Pathfinder 1E Advanced Race Guide: Nonstandard Ability Score Modifier Qualities

[VelvetViolet]

The ARG's race creation rules limit races to one of five or so attribute bonus/penalty spreads, rather than simply saying +/-2 equals so and so race points. I ran the math and compared the spreads to derive exactly that, and while the numbers checked out, the Advanced ability modifier spread was only half as expensive as it should have been.

Increase a racial bonus from +2 to +4 (4 RP), Increase a racial bonus from +4 to +6 (5 RP), etc (same as the standard advanced ability traits)
Add a +2 bonus to an ability that lacks an adjustment (2 RP) (under the standard rules this would cost 4 points)
Remove an existing -2 racial penalty (1 RP) (again, this would cost 4 points under standard rules)
Add a -2 penalty to an ability that lacks it or remove an existing +2 bonus from an ability (-1 RP)

Standard (0): +2||+2/-2
Human Heritage (0): +2 -> Remove the -2 (+1), Remove +2 (-1) = 0
Paragon (1): +4||-2/-2/-2 -> Increase +2 to +4 (+4), Remove +2 (-1), Add -2/-2 (-2) = 1
Specialized (1): +2/+2||-2 -> Remove +2 (-1), Add another +2 (+2) = 1
Flexible (2): +2/+2 or +2||+2 -> Remove +2 (-1), Add another +2 (+2), Remove -2 (+1) = 2
Greater Paragon (2): +4/-2||-2 -> Increase to +4 (+4), Remove +2 (-1), Add -2 (-1) = 2
Advanced (4): +2/+2/+2||+4/-2 -> Increase to +4 (+4), Add +2/+2 (+4) = 8!
No Modifiers (-1): Remove the -2 (+1), Remove +2 (-1), Remove +2 (-1) = -1
Weakness (-1): +2||+2/-4 -> Increase to -4 (-1) = -1
Mixed Weakness (-2): +2/-2|+2/-4 -> Add -2 (-1), Increase to -4 (-1)
Greater Weakness (-3): -4/-2/+2 -> Add -2 (-1), Increase to -4 (-1), Remove +2 (-1) = -3

Using just the standard spread, it's impossible to alter it to resemble any other spread without being overcharged. Apparently, the Advanced spread has a discount for some reason.

Overall I'm really dissatisfied with the race creation rules. The various traits weren't fine-grained enough for general race creation and relied too much on simply duplicating the standard races rather than deconstructing them: abilities like gnome magic and pyromaniac and dozens of others are over-designed and sound like they were added simply because they sounded cool rather than broadly applicable, and those like illusion resistance or rodent empathy are too specific when we should've had things like a bonus to saving throws against or casting spells of X descriptor/school or a general animal empathy power, and several abilities duplicate the same thing and often at drastically different costs or at different race levels.

 

[Starfox]

I agree the ARG is a bit wonky. It's been a while now, but I recall there were two ways to get swim speed, one of which was better - and cheaper. But as to the over-specific race abilities, I feel they are intended as examples - instead of making them generic they leave that job to the race designer - grade your prospective race abilities against these. Only they never come out and say so. And the organization isn't very good, so it is hard to find a comparison when you need it.

The ARG overall feels like it would have needed a few more rounds between editor and author.

 

[paradox42]

I agree the ARG is a bit wonky. It's been a while now, but I recall there were two ways to get swim speed, one of which was better - and cheaper. But as to the over-specific race abilities, I feel they are intended as examples - instead of making them generic they leave that job to the race designer - grade your prospective race abilities against these. Only they never come out and say so. And the organization isn't very good, so it is hard to find a comparison when you need it.

The ARG overall feels like it would have needed a few more rounds between editor and author.

For the race creation rules I'll agree with that; the other race rules I thought were very well done (the racial Archetypes I particularly like).

Use the racial abilities in the creation guide as examples, and "eyeball" it- making a new race has always been more art than science anyway. The race creation guide is helpful but not an absolute- that's how I treat it, anyway. But then again, I made up lots of new races for my own setting, and did it years ago (long before the ARG came out)- so I haven't relied in the ARG much. I was thinking of turning the race creation rules into a random generator somehow, to make alien races if PCs from my world ever go planet-hopping/star-traveling, but haven't done anything concrete on that idea yet.