Unusual Racial choices?

[silverwolfer]

We all know that Humans and Stronghearted halfings are the "gods" of the character races. What sort of races +1 or +2 could be considered, would you consider odd or utterly unique to roleplay as?

[Unusual Muse]

Well, from a roleplaying standpoint, you can't get much more odd or unique than Anthropomorphic Animals (Savage Species).

[silverwolfer]

aww so a HENGEYOKAI, without the DM being mad at you for using savage species .

[VGLordR2]

I like the Dvati, from Dragon Magazine Compendium, and the Dolgrim, from one of the Eberron books. Both are absolutely awesome to roleplay with.

[Phelix-Mu]

We all know that Humans and Stronghearted halfings are the "gods" of the character races. What sort of races +1 or +2 could be considered, would you consider odd or utterly unique to roleplay as?

I've always liked mephlings from the Planar Handbook. Some cool flavor.

Whisper gnomes are well-known, and justifiably so.

Fire gnomes from the Planar Handbook are also cool.

I've always wanted to play a nereid (Storwrack, methinks). I think this exceeds your specs for allowed races, but not by a lot, and some really useful abilities.

[Waker]

Odd, yet fun race to play with +1 or 2 LA? I like the Adu'ja from Dragon Magazine. An ancient sentient plant race that supposedly founded the Druidic traditions that everyone follows.

[Daftendirekt]

We all know that Humans and Stronghearted halfings are the "gods" of the character races.

You forgot Whisper Gnomes. Sure, they lack the bonus feat... but if you're making a stealthy character of any sort, you really cannot beat a Whisper Gnome.

[Unusual Muse]

Kobolds have a ton of both fluff and crunch, and the obvious cheese.

[Kyberwulf]

Half-Ogres from Savage Species is always fun. Try explaining the linage to people.

[Greenish]

Warforged are interesting, when you think of it. They have no need for creature comforts (food, rest, sex), could potentially live forever, but are at most a decade old, created for a purpose that no longer exists, have no culture of their own…

Elans are quite similar, with the ability to sustain themselves infinitely, but unlike warforged they've chosen to become what they are (by default fluff, not so much in Eberron), voluntarily distancing themselves from the human society, wiping out most of what they were before the process.


[Edit]: Obviously it doesn't hurt that both are pretty good mechanically. :smalltongue:

[nedz]

Half-Fey are quite fun and useful.

[HunterOfJello]

Half-Fey are great
+1 LA Half-Fey are great too

Feytouched are amazing because they're immune to mind-affecting effects. That's a pretty massive immunity.

Hellbred are an insanely flavorful race that are often overlooked.

Forest gnomes (MM1) are great too. There's really no reason anyone should ever play a Rock Gnome (PHB) instead of a Forest Gnome other than flavor.


Marrulurk is a really awesome 3 RHD, +1 LA race that is actually worth playing as if you're interested in playing a rogue. They get Imp. Initiative and Track as racial feats, +2d6 Sneak Attack, a Death Attack, Poison Use, and much more. They can be found in the Sandstorm book.

[TuggyNE]

Half-Giants are at least half-decent; I dunno about unusual, though. (Though their name is a little confusing; they're related to giants, yes, but it's a bit more involved than just "giant and someone else had a baby".)

[Averis Vol]

Killoren from races of the wild. With the three different aspects you basically have a three way split personality disorder and I couldn't enjoy it more.

[Mongrel]

I have a soft spot for Gnolls, though they're probably not the best race by the numbers.

Half Dragons are amazing if you can eat the LA.

[limejuicepowder]

Poison dusk lizardfolk (MM3) have a lot going for them with only a +1 LA - natural armor, natural attacks, poison use, good bonuses to good skills, small size, 30 ft speed, and darkvision.

High-OP obviously favors their water-born cousins, but regular ol' Orcs are pretty good for fighter types. They have lots of strength and access to some interesting feats and classes.

It would take a lenient DM but I've always liked the look of Derro (MM1). The racial madness could be played in lots of different ways, and +6 to cha is nothing to sneeze at.

