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The Phanaton (gliding/flying small race from Classic D&D/Isle of Dread)
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<blockquote data-quote="circadianwolf" data-source="post: 5086828" data-attributes="member: 87990"><p>Interesting race! While flight was all but nonexistent when 4E first came out, subsequent releases have definitely eased the restrictions, making a glider race an intriguing concept. I'm unfortunately not familiar with their earlier edition counterparts.</p><p></p><p>Suggested edits to racial traits, with comments following:</p><p></p><p>a. In 4E, speed and size are no longer correlated as strongly as they once were. Thus, dwarves (Medium) have a speed of 5 squares, while halflings and goblin (Small) have a speed of 6. More importantly, dwarves have a racial trait that allows them to ignore heavy armor speed penalties, which would otherwise result in a crippling speed of 4 squares. Gnomes are currently the only 4E player race which face such a possibility, and their racial traits heavily discourage them from heavy armor-wearing classes. Based on the flavor of the race as quick and agile, I think 6 squares is appropriate and gives them more options w/r/t class selection.</p><p></p><p>b. While in standard 4E languages are standardized to a select few, in homebrew situations obviously many DMs have more diverse languages and as such these fit in fine. In a more general write-up I'd probably use Elven, as the generic language of the forests.</p><p></p><p>c. Terrain walks aren't found in any official PC race write-up due to their "swinginess"--that is, it depends greatly on the individual campaign as to whether the racial trait will never be used or used all the time. But again, in a homebrew situation you have much greater control over this.</p><p></p><p>d. I think the originally trait is actually underpowered, hence the boost. I like that instead of the standard racial trait saving throw bonus convention (+5 against one specific condition), this provides a smaller bonus against a variety of conditions.</p><p></p><p>e. Your original racial power is both overcomplicated for 4E and mostly useless in combat, as it imposes a -4 penalty to attack rolls until the end of your turn. This necessitates using the power after you've attacked on your turn rather than before, which obviates many of its combat uses; its provoking opportunity attacks obviates most of the rest.</p><p></p><p>My suggestion would be to keep the base racial power very simple (here just a copy of the windsoul genasi's racial power), with feats that gradually expand its utility. This also fits better with 4E's principle of avoiding penalties whenever possible and reducing something's power instead of attempting to offset it with separate drawbacks.</p><p></p><p>With that in mind, here are some suggestions for the racial feats:</p><p></p><p>This is my suggestion for a new feat that basically replicates the original glide power, but without any penalties. I actually originally thought this would be fine as the intrinsic racial power, but after checking the compendium flight speed for two turns doesn't show up until level 6 at the earliest, so I think it's better to cost a feat.</p><p></p><p>A blanket +1 bonus to charge attacks is a significant boost, though not necessarily overpowered for a racial feat. This version's benefit is only marginally useful at lower levels, but if a phanaton character gains a consistent fly speed, it becomes very powerful (especially given that charging is already a powerful tactic in 4E).</p><p></p><p>Aside from formatting to 4E conventions, I think this a fine feat.</p><p></p><p>Besides formatting, I think the additional save is both overcomplicated and somewhat overpowered.</p><p></p><p>This is a weakened version of the original feat, both in benefit and its level requirement. I suggest this because a similar feature is the kalashtar's only combat significant racial trait (which suggests it's powerful), and because most feats that duplicate other races' racial traits are found in the paragon tier.</p><p></p><p>I don't think adding additional effects to the racial power is necessary, as this feat is already very, very powerful. (I would also probably provide a similar benefit via a racial paragon path, similar to how genasi can get dual manifestation for a feat in Epic or for their paragon path in Paragon, and to the dragonborn's racial paragon path.)</p><p></p><p>I won't comment on the rest of the feats as they're mostly obviated by my suggestions to the racial traits (e.g. the feat that takes away the attack penalty from flying).</p><p></p><p>As for the weapon: it already benefits from the Two Weapon feats if you wield one in each hand (easy since it has the off-hand property), or did you mean for it to be a double weapon?