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View Full Version : 3.5 Race Revisions (marked in blue) ...and yes, this again



Andion Isurand
2010-08-13, 07:36 PM
These use the Weapon Groups variant from UA.

HALF-ORCS
+2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
A half-orc's starting Intelligence score is always at least 3. If this adjustment would lower the character's score to 1 or 2, his score is nevertheless 3.
Medium: As Medium creatures, half-orcs have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Half-orc base land speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision: Half-orcs can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and half-orcs can function just fine with no light at all.
4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point at each additional level.
+2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks.
Mixed Heritage: At first level, choose whether you are considered Human or Orc for all effects related to race.
Automatic Languages: Common and Orc. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Speak Language skill.
Favored Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass half-orc takes an experience point penalty, his or her highest-level class does not count.
HALF-ELVES
Medium: As Medium creatures, half-elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Half-elf base land speed is 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: A half-elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
+1 racial bonus on Concentration, Listen, Search and Spot checks.
+1 racial bonus on skill checks that benefit from a synergy bonus.
+2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease (including magical disease).
+1 racial bonus on saving throws against paralysis and mind-affecting spells or effects.
Immunity to magic sleep effects.
Mixed Heritage: At first level, choose whether you are considered Elven or Human for all effects related to race.
Automatic Languages: Common and Elven. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic).
Favored Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass half-elf takes an experience point penalty, her highest-level class does not count.
HUMAN
Medium: As Medium creatures, humans have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Human base land speed is 30 feet.
4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point at each additional level.
Bonus feat at 1st level.
Automatic Language: Common and any one other. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Speak Language skill.
Favored Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass human takes an experience point penalty, his or her highest-level class does not count.
MOON ELVES (standard elves)
+2 Dexterity, –2 Constitution.
Medium: As Medium creatures, elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Elf base land speed is 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: An elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Weapon Group Proficiencies: Elves are proficient with Bows, as well as Light Blades or Heavy Blades.
+2 racial bonus on Concentration, Listen, Search, and Spot checks.
+4 racial bonus on saving throws against all disease (including magical disease).
+2 racial bonus on saving throws against paralysis and mind-affecting spells or effects.
Immunity to magic sleep effects.
Trance: Elves that trance for 4 hours gain the same benefit a human does from 8 hours of sleep. A creature in trance may make Listen checks at a -5 penalty.
Automatic Languages: Common and Elven. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.
Favored Class: Wizard. A multiclass elf’s wizard class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
Loses -- free search checks to notice secret doors within 5 ft
Loses -- racial immunity to specific spells and effects that cause paralysis (like ghoul's touch)
Loses -- +2 racial bonus on saves vs enchantment spells and effects

ROCK GNOMES (standard gnomes)
+2 Constitution, –2 Strength.
Small: As a Small creature, a gnome gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use, and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
Gnome base land speed is 20 feet.
Low-Light Vision: A gnome can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes proficient with Picks and Hammers are automatically proficient with exotic picks and hammers as well.
+3 racial bonus on saving throws made to disbelieve spells or effects.
Add +1 to the Difficulty Class of saving throws made to disbelieve spells cast by gnomes.
+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids.
+4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type. Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too.
+2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) and Listen checks.
Automatic Languages: Common and Gnome. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Orc.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.
Favored Class: Bard. A multiclass gnome’s bard class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.
SHIELD DWARVES (standard dwarves)
+2 Constitution, –2 Charisma.
Medium: As Medium creatures, dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Dwarf base land speed is 20 feet. However, dwarves can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
Darkvision: Dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and dwarves can function just fine with no light at all.
+2 racial bonus on Search checks made in areas of rocky, mountainous or underground terrain and in areas constructed of stone.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves proficient with Axes are automatically proficient with exotic axes as well.
Stability: A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
+2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
+2 racial bonus against spells and spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance.
+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs and goblinoids.
+4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type. Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too.
+2 racial bonus on Appraise and Craft checks that are related to stone or metal items.
Automatic Languages: Common and Dwarven. Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon.
Favored Class: Fighter. A multiclass dwarf’s fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
Loses -- Stonecunning

LIGHTFOOT HALFLINGS (standard halfings)
+2 Dexterity, –2 Strength.
Small: As a Small creature, a halfling gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
Halfling base land speed is 20 feet.
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings proficent with Slings and Thrown Weapons are automatically proficent with exotic slings and thrown weapons as well.
+2 racial bonus on Climb, Jump, Listen and Move Silently checks.
+1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
+3 racial bonus on saving throws against fear.
+1 racial bonus on attack rolls with thrown weapons and slings.
Automatic Languages: Common and Halfling. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc.
Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass halfling’s rogue class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
GHOSTWISE HALFLINGS
Ghostwise halfings gain all the traits of halflings in the PH as well as the following:
Ghostwise halfings do not gain the +1 racial bonus to all saving throws that lightfoot halfings do.
Naturally Psionic: Ghostwise halflings gain 1 bonus power point at 1st level. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class.
Psi-Like Ability: At will -- Missive (EPH 121). Manifester level equal to HD.
Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass halfling’s barbarian class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
Loses -- supernatural Telepathy out to 20 ft. (one creature at a time)

