Minotaurs

[pukunui]

Hi all,

Quick question ...

One of my players has chosen to play a minotaur. They seem balanced enough but I was wondering: both eladrin and warforged get a static +1 to Will defense to make up for the fact that their two stat bonuses contribute to the same things (eladrin = Dex/Int, warforged = Str/Con). Minotaurs are also Str/Con but they don't have a static defense bonus. Should they? Could they without it being overpowering? Or do their other abilities make up for it?

Just curious.

Thanks in advance.

 

[pukunui]

bump

 

[Khaalis]

First off I'll premise this by saying i do not think that the Monster Manual "racial entries" are balanced. In most cases I think they are often weak compared to the PHB races. The Warforged is a perfect example here. There is a pretty decent sized difference between the MM entry and the Pre-Release "official" version.

With that said, you could add a +1 Will defense to the MM entry without breaking anything at all, though I would still consider it a weak choice vs. most PHB races (which is why I am working on a homebrew write-up in my Minotaur thread).


On a side note, I personally altered them from STR/CON to STR/CHA (I feel Minotaurs have a strong force of presence). Skill bonuses are totally up to the fluff of your world. I also, for flavor reasons, gave Minotaurs Weapon Proficiency in battleaxe and greataxe, but moved Ferocity to a racial feat since I see player minotaurs as more 'civilized' rather than the more 'feral' monster minotaur. Also - ferocity really doesn't do much of anything for a player unless you often make PCs dance at death's door.

 

[pukunui]

Yay! Someone responded! Thank you!

First off I'll premise this by saying i do not think that the Monster Manual "racial entries" are balanced. In most cases I think they are often weak compared to the PHB races. The Warforged is a perfect example here. There is a pretty decent sized difference between the MM entry and the Pre-Release "official" version.

Agreed.

With that said, you could add a +1 Will defense to the MM entry without breaking anything at all, though I would still consider it a weak choice vs. most PHB races (which is why I am working on a homebrew write-up in my Minotaur thread).

OK. Yeah, I've seen your homebrew version. There are some things I like, some I don't.

On a side note, I personally altered them from STR/CON to STR/CHA (I feel Minotaurs have a strong force of presence).

I'm not seeing the CHA thing. I'm happy to leave it STR/CON, personally.

gave Minotaurs Weapon Proficiency in battleaxe and greataxe

That's a good idea.

but moved Ferocity to a racial feat since I see player minotaurs as more 'civilized' rather than the more 'feral' monster minotaur. Also - ferocity really doesn't do much of anything for a player unless you often make PCs dance at death's door.

Yes, I'm making minotaurs more of a "civilized" race in my world as well. They're kind of taking the place of the half-orc as the "big dumb brutes", though. But they once had their own civilization which has since fallen, etc etc.

 

[Khaalis]

OK. Yeah, I've seen your homebrew version. There are some things I like, some I don't.

As is the way with any piece of mech, official or not. I'm still working on it though, so if you have more comments, feel free to drop them.

I'm not seeing the CHA thing. I'm happy to leave it STR/CON, personally. Yes, I'm making minotaurs more of a "civilized" race in my world as well. They're kind of taking the place of the half-orc as the "big dumb brutes", though. But they once had their own civilization which has since fallen, etc etc.

Again, all personal taste. If you want them more dumb brutes go STR/CON but feel free to give them the flat +1 Will Defense like the warforged. Just try not to step too much on the warforged's toes.

 

[Hawke]

If you modify it, I'd love to see your full stat change writeup posted here.

 

[pukunui]

Again, all personal taste. If you want them more dumb brutes go STR/CON but feel free to give them the flat +1 Will Defense like the warforged. Just try not to step too much on the warforged's toes.

Yeah, that's the thing. But there are only so many stat combinations and things of that nature, so there's bound to be double-ups ... especially considering that playable races don't get more than +2 to stats anymore. It's not like I can give the minotaur +4 to STR to differentiate them more from the warforged.

If you modify it, I'd love to see your full stat change writeup posted here.

OK.