LA for these guys? (homebrewed race) [Archive] - Wizards Community

LA for these guys? (homebrewed race) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Mad_Jack
03-15-08, 09:05 AM This is a race that I made up way back around 2nd Edition. They were originally a player race but I upped their power level and revised their fluff when I dug them out of storage recently. The "half-" version is now the 0 LA PC-available race.
I'm having a bit of trouble with a level adjustment since they've got some funky non-standard bits... I'm thinking they're maybe a weak LA +3.
The fluff's not particularly important, other than that it justifies the choice of skill bonuses and penalties. The basic theme is that they're a rarely-seen mountain-dwelling elf-like people with great visual acuity and cat-like tails. Tough, agile, and alert, but not much for talking.

The Vett (pronounced "fett")

The regular junk...

...medium size, with all the standard medium characteristics

...stat mods are +2 Dex, +2 Con, - 2 Cha

...+2 to Listen, Spot, Search, and Sense Motive
...+4 to Move Silently
...-2 to Diplomacy

The slightly irregular junk that's making deciding the LA difficult...

..."Vett Mist" - Vett have the supernatural ability to create a cloud of misty vapor that imposes effects similar to those of the obscuring mist spell a number of times per day equal to their Wis modifier, or at least once per day if they don't have a positive modifier. The area of the mist is the same as the spell and the duration of the mist is determined as per the spell description as if the Vett had a caster level equal to 1/2 his hit dice, with a minimum level of 1. Creating a mist is a full-round action.
The Vett's mist ability differs from the obscuring mist spell in the following ways :
1. Vett can see clearly through their own mist and that of other Vett. They suffer none of the penalties imposed by the Vett mist, although they are still affected by the obscuring mist spell and other such spells and things that impose concealment...
2. The Vett's mist is not completely stationary - In any sort of wind, it will begin to drift in the direction of the wind at a speed of 30 ft. per round. Winds of sufficient speed will still disperse it. Also, a Vett may cause their own mist to move through an act of will, at a speed of 10 ft. per round as a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity.
(These differences are why I decided to make this supernatural rather than an SLA...)

...Improved Lowlight Vision - Vett see 3x as well as humans in low light conditions. Their eyes "shine" at night kind of like an animal's would, but with the reflection resembling the image of the full moon. (A moon god was the creator of their race...)

...Racial weapon familiarity with the bastard sword - All Vett recieve some training in the "war dance" (the bastard sword is the favored weapon of their god). Vett with class levels that grant martial weapon proficiency may wield a bastard sword one-handed as a martial weapon. Vett who lack martial weapon proficiency may still wield a bastard sword two-handed as a martial weapon without penalty.

...Prehensile Tail - The tail has no real combat value...It can never be used to make an attack, and can't be used to make skill checks. It's most often used to carry lightweight objects when the Vett's hands are full.
Placing an object in the tail's grasp is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Transfering an object from tail to hand is a swift action that doesn't provoke. Under non-stressful conditions, using the tail to manipulate objects in a complex way (i.e., picking up a basket, reaching for a bottle of wine, etc.) requires a DC 10 Dex check and is a standard action. Under any kind of stress (i.e., trying to lift a ring of keys off a hook while in jail), manipulating objects requires a DC 15 Dex check, also requires a successful DC 15 Concentration check, and is a full-round action. It cannot be used to manipulate objects when the Vett is in melee combat, other than to transfer already-held items to the hand.
The tail can only hold objects by wrapping around them, so it can't hold anything thinner than a crossbow bolt or javelin, and can't lift more than 5 lbs of weight. Anything over 3 lbs imparts a -2 penalty to the Concentration check to manipulate it under stress. It can't pick up objects off the ground unless they have some sort of handle or loop on them, such as a basket.

The mist ability (particularly that they aren't affected by it) and the enhanced lowlight vision are the main reasons why I'm not real sure about the level adjustment.

Does this sound like a +3 LA?
Rebel7284
03-15-08, 11:31 AM +3 seems a bit high
Frozen_Flame
03-15-08, 01:14 PM To me it sounds like LA+2... But I'm no expert.
ciaran
03-15-08, 06:21 PM I really like the "utily" concept for the tail. Free to hold a lantern or wand or some item you wish to grab without provoking. Cool.
Mad_Jack
03-16-08, 07:50 AM I think I'm going to call these guys a +2 level adjustment.

I knew it'd be at least +1 for the unbalanced ability scores, but I wasn't quite sure just what the mist ability, pimped-out lowlight vision and tail would be worth.

