Help me balance my new races?

BigCat

First Post
I'm ditching the Tolkein races for my new campaign to try and get a fresh role playing start. These are the four PC races I'll be using - can you folk help me balance them? I've balanced them as best I can with http://rpg.hmimages.com/racecalc.cfm , but this isn't really my bag. I'm leaving out the flavor stuff - all you need to know is that each is the chosen race of one elemental god, and that I wanted them all to have some kind of SLA or supernatural power. Humans will still be available as a race. In square brackets I've put my thoughts and equivocations. Thanks!

Earth:
+2 Con, -2 Cha, +4 Craft (stone and metal), Stone shape 1/day with 10 minute casting time, +4 defend against bull rush/trip
[these guys came out more like dwarves than I wanted. Hmmm.]

Fire:
+2 Int, -2 Str, +4 to Knowledge checks, Produce flame 1/day, Light 3/day, Fire resist 5, normal vision
[no wizards IMC (all spontaneous casters), so the Int bonus won't have any spellcasting impact. For campaign reasons the god of fire is also the god of knowledge]

Water:
low light vision, swim 40 (+8 swim checks), +4 to diplomacy, +2 saves against mind-affecting, create water 1/day
[the god of water is also the god of tranquility and peace, hence the diplomacy and saves bonus. I couldn't think of an appropriate set of ability modifiers.]

Air:
+2 Dex, -2 Con, Glide (fall from unlimited height, average maneuverability, spd 40), +2 Climb/Balance/Jump, +2 AC against airborne opponents
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Well, they don't look glaringly unbalanced, but there are a few things. For one thing, there just isn't nearly enough stuff. If you're reducing to 5 races, I'd really recommend loading these guys up with minor abilities. I'll give examples below.

EARTH:
Yes, they're a LOT like Dwarves, but maybe a little weaker. They're faster than Dwarves, but don't get any saving throw bonus, darkvision, or enemy-specific AC/attack bonus.

Personally, I'd start off by making the stats a bit more severe and shifting away from the Dwarf baseline (say, to +2 STR -2 DEX -2 CHA) and give them Natural Armor 2.

Then, in the spirit of loading them up with minor abilities:
+1 to attack rolls vs. Air creatures, -1 to saving throws vs. Air magic (this one could be copied for the other three elements)
Light Sensitivity
DR 1/-
and a Latent Tremorsense ability that gives a +1 insight bonus to AC if he didn't move more than 5' in the previous round.

FIRE:
Okay, you don't have Wizards, but how about Psions? They use INT, too. Even without that, +2 INT would only give you two things:
+1 skill point per level, which Humans already get
+1 to INT-based skills, which really boils down to Knowledge in this case, and they've already got a +4 there.
So really, I'd rework this one a bit, depending on what style you want for them. For instance, you could say that their connection to Fire gives them nearly limitless energy; give them Sustenance (no need for food or water) and the Endurance feat. Throw on a few minor things, and you'd be set.

WATER:
If you're going to keep Humans in, I really would recommend giving these guys a stat mod of some kind. If you switch the Earth race to the +STR like I suggested, maybe these guys could gain the +CON.
+4 diplomacy just isn't much; the other races are getting boosts to multiple skills.
As for other abilities, how about a weak Fast Healing? Not enough to affect a combat, but enough that the race wouldn't need much downtime healing; maybe half an hour and you're back to full strength. That'd probably be something like 1 HP per minute per two character levels (meaning at level 20, you'd only have the equivalent of Fast Healing 1).

AIR:
How are they gliding? Wings, flaps of skin, what? You could do more with that.
In keeping with the Air theme, how about a save bonus vs. Hold-type spells, like a weak freedom of movement? Maybe a "burst of speed" spell-like ability (+10' for one turn, usable 3/day. Or maybe just give them all Uncanny Dodge.
 

Remove ads

Top