MOUNTAIN ORCS
+4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
A mountain orc's starting Intelligence score is always at least 3. If this adjustment would lower the character's score to 1 or 2, his score is nevertheless 3.
Medium: As Medium creatures, mountain orcs have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Mountain orc base land speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision: Mountain orcs can see in the dark up to 90 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and half-orcs can function just fine with no light at all.
Light Sensitvity (Ex): Mountain orcs take a -1 penalty on attack rolls in bright light and within the radius of a daylight spell.
Weapon Group Proficiencies: Mountain Orcs are proficient with Axes, as well as Slings and Thrown Weapons.
+2 racial bonus on Intimidate and Survival checks.
Automatic Languages: Common and Orc. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Speak Language skill.
Favored Class: Barbarian. When determining whether a multiclass half-orc takes an experience point penalty, his or her highest-level class does not count.
GOBLIN
Humanoid (Goblinoid)
-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma.
Small size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
A goblin’s base land speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
+4 racial bonus on Climb, Move Silently and Ride checks.
Automatic Languages: Common, Goblin. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Orc.
Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass goblin’s rogue class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.
BLUE
Humanoid (Goblinoid)
-2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
Small size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
A blue’s base land speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
+2 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks.
Naturally Psionic: Blue Goblins gain 1 bonus power point at 1st level. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class.
Psi-like Ability: At will -- empathy. Manifester level equals HD. Save DCs are charisma-based.
Automatic Languages: Common, Goblin. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Orc.
Favored Class: Psion. A multiclass blue’s psion class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.
HOBGOBLIN
Humanoid (Goblinoid)
+2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution
Medium: As Medium creatures, hobgoblins have no special bonuses or penalties
Hobgoblin base land speed is 40 feet.
Darkvision 60 ft.
+1 racial bonus to natural armor.
Weapon Group Proficiency: Hobgoblins are proficient with any one group of weapons in addition to any others.
+4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks.
Automatic Languages: Common and Goblin.
Favored Class: Fighter. A multiclass hobgoblin’s fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.
Level Adjustment: +1.

lightningcat
2010-08-13, 07:59 PM
No Human Blood ability for the Half-orc and Half-elf?

Zaydos
2010-08-13, 09:45 PM
Looking at it I like what you did to most of the races. Human's skill bonus is nice and flavorful, although they still remain most likely the strongest race from the group.

Elves losing secret doors seems to cut from the past, but the ability really doesn't match their fluff and the changed save bonus makes up for it. I like the changes.

Half-Elves and half-orcs both seem like nice changes, I like the extra synergy half-elves get it seems neat. As a racial bonus it also won't stack with itself or their bonus to Diplomacy which is nice (+3 more to diplomacy? Please no). Personally I just give them human blood and elf/orc blood but the choice is probably more game mechanically sound.

Halfling changes are minor but noticeable (free Exotic Weapons and a slight increase to saves versus fear) and nice.

Dwarves take a bit of a hit as they no longer get bonuses to saves against spells that don't allow SR, and (more importantly to my mind) they lose their fun and flavorful Stonecunning which does make me a little sad.

Gnomes got hit a little too as it is no longer a blanket DC buff for illusions, but I like it here. I also like the increase to the bonus they receive against enemy spells.

All in all I like the changes. Little worried about humans getting the skill bonuses because they are already the strongest choice out of the PHB races (except sometimes dwarves or halflings) and saddened by the lost of stonecunning (never used it in 3.X but still one of my favorite dwarf abilities) and slight weakening of dwarves. That's a bias, though, due to dwarves being my favorite PHB race and I'll admit they can take a mild hit to their power and still be one of the stronger races in the book.

tl;dr: nice job. I especially like the changes to elves and gnomes.

Andion Isurand
2010-08-13, 10:27 PM
I gave the choice to the half races, so they wouldn't be vulnerable to more than one type of bane effect... nor would they qualify for the prestige classes or feats belonging to two different races.

The reasons for the gnome, dwarves and elves changes have a lot to do with how the spells work.

In the case of dwarves, I believe their innate resilience against magic should only apply against direct magical effects.. and not against substances or effects that are considered mundane once they've been created by magic.

In the case of gnomes, I wanted only the illusory components of their shadow conjurations and shadow evocations to be enhanced... not the portion of them that are not illusory. And in response, I wanted them to give them a bonus on saves made to disbelieve.. hence increasing the bonus.

For elves, I wanted their saves to be against mind-affecting effects, since I didn't want their save bonus arbitrarily tied to a particular magic school. The other feature of the elven save bonuses is that they tend to be covered up by immunities if they ever gain the undead type, which would help balance against the loss of their often weaker Constitution.

Zaydos
2010-08-13, 10:49 PM
Oh I agree with the flavor behind all the changes (except the loss of stonecunning). The dwarf change isn't my favorite because I like dwarves and it does weaken them, but it does make sense and isn't a big nerf. Why would they be resistant to magic that SR can't protect from? That doesn't make sense.

Also didn't even realize the elf and undead thing. Now that is brilliant; also works with the whole status as somewhat fey and somewhat removed from life and death as we humans know them.

Andion Isurand
2010-08-13, 11:08 PM
Yeah, the SR thing is something that should apply to lots of save bonuses granted against spells and effects out there.

Oh, and notice these half-orcs can pick any favored class.