No official PC races with mental ability bonus?

[Wolfwood2]

I'm trying to find races for my new campaign, and would like to have a race that is especially gifted as scholars - but I can't seem to find any races with a bonus to intelligence? I've heard people claim that it's an official design decision that no PC races have positive adjustments to mental ability scores - is that right? Have I overlooked a suitable race? Other ways to make a scholarly race? (caveat: I'm only looking at +0 LA races)

A straight bonus to intelligence is a bore way to do a scholarly race. You know who's scholarly? Gnomes. Here's why.

Look at the aging charts for a gnome. They can expect to spend roughly half their lifespan as old/venerable. By the time a character is old, they can expect to have a +2 aging bonus to intelligence. All you have to do is make one additional assumption, that gnomes are unlike humans in that they don't tend to immediately retire upon getting old. (And isn't a 100 years a long time to be retired?)

Instead, gnomes move from active occupations to more sedentary occupations, as befits their decreasing physical abilities. They become scholars. Thus the popular image of the doddering, grey-haired scholarly gnome, because all the younger ones are out farming and stuff.

Okay, but how does that make them different from elves and dwarves? Favored class. Gnomes have Bard as favored class. Bards have all knowledge skills as class skills and get 6 skill points a level + int bonus. If you assume that many or most gnomes take a level in Bard when they get old and use the points on knowledge skills, that's a lot of gnomes floating around who could be experts in one or more fields of knowledge. Even if they only started out with a 10 intelligence.

And that is why gnomes can be a scholarly race in your campaign.

 

[dagger]

Forgotten Realms gold elves are +2 INT and -2 CON

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Nothing in the Player's Handbook.

Your DM might balk at anything from the Monster Manual.

I think they did that to keep save DCs under control. WotC let save DCs get way out of control in 3.0 and is determined to keep them under control in 3.5.

Scholar races don't need Int bonuses, however. It could be cultural - they're "expected" to be good scholars by other members of their race. Alternatively, you could go for +2 to multiple Knowledge skills. Scholar doesn't have to mean mage. There are plenty of smart heroes who don't do magic.

 

[Iku Rex]

Deep Imaskari from the FR Underdark book. +2 Int, -2 Dex.

Illumians from Races of Destiny. They don't have an Int bonus, but they are "the physical embodiment of a magical language", are literate as a racial ability and can get a bonus on Int checks and Int based skills with a racial ability.

 

[Evil Monkey]

No Level Adjustment
Fire Elf (Unearthed Arcana) - +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Sun Elf (FR Campaign Setting) - -2 Con, +2 Int
Arcane Gnome (Dragon #291) - -2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Wis
Tinker Gnome (Dragonlance Campaign Setting) - -2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Wis
Fire Hobgoblin (Unearthed Arcana) - +2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Deep Imaskari (Underdark) - -2 Dex, +2 Int

+1 Level Adjustment
Ghost Elf (Dragon #313) - +2 Dex, -4 Con, +2 Int
Blue Goblin (Expanded Psionics Handbook) - -2 Str, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Insectare (Dragon #339) - +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha
Planetouched, Axani (Dragon #297) - +2 Int, +2 Wis
Planetouched, Cansin (Dragon #297) - +2 Int, +2 Cha
Air Genasi (FR Campaign Setting) - +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha
Dust Genasi (Dragon #297) - +4 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Fire Genasi (FR Campaign Setting) - +2 Int, -2 Cha
Smoke Genasi (Dragon #297) - +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Planetouched, Mechanatrix (Fiend Folio) - -2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Planetouched, Tiefling (Races Of Destiny) - +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Planetouched, Wispling (Fiend Folio) - -2 Str, +4 Dex, +2 Int

+2 Level Adjustment
Drow Elf (FR Campaign Setting) - +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha
Umbragen Elf (Dragon #330) - +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha (I think these are just Eberron dark elves or something, but I don't have the issue in front of me ATM.)
Irda Ogre (Dragonlance Campaign Setting) - -2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha
Planetouched, Fey'ri (Races Of Faerun) - +2 Dex, -2 Con, +2 Int

I'm sure there's a lot more, especially if you include monsters as playable PC races, but these are what I found in my list.

There's also a race of dwarves called Aleithian dwarves that don't have a LA and have +2 Con, +2 Int, and -4 Cha. They were detailed in a WotC web article, but unfortunately I don't remember which one. If you do a search on their website though, you should be able to find it.

 

[Jack Simth]

No Level Adjustment
Fire Hobgoblin (Unearthed Arcana) - +2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Cha

That's not quite accurate; from www.d20srd.org

Fire hobgoblins have the general traits of fire races described above and all hobgoblin racial traits, with additions and exceptions as noted below.

(emphasis added)

Hobgoblin Characters

Hobgoblin characters possess the following racial traits.

* +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution.
* A hobgoblin’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Goblin. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Infernal, Giant, Orc.
* Favored Class: Fighter.
* Level adjustment +1.

(emphasis added)

So Fire Hobgoblins have an LA of +1, as the Fire Hobgoblin inherits from the Hobgoblin, and doesn't specifically ovverride the LA.

Unless, of course, d20srd.com is off on that aspect, and isn't well copied, which is possible; don't have that base book handy.

 

[Thanee]

Unapproachable East also has the Star Elf (+0 LA and +2 to Cha, -2 to Con; can be of type Outsider with a regional feat in FR).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Bront]

That's not quite accurate; from www.d20srd.org

(emphasis added)

(emphasis added)

So Fire Hobgoblins have an LA of +1, as the Fire Hobgoblin inherits from the Hobgoblin, and doesn't specifically ovverride the LA.

Unless, of course, d20srd.com is off on that aspect, and isn't well copied, which is possible; don't have that base book handy.

No, Hobgoblins are indeed (the worst) LA +1 (race in the core rules)

 

[Evil Monkey]

You are both correct, Jack and Bront. I double-checked my Unearthed Arcana, and it doesn't even have a LA listing for fire hobgoblin, so I probably just spaced it when adding to my list. I should have known something was wrong, cuz when I was typing out those modifiers I was thinking to myself how good those were for a race with no LA. So the fire hobgoblin is indeed LA +1.

 

[Crothian]

By "official" I really just mean I want to avoid unbalanced third-party creations or similar.

What about balanced third party creations?