Dark Sun conversion - races

OK, as already posted here, I'm working on a Dark Sun conversion. This thread is for my conversion of the races. Some initial words:
1. I've tried to keep things reasonably balanced, but these generally have a higher power level than core races. The stat modifiers might sound big (I basically doubled the 2e ones, with some modification here and there). When considering level adjustments, do so considering the average power level of these races rather than the ones in the PHB (since they're not meant to be used together).
2. Dark Sun used to use bigger stats (5d4 instead of 3d6, 4d4+4 for PCs). I have not yet decided if I'll do that in 3e - if I do, it will likely take the shape of a generic +2 bonus to all stats.
3. This only has the mechanics of the races, since the flavor text is already in the boxed sets.

I think that's all. Let's have a day at the races!

Dwarf

• +4 Constitution, +2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, -4 Charisma.
• Size Medium. As Medium-sized characters, dwarves have no special size-based bonuses or penalties.
• Base land speed 20 feet.
• Darkvision with a 60 ft range.
• +2 racial bonus against spells and spell-like effects.
• Stability: A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
• Focus: When a dwarf commits himself to a task that takes more than a week to complete, he gets a +1 morale bonus to all saving throws and a +2 morale bonus to all skill checks relating to that task. However, if he fails in the task, or abandons it, he might turn into an undead banshee.
• Favored class: Fighter.

Notes: I wasn't sure whether to include the Stability bonus, but decided to do so anyway (no free weapon profs, though). Otherwise, rather similar to a regular dwarf.

Elf

• +4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -4 Constitution
• Size Medium. As Medium-sized characters, elves have no special size-based bonuses or penalties.
• Base speed 40 ft.
• Low-light vision. An elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• Weapon proficiencies: Swordplay and archery are important parts of elven culture. Therefore, all elves receive proficiency in the longsword, rapier, longbow and shortbow (including composite versions).
• +2 racial bonus to Move Silently and Hide checks.
• Elven run: An elf can run or hustle twice as long as a human with the same Constitution. In addition, they do not become fatigued from hustling on an overland scale, and treat time hustled as half that time (so an elf hustling for 8 hours overland will take 1+2+4=7 points of subdual damage, which will likely heal overnight). Most elves on the run pace themselves a bit more, which works out to the equivalent of 4 hours of hustling and 4 hours of walking, taking one point of subdual damage and covering 48 miles in optimal terrain.
• Favored class: Rogue

Notes: Since Dark Sun elves didn't get any special ability to find secret doors in 2e, I dropped their bonus to perception skills and replaced it with a bonus to stealth (reflecting their surprise bonus - yes, I know regular 2e elves had that one too). I wasn't really sure how to handle the Elven Run thing, but I wanted them to cover something like 50 miles per day. Giving them Rogue as a favored class was easy - Athasian elven culture is way more focused on taking advantage of people than it is on magic.

Half-elf

• +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution.
• Size Medium. As Medium-sized characters, half-elves have no special size-based bonuses or penalties.
• Base speed 30 ft.
• Low-light vision. An elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• +2 racial bonus to Diplomacy, Gather Information, Handle Animals and Survival checks.
• Elven blood: Half-elves have the creature type Humanoid (elf), so they are treated as elves by magical effects that distinguish between races.
• Favored class: Any.

Notes: Free survival proficiency was replaced with a bonus on Survival checks. The animal companion was replaced by a bonus to Handle Animals. The bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information is there because (a) half-elves are said to get along with races other than humans and elves wonderfully, and (b) they needed a little bit more, so it was easy to slide in the skill bonus from regular 3.5e there.

Half-giant

• +6 Strength, +4 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -4 Wisdom, -4 Charisma.
• Size Large. As a Large creature, a half-giant has a -1 size penalty to attack rolls and AC, a -4 size penalty to Hide checks, and a space/reach of 10 ft./10 ft.
• Base speed 40 ft.
• Favored class: Fighter.