[Ashtagon]

Warforged are interesting, when you think of it. They have no need for creature comforts (food, rest, sex), could potentially live forever, but are at most a decade old, created for a purpose that no longer exists, have no culture of their own…

Basically, their background fluff makes them an excellent armed hobo :smallwink:

[Siltharon]

Sharakim from Races of Destiny: sure they are considered a weak race (they are but you can easily tweak them to +0 la if you really wanna play them), but the flavour of a very intelligent orc like race is pretty awesome and the also have great lore about how they behave with other people.

Killoren from Races of the Wild: great nature flavour, they are feys and most important their behaviour and the way they look changes (daily if you want to. Cold Iron Anathema gives them some more potential for roleplaying. Definitely a great race to roleplay with and ofc especially cool on nature-classes.

Naga from Rokugan Campaign Setting: Well .... Yes the race is too strong if you compare them to others, but from a roleplaying point they are great! Take a look at their lore and how they connect to each other. For those who don't know Naga are connected through a group consciousness called Akasha so they recieve boni to interact with others of their kind and mali for interacting with other races. Definitely one of my favourite races (female can turn their snaketails to feet btw -> if you want to use them you might want to convince your dm to allow it and allow it in both genders .... but that's just me).

Nezumi from Oriental Adventures:Yeah they are rats and if you don't have a problem with that it's a good race to roleplay. If you play Rokugan then they have immunity to the Shadowlands taint and also in other settings they have great potential. Very fast, often misunderstood by the society they live in, one of the earliest starting ages (just can think of Warforged now) and they are rats :D

Vanara from OA: Also a great race to roleplay with. Climbspeed, little bit stealth, fun personalities. Aou can make a lot from their race lore .... living in a forest and travelling out to a new world ... whatever you want to do. Also you can play them really fun (who doesn't want to play the monkey king sometimes)

[Felandria]

I've kind of had an itch to play an Ettin.

[J-H]

Jermaline.
The only way I have figured out to play them is as a non-melee divine caster or rogue type.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Is there any way to make a PC swarm?

[limejuicepowder]

Is there any way to make a PC swarm?

Be a high level warlock and take the dark discorporation invocation, and turn in to a swarm of shadow bats at will.

[Mongrel]

Is there any way to make a PC swarm?

I think there's a PrC for druids that lets you wildshape into a swarm. Dunno how you would play a character who's race was a swarm though, I guess you'd need to find an appropriate (probably very alien) race.

[Answerer]

Sharakim from Races of Destiny: sure they are considered a weak race (they are but you can easily tweak them to +0 la if you really wanna play them), but the flavour of a very intelligent orc like race is pretty awesome and the also have great lore about how they behave with other people.
See, I really disliked their fluff (Yeah, they look like orcs, but they're really humans that got cursed, that's why they're smart, man!) – why couldn't we just have smart orcs for once?


Is there any way to make a PC swarm?
Were-Murder-of-Crows. Lycanthrope template from Monster Manual plus Murder of Crows, a Large Animal (Swarm) from Tome of Magic.

[Eldan]

We had that discussion at some point. IIRC, by RAW you can be a swarm lycanthrope, as long as it's a swarm of predators or scavengers.

[Petrocorus]

I would really like to try to play a Fey'Ri from Races of Faerun.
A renegade one. There are a lot of roleplay potential as some kind of CG character. The polymorph into humanoid at will has roleplay potential too.
You don't need to abuse it in combat situation.

[Vaz]

Neraph. Camoflage frogs that are lawful but chaotic.

Dragonborn Buomman; all the goodness of a Buomman, can still speak, ajd a Dragonborn. Makes a decent start for a Swordsage.

Sunscorch Hobgoblin; militaristic asian style martial race descended from Dragon. Out of the 5 main chromatics, Blue is my favourite, so double favourite there. Make excellent Crusaders.

Unseelie Fey anything. Wings, Charisma Bonus and abilities which key off that with no LA? Yes please.

