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atemu1234
2014-07-24, 08:22 PM
I'm going to be posting stuff about a few races I've made for my campaigns. Please rate for balance and interesting-ness (not a word, I know). They're all going to be in response to this thread, once reply per race.

atemu1234
2014-07-24, 08:44 PM
Phaerim

This first one is a favorite of mine. The things I'm unsure about are the level adjustment. Currently it's LA +3.

I made this race by adding the Half-Drow template from Advanced Bestiary to a Skulk, refluffing it, and then removing some of the things to better fit the fluff. It lost its racial bonus on will saves.

History
The Phaerim were originally Drow, once upon a time. Their name is from their forebearers, the House Phaerim. House Phaerim was one of the most powerful Drow cities, until it was deemed by higher houses a threat to their rule, and was to be wiped out. The Matron Mother of Phaerim sought to plea with Lolth to intervene, summoning an avatar of her to help her in her plight. Lolth agreed to save house Phaerim, but at a price. She twisted the Phaerim into creatures alike enough to drow to be considered by an outsider one, but to a Drow it is obvious that they aren't of the same race.

Appearance
The Phaerim appear similar to drow, perhaps with slightly grayer skin, and more muted hair and eye colors. Phaerim, due to centuries of being among the lower classes of Drow society, usually don't share their rulers' taste for gaudy and revealing clothing, usually preferring something both practical and protecting.

Racial Relations
Phaerim are Drow, despite the latter's protests. They usually live among the lower classes of Drow society, pariahs, doing odd jobs in order to stay alive. The wealthiest among them are assassins, but even they are completely subordinate to even the lowest of Drow. They still hold themselves above other races, however, and do not get along well with free-spirited creatures like elves or gnomes. They get along better with stoic gray dwarves whose inclinations match their own, even though both secretly think the other is beneath them.

Alignment
Phaerim are almost always Chaotic and Evil. They may be downtrodden, but they have Lolth's blessing (what else would stop the Drow from wiping them out?) and their poor experiences have made them all the crueler.

Racial Traits

+6 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Wis: Phaerim are naturally quick and intelligent, but they are weak-willed, Lolth's way of keeping them ever-subservient to their Drow masters.
Humanoid (Elf, Drow): Phaerim, despite the many changes to their former form, are still elven and are still drow.
Racial Hit Dice: A Phaerim begins with two levels of Humanoid, giving it BAB +1, Fort: +0, Ref +3, Will +0, one feat, and skill points equal to 2+ their Int modifier x 5.
Base Land Speed 30 ft.
Darkvision 60 ft.
Racial Skill Bonuses: Phaerim get a +8 racial bonus on Move Silently checks, +15 on Hide checks, and +2 on Listen, Search and Spot checks.
Innate Nondetection (Su): A Phaerim's natural ability to Hide is more than just in appearance. Any scrying effect on a Phaerim must succeed on a DC 20 caster level check or fail.
Peerless Camoflage (Ex): Phaerim can move at full speed and even run and not take any movement penalties to Hide checks.
Trackless Path (Ex): Due to their naturally grace and lightfootedness, Phaerim are more difficult to track. The DC to track them is 10 higher than it normally would be.
Spell-Like Abilities: Phaerim share their ancestor's ability to use Dancing Lights, Darkness and Faerie Fire once per day, at a caster level equal to their Hit Dice.
As Elves, Phaerim are immune to sleep effects.
LA:+3
Favored Class: Rogue


Questions I have about this race:
Is the LA good? Should it be higher? Is the race irreparably broken?

Bad Wolf
2014-07-24, 09:35 PM
It seems balanced to me, though others might want to disagree.

inuyasha
2014-07-24, 11:14 PM
Interesting: Yes, I especially like the fluff you came up with :) good job!
Broken?: A little, I would recommend maybe nerfing the Dex bonus down to +4 and then call it good. I'm glad somebody else uses advanced bestiary too. Seems like no one appreciates good 3rd party books like that one.

atemu1234
2014-07-24, 11:29 PM
Interesting: Yes, I especially like the fluff you came up with :) good job!
Broken?: A little, I would recommend maybe nerfing the Dex bonus down to +4 and then call it good. I'm glad somebody else uses advanced bestiary too. Seems like no one appreciates good 3rd party books like that one.

That's a decent idea. You know about any other books like AB?

inuyasha
2014-07-24, 11:41 PM
That's a decent idea. You know about any other books like AB?

My favorite 3rd party book besides that one would probably Goodman Games' book of templates. It's like advanced bestiary but with even more stuff :smallbiggrin:!

atemu1234
2014-07-24, 11:51 PM
I'm posting this while I can: I promise New races for review tomorrow, hopefully early. Ciao!

inuyasha
2014-07-24, 11:53 PM
I'm posting this while I can: I promise New races for review tomorrow, hopefully early. Ciao!

Cool, I eagerly await another race :smile:. Ciao!

Dracomortis
2014-07-25, 04:39 AM
"Phaerimm" are a type of aberration in the Forgotten Realms. You may wish to rename your race in order to prevent confusion between the two.

atemu1234
2014-07-25, 01:08 PM
As promised, here's my second race.

Most of the stuff in my campaigns occurs in a homebrewed campaign setting I call Multifaarim. On Multifaarim there are many nations, one of which is the desert nation of Castion. Natives are referred to as "Castonian". It's loosely based on ancient egypt with some other things thrown in. As such, I've made a few unique races that live there.

Kalisma'at

Appearance: Kalisma'at appear fairly average. They are too tall to be elves, too short to be humans, too thin to be dwarves. Their skin color tends to be slightly darker, and they tend to favor not having facial hair. Their eyes are almond-shaped and are one of their most distinctive features; their eyes are usually shades of gold, copper, brass or bronze, akin to the scales of metallic dragons in hue and shine.

History: Kalisma'at were once the children of the Pharaoh. Pharaoh Kalis IV, to be exact. He ruled during one of the golden ages of Castion, and had many concubines and children. But all too soon he found himself nearing the end of his life, and sought to make himself and his role more evident in history. As the Speaker of the Gods, he asked each of the gods of his nation to give his many children a gift. Most gods refused, but one did not. Bahamut, known in Castion as Drama'at, gave his sons and daughters, save for his successor, the blood of his children. Thus the Kalisma'at came to be.

Alignment: The Kalisma'at have a tendency towards law. Between a regal ancestry and a natural inclination, very few are chaotic. Even fewer are evil, perhaps due to the metallic dragon blood that burns within their veins.

Racial Traits:

Humaoid (Kalisma'at, Dragonblood): Kalisma'at are their own race, and are possessed of the dragonblood subtype.
Medium: Kalisma'at are medium-sized and gain no benefits and take no penalties due to size.
Base land speed is 30 ft.
Darkvision out to 60 feet: Their strange eyes have proven capable of seeing in the dark.
+2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks: Kalisma'at are charismatic and likable, and often occupy high positions in the Castonian government.
Favored Class: Kalisma'at are often sorcerers, some say due to the dragon blood that dwells within them.


Race Relations: Kalisma'at are very humanlike in their relations. They tend to have little inclination towards their partner's race, as much as their partner's personality. They tend to adventure with those that share their (often lawful and good) moral outlook.

atemu1234
2014-07-25, 01:09 PM
"Phaerimm" are a type of aberration in the Forgotten Realms. You may wish to rename your race in order to prevent confusion between the two.

Interesting. I actually got that name from Drow of the Underdark.

atemu1234
2014-07-25, 01:20 PM
Here's a third race, also native to a desert.

Djenn

Appearance: Djenn appear very strange to outsiders. Their skin looks like the bark of some tree, scorched but saved from burning, and appears thick and difficult to pierce. Their eyes are often extremely colorful, the colors of gemstones such as jade, emerald, ruby or sapphire.

