conversion, magic fighting falconers.

[noretoc]

In my 2nd edition Game I had a class called KAzar. They were barbarians who grew up sharing an island with evil priests. When transfering them over, I thought the best way is have them be a race. LEt em know what you think of this for balance. I am shooting for ecl +0
in 2nd edit I gave them some low magic resistance. 5% +5%/3 levels. I was figuring giving them SR of 10+1/lvl (I know it isnt low, but since taking away random chance, with a low SR like 4 or 5, any wiz is gonna be able to get past that.) The bad thing is they have to swear off all magic that is obivous. If someone gives then a +2 sword, it's ok, but a +2 flaming sowrd or potions or anything else that has an obvious efffect they can not use.
They also have a taboo with women. They are forbidden to harm them, so I figured a -2 when ever making attacks against them.
Last, they are trained falcolners. Each one starts with a trained falcoln.
Another route I was thinking was bonus to saves instead. I don't want them to be able to detect magic or anything like that (I don't want anything as big as the class in master of the wild (can't think of the name) that forsakes magic). I just want some sturdy barbarians, who have a knack for being resistant to magic, and have taboos against it.

Any ideas welcome.

 

[Varius]

edit: oops sorry, I thought you were looking for a race....

 

[LightPhoenix]

Offhand, I would be very wary of balancing a class with roleplaying restrictions, even if they provide a mechanical disadvantage.

As for SR, I think it might work better as maybe 10+1/level - this way, low level characters have some resistance, especially against low level casters. Later on, they'll have a very hefty magic resistance, being able to shrug off all but the most powerful casters. If that's too much (it may well be, I'm making this up as I type) then maybe 10+1/2 levels would work.

A trained falcon doesn't sound that unbalanced, especially since its use will diminish at higher levels. Even so, you need to outline exactly what the falcon can and can't do. Does it get more powerful as levels go up? How?

 

[noretoc]

The falcoln does. It is trained for a very specific task. Disrupting spell casters. There is a prestige class with a more powerful bird which is very resistant to magic, but the regular birds do not attack on anything. That are trained to wait for somone using somatic and verbal components. They in effect ready an action every round. Then if they find one, they fly at it and try to disrupt it. They don't have much of a chance at low levels, but when the player takes the pristige class (which most will probably do) the falcoln get more powerful and has a better time of disrupting spellcasting (It also become almost like a familliar)

As for the women thing, I am balancing it with the nechanic (the -2). The story and roleplaying ust give a reason why it is like that.

I also didn't think of SR10 +1/2 levels. that is a great idea... MAkes them pretty tough at low levels, but then as the mages grow they can overcome it. The prestige class has a better magic resistance and they are the real hunters of magic users.

 

[LightPhoenix]

The problem as I see it is that -2 against all women is a pretty DM arbitrary thing - it's what I feel makes the Ranger a poor class as well. If the DM doesn't take pains to make the balance in the game (attack with favored enemies, fight women) then the class has no disadvantage. That's not a good form of balance.

 

[Humanophile]

First, if you want them magically resistant, either give them more good saves or else a flat bonus to saves. Spell resistance seems too magical for a group of anti-magic barbarians, and you already have precedent in the form of anti-magical dwarves and their +2 to saves vs. magic. Plus, 10 + 1/level is resistant to almost half the spells thrown at them. Even if you do decide to go with a spell resistance bonus, 5 + level is probably more in line with their 2e level of power. +2 flat anti-magic save bonus still gets my vote, though.

Taboos can be tricky. If you have a way to hold them to the "no obvious magic" taboo, they're more or less screwed all around. They lose out on healing and a lot of the niftiness high level characters have as par for the course. (Flight, invisibility, teleportation, and possibly speed abilities go down the drain, and many high level characters see those the same way many of us see telephones, cars, and computers.) So if the game is naturally low powered/low magic, go for it, but be aware that anything balanced at low-mid levels with these guys will screw them over in vanilla high level D&D.

Not harming women, OTOH, is relatively minor, and fits in well as flavor. I say keep it, but be aware it's not that heavy a drawback.

Starting with a trained falcon is no big deal. In effect, it's just a bit more gold the class gets to start with, and when it's just something like a mundane animal, or even up to a masterwork weapon, it's nice when you start play, but over the long term it's about as effective as a penalty to hit women. Do take care that they have Handle Animal as a class ability, and that most of them take it, though.

Overall the +'s and -'s seem balanced to me, but you'll have to do something to enforce the anti-magic taboo as the game is underway.