[ShurikVch]

Lesser Glimmerfolk:

+2 Dexterity, –2 Strength
• Medium Size
• 30’ Movement
• Humanoid (extraplanar)

• Low-light Vision
• +2 Racial bonus on Perform checks
• +4 Racial bonus on saves vs. spells of the (shadow) subschool or with the [darkness] descriptor.
• Immune to Pattern effects, such as Color Spray and Hypnotic Pattern.
• Has 3 Nimlis, which are 2” diameter floating globes of light that stay within 1’ of the Glimmerfolk. Each gives off light as bright as a Candle. The Glimmerfolk receives a –2 penalty per Nimli on Hide checks. As a Standard Action, a Glimmerfolk may discharge one or more Nimlis to activate a Spell-like Ability:
1 Nimli – Dancing Lights, Daze, or Flare
2 Nimlis – Color Spray or Magic Missile
3 Nimlis – Mirror Image
Discharged Nimlis reappear after 8 hours of rest.

• +1 on skill checks and ability checks.
• +1 on attack rolls and saving throws.
• +1 on level checks (including caster level checks).
• +1 to the DC for any spell he casts or any other ability he uses
that allows a saving throw.

Favoured Class: Ranger
Level adjustment -1.

Don't get any WBL until 2nd level.
Don't considered epic until 22nd level.
Vulnerable to Banishment.

[Forrestfire]

I've always thought Glimmerfolk were really neat. That issue of Dragon was fun to read.


Is there any way to make a PC swarm?

Halfling Were-Rat Swarm works.

[Gullara]

I'm a huge fan of Thrii-Kreen myself. The obvious mechanical benefits of having four arms aside, I rather like the race. The the awesome jump bonus is a nice perk too.

Something I've wanted to have an opportunity to play is a draegloth, but with 4 LA and 4 RHD, it's hard to find the opportunity. :smalltongue:

(Also, what's with me and four armed races?)

[ShurikVch]

Is there any way to make a PC swarm? Ruin Swarm in the ELH was ECL 25. Awaken it and get a ECL 25-26 magical beast (swarm) PC with 52 HD.

Also, Silthilar - Fine Aberration (Shapechanger, Swarm) 9 HD, LA +8.

[The Viscount]

Yuan-ti Muckdweller. Playing as a Tiny lizard is great.

Beguiler is a pretty cool race, and it means you can be a beguiler beguiler.

Tainted One template on a Halfling is a great way to enter Black Dog. Magically spit in people's drinks to poison them.

[tadkins]

I always found Tibbits to be strange and interesting.

[nedz]

I always found Tibbits to be strange and interesting.

Cheshire Cat (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c) is a stranger choice.

[tadkins]

Cheshire Cat (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c) is a stranger choice.

That whole page was brilliant. Thanks for the link. xD

[ThatGuyOvaThere]

This isn't really a race, but I have always thought that playing a vampire is fun and very useful.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

I need to find a DM permissive enough to let me play a swarm.

...


Actually, no. I need to find a DM so permissive that he gives blanket permissions that let me play a swarm, without ever actually asking him if I can be one. And then I won't tell him, or the rest of the party, until after we've been adventuring together for a while. Then I'll say something like "You go down that way, I'm gonna divide in two and search these two rooms." They'll be all "What do you mean?" and I'll be all "Oh, didn't I mention it? I'm a sentient flock of crows."

And they'll be all "Dude... I thought you were an elf."

[Daftendirekt]

I won't tell him, or the rest of the party, until after we've been adventuring together. Then I'll say something like "You go down that way, I'm gonna divide in two and search these two rooms." They'll be all "What do you mean?" and I'll be all "Oh, didn't I mention it? I'm a sentient flock of crows."

And they'll be all "Dude... I thought you were an elf."

Best thing in this thread so far. :smallbiggrin:

[inuyasha]

even though this is technically D20 future, the future players guide has an amazing system for creating alien races from anywhere from LA 0 to LA 4, it is extremely balanced and its pretty simple. I dont know how much it costs if you dont have it though and I think you can find it on amazon or ebay.

P.S. I know its balanced because Im running an entire "adventure time" game with some of the races from the show (which I might actually post soon

[Soranar]

Dragonborn warforged are about as weird as a LA 0 race can get.

But playing a kobold is also fairly bizarre to roleplay.

