rfreixo
2015-08-23, 08:41 PM
Hi guys!
I'm reworking the core races to better fit with my setting, and also adding some monster races as options to the players. While this is nothing really new, I'd like some help to determine if they're balanced or not. Also, new ideas would be nice :D
Some important notes:
1) I'm using the Unearthed Arcana weapon group alternate rules.
2) There's no such thing as favored class or multiclass XP penalties.
3) Languages can be freely taken by any race, as long as the player can properly explain why he knows that specific language.
4) No sub-races. To make up for that, most races have a choice between two or more stats to get their bonus or penalties.
5) All races should have an average of +0 on their stats. Really, +2 Strenght shouldn't cost -2 Intelligence and Charisma both. Also, I'd like to give each race something unique, that no other race has and which can't be easily replicated with feats or skills.
With that said, here they are.
Humanoid (human).
Size: Medium.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Skilled: Humans get 4 extra skill points at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point at every level.
Talented: Humans get one extra feat at 1st level.
Basic stuff, no changes. Their unique feature is the extra feat.
Humanoid (dwarf).
+2 Constitution or Wisdom; -2 Charisma.
Size: Medium.
Base Land Speed: 20 feet. Dwarves are not slowed by medium or heavy armor or load.
Darkvision 60 feet.
Stonecunning.
Weapon Familiarity: dwarves do not consider the dwarven battle-axe and the dwarven urgrosh exotic weapons.
Stability: +4 when defending agains bull rush and trip atempts.
Hardy: +2 racial bonus against poison, spells and spell-like abilities.
Racial Hatred: +1 to attack rolls against orcs and goblinoids.
The Harder they Fall: +4 dodge bonus to AC against giants.
Greedy: +2 racial bonus to Appraise checks related to stone and metal.
Craftsman: +2 racial bonus to Craft checks related to stone and metal.
While the dwarves do have many racial abilities, they are all very situational or common to other races as well. The option to trade the Constitution bonus for Wisdom is unique and potentially powerful - bonus to casting stats can be dangerous. However, they would be sacrificing that extra Constitution, which is one of the main attractives of the race.
Humanoid (elf).
Size: Medium.
+2 Dexterity or Intelligence; -2 Constitution.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision.
Evolved Mind: Immunity to sleep and +2 racial bonus against Enchantment effects.
Intuitive Senses: +2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot and Search checks. They automatically Search for secret doors.
Elven Weapons: Elves are proficient with the Elven Weapons weapon group (longbow, shortbow, longsword and rapier). They can take any weapon group feats (Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization) for this group. Non-elves cannot learn this weapon group.
Ancestral Knowledge: +2 racial bonus to one Knowledge skill.
Elven racial features always seemed underwhelming to me. Their hit to Constitution is troublesome, and they really don't get anything in core to compensate. The changes here are the Ancestral Knowledge feature, mostly for flavor, and the possibility to exchange their Dexterity bonus for an Intelligence bonus. That's the unique feature for the race - no other race gets bonus to Intelligence, and it's a way to encourage elf wizards, now that there are no favored classes. It is potentially strong, but the elves needed some love.
Humanoid (gnome).
Size: Small.
+2 Constitution or Charisma; -2 Strenght.
Base Land Speed: 20 feet.
Darkvision 60 feet.
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot and Search checks.
Gnome Illusion: +2 racial bonus against Illusion effects, and +1 bonus to DC against Illusion effects cast by the gnome.
Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes do not consider the gnome hooked hammer an exotic weapon.
Racial Hatred: +1 to attack rolls against reptilian humanoids and goblinoids.
The Harder they Fall: +4 dodge bonus to AC against giants.
Obsession: +2 racial bonus to one Craft or Profession skill.
Some important changes here. First, the gnome gets Darkvision instead of Low-Light vision. I imagine the gnomes to be much closer, in evolution, to dwarves than to elves, so they get the same ability as the former. The extra bonus to Spot and Search are there mostly because I like to keep perception skills closely related. Obsession is a flavor feature, taken straight from Pathfinder to replace the bonus to Craft (alchemy). The bonus to Charisma is similar to the dwarf's bonus to Wisdom. Finally, I removed the spell-like abilities. I like to keep basic races mundane. However, doing that, the gnomes have nothing unique to them. I could use some help here.
