive bonuses are too strong, especially the con. That makes it easy to overlook but powerful for casters and tanks alike.

Centaurs get a large size like orcs, but don't seem to be as nerfed elsewhere to match. I'll roughly agree that large size needs to be balanced somehow and the orc seems good as-is.

The rest seem pretty well balanced. Me like. For one I really like how you finished up the informis. I was gonna say DR 50%/- was too much until I noticed that they can't wear armor.

Myou
2009-05-12, 05:15 AM
the age bothers me. 2d300 for elves? kinda... oddball measurements. if you want a similar effect, make it 6d100. Same for aasimars, you have them set for 2d200, make it 4d100.

have never seen a d200 or d300 :P

Errr, it's not that hard to emulate dice you don't have. For example, to get a d300 you could roll a d4 (-1) and a d100.

But it's easier to just ue a dice-rolling program.


Dwarves seem slightly shafted since toughness is a front-loaded feat and armor proficiency and poison saves are situational.

Kobolds' defensive bonuses are too strong, especially the con. That makes it easy to overlook but powerful for casters and tanks alike.

Centaurs get a large size like orcs, but don't seem to be as nerfed elsewhere to match. I'll roughly agree that large size needs to be balanced somehow and the orc seems good as-is.

The rest seem pretty well balanced. Me like. For one I really like how you finished up the informis. I was gonna say DR 50%/- was too much until I noticed that they can't wear armor.

On informis, thanks! ^^

Do you think dwarves would be better with Improved Toughness? Or should they just get something else in addition?

On kobolds, it's funny, before people said they were too weak, although I had thought they were pretty powerful. xD
I was hoping the Dex penalty would even them out - everyone needs dex, especially casters, and tanks are weaker to begin with. How do you think I should change them? Less con?

On centaurs, they don't get large weapons or reach though, I thought that those were the main benefits of being large. As they are they get the attack and defence penalties of being large, and the only bonus is to things like grappling, so I felt that that actually worked out fairly even without involving their other penalties and bonuses. Did I miss an advantage? Or underestimate grappling? :o





Darkvision is equal in usefullness as a standard feat, 5 Skill bonus, especially to elementary skills like Search, Spot and Listen are very good, too, the Save bonus againt spells is pure gold, and a bonus to a casting skill which is counterweighed to the least important ability (strength is only relevant for melee fighter types, and doesn't matter much for characters who aren't intrinsically subpar).
So, yes, in the combination, the Elves are way more powerful than any of the other of the converted core species.

Hmm, well, no-one else has said anything about the elves, and Darkvision is certainly not as good as a feat, since most of the time you just need someone to carry a torch and all is well. Heck, in my setting you can cast light infinitely.

But looking closely at them, darkvision aside, they do seem like they may be a little too good. But I'm not sure how to rein them in without detracting from their concept. ><


You could pretty much use the standard SRD dwarf. There is nothing wrong with it and replace the combat bonuses to "Dwarves gain an additional hitpoint per level".

Except that SRD dwarves would be underpowered and have a huge list of silly abilities that make no sense and require too much book-keeping. Such as weapon familiarity - a dwarf gets that even if he's never seen a dwarven weapon before in his life.


Gnomes would be excellent wizards, and for wizards, being small is not a drawback - it is an advantage. Being small is only a disadvantage for the sword-swinging types, and again, those are genuinely buggered in D&D anyway. Any advantage for a spellcaster should therefore a lot more than any disadvantage for a melee fighter, and vice versa.

I'm afraid I don't agree that advantages in a casting stat should be countered by bigger disadvantages elsewhere. Casters get overpowered because of the spells they get, not because of their stats.

And as it is, they have a con penalty, and con is the 2nd most vital stat for a wizard.


No, it really isn't. Being large alone is pretty ambivalent, for melee characters, while it is one huge disadvantage for the characters who are more than sidekicks. Reach is a great advantage for melee characters, but only for them. And a bonus to Strength is nice when you are big, but a penlaty to Dexterity and Intelligence just isn't worth it.
Being large only means, you do one or two points more damage on average, and you are a better mule.

Well, no-one else seems to agree with you, sorry. ^^;
Being large seems pretty powerful to me too.


