D&D 4E Large Races?

[Knightfall]

The solution? Design your world with large creatures in mind!

Arcana Unearthed/Evolved did this brilliantly. They had a PC race that could become large as they advanced, and as they where the dominant culture, most buildings where designed to accommodate them.

That's an excellent suggestion! AU is a great book, and I really liked how they designed the giant race for the setting.

That idea gives me an idea for my Firbolg race. The race starts out as a Medium race. Then, I'd create both a Paragon Path and an Epic Destiny that allows the race to move from being Medium to being Large with all the benefits of being large including reach, space, increased weapon dice damage, etc.

Opinions?

 

[Knightfall]

I'd probably rule that you need 8 adjacent spaces, so that players can't cherry-pick too much.

I'd probably insist on a set number of burst templates that the player would have to chose. Like 4 squares on one side and 4 squares on the opposite side, two squares on each side (centered), and 8 squares, all adjacent (as per your suggestion).

You also get into more trickyness when you get into Burst2, burst3, etc...

Yeah, I realize that doing larger bursts will be tricky. I'm still not sure how to handle that.

 

[Badwe]

this doesn't work for burst 1, but i would wager for burst 2 and beyond you could simply make them pick a single square out of their 4 as the origin square and go from there.

 

[Knightfall]

Firbolg

RACIAL TRAITS

Average Height: 7' 4"–8' 0"
Average Weight: 360–400 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution or Wisdom [, -2 Dexterity (*)]
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Darkvision

Languages: Common, Giant
Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Nature

Hard Mind: You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Will defense.

Terrain Battle Mastery: When fighting in difficult terrain, you gain a +2 racial bonus to weapon damage rolls.

Oversized: You can use weapons of your size or one size larger than you as if they were your size.

Firbolg Surge: You can use firbolg surge as an encounter power.

Firbolg Surge [Firbolg Racial Power]
Encounter ♦ Healing, Weapon
Standard Action ▬ Melee weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding a two-handed weapon.
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you can spend a healing surge.
▬ Increase to 2[W] + Strength modifer at 21st level.

* A homebrewed house rule that adds a -2 racial adjustment to one ability score. This may end up being edited out.
_____________________________________________

Firbolg Elder

Prerequisite: Firbolg

Firbolg Elder Path Features

Unusual Reach (11th level): Your melee reach increases by 1.

Weakening Strike (11th level): When you spend an action point to make an attack, if that attack hits, the target is weakened (save ends).

Weapon Bonus (11th level): Increase the damage you deal when using a weapon by +1.

Oversized (16th level): You can use weapons of your size or one size larger than you as if they were your size.

Firbolg Elder Powers

Hurl Rock [Firbolg Elder Attack 11]
Encounter
Standard Action ▬ Close burst 5
Target: One enemy in burst you can see
Attack: Dexterity +2 vs. AC
Hit: 2d6 + Dexterity modifier damage.
▬ Increase to two enemies, +4 bonus, and 4d6 + Dexterity modifier damage at 21st level.

Elder's Advantage [Firbolg Elder Utility 12]
Daily ♦ Stance
Minor Action ▬ Personal
Effect: Each time an enemy makes an opportunity attack, you gain combat advantage against that creature until the end of your next turn.

Trampling Charge [Firbolg Elder Attack 20]
Daily ♦ Weapon
Standard Action ▬ Melee weapon
Target: One creature of Medium size or smaller.
Special: Before the attack, you may shift up to your speed. You may move through the target's space without provoking opportunity attacks.
Attack: Strength (+2 [?]) vs. AC
Hit: 4[W] + Strength modifier damage, and the target is knocked prone.

 

[circadianwolf]

An intrinsic racial bonus to attack rolls of any sort is overpowered.

On the more general topic, upon reconsidering it I don't see anything wrong with simply requiring a Large race to choose one square to count as its origin square when making a close burst attack, with the squares in the burst that overlap the character ignored for the attack. It's a mechanically penalty (they get to affect less squares than a Medium character), but an acceptable one IMO.

 

[Knightfall]

An intrinsic racial bonus to attack rolls of any sort is overpowered.

Okay, what about this...

Terrain Battle Mastery: You gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls with thrown weapons during any encounter that takes place in extensive difficult terrain. This bonus increases to +2 in mostly difficult terrain.

 

[Siberys]

Oversized almost forces the race into melee. It's not required for a character with oversized to be melee focused, of course, but then a fairly large portion of your character sort of 'goes to waste'.

