Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
So I realize that I've been mostly focusing on the higher profile races. I think it's time to start pushing into deeper waters. So today, I'm gonna be working on one of my favorite races. Kobolds.
Step 1: Concept
Pathfinder kobolds are, for some reason, just not as engaging for me as D&D kobolds. Maybe it's because Pathfinder goblins are the way they are. I don't know. At any rate, I'd like to really hit that "Tucker's Kobolds" feel from the ground up while giving them a bit more heft. Still weak and scrappy, but also not a fucking handicap.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (reptilian). Yeah, I'm gonna stick with the draconic/reptilian origins here. I was thinking of maybe playing around in the rat and/or dog origins, but I'm probably gonna just keep with simplicity.
SIZE - Small
SPEED - I like them speedy. Normal speed here.
ABILITIES - The standard +2 Dexterity, –4 Strength, and –2 Constitution will simply not fly here. +2 Dex, -2 Str, sure. As for the mental bonus, I'm thinking Int. Crafty little bastards.
LANGUAGES - Xenophobic works here. Automatic Draconic. Bonus...let's say Common, Gnome, Sign Language, and Undercommon. I like giving Sign Language out. A cowardly race being able to communicate in silence? Totally on point.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Alright, let's see what kobolds typically get here...
Natural Armor (2 RP) - Absolutely.
Crafty - Wow, the race builder points went crazy here. Like, a +2 to three different skills and two skills as permanent class skills for 3 points total? Like...super inconsistent. So let's break this down and look at it again.
Skill Training (1 RP) - Craft (trapmaking) and Stealth as permanent class skills
Skill Bonus (6 RP) - +2 Craft (trapmaking), Perception, Profession (miner)
Darkvision (2 RP) - Word.
Light Sensitivity (-1 RP) - Works.
So, we're looking at 10 points right there. Let's look at alternates.
Dragon Affinity (1 RP) - Really cool.
Dragonmaw (2 RP) - Also really cool.
Dragon-Scaled (1 RP) - Energy resistance works for me.
Shoulder to Shoulder (3? 7? Who knows?) - I love racial traits like this. ^_^
Wyrmcrowned (Same as above. Probably 3.) - This is pretty neat too.
Man, these traits are really making me want to play up the "tiny dragon" angle. Let's see what we can do. Also, I want to give them a claw/claw/bite routine.
KOBOLD
Type - Humanoid (reptilian) 0 RP
Size - Small 0 RP
Base Speed - Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength) 0 RP
Languages - Xenophobic 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Natural Armor 2 RP
Dragon-Scaled 1 RP
Shoulder to Shoulder 3 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Skill Bonus (Craft (trapmaking), Perception, Profession (miner)) 6 RP
Skill Training 1 RP
Wyrmcrowned 3 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Dragon Affinity 1 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Claws 2 RP
Dragonmaw 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision 2 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity -1 RP
So...22 points total. We can cut the Perception bonus and Skill Training. That gets us to 19. Dragon Affinity needs to be an alternate because it's useless to non-sorcerers, so that'll drop us to 18. And we'll make Wyrmcrowned an alternate as well, to get us to our desired goal of 15.
Which shapes us up into...
Kobold Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Kobolds are quick and clever, but their slight builds make them less powerful. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Strength.
Type: Kobolds are Humanoids with the reptilian subtype.
Base Speed: Kobolds have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Kobolds begin play speaking Draconic. Kobolds with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Common, Gnome, Sign Language, and Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Dragon-Scaled: Kobolds gain energy resistance based on the color of their scales. Black-scaled and green-scaled kobolds gain acid resistance 5. Blue-scaled kobolds gain electricity resistance 5. Red-scaled kobolds gain fire resistance 5. White-scaled kobolds gain cold resistance 5.
Natural Armor: Kobolds naturally scaly skin grants them a +1 natural armor bonus.
Shoulder to Shoulder: A kobold can occupy the same space as one other Small ally without penalty. If you share a space with another kobold, you each gain a +1 circumstance bonus to AC, as you help jostle one another out of the way of incoming attacks. You also gain a +1 racial bonus on aid another rolls.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Crafty: Kobolds gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (trapmaking) and Profession (miner) checks.
Offense Racial Traits
Claws: Kobolds receive two claw attacks that each deal 1d3 damage. These are primary natural attacks.
Dragonmaw: Kobolds gain a bite attack that deals 1d4 points of damage. Once per day, you can deal 1d6 points of additional energy damage with your bite attack. The damage type depends on your scale color: acid for black or green; electricity for blue; fire for red; cold for white.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision: Kobolds can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity: Kobolds lives in darkness have caused them to suffer from light sensitivity.
Alternate Racial Traits
Dragon Affinity: Kobold sorcerers with the draconic bloodline or kobold bloodline treat their Charisma scores as 2 points higher for all sorcerer spells and class abilities. This racial trait replaces the natural armor trait.
Wyrmcrowned: Your horns have grown to the extent that they appear similar to those of a dragon who shares your scale color, lending a draconic power or menace to your dealings with others. Choose either Diplomacy or Intimidate. You gain a +2 racial bonus on checks with that skill, and it is always a class skill for you. This racial trait replaces shoulder to shoulder.
Look at 'em. Tiny, angry, dragons. ^_^ Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Everything Hurts and I'm Dying
I know I owe you an update today, but I'm currently dealing with a kidney stone and producing coherent thought just isn't going to happen. See you next week.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 12 - Internet Troll
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
So, by now, it's no secret that World of Warcraft was where a lot of my early character inspiration came from. I intend to continue tweaking races to fit. We've already made our zombies, so let's tackle the trolls. Or, in this case, Trollkin.
Step 1: Concept
Essentially, trollkin are more primitive, more socially outcast orcs. We're gonna have to keep that in mind so that they don't end up just being essentially an orc subrace. This is also the first time we're gonna be scaling down a monster into an acceptable player race rather than tweaking an existing race. Let's dig in.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (giant). Even though they're gonna be medium sized.
SIZE - Medium.
SPEED - Normal.
ABILITIES - Trolls are tough. I like a Con bonus here. I don't really want to give them a Wis bonus and a Cha penalty, but that's what feels right. Maybe I can be okay with an Int penalty. It seems like they have a natural inclination away from technological progress. =/
LANGUAGES - Standard. Trotang (derived from "Troll Tongue", but the heavy accent altered perception of the phrase) and Common. Allies get us Goblin and Orc. Enemies get us Elven and Dwarven. Ancestors give them Giant. We gave orcs a strong connection to the elements, but in WoW trolls have more reverence for loa*. About the closest thing we really come to loa are just outsiders, maybe giving them Abyssal, Celestial, and Infernal as bonus languages works here. Or, actually, maybe they're more like fey...I think I like that better. So scratch the planar languages and add Aklo and Sylvan.
That gives us Common and Trotang as starting languages with Aklo, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan as bonus languages.
*Loa (also spelled lwa) are the spirits of Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo. They are also referred to as "mystères" and "the invisibles" and are intermediaries between Bondye (French: Bon Dieu, meaning "good God")—the Supreme Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity. Unlike saints or angels, however, they are not simply prayed to, they are served. They are each distinct beings with their own personal likes and dislikes, distinct sacred rhythms, songs, dances, ritual symbols, and special modes of service. Contrary to popular belief, the loa are not deities in and of themselves; they are intermediaries for, and dependent on, a distant Bondye.
Step 3: Racial Traits
As mentioned before, trolls aren't exactly codified the same way player races are. They aren't quite going to have the same suite of abilities to draw from so there are going to have to be modifications. Let's look at what trolls are already getting.
Darkvision (2 RP)
Low-Light Vision (1 RP)
Scent (4 RP)
Natural Armor (2 RP)
Improved Natural Armor (10 RP)
Regeneration (Not even in the race builder. Clearly too much.)
Claws (2 RP)
Bite (1 RP)
Rend (No cost, but probably around 2 RP)
So...that puts us at 24 even without the regeneration. If we knock regeneration down to fast healing, that puts us at 30 points. We can cut another 10 off by dropping the Natural Armor to +1. We can drop the Claw/Bite/Rend attacks to drop us to 15. It's a boring 15, though. There's nothing special. It's all just defenses and senses.
Let's see...Oh! So, you know how a troll's regen can only be overcome by fire or acid? Let's give these guys vulnerability to fire and acid. Which is...a huge weakness, I know. But it gets us 4 more RP to play with and is flavorful as all hell. As boring as skill bonuses are, I think I'm just gonna go with a +2 to Perception and Survival. And the Juju oracle's Natural Divination ability is pretty fucking cool, too.
Final form?
Trollkin Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Trollkin are tough both physically and mentally, but their primal culture makes it difficult to make a good first impression.
Type: Trollkin are Humanoids with the giant subtype.
Base Speed: Trollkin have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Trollkin begin play speaking Common and Trotang. Trollkin with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aklo, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan as bonus languages. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Fast Healing: Trollkin regain 1 hit point each round. Except for where noted here, fast healing is just like natural healing. Fast healing does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation, nor does it allow the trollkin to regrow lost body parts. Fast healing continues to function (even at negative hit points) until death, at which point the effects of fast healing immediately end.
Natural Armor: Trollkin gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Natural Hunter: Trollkin receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception and Survival checks.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision:Trollkin can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Trollkin can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.
Scent: Trollkin gain the scent ability.
Weakness Racial Traits
Elemental Vulnerability:Trollkin have vulnerability to both acid and fire.
Alternate Racial Traits
Natural Divination: Some trollkin have a deeper connection with the wild world around them. Trollkin with this racial trait can read the entrails of a freshly killed animal or humanoid to gain an insight bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier on one saving throw. Alternatively, by observing and interpreting the flight of birds, you may apply a +10 competence bonus on any one skill check. Finally, by charting marks in dirt or on stone, or observing the behavior of sand thrown into the wind, you gain a +4 insight bonus on one initiative check. These bonuses must be used during the next 24 hours, and you must declare you are using the bonus before the check or save is made. Making a natural divination takes 10 minutes. You may use natural divination (in any combination) once per day plus one additional time per day for every four levels you have attained. This alternate trait replaces the Natural Hunter racial trait.
So there. They aren't quite finished, but this is as good as they're getting today. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
So, by now, it's no secret that World of Warcraft was where a lot of my early character inspiration came from. I intend to continue tweaking races to fit. We've already made our zombies, so let's tackle the trolls. Or, in this case, Trollkin.
Step 1: Concept
Essentially, trollkin are more primitive, more socially outcast orcs. We're gonna have to keep that in mind so that they don't end up just being essentially an orc subrace. This is also the first time we're gonna be scaling down a monster into an acceptable player race rather than tweaking an existing race. Let's dig in.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (giant). Even though they're gonna be medium sized.
SIZE - Medium.
SPEED - Normal.
ABILITIES - Trolls are tough. I like a Con bonus here. I don't really want to give them a Wis bonus and a Cha penalty, but that's what feels right. Maybe I can be okay with an Int penalty. It seems like they have a natural inclination away from technological progress. =/
LANGUAGES - Standard. Trotang (derived from "Troll Tongue", but the heavy accent altered perception of the phrase) and Common. Allies get us Goblin and Orc. Enemies get us Elven and Dwarven. Ancestors give them Giant. We gave orcs a strong connection to the elements, but in WoW trolls have more reverence for loa*. About the closest thing we really come to loa are just outsiders, maybe giving them Abyssal, Celestial, and Infernal as bonus languages works here. Or, actually, maybe they're more like fey...I think I like that better. So scratch the planar languages and add Aklo and Sylvan.
That gives us Common and Trotang as starting languages with Aklo, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan as bonus languages.
*Loa (also spelled lwa) are the spirits of Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo. They are also referred to as "mystères" and "the invisibles" and are intermediaries between Bondye (French: Bon Dieu, meaning "good God")—the Supreme Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity. Unlike saints or angels, however, they are not simply prayed to, they are served. They are each distinct beings with their own personal likes and dislikes, distinct sacred rhythms, songs, dances, ritual symbols, and special modes of service. Contrary to popular belief, the loa are not deities in and of themselves; they are intermediaries for, and dependent on, a distant Bondye.
Step 3: Racial Traits
As mentioned before, trolls aren't exactly codified the same way player races are. They aren't quite going to have the same suite of abilities to draw from so there are going to have to be modifications. Let's look at what trolls are already getting.
Darkvision (2 RP)
Low-Light Vision (1 RP)
Scent (4 RP)
Natural Armor (2 RP)
Improved Natural Armor (10 RP)
Regeneration (Not even in the race builder. Clearly too much.)
Claws (2 RP)
Bite (1 RP)
Rend (No cost, but probably around 2 RP)
So...that puts us at 24 even without the regeneration. If we knock regeneration down to fast healing, that puts us at 30 points. We can cut another 10 off by dropping the Natural Armor to +1. We can drop the Claw/Bite/Rend attacks to drop us to 15. It's a boring 15, though. There's nothing special. It's all just defenses and senses.
Let's see...Oh! So, you know how a troll's regen can only be overcome by fire or acid? Let's give these guys vulnerability to fire and acid. Which is...a huge weakness, I know. But it gets us 4 more RP to play with and is flavorful as all hell. As boring as skill bonuses are, I think I'm just gonna go with a +2 to Perception and Survival. And the Juju oracle's Natural Divination ability is pretty fucking cool, too.
Final form?
Trollkin Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Trollkin are tough both physically and mentally, but their primal culture makes it difficult to make a good first impression.
Type: Trollkin are Humanoids with the giant subtype.
Base Speed: Trollkin have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Trollkin begin play speaking Common and Trotang. Trollkin with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aklo, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan as bonus languages. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Fast Healing: Trollkin regain 1 hit point each round. Except for where noted here, fast healing is just like natural healing. Fast healing does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation, nor does it allow the trollkin to regrow lost body parts. Fast healing continues to function (even at negative hit points) until death, at which point the effects of fast healing immediately end.
Natural Armor: Trollkin gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Natural Hunter: Trollkin receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception and Survival checks.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision:Trollkin can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Trollkin can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.
Scent: Trollkin gain the scent ability.
Weakness Racial Traits
Elemental Vulnerability:Trollkin have vulnerability to both acid and fire.
Alternate Racial Traits
Natural Divination: Some trollkin have a deeper connection with the wild world around them. Trollkin with this racial trait can read the entrails of a freshly killed animal or humanoid to gain an insight bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier on one saving throw. Alternatively, by observing and interpreting the flight of birds, you may apply a +10 competence bonus on any one skill check. Finally, by charting marks in dirt or on stone, or observing the behavior of sand thrown into the wind, you gain a +4 insight bonus on one initiative check. These bonuses must be used during the next 24 hours, and you must declare you are using the bonus before the check or save is made. Making a natural divination takes 10 minutes. You may use natural divination (in any combination) once per day plus one additional time per day for every four levels you have attained. This alternate trait replaces the Natural Hunter racial trait.
So there. They aren't quite finished, but this is as good as they're getting today. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 11 - Zombie
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
We've touched on most of the common races by now. This week, I want to take a look at a "race" that rarely gets developed for player use: the undead. Sure, Dhampir exist, but the half-vampire thing isn't quite what I'm angling for and they aren't even technically undead.
Step 1: Concept
What I want is something closer to the Forsaken from the Warcraft games. Sentient zombies, but balanced for player use. Plus I need to give them a decent name.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - The Undead type carries a 16 RP cost, which is already more than I'm aiming for for the finished product. Dhampir are just Humanoids with some stuff to reinforce their undead connections, so we could go that route. There's also the Half-Undead subtype, which only costs 5 RP. That hits a fair amount of the notes I'm going for, so let's just start from there. Humanoid (half-undead).
SIZE - I guess this is going to be variable? I didn't initially consider the possibility of halfling Necrites (I decided to call them Necrites, obviously). I don't really like the idea. Maybe I can pull some explanation out of my ass as to why these things need to be Medium.
SPEED - A part of me deeply wants to make these guys Slow. We'll sit on that for now.
ABILITIES - Dhampir get +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Con. That's kind of the opposite of what I want these guys to be. I get the -2 Con because undead lack a Con score. These guys, however, are gonna be stiff both physically and socially. The only other physical option we have is Strength, and I like it. As far as mental scores, I'm liking Int here over Wis. These guys are having to learn how to be people all over again.
So +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Constitution.
LANGUAGES - Hrm...I'm gonna tweak something here. We're going to combine Xenophobic and Linguist. These guys are going to start out with only their racial language, Necril. BUT, their bonus languages will just be Any. I'm sure that balances out to 0 RP.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Let's take a look at what Dhampir get.
Undead Resistance - Already covered by the half-undead subtype.
Resist Level Drain - Also already covered.
Manipulative (4 RP) - Maaaybe.
SLAs (1 RP) - I don't know if I want these guys to have spell-likes.
Darkvision - Covered.
Low-Light Vision (1 RP) - Sure.
Light Sensitivity (-1 RP) - Also maybe.
Negative Energy Affinity - Covered
And alternates...give us literally nothing that isn't vampiric in nature.
I have an idea. We're gonna look at some of the abilities that Samsarans get.
Shards of the Past (4 RP) - This is really cool, thematically.
Mystic Past Life (4 RP) - Works really well here too. Gonna keep it an alternate.
I still don't feel like these guys really have an identity yet. Let's comb through the race builder and see what looks good.
Unnatural (2 RP) - I always loved the fact that animals instinctively fear the undead in some stories.
Stalker (1 RP) - Being able to pretend to be a corpse has gotta have some benefit, right?
Fell Magic (3 RP) - Still not sure I wanna give them SLAs, but if I decide to this is the way I'd like to go.
Stench Aura (4 RP) - This one just amuses me.
Toxic (1 RP) - And this one is legitimately cool.
Carrion Sense (1 RP) - I love how flavorful this is.
See in Darkness (4 RP) - I just really want to give this to things. All the things.
Resurrection Vulnerability (-1 RP) - Very Final Fantasy.
Hold Breath (1 RP) - This hits those WoW notes.
Well, that's more to look at, at least. We're gonna have to cut a ton.
NECRITE
Type - Humanoid (half-undead) 5 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Constitution) 0 RP
Languages - Mixed 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Unnatural 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Manipulative 4 RP
Shards of the Past 4 RP
Stalker 1 RP
Magical Racial Traits
SLAs 4 RP
Mystic Past Lie 4 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Stench Aura 4 RP
Toxic 1 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision 1 RP
See In Darkness 4 RP
Carrion Sense 1 RP
Standard Racial Traits
Hold Breath 1 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity -1 RP
Resurrection Vulnerability -1 RP
So as of right now, we're looking at 33 points. Dropping Manipulative, all the SLAs, and Low-Light Vision gets us down to 22. Mystic Past Life as an alternate brings us to 18. Let's drop Stench Aura to hit 14 and remove Light Sensitivity to hit our 15.
So, our final version looks like this.
Necrite Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Necrites are raw power and intellect, but their bodies are still one foot in the grave. They gain +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Constitution.
Type: Necrites are Humanoids with the half-undead subtype.
Base Speed: Necrites have a base speed of 20 feet.
Languages: Necrites begin play speaking Necril. Necrites with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Half-Undead Traits: Necrites have darkvision 60 feet. Necrites gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and mind-affecting effects. Necrites take no penalties from energy-draining effects, though they can still be killed if they accrue more negative levels than they have Hit Dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels they’ve gained are removed without any additional saving throws. Necrites are harmed by positive energy and healed by negative energy. A necrite with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
Unnatural: Necrites take a –4 penalty on all Charisma-based skill checks to affect creatures of the animal type, and receive a +4 dodge bonus to AC against animals. Animals’ starting attitude toward necrites is one step worse than normal.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Shards of the Past: A necrite’s past life grants them bonuses on two particular skills. A necrite chooses two skills—they gains a +2 racial bonus on both of these skills, and they are treated as class skills regardless of what class they actually take.
Stalker: Perception and Stealth are always class skills for necrites.
Offense Racial Traits
Toxic: A number of times per day equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum 1/day), a necrite can envenom a weapon that it wields with its toxic blood (using blood requires the necrite to be injured when it uses this ability). Applying venom in this way is a swift action.
Paralytic Blood: Injury; save Fort DC 10 + the 1/2 user’s Hit Dice + the user’s Constitution modifier; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Dex; cure 1 save.
Senses Racial Traits
Carrion Sense: Necrites have a natural ability to sniff out carrion. This functions like the scent ability, but only for corpses and badly wounded creatures (creatures with 25% or fewer hit points).
See in Darkness: Necrites can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, including that created by spells such as deeper darkness.
Standard Racial Traits
Hold Breath: Necrites can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to four times their Constitution score before risking drowning or suffocating.
Weakness Racial Traits
Resurrection Vulnerability: A raise dead spell cast on a necrite can destroy it (Will negates). Using the spell in this way does not require a material component.
Alternate Racial Traits
Mystic Past Life (Su): You can add spells from another spellcasting class to the spell list of your current spellcasting class. You add a number of spells equal to 1 + your spellcasting class’s key ability score bonus (Wisdom for clerics, and so on). The spells must be the same type (arcane or divine) as the spellcasting class you’re adding them to. For example, you could add divine power to your druid class spell list, but not to your wizard class spell list because divine power is a divine spell. These spells do not have to be spells you can cast as a 1st-level character. The number of spells granted by this ability is set at 1st level. Changes to your ability score do not change the number of spells gained. This racial trait replaces shards of the past.
There, I think they're neat. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
We've touched on most of the common races by now. This week, I want to take a look at a "race" that rarely gets developed for player use: the undead. Sure, Dhampir exist, but the half-vampire thing isn't quite what I'm angling for and they aren't even technically undead.
Step 1: Concept
What I want is something closer to the Forsaken from the Warcraft games. Sentient zombies, but balanced for player use. Plus I need to give them a decent name.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - The Undead type carries a 16 RP cost, which is already more than I'm aiming for for the finished product. Dhampir are just Humanoids with some stuff to reinforce their undead connections, so we could go that route. There's also the Half-Undead subtype, which only costs 5 RP. That hits a fair amount of the notes I'm going for, so let's just start from there. Humanoid (half-undead).
SIZE - I guess this is going to be variable? I didn't initially consider the possibility of halfling Necrites (I decided to call them Necrites, obviously). I don't really like the idea. Maybe I can pull some explanation out of my ass as to why these things need to be Medium.
SPEED - A part of me deeply wants to make these guys Slow. We'll sit on that for now.
ABILITIES - Dhampir get +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Con. That's kind of the opposite of what I want these guys to be. I get the -2 Con because undead lack a Con score. These guys, however, are gonna be stiff both physically and socially. The only other physical option we have is Strength, and I like it. As far as mental scores, I'm liking Int here over Wis. These guys are having to learn how to be people all over again.