Why aren't you using the standard issue human as a base and add something like "+2 to one ability score of choice, -2 to another ability score". That would make the humans tolerable.

I'm sorry, I don't quite follow, I did use the standard humans as a base. o.o
And a -2 penalty would make them underpowered.


Satyrs have no real drawbacks, but several bonuses that would make them very good wizards, clerics, or druids. That is what counts in standard D&D.

Ok, I hate to argue, but Satyrs are pretty indicative of how powerful the races are meant to be.
I might want to reduce their speed to 20, but other than that they're fine, you just seem to only value spellcasting ability. :(


Centaurs qualify through the two natural attacks and again the wisdom bonus without a drawback (except the size). Even though they would actually be a bit weak compared to the other potential LA+1 species. You could probably make them LA 0 and add one hit dice of monstrous humanoid, and they would work fine.

They can attack and do 2d8, or they can just use swords and do the same, how is that an advantage?
I should probably reduce the damage a little though, maybe to 1d6 each?

[QUOTE=Satyr;6089858]The Merfolk... are a bit problemtic, because stuff like amphibious and swim speed are either mostly useless or a true surce of happiness, depending on the campaign. In a campaign setting which takes place in a major regard under water, these are significant boons. Again, the bonus to a caster ability makes te difference.

But most of the action takes place on islands, not in the actual sea, and the casting stat thing seems to just be something we disagree on.


Yes, that is understandable. I used the human you gave as a fix point, and that write-up is not much stronger than its SRD counterpart, while your dwarf is significantly weaker and the Orc is just a mockery which is shoehorned into the "dumb brute" cliche.
If you use the standard rules for classes, being good at smashing things is almost always inferior to spellcasting bonuses.
If you want to see what I regard as well balanced species write up (again, balanced to each other, not against the SRD standard species), try the Serpets and Sewers menagerie (http://wiki.faxcelestis.net/index.php?title=Serpents_and_Sewers:_Species_and_T emplates).

I think that you just don't like magic. I guess we just have different views.
I would love to try a system with reduced magic use some time, but D&D 3.5 is not the system for that.

Lappy9000
2009-05-12, 09:32 AM
Humans are actually kinda sub-par. How about them skill bonuses?

Dwarves are a touch on the weak side. Give them a +2 to another ability to bring them up to par with the other races. Perhaps swap Toughness for an extra hit point every level?

For your gnomes, I don't think they're massively overpowered, but I'd take away one of the ability bonuses and give them more other bonuses to make them more interesting to play.

'Still think orcs should get Slight Build or something, that way you don't need to worry about some munchkin pulling out massive grappling cheese. Also, you won't need to penalize them to the high heavens. My suggestion is to pull out something new Large Size: As a Large creature, an orc takes a -1 penalty to Armor Class, a -1 penalty on Attack Rolls, and a -4 penalty on Hide checks, but he uses larger weapons than humans use, and his lifting and his carrying capacity is twice that of a Medium character.

An orc takes up 10 ft. of space, and has a reach of 10 ft. Also, an orc's Large size is considered when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. As a Large creature, an orc also gains a +4 bonus on Intimidate to creatures of smaller size. The benefits of this racial trait do not stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.
Lean Build: Despite being Large, the physical stature of the orcs makes them function in many ways as if they were one size category smaller. Whenever an orc is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the orc is treated as one size smaller.From there, an orc should be pretty balanced to add a full array of racial traits to.

Kobolds look fine.

Why not have Aasimar glow with the effects of a Light spell as a supernatural effect? They can turn it off as a Swift action, but they glow pretty normally. Otherwise, they seem okay as is.

Likewise, Tieflings are fine.

Not gonna lie, Informis are pretty raw, and they look fine balance-wise.


On centaurs, they don't get large weapons or reach though, I thought that those were the main benefits of being large. As they are they get the attack and defence penalties of being large, and the only bonus is to things like grappling, so I felt that that actually worked out fairly even without involving their other penalties and bonuses. Did I miss an advantage? Or underestimate grappling? :oIf the Large creature is Large horizontally, they pretty much just get the Grapple and better Carrying Capacity from being quadrupedal. They're more easily flanked, take penalties to attack, AC, and Hide checks. I'd argue that it at least balances out.