Your firbolg has this problem all around;

Terrain battle mastery should instead be a more generic bonus (such as "While in difficult terrain, you have a +2 bonus to damage rolls") - this gets rid of the reliance on thrown weapons

Oversized should be dropped in favor of something else. I don't know what, though.

I'd drop the damaging aspect of firbolg surge. Make it a psuedo-rage - spend a healing surge, maybe gain some temp hp, short-term bonuses to attack and damage, maybe a shift - that sort of thing, stuff that any class could utilize to the fullest.

Also, because of the Str and Con bonuses both being in the Fortitude defense, I'd add in a +1 racial bonus to a defense - I'd probably go for Will.

In the Elder, I'd get rid of the weapon bonus - It's REALLY bland. Removing it won't gimp the PP, either

Feeblemind is a little odd. I'd suggest something like "When you spend an action point to make an attack, if that attack hits, the target is weakened (save ends)".

You could easily make the 16th level ability Oversized. It delays it to mid paragon, and PPs don't suffer from being designed specifically for melee, the way races do.

Another thing to consider putting somewhere in there is threatening reach. You only get Opportunity Attacks against creatures adjacent to you, regardless of your reach. For that you need threatening reach.

Hurl rock seems kinda weak... I dunno. I'd have to do some comparison. Perhaps increasing its range or adding a push or prone effect would help? Also, since the character'll be in the thick of things, make it a close burst attack instead of a ranged - functionally the same thing, if you've one target, except the giant won't provoke opportunity attacks.

I DON'T like Elder's Advantage, especially as an encounter power. Perhaps something along these lines?

Daily • Stance
Minor Action • Personal
Effect: Each time an enemy makes an opportunity attack, you gain combat advantage against that creature until the end of your next turn.

Or something like that.

Make trampling charge a weapon attack. Also, I'd reword it to PREVENT OAs from whoever you trample. Something like;

Daily • Weapon
Standard Action • Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Special: Before the attack, you may shift up to your speed. You may move through the target's space without provoking opportunity attacks.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 4[W] + Strength modifier damage, and the target is knocked prone.

 

[Knightfall]

Oversized almost forces the race into melee. It's not required for a character with oversized to be melee focused, of course, but then a fairly large portion of your character sort of 'goes to waste'.

I modeled my Firbolg race on the oversized races in the back of the Monster Manual. I'm not sure I want to change that aspect.

Something to consider.

Terrain battle mastery should instead be a more generic bonus (such as "While in difficult terrain, you have a +2 bonus to damage rolls") - this gets rid of the reliance on thrown weapons.

Well, I went with thrown weapons to "simulate" the 3rd edition bonus (+1) that Firbolgs get for throwing rocks.

Also, because of the Str and Con bonuses both being in the Fortitude defense, I'd add in a +1 racial bonus to a defense - I'd probably go for Will.

I'd been considering adding such a bonus.

Feeblemind is a little odd. I'd suggest something like "When you spend an action point to make an attack, if that attack hits, the target is weakened (save ends)".

I like that.

 

[Knightfall]

Instead of the +1 weapon bonus, I give a +2 bonus to Hurl Rock. Plus, I've increased the range.

Hurl Rock [Firbolg Elder Attack 11]
Encounter
Standard Action ▬▬▬▬ Ranged 8
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity +2 vs. AC
Hit: 2d6 + Dexterity modifier damage.

 

[Siberys]

I wouldn't follow the MM races for balance guidelines - Wizards has done an update on Minotaurs, for example, and they dropped oversized for the reasons given. If they ever update Bugbears, I'd expect the same.

As for the thrown weapon thing - this is the sort of area where racial feats come into play. In general, avoid a reliance on weapons or implements being built into the race, but go ahead and go hog-wild with 'em in feats and PPs - those are optional, after all.

Frex;

Firbolg Master Thrower [Firbolg]
Prerequisite: Firbolg
Benefit: You gain a proficiency with all weapons with the heavy thrown property, and gain a +2 feat bonus to damage rolls with all such weapons.

EDIT: With hurl rock, keep in mind that it'll fall behind on accuracy and damage without it being a weapon or implement attack. Consider building in a scaling bonus, the same way the dragonborn's dragon breath power works.

And do note that power'll provoke - that's a big deal for a character who'll be in melee a lot, which is how this PP looks to be shaping up.