Shadow Races up!!!

[SSquirrel]

I'm surprised that anyone thinks the racial ability is good, let alone remarkable. The only racial ability I can think of that's WORSE is Goring Charge. I think I'd even rather have Infernal Wrath than this, and that's saying something.

Just out of curiosity, what's so bad about Goring Charge? Knocked prone isn't exactly an awful side effect.

 

[boar]

Just out of curiosity, what's so bad about Goring Charge? Knocked prone isn't exactly an awful side effect.

The fairest response I can give is that your own question belies the answer -- the power is "not exactly awful." Most every racial power in the game is way, WAY better than "not exactly awful."

The major problem is that the power is totally useless if you play any kind of a charge build or even if you simply have a strong weapon. Giving up all the damage isn't worth it just to have the enemy stand up and whack you during its turn, completely unperturbed.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I also regard this racial encounter as rather bad... it is very conditional and i can imagine character classes that have a hard time bloodying enemies reliably... and since you need to bloody or kill first, the only logical choice for you is use an actionpoint afterwards...

 

[twilsemail]

i can imagine character classes that have a hard time bloodying enemies reliably...

How do you have a hard time bloodying enemies?

Goblin is at 21/40 HP. You deal 1 damage. Congrats, he's bloodied.

I guess classes like the Rogue, Assassin or Fighter would qualify, as they're only hitting one target a round...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I don´t know if your response is generally agreeing or not, so i will just explain:

You just can´t decide, when to use your racial encounter power, instead of using it, when you think it is appropriate.

It is possible, that you bloody an enemy but a +2 to attack is not that useful on the next round, or you just don´t want to shift.
Lets compare it to our prime races, the dwarf or the human or the elf. Need hp and better def: second wind. Miss... no i hit now... rolled a 1 or 2: lets try it again.

 

[MrMyth]

I don´t know if your response is generally agreeing or not, so i will just explain:

You just can´t decide, when to use your racial encounter power, instead of using it, when you think it is appropriate.

It is possible, that you bloody an enemy but a +2 to attack is not that useful on the next round, or you just don´t want to shift.

Let's be fair - a +2 to hit is pretty much always useful. If it isn't - if you, say, are instead focused on getting away from danger or staying alive - you can probably use the shift or the temps.

I think it is a respectable racial power. Not overwhelmingly powerful due to the restriction on use, but the versatility of multiple choices makes it pretty handy.

 

[Mengu]

Let's be fair - a +2 to hit is pretty much always useful.

No, a +2 to hit is pretty much 10% of the time useful, rest of the time it's sitting there looking pretty but not doing anything. Compared to heroic effort which gives a +4 after you know the result of your roll, which is 90+% of the time useful.

 

[TerraDave]

...These races seem contrived to me. What's wrong with the actual shadow races like shadar-Kai, dark ones, drow and derro?

Those are goth. But not gothic.

 

[nnms]

These races seem contrived to me. What's wrong with the actual shadow races like shadar-Kai, dark ones, drow and derro?

Shadar-Kai are already published in the Dragon Annual.

Dark Ones are neat, but I'm not convinced they should be a PC race.

Drow aren't a shadow race. They're tainted fey.

Derro aren't a shadow race either. They were divinely altered by their god.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I'm glad that game elements with specific disadvantages are there for people who want them.

I think if a rules set wants to have elements that are significantly inferior to other elements on purpose, it would do well to call that fact out so that people who are just playing what they want don't accidentally fall into a trap while those who are more mechanically minded neatly avoid such pitfalls and still produce the character they want to play.

Unfortunately that requires game designers who are able to recognise when they have created a mechanically inferior option so they can label it as such.