[Pathfinder] Faetouched Race (PEACH)

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

Faetouched

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7351/shadarkaibynitocrisd4b3.jpg
Picture by nitocris (http://nitocris.deviantart.com/).

Faetoched are humans who have been changed by contact with the fae. Perhaps they were kidnapped as children, and raised as slaves before making their escape. Perhaps they wandered too far into the woods and stepped over the threshold, only to return decades or centuries later without having visibly aged. Perhaps one of their parents was one of the Fair Folk. For whatever reason, the men and women known as the faetouched have pointed features; large, strangely coloured eyes; and an otherworldly look about them. They also posses mysterious powers and often questionable sanity.

The emotions of the faetouched are very close to the surface, in ways both obvious and subtle. Not only is what they are feeling generally apparent on their faces, but their eyes will often change colour depending on their mood. Sometimes the very ground around a faetouched will betray their emotions: becoming green and fertile if they are happy, or turning grey and dead if they are suffering.

After meeting one of the faetouched, one will often describe them as "passionate", "charismatic", "weird", or "manic". Whatever force turned the faetouched into what they are blessed them with very strong willpower and force of personality, but took away something of their empathy, sanity, and humanity. This can mean that when corrupted, the faetouched can become truly terrifying monsters.



Faetouched Racial Traits


+2 Charisma, +2 Dextarity, -2 Wisdom. Faetouched are charismatic and agile, but unempathic.
Medium: Faetouched are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Faetouched have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Faetouched can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light
Silver Tongue: Faetouched receive a +3 racial bonus to their choice of Diplomacy, Bluff, or Intimidate checks.
Light-Footed: Faetouched receive a +2 racial bonus to Stealth checks.
Adaptability: Faetouched gain an extra class skill of their choice, and an extra skill point at every level.

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

Faetouched Feats

A Thing of the Shadows [General]
You were touched by the dark fae. The shadows embrace you as one of their own.
Prerequisites: Faetouched. Dexterity 13, Charisma 11.
Benefits: You gain a +2 bonus to stealth checks while in dim light or darkness. In addition, you gain a spell-like ability identical to the Darkness spell, which you can cast once per day.

Agony Drinker [Combat]
You were touched by the blood fae. The pain of your foes invigorates you.
Prerequisites: Faetouched. Strength 11, Charisma 11.
Benefits: Whenever you score a critical hit against a creature capable of feeling pain with a melee weapon, you regain 1d4 hit points and gain a +1 bonus to attacks rolls, saving throws, and skill checks until the end of your next turn.

Burning Wrath [General]
You were touched by the light fae. The anger within you burns brightly.
Prerequisites: Faetouched. Charisma 13.
Benefits: You gain a +1 bonus to attacks rolls while in bright light. In addition, while at fewer than half hit points, you emit light like a torch and gain a +1 bonus to all damage rolls.

Winter's Chill [General]
You were touched by the winter fae. Cold does not affect you like it does others, and you have natural talent with frost magic.
Prerequisites: Faetouched. Charisma 13.
Benefits: You gain resist 5 to cold damage, and feel perfactly warm in temperatures as cold as 0 degrees (-15 calculus, I think). In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage rolls of effects that deal cold damage.

Fertile Aura [Feat Type]
You were touched by the spring fae. You air around you pulses with life.
Prerequisites: Faetouched. Constitution 11, Wisdom 13.
Benefits: You heal naturally at double the normal rate. In addition, whenever you regain hit points magically, or bestow healing magic, the number of hit points regained is increased by 20% (rounding down).

Summer's Heat [General]
You were touched by the summer fae. Heat does not affect you like it does others, and you have natural talent with fire magic.
Prerequisites: Faetouched. Charisma 13.
Benefits: You gain resist 5 to fire damage, and feel perfactly cool in temperatures as hot as 110 degrees (40 calculus). In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage rolls of effects that deal fire damage.

