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Message: <blockquote data-quote="coyote6" data-source="post: 1998547" data-attributes="member: 1225">The point-based races section seems kind of cool, except for one thing: the "whatever blood" trait used for half-races.Perhaps I missed a description, but all it seems to do is make it so one is treated as a "whatever" -- elf, orc, dwarf, etc.; you then can "buy" specific abilities -- bonus to skills, darkvision, etc. -- from those races, which have their own have separate costs. Which is fine. Though it doesn't seem like a full blooded elf paid any points to get elf abilities, but whatever.The problem is the costs.Example: the elf blood modifier is 6 pts; the elf blood ability is six points (total cost: 12 points). Hmm, kind of steep, just to be able to buy abilities that elves have, without paying an "initiation fee", and use elf-only magic items and qualify for arcane archer.Then you get to orc blood. 10 pts as a modifier, 14 pts as an ability. So, what does getting it get you? NOTHING. Oh, wait. You get to buy darkvision, for six points. Hey, I got an idea -- be a half-dwarf (dwarf blood modifier: 6 pts, dwarf blood ability: 3 pts), and buy darkvision for the same cost, and have 15 pts left over.The system was designed so that each race's abilities cost 30 pts, total. But at least some of the costs were set based not on how valuable they are, but what cost would get those races to add up to the arbitrarily chosen value of 30.In other words, it seems like the system goes out of its way to try to make all the races numerically equal, even when one race is spending 80% of its points on nothing. It's a bloody variant, they couldn't just admit that dwarves & elves are maybe slightly more powerful than half-orcs? And thus provide a way to make 'em slightly more interesting & powerful?It makes me suspicious of the rest of the numbers, too.Okay, rant over. The spells are really neat. It's not as cool a book as Advanced Bestiary, but I'm glad I bought the book, overall.</blockquote>

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