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View Full Version : Obscure race --> help please!



RAGE KING!
2007-08-13, 01:26 PM
My favorite race is the Goliath race. They. kick. ass. They really do! but the problem with them, is that they're in the races of stone handbook. thankfully, its 3.5 otherwise I'd never get to play them. But i hardly get to play them anyways. Most d.m's don't let me use that book. But if ever i try playing a different race. I always think "aww man, that sucked! But it would've been better if i was a goliath". Happens all the time. Theres a reason they have a level adjustment. Any advice on how to play them more often?

Sornjss Lichdom
2007-08-13, 01:31 PM
ive actually never scene them, heard of them, ecxept in your board.

Delaney Gale
2007-08-13, 01:33 PM
If you want to play them more often, but DMs don't want you to play them, the only answer I can give is:

1. Find a DM who will let you use LA'ed creatures from an obscure handbook.

2. DM your own adventure with goliaths as NPCs/DM PCs.

storybookknight
2007-08-13, 01:33 PM
Play high level games. Then, when DM's complain that things are too unbalanced, point them to the 'wizards are broken' threads on the boards here. Lord knows there's more than enough of them. When they're done, point them to the 'clerics are broken' threads.

Then ask them why it matters, since you're playing a melee class?

RTGoodman
2007-08-13, 02:20 PM
By this point, Goliaths have become so common that I didn't think that anyone actually didn't allow them. So your best option is to find a DM who'll let you use RoS (since it's an official WotC supplement and not ever an "obscure" book as one of the other posters mentioned).

By the way, I also love goliaths, and have two characters planned out that are goliaths - a barbarian (maybe with a couple of fighter levels) wielding a large-sized sugliin (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/weaponsb.pl?Sugliin) from Frostburn, and then a cleric or druid just because I love the religion fluff from RoS.

Person_Man
2007-08-13, 02:45 PM
Meh. Knockback+Dungeon Crasher certainly makes being a Goliath or Half-Giant worth the LA investment, but otherwise its really not that great of a race. An Half-Orc with Headlong Rush has a greater damage output in the long run. A Human with Able Learner is far more versitile and gets a bonus feat. A Shifter can dip into Warshaper early and get all sorts of benefits. And none of them require LA.

nerulean
2007-08-13, 02:47 PM
I'd say talk to your DM and go through what the LA gives you as opposed to another class level. Make lists that show the advantages a goliath gets as opposed to (say) a level of barbarian, and organise them into "The Pros and Cons of Playing a Goliath". If you can point out that you're getting penalised for taking the LA race, the DM may be less inclined to cry 'munchkin' and might actually let you play it. Communication is always key.

NerfTW
2007-08-13, 03:09 PM
Agree that you won't complain when adventurers and guards try to kill you whenever you walk into town, thinking you're a random monster. :smalltongue:

Is he against the level adjustment aspect, or the fact that some worlds have far too many races, and DMs sometimes don't adjust for the WTF? factor of a commoner seeing something they've never seen before?

See if the DM will bump the character's starting level up to the level adjustment of your character, so you don't overpower all the starting encounters. We had that happen were one character could plow through the enemies, but nobody else could touch them. The DM decided that the "big bad" happened to be walking by at this point and we had to flee anyways.

Leicontis
2007-08-13, 03:12 PM
What is it that you love about goliaths? Is it purely their abilities, or do you enjoy the roleplaying flavor? If you like them for roleplay reasons, DMs should be lenient, and if they're not, ask about reworking goliaths to be like any other non-LA race, so that you can get the flavor without the power. If it's the abilities, then be consoled that there are plenty of ways to powerboost a character.

Damionte
2007-08-13, 03:14 PM
This one is easy, You buy the book. Bring it to the game and give it to your Game Master. Most people doen't use stuff when they don't have access to the book. Which is the reason you gave in your OP. So get them access.

MrNexx
2007-08-13, 03:21 PM
Off the top of my head, I can't remember if Goliaths have Racial HD, nor what their LA is. See if your DM will allow you the option I often use, which is to either replace RHD with NPC levels, or take a race with a +1 LA and an NPC class instead of a PC class.

RAGE KING!
2007-08-13, 04:12 PM
Meh. Knockback+Dungeon Crasher certainly makes being a Goliath or Half-Giant worth the LA investment, but otherwise its really not that great of a race. An Half-Orc with Headlong Rush has a greater damage output in the long run. A Human with Able Learner is far more versitile and gets a bonus feat. A Shifter can dip into Warshaper early and get all sorts of benefits. And none of them require LA.

Did you read my post? I LOVE GOLIATHS! there. glad we sorted that out.



I'd say talk to your DM and go through what the LA gives you as opposed to another class level. Make lists that show the advantages a goliath gets as opposed to (say) a level of barbarian, and organise them into "The Pros and Cons of Playing a Goliath". If you can point out that you're getting penalised for taking the LA race, the DM may be less inclined to cry 'munchkin' and might actually let you play it. Communication is always key.

But i wont be penalized.

I think i'll buy the book. I've been thinking that forever, but i feel like waiting for christmas to come round, and get it for free. But i can always get other books then.

brian c
2007-08-13, 04:37 PM
Did you read my post? I LOVE GOLIATHS! there. glad we sorted that out.

Heh. You'll have to excuse Person_Man, he likes to optimize a little.