Balance of Races

[ConcreteBuddha]

Sorry, but I believe the half-orc is balanced as is.

I'd rather have +2 to Str and innate darkvision than an extra feat and some extra skill points. The loss to Int and Chr is no big deal.

Let's look at it this way: I would gladly spend a feat for innate darkvision. And skill points for a fighter? Who cares? The extra strength is just icing on the cake. (Sorry about the cliche.)


Sure, a half-orc is next to worthless in a caster role, but that is the point. Half-orcs are supposed to be horrible casters.

 

[Xarlen]

Let's look at it this way: I would gladly spend a feat for innate darkvision. And skill points for a fighter? Who cares? The extra strength is just icing on the cake. (Sorry about the cliche.)

At least you didn't say crust on the pie.

I'm with thinking the half-orc needs something more. You can be a big dumb dwarf and have more benefits then a big dumb half-orc. +1 str just means +1 to hit and damage, as aposed to Dwarves' fierce Saves, which mean living longer on the front line.

I liked the provisions suggested above about the lack of a Cha reduction, Intimidate adjust, and saves.

And, one of the character ideals I really did want to play was a Half-Orc Evoker. Brutish, harsh, all about the blowing stuff up. And when his spells are gone, that Staff is wielded with two hands.

 

[Elric]

Half-Orcs can only be a narrow range of characters, but they are the best fighter-types.

For a fighter-type, +2 Str= +1 to hit and +1.5 to damage. Just about all melee fighter types should use two handed weapons. Weapon Focus + Weapon Specialization= +1 to hit and +2 to damage. Strength is more valuable than feats. Darkvision is a very useful ability- more useful than skill points or Stonecutting and the like. Movement should not be underestimated. Until everyone has Boots of S&S and access to Haste, footspeed plays a role in combat. Fighter types don't care about Int or Cha, as long as you don't plan to take Expertise.

Fierce saves against spells are nice, but being able to kill your enemies is nicer.

 

[Xarlen]

But you can't kill your enemies if their spells allready took you out.

But that's more universally applied, not just in comparison to races; Fighters Should get themselves Iron Will. The Rgr3/Ftr4 Nat werewolf in the party has a +9 Will save. No fierce spells on her.

 

[Wizardry]

Half-Orcs are fine from a balance standpoint. The only real issue I have with them (and Half-Elves) is they lack "flavor" abilities that other races possess. Feel free to add in fluff that fits your campaign for your specific Half-Orcs and Half-Elves. Otherwise, they are fine as is.

On Dwarves... mechanically speaking they're probably the strongest race, but they're not that bad. The negative to movement really does hurt, and given that they aren't much tougher than the other races.