Jeff the Green
2014-04-15, 12:49 PM
So as I was writing the Changeling section of my race handbook, I re-stumbled across Racial Emulation and have been thinking about ways to use it. (For those that don't know the feat, it allows you to take on the subtypes of any humanoid you take the form of, thereby qualifying as that race for all purposes.) The main things I can think of are magic items, feats, PrCs, and racial substitution levels.
Magic items are kind of a whoopdeedoo since there aren't a whole lot of race-specific ones and the ones there are can be activated with a DC 25 UMD check. Feats are a little better, but since you lose the benefit of a feat if you lose the prerequisite, so you can only use them while in the appropriate racial form.
PrCs are either in the same boat as Feats (though that's a bigger problem for PrCs because you really don't want to lose class features) or really nice because as long as you are in the appropriate shape when you level you can take the PrC. This depends entirely on whether the CW and CA rules on PrCs are interpreted to apply to all PrCs or just the ones in those books. (CA has no race-specific classes, but CW has Bladesinger, Darkwood Stalker, Eye of Gruumsh, Gnome Giant-Slayer, Halfling Outrider, Stonelord, and Thayan Knight. Thankfully the only really good one is Halfling Outrider.)
Finally, racial substitution levels. I think this is the most interesting option. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that you lose the benefits of a racial substitution level if you stop being that race; the wording is "To take a <race> <class> substitution level, a character must be a <race> about to take his <levels> level of <class>. This means you could, for example, pick up the gnome illusions and elf natural link levels and then pick up changeling's morphic familiar to swap around that doubled bonus as you need it, and then finally go back to gnome illusionist for the ability to foil true seeing It also means you can pick up the goliath mountain rage without first going into Stoneblessed.
So first, am I reading this wrong? If I'm not, what other powerful/interesting combinations can you think of?
Magic items are kind of a whoopdeedoo since there aren't a whole lot of race-specific ones and the ones there are can be activated with a DC 25 UMD check. Feats are a little better, but since you lose the benefit of a feat if you lose the prerequisite, so you can only use them while in the appropriate racial form.
PrCs are either in the same boat as Feats (though that's a bigger problem for PrCs because you really don't want to lose class features) or really nice because as long as you are in the appropriate shape when you level you can take the PrC. This depends entirely on whether the CW and CA rules on PrCs are interpreted to apply to all PrCs or just the ones in those books. (CA has no race-specific classes, but CW has Bladesinger, Darkwood Stalker, Eye of Gruumsh, Gnome Giant-Slayer, Halfling Outrider, Stonelord, and Thayan Knight. Thankfully the only really good one is Halfling Outrider.)
Finally, racial substitution levels. I think this is the most interesting option. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that you lose the benefits of a racial substitution level if you stop being that race; the wording is "To take a <race> <class> substitution level, a character must be a <race> about to take his <levels> level of <class>. This means you could, for example, pick up the gnome illusions and elf natural link levels and then pick up changeling's morphic familiar to swap around that doubled bonus as you need it, and then finally go back to gnome illusionist for the ability to foil true seeing It also means you can pick up the goliath mountain rage without first going into Stoneblessed.
So first, am I reading this wrong? If I'm not, what other powerful/interesting combinations can you think of?