PC Races

[Dannyalcatraz]

do you mean like a race of dwarven like peoples but with maybe a more fire elemental or earth elemental feel to them?

You talkin' to me?

That kind of thing could be done with some kind of template/racial class that could be applied to any race.

As I've posted numerous times- and many times recently- I did something like that for a homebrew. Every Planetouched race from D&D became Nephilim- specifically an expanded version of the definition that reads "They were the hybrid offspring of fallen angels and human women."

Thus, any extraplanar being (not just fallen angels) that had relations with any of the sentient races of the campaign world (not just humans) could produce offspring that could have the Nephilim racial class.

Or were you asking about the Fey Gnomes?

By those, I meant something resembling the European legends of Small Folk, known by a variety of names- Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Kobold, etc.- that doesn't have the RPG treatment we're used to. So, these guys would have the small stature, but as opposed to being a mundane fantasy race, they'd actually have innate magical abilities. Things like:

1. Being able to actually talk with animals, as opposed to using Speak With Animals X/day.
2. Minor magical powers akin to orisons or cantrips (maybe as high as 2nd level spells as the PC advanced in power), centered around enchantments and illusions and transmutations.
3. Fey weaknesses, like an allergy to cold iron, or perhaps mysterious "taboos" like not being able to eat before sundown.
4. Fey frailties, like having a HP penalty per level, or maybe scaling down their class-level HD to the next lowest (minimum d4).

And so forth.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Something old, something new, something borrowed...nothing too blue.

Somebody stop this man -- he's hatin' on the Na'vi!

I don't know what I'd want, other than my own homebrew stuff. Guess I'm just finicky that way.

 

[MerrikCale]

Something old, something new, something borrowed...nothing too blue.

no I want blue. Air Genasi rock

 

[Glade Riven]

Hrm...How about a book with a chapter for building balanced custom races? Like a racial point-buy system. Primarily, it would be designed for DMs, but it could be used (with DM permission) as a way for players to create some creative half-breed races.

To reiterate what others have said, I support non-euro-base fantasy races for player-characters & staples that have been missed. Each entry takes a 2-page spread, not only for the stats, but a brief overview on the race's society and some general suggestions on how the race could be used or integrated into a campaign.

 

[zen_hydra]

Here are few races I would love to see:

- A sword-and-sorcery style snake-man race

- A sword-and-sorcery ape-man race

- A genasi-type race with elemental affinity

- A feral, animalistic, beast-man race (canine, feline, or whatever)

- A artificial/construct race

- A fae/sidhe race of magical beings

- A winged/flying race

- A half-giant/ogre race

- A shadow-affiliated race

 

[MerrikCale]

I just want a variety of plane touched

 

[ruemere]

What should a book of races [1] bring to the table?

Culture. Civilization. History. Inventions.
Listings of hairy brutes, decadent albinos, emo bastards with horns or scaly bipedal lizards are in, in the long run, boring.

For this reason my campaigns tend to be very anthropocentric - you don't need to juggle body parts to tell a story about particular individual. And that's why being of Atlantean or Lemurian blood would mean one inherited legendary past and deadly secrets instead of funny pupils, tail or pointy ears.

Regards,
Ruemere

[1] Replace "races" with "classes", "prestige classes", "racial levels", "replacement levels" if necessary.

 

[Kaladhan]

Overall, I prefer races that I don't have to include a whole new nation in my campaign to explain why they are there. If they are mostly human but differ a bit (like shifters, for example), then all the better.

Shifters
I think the shifters are lacking a little something that could make them really shine. For that reason, I suggest you include a variant version of that race (which would probably need a new name).

What kind of powers / feats could a shifter with were-rat ancestry have? What about were-bear?

It could also be fun if they had 2 shapes and could alternate between the 2. For example a human form and a humanish beast form. Perhaps on full moon they might not have a choice to keep their beast form.

Golems
My main problem with the warforged or ironborn is that they are mostly robots with metallic bodies. I like the Golems from Dragon Age and I think they could easily be included in a campaign without having to create a lot of backstory to them.

Giants
Most half-giant races that I've read, either half-ogres or half-giants, were boring. They only race of giants that I found interesting were from Arcana Evolved. I would like to see them adjusted for Pathfinder RPG.

 

[MerrikCale]

Of course, I believe the folks at Paizo have said that they are not interested in new PC races

If they do them, it would be incorporated in a Asian themed book and the like

 

[Sigurd]

Of course, I believe the folks at Paizo have said that they are not interested in new PC races

If they do them, it would be incorporated in a Asian themed book and the like

Yes the "folks at Paizo" are great strategists and chess players with deep strategies of what they will do next and the intricate master plans to accomplish great and subtle things.

I think that a wind of inspiration to a writer's muse or any other source of 'really good idea' could change any of their plans. I credit them with good planning but also an entertainers instinct for a good product.

New races for Pathfinder are important game changes for the players that use them. Of course you may be right but I wouldn't count on Paizo _not_ doing anything.


Sigurd.