So +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Constitution.
LANGUAGES - Hrm...I'm gonna tweak something here. We're going to combine Xenophobic and Linguist. These guys are going to start out with only their racial language, Necril. BUT, their bonus languages will just be Any. I'm sure that balances out to 0 RP.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Let's take a look at what Dhampir get.
Undead Resistance - Already covered by the half-undead subtype.
Resist Level Drain - Also already covered.
Manipulative (4 RP) - Maaaybe.
SLAs (1 RP) - I don't know if I want these guys to have spell-likes.
Darkvision - Covered.
Low-Light Vision (1 RP) - Sure.
Light Sensitivity (-1 RP) - Also maybe.
Negative Energy Affinity - Covered
And alternates...give us literally nothing that isn't vampiric in nature.
I have an idea. We're gonna look at some of the abilities that Samsarans get.
Shards of the Past (4 RP) - This is really cool, thematically.
Mystic Past Life (4 RP) - Works really well here too. Gonna keep it an alternate.
I still don't feel like these guys really have an identity yet. Let's comb through the race builder and see what looks good.
Unnatural (2 RP) - I always loved the fact that animals instinctively fear the undead in some stories.
Stalker (1 RP) - Being able to pretend to be a corpse has gotta have some benefit, right?
Fell Magic (3 RP) - Still not sure I wanna give them SLAs, but if I decide to this is the way I'd like to go.
Stench Aura (4 RP) - This one just amuses me.
Toxic (1 RP) - And this one is legitimately cool.
Carrion Sense (1 RP) - I love how flavorful this is.
See in Darkness (4 RP) - I just really want to give this to things. All the things.
Resurrection Vulnerability (-1 RP) - Very Final Fantasy.
Hold Breath (1 RP) - This hits those WoW notes.
Well, that's more to look at, at least. We're gonna have to cut a ton.
NECRITE
Type - Humanoid (half-undead) 5 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Constitution) 0 RP
Languages - Mixed 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Unnatural 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Manipulative 4 RP
Shards of the Past 4 RP
Stalker 1 RP
Magical Racial Traits
SLAs 4 RP
Mystic Past Lie 4 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Stench Aura 4 RP
Toxic 1 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision 1 RP
See In Darkness 4 RP
Carrion Sense 1 RP
Standard Racial Traits
Hold Breath 1 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity -1 RP
Resurrection Vulnerability -1 RP
So as of right now, we're looking at 33 points. Dropping Manipulative, all the SLAs, and Low-Light Vision gets us down to 22. Mystic Past Life as an alternate brings us to 18. Let's drop Stench Aura to hit 14 and remove Light Sensitivity to hit our 15.
So, our final version looks like this.
Necrite Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Necrites are raw power and intellect, but their bodies are still one foot in the grave. They gain +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Constitution.
Type: Necrites are Humanoids with the half-undead subtype.
Base Speed: Necrites have a base speed of 20 feet.
Languages: Necrites begin play speaking Necril. Necrites with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Half-Undead Traits: Necrites have darkvision 60 feet. Necrites gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and mind-affecting effects. Necrites take no penalties from energy-draining effects, though they can still be killed if they accrue more negative levels than they have Hit Dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels they’ve gained are removed without any additional saving throws. Necrites are harmed by positive energy and healed by negative energy. A necrite with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
Unnatural: Necrites take a –4 penalty on all Charisma-based skill checks to affect creatures of the animal type, and receive a +4 dodge bonus to AC against animals. Animals’ starting attitude toward necrites is one step worse than normal.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Shards of the Past: A necrite’s past life grants them bonuses on two particular skills. A necrite chooses two skills—they gains a +2 racial bonus on both of these skills, and they are treated as class skills regardless of what class they actually take.
Stalker: Perception and Stealth are always class skills for necrites.
Offense Racial Traits
Toxic: A number of times per day equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum 1/day), a necrite can envenom a weapon that it wields with its toxic blood (using blood requires the necrite to be injured when it uses this ability). Applying venom in this way is a swift action.
Paralytic Blood: Injury; save Fort DC 10 + the 1/2 user’s Hit Dice + the user’s Constitution modifier; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Dex; cure 1 save.
Senses Racial Traits
Carrion Sense: Necrites have a natural ability to sniff out carrion. This functions like the scent ability, but only for corpses and badly wounded creatures (creatures with 25% or fewer hit points).
See in Darkness: Necrites can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, including that created by spells such as deeper darkness.
Standard Racial Traits
Hold Breath: Necrites can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to four times their Constitution score before risking drowning or suffocating.
Weakness Racial Traits
Resurrection Vulnerability: A raise dead spell cast on a necrite can destroy it (Will negates). Using the spell in this way does not require a material component.
Alternate Racial Traits
Mystic Past Life (Su): You can add spells from another spellcasting class to the spell list of your current spellcasting class. You add a number of spells equal to 1 + your spellcasting class’s key ability score bonus (Wisdom for clerics, and so on). The spells must be the same type (arcane or divine) as the spellcasting class you’re adding them to. For example, you could add divine power to your druid class spell list, but not to your wizard class spell list because divine power is a divine spell. These spells do not have to be spells you can cast as a 1st-level character. The number of spells granted by this ability is set at 1st level. Changes to your ability score do not change the number of spells gained. This racial trait replaces shards of the past.
There, I think they're neat. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 10 - The Orcish March
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
Orcs are another race that has generally changed a lot with each iteration. Their origin, as much of D&D, lies with Tolkien. They were, as far as I've read, a unique creation on Tolkien's part, but he also pretty much used orc and goblin interchangeably. Blizzard's orcs are basically green fantasy Klingons; noble warrior/primal shaman types. Then we've got the pigman orcs that somehow exist, probably as a result of other orcs' tusks and the fact that orc rhymes with pork.
Step 1: Concept
I feel like going with the popular Blizzard model is the best choice here. Powerful, combative, tribal...that all sounds good to me.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (orc)
SIZE - Medium. They're buff, but they aren't 8+ feet tall.
SPEED - Normal.
ABILITIES - Okay, core orcs get +4 Strength and -2 to all mental stats. Rubbish, I say. I'm cool with dropping the +4 Strength to +2.
A penalty to all racial stats is just insulting. Just because orcs live in a tribal society doesn't mean that they aren't as mentally capable as a human. I mean, humans also live in tribal societies.
No, we're going to make the penalty just -2 Charisma. Orcs aren't exactly known for their social skills.
That leaves us with a mental bonus to hand out, and I think Wisdom is the right choice here. Orcs are hunters and survivalists.
So, +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
LANGUAGES - Standard. They'll start with Common and Orc.
Allies? Probably goblinoids, ogres, and trolls. That gives us Goblin and Giant.
Enemies? Traditionally humans, elves and dwarves. Elven and Dwarven get added.
Weird stuff? I think orcs work really well as elementalists. Maybe I'm pulling too much from Warcraft here, but having strong reverence for the elements feels good to me. We'll add Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran. That puts us over seven bonus languages, but fuck it.
That gives us Common and Orc as starting languages with Aquan, Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Ignan, and Terran as bonus languages.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Alright, core orcs get the following:
Ferocity (4 RP) - This is a great ability, but it's a slightly worse form of Diehard, which we can pick up for half the RP cost. Also, I consolidated Endurance and Diehard into a single feet way back when I tinkered with mechanics.
Weapon Familiarity (2 RP) - This version of weapon familarity is actually lacking a weapon for its point cost. We'll give them something cool.
Darkvision (2 RP) - Yup.
Light Sensitivity (-1 RP) - I've honestly never understood why orcs have light sensitivity. It may just have been my gaming groups over the years, but orcs were a lot more likely to be living in swamps and deserts than in caves. /shrug
Man, orcs get shafted. Let's look at alternates.
Feral (2 RP?) - This ability starts out cool with Survival as a constant class skill and a bonus to melee attack and damage rolls at negative hit points. Then, for some reason, it takes away your automatic languages. -_- Maybe we'll keep the first half.
Smeller (6 RP!) - So, giving up 6 RP worth of traits for a half strength trait that would normally cost 4 RP? Why do they hate orcs so much? We'll just make this full Scent. It's better and cheaper.
Squalid (4 RP) - This is actually a really cool ability except it's way overcosted. I mean, Dual-Minded is 1 RP for a flat +2 to Will saves. Maybe I'll just give them a bonus to Fort saves? We'll see. Oh look, the half-orc version of this is identical, but it replaces a 2 RP ability.
Not enough abilities. Let's pull from Half-Orc.
Intimidating (2 RP) - Cool beans.
Gatecrasher (2 RP) - Way cool.
Pain Tolerance (4 RP) - DR that only works against nonlethal damage is an awesome concept. Too bad this ability is as overcosted as it is. Maybe I'll bump the nonlethal DR up to 5. Because nonlethal damage rarely happens anyway.
Scavenger (2 RP) - Nice.
Shaman's Apprentice (2 RP) - See Ferocity.
Okay, let's put this together and see what we have.
ORC
Type - Humanoid (orc) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) 0 RP
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial TraitsSqualid 2 RP
Pain Tolerance 4 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Intimidating 2 RP
Scavenger 2 RP
Static Bonus Feat (Endurance) 2 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Feral 2 RP
Gatecrasher 2 RP
Weapon Familiarity 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision 2 RP
Scent 4 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity -1 RP
That brings us to 23 RP. Let's see what we can chop down. Let's make Scavenger and Squalid alternate traits, and cut Pain Tolerance (as much as I like it) which should bring us down to 15.
That brings us to...
Orc Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Orcs are powerful hunters, but they have difficulty making a good impression. They gain +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, and -2 Charisma.
Type: Orcs are humanoids with the orc subtype
Base Speed: Orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc. Orcs with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Ignan, and Terran. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Ferocity: Orcs gain Endurance as a bonus feat.
Intimidating: Orcs gain a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate skill checks.
Offense Racial Traits
Feral: Orcs gain Survival as a class skill and gain a +1 racial bonus on melee weapon attack and damage rolls when at negative hit points.
Gatecrasher: Orcs gain a +2 racial bonus on Strength checks to break objects and on sunder combat maneuver checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Orcs are always proficient with greataxes, falchions, and scorpion whips, and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision: Orcs can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Scent: Orcs gain the scent ability.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled as long as they remain in an area of bright light.
Alternate Racial Traits
Scavenger: Some orcs eke out a leaving picking over the garbage heaps of society, and must learn to separate rare finds from the inevitable dross. Orcs with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks and on Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste. This racial trait replaces gatecrasher.
Squalid: Some orcs exist in surroundings so filthy and pestilent that even other orcs would have difficulty living in them. Orcs with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws made to resist nausea, the sickened condition, and disease. This racial trait replaces gatecrasher.
There. Much better than core. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Orcs are another race that has generally changed a lot with each iteration. Their origin, as much of D&D, lies with Tolkien. They were, as far as I've read, a unique creation on Tolkien's part, but he also pretty much used orc and goblin interchangeably. Blizzard's orcs are basically green fantasy Klingons; noble warrior/primal shaman types. Then we've got the pigman orcs that somehow exist, probably as a result of other orcs' tusks and the fact that orc rhymes with pork.
Step 1: Concept
I feel like going with the popular Blizzard model is the best choice here. Powerful, combative, tribal...that all sounds good to me.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (orc)
SIZE - Medium. They're buff, but they aren't 8+ feet tall.
SPEED - Normal.
ABILITIES - Okay, core orcs get +4 Strength and -2 to all mental stats. Rubbish, I say. I'm cool with dropping the +4 Strength to +2.
A penalty to all racial stats is just insulting. Just because orcs live in a tribal society doesn't mean that they aren't as mentally capable as a human. I mean, humans also live in tribal societies.
No, we're going to make the penalty just -2 Charisma. Orcs aren't exactly known for their social skills.
That leaves us with a mental bonus to hand out, and I think Wisdom is the right choice here. Orcs are hunters and survivalists.
So, +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
LANGUAGES - Standard. They'll start with Common and Orc.
Allies? Probably goblinoids, ogres, and trolls. That gives us Goblin and Giant.
Enemies? Traditionally humans, elves and dwarves. Elven and Dwarven get added.
Weird stuff? I think orcs work really well as elementalists. Maybe I'm pulling too much from Warcraft here, but having strong reverence for the elements feels good to me. We'll add Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran. That puts us over seven bonus languages, but fuck it.
That gives us Common and Orc as starting languages with Aquan, Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Ignan, and Terran as bonus languages.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Alright, core orcs get the following:
Ferocity (4 RP) - This is a great ability, but it's a slightly worse form of Diehard, which we can pick up for half the RP cost. Also, I consolidated Endurance and Diehard into a single feet way back when I tinkered with mechanics.
Weapon Familiarity (2 RP) - This version of weapon familarity is actually lacking a weapon for its point cost. We'll give them something cool.
Darkvision (2 RP) - Yup.
Light Sensitivity (-1 RP) - I've honestly never understood why orcs have light sensitivity. It may just have been my gaming groups over the years, but orcs were a lot more likely to be living in swamps and deserts than in caves. /shrug
Man, orcs get shafted. Let's look at alternates.
Feral (2 RP?) - This ability starts out cool with Survival as a constant class skill and a bonus to melee attack and damage rolls at negative hit points. Then, for some reason, it takes away your automatic languages. -_- Maybe we'll keep the first half.
Smeller (6 RP!) - So, giving up 6 RP worth of traits for a half strength trait that would normally cost 4 RP? Why do they hate orcs so much? We'll just make this full Scent. It's better and cheaper.
Squalid (4 RP) - This is actually a really cool ability except it's way overcosted. I mean, Dual-Minded is 1 RP for a flat +2 to Will saves. Maybe I'll just give them a bonus to Fort saves? We'll see. Oh look, the half-orc version of this is identical, but it replaces a 2 RP ability.
Not enough abilities. Let's pull from Half-Orc.
Intimidating (2 RP) - Cool beans.
Gatecrasher (2 RP) - Way cool.
Pain Tolerance (4 RP) - DR that only works against nonlethal damage is an awesome concept. Too bad this ability is as overcosted as it is. Maybe I'll bump the nonlethal DR up to 5. Because nonlethal damage rarely happens anyway.
Scavenger (2 RP) - Nice.
Shaman's Apprentice (2 RP) - See Ferocity.
Okay, let's put this together and see what we have.
ORC
Type - Humanoid (orc) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) 0 RP
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial TraitsSqualid 2 RP
Pain Tolerance 4 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Intimidating 2 RP
Scavenger 2 RP
Static Bonus Feat (Endurance) 2 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Feral 2 RP
Gatecrasher 2 RP
Weapon Familiarity 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision 2 RP
Scent 4 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity -1 RP
That brings us to 23 RP. Let's see what we can chop down. Let's make Scavenger and Squalid alternate traits, and cut Pain Tolerance (as much as I like it) which should bring us down to 15.
That brings us to...
Orc Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Orcs are powerful hunters, but they have difficulty making a good impression. They gain +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, and -2 Charisma.
Type: Orcs are humanoids with the orc subtype
Base Speed: Orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc. Orcs with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Ignan, and Terran. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Ferocity: Orcs gain Endurance as a bonus feat.
Intimidating: Orcs gain a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate skill checks.
Offense Racial Traits
Feral: Orcs gain Survival as a class skill and gain a +1 racial bonus on melee weapon attack and damage rolls when at negative hit points.
Gatecrasher: Orcs gain a +2 racial bonus on Strength checks to break objects and on sunder combat maneuver checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Orcs are always proficient with greataxes, falchions, and scorpion whips, and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision: Orcs can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Scent: Orcs gain the scent ability.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity: Orcs are dazzled as long as they remain in an area of bright light.
Alternate Racial Traits
Scavenger: Some orcs eke out a leaving picking over the garbage heaps of society, and must learn to separate rare finds from the inevitable dross. Orcs with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks and on Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste. This racial trait replaces gatecrasher.
Squalid: Some orcs exist in surroundings so filthy and pestilent that even other orcs would have difficulty living in them. Orcs with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws made to resist nausea, the sickened condition, and disease. This racial trait replaces gatecrasher.
There. Much better than core. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Hybrid Theory
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
We're taking a break from our usual revamps in order to address a pretty big elephant in the room. Hybrids.
Half-elves and half-orcs have been a staple of the genre for a long time. But why just those two? If it's a peculiar quirk of Human genetics, shouldn't we have half-dwarves, half-gnomes, three-quarterlings, et cetera?
Maybe elves, humans, and orcs are just more closely related than some of the other races. Maybe dwarves, gnomes, and halflings fit on their own branch of reproductive compatibility.
Of course, half-ogres and orogs are a thing. That would mean that ogres are more closely related to elves than halflings. Hobbits (the OG halflings) were supposed to have been a subrace of men in Middle Earth.
It's an awful muddled mess. There's no consistency. No pattern. No direction.
The simplest answer is to just say that hybrids are simply not viable, or so rarely viable as to be campfire stories. That's a cop-out decision, though.
So, we can try to establish some general rules. Easy stuff, like things need to be within one size category to be viable. I don't even want to think about the awfulness of a halfling/ogre hybrid.
We could simply say that if it's a humanoid, it can crossbreed, but it somehow feels wrong for a lizardfolk and a human to produce viable offspring. So let's say oviparous and viviparous species are incompatible.
Also, I'm going to be exploring a different (Magic? Technological?) evolutionary path for the "beast races", so let's just say that any race with animalistic features will be biologically incompatible with "standard races". (I have no idea what kobolds should fall under. They don't have an easily defined animalistic origin like catfolk or vanara. Headaches.)
Let's also say that races with the same racial subtype are at least partially compatible. Elves and Dark Elves should be able to produce a child, as should Dwarves and Duergar, etc.
That still gives us a massive range of possible hybrids.
We'll definitely still need to come up with...a chart? I don't know.
I guess, in the spirit of the game, I could just randomly roll reproductive compatibility. That might lead to some legitimately interesting evolutionary history.
As far as the offspring, there's also a lot to consider.
Do we want reciprocal hybrids to exist (ligers/tigons, mules/hinnies, et cetera)? If so, that complicates things further. Reciprocal hybrids tend strongly toward infertility. The interesting quirk of that is Haldane's rule. Certain hybrids are infertile in one gender with the other being fully (usually partially) fertile. This is always the gender with two of the same chromosomes, so in mammals this means that female hybrids are more commonly fertile than males.
What about the reproductive viability of these hybrids? I very much do not want to get into possible racial traits for a quarter elf/quarter orc/half human. The easy answer is to say that all hybrids are infertile. Another cop-out decision. I feel more comfortable with hybrids having restricted viability. So a half-elf would be reproductively viable with elves, half-elves, and humans, but nothing else. That, at least, carries on some genetics and it saves me getting into all the details of numbers of chromosomes and other bioscience that I only have a basic academic knowledge of.
As far as the further breedings, there's always the "One Drop" rule that we could consider, though I don't really care for it. If a hybrid race produces child, that child will just be the hybrid. In the above example, it wouldn't matter if the half-elf mated with an elf, half-elf, or human. The result would always be a half-elf.
So, if this is the case, wouldn't the entire world eventual become these half-races, unable to breed with any other race? I mean, potentially, yeah. This is something even Darwin struggled with. A potential answer is koinophilia.
Koinophilia is, essentially, the natural draw to the thing that is most similar to you. Biological imperative wants you to breed with the most perfect example of your species that you can. Proto-dwarves, therefore, would instinctually have avoided proto-elves because their long spindly limbs would seem weak and fragile. That same instinct carries over even into civilized society. Because early evolution is propelled by the need for survival and propagation, it's just very unlikely to happen. Certainly, there are going to be dwarves that are attracted to elves, but they'll always be biological outliers. The majority of dwarves are going to be attracted to dwarves. Other races are generally going to be too tall, too short, too thin, not enough body hair, can't see in the dark, gods why do they dance so much, et cetera.
All this is to say one thing:
I just don't know.
I've written a lot of words and come to very few conclusions. I suppose, for now, I'll just push hybrids to the background.
I'm not happy about it, but I don't really see a path forward right now. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
We're taking a break from our usual revamps in order to address a pretty big elephant in the room. Hybrids.
Half-elves and half-orcs have been a staple of the genre for a long time. But why just those two? If it's a peculiar quirk of Human genetics, shouldn't we have half-dwarves, half-gnomes, three-quarterlings, et cetera?
Maybe elves, humans, and orcs are just more closely related than some of the other races. Maybe dwarves, gnomes, and halflings fit on their own branch of reproductive compatibility.
Of course, half-ogres and orogs are a thing. That would mean that ogres are more closely related to elves than halflings. Hobbits (the OG halflings) were supposed to have been a subrace of men in Middle Earth.
It's an awful muddled mess. There's no consistency. No pattern. No direction.
The simplest answer is to just say that hybrids are simply not viable, or so rarely viable as to be campfire stories. That's a cop-out decision, though.
So, we can try to establish some general rules. Easy stuff, like things need to be within one size category to be viable. I don't even want to think about the awfulness of a halfling/ogre hybrid.
We could simply say that if it's a humanoid, it can crossbreed, but it somehow feels wrong for a lizardfolk and a human to produce viable offspring. So let's say oviparous and viviparous species are incompatible.
Also, I'm going to be exploring a different (Magic? Technological?) evolutionary path for the "beast races", so let's just say that any race with animalistic features will be biologically incompatible with "standard races". (I have no idea what kobolds should fall under. They don't have an easily defined animalistic origin like catfolk or vanara. Headaches.)
Let's also say that races with the same racial subtype are at least partially compatible. Elves and Dark Elves should be able to produce a child, as should Dwarves and Duergar, etc.
That still gives us a massive range of possible hybrids.
We'll definitely still need to come up with...a chart? I don't know.
I guess, in the spirit of the game, I could just randomly roll reproductive compatibility. That might lead to some legitimately interesting evolutionary history.
As far as the offspring, there's also a lot to consider.
Do we want reciprocal hybrids to exist (ligers/tigons, mules/hinnies, et cetera)? If so, that complicates things further. Reciprocal hybrids tend strongly toward infertility. The interesting quirk of that is Haldane's rule. Certain hybrids are infertile in one gender with the other being fully (usually partially) fertile. This is always the gender with two of the same chromosomes, so in mammals this means that female hybrids are more commonly fertile than males.
What about the reproductive viability of these hybrids? I very much do not want to get into possible racial traits for a quarter elf/quarter orc/half human. The easy answer is to say that all hybrids are infertile. Another cop-out decision. I feel more comfortable with hybrids having restricted viability. So a half-elf would be reproductively viable with elves, half-elves, and humans, but nothing else. That, at least, carries on some genetics and it saves me getting into all the details of numbers of chromosomes and other bioscience that I only have a basic academic knowledge of.
