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Thread: Gronkyn, a new race...
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2007-03-10, 07:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2006
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- England
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Gronkyn, a new race...
Here's the Stats for a new race I was designing...what do you think?
Overview (fluff)
SpoilerPersonality: Gronkyn enjoy wealth, and spend their lives finding the best way of obtaining it. Unlike a human, who will be apprenticed at a young age, Gronkyn try many careers through their adolescence until they find one that suits. They aren’t misers, however, seeing money as a thing to be spent wisely. They distain transient pleasures, such as good food and wine, for things that will bring them a constant source of pleasure over their long lives. As most Gronkyn lead a travelling lifestyle they collect vast numbers of small, valuable trinkets which can be easily taken with them on their journeys.
Physical Description: Gronkyn stand about the same height as a human, and weigh about the same. Their wrinkled skin can take any colour from sepia through to a light khaki. They have large mouths and broad, flat noses. Their eyes are usually amber but range from pale yellow to blood red. Hairless, they have three long flaps of skin that run down from the top of their heads and which continue growing throughout their life.
Relations: Although sometimes distrusted in small communities for their odd appearance, Gronkyn as a whole have no solid relations with most races. Always keeping their options open, they never take hostility towards any race as a whole, nor do they favour one race above any other. Dwarves and elves tend to find them too morally grey to be close friends.
Alignment: Gronkyn take things as they find them, looking at everything freshly, and often find the best course to wealth in morally grey (or sometimes downright evil) means. As such, Gronkyn are almost always neutral in one part of their alignment, and usually in both.
Lands: Gronkyn have no lands that they call their own, nor do they want any. Gronkyn see land as one of the few things that cannot be traded or owned, and so travel freely, disregarding borders that other races may put on it.
Religion: Gronkyn worship a goddess known as Lellaya. Her clerics act as mediators in disputes between Gronkyn and those with which they trade. They also sit upon the council of Elders at the Gronmoot and lay to rest Gronkyn Elders who have departed during that year. Lellaya (N) has favoured weapon (halberd) and the travelling, protection and community domains.
Language: Gronkyn is divided into High and Low Gronkyn. High Gronkyn is reserved by the clerics for the permanent records of the Gronkyn people, and has stayed unchanged for centuries. Low Gronkyn, however, is constantly mutating and changing, absorbing words and phrases that each caravan picks up on their travels.
Adventurers: The Gronkyn’s travelling lifestyle and their pursuit of their own niche leads many young Gronkyn into variations on the adventuring lifestyle.
Racial Traits (mechanics)
Spoiler
• -2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma. Gronkyn are good at dealing with people and have a natural affinity for the world around them, but are less nimble than other races
• Medium: As Medium creatures, Gronkyn have no special bonuses or penalties based upon size
• Scent: Gronkyn have the scent ability, as described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide
• +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks made to Haggle for goods and services (see Complete Adventurer p.98): Gronkyn learn from birth how to buy things for the best price
• +2 racial bonus on Survival checks to Track: Gronkyn are able trackers.
• +2 racial bonus to Appraise checks: Gronkyn instinctively know what things are worth
• Magical Malady: Gronkyn are naturally inept with all kinds of magic, divine and arcane. They have a base 5% spell failure chance for both kinds of spells (including divine spells which are normally unaffected by spell failure chance). This stacks with the spell failure for armour and cannot be overcome by feats or abilities that cause spellcasters to ignore spell failure chance from armour.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Low Gronkyn. Bonus Languages: Any. Clerics may take High Gronkyn as one of their bonus languages. Gronkyn pick up any languages of the peoples they trade with.
• Favoured Class: Ranger. A multiclass Gronkyn’s ranger levels do not count when determining the experience point penalty for multiclassing. Gronkyn extol the hunting lifestyle.
Last edited by Hazkali; 2007-03-11 at 03:35 PM. Reason: Add "Magical Malady"
My Creations:
The Mercenary | The Gronkyn | The Nachmahr | Angel of Vengance
Axiomarch | Halfling Enforcer Have a Look!
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2007-03-10, 08:09 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2005
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Re: Gronkyn, a new race...