History: Djenn were once human. They lived in an ancient city long ago, at peace, until war came to them. No one knows who this enemy force was, for when the Djenn knew their end was coming, they made a pact with the plane of elemental fire itself, infusing each and every one of them with it, forever changing them. With newfound power they defeated their enemies, but their city was destroyed, and they became nomadic wanderers.

Alignment: Djenn are almost always chaotic, free spirits who seek to avoid captivity and civilization.

Racial Traits:

+2 Charisma, -2 Dexterity: Djenn are often charming and likable, despite their appearance. However, their thick carapace makes it difficult for them to move quickly.
Base land speed is 30 ft.
Humanoid (Fire): Djenn are humanoids with the fire subtype. As such, they are immune to fire and vulnerable to cold.
Medium Size: Djenn are medium-sized, taking to penalties and gaining no benefits due to size.
Elemental Pact: Djenn cast spells with the Fire descriptor or from the Fire domain at +1 caster level. This benefit does not stack with itself.
LA: +1
Favored Class: Sorcerer. Djenn are naturally capable of controlling fire magics and make excellent sorcerers.


Questions about this race: Too powerful for LA +1?

atemu1234
2014-07-25, 06:51 PM
Fourth Race! Onward and upward!

This is a subrace of goblin I made because, well, original goblinoids kind of suck. They were designed to be a kind of "savant" type character, very intelligent, but not particularly wise. I have it at LA +0, basically I think it's on par with Dragon Mag's changelings (not to be confused with Eberron's changelings, very different).

Nivetic Goblins

Appearance: Same as goblins, really. Some wear contraptions made of strange metal akin to bronze.

History: Nivetic Goblins are named for their homelands, the Nivetic mountains. Which is in turn named for a dragon, Nivius, now a god. Nivetic Goblins were once normal goblins, but became a unique subrace through the interference of their deity, Nivius. They've established trade, selling contraptions (some are rube-goldberg devices, others are genuinely useful) and metals they mine. The metal most of their items are made of is an alloy of bronze and mythril.

Alignment: Usually neutral.

Racial Traits:

-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom
Humanoid (Goblinoid): Nivetic Goblins are humanoids with the goblinoid subtype.
Base Land Speed is 30 feet.
+2 racial bonus on Use Magic Device checks.
+4 racial bonus on any craft check that uses Nivium, the metal alloy their contraptions are made of.
Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Favored Class: Artificer


Now for a homebrewed material:

Nivium has strange qualities: It has hardness 12, and 15 hit points per inch of thickness, but is also difficult to work into items. It costs +50 gp to work into ammunition, +3000 gp to work into light armor, +6000 to work into medium armor, and +9000 to work into heavy armor. Weapons cost an additional 2000 gp, and shields an additional 3000. Craft checks made to make an item with Nivium take a -2 penalty. It provides the armor with DR 5/Electricity, which doesn't extend to the user.

Rate either the creature or the material, because neither is something I'm completely sure about.

bekeleven
2014-07-31, 06:39 PM
Kalisma'at:

Compared to normal humans, Silverbrow Humans trade bonus human skill points for dragonblood subtype (1), +2/Disguise (2), and a feather fall SLA (3). This is a good trade in a minority of builds where the dragonblooded is important.

Compared to Silverbrow Humans, Kalis trade the humanoid subtype, the disguise boost, the feather fall SLA, the bonus feat, and the favored class (Any) for darkvision and +2 to two skills. This is a bad trade. Kalisma'at are worse than a race that is worse than humans. When figuring out if a race is good, you sort of have to compare it to the best races in its category, because why would someone take a race just because it's better than the worst?

I'd suggest making Kalima'at into refluffed silverbrow humans, and exchange feather fall+favored class+humanoid subtype for the darkvision if you choose. By giving up the feat the race has no raison d'être.

Djenn:

Decent stat mods for a sorc/bard/spontaneous caster, but everyone needs dexterity. Shame the hit's not to strength or something. This is better than nothing.
Fire subtype: This is good, although in most campaigns not enough to carry a race. Exceptions include "Fury of the red dragons" or whatever.
+1 CL on bad evocations and Orb of Fire: Better than nothing?

I wouldn't take this class if it were LA 0. Fire immunity is fun, but it has a downside, and its utility just comes down to "how often does the GM decide to run an encounter against fire enemies so you can look awesome"? I don't like to build a character that's specifically effective in ways that are almost 100% GM-controlled. And if he gets mad, cryohydra and you are sad.

Nivetic:

Good mods for an arcane caster, swift hunter, ranged rogue, or one or two other builds. I'm assuming they're small, meaning the class has +2 AC by default. Then darkvision, +2 UMD, and minor buffs elsewhere. Basically a goblin with +2 int, -6 skill mods, and a more powerful racial class. Definitely LA0, and a good LA0 at that.

The material:

Most players in my experience don't worry about materials until rather high levels, at which point they get something awesome. They'd then choose Mithral or Adamantine, or Baatorian Green Steel (FC2), Blended Quartz (AEG), Bluewood (UE), Darksteel/Dlarun/Fever Iron/Hizaghuur (MoF), Dragonbone (Drac), Glasssteel, Pandemic Silver... These are materials that add damage to attacks, DR, reduce ASF/Lightness, add range to shots, add AC, make enemies cower...

Basically, materials are worthwhile if they do something for the player. At low levels nobody gets any except in rare circumstances (Mithral mainly, or druid woody stuff), and at high levels the players will pick one that increase their damage, AC, or similar.

If you remove all the good custom materials from your campaign world, it might be a decent thing to blow money on at high levels, but it's not worth the trouble otherwise. You could always make it stackable with other materials (like Ysgardian Heartwire) or cost significantly less (like 10x less or more). Even still I don't think I would buy it.

atemu1234
2014-08-03, 11:53 PM
Kalisma'at:

Compared to normal humans, Silverbrow Humans trade bonus human skill points for dragonblood subtype (1), +2/Disguise (2), and a feather fall SLA (3). This is a good trade in a minority of builds where the dragonblooded is important.

Compared to Silverbrow Humans, Kalis trade the humanoid subtype, the disguise boost, the feather fall SLA, the bonus feat, and the favored class (Any) for darkvision and +2 to two skills. This is a bad trade. Kalisma'at are worse than a race that is worse than humans. When figuring out if a race is good, you sort of have to compare it to the best races in its category, because why would someone take a race just because it's better than the worst?

I'd suggest making Kalima'at into refluffed silverbrow humans, and exchange feather fall+favored class+humanoid subtype for the darkvision if you choose. By giving up the feat the race has no raison d'être.

Djenn:

Decent stat mods for a sorc/bard/spontaneous caster, but everyone needs dexterity. Shame the hit's not to strength or something. This is better than nothing.
Fire subtype: This is good, although in most campaigns not enough to carry a race. Exceptions include "Fury of the red dragons" or whatever.
+1 CL on bad evocations and Orb of Fire: Better than nothing?

I wouldn't take this class if it were LA 0. Fire immunity is fun, but it has a downside, and its utility just comes down to "how often does the GM decide to run an encounter against fire enemies so you can look awesome"? I don't like to build a character that's specifically effective in ways that are almost 100% GM-controlled. And if he gets mad, cryohydra and you are sad.

Nivetic:

Good mods for an arcane caster, swift hunter, ranged rogue, or one or two other builds. I'm assuming they're small, meaning the class has +2 AC by default. Then darkvision, +2 UMD, and minor buffs elsewhere. Basically a goblin with +2 int, -6 skill mods, and a more powerful racial class. Definitely LA0, and a good LA0 at that.

The material:

Most players in my experience don't worry about materials until rather high levels, at which point they get something awesome. They'd then choose Mithral or Adamantine, or Baatorian Green Steel (FC2), Blended Quartz (AEG), Bluewood (UE), Darksteel/Dlarun/Fever Iron/Hizaghuur (MoF), Dragonbone (Drac), Glasssteel, Pandemic Silver... These are materials that add damage to attacks, DR, reduce ASF/Lightness, add range to shots, add AC, make enemies cower...

