Gnome
First Post
Just curious about what most people's opinions on the 4 Eberron-specific races. How many of you are playing one at the moment? In general, I love the flavor of the new races, but I don't like how their mechanics shoe-horn them into narrow roles moreso than the standard D&D races (not counting half-orcs, who are similarly shoe-horned).
My opinions on each, not having played any of them yet:
Changelings: Very cool concept and implementation, IMO. While these guys are somewhat geared towards being rogues by virtue of their skill bonuses and minor shapechanging abilities, there's nothing preventing them from excelling at other roles. A couple of levels of a class that has bluff, disguise, etc. as class skills would probably be good to make the most of their abilities, however.
Kalashtar: Wacky race concept, for sure. I used to think these guys were totally useless unless you were playing a psion or the like, but I realize now that the fact that they are naturally psionic and have a power point reserve means that they automatically qualify for psionic feats. I imagine a Kalashtar figher who used his general feat slots to buy psionic feats, and his fighter bonus feats to buy normal fighter feats could be quite formidable, however. Optionally add-in 1 or two levels of psion (favored class) for some good buffing powers that the character could use many times due to the bonus power points this race gets (+1/level).
Still, these guys are definately shoe-horned, since the primary benefits of the race (the bonus power points) aren't very useful unless one is playing a psionic class.
Shifters: I'm not overly crazy about the idea of watered-down lycanthropes, and I think they are a bit weak mechanically. Their stat mods are worse than half-orcs (+2 DEX, -2 INT, -2 CHA), which I'm guessing is meant to balance out their shifting ability. Their shifting ability isn't all that exciting, however (1/day, lasts as long as barbarian's rage, and gives a +2 to 1 physical stat and one other minor ability for the duration). There are feats to improve this ability, but I think these are a bit weak for the price as well.
Due to their penalties, these guys are mainly shoe-horned into meele classes. I suppose they'd also make decent divine spellcasters and monks, but the CHA penalty would hurt for clerics, and the reduced skillpoints would hurt for druids and monks.
Warforged: My favorite of the races. I love the concept of sentient constructs, both from a role-playing perspective, and mechanically as well (no pun intended). I think they are pretty balanced overall, but I don't like how it seems like they were specifically designed to be ineffective spellcasters of any variety (-2 WIS, -2 CHA, built-in 5% arcane spell failure). They can do well at other classes than fighters, though; I think a Warforged rogue or scout might be particularly interesting.
Looking forward to hearing others' opinions, especially those who have played one or more of these races.
My opinions on each, not having played any of them yet:
Changelings: Very cool concept and implementation, IMO. While these guys are somewhat geared towards being rogues by virtue of their skill bonuses and minor shapechanging abilities, there's nothing preventing them from excelling at other roles. A couple of levels of a class that has bluff, disguise, etc. as class skills would probably be good to make the most of their abilities, however.
Kalashtar: Wacky race concept, for sure. I used to think these guys were totally useless unless you were playing a psion or the like, but I realize now that the fact that they are naturally psionic and have a power point reserve means that they automatically qualify for psionic feats. I imagine a Kalashtar figher who used his general feat slots to buy psionic feats, and his fighter bonus feats to buy normal fighter feats could be quite formidable, however. Optionally add-in 1 or two levels of psion (favored class) for some good buffing powers that the character could use many times due to the bonus power points this race gets (+1/level).
Still, these guys are definately shoe-horned, since the primary benefits of the race (the bonus power points) aren't very useful unless one is playing a psionic class.
Shifters: I'm not overly crazy about the idea of watered-down lycanthropes, and I think they are a bit weak mechanically. Their stat mods are worse than half-orcs (+2 DEX, -2 INT, -2 CHA), which I'm guessing is meant to balance out their shifting ability. Their shifting ability isn't all that exciting, however (1/day, lasts as long as barbarian's rage, and gives a +2 to 1 physical stat and one other minor ability for the duration). There are feats to improve this ability, but I think these are a bit weak for the price as well.
Due to their penalties, these guys are mainly shoe-horned into meele classes. I suppose they'd also make decent divine spellcasters and monks, but the CHA penalty would hurt for clerics, and the reduced skillpoints would hurt for druids and monks.
Warforged: My favorite of the races. I love the concept of sentient constructs, both from a role-playing perspective, and mechanically as well (no pun intended). I think they are pretty balanced overall, but I don't like how it seems like they were specifically designed to be ineffective spellcasters of any variety (-2 WIS, -2 CHA, built-in 5% arcane spell failure). They can do well at other classes than fighters, though; I think a Warforged rogue or scout might be particularly interesting.
Looking forward to hearing others' opinions, especially those who have played one or more of these races.
