Races from a campaign I did once. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Races from a campaign I did once. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ZCalibur
04-17-07, 08:10 PM Human
• Medium-size.
• Humans have a base speed of 30.
• Humans have a +2 racial bonus to resist fear.
• Humans have a bonus feat at 1st level.
• Humans have a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Knowledge (nobility and royalty) checks.
• Humans have 4 bonus skill points at 1st level and gain 1 additional skill point at each additional level beyond 1st level.
• Humans receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs.
• Humans have a +1 racial bonus to all Craft checks.
• Favored Class: Any

Dwarf
• +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -1 Dexterity, -1 Charisma.
• Medium-size.
• Dwarves have a base speed of 20 and wearing any kind of armor does not reduce this speed.
• Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus to Search checks while indoors or underground.
• Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus against poisons (both mundane and magical).
• Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus against spells and spell like effects.
• Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus against being knocked down.
• Dwarves treat dwarven waraxes and mauls as material weapons instead of exotic weapons.
• Dwarves receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against gobliniods and orcs.
• Dwarves receive a +1 racial bonus on AC checks against giants.
• Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on any Craft check if it involves stone or metal.
• Favored Class: Fighter

Elf
• +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -1 Strength, -1 Constitution.
• Medium-size.
• Elves have a base speed of 30.
• Elves receive a +2 racial bonus to Balance, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Search, Spot, and Survival checks.
• Elves are immune to sleep and charm effects and receive a +2 racial bonus to save against enchantment spells.
• Elves receive the Material Weapon Proficiency for the longsword or rapier and the longbow (this includes the composite longbow) or shortbow (this includes the composite shortbow).
• Elves receive a +1 racial bonus to attack with the longsword or rapier and the longbow (this includes the composite longbow) or shortbow (this includes the composite shortbow).
• Elves receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against drow and orcs.
• Elves have low-light vision.
• Favored Class: Wizard

Halfling
• +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -1 Strength, -1 Constitution.
• Small-size.
• Halflings have a base speed of 20.
• Halflings have a +2 racial bonus to resist fear.
• Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Climb, Hide, Jump, Listen, and Move Silently checks.
• Halflings have a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
• Halflings have a +1 racial bonus to all attack rolls with ranged weapons.
• Halflings have a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against goblinoids and kobolds.
• Halflings have a +1 racial bonus on AC checks against giants.
• Favored Class: Rogue

Gnome
• +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -1 Strength, -1 Wisdom.
• Small-size.
• Gnomes have a base speed of 20.
• Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus to Listen and Craft (alchemy) checks.
• Spell-like Abilities: The gnome can cast the following spells as a sorcerer of their level once per day: dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation.
• Gnomes have a +2 racial bonus against spells and spell like effects.
• Gnomes have a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions because gnomes were innately familiar with illusions of all kinds.
• Gnomes have a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against goblinoids, and kobolds.
• Gnomes have a +1 racial bonus on AC checks against giants.
• All gnomes have low-light vision.
• Favored Class: Bard

Orc
• +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -1 Intelligence, -1 Wisdom.
• Medium-size.
• Orcs have a base speed of 30.
• Orcs have a +2 racial bonus to Climb, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Ride, Survival, and Swim checks.
• Orcs gain the ability to enter a stage of rage once per day. This ability functions like a Barbarian’s rage in everyway except as follows; if the Orc has gained a class or prestige class ability to rage (such as a Barbarian’s rage ability) then their racial ability to rage lets them use their class rage ability once more per day.
• Orcs have a +1 racial bonus to all attack rolls with melee weapons.
• Orcs have a +1 racial bonus to attacks rolls against humans.
• Orcs have Dark Vision up to 60 feet.
• Favored Classes: Barbarian
j_gunder
04-17-07, 09:09 PM Weren't these posted once before in another thread, and picked apart there? Your bonuses seem arbitrary...why are halflings getting +2 to charisma, for example? Two +2 bonuses in strong stats are not off-set by two -1 penalties...this essentially ramps up the value of every non-human class, while humans only get a few measly skill boosts (which also seem rather arbitrary).

If the changes were supported by flavor in your campaign, cool...if it works for you, go with it. If you're looking to try and "balance" the core races (plus orc) against one another, I don't think this really fixes anything...it just piles on more difficult-to-explain bonuses and penalties to an already clunky system.
Templario
04-18-07, 09:33 AM Why -1 instead of -2? -_-
Phalse_One
04-18-07, 03:17 PM Odd ability adjustments are a really bad idea. I'm sure you've heard this several times, but it pays to stay away from them. If you roll for ability scores, they will just put odd scores in the abilities they get the -1 to (or select a race that gives the penalty to their odd scores, if you don't allow them to asign). If you use a point buy system, they are designed to have increased costs at EVEN break numbers, and so are not necessarily balanced with odd ability adjustments in mind.

The extra +2 ability score for all nonhuman races is not generally worth a +2 bonus on saves against one type of effect, a +2 bonus on 3 skills (that don't have much combat effect either), a +1 onc Craft skills, or the +1 bonus on attacks against orcs.

If you want the races to be more powerful than the PHB races, why not give the nonhumans the bonuses and not the penalties, and give humans a choice of +2 to one ability score?

That would be a better start.

Your orcs are especially unbalanced compared to other races.

