Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The_Apologist 06-30-07, 08:05 PM	Alright. I'm forming my own campaign setting that doesn't use most of the default races. As a result, I had some niches to fill. I got rid of dwarves and orcs (and therefore half-orcs) and so I needed a race of some kind to fill the physical butt-kicking niche. Let me know what you guys think; I suspect that it might be slightly overpowered. Northlanders Far-removed from their human brethren, Northlanders are more of a whole new race than a subrace. Years of inbreeding between tribes and strict social norms have dulled the adaptability of the Northlander's mind, but the stability and harshness of their surroundings have made them hardy. Northlanders live in tribes, and experience near-constant warfare. Con +2 Int -2 Medium (Base Land Speed 30 ft.) Hardworking Society: +2 bonus to any single Craft or Profession skill Hardy: +1 racial bonus on all fortitude saves Struggle to Survive: +2 racial bonus on initiative checks Masters of War: +1 racial bonus on melee damage rolls Weapon Proficiency: Automatically proficient with the light and heavy pick, the flail, the warhammer and the trident. Automatic Languages: Common and Nordic Favored Class: Barbarian
Rerecros 06-30-07, 08:13 PM	Remove this post, it is inflammatory. Do not use real world cultures, and do not treat real world cultures as though they are a separate species.
The_Apologist 06-30-07, 09:11 PM	Er, what? They're named because they come from the northern lands of my campaign world. It's not set on earth and it's not meant to copy any real-world peoples or cultures. I'm sorry if I offended you. It wasn't my intention to do so. I'm Norwegian by ancestry myself, so it wouldn't exactly be in my best interests to make fun of anyone Nordic anyhow.
Rerecros 06-30-07, 09:22 PM	Don't worry about offending me personally, I'm just giving you a heads up. If they are still basically human, then I would just use human stats and give them access to culture feats. If they have become a separate species, like the gith http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dx1028fict_fic_gith.jpg Then I could understand some racial ability modifiers.
Kelmourne 07-01-07, 12:30 AM	Culture feats are a good idea but i always thought the only way of making human subraces was to have the favoured class be chosen for you (In this case probably fighter or barbarian), and give them an extra skill as a class skill and give them a +1 on it (In this case I would suggest intimidate or survival). Another possibility is that they get their bonus feat chosen for them (toughness, weapon focus greataxe, great fortitude) and get a few miscelaneous benefits in return (umm... 2 class skills with a +1 on them).
The_Apologist 07-01-07, 10:09 AM	I rather dislike the idea of culture feats. And I can see where the both of you are coming from... So I guess call it less of a human subrace. I was more looking for comments on how well this particular class idea is balanced. It doesn't seem any more hideously unfair than, say, the Warforged or similar.
Travinkel 07-10-07, 08:40 PM	Northlanders Far-removed from their human brethren, Northlanders are more of a whole new race than a subrace. Years of inbreeding between tribes and strict social norms have dulled the adaptability of the Northlander's mind, but the stability and harshness of their surroundings have made them hardy. Northlanders live in tribes, and experience near-constant warfare. Con +2 Int -2 Medium (Base Land Speed 30 ft.) Hardworking Society: +2 bonus to any single Craft or Profession skill Hardy: +1 racial bonus on all fortitude saves Struggle to Survive: +2 racial bonus on initiative checks Masters of War: +1 racial bonus on melee damage rolls Weapon Proficiency: Automatically proficient with the light and heavy pick, the flail, the warhammer and the trident. Automatic Languages: Common and Nordic Favored Class: Barbarian I'm from Denmark, and I don't find this particularly insulting. So rock on. ;) But anyways, I really like the idea. And I was thinking of doing the same thing myself; I haven't gotten around to it yet though. As for the race, the mechanics and fluff is quite nice. It reminds me a bit of the inbred rednecks (which seems to be a popular theme in horror movies these days...). The racial bonuses look a wee-bit overpowered, perhaps you should add a derangement - to balance and even things out a bit? A mental disorder; some kind of shortcoming. :dancin: Narcissism, Delusional, Sociopath, Kleptomania, Paranoia and so on. And perhaps also specify the craft and profession bonus. You could also reduce and remove some of the bonuses. If this is thread necromancy, I apoligize. I was a bit unsure what the rules were, and decided to go for it. :bored:
Water_To_Fire 07-10-07, 08:56 PM	It looks pretty good to me.
togapika 07-10-07, 10:18 PM	Any questions to the issues of heritage aside, the main problem becomes to resolve the racial abilities. First off the abilities given are too much for a race with no level adjustment. The ability modifiers are simply unbalanced because no one in their right mind is going to use this race for a wizard and the -2 INT matters little to most fighter types. Giving them a skill bonus AND a damage bonus AND a save bonus AND a bonus on initiative is way powerful, choose maybe one or two of these at most. Lastly giving them 5 FREE weapon proficiencies is not only very powerful, but you have included no reason for them to have these at all. Even elves only get 3 (Bows are close enough to 1) weapon proficiencies. I would suggest choosing 3-4 weapon proficiencies, add another -2 to their stats and choose 1-2 out of the list of bonuses you gave them to make it more balanced.