As far as the further breedings, there's always the "One Drop" rule that we could consider, though I don't really care for it. If a hybrid race produces child, that child will just be the hybrid. In the above example, it wouldn't matter if the half-elf mated with an elf, half-elf, or human. The result would always be a half-elf.
So, if this is the case, wouldn't the entire world eventual become these half-races, unable to breed with any other race? I mean, potentially, yeah. This is something even Darwin struggled with. A potential answer is koinophilia.
Koinophilia is, essentially, the natural draw to the thing that is most similar to you. Biological imperative wants you to breed with the most perfect example of your species that you can. Proto-dwarves, therefore, would instinctually have avoided proto-elves because their long spindly limbs would seem weak and fragile. That same instinct carries over even into civilized society. Because early evolution is propelled by the need for survival and propagation, it's just very unlikely to happen. Certainly, there are going to be dwarves that are attracted to elves, but they'll always be biological outliers. The majority of dwarves are going to be attracted to dwarves. Other races are generally going to be too tall, too short, too thin, not enough body hair, can't see in the dark, gods why do they dance so much, et cetera.
All this is to say one thing:
I just don't know.
I've written a lot of words and come to very few conclusions. I suppose, for now, I'll just push hybrids to the background.
I'm not happy about it, but I don't really see a path forward right now. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 09 - Half Jack
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
Halflings. Hobbits, if you're a Tolkien purist. The funny thing is that the modern concept of halflings is actually based on very unusual hobbits. Most hobbits were homebodies, never really caring what was happening outside the Shire. Life was good, why wonder? No, modern halflings are the idealogical spawn of the Bagginses; those strange hobbits who actually enjoyed traveling or, dare I say it, adventuring? That naturally grew into the modern (wildly racist) "halflings are stereotypical gypsies" vibe that they have going on. Shady wanderers with sticky fingers and silver tongues. Fast talkers and snake oil salesmen. It's kind of tragic, even for a fictional race.
Step 1: Concept
I think I want to lean into what Tolkien first intended for hobbits in general. Sure, there will always be Bagginses; outlying exceptions proving the rule*. Those are clearly the halflings that will become adventurers, which is kind of the point of RPGs. I want that functionality to be built into the race without explicitly pushing them that direction.
*As an aside, the word "prove" used to mean "test". The exception that proves the rule isn't the thing that says beyond doubt that the rule is true, it's what makes us consider whether it really is a rule after all. Where my fellow word nerds at?
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (halfling). Hobbits supposedly shared an ancestor with humans, but we aren't gonna go that route.
SIZE - Small. That's kind of the point.
SPEED - Debatable. I kind of like the idea of them having a base speed equal to humans; faster than their short legs would imply.
ABILITIES - I'm torn again. There's the draw of the shifty conman saying that their base modifiers are dead on. Then there's the draw of the homebody cook telling me that their stats should be more similar to dwarves. I'll revisit this once I see what kind of racial traits we're going with. I honestly didn't expect halflings to be this troublesome which, I suppose, is amusingly appropriate. Underestimated even in mechanical form.
*Okay, coming back here after looking at what other traits I want to give them. I've decided that I'm happy with the +2 to Dexterity, but I'm shifting the +2 Charisma to +2 Wisdom. I'll also be keeping the -2 to Strength. I know I defended gnomes with this, but it feels appropriate on halflings.
LANGUAGES - Standard. Common and Halfling as starters.
Allies are dwarves, elves, gnomes, humans...pretty much anyone that isn't actively trying to kill them. That adds Dwarven, Elven, and Gnome.
Enemies? Let's say orcs, gnolls, and giants. Those feel good to me. So Giant, Gnoll, and Orc.
One more? Umm...Goblin? Why not?
Step 3: Racial Traits
Okay, base halfling traits are as follows:
Fearless (1 RP): Sure.
Lucky, Lesser (2 RP): I can dig it.
Sure-Footed (4 RP): Makes sense.
Weapon Familiarity (1 RP): Word.
Keen Senses (2 RP): Cool.
So...I actually like all of these. Let's see what else sticks.
Acquisitive (2 RP): I like this.
Attentive (2 RP): I really don't want to just toss a bunch of skill bonuses in the pot, but they feel good.
Blessed (1 RP): This feels way better than Fearless.
Driven Worker (4 RP): More skill bonuses...
Ingratiating (6 RP): I like it, but I think I like the more focused nature of Driven Worker better. Let gnomes be generalists, halflings can be specialists.
Low Blow (2 RP): I like it.
Practicality (5 RP): There is a ton of overlap with these traits...
Resourcefulness (5 RP): Way cool. I love unique abilities like this.
Underfoot (4 RP): Dovetails nicely with Low Blow.
Well, let's see how this goes.
HALFLING
Type - Humanoid (halfling) 0 RP
Size - Small 0 RP
Base Speed - Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength) 0 RP
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Lucky, Lesser 2 RP
Underfoot 4 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Driven Worker 4 RP
Resourcefulness 5 RP
Sure-Footed 4 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Low Blow 2 RP
Weapon Familiarity 1 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Keen Senses 2 RP
That brings us to 24 RP. We can drop Resourcefulness and make Driven Worker an alternate to bring us in line.
That brings our final version to...
Halfling Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Halflings are quick and have great natural instincts, but their slight builds don't help much in the way of physical prowess. The gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, and -2 Strength.
Size: Halflings are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Base Speed: Halflings have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Halflings begin play speaking Common and Halfling. Halflings with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Halfling Luck: Halflings receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
Underfoot: Halflings gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC against foes larger than themselves and a +1 bonus on Reflex saving throws to avoid trample attacks.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Sure-Footed: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks.
Offense Racial Traits
Low Blow: Halflings gain a +1 bonus on critical confirmation rolls against opponents larger than themselves.
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with slings and treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Alternate Racial Traits
Driven Worker: Many halfling families have developed techniques to accomplish work faster and more efficiently, whether to contribute to the community or to please overbearing masters. These halflings gain a +4 racial bonus on checks with one Craft, Perform, or Profession skill. This racial trait replaces sure-footed.
I think I can be happy with that. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Halflings. Hobbits, if you're a Tolkien purist. The funny thing is that the modern concept of halflings is actually based on very unusual hobbits. Most hobbits were homebodies, never really caring what was happening outside the Shire. Life was good, why wonder? No, modern halflings are the idealogical spawn of the Bagginses; those strange hobbits who actually enjoyed traveling or, dare I say it, adventuring? That naturally grew into the modern (wildly racist) "halflings are stereotypical gypsies" vibe that they have going on. Shady wanderers with sticky fingers and silver tongues. Fast talkers and snake oil salesmen. It's kind of tragic, even for a fictional race.
Step 1: Concept
I think I want to lean into what Tolkien first intended for hobbits in general. Sure, there will always be Bagginses; outlying exceptions proving the rule*. Those are clearly the halflings that will become adventurers, which is kind of the point of RPGs. I want that functionality to be built into the race without explicitly pushing them that direction.
*As an aside, the word "prove" used to mean "test". The exception that proves the rule isn't the thing that says beyond doubt that the rule is true, it's what makes us consider whether it really is a rule after all. Where my fellow word nerds at?
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (halfling). Hobbits supposedly shared an ancestor with humans, but we aren't gonna go that route.
SIZE - Small. That's kind of the point.
SPEED - Debatable. I kind of like the idea of them having a base speed equal to humans; faster than their short legs would imply.
ABILITIES - I'm torn again. There's the draw of the shifty conman saying that their base modifiers are dead on. Then there's the draw of the homebody cook telling me that their stats should be more similar to dwarves. I'll revisit this once I see what kind of racial traits we're going with. I honestly didn't expect halflings to be this troublesome which, I suppose, is amusingly appropriate. Underestimated even in mechanical form.
*Okay, coming back here after looking at what other traits I want to give them. I've decided that I'm happy with the +2 to Dexterity, but I'm shifting the +2 Charisma to +2 Wisdom. I'll also be keeping the -2 to Strength. I know I defended gnomes with this, but it feels appropriate on halflings.
LANGUAGES - Standard. Common and Halfling as starters.
Allies are dwarves, elves, gnomes, humans...pretty much anyone that isn't actively trying to kill them. That adds Dwarven, Elven, and Gnome.
Enemies? Let's say orcs, gnolls, and giants. Those feel good to me. So Giant, Gnoll, and Orc.
One more? Umm...Goblin? Why not?
Step 3: Racial Traits
Okay, base halfling traits are as follows:
Fearless (1 RP): Sure.
Lucky, Lesser (2 RP): I can dig it.
Sure-Footed (4 RP): Makes sense.
Weapon Familiarity (1 RP): Word.
Keen Senses (2 RP): Cool.
So...I actually like all of these. Let's see what else sticks.
Acquisitive (2 RP): I like this.
Attentive (2 RP): I really don't want to just toss a bunch of skill bonuses in the pot, but they feel good.
Blessed (1 RP): This feels way better than Fearless.
Driven Worker (4 RP): More skill bonuses...
Ingratiating (6 RP): I like it, but I think I like the more focused nature of Driven Worker better. Let gnomes be generalists, halflings can be specialists.
Low Blow (2 RP): I like it.
Practicality (5 RP): There is a ton of overlap with these traits...
Resourcefulness (5 RP): Way cool. I love unique abilities like this.
Underfoot (4 RP): Dovetails nicely with Low Blow.
Well, let's see how this goes.
HALFLING
Type - Humanoid (halfling) 0 RP
Size - Small 0 RP
Base Speed - Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength) 0 RP
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Lucky, Lesser 2 RP
Underfoot 4 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Driven Worker 4 RP
Resourcefulness 5 RP
Sure-Footed 4 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Low Blow 2 RP
Weapon Familiarity 1 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Keen Senses 2 RP
That brings us to 24 RP. We can drop Resourcefulness and make Driven Worker an alternate to bring us in line.
That brings our final version to...
Halfling Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Halflings are quick and have great natural instincts, but their slight builds don't help much in the way of physical prowess. The gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, and -2 Strength.
Size: Halflings are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Base Speed: Halflings have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Halflings begin play speaking Common and Halfling. Halflings with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Halfling Luck: Halflings receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
Underfoot: Halflings gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC against foes larger than themselves and a +1 bonus on Reflex saving throws to avoid trample attacks.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Sure-Footed: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks.
Offense Racial Traits
Low Blow: Halflings gain a +1 bonus on critical confirmation rolls against opponents larger than themselves.
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with slings and treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Alternate Racial Traits
Driven Worker: Many halfling families have developed techniques to accomplish work faster and more efficiently, whether to contribute to the community or to please overbearing masters. These halflings gain a +4 racial bonus on checks with one Craft, Perform, or Profession skill. This racial trait replaces sure-footed.
I think I can be happy with that. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 08 - Mushroom Dance
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
I was planning on making this entry about Svirfneblin, but they're just so...not gnomes. In so many ways. I'll get around to Svirfneblin eventually, I just need to figure out what I want to do with them first.
Instead, let's do probably my favorite subterranean race of all time. Hells, maybe my favorite race period.
MUSHROOM PEOPLE!
Whether Myconids or Myceloids or what have you, mushroom people have always been awesome. Maybe I watched Fantasia too many times as a child.
Step 1: Concept
So, these guys are sentient mushrooms. Adorable. Also a bit scary. Usually, they're incapable of audible speech, instead using spores to communicate telepathically with things. Let's see what we can shake out here.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - I mean, Plant, clearly. It's a hefty entrance fee of 10 RP, but it comes with a suite of immunities that are pretty impressive. Plus, they don't need to sleep. Because there's a logical reason for that.
SIZE - While they tend to be Medium in properties that include them, I much prefer them as Small creatures.
SPEED - Slow. They're plant people. I don't imagine they move too quickly.
ABILITIES - This is a tough sell. These guys aren't anywhere near common enough to really have a codified set of abilities. That said, this gives us the freedom to do whatever we want.
I like these guys with a Constitution bonus. Plant dudes should be tough. Also, I really like the idea of them being crafty. Alchemists and such. So let's give them a bonus to Intelligence.
As far as the penalty, we're really stepping into untested waters here. I want them to have a Dexterity penalty.
"GASP!" you may say. How many Small races have a Dex penalty? Scratch that. How many races have a Dex penalty PERIOD. The answer? Incredibly few. Like...less than 1%.
But they're mushroom dudes, and I want them to be slow and awkward. It makes me happy.
LANGUAGES - I'm probably gonna just go with telepathy here. I have no idea what kind of RP equivalent that is, but it's probably gonna cost at least 1. I would add a list of races that they can at least understand, but if they evolved with telepathy, they probably don't hear the same way we do. That might be a neat weakness for them.
Step 3: Racial Traits
About the only unifying feature amongst the various incarnation of mushroom people is that they emit spores for different effects. Kind of like spell-like abilities, but not quite. Maybe supernatural abilities. I'll figure it out. That said, we're mostly just gonna be combing the race builder for cool shit, keeping in mind that just being a plant is costly.
Hydrated Vitality (3 RP) - This a cool. I like the idea of mushroom people gathering around the bank of some underground to drink up. I don't like that they have to be completely submerged.
Natural Armor (2 RP) - Ever the classic ability.
Stability (1 RP) - This is a neat ability for these guys.
Camouflage (1 RP) - Totally appropriate. I'm digging making them Small even more now.
Cave Dweller (1 RP) - Appropriate.
Fertile Soil (2 RP) - Could be cool as an alternate trait.
Spell-Like Abilities (3 RP) - It's just easier to work their spores as SLAs. I'm thinking charm person, polypurpose panacea, and sleep.
Terrain Stride (1 RP) - On point.
See in Darkness (4 RP) - These guys need it.
Light Blindness (-2 RP) - These guys need some weaknesses to balance out, and this one fits.
Treespeech (2 RP) - This is neat.
Looking deeper at it, I think I'm just going to make their racial language spore-based and give them the Xenophopbic language trait. It's a lot less costly than telepathy.
Alright, let's see what we have here.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO NAME THEM (SHROOMKIN?)
Type - Plant 10 RP
Size - Small 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity)
Languages - Xenophobic
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Hydrated Vitality 3 RP
Natural Armor 2 RP
Stability 1 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Camouflage 1 RP
Cave Dweller 1 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Fertile Soil 2 RP
Spell-Like Abilities 3 RP
Movement Racial Abilities
Terrain Stride 1 RP
Senses Racial Abilities
See in Darkness 4 RP
Treespeech 2 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness -2 RP
That puts us at 27 points. We need to cut 12. We'll drop See in Darkness. I love it, but it means that these guys now cultivate bioluminescent mushrooms for light. Hydrated Vitality and Treespeech can also go. Finally, we'll cut Stability and make Fertile Soil an alternate racial trait like we planned to all along.
Okay, let's put it together and see what we get.
Shroomkin Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Shroomkin are clever and hardy, but they are slow to move.
Type: Shroomkin are Plant creatures.
Size: Shroomkin are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Base Speed: Shroomkin have a base speed of 20 feet.
Languages: Shroomkin begin play speaking Sporren. Shroomkin with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Common, Elven, Dwarven, and Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Natural Armor: Shroomkin gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
Plant Traits: Shroomkin are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning. They do not need to sleep, but can choose to rest in order to regain spells and daily abilities.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Camouflage: Shroomkin gain a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks while underground.
Cave Dweller: Shroomkin gain a +1 bonus on Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Survival checks made underground.
Magical Racial Traits
Spores: Shroomkin with a Constitution score of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities (the caster level is equal to the user’s character level):
1/day—charm person, polypurpose panacea, sleep.
The DC is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the user’s Constitution modifier.
Movement Racial Abilities
Cavern Strider: Shroomkin can move through natural difficult terrain at their normal speed while underground. Magically altered terrain affects them normally.
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision: Shroomkin can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds shroomkin for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
BONUS FEAT OPTIONS!
Spore Lord (Shroomkin)
Prerequisites: Able to use shroomkin spores, shroomkin.
Benefit: You may use root as a spell-like ability at will, and add memory lapse and glitterdust to the spell-like abilities that you may use once each per day. Your caster level is equal to your character level.
Improved Spore Lord (Shroomkin)
Prerequisites: Con 13, Spore Lord, able to use shroomkin spores, shroomkin
Benefit: You may use your glitterdust, memory lapse, polypurpose panacea, and sleep spell-like abilities twice per day. Your charm person spell-like ability instead becomes charm monster, which you may use twice per day.
Greater Spore Lord (Shroomkin)
Prerequisites: Con 13, Spore Lord, Improved Spore Lord, able to use shroomkin spores, shroomkin
Benefit: Your root spell-like ability is now constant. You may use your charm monster, glitterdust, memory lapse, polypurpose panacea, and sleep spell-like abilities at will.
Awesome. I like these guys already. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
I was planning on making this entry about Svirfneblin, but they're just so...not gnomes. In so many ways. I'll get around to Svirfneblin eventually, I just need to figure out what I want to do with them first.
Instead, let's do probably my favorite subterranean race of all time. Hells, maybe my favorite race period.
MUSHROOM PEOPLE!
Whether Myconids or Myceloids or what have you, mushroom people have always been awesome. Maybe I watched Fantasia too many times as a child.
Step 1: Concept
So, these guys are sentient mushrooms. Adorable. Also a bit scary. Usually, they're incapable of audible speech, instead using spores to communicate telepathically with things. Let's see what we can shake out here.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - I mean, Plant, clearly. It's a hefty entrance fee of 10 RP, but it comes with a suite of immunities that are pretty impressive. Plus, they don't need to sleep. Because there's a logical reason for that.
SIZE - While they tend to be Medium in properties that include them, I much prefer them as Small creatures.
SPEED - Slow. They're plant people. I don't imagine they move too quickly.
ABILITIES - This is a tough sell. These guys aren't anywhere near common enough to really have a codified set of abilities. That said, this gives us the freedom to do whatever we want.
I like these guys with a Constitution bonus. Plant dudes should be tough. Also, I really like the idea of them being crafty. Alchemists and such. So let's give them a bonus to Intelligence.
As far as the penalty, we're really stepping into untested waters here. I want them to have a Dexterity penalty.
"GASP!" you may say. How many Small races have a Dex penalty? Scratch that. How many races have a Dex penalty PERIOD. The answer? Incredibly few. Like...less than 1%.
But they're mushroom dudes, and I want them to be slow and awkward. It makes me happy.
LANGUAGES - I'm probably gonna just go with telepathy here. I have no idea what kind of RP equivalent that is, but it's probably gonna cost at least 1. I would add a list of races that they can at least understand, but if they evolved with telepathy, they probably don't hear the same way we do. That might be a neat weakness for them.
Step 3: Racial Traits
About the only unifying feature amongst the various incarnation of mushroom people is that they emit spores for different effects. Kind of like spell-like abilities, but not quite. Maybe supernatural abilities. I'll figure it out. That said, we're mostly just gonna be combing the race builder for cool shit, keeping in mind that just being a plant is costly.
Hydrated Vitality (3 RP) - This a cool. I like the idea of mushroom people gathering around the bank of some underground to drink up. I don't like that they have to be completely submerged.
Natural Armor (2 RP) - Ever the classic ability.
Stability (1 RP) - This is a neat ability for these guys.
Camouflage (1 RP) - Totally appropriate. I'm digging making them Small even more now.
Cave Dweller (1 RP) - Appropriate.
Fertile Soil (2 RP) - Could be cool as an alternate trait.
Spell-Like Abilities (3 RP) - It's just easier to work their spores as SLAs. I'm thinking charm person, polypurpose panacea, and sleep.
Terrain Stride (1 RP) - On point.
See in Darkness (4 RP) - These guys need it.
Light Blindness (-2 RP) - These guys need some weaknesses to balance out, and this one fits.
Treespeech (2 RP) - This is neat.
Looking deeper at it, I think I'm just going to make their racial language spore-based and give them the Xenophopbic language trait. It's a lot less costly than telepathy.
Alright, let's see what we have here.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO NAME THEM (SHROOMKIN?)
Type - Plant 10 RP
Size - Small 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity)
Languages - Xenophobic
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Hydrated Vitality 3 RP
Natural Armor 2 RP
Stability 1 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Camouflage 1 RP
Cave Dweller 1 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Fertile Soil 2 RP
Spell-Like Abilities 3 RP
Movement Racial Abilities
Terrain Stride 1 RP
Senses Racial Abilities
See in Darkness 4 RP
Treespeech 2 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness -2 RP
That puts us at 27 points. We need to cut 12. We'll drop See in Darkness. I love it, but it means that these guys now cultivate bioluminescent mushrooms for light. Hydrated Vitality and Treespeech can also go. Finally, we'll cut Stability and make Fertile Soil an alternate racial trait like we planned to all along.
Okay, let's put it together and see what we get.
Shroomkin Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Shroomkin are clever and hardy, but they are slow to move.
Type: Shroomkin are Plant creatures.
Size: Shroomkin are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Base Speed: Shroomkin have a base speed of 20 feet.
Languages: Shroomkin begin play speaking Sporren. Shroomkin with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Common, Elven, Dwarven, and Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Natural Armor: Shroomkin gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
Plant Traits: Shroomkin are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning. They do not need to sleep, but can choose to rest in order to regain spells and daily abilities.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Camouflage: Shroomkin gain a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks while underground.
Cave Dweller: Shroomkin gain a +1 bonus on Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Survival checks made underground.
Magical Racial Traits
Spores: Shroomkin with a Constitution score of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities (the caster level is equal to the user’s character level):
1/day—charm person, polypurpose panacea, sleep.
The DC is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the user’s Constitution modifier.
Movement Racial Abilities
Cavern Strider: Shroomkin can move through natural difficult terrain at their normal speed while underground. Magically altered terrain affects them normally.
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision: Shroomkin can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds shroomkin for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
BONUS FEAT OPTIONS!
Spore Lord (Shroomkin)
Prerequisites: Able to use shroomkin spores, shroomkin.
Benefit: You may use root as a spell-like ability at will, and add memory lapse and glitterdust to the spell-like abilities that you may use once each per day. Your caster level is equal to your character level.
Improved Spore Lord (Shroomkin)
Prerequisites: Con 13, Spore Lord, able to use shroomkin spores, shroomkin
Benefit: You may use your glitterdust, memory lapse, polypurpose panacea, and sleep spell-like abilities twice per day. Your charm person spell-like ability instead becomes charm monster, which you may use twice per day.
