The new munchkin race of choice is . . .

[BiggusGeekus]

i'd say they're a little underpowered for an ECL +1 race.

i'd either take something away (or give them a penalty) and make them +0, or give them something else worthwhile and leave them at +1.

If you feel that way, bump them up, don't take them down.

Accordng to 3e design philosophy (which you, of course, are totally free to ignore and I pass along here only as rumor) is to keep the core races at +0 and other stuff at +1. The idea is that you're paying a price to play something cool and unusual.

Unless you plan to make hobbies a core race in your setting. In which case +0 would be more appropriate.

 

[Wormwood]

ECL race? Eeeewwwww.

My inner Munchkin would still prefer a Dwarf.

 

[bwgwl]

ECL race? Eeeewwwww.

i totally agree. one thing i've learned from hard experience is that an ECL race that doesn't give additional hit dice is almost always a suboptimal choice. it just isn't worth it.

 

[Camarath]

+2 STR/DEX is nice, but balanced at +1 ECL. At level 2, a human fighter will have more hit points and the same "to hit" modifier. At level 20 four extra attribute points aren't going to save the day.

It is not Str/Dex +2 but Dex/Con +2. Basicly, +1 to AC, +1 ref saves,+1 fort saves, +1 to Con and Dex skills and checks, +1 HP/lv, Darkvision 60ft, and +4 to Move Silently, it just doesn't seem upto LA +1 standards. There are a lot of character builds where I would much rather have a Human than a Hobgoblin even at LA +0. Exactly what second level Human character would be a weak as a Hobgoblin character of first level? I have not been able to make one with the exception of a very badly (anti-min/maxed) designed Human Bard and a min/maxed Hobgoblin Bard, but they did not have the same stats before modifiers so its not a fair "acid test".

 

[nikolai]

My contender for the ultimate munchkin race is the new Mongrelfolk (from the Fiend Folio).

Unfortunately, I don't have the books to hand but if I recall correctly:

• ECL +0
• +4 Con
• -2 Cha
• Racial bonuses to sneaking about
• Mimic Sound Ability
• Mimic Race Ability (for Magic Items)

I think this beats just about any other ECL +0 race.

nikolai.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Unfortunately, the design philosophy seems to be that if a race gives a net bonus to stats, it must be at least +1 level adjustment. But as others have pointed out, losing an entire level for minor stat gains and skill bonuses is rarely worth it. It would have been nice if, in updating 3E, WOTC had thrown out the entire ECL/LA system and instituted a system using something other than entire levels.

It's like building a house and the only hammer I'm given is a sledgehammer - it can be done, but I probably wouldn't want to live in it when it was finished.

 

[Ferret]

Word.

Those mongrel folk are cool. So are Kuo-toa and locathah. I think, just browsed over the SS ECL and stats.

 

[alsih2o]

Yeah, -4 Charisma. What's up with that? If there are any anti-charisma spells in your game your character could die of ugly. That's just embarassing.

i thank you.

my players do not.

letch- letches are ethereal beings that cling to living souls with strong personalities in order to feed off of them. a letch can sense a strong humanoid personality for 15 feet away for very point of charisma a creature has.

letches, which are mere 5 inches long, live mostly on the ethereal plane where it intersects places of great evil. if the letch sense a strong personality in the area it moves wafts through the ether until it can attach itself to the individuals personality itself. this attachment is sometimes represented physically as a small freckle or mole.

the letch, once attached (fort save, dc 15) will feed off the adventurers personality, draining 1 point of charisma every day (dc 20, once attached) until the adventurer is left a comotose mass, unresponsive shell curled into fetal position. during this time the avdenturer becomes harder and harder to follow or get along with.


an attached letch can be seen with see invisibilty or true seeing.
the letch will usually reattach itself unless dimensional anchor is cast on it, preventing it from reattaching itself.

sorcerer are the most frequently cured victims, for they notice when they lose the baility to cast spells and seek help. paladins are often stricken and essentially seen as mad, left behind by other and eventually starving to death.

 

[Nightfall]

Obviously few of you have looked at the Slitheren/Ratmen of Scarred Lands... Trust me hobs and the rest got NOTHING on these guys.

 

[Bleys]

. . . the Hobgoblin.

I was just checking out the article in Dragon No. 309. Hobgoblin as a PC race: +2 to Dex and Con, and no penalties to any other abilities; +4 to Move Silently; and only an ECL of +1.

I foresee whole swarms of Hobgoblin fighter/rogues taking over gaming tables in the near future.

Sounds a lot like the Hobgoblin stats from the KoK PG (D&D Rulebook IV) with the penalties taken away. +2 Dex, +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha. +2 Listen and Spot, +4 Hide. Favored class: Fighter.