Races of... books -- worth getting?
- Thread starter RichGreen
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Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
What Crothian said. I found the PrCs in Races of Stone to be almost too boring to use (and they miss the point of the race in a few cases, IMO ... I need non-cleric tricksters for gnomes, not duelist variants), but the new gods are great (and an improvement on the classic Roger Moore ones) and some of the variant races are great and the goliaths are well-imagined and fun.
On the other hand, I've put down Races of Destiny over and over again in the store. The only thing from that I'd want is the 3.5 half-ogre.
On the other hand, I've put down Races of Destiny over and over again in the store. The only thing from that I'd want is the 3.5 half-ogre.
cignus_pfaccari
Explorer
I rather liked Races of Stone. The Goliaths are quite cool.
Despite the fact that my hate of elves and halflings knows no limits, Races of the Wild was pretty good. It almost makes me want to play an elf (say, an elven fighter 4/swashbuckler 3/Champion of Corellon 2 and get 1.5 Str, Dex, and Int to my damage with elven courtblade).
Races of Destiny, OTOH...no. I like the idea of trying to explain how humans are the way they are in a multi-racial world, but that's it. The half-elves and half-orcs were shafted, the new race is humans with lights on their heads, and the four-page PrC descriptions are wasteful. (They're in RotW too, but not as bad)
Brad
Despite the fact that my hate of elves and halflings knows no limits, Races of the Wild was pretty good. It almost makes me want to play an elf (say, an elven fighter 4/swashbuckler 3/Champion of Corellon 2 and get 1.5 Str, Dex, and Int to my damage with elven courtblade).
Races of Destiny, OTOH...no. I like the idea of trying to explain how humans are the way they are in a multi-racial world, but that's it. The half-elves and half-orcs were shafted, the new race is humans with lights on their heads, and the four-page PrC descriptions are wasteful. (They're in RotW too, but not as bad)
Brad
Psion
Adventurer
I actually rather like Races of Stone... it exceeded my expectations in several ways.
Races of Destiny... I like Illumians, but most of the remainder of the book seems rather dull to me (and ill fated. They would have had to do something astonishing to make a book about distinct aspects of humans interesting yet generic. They didn't)
Races of Destiny... I like Illumians, but most of the remainder of the book seems rather dull to me (and ill fated. They would have had to do something astonishing to make a book about distinct aspects of humans interesting yet generic. They didn't)
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Davelozzi
Explorer
I thought that Races of Stone was probably the most disappointing book that I've purchased in years. Very 'blah' to me. As a result, I haven't picked up the other two, though I have flipped through them both.
Races of Destiny didn't tempt me at all when I looked at it, though to be fair, I barely use mixed races, wasn't interested in illumnians based on what I saw in the preview, and didn't see the need for a generic treatment of humans, so it would have been a pretty hard sell.
I've only recently, and briefly, seen Races of the Wild. Again I had little interest in it, since I've had plenty of elf books over the years and didn't currently have any elves or halfling in my party, but when I looked at it, it seemed more intersting than the others. Now we've just had a new player who rolled up an elf, so I'm slightly more likely to buy it but I'm still feeling burned from RoS and am hesitant.
I'm not currently running Eberron, but I have been following the line, and I think Races of Eberron sounds promising, though I would rather have seen WotC billing it as an Eberron line book rather than part of the Races of... line.
Races of Destiny didn't tempt me at all when I looked at it, though to be fair, I barely use mixed races, wasn't interested in illumnians based on what I saw in the preview, and didn't see the need for a generic treatment of humans, so it would have been a pretty hard sell.
I've only recently, and briefly, seen Races of the Wild. Again I had little interest in it, since I've had plenty of elf books over the years and didn't currently have any elves or halfling in my party, but when I looked at it, it seemed more intersting than the others. Now we've just had a new player who rolled up an elf, so I'm slightly more likely to buy it but I'm still feeling burned from RoS and am hesitant.
I'm not currently running Eberron, but I have been following the line, and I think Races of Eberron sounds promising, though I would rather have seen WotC billing it as an Eberron line book rather than part of the Races of... line.
The biggest problem with all three of the "Race" books is the inclusion of the new core race in each. Since nearly a third of the entire book is dedicated to those new races, if you do not like them, you will have a hard time liking the book as a whole. I really enjoyed Races of Stone, because I liked the Goliath race and thought it well-executed. I think there is quite a bit of other good material, especially dwarven feats and equipment. I feel similarly about Races of the Wild, because the added background, campaign, and encounter material for the PrCs really adds a lot, and I like both elves and halflings (I hate the raptorians, but can overlook it since the rest of the book is excellent). Races of Destiny sucked on all levels, unfortunately- the illumians are terrible in concept and execution, and the 'half-races' are really quite dull on their own merits.
If Races of Eberron follows the format of Races of the Wild I think it will be worthwhile. If you play or plan to play one of the specific races in any of the books they are likely worthwhile for you, even if not for the general audience.
If Races of Eberron follows the format of Races of the Wild I think it will be worthwhile. If you play or plan to play one of the specific races in any of the books they are likely worthwhile for you, even if not for the general audience.
Testament
First Post
Races of Stone I thought was good. It actually made Gnomes interesting, and the Goliaths were an interesting new race. Only problems were some of the new crunch, especially the Racial Substitution levels, AKA, Fighter-plus etc.
The Complete Illumian, sorry, Races of Destiny, sucked beyond all belief. It added precisely NOTHING to the existing races in it, and nearly half the book was dedicated to some designers pet project, which, while an interesting idea, come across as boring and badly done. And once more, the Racial Sub levels are insane.
Don't know about Races of The Wild, since I got burned so bad on The Complete Illumian.
The Complete Illumian, sorry, Races of Destiny, sucked beyond all belief. It added precisely NOTHING to the existing races in it, and nearly half the book was dedicated to some designers pet project, which, while an interesting idea, come across as boring and badly done. And once more, the Racial Sub levels are insane.
Don't know about Races of The Wild, since I got burned so bad on The Complete Illumian.
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