[3.5] Please help me balance my races. - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 myou Mar 27, 2009 14:39:50	I'm looking for help balancing the playable races in my campaign, and making sure I have all the major roles covered. The races are meant to all be a little more powerful than the D&D norm, and much simpler, since a large number of relatively useless bonuses isn't really worthwhile. The setting is a tropical ocean that spans the world's equator, dotted with islands of all sizes. Most settlements are of highly mixed race, but there are some areas where there is less variation and only a few races are common. I the past extraplanar travel and communication was common, but almost all contact with the gods and their servants and foes has since been cut off. Humans Humans are a youthful and inquisitive race. They are one of the most recent races to emerge, and even after tens of thousands of years they retain a youthfulness that the older races lack. Humans lead unusually varied lives and often become adventurers or explorers, making them common across the world’s oceans. Just as humans themselves, human societies and cultures tend to change quickly and rarely last more than a few hundred years. Humans are very quick to learn and often hold high ambition which more than makes up for their shorter lifespan, but at the same time their short lives can lead them to think only in the present and neglect the past and future. Type: Humanoid (Human) Size: Medum Base Speed: 30ft Automatic Languages: Common Traits; 1 bonus feat at 1st level +2 To one ability score of player's choice Aging; Adulthood: 20 Middle Age: 40 Old Age: 60 Venerable Age: 80 Maximum Age: +2d20 Elves Elves are an ancient and ethereal race, similar to humans, yet also dissonant. They live in much greater harmony with nature and hold deeper spiritual and cultural beliefs that change little with time. Elves have an air of nobility and magic to them that many other races lack, and they tend to live slower, calmer lives as a result of their long lifespan. They are said to have magical blood that heightens their senses and gives them a greater resistance to the magic of their enemies, and give them fair and unblemished complexions. This together with their lithe, flexible bodies makes them highly regarded as one of the most beautiful of races. Type: Humanoid (Elf) Size: Medum Base Speed: 30ft Automatic Languages: Common, Elven Traits; Darkvision, Low-Light Vision +2 bonus to Listen, Spot, Hide, Move Silently and Search checks +2 to saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Str Aging; Adulthood: 100 Middle Age: 200 Old Age: 300 Venerable Age: 400 Maximum Age: +2d100 Dwarves Dwarves are a hardy and heavily built race that are stouter and slower than other humanoids, but tougher and enduring. Their societies are some of the most insular and xenophobic, but also some of the most stable and unchanging. As a whole their race is gruff and unyielding, but while they seldom make friends easily, they are highly loyal to those that they do grow close to. Dwarves are proud of their mining and metallurgy, most of their cities growing up in regions where precious metals can be found. Their heavy frames allow them to easily wear even the heaviest armours and make them tough warriors. Type: Humanoid (Dwarf) Size: Medum Base Speed: 20ft Automatic Languages: Common, Dwarven Traits; Low-Light Vision +4 racial bonus to saving throws against poison Racial proficiency with all armours Dwarves gain Toughness as a bonus feat The number of size categories that an Orc grows by when affected by Enlarge Person or similar effects that increase size is reduced by one, to a minimum of 0 +2 Con, -2 Cha Aging; Adulthood: 40 Middle Age: 80 Old Age: 120 Venerable Age: 160 Maximum Age: +2d40 Gnomes Gnomes are a clever, nimble race, smaller than other humanoids but with an aptitude for survival that few others can match. Gnomes live in some of the most unstable and hostile environments the world has to offer – in glass cities under the ocean, among the freezing peaks of the tallest mountains, and on floating towns far out to sea. One of the most widespread race after humans, they are playful and light-hearted, with a gift for invention that they back up with skilled, dextrous hands, bringing many new creations to life. Type: Humanoid (Gnome) Size: Small Base Speed: 20ft Automatic Languages: Common, Gnome Traits; +1 to all saving throws +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Con Aging; Adulthood: 30 Middle Age: 60 Old Age: 90 Venerable Age: 120 Maximum Age: +2d30 Orcs Orcs are large and powerful, bigger than the other humanoids and wilder too. They have amazing strength and stamina, but short life-spans. They tend to live in loosely organised tribes in villages on the fringes of society, with little order or law. They are not mentally agile, but they tend to favour tribal traditions and physical achievement over laws and intelligence. They can sometimes be found living in more developed towns and cities, but are less common in such places than the other races. Type: Monstrous Humanoid (Orc) Size: Large Base Speed: 30ft Automatic Languages: Common, Orc Traits; 10ft space and reach Orcs gain Endurance as a bonus feat +2 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha Aging; Adulthood: 10 Middle Age: 20 Old Age: 30 Venerable Age: 40 Maximum Age: +2d10 Kobolds Kobolds are a race of burrowing reptilians, slightly shorter than dwarves but equally heavily built, their thick, hard scales and strong frames making them one of the toughest of all races. With their slow movements and poor eyesight above ground they are not the most capable fighters, but they are great survivors. They tend to be shyer and less outgoing than other races, but they are reliable and level-headed. Type: Humanoid (Reptilian) Size: Small Base Speed: 20ft Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic Traits; Darkvision, Low-Light Vision Light Sensitivity +2 Natural Armour +4 Con, -2 Str, -2 Dex Aging; Adulthood: 15 Middle Age: 30 Old Age: 45 Venerable Age: 60 Maximum Age: +2d15 Aasimar Aasimar are descended from celestial beings who interbred with humans in the distant past when such holy creatures were commonplace. They are similar to humans, but are marked from birth with soft white lines and markings on their skin and golden hair that shines in the sunlight. Aasimar eventually grew apart from the rest of human kind, becoming a distinct race of their own. They posses supernatural beauty and great wisdom, one of the few races that can challenge the elves in both, and like the elves they are in touch with the natural world around them, albeit to a lesser extent. Unlike the elves however, they rarely hold strong spiritual beliefs, tending to feel that the heavenly realms have abandoned