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Talentless
2013-06-30, 11:12 PM
I have recently embarked on an ambitious project. A world building project to be exact. And while I have certain aspects down, I want to really nail this specific take on the Orc Race down, and I want to know what LA, if any, people might give a race with the statistics I'm looking at.

Before we get to that, I will also state that these will be the "Genetic" Racial abilities, so only things that naturally apply like claws, muscles, intelligence and the like.

Weapon proficiency and other training type racial bonuses will be covered under the cultural segment of my characters, whenever i get around to it.

Orcs, I decided to take inspiration from our own mother nature when I wanted to make them different than most... in that the Males and Females of the species have DRASTICALLY different features and inborn talents than is the norm for D&D and Pathfinder.

Males

Large
40 Feet Speed
+4 Str (after accounting for size increase)
-2 Dex (after accounting for size)
+2 Con
-2 Wis
Frenzy: Whenever a party member or NPC (designated by the player before any combat) who is at least one size smaller takes any damage or is affected by any harmful spell, the Male Orc must make a will save (DC 15, DC 25 if the trigger causes the Party Member/NPC to fall unconscious) to avoid entering a Frenzy for 3 rounds or the offender is dead. Whichever occurs first. This functions exactly like a Barbarians Rage except that it stacks on top of the Barbarians Rage and the Orc cannot designate any other attack targets other than the offender (Cleaving or using AoE to hit other targets is available, the one who Triggered the Frenzy simply has to be the center of the blast or the starting point of the Cleave or similar abilities). Usable 1/day. *


*I'd really like some help wording this so it doesn't confuse people too. It is basically a berserk button for them, hurt their loved ones/best friends/children/allies who are smaller than them, and they want to turn the offender into small meaty chunks.

I'm thinking of making it a LA+1 or 2 simply because otherwise the bonuses are just too good for making a Beatstick, but that was what I envisioned when I came up with this and I really don't want to change it, any ideas here?


Moving on to the Female half of the race


Medium Size
40 Feet Speed
+2 Dex
-4 Con
+4 Cha
Hypnotic Gaze: 1/Day Sp As the spell Hypnotism (CL = Character Level). Lasts 1 Round
Supernatural Charm: +1 saving throw DC on spells of the Enchantment School. Members of this race with 15 or higher in Wis can use Charm Person 1/day as a Spell-Like ability. (CL = Character Level)


Does anyone here think the above abilities warrant a LA? if so, how high?

I don't want comparisons to the LA WotC gave their races, or the lack of one Paizo seemed to give theirs. I'd like help finding a reasonable LA that wouldn't punish players, but also wouldn't make playing anything else for the archetypes involved (big beatstick or frail mastermind respectively) unable to compete assuming equal optimization.

AuraTwilight
2013-06-30, 11:24 PM
Political Correctness arguments aside, making the species dimorphic like this means that a character with a Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity effective gets the benefits of both genders of the race.

Talentless
2013-06-30, 11:37 PM
Political Correctness arguments aside, making the species dimorphic like this means that a character with a Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity effective gets the benefits of both genders of the race.

PC can kiss my ***. Especially considering sexual dimorphism is an observable phenomenon in humans, whats the record for most weight lifted by a man and a woman respectively for example? I'm just taking it to a logicalish extreme in a world of magic.

And the the Girdle would swap the bonuses, so a DM in the setting better handle it with care, or the beatstick will lose a lot of Str and Con at once.

AuraTwilight
2013-06-30, 11:49 PM
PC can kiss my ***. Especially considering sexual dimorphism is an observable phenomenon in humans, whats the record for most weight lifted by a man and a woman respectively for example? I'm just taking it to a logicalish extreme in a world of magic.

*Watches my point go over your head with that statement.*

Talentless
2013-07-01, 09:08 AM
*Watches my point go over your head with that statement.*

*Watches the entire point of my original point sail over your head in high orbit*

seriously, it's cool with me if you don't like the idea, but I'm really looking for feedback on the mechanics of handling this here.

Also, see the second half of the post you quoted, or is there something else that I happen to be missing entirely?

AuraTwilight
2013-07-01, 02:22 PM
My point was that when I said "Political Correctness aside", I was completely disregarding that entire subject as possible criticism of your idea. It wasn't an invitation to go on a mini-rant about IRL sexual dimorphism in humans that ran the risk of being possibly sexist. :P

Anyway, what I'm saying is that structuring this race you are...well, there's a reason it's not usually done in D&D proper. It basically begs the question of "Alright why not play this race and then just immediately go grab a Girdle of F/M and/or make Polymorph even more abusable?" It's too useful. WAY too useful, to have your race be sexually dimorphic in this sense.

Your response of "It'll swap the bonuses" doesn't matter much if the character is more than simply a beat stick.