D&D 4E New Custom 4e Race - Requesting Assistance

[ve4grm]

Alright.

My first 4e game is going to be run by my fiancee. I've been the de facto GM for our group for a few years, so this is the first time in a while that I'll get to play a character.

This also may be the last time I will be able to for some time, as I don't know how often she will want to GM in the future.

As such, I'm attempting to make a memorable character. To do so, I find myself going back to prior memorable characters that I've played. Of all of them, two stand out, despite playing neither of them for more than 2 or 3 sessions.

They are memorable to the point that my website is named after one.

They have one thing in common.

They were both Gully Dwarves.

Now, for those of you who don't know Dragonlance, and don't know what a Gully Dwarf is, I give you the following description.

From http://kencyclopedia.com/kender/roleplaying/3EGullyDwarves.cfm

Gully Dwarves are among the most reviled races on Krynn. Of unknown origin (some say dwarves and gnomes, while others replace gnomes with humans), the Aghar are a dwarven subrace that has managed to eke out a meager existance wherever they can, mainly in refuse heaps and other places most civilized races would not care to touch. Due to this, they have a keen survival instinct and a foraging talent like no other. They may seem cowardly, running from most any danger, but corner a Gully and you will be in for a surprise. On the whole, though, Aghar are very stupid, with maybe 1 out of every 50 being able to count higher than 2. Nonetheless, Gullys are almost universally cheerful people.

In any case, a Gully Dwarf is one of my main choices for a character for this game. I loved my first two (a CN Paladin and a Druid) and am seriously considering making another Gully Dwarf Paladin for my first 4e character.

But WotC, in their foolishness, failed to include 4e stats for the Gully Dwarf! I know! It's incomprehensible!

Which means I need to make my own.

I have ran this by a couple of other boards. It has gone through some changes, and I am now bringing it here. Please comment and let me know what you think.

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Gully Dwarf (Aghar)

RACIAL TRAITS

Average Height: 3’6”–4’
Average Weight: 100-140 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Dexterity
Size: Small
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, Gullytalk (a pidgin language, incomprehensible to all but Gully Dwarves)
Skill Bonuses: +2 Dungeoneering, +2 Stealth/Endurance (I haven't decided yet, any suggestions?)

Dwarf Blood: Aghar are, in fact, Dwarves. Mostly. Technically. They count as Dwarves for all effects, at any rate.
Cast Iron Stomach: +5 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
Sticks and Stones: Aghar gain a +2 proficiency bonus when wielding improvised weapons (both melee and ranged).
Beneath Notice: By looking pathetic and cowering in front of enemies, the Gully is able to move about the battlefield with impunity.
Aghar do not provoke any Opportunity Attacks while moving. This effect ends immediately after you attack any enemy in an encounter. All other Opportunity Attack conditions still apply.
Cornered!: When flanked or adjacent to 3 or more enemies, you get a +1 bonus on damage rolls.

 

[butwait]

Languages: Common, Gullytalk (a pidgin language, incomprehensible to all but Gully Dwarves)

This is a nitpick, but it'd be a creole instead of a pidgin. (I presume it is a mixture of Dwarven and Common?)

Skill Bonuses: +2 Dungeoneering, +2 Stealth/Endurance (I haven't decided yet, any suggestions?)

The description given in "Beneath Notice" doesn't seem very stealthy. Refuse heaps probably would endorse endurance.

Cast Iron Stomach: +5 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.

To differentiate from dwarves a little and maybe fit their garbage dwelling nature better, this could be changed to include (exclusively?) disease.

Sticks and Stones: Aghar gain a +2 proficiency bonus when wielding improvised weapons (both melee and ranged).
Beneath Notice: By looking pathetic and cowering in front of enemies, the Gully is able to move about the battlefield with impunity.
Aghar do not provoke any Opportunity Attacks while moving. This effect ends immediately after you attack any enemy in an encounter. All other Opportunity Attack conditions still apply.
Cornered!: When flanked or adjacent to 3 or more enemies, you get a +1 bonus on damage rolls.

Sticks and Stones and Cornered! both seem underpowered. Cornered! seems like it could be changed to a +1 attack bonus without any harm (cf. Bloodhunt and Dragonborn Fury).

Beneath Notice might need to be reworded to exclude a combat participant who helps the party without explicity attacking an enemy (e.g., Aid Another, heal spells).

It sounds like a really great race to roleplay and I like how Beneath Notice and Cornered! racial abilities work together in a way not found in any of the default races.

 

[ve4grm]

This is a nitpick, but it'd be a creole instead of a pidgin. (I presume it is a mixture of Dwarven and Common?)

Actually, it's a mixture of Common and whoever else lives near them, be it Dwarven, Elven, Goblin, whatever. Two groups of Gully Dwarves don't speak the same Gullytalk, and bringing two separate dialects together will result in the languages merging and evolving into something completely different in a matter of days.

Pidgin was the word used in an older Dragonlance book.

The description given in "Beneath Notice" doesn't seem very stealthy. Refuse heaps probably would endorse endurance.

Noted. I was leaning towards Endurance.

To differentiate from dwarves a little and maybe fit their garbage dwelling nature better, this could be changed to include (exclusively?) disease.

Disease is handled via the Endurance skill in 4e.

Sticks and Stones and Cornered! both seem underpowered. Cornered! seems like it could be changed to a +1 attack bonus without any harm (cf. Bloodhunt and Dragonborn Fury).

I was considering making it a bonus to attack, but wasn't sure. Any other thoughts on this, everyone?

Sticks and Stones was meant as a flavourful nonability, anyways.

Beneath Notice might need to be reworded to exclude a combat participant who helps the party without explicity attacking an enemy (e.g., Aid Another, heal spells).

Not really, I don't think.

Contributing to combat in 4e tends to require attack rolls. If a Gully Dwarf Cleric spends a round or two using his Cure utility powers, I don't see a problem with letting him move around. He isn't an active threat, and would just look like he's waving a dead rat at his allies.

This wouldn't be common to see at the beginning of battle, anyways.

Also, I would think that using Aid Another to attack an enemy would count for attacking an enemy.

It sounds like a really great race to roleplay and I like how Beneath Notice and Cornered! racial abilities work together in a way not found in any of the default races.

Thanks!

 

[amnuxoll]

Beneath Notice: By looking pathetic and cowering in front of enemies, the Gully is able to move about the battlefield with impunity.
Aghar do not provoke any Opportunity Attacks while moving. This effect ends immediately after you attack any enemy in an encounter. All other Opportunity Attack conditions still

This seems way too powerful to me. OAs are a big part of the tactics in this game. I suggest you turn this into an encounter power.

:AMN:

 

[ve4grm]

This seems way too powerful to me. OAs are a big part of the tactics in this game. I suggest you turn this into an encounter power.

:AMN:

It is, effectively, an encounter power.

They can ignore it at the start of the encounter, but as soon as they attack it's gone.

Compare to an Eladrin using Fey Step to position themselves in a battle.

- The Aghar ability allows you to move further.
- The Eladrin ability allows you to move in any direction and through objects, so long as you have line of sight. It doesn't even require solid ground.
- The Aghar ability is less restrictive, in that you can use it a couple times, so long as you make no attacks.
- The Aghar ability is more restrictive, in that you can't save it for later, or use it once you have begun attacking, and it is only active at the beginning of the encounter.

Altogether, I don't think it's more powerful than Fey Step. Heck, because of the restriction on when you can use it, and what you can do while using it, it could be argued that it's less powerful than Fey Step.