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.
Monday, August 28, 2017
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.
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