</p><p></p><p>I would also suggest either a racial trait or a feat that provides defenses against being knocked prone, which is actually the most dangerous condition to impose on fliers (as it causes them to crash). Possibly replace the racial bonus to saves with the dwarf's racial immediate save against being knocked prone?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="circadianwolf, post: 5086828, member: 87990"] Interesting race! While flight was all but nonexistent when 4E first came out, subsequent releases have definitely eased the restrictions, making a glider race an intriguing concept. I'm unfortunately not familiar with their earlier edition counterparts. Suggested edits to racial traits, with comments following: a. In 4E, speed and size are no longer correlated as strongly as they once were. Thus, dwarves (Medium) have a speed of 5 squares, while halflings and goblin (Small) have a speed of 6. More importantly, dwarves have a racial trait that allows them to ignore heavy armor speed penalties, which would otherwise result in a crippling speed of 4 squares. Gnomes are currently the only 4E player race which face such a possibility, and their racial traits heavily discourage them from heavy armor-wearing classes. Based on the flavor of the race as quick and agile, I think 6 squares is appropriate and gives them more options w/r/t class selection. b. While in standard 4E languages are standardized to a select few, in homebrew situations obviously many DMs have more diverse languages and as such these fit in fine. In a more general write-up I'd probably use Elven, as the generic language of the forests. c. Terrain walks aren't found in any official PC race write-up due to their "swinginess"--that is, it depends greatly on the individual campaign as to whether the racial trait will never be used or used all the time. But again, in a homebrew situation you have much greater control over this. d. I think the originally trait is actually underpowered, hence the boost. I like that instead of the standard racial trait saving throw bonus convention (+5 against one specific condition), this provides a smaller bonus against a variety of conditions. e. Your original racial power is both overcomplicated for 4E and mostly useless in combat, as it imposes a -4 penalty to attack rolls until the end of your turn. This necessitates using the power after you've attacked on your turn rather than before, which obviates many of its combat uses; its provoking opportunity attacks obviates most of the rest. My suggestion would be to keep the base racial power very simple (here just a copy of the windsoul genasi's racial power), with feats that gradually expand its utility. This also fits better with 4E's principle of avoiding penalties whenever possible and reducing something's power instead of attempting to offset it with separate drawbacks. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for the racial feats: This is my suggestion for a new feat that basically replicates the original glide power, but without any penalties. I actually originally thought this would be fine as the intrinsic racial power, but after checking the compendium flight speed for two turns doesn't show up until level 6 at the earliest, so I think it's better to cost a feat. A blanket +1 bonus to charge attacks is a significant boost, though not necessarily overpowered for a racial feat. This version's benefit is only marginally useful at lower levels, but if a phanaton character gains a consistent fly speed, it becomes very powerful (especially given that charging is already a powerful tactic in 4E). Aside from formatting to 4E conventions, I think this a fine feat. Besides formatting, I think the additional save is both overcomplicated and somewhat overpowered. This is a weakened version of the original feat, both in benefit and its level requirement. I suggest this because a similar feature is the kalashtar's only combat significant racial trait (which suggests it's powerful), and because most feats that duplicate other races' racial traits are found in the paragon tier. I don't think adding additional effects to the racial power is necessary, as this feat is already very, very powerful. (I would also probably provide a similar benefit via a racial paragon path, similar to how genasi can get dual manifestation for a feat in Epic or for their paragon path in Paragon, and to the dragonborn's racial paragon path.) I won't comment on the rest of the feats as they're mostly obviated by my suggestions to the racial traits (e.g. the feat that takes away the attack penalty from flying). As for the weapon: it already benefits from the Two Weapon feats if you wield one in each hand (easy since it has the off-hand property), or did you mean for it to be a double weapon? I would also suggest either a racial trait or a feat that provides defenses against being knocked prone, which is actually the most dangerous condition to impose on fliers (as it causes them to crash). Possibly replace the racial bonus to saves with the dwarf's racial immediate save against being knocked prone? [/QUOTE]
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