Greetings!
i'm working on a new campaign world and i'd like to enlist the inestimable talent of the EN boards in helping me make sure my changes from default D&D are sound and balanced.
firstly, i'd like you all to take a look at some of the changes i've made to the races. any comments, criticisms, or helpful suggestions would be most appreciated. i fear my closeness to my creations makes me a poor estimator of their "game balance," and i'd like some outside opinions.
the "civilized races" of this world are human, dwarf, and goblinoid (goblin, troll, hobgoblin). Goblins look like the goblins in the MM, but their personalities are more like halflings. Trolls are just Large-size goblins (so no regeneration and such). Anyone with a mixture of human and goblinoid blood is a "hobgoblin" - so they aren't their own race, as such.
without further ado:
humans are identical to the PHB human.
dwarves
As you can see, the only major changes are replacing the Cha penalty with a Dex penalty, and replacing the dodge bonus against giants with a smaller natural armor bonus.
i like the Dex penalty because i can more readily imagine a dwarf with an 18 Charisma than i can a dwarf with an 18 Dexterity. i don't see dwarves as being particularly "dodgy," so i removed that ability. but i wanted to make up for giving them a harsher stat penalty, which is why i added the natural armor bonus.
i think this may be a little overpowered, however. (IMO, PHB dwarves are the strongest race.) if i was to take away anything, i would probably remove the bonus to poison saves.
goblin
(you'll notice this is based heavily on the PHB halfling.)
the main differences are that goblins get an additional -2 Wis and only a bonus to Fort saves, but in return they get low-light vision, better movement, and +2 Spot (compared to PHB halflings).
if i were to remove anything from this, i'd do away with either or both of the Listen and Spot bonuses.
hobgoblin
this is the one i'm most concerned with. although i am one of those people who think the half-orc got the shaft i am concerned that this race is significantly better than it. half-orcs are not allowed in this game, so there is no direct competition, but if half-orcs are balanced, then these guys obviously are not.
unfortunately, i don't know what i would change. i can't give them any more stat penalties, say in Int or Cha, for two reasons. One, goblins don't get penalties in those stats, so it wouldn't make sense for someone of mixed goblin and human blood to have penalties there. also, in the campaign world, hobgoblins are often the rulers of goblinoid society, so i don't want to make them less intelligent or less charismatic than the peoples they are supposedly leading.
i don't want to remove their goblinoid heritage (the physical stat bonuses and low-light vision) because i feel those abilities help define this race as being part of the goblinoid bloodline. similarly, i don't want to remove the extra skill points because i've gone to great lengths in the campaign world to illustrate that hobgoblins share the versatility, capability, and ambition of their human cousins (which is why they often end up leading goblinoid societies).
do you think the hobgoblins are balanced for ECL 0 as written above? if not, how would you change them?
thanks for helping!
i'm working on a new campaign world and i'd like to enlist the inestimable talent of the EN boards in helping me make sure my changes from default D&D are sound and balanced.
firstly, i'd like you all to take a look at some of the changes i've made to the races. any comments, criticisms, or helpful suggestions would be most appreciated. i fear my closeness to my creations makes me a poor estimator of their "game balance," and i'd like some outside opinions.
the "civilized races" of this world are human, dwarf, and goblinoid (goblin, troll, hobgoblin). Goblins look like the goblins in the MM, but their personalities are more like halflings. Trolls are just Large-size goblins (so no regeneration and such). Anyone with a mixture of human and goblinoid blood is a "hobgoblin" - so they aren't their own race, as such.
without further ado:
humans are identical to the PHB human.
dwarves
- +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity: Dwarves are stout and tough but are less nimble and adroit than other races.
- Medium-size.
- Base speed 20 feet.
- Darkvision 60 feet.
- Stonecunning as PHB dwarf.
- +2 racial bonus on saves against poison; +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects.
- +1 racial bonus on attacks against giants. (Dwarves aren't the enemies of goblinkind in this world.)
- +1 natural armor bonus. (this replaces the +4 dodge bonus to giants. lesser bonus but always useful - this is mainly to offset the greater disadvantage of having -2 Dex as opposed to -2 Cha. their Ref saves, initiative, and Dex skills will be lower, but at least their AC will be all right.)
- +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Craft checks applying to stone or metal.
- Favored class: by culture. Orslevi dwarf: Fighter. Vitharian dwarf: Monk. Puntish dwarf: Wizard.
As you can see, the only major changes are replacing the Cha penalty with a Dex penalty, and replacing the dodge bonus against giants with a smaller natural armor bonus.
i like the Dex penalty because i can more readily imagine a dwarf with an 18 Charisma than i can a dwarf with an 18 Dexterity. i don't see dwarves as being particularly "dodgy," so i removed that ability. but i wanted to make up for giving them a harsher stat penalty, which is why i added the natural armor bonus.
i think this may be a little overpowered, however. (IMO, PHB dwarves are the strongest race.) if i was to take away anything, i would probably remove the bonus to poison saves.
goblin
(you'll notice this is based heavily on the PHB halfling.)
- +2 Dexterity, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom: Goblins are quick, agile, and good with ranged weapons, but they are small and therefore not as strong as other humanoids. Goblins also evince the low willpower and short attention spans common to the goblinoid races.
- Small size.
- Base speed 30 feet. (like goblins in the MM.)
- Low-light vision.
- +2 racial bonus on Climb, Jump, and Move Silently checks.
- +1 racial bonus on Fortitude saves. (unlike halflings who get a +1 on all saves. this is to balance the increased speed and a few other changes.)
- +1 racial bonus on attacks with thrown weapons and slings. (i've ruled in past campaigns that slings count under the halfling "thrown weapon" ability, so i decided to explicitly state it here.)
- +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks. (these goblins don't have the bonus to fear saves that halflings get, so i wanted to give them something else, thus the Spot bonus.)
- Favored class: by culture. Kizik: Barbarian. Mashri, Thygian: Fighter. Hemadi, Mizandian, Yinderi: Ranger. Haralic, Nanjarian, Qaray, Zai: Rogue. (not all goblins in this world are sneaky backstabbers. )
the main differences are that goblins get an additional -2 Wis and only a bonus to Fort saves, but in return they get low-light vision, better movement, and +2 Spot (compared to PHB halflings).
if i were to remove anything from this, i'd do away with either or both of the Listen and Spot bonuses.
hobgoblin
- -2 Wisdom: Hobgoblins evince the low willpower and short attention spans common to the goblinoid races.
- Goblinoid Heritage: A hobgoblin may choose one of the following: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, or +2 Constitution. Hobgoblins with primarily goblin blood will have a Dexterity bonus, whereas those of troll extraction may have either a Strength or Constitution bonus.
- Medium-size.
- Base speed 30 feet.
- Low-light vision.
- the human extra skill point thing: 4 at 1st level, 1 at each additional level. (this is their "human heritage" - they are just as versatile and capable as humans.)
- Favored class: by culture. Kizik: Barbarian. Haralic, Mashri, Mizandian, Nanjarian, Qaray, Thygian: Fighter. Hemadi, Yinderi, Zai: Ranger.
this is the one i'm most concerned with. although i am one of those people who think the half-orc got the shaft
i am concerned that this race is significantly better than it. half-orcs are not allowed in this game, so there is no direct competition, but if half-orcs are balanced, then these guys obviously are not.unfortunately, i don't know what i would change. i can't give them any more stat penalties, say in Int or Cha, for two reasons. One, goblins don't get penalties in those stats, so it wouldn't make sense for someone of mixed goblin and human blood to have penalties there. also, in the campaign world, hobgoblins are often the rulers of goblinoid society, so i don't want to make them less intelligent or less charismatic than the peoples they are supposedly leading.
i don't want to remove their goblinoid heritage (the physical stat bonuses and low-light vision) because i feel those abilities help define this race as being part of the goblinoid bloodline. similarly, i don't want to remove the extra skill points because i've gone to great lengths in the campaign world to illustrate that hobgoblins share the versatility, capability, and ambition of their human cousins (which is why they often end up leading goblinoid societies).
do you think the hobgoblins are balanced for ECL 0 as written above? if not, how would you change them?
thanks for helping!