them, instead doing their best to live up to their own morals and ideals. Type: Outsider (Native) Size: Medium Base Speed: 30ft Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial Traits; Aasimar can cast Light at will as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to their character level +2 Wis, +2 Cha Aging; Adulthood: 200 Middle Age: 400 Old Age: 600 Venerable Age: 800 Maximum Age: +2d200 Centaurs Centaurs are powerful, wise beings who normally live nomadic lifestyles, hunting and travelling in small familial groups, roaming the plains and forests of the larger islands in the world. They are, like orcs, not common in towns and cities, but they have a more disciplined and organised view of the world than orcs to, which allows those that wish to fit in well in civilisation. Type: Monstrous Humanoid Size: Large Quadraped Base Speed: 60ft Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan Traits; 10ft space and 5ft reach A centaur's hooves can be used as natural weapons (2 hooves, 1d8 slam each) A centaur is considered mounted for all mechanical purposes Centaurs use medium weapons rather than large +2 Str, +2 Wis Aging; Adulthood: 50 Middle Age: 100 Old Age: 150 Venerable Age: 200 Maximum Age: +2d50 Merfolk Merfolk are a happy and playful race, one of the youngest to grace the ocean, a race that evolved in the sea and only developed the ability to venture onto land in recent times. With a lithe, toned humanoid form above the waist and a flowing, glistening tail they are fast and graceful in the water, a beautiful sight to behold. Their ornate fins and colourful skin and scales vary hugely between families, with as many variations as there are species of fish in the sea. When they leave the water their fins melt into their bodies and their tails split in two to form legs, giving them the appearance of oddly patterned humans with webbed fingers and toes. They often make their homes among the other races along coastlines and rivers, but also have many undersea villages and towns that few outsiders visit. Type: Humanoid (Aquatic) Size: Medum Base Speed: 30ft Automatic Languages: Common, Aquan Traits; Low-Light Vision Swim Speed 30 ft +10 racial bonus on all Swim checks, ability to take 10 on Swim checks even if rushed or threatened, ability to use the run action while swimming Ability to breathe both water and air +2 Dex, +2 Cha Aging; Adulthood: 25 Middle Age: 50 Old Age: 75 Venerable Age: 100 Maximum Age: +2d25 Naga The naga are widely acknowledged to be the oldest of all the races that live on the ocean. From the waist up they look similar to humans, but they have a serpentine race to their features that humans lack. Rather than legs, naga posses long, powerful tails that account for easily three quarters of their size, making them little smaller than centaurs and considerable heavier. They have thick, curved horns and colourful, patterned skin and scales that rival the merfolk in both spectacle and variation, and they tend to wear few clothes, often little more than a loincloth and letting the tropical sun keep them warm. They are one of the most openly affectionate and caring races, valuing physical contact and placing love and family above all things. Naga possess not only toned, strong bodies, but powerful minds and personalities that make them one of the most capable races. They were the first race to delve into magic and are highly attuned to the arcane arts. While they are warm-blooded they love to bask in the sun and tend to be active and cheerful on overcast days. Type: Humanoid (Reptilian) Size: Medium (Quadraped for mechanical purposes) Base Speed: 30ft Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic Traits; Darkvision, Low-Light Vision Scent +2 Natural Armour +2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Cha Level Adjustment: +1 Aging; Adulthood: 500 Middle Age: 1000 Old Age: 1500 Venerable Age: 2000 Maximum Age: +2d500
#2 eikre Mar 28, 2009 23:59:17	On one hand, you've got a lot going against convention... On the other hand, I think you're working with classic rules of character optimization in mind. I'd like to know the context of your setting, though. Are you doing anything peculiar to Casters to make their power-system more serviceable? How about warriors, are you using TOB? Are you encouraging Psionics/Pacts/Incarnum? The gnomes stand out, to me, as a race that I couldn't be entirely convinced to join. I'd shift the -2 CON to STR. Do the centaurs retain the capacity to act as though they were mounted, when it comes to lances and feats? I think I'll wait to see what other people think and discuss what they have to say.
#3 vebrandsson Mar 29, 2009 0:12:08	Purely on balance the Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk are Superior to the other non level adjusted races (elves, humans etc.) and for only a +1 level adjustment a +2 to all stats, that seems a little out there to me. If it were me I'd go back to Savage species for Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk and use the actual racial data for them in there and then use the savage species guidelines for naga, but thats just me and I realize that it would throw off a lot of the numbers you have here.
#4 myou Mar 29, 2009 6:07:37	Yay, replies! =D On one hand, you've got a lot going against convention... On the other hand, I think you're working with classic rules of character optimization in mind. I'd like to know the context of your setting, though. Are you doing anything peculiar to Casters to make their power-system more serviceable? How about warriors, are you using TOB? Are you encouraging Psionics/Pacts/Incarnum? The gnomes stand out, to me, as a race that I couldn't be entirely convinced to join. I'd shift the -2 CON to STR. Do the centaurs retain the capacity to act as though they were mounted, when it comes to lances and feats? I think I'll wait to see what other people think and discuss what they have to say. The classes are all basically unchanged, other than druids who use the shapeshift variant. The ToB is in but psionics are out. Yes, you're absolutely right about the gnomes, I've made a change to give them +2 int, which I feel fits them as a race, fills a gap in the distribution of abilities, and makes them much more playable. :3 That's an interesting point about centaurs, I didn't know that was something they had in the official rules. Would it be a big benefit? Purely on balance the Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk are Superior to the other non level adjusted races (elves, humans etc.) and for only a +1 level adjustment a +2 to all stats, that seems a little out there to me. If it were me I'd go back to Savage species for Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk and use the actual racial data for them in there and then use the savage species guidelines for naga, but thats just me and I realize that it would throw off a lot of the numbers you have here. Yes, I realised that the later races outshone the others, I've tried to remedy that, making the other races a little stronger and taking the +2 Str from naga, hopefully that will make the races more equal, and the +1 LA seem fairer for the naga. ^^ I'm trying to match the abilities more to how I'd like the races to be, but thanks for the suggestion about Savage species. ^^ More comments, suggestions and advice are very welcome!
