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The_Silversword wrote:

They would have resitence against these attacks becuase they're backed by magic.

No, they're not. None of the powers I mentioned are necessarily backed by magic at all, despite having non-martial keywords. The Paladin's Valiant Strike? It's a bonus to hit for each adjacent enemy, nothing necessarily divine in nature about it. The Sword Mage's Luring Strike? That's almost exactly the same as the Fighter's Footwork Lure, nothing necessarily magical about it. The Barbarian's Howling Strike? How is "I smash stuff really hard! And I can do it during a charge!" necessarily magically backed at all?

And no monsters dont have power source keywords but they do have keywords such as psycic or fear that would designate those powers as magical in nature.

No, a specific keyword does not automatically make a power magical. Thing with the Fear keyword might just have that because it's really ****ing scary, like Fireclave's example of the dragon. The only keywords that are necessarily magical in my opinion would be Force, Necrotic, Charm, Conjuration, Illusion, Polymorph, and Teleportation. And even then you run into way too many possible exceptions.

See this is the problem im having in trying to update this race for 4e. Im not sure how to pull it off.

Again, if the race was actually more interesting than just their mechanic for resisting magic, then it should be no problem to represent other aspects of them mechanically and have that be that.

I want to keep that magic resistance thing in there somehow.

Well you're not going to be able to. I'm not sure how to make it more clear, but 4E's system just doesn't allow for a consistent definition of magic. The only way to pull it off is to limit it and say they're only resistant to certain kinds of magic. For example, a save bonus versus charm effects would make them more resistant to those but couldn't be representative of being resistant to all magic at all.

Maybe a bonus to defense against area effects?

Not all area effects are magical in nature, so this makes no sense.

Crimson_Concerto wrote:

Fireclave, why is there nothing in your guide about avoiding natural weapons at all cost? Because it seems like every other homebrew race wants to have natural weapons in the form of at-will attack powers or an unarmed attack enhancement even though they're completely inappropriate...

On this point I disagree. Perhaps is my personal bias speaking but I like the idea of races having natural weapons or natural weapon-theme abilities and powers. There's something satisfying about tearing into your foes with nothing but your own power, forgoing the crutches that are necessary to every other warrior. It's one of the reasons people of drawn to the monk class, and one of the reasons why many were drawn to monstrous races in previous editions.

That is assuming, of course, that racial weapons are done in a manner that's both balanced and thematically appropriate; just like any other racial feature.

However, I'll also admit that I'm not as active on the homebrew forums as you are, so I've probably have not seen as many badly implemented natural weapon mechanics as you have.

Perhaps your issue is not with natural weapons per se, but rather with the idea natural weapons that are too liberally handed out; where having sharp nails automatically justifies the race qualifying a race for built-in set of Ginsu where other races of comparable keratin structures do not. If so, then that's more of an issue of preference than one of mechanics. But now I'm just conjecturing.

Crimson_Concerto wrote:

Fireclave, why is there nothing in your guide about avoiding natural weapons at all cost? Because it seems like every other homebrew race wants to have natural weapons in the form of at-will attack powers or an unarmed attack enhancement even though they're completely inappropriate...

So what are you saying? that minotaurs shouldnt have horns?, i mean if a race has claws or hooves or horns or what ever they should be able to do something with that a little better than 1d4 unarmed i mean really whats wrong with natural weapons?

Fireclave wrote:

Perhaps is my personal bias speaking but I like the idea of races having natural weapons or natural weapon-theme abilities and powers.

Natural weapon themed abilities and powers are fine, but it's possible for them to be done in a way that's not overpowered, not completely useless, not completely nonsensical, and not totally contrary to the game's racial design goals.

That is assuming, of course, that racial weapons are done in a manner that's both balanced and thematically appropriate; just like any other racial feature.

That's the problem. The vast majority of the time they're done, they're not balance, and they're not thematically appropriate.

At-will attack powers are a terrible idea. If they're standard action attack powers, they become just as bad as the current Minotaur racial encounter power, channeling the race into a melee class and role or else have a useless racial power because your standard action is supposed to be what you use in order to fulfill your class and party role. If they're at-will minor action attack powers, then that's just overpowered.

As for unarmed attack improvement, etc., they're usually completely useless because they can't be enchanted like other weapons can, and somebody allows unarmed attacks to be enchanted, then it's still inappropriate because it again becomes the kind of racial benefit like the Half-Orc's Swift Charge that's great for melee weapon classes and roles but completely useless to everybody else, and that's bad design.