[TroubleBrewing]

Actually, no. I need to find a DM so permissive that he gives blanket permissions that let me play a swarm, without ever actually asking him for one. And then I won't tell him, or the rest of the party, until after we've been adventuring together for a while. Then I'll say something like "You go down that way, I'm gonna divide in two and search these two rooms." They'll be all "What do you mean?" and I'll be all "Oh, didn't I mention it? I'm a sentient flock of crows."

And they'll be all "Dude... I thought you were an elf."

Awesome.

As for the OP's request, I've always been a big fan of Illumians. Getting to key your bonus spells to Dex or Str is cool in and of itself, but they're a race of sentient words. That's nifty.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Call me crazy, but one of my favorite characters that I played was a Troglodyte cleric (of Lendys). That poor Psion kept failing his Fort save...

[Treblain]

They'll be all "What do you mean?" and I'll be all "Oh, didn't I mention it? I'm a sentient flock of crows."

And they'll be all "Dude... I thought you were an elf."

I love playing in games where the DM assumes the party is mostly human, and then when they ask offhand while you're talking with some villagers, they learn that you've got a minotaur, a kobold, and a tiefling. Then the DM sighs in relief because the druid is just an elf, so the villagers can at least talk to him without freaking out. Then the druid clarifies that he never leaves bear form, and the DM facepalms.

[ThatGuyOvaThere]

Half-Giant is one of my favorites. I dunno if it's what you're looking for(I saw it mentioned above). But they're pretty fun to role play.

[Felandria]

Half-Giant is one of my favorites. I dunno if it's what you're looking for(I saw it mentioned above). But they're pretty fun to role play.

Then you'd love my current character, a half giant Vampire.

Long story.

[ArcturusV]

Heh, liked running a Giantkin Nezumi Feyblooded, a template I almost never see used and a race I almost never see used. I used to pick a lot of weird choices for characters a long time ago. Like my Swanmay Cleric, or Lammasu Barbarian Shaman. Sadly haven't done too much like that in 3rd edition, outside the Giantkin Nezumi. And only because everyone wanted to play some huge ECL classes and I didn't want to point out that their Half-Dragon Devilblooded Celestial Orc Barbarian (Most the guys in that group were LA +10 or more) was going to be insanely weak compared to even a Halfling Fighter of equal level.

[Jane_Smith]

Weirdest thing I have ever seen was a half-golem half-centaur strongheart halfling that took a flaw to be cursed under the effects of a permanent reduce person effect. Then took underfoot fighting. As a level 1 rogue. Sense half golem and centaur have no la's, the dm allowed it and must have just skimmed the sheet.

The robotic horse legged halfling managed to wrack up 47 kills in the first 4 sessions. Solo. The dm forced him into retirement soon after.

As for my personal favorite race? the drow actually. Though I rarely play them because I feel like if I do the dm or other players will face palm at a "drizzt fangirl", even though my last drow as a true neutral mercenary with a spiked chain who murdered half the group for not paying her on time, mocked her, etc. To many drizzt fan's have ruined the drow for most dnd circles to be seen in a serious light you know?

[ArcturusV]

Ug. Yes, how Drizzle fans ruined the Drow. I'm with you on that one. It's why I never play Drow anymore.

[GreenSerpent]

Diopsid (Dragon Compendium). Gigantic beetle-people. The interesting part is they live the shortest out of all races - 28 at the absolute maximum, middle age at 10.

They're also very friendly to every humanoid race they meet, mostly because they all look the same to a Diopsid.

[Daftendirekt]

Then you'd love my current character, a half giant Vampire.

Long story.

A vagiant (http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l21i2hEDPE1qzztmeo1_500.jpg)?

[Answerer]

A vagiant (http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l21i2hEDPE1qzztmeo1_500.jpg)?
That's a band, I think. They had a song called (IIRC and if it's the same one) "Seven" that's in one of the Guitar Hero or Rock Band games.

[Petrocorus]

I would also like to play a Lumi, from MM2 (or 3).
Their heads hover over them, no neck.
I find this utterly cool.

