Bugbeartrap
2011-05-10, 05:43 PM
It's my first time posting in the Homebrew Forum so please let me know if there's some etiquette that I'm missing. A friend of mine approached me with an idea for a new race for his character, and it sparked such a great idea in my campaign that I quickly wrote it in. The problem is, we don't know how to stat it. This is the problem which I humbly beseech your aid with.
The Fluff
In his own words "Secretive and hidden people that make dwellings in places no one would look, from deep caverns of the Underdark to thickly wooded forests on the furthest corners of forgotten maps. Artifice folk are the remnant of ancient experiments made by a myriad of beings, who, after being discarded for some unknown reason, founded small communities that still survive to this day. Artifice people are unique in that they need not take classes in order to fight, although they are more than capable. Their bodies have the ability to mutate into various weapons and other devices for everyday purposes, although it is usually limited to limbs and small portions of the rest of their body. They learn new forms much the same way a sorcerer might learn new spells. In this way, no two artifice folk are alike, each having amassed his own forms."
In short, beings made of marble flesh and quicksilver blood with a penchant for artifice and turning their bodies into weapons.
The Mechanics
My friend originally came to me with the idea of both large, medium, and small varieties, with the ability to gain new "body transformations" with each level. His idea was to spend skill points on it. His idea was to base the transformations on the maug grafts in fiend folio.
This is where trouble started. Sacrificing skill points for increased combat effectiveness isn't very common, and most races don't increase in power by level. My first thought was to just make racial feats, however, then all artificefolk would have either no racial feats or have no feats to spend on "normal" feats. Thus did Hellbred spring to mind, as a race that increased in power by level and even gained bonus feats!
Any suggestions to put me on the right track would be greatly appreciated!
The Fluff
In his own words "Secretive and hidden people that make dwellings in places no one would look, from deep caverns of the Underdark to thickly wooded forests on the furthest corners of forgotten maps. Artifice folk are the remnant of ancient experiments made by a myriad of beings, who, after being discarded for some unknown reason, founded small communities that still survive to this day. Artifice people are unique in that they need not take classes in order to fight, although they are more than capable. Their bodies have the ability to mutate into various weapons and other devices for everyday purposes, although it is usually limited to limbs and small portions of the rest of their body. They learn new forms much the same way a sorcerer might learn new spells. In this way, no two artifice folk are alike, each having amassed his own forms."
In short, beings made of marble flesh and quicksilver blood with a penchant for artifice and turning their bodies into weapons.
The Mechanics
My friend originally came to me with the idea of both large, medium, and small varieties, with the ability to gain new "body transformations" with each level. His idea was to spend skill points on it. His idea was to base the transformations on the maug grafts in fiend folio.
This is where trouble started. Sacrificing skill points for increased combat effectiveness isn't very common, and most races don't increase in power by level. My first thought was to just make racial feats, however, then all artificefolk would have either no racial feats or have no feats to spend on "normal" feats. Thus did Hellbred spring to mind, as a race that increased in power by level and even gained bonus feats!
Any suggestions to put me on the right track would be greatly appreciated!