Alternate title: ery day I'm sahuagin
Okay y'alls, this is the sahuagin. They are a bunch of devil-shark-fish men, and I thought it'd be fun to homebrew one up and see what people think. As I'm no expert at game balance, I'll let y'all have at it and let me know what's the 411 and all that junk on whether this is balanced or not.
A primer: Sahuagin live in coastal seas and oceans, and have a very hard name to spell. In fourth edition, they are chaotic evil, but I prefered keeping them with a lawful sway like their counterparts from earlier editions. This ties in better with the sea devil part of their name, and allows for an interesting racial mechanic that you'll see once you scroll down. Anyways, besides that, they are a religious species of raiders, who worship Sekolah, an exarch of Melora (who is unaligned, remember?). Their settlements are similar to the feudal system in that there is a rigid caste system with kings, princes, barons, and so on. However, like sharks, they go into a frenzy if they sense blood.
Mechanically, I'm pretty happy with the sahuagin in that they have a very interesting racial theme. (Bloodied, bloodied everywhere). In addition to that, they fill both the STR/CHR void, only filled by dragonborn and vryloka, and the STR/DEX void, only filled by half orcs and bugbears.
SAHUAGIN
RACIAL TRAITS
Average Height: 5'9"-6'4"
Average Weight: 180-220 lb.
Ability Scores: +2 STR; +2 DEX or +2 CHR
Size: Medium
Speed: 6, swim 7
Vision: Normal
Languages: Common, Abyssal
Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Intimidate
Aquatic: You count as an aquatic creature for all rules and effects that apply to them, and do not take the penalty to attack rolls from being underwater.
Vicious Predator: You have combat advantage against bloodied creatures.
Sahuagin Discipline: You and adjacent allies have a +5 bonus to saving throws against effects that dominate, stun, or daze while you are not bloodied.
Bloodied Frenzy: You have a +1 bonus to speed and can shift 1 square as a minor action while bloodied.
Blood Frenzy: You have the blood frenzy power.
Blood Frenzy
Immediate Reaction, Close burst 5
Trigger: An enemy in the burst becomes bloodied
Effect: Shift half your speed, and gain a +2 power bonus to attack rolls against the triggering enemy until you hit it with an attack or until the end of the encounter, whichever comes first. In addition, your next attack against the enemy has a +2 bonus to the damage roll.
Special: Increase the damage bonus to +4 at level 21.
HEROIC FEATS
Sahuagin Malenti
Prerequisits: Sahuagin
Your speed increases to 7, your swim speed decreases to 6, and you gain a +2 feat bonus to nature and perception checks. You grant allies within 5 squares of you a +1 bonus to perception checks. You appear asthetically like an elf, and gain a +5 bonus to bluff checks made to reassure others that you are an elf. You cannot have both this feat and the Extra Arms feat.
Extra Arms
Prerequisits: Sahuagin
You can draw and stow items and weapons as a free action on your turn. In addition, you can weild weapons with the off hand property in your two extra hands. You do not benefit from any enchantments or properties these weapons have except for when you make an attack with them. You cannot have both this feat and the Sahuagin Malenti feat.
Deft Swimmer
Prerequisits: Aquatic
Your swim speed increases by 2.
Blood Healing
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, 13 charisma
Whenever you heal an ally adjacent to a bloodied enemy, they regain additional hit points equal to your charisma modifier. Increase the extra hit points to 3 plus your charisma modifier at level 11 and 6 plus your charisma modifier at level 21.
Fortifying Frenzy
Prerequisits: Sahuagin
You gain a +2 bonus to all defense until the end of your next turn when you use your blood frenzy racial power.
Sahuagin Trident Expertise
Prerequisits: Sahuagin
You are proficient in tridents, and treat them as a +3 proficiency, 1d8, high crit weapon. You also have a +2/3/4 per tier feat bonus to damage rolls with tridents.
Black Dragon Sorcery
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, sorcerer class, dragon magic class feature
You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with powers that have the acid keyword.
Signed in Blood
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, warlock class, infernal pact
You gain a +2/3/4 per tier feat bonus to the damage rolls of warlock and warlock paragon path powers which use charisma as their ability score modifier.
PARAGON FEATS
Blood Hunger
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, 11th level
Your blood frenzy racial power gives you a +5 bonus to the damage roll. Increase the bonus to +10 if you are bloodied.
Powerful Frenzy
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, 11th level
You can use an at-will attack power in place of gaining the bonus to hit and damage as part of your blood frenzy racial power.
Resurgent Frezy
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, 11th level
You can spend your second wind as a free action after using your blood frenzy racial power. You do not gain the bonus to defenses from second wind if you use it in this way.