#5 eikre Mar 29, 2009 19:50:43	The classes are all basically unchanged, other than druids who use the shapeshift variant. The ToB is in but psionics are out. Well, then, it's not like if someone tries to crack the system wide open, they're going to do it based on something you gave them with their race. That's an interesting point about centaurs, I didn't know that was something they had in the official rules. Would it be a big benefit? As big of a benefit as it is to mounted chargers in the first place, anyway. The lance becomes their best one-handed weapon; It has reach and deals 2x damage on a charge, that's pretty good. Compare them to a person just sitting on a horse. On one hand, they don't need to pay for a mount, and they don't have to worry about someone shooting their horse out from under them. On the other hand, they're already Large anyway and can't really buy a horse, Griffon, Sandworm, or any other decent mount that can fit them, so they're sort of paying the downsides already. I say just give it to them. As it stands, they're a grapple/monk race. Armor is drat expensive and being a Large creature with natural attacks means hugs will hurt.
#6 myou Mar 30, 2009 5:35:22	Well, then, it's not like if someone tries to crack the system wide open, they're going to do it based on something you gave them with their race. As big of a benefit as it is to mounted chargers in the first place, anyway. The lance becomes their best one-handed weapon; It has reach and deals 2x damage on a charge, that's pretty good. Compare them to a person just sitting on a horse. On one hand, they don't need to pay for a mount, and they don't have to worry about someone shooting their horse out from under them. On the other hand, they're already Large anyway and can't really buy a horse, Griffon, Sandworm, or any other decent mount that can fit them, so they're sort of paying the downsides already. I say just give it to them. As it stands, they're a grapple/monk race. Armor is drat expensive and being a Large creature with natural attacks means hugs will hurt. Awesome, I shall do that! :3 And you made me giggle at the image of a centaur monk hugging people into submission. xD
#7 myou Mar 30, 2009 15:45:26	I've added the races' fluff to my post and made a few changes that other have suggested, I'm still looking for feedback and comments or suggestions. :3
#8 eikre Mar 31, 2009 22:22:21	Humans... are one of the most recent races to emerge, and even after millions of years they retain a youthfulness that the older races lack. This is ludicrous. Real world humans haven't even existed for one million years. Scientific estimates place us as a species only several hundred thousand years old, and our written history only spans a few millenniums. Millions of years don't produce a young race, millions years produce illithids. If they emerged within the mythical memories of the other races, then I'd call it at a few tens of thousands. I think that puts their creation right in the timeframe where it happened long enough ago that even Naga history would have become obfuscated, and therefore, mysterious, but recently enough that the other races couldn't have given them magic and technology and enough of a headstart that they could have since populated the stars and downloaded their consciousnesses to 64-exabye computers. You can put the Merfolk ascent to land in a similar timeframe. Older races you can age more like real-world humans. Remember, it doesn't take many centuries or that many generations before people feel like things are really, really old. Some people would tell you, even today, that the earth has only existed for six thousand years. When people can feel intuitively that such a thing could be true, it should indicate that many more than a few hundred thousand years are wholly unnecessary for steeping the world in mystery. EDIT: Well, let me amend this. Real humans have existed for more than a million years, but only in the sense that the genus has. Still, use of fire as a tool is reasonably placed at around the -1.5 million mark, earliest. The jump between fire using fire and a decent oral or magical tradition is pretty spectacular. What I mentioned in the above paragraphs stands.
#9 hochiu Apr 01, 2009 11:33:30	Eikre, while I agree with your statement (Given that Archaic H. sapiens have only been around for less than half a million years) at the same time, I think it is kind of ridiculous to rip into the human species in anyone's campaign setting when they have a lot older races at a similar technological/social development. I'm thinking of the "long lived" races, even, the ones that are like elves and dwarves, who have existed for tens of thousands of years longer than humans, but only have a comparable level of society. Why don't elves, as written in most 3.5 games, have a greater technological edge than humanity? They're almost always this isolated race that is in remission despite their apparent superiority in magical technique. They should at least have arcano-tech running around if you assume a nominal development of technology and culture (it doesn't even have to be the level of growth that humans have experienced over the course of their history, but regardless, their head start would be enough to outpace the standard setting technology). That is if you take a biological evoutionary point of view. We're not even talking about what could happen to a race that's so ingrained with natural magical aptitude. I think the whole of the racial evolution of D&D races is best left somewhat ambiguous. It seems that "But its fantasy" argument applies to everything but the human race itself. I don't know whether or not that's because its one of those major aspects of D&D that we have real detailed knowledge of as it would exist.