Greater Spore Lord (Shroomkin)
Prerequisites: Con 13, Spore Lord, Improved Spore Lord, able to use shroomkin spores, shroomkin
Benefit: Your root spell-like ability is now constant. You may use your charm monster, glitterdust, memory lapse, polypurpose panacea, and sleep spell-like abilities at will.
Awesome. I like these guys already. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 07 - The Gnome
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
[[Note: I've transitioned into posting on Thursdays, rather than Mondays.]]
Gnomes are weird. They're a widespread mishmash of concepts depending on what setting we're talking about. Classic D&D gnomes are wild-eyed curiosity seekers. Pathfinder gnomes are the same, but this time it's a genetic draw toward the weird stuff and if you don't delve into it, you die. Or get bleached. Because they're literally fey and the Material Plane is killing them? I don't...whatever. Warcraft gnomes are mechanists and tinkers, building ever more complex tech. I'm not sure where I want to go with them yet.
Step 1: Concept
Small, mischievous, brilliant idiots. That's kind of the best description I can produce for gnomes.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (gnome). These guys are going to solidly be from the Material Plane.
SIZE - Small.
SPEED - Slow.
ABILITIES - So, core gnomes get +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -2 Strength.
The +2 Con is fine. I like it.
The +2 Cha is weird, though. I mean, a short, wild-eyed person with hair dyed seven different vivid colors and spiked up half as tall as they are is going to put people on guard. You never know when a gnome is gonna jump up on a table and start singing about pork chops. No, they definitely aren't getting a Cha bonus. What I want to give them, however, is an Intelligence bonus. They have a strong reputation as inventors and there's that old line about genius and madness, y'know?
As far as the -2 Str, aren't these guys hit hard enough? I mean, they're already dealing a die type lower for damage and their carrying capacity is only 3/4 of what a medium character can carry. Do they really need an additional penalty to Strength? Dress it up as standard modifications for size all you want. If that were true, they'd be getting +2 Dex, -4 Str, -2 Con. No, this is clearly racism. What I like for their racial penaly is -2 Wisdom. Gnomes minds tend to wander and they're just as likely to be distracted by a shiny bug as they are to be by whatever MacGuffin the adventure calls for. They just can't sit still long enough to pay that much attention. They have ADD as a racial quality.
This brings us to +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom. Looks good to me.
LANGUAGES - I'm a bit torn here. I definitely want to give them Linguist here, but I feel like they'd be more likely to know a smattering of seventeen different languages without being fluent in most of them. We'll still give them Linguist, but we'll find some sort of other ability that plays with language as well.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Alright, let's dive into the deep end here.
Defensive Training (1 RP) - I guess. I think I'm just instinctively shying away from traits like this. What if you never fight a giant? this becomes a wasted trait.
Illusion Resistance (1 RP) - Not these gnomes. These gnomes see pretty lights and off they go.
Keen Senses (2 RP) - Did you guys just see that fox? I'm gonna try to catch it real quick. Be right back.
Obsessive (2 RP) - Maybe? There's gotta be some kind of dilettante option where they get weird bonuses to lots of stuff.
Gnome Magic (2 RP) - Totally. I'm changing the relevant casting stat to Int, though.
Hatred (1 RP) - Meh.
Weapon Familiarity (1 RP) - Sure.
Low-Light Vision (1 RP) - Works for me.
Hrm...let's look at their alternates.
Dirty Trickster (4 RP) - Way cool.
Eternal Hope (2 RP) - I think this fits pretty well. "Come on, guys. We might find a cool leaf over that next hill!"
Explorer (4 RP) - This works. I might swap the Knowledge for Swim, though.
Gift of Tongues (2 RP) - I love it.
Inquisitive (4 RP) - Also cool.
Master Tinker (2 RP) - There are a lot of neat abilities here. We're probably gonna have more alternates for gnomes than anyone yet.
Utilitarian Magic (2 RP) - I think I like this better than Gnome Magic.
Vivacious (4 RP) - I like the idea of the gnome being ready to go hours before everyone else.
Whew. Lots there. Also, I want to pull Reflexive Improvisation (4 RP) from half-elves because I think it fits super well with gnomes and I don't know what I'm going to do about crossbreeds. I still need that linguistic dilettante ability. Something along the lines of...
Pidgin Tongue: Gnomes can use Linguistics untrained to attempt to understand or convey simple messages with another character without sharing a common language. The DC of this check is 15. If you are successful, you infer or convey a rough understanding of what is being said. If your check fails by 5 or more, you infer or convey the wrong message.
That's gotta be around the same cost as a skill bonus, right? 2 RP sounds good to me.
Alright, let's see what we have.
GNOME
Type - Humanoid (gnome) 0 RP
Size - Small 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom) 0 RP
Languages - Linguist 1 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Eternal Hope 2 RP
Vivacious 4 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Explorer 4 RP
Gift of Tongues 2 RP
Inquisitive 4 RP
Keen Senses 2 RP
Master Tinker 2 RP
Pidgin Tongue 2 RP
Reflexive Improvisation 4 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Utilitarian Magic 2 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Dirty Trickster 4 RP
Weapon Familiarity 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision 1 RP
So much stuff. That brings us to 34 RP. More than double what we're shooting for. Okay, time to look for cuts. I definitely want to keep Reflexive Improvisation and Pidgin Tongue. Let's drop Gift of Tongues. We'll bump Master Tinker up to a +2 bonus and make it an alternate, along with Dirty Trickster, Explorer, and Inquisitive. Vivacious is neat, but we can drop it. That brings us to 14. I don't want to give them darkvision, so let's add in a couple weird weapons to their weapon familiarity to bring us up to 15.
Let's finalize the little buggers.
Gnome Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Gnomes are hardy and inquisitive, but often lack the good sense to leave things alone. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Wisdom.
Type: Gnomes are Humanoid creatures with the gnome subtype.
Size: Gnomes are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Base Speed: (Slow Speed) Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet.
Languages: Gnomes begin play speaking Common and Gnome. Gnomes with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Eternal Hope:Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fear and despair effects. Once per day, after rolling a 1 on a d20, the gnome may reroll and use the second result.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Keen Senses: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Pidgin Tongue: Gnomes can use Linguistics untrained to attempt to understand or convey simple messages with another character without sharing a common language. The DC of this check is 15. If you are successful, you infer or convey a rough understanding of what is being said. If your check fails by 5 or more, you infer or convey the wrong message.
Reflexive Improvisation: Gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on untrained skill checks.
Magical Racial Traits
Gnome Magic:Gnomes add 1 to the DC of any saving throws against transmutation spells they cast. If their Intelligence score is 11 or higher, they also gain the following spell-like abilities 1/day—mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, and unseen servant. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the gnome’s Intelligence modifier.
Offense Racial Traits
Weapon Familiarity:Gnomes are proficient with bandalores, flailpoles, and horsehides, and treat any weapon with the word “gnome” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision:Gnomes can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Alternate Racial Traits
Dirty Trickster:All gnomes love pranks, but some specialize in those improvised during battle. These gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on dirty trick combat maneuvers. They need not meet the Intelligence requirement to select Combat Expertise, Improved Dirty Trick, and any feat with Improved Dirty Trick as a prerequisite. This racial trait replaces reflexive improvisation
Explorer: Many gnomes are obsessed with seeing as much of the world as possible. These gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on Climb checks and checks for one Knowledge skill of their choice. This racial trait replaces reflexive improvisation.
Inquisitive: Gnomes have a knack for being in places they shouldn’t be. Gnomes with this trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Disable Device and Escape Artist checks. This racial trait replaces reflexive improvisation.
Master Tinker:Gnomes experiment with all manner of mechanical devices. Gnomes with this racial trait gain a +1 bonus on Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering) checks. They are treated as proficient with any weapon they have personally crafted. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
There. That looks like a lot of fun. Oh, before I forget...
BONUS ITEMS!
Bandalore
A bandalore is a weapon consisting of an axle connected to two metal disks, and a length of alchemically treated twine looped around the axle. It is used by holding the free end of the twine (known as the handle) allowing gravity or the force of a throw to spin the bandalore and unwind the twine, allowing the bandalore to wind itself back to one's hand, exploiting its spin.
Light Exotic Weapon; cost 21 gp; Damage 1d3 (S), 1d4 (M); critical x2; range –; weight 1 lbs.; type B; special disarm, performance, reach, trip
Horsehide
A horsehide is a ball featuring a cork center, wrapped in yarn, and covered with two strips of horsehide or cowhide, tightly stitched together. The user simply throws the ball at a target, taking advantage of the speed of the ball to deal damage.
Ranged Martial Weapon; cost 5 gp; Damage 1d4 (S), 1d6 (M); critical x3; range 30 ft.; weight 1 lbs; type B
Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
[[Note: I've transitioned into posting on Thursdays, rather than Mondays.]]
Gnomes are weird. They're a widespread mishmash of concepts depending on what setting we're talking about. Classic D&D gnomes are wild-eyed curiosity seekers. Pathfinder gnomes are the same, but this time it's a genetic draw toward the weird stuff and if you don't delve into it, you die. Or get bleached. Because they're literally fey and the Material Plane is killing them? I don't...whatever. Warcraft gnomes are mechanists and tinkers, building ever more complex tech. I'm not sure where I want to go with them yet.
Step 1: Concept
Small, mischievous, brilliant idiots. That's kind of the best description I can produce for gnomes.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (gnome). These guys are going to solidly be from the Material Plane.
SIZE - Small.
SPEED - Slow.
ABILITIES - So, core gnomes get +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -2 Strength.
The +2 Con is fine. I like it.
The +2 Cha is weird, though. I mean, a short, wild-eyed person with hair dyed seven different vivid colors and spiked up half as tall as they are is going to put people on guard. You never know when a gnome is gonna jump up on a table and start singing about pork chops. No, they definitely aren't getting a Cha bonus. What I want to give them, however, is an Intelligence bonus. They have a strong reputation as inventors and there's that old line about genius and madness, y'know?
As far as the -2 Str, aren't these guys hit hard enough? I mean, they're already dealing a die type lower for damage and their carrying capacity is only 3/4 of what a medium character can carry. Do they really need an additional penalty to Strength? Dress it up as standard modifications for size all you want. If that were true, they'd be getting +2 Dex, -4 Str, -2 Con. No, this is clearly racism. What I like for their racial penaly is -2 Wisdom. Gnomes minds tend to wander and they're just as likely to be distracted by a shiny bug as they are to be by whatever MacGuffin the adventure calls for. They just can't sit still long enough to pay that much attention. They have ADD as a racial quality.
This brings us to +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom. Looks good to me.
LANGUAGES - I'm a bit torn here. I definitely want to give them Linguist here, but I feel like they'd be more likely to know a smattering of seventeen different languages without being fluent in most of them. We'll still give them Linguist, but we'll find some sort of other ability that plays with language as well.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Alright, let's dive into the deep end here.
Defensive Training (1 RP) - I guess. I think I'm just instinctively shying away from traits like this. What if you never fight a giant? this becomes a wasted trait.
Illusion Resistance (1 RP) - Not these gnomes. These gnomes see pretty lights and off they go.
Keen Senses (2 RP) - Did you guys just see that fox? I'm gonna try to catch it real quick. Be right back.
Obsessive (2 RP) - Maybe? There's gotta be some kind of dilettante option where they get weird bonuses to lots of stuff.
Gnome Magic (2 RP) - Totally. I'm changing the relevant casting stat to Int, though.
Hatred (1 RP) - Meh.
Weapon Familiarity (1 RP) - Sure.
Low-Light Vision (1 RP) - Works for me.
Hrm...let's look at their alternates.
Dirty Trickster (4 RP) - Way cool.
Eternal Hope (2 RP) - I think this fits pretty well. "Come on, guys. We might find a cool leaf over that next hill!"
Explorer (4 RP) - This works. I might swap the Knowledge for Swim, though.
Gift of Tongues (2 RP) - I love it.
Inquisitive (4 RP) - Also cool.
Master Tinker (2 RP) - There are a lot of neat abilities here. We're probably gonna have more alternates for gnomes than anyone yet.
Utilitarian Magic (2 RP) - I think I like this better than Gnome Magic.
Vivacious (4 RP) - I like the idea of the gnome being ready to go hours before everyone else.
Whew. Lots there. Also, I want to pull Reflexive Improvisation (4 RP) from half-elves because I think it fits super well with gnomes and I don't know what I'm going to do about crossbreeds. I still need that linguistic dilettante ability. Something along the lines of...
Pidgin Tongue: Gnomes can use Linguistics untrained to attempt to understand or convey simple messages with another character without sharing a common language. The DC of this check is 15. If you are successful, you infer or convey a rough understanding of what is being said. If your check fails by 5 or more, you infer or convey the wrong message.
That's gotta be around the same cost as a skill bonus, right? 2 RP sounds good to me.
Alright, let's see what we have.
GNOME
Type - Humanoid (gnome) 0 RP
Size - Small 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom) 0 RP
Languages - Linguist 1 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Eternal Hope 2 RP
Vivacious 4 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Explorer 4 RP
Gift of Tongues 2 RP
Inquisitive 4 RP
Keen Senses 2 RP
Master Tinker 2 RP
Pidgin Tongue 2 RP
Reflexive Improvisation 4 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Utilitarian Magic 2 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Dirty Trickster 4 RP
Weapon Familiarity 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision 1 RP
So much stuff. That brings us to 34 RP. More than double what we're shooting for. Okay, time to look for cuts. I definitely want to keep Reflexive Improvisation and Pidgin Tongue. Let's drop Gift of Tongues. We'll bump Master Tinker up to a +2 bonus and make it an alternate, along with Dirty Trickster, Explorer, and Inquisitive. Vivacious is neat, but we can drop it. That brings us to 14. I don't want to give them darkvision, so let's add in a couple weird weapons to their weapon familiarity to bring us up to 15.
Let's finalize the little buggers.
Gnome Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Gnomes are hardy and inquisitive, but often lack the good sense to leave things alone. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Wisdom.
Type: Gnomes are Humanoid creatures with the gnome subtype.
Size: Gnomes are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Base Speed: (Slow Speed) Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet.
Languages: Gnomes begin play speaking Common and Gnome. Gnomes with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Eternal Hope:Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fear and despair effects. Once per day, after rolling a 1 on a d20, the gnome may reroll and use the second result.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Keen Senses: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Pidgin Tongue: Gnomes can use Linguistics untrained to attempt to understand or convey simple messages with another character without sharing a common language. The DC of this check is 15. If you are successful, you infer or convey a rough understanding of what is being said. If your check fails by 5 or more, you infer or convey the wrong message.
Reflexive Improvisation: Gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on untrained skill checks.
Magical Racial Traits
Gnome Magic:Gnomes add 1 to the DC of any saving throws against transmutation spells they cast. If their Intelligence score is 11 or higher, they also gain the following spell-like abilities 1/day—mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, and unseen servant. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the gnome’s Intelligence modifier.
Offense Racial Traits
Weapon Familiarity:Gnomes are proficient with bandalores, flailpoles, and horsehides, and treat any weapon with the word “gnome” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision:Gnomes can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Alternate Racial Traits
Dirty Trickster:All gnomes love pranks, but some specialize in those improvised during battle. These gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on dirty trick combat maneuvers. They need not meet the Intelligence requirement to select Combat Expertise, Improved Dirty Trick, and any feat with Improved Dirty Trick as a prerequisite. This racial trait replaces reflexive improvisation
Explorer: Many gnomes are obsessed with seeing as much of the world as possible. These gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on Climb checks and checks for one Knowledge skill of their choice. This racial trait replaces reflexive improvisation.
Inquisitive: Gnomes have a knack for being in places they shouldn’t be. Gnomes with this trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Disable Device and Escape Artist checks. This racial trait replaces reflexive improvisation.
Master Tinker:Gnomes experiment with all manner of mechanical devices. Gnomes with this racial trait gain a +1 bonus on Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering) checks. They are treated as proficient with any weapon they have personally crafted. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
There. That looks like a lot of fun. Oh, before I forget...
BONUS ITEMS!
Bandalore
A bandalore is a weapon consisting of an axle connected to two metal disks, and a length of alchemically treated twine looped around the axle. It is used by holding the free end of the twine (known as the handle) allowing gravity or the force of a throw to spin the bandalore and unwind the twine, allowing the bandalore to wind itself back to one's hand, exploiting its spin.
Light Exotic Weapon; cost 21 gp; Damage 1d3 (S), 1d4 (M); critical x2; range –; weight 1 lbs.; type B; special disarm, performance, reach, trip
Horsehide
A horsehide is a ball featuring a cork center, wrapped in yarn, and covered with two strips of horsehide or cowhide, tightly stitched together. The user simply throws the ball at a target, taking advantage of the speed of the ball to deal damage.
Ranged Martial Weapon; cost 5 gp; Damage 1d4 (S), 1d6 (M); critical x3; range 30 ft.; weight 1 lbs; type B
Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Forgive Me For my Synapses - Tweaking Mechanics Part 02
Let's talk about skills.
Before we get into the main purpose of this one, I'd like to address an issue I've long had with the distribution of skill points amongst the classes. In my opinion, the only classes that should get 2 + Int mod skill points per level are Int-based classes. For anything else, the floor should be 4 + Int mod. There is simply no good reason for a Fighter to only have 2 + Int mod skill points aside from reinforcing the "Big Dumb Fighter" stereotype.
Okay, we can move on.
Primarily, what are skills supposed to be? What role do they fulfill within the game system?
My answer? Skills are the things that every person should be capable of at least trying to do, even if they haven't spent a feat to try it out. Climbing, jumping, swimming, what have you.
Why then, are a subset of skills listed as "Trained Only"? Sure, some stuff is harder to do without training, but can you honestly say that any of them are impossible to do without it? And why is it that Heal can be used untrained but not, say, Handle Animal? Madness.
So, I propose a solution. Instead of that "Trained Only" barrier, we can instead add a "Difficult" tag.
Difficult means that instead of being entirely prevented from using the skill if you didn't mark a skill point into it, you take a penalty to the skill check. We'll invert the +3 trained bonus to a -3 untrained penalty to start with.
So, what effect does this have? Well, that means that a completely average person would be able to hit a maximum of 17. You'd need to be pretty gifted to hit a 20 without training. Sounds good to me, but let's see how that affects the different skills.
Disable Device
Looking at the standard DCs, with this system a completely untrained person (let's call them Lester), has a 40% chance to jam a lock and a 15% chance to sabotage a wagon wheel. Any type of lock is beyond his capability to pick.
Handle Animal
Here, Lester has a 40% chance of handling an animal, a 15% chance for training an animal for a simple purpose or teaching it a simple trick, and either a 5% and 10% chance to rear a wild animal with 2HD or less.
Knowledge
Knowledge already has a built-in exception to the "Trained Only" rule. Evidence that it's silly. That said, this system does make it a bit harder to make easy Knowledge checks untrained, but I'm okay with that. Lester has a 40% chance to correctly answer an easy question about anything and a 15% chance to answer a basic question. Furthermore, with this ruling, Lester has a 60% chance of being able to identify a goblin, which makes sense because they've been killing his horses for the last three months. He might have a 30% chance to identify a zombie, but he's more likely to just think it's his drunkard of an uncle.
Linguistics
Well, there had to be at least one. Linguistics checks are just too high for poor old Lester to be able to reach. However, he could still try to forge a document. It might be hilariously bad, but if everything lines up as fortuitous as possible, he could be looking at an effective 29. Not likely, but possible.
Profession
So, let's get this straight. Lester can try to weave a basket underwater without training, but he needs special training to rent people rooms? *sigh* In fact, Profession is one of the better skills to use my system, because the money you make is tied directly to your check result. Lester may not know anything about farming, but with some direction he can earn (on average) 3 and a half gold pieces per week.
Sleight of Hand
Lester may not be able to pull a coin from behind someone's ear yet, but he's been at enough gambling tables to be able to occasionally slip a coin into his sleeve. There's still no chance for him to pick someone's pockets, though.
Spellcraft
Lester might be able to identify a magic missile or glitterdust. Maybe. Anything beyond that is beyond his untrained capabilities.
Use Magic Device
This is my favorite one. Chances are, when Lester activates a magic item blindly he's gonna cause a mishap. It's gonna be a lesson to not play with shit he doesn't understand. It's a good thing Heal isn't tagged as Difficult. ^_^
So there. You get a short one this week. At a couple points I was thinking that the penalty should be a bit worse, but I like it at -3. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Before we get into the main purpose of this one, I'd like to address an issue I've long had with the distribution of skill points amongst the classes. In my opinion, the only classes that should get 2 + Int mod skill points per level are Int-based classes. For anything else, the floor should be 4 + Int mod. There is simply no good reason for a Fighter to only have 2 + Int mod skill points aside from reinforcing the "Big Dumb Fighter" stereotype.
Okay, we can move on.
Primarily, what are skills supposed to be? What role do they fulfill within the game system?
My answer? Skills are the things that every person should be capable of at least trying to do, even if they haven't spent a feat to try it out. Climbing, jumping, swimming, what have you.
Why then, are a subset of skills listed as "Trained Only"? Sure, some stuff is harder to do without training, but can you honestly say that any of them are impossible to do without it? And why is it that Heal can be used untrained but not, say, Handle Animal? Madness.
So, I propose a solution. Instead of that "Trained Only" barrier, we can instead add a "Difficult" tag.
Difficult means that instead of being entirely prevented from using the skill if you didn't mark a skill point into it, you take a penalty to the skill check. We'll invert the +3 trained bonus to a -3 untrained penalty to start with.
So, what effect does this have? Well, that means that a completely average person would be able to hit a maximum of 17. You'd need to be pretty gifted to hit a 20 without training. Sounds good to me, but let's see how that affects the different skills.
Disable Device
Looking at the standard DCs, with this system a completely untrained person (let's call them Lester), has a 40% chance to jam a lock and a 15% chance to sabotage a wagon wheel. Any type of lock is beyond his capability to pick.
Handle Animal
Here, Lester has a 40% chance of handling an animal, a 15% chance for training an animal for a simple purpose or teaching it a simple trick, and either a 5% and 10% chance to rear a wild animal with 2HD or less.
Knowledge
Knowledge already has a built-in exception to the "Trained Only" rule. Evidence that it's silly. That said, this system does make it a bit harder to make easy Knowledge checks untrained, but I'm okay with that. Lester has a 40% chance to correctly answer an easy question about anything and a 15% chance to answer a basic question. Furthermore, with this ruling, Lester has a 60% chance of being able to identify a goblin, which makes sense because they've been killing his horses for the last three months. He might have a 30% chance to identify a zombie, but he's more likely to just think it's his drunkard of an uncle.