The racial-prejudice type bonuses of Gnomes and Halfings are identical, and the Dwarves are really similar (orcs instead of kobolds, but otherwise identical). This makes it seem like it might be easier to detail which races don't get a bonus against goblinoids and giants. When you only have a few races, their abilities should be as distinct as possible.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ZCalibur 04-17-07, 08:10 PM	Human • Medium-size. • Humans have a base speed of 30. • Humans have a +2 racial bonus to resist fear. • Humans have a bonus feat at 1st level. • Humans have a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Knowledge (nobility and royalty) checks. • Humans have 4 bonus skill points at 1st level and gain 1 additional skill point at each additional level beyond 1st level. • Humans receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs. • Humans have a +1 racial bonus to all Craft checks. • Favored Class: Any Dwarf • +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -1 Dexterity, -1 Charisma. • Medium-size. • Dwarves have a base speed of 20 and wearing any kind of armor does not reduce this speed. • Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus to Search checks while indoors or underground. • Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus against poisons (both mundane and magical). • Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus against spells and spell like effects. • Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus against being knocked down. • Dwarves treat dwarven waraxes and mauls as material weapons instead of exotic weapons. • Dwarves receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against gobliniods and orcs. • Dwarves receive a +1 racial bonus on AC checks against giants. • Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on any Craft check if it involves stone or metal. • Favored Class: Fighter Elf • +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -1 Strength, -1 Constitution. • Medium-size. • Elves have a base speed of 30. • Elves receive a +2 racial bonus to Balance, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Search, Spot, and Survival checks. • Elves are immune to sleep and charm effects and receive a +2 racial bonus to save against enchantment spells. • Elves receive the Material Weapon Proficiency for the longsword or rapier and the longbow (this includes the composite longbow) or shortbow (this includes the composite shortbow). • Elves receive a +1 racial bonus to attack with the longsword or rapier and the longbow (this includes the composite longbow) or shortbow (this includes the composite shortbow). • Elves receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against drow and orcs. • Elves have low-light vision. • Favored Class: Wizard Halfling • +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -1 Strength, -1 Constitution. • Small-size. • Halflings have a base speed of 20. • Halflings have a +2 racial bonus to resist fear. • Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Climb, Hide, Jump, Listen, and Move Silently checks. • Halflings have a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws. • Halflings have a +1 racial bonus to all attack rolls with ranged weapons. • Halflings have a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against goblinoids and kobolds. • Halflings have a +1 racial bonus on AC checks against giants. • Favored Class: Rogue Gnome • +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -1 Strength, -1 Wisdom. • Small-size. • Gnomes have a base speed of 20. • Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus to Listen and Craft (alchemy) checks. • Spell-like Abilities: The gnome can cast the following spells as a sorcerer of their level once per day: dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. • Gnomes have a +2 racial bonus against spells and spell like effects. • Gnomes have a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions because gnomes were innately familiar with illusions of all kinds. • Gnomes have a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against goblinoids, and kobolds. • Gnomes have a +1 racial bonus on AC checks against giants. • All gnomes have low-light vision. • Favored Class: Bard Orc • +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -1 Intelligence, -1 Wisdom. • Medium-size. • Orcs have a base speed of 30. • Orcs have a +2 racial bonus to Climb, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Ride, Survival, and Swim checks. • Orcs gain the ability to enter a stage of rage once per day. This ability functions like a Barbarian’s rage in everyway except as follows; if the Orc has gained a class or prestige class ability to rage (such as a Barbarian’s rage ability) then their racial ability to rage lets them use their class rage ability once more per day. • Orcs have a +1 racial bonus to all attack rolls with melee weapons. • Orcs have a +1 racial bonus to attacks rolls against humans. • Orcs have Dark Vision up to 60 feet. • Favored Classes: Barbarian
j_gunder 04-17-07, 09:09 PM	Weren't these posted once before in another thread, and picked apart there? Your bonuses seem arbitrary...why are halflings getting +2 to charisma, for example? Two +2 bonuses in strong stats are not off-set by two -1 penalties...this essentially ramps up the value of every non-human class, while humans only get a few measly skill boosts (which also seem rather arbitrary). If the changes were supported by flavor in your campaign, cool...if it works for you, go with it. If you're looking to try and "balance" the core races (plus orc) against one another, I don't think this really fixes anything...it just piles on more difficult-to-explain bonuses and penalties to an already clunky system.
Templario 04-18-07, 09:33 AM	Why -1 instead of -2? -_-
Phalse_One 04-18-07, 03:17 PM	Odd ability adjustments are a really bad idea. I'm sure you've heard this several times, but it pays to stay away from them. If you roll for ability scores, they will just put odd scores in the abilities they get the -1 to (or select a race that gives the penalty to their odd scores, if you don't allow them to asign). If you use a point buy system, they are designed to have increased costs at EVEN break numbers, and so are not necessarily balanced with odd ability adjustments in mind. The extra +2 ability score for all nonhuman races is not generally worth a +2 bonus on saves against one type of effect, a +2 bonus on 3 skills (that don't have much combat effect either), a +1 onc Craft skills, or the +1 bonus on attacks against orcs. If you want the races to be more powerful than the PHB races, why not give the nonhumans the bonuses and not the penalties, and give humans a choice of +2 to one ability score? That would be a better start. Your orcs are especially unbalanced compared to other races. The racial-prejudice type bonuses of Gnomes and Halfings are identical, and the Dwarves are really similar (orcs instead of kobolds, but otherwise identical). This makes it seem like it might be easier to detail which races don't get a bonus against goblinoids and giants. When you only have a few races, their abilities should be as distinct as possible.