Cambion, Griffon, Lycanthrope, Satyr, and Vampire

[Garthanos]

I think that they are overpowered. For example, flying in 4th edition is almost absent from heroic tier, and it starts appearing in paragon tier.

My question is why is flying over powered... could be a key question for this and other winged races (there are enough of those in fantasy and enough witches in flight ... that I want it back!! ( just like I want back my palidans mystic mount!) to some mobility and the freedom it represents is central to fantasy and given the assumption that flight is restricted to the really powerful, I loose some interesting options. Since power in D&D is tactical .. well can we make it less so...

ie bring its power back to earth...
. Can somebody in flight have attack problems or defense problems because they have to regulate there position for flying not for the other two.

Does more common flight make ranged combat too important?

Can a basic ranged attack prevent one from flying passed or even force a flight check to avoid falling loosing x height?

 

[Fede]

One of the features of 4th edition is that PCs and NPCs follow different rules. That's why taking stuff from the monster manual entry of a given race doesn't guarantee that it will be balanced. I have read the new version, and it seems much better (balance-wise) to me.
There are still things that i personally don't like, but we have reached a point where you can't balance a race without stripping it of all its flavour (for example, there is no way i can think to have griffins and also limit their flight capability).
Darkvision isn't a big deal in itself (yes, i missed it on the cambion), but it's one of the things that the devs decided to keep out of character races, so it shouldn't be given to a custom race. Flight is another one.
I want to point out again that i'm speaking only about your races power level compared to the standard phb races, so if you and your players are ok with having races of different power levels, these races will work great for your game.

 

[Arius_de_Galdri]

One of the features of 4th edition is that PCs and NPCs follow different rules. That's why taking stuff from the monster manual entry of a given race doesn't guarantee that it will be balanced. I have read the new version, and it seems much better (balance-wise) to me.
There are still things that i personally don't like, but we have reached a point where you can't balance a race without stripping it of all its flavour (for example, there is no way i can think to have griffins and also limit their flight capability).
Darkvision isn't a big deal in itself (yes, i missed it on the cambion), but it's one of the things that the devs decided to keep out of character races, so it shouldn't be given to a custom race. Flight is another one.
I want to point out again that i'm speaking only about your races power level compared to the standard phb races, so if you and your players are ok with having races of different power levels, these races will work great for your game.

Thanks, I'm glad you think that they're more balanced than before. Your input was really appreciated.

AMdG

 

[Arius_de_Galdri]

One last update to the PDF, attached to the first post.

AMdG

 

[Febrien]

I just wanted to take a moment to point out that some monster's player stats are included at the end of the MM. These include Drow, which does start out with darkvision. It is the only one besides our custom races that has this feature, though.

 

[Garthanos]

There is a Damphir race you might want to look at.. it has a really slick simulation of how a vampire is distracted if the nearest bloodied character is not included in there attack.

And with shifters having regeneration I really don't think a were-wolf should be ashamed of having that power, be sure no regeneration if they received damage from silvered weapons on the round before. Not giving it to them is almost as bad as a gryphon not having flying, and if there claws do only d6 damage that wouldnt be a horror (think about it a short sword is a foot and a half of sharpened steal... a werewolves claws maybe a couple inches ... let strength do the talking on damage I say)

Make the regeneration mimic the shifters (they will be a player race in the phb 2) Ie its an encounter power and
And sure its powerful but here is some context... take a look at the level 2 fighter utility boundless endurance.... 2+con mod at level 2 yes its a daily but during that encounter... while bloodied that fighter is likely doing regen of 5, with no silver limit. at 21st level that fighter is doing an obnoxious amount of regeneration and he isn't necessarily supernatural BE is 6 + CON mod at that level. If that fighter also took the battlerager ability he is buffering himself in close combat so much normal hitpoints dont matter that much.)

Heck if the were wolf had a race feature which gave temporary hitpoints whenever the moon was out.. that might be real interesting.

 

[Starfox]

I did a writeup of the satyr which you might want to compare to. I also have some other races there, such as a medium-sized deer-centaur and a variant pixie.

 

[Febrien]

There is a Damphir race you might want to look at.. it has a really slick simulation of how a vampire is distracted if the nearest bloodied character is not included in there attack.

That sounds really fun and interesting - and completely logical, too. Did you see it on this forum, or was it somewhere else?

 

[Garthanos]

He called it bloodlust
http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan-creations-house-rules/230065-dhampir-new-race-review.html

I myself made up Nightmares as a race feature specifically for PC monster races I think is appropriate for Werewolves...

Nightmares:
"You dream of becoming the very beast you would deny."
It takes an additional hour of sleep for you to achieve an extended rest. You have +2 saving throws versus sleep and fear. You awake after unconsciousness or sleep, with d8 temporary hitpoints compatible with temporary hit points of one power source (divine, primal, martial)

I considered making it immunity to fear -- but monsters all have things they fear the full moon - silver - holy symbols etc. I guess the compatibility clause isnt necessary for the thp. Noting this works well with battlerager.

 

[Febrien]

Thanks, Garth - this looks really interesting!