Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="DarkSong" data-source="post: 400683" data-attributes="member: 4676">Bah, silly power outage! Where was I...?Oh, yes, the topic.Maybe I should re-post this in House Rules...it would last longer, and maybe get a little more response...as well as being closer to the stated forum topic...maybe later.Elder-Basilisk: To start with your last point, that's an intersting idea to allow more points in exchange for a higher ECL, but that's really opposite of the direction that  I'm trying to go...If some player wanted to try that, though, I might just consider it.I think the real difficulty comes in when you try to assign specific point values...Ideally, the point values should be low enough to get people to consider them along with the other races, but not so low that taking that race is a no-brainer. Maybe ideally the cost shuold be just a smidge high, so that only people who really want the race will take it...hrm.Anyway, on to the actual point cost analysis...Every race should be compared to the core races...they have no ECL adjustment, and in this scheme they would have a point cost of zero.Let's start with an example: Elf (PHB) vs. Aasimar (as presented in the FRCS).First, the stats: elves get +2 dex/-2  con, while Aasimar get +2 wis/+2 cha. In point buy, it seems reasonable to assume that a player will try to maximize bonuses, while minimizing penalties...so that means that a +2 stat modifier should correspond to 6 points (figuring that the player will put a high, 16+, stat in the spot), while a -2 stat modifier should correpsond to 2 points (figuring the player will put that in a low, 14-, spot). That means a +2/-2 elf is effectively up 4 points on stats alone, while a +2/+2 aasimar is up 12 points.Now lets compare the other abilities:Elf: +2 to listen, search, and spot, automatic search for secret doors.Aasimar: +2 to listen and spotEdge goes to the elf.Elf: Immune to sleep, +2 to saves vs. enchantmentsAasimar: Acid, cold, electricity resistance 5Hmmm...I'd call that a push, since either can be nice, depending on the situation...others may disagree.Elf: Low-light VisionAasimar: DarkvisionI'd call that a push, again due to the "circumstances" bit, but most people I know prefer darkvision, so slight edge to the aasimar.Elf: Automatic proficiencies (sword and bows)Aasimar: Light, once/dayOkay, so these aren't really similar, but those are the last of the special abilities....I'd call that a push, since the proficiency can be really useful at low levels, though not to fighter-types. And light 1/day loses its punch at higher levels. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-)" title="Smile    :-)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":-)" />So what do we come up with? Well, the Aasimar is 8 points ahead of the elf on stats alone, and maybe a bit behind on abilities.Looking at things further, an Aasimar's bonus stats are wisdom and charisma, which are amongst the "lesser" stats in the DMG (strength and dexterity are the "greater" stats).Hmm....so, let's reduce the Aasimar to costing 6 points, for its lack of abilities, and then to 4 points for having "lesser" stat bonuses.At that point, with 32 point buy, an Elven wizard's score assortment might look like:Str: 8Dex: 14 (+2 = 16)Con: 12 (-2 = 10)Int: 18Wis: 10Cha: 12While an Aasimar Paladin might look like (with 28 points after "buying" the aasimar race):Str: 14Dex: 10Con: 14Int: 8 Wis: 14 (+2 = 16)Cha: 14 (+2 = 16)It seems to me that these point costs will carry different weight depending on the number of points used...the more points one gets to play with, the more attractive increased point cost races seem to be...even if that's true, it's not necessarily a problem, just an observation.Discuss amongst yourselves.Later.</blockquote>

Verification