Create a new race question

[WilfredWhaleson]

So, a player on my game asked me to create a race of his own and asked to make one with the Monstrous Trait of at will spell-like ability, where he can choose any spell (3rd level or lower) and cast it at will any times he can. Am I reading that correct? So, he can take a spell, like paladin's Angelic Aspect, and have constant resistance, DR and average flight?

[Fouredged Sword]

In theory. You can make a race with any ability you want. There is a reason why you should strongly base what powers and abilities you give a new race on what you think will be balanced with the rest of your party. As DM you CAN allow this. As a good DM you should carefully consider what exact spell he wants unlimited access to and what he intends to do with it.

[NOhara24]

So, a player on my game asked me to create a race of his own and asked to make one with the Monstrous Trait of at will spell-like ability, where he can choose any spell (3rd level or lower) and cast it at will any times he can. Am I reading that correct? So, he can take a spell, like paladin's Angelic Aspect, and have constant resistance, DR and average flight?

So just...any spell? He can bounce from arcane school-to-school and then pick a divine spell next turn?

I'd tell this player to choose a race that's already created that has an ability similar, or tell this person to just play a spell caster. It simply opens up too many questions that are impossible to think about. For example, the humble fireball spell (by far not the worst example I could pick here.). How would you handle damage? Does it still increase damage by 1d6 every level until a cap of 10d6? And then do you really want this player being able to spam a 10d6 fireball endlessly at no cost every fight? Or worse, what if he takes advantage of the powers you've given him and picks up Reserves of Strength that would let him bypass any level-dependent restrictions on the level 3 spells he has unlimited use of?

And then how would you even go about balancing it? What level adjustment is enough to compensate for the MASSIVE amount of power you've given him?

It's just an idea that would turn into a huge headache for you as DM, and pretty un-fun for the other players dependent on how he chooses to utilize it. Like I said before, I'd just tell him to play a race that's already in the game.

[Gildedragon]

"Any one" third level spell at will is quite strong.
If you do cave in: slap it with a +5 LA (consider the guidelines for making a vestige)

I would ask them: What sort of creature they want to play; not what abilities the creature has.
That is if I didn't straight up laugh in their face for asking what they did.

[the_david]

Standard races can only select traits from the standard section of each category, advanced races can select traits from the standard or advanced sections, and monstrous races can select from any section.This is from the Advanced Race Guide. You didn't mention it, but Your player is using the Advanced Race Guide. It might be useful to mention details like that because not everyone on this forum will assume you're playing Pathfinder.

1. Your player cannot use monstrous traits in his race if the other players use standard races.
2. This system is not intended for players. It's up to the GM to create the races he wants to use in his campaign.

[the_david]

"Any one" third level spell at will is quite strong.
If you do cave in: slap it with a +5 LA (consider the guidelines for making a vestige)

I would ask them: What sort of creature they want to play; not what abilities the creature has.
That is if I didn't straight up laugh in their face for asking what they did.

There's no such thing as level adjustment in Pathfinder.

[Psyren]

There's no such thing as level adjustment in Pathfinder.

Not for individuals, but strong races can adjust the APL of the party upward for CR calculations. For best results, it's recommended that everyone get similar power levels from their race. The details of this are given in the sidebar on ARG 219.

[The_Jette]

Have you considered just saying "no" to the request? If a player in one of my games asked for a homebrewed race that chooses any 3rd level or lower spell to be used as an at-will SLA, I'd probably turn it down outright. There are some things that just don't make sense for PCs to have.

[Grod_The_Giant]

You should absolutely not allow your player to make a custom race that's more powerful than anyone else's, and I'm having a hard time imaging any third-level spell at will that won't leave you head-and-shoulders above the rest of the party.

[Psyren]

Yeah, I could see 1/day, but not at-will.

The PF Aasimar can get Daylight as a 1/day SLA.

[torrasque666]

You are reading it correctly. Note that a "Monstrous" Race is at least a 20 point budget, that alone makes them bump up the CR for a few levels. It also eats either 2, 4 , or 6 points by itself. So really, what kind of Race Point budget are you comfortable giving them?