Common half-races as 1st-level feats

[Rhun]

If the latter two feats are underpowered it's probably because I didn't want to make them too good. Would you add anything to the two?

My problem with these is that the +1 skill bonus is neglible (although it is much better for the elf-blood feat than the dwarf-blood feat); it really doesn't add anything to the feat. And a +1 bonus to limited saves is nowhere near as good as the +2 Fort/Refl/Will save bonus you can get from Great Fortitude/Lightning Reflexes/Iron Will.

 

[Zurai]

I know you really don't see that kind of things in feats, but it seems almost appropriate.

You don't see that kind of thing in feats because the ability to increase a single attribute by 1 point is an epic feat.

 

[Foghorn]

Well, that I did not know. Maybe we can come up with some other small bonus to go with the feat, then.

 

[Nellisir]

Just a thought...

Elven Blood [General]
Prerequisite: Character may not be an elf.
Benefits: For all effects related to race, you are considered an elf. Add Elven to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race. In addition, you gain one of the following benefits. This choice is permanent.

Keen-eyed: You gain low-light vision, a +2 racial bonus to Search checks, and the ability to make a Search check to detect a secret or concealed door as if you were an elf.​

Faerie kith : You are immune to magic sleep effects and gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment and illusion spells or effects. Sylvan is an automatic language for you.​

Wild blood: You receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longbow and shortbow (including composite versions of each), and a +2 racial bonus to Spot and Listen checks.​

Mixed-blood: For all effects related to race, you are considered to be either an elf or your normal race, whichever would be more advantageous. You also gain a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks, and Elven is an automatic (not bonus) language for you.​

Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st level character.

I thought the Faerie Kith ability was the weakest, and added the resistance to illusions for a bit of balance. It also brings the feat a little closer to alignment with popular folklore (those with fairy blood are said to possess the Sight, and are better able to pierce fairy deceptions...)

 

[Elphilm]

Good comments here.

I agree that a simple +1 bonus to certain skills is a minor bonus at best. However, the rules-as-written half-elf skill bonuses are just that. I feel that rather than upping the bonuses to +2 it would better reflect the idea of a character with mixed heritage to add an ability or two to the feat. The low-light vision suggestion, for example, is a nice one.

Nellisir, your expanded Elven Blood feat is a worthy idea, but I would rather not add the complexity of multiple choices to these feats. Moreover, I don't entirely agree with some of the RAW half-elf abilities, such as the +2 bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information, which is why I didn't include them in the first version of my feat.

The faerie kith ability is intriguing, though - it makes me want to create a fey-blood heritage feat similar to these.

In any case, here are the second versions of the feats. Thanks to DogBackward in particular for the idea for Blood of Giants.


Blood of Giants [General]
Prerequisite: Strength 17.
Benefit: Whenever you make a check for which a Large or larger creature would gain a bonus, you gain half that bonus. For example, you gain a +2 bonus to all grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts, as well as to Strength checks made to break an object. In addition, you are considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature's special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect you.
Add Giant to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race.
Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st level character.

Dwarven Blood [General]
Prerequisite: Character may not be a dwarf.
Benefit: For all effects related to race, you are considered a dwarf.
In addition, you gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, a +1 racial bonus on Appraise and Craft checks that are related to stone or metal, and a +1 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework as per the dwarven stonecunning ability. Furthermore, you can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can, and can intuit depth, sensing your approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
Add Dwarven to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race.
Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st level character.

Elven Blood [General]
Prerequisite: Character may not be an elf.
Benefit: For all effects related to race, you are considered an elf.
In addition, you gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells or effects, and a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. Furthermore, you can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination as per the low-light vision ability.
Add Elven to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race.
Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st level character.


Thanks for the comments so far.

 

[Notmousse]

I preferred the original versions you posted honestly. Though I'd tweak those in another way entirely.

With the way you have it now a human could in theory take two of these feats (at this point we may as well call them heritage feats), and have half the skill bonuses of a dwarf and elf, and some of their major abilities as well.

Instead of that direction I'd give what's in your original feats, add the parent race's favored class as a favored class (so a human/dwarf/elf would have Any/fighter/wizard as favored classes), and open the way to the parent race's Paragon class (if you use them). I'd also lift the restriction on the Parent race taking the feat as a sign of a superior bloodline.

So... my version of your first two feats would look something like this...

