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alchemyprime
2010-07-21, 01:32 PM
Hey all. I've been working on refluffing the races and redoing their stats.

Essentially, I'm bringing every race up to LA +1, then giving them a background benefit list for their race and a generic background benefit off of a "anyone can have" list. I like campaigns with more goodies, and so I'm handing out folks the goodies they want.

But I came to the elves, and realized: There are TOO MANY DANG SUBRACES.

So I split the elves into four groups. Then redid them from there.

Drow: We know the drow. My fluff is they tried to make the wrong kind of Shoku and were exhiled. Now they live in the Underdark, adapted to the world without a sun.

Elves: The elves are a people who obey their own personal god as much as the big god they relate to.

No. I mean it. Their adulthood ritual involves growing a god. There are different spirits for different elves, and every elven child decides which type they will bind when they reach adulthood (normally at 30, 50, or 100, based on the society). They then take 5 years to grow their god.

If they want to be a fire elf, able to control flames, they must grow their hair for five years and treat it with soot and fat once each day. They may never wash their hair during this time. They then shave themselves bald and make an effigy of themselves from their fat infused soot covered hair. They burn the hair, making a Shoku, or small god, of that specific fire. They offer to the Shoku to enter them and not die once the fire is dead. The shoku agrees (assuming the ritual was done correctly) and we have a Fire Elf.

Water elves must collect one tear a day from themselves, Ghost Elves must live in a mausoleum and tend to the dead and the undead for 5 years, the Shadow Elves must live in total darkness for five years then enter a room with but one light to make a deal with their shadow. Each type of elf will have a different Shoku and different powers.

Nassari: Long ago there was an island nation of elves. This was before the Altieretans conquered The Rage and before the humans came to Van Jhal. The elves lived in harmony with nature- until the ocean god Torral got angry that he was taken out of their shrine in favor of the goddess Glykllvar and the god Nakurra. Torral was so enraged, he sent the island to the base of the ocean, and the sent his sahaugin after them. Nakurra intervened and fought Torral, killing them both. Before Nakurra could die, he covered the drowning elves with Torral's skin and fed them his blood. The elves became the Nassari, children of Nakurra. They became the sea elves.

Each tribe of Nassari is tied to a beast of the sea, and have developed fighting techniques based on each type of beast.

Avariels:
Winged elves. Fluffwise... I got nothing. Maybe some elves tried to fly without magic and the gods of magic cursed them (I can see Aon, a pompous god of Magic being Best, doing this easy) to have the wings forever. Or a god of Air blessed them. Maybe both.

The fun part to them: While the race will not have as many goodies as other races as they level, they will get WINGS to start with and a few stronger racial benefits. So that'll be fun.



Any thoughts? And any races you think need refluffing or recrunching?

Eldan
2010-07-21, 05:02 PM
I did a high elf here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161037), which for your project might be refluffed as, I don't know. Memory Elf... Ancestor Elf... Dream Elf...
Just pointing it out. It's already LA +1, even.

gomipile
2010-07-21, 07:29 PM
Be careful. If you fluff them too much, they might get soft on you.

And why would you want to bring every race up to LA +1? Are you trying to balance your game by implicitly nerfing the maximum attainable caster and manifester levels by 1?

Lev
2010-07-21, 07:39 PM
Honestly I think ALL the older races should all have LA and more goodies.
I mean it makes the older races look like complete retards when you say a 20 year old human has more skillpoints than a 100 year old elf and the same amount of wis and int?

But that's kind of unfair, having 100 years of perfect health to figure out your body and mind is pretty unbalanced in itself.

The Glyphstone
2010-07-21, 07:50 PM
Be careful. If you fluff them too much, they might get soft on you.

And why would you want to bring every race up to LA +1? Are you trying to balance your game by implicitly nerfing the maximum attainable caster and manifester levels by 1?

That, or maybe he wants races to be a more significant choice for character creation, instead of just "which one has the biggest pluses to the class I want to play". Not that it's guaranteed to work, but cooler races with more options are always good.

Dogmantra
2010-07-21, 07:58 PM
And why would you want to bring every race up to LA +1? Are you trying to balance your game by implicitly nerfing the maximum attainable caster and manifester levels by 1?

