Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1086830" data-attributes="member: 3146">I don't know as there is really a "best" race for each class any more than there is a "best" build. Is the sword and shield fighter better than the two handed weapon fighter? How about the melee cleric vs. the spellcasting cleric? They're all viable character types and will perform differently in different campaigns and parties. In a group with a significantly multiclassed cleric or that relies on a bard or paladin for healing, the sword and shield fighter is better than the two-hander. In a group without front-line fighters or paladins, the melee focussed cleric will be better than the spellcasting cleric. In a fighter heavy group, the spellcasting focussed cleric is better. Etc. Etc.So, here's my take on the races:Human: Good at everything. Barbarians, bards, clerics, druids, monks, paladins, rangers, rogues, sorcerors, and wizards. The bonus feat and skills always handy, the favored class:any makes multiclassing easier, and the lack of stat penalties means they can tackle any class.Half-elves: Like humans only not as good or like elves only not as good. Half elves are best for character concepts that require elf blood (arcane archer, bladesinger, leader of the rangers and heir to the throne of Gondor, etc) but for which a con penalty or favored class:wizard won't work. (Ftr 4/Rgr 1/Bbn 1/Wiz 1/Arcane Archer, or any kind of bladesinger are among these).high elves: Good rogues (nothing like the automatic search check for secret doors when you have a very high search), druids, good archery focussed fighters, and possibly finesse focussed fighters. They're the also the easiest way to make an archer cleric. IMO, their con penalty makes them poor single-classed wizards but their favored class makes them good multiclassed wizards.Wood elves: Good rogues (see high elves), fighters, barbarians, and rangers (str bonus). They make good archer-clerics too. They make good druids as well (although they don't benefit from their str and dex while wildshaped, they do get bow proficiency). The con penalty hurts melee focussed characters but they excel at archery. Their racial weapon proficiencies make them flexible monks but their fragility keeps them from being a real power-gamer choice. Conceptually, they don't generally work too well as paladins, but their stat bonusses aren't bad. If there's a non-human race that makes a good paladin it's probably Wood Elf.Half-orc: Half-orcs make good fighters, barbarians, rangers, rogues (the only race with 30' movement AND darkvision), and monks. (The str bonus helps a lot and their penalties fall in the monk's two dump stats: Int and cha). They're not bad combat clerics (although they won't be good at turning). Their int and cha penalties keep them from being good bards, sorcerors, or wizards. A half-orc can make a decent paladin but the charisma penalty really hurts them too.Dwarf: Dwarves make excellent fighters, barbarians, monks (the con bonus really helps monks with their fragility), and wizards (the con bonus helps a lot when you have d4 hp). They make good rogues but are hampered by their movement penalty. They make good clerics as long as they're not required to turn a lot of undead. And they make decent paladins although the charisma penalty hurts a lot.Halflings: Halflings make excellent rogues, bards, druids, sorcerors, and wizards. Their size prevents them from being excellent fighters, rangers, barbarians (although many a halfling rogue benefitted from a single level of barbarian), or paladins but they can be constructed so as to be viable. Their bonus to dex doesn't really help clerics out much so they aren't great cleric material but they're viable.Gnomes: Like halflings, gnomes make excellent bards and arcane casters (with +1 to illusion DCs, and +2 to con they're the obvious choice for illusionists). Their bonus to con makes them good clerics and druids (who DO benefit from con while wildshaped if not their other physical stats) as well--as long as they're not expected to be very good at melee. They make decent rogues as well although they're hampered by their low movement, favored class (halfling rogues can multiclass much more freely), and lack of darkvision.Overall, if I had to pick the iconic race that emphasized each class's strength in its most obvious build it would be:Barbarian: half-orcBard: Human or gnomeCleric: HumanDruid: Human or GnomeMelee Fighter: DwarfArcher fighter: Wood elfMonk: Human or half-orcPaladin: HumanRanger: Wood elf or HumanRogue: HalflingSorceror: GnomeWizard: Gnome</blockquote>

Verification