Linguistics
Well, there had to be at least one. Linguistics checks are just too high for poor old Lester to be able to reach. However, he could still try to forge a document. It might be hilariously bad, but if everything lines up as fortuitous as possible, he could be looking at an effective 29. Not likely, but possible.
Profession
So, let's get this straight. Lester can try to weave a basket underwater without training, but he needs special training to rent people rooms? *sigh* In fact, Profession is one of the better skills to use my system, because the money you make is tied directly to your check result. Lester may not know anything about farming, but with some direction he can earn (on average) 3 and a half gold pieces per week.
Sleight of Hand
Lester may not be able to pull a coin from behind someone's ear yet, but he's been at enough gambling tables to be able to occasionally slip a coin into his sleeve. There's still no chance for him to pick someone's pockets, though.
Spellcraft
Lester might be able to identify a magic missile or glitterdust. Maybe. Anything beyond that is beyond his untrained capabilities.
Use Magic Device
This is my favorite one. Chances are, when Lester activates a magic item blindly he's gonna cause a mishap. It's gonna be a lesson to not play with shit he doesn't understand. It's a good thing Heal isn't tagged as Difficult. ^_^
So there. You get a short one this week. At a couple points I was thinking that the penalty should be a bit worse, but I like it at -3. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 06 - It Is Pitch Dark
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
[[Yesterday's eclipse caused me to completely forget that it was Monday. Apologies for the late update.]]
I hadn't intended to dive into the darklands counterparts of the main races this early, but the elves started it and I see no reason to stop now. Maybe I'll just alternate between the surface and the darklands for as long as I can.
At any rate, Duergar are on the menu today.
Step 1: Concept
So, as angry deep dwarves, duergar share a lot in common with their cousins. There's the same kind of nature/arcane divide here as the elves have. We could play that up, but at this point it feels formulaic. I mean, why do all these underground races have spell-like abilities and an arcane magic focus?
Wait...
Oh my god...
The core of the earth is a sphere of crystallized magic surrounded by a layer of liquid magic swirling around it. The deeper you go, the closer you get to the source and the more it seeps into your being.
So...duergar are magic dwarves. Settled.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (dwarf)
SIZE - Medium. Usually.
SPEED - Slow and Steady.
ABILITIES - So, core duergar have the same modifiers as dwarves, but an extra -2 Charisma because evil? Let's just drop the extra -2 to Charisma.
Now, as far as the +2 to Constitution, that's a core dwarf thing. Always has been. The point of this is to slaughter our sacred minotaurs, though. I kinda want to move their racial bonus to Strength. I mean, they're angry aggressive dwarves, right? A tradeoff has to be made between offense and defense. Of course, they already have enlarge person as a spell-like ability...maybe it's a better idea to keep the Constitution bonus. =/
So that puts us at the same modifiers as dwarves. +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
LANGUAGES - I feel like duergar are even more insular than dwarves are. The Xenophobic option actually feels good here. That gives them Dwarven as a starting language. We can pick up to four bonus languages with this option, one of which has to be Common. Since they're a subterranean race, we're switching that to Undercommon.
Allies? None.
Enemies? Ev...everyone? Probably the most common ones are dark elves, dark folk, and svirfneblin. That gives us Dark Folk, Elven, and Gnome.
And rules be damned, they need to have Terran.
Okay, that gives us Dwarven as a starting language with Dark Folk, Elven, Gnome, Terran, and Undercommon as bonus language options.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Okay, let's see what duergar normally get.
Duergar Immunities (4 RP) - Totally
Stability (1 RP) - Yup
Spell-like abilities (3 RP) - get bigger and get invisible. ^_^
Superior Darkvision (3 RP) - Agreed
Light Sensitivity (-1 RP) - I mean, yeah. But for a race that rarely leaves the darklands, I like Light Blindness better.
That's all for base, now let's look at alternates.
Deep Magic (3 RP) - This really reinforces our "darklands races are gifted with magic" theme.
Magical Taskmaster (1 RP) - Adding in charm person works really well for their penchant for slavery.
So duergar can also take any dwarf trait that replaces Stability or Hardy. Let's poke around those.
Magic Resistant (2 RP) - Spell resistance, yo.
Relentless (1 RP) - Cool for these guys, especially with enlarge person.
Shadowhunter (2 RP) - Not one of the ones that replaces hardy or stability, but this fucking rocks for what we're doing.
Unstoppable (2 RP) - Moar HP.
I think that's a nice selection. Let's see what it looks like.
DUERGAR
Type - Humanoid (dwarf) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow and Steady -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) 0 RP
Languages - Xenophobic 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Duergar Immunities 4 RP
Stability 1 RP
Spell Resistance, Lesser 2 RP
Unstoppable 2 RP
Magic Racial Traits
Deep Magic 3 RP
Spell-Like abilities, lesser 4 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Relentless 1 RP
Shadowhunter 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Superior Darkvision 3 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness -2 RP
Okay, that totals to 19 points. So let's drop Relentless and Stability and make Shadowhunter an alternate.
Let's take a final look, then.
Duergar Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Duergar are hearty and observant, but also belligerent. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
Type: Duergar are humanoids with the dwarf subtype.
Size: Duergar are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base Speed: Duergar have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Languages: Duergar begin play speaking Dwarven. Duergar with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dark Folk, Elven, Gnome, Terran, and Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Duergar Immunities: Duergar are immune to paralysis, phantasms, and poison. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities.
Spell Resistance: Duergar gain spell resistance equal to 6 + their character level.
Unstoppable: Duergar gain Toughness as a bonus feat and a +1 racial bonus on Fortitude saves.
Magic Racial Traits
Deep Magic: Duergar receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance and a +2 racial bonus on dispel checks.
Spell-Like Abilities: Duergar can cast charm person, enlarge person, and invisibility, once each per day, using their total character level as caster level. The save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 duergar’s Hit Dice + duergar’s Wisdom modifier.
Senses Racial Traits
Superior Darkvision: Duergar have superior darkvision, allowing them to see perfectly in the dark up to 120 feet.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds duergar for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
Alternate Racial Traits
Shadowhunter (2 RP): The deep caves of the world spawn undead and some very strange arcane creatures. Duergar with this trait deal 50% weapon damage to incorporeal creatures when using non-magical weapons (including natural and unarmed attacks), as if using magic weapons. They also gain a +2 bonus on saving throws to remove negative levels, and recover physical ability damage from attacks by undead creatures at a rate of 2 points per ability score per day (rather than the normal 1 point per ability score per day). This racial trait replaces Unstoppable.
Looks good to me. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
[[Yesterday's eclipse caused me to completely forget that it was Monday. Apologies for the late update.]]
I hadn't intended to dive into the darklands counterparts of the main races this early, but the elves started it and I see no reason to stop now. Maybe I'll just alternate between the surface and the darklands for as long as I can.
At any rate, Duergar are on the menu today.
Step 1: Concept
So, as angry deep dwarves, duergar share a lot in common with their cousins. There's the same kind of nature/arcane divide here as the elves have. We could play that up, but at this point it feels formulaic. I mean, why do all these underground races have spell-like abilities and an arcane magic focus?
Wait...
Oh my god...
The core of the earth is a sphere of crystallized magic surrounded by a layer of liquid magic swirling around it. The deeper you go, the closer you get to the source and the more it seeps into your being.
So...duergar are magic dwarves. Settled.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (dwarf)
SIZE - Medium. Usually.
SPEED - Slow and Steady.
ABILITIES - So, core duergar have the same modifiers as dwarves, but an extra -2 Charisma because evil? Let's just drop the extra -2 to Charisma.
Now, as far as the +2 to Constitution, that's a core dwarf thing. Always has been. The point of this is to slaughter our sacred minotaurs, though. I kinda want to move their racial bonus to Strength. I mean, they're angry aggressive dwarves, right? A tradeoff has to be made between offense and defense. Of course, they already have enlarge person as a spell-like ability...maybe it's a better idea to keep the Constitution bonus. =/
So that puts us at the same modifiers as dwarves. +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
LANGUAGES - I feel like duergar are even more insular than dwarves are. The Xenophobic option actually feels good here. That gives them Dwarven as a starting language. We can pick up to four bonus languages with this option, one of which has to be Common. Since they're a subterranean race, we're switching that to Undercommon.
Allies? None.
Enemies? Ev...everyone? Probably the most common ones are dark elves, dark folk, and svirfneblin. That gives us Dark Folk, Elven, and Gnome.
And rules be damned, they need to have Terran.
Okay, that gives us Dwarven as a starting language with Dark Folk, Elven, Gnome, Terran, and Undercommon as bonus language options.
Step 3: Racial Traits
Okay, let's see what duergar normally get.
Duergar Immunities (4 RP) - Totally
Stability (1 RP) - Yup
Spell-like abilities (3 RP) - get bigger and get invisible. ^_^
Superior Darkvision (3 RP) - Agreed
Light Sensitivity (-1 RP) - I mean, yeah. But for a race that rarely leaves the darklands, I like Light Blindness better.
That's all for base, now let's look at alternates.
Deep Magic (3 RP) - This really reinforces our "darklands races are gifted with magic" theme.
Magical Taskmaster (1 RP) - Adding in charm person works really well for their penchant for slavery.
So duergar can also take any dwarf trait that replaces Stability or Hardy. Let's poke around those.
Magic Resistant (2 RP) - Spell resistance, yo.
Relentless (1 RP) - Cool for these guys, especially with enlarge person.
Shadowhunter (2 RP) - Not one of the ones that replaces hardy or stability, but this fucking rocks for what we're doing.
Unstoppable (2 RP) - Moar HP.
I think that's a nice selection. Let's see what it looks like.
DUERGAR
Type - Humanoid (dwarf) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow and Steady -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) 0 RP
Languages - Xenophobic 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Duergar Immunities 4 RP
Stability 1 RP
Spell Resistance, Lesser 2 RP
Unstoppable 2 RP
Magic Racial Traits
Deep Magic 3 RP
Spell-Like abilities, lesser 4 RP
Offense Racial Traits
Relentless 1 RP
Shadowhunter 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Superior Darkvision 3 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness -2 RP
Okay, that totals to 19 points. So let's drop Relentless and Stability and make Shadowhunter an alternate.
Let's take a final look, then.
Duergar Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Duergar are hearty and observant, but also belligerent. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
Type: Duergar are humanoids with the dwarf subtype.
Size: Duergar are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base Speed: Duergar have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Languages: Duergar begin play speaking Dwarven. Duergar with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dark Folk, Elven, Gnome, Terran, and Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Duergar Immunities: Duergar are immune to paralysis, phantasms, and poison. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities.
Spell Resistance: Duergar gain spell resistance equal to 6 + their character level.
Unstoppable: Duergar gain Toughness as a bonus feat and a +1 racial bonus on Fortitude saves.
Magic Racial Traits
Deep Magic: Duergar receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance and a +2 racial bonus on dispel checks.
Spell-Like Abilities: Duergar can cast charm person, enlarge person, and invisibility, once each per day, using their total character level as caster level. The save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 duergar’s Hit Dice + duergar’s Wisdom modifier.
Senses Racial Traits
Superior Darkvision: Duergar have superior darkvision, allowing them to see perfectly in the dark up to 120 feet.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds duergar for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
Alternate Racial Traits
Shadowhunter (2 RP): The deep caves of the world spawn undead and some very strange arcane creatures. Duergar with this trait deal 50% weapon damage to incorporeal creatures when using non-magical weapons (including natural and unarmed attacks), as if using magic weapons. They also gain a +2 bonus on saving throws to remove negative levels, and recover physical ability damage from attacks by undead creatures at a rate of 2 points per ability score per day (rather than the normal 1 point per ability score per day). This racial trait replaces Unstoppable.
Looks good to me. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 05 - DwarfStar
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
I don't think any fantasy race has inspired as many emotions in us as dwarves. Some people love them as badass warrior-smiths cleaving orc heads from orc bodies and shouting in ancient dwarven. Some people love them as gruff socially awkward short people. Some people hate them for little reason more than "Dwarves".
For the record, I like dwarves. Those of you who have read the Lord of the Rings, you probably recognized the first example up there as Gimli's performance at Helm's Deep. I first read LotR when I was seven and that scene is still my favorite scene in the book. There is no point where Gimli is anywhere near as badass. I was sorely disappointed when the Peter Jackson film eschewed that scene for one involving "dwarf tossing". It might have been funny had I not hung much of my opinion of dwarves on that one scene.
At any rate, dwarves are a thing that exists and will be what we focus on now.
Step 1: Concept
There's not a lot of wiggle room with dwarves, which is both frustrating and amusingly on theme. They're not too warm to outsiders, they have a well-deserved reputation for excellence in craftsmanship and warfare. They're tough little bastards. Fantasy has treated them pretty much the same in almost every property, probably as a result of being a "second tier" race; not as ethereally awesome as elves, not as widespread and relatable as humans, not as big and powerful as orcs. They've always sort of been an afterthought, or at least it seems that way to me.
That said, I like the stereotypical dwarf. I do hope to play around with them a bit though. I want to push them a bit closer to the surface. Duergar are going to make up the Darklands dwarves, so something closer to mountain dwarves seem appropriate here.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (dwarf)
SIZE - Medium, barely. I know that Norse dvergr were supposed to be shorter, but the standard is Medium.
SPEED - Slow, but their speed is never reduced because of encumbrance. Which somehow doesn't cost us any race points? /shrug
ABILITIES - It's in doing this that I realize that dwarves will probably look more like their core iteration than any of the other races we're working on. The +2 Constitution is both classic and appropriate. I like the +2 Wisdom as well. I could make a case for a Dexterity penalty, but I still think the Charisma penalty is more fitting.
That leaves us with the basic +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma that dwarves have had for years.
LANGUAGES - Standard. Common and Dwarven, clearly.
Allies? Elves, Men, and Gnomes, so add in Elven and Gnome.
Enemies? Orcs, Goblins, Dark Folk, and (amusingly) Giants. I feel like Giants are going to hang out on mountains. Just feels right.
Extra stuff? Dwarves have that connection to earth, so let's toss in Terran. I'm sure Proto-Dwarven grew out of Terran anyway.
So, that gives us Common and Dwarven as starting languages with Dark Folk, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Terran as bonus languages.
Step 3: Racial Traits
So, core dwarves get the following:
Defensive Training, Lesser (1 RP) - Sure, this fits. I'd like something broader, though.
Hardy (3 RP) - Perfect.
Stability (1 RP) - Totally.
Greed (1 RP) - Honestly, I don't like that this only applies to precious metals and gemstones. A dwarf should be able to pinpoint a subtle flaw in a longsword or a particularly fantastic bit of stone architecture. I might just make this a flat +2 to Appraise. Dwarven standards are high across the board.
Stonecunning (1 RP) - I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate these "automatic perception check" traits. I'm super happy elves don't have the secret door sense anymore. This will get changed.
Darkvision (2 RP) - Yup.
Hatred (1 RP) - Sure, but again I'd prefer something broader.
Weapon Familiarity (2 RP) - Yup. Honestly, most races with an overarching culture are going to have this. Humans just have too many cultures for them to get it.
So there's some stuff I can drop. Let's look at cool alternate traits.
Craftsman (1 RP) - Way better than Greed.
Deep Warrior (1 RP) - Aberrations is a broader category, at least.
Healthy (2 RP) - This is just a cool ability.
Magic Resistant (2 RP) - I really like this thematically, but I think it'd be better to just give them lesser spell resistance.
Mountaineer (1 RP) - This dovetails nicely with what I want to do with their mountain homes.
Relentless (1 RP) - Man, dwarves are cool. ^_^
Rock Stepper (1 RP) - A neat ability. It only applies to 5-foot steps, but I like it.
Stubborn (2 RP) - They so are.
That's...that's a lot of traits. We're gonna have to cut a ton.
DWARF
Type - Humanoid (dwarf) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) 0 RP
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
-Hardy 3 RP
-Healthy 2 RP
-Stability 1 RP
-Spell Resistance, Lesser 2 RP
-Stubborn 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
-Skill Bonus (Appraise) 2 RP
-Craftsman 1 RP
Offense Racial Traits
-Relentless 1 RP
-Weapon familiarity 2 RP
Movement Racial Traits
-Mountaineer 1 RP
-Rock Stepper 1 RP
Senses Racial Traits
-Darkvision 60 ft. 2 RP
This brings us to 19 points, which is less than I anticipated. Still need to cut 4 points, though. I like the suite of defensive abilities, but it might just be easiest to keep Hardy as the base and have Healthy and Stubborn as alternates.
That brings us to our final form:
Dwarf Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Dwarves are both tough and wise, but also a bit gruff. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
Size: Dwarves are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Dwarves are humanoids with the dwarf subtype.
Base Speed: Dwarves have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Languages: Dwarves begin play speaking Common and Dwarven. Dwarves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dark Folk, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Terran. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Hardy: Dwarves gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Magic Resistant: Dwarves gain spell resistance equal to 6 + their character level.
Stability: Dwarves gain a +4 racial bonus to their Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Craftsman: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on all Craft or Profession checks related to metal or stone.
Discerning: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on all Appraise checks.
Movement Racial Traits
Mountaineer: Dwarves are immune to altitude sickness and do not lose their Dexterity bonus to AC when making Climb or Acrobatics checks to cross narrow or slippery surfaces.
Rock Stepper: Dwarves can skillfully negotiate rocky terrain. They can ignore difficult terrain created by rubble, broken ground, or steep stairs when they take a 5-foot step.
Offense Racial Traits
Relentless: Dwarves receive a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks made to bull rush or overrun an opponent. This bonus only applies while both the dwarf and his opponent are standing on the ground.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves are proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers, and treat any weapon with the word “dwarven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision: Dwarves can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Alternate Racial Traits
Healthy: Dwarves with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on saves against disease and poison, and they need one fewer consecutive successful save (minimum 1) to be cured of diseases and poisons. This racial trait replaces hardy.
Stubborn: Dwarves are renowned for their stubbornness. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Will saves to resist spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (charm) and enchantment (compulsion) schools. In addition, if they fail such a save, they receive another save 1 round later to prematurely end the effect (assuming it has a duration greater than 1 round). This second save is made at the same DC as the first. If the dwarf has a similar ability from another source (such as a rogue’s slippery mind), he can only use one of these abilities per round, but he can try the other on the second round if the first reroll ability fails. This racial trait replaces hardy.
Well, they seem to have changed more than expected. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
I don't think any fantasy race has inspired as many emotions in us as dwarves. Some people love them as badass warrior-smiths cleaving orc heads from orc bodies and shouting in ancient dwarven. Some people love them as gruff socially awkward short people. Some people hate them for little reason more than "Dwarves".
For the record, I like dwarves. Those of you who have read the Lord of the Rings, you probably recognized the first example up there as Gimli's performance at Helm's Deep. I first read LotR when I was seven and that scene is still my favorite scene in the book. There is no point where Gimli is anywhere near as badass. I was sorely disappointed when the Peter Jackson film eschewed that scene for one involving "dwarf tossing". It might have been funny had I not hung much of my opinion of dwarves on that one scene.
At any rate, dwarves are a thing that exists and will be what we focus on now.
Step 1: Concept
There's not a lot of wiggle room with dwarves, which is both frustrating and amusingly on theme. They're not too warm to outsiders, they have a well-deserved reputation for excellence in craftsmanship and warfare. They're tough little bastards. Fantasy has treated them pretty much the same in almost every property, probably as a result of being a "second tier" race; not as ethereally awesome as elves, not as widespread and relatable as humans, not as big and powerful as orcs. They've always sort of been an afterthought, or at least it seems that way to me.
That said, I like the stereotypical dwarf. I do hope to play around with them a bit though. I want to push them a bit closer to the surface. Duergar are going to make up the Darklands dwarves, so something closer to mountain dwarves seem appropriate here.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (dwarf)
SIZE - Medium, barely. I know that Norse dvergr were supposed to be shorter, but the standard is Medium.
SPEED - Slow, but their speed is never reduced because of encumbrance. Which somehow doesn't cost us any race points? /shrug
ABILITIES - It's in doing this that I realize that dwarves will probably look more like their core iteration than any of the other races we're working on. The +2 Constitution is both classic and appropriate. I like the +2 Wisdom as well. I could make a case for a Dexterity penalty, but I still think the Charisma penalty is more fitting.
That leaves us with the basic +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma that dwarves have had for years.
LANGUAGES - Standard. Common and Dwarven, clearly.
Allies? Elves, Men, and Gnomes, so add in Elven and Gnome.
Enemies? Orcs, Goblins, Dark Folk, and (amusingly) Giants. I feel like Giants are going to hang out on mountains. Just feels right.
Extra stuff? Dwarves have that connection to earth, so let's toss in Terran. I'm sure Proto-Dwarven grew out of Terran anyway.
So, that gives us Common and Dwarven as starting languages with Dark Folk, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Terran as bonus languages.
Step 3: Racial Traits
So, core dwarves get the following:
Defensive Training, Lesser (1 RP) - Sure, this fits. I'd like something broader, though.
Hardy (3 RP) - Perfect.
Stability (1 RP) - Totally.
Greed (1 RP) - Honestly, I don't like that this only applies to precious metals and gemstones. A dwarf should be able to pinpoint a subtle flaw in a longsword or a particularly fantastic bit of stone architecture. I might just make this a flat +2 to Appraise. Dwarven standards are high across the board.
Stonecunning (1 RP) - I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate these "automatic perception check" traits. I'm super happy elves don't have the secret door sense anymore. This will get changed.
Darkvision (2 RP) - Yup.
Hatred (1 RP) - Sure, but again I'd prefer something broader.
Weapon Familiarity (2 RP) - Yup. Honestly, most races with an overarching culture are going to have this. Humans just have too many cultures for them to get it.
So there's some stuff I can drop. Let's look at cool alternate traits.
Craftsman (1 RP) - Way better than Greed.
Deep Warrior (1 RP) - Aberrations is a broader category, at least.
Healthy (2 RP) - This is just a cool ability.
Magic Resistant (2 RP) - I really like this thematically, but I think it'd be better to just give them lesser spell resistance.
Mountaineer (1 RP) - This dovetails nicely with what I want to do with their mountain homes.
Relentless (1 RP) - Man, dwarves are cool. ^_^
Rock Stepper (1 RP) - A neat ability. It only applies to 5-foot steps, but I like it.
Stubborn (2 RP) - They so are.
That's...that's a lot of traits. We're gonna have to cut a ton.
