Dwarves and other races

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I'm not bothered much about the +4 against bull-rush: Dwarves are steady on their legs, plus it's not a big deal, since bull rushes don't come up all that often.

I also don't mind the speed thing. They get a low speed for medium-size creatures, after all, and I think it actually makes sense.

But I really don't care about the half-hearted way they implemented weapon familiarity: only for two races out of seven is not enough IMO. But instead of cancelling it for dwarves and gnomes, I give every race one or more familiar weapons (whey probably would have done that, but they decided against introducing new weapons): elves: elven thinblade/longblade (however you want to call it - basically a d8 rapier); halflings: skiprocks and halfling warslings (and yes, this makes it so much easier for warsling snipers); half-orc: orc double axe (half-orcs are more like "diet orcs" than a human-orc crossbreed); humans get one exotic weapon of their choice (I think they got the shaft and need something to make up for it, but I don't like the Idea of giving them two free feats). With half-elves I'm not so sure, but I lean towars the human way (as they are a real blend of humans and elves, not just a "diet elf").

The bonus is also against trips, and trips can come up more often in combat, especially with the 3.5 version of tripping and improved trip.

Low Speed is okay, but why don`t they "keep" it in heavier armor than light? Where is the balance reason. (Not to forget that Dwarfes can tumble in Heavy Armor now, and I am not sure if the current errata adresses this. )

Racial Familiarity is fine, but it only works if everybody has it. Another mechanic might also have been nice - maybe an "Exotic Racial Weapons Feat" and a "Martial Racial Weapons Feat" that allow to take the appropriate weapons. (the last feat should probably be a racial ability, not a real feat, because why bother with martial weapons if you can get exotics?)

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[S'mon]

Maybe dwarves should have a speed penalty in heavy armour, but not in medium armour. Medium armour in D&D seems underpowered anyway, with its Spd penalty and low max dex allowances, compared to either chain shirts or full plate.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Maybe dwarves should have a speed penalty in heavy armour, but not in medium armour. Medium armour in D&D seems underpowered anyway, with its Spd penalty and low max dex allowances, compared to either chain shirts or full plate.

But would happen then to the archetypical Dwarf? Suddenly, the archetypal dwarf would run around in Breastplates (well, maybe mithral full plates - what is the material type used for Dwarfen Planets these - 3.5 - days? Mithral or Admantite) and be quite dextrous. I don`t think that is the way to go...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[The Souljourner]

All those dwarf abilities really aren't about balance, they're about flavor. Dwarves are supposed to be able to carry heavy loads for long periods without slowing or tiring. The movement thing might be about balance a little bit.. moving 15 in full plate really really sucks. I can't tell you how often I had to run as a dwarf in 3.0, just to get to battle. To cross even a mid sized room, I would need to run. Moving 30 as double move is really really bad.

Yes, they get a ton of small abilities, but can you honestly say that +1 to hit goblinoids ever made a huge difference? It's fun and flavorful.

If you want to see dwarves for balance, this is what they get:

-10 movement when in light or no armor
+2 Con
-2 Cha
60' Darkvision
+2 to saves vs. spells
+2 to saves vs. poison

The rest is minimally useful stuff that doesn't really tip the balance one way or another.

Looking at it this way... they seem fairly balanced. Still very good, but not +1 LA good, not by far (look at Aasimar, for heaven's sake!).

-The Souljourner

 

[Darklone]

I don't agree about the additional stuff being minimal... dwarven trippers are great, the AC vs. Giants makes them able to go toe to toe with the biggies... searching for stone traps saved more than one party.

Flavour would be a +4 bonus to saves vs. too much beer.

 

[Hardhead]

Hey guys, you *do* know that the Gold Dwarves from FR have a -2 DEX penalty instead of CHA, right? They're not core, but they're pretty portable. They make good Dwarven Clerics and Pallys.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Another mechanic might also have been nice - maybe an "Exotic Racial Weapons Feat"

Why bother with that feat when you can just take the feat Exotic Weapon Proficiency ? This would only work if all races had several racial weapons, which could all be useful to the same character (why bothering with both the urgrosh and the waraxe? You wouldn't really gain anything)

 

[S'mon]

But would happen then to the archetypical Dwarf? Suddenly, the archetypal dwarf would run around in Breastplates (well, maybe mithral full plates - what is the material type used for Dwarfen Planets these - 3.5 - days? Mithral or Admantite) and be quite dextrous. I don`t think that is the way to go...

Mustrum Ridcully

Hm, in my mind the archetypal dwarf wears chainmail and shows lots of dexterity when he dodges all those ogre & giant attacks with his +4 AC bonus!

 

[Destil]

I hate weapon familarity with a fiery passion. So I droped that. And since the dwarf in heavy armor no longer suffers a movement reduction I felt I needed to balance things a bit better, so I moved the -2 from Cha to Dex (where it makes more sense, anyway).With thoes two changes the 3.5 dwarf is both truer to the orignal Toliken flavor and balanced well enugh for my games.

Note that the 3.5 design team mentioned that the speed change was because it wasn't fun to play with such a low speed. To which I reply "What about armored halflings and gnomes?" Good flavor, bad reasoning, bad balance. If you're overly concerned with balance I think changing it so that dwarves don't suffer a speed penelity with light or medium armor or loads works well, too.

 

[Particle_Man]

Technically, dwarves (and only dwarves) can tumble in heavy armour, since their movement penalty is not reduced (which is the criterion for being able to tumble).