[Psyren]

Daelkyr Half-Blood are an interesting and fairly powerful choice that I don't see come up very often. I also really like Synads, though some lifespan information on them would be nice.


Is there any way to make a PC swarm?

There's a Totemist soulmeld that gives you the Swarm type in one of the Dragon Mags, I believe. You need your heart chakra though so it's a very high-level option. (I think the absolute lowest access would be 15 or so.)

[Sheogoroth]

Changelings are the greatest things ever.
Alter self at-will, +10 to disguise.

Warforged are very good at low levels since you can take absurdly good armor, weapons, and DR at level 1, but later on magic items would otherwise outclass the innate armor very quickly. Not a bad choice for an ascetic, though.
The thing that makes them pretty fun is that are an absurd amount of racial feats and goodies to throw at them, not all of them are any good, like a natural bite attack, but they are mostly interesting.
Both from eberron.

As far as LA races go, Diopsoids from the Dragon Magazine Compendium have 4 arms and that's nice.

Drow have some interesting PRCs

[Savith9]

Changeling and Doppelganger by a long shot, I love stealthy classes or shifty characters and the two races just make them that much more fun although it gets interesting when you shape shift in front of your party or shape shift and steal something from them. One of the things I did with my rogue was killing everyone I would shape shift into so there are no originals running around to help me get caught. Other than that both don't suffer the affects of aging and they both live for several hundred years.

Edit 1: spelling error

[Greenish]

Changeling and Doppelganger … Other than that both don't suffer the affects of aging and they both live for several hundred years.Changelings become middle-aged by 35, old by 57, and venerable by 70 (and do suffer the usual aging penalties), and live for 110 years at most.

[Savith9]

Changelings become middle-aged by 35, old by 57, and venerable by 70 (and do suffer the usual aging penalties), and live for 110 years at most.

Could have sworn they had the same qualities as doppelgangers could be wrong. Dopps are what i usually roll anyways.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

One I just rediscovered this morning:

Bladeling from MMII

Outsider type
Stat mods (inferred) +2 Dex
+4 Natural Armor
1d6 claw attack
Cold Resist 5
Fire Resist 5
Immune to Acid
DR5/magic or bludgeoning
RazorStorm it's crap you'll never use it, I mean maybe at level 1-2 if you fight a swarm or if like four goblins are in perfect formation to get hit by a 15ft cone . . .

All at ECL 1, not LA +1, it has a single 1d8 outsider HD and it's still ECL 1. The only downside is that that HD is 2+int mod skills (atypical for an outsider) so your forced to use your X4 a poor skills HD. Their default feat is improved initiative so even if you can't take an alternative feat it's still good.

[Kazyan]

One I just rediscovered this morning:

Bladeling from MMII

Outsider type
Stat mods (inferred) +2 Dex
+4 Natural Armor
1d6 claw attack
Cold Resist 5
Fire Resist 5
Immune to Acid
DR5/magic or bludgeoning
RazorStorm it's crap you'll never use it, I mean maybe at level 1-2 if you fight a swarm or if like four goblins are in perfect formation to get hit by a 15ft cone . . .

All at ECL 1, not LA +1, it has a single 1d8 outsider HD and it's still ECL 1. The only downside is that that HD is 2+int mod skills (atypical for an outsider) so your forced to use your X4 a poor skills HD. Their default feat is improved initiative so even if you can't take an alternative feat it's still good.

Wow. Actually, if it's only 1HD, doesn't it get replaced when you take class levels, or does it explicitly say you have to eat the hit die? Ignore the Curmudgeon-style glitch in the "Humanoids and Class Levels" rule for a moment.

[Morbis Meh]

Weirdest thing I have ever seen was a half-golem half-centaur strongheart halfling that took a flaw to be cursed under the effects of a permanent reduce person effect. Then took underfoot fighting. As a level 1 rogue. Sense half golem and centaur have no la's, the dm allowed it and must have just skimmed the sheet.


...LA: - =/= 0 the - refers to non PC template only the player is either a munchkin or really new to the game, if the former the DM should have cast maximized DMG to the face on the player...