DWARF
Type - Humanoid (dwarf) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) 0 RP
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
-Hardy 3 RP
-Healthy 2 RP
-Stability 1 RP
-Spell Resistance, Lesser 2 RP
-Stubborn 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
-Skill Bonus (Appraise) 2 RP
-Craftsman 1 RP
Offense Racial Traits
-Relentless 1 RP
-Weapon familiarity 2 RP
Movement Racial Traits
-Mountaineer 1 RP
-Rock Stepper 1 RP
Senses Racial Traits
-Darkvision 60 ft. 2 RP
This brings us to 19 points, which is less than I anticipated. Still need to cut 4 points, though. I like the suite of defensive abilities, but it might just be easiest to keep Hardy as the base and have Healthy and Stubborn as alternates.
That brings us to our final form:
Dwarf Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Dwarves are both tough and wise, but also a bit gruff. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
Size: Dwarves are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Dwarves are humanoids with the dwarf subtype.
Base Speed: Dwarves have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Languages: Dwarves begin play speaking Common and Dwarven. Dwarves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dark Folk, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Terran. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Hardy: Dwarves gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Magic Resistant: Dwarves gain spell resistance equal to 6 + their character level.
Stability: Dwarves gain a +4 racial bonus to their Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Craftsman: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on all Craft or Profession checks related to metal or stone.
Discerning: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on all Appraise checks.
Movement Racial Traits
Mountaineer: Dwarves are immune to altitude sickness and do not lose their Dexterity bonus to AC when making Climb or Acrobatics checks to cross narrow or slippery surfaces.
Rock Stepper: Dwarves can skillfully negotiate rocky terrain. They can ignore difficult terrain created by rubble, broken ground, or steep stairs when they take a 5-foot step.
Offense Racial Traits
Relentless: Dwarves receive a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks made to bull rush or overrun an opponent. This bonus only applies while both the dwarf and his opponent are standing on the ground.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves are proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers, and treat any weapon with the word “dwarven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision: Dwarves can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Alternate Racial Traits
Healthy: Dwarves with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on saves against disease and poison, and they need one fewer consecutive successful save (minimum 1) to be cured of diseases and poisons. This racial trait replaces hardy.
Stubborn: Dwarves are renowned for their stubbornness. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Will saves to resist spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (charm) and enchantment (compulsion) schools. In addition, if they fail such a save, they receive another save 1 round later to prematurely end the effect (assuming it has a duration greater than 1 round). This second save is made at the same DC as the first. If the dwarf has a similar ability from another source (such as a rogue’s slippery mind), he can only use one of these abilities per round, but he can try the other on the second round if the first reroll ability fails. This racial trait replaces hardy.
Well, they seem to have changed more than expected. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Monday, August 7, 2017
Rethinking Fantasy Races Part 04 - Dark Side of the Womb
Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
Dark folk. We've got a bit of leeway here because the dark folk are pretty nebulously defined as a race. There are a handful of existing entries in the bestiaries, but the Caligni race is overall pretty basic. So this entry is going to be less rethinking and more building from the ground up.
Step 1: Concept
So I've decided that at some point a few millenia ago the major races got together and decided that it would just be easier to gather up all the criminals amongst them and basically shove them into a dark hole to be forgotten. It was a dark time, alright? So they all do this and over time the races evolve into dark elves, dark folk, duergar, svirfneblin, etc.
This has the neat effect of making the darklands basically fantasy equivalent Australia. Just surviving is a struggle and everything wants to kill you. Also, it's literally "down under". ^_^
So basically, the dark folk are humans forced to live underground for thousands of years. There's probably some sort of minor rift near their major settlement connected to the plane of shadow to account for their supernatural abilities.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - It feels strange to give dark folk their own separate racial subtype considering we gave dark elves the elf subtype, but I feel like these guys have strayed far enough from their basic human origins to warrant it. Humanoid (dark folk).
SIZE - Medium
SPEED - Normal
ABILITIES - I'm liking the idea of a Dex and Cha race here. Adept at talking their way out of situations they can't just sneak out of. Shadow things typically have Con penalty and it seems to fit well. Maybe they're slightly less corporeal than a normal race? /shrug.
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
LANGUAGES - Standard here, which gives them Dark Folk and Undercommon.
Allies? Who needs 'em?
Enemies get them Common, Dwarven, Elven, and Gnome.
Considering that the plane of shadow has strong connections to the negative energy plane, I can see them being a bit fascinated by undeath. Let's give them Necril. Also, delving too deep into terrible powers to get cool stuff feels about right, so Aklo fits as well. Let's also give them Draconic. They seem like inquisitive people.
That makes Dark Folk and Undercommon as starting languages with Aklo, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Necril as bonus language options.
Step 3: Racial Traits
So, I don't really care too much what the basic racial traits of the caligni are, so we won't dive into that. Just know that I've ransacked both the caligni and fetchlings for dark and shadow based stuff. We're looking at the following:
Shadow Blending (1 RP) - Extra miss chance is always nice.
Shadow Resistance (2 RP) - So is energy resitance.
Shadow Magic (2 RP) - The SLAs are the icing on this ability.
Swift as Shadows (3 RP) - Quick sneaky.
Light Blindness (–2 RP) - Because you can't see in darkness without paying the price.
See in Darkness (4 RP) - Honestly, I just love this ability and want more stuff to have it.
Underground Sneak (5 RP) - More sneaky, but this time with other stuff.
Let's assemble this thing.
DARK FOLK
Type: Humanoid (dark folk) 0 RP
Size: Medium 0 RP
Base Speed: Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers: Standard (+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution) 0 RP
Languages: Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Shadow Blending 1 RP
Shadow Resistance 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Swift as Shadows 3 RP
Underground Sneak 5 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Shadow Magic 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
See in Darkness 4 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness -2 RP
15 points exactly. That's two in a row. ^_^
That paints the final version like this:
Dark Folk Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Dark folk are adept at twisting both their bodies and words, but avoiding everything doesn't add much in the way of durability. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, and -2 Constitution.
Size: Dark folk are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Dark folk are Humanoids with the dark folk subtype.
Base Speed: Dark folk have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Dark folk begin play speaking Dark Folk and Undercommon. Dark folk with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: klo, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Necril. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Shadow Blending: Attacks made against dark folk while they are within areas of dim light have a 50% miss chance instead of the normal 20% miss chance. This trait does not grant total concealment; it just increases the miss chance. This is a supernatural ability.
Shadow Resistance: Dark folk gain cold resistance 5 and electricity resistance 5.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Swift as Shadows: Dark folk reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving at full speed by 5, and reduce the Stealth check penalty for sniping by 10.
Underground Sneak: Dark folk gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy), Perception, and Stealth checks. The bonus on Stealth checks increases to a +4 bonus while underground.
Magical Racial Traits
Shadow Magic: Dark folk add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against spells of the shadow subschool that they cast. Dark folk with a Charisma score of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities (the caster level is equal to the user’s character level):
1/day—ghost sound, pass without trace, ventriloquism
Senses Racial Traits
See in Darkness: Dark folk can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, including that created by spells such as deeper darkness.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds dark folk for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
That should about do it. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Dark folk. We've got a bit of leeway here because the dark folk are pretty nebulously defined as a race. There are a handful of existing entries in the bestiaries, but the Caligni race is overall pretty basic. So this entry is going to be less rethinking and more building from the ground up.
Step 1: Concept
So I've decided that at some point a few millenia ago the major races got together and decided that it would just be easier to gather up all the criminals amongst them and basically shove them into a dark hole to be forgotten. It was a dark time, alright? So they all do this and over time the races evolve into dark elves, dark folk, duergar, svirfneblin, etc.
This has the neat effect of making the darklands basically fantasy equivalent Australia. Just surviving is a struggle and everything wants to kill you. Also, it's literally "down under". ^_^
So basically, the dark folk are humans forced to live underground for thousands of years. There's probably some sort of minor rift near their major settlement connected to the plane of shadow to account for their supernatural abilities.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - It feels strange to give dark folk their own separate racial subtype considering we gave dark elves the elf subtype, but I feel like these guys have strayed far enough from their basic human origins to warrant it. Humanoid (dark folk).
SIZE - Medium
SPEED - Normal
ABILITIES - I'm liking the idea of a Dex and Cha race here. Adept at talking their way out of situations they can't just sneak out of. Shadow things typically have Con penalty and it seems to fit well. Maybe they're slightly less corporeal than a normal race? /shrug.
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
LANGUAGES - Standard here, which gives them Dark Folk and Undercommon.
Allies? Who needs 'em?
Enemies get them Common, Dwarven, Elven, and Gnome.
Considering that the plane of shadow has strong connections to the negative energy plane, I can see them being a bit fascinated by undeath. Let's give them Necril. Also, delving too deep into terrible powers to get cool stuff feels about right, so Aklo fits as well. Let's also give them Draconic. They seem like inquisitive people.
That makes Dark Folk and Undercommon as starting languages with Aklo, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Necril as bonus language options.
Step 3: Racial Traits
So, I don't really care too much what the basic racial traits of the caligni are, so we won't dive into that. Just know that I've ransacked both the caligni and fetchlings for dark and shadow based stuff. We're looking at the following:
Shadow Blending (1 RP) - Extra miss chance is always nice.
Shadow Resistance (2 RP) - So is energy resitance.
Shadow Magic (2 RP) - The SLAs are the icing on this ability.
Swift as Shadows (3 RP) - Quick sneaky.
Light Blindness (–2 RP) - Because you can't see in darkness without paying the price.
See in Darkness (4 RP) - Honestly, I just love this ability and want more stuff to have it.
Underground Sneak (5 RP) - More sneaky, but this time with other stuff.
Let's assemble this thing.
DARK FOLK
Type: Humanoid (dark folk) 0 RP
Size: Medium 0 RP
Base Speed: Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers: Standard (+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution) 0 RP
Languages: Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Shadow Blending 1 RP
Shadow Resistance 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Swift as Shadows 3 RP
Underground Sneak 5 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Shadow Magic 2 RP
Senses Racial Traits
See in Darkness 4 RP
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness -2 RP
15 points exactly. That's two in a row. ^_^
That paints the final version like this:
Dark Folk Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Dark folk are adept at twisting both their bodies and words, but avoiding everything doesn't add much in the way of durability. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, and -2 Constitution.
Size: Dark folk are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Dark folk are Humanoids with the dark folk subtype.
Base Speed: Dark folk have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Dark folk begin play speaking Dark Folk and Undercommon. Dark folk with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: klo, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Necril. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Shadow Blending: Attacks made against dark folk while they are within areas of dim light have a 50% miss chance instead of the normal 20% miss chance. This trait does not grant total concealment; it just increases the miss chance. This is a supernatural ability.
Shadow Resistance: Dark folk gain cold resistance 5 and electricity resistance 5.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Swift as Shadows: Dark folk reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving at full speed by 5, and reduce the Stealth check penalty for sniping by 10.
Underground Sneak: Dark folk gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy), Perception, and Stealth checks. The bonus on Stealth checks increases to a +4 bonus while underground.
Magical Racial Traits
Shadow Magic: Dark folk add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against spells of the shadow subschool that they cast. Dark folk with a Charisma score of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities (the caster level is equal to the user’s character level):
1/day—ghost sound, pass without trace, ventriloquism
Senses Racial Traits
See in Darkness: Dark folk can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, including that created by spells such as deeper darkness.
Weakness Racial Traits
Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds dark folk for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
That should about do it. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Forgive Me for My Synapses - Tweaking Mechanics
We're gonna take a break from races this week to look at some problem mechanics. I've got a grudge against feat taxes and I'm gonna do what I can to excise them. Of course, this has already been done several places on the internet (most notably The Elephant in the Room). Some of these ideas have been shamelessly stolen from those sources. Others are just me condensing feat trees. Honestly, small incremental bonuses aren't worth the feat slot half the time. So we'll see how things go today.
Classes
Firstly (and this is gonna bug a lot of people), condensing all these feats makes Fighter bonus feats more valuable. Therefore, replace any instance of "fighter level # in prerequisites with "base attack bonus +#". Replace the text of any Fighter Training ability with "You may replace your base attack bonus with your class level for the purposes of qualifying for prerequisites." As far as I'm aware, the only classes that get Fighter Training are less than full BAB anyway. Well, Brawler has a weird Martial Training ability, but that also has a secondary effect so it can be easily modified.
Speaking of Brawler, Martial Flexibility becomes far too useful with these rules. So instead of granting Combat feats, it grants Style feats.
Advanced Tactics
Agile Maneuvers and Weapon Finesse are now just built into the system. You can use either your Strength or Dexterity for CMB and you can use your Dexterity for attacks with weapons that have the Finesse quality. Also, all light weapons inherently have the Finesse quality. Damage is still based off of Strength. Remove any instance of these feats in prerequisites.
Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Power Attack, and Quick Draw are now simply combat options for any character with at least a +1 base attack bonus. Replace any instance of these feats in prerequisites with base attack bonus +1 unless it already requires a higher BAB.
Point-Blank Shot is a matter of physics and is just a part of ranged weapon rules. Replace any instance of Point-Blank Shot in prerequisites with Precise Shot unless it already requires Precise Shot. Or IS Precise shot, obviously.
Feats and abilities that require you to select a specific weapon now require you to select a weapon group instead. Exotic Weapon Proficiency is an exception to this change. Anything to do with a deity's favored weapon is also an exception. There might be more exceptions, as well. This does eliminate a few feats.
I'm making a small tweak to the wording of Charge to allow a single melee attack action, rather than a single melee attack. This has the benefit of allowing you to Vital Strike (and use combat maneuvers and maybe other stuff) on a charge, which is great because it helps make Vital Strike less of a wasted feat. Spring Attack's gonna get a wording tweak as well.
Advanced Spellcasting
Any spell that has a number after it (Summon Monster, Beast Shape, etc.), greater or lesser versions (Restoration, Planar Binding, etc.), or any other weird tiered format (Cure Wounds, Inflict Wounds, etc.) has only one version with effects variable dependent upon what level spell slot you use to cast it. If you know Form of the Dragon, you can cast it as a 6th level spell and get the effects of Form of the Dragon 1. Or you can cast it as an 8th level spell and get the effects of Form of the Dragon 3. Not only does this add some versatility to classes with limited spells known, it barely affects classes that have unlimited spells known. Closing the gap.
Modified Feats
Okay, this is the meat of this article. Prepare yourself for a bunch of rules text.
Armor Focus (Combat)
Prerequisite(s): Base attack bonus +1, proficiency with selected armor.
Benefit(s): Select one group of armor, such as light or heavy. The AC bonus granted by armor from the selected group increases by 1.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, the armor check penalty of armor from the selected group decreases by 1 (to a minimum of 0). You also use your character level in place of your base attack bonus for the purpose of armor mastery feat prerequisites.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new group of armor. The Armor Focus feat counts as the armor training class feature for the purpose of armor mastery feat prerequisites and determines what types of armor you can use with armor mastery feats.
This feat replaces the standard Armor Focus and Improved Armor Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Artful Dodge (Combat)
Prerequisite(s): Int 13
Benefit: If you are the only character threatening an opponent, you gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC against that opponent and a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within that opponent's threatened area.
You can use Intelligence, rather than Dexterity, for feats with a minimum Dexterity prerequisite.
Special: The Artful Dodge feat acts as the Dodge feat for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require Dodge.
Blind-Fight (Combat)
Benefit:In melee, every time you miss because of concealment, you can reroll your miss chance percentile roll one time to see if you actually hit.
An invisible attacker gets no advantages related to hitting you in melee. That is, you don’t lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and the attacker doesn’t get the usual +2 bonus for being invisible. The invisible attacker’s bonuses do still apply for ranged attacks, however.
You do not need to make Acrobatics skill checks to move at full speed while blinded.
If you have 10 or more ranks in Perception, your melee attacks ignore the miss chance for less than total concealment. You may still reroll your miss chance percentile roll for total concealment. If you successfully pinpoint an invisible or hidden attacker within 30 feet, that attacker gets no advantages related to hitting you with ranged attacks. That is, you don’t lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and the attacker doesn’t get the usual +2 bonus for being invisible.
If you have 15 or more ranks in Perception, you treat opponents with total concealment as if they had normal concealment (20% miss chance instead of 50%). You may still reroll a miss chance percentile roll as normal.
Normal: Regular attack roll modifiers for invisible attackers trying to hit you apply, and you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC. The speed reduction for darkness and poor visibility also applies.
Special: The Blind-Fight feat is of no use against a character who is the subject of a blink spell.
This feat replaces the standard Blind-Fight, Improved Blind-Fight, and Greater Blind-Fight feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Bodyguard (Combat)
Prerequisite:Combat Reflexes.
Benefit: When an adjacent ally is attacked, you may use an attack of opportunity to attempt the Aid Another action to improve your ally’s AC. You may not use the Aid Another action to improve your ally’s attack roll with this attack. If the attack would still hit the ally, you can intercept the attack as an immediate action, taking full damage from that attack and any associated effects (bleed, poison, etc.). A creature cannot benefit from this feat more than once per attack.
Normal: Aid Another is a standard action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Bodyguard and In Harm's Way feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Charging Hurler (Combat)
Prerequisite: Precise Shot, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You can use the charge rules to make a thrown weapon attack. All the parameters of a charge apply, except that you must only move closer to your opponent. If you do, you can make a single thrown weapon attack against that opponent, gaining the +2 bonus on the attack roll and taking a –2 penalty to your AC until the start of your next turn. If your target is within 30 feet, you gain a +2 bonus on damage rolls.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Charging Hurler and Improved Charging Hurler feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Cleave (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. You can only make one additional attack per round with this feat. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.
If you have a base attack bonus of +4 or higher, you can continue to make attacks against foes adjacent to the previous foe, so long as they are within your reach. You cannot attack an individual foe more than once during this attack action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Cleave and Great Cleave feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Cleaving Finish (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, Cleave, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: If you make a melee attack, and your target drops to 0 or fewer hit points as a result of your attack, you can make another melee attack using your highest base attack bonus against another opponent within reach. You can make only one extra attack per round with this feat.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, you can continue to make attacks against foes within your reach.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Cleaving Finish and Improved Cleaving Finish feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Deathless Zealot (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, Con 13, Endurance, Ironhide, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: You are not staggered while using the Endurance feat, but if you take a move and a standard action or a full-round action while you are at 0 or fewer hit points you take 1 point of damage. Further, while using the Endurance feat, you gain a +2 bonus on melee attacks and damage rolls.
If you have a base attack bonus of +9 or higher, when you are at 0 or fewer hit points, you do not lose 1 hit point when you take an action.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, whenever a creature rolls to confirm a critical hit against you, it must roll twice and take the lowest result.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Deathless Initiate, Deathless Master, and Deathless Zealot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Deft Maneuvers (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a dirty trick, disarm, feint, reposition, steal, or trip combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to attempt a dirty trick, disarm a foe, reposition a foe, steal an item from a foe, or trip a foe and you can make a Bluff check to feint in combat as a move action. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense when an opponent tries a dirty trick on you, tries to disarm, reposition, steal an item from, trip, or perform a feint upon you.
Normal: You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a dirty trick, disarm, reposition, steal, or trip combat maneuver. Feinting in combat is a standard action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Reposition, Improved Steal, and Improved Trip feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Devastating Strike (Combat)
Prerequisites: Vital Strike, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: Whenever you use Vital Strike, you gain a +2 bonus on each extra weapon damage dice roll those feats grant (+6 maximum). This bonus damage is multiplied on a critical hit.
If you have a base attack bonus of +13 or higher, whenever you use Vital Strike, you gain a bonus on attack rolls to confirm a critical hit equal to the bonus on damage rolls you gain from this feat.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Devastating Strike and Improved Devastating Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Disengaging Flourish (Combat)
Prerequisites:Dex 13, Deft Maneuvers, Dodge, base attack bonus +1
Benefit: As a standard action, make a Bluff check against each opponent that currently threatens you. If you succeed against at least one opponent, you can move up to your speed. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity from any opponent you succeeded at feinting against.
If you have a base attack bonus of +3 or higher, whenever you use this feat, you can make a single melee attack against one opponent you succeeded at feinting against. That opponent is denied his Dexterity bonus to AC against this attack.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Disenganing Feint, Disengaging Flourish, and Disengaging Shot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
[[NOTES:Disengaging Feint might be the biggest feat tax in the game. For the price of three feats, you get a worse version of the withdraw action. This feat starts at Disengaging Flourish.]]
Dodge (Combat)
Prerequisite: Dex 13.
Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC and a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened area. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses.
Dodge bonuses stack with each other, unlike most types of bonuses.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Dodge and Mobility feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Endurance
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on the following checks and saves: Swim checks made to resist nonlethal damage from exhaustion; Constitution checks made to continue running; Constitution checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from a forced march; Constitution checks made to hold your breath; Constitution checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from starvation or thirst; Fortitude saves made to avoid nonlethal damage from hot or cold environments; and Fortitude saves made to resist damage from suffocation. You may sleep in light or medium armor without becoming fatigued.
When your hit point total is below 0, but you are not dead, you automatically stabilize. You do not need to make a Constitution check each round to avoid losing additional hit points. You may choose to act as if you were disabled, rather than dying. You must make this decision as soon as you are reduced to negative hit points (even if it isn’t your turn). If you do not choose to act as if you were disabled, you immediately fall unconscious. When using this feat, you are staggered. You can take a move action without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action (or any other action deemed as strenuous, including some swift actions, such as casting a quickened spell) you take 1 point of damage after completing the act. If your negative hit points are equal to or greater than your Constitution score, you immediately die.
Normal: A character without this feat who sleeps in medium or heavier armor is fatigued the next day. A character without this feat who is reduced to negative hit points is unconscious and dying.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Endurance and Diehard feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Familiar Bond
Prerequisite(s): Iron Will.
Benefit(s): You gain a familiar, as the wizard arcane bond class feature. Your total Hit Dice are used as your wizard level for determining the familiar’s abilities.
Special: You can never have more than one familiar.
This feat replaces the standard Familiar Bond and Improved Familiar Bond feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Flexible Wizardry
Prerequisite(s): Spell Mastery, wizard level 1st.
Benefit: When you prepare your spells each day, you can choose to keep a number of spell slots equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) flexibly prepared. Instead of preparing a single spell within each of these slots, you can partially prepare two spells. Anytime after you prepare these flexible slots, you can spend a full-round action to finalize one slot, choosing one of the two spells to be finished and fully prepared in that slot.
