LA +0 Pixie

[Enix18]

So, a player in a Pathfinder game I'm staring up came up the idea of his character, the Cleric, being some sort of fairy. I thought it was a good idea, and it felt like it would fit well with the fairly good-aligned party, but I quickly remembered that an actual fairy (as stated out in the Monster Manual) would be a ridiculous choice for a caster due to its level adjustment (not to mention the fact that these characters are starting at 1st level).

I don't want to just scrap this idea, so I've decided to try and come up with racial stats for a +0 LA pixie. This is what I have so far, but I'm not sure what to add to bring it up to par with the other characters and enhance the fairy flavor:

PIXIE
-4 STR, +4 DEX, +2 CHA
Tiny: As a Tiny creature, a pixie receives a +2 bonus to AC, a +2 bonus to attack rolls, a -2 penalty to CMB/CMD, and a +8 bonus to Stealth. A pixie's carrying capacity is halved.
Slow Speed: A pixie has a base land speed of 10 ft.
Fairy Skills: +2 Fly, +2 Knowledge (Nature), +2 Perception
Wings: A pixie possess a pair of wings, though it takes time for them to grow to their full possible strength. At 1st level, a pixie can fly for a number of rounds equal to its CON modifier, but must rest for at least 1 round in between flights. It can fly at a speed of 40 ft., though it can only ascend 5 ft. in a round. At 5th level, a pixie can fly for a number of rounds equal to twice its CON modifier before needing to rest. At 10th level, a pixie can fly indefinitely.
Languages: A pixie automatically knows Common and Sylvan. Potential bonus languages include: Elven, Gnomish, Halfling, Goblin, Aquan, Auran, and Terran.

If you have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind that my players are by no means power gamers or anything like that. The Cleric wants to play a fairy for roleplaying purposes, and he's willing to accept the fact that he has a STR of 3 and a light carrying capacity of 5 lb. in exchange for the flavor of being a pixie.

[Zaydos]

For a cleric that looks fine. On a warlock or a sorcerer... well I'm quite glad you staggered flight.

Edit: Oh pathfinder, better ability score bonuses. Looks pretty good; flight at a level flight is reasonable, tiny size is a mixed blessing, and the Str penalty hurts due to carrying capacity limits.

[bokodasu]

I'm playing with a guy who made a LA0 pixie rogue; he went diminutive, with full flight and no SLAs, although I think he's getting the arrows at high level. I don't remember what his ability adjustment was except it adds up to 0.

[ericgrau]

• For everything except grappling tiny size is a bonus not a penalty. Flight and range solve the grappling issue.
• The lighter weight of Tiny gear more than offsets the -4 strength in terms of carrying capacity.
• A bonus is worth more than a penalty, after all that's what min-maxing is all about.
• Stop and go flying is faster than walking. So the land speed isn't much of a penalty. Just seems like a strange thing to keep track of, that's all.
• For above reasons this is still LA 1 IMO. As a cleric (often close to allies) he might be in trouble against grapplers, but the other 90-95% of the time he'll still be ahead. I mean +4 dex, +2 AB, +2 AC (plus dex on top of that), flight which at level 5 lasts the entire fight, +8 hide. Compare to any other LA 0 race which might get a +1 to one or two things from its ability scores.

[Snake-Aes]

• For everything except grappling tiny size is a bonus not a penalty. Flight and range solve the grappling issue.
• The lighter weight of Tiny gear more than offsets the -4 strength in terms of carrying capacity.
• A bonus is better than a penalty, after all that's what min-maxing is all about.
• Stop and go flying is faster than walking. So the land speed isn't much of a penalty. Just seems like a strange thing to keep track of, that's all.
• For above reasons this is still LA 1 IMO. As a cleric (often close to allies) he might be in trouble against grapplers, but the other 90-95% of the time he'll still be ahead.

Actually, tiny creatures can't flank and must enter a space to attack, they don't have any reach.
They also take penalties to trip.

[ericgrau]

Irrelevant. Anybody playing a pixie or most dex races won't get into melee. The class that might has tumble. That's like saying "but dwarves have lower sorcerer/bard spell save DCs".

[Snake-Aes]

Irrelevant. Anybody playing a pixie or most dex races won't get into melee. Classes that do have tumble. That's like saying "but dwarves have lower spell save DCs as sorcerers or bards".