Satyrs are a tad overpowered. I'd suggest giving them another neat little trait an ability penalty to help fix that.

Same for Merfolk. Perhaps give them some penalty when out of water? Weakness to Fire, maybe?

Nagas are totally worth that Level Adjustment. With it attached, they also seem fine.


Overall, I really like your races Myou. Although this is the first chance I've had to give them in-depth attention, they're pretty awesome.

Devils_Advocate
2009-05-15, 02:31 PM
Being large only means, you do one or two points more damage on average, and you are a better mule.
No. Improved reach can be extremely good for a melee build. Orcs also get a +4 bonus to bull rushes, disarm attempts, grapple checks, overrun attempts, sunder attempts, and trip attempts compared to Medium characters. Orcs aren't underpowered, they're specialized.

It's dwarves that are overspecialized and underpowered: You'd really have to work to come up with a build that Dwarf is the best race for, as it stands. And even then, they'd not be much because other races have bonuses that are just so generally useful. The core dwarves are better.

In fact, stuff from dwarves seems to have been shifted to elves. Now elves are masters of perception and get the dwarf's leet save bonuses against magic too. Dwarves get left with... well, crap.

Dienekes
2009-05-15, 04:23 PM
OK, bit of a noob when it comes to homebrewing but I'll try and help

Humans= Well they're first, so they'll be the standard that I'll apply to everyone else. They have no skill bonus, so my first thought is you're weakening the races

Elves=as of now elves are way better than humans and seem to be stronger than their normal counterparts. +10 skill points is a bit much. Addition of Dark-vision and the bonus against spells is way better than 1 feat.

Dwarves= More on par with humans. toughness and low-light vision roughly equal any level 1 feat. Saving throws to poisons is incredibly situational and much less useful than anything the elves get. The armor bonus really doesn't affect much and the lower moving speed is a big gimp. I'd say they're roughly equal to your humans.

Gnome= +1 to saving throws is good and I'd say comparable to the elven spell bonus. Small size is standard but is overall a positive for the +4 to skills and defense bonus. Movement speed is again a gimp. But I'd say they're comparable but a bit weaker than elves. They seem born to be wizards and rogues though.

Orc= well they're ok. Seems like they can only be barbarians though. For large size taking up more space is a bit of a disadvantage, but I'd say that it evens out with the reach. +4 to grappling is still weaker than the elves. The stats are rather dreadful. Definitely worse than humans there. Add with it that weapons and armors would have to be tailored to him I'd say he's at a disadvantage but still roughly comparable to humans.

Kobolds= +3 armor bonus, +4 skill bonus to hide, +1 attack and only downside is slow. Little bugger rocks. He is also better than humans currently are. I wouldn't say he's as good as Gnomes or Elves though.

Aasimar= umm, shouldn't there be something negative about them somewhere? Even elves have a minus in strength. Currently these guys are better than humans.

Tiefling= does everyone have low-light vision? As of now the visions and the additional stat is better than a feat. So they're better than humans, again.

Informis= weird. The DR is really really good early levels, the elemental thing isn't as big a negative as the DR is a positive though. The no armor thing is interesting but not that big a deal to anyone who would be taking this as a race. +10 to a skill and a choose 10 is much. The ability to become an inch thick can be overused. This dude is crazy and I think is even better than the elves. We have a new leader, oh and of course definitely better than a single feat.

Centaur= This guy is awesome, has no real weaknesses. Any penalty for being large size is more than made up for by the fact they're always mounted. 2 Attacks at 1d8 will make this thing a monster at early levels. Again, way better than human. Any position in the party this dude could place as good if not better than humans.

Satyr= No weaknesses. Easily the best race for casters. +4 to skills, bonus to attack and defense, no speed loss, improved vision, and additional +2 to a skill with spell-like abilities. Not even terribly weak for a fighter character. You guessed it, better than humans.

Merfolk= close to humans. Addition to stat with no penalty and low-light vision is comparable to a feat. The Swim bonus is either not really affective for a campaign or unbalancing though. So again, slightly better but more focused this time.

Naga= I'm not too good at giving level adjustments. But I'd say these guys are better than the others just from their stat increase. Their abilities are worse than those of the Informis by a lot.

