Variant racial bonus feats [Archive] - Wizards Community

Variant racial bonus feats [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Abulafia
02-15-05, 03:32 PM I'm kicking around an idea to change the way a human's "quick to master" bonus feat works. It seems odd to me that a 16-year-old human would venture out into the world with more abilities than a 114-year-old elf, but then not learn anything any faster. Shouldn't the elf start out with an advantage, and the human catch up?

Basically, my plan is this: elves, dwarves, and gnomes (the longer-lived races) start the game with a bonus feat and a +1 bonus to a number of skills equal to their Int bonus. Humans begin with no bonus feat, but get a bonus feat at 2nd level and again at 4th level (they still get their skill bonus).

Net result: one extra feat for all by 4th level. Halflings get screwed, but I don't have any halflings in my game, so that's not a problem. Slight decrease in relative power of monsters, but I don't think it'll be a problem. A little easier to qualify for PrC's.

Any comments?
spoon242
02-19-05, 09:52 PM I'm kicking around an idea to change the way a human's "quick to master" bonus feat works. It seems odd to me that a 16-year-old human would venture out into the world with more abilities than a 114-year-old elf, but then not learn anything any faster. Shouldn't the elf start out with an advantage, and the human catch up?

i've been thinking the same thing lately.

are you saying that a human wouldn't get ANY feat at first level unless it was a class feature? not even the feat that all 1st level characters get?

interesting idea. but i'm wondering how much of a chop to a human character's power it is to not have that quicker access to more advanced feats and prestige classes.
Salla
02-19-05, 10:13 PM That's realllly unbalanced, though. Theoretically realistic, but unbalanced.

I think of it less a problem with the humans than it is with the elves and other long-lived races. The assumption is that elves mature at a very slow rate, so that a 114 year elf is as mature, physically, as a 15 year old human, but should be much more advanced mentally.

Since this isn't the way the game mechanics work, the logical assumption is that elves are mentally *cough* slow. :)

My personal fix was to declare that all the races that live longer than humans gestate and mature just as fast as humans up to puberty, at which point their 'immortality factor' kicks in. So, a 16 year old elf and a 16 year old human are both young adults, though the human will hit middle age FAR sooner than the elf (or dwarf, or whatever). Everybody rolls on the human table unless they age faster than humans (e.g. half-orcs).

Now, while elflings mature to puberty at the same rate as a human, once they GET there, things slow down. Without getting into too many details of questionable taste, whereas a human woman is capable of having a child 1 week out of every month, an elven woman is capable of having a child at a rate that compares to the aging there (about 1 week a year, if my math is on). This is why elves haven't overpopulated the planet (along with their racial CON penalty, which makes them poor warriors and susceptible to disease).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Abulafia 02-15-05, 03:32 PM	I'm kicking around an idea to change the way a human's "quick to master" bonus feat works. It seems odd to me that a 16-year-old human would venture out into the world with more abilities than a 114-year-old elf, but then not learn anything any faster. Shouldn't the elf start out with an advantage, and the human catch up? Basically, my plan is this: elves, dwarves, and gnomes (the longer-lived races) start the game with a bonus feat and a +1 bonus to a number of skills equal to their Int bonus. Humans begin with no bonus feat, but get a bonus feat at 2nd level and again at 4th level (they still get their skill bonus). Net result: one extra feat for all by 4th level. Halflings get screwed, but I don't have any halflings in my game, so that's not a problem. Slight decrease in relative power of monsters, but I don't think it'll be a problem. A little easier to qualify for PrC's. Any comments?
spoon242 02-19-05, 09:52 PM	I'm kicking around an idea to change the way a human's "quick to master" bonus feat works. It seems odd to me that a 16-year-old human would venture out into the world with more abilities than a 114-year-old elf, but then not learn anything any faster. Shouldn't the elf start out with an advantage, and the human catch up? i've been thinking the same thing lately. are you saying that a human wouldn't get ANY feat at first level unless it was a class feature? not even the feat that all 1st level characters get? interesting idea. but i'm wondering how much of a chop to a human character's power it is to not have that quicker access to more advanced feats and prestige classes.
Salla 02-19-05, 10:13 PM	That's realllly unbalanced, though. Theoretically realistic, but unbalanced. I think of it less a problem with the humans than it is with the elves and other long-lived races. The assumption is that elves mature at a very slow rate, so that a 114 year elf is as mature, physically, as a 15 year old human, but should be much more advanced mentally. Since this isn't the way the game mechanics work, the logical assumption is that elves are mentally cough slow. :) My personal fix was to declare that all the races that live longer than humans gestate and mature just as fast as humans up to puberty, at which point their 'immortality factor' kicks in. So, a 16 year old elf and a 16 year old human are both young adults, though the human will hit middle age FAR sooner than the elf (or dwarf, or whatever). Everybody rolls on the human table unless they age faster than humans (e.g. half-orcs). Now, while elflings mature to puberty at the same rate as a human, once they GET there, things slow down. Without getting into too many details of questionable taste, whereas a human woman is capable of having a child 1 week out of every month, an elven woman is capable of having a child at a rate that compares to the aging there (about 1 week a year, if my math is on). This is why elves haven't overpopulated the planet (along with their racial CON penalty, which makes them poor warriors and susceptible to disease).