Are Racial Classes a bad idea?

[blackshirt5]

I just picked up my copy of Savage Species(Finally! Never ordering from Adventure Planet again!) after months of waiting, and after reading it cover to cover twice, my head is swimming with ideas. One of them is for racial classes(similar to what I'd assume Monte is doing with ARcana Unearthed).

Basically, you qualify for the Racial Class if you: are of that race; and fulfill certain qualifications. They would increase certain abilities that are associated with that race. For example, a dwarf who's taken levels in the Dwarven class would be closer to the epitomy of what it means to be a dwarf. He'd be tougher, thicker, and more skilled in his own ways, while an elf who's taken levels in the Elven class would be faster, and possibly get access to a few cantrips. At high levels, the Elven class would grant the ability to Haste yourself for a few rounds each day(nonconsecutively). The balancer would be that you'd be missing out on some of your BAB and HD as an Elven, whereas you'd probably still get them as a Dwarven. Humans, in the meantime, probably wouldn't get a Racial class, but that's balanced by the fact that if you take your Racial class, you will miss out on some of your high-level class abilities.

So, what do you think? I've been thinking about it while I've been drawing maps today so I decided to throw it out there.

 

[Gez]

Not necessarily, but I prefer to give them a set of PrC.


What would be the "human class" ? Core races are supposed to be quite versatile now.

 

[Mercule]

I think it's a reasonable idea. It's a lot like advancement by type/HD in the monster manual, only finer grained.

At the least, it makes more sense than the completely useless racial classes they included in Savage Species.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Basically, you qualify for the Racial Class if you: are of that race; and fulfill certain qualifications. They would increase certain abilities that are associated with that race. For example, a dwarf who's taken levels in the Dwarven class would be closer to the epitomy of what it means to be a dwarf. He'd be tougher, thicker, and more skilled in his own ways, while an elf who's taken levels in the Elven class would be faster, and possibly get access to a few cantrips. At high levels, the Elven class would grant the ability to Haste yourself for a few rounds each day(nonconsecutively). The balancer would be that you'd be missing out on some of your BAB and HD as an Elven, whereas you'd probably still get them as a Dwarven. Humans, in the meantime, probably wouldn't get a Racial class, but that's balanced by the fact that if you take your Racial class, you will miss out on some of your high-level class abilities.

is this really covered in savage species? i took a glance at it, but didn't really understand much of the material, i only saw it once or twice. i'm not doubting your word, i just need some confirmation if this was in the book or are these things you have come up with after reading the section on racial classes? do they actually have examples from say a 5th level dwarf class or a 7th level elf class?

and to echo another poster, what would say a 10th level human get? if your above post is correct, then the racial class is the epitome of that particular race, so maybe a racial human class would be along the lines of captain america???

 

[kenjib]

That's seriously old skool. How come no 3rd party d20 label has come out with dwarf and elf classes yet?

Get to it Necromancer Games!

 

[Umbran]

If the race is really different from other races, and that difference should become more marked as the individual progresses, then perhaps. I'm not sure that the core races qualify. A dwarf is a dwarf, for the jmost part. I wouldn't expect a 20th level dwarf-class dwarf to be more dwarven than a 20th level fighter-class dwarf.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

I kinda like the idea, but not sure if I like the implementation.

For instance, I worked a few rough templates to represent Sahuagin progression, with Age being the qualifier, as presented in Montrous Arcana: Sea Devils. While I haven't run them yet, I've found this idea somewhat suitable, and thought of doing similar with some of the higher HD races to permit lower ECLs. I think that's likely my issue with the "race class", since how much time is needed for a level can vary drastically from game to game (with the default rate being purposely quick).

I guess the thought of how "elvish" my elf is being related to adventure-based experience seems just kinda... Odd.

 

[blackshirt5]

To answer a few questions:
dreaded_beast: This isn't covered in Savage Species at all, I got the idea after the Monte Cook chat the other night and the material from SS were both in my mind.

Also, they wouldn't be 20 level classes. They'd be short PrCs, at most maybe 5 levels.

As I said before, I don't think Human will end up with it's own Racial class, because of the variety in humans. Maybe a few Racial classes by culture, but those'd be world specific(in this case, they'd end up being specific to my world). Or possibly by religion or something, since with the two that I'm developing right now(Elven and Dwarven), the idea is that you become closer to the dwarven or elven ideal; like the song goes, "you bring me closer to God."

I'm still tinkering with them(a lot, I don't have much down in my notebook except for a few rough ideas), but I got the ideas behind the Elven class from remembering Children of Dune commercials and seeing the guy blur while he was fighting in the throne room. The Dwarven class is just meant to represent how the ideal dwarf is the toughest, strongest little man on the block.

Also, it's going to end up kinda like how Monte Cook has described the racial advancements in Arcana Unearthed. You have to go through rituals, societal customs, and a whole slew of other things before you can advance in levels of these classes, and the customs, rituals, and quests will differ from race to race(and possibly even society to society).

 

[s/LaSH]

It's an interesting idea. In theory, there shouldn't be anything wrong with it - monks get faster as they level up, so why not have an elf that can go faster? So long as it's balanced, and I haven't heard complaints about Savage Species in that regard.

Personally, I wouldn't bother, but then I disapprove of prestige classes in general; I think core classes should cover all the bases. Imperfect world, I guess.

 

[RSKennan]

That's seriously old skool. How come no 3rd party d20 label has come out with dwarf and elf classes yet?

Get to it Necromancer Games!

Morningstar has just that. Even though they only go up to 5th level, they help to set the path that a given dwarf or elf will take for the rest of his life. Morningstar handles this as sort of a combination subrace/Prc.