PHB3: Githzerai and Seeker

[Shroomy]

I'm just sad we have another DEX/WIS race on top of the Elves and Razorclaw Shifters.

Otherwise, I really like their flavor. Githzerai have appealed to me for a long time.

FWIW, I'm betting on Hobgoblins, Kobolds, and Wilden being the other three races. The last, we know. The former two are just conjecture.

-O

I think 3 of the four races have been confirmed: githzerai, wilden, and minotaur. The fourth is up for grabs but I've seen a picture of a crystalline humanoid that was taken from the recent "Design & Development" article on psionics:

http://i29.tinypic.com/21o8zdh.jpg

Some have speculated that it may be the new maenad.

 

[Obryn]

Oh yeah! Minotaur! Man, I feel stupid, especially after seeing that incredible PHB3 cover...

-O

 

[Jhaelen]

I'm very disappointed that we keep getting fewer and fewer races in each PHB. I love having more races, and they take up so much less space than classes, I don't see why they can't keep putting in 8 per PHB.

Imho, the problem's the feats:
Introducing a single new race will pretty much mean adding one new feat for (almost) every race/class combination. Otherwise, the new races will be lacking compared to the ones previously published.

Of course, new classes have the reverse problem:
You'll need to add class-specific feats for each of the old races.

This is one area of the game I'm not happy about. With each new book you get about a hundred new feats, but the number of new feats a specific character (build) can qualify for goes down all the time.

 

[johnnype]

Contrary to some message-board claims, the githyanki are not appearing in Player’s Handbook 3. Why not, you ask?

The githzerai’s evil kin are great villains, and we want to be careful about how often we turn villain races into player character options. Making the drow a playable race spent a lot of that currency, and we don’t want to overdo it.

This statement upsets Grandma.

Seriously, every race can be evil. When it comes down to it it really isn't about race at all. The better distinction would be what is a race as opposed to a monster. It's all semantics I suppose but I'm not happy at all about the exclusion of Githyanki.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I think 3 of the four races have been confirmed: githzerai, wilden, and minotaur. The fourth is up for grabs but I've seen a picture of a crystalline humanoid that was taken from the recent "Design & Development" article on psionics:

http://i29.tinypic.com/21o8zdh.jpg

Some have speculated that it may be the new maenad.

I'm thinking that's more likely to be a monster. Seems a bit too WAHOO-ist even for 4e.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I'm thinking that's more likely to be a monster. Seems a bit too WAHOO-ist even for 4e.

If it is a player option. I am thinking it is either:

• A radical version of the Maenad, them taking the living crystals on the skin and turning them into a entire crystal being.
• A extreme version of Psychometabolism, I can imagine it being a Psionic Defender. The armour, the shield (looks like they have melded with the crystals), etc.

 

[CelticMutt]

Imho, the problem's the feats:
Introducing a single new race will pretty much mean adding one new feat for (almost) every race/class combination. Otherwise, the new races will be lacking compared to the ones previously published.

Of course, new classes have the reverse problem:
You'll need to add class-specific feats for each of the old races.

This is one area of the game I'm not happy about. With each new book you get about a hundred new feats, but the number of new feats a specific character (build) can qualify for goes down all the time.

IMO that's a good thing. Part of the design goal for 4e was to make races count for more than just a level 1 choice you forget completely afterwords. Part of that is dealt with their mechanics, but mostly it's done by racial feats and PPs (and a very few EDs). And I love that. I want dwarf fighters to be different from elf fighters to be different from half-orc fighters. The more racial feats the betters sez I!

 

[Klaus]

BOO on the 'yanki not getting the PC treatment! FIE!

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Which means since the Zerai are supposed to be perfect fits for the Seeker, it's not Psionic. It's probably Divine, though it might be Primal. I'm betting Divine though.

Reminds me of the githzerai seekers in Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark

 

[I'm A Banana]

The article is amazing, and so is the fact that it isn't a bunch of links!

A little sad about the yanki, but there's always Dragon. I mean, they have gnolls and minotaurs and other "monsterous" races out that apparently don't infringe on the Drow too much. The githyanki certainly aren't any more "bad guys made good" than those.

And the 'yanki always have the whole "I am scared of being eaten by my Lich-Queen" angle that I like. Always hunted, always paranoid, but still dressing in ostentatious armor like a badass.