Goliaths balanced at LA +1?

[Darkness]

Dudes from Races of Stone.

You can see their stats here:

Goliath Racial Traits

+4 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution: Goliaths are massively muscled, but their bulk sometimes gets in the way when they're trying to be nimble.

Goliath base land speed is 30 feet.

Medium: As Medium creatures, goliaths have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. However, see the powerful build ability description below for more details.

Monstrous Humanoid: As monstrous humanoids, goliaths are proficient with all simple weapons, but they have no proficiency with any armor or shield.

Powerful Build: The physical stature of a goliath lets him function in many ways as if he were one size category larger. Whenever a goliath is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the goliath is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A goliath is also 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 him. A goliath can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject's size category.

Mountain Movement: Because goliaths practically live on the ledges and cliffs of the most forbidding mountains, they are particularly adept at negotiating mountain hazards. Goliaths can make standing long and high jumps as if they were running long and high jumps. A goliath can engage in accelerated climbing (climbing half his speed as a move action) without taking the -5 penalty on the Climb check.

Acclimated: Goliaths are automatically acclimated to life at high altitudes. They don't take the penalties for altitude described in the Mountain Travel section on page 90 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Unlike other denizens of the mountains, goliaths don't lose their acclimation to high altitude even if they spend months or years at lower elevations.

+2 bonus on Sense Motive checks: When speaking to one another, goliaths tend to augment their verbal communication with subtle body language. They are likewise able to "read" the unintentional body language of others.

Automatic Languages: Common and Gol-Kaa. Bonus languages: Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Terran.

Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass goliath's barbarian class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty (see the XP for Multiclass Characters section on page 60 of the Player's Handbook). The tribal life of the goliaths produces many barbarians.

Level Adjustment: +1.

Too strong for LA +1 or not?

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Their biggest advantage, IMO, is their "Powerful build" ability. They are treated as large when it is advantageous (combat moves and weapons, mainly) but compare a Goliath and a Half-Orc barbarian (goliaths are made to be used as melee machines, IMO) and you get about the same thing, yes.

Of course, an Enlarged Goliath becomes a "huge-like" creature, so, I guess, a goliath geared towards grappling could be a monster...

AR

 

[Thanee]

I think it's fine. LA +2 would definitely be too much.

Bye
Thanee

 

[shilsen]

Waves "What Thanee said" flag

 

[reanjr]

In my experience, they are a powerful race (at +1 LA) but not to the point that they are "broken". LA +2 would certainly be too much. I would prefer them to simply be large creatures with 5 foot reach. I think that would work out a lot easier on everybody and (if you believe they are a bit too strong) bring them back in line.

I must at this point add that assigning a reach to a creature size is about the stupidest idea the WotC designers had for 3.5. Goes hand in hand with making everything square. This rule (which serves absolutely no purpose, as the designers can give creatures whatever reach they like; as has been shown in a Medium creature with 20' reach in MMIII) causes soooo much headache. Without this rule, they simply would have made them a Large creature in the first play, most likely. They wouldn't have had to create the silly Powerful Build concept (which, of course, should be summarized as "You get all the benefits of being large except for reach, and you take none of the penalties"), Large snakes could fit down hallways again, etc.

The 10' reach to Large creatures should have been in the beginning of MM 3.5 as a guideline only. Every time they try to quantify something like this they end up muddling the whole game in a slew of exceptions to make up for all of their rules that they didn't notice earlier.

 

[Thanee]

I like the square creature spaces, as they fit perfectly to the "we have no facing" rules.

I'd prefer, if both were gone, but only one isn't good.

The point is, that creatures do not actually fill that whole area, but that's where they "operate" in combat, or something like that.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I think Goliaths are fine for a +1 LA. I do not believe they are over or underpowered.

 

[reanjr]

I like the square creature spaces, as they fit perfectly to the "we have no facing" rules.

I'd prefer, if both were gone, but only one isn't good.

The point is, that creatures do not actually fill that whole area, but that's where they "operate" in combat, or something like that.

Bye
Thanee

I understand the argument, I just think it creates wackier corner cases than it fixes. (Life a snake traveling through a hallway makes it so that creatures in adjacent rooms can't move to the walls).

It certainly makes sense for dealing with reach, but that's really the only real benefit I see to it.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Too strong for LA +1 or not?

A touch stronger, I think, than your average +1 Level Adjustment race, but that in itself makes them well-designed, since your average +1 Level Adjustment race is a little too weak.

 

[Mekabar]

I think the Half-Giant is well-balanced at +1 LA, and he has similar racial traits. On direct comparison however, the Goliath is a good deal better than the Half Giant because of the additonal +2 Strength. I think they should have added a -2 Charisma to the Goliath's racial traits, given they look quite awkward anyway.