Pathfinder 1E Rate my Pathfinder Rakasta

[thundershot]

Okay, one of the last ingredients I have for my upcoming Pathfinder campaign is getting Rakasta converted over... I'm partially using the one CleverNickname did, but doing a few modifications based on the old Dragon Bruce Heard article.

The reason I chose Int as the other bonus is campaign specific, since my Rakasta used to have a sprawling empire, until something terrible happened 1000 years ago, and shattered the land into multiple continents. They were scattered and ended up reclusive, moving from place to place, not staying long. Because of this, I didn't make the second bonus Charisma.

I need honest opinions and suggestions because this will be my first Pathfinder game, and I want the Rakasta to mesh well with the other races.

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Rakasta Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom: Rakasta are swift and smart, but their curiosity tends to get them into sticky situations.

Medium: Rakasta have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.

Normal Speed: Base speed for a Rakasta is 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision: Rakasta can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

Skilled: Rakasta have a +2 racial bonus to Perception, Ride, and Stealth checks.

Feats: A Rakasta gains the Blindfight feat for free as a bonus feat.

Natural Weapons: Rakasta have clawed hands and feet. Each claw deals 1d4 points of slashing damage on a successful hit.

Cat's Grace: Rakasta are adept at landing on their feet. Anytime a Rakasta is to fall prone, he may make a Reflex save DC 10 to avoid the effect. Also, Rakasta take half damage from falling.

Rake (Ex): A Rakasta that grapples an opponent may make 2 rake attacks with its clawed feet (1d4+1 damage).

Weapon Familiarity: Rakasta are proficient with war claws, as well as any weapon with the word Rakasta in it.

Languages: Rakasta begin play speaking Common. Rakasta with high Intelliegence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling and Sylvan.

 

[concerro]

I think it is too good to be played without a level adjustment.

Rakasta Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom: Rakasta are swift and smart, but their curiosity tends to get them into sticky situations.

Medium: Rakasta have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.

Normal Speed: Base speed for a Rakasta is 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision: Rakasta can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

Skilled: Rakasta have a +2 racial bonus to Perception, Ride, and Stealth checks.

So far so good

Feats: A Rakasta gains the Blindfight feat for free as a bonus feat.

The feat alone is not too much, but why? Rashaka don't get it as a racial feat, and I am assuming that is where this idea came from.

Natural Weapons: Rakasta have clawed hands and feet. Each claw deals 1d4 points of slashing damage on a successful hit.

Four natural attacks for free. 1d4 is not a lot, but it is the bonus damage that does the work, not the base damage. 1st level characters should be be getting four attacks. I would just save my money and use the four attacks until I could get a magic weapon. If you throw in sneak attack it is 1d4+1d6+ strength modifier 4 times.

Cat's Grace: Rakasta are adept at landing on their feet. Anytime a Rakasta is to fall prone, he may make a Reflex save DC 10 to avoid the effect. Also, Rakasta take half damage from falling.

The class not laughs at trip attacks and falling damage with only a DC 10. Flat DC's are not good. I don't even think this ability should exist, but if you must have it at least make it scale.

Rake (Ex): A Rakasta that grapples an opponent may make 2 rake attacks with its clawed feet (1d4+1 damage).

The race is looking more and more like a monster race. I would guess monstrous humanoid or outsider. Taking the race is a no brainer which means it is too good.

Weapon Familiarity: Rakasta are proficient with war claws, as well as any weapon with the word Rakasta in it.

I am guessing this is a homebrew game, but without seeing the weapons I can't really say much about this one.

Languages: Rakasta begin play speaking Common. Rakasta with high Intelliegence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling and Sylvan.

The languages seem ok.

 

[Kuritaki]

I would give them Darkvision instead of Low-light-vision.
And as a bonus feat Improved Initiative or something Dex based seems more appropriate. I would allow only 2 natural attacks in one round. The other two limbs are needed for balance.

 

[thundershot]

That's the kind of input I want. I don't want any level adjustment at all.

They're just humanoids. Should I ditch the natural attacks and rake? That would be fine. The Cat's Grace should go, too? I kinda like the concept of having something like it, but wasn't sure how to word it. Again, I don't want the race too powerful.

