Races of the Wild - First Impressions

[Mordane76]

I still don't see how a bonus feat and skill points make humans better wizards than elves, but I am obviously in the minority here. Enjoy the book, and I won't be bying it. That settles it.

That +4 skill points is a maxed Spellcraft right off the bat, or maxed Knowledge (arcana), leaving your other skill points for your other skills. While Wizards get the benefit of having high Intelligence for skill points, this boost in skill points for humans still makes a difference over elves or other races. Tack on a pair of first level only feats or pick up a metamagic feat combo and that human wizard's got the one-up on the elven wizard any day of the week. As they progress, the human keeps getting an extra skill point every level as well, so he can more easily manage keeping his important skills maxed.

Is the human a drastically better wizard than the elf? No, but he will be better at it from the get-go, and remain just a step ahead of the elf all the way up to 20th level.

 

[Remathilis]

I don't like the idea of racial sub levels either. It made sense from a certain standpoint (dwarf sorcerers would be different than human sorcerers) but the balance/trade-off issue still uneases me. It just seems that its easy to abuse these new benefits and its harder to keep them in check.

Which would you rather have?

+1 AC, Reflex Saves, Dex Checks and Initative
-1 Hp/lvl, Concentration checks, Fort Saves
x2 Vision in darkness, x4 in twilight
four martial weapon proficiencies.
+2 Search, Spot, and Listen checks
+2 Enchantment saves, immunity to Sleep spells

OR

Bonus Feat of your choice
One bonus Skill to max Out.

By the Core Rules, its probably the first. But when open to Collegiate Wizard, Able Learner, or Bloodline of Fire, humans gains the nod.

 

[Mordane76]

Which would you rather have?

+1 AC, Reflex Saves, Dex Checks and Initative
-1 Hp/lvl, Concentration checks, Fort Saves
x2 Vision in darkness, x4 in twilight
four martial weapon proficiencies.
+2 Search, Spot, and Listen checks
+2 Enchantment saves, immunity to Sleep spells

OR

Bonus Feat of your choice
One bonus Skill to max Out.

Actually, by the core... I'd probably still take the second - the first sounds nice, but all the oomph is up front and static. The second is dynamic: I get the choice of the feat, I get the choice of the skill, and later on I get to choose where that skill point goes.

 

[Snapdragyn]

/agree Mordane

I've only just started my first non-human in a 3.x game, & that's only because I decided to force myself to play another race.

The build I have planned includes one level of a class I don't even want for the char (barb) just to overcome one of the major limitations of the race (halfling). No way I'm toddling around at 20' & slowing up the rest of the party, missing rounds of combat because I couldn't get there in time, & being dragonsnack if we have to run from an encounter. I also only took this race because I'm planning on being a sorc/rog, & the main damage for both of those (magic & sneak attack, respectively) will be unaffected by another major penalty of the race, smaller weapons.

Between the bonus feat, bonus skill points, & (can't believe no one has mentioned this yet) any class as favored (HUGE for me since I multiclass all over the place), it's just really hard for me to consider any other race seriously. For some, the pluses (e.g. small size bonus to AC & attack) seem outweighed by the minuses (e.g. small race movement speed & weapon size). While elves (& half-elves) do not have this same issue, with their bonuses & penalties being much better balanced, this only leaves them closer to humans, not better than them (or even quite equal, IMHO).

 

[Turjan]

Well, I don't think that elves made a very good choice for playing wizards in D&D 3.x so far. It's not only humans I'd prefer for that task; gnomes and halflings also rank above the elves in this regard, IMHO. Given that wizard is the preferred class for elves, this made me diislike the race as a concept, and given the race choices of my players, they seem to think the same. Just for the record: None of them has a general dislike for elves; they are just not seen as a viable choice for a wizard.

What I do not like is that this problem is addressed in a racial options book and not in the core rules. I also see this as an 'all or nothing' problem, so that I feel bad about allowing options from one book but banning those from a different one. I'll go the way of banning all those options, because I do not intend to buy the whole series.

Therefore, no 'all elves' parties in my game; although this would cater to some nice 2E nostalgia .

 

[Psion]

Actually, by the core... I'd probably still take the second - the first sounds nice, but all the oomph is up front and static. The second is dynamic: I get the choice of the feat, I get the choice of the skill, and later on I get to choose where that skill point goes.

And, for the life of the character, you are 1 more feat along feat chains, into more powerful feats.

And, of the elven benefits, only one really benefits mages: dexterity, and Constitution more than counterbalances that, as the already HP-weak wizard can use all the HP it can muster. The halfling makes a better wizard on this score, which really twigs with the old school fan in me.

And skill points are important for wizards, as skills like concentration, spellcraft, and knowledge, bear directly on their utility.

Yeah, numer two, definitely.

 

[Dyne]

That someone would be Tolkien.

Tolkien created Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, and virtually all of what makes up D&D. Don't even bash Tolkien.
*Gets out a very large stick*

 

[Darkness]

If something looks too good, it usually is

Are you banning the PHB too?

The cleric is a bit on the strong side, ya know.

 

[Turjan]

Tolkien created Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, and virtually all of what makes up D&D. Don't even bash Tolkien.
*Gets out a very large stick*

He created hobbits; D&D 3.x halflings have a completely different feel to them. He created the image of superior elves, yes. He did definitely not create "virtually all of what makes up D&D". That's why it is so incredibly difficult to recreate a Middle Earth feeling in D&D.

But I think that's enough as a tangent .

 

[Krieg]

Tolkien created Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, and virtually all of what makes up D&D. Don't even bash Tolkien.
*Gets out a very large stick*

Tolkien wrote the eddas?!

Wow.

Edit:

He created hobbits; D&D 3.x halflings have a completely different feel to them. He created the image of superior elves, yes. He did definitely not create "virtually all of what makes up D&D". That's why it is so incredibly difficult to recreate a Middle Earth feeling in D&D.
.

Fudge! Scooped on that one.