Dwarven Blood [General]
Prerequisite: First level only.
Benefits: For all effects related to race, you are considered a dwarf. In addition, you gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, and a +1 racial bonus on Appraise and Craft checks that are related to stone or metal.
A character with Dwarven Blood may take the Dwarf paragon class.
Add Dwarven to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race.
Add Fighter as a favored class

Elven Blood [General]
Prerequisite: First level only.
Benefits: For all effects related to race, you are considered an elf. In addition, you gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells or effects, and a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.
A character with Elven Blood may take the Elf paragon class.
Add Elven to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race.
Add Wizard as a favored class

Now that I think of it, this would be a great bonus feat for paragon classes! Just enough to fill a dead level, so there's no sense of loss.

 

[Jack Simth]

So what race do you treat a human who takes both Elven Blood and Dwarven Blood at 1st level? Is he considered an Elf or a Dwarf?

 

[Elphilm]

Hi, Notmousse! Personal tastes are a curious thing, and one thing I like about this place is that the critique provided by different people can be wildly different but just as valid. I can certainly see where you're going with your tweaks.

One thing I should stress is that I don't plan on granting a single character more than one of these heritage feats. For example, a human with both dwarven and elven blood gets a bit too complex (and, frankly, messy) for my tastes. I did intend to add a line about that particular restriction to the feats, but simply forgot about it.

Paragon classes do seem like a fun idea, and my current versions of the dwarven and elven feats actually incorporate a little of paragon class abilities. (I'm still kicking around various ideas regarding the feats, so everything in this thread should be considered a work in progress.)

I do like the simplicity of your versions of the feats! However, like you say, I've mostly gone in the other direction, piling more flavorful but not too strong abilities on top of the bare-bones versions in my original post. Here are the feats with some added tweaks of my own. I'm curious if you like these better than the ones in post #15, and if you prefer your versions to these.

One thing I should note: in my campaign regular dwarves don't receive darkvision. Dwarves are the strongest of the core races, and I felt I should bring them down a notch. I've given dwarves low-light vision instead, which is why the dwarven heritage feat now grants it as well.


Dwarven Blood [General]
You have dwarven ancestry.
Prerequisite: Character may not be a dwarf.
Benefit: For all effects related to race, you are considered both a dwarf and a member of your base race. For example, if you are an elf with dwarven blood, you are just as vulnerable to special effects that affect dwarves and elves as your ancestors are, and you can use magical items that are only usable by dwarves and elves.
In addition, you gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, a +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Craft checks that are related to stone or metal, and a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework as per the dwarven stonecunning ability. You can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can, and can also intuit depth, sensing your approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
Furthermore, you can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination as per the low-light vision ability. If you already have low-light vision from your base race, your low-light vision increases in range, allowing you to see three times as far as a human in conditions of poor illumination.
Add Dwarven to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race.
Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st-level character.
You may not take this feat if you already have another heritage feat (for example, Elven Blood).

Elven Blood [General]
You have elven ancestry.
Prerequisite: Character may not be an elf.
Benefit: For all effects related to race, you are considered both an elf and a member of your base race.
In addition, you gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells or effects, and a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.
Furthermore, you can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination as per the low-light vision ability. If you already have low-light vision from your base race, your low-light vision increases in range, allowing you to see three times as far as a human in conditions of poor illumination.
Add Elven to the list of bonus languages available to you because of your race.
Special: You may only take this feat as a 1st-level character.
You may not take this feat if you already have another heritage feat (for example, Dwarven Blood).


I think that at the moment a human who takes the Elven Blood feat is on par with the rules-as-written half-elf, and perhaps even superior - by taking the feat the character basically trades the half-elf sleep immunity for the extra skill points of humans.

I also felt safe in upping the skill and saving throw bonuses of Dwarven Blood to +2 due to their limited nature. I would rather keep the skill bonuses of Elven Blood at +1, otherwise the feat simply becomes too good to pass up for certain types of characters.

I'm curious if anyone would give their character the current Elven Blood feat rather than play a half-elf.

 

[Notmousse]

So what race do you treat a human who takes both Elven Blood and Dwarven Blood at 1st level? Is he considered an Elf or a Dwarf?

Yes! A Human with elf, and dwarf blood feats would be considered a member of all three races for any effects pertaining to a character.

 

[Notmousse]

I like your newest version, though I feel it's a too powerful with them both adding lowlight vision, which is something I would likely make into a feat in it's own right.

Admittedly I wouldn't use my version in my own game as I've tweaked the races such that instead of getting racial bonuses to skills they're simply treated as permanent class skills, so the elf barbarian may have a better spot and search than say a dwarf. Humans benefit the most from this change though, as I've given them 2 class skills to choose from, to show their adaptability and knack for picking up unique skills.

Not that there's any elves in my campaign (as of yet), I've made their position in my latest campaign painful.