New race: Minotaur. Balanced or not?

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I have made the minotaur a new race for players to choose and play. It is not important for me that the minotaur be an exact copy of the one in the Monster's Manual. Also, I won't post the fluff, only the crunch. Is it balanced?

The Minotaur

* +6 Strength, -2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence. Minotaurs are extremely strong, but their large bulk makes them slow and they are infamous for making rash decisions and unwise judgements.

* Large: As Large creatures, minotaurs have a -1 size modifier to Armor Class, a -1 size modifier on attack rolls, and a -4 modifier on Hide checks. Minotaurs can use larger weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are double those of Medium-size characters.

* Minotaurs have ten feet reach.

* Minotaurs are immune to the maze spell.

* Armor suited for a minotaur must be custom-made and costs twice the amount of normal armor.

* +1 racial bonus on Search, Spot and Listen checks: Minotaurs have keen senses.

* +4 racial bonus on Intimidate checks: Minotaurs tend to unnerve most creatures with their large stature and awesome strength.

* Automatic Language: Minotaur.

* Favored Class: Barbarian.

* Level Adjustment +2: Minotaurs are more powerful and gain levels more slowly than most of the other common races on Khanesh.

What do you think?

 

[haiiro]

IMO, the biggest factors are the +6 to STR, reach, and the ability to avoid ever being caught flat-footed. Being large is more than outweighed by the high STR bonus, the armor restrictions are a minor hassle, and the immunity to maze is pretty useless (although fitting). +2 to three of the most used skills in the game also figures in; the +4 to intimidate is less important.

Using the Savage Species approach to determining ECL:

- unbalanced ability scores is a +1
- reach is a +1
- I'd say Natural Cunning and the skill boosts are worth at least +1

You're leaving out the minotaur's based HD, natural attacks and feats, so I didn't factor those in. Since their best stat is STR, would you rather play a minotaur with 1 level of fighter or a 4th level fighter (same ECL)? I think I'd lean slightly towards the 4th level fighter, but it's not a clear choice. According the SS examples, "not a clear choice" is a good benchmark for a balanced ECL.

At only +2 ECL, I'd rather play a minotaur with a level of fighter than a 3rd level fighter any day -- so I'd bump it up to a +3 ECL.

Granted, Savage Species also lists the half-ogre as a +1 ECL race -- which is far from agreed upon by many people on the boards (myself included) -- but based on the rules of thumb used above, I still think +3 is about right for the minotaur you presented.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I tend to agree with you, Haiiro, but I really want to keep the minotaur at +2 ECL. Would +2 ECL be balanced if I changed the minotaur as follows:

- An additional -2 Dexterity for a total of -4
- Removed the Natural Cunning abilities
- Reduced the Keen Senses bonuses to +1

What do you think?

 

[Crothian]

I'd just loose the flat footed part of unnatural cunning. It would be a strong +2, but not really that bad.

 

[Ruvion]

My gut feelin' tells me it's ECL +3...My gut is also tellin' me that's I'm hungry...Mmmmm...

 

[haiiro]

I tend to agree with you, Haiiro, but I really want to keep the minotaur at +2 ECL. Would +2 ECL be balanced if I changed the minotaur as follows:

- An additional -2 Dexterity for a total of -4
- Removed the Natural Cunning abilities
- Reduced the Keen Senses bonuses to +1

I agree with Crothian: you could drop the flat-footed aspect of Natural Cunning to make the minotaur a stromng +2 ECL. I'd also drop the Keen Senses bonuses to +1, as you suggested -- that seems about right for a solid +2 ECL to me (leaving the stat adjustments as is).

 

[mmu1]

Assuming this race doesn't come with any extra hit dice, I'd be inclined to say this is actually a somewhat weak +2 ECL.

Yes, they get +6 Str, but they get no Con bonuses, and two out of three of their penalties are to stats that matter even to fighters. They also get no natural armor bonus of any kind, which really hurts a Large creature with a Dex penalty.

Their low Wisdom really hurts them, since they're only really playable as fighter-types, although that is partially balanced by the fact they're (presumably) not humanoids, so certain mind-influencing spells and attacks won't affect them.

The Natural Cunning ability I don't particularly like, because it is a bit too powerful, and I don't like racial abilities that completely negate abilities certain PC classes rely on... The immunity to Maze doesn't really affect ECL, and is fine, flavor-wise.

For a +2 ECL, I'd yank their Natural Cunning, give them a +2 Con bonus, as well as some natural armor.

Oh yeah - do they have any kind of Darkvision? It'd seem logical that they do, given their "natural" habitat in myth, but you don't mention any... If they don't, they're definitely too weak for ECL+2 as is, if they do, then I'd revise my reccommendation...

 

[-Ekimus-]

i agree with mmu1. they have a dark vision of 30ft, but they definately should have nat. armor and con bonus. shouldnt be -2 dex. should be -4 int, like in Savage Species (in which theyre also +2 dex)