The 3x lowlight vision is useful, but not much more powerful than the regular 2x lowlight vision of elves.

I tried to nerf anything truly useful for the tail. I figured that making it necessary for the Vett to have to think about controlling the tail would stop most of the obvious "third hand/tail dagger" cheese, lol. Carrying a lantern or a potion bottle with a loop of string around it isn't exactly all that powerful since it's not something that you could readily abuse.

The mist ability was a bit tricky, since it puts the Vett in the position where he's the only one in the mist who doesn't have to deal with having his opponents get the concealment miss chance. But now that I really think about it, it's still a very situational benefit.

Yeah, LA +2 sounds about right.

Thanks, guys. :cool: :cool: :cool:
ragoftag
03-16-08, 11:14 AM Nice for +2, might even deserve a feat or three to increase the versatility of the tail a bit. A good way to divert excess feats.
Mad_Jack
03-16-08, 12:14 PM Nice for +2, might even deserve a feat or three to increase the versatility of the tail a bit. A good way to divert excess feats.

Well, the tail's mainly fluff - crunchy fluff, to be sure, but still just meant to be fluff. ("crunchy fluff"... sounds like a breakfast cereal, lol)

I had put some brief thought into making a couple of racial feats, though, mainly based on their cultural inclinations.
They worship a moon god, so I was going to do a feat they could take that gave them darkvision as a sign of their god's favor.
Another one was based on the fact that they highly value self-sufficiency, and also have a tendency to randomly develop wanderlust - if the mood strikes them and they don't have anything else to do, they'll literally pack their gear, say "I'm going out for a bit", and walk away from their village for months or even years at a time. Or they may realize that they don't know the answer to a trivial question and walk a hundred miles from home to find someone who can tell them the answer. So even though most of them tend to live simple lives, there's no telling what skills or knowledge they may have picked up. A feat to give them the option of picking maybe two or three skills to always be considered class skills seems like it'd fit the race.
Talon_
03-19-08, 11:00 PM +2 sounds good to me, especially for the seriously unbalanced ability scores, but I'd play it.
Drizztrocks
03-19-08, 11:57 PM A good race. I'd say +2 Level adjustmant, because the unbalanced ability scores call for a +1, with the cool special abilities making it atleast a +2.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mad_Jack 03-15-08, 09:05 AM	This is a race that I made up way back around 2nd Edition. They were originally a player race but I upped their power level and revised their fluff when I dug them out of storage recently. The "half-" version is now the 0 LA PC-available race. I'm having a bit of trouble with a level adjustment since they've got some funky non-standard bits... I'm thinking they're maybe a weak LA +3. The fluff's not particularly important, other than that it justifies the choice of skill bonuses and penalties. The basic theme is that they're a rarely-seen mountain-dwelling elf-like people with great visual acuity and cat-like tails. Tough, agile, and alert, but not much for talking. The Vett (pronounced "fett") The regular junk... ...medium size, with all the standard medium characteristics ...stat mods are +2 Dex, +2 Con, - 2 Cha ...+2 to Listen, Spot, Search, and Sense Motive ...+4 to Move Silently ...-2 to Diplomacy The slightly irregular junk that's making deciding the LA difficult... ..."Vett Mist" - Vett have the supernatural ability to create a cloud of misty vapor that imposes effects similar to those of the obscuring mist spell a number of times per day equal to their Wis modifier, or at least once per day if they don't have a positive modifier. The area of the mist is the same as the spell and the duration of the mist is determined as per the spell description as if the Vett had a caster level equal to 1/2 his hit dice, with a minimum level of 1. Creating a mist is a full-round action. The Vett's mist ability differs from the obscuring mist spell in the following ways : 1. Vett can see clearly through their own mist and that of other Vett. They suffer none of the penalties imposed by the Vett mist, although they are still affected by the obscuring mist spell and other such spells and things that impose concealment... 