If you have a wizard level of 8 or higher, you can flexibly prepare an additional 4 spells. Furthermore, you can finalize one of these slots with a standard action instead of a full-round action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Flexible Wizardry and Improved Flexible Wizardry feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Great Fortitude
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saving throws. Once per day, you may reroll a Fortitude save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Great Fortitude and Improved Great Fortitude feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Impaling Critical (Combat, Critical)
Prerequisite:Critical Focus, base attack bonus +11.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit with a piercing melee weapon, you can impale your opponent on your weapon. While your opponent is impaled in this way, each time he starts his turn, you deal damage equal to your weapon’s damage dice plus the extra damage dice from your weapon’s properties. As an immediate action, you can pull your weapon out of your opponent. If your opponent is ever outside your reach, you must spend a free action to let go of your weapon or pull it out of him. Your opponent can also spend a move action to pull your weapon out. When the weapon comes out, your opponent takes damage as if starting his turn impaled. While you impale your opponent with your weapon, you cannot use it to attack, and you must hold on to it.
If you have a base attack bonus of +13 or higher, while you are using this feat to impale an opponent, and you are still holding onto that weapon, that opponent must succeed at a grapple combat maneuver check against you to pull your weapon out. If you have let go of your weapon, the impaled opponent must spend a standard action to remove the weapon. Until the opponent pulls the weapon out, his speed in all modes is halved and his maneuverability, if any, is reduced by one step. When the weapon comes out, instead of dealing the damage normally, you can deal bleed damage equal to your weapon’s damage dice result once per round at the start of that opponent’s turn.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Impaling Critical and Improved Impaling Critical feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Improved Unarmed Combat (Combat)
Benefit: You are considered to be armed even when unarmed—you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you attack foes while unarmed. Your unarmed strikes can deal lethal or nonlethal damage, at your choice. While using natural weapons, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Combat as a prerequisite.
You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a grapple combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to grapple a foe. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense whenever an opponent tries to grapple you.
Normal: Without this feat, you are considered unarmed when attacking with an unarmed strike, and you can deal only nonlethal damage with such an attack. You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a grapple combat maneuver.
Special: If you are a monk, you can use natural weapons with your flurry of blows class feature.
This feat replaces the standard Improved Unarmed Strike, Feral Combat Training, and Improved Grapple feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Improvised Weapon Mastery (Combat)
Benefit:You do not suffer any penalties for using an improvised weapon. Unarmed opponents are flat-footed against any attacks you make with an improvised melee weapon and you receive a +1 circumstance bonus on attack rolls made with thrown splash weapons..
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, increase the amount of damage dealt by improvised weapons by one step (for example, 1d4 becomes 1d6) to a maximum of 1d8 (2d6 if the improvised weapon is two-handed). Improvised weapons have a critical threat range of 19–20, with a critical multiplier of ×2.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Catch Off-Guard, Throw Anything, and Improvised Weapon Mastery feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Iron Will
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Will saving throws. Once per day, you may reroll a Will save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Iron Will and Improved Iron Will feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Lightning Reflexes
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Reflex saving throws. Once per day, you may reroll a Reflex save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Lightning Reflexes and Improved Lightning Reflexes feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Lightning Stance (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 15, Dodge, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: If you move more than 5 feet this turn, you gain 20% concealment for 1 round against ranged attacks.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11, when you take two actions to move or a withdraw action in a turn, you gain 50% concealment for 1 round.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Wind Stance and Lightning Stance feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Penetrating Strike (Combat)
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +12, proficiency with weapon group.
Benefit: Your attacks made with weapon groups selected with Weapon Focus ignore up to 5 points of damage reduction. This feat does not apply to damage reduction without a type (such as DR 10/—).
If you have a base attack bonus of +16 or higher, your attacks made with weapon groups selected with Weapon Focus ignore up to 10 points of damage reduction. This amount is reduced to 5 points for damage reduction without a type (such as DR 10/—).
Special: This feat replaces the standard Penetrating Strike and Greater Penetrating Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Powerful Maneuvers (Combat)
Prerequisites:Str 13
Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a bull rush, drag, overrun, or sunder combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to bull rush, drag, overrun a foe, or sunder an item and targets of your overrun attempts may not choose to avoid you. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense when an opponent tries to bull rush, drag, or overrun you, or sunder your gear.
Normal: You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a bull rush, drag, overrun, or sunder combat maneuver.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Improved Bull Rush, Improved Drag, Improved Overrun, and Improved Sunder feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Precise Shot (Combat)
Benefit: You can shoot or throw ranged weapons at an opponent engaged in melee without taking the standard –4 penalty on your attack roll.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, your ranged attacks ignore the AC bonus granted to targets by anything less than total cover, and the miss chance granted to targets by anything less than total concealment. Total cover and total concealment provide their normal benefits against your ranged attacks.
If you have a base attack bonus of +16 or higher, as a standard action, make a single ranged attack. The target does not gain any armor, natural armor, or shield bonuses to its Armor Class. You do not gain the benefit of this ability if you move this round.
Note: Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Precise Shot, Improved Precise Shot, and Pinpoint Targeting feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Second Chance (Combat)
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When making a full attack, if you miss on your first attack, you can forgo making any other attacks for the rest of your turn to reroll that attack at your highest base attack bonus.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, when you reroll a missed attack using this feat, you can still make the rest of your attacks that turn, albeit at a –5 penalty to each attack.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Second Chance and Improved Second Chance feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shield Focus (Combat)
Prerequisites:Shield Proficiency, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Increase the AC bonus granted by any shield you are using by 1.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, you reduce the armor check penalty of any shield you are using by 1. You also use your character level in place of your base attack bonus for the purpose of shield mastery feat prerequisites.
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, increase the AC bonus granted by this feat to 2.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Shield Focus, Improved Shield Focus, and Greater Shield Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shield Slam (Combat)
Prerequisite:Shield Proficiency
Benefit: When you perform a shield bash, you may still apply the shield’s shield bonus to your AC.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, any opponents hit by your shield bash are also hit with a free bull rush attack, substituting your attack roll for the combat maneuver check. This bull rush does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Opponents who cannot move back due to a wall or other surface are knocked prone after moving the maximum possible distance. You may choose to move with your target if you are able to take a 5-foot step or to spend an action to move this turn.
Normal: Without this feat, a character that performs a shield bash loses the shield’s shield bonus to AC until his next turn.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Improved Shield Bash and Shield Slam feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shield Specialization (Combat)
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected shield, Shield Focus, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: Choose one type of shield (buckler, light, heavy, or tower shield). With the selected shield, you gain a +2 bonus to your Armor Class against critical hit confirmation rolls. In addition, you may add your base shield bonus (including the bonus from Shield Focus but not including enhancement bonuses) to your CMD.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, you gain an additional +2 bonus to your Armor Class against critical hit confirmation rolls. In addition, once per day you may negate a critical hit, and damage is instead rolled normally.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of shield.
This feat replaces the standard Shield Specialization and Greater Shield Specialization feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shot on the Run (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Precise Shot, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: As a full-round action, you can move up to your speed and make a single ranged attack action at any point during your movement.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, once per encounter, when using the withdraw action, you can make a single ranged attack action at any point during your movement.
Normal: You cannot move before and after an attack with a ranged weapon. You cannot attack when using the withdraw action.
Special: Starting at 6th level, a ranger with the archery combat style may select Shot on the Run as a combat style feat.
This feat replaces the standard Shot on the Run and Parting Shot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Sidestep (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge.
Benefit: Whenever an opponent misses you with a melee attack, you may move 5 feet as an immediate action so long as you remain within that opponent’s threatened area. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Additionally, when an opponent charges you, you gain a +4 dodge bonus to your AC. If the charger’s attack roll misses you and his movement ends while he is adjacent to you, you can switch places with the opponent as an immediate action, and he is considered to be flanked by you until the end of your next turn. You can’t use the benefits of this ability if you ready an action to set a weapon with the brace special quality against a charging foe.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Sidestep, Improved Sidestep, and Juke feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Snap Shot (Combat)
Prerequisite: Dex 13, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: While wielding a ranged weapon from a weapon group with which you have Weapon Focus, you threaten squares within 5 feet of you. You can make attacks of opportunity with that ranged weapon. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when making a ranged attack as an attack of opportunity.
If you have a base attack bonus of +9 or higher, you threaten an additional 5 feet.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, whenever you make an attack of opportunity using a ranged weapon and hit, you gain a +2 bonus on the damage roll and a +2 bonus on rolls to confirm a critical hit with that attack. These bonuses increase to +4 when you have base attack bonus +16, and to +6 when you have base attack bonus +20.
Normal: While wielding a ranged weapon, you threaten no squares and can make no attacks of opportunity with that weapon.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Snap Shot, Improved Snap Shot, and Greater Snap Shot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Staggering Critical (Combat, Critical)
Prerequisites: Critical Focus, base attack bonus +13.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit, your opponent becomes staggered for 1d4+1 rounds. A successful Fortitude save reduces the duration to 1 round. The DC of this Fortitude save is equal to 10 + your base attack bonus. The effects of this feat do not stack. Additional hits instead add to the duration.
If you have a base attack bonus of +17 or higher, your opponent becomes stunned for 1d4 rounds. A successful Fortitude save reduces this to staggered for 1d4 rounds. The DC of this Fortitude save is equal to 10 + your base attack bonus. The effects of this feat do not stack. Additional hits instead add to the duration.
Special: You can only apply the effects of one critical feat to a given critical hit unless you possess Critical Mastery.
This feat replaces the standard Staggering Critical and Stunning Critical feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Stalwart
Prerequisite:Endurance, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: While using the total defense action, fighting defensively action, or combat expertise, you can forgo the dodge bonus to AC you would normally gain to instead gain an equivalent amount of DR, to a maximum of DR 5/—, until the start of your next turn. This damage reduction stacks with DR you gain from class features, such as the barbarian’s, but not with DR from any other source. If you are denied your Dexterity bonus to AC, you are also denied this DR.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, double the DR you gain from this feat, to a maximum of DR 10/—.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Stalwart and Improved Stalwart feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Step Up (Combat)
Prerequisite:Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Whenever an adjacent foe attempts to take a 5-foot step away from you, you may also make a 5-foot step as an immediate action so long as you end up adjacent to the foe that triggered this ability. If you take this step, you cannot take a 5-foot step during your next turn. If you take an action to move during your next turn, subtract 5 feet from your total movement.
If you have a base attack bonus of +3 or higher, when using this feat to follow an adjacent foe, you may move up to 10 feet. You may still take a 5-foot step during your next turn, and any movement you make using this feat does not subtract any distance from your movement during your next turn.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, when using this feat to follow an adjacent foe, you may also make a single melee attack against that foe at your highest base attack bonus. This attack counts as one of your attacks of opportunity for the round. Using this feat does not count toward the number of actions you can usually take each round.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Step Up, Following Step, and Step Up and Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Surprise Follow-Through (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, Cleave, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: When using Cleave, the second foe you attack on your turn is denied its Dexterity bonus against you.
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, each opponent you attack on your turn (other than the first) is denied his Dexterity bonus against you.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Surprise Follow-Through and Improved Surprise Follow-Through feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Tiring Critical (Combat, Critical)
Prerequisites: Critical Focus, base attack bonus +13.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit, your opponent becomes fatigued. This ability has no additional effect on a fatigued or exhausted creature.
If you have a base attack bonus of +15 or higher, your target immediately becomes exhausted. This ability has no effect on exhausted creatures.
Special: You can only apply the effects of one critical feat to a given critical hit unless you possess Critical Mastery.
This feat replaces the standard Tiring Critical and Exhausting Critical feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Two-Weapon Fighting (Combat)
Prerequisite: Dex 15.
Benefit: Your penalties on attack rolls for fighting with two weapons are reduced. The penalty for your primary hand lessens by 2 and the one for your off hand lessens by 6.
When wielding a double weapon or two weapons (not including natural weapons or unarmed strikes), you gain a +1 shield bonus to your AC. When you are fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this shield bonus increases to +2.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, you get a second attack with your off-hand weapon, albeit at a –5 penalty.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, you get a third attack with your off-hand weapon, albeit at a –10 penalty.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, and Two-Weapon Defense feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Vital Strike (Combat)
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When you use an attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack thrice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses.
If you have a base attack bonus of +16 or higher, roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack four times and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, and Greater Vital Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Weapon Focus (Combat)
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon group, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Select a weapon group. You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using weapons from the selected group.
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, the bonus on attack rolls increases to +2.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group.
This feat replaces the standard Weapon Focus and Greater Weapon Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Weapon Specialization (Combat)
Prerequisites:Proficiency with selected weapon group, Weapon Focus with selected weapon group, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: Select a weapon group for which you already have Weapon Focus. You gain a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make using weapons from the selected weapon group.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, the bonus on damage rolls increases to +4.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group.
This feat replaces the standard Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Whip Mastery (Combat)
Prerequisite: Weapon Focus (flails), base attack bonus +2.
Benefit: You no longer provoke attacks of opportunity when attacking with a whip. You can deal lethal damage with a whip, although you can still deal nonlethal damage when you want. Further, you can deal damage with a whip despite a creature’s armor bonus or natural armor bonus.
If you have a base attack bonus of +5 or higher, while wielding a whip, you threaten the area of your natural reach plus 5 feet. You can also use a whip to grasp an unattended Small or Tiny object within your whip’s reach and pull that object into your square. To do so, you must hit AC 10 with a melee touch attack. Further, you can use the whip to grasp onto an object within your whip’s reach, using 5 feet of your whip as if it were a grappling hook, allowing you to use the rest of your whip to swing on like a rope. As a free action, you can release the object your whip is grasping, but you cannot use the whip to attack while the whip is grasping an object.
If you have abase attack bonus of +8 or higher, You are so quick with your whip that you never drop it due to a failed disarm or trip combat maneuver attempt. Further, you gain the ability to grapple using your whip. To do so, use the normal grapple rules with the following changes.
Attack: You cannot use your whip to attack while you are using it to grapple an opponent.
Damage: When dealing damage to your grappled opponent, you deal your whip’s weapon damage rather than your unarmed strike damage.
Free Hands: You take no penalty on your combat maneuver check for having fewer than two hands free when you use your whip to grapple.
Reach: Rather than pulling your grappled opponent adjacent to you when you successfully grapple and when you move the grapple, you must keep him within your whip’s reach minus his own reach to maintain the grapple. If the difference in reach is less than 0, such as is the case for a Medium whip wielder and a Gargantuan creature, you cannot grapple that opponent with your whip. If you have to pull a creature adjacent to you to grapple it with your whip, you still provoke an attack of opportunity from that opponent unless you have the Improved Grapple feat.
Tie Up: While adjacent to your opponent, you can attempt to use your whip to tie him up. If you do so to an opponent you have grappled rather than pinned, you take only a –5 penalty on the combat maneuver check rather than the normal –10.
Normal: Attacking with a whip provokes attacks of opportunity as if you used a ranged weapon. A whip deals no damage to a creature that has an armor bonus of +1 or natural armor bonus of +3.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Whip Mastery, Improved Whip Mastery, and Greater Whip Mastery feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Okay...I probably missed some stuff, but this is as good as its getting right now. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
QUARANTINE
This is where I'm shoving things that may be problematic until I figure out what to do about them.
Eldritch Heritage
Prerequisites: Cha 13, Skill Focus with the class skill of bloodline selected for this feat (see below), character level 3rd.
Benefit: Select one sorcerer bloodline. You must have Skill focus in the class skill that bloodline grants to a sorcerer at 1st level (for example, Heal for the celestial bloodline). This bloodline cannot be a bloodline you already have. You gain the first-level bloodline power for the selected bloodline. For purposes of using this feat, treat your sorcerer level as equal to your character level – 2, even if you have levels in sorcerer.
If you are 5th level or higher, you gain the 3rd-level power of the bloodline you selected.
If you are 11th level or higher, you gain the 9th-level power of the bloodline you selected.
If you are 17th level or higher, you gain the 15th-level power of the bloodline you selected. Additionally, for purposes of using this feat, treat your character level as your sorcerer level for all your sorcerer bloodline powers granted by this feat.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Eldritch Heritage, Improved Eldritch Heritage, and Greater Eldritch Heritage feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Elemental Focus
Benefit: Choose one energy type (acid, cold, electricity, or fire). Add +2 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells that deal damage of the energy type you select.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take this feat, it applies to a new energy type.
This feat replaces the standard Elemental Focus and Greater Elemental Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Sap Master (Combat)
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +1d6.
Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage, you gain a bonus on your damage roll equal to the number of sneak attack damage dice you rolled.
If you have sneak attack +3d6 or higher, whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage to a flat-footed opponent, roll your sneak attack dice twice, totaling the results as your nonlethal sneak attack damage for that attack.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Sap Adept and Sap Master feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Spell Focus
Benefit:Add +2 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new school of magic.
This feat replaces the standard Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Spell Penetration
Benefit: You get a +4 bonus on caster level checks (1d20 + caster level) made to overcome a creature’s spell resistance.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Uncanny Concentration
Benefit:You do not need to make concentration checks when affected by vigorous or violent motion or by violent weather, you get a +6 bonus on concentration checks made to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability when casting on the defensive or while grappled, and you gain a +2 bonus on all other concentration checks.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Combat Casting and Uncanny Concentration feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Classes
Firstly (and this is gonna bug a lot of people), condensing all these feats makes Fighter bonus feats more valuable. Therefore, replace any instance of "fighter level # in prerequisites with "base attack bonus +#". Replace the text of any Fighter Training ability with "You may replace your base attack bonus with your class level for the purposes of qualifying for prerequisites." As far as I'm aware, the only classes that get Fighter Training are less than full BAB anyway. Well, Brawler has a weird Martial Training ability, but that also has a secondary effect so it can be easily modified.
Speaking of Brawler, Martial Flexibility becomes far too useful with these rules. So instead of granting Combat feats, it grants Style feats.
Advanced Tactics
Agile Maneuvers and Weapon Finesse are now just built into the system. You can use either your Strength or Dexterity for CMB and you can use your Dexterity for attacks with weapons that have the Finesse quality. Also, all light weapons inherently have the Finesse quality. Damage is still based off of Strength. Remove any instance of these feats in prerequisites.
Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Power Attack, and Quick Draw are now simply combat options for any character with at least a +1 base attack bonus. Replace any instance of these feats in prerequisites with base attack bonus +1 unless it already requires a higher BAB.
Point-Blank Shot is a matter of physics and is just a part of ranged weapon rules. Replace any instance of Point-Blank Shot in prerequisites with Precise Shot unless it already requires Precise Shot. Or IS Precise shot, obviously.
Feats and abilities that require you to select a specific weapon now require you to select a weapon group instead. Exotic Weapon Proficiency is an exception to this change. Anything to do with a deity's favored weapon is also an exception. There might be more exceptions, as well. This does eliminate a few feats.
I'm making a small tweak to the wording of Charge to allow a single melee attack action, rather than a single melee attack. This has the benefit of allowing you to Vital Strike (and use combat maneuvers and maybe other stuff) on a charge, which is great because it helps make Vital Strike less of a wasted feat. Spring Attack's gonna get a wording tweak as well.
Advanced Spellcasting
Any spell that has a number after it (Summon Monster, Beast Shape, etc.), greater or lesser versions (Restoration, Planar Binding, etc.), or any other weird tiered format (Cure Wounds, Inflict Wounds, etc.) has only one version with effects variable dependent upon what level spell slot you use to cast it. If you know Form of the Dragon, you can cast it as a 6th level spell and get the effects of Form of the Dragon 1. Or you can cast it as an 8th level spell and get the effects of Form of the Dragon 3. Not only does this add some versatility to classes with limited spells known, it barely affects classes that have unlimited spells known. Closing the gap.
Modified Feats
Okay, this is the meat of this article. Prepare yourself for a bunch of rules text.
Armor Focus (Combat)
Prerequisite(s): Base attack bonus +1, proficiency with selected armor.
Benefit(s): Select one group of armor, such as light or heavy. The AC bonus granted by armor from the selected group increases by 1.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, the armor check penalty of armor from the selected group decreases by 1 (to a minimum of 0). You also use your character level in place of your base attack bonus for the purpose of armor mastery feat prerequisites.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new group of armor. The Armor Focus feat counts as the armor training class feature for the purpose of armor mastery feat prerequisites and determines what types of armor you can use with armor mastery feats.
This feat replaces the standard Armor Focus and Improved Armor Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Artful Dodge (Combat)
Prerequisite(s): Int 13
Benefit: If you are the only character threatening an opponent, you gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC against that opponent and a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within that opponent's threatened area.
You can use Intelligence, rather than Dexterity, for feats with a minimum Dexterity prerequisite.
Special: The Artful Dodge feat acts as the Dodge feat for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require Dodge.
Blind-Fight (Combat)
Benefit:In melee, every time you miss because of concealment, you can reroll your miss chance percentile roll one time to see if you actually hit.
An invisible attacker gets no advantages related to hitting you in melee. That is, you don’t lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and the attacker doesn’t get the usual +2 bonus for being invisible. The invisible attacker’s bonuses do still apply for ranged attacks, however.
You do not need to make Acrobatics skill checks to move at full speed while blinded.
If you have 10 or more ranks in Perception, your melee attacks ignore the miss chance for less than total concealment. You may still reroll your miss chance percentile roll for total concealment. If you successfully pinpoint an invisible or hidden attacker within 30 feet, that attacker gets no advantages related to hitting you with ranged attacks. That is, you don’t lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and the attacker doesn’t get the usual +2 bonus for being invisible.
If you have 15 or more ranks in Perception, you treat opponents with total concealment as if they had normal concealment (20% miss chance instead of 50%). You may still reroll a miss chance percentile roll as normal.
Normal: Regular attack roll modifiers for invisible attackers trying to hit you apply, and you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC. The speed reduction for darkness and poor visibility also applies.
Special: The Blind-Fight feat is of no use against a character who is the subject of a blink spell.
This feat replaces the standard Blind-Fight, Improved Blind-Fight, and Greater Blind-Fight feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Bodyguard (Combat)
Prerequisite:Combat Reflexes.
Benefit: When an adjacent ally is attacked, you may use an attack of opportunity to attempt the Aid Another action to improve your ally’s AC. You may not use the Aid Another action to improve your ally’s attack roll with this attack. If the attack would still hit the ally, you can intercept the attack as an immediate action, taking full damage from that attack and any associated effects (bleed, poison, etc.). A creature cannot benefit from this feat more than once per attack.
Normal: Aid Another is a standard action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Bodyguard and In Harm's Way feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Charging Hurler (Combat)
Prerequisite: Precise Shot, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You can use the charge rules to make a thrown weapon attack. All the parameters of a charge apply, except that you must only move closer to your opponent. If you do, you can make a single thrown weapon attack against that opponent, gaining the +2 bonus on the attack roll and taking a –2 penalty to your AC until the start of your next turn. If your target is within 30 feet, you gain a +2 bonus on damage rolls.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Charging Hurler and Improved Charging Hurler feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Cleave (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. You can only make one additional attack per round with this feat. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.
If you have a base attack bonus of +4 or higher, you can continue to make attacks against foes adjacent to the previous foe, so long as they are within your reach. You cannot attack an individual foe more than once during this attack action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Cleave and Great Cleave feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Cleaving Finish (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, Cleave, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: If you make a melee attack, and your target drops to 0 or fewer hit points as a result of your attack, you can make another melee attack using your highest base attack bonus against another opponent within reach. You can make only one extra attack per round with this feat.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, you can continue to make attacks against foes within your reach.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Cleaving Finish and Improved Cleaving Finish feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Deathless Zealot (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, Con 13, Endurance, Ironhide, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: You are not staggered while using the Endurance feat, but if you take a move and a standard action or a full-round action while you are at 0 or fewer hit points you take 1 point of damage. Further, while using the Endurance feat, you gain a +2 bonus on melee attacks and damage rolls.
If you have a base attack bonus of +9 or higher, when you are at 0 or fewer hit points, you do not lose 1 hit point when you take an action.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, whenever a creature rolls to confirm a critical hit against you, it must roll twice and take the lowest result.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Deathless Initiate, Deathless Master, and Deathless Zealot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Deft Maneuvers (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a dirty trick, disarm, feint, reposition, steal, or trip combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to attempt a dirty trick, disarm a foe, reposition a foe, steal an item from a foe, or trip a foe and you can make a Bluff check to feint in combat as a move action. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense when an opponent tries a dirty trick on you, tries to disarm, reposition, steal an item from, trip, or perform a feint upon you.
Normal: You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a dirty trick, disarm, reposition, steal, or trip combat maneuver. Feinting in combat is a standard action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Reposition, Improved Steal, and Improved Trip feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Devastating Strike (Combat)
Prerequisites: Vital Strike, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: Whenever you use Vital Strike, you gain a +2 bonus on each extra weapon damage dice roll those feats grant (+6 maximum). This bonus damage is multiplied on a critical hit.
If you have a base attack bonus of +13 or higher, whenever you use Vital Strike, you gain a bonus on attack rolls to confirm a critical hit equal to the bonus on damage rolls you gain from this feat.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Devastating Strike and Improved Devastating Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Disengaging Flourish (Combat)
Prerequisites:Dex 13, Deft Maneuvers, Dodge, base attack bonus +1
Benefit: As a standard action, make a Bluff check against each opponent that currently threatens you. If you succeed against at least one opponent, you can move up to your speed. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity from any opponent you succeeded at feinting against.
If you have a base attack bonus of +3 or higher, whenever you use this feat, you can make a single melee attack against one opponent you succeeded at feinting against. That opponent is denied his Dexterity bonus to AC against this attack.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Disenganing Feint, Disengaging Flourish, and Disengaging Shot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
[[NOTES:Disengaging Feint might be the biggest feat tax in the game. For the price of three feats, you get a worse version of the withdraw action. This feat starts at Disengaging Flourish.]]
Dodge (Combat)
Prerequisite: Dex 13.
Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC and a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened area. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses.
Dodge bonuses stack with each other, unlike most types of bonuses.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Dodge and Mobility feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Endurance
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on the following checks and saves: Swim checks made to resist nonlethal damage from exhaustion; Constitution checks made to continue running; Constitution checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from a forced march; Constitution checks made to hold your breath; Constitution checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from starvation or thirst; Fortitude saves made to avoid nonlethal damage from hot or cold environments; and Fortitude saves made to resist damage from suffocation. You may sleep in light or medium armor without becoming fatigued.
When your hit point total is below 0, but you are not dead, you automatically stabilize. You do not need to make a Constitution check each round to avoid losing additional hit points. You may choose to act as if you were disabled, rather than dying. You must make this decision as soon as you are reduced to negative hit points (even if it isn’t your turn). If you do not choose to act as if you were disabled, you immediately fall unconscious. When using this feat, you are staggered. You can take a move action without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action (or any other action deemed as strenuous, including some swift actions, such as casting a quickened spell) you take 1 point of damage after completing the act. If your negative hit points are equal to or greater than your Constitution score, you immediately die.
Normal: A character without this feat who sleeps in medium or heavier armor is fatigued the next day. A character without this feat who is reduced to negative hit points is unconscious and dying.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Endurance and Diehard feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Familiar Bond
Prerequisite(s): Iron Will.
Benefit(s): You gain a familiar, as the wizard arcane bond class feature. Your total Hit Dice are used as your wizard level for determining the familiar’s abilities.
Special: You can never have more than one familiar.
This feat replaces the standard Familiar Bond and Improved Familiar Bond feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Flexible Wizardry
Prerequisite(s): Spell Mastery, wizard level 1st.
Benefit: When you prepare your spells each day, you can choose to keep a number of spell slots equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) flexibly prepared. Instead of preparing a single spell within each of these slots, you can partially prepare two spells. Anytime after you prepare these flexible slots, you can spend a full-round action to finalize one slot, choosing one of the two spells to be finished and fully prepared in that slot.
If you have a wizard level of 8 or higher, you can flexibly prepare an additional 4 spells. Furthermore, you can finalize one of these slots with a standard action instead of a full-round action.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Flexible Wizardry and Improved Flexible Wizardry feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Great Fortitude
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saving throws. Once per day, you may reroll a Fortitude save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Great Fortitude and Improved Great Fortitude feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Impaling Critical (Combat, Critical)
Prerequisite:Critical Focus, base attack bonus +11.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit with a piercing melee weapon, you can impale your opponent on your weapon. While your opponent is impaled in this way, each time he starts his turn, you deal damage equal to your weapon’s damage dice plus the extra damage dice from your weapon’s properties. As an immediate action, you can pull your weapon out of your opponent. If your opponent is ever outside your reach, you must spend a free action to let go of your weapon or pull it out of him. Your opponent can also spend a move action to pull your weapon out. When the weapon comes out, your opponent takes damage as if starting his turn impaled. While you impale your opponent with your weapon, you cannot use it to attack, and you must hold on to it.
If you have a base attack bonus of +13 or higher, while you are using this feat to impale an opponent, and you are still holding onto that weapon, that opponent must succeed at a grapple combat maneuver check against you to pull your weapon out. If you have let go of your weapon, the impaled opponent must spend a standard action to remove the weapon. Until the opponent pulls the weapon out, his speed in all modes is halved and his maneuverability, if any, is reduced by one step. When the weapon comes out, instead of dealing the damage normally, you can deal bleed damage equal to your weapon’s damage dice result once per round at the start of that opponent’s turn.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Impaling Critical and Improved Impaling Critical feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Improved Unarmed Combat (Combat)
Benefit: You are considered to be armed even when unarmed—you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you attack foes while unarmed. Your unarmed strikes can deal lethal or nonlethal damage, at your choice. While using natural weapons, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Combat as a prerequisite.
You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a grapple combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to grapple a foe. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense whenever an opponent tries to grapple you.
Normal: Without this feat, you are considered unarmed when attacking with an unarmed strike, and you can deal only nonlethal damage with such an attack. You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a grapple combat maneuver.
Special: If you are a monk, you can use natural weapons with your flurry of blows class feature.
This feat replaces the standard Improved Unarmed Strike, Feral Combat Training, and Improved Grapple feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Improvised Weapon Mastery (Combat)
Benefit:You do not suffer any penalties for using an improvised weapon. Unarmed opponents are flat-footed against any attacks you make with an improvised melee weapon and you receive a +1 circumstance bonus on attack rolls made with thrown splash weapons..
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, increase the amount of damage dealt by improvised weapons by one step (for example, 1d4 becomes 1d6) to a maximum of 1d8 (2d6 if the improvised weapon is two-handed). Improvised weapons have a critical threat range of 19–20, with a critical multiplier of ×2.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Catch Off-Guard, Throw Anything, and Improvised Weapon Mastery feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Iron Will
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Will saving throws. Once per day, you may reroll a Will save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Iron Will and Improved Iron Will feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Lightning Reflexes
Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on all Reflex saving throws. Once per day, you may reroll a Reflex save. You must decide to use this ability before the results are revealed. You must take the second roll, even if it is worse.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Lightning Reflexes and Improved Lightning Reflexes feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Lightning Stance (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 15, Dodge, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: If you move more than 5 feet this turn, you gain 20% concealment for 1 round against ranged attacks.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11, when you take two actions to move or a withdraw action in a turn, you gain 50% concealment for 1 round.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Wind Stance and Lightning Stance feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Penetrating Strike (Combat)
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +12, proficiency with weapon group.
Benefit: Your attacks made with weapon groups selected with Weapon Focus ignore up to 5 points of damage reduction. This feat does not apply to damage reduction without a type (such as DR 10/—).
If you have a base attack bonus of +16 or higher, your attacks made with weapon groups selected with Weapon Focus ignore up to 10 points of damage reduction. This amount is reduced to 5 points for damage reduction without a type (such as DR 10/—).
Special: This feat replaces the standard Penetrating Strike and Greater Penetrating Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Powerful Maneuvers (Combat)
Prerequisites:Str 13
Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a bull rush, drag, overrun, or sunder combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks made to bull rush, drag, overrun a foe, or sunder an item and targets of your overrun attempts may not choose to avoid you. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense when an opponent tries to bull rush, drag, or overrun you, or sunder your gear.
Normal: You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a bull rush, drag, overrun, or sunder combat maneuver.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Improved Bull Rush, Improved Drag, Improved Overrun, and Improved Sunder feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Precise Shot (Combat)
Benefit: You can shoot or throw ranged weapons at an opponent engaged in melee without taking the standard –4 penalty on your attack roll.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, your ranged attacks ignore the AC bonus granted to targets by anything less than total cover, and the miss chance granted to targets by anything less than total concealment. Total cover and total concealment provide their normal benefits against your ranged attacks.
If you have a base attack bonus of +16 or higher, as a standard action, make a single ranged attack. The target does not gain any armor, natural armor, or shield bonuses to its Armor Class. You do not gain the benefit of this ability if you move this round.
Note: Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Precise Shot, Improved Precise Shot, and Pinpoint Targeting feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Second Chance (Combat)
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When making a full attack, if you miss on your first attack, you can forgo making any other attacks for the rest of your turn to reroll that attack at your highest base attack bonus.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, when you reroll a missed attack using this feat, you can still make the rest of your attacks that turn, albeit at a –5 penalty to each attack.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Second Chance and Improved Second Chance feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shield Focus (Combat)
Prerequisites:Shield Proficiency, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Increase the AC bonus granted by any shield you are using by 1.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, you reduce the armor check penalty of any shield you are using by 1. You also use your character level in place of your base attack bonus for the purpose of shield mastery feat prerequisites.
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, increase the AC bonus granted by this feat to 2.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Shield Focus, Improved Shield Focus, and Greater Shield Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shield Slam (Combat)
Prerequisite:Shield Proficiency
Benefit: When you perform a shield bash, you may still apply the shield’s shield bonus to your AC.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, any opponents hit by your shield bash are also hit with a free bull rush attack, substituting your attack roll for the combat maneuver check. This bull rush does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Opponents who cannot move back due to a wall or other surface are knocked prone after moving the maximum possible distance. You may choose to move with your target if you are able to take a 5-foot step or to spend an action to move this turn.
Normal: Without this feat, a character that performs a shield bash loses the shield’s shield bonus to AC until his next turn.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Improved Shield Bash and Shield Slam feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shield Specialization (Combat)
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected shield, Shield Focus, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: Choose one type of shield (buckler, light, heavy, or tower shield). With the selected shield, you gain a +2 bonus to your Armor Class against critical hit confirmation rolls. In addition, you may add your base shield bonus (including the bonus from Shield Focus but not including enhancement bonuses) to your CMD.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, you gain an additional +2 bonus to your Armor Class against critical hit confirmation rolls. In addition, once per day you may negate a critical hit, and damage is instead rolled normally.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of shield.
This feat replaces the standard Shield Specialization and Greater Shield Specialization feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Shot on the Run (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Precise Shot, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: As a full-round action, you can move up to your speed and make a single ranged attack action at any point during your movement.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, once per encounter, when using the withdraw action, you can make a single ranged attack action at any point during your movement.
Normal: You cannot move before and after an attack with a ranged weapon. You cannot attack when using the withdraw action.
Special: Starting at 6th level, a ranger with the archery combat style may select Shot on the Run as a combat style feat.
This feat replaces the standard Shot on the Run and Parting Shot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Sidestep (Combat)
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge.
Benefit: Whenever an opponent misses you with a melee attack, you may move 5 feet as an immediate action so long as you remain within that opponent’s threatened area. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Additionally, when an opponent charges you, you gain a +4 dodge bonus to your AC. If the charger’s attack roll misses you and his movement ends while he is adjacent to you, you can switch places with the opponent as an immediate action, and he is considered to be flanked by you until the end of your next turn. You can’t use the benefits of this ability if you ready an action to set a weapon with the brace special quality against a charging foe.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Sidestep, Improved Sidestep, and Juke feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Snap Shot (Combat)
Prerequisite: Dex 13, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: While wielding a ranged weapon from a weapon group with which you have Weapon Focus, you threaten squares within 5 feet of you. You can make attacks of opportunity with that ranged weapon. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when making a ranged attack as an attack of opportunity.
If you have a base attack bonus of +9 or higher, you threaten an additional 5 feet.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, whenever you make an attack of opportunity using a ranged weapon and hit, you gain a +2 bonus on the damage roll and a +2 bonus on rolls to confirm a critical hit with that attack. These bonuses increase to +4 when you have base attack bonus +16, and to +6 when you have base attack bonus +20.
Normal: While wielding a ranged weapon, you threaten no squares and can make no attacks of opportunity with that weapon.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Snap Shot, Improved Snap Shot, and Greater Snap Shot feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Staggering Critical (Combat, Critical)
Prerequisites: Critical Focus, base attack bonus +13.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit, your opponent becomes staggered for 1d4+1 rounds. A successful Fortitude save reduces the duration to 1 round. The DC of this Fortitude save is equal to 10 + your base attack bonus. The effects of this feat do not stack. Additional hits instead add to the duration.
If you have a base attack bonus of +17 or higher, your opponent becomes stunned for 1d4 rounds. A successful Fortitude save reduces this to staggered for 1d4 rounds. The DC of this Fortitude save is equal to 10 + your base attack bonus. The effects of this feat do not stack. Additional hits instead add to the duration.
Special: You can only apply the effects of one critical feat to a given critical hit unless you possess Critical Mastery.
This feat replaces the standard Staggering Critical and Stunning Critical feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Stalwart
Prerequisite:Endurance, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: While using the total defense action, fighting defensively action, or combat expertise, you can forgo the dodge bonus to AC you would normally gain to instead gain an equivalent amount of DR, to a maximum of DR 5/—, until the start of your next turn. This damage reduction stacks with DR you gain from class features, such as the barbarian’s, but not with DR from any other source. If you are denied your Dexterity bonus to AC, you are also denied this DR.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, double the DR you gain from this feat, to a maximum of DR 10/—.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Stalwart and Improved Stalwart feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Step Up (Combat)
Prerequisite:Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Whenever an adjacent foe attempts to take a 5-foot step away from you, you may also make a 5-foot step as an immediate action so long as you end up adjacent to the foe that triggered this ability. If you take this step, you cannot take a 5-foot step during your next turn. If you take an action to move during your next turn, subtract 5 feet from your total movement.
If you have a base attack bonus of +3 or higher, when using this feat to follow an adjacent foe, you may move up to 10 feet. You may still take a 5-foot step during your next turn, and any movement you make using this feat does not subtract any distance from your movement during your next turn.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, when using this feat to follow an adjacent foe, you may also make a single melee attack against that foe at your highest base attack bonus. This attack counts as one of your attacks of opportunity for the round. Using this feat does not count toward the number of actions you can usually take each round.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Step Up, Following Step, and Step Up and Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Surprise Follow-Through (Combat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, Cleave, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: When using Cleave, the second foe you attack on your turn is denied its Dexterity bonus against you.
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, each opponent you attack on your turn (other than the first) is denied his Dexterity bonus against you.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Surprise Follow-Through and Improved Surprise Follow-Through feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Tiring Critical (Combat, Critical)
Prerequisites: Critical Focus, base attack bonus +13.
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit, your opponent becomes fatigued. This ability has no additional effect on a fatigued or exhausted creature.
If you have a base attack bonus of +15 or higher, your target immediately becomes exhausted. This ability has no effect on exhausted creatures.
Special: You can only apply the effects of one critical feat to a given critical hit unless you possess Critical Mastery.
This feat replaces the standard Tiring Critical and Exhausting Critical feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Two-Weapon Fighting (Combat)
Prerequisite: Dex 15.
Benefit: Your penalties on attack rolls for fighting with two weapons are reduced. The penalty for your primary hand lessens by 2 and the one for your off hand lessens by 6.
When wielding a double weapon or two weapons (not including natural weapons or unarmed strikes), you gain a +1 shield bonus to your AC. When you are fighting defensively or using the total defense action, this shield bonus increases to +2.
If you have a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, you get a second attack with your off-hand weapon, albeit at a –5 penalty.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, you get a third attack with your off-hand weapon, albeit at a –10 penalty.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, and Two-Weapon Defense feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Vital Strike (Combat)
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When you use an attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
If you have a base attack bonus of +11 or higher, roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack thrice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses.
If you have a base attack bonus of +16 or higher, roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack four times and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, and Greater Vital Strike feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Weapon Focus (Combat)
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon group, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Select a weapon group. You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using weapons from the selected group.
If you have a base attack bonus of +8 or higher, the bonus on attack rolls increases to +2.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group.
This feat replaces the standard Weapon Focus and Greater Weapon Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Weapon Specialization (Combat)
Prerequisites:Proficiency with selected weapon group, Weapon Focus with selected weapon group, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: Select a weapon group for which you already have Weapon Focus. You gain a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make using weapons from the selected weapon group.
If you have a base attack bonus of +12 or higher, the bonus on damage rolls increases to +4.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group.
This feat replaces the standard Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Whip Mastery (Combat)
Prerequisite: Weapon Focus (flails), base attack bonus +2.
Benefit: You no longer provoke attacks of opportunity when attacking with a whip. You can deal lethal damage with a whip, although you can still deal nonlethal damage when you want. Further, you can deal damage with a whip despite a creature’s armor bonus or natural armor bonus.
If you have a base attack bonus of +5 or higher, while wielding a whip, you threaten the area of your natural reach plus 5 feet. You can also use a whip to grasp an unattended Small or Tiny object within your whip’s reach and pull that object into your square. To do so, you must hit AC 10 with a melee touch attack. Further, you can use the whip to grasp onto an object within your whip’s reach, using 5 feet of your whip as if it were a grappling hook, allowing you to use the rest of your whip to swing on like a rope. As a free action, you can release the object your whip is grasping, but you cannot use the whip to attack while the whip is grasping an object.
If you have abase attack bonus of +8 or higher, You are so quick with your whip that you never drop it due to a failed disarm or trip combat maneuver attempt. Further, you gain the ability to grapple using your whip. To do so, use the normal grapple rules with the following changes.
Attack: You cannot use your whip to attack while you are using it to grapple an opponent.
Damage: When dealing damage to your grappled opponent, you deal your whip’s weapon damage rather than your unarmed strike damage.
Free Hands: You take no penalty on your combat maneuver check for having fewer than two hands free when you use your whip to grapple.
Reach: Rather than pulling your grappled opponent adjacent to you when you successfully grapple and when you move the grapple, you must keep him within your whip’s reach minus his own reach to maintain the grapple. If the difference in reach is less than 0, such as is the case for a Medium whip wielder and a Gargantuan creature, you cannot grapple that opponent with your whip. If you have to pull a creature adjacent to you to grapple it with your whip, you still provoke an attack of opportunity from that opponent unless you have the Improved Grapple feat.
Tie Up: While adjacent to your opponent, you can attempt to use your whip to tie him up. If you do so to an opponent you have grappled rather than pinned, you take only a –5 penalty on the combat maneuver check rather than the normal –10.
Normal: Attacking with a whip provokes attacks of opportunity as if you used a ranged weapon. A whip deals no damage to a creature that has an armor bonus of +1 or natural armor bonus of +3.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Whip Mastery, Improved Whip Mastery, and Greater Whip Mastery feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Okay...I probably missed some stuff, but this is as good as its getting right now. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
QUARANTINE
This is where I'm shoving things that may be problematic until I figure out what to do about them.
Eldritch Heritage
Prerequisites: Cha 13, Skill Focus with the class skill of bloodline selected for this feat (see below), character level 3rd.
Benefit: Select one sorcerer bloodline. You must have Skill focus in the class skill that bloodline grants to a sorcerer at 1st level (for example, Heal for the celestial bloodline). This bloodline cannot be a bloodline you already have. You gain the first-level bloodline power for the selected bloodline. For purposes of using this feat, treat your sorcerer level as equal to your character level – 2, even if you have levels in sorcerer.
If you are 5th level or higher, you gain the 3rd-level power of the bloodline you selected.
If you are 11th level or higher, you gain the 9th-level power of the bloodline you selected.
If you are 17th level or higher, you gain the 15th-level power of the bloodline you selected. Additionally, for purposes of using this feat, treat your character level as your sorcerer level for all your sorcerer bloodline powers granted by this feat.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Eldritch Heritage, Improved Eldritch Heritage, and Greater Eldritch Heritage feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Elemental Focus
Benefit: Choose one energy type (acid, cold, electricity, or fire). Add +2 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells that deal damage of the energy type you select.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take this feat, it applies to a new energy type.
This feat replaces the standard Elemental Focus and Greater Elemental Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Sap Master (Combat)
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +1d6.
Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage, you gain a bonus on your damage roll equal to the number of sneak attack damage dice you rolled.
If you have sneak attack +3d6 or higher, whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage to a flat-footed opponent, roll your sneak attack dice twice, totaling the results as your nonlethal sneak attack damage for that attack.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Sap Adept and Sap Master feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Spell Focus
Benefit:Add +2 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new school of magic.
This feat replaces the standard Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Spell Penetration
Benefit: You get a +4 bonus on caster level checks (1d20 + caster level) made to overcome a creature’s spell resistance.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
Uncanny Concentration
Benefit:You do not need to make concentration checks when affected by vigorous or violent motion or by violent weather, you get a +6 bonus on concentration checks made to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability when casting on the defensive or while grappled, and you gain a +2 bonus on all other concentration checks.
Special: This feat replaces the standard Combat Casting and Uncanny Concentration feats and counts as those feats for the purpose of satisfying prerequisites that require those feats.
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