Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 6114697" data-attributes="member: 23484">There are problems with the low-level humanoids in the Bestiary. These problems have persisted through various testpacks, and should be fixed. The focus in the changes is on making characters (balancing classes). My sense is that the designers haven’t spent much time on the bestiary at all. I’m focusing on the humanoids (orcs, kobolds, gnoll, goblinoids) because (a) these are the mainstay of low-level encounters, and (b) previous editions have had rules for making characters from these races. What do we see?These races fall into three basic groups: 10xp (human commoner, kobold, goblin), 20xp (human warrior, hobgoblin, goblin boss; berserker is 30xp), and 40xp (bugbear, gnoll). Each group has roughly comparable power levels. The orc, at 70xp, is clearly a TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR, and should be 20 [edit: 30?]. (I expect the goblin boss should be at least 40xp, perhaps more, and will therefore be excluded in what follows.)One way to measure class abilities is the value of starting attributes. PCs start with 27 “build points”. Where do others fall? (I’m taking no negatives for values less than 8, and factoring in +1 to all stats for humans, +1 to the two highest stats for the xp 20 and 40 races, +1 to one stat for the xp 10 races (just because there aren’t two stats high enough!). This gives us (and again, it’s 27 for PCs):10. Kobold 3, Commoner 6, Goblin 8.20. Warrior 12, Hobgob 14, Orc 1540. Gnoll 17, Bugbear 18. Hit point totals also cluster: 10xp (2-4 hp), 20xp (11 hp), 40xp (13-18).My point is, nothing we see here marks any of these races as unplayable at first level. In fact, statting them up for PCs seems pretty straightforward:Orc+1 Strength, +1 Constitutiondarkvision 60’languages: common, orc(proficiency: light and medium armour)(proficiency: greataxe and shortbow)[edit: nothing done with Relentless ability]Hobgoblin+1 Strength, +1 Charismadarkvision 60’languages: common, goblin*Steadfast: immune to fear if within 30’ of a friendly creature with this trait(proficiency: all armour)(proficiency: longspear and shortbow)Note: Disciplined ignored (cf human warrior)Note: Longspear! Not in equipment rules, but as spear with reach. Bugbear+1 Strength, +1 Dexteritydarkvision 60’languages: common, goblinStealthy: +5 to all stealth checks(proficiency: light armour and shield)(proficiency: morningstar and javelin)Gnoll+1 Strength, +1 Dexteritydarkvision 60’languages: common, gnollBlood Frenzy: hostile creature reaches 0hp within 10’, melee attack with disadvantage(proficiency: light armour and shield)(proficiency: battleaxe and longbow)Goblin+1 Dexteritysize: smallmove 30’darkvision 60’languages: common, goblinStealthy: +5 to all stealth checksSneaky: may attempt to hide after move without using actionFirst Strike feat (~Bushwhacker trait)(proficiency: light armour)(proficiency: mace and shortbow)Kobold+1 Dexteritysize: smallmove 30’darkvision 60’languages: common, draconicLight sensitivity: disadvantage on all attacks in sunlight(proficiency: dagger and sling)Note: Pack Tactics ignored (cf. human commoner)Comments: * when a trait is shared by a human, it’s not included.* even when weapon and armour proficiencies are included, none of the races is equal to dwarf or elf* except for the kobold, all of these races have something that makes them unique and desirable to play.* in fact, I think there’s room to beef them all up: give gnolls the level 10 ranger’s  Feral Senses (or let them be available as a gnoll-only feat); or (to reflect the extra hit dice) give the bugbear and gnoll a Bonus feat: Toughness.* SUGGESTED ADDITION to the kobold (is this enough to make them viable?): Bonus feat: trap senseTricksy: claws function as thieves’ tools, which you use as if proficient.(and there exists a feat to remove light sensitivity?)Thoughts? None of these seem broken to me, or to offer edge cases for cunning players to exploit. What have I missed?</blockquote>

Verification