He's working on a "rule of cool" inspired, higher powered version of 3.5. The races will presumably all be reduced to 0 LA but in line with +1 LA races from vanilla 3.5.

I like the fluff you've got. I do like the idea of the winged elves being "cursed" with wings.

alchemyprime
2010-07-22, 01:21 AM
He's working on a "rule of cool" inspired, higher powered version of 3.5. The races will presumably all be reduced to 0 LA but in line with +1 LA races from vanilla 3.5.

I like the fluff you've got. I do like the idea of the winged elves being "cursed" with wings.

Dogmantra's right. What I was saying that a Human in my campaign would be LA+ 1 in a normal campaign, as would one of my Drow. All the races are at where an LA +1 race WOULD be, but for us that's LA 0.

So by raising every race up a step, I can start making the powers of the whole thing bigger. This was just my attempt at elves. I also have done warforged, maenads and humans so far, and am working on the other races.

Oh god, warforged subraces are fun. They are the only race that made SENSE to have environmental subraces. Arctic dwarves, meet the Snowforged, warforged made for the snow.

When you're a race of robots, you're a glorified Stormtrooper. That's my opinion anyway. But a few backgrounds bend that rule, like Reforged, Godforged, Awakened, Freeforged and Servant.

Yes. Servant Warforged are magitech robot Action Butlers. It made sense at the time.

Eldan
2010-07-22, 03:41 AM
Mind if I stealing your idea of elves getting different subraces as they grow up for my wild elves? Because I've been looking for something else to add to them for a while now.

Gnaritas
2010-07-22, 04:37 AM
Honestly I think ALL the older races should all have LA and more goodies.
I mean it makes the older races look like complete retards when you say a 20 year old human has more skillpoints than a 100 year old elf and the same amount of wis and int?

But that's kind of unfair, having 100 years of perfect health to figure out your body and mind is pretty unbalanced in itself.

So.....if you give the Elf an LA (and a +2 to INT and WIS), wouldnt the Human get even more skills in comparison to the Elf, considering he does not lose a classlevel?

alchemyprime
2010-07-22, 12:00 PM
Mind if I stealing your idea of elves getting different subraces as they grow up for my wild elves? Because I've been looking for something else to add to them for a while now.

Go for it! My wild elves are actually elves with a the spirit of RAGE ITSELF. Yes. Wild elves are elves that can rage off of their Charisma instead of their Con. And get a +2 bonus to the length of said rages.

How do you garner a rage spirit? By living alone in the wilderness with an animal. Normally a bear.

Zovc
2010-07-22, 12:07 PM
I really like your elves. I might steal that idea for my campaign setting that will likely never be finished.

Trasilor
2010-07-22, 12:12 PM
Great ideas! I like the different rituals the elves need to go though.

Regarding Avariels (I think 2nd edition had winged elves of the same name :smallconfused: ), you might want to limit flight at low levels to a number of uses/total time per day that increases as the charater levels. IMO free ( no spells, no items) flight is a big bonus.

alchemyprime
2010-07-22, 12:44 PM
Great ideas! I like the different rituals the elves need to go though.

Regarding Avariels (I think 2nd edition had winged elves of the same name :smallconfused: ), you might want to limit flight at low levels to a number of uses/total time per day that increases as the charater levels. IMO free ( no spells, no items) flight is a big bonus.

I agree. Which is why they are an Advanced Race. Instead of getting most of their Racial Advancement Powers (they will lose about 4 total, giving 13 instead of the 17 everyone else gets), they just get longer flight times, better manueverability, etc.

As for the Racial Advancements, 7 are super weak little things. Like "+2 to this skill" or "gain Light 1/day" or "+1 to Fortitude, Reflex or Will". 6 are better like "+1 to Death Saves (my version of Stabilizing)" or "improve your spell-like abilities" or "+2 to attack when dealing with X type enemy". 4 are the best, like a really good spell like, improving an ability score, or something of the sort.

And I'm glad you guys like the elves idea. Once I have all the rituals done, I'll post up my elves for y'all.