And then of course you run into logical inconsistencies with existing races. Why exactly do you get an better unarmed attack than a Razor-Claw Shifter? Why do you get an at-will attack power when the Minotaur and his powerful horns do not? Why are your teeth significant enough for mechanical representation when the Dragonborn get nothing for their obviously superior dentures?

This doesn't all mean that natural attacks can't be done. It just means that at-will attack powers and unarmed attack enhancements are an inappropriate way to do them. A minor action encounter attack power should be more than plenty. Anything more than that should be accomplished via feats or some other method that doesn't require a character to have completely useless racial features or powers.

The_Silversword wrote:

So what are you saying? that minotaurs shouldnt have horns?

Absolutely not. Check my sig to see that I very much want Minotaur to keep their horns and a reasonable way to use them. However, an unarmed attack enhancement isn't the appropriate way to do it, an at-will attack power isn't the appropriate way to do it, and a standard action encounter power isn't the appropriate way to do it.

i mean if a race has claws or hooves or horns or what ever they should be able to do something with that a little better than 1d4 unarmed i mean really whats wrong with natural weapons?

I've explained that above. Nothing wrong with it per se, but there is definitely something wrong with a lot of the consequences. Make your superior unarmed attacks a racial feat instead of a base part of the race, and it's all golden. That way it's not dead weight to characters that can't at all make use of it. Problem solved.
Either that or make it a minor action encounter power.

Magus_Stragus wrote:

Crimson Concerto doesn't like natural weapons because in 4e races are supposed to do fairly good in any class they pick, and a natural weapon would be then a worthless racial feature to many non-melee classes. Or so I think.

That's the simple version, yes.

ShadowGuard wrote:

I think I have seen this idea on the boards before but I like the idea of a multi-class feat like the Blowgun training or Bola training to handle fighting with claws.

That does sound kinda cool ShadowGuard but im not sure about the multi-class bit. Im not exactly crazy over the Multi Class rules. Really kinda limits you. No more thief/fighter /magic-user, but i guess that was the point.

The_Silversword wrote:

No more thief/fighter /magic-user

This is in zero ways true. There are multiple ways to make a thief/fighter/magic-user. What are you talking about?

Crimson_Concert]At-will attack powers are a terrible idea. If they're standard action attack powers, they become just as bad as the current Minotaur racial encounter power, channeling the race into a melee class and role or else have a useless racial power because your standard action is supposed to be what you use in order to fulfill your class and party role. If they're at-will minor action attack powers, then that's just overpowered.

For the most part I agree with this. An at-will natural attack power as part of a race's stat block would definitely not be the way to go (but see below*).

At-will attack powers are a terrible idea. If they're standard action attack powers, they become just as bad as the current Minotaur racial encounter power, channeling the race into a melee class and role or else have a useless racial power because your standard action is supposed to be what you use in order to fulfill your class and party role. If they're at-will minor action attack powers, then that's just overpowered.[/quote]
For the most part I agree with this. An at-will natural attack power as part of a race's stat block would definitely not be the way to go (but see below*).

Crimson_Concert]As for unarmed attack improvement, etc., they're usually completely useless because they can't be enchanted like other weapons can, and somebody allows unarmed attacks to be enchanted, then it's still inappropriate because it again becomes the kind of racial benefit like the Half-Orc's Swift Charge that's great for melee weapon classes and roles but completely useless to everybody else, and that's bad design.

But disagree with this. I think unarmed attack improvements are a good way of implementing natural weapons.

First, I see no reason why natural weapons can't be enchanted. I don't have a DDi account, but from what I hear, monks' unarmed strikes can be enchanted. I see no reason why other natural weapons cannot.

As for the universal usability issue, the answer to that is simple. Make natural weapons a racial feat instead of a default racial feature. Melee oriented members of the race can choose take it while non-melee members can take other feats.

This is, in fact, the approach I intend to take with a couple of my own races. I figure it will work if I make natural weapons a feat, and make said feat equivalent to a Superior Weapon feat so that in either case you're spending a feat to access to a new weapon that's worth the investment. And aside from the base cost of a manufactured weapon, they will cost the same as well.

*Though technically, with this approach, you are making natural weapons an at-will power. At the very least, your melee basic attack becomes a natural weapon attack, and if you're a melee character with melee at wills...