What I suggest, give humans something right now he sucks
Dwarves also suck, as they're speed would be further reduced by armor as written currently. Making them rather pathetic meat shields which they seem set up to be.
Centaurs have just about all the benefits of Orcs (except reach) with none of the penalties. As such they're too good.
Informis is broken. Maybe give it DR of a set amount and take away the 1 inch thing.

And currently, those arguing for Orcs, as written being big only gives a grapple bonus, not bull rushes and disarms and such

Devils_Advocate
2009-05-15, 04:59 PM
As it is:

- Humans are merely passable at anything.
-Elves are excellent scouts (role, not necessarily class). As with core dwarves (a) they get a bunch of nice bonuses, (b) their racial save bonus against magic pushes them to the top of LA +1, and (c) their ability score penalty is easily meaningless.
- Dwarves have some laughable defensive bonuses and aren't really good at anything.
- As with grey elves, gnomes make good rogues and wizards, but that Con penalty hurts them.
- Kobolds are good at Not Dying to things that attack non-touch armor class and/or hit points. That means that their racial role in an adventuring party is to Not Die while other characters take care of the offense. This is bad.
- Teiflings only look to be particularly good as tricksters: bards, beguilers, social rouges, etc. Similarly, aasimar are only really good as holy warriors: paladins, clerics, favored souls, etc. Do you want their roles to be that narrow?
- What makes informis unable to wear armor, given their ability to solidify themselves?
- Satyrs are little clerics and druids to the gnomes' little wizards, beguilers, and rouges.

Looks like the desired balance point is roughly "+2 to two ability scores and some minor stuff, or +2 to two and -2 to one and some pretty good stuff." Amirite?

Current estimated ranking:

Tier 1: teh ubar
- Elves (great scouts, no real drawback)
- Centaurs (great clericzillas and psychic warriors, no real drawback)

Tier 2: powerful but limited
- Satyrs (good spellcasters with all the benefit of Small size, but no really special bonus or synergy)
- Orcs (great bruisers, but bad AC)
- Gnomes (good at Int-based casting, skill-monkeying, and Dex-based attacks, poor HP)
- Merfolk (good bards and sorcerers, amphibious, no drawback)
- Aasimar (good holy warriors, no drawback)
- Tieflings (good social manipulators, no drawback)
- Humans (get best feat and ability score for build, no drawback)
- Informis (hard to trap, good immunities, but with a broad vulnerability)
- Naga (great AC, but down a level)

Tier 3: defense over offense
- Kobolds (good defense vs. damage, no real offense)

Tier 4: lack of useful abilities
- Dwarves (mostly meaningless defensive stuff, no real benefit)


Some suggestions:

- Take away the elves' save bonus. Unless you want them to be the shiny magical race that's just better at stuff because they're better than you, in which case you should just rework 'em as LA +1.
- I say call satyrs fauns and give them goat legs instead. "Satyr" suggests human size to me. But, hey, that's me.
- Centaurs need a penalty to something. Int, maybe?
- Make dwarves good at something. Right now, they aren't. Their armor thing isn't even a big help: If I really want armor on e.g. a psion, I'll just live with the non-proficiency penalty.

Myou
2009-09-07, 01:16 PM
Humans are actually kinda sub-par. How about them skill bonuses

Well, I gave them another +2 and -2 of choice, what do you think? :3


Dwarves are a touch on the weak side. Give them a +2 to another ability to bring them up to par with the other races. Perhaps swap Toughness for an extra hit point every level?

Maybe just Imp. Toughness?


For your gnomes, I don't think they're massively overpowered, but I'd take away one of the ability bonuses and give them more other bonuses to make them more interesting to play.

Hmmm, nice idea. I don't want them to lose the +2s the get though. I'm not sure what to do.


'Still think orcs should get Slight Build or something, that way you don't need to worry about some munchkin pulling out massive grappling cheese. Also, you won't need to penalize them to the high heavens. My suggestion is to pull out something new Large Size: As a Large creature, an orc takes a -1 penalty to Armor Class, a -1 penalty on Attack Rolls, and a -4 penalty on Hide checks, but he uses larger weapons than humans use, and his lifting and his carrying capacity is twice that of a Medium character.