The Blind Fight feat came from the Bruce Heard article. CleverNickname has Lightning Reflexes on his. Should I change it back to that?

 

[Kuritaki]

Should I ditch the natural attacks and rake? That would be fine. The Cat's Grace should go, too?

The Blind Fight feat came from the Bruce Heard article. CleverNickname has Lightning Reflexes on his. Should I change it back to that?

Don't ditch the Natural Attack, just restrict it to two attacks per round. Rake is just fine.

Cat's Grace: Rakasta are adept at landing on their feet. Anytime a Rakasta is to fall prone, he may make a Reflex save DC 10 to avoid the effect. Also, Rakasta take half damage from falling.

Lions get +4 Acrobatics +4 Stealth (+8 in undergrowth)
Give them that and a +2 Racial bonus on Reflex saves.

 

[concerro]

That's the kind of input I want. I don't want any level adjustment at all.

They're just humanoids. Should I ditch the natural attacks and rake? That would be fine. The Cat's Grace should go, too? I kinda like the concept of having something like it, but wasn't sure how to word it. Again, I don't want the race too powerful.

The Blind Fight feat came from the Bruce Heard article. CleverNickname has Lightning Reflexes on his. Should I change it back to that?

Cat's grace should go.
I would try to compare them to Eberron Shifters, but only make them slightly better. Lightening Reflexes would fit better. I would drop the natural attacks. After changes are made repost it.

 

[pawsplay]

I would give them a single claw attack as a natural weapon; that is an appropriate point of entry for a normal PC class. Then you can let them gain a second claw as a feat, and then Rake as a second tier feat. Should get clawed gauntlet as a bonus proficiency. Note that in their original presentation, they did very low damage with their natural claws and hence would probably either do less damage than most creatures, or would have some ability that simply converts their unarmed strike damage into lethal damage without taking a -4 to hit.

I generally avoid passing out feats as racial features. Just as an example, if you give them Improved Initiative, what do you do for a Rakasta that is particularly quick-witted? My usual approach is to find a similar feat or monster ability to what you want, cut the bonus in half, and make it a racial bonus. For instance, +1 or +2 to Reflexes or +2 to Initiative, rather than Lightning Reflexes or Improved Initiative. If you cut Blind-fight and the multiple natural weapons, there may be room for both.

Definitely low-light vision rather than darkvision; they are not monstrous humanoids, nor are they subterranean.

What would really say Rakasta to me is a Mounted Pounce ability that let them leap from their mount, make multiple attacks, and then make an Acrobatics check to avoid falling prone.

 

[thundershot]

In order to make them less "monstrous", I'm dropping the natural attacks, and just sticking with the war claws as a proficiency. After thinking about it, they're really not that important.

Also dropping the "Cat's Grace". Maybe find a way to rework it and turn it into a pair of feats. Ditto for the Saddle leap attack.

Unfortunately, some parts still seem a little bland, since it's only bonuses now. However, here's what I have: (Note that I need to figure out if the War Claws are a single 1d6 damage or two attacks. If it's two, is there a penalty?

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Rakasta Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom: Rakasta are swift and smart, but their curiosity tends to get them into sticky situations.

Medium: Rakasta have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.

Normal Speed: Base speed for a Rakasta is 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision: Rakasta can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

Skilled: Rakasta have a +2 racial bonus to Perception, Ride, and Stealth checks.

Rakasta Reflexes: Due to having fast reactions, Rakasta get a +2 racial bonus to Reflex saves and a +2 racial bonus to Initiative.

Weapon Familiarity: Rakasta are proficient with war claws (see below), as well as any weapon with the word Rakasta in it.

Languages: Rakasta begin play speaking Common. Rakasta with high Intelliegence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling and Sylvan.
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War Claws (Kasas): Since Rakasta claws are too small to inflict more than nonlethal damage like their ancestors, they often wear gloves with metal claws that they use to slash at opponents while still allowing them free movement with their fingers. Kasas do 1d6 points of damage with a critical of x2, and weigh 1 pound.

 

[Kaiyanwang]

Another idea to keep cat's grace is to add a bonus to CMD against specific maneuvers like the one of dwarves.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Another idea to keep cat's grace is to add a bonus to CMD against specific maneuvers like the one of dwarves.

like how a 4 legged creature gets a bonus to cmd for bull rush?