Basically, materials are worthwhile if they do something for the player. At low levels nobody gets any except in rare circumstances (Mithral mainly, or druid woody stuff), and at high levels the players will pick one that increase their damage, AC, or similar.

If you remove all the good custom materials from your campaign world, it might be a decent thing to blow money on at high levels, but it's not worth the trouble otherwise. You could always make it stackable with other materials (like Ysgardian Heartwire) or cost significantly less (like 10x less or more). Even still I don't think I would buy it.

Thanks for the input! I've been AFK for a week, it's good to see someone rating myself. So so far, Kalisma'at need something like 3/day Mage hand or something, the material won't see much use, and Djenn need a lower LA. I'll be posting more races tomorrow hopefully.

Gracht Grabmaw
2014-08-04, 08:28 AM
I really like the Djenn, you can never have enough magical folk with a suitably fairy tale-like origin story in your setting. It makes the magic of the game seem so much more alive and involved in the world.

Totally get the charisma bonus, not sure why you decided on the -2 dex, if anything they should get a penalty to wisdom. If their whole gimmick is based on fire, that should translate to their personality too, burning passion and firey rage and all that, the same thing that makes them more compelling and charismatic also makes them bad at picking up on subtleties and making sound judgement.

I think the backstory could use some reworking too: They did not live in peace, they were warriors and conquerors, they spread out across the plains and they burned them down until only desert was left. Because they loved and worshipped the fire, the fire kept them warm at night and in fire they forged their weapons, to them it was and still is a symbol of survival and supremacy. And when they were finally wiped out by their neighbours in vengeance for their warlike ways, they didn't make a pact with the fire elementals like a syccophant might, the fire came down because the Djenn's spirits were as close to fire as a human soul could be and because they were connected to the fire and the fire recognized them as its children and it saved them.

Theming, man. If you make a fantasy race, don't just take an ability or a certain way of thinking and tack it on to a normal human, if you're gonna create fire people, make them all about fire in every aspect. Your other race ideas are fine, but they're just cultures or even subcultures of already existing ones and not even particularly good ones. No reason I couldn't play a standard drow like a phaerim, or a standard human who just happens to be from Kalis, but nothing I can pick out from the normal books (or at least in none of the books I read) is like the Djenn.

atemu1234
2014-08-04, 10:51 AM
I really appreciate, the advice, guys.

This next race I call Emotians. Three guesses from that name what they do. Anyway, they're one of my favorite races that I've made, despite the fact they come across as more than a little weird.

Appearance: Emotians look human, with a few vaguely elfin features such as pointed ears, as well as thinner and more petite bodies. Their hair is often platinum or silver in color, and their eyes are also often strange colors such as purple or orange.

History: Little is known about the true history of Emotians. All that is known is that they were discovered, living in villages in the Borderlands of Multifaarim, especially in forested areas. Unfortunately, their race is infamous for oft being captured as slaves.

Alignment: Most Emotians are Neutral Good or Chaotic Good. Their contact telepathy ability (see below) makes it easy for them to be empathetic to other creatures, making those rare evil few insane sadomasochists.

Racial Traits:

-2 STR, -2 CON, +2 INT: Emotians are petite and fragile in comparison to other humanoids, but their ability to feel the thoughts of others they come in contact with makes it easy for them to be quick learners.
Humanoid: Emotians, despite their strange abilities, are still humanoids.
Medium Size
Base land speed is 30 ft.
Contact Telepathy (Su): An Emotian who makes physical contact with another being makes a telepathic link to it that lasts the duration of the touch. They are capable of reading surface thoughts and communicating telepathically via touch. The person who is in contact with the Emotian can in turn read the Emotian's thoughts and surface emotions. Any attempt to lie in the telepathic exchange is much more difficult due to the nature of concealing thoughts, therefore bluff checks are made at a -8 penalty. In combat this can be used as a touch attack with a successful grapple check, in which the person who is attacked with it must succeed on a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 the Emotian's Character Level + The Emotian's Intelligence Modifier) or be stunned for 1d3 rounds.
Automatic Languages: None. Emotians among other Emotians communicate solely by touch. Those with an Intelligence score high enough to learn bonus languages, however, are still capable of speech, and can learn any language as a bonus language, save secret languages such as Druidic.
Favored Class: Wizard. Emotians are intelligent and magical beings, making Wizardry a natural calling to them. Also, due to the nature of their Contact Telepathy ability allowing them to communicate knowledge easily, they gain the wizard class as a Simple class as opposed to a Complex one when determining starting age.


Questions about this race: Is the constitution penalty a bit much? I would think the Contact Telepathy ability would justify an overall negative ability modifier. Also, is it good at LA: +0?

bekeleven
2014-08-04, 03:53 PM
Balance-wise that's very odd. Normally a con penalty hurts, but in core int bonuses always come with them at LA0 (See: gray elf).

I see Contact Telepathy and I want to build a character around it. I'm thinking Emotian Factotum with human heritage (assuming emotians count as half-human or human-descended) prestiging into human paragon and chameleon, but straight factotum works too. Pump int to 30 or 40 and build a stun-based attack routine. 1D3 rounds is a good amount of time in combat.

Basically, the class is pretty good for wizards because it has an int boost, but probably not as good as a human with its bonus feat (or, at high op level, elf with 3 DCS feats). For melee characters, it gives stat penalties but a fun stunning attack, meaning if built correctly, it could be very powerful in one circumstance but whenever that's negated, it sucks worse than most races - sort of like a rogue without penetrating strike. This is a common build. I don't like the style ("Generally effective, occasionally useless"), but it's common in D&D.

The question here is: how do you picture this society? With their STR and CON, these guys are physical pushovers, but they can stun people with a touch at will. If anything, I'd figure that makes them the oppressors, not oppressed. Get orcs to do manual labor, and if they rebel, stun and coup de grace. I dunno. Basically it gives decent caster numbers but no caster abilities, then gives melee abilities but no melee numbers. I don't know what to make of it. Mechanically, it feels scattered. What do you want a player to build with this race? The strongest build I can think of is a factotum specced for social manipulation and sneaking.

As far as fluff, I hope you know the secret of the race's origin, even if you don't tell PCs.

atemu1234
2014-08-04, 08:16 PM
Balance-wise that's very odd. Normally a con penalty hurts, but in core int bonuses always come with them at LA0 (See: gray elf).

I see Contact Telepathy and I want to build a character around it. I'm thinking Emotian Factotum with human heritage (assuming emotians count as half-human or human-descended) prestiging into human paragon and chameleon, but straight factotum works too. Pump int to 30 or 40 and build a stun-based attack routine. 1D3 rounds is a good amount of time in combat.

Basically, the class is pretty good for wizards because it has an int boost, but probably not as good as a human with its bonus feat (or, at high op level, elf with 3 DCS feats). For melee characters, it gives stat penalties but a fun stunning attack, meaning if built correctly, it could be very powerful in one circumstance but whenever that's negated, it sucks worse than most races - sort of like a rogue without penetrating strike. This is a common build. I don't like the style ("Generally effective, occasionally useless"), but it's common in D&D.

The question here is: how do you picture this society? With their STR and CON, these guys are physical pushovers, but they can stun people with a touch at will. If anything, I'd figure that makes them the oppressors, not oppressed. Get orcs to do manual labor, and if they rebel, stun and coup de grace. I dunno. Basically it gives decent caster numbers but no caster abilities, then gives melee abilities but no melee numbers. I don't know what to make of it. Mechanically, it feels scattered. What do you want a player to build with this race? The strongest build I can think of is a factotum specced for social manipulation and sneaking.

As far as fluff, I hope you know the secret of the race's origin, even if you don't tell PCs.

