Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Arcana Evolved - how do Giant racial levels balance in play?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Erstwhile" data-source="post: 3008619" data-attributes="member: 6086"><p>I'm starting up an AE campaign online. The characters are starting at level 4, and one player wants to play a Giant. He's thinking about taking all three Giant levels right away, essentially being a Giant 3/class 1. (Not sure what class he'll play.)</p><p></p><p>Taking a spin through AU/AE, I was looking at the "racial levels" for Giants. Now, I like the idea of racial levels, and the Evolved levels are kinda neat too. But looking just at the basic, three-level, basic racial level array...</p><p></p><p>...are the Giant levels really worth the cost? I know there are role-playing factors ("I just wanna be more Giantish"), long-term advancement ("I wanna qualify for the Giant Paragon Prestige Class"), and Feat access ("I wanna take the Stomp Feat"), but all of these pretty much require all three levels, since you don't achieve Large size until your third Giant level. So, if you take all three levels, you get:</p><p></p><p>d10 Hit Dice (in a system where the lowest PC Hit Die is d6, and most melee classes are d10 or d12)</p><p>An additional +2 STR (over and above the basic +2 STR, -2 DEX)</p><p>+2 WIS</p><p>+2 CON</p><p>Large Size (a mixed blessing)</p><p>2+INT bonus skill points/level</p><p>Simple weapon and light armour proficiency</p><p>Moderate BAB</p><p>Good FOR, moderate WIL, poor REF</p><p>Access to some Giant-specific Feats</p><p></p><p>I'm wondering if, in your opinion, this is worth three character levels. Don't get me wrong - the stat bonuses are great (especially since becoming size L doesn't reduce your DEX further, though it does affect your AC), and some of the long-term benefits (the aforementioned Feats and Prestige Class) are pretty keen. </p><p></p><p>So I don't think Giants are being totally screwed here. Plus, I'm not that much of a powegamer that I can't accept "roleplaying reasons" as sufficient. Nonetheless, I don't want the Giant player to end up feeling like he's not up to par. I wonder if it shouldn't maybe be a two-level array, or somesuch.</p><p></p><p>Any thoughts or experience on this?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Erstwhile, post: 3008619, member: 6086"] I'm starting up an AE campaign online. The characters are starting at level 4, and one player wants to play a Giant. He's thinking about taking all three Giant levels right away, essentially being a Giant 3/class 1. (Not sure what class he'll play.) Taking a spin through AU/AE, I was looking at the "racial levels" for Giants. Now, I like the idea of racial levels, and the Evolved levels are kinda neat too. But looking just at the basic, three-level, basic racial level array... ...are the Giant levels really worth the cost? I know there are role-playing factors ("I just wanna be more Giantish"), long-term advancement ("I wanna qualify for the Giant Paragon Prestige Class"), and Feat access ("I wanna take the Stomp Feat"), but all of these pretty much require all three levels, since you don't achieve Large size until your third Giant level. So, if you take all three levels, you get: d10 Hit Dice (in a system where the lowest PC Hit Die is d6, and most melee classes are d10 or d12) An additional +2 STR (over and above the basic +2 STR, -2 DEX) +2 WIS +2 CON Large Size (a mixed blessing) 2+INT bonus skill points/level Simple weapon and light armour proficiency Moderate BAB Good FOR, moderate WIL, poor REF Access to some Giant-specific Feats I'm wondering if, in your opinion, this is worth three character levels. Don't get me wrong - the stat bonuses are great (especially since becoming size L doesn't reduce your DEX further, though it does affect your AC), and some of the long-term benefits (the aforementioned Feats and Prestige Class) are pretty keen. So I don't think Giants are being totally screwed here. Plus, I'm not that much of a powegamer that I can't accept "roleplaying reasons" as sufficient. Nonetheless, I don't want the Giant player to end up feeling like he's not up to par. I wonder if it shouldn't maybe be a two-level array, or somesuch. Any thoughts or experience on this? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Arcana Evolved - how do Giant racial levels balance in play?
Top