Can I get your opinion on the Race I created

[kpazzh0ly]

Revisions done in red

Mae'ti

Mae'ti are medium humanoids. They are known for their devotion to the earth and spirits around them. They share skill in crafting and their knowledge of the earth’s secrets like dwarves but they have poor ability to withstand magic as they feel it is unnatural. Mae'ti favor and appreciate organic and raw beauty of that which is made from the earth. They are drawn to protect all living creatures however, when danger threatens their own the Mae'ti will dispose of the threat in anyway possible.

Personality:
Mae'ti's culture is the most important part of their life and is misunderstood by most. They are peaceful and calm. Think long before they react and when in doubt they will ask the spirits to guide their way . Mae'ti value nature and regard gold, precious jewelery and such treasures as a distraction. They live one with the earth and they look to spirits for answers. Mae'ti can live in human lands but they prefer to live amongst their own. They are well known for their spiritual arts. Mae'ti, like elves, share a long life span but they reach adulthood much sooner at the age of 70 and the rest of their adulthood they devote themselves to their spirit guides.

Physical Description:
Mae'ti stand only 5 1/2 to 6 feet tall. They are usually fit and weigh anywhere from 135lbs to 200lbs. Mae'tis' skin is typically deep tan or light brown, and their eyes are gem tones. Their hair is blue and worn long. They have pointy ears like and their fascial features are almost human. Mae'ti are considered adults at about age 70, and they can live to be more than 700 years old.

Relations:
Mae'ti due to their peaceful nature get along with most races. Even such feared races as Orcs. Therefore Mae'ti are one of the only races that Orcs tend to have consistant peace. They find other races to be peculiar and try to understand thier ways. They have no enemy unless they are threatened. They see all living things to have a binding life force and they aim to protect that.

Alignment:
Due to their discipline they tend to be chaotic neutral and rarely are known to be evil.

Mae'ti Lands:
Mae'ti prefer to live near areas where all four elements are present: air, forrest, mountains and water. Their settlements are unknown to outside races. Their culture is very secretive and very well gaurded from outsiders. Only a rare few have been honored to see with-in their walls.

Religion:
The Mae'ti, while acknowledging the existence of the powerful outsiders known to others as deities, do not consider these outsiders to be truly divine and so do not worship them. Instead, they believe in the energy from the earth and spirits around them. They can feel power from all living things and therefore they devote themselves to preserving all life..

Language:
Mae'ti speak Maetin which is very similar to Dwarven and Orcish. Maetin has its own characters. Due to the fact that it is similar to Orcish and Dwarven they can also comunicate in these languages.

Name:
Mae'ti names are given to them at a Name Ceremony. The family gets together and celebrate the birth of the child. At this ceremony the family gathers around a fire and prays to the spirits. During this ritual the spirit guides reveal a name for the Mae'ti. Therefore Mae'ti names have a tendency to be organic.

Adventurers:
Mae'ti adventure in search of knowledge and to protect any living thing endangered. In their adventures they try to become closer with the spirits and learn about other religions and races unfamiliar to them.

Mae'ti Racial Traits:

+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution

Medium: As Medium creatures, Mae'ti have no special bonuses or
penalties due to their size.

Mae'ti base land speed is 30 feet.

Mae'ti suffer a -2 saving throw against enchantment spells or effects.

Dark-Vision: Mae'ti can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision
is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and Mae'ti can function just fine with no light at all.

+2 Racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

+4Racial bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidation checks.

+2 Racial bonus on survival checks

Mae'ti also start with an extra feat at 1st level.

Automatic Languages: Common and Mae'ti. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, Goblin, Orc and Sylvan.


Favored Class: Kurdu.

[Yitzi]

Relations:
Mae'ti due to their peaceful nature get along with most races. Even such feared races as Orcs. Therefore Mae'ti are one of the only races that Orcs tend to have consistant peace.

Not logical. When it comes to a Usually Chaotic Evil race like orcs, a peaceful nature just means they're going to find you an easier target. To get peace with orcs, you need to be violent enough when attacked that even they realize you're not worth attacking, and yet tolerant enough not to try to get rid of them.


Alignment:
Due to their discipline they tend to be lawful neutral and rarely are known to be evil.

