Kantolin
2005-11-02, 06:35 AM
Okay... I'm preparing a world for an upcoming play-by-post RP. Keep an eye out for it. ^_^
Anyway, I'm currently trying to balance the races. I've thrown out all the PHB races in favor of my own homebrew ones, and am trying to make everything on par with each other... thus, it doesn't bother me if they're over or underpowered compared to (say) humans, so long as they're equal to each other. I'd /prefer/ for them all to be a tat better than the PHB races overall, but I'm mostly focusing on balance. Further flavor can come later, I'm focusing mostly on mechanics now.
I'm attempting to utilize the DMG's suggestion on raising/lowering stats, and giving a series of bonuses to those who are a bit shafted, but opinions are well appreciated.
Oh... and there are no multiclassing penalties nor favored classes here, and I'm probably keeping it to base classes (With a couple mild additions), so don't worry about those. Thanks in advance for any help...
~~~~~~
Dechians (Day - Ckey - ans)
Darkvision. +2 con, -2 Wis
Dechians gain a +2 bonus on balance & Swim checks, and treat Balance & Swim as class skills. They gain Stability(A'la Dwarf), and +2 saves vs poison.
Dachians must pay an extra skill point to learn a new langauge, starts with one less language (Although they get Common & Lizard regardless of an intelligence penalty). Dachians also must obtain special armour (besides chain shirt & hide).
Basic Info: Lizardman race. A bit impulsive, but rather durable. Their unusually shaped mouths makes speaking languages difficult.
~~~~~~
V'ten (Vuh - Ten)
Darkvision, +2 Str, -2 Int
V'ten treat Intimidate & Jump as class skills, and gain a +2 bonus to listen due to their keen ears. They gain the Endurance feat for free, but have difficulty concentrating and keeping themselves resigned to tasks, taking a -2 penalty on concentration and move silently checks.
Vulnerable Form: V'ten take a -2 penalty on saves vs spells which require fortitude saves. In addition, they take a -2 penalty vs any spell of the transmutation school. These penalties stack.
Arcane Fear: V'ten take a -2 penalty to Use Magic Device
Basic Info: This race is strong, but slow-witted. Still, most give very fervent attempts to control themselves, and the race as a whole has taken steps towards being personable. They are, however, rather vulnerable to spells that alter physical form.
~~~~~~
Gehlert (Geh - lay - rt)
Low-Light, Small(Speed 20), +2 int, -2 Str, -2 Con
Gehlert gain a +2 bonus to all knowledge skills, and treat them as class skills.
Gehlert gain a +2 bonus to saves vs spells, and a +2 bonus to listen
Gehlert are more fraigle than most, and gain a -2 penalty to intimidate & climb
<Really unsure here. +int is really nice for a lot of classes, and -con doesn't really counter it for those classes, but...>
Basic Info: This small, resclusive group spends much of its time researching lore. While somewhat fragile, they have extremely sharp minds.
~~~~~~
Schö (Show)
Low-Light vision, Small Creatures(But 30ft movement), +2 Wis, -2 Cha
Schö gain a +2 bonus to handle animal & Survival, and treat those two skills as class skills.
Schö can speak with animals, as per the spell, a number of times equal to their HD each day. This is an extraordinary ability.
Schö gain a +2 bonus to listen, but take a -2 bonus to bluff.
Basic Info: This small race lives on the open plains, where a variety of particularly rough animals live. After time, they learned to tame the beasts, and now live relying in part on animals for survival, and against them. They are very gruff towards nonanimals.
~~~~~~
Holz (Holz)
Low-light vision, Speed 20(Even in armour), +2 Str, -2 Wis
Holz are at home on the battlefield, and gain the martial weapon proficiency for the Battleaxe & Greataxe automatically.
Holz gain Stability (A'la Dwarf), +4 fort vs cold, +2 survival in forests, but a -2 to Diplomacy and Sense Motive
Eldirtch Weakness: Holz are inherently weak to magical effects, and take a -4 to saves vs spells or spell-like effects which require will or fortitude saves.
Basic info: This race of people lives in the rather cold northern regions. Gung-ho is the best description of them, as they as a race tend to focus on logging, which is their trademark. They are warlike and extremely impulsive and brash. They are also, however extremely weak to magic. Their clerics tend to use benificial 'buffs' to try to rectify this significant flaw.
