Behold_the_Void
2007-11-01, 10:48 PM
I may be starting up a game soon, and one of my potential players wants to play an Orc. I looked over the Orc, and I'm considering some changes to the race, which will spread over other races as well.
One of the most important things about the changes I'm making is how I treat charisma. I view Charisma as force of personality, not personal magnetism. By this I mean people with strong personalities have high charisma (The warrior who charges headlong into impossible odds) and people with weaker personalities have low charisma (the meek librarian).
That said, currently the orc stat block looks like this:
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
* An orc’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Orc. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Undercommon.
* Favored Class: Barbarian.
What I'm thinking is something like this:
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom
* An orc’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
* Intimidating: Orcs have a fearsome reputation and get a +2 bonus to intimidate.
* Weapon Familiarity: Orcs with martial weapon proficiency gain proficiency with the Orc Double-Axe.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Orc. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Undercommon.
* Favored Class: Barbarian.
My concern here is that they might be a wee bit too strong. The +4 to strength is huge, and while they don't have any major benefits (most are flavorful) their penalty isn't necessarily crippling. If possible, I want to preserve the orc flavor without dropping any other ability scores. Is this balanced? -1 skill point and -1 to will saves isn't anything to sneeze at, although it may not quite equal +2 to hit and +3 to damage (since the character will be wielding a greataxe like any good orc before they changed them to falchions in 3.5).
This will, of course, apply to Half-Orcs, dropping off their charisma penalty and giving them some extra stuff, like perhaps some kind of skill boost to reflect their human heritage and generally just making them less suck.
Also, this means a change for dwarves, as most dwarves are portrayed as having a strong force of personality. I'm thinking for dwarves, -2 to dex instead. Not crippling, but more reflective of dwarves and it makes them less overpowered as a core race.
Anyway, thoughts?
One of the most important things about the changes I'm making is how I treat charisma. I view Charisma as force of personality, not personal magnetism. By this I mean people with strong personalities have high charisma (The warrior who charges headlong into impossible odds) and people with weaker personalities have low charisma (the meek librarian).
That said, currently the orc stat block looks like this:
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
* An orc’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Orc. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Undercommon.
* Favored Class: Barbarian.
What I'm thinking is something like this:
* +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom
* An orc’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
* Intimidating: Orcs have a fearsome reputation and get a +2 bonus to intimidate.
* Weapon Familiarity: Orcs with martial weapon proficiency gain proficiency with the Orc Double-Axe.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Orc. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Undercommon.
* Favored Class: Barbarian.
My concern here is that they might be a wee bit too strong. The +4 to strength is huge, and while they don't have any major benefits (most are flavorful) their penalty isn't necessarily crippling. If possible, I want to preserve the orc flavor without dropping any other ability scores. Is this balanced? -1 skill point and -1 to will saves isn't anything to sneeze at, although it may not quite equal +2 to hit and +3 to damage (since the character will be wielding a greataxe like any good orc before they changed them to falchions in 3.5).
This will, of course, apply to Half-Orcs, dropping off their charisma penalty and giving them some extra stuff, like perhaps some kind of skill boost to reflect their human heritage and generally just making them less suck.
Also, this means a change for dwarves, as most dwarves are portrayed as having a strong force of personality. I'm thinking for dwarves, -2 to dex instead. Not crippling, but more reflective of dwarves and it makes them less overpowered as a core race.
Anyway, thoughts?