2. The Vett's mist is not completely stationary - In any sort of wind, it will begin to drift in the direction of the wind at a speed of 30 ft. per round. Winds of sufficient speed will still disperse it. Also, a Vett may cause their own mist to move through an act of will, at a speed of 10 ft. per round as a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. (These differences are why I decided to make this supernatural rather than an SLA...) ...Improved Lowlight Vision - Vett see 3x as well as humans in low light conditions. Their eyes "shine" at night kind of like an animal's would, but with the reflection resembling the image of the full moon. (A moon god was the creator of their race...) ...Racial weapon familiarity with the bastard sword - All Vett recieve some training in the "war dance" (the bastard sword is the favored weapon of their god). Vett with class levels that grant martial weapon proficiency may wield a bastard sword one-handed as a martial weapon. Vett who lack martial weapon proficiency may still wield a bastard sword two-handed as a martial weapon without penalty. ...Prehensile Tail - The tail has no real combat value...It can never be used to make an attack, and can't be used to make skill checks. It's most often used to carry lightweight objects when the Vett's hands are full. Placing an object in the tail's grasp is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Transfering an object from tail to hand is a swift action that doesn't provoke. Under non-stressful conditions, using the tail to manipulate objects in a complex way (i.e., picking up a basket, reaching for a bottle of wine, etc.) requires a DC 10 Dex check and is a standard action. Under any kind of stress (i.e., trying to lift a ring of keys off a hook while in jail), manipulating objects requires a DC 15 Dex check, also requires a successful DC 15 Concentration check, and is a full-round action. It cannot be used to manipulate objects when the Vett is in melee combat, other than to transfer already-held items to the hand. The tail can only hold objects by wrapping around them, so it can't hold anything thinner than a crossbow bolt or javelin, and can't lift more than 5 lbs of weight. Anything over 3 lbs imparts a -2 penalty to the Concentration check to manipulate it under stress. It can't pick up objects off the ground unless they have some sort of handle or loop on them, such as a basket. The mist ability (particularly that they aren't affected by it) and the enhanced lowlight vision are the main reasons why I'm not real sure about the level adjustment. Does this sound like a +3 LA?
Rebel7284 03-15-08, 11:31 AM	+3 seems a bit high
Frozen_Flame 03-15-08, 01:14 PM	To me it sounds like LA+2... But I'm no expert.
ciaran 03-15-08, 06:21 PM	I really like the "utily" concept for the tail. Free to hold a lantern or wand or some item you wish to grab without provoking. Cool.
Mad_Jack 03-16-08, 07:50 AM	I think I'm going to call these guys a +2 level adjustment. I knew it'd be at least +1 for the unbalanced ability scores, but I wasn't quite sure just what the mist ability, pimped-out lowlight vision and tail would be worth. The 3x lowlight vision is useful, but not much more powerful than the regular 2x lowlight vision of elves. I tried to nerf anything truly useful for the tail. I figured that making it necessary for the Vett to have to think about controlling the tail would stop most of the obvious "third hand/tail dagger" cheese, lol. Carrying a lantern or a potion bottle with a loop of string around it isn't exactly all that powerful since it's not something that you could readily abuse. The mist ability was a bit tricky, since it puts the Vett in the position where he's the only one in the mist who doesn't have to deal with having his opponents get the concealment miss chance. But now that I really think about it, it's still a very situational benefit. Yeah, LA +2 sounds about right. Thanks, guys. :cool: :cool: :cool:
ragoftag 03-16-08, 11:14 AM	Nice for +2, might even deserve a feat or three to increase the versatility of the tail a bit. A good way to divert excess feats.
Mad_Jack 03-16-08, 12:14 PM	Nice for +2, might even deserve a feat or three to increase the versatility of the tail a bit. A good way to divert excess feats. Well, the tail's mainly fluff - crunchy fluff, to be sure, but still just meant to be fluff. ("crunchy fluff"... sounds like a breakfast cereal, lol) I had put some brief thought into making a couple of racial feats, though, mainly based on their cultural inclinations. They worship a moon god, so I was going to do a feat they could take that gave them darkvision as a sign of their god's favor. Another one was based on the fact that they highly value self-sufficiency, and also have a tendency to randomly develop wanderlust - if the mood strikes them and they don't have anything else to do, they'll literally pack their gear, say "I'm going out for a bit", and walk away from their village for months or even years at a time. Or they may realize that they don't know the answer to a trivial question and walk a hundred miles from home to find someone who can tell them the answer. So even though most of them tend to live simple lives, there's no telling what skills or knowledge they may have picked up. A feat to give them the option of picking maybe two or three skills to always be considered class skills seems like it'd fit the race.
Talon_ 03-19-08, 11:00 PM	+2 sounds good to me, especially for the seriously unbalanced ability scores, but I'd play it.
Drizztrocks 03-19-08, 11:57 PM	A good race. I'd say +2 Level adjustmant, because the unbalanced ability scores call for a +1, with the cool special abilities making it atleast a +2.