An orc takes up 10 ft. of space, and has a reach of 10 ft. Also, an orc's Large size is considered when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. As a Large creature, an orc also gains a +4 bonus on Intimidate to creatures of smaller size. The benefits of this racial trait do not stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.
Lean Build: Despite being Large, the physical stature of the orcs makes them function in many ways as if they were one size category smaller. Whenever an orc is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the orc is treated as one size smaller.From there, an orc should be pretty balanced to add a full array of racial traits to.

Hmm, well, what would you give them, if they had that? :3


Kobolds look fine.

Why not have Aasimar glow with the effects of a Light spell as a supernatural effect? They can turn it off as a Swift action, but they glow pretty normally. Otherwise, they seem okay as is.

Likewise, Tieflings are fine.

Well, glowing Aasimar would be fun, but it's a little ostentaitous for me. :smalltongue:


Not gonna lie, Informis are pretty raw, and they look fine balance-wise.

Raw means good? :smallsmile:



Satyrs are a tad overpowered. I'd suggest giving them another neat little trait an ability penalty to help fix that.

I gave them a -2 str, it seems good to me. You agree?


Same for Merfolk. Perhaps give them some penalty when out of water? Weakness to Fire, maybe?

Fire weakness, very intersting, I like it! How about if exposure to extreme heat makes them fatigued, curable by dousing them in water?


Nagas are totally worth that Level Adjustment. With it attached, they also seem fine.

Thanks!



Overall, I really like your races Myou. Although this is the first chance I've had to give them in-depth attention, they're pretty awesome.

Thank you very very much! Sorry I took so long to reply!

Myou
2009-09-07, 01:28 PM
No. Improved reach can be extremely good for a melee build. Orcs also get a +4 bonus to bull rushes, disarm attempts, grapple checks, overrun attempts, sunder attempts, and trip attempts compared to Medium characters. Orcs aren't underpowered, they're specialized.

It's dwarves that are overspecialized and underpowered: You'd really have to work to come up with a build that Dwarf is the best race for, as it stands. And even then, they'd not be much because other races have bonuses that are just so generally useful. The core dwarves are better.

In fact, stuff from dwarves seems to have been shifted to elves. Now elves are masters of perception and get the dwarf's leet save bonuses against magic too. Dwarves get left with... well, crap.

What do you think dwarves should get?


Oh, I took out the bonus to saves that elves go by the way - I think it was too good as Satyr said.


OK, bit of a noob when it comes to homebrewing but I'll try and help

Humans= Well they're first, so they'll be the standard that I'll apply to everyone else. They have no skill bonus, so my first thought is you're weakening the races

Elves=as of now elves are way better than humans and seem to be stronger than their normal counterparts. +10 skill points is a bit much. Addition of Dark-vision and the bonus against spells is way better than 1 feat.

Dwarves= More on par with humans. toughness and low-light vision roughly equal any level 1 feat. Saving throws to poisons is incredibly situational and much less useful than anything the elves get. The armor bonus really doesn't affect much and the lower moving speed is a big gimp. I'd say they're roughly equal to your humans.

Gnome= +1 to saving throws is good and I'd say comparable to the elven spell bonus. Small size is standard but is overall a positive for the +4 to skills and defense bonus. Movement speed is again a gimp. But I'd say they're comparable but a bit weaker than elves. They seem born to be wizards and rogues though.

Orc= well they're ok. Seems like they can only be barbarians though. For large size taking up more space is a bit of a disadvantage, but I'd say that it evens out with the reach. +4 to grappling is still weaker than the elves. The stats are rather dreadful. Definitely worse than humans there. Add with it that weapons and armors would have to be tailored to him I'd say he's at a disadvantage but still roughly comparable to humans.

Kobolds= +3 armor bonus, +4 skill bonus to hide, +1 attack and only downside is slow. Little bugger rocks. He is also better than humans currently are. I wouldn't say he's as good as Gnomes or Elves though.

Aasimar= umm, shouldn't there be something negative about them somewhere? Even elves have a minus in strength. Currently these guys are better than humans.

Tiefling= does everyone have low-light vision? As of now the visions and the additional stat is better than a feat. So they're better than humans, again.

Informis= weird. The DR is really really good early levels, the elemental thing isn't as big a negative as the DR is a positive though. The no armor thing is interesting but not that big a deal to anyone who would be taking this as a race. +10 to a skill and a choose 10 is much. The ability to become an inch thick can be overused. This dude is crazy and I think is even better than the elves. We have a new leader, oh and of course definitely better than a single feat.

Centaur= This guy is awesome, has no real weaknesses. Any penalty for being large size is more than made up for by the fact they're always mounted. 2 Attacks at 1d8 will make this thing a monster at early levels. Again, way better than human. Any position in the party this dude could place as good if not better than humans.

Satyr= No weaknesses. Easily the best race for casters. +4 to skills, bonus to attack and defense, no speed loss, improved vision, and additional +2 to a skill with spell-like abilities. Not even terribly weak for a fighter character. You guessed it, better than humans.

Merfolk= close to humans. Addition to stat with no penalty and low-light vision is comparable to a feat. The Swim bonus is either not really affective for a campaign or unbalancing though. So again, slightly better but more focused this time.

Naga= I'm not too good at giving level adjustments. But I'd say these guys are better than the others just from their stat increase. Their abilities are worse than those of the Informis by a lot.

What I suggest, give humans something right now he sucks
Dwarves also suck, as they're speed would be further reduced by armor as written currently. Making them rather pathetic meat shields which they seem set up to be.
Centaurs have just about all the benefits of Orcs (except reach) with none of the penalties. As such they're too good.
Informis is broken. Maybe give it DR of a set amount and take away the 1 inch thing.

And currently, those arguing for Orcs, as written being big only gives a grapple bonus, not bull rushes and disarms and such

Humans and Elves: Hopefully that's fixed now.

Sadly my human baseline was broken, messing up comparisons, sorry. ^^;




As it is:

- Humans are merely passable at anything.
-Elves are excellent scouts (role, not necessarily class). As with core dwarves (a) they get a bunch of nice bonuses, (b) their racial save bonus against magic pushes them to the top of LA +1, and (c) their ability score penalty is easily meaningless.
- Dwarves have some laughable defensive bonuses and aren't really good at anything.
- As with grey elves, gnomes make good rogues and wizards, but that Con penalty hurts them.
- Kobolds are good at Not Dying to things that attack non-touch armor class and/or hit points. That means that their racial role in an adventuring party is to Not Die while other characters take care of the offense. This is bad.
- Teiflings only look to be particularly good as tricksters: bards, beguilers, social rouges, etc. Similarly, aasimar are only really good as holy warriors: paladins, clerics, favored souls, etc. Do you want their roles to be that narrow?
- What makes informis unable to wear armor, given their ability to solidify themselves?
- Satyrs are little clerics and druids to the gnomes' little wizards, beguilers, and rouges.

Looks like the desired balance point is roughly "+2 to two ability scores and some minor stuff, or +2 to two and -2 to one and some pretty good stuff." Amirite?

Current estimated ranking:

Tier 1: teh ubar
- Elves (great scouts, no real drawback)
- Centaurs (great clericzillas and psychic warriors, no real drawback)

Tier 2: powerful but limited
- Satyrs (good spellcasters with all the benefit of Small size, but no really special bonus or synergy)
- Orcs (great bruisers, but bad AC)
- Gnomes (good at Int-based casting, skill-monkeying, and Dex-based attacks, poor HP)
- Merfolk (good bards and sorcerers, amphibious, no drawback)
- Aasimar (good holy warriors, no drawback)
- Tieflings (good social manipulators, no drawback)
- Humans (get best feat and ability score for build, no drawback)
- Informis (hard to trap, good immunities, but with a broad vulnerability)
- Naga (great AC, but down a level)

Tier 3: defense over offense
- Kobolds (good defense vs. damage, no real offense)

Tier 4: lack of useful abilities
- Dwarves (mostly meaningless defensive stuff, no real benefit)


Some suggestions:

- Take away the elves' save bonus. Unless you want them to be the shiny magical race that's just better at stuff because they're better than you, in which case you should just rework 'em as LA +1.
- I say call satyrs fauns and give them goat legs instead. "Satyr" suggests human size to me. But, hey, that's me.
- Centaurs need a penalty to something. Int, maybe?
- Make dwarves good at something. Right now, they aren't. Their armor thing isn't even a big help: If I really want armor on e.g. a psion, I'll just live with the non-proficiency penalty.