A willingness to tolerate anything and try see every race's viewpoint sounds more Chaotic than Lawful to me; Law tends toward intolerance, both of the good sort (e.g. intolerance of murder) and bad sort (bigotry and so on.)


Religion:
The Mae'ti do not believe in a direct God.

Unless you're using a vastly different cosmology than the usual, this is absurd, as gods clearly show their presence in the usual D&D world. They might not worship any, but you bet they're going to believe in them.


Mae'ti Racial Traits:
+1 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom, -2 Constitution

Odd ability modifiers are usually not used, and for good reason.


Favored Class: Kurdu. Mae'ti can not be Barbarians, Fighters, Sorcerers and Wizards.



Not sure what Kurdu is. If they don't worship any gods, clerics should also probably be on the banned list (unless there are no clerics in your game period.)

[Tanuki Tales]

Unless you're using a vastly different cosmology than the usual, this is absurd, as gods clearly show their presence in the usual D&D world. They might not worship any, but you bet they're going to believe in them.


I'll field this one.

Just because there is empirical evidence that unique Outsiders with powers near beyond mortal comprehension exist, does not mean that they are in any way recognized as being divine or gods to this race.

It's not impossible to be atheist in the common DnD setting.

[kpazzh0ly]

First off thanks for the reply.

I should probably explain what is going on in the campaign. The Characters are going to a new land that has only been discovered in the last 150 years or so. I agree that having peace with Orcs would be difficult to attain. I wanted to hint that the Mae'ti if pushed to it can become a force to reckoned with. Also that there ability of Diplomacy can create peace. I am still debating it though.

-I agree with the Chaotic over Lawful. I took lawful as they were strict to their code.

-In real world not everyone has to have a religion and in some cultures there aren't true Gods. So that's where I was going with that.

-Do you think I should go +2, +2, -2?

And agreed Cleric should be banned. Kurdu is a class that I am making for them. Still not done with that one. Once I am done with it I will post it. It will be a mix of ranger/druid but their divine spells will be able to call upon spirits to aid. I am not sure yet how I want to portray that.

Quick note the Mae'ti don't know magic, because the things that they do, that may look like magic to others is just divine and natural.

A lot of my inspiration or thought is trying to incorporate certain American Indian culture.

Also this race hasn't been exposed to all the things that D&D would find common.

[Yitzi]

I'll field this one.

Just because there is empirical evidence that unique Outsiders with powers near beyond mortal comprehension exist, does not mean that they are in any way recognized as being divine or gods to this race.

It's not impossible to be atheist in the common DnD setting.

Good point; however, it should be clarified that it is the divinity of such beings that the Mae'ti deny, not their existence.


First off thanks for the reply.

I should probably explain what is going on in the campaign. The Characters are going to a new land that has only been discovered in the last 150 years or so. I agree that having peace with Orcs would be difficult to attain. I wanted to hint that the Mae'ti if pushed to it can become a force to reckoned with. Also that there ability of Diplomacy can create peace. I am still debating it though.

The idea that they can become a force to be reckoned with if pushed is a good one, but then it's not their normally peaceful nature that causes them to get along with most races. As for Diplomacy...it's useful, but without huge boosts (+2 won't do it), it's not going to achieve peace with a Usually Evil race unless it's backed up by force.


-I agree with the Chaotic over Lawful. I took lawful as they were strict to their code.

Even so, if they're ok with others who don't follow their code, I'd say that they're Neutral.


-In real world not everyone has to have a religion and in some cultures there aren't true Gods. So that's where I was going with that.

In the real world, there aren't clerics performing miracles on a regular basis. If there were, there wouldn't be a substantial number of atheists.


-Do you think I should go +2, +2, -2?

With the -2 to saves, I think that might work.


A lot of my inspiration or thought is trying to incorporate certain American Indian culture.

I'm pretty sure all those cultures had some sort of fighting-person (whether that's more like D&D's fighter or barbarian). I'd advise picking a particular culture (or maybe a few) and doing a bit of historical research. Afterward you can decide what aspects you want to keep and what you want to change (since after all they aren't native Americans, they're Mae'ti, so you can change it), but it would be better to be making that decision consciously.