Logistically, most of their kind would be lvl-1 commoners with a strength penalty. The attack requires a successful grapple to use (did I forget to mention that? I'll check above) at least in melee, so it's fairly difficult for them to be oppressors especially with a bonus constitution penalty. Not to mention they are, for the most part, highly empathetic. They literally feel the creature's pain when they stun them. That's supposed to also sting from a roleplaying perspective.



I also wrote them their own paragon class, they aren't human-descended, so no chameleon. Apologies.

atemu1234
2014-08-06, 05:25 PM
Time for a subrace of mine.

The Concept: These were made because I wanted a subrace of drow that has a decent reason for being nonevil (please don't hate me, I built the fluff specifically to avoid drizzt-expy hate).

Bloodeye Drow

Appearance: Bloodeye Drow appear highly similar to normal drow, but with one exception- they all have crimson eyes (not just iris but sclera as well), which sets them apart from normal drow.

History: None knows what first resulted in the birth of Bloodeye Drow. All that is known is that it was widespread and resulted in a high number of births from normal drow producing Bloodeye Drow. They were accepted, for the most part, because they were pretty much exactly like other drow except with red eyes. Many accepted it as a genetic quirk. But when the generation reached maturity, Lolth herself noticed a strange phenomena; rather than giving her souls to punish, the death of a Bloodeye Drow produced nothing. No soul, as if the spirit had died with the body. These Drow could still be resurrected, but they had no afterlife (at least not Lolth's). This resulted in her ordering her priestesses directly to slaughter the Bloodeye Drow. The Bloodeye were either killed or escaped, resulting in a nomadic people owing loyalty to no god or goddess.

Alignment: It has been twelve generations since the Bloodeye left their kin. In that time, they have (for the most part) had enormous cultural development; at the very least, away from Lolth's corrupting influence, they have become more accepting of other alignments, and most from the last few generations have been neutral. Some are even good (though these are still fairly rare, they exist and are an unpersecuted minority).

Dogma: This is an important distinction: Many Bloodeye believe they have souls, but have their own afterlife, separate from Lolth's and even that of other races. Others believe they have a deity of their own who is gathering them, as opposed to Lolth. Very few believe they are truly soulless.

Racial Traits: Bloodeye Drow are identical to normal drow, save for the following traits:

Bloodeye Drow have the Planetouched subtype
Bloodeye Drow lack the Darkness and Faerie Fire spell-like abilities.
LA: +1


Racial Feats: These exist for me to create them more similarly to normal Drow.

Magically Gifted (General)
Prerequisites: Bloodeye Drow, first-level only.
Benefit: You gain the Darkness and Faerie Fire spell-like abilities which can be used once per day. Their caster level equals your character level.

Questions: Too tacky :smallredface:? As-is, is it too powerful? Too derivative?

bekeleven
2014-08-06, 07:30 PM
Mechanically, they lose one mediocre utility SLA, one good utility SLA, and one point of LA.

This moved Drow from bad LA+2 to quite good LA+1. Is 1 point of LA worth +4 mental stats, DV120, SR11+Level, +2 on every will save that matters, and a few minor things? I'd say so. It's certainly a better deal than nearly every other LA+1 race. Might even be worth taking over the best LA0, especially if LA buyoff is in play.

So, I get you making a higher-powered drow, they need it. Onto the fluff:

"with one exception- they all have crimson eyes (not just iris but sclera as well), which sets them apart from normal drow." - They're different because of X, which make them different. Sorry, pet peeve.

I am guessing that the drow were not actually too gung-ho about this murdilating thing. After all: They were a minority, possibly a small minority, of drow (let's call it 10% of drow their age). A few die by adulthood - According to the 2003 national vital statistics report, 99% of americans survive to D&D's "Adulthood" age of 15. So assuming that magic substitutes for modern health care, in a total population of drow with 1 million minors, 100k are bloodeye. By the time the oldest are at the age of "adulthood," which for drow is 110 (Und), nearly 1000 have died and Lolth has had over a century to puzzle over the first 687, which were crib deaths. Let's assume by now she orders their deaths.

I'm going to estimate that half are killed/ambushed before the word spreads about what's happening, in a race ruled with such a tight spider's leg. Then the rest, 50k children and adolescents, which have no class levels, must flee society on their own. Being generous, half of them make it: 2.5% of drow population their age. According to the 2000 US Census, 21.4% of the US population is 0-14 years old. So, one half of a percent of the drow population, all completely without experience, manages to desert. Then they link up in some way that allows them to establish a dozen generations of culture (a generation in drow terms being around 150 years, so nearly 2 millenia), but at the same time didn't allow the drow to find them and hunt them down.

Note that a minor population of 1 million means a total drow population of just over 5 million. So if there were more, the situation becomes even more lopsided.

Takeaways:


Lolth is a bit on the slow side. She really should have figured this out when .69% of them died in the first year after their births.
Many probably escaped because family and friends went against Lolth to let them go. That said, the best and brightest of Lolth tend to be closest to her (priests and wizards) so the ones that mattered the most would give the least quarter.
Hunting them is waaaay low on Lolth's priorities list. It's possible it was never even tried once the survivors escaped. Unless they prodigiously outbred normal drow, their population ratio will be similar as when they left.


Also, I assume that either
(a) bloodeye drow were all born at once (over one, or a few, years), in which case why; or
(b) bloodeye drow were born of a period of 100+ years, but stopped when drows kicked them out, in which case why; or
(c) drow still give birth to bloodeye, but kill them.

I also assume bloodeye never give birth to drow.

Sources: 2003 Life Table (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Excerpt_from_CDC_2003_Table_1.pdf), 2000 Age Demographics (http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/), Underdark P21, PHB 109

Gracht Grabmaw
2014-08-06, 07:35 PM
So Bloodeyes are like ginger drow?

atemu1234
2014-08-06, 09:14 PM
Mechanically, they lose one mediocre utility SLA, one good utility SLA, and one point of LA.

This moved Drow from bad LA+2 to quite good LA+1. Is 1 point of LA worth +4 mental stats, DV120, SR11+Level, +2 on every will save that matters, and a few minor things? I'd say so. It's certainly a better deal than nearly every other LA+1 race. Might even be worth taking over the best LA0, especially if LA buyoff is in play.

So, I get you making a higher-powered drow, they need it. Onto the fluff:

"with one exception- they all have crimson eyes (not just iris but sclera as well), which sets them apart from normal drow." - They're different because of X, which make them different. Sorry, pet peeve.

I am guessing that the drow were not actually too gung-ho about this murdilating thing. After all: They were a minority, possibly a small minority, of drow (let's call it 10% of drow their age). A few die by adulthood - According to the 2003 national vital statistics report, 99% of americans survive to D&D's "Adulthood" age of 15. So assuming that magic substitutes for modern health care, in a total population of drow with 1 million minors, 100k are bloodeye. By the time the oldest are at the age of "adulthood," which for drow is 110 (Und), nearly 1000 have died and Lolth has had over a century to puzzle over the first 687, which were crib deaths. Let's assume by now she orders their deaths.

I'm going to estimate that half are killed/ambushed before the word spreads about what's happening, in a race ruled with such a tight spider's leg. Then the rest, 50k children and adolescents, which have no class levels, must flee society on their own. Being generous, half of them make it: 2.5% of drow population their age. According to the 2000 US Census, 21.4% of the US population is 0-14 years old. So, one half of a percent of the drow population, all completely without experience, manages to desert. Then they link up in some way that allows them to establish a dozen generations of culture (a generation in drow terms being around 150 years, so nearly 2 millenia), but at the same time didn't allow the drow to find them and hunt them down.

Note that a minor population of 1 million means a total drow population of just over 5 million. So if there were more, the situation becomes even more lopsided.

Takeaways:


Lolth is a bit on the slow side. She really should have figured this out when .69% of them died in the first year after their births.
Many probably escaped because family and friends went against Lolth to let them go. That said, the best and brightest of Lolth tend to be closest to her (priests and wizards) so the ones that mattered the most would give the least quarter.
Hunting them is waaaay low on Lolth's priorities list. It's possible it was never even tried once the survivors escaped. Unless they prodigiously outbred normal drow, their population ratio will be similar as when they left.


Also, I assume that either
(a) bloodeye drow were all born at once (over one, or a few, years), in which case why; or
(b) bloodeye drow were born of a period of 100+ years, but stopped when drows kicked them out, in which case why; or
(c) drow still give birth to bloodeye, but kill them.

I also assume bloodeye never give birth to drow.

Sources: 2003 Life Table (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Excerpt_from_CDC_2003_Table_1.pdf), 2000 Age Demographics (http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/), Underdark P21, PHB 109

Statistically, Lolth gets tens of thousands of souls daily. She doesn't keep personal quota of each one from birth to death (she's chaotic evil, not lawful evil) she's only going to start noticing once first generation bloodeye reach adulthood and wind up dying in large numbers. Also, let's go with option number C.

Bloodeye Drow are simply the result of magical experimentation, infusing the populace with different types of arcane energy. The case in question is that of a demonic source. I thought the irony of demon powers making Drow (in the long run) more good was hilarious, at least to me.

Gracht Grabmaw
2014-08-07, 05:10 AM
Statistically, Lolth gets tens of thousands of souls daily. She doesn't keep personal quota of each one from birth to death .

You know of all the things Lolth does this one seems the most cruel. Even the devil takes time out of his day to personally get to know you and tempt you into sin and devise a punishment specifically for you.

Anyway, pretty nice but I think you could take the freakish appearance a bit further than just the eyes. Keep the eyes for all of them, but make a small table for even weirder birth defects. Seemingly random scarring somewhere on the body, unnatural hair colors (or total hairlessness), a complexion that resembles goblin green or hobgoblin red or even worse: surface elf pink.
If you're gonna make a race of mutant outcasts, go full hog, think about what looks hideous to a dark elf and do all of that.

bekeleven
2014-08-07, 05:55 AM
Statistically, Lolth gets tens of thousands of souls daily. She doesn't keep personal quota of each one from birth to death (she's chaotic evil, not lawful evil) she's only going to start noticing once first generation bloodeye reach adulthood and wind up dying in large numbers. Also, let's go with option number C.

Bloodeye Drow are simply the result of magical experimentation, infusing the populace with different types of arcane energy. The case in question is that of a demonic source. I thought the irony of demon powers making Drow (in the long run) more good was hilarious, at least to me.

1 - If Lolth gets 10,000 Drow souls daily, and the population remains relatively stable, then we can calculate... based on a mean lifespan of, say, 175 years (the equivalent of 35 for humans), then there are 638.8 million drow. Also, for that to be the case, that means that the crib deaths year 1 go up from 687 to 87,764 - hopefully enough for her to notice, even if each year has a total of 3.6 million deaths.

2 - Lolth has Drow in her portfolio, meaning she instantly senses any event that affect drow (specifically, "senses anything that affects drow welfare the instant it happens and retains the sensation" - and if they don't count as drow, she'd probably notice that instead). I sort of assumed that disappearing souls would count; it may not. That said, you're free to rip up Deities and Demigods, it's pretty rare that those rules do anything but screw with you. I know my games have no statted gods...

atemu1234
2014-08-07, 12:11 PM
1 - If Lolth gets 10,000 Drow souls daily, and the population remains relatively stable, then we can calculate... based on a mean lifespan of, say, 175 years (the equivalent of 35 for humans), then there are 638.8 million drow. Also, for that to be the case, that means that the crib deaths year 1 go up from 687 to 87,764 - hopefully enough for her to notice, even if each year has a total of 3.6 million deaths.

2 - Lolth has Drow in her portfolio, meaning she instantly senses any event that affect drow (specifically, "senses anything that affects drow welfare the instant it happens and retains the sensation" - and if they don't count as drow, she'd probably notice that instead). I sort of assumed that disappearing souls would count; it may not. That said, you're free to rip up Deities and Demigods, it's pretty rare that those rules do anything but screw with you. I know my games have no statted gods...

I tend to stat my gods for no other reason than boredom. I have no intentions of the PCs ever being on the same plane as them, let alone near enough in range and power to pose a threat to them. I've made most of them higher level than the ones presented in that book.

Also, Lolth only "knows" what her followers do or even what is known in general. Until the Bloodeye Drow started dying enough for her to pay attention to them, she had no reason to assume she wasn't getting them due to them not having souls. Maybe they sold their souls to devils or something similar. That has no relation to the Drow themselves, but that's all up to my interpretation.

Edit: Another thing to remember is that roughly one in ten hundred is a Bloodeye. It was more common in that area in that time mostly due to the First House's experimentation at that time with demonic energies.

atemu1234
2014-08-07, 01:35 PM
Time for another race! Yay!

In all seriousness I do appreciate the input. It's much easier to run this past you guys than have it show up in my campaigns and be broken.

This race is one I call Hedronic Vampires and their half-human version, the Hedronic Dhampir.

Hedronic Vampires are native to the forest of Hedros. They worship Lolth as their patron deity. They're vaguely shamanistic.

Appearance: Hedronic Vampires appear almost human, but with fangs and purple skin. The name vampire is bequeathed to them solely due to their teeth. They actually don't need to drink blood to survive, nor are undead.

History: They were created due to an intermixture of human and demon blood, mostly demons owing loyalty to Lolth. They are the bane of trade caravans that travel through the forest as the quickest route.

Racial Traits:

+2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Wis
Monstrous Humanoid Type
Medium Size
Base Land Speed is 30 ft.
Natural Bite Attack: 1d3
+2 racial bonus on Climb, Jump, Hide and Move Silently checks.
Blood Frenzy (Su): If a Hedronic Vampire deals damage with its bite attack in combat, it gains +2 to Strength and Constitution for 1d4 rounds. At the end of the 1d4 rounds, the Hedronic Vampire is fatigued, unless they have something that would prevent a Rage from causing fatigue.
Darkvision with a range of 120 ft.
Favored Class: Barbarian
LA: +3 (I never really intend to use this one as a player race, more or less a monster race. The Hedronic Dhampir is the one I really need looked at).


Hedronic Dhampirs are sired usually by Hedronic Vampire fathers and Human mothers. Their appearance more or less matches that of their father, with less pronounced teeth.

Hedronic Dhampir Racial Traits:

+2 Dex, -2 Wis: Hedronic Dhampirs are fast but are also quick to act, without thinking actions through.
Humanoid Type: They inherit the humanoid type from their human parent.
Medium Size
Base Land Speed is 30 ft.
+2 Racial Bonus on Intimidate and Bluff Checks
Favored Class: Ranger
LA: +0

bekeleven
2014-08-07, 04:06 PM
Well, first off, it's a monstrous humanoid (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#monstrousHumanoidType). This means simple weapon proficiency off the bat as well as some armors if you have a sample creature built (you know, level 1 warrior and all that). Now, as to the race...

Neutral stat mods, and favoring a skirmisher build. The thing is most skirmishers are skill monkeys as well, and you're penalizing skills with the int hit. So stats aren't terribly great.

The bite attack is an extra 1/2 strength at the end of a full attack, which isn't bad I guess. On the cheesier end of the optimization scale, they can wield mouthpick weapons and thus get an extra greatsword, take multiweapon fighting, and slice'n'dice.

+8 to skills, 4 on stealth, 4 on acrobatic skills that are useless once people get Fly (except leap attack). And since they have LA+3, that will be when this character is level 2. So half the skill bonus is basically wasted.

DV120 isn't bad.

