Racial Balance (Races of Man)

[beforemath]

I'm modifying racial bonuses and such for the world I'm working on (PF) and I'm trying to eyeball balance. I'm kind of using "Human" as the measuring stick and trying to balance upward. The most significant change I'm making, I think, is getting rid of attribute penalties (which seemed to make certain race/class combinations impossible).

Here are the races I decided that should be in the "Races of Man" subtype. Humans are unchanged. Orcs are repurposed Half-Orcs with a set ability bonus and extended darkvision, low light vision. Halflings are changed to horse-nomads or forest-runners.



How do they stack up? Where do you think I should add/remove? Am I underestimating the Feat/skill bonus for humans?




Human
+2 any attribute: Humans gain a +2 bonus to any ability score due to their varied nature
Size: Medium
Bonus Feat: +1 Feat at first level
Skilled: +1 skill point per level
Speed: 30


Halfling (plains)
+2 Dex +2 Cha: Halflings are nimble and strong-willed
Size: Small
Horseman: May choose to be treated as a “medium” creature for the purpose of the ride skill and gain a +2 racial bonus on Ride checks
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with the shortbow and treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in it as a martial weapon
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks
Speed: 30

Halfling (forest)
+2 Dex +2 Cha: Halflings are nimble and strong-willed
Size: Small
Sure-Footed: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with the sling and treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in it as a martial weapon
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks
Speed: 30

Orc
+2 Str +2 Cha: Orcs are physically large and spiritual
Size: Medium
Darkvision: Orcs can see in the dark up to 90 feet
Intimidating stature: Orcs receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks due to their size
Low-Light Vision: Orcs can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light
Strong Soul: Once per day, when an orc is brough below 0 hit points but not killed, he can fight on for 1 more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.
Weapon Familiarity: Orcs are proficient with atl-atls, terbutjes (and the great terbutje as a two-handed weapon) and treat any weapon with the word “Orc” in it as a martial weapon

[Mighty_Chicken]

Seems rather balanced, since I can't see anyone doing anything too dangerous with the racial features.

The Horseman feature is fun to imagine. Congrats.

Half-Orc racial features never succeed to satisfy me. This one unfortunately isn't an exception. The ability bonuses are nice and make a lot of sense, and I understand Darkvision + Low light is balanced, but it could be more interesting.

Balance wise it's fine, but I think the idea os small races without a Str penalty is weird.

[beforemath]

First, thanks for the reply.


The small races without a strength penalty struck me as odd when I was first conceptualizing it, too. It was the meta-argument that a penalty prevents certain races from becoming effective <classes> and that doing away with said penalty opens up a wider racial balance that sold me. Higher muscle density on small races was fairly easy to rationalize after I committed to that (in a cart-before-the-horse sort of way).


I see what you're saying with the Orcs. It would be nice to have bonuses that are interesting and meaningful. I'd been working on my "Races of Elf" (example to follow) and I think I've produced something with more meaningful bonuses and hoped to incorporate something of the like to the Orcs. I feel that I went a little too far, though, in the flavor so I felt the need to add a Human bonus to compensate. The Human bonuses, after all, are my measuring stick for all my other racial bonuses.


Do you think adding the Ritual Tattoos was too much? Do you think the Halflings (plains) and Sun Elves balance with the Humans?


Background: Elves in my world mature quickly and have a long lifespan, which would normally encourage a life of caution and peace. The Elven deities, unsatisfied with stagnation, decided to encourage conquest by reincarnating fallen elves as young so than no Elf truly dies. Consequently, the Elven Nations have been waging wars against the civilized races for generations.

Sun Elf
+2 Dex +2 Int
Size: Medium
Warrior Tradition: +1 to Attack rolls against Races of Dwarf, Man, and Elf (note: these are the most common civilized races in the world)
Low Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light
Past Lives: Elves gain a +2 bonus on 2 skills due to memories of past life experiences. These skills are always treated as class skills.
Speed: 30
Nimble Mind: Elves are immune to sleep effects. They also gain a +2 bonus against mind-affecting spells and spell-like effects

vs

Human
+2 any attribute: Humans gain a +2 bonus to any ability score due to their varied nature
Size: Medium
Bonus Feat: +1 Feat at first level
Skilled: +1 skill point per level
Speed: 30
Additional racial bonus to compensate
Ritual Tattoos: +1 to all saving throws

Halfling (plains)
+2 Dex +2 Cha: Halflings are nimble and strong-willed
Size: Small
Horseman: May choose to be treated as a “medium” creature for the purpose of the ride skill, gain a +2 racial bonus on Ride checks, and always treat Ride as a class skill
Equine Tradition: Gain Mounted Combat as a bonus feat
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with the shortbow, composite shortbow and treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in it as a martial weapon
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks
Speed: 30

Revised and hopefully interesting Orcish race to come

[Just to Browse]

You have indeed underestimated human feats. I would take human over these almost any day. A human with a bonus feat is probably a better mounted combatant than a plains halfling.

[Mighty_Chicken]

Yes, the human feat is one of the best things there are. But I, too, would feel humans would need something extra if the other races are getting more stuff.

But comparatively: IMHO humans and halflings were balanced before (I'm not an specialist in balance, but for the balance was clearly sufficient). Now, because you added to halflings the Mounted Combat Feat and a minor Ride knack, Humans get +1 in all saves!

See, +1 to all saves is pretty good, and, rudely speaking, worthy of 1.5 feats while Mounted Combat is only one feat.

Another problem with Mounted Combat: it is so specifically tied to a certain strategy players could feel they're missing something if they're not ride oriented. In this context the "always class skill" feature is almost meaningless (though I agree it's a good addition).

Let me contradict myself a little, now: the best thing about your Elves, IMO, is that their features are clear, flavorful and effective. Immune to sleep, resistance against all mind effects, combat bonus against almost all humanoids, skill diversity. Balance wise I'd say they're still a step behind humans... but I think that's the way to go.

What contradicts myself here is that Mounted Combat is also a clear, flavorful and effective feature. But because it's an an active feature, a PC may end up never using it. Elven resistances are probably going to be used sooner or later, and human save bonuses are absolutely going to be used every game session.

This remembers me of Dwarven +4 bonus againt Giants. I never used it!

However, if you really want Plains Halflings to be horselords, I'd say stick to it. Not every race feature is going to be used by everyone. Also some race features should impact more the world than the game itself.

Just a word about humans saves: they don't really need the boost right now, and I think letting them choose +1 to a single save is both more human-ish and easier to balance. Then again, I agree buffing humans will give you more space.

[Jakodee]

I'm pretty sure orcs "spirituality" would be a wisdom bonus.

[beforemath]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input.

I see what you mean about the bonuses being too situational. I think I will peal back the Human bonus to a +1 to any one save and work on some broader bonuses for the rest of the races (or a list of swappable bonuses).

[beforemath]

I'm pretty sure orcs "spirituality" would be a wisdom bonus.

I think I might actually change that to "Wisdom." I liked the idea of a tribal society of Orcs having Sorcerers and Oracles as their predominant spellcasters, but I've noticed that 4 out of 7 of the main races have a bonus to Charisma (Halflings, Moon Elves, Gnomes, Orcs) while only one has a bonus to Wisdom (Dwarves).