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Time Blossom
2014-05-25, 03:37 AM
I am rather fond of Mongrelfolk, but sadly they never seem to have gotten updated for Pathfinder. I've seen a few homebrew versions, but none of them quite clicked with me. As such, I decided to use the Race Builder to cook up an updated version of the race for myself.

My goal here is to capture the main things which make Mongrelfolk neat, rather than picking up every little bonus they had in their 3.5 incarnation. I also wanted to keep the race point cost at or below 10, so they could be selected as a playable races without raising too many GM eyebrows.

I'm sure a higher-RP version which incorporates some of the "sneaky little sneak" bonuses the 3.5 version receives could easily be made, and that might be a project for another day. Said bonuses would be a very fine target for alternate racial traits, which I am personally fond of, so I might very well get to that at some point.

Anyway, the build is below, along with some notes on what things do and why they cost what they cost.



Category
Name
Race Point Cost


Type
Humanoid
0


Size
Medium
0


Speed
30
0


Ability Score Modifiers
Standard (+2 Wisdom, +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma)
0


Languages
Standard
0


Senses
Low-Light Vision
1


Feat and Skill
Uncanny Valley
1


Feat and Skill
Sound Imitation
2


Misc.
Emulate Race
6



Total:
10





Ability Score Modifiers: The unique lineage of mongrelfolk has made them hardy and perceptive, but their appearance is often disturbing to members of other races, and the treatment they often receive tends to make them gruff. Mongrelfolk gain +2 Consitution, +2 Wisdom and -2 Charisma.

Languages: Common. Mongrelfolk of high intelligence may select Elven, Gnome, Orcish, Halfling, or Dwarvish as a bonus language.
–Build notes: I figured that thematically they should have access to all the racial languages, but giving them any one of those as a base language in addition to Common would favor one race over the others, which is kind of counter to the point.

Uncanny Valley (Ex): Mongrelfolk gain a +4 bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks made to pass themselves off as members of a humanoid race that their target does not belong to. However, any attempts to convince a target that the mongrelfolk is a member of their race fail automatically.
–Build notes: This is based on Beguiling Liar, which costs 2 RP. I figure that the restriction on the lie being told balances out the bonus applying to two separate skills instead of one. The pretty-easy-to-trigger automatic failure condition, which happens regardless of the mongrelfolk's skill level, I think justifies knocking off a point.

Sound Imitation (Ex): A mongrelfolk can perfectly mimic any sound or voice she has ever heard. Listeners may make a Perception check, opposed by the Mongrelfolk's Bluff check, to detect the ruse. Note that neither the bonus from nor failure condition for Uncanny Valley apply to this check.
–Build notes: I based this on the At-Will Spell-Like Ability trait, which costs 2 RP per level of the spell, minimum cost 2, with the CL being equal to character level. I couldn't really find a good spell match for this, but Ghost Sound seemed like a good starting place. The ability to imitate specific sounds balances out the inability to create large-volume sounds, I think; at most, I think, it would bump it up to a level 1 spell, which would cost the same. I gave it an opposed check instead of the flat-DC Will Save which the original mongrelfolk ability called for, since it's an extraordinary ability rather than an illusory one and bluff vs. perception consequently seemed to make more sense.

Emulate Race (Ex): Mongrelfolk have a long and distinctive (some would say indistinguishable) lineage, made up of dozens or hundreds of races intermingling over the course of many generations. According to some, this means the mongrelfolk have the best of all the humanoid races; according to most, this means they have the worst of all the humanoid races. The truth is a little of both: for all intents, purposes and effect, mongrelfolk are treated as having every humanoid subtype. This means, among other things, that they are able to take feats, traits, classes, archetypes and favored class bonuses* as though they are a member of any humanoid race. They may also activate any magic item with specific effects related to race as though they were a member of the appropriate race, provided said race is humanoid. This is not without its drawbacks, however; because this trait is inherent and out of the mongrelfolk's control, any effect that has specific bonuses against certain humanoid sub-types alway provide those bonuses against the mongrelfolk. So, for example, a ranger with any humanoid type as a favored enemy may treat the mongrelfolk as a favored enemy; a human-slaying arrow, orc-slaying arrow or elf-slaying arrow are all equally deadly to the mongrelfolk; and all those lovely giant-fighting classes that halflings seem to favor treat mongrelfolk the same as any other giant.
–Build notes: I based this off of Greater Alter Self, which also costs 6 rp. The mongrelfolk doesn't actually get any of the bonuses that trait grants (on-demand darkvision, extra limbs and so on), but they do gain the ability to pick up other bonuses at a cost. Said bonuses are at least more flexible than the ones granted by Alter Self, if not actually more powerful, but I think that's balanced by the drawbacks mentioned and the need to actually pay for them in the form of feats and so on, so I left the cost the same.

*Note: Mongrelfolk may only have one favored class, as is the case with most races. However, at each level, in addition to the one skill point or one hit point available to every race, they may select the alternative favored class bonuses which certain humanoids gain access to. So, for example, a mongrelfolk paladin may add 1 to her energy resistance at a given level, as humans do, and at the next level may add a +1 bonus to her concentration checks when casting paladin spells, as dwarves do.

Time Blossom
2014-05-25, 03:38 AM
Reserved for alternate racial features and whatnot.