Autumn's Harvest [General]
You were touched by the autumn fae. When life leave a nearby creature, a fragment is channelled into you.
Prerequisites: Faetouched. Charisma 13.
Benefits: Whenever a living creature with at least as many hit dice as you within 30 feet dies, you regain a number of hit points equal to its hit dice, and gain a +1 bonus to saving throws for 1 minute.

[Jodah]

Out of curiosity: they have strong will-power and low empathy, but a bonus to charisma and nothing for wisdom? I would think the other way around to fit the flavor you are going for.

Other than that, interesting race - haven't had a chance to go over the feats yet.

EDIT: feat critique
Thing of shadows: should darkness be a SLA, or did you mean for it to be a spell?

Winter's chill: -17.8 Celsius - not calculus

Summer's heat: same thing (43.3 degrees)

Fertile aura: you mad want to increase the HP gained from magic by 50% so it is more likely to do something at lower levels. Also, you may want to name it something that relates better to spring - "Spring's growth" perhaps - so as to mesh better with your seasonal name scheme.

Overall seems good to me, only rule change I would give is a disclaimer in each one "you may only take this feat if you do not have any other faetouched feats," unless the idea is more than one may have shaped you.

[Lemmy]

I like the fluff of this race, but it does strike me as being a weaker version of the half-elf.

Except for the Feats ant the racial bonus to stealth, Half-elves can do all faetouched can, and more.

They get Skill focus on 1 skill of their choice, instead of a static +3, and get elven immunities and Keen Senses too, which is a bonus to a universally useful skill.

I suggest Silver Tongue grants a +2 bonus to all three skills. And instead of the +3 to Stealth, they should get a free faetouched feat.

My reasoning is the following: With +2 Chatisma, they shouldn't be trying to hide, and the Dexterity bonus already helps with Stealth. Also, giving them a limited form of bonus feat is a good way to show their human heritage.

I disagree with Jodah about the Wisdom bonus, as force of personality is more about Charisma, and the faetouched are described as being less thant completely sane. Besides, bonus to charisma fits the Fey heritage like a glove, and helps with Sorcerers and bards, which sounds to me like 2 perfect favored classes for members of this race.

EDIT: And how giving them some trait to further differentiate them from Half-elves in appearanc?
Maybe them some kind of arcane mark? Like a mystic tattoo somewhere in their bodies, such tattoo varies in shape and location for each individual (or even better, may it moves around theur body) and hair of weird colors, often reminicent of the color of leaves during an specific season (then again, maybe their hair and eyes change colors according to the season! That would be awesome!).

[Jodah]

I disagree with Jodah about the Wisdom bonus, as force of personality is more about Charisma, and the faetouched are described as being less thant completely sane. Besides, bonus to charisma fits the Fey heritage like a glove, and helps with Sorcerers and bards, which sounds to me like 2 perfect favored classes for members of this race.

I agree with your reasoning, its just a mechanic/flavor mismatch. Will saves are based on wisdom, which is how things that have to do with force of will are handles - I'm looking at you demoralize...

But yeah, you and Twilight Muse are right if you are talking about force of personality. I still hold to the fact that less empathetic creatures are going to have more trouble interacting with people - unless aloofness somehow increases rapport.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

+2 Charisma, +2 Dextarity, -2 Constitution. Faetouched are charismatic and agile, but thin and frail.
Medium: Faetouched are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Faetouched have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Faetouched can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light
Silver Tongue: Faetouched receive a +3 racial bonus to their choice of Diplomacy, Bluff, or Intimidate checks.
Light-Footed: Faetouched receive a +2 racial bonus to Stealth checks.


Well, I'm looking at the Advanced Race Guide playtest, and I've got this:


Ability scores: 0 rp
Low-light vision: 1 rp
Silver Tongue: 3 rp
Light-footed: 2 rp

Total: 6 rp

It's underpowered (base races are 10 rp). You could add something like DR /cold iron equal to their Constitution modifier (minimum 1), or DR 1/cold iron plus two spell-like abilities.