As for unarmed attack improvement, etc., they're usually completely useless because they can't be enchanted like other weapons can, and somebody allows unarmed attacks to be enchanted, then it's still inappropriate because it again becomes the kind of racial benefit like the Half-Orc's Swift Charge that's great for melee weapon classes and roles but completely useless to everybody else, and that's bad design.[/quote]
But disagree with this. I think unarmed attack improvements are a good way of implementing natural weapons.

First, I see no reason why natural weapons can't be enchanted. I don't have a DDi account, but from what I hear, monks' unarmed strikes can be enchanted. I see no reason why other natural weapons cannot.

As for the universal usability issue, the answer to that is simple. Make natural weapons a racial feat instead of a default racial feature. Melee oriented members of the race can choose take it while non-melee members can take other feats.

This is, in fact, the approach I intend to take with a couple of my own races. I figure it will work if I make natural weapons a feat, and make said feat equivalent to a Superior Weapon feat so that in either case you're spending a feat to access to a new weapon that's worth the investment. And aside from the base cost of a manufactured weapon, they will cost the same as well.

*Though technically, with this approach, you are making natural weapons an at-will power. At the very least, your melee basic attack becomes a natural weapon attack, and if you're a melee character with melee at wills...

And then of course you run into logical inconsistencies with existing races. Why exactly do you get an better unarmed attack than a Razor-Claw Shifter? Why do you get an at-will attack power when the Minotaur and his powerful horns do not? Why are your teeth significant enough for mechanical representation when the Dragonborn get nothing for their obviously superior dentures?

Such inconsistencies are a matter of flavor and willing to suspend disbelief. The simplest answer for why a race's claws are sharper than a Razor-Claw Shifter's or bites stronger than a Dragonborn's is because they simply are. Race's X claws really are sharper, stronger, and, perhaps most importantly, made of something that can endure repeated use as a weaponthat will be utilized against anything from as weak as flesh and as tough as metal without threat of causing self injury. A creature with a weaponized bite might not only have chomps strong enough to crunch through metal on a daily basis, but jaw muscles like a croc to exert enormous pressure for their size and perhaps their teeth replace themselves regularly like a sharks.

A second simple explanation is that they had to hone their existing appendages through training in order weaponize them, much in the same way monks have to hone their unarmed strikes. The amount of training my be reduced due to their natural appendages being almost tough enough to see serious combat use, but additional training is needed all the same.

You could always say that Race X's natural weapon are inherently magical. Plenty of critters in 3e had innately magical natural weapons for the purpose of defeating damage reduction. It's a simple matter of applying the same concept here, but instead of being magic enough to defeat DR, they're magic enough to be used as a weapon.

Or you could always suspend disbelief and simply ignore the flavor issue. Race X has a natural weapon because its cool; Dragonborn don't because they already have plenty of abilities as is and don't need any more.

But the exact explanation, along with addressing or ignoring whatever inconsistencies or breaks in verisimilitude crop up, is the responsibility of the race's creator (though such logical inconsistency need not exist at all if you let other theme-appropriate races acquire natural weapons as well).

Crimson_Concerto wrote:

This is in zero ways true. There are multiple ways to make a thief/fighter/magic-user. What are you talking about?

The multi-class feat limits you to one class. Unless you are a bard. What are you talkin about?

Yaou wrote:

I'd like some feedback on two Racial Powers I'm fiddling around with now, if that wouldn't be too much trouble.  Here's the first (Race Names replaced with ~ for now):

~ Mobility
~ Racial Power
You dance around your opponent, harrying your foe while you press your attack.
Encounter – Martial
Immediate Reaction
Personal
Trigger:  You deal damage to an opponent
Effect:  You shift 1 square in any direction and gain a +2 bonus to Attack rolls made against the opponent you just damaged until the end of your next turn.  This bonus increases to +4 at 11th level and +6 at 21st level.

And the second:


Flight of Fancy
~ Racial Power
Leaping into the air to shake off a foe, you come down a short distance away and shrug off a debilitating effect.
Encounter
Move Action
Personal
Effect:  You can fly up to 3 squares before the end of your next turn.  Make a saving throw at the end of that movement.

I was debating whether or not to add "This movement does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity".  Thoughts?

I think they seem pretty balanced and useful for most classes, but I'd like some second opinions.

I get the second one for like a winged race or something, but the first one seem like it could be a standard class power instead of a racial ability. but then i dont know the race so it might fit in there. They seem pretty balanced to me but thats just my opinion.

Fireclave wrote:

As for the universal usability issue, the answer to that is simple. Make natural weapons a racial feat instead of a default racial feature. Melee oriented members of the race can choose take it while non-melee members can take other feats.