Humanoid (halfling).
Size: Small.
+2 Dexterity or Charisma; -2 Strenght.
Base Land Speed: 20 feet.
Lucky: +1 racial bonus to all saving throws.
Acrobatic: +2 racial bonus to Climb, Jump and Move Silently checks.
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot and Search checks.
Brave: +2 morale bonus to saving throws against Fear effects.
Throwing: +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with slings and throwing weapons.
Halflings always seemed to me clearly superior to elves in pretty much everything. Not much was changed here. Bonus to Spot and Search, as for gnomes. The bonus to Charisma is there mostly to give them a choice, like the other races have - Charisma seemed the only fit here. The Brave feature, present in core, is unique enough for me.
Humanoid (elf, human)
Size: Medium.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision.
Evolved Mind: Immunity to sleep and +2 racial bonus against Enchantment effects.
Skilled: Half-elves get 4 extra skill points at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point at every level.
They're often seem as the weakest core race. While this is not meant to make them powerful, I tried to give them a reason to be picked other than flavor. Out go the bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information, they never made sense to me. Also the bonus to the perception skills are gone, +1 is not really that great, and +2 is already given to most other races. Instead, they keep two out of five elven traits and, most importantly, they get one human trait: the extra skills. Nice, but still nothing unique to them (maybe being both elf and human? Not really enough).[/LIST]
Humanoid (human, orc).
Size: Medium.
+2 Strenght; -2 Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Darkvision 60 feet.
Intimidating: +2 racial bonus to Intimidate checks.
Skilled: Half-orcs get 4 extra skill points at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point at every level.
Like I said above, +2 Stenght shouldn't come with two different penalties. Instead, the half-orc now gets to pick one, and can also choose Wisdom, as the full-blooded orc takes a hit there as well. Intimidating is taken from Pathfinder, and Skilled is a human trait, something that the half-orcs never really had. Still nothing unique.
Monster races coming next.
I'm reworking the core races to better fit with my setting, and also adding some monster races as options to the players. While this is nothing really new, I'd like some help to determine if they're balanced or not. Also, new ideas would be nice :D
Some important notes:
1) I'm using the Unearthed Arcana weapon group alternate rules.
2) There's no such thing as favored class or multiclass XP penalties.
3) Languages can be freely taken by any race, as long as the player can properly explain why he knows that specific language.
4) No sub-races. To make up for that, most races have a choice between two or more stats to get their bonus or penalties.
5) All races should have an average of +0 on their stats. Really, +2 Strenght shouldn't cost -2 Intelligence and Charisma both. Also, I'd like to give each race something unique, that no other race has and which can't be easily replicated with feats or skills.
With that said, here they are.
Humanoid (human).
Size: Medium.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Skilled: Humans get 4 extra skill points at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point at every level.
Talented: Humans get one extra feat at 1st level.
Basic stuff, no changes. Their unique feature is the extra feat.
Humanoid (dwarf).
+2 Constitution or Wisdom; -2 Charisma.
Size: Medium.
Base Land Speed: 20 feet. Dwarves are not slowed by medium or heavy armor or load.
Darkvision 60 feet.
Stonecunning.
Weapon Familiarity: dwarves do not consider the dwarven battle-axe and the dwarven urgrosh exotic weapons.
Stability: +4 when defending agains bull rush and trip atempts.
Hardy: +2 racial bonus against poison, spells and spell-like abilities.
Racial Hatred: +1 to attack rolls against orcs and goblinoids.
The Harder they Fall: +4 dodge bonus to AC against giants.
Greedy: +2 racial bonus to Appraise checks related to stone and metal.
Craftsman: +2 racial bonus to Craft checks related to stone and metal.
While the dwarves do have many racial abilities, they are all very situational or common to other races as well. The option to trade the Constitution bonus for Wisdom is unique and potentially powerful - bonus to casting stats can be dangerous. However, they would be sacrificing that extra Constitution, which is one of the main attractives of the race.
Humanoid (elf).
Size: Medium.