As for obscure races that I enjoy... I loves me Raptorans, never mess with us bird people!

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Has anyone made an Iron Chef competition, with the rule that whatever characters you build have to be weird/insane?

[Lorsa]

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to play a silver dragon, considering they often take human form and explore the lands. But then again they don't have levels so as a character wouldn't really work.

[Greenish]

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to play a silver dragon, considering they often take human form and explore the lands. But then again they don't have levels so as a character wouldn't really work.Wyrmling silver dragon has 7 RHD and +4 LA, so provided the campaign started at ECL 11+, you could play one. There are dragons with lower ECL, too. Steel dragon (also with humanoid form) comes in at ECL 6, if my memory serves, and some flavours are lower still.

[ShadowFireLance]

Wyrmling silver dragon has 7 RHD and +4 LA, so provided the campaign started at ECL 11+, you could play one. There are dragons with lower ECL, too. Steel dragon (also with humanoid form) comes in at ECL 6, if my memory serves, and some flavours are lower still.


Yup, Dragons are perfect for roleplaying, And Gaming, I love my Dragons..:smallcool:

I think the oddest thing i've ever done was a Lycanthropic Remorhaz...That was fun. (And before you go on about it not working, It was a custom Template.)

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Wow. Actually, if it's only 1HD, doesn't it get replaced when you take class levels, or does it explicitly say you have to eat the hit die? Ignore the Curmudgeon-style glitch in the "Humanoids and Class Levels" rule for a moment.

Unfortunitly, no.

From Bladeling Characters:
A Bladeling PC's ECL is equal to it's class level +1; thus a 1st-level Bladeling Fighter has an ECL of 2 and is the equivalent of a leval 2 character.

I'll also add that while it lacks the 8+int skills typical of an outsider, it does have dark vision 60ft and all strong saves. Oddly the stat block doesn't have armor in it while the art does.

[mawexzon]

Mongrelfolk are pretty cool
+4 Con bonus FTW!

[javijuji]

I've had lots of fun with a Chaos Gnome with heavy focus on luck feats and items. Might not be good from an op point of view but it sure was fun to get out of trouble by rerolling everything.

[Shadroth]

In theory you could have a Dragon-born Draconic Half-Dragon of whatever base race you wanted.

Dragon-born is an applied template from a ritual.
Draconic can be gained from 5th level of Dragon Devotee.
Half-Dragon can be gained from 10th level of Dragon Disciple.

From my reading of it, none of these are conflicting in any way. Tempts me to start a Bard1/Dragonfire AdeptX character to see how many times I can cram the word "dragon" into classes and races text!

[Answerer]

Half-dragon goliath barbarians with Mountain Rage get so angry they sprout a pair of fully-functional dragon wings.

I also played an amusing character based on a version of Living Spell heavily modified for PC use.

[Venger]

I think there's a PrC for druids that lets you wildshape into a swarm. Dunno how you would play a character who's race was a swarm though, I guess you'd need to find an appropriate (probably very alien) race.

master of flies from savage species and vermin lord from bovd also allow you to assume the swarm subtype.

libris mortis's swarmshifter template also lets you do it if you're undead.


Changelings are the greatest things ever.
Alter self at-will, +10 to disguise.

I also love changelings, but it's disguise self, not alter self.

[inuyasha]

Mongrelfolk are pretty cool
+4 Con bonus FTW!

mongrelfolk are lame in FF compared to the older version and the tome of horrors version. each body part is of a different race. crab man arm, goblin jaw, minotaur torso, endless possibilities!

[KicktheCAN]

Feral-Kind Cyclopeans (Drg323) are pretty cool. +2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, darkvision, and a +1 bonus to Reflex and Initiative saves all for +0 LA. Menta Cyclopeans aren't bad either with +2 Con and favored class: wizard.

Exiled Dwarves get a free feat at first level.


Mongrelfolk are pretty cool
+4 Con bonus FTW!
Dragonborn Mongrelfolk for +6 Con then enter an incarnum class.

[The Viscount]

libris mortis's swarmshifter template also lets you do it if you're undead.


Swarmshifter is unfortunately LA -.