Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="haiiro" data-source="post: 781752" data-attributes="member: 1891">Having enjoyed working on revising the half-elf in Lord Ravinous's thread (<a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44644" target="_blank">http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44644</a>), I thought I'd take a crack at tweaking the half-orc as well. Here goes:Half-Orcs:- +2 STR, -2 CHA- Medium size- Base speed 30 ft.- 1 extra feat at first level- +1 racial bonus to Spot and Listen checks- +1 bonus to Intimidate checks- +1 racial bonus to Fort saves- Orc blood- Darkvision- Automatic languages: Common and Orc- Bonus languages: Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Abyssal- Favored class: BarbarianAs with my variant half-elf, I used humans as the basis for comparison: they're almost universally regarded as a strong, balanced race, and they only have three abilities (all of which are substantial) -- which makes them a bit easier to work with. I view the bonus skill points as the strongest ability, with the bonus feat second and the favored class versatility third.For this variant half-orc:- the bonus feat matches up to the human's bonus feat- the +1 to three skills is equivalent to one feat (roughly), and coupled with the Fort save bonus I'd say that matches up to the human's bonus skill points- darkvision and orc blood (minor as it is) seem about right to match up against "favored class: any"I included the racial bonuses to Spot and Listen as part of the orcish half (orcs get Alertness), and the boost to Intimidate based on their being an acrhetypal "enemy race" renowned for savagery. The Fort save bonus I added in because orcs receive a +2 Fort save. Since the PHB half-orc has no real evidence of his human parentage -- apart from not having a penalty to WIS or the orcish light sensitivity -- I wanted to make sure to include something that can be directly traced back to the human side; hence the bonus feat. I steered clear of Scent because orcs don't have Scent by default, although I do think it's an interesting and fitting ability.I dropped the INT bonus because I don't completely agree with WotC's position that a positive STR shift should be balanced out by two negative shifts elsewhere. If someone can give me a compelling reason why this is the case, I think it could go back in without causing too many problems.This definitely creates a much stronger half-orc than the one in the PHB, but I think it balances out when compared to the other core races.What do you think?</blockquote>

Verification