+2 Dexterity or Intelligence; -2 Constitution.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision.
Evolved Mind: Immunity to sleep and +2 racial bonus against Enchantment effects.
Intuitive Senses: +2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot and Search checks. They automatically Search for secret doors.
Elven Weapons: Elves are proficient with the Elven Weapons weapon group (longbow, shortbow, longsword and rapier). They can take any weapon group feats (Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization) for this group. Non-elves cannot learn this weapon group.
Ancestral Knowledge: +2 racial bonus to one Knowledge skill.
Elven racial features always seemed underwhelming to me. Their hit to Constitution is troublesome, and they really don't get anything in core to compensate. The changes here are the Ancestral Knowledge feature, mostly for flavor, and the possibility to exchange their Dexterity bonus for an Intelligence bonus. That's the unique feature for the race - no other race gets bonus to Intelligence, and it's a way to encourage elf wizards, now that there are no favored classes. It is potentially strong, but the elves needed some love.
Humanoid (gnome).
Size: Small.
+2 Constitution or Charisma; -2 Strenght.
Base Land Speed: 20 feet.
Darkvision 60 feet.
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot and Search checks.
Gnome Illusion: +2 racial bonus against Illusion effects, and +1 bonus to DC against Illusion effects cast by the gnome.
Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes do not consider the gnome hooked hammer an exotic weapon.
Racial Hatred: +1 to attack rolls against reptilian humanoids and goblinoids.
The Harder they Fall: +4 dodge bonus to AC against giants.
Obsession: +2 racial bonus to one Craft or Profession skill.
Some important changes here. First, the gnome gets Darkvision instead of Low-Light vision. I imagine the gnomes to be much closer, in evolution, to dwarves than to elves, so they get the same ability as the former. The extra bonus to Spot and Search are there mostly because I like to keep perception skills closely related. Obsession is a flavor feature, taken straight from Pathfinder to replace the bonus to Craft (alchemy). The bonus to Charisma is similar to the dwarf's bonus to Wisdom. Finally, I removed the spell-like abilities. I like to keep basic races mundane. However, doing that, the gnomes have nothing unique to them. I could use some help here.
Humanoid (halfling).
Size: Small.
+2 Dexterity or Charisma; -2 Strenght.
Base Land Speed: 20 feet.
Lucky: +1 racial bonus to all saving throws.
Acrobatic: +2 racial bonus to Climb, Jump and Move Silently checks.
Keen Senses: +2 racial bonus to Listen, Spot and Search checks.
Brave: +2 morale bonus to saving throws against Fear effects.
Throwing: +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with slings and throwing weapons.
Halflings always seemed to me clearly superior to elves in pretty much everything. Not much was changed here. Bonus to Spot and Search, as for gnomes. The bonus to Charisma is there mostly to give them a choice, like the other races have - Charisma seemed the only fit here. The Brave feature, present in core, is unique enough for me.
Humanoid (elf, human)
Size: Medium.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision.
Evolved Mind: Immunity to sleep and +2 racial bonus against Enchantment effects.
Skilled: Half-elves get 4 extra skill points at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point at every level.
They're often seem as the weakest core race. While this is not meant to make them powerful, I tried to give them a reason to be picked other than flavor. Out go the bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information, they never made sense to me. Also the bonus to the perception skills are gone, +1 is not really that great, and +2 is already given to most other races. Instead, they keep two out of five elven traits and, most importantly, they get one human trait: the extra skills. Nice, but still nothing unique to them (maybe being both elf and human? Not really enough).[/LIST]
Humanoid (human, orc).
Size: Medium.
+2 Strenght; -2 Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.
Base Land Speed: 30 feet.
Darkvision 60 feet.
Intimidating: +2 racial bonus to Intimidate checks.
Skilled: Half-orcs get 4 extra skill points at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point at every level.
Like I said above, +2 Stenght shouldn't come with two different penalties. Instead, the half-orc now gets to pick one, and can also choose Wisdom, as the full-blooded orc takes a hit there as well. Intimidating is taken from Pathfinder, and Skilled is a human trait, something that the half-orcs never really had. Still nothing unique.
Monster races coming next.