Persistant Predator
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, ranger class, 11th level
The damage die from your hunter's quarry class feature increase to 1d10s against bloodied enemies. In addition, you can shift 3 squares as an immediate action if your quarry ends its turn not adjacent to you. This shift must end with you closer to your quarry than before.
Knight of Minauros
Prerequisits: Sahuagin, warlock class, infernal pact, 11th level, 15 strength
You gain proficiency with plate armor. In addition, you can use charisma to determine your hp and number of healing surges, and your ranged warlock and warlock paragon path attacks can be used with the range of melee 1.
Wording on aquatic is wierd.
Aquatic: You count as an aquatic creature for all rules and effects that apply to them, and do not take the penalty to attack rolls from being underwater.
Just use the default wording for the Aquatic keyword.
Vicious Predator: You have combat advantage against bloodied creatures.
Overpowered. Compare to the Tiefling's Blood-Hunt feature.
Sahuagin Discipline: You have a +1 bonus to will defense and a +2 bonus to saving throws against effects that dominate, stun, or daze while you are not bloodied.
This race does not need a defense bonus. By virtue of its ability score bonuses, it already gets a +1 boost to Fortitude and either Reflex or Will. The latter half of it is just the Githzerai's Defended Mind feature, but less powerful because only while not bloodied.
Bloodied Frenzy: You have a +2 bonus to damage rolls while you are bloodied.
Check the Gnoll's Blood Fury feature. This is pretty much identical, only less powerful at higher levels because it doesn't scale.
Blood Frenzy: You have the blood frenzy power.
Blood Frenzy
Immediate Reaction, Close burst 5
Trigger: An enemy in the burst becomes bloodied
Target: The triggering enemy
Effect: Make a basic attack against the target with a +2 power bonus to the attack and damage roll.
This power is completely useless to characters without good melee basic attacks, and that is a lot of character, and that is unacceptable. A well-designed racial encounter power needs to be useful to all characters regardless of class or role.
All in all, I have to say that I don't think this is very well done. The only original parts of the design, Vicious Predator and Blood Frenzy, are respectively overpowered and too exclusive in use. The rest of the features have been done before by other races.
Aquatic: Will find the official wording and change it
Vicious Predator: Unfortunately, sahuagin do need something that boosts their damage or accuracy against bloodied enemies. This is necessary to their flavor. I could not give them a +1 to hit because that would be bloodhunt. So, instead, I opted with combat advantage. Combat advantage gives an additional +1 over bloodhunt, but it is also limited. In this stage of the game, combat advantage is already ridiculously easy to get. With bloodhunt, you can have +1 to hit AND combat advantage for a +3 to hit. Vicious predator keeps the fluff of being especially into smackin around bloodied dudes, but unlike bloodhunt, if you have someone flanked it wont stack with it. An untyped +1 is more versatile and stackable than CA. However, if you still think it's overpowered, I could change it to a boost to damage against bloodied dudes. Do you think that would be fine?
Sahuagin Discipline: Yes, it does not need a boost to will. However, it needs some way to show order and discipline as long as it is not bloodied. I'm not striving to make a race that is not outshone in any aspect at all, so I wouldn't mind it having a feature that is weaker than another races. Especially since this feature is just one side of a coin. The only alternative I can think of would be a resistance to forced movement (hello dwarves) or a bonus when adjacent to allies. Perhaps giving adjacent allies a bonus to will defense? Or adjacent allies the forced movement resistance?
Bloodied Frenzy: Was trying to emulate the blood frenzy sahuagin had from 3.5 (bonus to attack when you were attacked, rather than the 4e one where it was when the enemy was bloodied) here. The gnoll thing is pretty balanced so I figured it would fit very well with the sahuagins fluff. However, I did forget about the scaling. There are only so many ways to buff offensive power when you are bloodied though. Really, it's tough for the sahuagin because their very key, very intregal fluff has been done by other races already.
Blood Frenzy: No. Just... no. It's range five. You can use a RANGED basic attack. I specifically made this power so that it would be good for both ranged or melee classes. Am I missing something here? How is it useless to ranged characters?
Thank you for being honest crimson. Any help?
I remember in like my very first post in this subforum a while ago you had been really helpful with my kuo-toa/yuan-ti thread that was just awful. I was hoping you might reply to the kuo-toa one, but at least this one got your attention.
What if Instead of CA vs Bloodied foes they get +1 on speed as long as a creature is bloodied as the scent of blood dumps adrenaline in their system?
Vicious Predator: ...I could not give them a +1 to hit because that would be bloodhunt.
It woud be better to give them something unoriginal and balanced than something original and unbalanced. But I'm not convinced that there's nothing original that can be done with the bloodied condition racially.