[kpazzh0ly]

Thanks for the help. I should probably state that this is the first time I am making a race and class. I used the player's handbook as a template to make this race. I don't want this race to have a LA and I want it to be playable by PC's. I would say I am basically a noob when it comes to D&D because in the last 5 years with moving states and all it has been really hard to have a consistent group.

Here are some changes:

Alignment:
Due to their discipline they tend to be chaotic neutral and rarely are known to be evil.

Religion:
The Mae'ti do not believe in a direct God nor they believe in the divinity of any God. They believe in the energy from the earth and spirits around them. They can feel power from all living things and therefore they devote themselves to preserving all life.

Mae'ti Racial Traits:

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution

+4 Racial bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks.

Automatic Languages: Common ,Mae'ti, Dwarven and Orc. Bonus Languages: Elven, Goblin, Sylvan and Gnoll.

Favored Class: Mae'ti can not be Barbarians and Fighters due to their peaceful nature. They can not be Clerics as they do not believe in a divine God. They also can not be Sorcereres or Wizards as they lack the knowledge about Arcana. Therefore their favoured class is the Kurdu.



I still am not sure how I can create the fact that they can have peace with orcs. I also have posted this race in another forum to get feedback and I have gotten a comment that -2 to all spells against them may be too drastic.

I know that the race may seem bland so any other tips how to make it a well balanced race?

[Yitzi]

Alignment:
Due to their discipline they tend to be chaotic neutral and rarely are known to be evil.

Their discipline isn't what makes them Chaotic Neutral; their tolerance of other ways is what makes them Chaotic. If they have a lot of discipline, though, you might just want to make them True Neutral.


Religion:
The Mae'ti do not believe in a direct God nor they believe in the divinity of any God. They believe in the energy from the earth and spirits around them. They can feel power from all living things and therefore they devote themselves to preserving all life.

Unclear. How about "the Mae'ti, while acknowledging the existence of the powerful outsiders known to others as deities, do not consider these outsiders to be truly divine and so do not worship them. Instead, they believe in the energy from the earth and spirits around them. They can feel power from all living things and therefore they devote themselves to preserving all life."


Mae'ti Racial Traits:

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution

+4 Racial bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks.

Automatic Languages: Common ,Mae'ti, Dwarven and Orc. Bonus Languages: Elven, Goblin, Sylvan and Gnoll.

A net +2 bonus is too much for +0 LA without a penalty of some sort. Also, they shouldn't have so many automatic languages; one plus Common is plenty. Make the rest bonus if you want.


Favored Class: Mae'ti can not be Barbarians and Fighters due to their peaceful nature.

If they're so peaceful, they're not likely to become adventurers in the first place. Perhaps it's better to just say that they get a -2 penalty to all attack rolls (thereby helping with the balance issue), and that will naturally make them unsuited to be barbarians and fighters.


They can not be Clerics as they do not believe in a divine God. They also can not be Sorcereres or Wizards as they lack the knowledge about Arcana. Therefore their favoured class is the Kurdu.

Still not very clear. Perhaps just under the racial traits say "may not be clerics or arcane casters" and explain there, and then Favored Class is just listed as Kurdu.


I still am not sure how I can create the fact that they can have peace with orcs.

If they wiped out the last 10 orc tribes to attack them, but don't bother the ones that don't attack them, that would probably do it.


I also have posted this race in another forum to get feedback and I have gotten a comment that -2 to all spells against them may be too drastic.

May be, but you need something if you want to give them a net +2 to ability scores.


I know that the race may seem bland so any other tips how to make it a well balanced race?

Perhaps give them a penalty to attack rolls and save DCs (i.e. to the DCs of saves of their spells), because they don't like harming others, but a bonus to Survival because of their natural lifestyle. They're going to end up in support roles, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[Razanir]

Revisions done in red

Mae'ti

Mae'ti are medium humanoids. They are known for their devotion to the earth and spirits around them. They share skill in crafting and their knowledge of the earth’s secrets like dwarves but they have poor ability to withstand magic as they feel it is unnatural. Mae'ti favor and appreciate organic and raw beauty of that which is made from the earth. They are drawn to protect all living creatures however, when danger threatens their own the Mae'ti will dispose of the threat in anyway possible.