It's an interesting race. I quite like the idea of the division between "high" and "low" forms of the Gronkyn tongue - it's the sort of thing that really rings true. They sound like a group of steady, aloof nomads who have developed an almost impenetrably complex society which nevertheless can be packed up and moved as necessary. It's the sort of fascinating paradox you see in real-world cultures, and it's pretty convincing.
That said, you might want to look at a level adjustment. Two ability bonuses (one of which is Constitution) plus the Scent feat is almost enough to justify a LA +1. Perhaps you could give them a point of Natural Armor in order to put them firmly into LA +1 territory.Evan Dittismith avatar courtesy of The Stoney One.
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2007-03-10, 08:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2006
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- The Lair of Gaming (basem
Re: Gronkyn, a new race...
The high and low gronkyn reminds me of Speaker for the Dead, with the males speaking their languages and the females (the higher up ones) speaking their language. I like the flavor of the race, but why favored class ranger? I would think rogue, but that's not really my call.
I wish I had something to put here in this empty space....
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2007-03-10, 01:58 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2006
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- England
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Re: Gronkyn, a new race...
MagFlare: The ability bonusses are in Wisdom and Charisma, with a penalty in Dexterity, so I think according to the DMG they even out. And Thank you, I'm glad you think they're convincing.
Tusserte: Good point, rogue would make a good favoured class, but I thought some of their abilities (scent, bonus on track) made them better rangers. I think to get the best out of them they'd be multiclass rogue/rangers.My Creations:
The Mercenary | The Gronkyn | The Nachmahr | Angel of Vengance
Axiomarch | Halfling Enforcer Have a Look!
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2007-03-10, 10:34 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2006
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- In the Playground
Re: Gronkyn, a new race...
Yeah, I think it's balanced. Good to have a trader race, nice addition to most campaigns. Nomadic ranger/trader types. I can see groups of them as treasure hunters as well, that seems like the kind of thing they would do, with methods of tracking and survival, and a desire for small but valuable objects?
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2007-03-10, 11:13 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2005
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- Avatar by Kymme
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Re: Gronkyn, a new race...
i think the diplomacy and appraise bonuses represent what you want the charisma bonus to represent well enough. not quite sure why you gave the wisdom bonus either... if you take out one of the two it should be LA +0.
if you want to keep the +2 to both of them, you could give a -2 to strength or con; i definitely see a race of merchants being poor in hand-to-hand combat. banning cleric as a class would work as well - you could make them atheists because all they believe in are material posessions. being superclerics is really the main reason why i would give them a level adjustment.
as far as favored class - it's not really what they would be best at, but what their flavor makes them lean towards. as it is right now i'd say commoner, because you said most of them are artisans and merchants. you would have to change that to justify giving them a favored class at all. they could be fine without one.
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2007-03-11, 03:34 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2006
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- England
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Re: Gronkyn, a new race...
Thanks for the advice and comments.
Icewalker: I think you've just summed up the Gronkyn perfectly. I'm happy you like them.
Flyingpoo: I'm not entirely sure why they need to have a penalty to Dexterity and a penalty to strength or constitution. I concede that they make uber codzilla though, which is a concern. However making them atheists isn't really an option (as strictly speaking in a world where clerics can cast Miracle very few people could deny the existence of Gods... ) but I did have an idea of how to solve this:
• Magical Malady: Gronkyn are naturally inept with all kinds of magic, divine and arcane. They have a base 5% spell failure chance for both kinds of spells (including divine spells which are normally unaffected by spell failure chance). This stacks with the spell failure for armour and cannot be overcome by feats or abilities that cause spellcasters to ignore spell failure chance from armour.My Creations:
The Mercenary | The Gronkyn | The Nachmahr | Angel of Vengance
Axiomarch | Halfling Enforcer Have a Look!
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2007-03-12, 01:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2005
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2007-05-01, 03:57 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
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- Easton, PA
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Re: Gronkyn, a new race...
Well, I don't think your "fix" is effective. First of all, it throws out the whole "divine magic has no spell failure". Divine casters are checked by their god, not the armor the are wearing. Secondly, 5% spell failure is not that bad. Thirdly, scent, and a total +4 bonus to mental stats with the minor bonuses to skills are not balanced by the -2 to dex and minor penalty to spell casting.