You call tripping irrelevant, but not grappling? Everything that makes grapple a concern also make trip a concern. And even flying a pixie can be tripped and fall since it's winged.

[Ernir]

I'd suggest looking through Races of the Dragon (Dragonborn) and Races of the Wild (Raptorans) to see how how WotC gave LA +0 races flight. Starts with glide/jump bonus, which becomes sometimes-flight, which becomes perma-flight.

And some advice for those who are giving advice - Pathfinder races are generally a bit more powerful than the core 3.5 ones. It being on the LA +1 side shouldn't be too bad.

[ericgrau]

You call tripping irrelevant, but not grappling? Everything that makes grapple a concern also make trip a concern. And even flying a pixie can be tripped and fall since it's winged.

Flying guys don't usually get tripped. I think spell compendium added a rule for it that most people don't know about, and IIRC all it does is make the flying guy fall. Tripping monsters are rare for that matter. Some are grapplers. And I never said grappling was all that relevant for that matter. I said it's the only thing that might on rare occasion be relevant... which only shows how little he's losing.

[Zhalath]

Personally, I'd make the fly speed a lot slower, like 20 ft or something, because otherwise you can just zip around, even if you can only fly for CON rounds.

Also, maybe up the size to Small, and go +2 Dex, -2 Str? Just an idea, not even a real suggestion.

Square-cube law means that tiny gear wears like 1/4 of small gear, or something? Anyway, it's light. And obviously all the fairies are going to be casters, so a heavy weapon or armor is not important. So, the Str penalty isn't that debilitating.

Actually, a Con penalty might work too, for balance against the "you're not going to get within 10 feet of anything that will kill you".

[Temotei]

Square-cube law means that tiny gear wears like 1/4 of small gear

Tiny stuff weighs 1/10 of what medium stuff does. Small stuff weighs 3/4 of what medium stuff does.

It's easy to go by medium.

[heymejack]

not being able to grapple well does not matter for tiny dex-based characters. every grapple entry also says you can make an escape artist check. if being tiny doesn't help with that, i'll eat my pixie's hat (although that's actually small, cuz my pixie took the LA +4

[Tyndmyr]

PIXIE
-4 STR, +4 DEX, +2 CHA

This is a bit unusual. Generally, more stat bonuses than penalties is reserved for races with LA. I suggest a matching -2 penalty somewhere that'll hurt a caster. Con or wis, probably. Con's probably best if you want clerics to be able to use it.

Tiny: As a Tiny creature, a pixie receives a +2 bonus to AC, a +2 bonus to attack rolls, a -2 penalty to CMB/CMD, and a +8 bonus to Stealth. A pixie's carrying capacity is halved.
Slow Speed: A pixie has a base land speed of 10 ft.

Still a net benefit. Flight mostly negates this, as does riding on a faster, larger character. IE, all of them. It's rogue/caster buffing, and given the stats, that's who'll play this.

Fairy Skills: +2 Fly, +2 Knowledge (Nature), +2 Perception

Nice. The fly will be handy, and perception can never be too high. A bonus, but it seems reasonable.

Wings: A pixie possess a pair of wings, though it takes time for them to grow to their full possible strength. At 1st level, a pixie can fly for a number of rounds equal to its CON modifier, but must rest for at least 1 round in between flights. It can fly at a speed of 40 ft., though it can only ascend 5 ft. in a round. At 5th level, a pixie can fly for a number of rounds equal to twice its CON modifier before needing to rest. At 10th level, a pixie can fly indefinitely.[/quote]

Pure awesomeness. Flight of any kind at early levels is a major boost.

Languages: A pixie automatically knows Common and Sylvan. Potential bonus languages include: Elven, Gnomish, Halfling, Goblin, Aquan, Auran, and Terran.

Seems about right.



Summary: Right now, it's a solid +1 LA race. Cut the stats a bit, and it becomes merely a very good +0.

[Snake-Aes]

Summary: Right now, it's a solid +1 LA race. Cut the stats a bit, and it becomes merely a very good +0.

Pathfinder by default gives every race a +2 net modifier.

Also note that maneuverability still exists, it gives a penalty or bonus to the fly skill. You can drop the +2 fly and give it a good maneuverability.
It'll generally be a very good flier since tiny gets a +4 size bonus to fly too.