Personality:
Mae'ti's culture is the most important part of their life and is misunderstood by most. They are peaceful and calm. Think long before they react and when in doubt they will ask the spirits to guide their way . Mae'ti value nature and regard gold, precious jewelery and such treasures as a distraction. They live one with the earth and they look to spirits for answers. Mae'ti can live in human lands but they prefer to live amongst their own. They are well known for their spiritual arts. Mae'ti, like elves, share a long life span but they reach adulthood much sooner at the age of 70 and the rest of their adulthood they devote themselves to their spirit guides.

Physical Description:
Mae'ti stand only 5 1/2 to 6 feet tall. They are usually fit and weigh anywhere from 135lbs to 200lbs. Mae'tis' skin is typically deep tan or light brown, and their eyes are gem tones. Their hair is blue and worn long. They have pointy ears like and their fascial features are almost human. Mae'ti are considered adults at about age 70, and they can live to be more than 700 years old.

Relations:
Mae'ti due to their peaceful nature get along with most races. Even such feared races as Orcs. Therefore Mae'ti are one of the only races that Orcs tend to have consistant peace. They find other races to be peculiar and try to understand thier ways. They have no enemy unless they are threatened. They see all living things to have a binding life force and they aim to protect that.

Alignment:
Due to their discipline they tend to be chaotic neutral and rarely are known to be evil.

Mae'ti Lands:
Mae'ti prefer to live near areas where all four elements are present: air, forrest, mountains and water. Their settlements are unknown to outside races. Their culture is very secretive and very well gaurded from outsiders. Only a rare few have been honored to see with-in their walls.

Religion:
The Mae'ti do not believe in a direct God nor they believe in the divinity of any God. They believe in the energy from the earth and spirits around them. They can feel power from all living things and therefore they devote themselves to preserving all life.

Language:
Mae'ti speak Maetin which is very similar to Dwarven and Orcish. Maetin has its own characters. Due to the fact that it is similar to Orcish and Dwarven they can also comunicate in these languages.

Name:
Mae'ti names are given to them at a Name Ceremony. The family gets together and celebrate the birth of the child. At this ceremony the family gathers around a fire and prays to the spirits. During this ritual the spirit guides reveal a name for the Mae'ti. Therefore Mae'ti names have a tendency to be organic.

Adventurers:
Mae'ti adventure in search of knowledge and to protect any living thing endangered. In their adventures they try to become closer with the spirits and learn about other religions and races unfamiliar to them.

Mae'ti Racial Traits:

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution

Medium: As Medium creatures, Mae'ti have no special bonuses or
penalties due to their size.

Mae'ti base land speed is 30 feet.

Mae'ti suffer a -2 rolls on saves against any spells cast upon them.

Dark-Vision: Mae'ti can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision
is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and Mae'ti can function just fine with no light at all.

+2 Racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

+4Racial bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidation checks.

Mae'ti also start with an extra feat at 1st level.

Automatic Languages: Common ,Mae'ti, Dwarven and Orc. Bonus Languages: Elven, Goblin, Sylvan and Gnoll.

Favored Class: Mae'ti can not be Barbarians and Fighters due to their peaceful nature. They can not be Clerics as they do not believe in a divine God. They also can not be Sorcereres or Wizards as they lack the knowledge about Arcana. Therefore their favoured class is the Kurdu.

1) Formatting, people! Bold the headings, and DO NOT capitalize "god." If it refers to Generic Fantasy Deity™, you should write it with a lower case G unless it's beginning a sentence.

2) Why the apostrophe? There are other ways to make something look like fantasy than just adding apostrophes everywhere.

3) I wouldn't have class restrictions. We haven't had them since AD&D, and quite frankly, they're a bad idea. What if you want to be a scholarly Mae'ti that studied abroad to learn magic?

4) What's a Kurdu?

5) If they're insanely disciplined, wouldn't they tend toward law not chaos?

[Noctis Vigil]

Quick queries: how do they view psionics? Can they use psionics? And does "no magic" rule out Druids? Because the whole "one with nature" bit sounds like the definition of "Druid" to me.

[Plato Play-Doh]

You could say that the Mae'ti tribes and Orc tribes developed a symbiotic relationship out of necessity after (insert cataclysmic event here), where the Orcs needed the Mae'ti to serve as diplomats to everyone else for whatever reason, and the Mae'ti needed the Orcs to serve as protectors, so they were forced to learn to cooperate. That would work, and be quite flavorful.