I already agree with this solution 100%. :D

Also, damn you for linking to TVtropes!
There goes a couple of hours of my life... :P

The_Silversword wrote:

The multi-class feat limits you to one class. Unless you are a bard. What are you talkin about?

The fact that you don't need to multiclass into a class in order to identify your character as a member of it. If my Fighter has a high DEX, uses lighter armor, and picks up skill training in Thievery, he can self-identify as a Rogue, and doing so is completely correct. If my Rogue picks up Arcane or Religion skills and takes the Ritual Caster feat, he can very much identify himself as a mage or Wizard, and doing so is completely correct. If my Wizard pumps up its STR and CON score to gain proficiency with heavier armor and make himself competent at fighting with his staff, he can very much identify himself as a Fighter, and doing so is completely correct.

Yaou wrote:

I'd like some feedback on two Racial Powers I'm fiddling around with now, if that wouldn't be too much trouble. Here's the first (Race Names replaced with ~ for now):

~ Mobility
~ Racial Power
You dance around your opponent, harrying your foe while you press your attack.
Encounter – Martial
Immediate Reaction
Personal
Trigger: You deal damage to an opponent
Effect: You shift 1 square in any direction and gain a +2 bonus to Attack rolls made against the opponent you just damaged until the end of your next turn. This bonus increases to +4 at 11th level and +6 at 21st level.

Personally, I wouldn't scale the attack bonus so high. Unlike damage, attack bonuses scale well. A +2 bonus to hit, for example will always be a +10% overall increase in accuracy from 1st to 30th, which is one of the reasons Combat Advantage is always useful to get. And compared to 3e, if you're familiar with that system, even the smallest bonus to hit means alot more in 4e due to how the math scales.

That's not so say I think the power is unbalanced, because honestly I'm not sure. But that +6 bonus to hit at epic especially is undoubtedly a very strong bonus. Though unfortunately, I have neither the time nor patients to do the math to see just how it is in comparison to other abilities.

Yaou wrote:

And the second:

Flight of Fancy
~ Racial Power
Leaping into the air to shake off a foe, you come down a short distance away and shrug off a debilitating effect.
Encounter
Move Action
Personal
Effect: You can fly up to 3 squares before the end of your next turn. Make a saving throw at the end of that movement.

I was debating whether or not to add "This movement does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity". Thoughts?

Seems okay to me, though it feels like it could use a boost. I say add the no-OA clause (or at least a bonus agains OA's). You're spending a move action to, most likely, move less distance than you could with a normal move action. So the power likely useless until you need to make a saving through. And as it seems that the theme of the power is to get the heck outta Dodge when crap happens, being able to do so without risking further injury seems appropriate.

The_Silversword wrote:

The multi-class feat limits you to one class. Unless you are a bard. What are you talkin about?

fighter - Flavor-wise, any character that dishes it out in melee. This can be done easily by choosing a base or secondary class that's melee or semi-melee oriented. Can also be done by taking feats like Melee Training or Sorcerous Channeling, so class multiclassing is not required.

thief - Flavor-wise, any character that skilled in getting into where he's not wanted and jacking your stuff. Stealing stuff is not class specific. Arguably, you don't even need training in any specific skills or have any specific abilities to pull this off (a honeyed tongue, some muscle, a distraction, and/or a reliable get-a-away works just as well). Though having training in the traditional thief skill set (Thievery and Stealth) tends to help.

Since this achetype is dependent on having the necessary skills and not a specific class (IOW, you do not need to be a Rogue) one only needs training in the proper skill sets (Thievery is ).

mage - Flavor-wise, any character that's knows how to hax physics. While this achetype is typically achieved by taking a implement-based class, since Rituals are magic and are available to everyone, this archetype is not class based.

Examples of (very simple) fighter/mage/theif builds

Dex/Cha Rogue/Warlock

Str/Dex Spear Fighter/Rogue
+ Skill Training Thievery
+ Skill Training Arcana
+ Ritual Caster

Warlock (any build)
+ Eldritch Strike at-will
*Thievery is a class skill for warlocks

Cha/Dex Sorcerer
+ Sorcerous Channeling
+ Skill Training (Thievery)

Wis/Dex Druid
+Skill Training Stealth
+Skill Training Thievery


This is not even trying.