Hopefully humans and elves are fixed now.

Any suggestions for dwarves?

Aasimar and Tieflings: Well, it's not like they're bad at other stuff. D:

Informis: Because the heavy armour deforms their shape? Unles you have a better justification.

Exactly right about the balance of abilities. ^^

Hmm, what do you suggest for kobolds and centaurs?

Lappy9000
2009-09-10, 09:38 PM
Well, I gave them another +2 and -2 of choice, what do you think? :3Better! Personally, I think you should give them some bonus skills, if only the +4 at first level, 'cause they're still just a touch under par.


Maybe just Imp. Toughness?Well, it's the same thing, so it's your call.


Hmmm, nice idea. I don't want them to lose the +2s the get though. I'm not sure what to do.What you've got now is good, I'd throw in a +2 to some skill or low-light vision for flavor.


Hmm, well, what would you give them, if they had that? :3If you plan to use that as a starting point (it's really only the reach that unbalances large characters), it really only boils down to how you wanna flavor ze' orks.

I'd do:
Large Size: 10ft/10ft space but with 5ft reach. This gives them a -1 on AC, -1 Attack, -1 Hide, but a +4 Intimidate and a +4 Grapple.
Stats: +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence (your fluff doesn't seem to really justify the Charisma penalty; Dexterity is either/or).
Feat: Endurance; it seems to suit them.
Speed: I'd boost it up to 40 ft.
Vision: Your orcs seem a bit ill-suited to Darkvision, but low-light vision is flavorful without really affecting balance.


Well, glowing Aasimar would be fun, but it's a little ostentaitous for me. :smalltongue:Hey, just an idea.


Raw means good? :smallsmile:Yes :smallcool:


I gave them a -2 str, it seems good to me. You agree?Lookin' good.


Fire weakness, very intersting, I like it! How about if exposure to extreme heat makes them fatigued, curable by dousing them in water?That sounds awesomesauce and will help the balance.


Thank you very very much! Sorry I took so long to reply!It's okay, your penalty has been reduced to a swift harpooning.

Myou
2009-09-11, 01:31 AM
Better! Personally, I think you should give them some bonus skills, if only the +4 at first level, 'cause they're still just a touch under par.

Even with their free feat? o.o
I wouldn't want to just give +4 skill pooints at the start, but +1 per level seems a lot.
Oh, oh, what about Skill Focus free?!



Well, it's the same thing, so it's your call.

Hmm, well, what ability would you sugest boosting? Wis? Perhaps +2 Wis and no toughness?


What you've got now is good, I'd throw in a +2 to some skill or low-light vision for flavor.

+2 to craft checks! :smallsmile:


If you plan to use that as a starting point (it's really only the reach that unbalances large characters), it really only boils down to how you wanna flavor ze' orks.

I'd do:
Large Size: 10ft/10ft space but with 5ft reach. This gives them a -1 on AC, -1 Attack, -1 Hide, but a +4 Intimidate and a +4 Grapple.
Stats: +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence (your fluff doesn't seem to really justify the Charisma penalty; Dexterity is either/or).
Feat: Endurance; it seems to suit them.
Speed: I'd boost it up to 40 ft.
Vision: Your orcs seem a bit ill-suited to Darkvision, but low-light vision is flavorful without really affecting balance.

Hmmm... I did want them to have reach, but reach is very hard to balance....

The thing is, if they can't take advatage of their size for opposed checks and can't use reach, then it seems like they're be better off smaller, apart from weapon damage.

Should they just be medium with Powerful Build? That way they'd keep the flavour but (I think) be more balanced.


Yes :smallcool:

Yay, thanks!


Lookin' good.

Great!


That sounds awesomesauce and will help the balance.

Brilliant! :smallsmile:


It's okay, your penalty has been reduced to a swift harpooning.

Lucky I have my +2 to Dex and Natural Armour! D: