[3.5]Dynamic Racial Benefits

Chambers · 06-26-2010, 09:58 AM

Dynamic Racial Benefits

Title: The racial benefits that a character gains from his or her race remain static, while the character's class abilities are dynamic. The higher a character is in levels, the more important his or her class abilities are, while at the same time the importance of his or her racial abilities decrease. With the exception of magic items, other effects, or prestige classes that require a specific race, there is little mechanical difference between characters race at the higher levels of the game. The ability modifiers and racial characteristics (special qualities and special abilities) do not scale with level.

Object: Dynamic Racial Benefits begin with the standard benefits derived from race and increase those benefits as characters gain class levels. In addition to an increase in the mechanical benefits of the already present racial abilities, new racial abilities may be gained to further differentiate a characters race.

Thesis: Abilities that scale in power and utility are more powerful than static abilities. The relative value of abilities can be characterized by which Tier their function places them.

Quote:

Tier 6 - Least powerful are abilities that provide a single static ability that is not tied to a progression of more powerful abilities. Feats that are not a pre-requisite for other feats are an example of this, as well as class abilities that do not scale.

Tier 5 - Next powerful are abilities that provide a benefit when subsequent abilities are gained. Feat trees are an example of this. Endurance becomes more powerful when a character also has Diehard. Weapon Focus allows a character to gain Weapon Specialization.

Tier 4 - Abilites that scale in power but not utility are next. A Monk's lay on hands is an example.

Tier 3 - Next powerful are abilities that provide new or multiple uses for an ability. Tactical and Weapon Style feats, along with feats that grant new uses for skills, are an example of this. Trapfinding grants new capabilities for the use of Search & Disable Device.

Tier 2 - Abilities that scale in power and utility while requiring subsequent investment. A Cleric's ability to turn undead has many uses, but it's primary ability is dependent on the character continuing to take levels in Cleric. A Paladin may use his or her Lay on Hands to cure Hit Points or Harm Undead, but the power of that ability is tied to the character's level in the Paladin class.

Tier 1 - Most powerful are abilities that scale in power and utility without requiring subsequent investment. Spellcasting is an example of this. A spellcaster may gain the ability to cast spells from a class and then leave that class, entering others that continue to increase the power of spellcasting, such as from entering a Prestige Class that advances previous spellcasting ability.

Question: How can racial benefits be changed to become dynamic abilities that scale in power without introducing a complex additional system or element to the game? How can dynamic racial benefits be balanced against other abilities gained, such as from class features or magic items?

Problem: Devise a system that grants additional racial benefits without increasing the complexity of options for a character.

Stakes: To enhance the distinct and unique characteristics of racial abilities. To provide a rationale for enhancing characters racial abilities. To maintain the importance of racial selection at higher levels in the game.

Context: The new abilities presented in Dungeons and Dragons 3.75 (new classes, alternative class features, feats, spells, and equipment) further serve to illustrate the difference in design philosophy from Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 with regard to racial abilities and characteristics. There have been attempts to bring racial abilities up to the same power level as other abilities but these attempts have failed to do so in a manner that is consistent.

Pretext: There have been three major attempts to increase the importance and power of race in Dungeons and Dragons. These are Bloodlines and Racial Paragon Classes from Unearthed Arcana and Racial Substitution levels. Racial Subsitution Levels vary in their power and feasibility; some are only useful in specific instances while others are more powerful than the standard class. In addition there is a lack of completeness as there are not substitution levels available for every class/race combination.

Bloodline and Racial Paragon Classes fail by forcing the player to give up class abilities in order to gain racial abilities. They are furthermore plagued by the ease with which they may be used to abuse and break the game, such as increasing a class ability beyond it's intended power level.

Mode: 3.5 Homebrew Theory: The Philosophy of Creation by Djinn in Tonic. Content and discussion will be focused on creating thematically appropriate and mechanically balanced racial abilities.

Genre: This text is meant as a character option resource. As such it will present the new abilities, explain them, and provide for the discussion of their use.

Style: The abilities will be presented in the standard table/text format. The content should be immediately identifiable and the format should not interfere with the reader's understanding of the content.

Reader: Any DM or Player that would like the choice of race to have more impact in their game. The reader is encouraged to provide criticism of the content and create his or her own for consideration.

Author: Has gamed for over 12 years, with Dungeons and Dragons 3.X as his primary game of choice. Extensive time spent playing and thinking about the game has lead the Author to anaylze the nature of the game mechanics and seek alternative methods for either improving or replacing systems within the game. Time spent not playing makes the Author sad.

Rules Concerning Racial Abilities:

Gaining Racial Abilities

Racial abilities are automatically gained upon reaching the indicated level. If a character is subject to permanent level loss, the character loses the racial abilities indicated for the corresponding levels lost. For example if a 6th level character permanently loses 2 levels, the character loses the racial abilities for levels 5 and 6.

Changing Form

All racial abilities follow the rules for changing form depending on which method the character is using to change form (Alternate Form, Change Shape, Alter Self, Polymorph, Wild Shape, etc). For ease of reference, abilities will be designated as either Extraordinary(Ex), Supernatural(Su), Spell-Like (Sp).Those not labeled one of those three are considered racial traits. Due to Wizards' mishandling of the rules for changing form, it is advised that the DM determine ahead of time which set of rules for changing form he or she is using and which racial abilities will be maintained, lost, and gained when changing form.

Dynamic Racial Benefits fall into four categories.

Ability Boost
You gain a permanent +1 increase to the given ability score. This is similar to the ability increase gained by characters at every fourth level.

Racial Affinity
You gain a bonus (either +2, +4, or +6) on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, and Perform checks made to interact with creatures of your race.

Skill Boost
You receive a +2 bonus on checks made with the given skill.

Special
You gain a special ability. Common racial special abilities include bonus feats, special qualities and abilities, or spell-like abilities.

Progression of Racial Abilities

The default progression for racial abilities is coded in the table below. Some races have minor variations, replacing one type of ability for another at a particular level.

Spoiler

Presentation of Benefits

The SRD text of each races basic abilities are copied and placed with each race for completeness. The only change to these abilities is that Humans receive a +2 bonus to an Ability Score of their choice at first level.

Human

Spoiler

Dwarf

Spoiler

Elf

Spoiler

Gnome

Spoiler

Half-Elf

Spoiler

Chambers · 06-26-2010, 09:59 AM

-Reserved-

More races will be posted later this weekend.

Serenity · 06-26-2010, 12:09 PM

May I say--this looks totally awesome.

EdroGrimshell · 06-26-2010, 10:25 PM

I tried this once, it was good but progressed to slowly, this looks much better if you ask me

Milskidasith · 06-26-2010, 10:35 PM

I don't like this as a concept. Races are already a big part of your build because they provide pretty huge, albeit static, bonuses to the character in the form of stat boosts and racial abilities.

Plus, you've managed to bring the Human from merely good to being the only playable race, assuming you intend to upgrade other races as you have.

Humans: They get +X to any ability score, free untyped bonuses to any skill they want, free taking 10 on skills, free feats, DR5/- (at level 20, where it's near useless), and some minor benefits.

Dwarfs: They get... some minor benefits? Besides the craft checks and great fortitude, none of their abilities mechanically affect them that much, and Great Fortitude can be grabbed with a human bonus feat. Basically humans get everything dwarves get, except they can put it into whatever they want instead of specific things, in addition to the benefits humans already had over dwarves.

Then again, this is just an excaberation of the problems already inherent with the races, but three bonus feats is a lot harder to look away from than one, and picking a race is already a big choice.

Chambers · 06-26-2010, 10:52 PM

Posted Elf, Gnome, and Half-Elf.

Serenity / EdroGrimshell

Thanks!

Milskidasith

I won't try and persuade you on the concept. If you don't like the idea, okay.

Regarding the specifics; I haven't finished all of the classes yet. I'm posting this now to get feedback on abilities that may be too powerful or too weak.

Milskidasith · 06-26-2010, 11:04 PM

Human is still pretty much strictly better than all of the ones you've listed... it's got all the abilities of the other ones, aside from fluff abilities like searching for doors, while managing to choose what they get. Every time another race gets +1 to X score, or +2 to X skill, humans get +1 to whatever score they want, or +2 to whatever skill they want.

Humans were already good, and you're basically making them strictly better than any other race aside from cheesy combinations.

Chambers · 06-26-2010, 11:19 PM

Tier 1 classes are strictly better than all the other classes, yet people still play non-Tier 1 classes.

Humans don't get every ability the other races do. Searching for doors is not a fluff ability, there's a game effect. Humans can't choose abilities from other races, Half-Elves and Half-Orcs may. Humans don't gain spell-like abilities. Humans don't have bonuses against a specific non-human race (attack, damage, armor class, etc).

Each progression is meant to increase the power of the racial abilities that are present in first level characters. Dwarfs get abilities related to Crafting, Stonework, Saving Throws, etc. Gnomes get spell-like abilities, Elves get abilities with Weapons.

Humans get versatility in the form of skill points and bonus feats. Their increased racial abilities play on that.

How would you change their racial abilities so that they were not strictly better?

All of the above is meant in a tone of honest exchange, with no hostility intended. Just to clarify and preemptively avoid any hard feelings.

senrath · 06-26-2010, 11:27 PM

Personally? I'd knock off the +2 to an attribute and call it a day.

Apalala · 06-26-2010, 11:35 PM

It's a lot of paperwork, a new ability at every level. Rather than twenty very minor bonuses, I'd like a few bonuses spread out. Additionally, these bonuses seem to be given out pretty much for free, which sort of unbalances things.

Hmm. If I were to make a system like this, I'd do two things.

First, change the attribute bonuses every 4 levels to +1 to two different stats, ala 4e.

Second, give the option of replacing those stat bonuses with a racial ability. Have a long list of racial abilities for each class, some with pre-reqs, like a certain level or class. Each racial ability would have about the same power as a feat, and some racial abilities could even BE feats, if appropriate. Like, skill focus for half-elves and power attack for half-orcs.

Milskidasith · 06-26-2010, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Humans don't get every ability the other races do. Searching for doors is not a fluff ability, there's a game effect.

It's a fluff ability in that it's essentially something added purely because of the fluff that has next to no impact on the game, ever. Secret doors are rarely part of the game, to the point it seems almost Aqua-mannish to include a secret door when you have somebody who uses it. A dodge bonus against giants is likewise essentially a fluff ability. They are somewhat useful if you get to use them, but not nearly enough to build a character around, or for any character concept to reliably use.

Humans can't choose abilities from other races, Half-Elves and Half-Orcs may. Humans don't gain spell-like abilities. Humans don't have bonuses against a specific non-human race (attack, damage, armor class, etc).

Quote:

Each progression is meant to increase the power of the racial abilities that are present in first level characters. Dwarfs get abilities related to Crafting, Stonework, Saving Throws, etc. Gnomes get spell-like abilities, Elves get abilities with Weapons.

And humans get anything they want, including the ability to take basically everything the other races get?

Quote:

How would you change their racial abilities so that they were not strictly better?

I wouldn't give them DR 5/- when other races get DR 5/X, I wouldn't give them "+2 to any skill" when other races get "+2 to X skill", I wouldn't give them "Pick a bonus feat" when other races get "take this specific bonus feat", and I wouldn't give them "pick three skills to take ten on" when other races get "take ten on these three skills."

Basically, to change them to be not strictly better... you make them not strictly better! There's really no way to break it down more; when you get an ability that can emulate the other races ability, and you get the ability to pick something more relevant to your character instead, it's going to be better. It doesn't help humans get +2 to anything when other races get +2 to X, -2 to Y.

Chambers · 06-26-2010, 11:42 PM

senrath

I'm not entirely sold on the Human stat bonus myself. It seemed a way to further play on the versatility of Humans in the game.

Apalala

Your second suggestion runs counter to your first objection [more complicated system of selection and requirements versus not increasing paperwork].

The basic racial benefits are also given out "for free". If everyone gets their racial benefits for free, then the balance issue lies in the power of the individual benefits.

Pechvarry · 06-26-2010, 11:45 PM

Race stuff is far from my strong suit, but the skill mastery for humans (different name, but you get what I mean) seems a bit off. To me, that's what your class features are for. I'd put Versatility at that lower level -- though make it a few chosen skills instead of all skills. Then, later on, you can give the unlimited version. To compensate, you could also give another level to the teamwork benefits or improve synergy bonuses even more.

Apalala · 06-26-2010, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unnamedhero

Apalala

Your second suggestion runs counter to your first objection [more complicated system of selection and requirements versus not increasing paperwork].

The basic racial benefits are also given out "for free". If everyone gets their racial benefits for free, then the balance issue lies in the power of the individual benefits.

I meant it would unbalance things in favor of the party vs the world, and I meant paperwork as in listing down 20 abilities rather than a few. Mine increases the power just a bit--+5/+5 ability bonus or racial abilities on that scale or a mix of the two rather than +5--rather than a lot.

As for the paperwork, my suggestion would have five extra abilities over twenty levels rather than 19. Choosing those abilities would be a bit more work than simply jotting down the long list of racial abilities, but a lazy player has the much simpler option of simply choosing to boost their ability scores as normal. What's more, I think giving a player more choices gives them more room to flesh out their concept.

EdroGrimshell · 06-27-2010, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unnamedhero

How would you change their racial abilities so that they were not strictly better?

Cut the bonuses humans get in half, or double the bonuses gained by other races.

Although you get to choose the power is less than those of the other races, meaning that it balances out somewhat, although their's not much you can do about feats other than give them a specific selection

Fax Celestis · 06-27-2010, 12:07 AM

I did something like this myself, but on a smaller scale (example). I think you're aiming too high: sometimes a subtle change can be enough.

Chambers · 06-27-2010, 12:16 AM

Great responses, thanks.

Here are some brief proposals for changes for Humans.

Skill Bonuses:
Choose one skill. At the indicated levels your bonus with this skill increases by +2.

Ability Bonuses:
Remove the +2 bonus.
Choose one ability score. At the indicated levels that ability score increases by +1.

Feats:
At 10th level choose either Lightning Reflexes, Great Fortitude, or Iron Will.
At 14th level choose a bonus feat from your class list of bonus feats. If you do not have a class list of bonus feats, choose any feat you qualify for.

Modify or eliminate Versatility (Ex).

Increase bonus from either Teamwork or Skill Synergy.

Fax

Thanks for the suggestion and link. I'll read over it carefully later and consider using a similar method.