Sahuagin Discipline: Yes, it does not need a boost to will. However, it needs some way to show order and discipline as long as it is not bloodied.
Wait, is the feature intended to boost Will only when the character isn't bloodied? Because that's not clear. The way I'm reading it, it looks like the ability gives a bonus to Will, period, and that it's the second half that is contingent on the character not being bloodied. Please clear this up.
Blood Frenzy: No. Just... no. It's range five. You can use a RANGED basic attack. I specifically made this power so that it would be good for both ranged or melee classes. Am I missing something here? How is it useless to ranged characters?
My bad, I misread the power as being exclusive to melee basic attacks. HOWEVER, being restricted to any basic attack at all is still too restrictive, so my original critique still pretty much stands. This power is completely useless to characters without good basic attacks, and that is still a lot of character, and that is still unacceptable. Again, a well-designed racial encounter power needs to be useful to all characters regardless of class or role. It wasn't just ranged characters that I was talking about; it was also implement characters, which often have no viable basic attack.
I was hoping you might reply to the kuo-toa one...
I looked at it, but there were too many things wrong with it, and I didn't have the time or patience to go through all of them when the thread originally popped up because I was too busy with school at the time. I can still take a look though if you want... Sorry if I sound overly harsh, but I've been told I just come across that way online for whatever reason, I don't mean anything personal by it.
Vicious Predator: ...I could not give them a +1 to hit because that would be bloodhunt.
It woud be better to give them something unoriginal and balanced than something original and unbalanced. But I'm not convinced that there's nothing original that can be done with the bloodied condition racially.
The feature is strong, but not unbalanced, for all of the reasons the OP stated. CA is strong, but laughably easy to get, and if a PC needs constant CA (Thief, Rogue, or charger) it will have a way to get CA every round regardless of the monster's HP.
Rampant:
Sahuagin Discipline: I would like to keep the unbloodied feature defensive in nature, unfortunately.
Vicious Predator: The speed idea... I like that. Not willing to dump the CA version immediately, but this is an excellent alternative I might change it to.
Crimson:
Vicious Predator: Like reg said, this feature doesn't seem too powerful... But, then again, that fact that is a RACIAL feature and not a theme, class feature, or feat is true... Hm... However, I do think that it's a bit worse than bloodhunt, seeing as that can stack with CA, while this feature cannot (since it IS CA). I dunno, I'm being swayed I suppose, but this feature is very toss-up-y for me right now. If I'm convinced I will probably change it to rampant's idea.
Sahuagin Discipline: Yes, this feature is only active when you are NOT bloodied. I'll check out the wording to make sure that's more obvious. Do you think this feature should still be changed, or does the conditional nature of it redeem it somewhat from being too boring/unnecessary? (well, it still isn't NECESSARY to fix a NAD or anything, but who doesn't like a boost to will defense? (even if it is only some of the time))
Blood Frenzy: Well... damn, that is actually a little true. It's too bad, since the amount of races that don't have a good basic attack is actually laughably small. Sure, some (chr rogues) might have to risk an opportunity attack, but ah well. I definitely want this to be an offensive power, perhaps a "highest ability mod" attack? Either that, or maybe a boost to the next attack.
Kuo-Toa: Yeah, you do sound a bit harsh, but that's perfectly fine. You're being honest, and providing feedback by telling it how it is, so it's VERY helpful anyways. (and you actually did reply so :D )
However, I do think that it's a bit worse than bloodhunt, seeing as that can stack with CA, while this feature cannot (since it IS CA).
I don't know where this idea comes from that CA is something that the party will pretty much always have active, but I've seen it before, and I have to say that at least from my own experience nothing could be further from the truth. Unless the character is a Rogue, they don't have endless ways of generating combat advantage, and even when some do, it's not until higher levels. At earlier levels especially, this ability is quite a lot better than Blood-Hunt. Saying that this feature is not as powerful as Blood-Hunt because Blood-Hunt stacks with Combat Advantage is like saying that a racial feature that grants a character a +2 enhancement bonus to attack and damage is not as powerful as Blood-Hunt because Blood-Hunt will stack with a +2 weapon.
Do you think this feature should still be changed, or does the conditional nature of it redeem it somewhat from being too boring/unnecessary?
To be honest, it's still not my favorite, but it is slightly better than what I thought it was.
It's too bad, since the amount of races that don't have a good basic attack is actually laughably small.
There are lots of characters without viable basic attacks by default. Warlock, Wizard, Bards, Artificer, Avenger, Invoker, Druid, Shaman, Psion, and Ardent, for example, though there are more.
I definitely want this to be an offensive power, perhaps a "highest ability mod" attack? Either that, or maybe a boost to the next attack.
A boost to the next attack against the triggering creature sounds like a great way to go.