Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tequila_Sunrise 06-23-07, 04:21 PM	Is it possible to balance Tiny and/or Large races as +0 LA, as a whole, without resorting to applying extreme and bizarre abilities/hindrances to each individual race? In other words, what would it take to make Tiny characters generally worth playing, if they are not already? What would it take to make Large +0 LA races NOT universally appealing as tank characters? Or is it just not possible?
Rerecros 06-23-07, 04:57 PM	It is completely possible (yet very odd) to counteract the benefits/hinderences of size. For example, A small race can have bright colouration that gives it a +4 bonus to intimidate checks and a -4 penalty to hide checks, it's speed is 30', it's clumsy and takes a -1 penalty to AC and Attack rolls, and the tentacles on it's body give it a +4 bonus to combat actions (grapple, bull rush, ect...) The problem with unusualy large/small races is min maxing, but if you just take away those benefits it becomes LA+0. Though I find this very odd, I have heard people wanting to make giant spellcasters and tiny fighters.
Thomar_of_Uointer 06-23-07, 06:15 PM	Sort of. Tiny races are pretty easy to balance, you just have to keep in mind that those races are shoo-ins for primary spellcasters, and should be balanced accordingly (no mental ability score bonuses is already a standard, but you also shouldn't give them any overtly defensive qualities either). Large creatures are a little more difficult. 10' reach is the biggest-impact ability of Large size, especially when combined with the fact that a polearm makes it 20'. The easiest fix is to make a Large creature Long, reducing the reach to 5'. Large creatures make good conventional combatants, due to their improved weapon damage, though the AC and attack penalties (and the attack penalties don't mean much if the race has a Strength bonus) mitigate this somewhat, so you shouldn't do anything to make a Large race a good combatant either. Use humans as the baseline in any case. If a race is better at a particular class/role than a human, it's unbalanced. And because I know this comes up, I'll say it explicitly. There is no such thing as an ability that grants "automatic level adjustment", nor is there an ability that automatically negates other difficult abilities. Every race must be judged for balance on a case-by-case basis.
Phalse_One 06-24-07, 02:09 PM	You could also go with a centaur-like race (for example, the wemic). Because their upper half is human-like (or elf-like, or lizardfolk-like or whatever), they have 5' reach and can only use Medium weapons. The penalties and bonuses of Large size without the reach are basically neutral. You get a race with some bonuses on grapple, bull rush and such, and who controls more of the battlefield (by virtue of taking up a 10' x 10' area). As to Tiny if they have no racial HD or LA, they have to make poor spellcasters (penalty on mental ability scores are a good idea). They automatically make poor fighters (ever see the damage for a Tiny greatsword?, and remember armour bonuses decrease when the creature is smaller than Small). That leaves skill monkeys, like rogues, scouts, and such. They have excellent Hide bonuses, and can slowly crawl through spaces as small as a human fist (smaller if they have good Escape Artist checks). However, they will depend almost entirely on non-weapon damage such as flaming, sneak attack, or poison. At least the difference between a +5d6 sneak attack with a +1Tiny holy, flaming shortbow is basically the same as with a +1 Medium holy, flaming shortbow.
Thomar_of_Uointer 06-24-07, 02:14 PM	You could also go with a centaur-like race (for example, the wemic). Because their upper half is human-like (or elf-like, or lizardfolk-like or whatever), they have 5' reach and can only use Medium weapons. No, check the centaur description. It's using a Large longsword and large bow. Large creatures use Large equipment, even if they have reach as a creature one size category smaller.
Phalse_One 06-24-07, 04:21 PM	Sorry, must be a mental remnant from an earlier edition.