Please comment on these PC races

[Neo]

one dex and str are equivalent stats so thats good

Race one is a very weak +1 LA effectively 2 feats (bonus and weapon familiarities) and +3 skill bonuses i know they halfling gets more but its balanced by being small

Without wanting to drift off topic too much, Small is not a balance for halflings skill bonuses... Small has more bonuses than it has penalties, and sieze isn't mentioned anywhere as being Level Adjusting. Not sure why some of the core races aren't Level Adjusting when according to the rules they've released they should be but Small isn't it.

Also by the same token weapon familiarity and bonus feat arent really applying either as two feats for likely the same reason they don't for elves, dwarves or half orcs. Weapon familiarities don't seem to count as a feat choice.

The only reason Race one is LA is the unbalanced Stat modifiers, but we covered that.

Admitedly the whole discussion would be much easier if their was some consitency in what Wizards tell us is Level adjusting and how they built the core races LOL

 

[evolved]

look in savage species under simple monsters small creatures may get good bonuses but they are easy to grapple, and otherwise push around more special attacks and spells (especially wheather spells) can smack them around, your weapons deal less damage and have a shorter reach, you can't use heavier gear even with a decent str score

you've got a point on the weapon familiarities though,

 

[Neo]

look in savage species under simple monsters small creatures may get good bonuses but they are easy to grapple, and otherwise push around more special attacks and spells (especially wheather spells) can smack them around, your weapons deal less damage and have a shorter reach, you can't use heavier gear even with a decent str score

If your small you are harder to hit, find it easier to hit others, find hiding easier, but can not use normal sized weapons easily, and are much easier to grapple.

If your large you are easier to hit, find it harder to hit others smaller than yourself, can use normal or larger weapons easier, and are more capable of grappling others smaller than yourself.

There is no inbalance in either, not enough to warrunt an LA. Both have positives and negatives. If as a benefit they has just positives then an LA would make sense due to size, but size is a two sided coin.

 

[Ferret]

Like sigurd said I'd like to see some flavour text, but so far I'd say it was balanced.

 

[pensiv]

To all: These races are meant to be similar in many ways, they are not strictly different races, but different cultures as "templates" upon two different races (humans and a homebrew race).

Sigurd: I'm omitting flavor text right now because I don't want people distracted by it. I'm interested strictly in the mechanical concerns. I do have information on the races outside of their numbers, but I didn't feel it mattered here. Regarding lack of favored classes, I haven't made up my mind about whether or not I like the whole mechanic of favored classes, however to stick to some "sacred cows" I probably should limit the favored classes at the outset and then use them or not use them when it comes down to actually using the races.

evolved: I may take out the stat bonus and penalty altogether for Race #1. Race #2 I gave a penalty to Intelligence because they are not learned in general, but are crafty and are good at witchcraft and sorcery, I didn't want those areas to be penalized by a general lack of "book-knowledge." I will probably limit the Crafts however, because you're right about it effectively giving a bonus to a nigh unlimited amount of skills. I'm not sure exactly how the run ability would stack with the run feat, but I was trying to give them some extra speed without increasing their base movement. That's a very good area to look at.

 

[pensiv]

I've added Favored Classes. Race #2 and #3 are from the same culture, so they have the same favored class.

 

[Arkhandus]

Hullo, I'll try and help ya out a bit. First, a few things I have a need to mention. Savage Species is junk. It doesn't even work with any of the core races and it is horrendously vague and sparse when it comes to describing how to build a balanced PC race. I regret having wasted my money on the thing. To clarify though, it does indeed state in one of the early chapters of SS that being Small incurs an effective -1 LA, generally balanced out by the various benefits that small races like Halflings and Gnomes possess.

Personally, I think many of the core races are rather frontloaded and powerful compared to humans and half-orcs (who sadly get the shaft, though I also feel half-elves in 3.0 and gnomes in 3.5 get a bit shafted too).... I try to give custom races some incremental level-based benefits to be more on-par with humans and less front-loaded. In any case, if you're going to build custom races, ignore Savage Species and just compare your custom races to the core PC races, staying mindful of the fact that humans and half-orcs are kinda underpowered (only their usefulness in one or two builds, and the nice bit of versatility with humans, prevents them from being a disappointment).

Below is your text quoted, with my notes in between with blue text.

Here are four PC races that I'm working on. They are meant to have LA+0 and be "balanced" with the PHB races and each other. Are they? If not, what do I need to do to balance them with core PC races? What do I need to do to balance them with each other?


RACE #1

• +2 Strength, -2 Dexterity.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• base land speed is 30 feet.
• 1 extra feat at 1st level.
• Weapon Familiarity: They may treat bolas and bastard swords as martial weapons, rather than exotic ones.
• +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.
• Favored Class: Barbarian.

--->Seems fine but maybe a little weak at higher levels. Maybe you should give them a racial +1 bonus on Wilderness Lore/Survival checks per 2 character levels, or +1 HP per 2 character levels, or something....


RACE #2

• +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• base land speed is 30 feet.
• 1 extra feat at 1st level.
• Low-Light Vision
• +2 racial bonus on Craft, Forgery, and Spellcraft checks.
• Favored Class: Sorceror.

--->This one's a little weaker than the first. How about instead of a bonus on Craft and Forgery, they get a bonus on Concentration and Craft (Alchemy)? In addition, give them +1 on Use Magic Device per 2 character levels, and make Use Magic Device a permanent class skill for them. Or perhaps instead of the UMD benefits, maybe give this race an extra spell known whenever they gain access to a new spell level? However, that would make them even more specialized in focus, whereas the UMD benefits would instead allow them to be more useful regardless of class (a fighter that can use Wands of Cure Serious Wounds, or a monk that can use scrolls of Mage Armor and Divine Favor? ).


RACE #3

• +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• base land speed is 30 feet.
• Run: When running, they move five times their normal speed (if wearing medium, light, or no armor and carrying no more than a medium load) or four times their speed (if wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load). If they make a jump after a running start (see the Jump skill description), they gain a +4 bonus on their Jump check. While running, they retain their Dexterity bonus to AC.
• Low-Light Vision
• +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks.
• +2 racial bonus on Craft, Forgery, and Spellcraft checks.
• Favored Class: Sorceror.

--->Similar to the previous one, but it's a tiny bit more powerful so perhaps just add a further +1 on Intimidate per 3 character levels....


RACE #4

• Medium: As Medium creatures, they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• base land speed is 30 feet.
• Run: When running, they move five times their normal speed (if wearing medium, light, or no armor and carrying no more than a medium load) or four times their speed (if wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load). If they make a jump after a running start (see the Jump skill description), they gain a +4 bonus on their Jump check. While running, they retain their Dexterity bonus to AC.
• 4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point at each additional level.
• +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks.
• Favored Class: Any.

--->Fine but you might want to make the Intimidate bonus only +1 if you keep the regular humans in the setting, otherwise this'll be an obviously superior choice for monks, barbarians, and arcane spellcasters perhaps. Not in all cases of course, but it would be definately better for more charismatic or defensive arcane spellcaster builds, and it would enhance the benefits of the monk and barbarian classes notably.


PHB HUMANS(I just put them here for easy reference)

• Medium: As Medium creatures, they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• base land speed is 30 feet.
• 1 extra feat at 1st level.
• 4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point at each additional level.
• Favored Class: Any.

 

[pensiv]

I appreciate and like your suggestions Arkhandus. Do you use level-dependent bonuses for PC races in your campaign?
I'd like to see how that would work without using "racial classes."

 

[Sigurd]

They look pretty balanced so far.

Sigurd: I'm omitting flavor text right now because I don't want people distracted by it. I'm interested strictly in the mechanical concerns. I do have information on the races outside of their numbers, but I didn't feel it mattered here.

While I can see thats your process, I don't really separate them when considering the balance of a race so this is a limited reply.

I love races that have a believable ecologic niche. What or who you eat, who you get along with, what races love\hate you make a huge game play difference for me.

Are they all air breathers?

 

[pensiv]

I get where you're coming from Sigurd. They are all very similar to humans.