Crimson_Concerto wrote:

Also, damn you for linking to TVtropes!
There goes a couple of hours of my life... :P

My apologies. It's a bad habit I've picked up. I really should put a warning label in my sig :D

Yaou wrote:

I'd like some feedback on two Racial Powers I'm fiddling around with now, if that wouldn't be too much trouble.  Here's the first (Race Names replaced with ~ for now):

~ Mobility
~ Racial Power
You dance around your opponent, harrying your foe while you press your attack.
Encounter – Martial
Immediate Reaction
Personal
Trigger:  You deal damage to an opponent
Effect:  You shift 1 square in any direction and gain a +2 bonus to Attack rolls made against the opponent you just damaged until the end of your next turn.  This bonus increases to +4 at 11th level and +6 at 21st level.

There's a problem with this power. You can't take immediate actions in your turn, and you can only take only one immediate action per turn (in case you wanted to use it after another immediate action, like a readied action, which would be a logical choice). Therefore, you are limited to the use only after an opportunity attack, and that's a bit limiting. You might want to chance the type of action to free action, and put as prerequisites: "you must have dealt damage to an opponent this turn", or something like that.

The_Silversword wrote:

I get the second one for like a winged race or something, but the first one seem like it could be a standard class power instead of a racial ability. but then i dont know the race so it might fit in there. They seem pretty balanced to me but thats just my opinion.

They both fit thematically with their respective races (at least, I hope they do), so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Fireclave wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't scale the attack bonus so high. Unlike damage, attack bonuses scale well. A +2 bonus to hit, for example will always be a +10% overall increase in accuracy from 1st to 30th, which is one of the reasons Combat Advantage is always useful to get. And compared to 3e, if you're familiar with that system, even the smallest bonus to hit means alot more in 4e due to how the math scales.

That's not so say I think the power is unbalanced, because honestly I'm not sure. But that +6 bonus to hit at epic especially is undoubtedly a very strong bonus. Though unfortunately, I have neither the time nor patients to do the math to see just how it is in comparison to other abilities.

Hmm... I may drop that +6 and make it a static +2 at all levels, or possibly remove the +4 at 11th and move it over to 21st level.  Still a bit strong, but at least less overpowering.  Thanks for the feedback!

Fireclave wrote:

Seems okay to me, though it feels like it could use a boost. I say add the no-OA clause (or at least a bonus agains OA's). You're spending a move action to, most likely, move less distance than you could with a normal move action. So the power likely useless until you need to make a saving through. And as it seems that the theme of the power is to get the heck outta Dodge when crap happens, being able to do so without risking further injury seems appropriate.

I'll be adding the No OA clause, which wasn't added earlier mainly because I was worried about its balance.  I've also got a couple feats in the works that would help with the range of this skill to make it more useful.

Magus_Stragus wrote:

There's a problem with this power. You can't take immediate actions in your turn, and you can only take only one immediate action per turn (in case you wanted to use it after another immediate action, like a readied action, which would be a logical choice). Therefore, you are limited to the use only after an opportunity attack, and that's a bit limiting. You might want to chance the type of action to free action, and put as prerequisites: "you must have dealt damage to an opponent this turn", or something like that.

Thanks for catching that.  I'll get around to fixing it as I mess around with the powers a bit more. 

While I work more on my racials, here are soms stripped down versions of the 2 races:Race 1 Show

Crimson_Concerto wrote:

I don't know enough about your race to suggest anything specific, but the best I can think of right now to maybe simulate what they used to have is to give them Variable Resistance 5 + one-half their level and have that count as their encounter power, but of course this would then still work against things that were not magical in nature, such as lava and blizzards, and you wouldn't be able to prevent that because you can't define magic.

Crimson_Concerto wrote:

I actually already addressed that idea.

so you did. I must of totally missed that part my bad.
So i take it then that your cool with the idea (seeing as how it was your idea to begin with). I like adding in the half-level part, i was thinking of scaleing by tier buy i like 1/2 level better. It works for me, even if it also applies to non magical as well. Thanks for the suggestion i think this IS the way to go.

Mercaius wrote:

Would you consider acting as an at-will light source to be a major ability, or a minor one? It has a definite mechanical advantage, but the value of this advantage seems debatable.

I would say a minor ability but really it could depend, like how long does it last? how bright is it? could you blind people with it? that might notch it up to a major ability or an encounter power, in my opinion.

Mercaius wrote:

Oh, there's blinding potential, but that's a separate racial power I'm working on.

Right now, my question involves a simple 5-square radius light source, suppress at will, centered on the character that I'm debating.

It does free up a player's hand from torches or the like in dark areas, but that seems both mild and situational as an advantage. I added the ability to suppress the light source so the race was still viable as a stealthy character and did not penalize the player.

In my opinion, yeah i would say a minor ability.

Magus_Stragus wrote:

Well, let me point out a few things:
-Regarding Karthon Will, you can just make it so the player can make saving throws against charm at the beginning of the turn instead of at the end.
-Knuckle Spikes, as it's been many times before, should be instead a feat. Why? Because it's too class-situational.
-And about Adaptative Defense, I believe that power is just about the same as Variable Resistance (except that it's triggered by an attack).

You should replace Knuckle Spikes with something else, and maybe change the racial power for Variable Resistance.

(And I still think Karthon Durability is too weak... ¬_¬)

Thanx for the input. Nice idea regarding karthon will i may use that. I do realize the the improved unarmed damage is entirely situation and completly useless to someone with a bastard sword but still they got claws they should get something in there startin out. I was thinkin of expanded on that with racial feats like more damge perhaps a profiency bonus or something.
You think the Durability is too weak? i was kinda thinkin that too. The original version had regeneration but i think thats a little too much. perhaps just give them the Durability feat as a bonus? I dont know i like the Adaptive defense being that you have to take damage before you can resist it. I guess that is kinda limiting. I dont know i may change it to a specific damage type and perhaps have racial feats to choose other resistances? Thanx again for the input. This is still very much a work-in-progress.

Mercaius]Right now, my question involves a simple 5-square radius light source, suppress at will, centered on the character that I'm debating.

It does free up a player's hand from torches or the like in dark areas, but that seems both mild and situational as an advantage. I added the ability to suppress the light source so the race was still viable as a stealthy character and did not penalize the player.

I think I would count that as a minor. I figure that most adventures happen in places people can see, whether due to the enviroment or the forethought of the players to bring light sources. It's use is overall situational and, as you mentioned, the major advantage is freeing up a hand in dark places. And at a 1 square radius, it doesn't even negate the need for a better lightsource for combat purposes.

Right now, my question involves a simple 5-square radius light source, suppress at will, centered on the character that I'm debating.

It does free up a player's hand from torches or the like in dark areas, but that seems both mild and situational as an advantage. I added the ability to suppress the light source so the race was still viable as a stealthy character and did not penalize the player.[/quote]
I think I would count that as a minor. I figure that most adventures happen in places people can see, whether due to the enviroment or the forethought of the players to bring light sources. It's use is overall situational and, as you mentioned, the major advantage is freeing up a hand in dark places. And at a 1 square radius, it doesn't even negate the need for a better lightsource for combat purposes.

The_Silversword]Karthon Durability: Increase Number of healing Surges by 1

Kinda weak and a bit boring. I would either attach some other secondary, more interesting, effect to Durability or at least up the bonus healing surges to 2.

Karthon Durability: Increase Number of healing Surges by 1[/quote]
Kinda weak and a bit boring. I would either attach some other secondary, more interesting, effect to Durability or at least up the bonus healing surges to 2.

The_Silversword]Knuckle spikes: Karthons have extended claw-like knuckles. Increase unarmed damage to 1d6

Very weaksause. A single die size is not much of an increase, and the attacks are still without a profinecy bonus, so even melee-oriented character wouldn't have much use for them. But as was mentioned above, "natural weapons" really should be a feat.

Knuckle spikes: Karthons have extended claw-like knuckles. Increase unarmed damage to 1d6[/quote]
Very weaksause. A single die size is not much of an increase, and the attacks are still without a profinecy bonus, so even melee-oriented character wouldn't have much use for them. But as was mentioned above, "natural weapons" really should be a feat.

The_Silversword]Racial Power:
Adaptive Defense
Encounter
Immediate Reaction
Trigger: You take damage from a specific damage type
Effect: You gain resist 5 + 1/2 your level against that damage type until the end of the encounter.

...I dont know i like the Adaptive defense being that you have to take damage before you can resist it. I guess that is kinda limiting. I dont know i may change it to a specific damage type and perhaps have racial feats to choose other resistances? Thanx again for the input. This is still very much a work-in-progress.

I'm not so well verse with monster entries, so I don't know how well the ability would work against elemental themed creatures. As is, its potentionally resistance against every elemental type, which is crazy good when it applies, even if you have to get hit first assuming the battle last more than a few rounds. However, it is useless against non-elemental users and is a rather static ability.

Just an idea, but perhaps instead of triggering a reaction when hit by a damage-keyworded attack, you instead make the power more general in nature in both trigger and effect wrote: