New races vs core races

[Beholder Bob]

Well - I'm starting a new game soon and am getting rid of the basic races and introducing some new ones. I was immediatly struck with the requirment for balancing the races, and how that same requirement was failed in the core races. I have, directly below, my evaluation (and why) for scoring the races - using a 1 = 1 feat. Now, this is arbitrary, dependent on a PC using all the advantages of his race, but still a better then nothing measurement of the races. You may disagree - and I sure will not mind suggestions to improve the measurement, but by definition, this is a guestimation, your mileage may vary. Note: a mental attribute is valued at 1/2 a physical if it is a penalty, but a full +1 if it is a benefit. Go figure.

HUMANS
+1.5 (feat) +0.75 (skill) +0.5 (fav class)
(yes, 1 feat is = 3/2 feat, due to value of flexibility. All bonuses equal to a "feat" for the other races are without choice, so a "take any feat you want" is pretty damn good)

DWARVES
+1 (Stats) –0.5 (move) +1 (vision) +0.5 (stone cunning)
+1 (ac vs giant) +0.5 (weapon familiar) +1 (stability)
+0 (vs spec foes) +1.5 (saves) +0 (spec foes) +0.75 (skills)

ELVES
+0 (Stats) +0.25 (imm sleep) +0.5 (vision)
+1.5 (skills) +1 (secret door) +1 (weap familiar)
+0 (imm to ghoul par)+ 0.5 (+2 saves)

GNOMES
+0 (Stats) +0 (small/move), +0.5 (vision)
+0.5 (weap familiar) +0.5 (saves)
+1 (illusion dc) +0 (vs spec foes) +1 (ac vs giant)
+1 (skills) + 1 (spell like ability)

HALF-ELVES
+0.25 (imm sleep) + 0.5 (+2 vs enchant) + 0.5 (vision)
+1.75 (skills) + 0 (elf blood) +0.5 (fav class)

HALF-ORCS
+0 (+2 str-2 int & cha) +1 (vision) +0 (orc blood)
(Yes - 1/2 orcs suck. A str bonus is nice, but not the only race with one, look at wood/wild elves. Not enough to balance out a -4 to mental stats. I would suggest intimidate and survival as class skills, a minimum of 2 hp/hd, and the endurance feat for free. But hey, thats just me.)

HALFLINGS
+0 (+2/-2 dex/str) +0 (size/speed) +2 (skills)
+1 (save) + 0.5 (thrown/sling)

HUMANS 2.75
DWARVES 6.75
ELVES 4.75
GNOMES 5.5
HALF-ELVES 3.5
HALF-ORCS 1
HALFLINGS 3.5
Based on this, I am going for a 4.5 for each race to replace the basic races in my game (the average is about 4, but if you ignore the way below 1/2 orc, the avg is 4.5). For a standard game, either weaken the dwarves, or add in game limits to weaken them (and those damn gnomes!!). I will post a race a day until I have all of my intended races entered. Please check my balance - these have not been play tested and I want your opinion.

PHOOKA (FEY) 4.5
Size • Medium
Statistic Adj. • -1 CON, +1 DEX
Move • 30’ ground
Race Skills • Language, Disguise, Bluff
Senses • +2 Listen
Language • Fey
Favored Class • Bard
Bonus • SR 4 + 1/HD
• +4 Jump while medium sized
• 10’ Clumsy flight while small
• +2 Balance
• Head Butt d3 (pierce)
• Wings always the same size, allows flight when size small
• No matter the method of disguise or alteration of form – horns, wings, and tail always part of the shape or disguise (even illusions) taken.
• Reduce self 1/day
• Access to Phooka feats at 5th+ LV
• Creature type Fey & Humanoid

The gangly Phooka is the oversized relative to spites and fairies, measuring 5’ on average. They have angular features, light coffee colored skin, lustrous hair, brilliant, oversized eyes, and ears like an ass. Jutting from their forehead is a pair of 3” black horns. They have an undersized set of wings (3’ long each) similar to but tougher then a butterfly’s wings. A hairless 2-3’ long tail swishes behind them, having the same range of motion as a cat’s.
Most often of the fairies seen in the mortal lands, they abandon their homeland to escape their poor position they hold among their cousins, typically as a peasant class and treated as both clumsy and stupid by their smaller brethren. Some Phooka have rising to high position in Fey, but advancement is difficult and they have far fewer representatives in the Unseelie Court then their population in the Fey lands would suggest.
Phooka tend to be energetic, perhaps even a bit wild. They leap, jump, dance, and sing at whim, and while capable of being serious and grim, it is surely not the standard. The Phooka ability to shapechange allowed the Phooka to instigate themselves in the Unseelie Court, and when discovered, they had part of their shapechaning abilities taken away. They can now only take the form of animals, and are forbidden from completely covering their own identity.
Phooka feats:

Shapechanger: Req - 5th level or higher
Wildshape 1/day as a 5th level druid. Every additional time the feat is taken, it allows an additional use each day and as a druid of 1 level higher. Phooka with the Wild-Shape ability due to class track this ability separately from the class ability.

Pixie Blood: Req - 3rd level or higher
Reduce 1/day extra. Feat may be taken once per 3 full levels.

Note: this post is an extraction from a thread in rules (dwarves...) and from homebrew (new races) - a continuation of the above sections and how it applies to making new races. So - yeah, this may look familiar.

 

[Beholder Bob]

I see I've captured your imagination. No. Really. Uh - bump.
Feedback - pleeeeze!

 

[Tonguez]

Nice creature I might use it.

so why 0.75 for Skills and only 0.25 for Sleep immunity?

and yes halfOrcs got shafted - Endurance is a good addition for them

What other creatures are you thinking of?

 

[Beholder Bob]

0.75 for Skills (I assume for humans) - well, the bonus skills are roughly equal to what you would get for +2 int (+2 feat), except no bonus to skill rolls based on int, no DC bonus to spell or bonus spells, and less intelligence against int drains.
0.25 for Sleep immunity - while a good immunity, once you have risen in level, it loses its value. Also, since widely known, most do not make the mistake of casting this specific spell on them.

RED CAP (FEY) 4.5
Size • Small
Statistic Adj.• +2 STR, +1 CON, -2 DEX, -2 WIS
Move • 20’ ground
Race Skills• Move Silent, Intimidate, Language
Senses • +1 Spot
Language • Fey
Favored Class• Fighter
Bonus • Must soak cap red with blood, soaking it n 2 HD of creature’s blood you’ve slain every 3rd day. Every day you fail to maintain your hat, take 1 CON temporary damage that can not be healed until cap has been soaked.
• Treat one size larger for grapple, trip,and bull-rush.
• 1/day Enlarge Person on self
• Scent
• Creature type Fey and Humanoid
+3-2-1+0.75+0.25-0.5+1+1+1 = 4.5
The second most common Fey seen in the mortal lands, the Red Cap is still not a common sight. Measuring 3’ tall on average, they have a presence well out of proportion to their body. They have long, pointed noses and forever unruly hair. The men can grow beards and mustaches and often sport hairy feet, arms, backs, and chests. The women tend to be taller and more willowy, and their eyes seam to have a feral glow to them. Both sexes are known for their exceptional strength and poor dispositions. Prone to headaches and aching joints, they are aggressive and usually verbally (if not physically) abusive.
The Red Cap must wear and maintain their headwear with blood, soaking it every three days. Originally hunters who served the Unseelie Court, their rude, lazy behavior frequently got them in trouble. They complained and dawdled, resulting in a larder being empty most of the time. They were removed from their honored position and given, what at the time seemed wise, curse. By needing to keep their headwear red with blood of a creature they kill, it was thought that they would act as diligent hunters. It instead prompted them to be more temperamental, aggressive, and to steal livestock from their neighbors rather then have to go to the effort to hunt. Many Red Caps wait until the last possible moment to dye their caps, putting them in a position where they have little choice in whose or what’s blood they use.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you going to rejig all the races to your points values?

To me, the relative worth of a racial bonus or penalty is completely dependent on the campaign style and the DM. For me and campaigns I've been in, I'd say you've way overestimated the value of the dwarf, for instance, but only you can say if things like the AC against giants is something that has any real benefit to your game or not. To use one example.

If your question is whether or not the red caps are balanced with the core races, I'd say it's not wildly overbalanced, but still a bit on the high side. Balancing mechanical bonuses with a roleplaying restriction (like the bloody caps) is always a bad idea, in my opinion, as it is too easy to abuse.

However, I'd use this without too much hesitation as I'm not of the opinion that balancing is that much of a science, nor is it necessarily always desirable. And the phooka looks fine.

 

[Beholder Bob]

First off, Thank you for the feedback!
I'm actually not using any of the core races in my game, but I made a system to measure them to get a feel for what would be about the right power level. I do feel the dwarf is over balanced, but, like you said, it is dependent on the game.

The limit on the Redcap (needing to keep the cap 'dyed') is not much of a limitation, but I drew that from folklore. They seem a bit overbalanced, you said. Any suggestions to balance them? Does the stat adjustment seem to high? I gave the limit for the cap a -1/2 feat equivalent, perhaps I should drop it down to -1/4 and give them another -1/4, or reduce their benefits (lose the +1 spot?). I also thought about replacing scent with tracking (they were the official hunters for the Unseelie).

The role-playing penalty is, as you said, not much of a limit (I definitely will switch it to 1/4), but all races are going to have some mods to push them to feel unique from each other, but with the personalities having full range.

I am anal retentive for balance, even though it probably will not matter in reality that much. You are most likely correct in the effect of balance, but boy do I love having the ducks line up in a row. I'll probably end up as an accountant in hell when I die (damn it, I wanted my own layer!!! )

 

[Beholder Bob]

UPROOTED (FEY) 4.5
Size • Small
Statistic Adj. • +1 CON, +1 DEX, -1 CHA
Move • 30’ ground
Race Skills • Survival, Know-Nature, & Tumble
Senses • Low Light
Language • Fey
Favored Class • Druid
Bonus • Tumble +1, Knowledge Nature +2
• Unable to pass a salt barrier, or to alter or move it in any way, even with magic, psionics or tools. Such actions are w/out effect. Creatures that you summon or create have the same limit.
• Creature type Fey
• Must rest on raw soil in order to recover a regular nights HP recovery. If unable to do so, heal at ½ that rate.
• Plant form 1/day A standard action required to change form. All forms immune to critical hits, are of same size as you, and are unable to threaten an area, attack, or speak. Clothing and equipment absorbed into form.
• Access to Uprooted feats
• Small Bush: duration is 10 min/HD, the only senses functioning are touch and hearing. DEX 0, AC 10 (4 natural, -5 DEX, +1 size), Move 0’.
• Tumbleweed: duration 1 min/HD the only senses functioning are sight and hearing. DEX 6, AC 10 (1 natural, -2 DEX, +1 size). Move 10’ Ground.
• Swirl of Leaves: duration 2 rounds/HD, the only sense functioning is sight. DEX 16, AC 14 (+3 DEX, +1 Size) Move 10’ Fly (no higher then 10’ above the ground), and 5 damage reduction (not against area effect or fire attacks).
1.5+1+0.75+0.5+0.75-0.5-1+1.5=4.5
The Uprooted is a small tree or shrub Fairy who has survived the death of its tree. Instead of hair, they have twigs and grass growing from their head and their skin has the texture and color of bark. The eyes are a bright red, yellow, or blue and they have small flat teeth like a herbivore. The average height is 3’ have the body shape of a 10-year-old boy or girl, and are asexual. Contact with their body reveals the hidden strength in their small frame, they are best described as wiry.
Viewed as pariahs in Fey, the Uprooted often suffer from survivor guilt complex. Some follow quests to regain a tree in Fey, while others plot revenge on those who killed their tree. Not all are morose, some adapt to their circumstances and experiment with their newfound freedom of movement (originally they had the same limit on their distance to a tree as a dryad). Some even become defenders of the local plants and trees, acting as their champion as a way of making up for their failure to save their plant.
Uprooted Feats
Plant Form: Req. – 3rd level or higher
Gain an additional use of plant form each day. This feat may be taken multiple times
Good Soil: Req. – no requirements
If able to rest directly on good soil and with 6+ hours of direct sunlight, recover double normal # of HP.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm not sure; my first thought was that the stat adjustment was too high since STR and CON are arguably the most useful stats in the game. Looking at it again, I'm not so sure, but it's close.

 

[Beholder Bob]

I've adjusted the penalty to the uprooted to -2 CHA.

Joshua Dyal: True, +2 STR and +1 CON is pretty sweet. The balance factor of -2 DEX and -2 WIS doesn't completely negate it. Note, though, the end result is a -1 REFL and -1 WILL, with only a 50% chance of +1 FORT. Even so, I'll take a 2nd look at their balance as well.

 

[Desdichado]

Don't change it on my account; I'm just going by "gut feel", not some kind of system.