9 new races, please comment

[ackron]

Ok, here are some races I am thinking of using for a campaign I am planning. Each of these races has a +1 level adjustment. In the campaign, the players will be restricted to these races, or the Aasimar or Tiefling from the SRD (with the humanoid type instead of the Outsider (native) type), or they may play as slightly impoved humans (everything is the same except they can cast any 0 level sorcer or wizard spell as a spell like ability 3/day). The rest of the Player's handbook races will not be allowed.

With this post, I am specifically trying to address possible balance issues. For this reason, I have left out all the flavor text for the races, and am just presenting the stats (although you will probably be able to guess for most of them). So my question for you is, do you think these races are balanced against each other and against the Aasimar and Tiefling? If not, which ones do you think are over/under powered and why. I have also not come up with favored classes for them yet, so suggestions are welcome.

Without further ado, here they are, I included the Aasimar and Tiefling from the SRD at the end for referance.

Unless otherwise noted, all the following creatures have the following characteristics:
Humanoid Type
Medium Size
Base land speed of 30 feet

Race 1:

Abilities: +2 Dex
Speed 40 feet.
Natural Attacks
Primary: 2 Claws 1d4
Secondary: Bite 1d6
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on Hide, Move Silently, and Climb checks.
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
Low-Light Vision
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 2:

Abilities: +2 Con
Natural Attacks
Primary: Bite 1d6
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on Move Silently, and Listen.
Bonus Feat:
endurance
Special:
Low-Light Vision
Scent
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 3:

Abilities: +4 Str -2 Dex -2 Int
Natural Attacks
Primary: Gore 1d6 (double damage on a charge)
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on Intimidate.
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
Low-Light Vision
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 4:

Abilities: -2 Con
Speed: 20 feet, Fly 50 feet (poor)
Natural Attacks
none
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+4 on Spot.
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
This race has wings with hands (thumb and 2 fingers) at the second wing joint. This means that they can not manipulate any held object while flying, nor can they cast spells with somatic components while flying (I will be adding a feat to let them cast spells while flying)
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 5:

Abilities: +2 Str
Natural Attacks
Primary: 2 Claws 1d4
Secondary: Bite 1d6
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on Swim.
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
Low-Light Vision
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 6:

Abilities: +4 Dex -2 Str -2 Cha
Natural Attacks
none
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on climb and balance.
Bonus Feat:
acrobatic
Special:
Low-Light Vision
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 7:

Abilities: no modifiers
Speed 30 feet, Swim 30 feet (includes +8 bonus on swim checks, can take 10 on swim even if rushed or threatened)
Natural Attacks
none
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on hide and listen, and +4 on jump.
Bonus Feat:
toughness
Special:
Low-Light Vision
hold breath
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 8:

Abilities: no modifiers
Speed 30 feet
Natural Attacks
Primary: Bite 1d6
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on listen and swim .
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
Low-Light Vision
+2 Natural Armor
Natural camouflage (this ability gives the race a bonus on hide checks, as he can change his appearance to match what is around him. The bonus depends on how much he is wearing. Heavy armor: +2, Medium Armor: +4, Light Armor or Regular clothes +6, Jewelry and/or minimal clothing +8, completely naked, +10. Also while naked or wearing minimal clothing, he can hide without needing cover or concealment or any kind of hiding place, he still can not hide while being observed, however).
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Race 9:

Abilities: +2 Dex +4 Int +2 Cha -4 Str -2 Con
Small Size
Speed 20 feet
Natural Attacks
none
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on Gather Information and Sense Motive.
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
Can communicate telepathically with a 60’ range.
Can use detect thoughts at will, but only against a willing target (in other words, someone can send thoughts to you, but you can’t read their minds unless they do)
Favored Class: ?
Level Adjustment +1

Aasimar:

Abilities: +2 Wis +2 Cha
Natural Attacks
none
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on spot and listen.
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
Res to acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5
Darkvision 60’
1/day: Daylight (as the spell, caster level equals class levels)
Favored Class: Paladin
Level Adjustment +1

Tiefling:

Abilities: +2 Dex +2 Int, -2 Cha
Natural Attacks
none
Racial Skill Bonuses:
+2 on bluff and hide.
Bonus Feat:
none
Special:
Res to fire 5, cold 5, electricity 5
Darkvision 60’
1/day: Darkness (as the spell, caster level equals class levels)
Favored Class: Rogue
Level Adjustment +1

Edit: Race 1: Removed Alertness, Race 2: no change, Race 3: no change, Race 4: Removed the Dex bonus, the Low Light Vision, and reduced manuverablity to poor, Race 5: no change, Race 6: no change, Race 7: added +2 on listen, clarified swim bonus, Race 8: no change Race 9: Added +2 on Gather Information and Sense Motive

 

[Arkhandus]

Well, let's see here......
First of all, your improvement for humans is terribly lame if you give them
a +1 Level Adjustment to go with it, otherwise it's fine. If you do give
the humans a +1 LA for it, at least make it a 1st-level wizard or sorcerer
spell and useable 4/day or something.

Race 1: Medium humanoid, Dex+2, Spd40, 2 claws 1d4 primary, bite
1d6 secondary, Climb+2, Hide+2, Move Silently+2, Alertness bonus feat,
low-light vision, ? favored class, LA+1.
This seems a bit too strong for only a +1 Level Adjustment. Compared to a human,
their bonus feat is specific, they get +2 Dex and a spread of +6 total on skill checks in
place of extra skill points, three natural attacks for their LA, low-light vision and +10
feet to base speed in exchange for the human versatility and for the LA. The Dex
bonus, at least, makes it too much. Remove the Alertness feat and/or the Hide/MS
bonuses, but keep the Climb bonus, to balance the race. As for favored class, my
suggestion is barbarian if they're going to be a savage race, or monk if they're going
to be a rather civilized people, or rogue otherwise I guess.

Race 2: Medium humanoid, Con+2, Spd30, bite 1d6 primary, Listen+2,
Move Silently+2, Endurance bonus feat, Scent quality, ? favored class,
LA+1.
This one seems mostly fine for its LA, but you should perhaps remove the Endurance
feat, or instead the Scent quality, to balance it out. If you remove Scent, you could
always choose to allow them to gain it as a feat, like some races in non-core books
can do. For favored class I'd recommend bard, with perhaps barbarian or rogue instead.

Race 3: Medium humanoid, Str+4, Dex-2, Int-2, Spd30, gore 1d6 primary,
gore damage x2 on a charge, Intimidate+2, low-light vision, LA+1.
Well, the gore attack makes up for the bonus feat and multiclassing flexibility of
humans, the intimidate bonus and low-light vision make up for the initial bonus skill
points a human has as well, and the ability score adjustments make up for the extra
skill points humans get later...... I think it's relatively balanced for a +1 LA, due to
the potency of +4 Strength without a similar penalty to Dex or Con.

Race 4: Medium humanoid, Dex+2, Con-2, Spd20, Fly50, average maneuverability, Spot+4, low-light vision, hands built into wings, ?
favored class, LA+1.
Let's see, the ability adjustments make up for the extra skill points a human would
get, the spot bonus makes up for the feat a human would get, the low-light vision
makes up somewhat for the reduced base speed, and the flight more than makes
up for the lack of human versatility and the addition of a +1 LA...... Flight is too
powerful for so little LA and these other benefits. I'd say maybe reduce the flight
speed to 40 feet, maybe reduce the size of the race to Small to balance out some
of the potency of flight, and limit their flight time by some factor of Constitution.
Perhaps no more than one minute of flight per point of Constitution, during any given
hour, with each additional minute of flight requiring first a Constitution check against
DC 10, +2 DC per previous such check attempted that hour. Or perhaps no checks
allowed to extend the flight time. For favored class I'd suggest ranger, perhaps rogue
if they're rather urbanized, or sorcerer if you want them a bit more exotic.

Race 5: Medium humanoid, Str+2, Spd30, 2 claws 1d4 primary, bite
1d6 secondary, Swim+2, low-light vision, ? favored class, LA+1.
This race gets low-light vision in place of a human bonus feat, three natural attacks
and a Swim bonus for their LA, and +2 Strength in place of the extra skill points and
flexibility a human would have..... They might be a bit powerful, perhaps give a -2
Charisma penalty or -2 Wisdom, or remove the claw attacks... Favored class should
probably be barbarian if somewhat primitive or savage, otherwise fighter, or bard if
you want to make them more interesting for such a muscular and toothy race.

Race 6: Medium humanoid, Str-2, Dex+4, Cha-2, Spd30, Balance+2,
Climb+2, Acrobatic bonus feat, low-light vision, ? favored class, LA+1.
These folks get overall strong ability adjustments that make up for the lack of a
human's extra skill points and bonus feat, while they get skill bonuses and low-light
vision for their LA, and a feat in exchange for the human versatility. I think it's fair
overall. Favored class should be rogue, ranger, or bard, maybe monk or fighter.

Race 7: Medium humanoid, Spd30, Swim30, Hide+2, Jump+4, Toughness
bonus feat, low-light vision, hold breath, ? favored class, LA+1.
As for this race, they've got a bonus feat like a human although specific, and low-light
vision coupled with the ability to hold their breath extra long in place of the human
versatility, with a Swim speed and some skill bonuses in place of the human skill points
and for their +1 LA..... Do they get the usual benefits for having a Swim speed though,
like a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks and all that? In any case, you should probably
give them an extra skill or two at a +2 bonus, like Move Silently and Spot. Favored
class might be bard, monk, or ranger, I think.

Race 8: Medium humanoid, Spd30, bite 1d6 primary, Listen+2, Swim+2,
low-light vision, natural armor+2, natural camouflage, ? favored class, LA+1.
This race gets a bite attack and low-light vision in place of the human bonus feat and
versatility, natural armor in exchange for its LA, and natural camouflage and some skill
bonuses in place of most of the human's extra skill points. You should probably add
+2 on Hide and Move Silently checks, or instead Spot and Move Silently. Favored class
would probably be rogue, but maybe monk, druid, or ranger instead.

Race 9: Small humanoid, Str-4, Dex+2, Con-2, Int+4, Cha+2, Spd20,
telepathic communication out to 60 feet, constant Detect Thoughts
scanning willing subjects, ? favored class, LA+1.
Well, these folks get overall strong ability scores but not terribly so, making up for the
extra skill points and bonus feat a human would get at least, while their small size and
speed make up for the telepathy when combined with their lack of human versatility I
guess, and the detect thoughts ability is too limited to really matter much anyway, so
I'd say they're maybe a bit weak for +1 Level Adjustment, though telepathy is indeed
quite useful, so maybe give them +2 on each of two skills, probably Sense Motive and
Concentration. Favored class would likely be wizard or sorcerer, perhaps cleric or druid
instead, or definately psion if you use psionics. Bard or rogue would also make sense
depending on what sort of background or culture you have in mind for them.

 

[ackron]

Thanks for the feedback. I made a few changes based on your suggestions, let me know what you think.