Notes: Straight doubling of stat modifiers would have given the half-giant a +8 bonus to Strength, but I wanted to keep it as LA +0. The Large size might make that hard, though - but on the other hand, that's pretty much all they have, so maybe not. The increased base speed is there because they had a base move of 15 in 2e (they take big steps).
One thing I'm considering is giving them a -2 to Dex. 2e half-giants didn't have any Dex penalty per se, but on the other hand they couldn't have more than 15 in the score. A penalty might reflect that, plus it would weaken them a bit. I'd really like to not give them any LA, because I want all of the races to be attractive as PCs.
I dropped the "doubled hp" thing from 2e, because hp doesn't really have much to do with size, and it would feel silly if a half-giant got 6d8 hp for three cleric levels when an awakened elephant only got 3d8. One way of reflecting inherent toughness due to size is to give them racial HD, but racial HD tend to suck and I don't want that.

Halfling

• +4 Dexterity, +4 Wisdom, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma, -4 Strength
• Size Small. This means that they get a +1 size bonus to attack rolls and AC, as well as a +4 size bonus to Hide checks.
• Base speed 20 feet.
• +2 racial bonus on Climb, Jump, Move Silently and Survival checks.
• +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with thrown weapons and slings. They also have a racial proficiency with slings (though since they're a simple weapon, that shouldn't have much of an effect).
• +2 racial save bonus versus spells, spell-like abilities, and poisons.
• Favored class: Ranger

Notes: Not much. Favored class Ranger is easy - DS halflings live in the wilderness, and don't do all that much stealing and stuff. Skill bonus to Survival has the same reasoning. The generic save bonus halflings have in 3e is replaced by the same +2 bonus vs. magic and poisons that dwarves get, just like in 2e.

Human

• No adjustments to ability scores.
• Size Medium. As Medium-sized characters, humans have no special size-based bonuses or penalties.
• Base speed 30 ft.
• One bonus feat at character creation. Can be traded in for a +2 increase in any one ability score.
• One bonus skill point per level, quadrupled at first level.
• Favored class: Any.

Notes: Not much. Pretty much baseline 3e humans, just like they were pretty much the same in 2e. I added the ability bonus trade-in to give them some extra flexibility, and to reflect various minor mutations humans have (mentioned in 2e, but never given any game application).

Mul

• +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -4 Charisma.
• Size Medium. As Medium-sized characters, muls have no special size-based bonuses or penalties.
• Base speed 30 ft.
• Darkvision with a 30 ft. range.
• Exertion: Muls are capable of exerting themselves for tremendous lengths of time, as reflected below:
  • Heavy labor (stone construction, quarry work, running): 24+Con hours
  • Medium labor (light construction, mining, hustling): 36+Con hours
  • Light labor (combat training, walking encumbered): 48+Con hours
  • Normal activity (walking, conversation): Con days
  • Note that a mul spellcaster or psion will still need proper rest time in order to prepare spells or rejuvenate power points.
• Favored class: Fighter.

Notes: Pretty much a straight conversion from 2e. I wasn't sure whether to give them Fighter or Any as a favored class, but decided on Fighter because they didn't need the small power boost of having Any as a favored class. If I was using Gladiator as a separate class, that would have been it, but since I don't it's not.

Thri-kreen

• +4 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -4 Charisma
• Size Medium. As Medium-sized characters, thri-kreen have no special size-based bonuses or penalties.
• Base speed 60 ft.
• Natural armor +4 due to thick chitin. However, they are not able to wear regular armor. Bracers of armor and similar effects work, though.
• Natural attacks: 4 claws doing 1d4 damage and 1 bite doing 1d6. The claws are considered primary attacks, with the bite taking a -5 attack penalty and getting half Strength adjustment. Howeer, they are unable to coordinate all their arms to the degree necessary for using more than two weapons, and using two weapons uses the normal two-weapon fighting rules.
• Reduced need for water: A thri-kreen makes incredibly efficient use of available water. It only needs to consume one gallon every five days.
• No need for sleep: A thri-kreen does not need to sleep, and is immune to sleep spells and their like. Spellcasters and psions still need rest time to clear their minds and prepare spells/rejuvenate power points.
• Weird physiology: Thri-kreen are insectoid in nature. They are considered Monstrous Humanoids (which means they're immune to certain effects that only affect humanoids), and can not wear armor. Unlike other monstrous humanoids, thri-kreen do not have any innate proficiencies.
• Racial levels: In addition to taking class levels, a thri-kreen can explore his innate racial characteristics. This is reflected by taking levels in the thri-kreen class. This requires a certain maturity, so each racial level requires a certain character level before you can take it.
• Favored class: Psychic Warrior.

Racial levels
Thri-kreen can take up to six racial levels, each of which has a minimum character level and includes a special ability. Since the forum doesn't like tables much, I'll try to summarise the information differently.
Hit die: 1d8
Base Attack Bonus: Good (as fighter)
Saves: Reflex and Will good, Fortitude bad.
Skill points per level: 2+Intelligence bonus.
Class skills: Craft, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Survival.
Min: The minimum character level before taking this Thri-kreen level. This includes previous thri-kreen levels, but not the one being taken.

• Leaping: Thri-kreen receive a +10 racial bonus to Jump checks, in addition to the +12 bonus it receives for the base speed. In addition, its legs are constructed like those of many insects, which means they get to use “running” jumps without actually running (they get no extra benefit from actually having a running start). Further, they double the height they can jump on a particular Jump check.
• Venom: Thri-kreen eventually begin to extrude a paralytic venom from their mandibles. The DC is equal to 10 + the thri-kreen's HD/2 + Con modifier. The primary and initial damage are both 1d6 Dex.
• Chatkcha: Soon after beginning to extrude venom, the thri-kreen can learn the process of using it to create a crystalline material called dasl, and learning to fashion it into a crystalline throwing wedge called a chatkcha. They also receive proficiency in this weapon, which has the following stats: Exotic ranged weapon, Cost 1 gp, damage 1d8, crit x3, range 20 ft, weight 3 lbs, Slashing. The cost is for fashioning one out of metal, the ones created by the thri-kreen itself are of course free. The process of making a chatkcha includes consuming certain herbs that make the thri-kreen's venom useless for other purposes for 24 hours.
• Deflect arrows: The thri-kreen's reflexes becomes so sharp it gets the Deflect Arrows feat as a bonus feat.
• Multiattack: The thri-kreen gets the Multiattack feat, so its bite only takes a -2 attack penalty. It also gains Multiweapon fighting, as it learns to coordinate all its arms and using weapons in all of them.
• Gythka: The thri-kreen learns to fashion dasl (and a wooden staff) into a double-headed weapon called a gythka. They also become rather expert at their use, getting proficiency in as well as ignoring all penalties for using it as a double-weapon. The stats for a gythka are: Exotic melee weapon, Cost 60 gp, Damage 1d8/1d8, Crit x3, Weight 15 lbs, Slashing/Piercing, Double-weapon. The cost is for a metal version, the thri-kreen himself can make one just as good using dasl.

Notes: OK, these guys will probably need a level adjustment despite farming out lots of abilities to racial levels.
The high base speed is there to reflect their speed in 2e (move 18). Their natural armor is slightly weaker than in 2e (there it was the equivalent of +5). The bite damage was changed from 1d4+1 to 1d6, because weapon damages don't have inherent plusses anymore. Water need was changed to five days, because Athas doesn't have 7-day weeks.
OK, moving on to the racial levels... the good BAB and saves, as well as the HD, comes from the Monstrous Humanoid type. The leaping ability looks powerful, but it's still just jumping, and reflects their powerful jumping ability in 2e (50 ft forward/20 ft upward) - plus, they are built like manti, after all.
Since they had paralytic venom in 2e, I thought Dex damage would be appropriate for 3e. Stats for the chatkcha and gythka are taken from the Psionics Handbook web enhancement and slightly modified. Deflect Arrows reflect the ability they got in 2e to dodge missile fire. The Dasl thing was taken from Thri-kreen of Athas.

Aarakocra and Pterrans

These two will have to wait for a later time. I consider them rather peripheral to the whole Dark Sun experience, and besides they weren't in the original box set.

So, that's the whole of my racial conversion for Dark Sun. Please comment!