#10 myou Apr 01, 2009 13:37:09	This is ludicrous. Real world humans haven't even existed for one million years. Scientific estimates place us as a species only several hundred thousand years old, and our written history only spans a few millenniums. Millions of years don't produce a young race, millions years produce illithids. If they emerged within the mythical memories of the other races, then I'd call it at a few tens of thousands. I think that puts their creation right in the timeframe where it happened long enough ago that even Naga history would have become obfuscated, and therefore, mysterious, but recently enough that the other races couldn't have given them magic and technology and enough of a headstart that they could have since populated the stars and downloaded their consciousnesses to 64-exabye computers. You can put the Merfolk ascent to land in a similar timeframe. Older races you can age more like real-world humans. Remember, it doesn't take many centuries or that many generations before people feel like things are really, really old. Some people would tell you, even today, that the earth has only existed for six thousand years. When people can feel intuitively that such a thing could be true, it should indicate that many more than a few hundred thousand years are wholly unnecessary for steeping the world in mystery. EDIT: Well, let me amend this. Real humans have existed for more than a million years, but only in the sense that the genus has. Still, use of fire as a tool is reasonably placed at around the -1.5 million mark, earliest. The jump between fire using fire and a decent oral or magical tradition is pretty spectacular. What I mentioned in the above paragraphs stands. My mistake, I thought it was 2 million for some reason, I'll change that, good save! xD Thanks for your thoughts, they've been very helpful! I'll make humans about 30,000 (10 full naga lifespans, definitely long enough for the event to pass into myth and become blurred and uncertain) years old and place the merfolk's ascent shortly after, thanks! ^^ Of course I won't put any numbers in the actual fluff, the true ages of the races aren't something players should be able to read in the campaign notes. xD Thanks again for your comments and suggestions, you've got me thinking more about the timeline of my setting! :3 In my imagination I see naga as being far more ancient then suspected, at about 100 million years (placing their emergence during the end of the Albian period of the Cretaceous era), but just like the real world, my setting has had it's share of disasters, including a big one 100,000 years ago that cut off all interplanar travel, so that explains why they're not more advanced. ^^
#11 myou Apr 01, 2009 16:19:12	Eikre, while I agree with your statement (Given that Archaic H. sapiens have only been around for less than half a million years) at the same time, I think it is kind of ridiculous to rip into the human species in anyone's campaign setting when they have a lot older races at a similar technological/social development. I'm thinking of the "long lived" races, even, the ones that are like elves and dwarves, who have existed for tens of thousands of years longer than humans, but only have a comparable level of society. Why don't elves, as written in most 3.5 games, have a greater technological edge than humanity? They're almost always this isolated race that is in remission despite their apparent superiority in magical technique. They should at least have arcano-tech running around if you assume a nominal development of technology and culture (it doesn't even have to be the level of growth that humans have experienced over the course of their history, but regardless, their head start would be enough to outpace the standard setting technology). That is if you take a biological evoutionary point of view. We're not even talking about what could happen to a race that's so ingrained with natural magical aptitude. I think the whole of the racial evolution of D&D races is best left somewhat ambiguous. It seems that "But its fantasy" argument applies to everything but the human race itself. I don't know whether or not that's because its one of those major aspects of D&D that we have real detailed knowledge of as it would exist. Thanks for the defense. ^^ In a lot of settings it's just as you say, but in mine I'm trying to make things realistic where I can (given the existence of magic), so feedback of that type is welcome. :3
#12 eikre Apr 01, 2009 19:41:17	Eikre, while I agree with your statement (Given that Archaic H. sapiens have only been around for less than half a million years) at the same time, I think it is kind of ridiculous to rip into the human species in anyone's campaign setting when they have a lot older races at a similar technological/social development. No, the presence of other races is exactly what moves me to comment in the first place. If humans have been around for even two million years, and then other races have been around even longer, then you have a species that is even older than our (space-faring, computer-using, highly scientific) own, and not only are they older, but they would have been given a head-stat: all of the technological and social advancements that the other races would have bestowed upon them. You're running under the assumption that Humans, whatever their age, are at a roughly medieval or renaissance level of technology, and that the elves, because they are older, should logically have even more tech. That is not how it works. You ask me, why don't the elves have better tech? They did. They had herb-lore, fletching, and domestication of animals long ago. Since then, they have taught humans how to do those things, and the humans have spread it around. The dwarfs knew how to mix copper and tin to make a harder metal, and how to build architecturally sound stone structures for defense. The humans traded for their goods and services, and learned how to do those things as well. If the Elves have arcano-tech running around, then so do the humans. If there are still humans that don't, then those humans are either a long way away, or the arcano-tech is very, very new. Cultural exchange balances everyone. And this is exactly why you can't make a race that is millions of years old, and then make one that is older. If one race is four-million years old (and can remember as far back as the birth of another which is two million years old, which is a stint of oral and written history that we only became capable of a few thousand years ago), then they should be expected not only to have come up with arcano-tech, but normal tech. And spaceships. And cyborgs. Dimensional-folding capabilities. On the other hand, if you have one race that only emerged a few thousand years ago and woke up to find that there were already people around who could practice literacy and make metal tools, then they would have been uplifted fairly immediately... Or, at least, immediately enough that now, thousands of years later, everyone in the same region would be about equal.
#13 myou Apr 04, 2009 5:13:24	Why does this forum seem to replace the word 'skin' with "GLEEMAX!GLEEMAX!GLEEMAX!GLEEMAX!"? Anyway, I'm still looking for feedback. :3
#14 myou Apr 07, 2009 13:51:43	Would anyone care to Bring Up More Points? :3