~~~~~~
Boden (Bow - den)
Darkvision, Speed 20(Even in armour), +2 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Int
Boden have Stability(A'la dwarf), Stonecunning(Again a'la dwarf), +2 vs poison saves, +2 craft/Concentration/Search(And may treat these as calss skills)+4 bonus to bull rush, HD/day Soften Flesh & Stone and Magic Stone
Boden train rigorously to utilize their ancestral weapons, and gain the martial weapon proficiencies for the Warhammer and Maul, while they may treat the 'Gnome' hooked hammer as a martial weapon rather than an exotic one.
Magic Resistant: Boden gain a +2 bonus on saves vs spells
Basic Info: This race of people lives within and about mountains. While particularly slow-witted and unagile, they are very at home in stone. They tend to be excellent crafters of a variety of items, and tend to have the ability to focus on one task as long as it need be.
~~~~~
Zegun (Zee - gun)
Speed 30, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity
Zegun gain enhancement bonuses to their speed, as per the following table:
No Armour or Light Armour: Base Speed 40
Medium Armour: Base Speed 30
Heavy Armour: Base Speed 20
Zegun gain the Run feat as a bonus feat. Zegun gain a +4 racial bonus on Fortitude saves made to resist the effects of hot weather.
Zegun have the supernatural ability to shapeshift to or from horse form as a standard action which provokes attack of opportunities (Somatic component)
[While this ability is unconfirmed at this time, it will basically give a bonus to strength and dexterity similar to polymorphing into a heavy horse and back, and at a certain level will 'upgrade' once to warhorse-level instead of a normal heavy horse. No per day limit, but limited to these two forms and cannot use wild spell in conjunction with this spell].
Zegun must also obtain special armour (besides chain shirt & hide).
Basic Info: Zegun have horse's heads, but mostly human bodies (But with hooves). They are desert nomads, traveling about the desert (typically during the night to avoid the hot sun).
~~~~~~
Streit (Strite)
Speed 30, +2 Dexterity, -2 Stregnth
Streit gain lightning reflexes as bonus feat.
Basic Info: The dominant race of the region, they're evasive and energetic, albeit not physically impressive. Still, they have ingenuity and survivability, and have populated the majority of the region. Most focus on their evasion and agility.
(Considering, although they're not human, giving them the human bonus skill points to show their adaptability)
Anyway, I'm currently trying to balance the races. I've thrown out all the PHB races in favor of my own homebrew ones, and am trying to make everything on par with each other... thus, it doesn't bother me if they're over or underpowered compared to (say) humans, so long as they're equal to each other. I'd /prefer/ for them all to be a tat better than the PHB races overall, but I'm mostly focusing on balance. Further flavor can come later, I'm focusing mostly on mechanics now.
I'm attempting to utilize the DMG's suggestion on raising/lowering stats, and giving a series of bonuses to those who are a bit shafted, but opinions are well appreciated.
Oh... and there are no multiclassing penalties nor favored classes here, and I'm probably keeping it to base classes (With a couple mild additions), so don't worry about those. Thanks in advance for any help...
~~~~~~
Dechians (Day - Ckey - ans)
Darkvision. +2 con, -2 Wis
Dechians gain a +2 bonus on balance & Swim checks, and treat Balance & Swim as class skills. They gain Stability(A'la Dwarf), and +2 saves vs poison.
Dachians must pay an extra skill point to learn a new langauge, starts with one less language (Although they get Common & Lizard regardless of an intelligence penalty). Dachians also must obtain special armour (besides chain shirt & hide).
Basic Info: Lizardman race. A bit impulsive, but rather durable. Their unusually shaped mouths makes speaking languages difficult.
~~~~~~
V'ten (Vuh - Ten)
Darkvision, +2 Str, -2 Int
V'ten treat Intimidate & Jump as class skills, and gain a +2 bonus to listen due to their keen ears. They gain the Endurance feat for free, but have difficulty concentrating and keeping themselves resigned to tasks, taking a -2 penalty on concentration and move silently checks.
Vulnerable Form: V'ten take a -2 penalty on saves vs spells which require fortitude saves. In addition, they take a -2 penalty vs any spell of the transmutation school. These penalties stack.
Arcane Fear: V'ten take a -2 penalty to Use Magic Device
Basic Info: This race is strong, but slow-witted. Still, most give very fervent attempts to control themselves, and the race as a whole has taken steps towards being personable. They are, however, rather vulnerable to spells that alter physical form.
~~~~~~
Gehlert (Geh - lay - rt)
Low-Light, Small(Speed 20), +2 int, -2 Str, -2 Con
Gehlert gain a +2 bonus to all knowledge skills, and treat them as class skills.
Gehlert gain a +2 bonus to saves vs spells, and a +2 bonus to listen
Gehlert are more fraigle than most, and gain a -2 penalty to intimidate & climb
<Really unsure here. +int is really nice for a lot of classes, and -con doesn't really counter it for those classes, but...>
Basic Info: This small, resclusive group spends much of its time researching lore. While somewhat fragile, they have extremely sharp minds.
~~~~~~
Schö (Show)
Low-Light vision, Small Creatures(But 30ft movement), +2 Wis, -2 Cha
Schö gain a +2 bonus to handle animal & Survival, and treat those two skills as class skills.
Schö can speak with animals, as per the spell, a number of times equal to their HD each day. This is an extraordinary ability.
Schö gain a +2 bonus to listen, but take a -2 bonus to bluff.
Basic Info: This small race lives on the open plains, where a variety of particularly rough animals live. After time, they learned to tame the beasts, and now live relying in part on animals for survival, and against them. They are very gruff towards nonanimals.
~~~~~~
Holz (Holz)
Low-light vision, Speed 20(Even in armour), +2 Str, -2 Wis
Holz are at home on the battlefield, and gain the martial weapon proficiency for the Battleaxe & Greataxe automatically.
Holz gain Stability (A'la Dwarf), +4 fort vs cold, +2 survival in forests, but a -2 to Diplomacy and Sense Motive
Eldirtch Weakness: Holz are inherently weak to magical effects, and take a -4 to saves vs spells or spell-like effects which require will or fortitude saves.
Basic info: This race of people lives in the rather cold northern regions. Gung-ho is the best description of them, as they as a race tend to focus on logging, which is their trademark. They are warlike and extremely impulsive and brash. They are also, however extremely weak to magic. Their clerics tend to use benificial 'buffs' to try to rectify this significant flaw.
~~~~~~
Boden (Bow - den)
Darkvision, Speed 20(Even in armour), +2 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Int
Boden have Stability(A'la dwarf), Stonecunning(Again a'la dwarf), +2 vs poison saves, +2 craft/Concentration/Search(And may treat these as calss skills)+4 bonus to bull rush, HD/day Soften Flesh & Stone and Magic Stone
Boden train rigorously to utilize their ancestral weapons, and gain the martial weapon proficiencies for the Warhammer and Maul, while they may treat the 'Gnome' hooked hammer as a martial weapon rather than an exotic one.
Magic Resistant: Boden gain a +2 bonus on saves vs spells
Basic Info: This race of people lives within and about mountains. While particularly slow-witted and unagile, they are very at home in stone. They tend to be excellent crafters of a variety of items, and tend to have the ability to focus on one task as long as it need be.
~~~~~
Zegun (Zee - gun)
Speed 30, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity
Zegun gain enhancement bonuses to their speed, as per the following table:
No Armour or Light Armour: Base Speed 40
Medium Armour: Base Speed 30
Heavy Armour: Base Speed 20
Zegun gain the Run feat as a bonus feat. Zegun gain a +4 racial bonus on Fortitude saves made to resist the effects of hot weather.
Zegun have the supernatural ability to shapeshift to or from horse form as a standard action which provokes attack of opportunities (Somatic component)
[While this ability is unconfirmed at this time, it will basically give a bonus to strength and dexterity similar to polymorphing into a heavy horse and back, and at a certain level will 'upgrade' once to warhorse-level instead of a normal heavy horse. No per day limit, but limited to these two forms and cannot use wild spell in conjunction with this spell].
Zegun must also obtain special armour (besides chain shirt & hide).
Basic Info: Zegun have horse's heads, but mostly human bodies (But with hooves). They are desert nomads, traveling about the desert (typically during the night to avoid the hot sun).
~~~~~~
Streit (Strite)
Speed 30, +2 Dexterity, -2 Stregnth
Streit gain lightning reflexes as bonus feat.
Basic Info: The dominant race of the region, they're evasive and energetic, albeit not physically impressive. Still, they have ingenuity and survivability, and have populated the majority of the region. Most focus on their evasion and agility.
(Considering, although they're not human, giving them the human bonus skill points to show their adaptability)