Races of Destiny: The Illumians?

[Knightfall]

I've been reading the Amazon.com reviews for Races of Destiny and most of them say that the book is really only worth getting for the section on the illumians.

So, I'm wondering what people think of the illumian as a race? What makes them cool? What's are the race's sigils all about?

Plus, one review mentions there are options for doppelgangers, half-ogres, mongrelfolk, and skulks as PC races. Since I'm always looking for official racial traits, I'm wondering if the write-ups are any good. Opinions?

Also, can someone post a complete list of all the races presented in this book, please and thank you?

Cheers!

Knightfall

 

[Dandu]

Races of Destiny also has the Chameleon prestige class iirc.

 

[the Jester]

I looked at all the Races of... books but didn't get any. RoD was close, though not for anything involving the races per se.

It has the coolest domain evar in it: the City domain. OMFG it is so cool. If you're already considering getting the book, I'd say the City domain alone is worth half the price. Unfortunately when I looked at it I didn't care for the rest (but then, I am not real big on having tons of new races all up in my game).

 

[Jhaelen]

I think Races of Destiny may have been the weakest entry in the series (almost as weak: Races of the Dragon). I wouldn't recommend getting it just for the Ilumians. They're almost identical to humans after all.

Races of Stone was a good one.

 

[PureGoldx58]

The Skulk are a wonderful race in that book, if you consider shadow dancer as a class for them.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I would put RoD as bein one of the least useful books. It's mostly fluff for humans and their cities, which most of us don't need. The illumians have some interesting mechanics but I've never seen anyone play one, and the book is thin on original content after that.

 

[Tovec]

I wouldn't get Races of Destiny for the Illumians. I might consider it for other races in the book but in our games I don't think I've EVER seen an Illumian actually come into play.
If it were me I would probably get either Races of the Wild or Races of Stone. Both of these have several races (and race variants) we have used in our games.
I'm not a huge fan of the races books because I like a nice clean calm game but I would still recommend Wild or Stone over Destiny or Dragon. Our games have gotten a lot of mileage out of those books, whereas all we seem to use Races of Destiny for is the Aasimar update. I could be wrong, I'll check around with my people and see if there was something else I was missing.

 

[AshtenD]

Actually, I have personally made an illumian and had a few friends make them too. They are very similar to humans except that they are a bit more versatile. They have the ability to multi-class monks, paladins, and so forth, things that aren't normally multi-classable. The sigils are a very interesting concept, not only do they give off their own light (that of a candle), but they provide some interesting buffs, though many are pretty useless. The Illumian roleplay wise are actually quite interesting, considering the premise of them is that they are Magical words put into physical form. Its quite interesting when in a setting where they are very few, the types of roleplay you get with a half-orc and an illumian is quite hilarious (what are those floating around your head!?) . Overall, they are actually a pretty interesting race, but definitely not one I bought the entire book. I just like collecting Go with Races of the Wild or Stone. Those are really amazing books. (Catfolk and Raptorian FTW)

So if you Love to multiclass, it would be worth picking up though.

 

[Knightfall]

I looked at all the Races of... books but didn't get any. RoD was close, though not for anything involving the races per se.

It has the coolest domain evar in it: the City domain. OMFG it is so cool. If you're already considering getting the book, I'd say the City domain alone is worth half the price. Unfortunately when I looked at it I didn't care for the rest (but then, I am not real big on having tons of new races all up in my game).

Hmm, it sounds like that domain might go well with the material in Cityscape.

And you know me, I'm always keen on new races.

 

[Knightfall]

Well, I took the plunge. I had the chance to get both Races of Destiny and Races of the Wild in one fell swoop.

A FLGS had a copy of the Races Series Collection.

Yes, it means I had to buy a second copy of Races of Stone, but it was worth it. Races of the Wild is very cool and I like the material in Races of Destiny too.

Besides, I can sell or trade my old copy of Races of Stone away.

It's all good.