Blood Frenzy gives some minor buffs then adds some minor penalties in 1D4 rounds. It's still decent for a few reasons. First off, no restriction on biting multiple times per combat. Second, it doesn't stack fatigue into exhaustion. Third, I think you can bite to chain it mid-frenzy (If I fall back on the rules for stacking spells, this resets the duration, meaning if you bite every round you never get fatigued). So that's actually a reason you might not want mouthpick. besides it being very, very silly.

Overall I'd call this around LA+1 (maybe +2).

The Dhampir follow:

+2 dex -2 wis, so basically, yay skirmishers and ranged attackers, boo divine casters and classes with poor will saves.
+2 to two skills. Oddly, no overlap with the parent race. These skill mods encourage a social character, although they so far get buffs to physical skills and minuses to mentals (like sense motive and perception). I guess they could talk their way out of a botched sleight of hand...
Favored class: Ranger. A divine caster with a poor will save. Not what I would have chosen.


Overall this class is weak for LA+0. I would give it one of the following: Bonus feat (selectable or not a crappy one), a natural attack, or something else that opens up character options. A positive overall stat mod is nice too, but it's just numbers. A race should work for you in a way that grants options to you desired path. That's why humans are considered the best general LA+0: Bonus feat and skills helps any build, and does so by allowing it to do things no other Level X can do.

Also, I assume 30ft move. If it's 40 that actually opens up some stuff, but I assume it's not. If it's 20, :smallfrown:

atemu1234
2014-08-16, 07:58 PM
Well, first off, it's a monstrous humanoid (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#monstrousHumanoidType). This means simple weapon proficiency off the bat as well as some armors if you have a sample creature built (you know, level 1 warrior and all that). Now, as to the race...

Neutral stat mods, and favoring a skirmisher build. The thing is most skirmishers are skill monkeys as well, and you're penalizing skills with the int hit. So stats aren't terribly great.

The bite attack is an extra 1/2 strength at the end of a full attack, which isn't bad I guess. On the cheesier end of the optimization scale, they can wield mouthpick weapons and thus get an extra greatsword, take multiweapon fighting, and slice'n'dice.

+8 to skills, 4 on stealth, 4 on acrobatic skills that are useless once people get Fly (except leap attack). And since they have LA+3, that will be when this character is level 2. So half the skill bonus is basically wasted.

DV120 isn't bad.

Blood Frenzy gives some minor buffs then adds some minor penalties in 1D4 rounds. It's still decent for a few reasons. First off, no restriction on biting multiple times per combat. Second, it doesn't stack fatigue into exhaustion. Third, I think you can bite to chain it mid-frenzy (If I fall back on the rules for stacking spells, this resets the duration, meaning if you bite every round you never get fatigued). So that's actually a reason you might not want mouthpick. besides it being very, very silly.

Overall I'd call this around LA+1 (maybe +2).

The Dhampir follow:

+2 dex -2 wis, so basically, yay skirmishers and ranged attackers, boo divine casters and classes with poor will saves.
+2 to two skills. Oddly, no overlap with the parent race. These skill mods encourage a social character, although they so far get buffs to physical skills and minuses to mentals (like sense motive and perception). I guess they could talk their way out of a botched sleight of hand...
Favored class: Ranger. A divine caster with a poor will save. Not what I would have chosen.


Overall this class is weak for LA+0. I would give it one of the following: Bonus feat (selectable or not a crappy one), a natural attack, or something else that opens up character options. A positive overall stat mod is nice too, but it's just numbers. A race should work for you in a way that grants options to you desired path. That's why humans are considered the best general LA+0: Bonus feat and skills helps any build, and does so by allowing it to do things no other Level X can do.

Also, I assume 30ft move. If it's 40 that actually opens up some stuff, but I assume it's not. If it's 20, :smallfrown:

Maybe if I throw in +2 to Survival and Track as a bonus feat? Sorry about the patchiness of my commenting. Been away from internet.

bekeleven
2014-08-16, 09:42 PM
Well, it's your races, of course. If I were balancing them, I'd probably:

Drop the vampires to LA+2, give them stat mods of +2 Str, +4 Dex, -2 Wis. 40 foot move. Increase the frenzy duration to 1D3+2 rounds so that you can miss a bite for a round or two and not get screwed by a low roll.

As for the dhampir: I'd give them stat mods of +2 dex, and grant them some extra benefit as well: a feat like track, 40ft move, +1 skill/level, or multiple of these.

Note that I'm recommending balance changes that put these close to the power level of humans, warforged, dwarves, strongheart halflings, lesser planetouched, etc. I expect them to be better than a half-orc, half-elf, elf (without chaos shuffle), gnomes, etc.

atemu1234
2014-08-16, 11:25 PM
Well, it's your races, of course. If I were balancing them, I'd probably:

Drop the vampires to LA+2, give them stat mods of +2 Str, +4 Dex, -2 Wis. 40 foot move. Increase the frenzy duration to 1D3+2 rounds so that you can miss a bite for a round or two and not get screwed by a low roll.

As for the dhampir: I'd give them stat mods of +2 dex, and grant them some extra benefit as well: a feat like track, 40ft move, +1 skill/level, or multiple of these.

Note that I'm recommending balance changes that put these close to the power level of humans, warforged, dwarves, strongheart halflings, lesser planetouched, etc. I expect them to be better than a half-orc, half-elf, elf (without chaos shuffle), gnomes, etc.

An interesting idea. Since the Dhampir is to be the player race (The Hedronic Vampires are more or less filler and fodder, akin to goblins on racial power level) I'd like to focus on them.

Your suggestion of movement bonuses intrigues me, but maybe I should give them Scent (Track by Scent, anybody?) and maybe +2 to Survival besides. Is that worth LA +0, do you reckon?

Either way I'll probably have more races for you all tomorrow, sorry about the delays.

atemu1234
2014-08-17, 10:26 AM
Time for a new race! This one is a dwarf subrace, since there aren't enough of them.

Miorn Dwarves

Appearance: Miorn Dwarves are small, about 3-4 feet in height. They are gray of skin and are black of hair. They favor facial hair but don't grow much hair outside their head. They keep the hair on the top of their head cropped short or, in the case of female members of the species, keep it tied back.

Alignment: Miorn Dwarves tend towards the Lawful Neutral alignment, with little stance on good-evil. They value honor and friendship, but also tend to trust their clan's judgement a little too much to be entirely healthy.

History: Miorn Dwarves were a race of dwarves that interbred with svirfneblin (I have no idea how to spell that, so I may have just misspelled that) and lived in the shallower parts of the underdark for millenia. Recently they have returned to the surface, due to their hunting by Mind Flayers and Drow, who had for the most part ignored the Miorn Dwarves. Miorn Dwarves like to hide from other races, and are barely trusting of other dwarves, and tend to be skittish and quiet.

Racial Traits:

Humanoid (Dwarf): Miorn Dwarves get most of their racial traits from their Dwarf ancestors, after a fashion. As such, they are humanoids with the dwarf subtype.
Small Size
Base Land Speed is 20 ft.
Like their Dwarf Ancestors, Miorn Dwarves' speed cannot be reduced by armor.
+2 Racial Bonus on Craft and Appraise checks related to metal; Miorn Dwarves don't share their kin's liking for stone, preferring metalworking to stonecraft.
+4 Racial bonus on Move Silently checks: Miorn Dwarves are naturally quiet-footed. This works well with their size bonus to Hide checks.
+2 Racial Bonus on Reflex saves to avoid traps: Miorn Dwarves are cautious and while they cannot inherently sense traps, they are more than prepared to avoid them.
Automatic Languages: Common and Dwarven. Bonus Languages: Undercommon, Abyssal, Gnomish
Favored Class: Artificer.
LA: +0


Questions: Too powerful for LA +0? I didn't think so.

atemu1234
2014-08-21, 12:49 PM
One more race I'd like evaluated - it includes a homebrewed subtype that I'll post here and now and I'll post the actual race later:

Living Ooze Subtype

Immunity to Poison and Polymorph
Does not have the Mindless trait, as Living Oozes are not usually mindless.
Are treated as both their parent type (usually humanoid or monstrous humanoid) and as an ooze for the purpose of spells. They are still subject to effects as if they were either type, even if the other type is immune, except for effects that poison or polymorph creatures.


I made this type to create a "humanoid-ooze" race.

atemu1234
2014-08-21, 08:54 PM
O-kay, let's see how this is going for me.

This race I call the Uorsai, called colloquially Oozefolk and, usually as an insult, Oozekin.

Appearance: Uorsai stand about as tall as a human with translucent blue, gel-like bodies in the form of humanoids. Pockets of air are easily visible, usually as small bubbles. They have eyes, roughly humanoid, with an iris of a darker color of blue. The lips and gums of their mouths are of a navy blue, but their teeth are as white as a human or elf's. Some go without clothing, but most wear form-fitting armor, usually light. They are naturally hairless, but females of the species often have a set of head-tails close to their scalp.

History: Uorsai were the results of magical fusion of humans and oozes by cruel Elven wizards in a time long forgotten. These semi-gelatinous creatures were almost perfect spies and assassins due to their ability to quickly and easily escape, but over time some escaped, some died, but most simply outlived their empire.

Relations: Uorsai get along well with humans, enjoying the company of those who share their chaotic tendencies. Many, ironically, get along well with elves who share their world view, most Uorsai having forgotten their race's ancient servitude to them. They do not get along well with dwarves, however, viewing their stoic nature with disdain and disgust.

Most Uorsai's personalities have been described as fluid, often very accepting of others and their viewpoints, but not liking criticism. If insulted, an Uorsai may sulk for hours or even days, especially if they hold the person who offended them close to their hearts.

Alignment: Uorsai are often neutral or chaotic. They often take up professions as thieves.

Racial Traits:

-2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Cha: Most find the Uorsai's appearance unappealing and thsi is shown with a long history of being turned away by other races.
Living Ooze subtype
+2 racial bonus on Disguise checks: Uorsai can control their shape on a certain level, not enough to change appearance from a humanoid but enough to cause a dissimilarity. They also ignore penalties to disguise checks to appear as another gender, as for Uorsai gender is an acquired trait.
+4 bonus on Escape Artist checks: Uorsai are naturally capable of avoiding entrapment.
Medium Size
Base land speed is 30 feet.
Favored Class: Rogue
LA: +0


This may be better suited as an LA +1 race or even LA +2; the Living Ooze subtype is quite frankly potent to say the least, but I like to think the added vulnerabilities to things like Favored Enemy (Ooze) might shift the odds in favor of LA +0. Let me know what you think.

ZinZenWho
2014-08-21, 09:24 PM
Very new here. If I made an ooze race I'd go whole hog and give them the ability to turn into a puddle and to ooze through things like under doors and through cracks. But obviously not be able to take things with them. Except maybe very small things like lock picks or things like that. Maybe a swim speed or the ability to stick to walls and such. Perhaps a bonus to graple checks. Idk.

atemu1234
2014-08-21, 09:43 PM
Very new here. If I made an ooze race I'd go whole hog and give them the ability to turn into a puddle and to ooze through things like under doors and through cracks. But obviously not be able to take things with them. Except maybe very small things like lock picks or things like that. Maybe a swim speed or the ability to stick to walls and such. Perhaps a bonus to graple checks. Idk.

I probably would too, but I'm trying to keep it at LA +0, and without maybe a few racial hit dice and quite a bit of LA I couldn't do most of those things.

Maybe I'll make some other races with the Living Ooze subtype; it'd be a fun side-project.

ZinZenWho
2014-08-21, 09:52 PM
I probably would too, but I'm trying to keep it at LA +0, and without maybe a few racial hit dice and quite a bit of LA I couldn't do most of those things.

Maybe I'll make some other races with the Living Ooze subtype; it'd be a fun side-project.

Perhaps a once or twice a day spellike ability to go through doors. And as for sticking to walls a once a day spider walk at one half HD caster lv. Or just an inmate bonus to climb checks.

ZinZenWho
2014-08-21, 09:56 PM
As for the other ooze type creatures you could make a whole storyline entered around a crazed hermit experimenting with oozes. Just an idea.

atemu1234
2014-08-22, 08:55 PM
The next Living Ooze I have is the Uornai (BTW, I forgot to mention- the Uorsai are humanoids).

The Uornai

Appearance: This creature looks like a human, perhaps with too smooth skin and too colorful eyes- In short, he is too beautiful to believe.

History: An offshoot of the Uorsai, the Uornai have learned how to manipulate the ooze along with coloration to produce a humanoid appearance, to the point of it being their nature. They can use this ability to make themselves appear like others, making them natural rogues.

Alignment: Uornai are as well inclined towards chaos and neutrality, but have a higher number of evil members of their race.

Racial Traits:

Monstrous Humanoid (Living Ooze): Uornai are Monstrous Humanoids- the powers they possess have stripped them of the humanity their forebearers cherished.
+2 Dex, -2 Cha: Uornai are as dextrous as their kin, but appear strange and alien to those unfamilliar with them.
Alter Self (Ex): This ability functions as the spell but can be used in Antimagic zones, making it far more powerful.
+4 racial bonus on Bluff checks: Uornai are natural liars, and are especially skilled at impersonation.
Base Land Speed is 30 feet.
Medium Size
Favored Class: Rogue.
LA: +1


Maybe it should be LA +2. I'm fairly certain it's far from game-breaking, noting the lack of skill bonus - ability score synergy.

atemu1234
2014-08-23, 12:26 PM
Another Living Ooze, for those still watching this thread.

This one is called the Uortai, because I'm really, really unoriginal.

Uortai

Appearance: This creature looks like a viscous, bluish-green fluid given basic humanoid form. As you watch, it shifts form subtly, like ripples.

History: Uortai were progenitors of the Uorsai race, who were excellent spies and decent fighters, but lacked the adaptability and the intelligence of their descendents.

Alignment: Most Uortai are neutral. The more intelligent members of their species may pick sides, but for the most part they are content to simply etch out an easy life in the wild.

Racial Traits:

Aberration (Living Ooze): Uortai are Aberrations with the Living Ooze subtype.
Medium Size
Base Land Speed is 30 feet. They also have a Climb Speed of 20 feet.
+4 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha: Uortai are even more dextrous than Uorsai, but lack their quick-wittedness.
An Uortai may always take 10 on an Escape Artist Check, even if they are under pressure.
Mutable Form (Ex): An Uortai can change its shape at will; be that into a puddle of ooze that moves along the floor or otherwise. This change has little functional difference- they cannot, for example, use this to make a natural weapon or to fly- but it does allow them to fit through extraordinarily small spaces. By taking a -10 penalty to movement speed (effectively making their base land speed 20 feet or their climb speed 10 feet) they can get through or into a space that is only big enough for a fine being. This doesn't alter its volume- it would still take up the space of a medium character in a bag of holding, for instance, but it can fit part of itself in or go through the cracks in pavement.
Racial Hit Dice: An Uortai begins with 4 levels of Aberration, giving it 4d8 hit dice, two feats and (2 + Int Modifier) x 7 Skill Points. Its class skills are Escape Artist, Listen, Search and Spot.
Favored Class: Rogue.
LA: +3 +2


This isn't designed to be a perfect player race, it's more designed to be your run-of-the-mill monster with occasionally some class levels.

ZinZenWho
2014-08-23, 05:14 PM
:-) the all out ooze race.... maybe the LA is a bit high. Look at feral gargan from races if stone.

atemu1234
2014-08-23, 06:57 PM
Stay tuned for more races of the Living Ooze subtype :smallwink: but for now I'm making a human subrace specifically for BARBARIANS! Infused with the power of a homebrewed god of mine (based heavily off of Odin and Thor) called Thorne (See?) they rip across the battlefield in a frenzy of blood and glory!

Raserin

Appearance: Looking like tall, burly humans, Raserin often have blonde hair and blue eyes, with a liking for clothing made of wild game they hunted and killed. They wear their hair (and their facial hair) long and unkempt, many with the appearance of wild beings.

History: In ancient days the world froze over in an ice age. These humans, loyal to their god, Thorne, wished to survive and thrive in the harsh new world. Their god gave them power, his blood. Even now, in a world long-thawed, they wander the borderlands of nations, the evil hunting caravans, the neutral etching out a living by herding animals and hunting, and the good keeping the evil in check.

Alignment: While the Raserin are almost always Chaotic, they also have a tendency towards good inspired by their god. They also have an evil counterpart to him that some (usually the evil ones) worship.

Racial Traits:

Humanoid (Human): Raserin are still humans, albeit of a different stock.
Base Land Speed is 30 feet.
Medium Size
+2 Str, -2 Wis: Raserin are strong but headstrong. Valuing bravery and honor in combat over common sense, they tend to have a fairly short lifespan.
Rage 1/day: This ability functions as the Barbarian ability gained at first level. This stacks with any uses a Barbarian gains of Rage, as well as any improvements given to it by Barbarian Class features.
+2 Racial Bonus on Climb, Jump and Swim checks: Raserin are naturally athletic.
4 bonus skill points at first level, 1 additional bonus skill point at all consecutive levels. Unlike a normal human's, these skill points must be spent on strength-based skills.
Favored Class: Barbarian.
LA: +0


I think it looks pretty good as LA +0, though it only really fits for barbarians. Compare it to humans, if you will, as Half-Orcs kind of suck just in general, and aren't a good comparison for anything.

atemu1234
2014-08-23, 09:51 PM
:-) the all out ooze race.... maybe the LA is a bit high. Look at feral gargan from races if stone.

Decent call. I'd probably put it on par with that if I lowered the LA to +2. I'll do that.

atemu1234
2014-08-24, 11:09 PM
Another day, another race.

These ones I call Dracovores, an offshoot of the Kobold race.

Dracovores

Appearance: These creatures are around the size of halflings, though not even the most hard of sight would mix them up; They appear as short, scaly creatures- their scales are often shades of black, dark green and brown, and their eyes appear black- covered by an overcoat of black skin which prevents dust and dirt from getting in their eyes. They can still see perfectly fine, and can even see in daylight.

History: When dragons ruled the plane, the insurgent giant lord Borgerax experimented with the Kobold race to create footsoldiers to help slay his foes. Unfortunately for him, they proved unruly and bred far to quickly for their creators to stamp out. They are still hated by giants, but even more so by Dragons. They are known for hunting draconic creatures down, slaying them and eating their flesh.

Alignment: Dracovores' souls are as black as their eyes. They are almost always evil, and chaotic evil at that. They kill good creatures with impunity, but have no compunction to save evil creatures either.

Racial Traits:

+2 Str, +4 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha: Giant experimentation has removed most of the Kobold's natural weaknesses from them, but they in turn are mentally weaker than their kin, and far less socially inclined.
+2 Bonus on attack and damage rolls against Dragons: Dracovores are nigh-perfect hunters of dragons, and they are also raised from birth to be dragon hunters.
Natural Attack: Dracovores have a bite attack that deals 1d4 piercing damage and criticals on a natural 20.
Monstrous Humanoid (Reptillian)
Small Size
Base Land Speed is 30 feet.
+2 Racial Bonus on Listen and Spot checks: Dracovores are capable of hunting well by hearing and are keen of eye.
Favored Class: Ranger. Dracovores often choose dragons as a Favored Enemy.
LA: +1


Might be worth more than LA +1.

ZinZenWho
2014-08-24, 11:20 PM
I was going to say something about the dex bonus but thought better of it. Needs a more original name though.

atemu1234
2014-08-25, 07:54 PM
I was going to say something about the dex bonus but thought better of it. Needs a more original name though.

I'd take any suggestions for that, really.

atemu1234
2014-08-31, 10:09 PM
This race is based off of (and in some ways a subrace of) Warforged.

The Metinis

Appearance: Metinis stand about seven feet tall, made of some type of gray metal. They are broad-shouldered and lantern-jawed, and appear to be made out of interlocking plates, like a suit of full-plate armor except solid through. Their bodies also have geometric lines all across them, which light up when they channel their power. The light is the same color of their eyes, which are solid and single-colored. The known colors are blue, green, yellow, and white. The rarest color is white.

History: Metinis were created by an ancient race of dwarves known as the Tenzu. The Tenzu were remarkably well-developed in their technology, far beyond their kin. They were more inclined to live below ground and avoided conflicts, choosing no sides in even the most grievous wars. In the final centuries of their existence, they created a new lifeform, the first Living Construct of this plane. However, mere months following the creation of the first Metinis, the only known city of the Tenzu, known only in myth by the Metinis as the Citadel, was attacked by an army of kobolds, wiping them out by sheer numbers. Other pockets of Tenzu civilization was destroyed in the wars that ravaged the plane, up to the final battle. With all civilization almost wiped out by Kobolds, the last of all races gathered for a final charge. The Metinis who survived were the sole successes; only four. But the facilities for mass production made by the Tenzu allowed them to produce many more of their kind, and they led their new kin into combat. Few survived, and due to reproductive issues (Metinis, without the help of the technology lost in the Citadel with its location, can only reproduce once in their life by animating a block of metal that forms into a new Metinis).

Racial Traits

Medium Size: As Medium creatures, Metinis take no special penalties to rolls or checks.
+2 Str, -4 Dex. As creatures of metal, Metinis move more slowly.
Speed of 20 feet, as being made of metal, they find it more difficult to move quickly.
As a creature made of metal, Metinis do not need to eat or drink regular food or water to survive. Rather, they subsist on metal, about ten pounds a week. They prefer unprocessed metal, though processed metal does not harm them. They do not need to breath. They can still drown, however, due to their inability to function underwater.
Metinis have a natural armor bonus of +8
Metinis have a natural spell failure chance of 35%
Armor Check Penalty of -6
Favored Class: Fighter
LA: +2

atemu1234
2014-09-07, 08:14 PM
This next race I don't really have a name for. So far, I've opted to call them race x (name suggestions greatly appreciated).

Appearance: This being appears human and is vaguely attractive, with rugged features, toned body and sparkling eyes.

History: (still coming up with this)

Alignment: Usually true neutral.

Racial Traits (This is the interesting part)

Humanoid: They are humanoids
Medium Size
Base land speed is 30 ft.
-2 Wis, +2 Cha: They are often quick to act, but just as quick to talk their way out of trouble.
Divisive (Su): They can divide themselves up into a number of beings up to their character level. One is considered the "operant" character, and is treated as the character with a number of negative levels equal to the number of clones he has created. If he takes a negative level while with the max number of clones operating, the oldest clone dissapears in a flash of light and a scream of agony. The other clones are treated in all respects as level 1 commoners, with the ability scores of their progenitor. They are also of the same race, but they do not have the divisive ability. If the progenitor dies while they are separate from him, they all dissapear as described above. None of them can travel more than 1 mile away from their progenitor. If one of them dies, the negative level from their creation persists for 24 hours. They have no set lifespan, but the negative levels from their creation cannot be removed until they die or choose to merge with their progenitor again. They can choose to merge as a free action if they are within 100 ft. of their progenitor. They are exact duplicates of the progenitor, and behave like him. They share his memories, and will do whatever he tells them to do within reason. They are treated as having a friendly rating to their creator and share their outlook on others with their creator.
+2 racial bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks: They are natural infiltrators.
LA: +1


What do you think? It's a complex ability, but I thought I balanced it fairly well.