Racial Levels Variant

[ChimericDream]

As someone who hasn't played a gnoll, if it plays well at a +1 (unless there's a massive outcry from others here), I'm fine with bumping it back down to a LA +1.

Done.

Any other suggestions? One thing that struck me yesterday is a potential drawback for playing some of these races as player characters. Assuming players choose not to take *any* racial hit dice at all, they will start with a noticeably small number of hit points. For example, a 1st level Hill Giant Fighter will probably have ~18-20 hit points, wheras other level 9 Fighters will probably have ~80-100. Now, I'm sure the Hill Giant will eventually catch up, but this is certainly a mechanical drawback that players will have to deal with if they decide to play revised LA characters with no racial hit dice.

It's almost like it balances itself! "Sure you can play one of those. Just remember that you're made of glass. One hit and you break." Could make things interesting.

 

[Pyrex]

That's exactly why in the RAW high LA creatures start with a lot of racial HD.

 

[ChimericDream]

Agreed, but I think it has the potential to be as enjoyable without requiring a character to take a set number of racial levels. With this system, a character who wants to start with more hit points can either wait until they can meet the normal ECL, they can take a small hit and take some racial levels based off the new LA, or they can just take a risk and hope they don't take a lot of damage.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Ironically, in the homebrew my friends and I made, we went the OTHER way: every race now has Racial Levels instead of an LA. Humans have 1, most of the other playable races have 2, a few have 3-6, and one of the playable races has 8 (a dragon-based race). The only rule we have on them is that until you've taken all of your Racial Levels, you can't have more non-Racial levels than Racial. (That is, you can go race-class-race or race-race-class, but not race-class-class, because then you'd have more class levels than race levels.)

The main reason this works is because our magic system is primarily skill-based, so you don't suffer as much for taking a race with more racial levels. (There's a bit of a drawback, but most high-HD races have bonuses to the casting stats to compensate.) Also, Racial Levels get a few other perks, like how skill points spent during those levels aren't limited by the usual level-dependent skill cap (if you want to spend 7 or 8 points on a single skill at level 1, you can), but you can't spend on cross-class skills at all.

It's worked very well for us.

 

[ChimericDream]

I've decided to add a bit to the variant. I'm in the process of adding options for each monstrous race to give players wishing to play more flexibility. The options will allow for varying amounts of racial hit dice with different level adjustments. I'll post here when I've got everything written up.

 

[Arkhandus]

Azer: I believe a +4 level adjustment would be more appropriate balance-wise, but I can't be sure.

Bugbear: Probably alright at +2 LA.

Centaur: Probably fine at +4 LA.

Doppelganger: I suppose +6 LA is fine, but it may be a bit off. Also, you left out their natural weapons, though they're mentioned in its change shape ability.

Gargoyle: May or may not be +6 LA in worth rather than +7.

Janni: Maybe better at +8 LA instead of +7, but I can't quite be sure.

Hill Giant: Probably fine at +8 LA.

Stone Giant: May be more appropriate at +10 LA instead of +9, but I can't be sure yet.

Gnoll: +1 LA is appropriate, but they make a weak LA +1.

Grimlock: +3 LA is probably right.

Lizardfolk: +2 LA is fine.

Minotaur: I think +5 LA would probably be more fitting than +4.

Ogre: +4 LA is adequate.

Rakshasa: I'm inclined to judge this LA as +12 or +13 at least, not +10.

Satyr: Seems like a weak +4 LA aside from the pipes, so probably fine with at +4 with the pipes.

Scorpionfolk: May be better suited to +7 LA instead of +8. Depends on if they use Large-creature weapons or Medium-creature weapons like a centaur. If they use Large weapons, it may be enough to deserve +8 LA.

Troglodyte: I'm fairly sure +2 LA would be best. Could be off, but only playtesting would allow me to be sure.

Troll: An LA of +9 would be more appropriate than +7.

 

[ChimericDream]

Wow. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take another look at each of the races and work them out. The good news is that the game I play in on Sundays is nearly over, and we're planning on running some one-shots after that. I plan to playtest these as well as other classes and races I'm working on for my world.

 

[ChimericDream]

Thanks for the advice. I've made some changes to the races and will be throwing a few of them at my party in the next couple of weeks as a test of some of their abilities.

I'll post back here with some observations.

Any other thoughts or advice? I obviously won't be able to playtest all of these quickly, so whatever other people are observing is also appreciated.