[Tanuki Tales]

I will join in with the mindset that this race is underpowered. They get +2 to two skills and an extra +1 to one of those two skills.

Aaaand that's about it.

Mechanically, why would I play one of these guys and not just refluff a human or half-elf or something.

[Lemmy]

I agree with your reasoning, its just a mechanic/flavor mismatch. Will saves are based on wisdom, which is how things that have to do with force of will are handles - I'm looking at you demoralize...

But yeah, you and Twilight Muse are right if you are talking about force of personality. I still hold to the fact that less empathetic creatures are going to have more trouble interacting with people - unless aloofness somehow increases rapport.

I see your point. But while the race is described as having a strong will power, basically all the rest of the description is more oriented to Charisma.

Honestly, it's about time that Paizo creates a Pathfinder version of Steadfast Determination and Force of Personality. We use those at my table, and while powerful, they are not OP, specially if you consider the underwhelming prerequisites...

Also, as much as I love Paizo and Pathfinder, the Advanced Races Playtest is not that great. The racial traits were forcebly taxed as to make the races have the some pontuation, which we know does not represent reality. Not that I think any race is too good when compared to others... (Well, maybe humans, but not too much)

A much better guide is Golden's Guide to Race Building (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223). It's more honest about the differences between races.
It shows that as long as the pontuation isn't too different, there is no problem. (Half-Orcs spend 9 pts, while elves spend 11, but they are about the same in power)

Lastly, I think that the problem with this race is not so much that it's weak, but that it's worse than Half-elves in almost every aspect. The suggestion in my previous post could help with that, but I'm sure the rest of the playground can give much better ideas.

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

I added an extra racial feature, and did some minor updates to the feats. I am also considering a Faetouched Paragon prestige class, and maybe some new spells.

[Tanuki Tales]

A much better guide is Golden's Guide to Race Building (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223). It's more honest about the differences between races.
It shows that as long as the pontuation isn't too different, there is no problem. (Half-Orcs spend 9 pts, while elves spend 11, but they are about the same in power)



Meh, Golden's has its own flaws and is only "just" better than the playtest rules (as you'll notice from the later posts in the thread).

The Half-Orc by his measure is very much so over-costed, just as an example.

Edit:

@Twilight: These guys still are a lot like humans/half-elves and just don't scream "Fey" to me. I think some kind of illusion racial SLAs or DR or something would be more poignant than skill bonuses.

[Lemmy]

Meh, Golden's has its own flaws and is only "just" better than the playtest rules (as you'll notice from the later posts in the thread).

The Half-Orc by his measure is very much so over-costed, just as an example.


I agree. It's just that the playtest rules is all we have right now. Or did Paizo release the final version of the race builder? If yes, where can I find it?
(Not being sarcastic or anything, I really don't know)

However, the playtest version is not very balanced.

It's really odd that dwarves' Hardy trait costs less than humans' Linguist trait, which itself costs just as much as elves' Elf Magic and Elf Immunities.

Is being able to pick any language at character creation better than a +2 to saving throws, or even just as good as Spell Penetration or immunitiy to sleep AND +2 to a few saves? I don't think so.

EDIT: Ah! I just got what you meant. I misread the "just better..." as "it's better than the playtest version, but not the latest version" instead of "it's just slightly better than the playtest version". My bad.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

@Twilight Muse, I think that it looks good right now, but I agree with Troll. It would be better with an appropriate spell-like ability or damage reduction. There's precedent for this because half-orc and half-elf stats are nothing like humans.


It's really odd that dwarves' Hardy trait costs less than humans' Linguist trait, which itself costs just as much as elves' Elf Magic and Elf Immunities.
They give price discounts to abilities with prerequisites.


Is being able to pick any language at character creation better than a +2 to saving throws, or even just as good as Spell Penetration or immunitiy to sleep AND +2 to a few saves? I don't think so.
Well, if you spend 0 RP on languages you don't even get Common. Most races have to put 1 RP into this just to get Common by default, so I think it makes sense.