[Sgt. Cookie]

I agree with the issue about Restricted Classes.

Fighter/Barbarian due to "peaceful nature", there will ALWAYS be people who, for some reason or another, are NOT peaceful, brain defect, psychological problem or as simple as a "b******s to peace" attitude.

Clerics: It's a Favoured Soul that HAS to worship a god, Clerics can get by with a cause, no god needed.

Sorcerer: Sorcery is natural talent, a product of fortuatus ancestry, meaning that Arcane Knowledge is not required.

Wizard: What if someone DID have the knowledge, would they STILL be unable to become a Wizard?

[kpazzh0ly]

Wow this is awesome feedback! I am not sure if I have stated this earlier, but I agree with all the restrictions not being logical. I am merely doing that for my specific campaign. Seeing as they are a new race that has been discovered they never were exposed to magic. And having a culture of their own for so long, they just find it unnatural.
I do agree however that there will be evil, or ones that want to study magic. I am merely stating it for this campaign. Unfortunately I have been spending most of my day writing up the campaign/quest today. When I have a chance I will correct the errors.

Thank you again!

[Tovec]

I don't understand why I'm the only one who seems to have such an issue with the -2 to ALL SPELLS?

That is all spells. All of them. If they allow a save, the Mae'ti will take a -2 on it. Edit: This includes any reflex, fort, will saves. All get a -2. That is just simply too much.

Having a net +2 on ability scores isn't high enough to be able to counter this gaping flaw.

As for the restrictions on class, I say again that it seems silly to outright disallow these classes entirely. Favoured class itself will nudge them towards the homebrew class. Put in the description that is unlikely for them to take certain classes - Cleric(or FS) being a prime example. But outright disallowing so many is simply off. Now if that is what you want, that is fine. But it is still off from a design perspective. As for 'in your game', ignore all these comments about restricted/disallowed classes - it seems like you will anyway.

As I also already said, the rest of the abilities are fairly plain and run of the mill. Nothing overly good or bad which would tip the scales and so that is why they are largely not brought up.

[kpazzh0ly]

I don't understand why I'm the only one who seems to have such an issue with the -2 to ALL SPELLS?

That is all spells. All of them. If they allow a save, the Mae'ti will take a -2 on it. Edit: This includes any reflex, fort, will saves. All get a -2. That is just simply too much.

Having a net +2 on ability scores isn't high enough to be able to counter this gaping flaw.

As for the restrictions on class, I say again that it seems silly to outright disallow these classes entirely. Favoured class itself will nudge them towards the homebrew class. Put in the description that is unlikely for them to take certain classes - Cleric(or FS) being a prime example. But outright disallowing so many is simply off. Now if that is what you want, that is fine. But it is still off from a design perspective. As for 'in your game', ignore all these comments about restricted/disallowed classes - it seems like you will anyway.

*revised*

As I also already said, the rest of the abilities are fairly plain and run of the mill. Nothing overly good or bad which would tip the scales and so that is why they are largely not brought up.

I did not know that you are also on this forum. This is by far one of the better forums that I have been following. I just recently joined because I really would like some help and I have no one to bounce ideas off of.

Do you think this would help:

Mae'ti suffer a -2 saving throw against enchantment spells or effects.


+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma

[Tovec]

I did not know that you are also on this forum. This is by far one of the better forums that I have been following. I just recently joined because I really would like some help and I have no one to bounce ideas off of.

Do you think this would help:

Mae'ti suffer a -2 saving throw against enchantment spells or effects.


+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma

3.5 is fairly rigid on the net 0 thing for ability scores. PF is a bit more lienent at allowing a +2 for no problems. Personally, I would say that +2,+2,-2 is fine given the -2 on enchantment. Either way (for 3.5) a net 0 (-2 to one, +2 to another) is usually safe for a +0 LA, unless I've missed something.

Also, the -2 for enchantment (only) spells is MUUUUUCH better. No more taking -2 against fireballs, disintegrate, enchantment, illusion, necromancy, etc.

Now that those other things are sorted, I would also recommend giving them another ability(s) to their list - as I've already said their current (revised) list seems plain vanilla, nothing (outside of the restrictions and penalties) stands out.