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

myou

Mar 27, 2009 14:39:50

I'm looking for help balancing the playable races in my campaign, and making sure I have all the major roles covered.

The races are meant to all be a little more powerful than the D&D norm, and much simpler, since a large number of relatively useless bonuses isn't really worthwhile.

The setting is a tropical ocean that spans the world's equator, dotted with islands of all sizes. Most settlements are of highly mixed race, but there are some areas where there is less variation and only a few races are common. I the past extraplanar travel and communication was common, but almost all contact with the gods and their servants and foes has since been cut off.

Humans

Humans are a youthful and inquisitive race. They are one of the most recent races to emerge, and even after tens of thousands of years they retain a youthfulness that the older races lack. Humans lead unusually varied lives and often become adventurers or explorers, making them common across the world’s oceans. Just as humans themselves, human societies and cultures tend to change quickly and rarely last more than a few hundred years.

Humans are very quick to learn and often hold high ambition which more than makes up for their shorter lifespan, but at the same time their short lives can lead them to think only in the present and neglect the past and future.

Type: Humanoid (Human)
Size: Medum
Base Speed: 30ft
Automatic Languages: Common
Traits;
1 bonus feat at 1st level
+2 To one ability score of player's choice
Aging;
Adulthood: 20
Middle Age: 40
Old Age: 60
Venerable Age: 80
Maximum Age: +2d20

Elves

Elves are an ancient and ethereal race, similar to humans, yet also dissonant. They live in much greater harmony with nature and hold deeper spiritual and cultural beliefs that change little with time. Elves have an air of nobility and magic to them that many other races lack, and they tend to live slower, calmer lives as a result of their long lifespan.

They are said to have magical blood that heightens their senses and gives them a greater resistance to the magic of their enemies, and give them fair and unblemished complexions. This together with their lithe, flexible bodies makes them highly regarded as one of the most beautiful of races.

Type: Humanoid (Elf)
Size: Medum
Base Speed: 30ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Elven
Traits;
Darkvision, Low-Light Vision
+2 bonus to Listen, Spot, Hide, Move Silently and Search checks
+2 to saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities
+2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Str
Aging;
Adulthood: 100
Middle Age: 200
Old Age: 300
Venerable Age: 400
Maximum Age: +2d100

Dwarves

Dwarves are a hardy and heavily built race that are stouter and slower than other humanoids, but tougher and enduring. Their societies are some of the most insular and xenophobic, but also some of the most stable and unchanging. As a whole their race is gruff and unyielding, but while they seldom make friends easily, they are highly loyal to those that they do grow close to.

Dwarves are proud of their mining and metallurgy, most of their cities growing up in regions where precious metals can be found. Their heavy frames allow them to easily wear even the heaviest armours and make them tough warriors.

Type: Humanoid (Dwarf)
Size: Medum
Base Speed: 20ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Dwarven
Traits;
Low-Light Vision
+4 racial bonus to saving throws against poison
Racial proficiency with all armours
Dwarves gain Toughness as a bonus feat
The number of size categories that an Orc grows by when affected by Enlarge Person or similar effects that increase size is reduced by one, to a minimum of 0
+2 Con, -2 Cha
Aging;
Adulthood: 40
Middle Age: 80
Old Age: 120
Venerable Age: 160
Maximum Age: +2d40

Gnomes

Gnomes are a clever, nimble race, smaller than other humanoids but with an aptitude for survival that few others can match. Gnomes live in some of the most unstable and hostile environments the world has to offer – in glass cities under the ocean, among the freezing peaks of the tallest mountains, and on floating towns far out to sea. One of the most widespread race after humans, they are playful and light-hearted, with a gift for invention that they back up with skilled, dextrous hands, bringing many new creations to life.

Type: Humanoid (Gnome)
Size: Small
Base Speed: 20ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Gnome
Traits;
+1 to all saving throws
+2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Con
Aging;
Adulthood: 30
Middle Age: 60
Old Age: 90
Venerable Age: 120
Maximum Age: +2d30

Orcs

Orcs are large and powerful, bigger than the other humanoids and wilder too. They have amazing strength and stamina, but short life-spans. They tend to live in loosely organised tribes in villages on the fringes of society, with little order or law. They are not mentally agile, but they tend to favour tribal traditions and physical achievement over laws and intelligence.

They can sometimes be found living in more developed towns and cities, but are less common in such places than the other races.

Type: Monstrous Humanoid (Orc)
Size: Large
Base Speed: 30ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Orc
Traits;
10ft space and reach
Orcs gain Endurance as a bonus feat
+2 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha
Aging;
Adulthood: 10
Middle Age: 20
Old Age: 30
Venerable Age: 40
Maximum Age: +2d10

Kobolds

Kobolds are a race of burrowing reptilians, slightly shorter than dwarves but equally heavily built, their thick, hard scales and strong frames making them one of the toughest of all races. With their slow movements and poor eyesight above ground they are not the most capable fighters, but they are great survivors.

They tend to be shyer and less outgoing than other races, but they are reliable and level-headed.

Type: Humanoid (Reptilian)
Size: Small
Base Speed: 20ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic
Traits;
Darkvision, Low-Light Vision
Light Sensitivity
+2 Natural Armour
+4 Con, -2 Str, -2 Dex
Aging;
Adulthood: 15
Middle Age: 30
Old Age: 45
Venerable Age: 60
Maximum Age: +2d15

Aasimar

Aasimar are descended from celestial beings who interbred with humans in the distant past when such holy creatures were commonplace. They are similar to humans, but are marked from birth with soft white lines and markings on their skin and golden hair that shines in the sunlight. Aasimar eventually grew apart from the rest of human kind, becoming a distinct race of their own. They posses supernatural beauty and great wisdom, one of the few races that can challenge the elves in both, and like the elves they are in touch with the natural world around them, albeit to a lesser extent. Unlike the elves however, they rarely hold strong spiritual beliefs, tending to feel that the heavenly realms have abandoned them, instead doing their best to live up to their own morals and ideals.

Type: Outsider (Native)
Size: Medium
Base Speed: 30ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial
Traits;
Aasimar can cast Light at will as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to their character level
+2 Wis, +2 Cha
Aging;
Adulthood: 200
Middle Age: 400
Old Age: 600
Venerable Age: 800
Maximum Age: +2d200

Centaurs

Centaurs are powerful, wise beings who normally live nomadic lifestyles, hunting and travelling in small familial groups, roaming the plains and forests of the larger islands in the world. They are, like orcs, not common in towns and cities, but they have a more disciplined and organised view of the world than orcs to, which allows those that wish to fit in well in civilisation.

Type: Monstrous Humanoid
Size: Large Quadraped
Base Speed: 60ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan
Traits;
10ft space and 5ft reach
A centaur's hooves can be used as natural weapons (2 hooves, 1d8 slam each)
A centaur is considered mounted for all mechanical purposes
Centaurs use medium weapons rather than large
+2 Str, +2 Wis
Aging;
Adulthood: 50
Middle Age: 100
Old Age: 150
Venerable Age: 200
Maximum Age: +2d50

Merfolk

Merfolk are a happy and playful race, one of the youngest to grace the ocean, a race that evolved in the sea and only developed the ability to venture onto land in recent times. With a lithe, toned humanoid form above the waist and a flowing, glistening tail they are fast and graceful in the water, a beautiful sight to behold. Their ornate fins and colourful skin and scales vary hugely between families, with as many variations as there are species of fish in the sea.

When they leave the water their fins melt into their bodies and their tails split in two to form legs, giving them the appearance of oddly patterned humans with webbed fingers and toes. They often make their homes among the other races along coastlines and rivers, but also have many undersea villages and towns that few outsiders visit.

Type: Humanoid (Aquatic)
Size: Medum
Base Speed: 30ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Aquan
Traits;
Low-Light Vision
Swim Speed 30 ft
+10 racial bonus on all Swim checks, ability to take 10 on Swim checks even if rushed or threatened, ability to use the run action while swimming
Ability to breathe both water and air
+2 Dex, +2 Cha
Aging;
Adulthood: 25
Middle Age: 50
Old Age: 75
Venerable Age: 100
Maximum Age: +2d25

Naga

The naga are widely acknowledged to be the oldest of all the races that live on the ocean. From the waist up they look similar to humans, but they have a serpentine race to their features that humans lack. Rather than legs, naga posses long, powerful tails that account for easily three quarters of their size, making them little smaller than centaurs and considerable heavier. They have thick, curved horns and colourful, patterned skin and scales that rival the merfolk in both spectacle and variation, and they tend to wear few clothes, often little more than a loincloth and letting the tropical sun keep them warm. They are one of the most openly affectionate and caring races, valuing physical contact and placing love and family above all things.

Naga possess not only toned, strong bodies, but powerful minds and personalities that make them one of the most capable races. They were the first race to delve into magic and are highly attuned to the arcane arts. While they are warm-blooded they love to bask in the sun and tend to be active and cheerful on overcast days.

Type: Humanoid (Reptilian)
Size: Medium (Quadraped for mechanical purposes)
Base Speed: 30ft
Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic
Traits;
Darkvision, Low-Light Vision
Scent
+2 Natural Armour
+2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Cha
Level Adjustment: +1
Aging;
Adulthood: 500
Middle Age: 1000
Old Age: 1500
Venerable Age: 2000
Maximum Age: +2d500

eikre

Mar 28, 2009 23:59:17

On one hand, you've got a lot going against convention... On the other hand, I think you're working with classic rules of character optimization in mind.

I'd like to know the context of your setting, though. Are you doing anything peculiar to Casters to make their power-system more serviceable? How about warriors, are you using TOB? Are you encouraging Psionics/Pacts/Incarnum?

The gnomes stand out, to me, as a race that I couldn't be entirely convinced to join. I'd shift the -2 CON to STR.

Do the centaurs retain the capacity to act as though they were mounted, when it comes to lances and feats?

I think I'll wait to see what other people think and discuss what they have to say.

vebrandsson

Mar 29, 2009 0:12:08

Purely on balance the Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk are Superior to the other non level adjusted races (elves, humans etc.) and for only a +1 level adjustment a +2 to all stats, that seems a little out there to me. If it were me I'd go back to Savage species for Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk and use the actual racial data for them in there and then use the savage species guidelines for naga, but thats just me and I realize that it would throw off a lot of the numbers you have here.

myou

Mar 29, 2009 6:07:37

Yay, replies! =D

On one hand, you've got a lot going against convention... On the other hand, I think you're working with classic rules of character optimization in mind.

I'd like to know the context of your setting, though. Are you doing anything peculiar to Casters to make their power-system more serviceable? How about warriors, are you using TOB? Are you encouraging Psionics/Pacts/Incarnum?

The gnomes stand out, to me, as a race that I couldn't be entirely convinced to join. I'd shift the -2 CON to STR.

Do the centaurs retain the capacity to act as though they were mounted, when it comes to lances and feats?

I think I'll wait to see what other people think and discuss what they have to say.

The classes are all basically unchanged, other than druids who use the shapeshift variant.
The ToB is in but psionics are out.

Yes, you're absolutely right about the gnomes, I've made a change to give them +2 int, which I feel fits them as a race, fills a gap in the distribution of abilities, and makes them much more playable. :3

That's an interesting point about centaurs, I didn't know that was something they had in the official rules. Would it be a big benefit?

Purely on balance the Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk are Superior to the other non level adjusted races (elves, humans etc.) and for only a +1 level adjustment a +2 to all stats, that seems a little out there to me. If it were me I'd go back to Savage species for Aasimar, Centaurs, and Merfolk and use the actual racial data for them in there and then use the savage species guidelines for naga, but thats just me and I realize that it would throw off a lot of the numbers you have here.

Yes, I realised that the later races outshone the others, I've tried to remedy that, making the other races a little stronger and taking the +2 Str from naga, hopefully that will make the races more equal, and the +1 LA seem fairer for the naga. ^^

I'm trying to match the abilities more to how I'd like the races to be, but thanks for the suggestion about Savage species. ^^

More comments, suggestions and advice are very welcome!

eikre

Mar 29, 2009 19:50:43

The classes are all basically unchanged, other than druids who use the shapeshift variant.
The ToB is in but psionics are out.

Well, then, it's not like if someone tries to crack the system wide open, they're going to do it based on something you gave them with their race.

That's an interesting point about centaurs, I didn't know that was something they had in the official rules. Would it be a big benefit?

As big of a benefit as it is to mounted chargers in the first place, anyway. The lance becomes their best one-handed weapon; It has reach and deals 2x damage on a charge, that's pretty good.

Compare them to a person just sitting on a horse. On one hand, they don't need to pay for a mount, and they don't have to worry about someone shooting their horse out from under them. On the other hand, they're already Large anyway and can't really buy a horse, Griffon, Sandworm, or any other decent mount that can fit them, so they're sort of paying the downsides already.

I say just give it to them. As it stands, they're a grapple/monk race. Armor is drat expensive and being a Large creature with natural attacks means hugs will hurt.

myou

Mar 30, 2009 5:35:22

Well, then, it's not like if someone tries to crack the system wide open, they're going to do it based on something you gave them with their race.

As big of a benefit as it is to mounted chargers in the first place, anyway. The lance becomes their best one-handed weapon; It has reach and deals 2x damage on a charge, that's pretty good.

Compare them to a person just sitting on a horse. On one hand, they don't need to pay for a mount, and they don't have to worry about someone shooting their horse out from under them. On the other hand, they're already Large anyway and can't really buy a horse, Griffon, Sandworm, or any other decent mount that can fit them, so they're sort of paying the downsides already.

I say just give it to them. As it stands, they're a grapple/monk race. Armor is drat expensive and being a Large creature with natural attacks means hugs will hurt.

Awesome, I shall do that! :3

And you made me giggle at the image of a centaur monk hugging people into submission. xD

myou

Mar 30, 2009 15:45:26

I've added the races' fluff to my post and made a few changes that other have suggested, I'm still looking for feedback and comments or suggestions. :3

eikre

Mar 31, 2009 22:22:21

Humans... are one of the most recent races to emerge, and even after millions of years they retain a youthfulness that the older races lack.

This is ludicrous. Real world humans haven't even existed for one million years. Scientific estimates place us as a species only several hundred thousand years old, and our written history only spans a few millenniums. Millions of years don't produce a young race, millions years produce illithids. If they emerged within the mythical memories of the other races, then I'd call it at a few tens of thousands. I think that puts their creation right in the timeframe where it happened long enough ago that even Naga history would have become obfuscated, and therefore, mysterious, but recently enough that the other races couldn't have given them magic and technology and enough of a headstart that they could have since populated the stars and downloaded their consciousnesses to 64-exabye computers.

You can put the Merfolk ascent to land in a similar timeframe.

Older races you can age more like real-world humans. Remember, it doesn't take many centuries or that many generations before people feel like things are really, really old. Some people would tell you, even today, that the earth has only existed for six thousand years. When people can feel intuitively that such a thing could be true, it should indicate that many more than a few hundred thousand years are wholly unnecessary for steeping the world in mystery.

EDIT: Well, let me amend this. Real humans have existed for more than a million years, but only in the sense that the genus has. Still, use of fire as a tool is reasonably placed at around the -1.5 million mark, earliest. The jump between fire using fire and a decent oral or magical tradition is pretty spectacular. What I mentioned in the above paragraphs stands.

hochiu

Apr 01, 2009 11:33:30

Eikre, while I agree with your statement (Given that Archaic H. sapiens have only been around for less than half a million years) at the same time, I think it is kind of ridiculous to rip into the human species in anyone's campaign setting when they have a lot older races at a similar technological/social development.

I'm thinking of the "long lived" races, even, the ones that are like elves and dwarves, who have existed for tens of thousands of years longer than humans, but only have a comparable level of society. Why don't elves, as written in most 3.5 games, have a greater technological edge than humanity? They're almost always this isolated race that is in remission despite their apparent superiority in magical technique. They should at least have arcano-tech running around if you assume a nominal development of technology and culture (it doesn't even have to be the level of growth that humans have experienced over the course of their history, but regardless, their head start would be enough to outpace the standard setting technology).

That is if you take a biological evoutionary point of view. We're not even talking about what could happen to a race that's so ingrained with natural magical aptitude. I think the whole of the racial evolution of D&D races is best left somewhat ambiguous.

It seems that "But its fantasy" argument applies to everything but the human race itself. I don't know whether or not that's because its one of those major aspects of D&D that we have real detailed knowledge of as it would exist.

