It's Official!

[demiurge1138]

I haven't seen a desmodu since Savage Species. Thankfully. Although the nycter (MMIII) are what bat-people should be.

Demiurge out.

 

[Jdvn1]

I also really like the Catfolk... and the fey race I always forget the name of, also from RotW.

 

[Balgus]

I thought Goliaths are a good change of pace for the Barb. There are only a few races suited for barb. and this is a good one. Not saying super- just a healthy substitute for the often immitated, but never duplicate 1/2 orc barb.

And yes- the Illuminans stink...IMO

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Zhese new races are all based on filling crunchy bits of the DnD universe (exactly when did 'DnD' replace 'D&D" anyhow?). Goliaths allow people to play ogres and other large races without the almighty power of 10' reach. Raptorans allow people to play flying races but takes away the flight power until they could uses spells or have access to magic to fly anyway. Illumians take advantage of "Eat at Joe's" neon signs to have a unique list of powers & feat chains (admittedly the fluff and crunch goes together like a fluffenutter & pb sandwich).

This reminds me: D&D works quite well for races close to the human norm. But if your campaign features anything deviating significantly from the human norm, then you might be better off with other RPGs, such as GURPS.

Let's say you want a race that is basically human, but can fly. In D&D, you would have to think hard which ECL to give it, and wonder if it is "balanced" for this or that class.

In GURPS, you simply write down: Flight (Winged) [30 points], and you are done. You have the power of flight, and its cost is within reach for most starting characters, but you have less points to spend on other stuff, whatever that might be...

D&D simply doesn't handle such "weird powers" very well, and it's good to recognize that.

 

[Psion]

The racial type that earns my disdain is the general idea of half-races (or anything like them -- shifter and changeling, I am looking at you.) With thought, it can work. But generally, I see it not given enough thought. There are so many potential fantasy backgrounds for such a race, but they are generally relegated to the standard "bastard child" fare.

In contrast, I like goliaths and illumians. Those races were given more background and racial motivation than a race ever has in D&D. And the illumians fill an interesting niche to boot.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Another good variant is from Mythic Races. I forget the exact name, but they're a cool cat-race with various subraces.

That would be the Artathi.

 

[DevoutlyApathetic]

The racial type that earns my disdain is the general idea of half-races (or anything like them -- shifter and changeling, I am looking at you.) With thought, it can work. But generally, I see it not given enough thought. There are so many potential fantasy backgrounds for such a race, but they are generally relegated to the standard "bastard child" fare.

I agree with the general thrust of your statement but I'd have a hard time lumping those two into the 'half and half' syndrome. They each have some semi-unique culture that is different from either parent race. I have hope for them being more than just 'mini-dopplergangers' and such.

3.5 did teach me that dragons are easy.

 

[radferth]

I thought Goliaths are a good change of pace for the Barb. There are only a few races suited for barb. and this is a good one. Not saying super- just a healthy substitute for the often immitated, but never duplicate 1/2 orc barb.

And yes- the Illuminans stink...IMO

I've not bothered to read up much on the Races races, but this particular post got me thinking. What would it be like to play an Illuminan barbarian. Your character could spend his or her entire career wandering "What in Crom's name is this thing that's always floating around my head?!?"

 

[JoeGKushner]

One of my friends has a campaign where one of the characters is a goliath barbarian. Of course, he's using that Goliath special maul.

I've heard horror stories of the damage but hey, the DM has no one to blame but himself for not reading up on it.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Goliaths: nice concept. Reminds me of the Obsidiman from Earthdawn. Too freakin' strong with too few drawbacks, assuming you make a basher, especially a barbarian. A level adjustment doesn't mean much when you don't really lose anything.

Illumians: Man what? I suppose they're good as a mechanical addition to facilitate multiclassing, but that seems like a really blatantly metagame excuse for their existance. Also, they all look kind of pencil-necked. But maybe that's just me.

Raptorans: I don't remember the mechanics for this race, but the concept is what gets me. Winged elves I can sort of see. Aarakora I can see. Even kenku are cool bird-people. But that's what raptorans lack most: the cool bird people factor. And as it seems to be their raison d'etre, there seems to be no reason for them to exist.

I really don't like them much at all. Some of the other new races, briefly mentioned, in those books are okay. But there just doesn't seem to be anything compelling to the ones they spend half of each book writing up.