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View Full Version : Aquenzie - A new planetouched race (3.5)



Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-07-02, 12:46 PM
Aquenzie (Aqu-en-zie) are touched by the raw arcana of the god Boccob and carry some of that power. They resemble humans with white, amber, or medium-brown skin with runes that light up on their body when they use arcane magic.

AQUENZIE
Touched with raw arcane energy, the Aquenzie are the children of Boccob.
LA ???
+2 Charisma, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom.
The Aquenzie have the power and intellect to master the arcane arts but are sometimes physically frail and are distant and unpredictable.
Land Speed 6 squares (30ft)

PHYSICAL TRAITS
Rune Shielding
Aquenzie have pulsing runes on their skin that enhance their defense giving them a +1 natural armor bonus.

MENTAL TRAITS
Eldritch Lore
Aquenzie have a +2 racial bonus to knowledge (arcana) and spellcraft.

SPECIAL TRAITS
Spell Resistace
Aquenzee have spell resistance equal to their hit dice +11.
Magic Touched
Aquenzie can choose a cantrip at fist level. They can then cast the spell at will with a caster level equal to their it dice.

Milskidasith
2010-07-02, 01:40 PM
The skill bonus is incredibly high.

Merk
2010-07-02, 02:05 PM
You'll want to specify a caster level for the Mage Hand SLA, probably equal to HD.

NecroticPunch
2010-07-02, 03:00 PM
Depending on the Level Adjustment, the Spell Resistance is incredibly good.

I would at least give it a Level Adjustment of 2. And by the way, that skill bonus is huge. In incredibly huge ways.

Eurus
2010-07-02, 03:13 PM
The skill bonus is probably excessive, yeah (probably cut it in half, and it'll still be pretty impressive). I mean, I don't think it's really unbalanced unless you go Incantatrix or something (and that speaks more to the brokenness of the Incantatrix than this race), but still, I'm sure it's possible to find a way to abuse it if you look hard enough.

Other than that, the SR is a nice benefit but not a serious obstacle for a determined enemy caster, and the other bonuses aren't a big deal. I'd guess LA +1.

Temotei
2010-07-02, 03:18 PM
+2 Charisma, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom.
The Aquenzie gain arcane might and intellect from their heritage but are somewhat physically and sometimes aloof.

Somewhat what physically? Aloofness is often associated with a Charisma penalty, as far as I know.

Don't capitalize aquenzie.


PHYSICAL TRAITS
Rune Shielding
Aquenzie have pulsing runes on their skin that enhance their defense giving them a +1 natural armor bonus.

Okay.


MENTAL TRAITS
Eldritch Lore
Aquenzie have a racial bonus to knowledge (arcana) and spellcraft equal to their hit dice.

Geez. That's insanely high.


SPECIAL TRAITS
Spell Resistace
Aquenzee have spell resistance equal to their hit dice +7.

That's really not standard. Generally, spell resistance equals 11 + HD.


Mage Hand
Aquenzie can cast Mage Hand at will.

What's the caster level? Why mage hand?

A little more fluff would be nice, too. Right now, it's like "Oh, Boccob is somehow connected to them in the same way he's connected to arcane magic."

Lord Vampyre
2010-07-02, 03:59 PM
Originally Posted by josha
+2 Charisma, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom.
The Aquenzie gain arcane might and intellect from their heritage but are somewhat physically and sometimes aloof.

Works for me, but I would work on the wording.




PHYSICAL TRAITS
Rune Shielding
Aquenzie have pulsing runes on their skin that enhance their defense giving them a +1 natural armor bonus.

I would drop the natural armor bonus and use the runes to explain their SR.




MENTAL TRAITS
Eldritch Lore
Aquenzie have a racial bonus to knowledge (arcana) and spellcraft equal to their hit dice.

Your better off sticking to the standard +2 to each skill.




SPECIAL TRAITS
Spell Resistace
Aquenzee have spell resistance equal to their hit dice +7.

I agree with Temotei, you should set their SR to 11 + Lvl to make it more usable.




Mage Hand
Aquenzie can cast Mage Hand at will.

To make each aquenzie a little different you should allow them to choose 1 cantrip that can be performed at will, then set the caster level equal to their character level. It would give them a sense of versatility.

As for a LA, +1 would probably work. It's not quite up to a +2 with these benefits. The only spectatular thing its getting out of the deal is an at will Mage Hand and Spell Resistance. Now, if you made it an Outsider, like most of the Plane-touched, I would definitely push it up to a +2.

I_Got_This_Name
2010-07-02, 09:22 PM
Minor spell resistance is perfectly fine at 7 + hit dice.

The skill bonus really is too high, though, since it messes up the scaling of the skills.

Temotei
2010-07-02, 11:16 PM
To make each aquenzie a little different you should allow them to choose 1 cantrip that can be performed at will, then set the caster level equal to their character level. It would give them a sense of versatility.

I was considering giving this as a suggestion. Interesting. :smallsmile:

Volthawk
2010-07-03, 07:27 AM
Also, who the hell is Bacob? Do you mean Boccob?

Debihuman
2010-07-03, 08:47 AM
If this is a Plane-Touched race by Boccob, shouldn't they get Arcane Insight (from Races of Destiny) as a bonus feat?

Here is how you effectively write-up a plane-touched race: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/planetouched.htm


Aquenzie (Aqu-en-zie) are touched by the raw arcana of the god Bacob and carry some of that power. They resemble humans with white, ember, or medium-brown skin with runes that light up on their body when they use arcane magic.

Lighting up when you use magic makes it difficult to Hide. They should get a -8 penalty to their Hide skill when casting arcane spells. They should also not be able to hide in magical darkness as the runes seem to have a magical or perhaps divine origin.

You do realize that every enemy will target the glowing guy first. It's like wearing a bull's-eye.

Skin usually isn't described as "ember" unless you mean "amber." This would be ember: http://www.justout.com/uploads/01_Blog_Photos/11_2007/Ember_320.jpg
While this would be amber:
http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/creation/amber_work.jpg

If they are lighting up, they could very well be ember. I just wasn't sure whether or not that color choice was intentional.

What color do the runes pulse? If they have black skin with pulsing red runes that would make the ember coloration a lot clearer.

Debby

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-07-03, 09:55 AM
Also, who the hell is Bacob? Do you mean Boccob?

I do, I'm a little rusty on 3.5 gods.

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-07-03, 10:57 PM
I fixed some stuff.
Does LA+2 seem fair?

Temotei
2010-07-03, 11:00 PM
I fixed some stuff.
Does LA+2 seem fair?

It seems a bit high. If you're going to make it LA +2, I'd add some magical stuff.

Otherwise, this is much closer to LA +1, from what I can see.