#10

myou

Apr 01, 2009 13:37:09

This is ludicrous. Real world humans haven't even existed for one million years. Scientific estimates place us as a species only several hundred thousand years old, and our written history only spans a few millenniums. Millions of years don't produce a young race, millions years produce illithids. If they emerged within the mythical memories of the other races, then I'd call it at a few tens of thousands. I think that puts their creation right in the timeframe where it happened long enough ago that even Naga history would have become obfuscated, and therefore, mysterious, but recently enough that the other races couldn't have given them magic and technology and enough of a headstart that they could have since populated the stars and downloaded their consciousnesses to 64-exabye computers.

You can put the Merfolk ascent to land in a similar timeframe.

Older races you can age more like real-world humans. Remember, it doesn't take many centuries or that many generations before people feel like things are really, really old. Some people would tell you, even today, that the earth has only existed for six thousand years. When people can feel intuitively that such a thing could be true, it should indicate that many more than a few hundred thousand years are wholly unnecessary for steeping the world in mystery.

EDIT: Well, let me amend this. Real humans have existed for more than a million years, but only in the sense that the genus has. Still, use of fire as a tool is reasonably placed at around the -1.5 million mark, earliest. The jump between fire using fire and a decent oral or magical tradition is pretty spectacular. What I mentioned in the above paragraphs stands.

My mistake, I thought it was 2 million for some reason, I'll change that, good save! xD

Thanks for your thoughts, they've been very helpful!
I'll make humans about 30,000 (10 full naga lifespans, definitely long enough for the event to pass into myth and become blurred and uncertain) years old and place the merfolk's ascent shortly after, thanks! ^^

Of course I won't put any numbers in the actual fluff, the true ages of the races aren't something players should be able to read in the campaign notes. xD

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions, you've got me thinking more about the timeline of my setting! :3

In my imagination I see naga as being far more ancient then suspected, at about 100 million years (placing their emergence during the end of the Albian period of the Cretaceous era), but just like the real world, my setting has had it's share of disasters, including a big one 100,000 years ago that cut off all interplanar travel, so that explains why they're not more advanced. ^^

#11

myou

Apr 01, 2009 16:19:12

Eikre, while I agree with your statement (Given that Archaic H. sapiens have only been around for less than half a million years) at the same time, I think it is kind of ridiculous to rip into the human species in anyone's campaign setting when they have a lot older races at a similar technological/social development.

I'm thinking of the "long lived" races, even, the ones that are like elves and dwarves, who have existed for tens of thousands of years longer than humans, but only have a comparable level of society. Why don't elves, as written in most 3.5 games, have a greater technological edge than humanity? They're almost always this isolated race that is in remission despite their apparent superiority in magical technique. They should at least have arcano-tech running around if you assume a nominal development of technology and culture (it doesn't even have to be the level of growth that humans have experienced over the course of their history, but regardless, their head start would be enough to outpace the standard setting technology).

That is if you take a biological evoutionary point of view. We're not even talking about what could happen to a race that's so ingrained with natural magical aptitude. I think the whole of the racial evolution of D&D races is best left somewhat ambiguous.

It seems that "But its fantasy" argument applies to everything but the human race itself. I don't know whether or not that's because its one of those major aspects of D&D that we have real detailed knowledge of as it would exist.

Thanks for the defense. ^^

In a lot of settings it's just as you say, but in mine I'm trying to make things realistic where I can (given the existence of magic), so feedback of that type is welcome. :3

#12

eikre

Apr 01, 2009 19:41:17

Eikre, while I agree with your statement (Given that Archaic H. sapiens have only been around for less than half a million years) at the same time, I think it is kind of ridiculous to rip into the human species in anyone's campaign setting when they have a lot older races at a similar technological/social development.

No, the presence of other races is exactly what moves me to comment in the first place. If humans have been around for even two million years, and then other races have been around even longer, then you have a species that is even older than our (space-faring, computer-using, highly scientific) own, and not only are they older, but they would have been given a head-stat: all of the technological and social advancements that the other races would have bestowed upon them.

You're running under the assumption that Humans, whatever their age, are at a roughly medieval or renaissance level of technology, and that the elves, because they are older, should logically have even more tech.

That is not how it works. You ask me, why don't the elves have better tech? They did. They had herb-lore, fletching, and domestication of animals long ago. Since then, they have taught humans how to do those things, and the humans have spread it around.

The dwarfs knew how to mix copper and tin to make a harder metal, and how to build architecturally sound stone structures for defense. The humans traded for their goods and services, and learned how to do those things as well.

If the Elves have arcano-tech running around, then so do the humans. If there are still humans that don't, then those humans are either a long way away, or the arcano-tech is very, very new. Cultural exchange balances everyone.

And this is exactly why you can't make a race that is millions of years old, and then make one that is older. If one race is four-million years old (and can remember as far back as the birth of another which is two million years old, which is a stint of oral and written history that we only became capable of a few thousand years ago), then they should be expected not only to have come up with arcano-tech, but normal tech. And spaceships. And cyborgs. Dimensional-folding capabilities.

On the other hand, if you have one race that only emerged a few thousand years ago and woke up to find that there were already people around who could practice literacy and make metal tools, then they would have been uplifted fairly immediately... Or, at least, immediately enough that now, thousands of years later, everyone in the same region would be about equal.

#13

myou

Apr 04, 2009 5:13:24

Why does this forum seem to replace the word 'skin' with "GLEEMAX!GLEEMAX!GLEEMAX!GLEEMAX!"?

Anyway, I'm still looking for feedback. :3

#14

myou

Apr 07, 2009 13:51:43

Would anyone care to Bring Up More Points? :3