D20 - How can I nerf this 3rd-party race?

[Kaje]

Fantasy Flight Games' "Spellslinger" has a wolf-like race called Grey Runners, coming in at +1 LA. What needs to be done to knock them down to 0?

They currently have:
+2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +4 Wis, -2 Int.
Base speed 40 ft.
Ability to track and detect things by scent.
1d6+ Str mod bite attack.
When they cast "natural" spells (quite a few of the spells in the game), the spell cannot be dispelled and is not affected by spell resistance.

[Knaight]

Do they have any notable disadvantages? Shaped like an actual wolf, no weapon access, that sort of thing? If they don't, this should be LA 2 and will need trimming to the point the feel is completely changed to get LA 0.

[Kaje]

No, they're humanoid with fur and a wolf head, similar to a werewolf or even a gnoll, but sleeker.

What about changing the ability bonuses? Maybe +1 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Int?

Also, magic is weaker in this setting (spells only go up to level 5) so the mental stats probably aren't quite so much more important than the physical ones.

[Cheesy74]

Drop their wis mod to +2 and increase the int penalty to -4. Drop the natural spell thing entirely (that's ridiculously abusable). Remove two of the physical ability boosts (up to you which is most important to the race). Ability modifiers for a +0 race should always add up to +0 or less.
With those modifications I'd say it's a pretty solid +0 race. However, at its current state it's powerful even for a +2.

EDIT: As a sidenote, never give odd boosts to ability scores. It always gives a bonus and never gives a penalty if the players optimize even slightly.

[DracoDei]

EDIT: As a sidenote, never give odd boosts to ability scores. It always gives a bonus and never gives a penalty if the players optimize even slightly.

A good rule for simplicity... I haven't ever used odd ability score adjustments myself, nor seen them used. But I can't help noting that as long as the campaign spans enough levels that the 4 level stat bumps come into play over the course of the campaign then it might not really be an issue. Ditto, and more-so for point-buy games. Also, I like to use fractional ability score modifiers (so, for example, a 1st level human wizard with 11 STR is at +1 total modifier to hit with an ordinary quarter-staff), as well as allowing odd numbered ability score boosting items...

[Knaight]

Drop their wis mod to +2 and increase the int penalty to -4. Drop the natural spell thing entirely (that's ridiculously abusable). Remove two of the physical ability boosts (up to you which is most important to the race). Ability modifiers for a +0 race should always add up to +0 or less.

The natural spell thing can work, I would just give +2 against spell resistance or something instead of that absurd no dispelling, ignore spell resistance bonus.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

They currently have:
+2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +4 Wis, -2 Int.
Base speed 40 ft.
Ability to track and detect things by scent.
1d6+ Str mod bite attack.
When they cast "natural" spells (quite a few of the spells in the game), the spell cannot be dispelled and is not affected by spell resistance.

LA +0 Version


+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Int
Base speed 40 feet
Scent
Bite Attack (1d6 + Strength: 20/x2) [Natural attack, or a secondary attack (-5 to hit) as part of an attack routine featuring weapons]
+1 bonus to saves against spells on the Druid list, and a +1 bonus to overcome Spell Resistance when casting spells on the Druid list.


Probably a bit stronger than many LA +0 races, but I wouldn't say it's worth a +1 LA. If you're worried, drop either the Strength or Wisdom bonus.