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View Full Version : [4e] Trying to create racial bouses and racial power



Forte
2009-08-10, 08:11 AM
I'm still new to 4e, so I don't have a lot of experience balancing it, so I came here to ask if the following racial bonuses and racial power are on par with those presented in the PHB, etc.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 6
Vision: Normal

Skill Bonus: +2 Athletics, +2 Stealth
Cold Resistance: You have resist cold 5 + one-half your level.
Hardiness: While bloodied, you have a +1 racial bonus to saving throws.
Shrug it Off: You can use Shrug it Off as an encounter power.

Shrug it Off * Racial Power
Encounter
Immediate Interupt * Personal
Effect: When an attack hits you, spend a healing surge. If the attack deals damage, reduce its damage by your healing surge value. If the attack doesn't deal damage, make a saving throw to end its effects immediately.

Shevarash's_Son
2009-08-10, 09:37 AM
if anything its under powered in my opinion you could make the bonus to save a constant

Forte
2009-08-10, 09:43 AM
That was what I had to begin with, but flat bonuses to saving throws seemed to be few, so I wasn't sure if it was appropriate.

edit: my math is terrible today.

Ashtagon
2009-08-10, 11:14 AM
I have a feeling the "shrug it off" power will lead to burning through all the healing surges in a single encounter, leading to five-minute working days, which seems to defeat a lot of what the 4e redesign was all about. Most character options have very limited ways in which you can use up your healing surges without the aid of another character.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, but this may cause issues with party rest-schedule dynamics.

Harley
2009-08-10, 12:20 PM
While you present a good argument, Ashtagon, I think you may have misinterpreted the power itself. Encounter powers can only be used once per encounter, so it would be at most used once, leaving plenty of time to heal, in my opinion. Also, the way that SIO is phrased it only spends 1 healing surge to either reduce damage by the healing surge value (which is different from how many you get per day) or to make an immediate saving throw.

Overall, the only thing that seems off to me is the CR 5+1/2 level. Without fluff, it doesn't really seem to fit.

Ninetail
2009-08-10, 02:54 PM
Seems a little weak, really.

I agree that some fluff would help; it's hard to see how the racial abilities and modifiers tie together. Mechanically, there should be nothing wrong, though.

One thing that does stand out: Most of the abilities seem to be based on "these things are really tough," yet they don't get a +2 to Constitution. I'd have to question why, if I were the GM approving this for use in my campaign. My first instinct is that you're min-maxing bonuses instead of going with what's fluff-appropriate. Having the fluff might change that perception, though.

Forte
2009-08-11, 07:07 AM
Overall, the only thing that seems off to me is the CR 5+1/2 level. Without fluff, it doesn't really seem to fit.

These are the racial traits I'm building for neanderthals in my Ice Age setting. Since the whole setting is regressed in terms of technology and ideologic evolution, I'm creating them as a counterpart to humanity rather than a beastial savage. Here's the class with all the fluff:

Neanderthal
Average Height: 5'2" - 5'10"
Average Weight: 165-250 lbs

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Charisma; The neanderthal's body is sheathed in muscle, much more than a human of similar height. Their culture and outlook also give them a great force of will and kindness to others unusual in the harsh wilderness.
Size: Medium
Speed: 6
Vision: Normal

Languages: Common, Neanderthal
Skill Bonus: +2 Athletics, +2 Stealth; Neanderthals are ambush hunters and apex predators. They live for the hunt and hunt to live.
Cold Resistance: You have resist cold 5 + one-half your level; The neanderthal's compact body and layers of muscle allow them to exist comfortably in the cold when others would could not.
Hardiness: You have a +1 racial bonus to saving throws; The brutal and physical life of hunting massive beasts with spears grant the neanderthal greater resilience in general.
Shrug it Off: You can use Shrug it Off as an encounter power.

Shrug it Off * Racial Power
A powerful body and brutal life has given you incredible resilience.
Encounter
Immediate Interupt * Personal
Effect: When an attack hits you, spend a healing surge. If the attack deals damage, reduce its damage by your healing surge value. If the attack doesn't deal damage, make a saving throw to end its effects immediately.

Neanderthals are sturdy and resilient hunters who dwell in the northern forrests. Living in small tribes, these resourseful people commonly bring down rhinos, bears, and even the great mammoth.
Play a neanderthal if you want:
* to be a sturdy and powerful warrior
*to dedicate yourself to the hunt and hearth
*to belong to a race that favors the barbarian, fighter, or warden class

Physical Qualities
Neanderthals average 5'6" tall and 210 pounds. While they tend to be shorter than humans, their broad muscular bodies give them a much greater weight. Skin tones range between pale to tan with coarse hair covering most of their body. Neanderthal hair colors favor browns and blacks, but blonde and red are not unheard of. Clothing is generaly primitive if used at all.
Neanderthal children grow up quickly, reaching adult size at 10 and maturity at 15.

Playing a Neanderthal
Neanderthals are warm and kind to those near them and are happy to extend that warmth to others. The hostile wilds are cold enough and cause enough suffering without people adding to it.
The tribes of neanderthal identify themselves by the totems they revere, generally paying allegiance to great hunters like the bear or the wolf and of providers such as the elk and the mammoth.
Neanderthal view the women of other races as weak and silly. Within their own communities there are no gender roles and women are expected to perform the same duties as the men.
-----

They're tough because of the amount of extra muscle they have and not because of a stronger constitution. Also, I didn't want to give them a Con bonus because they would then overlap with the dwarves. Considering my setting is condenced to only 4 races, I wanted as little overlap as possible.

Also, while our ancestors were throwing spears at animals to bring them down from a safe distance, the neanderthal was hiding behind a tree and stabbing the same massive creature to death by hand. The raw power and will needed to bring down an animal of these sizes by hand is the reason I gave them so many traits espousing resilience and health.