Look, the reason why the Changeling gets to do this is because flexibility and versatility are the entire point of playing a Changeling. If your race's flavor isn't totally about flexibility and versatility, then such ability score options don't belong on your race.
I believe that the PHB3 pretty much invalidates this viewpoint. I expect that in the future we will see this on many/most races.
Ability Scores: +2 Int, +2 Con OR +2 Cha Size: Medium Vision: Normal Speed: 6 squares Languages: Common, Deep Speech Skill Bonuses: +2 Insight +2 Arcana Magical Attuned: Arcana added to class skill list Terrifying Mind: Corrupted add +2 to will defense. Aberrant Origin: Corrupted are strongly influenced by the Far Realm and count as having the Aberrant Origin. Mad Certainty: Corrupted gain the Mad Certainty racial power.
Mad Certainty Corrupted Racial Power It all makes SENSE now... Encounter No Action Personal Trigger: You make an attack roll, a saving throw, a skill check, or an ability check and dislike the result. Effect: Roll a d6. On an even roll (2,4,6) add 5 to the triggering roll. On an odd roll (1,3,5) subtract 5.
Basically the campaign I am working on is after a millenia of mind flayer rule. A hundred years before the campaign an army was formed to over throw them, but in the process a portal to the Far Realm was opened and it's alien energies and beings devestated the planet. It's kind of post apocalyptic, with Far Realm corruption instead of radiation. Corrupted are a by product of this influence. They look mostly human, but mature frighteningly fast (full grown in just 2 years), and are prone to madness.
While homebrewing some races, I just now compiled a list of ability score combinations and the classes they correspond to. The primary category are classes that have both of the ability scores as key abilities, and the secondary category is for classes that have one of the ability scores as a key ability (i.e. classes that would require a little more, like feat support, to be a favored class). I hope you guys find it as useful as I think it will be.
so why even play a fighter if you can play the paladin the exact same way behaviorally and get added power to boot. "Paladin" is about accepting better game-enhancing mechanics at the price of more rigid in game behavior.
Really? So it goes something like this?
Fighter: "I want to be a paladin." NPC: "Really?" Fighter: "Yes." NPC: "Very well." Starts reading from a holy book while still in-character "Do you accept having to choose and stick to the lawful good alignment, eventhough neither of us actually knows that it exists or what it is?" Fighter: "I do." NPC: "Do you reject good game balance because you accidentally rolled a high Charisma?" Fighter: "What?" NPC: "I don't know what it means either." Fighter: "Oh. Umm, ok I do." NPC: "In the name of all that is metagamey and broken, accept these better game enhancing mechanics." Fighter: "These what?" NPC: "Just get out there and try to fulfill a million different people's notion of good while not violating and part of any of them."
So the system is designed such that every single hit needs to be described to avoid confusion? Here's a scenario. The players are nudists, everybody in the world are nudists, it's not weird, it's totally normal in this land. They are naked and they fight drakes taking damage throughout, but healing up with surges. Later they meet the guy who raised the drakes.
Part 1: I didn't describe any of the hits. What does he see?
Part 2: Lets say I described the drakes as biting the players, yet they healed up. What does he see?
Out of interest, and wondering about making up a homebrew race for some reason: what would people say about a putative race which allowed the player to choose between being physically powerful but mentally not, or mentally powerful but physically not?
i.e. you get +2 to any two mental OR any two physical abilities, and +1 to fort and will repsctively to make up for the lack. Distinct physical subtypes, one goliath-like, one relatively weedy. Two distinct racial powers, probably one shared major and minor feature and one distinct major and mnor feature for each sub type.
It may be horribly unbalanced and not much use as a concept, but I thought I might ask opinions before venturing any further into development.
Can you help me with my Illithid PC race? My problem is Mind Blast. It is geared towards melee classes (dazed, stunned, helpless enemy falls to 0 next to you and all), and melee classes kind of conflict with racial bonus of +2 to Int and Cha or Wis.
Have you ever wanted to play a character out of the norm? A character... reviled by society, something that offers you a unique role-playing challenge? Have you ever wanted to play something more hated and innately evil then Drow? Have you ever wanted to be a...Mind Flayer? Page 8 has the current complete version.
I've noticed that at-will flight has been addressed and proven to be quite overpowered, but what about at-will teleporting? I quite like the idea of a race that jumps around the battlefield, doing a kind of hit-and-run thing. Just thought I'd ask before I came up with something, although I'll probably do it anyways.
Think the Ossassin sucks? Think again! Check out my attempt at a fix!
I've noticed that at-will flight has been addressed and proven to be quite overpowered, but what about at-will teleporting? I quite like the idea of a race that jumps around the battlefield, doing a kind of hit-and-run thing. Just thought I'd ask before I came up with something, although I'll probably do it anyways.
I highly doubt that this can be pulled off. The main problem here would be all of the effects out there available to increase teleport speed, so it would be problematic even if you only had a teleport speed of 1.
Speaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask? "If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB "If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave "WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm "Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha
Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further.
Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!
I highly doubt that this can be pulled off. The main problem here would be all of the effects out there available to increase teleport speed, so it would be problematic even if you only had a teleport speed of 1.
Hmm. Didn't even think of that. How about something like this?
Planar Shift
Brikk-Tkarr Racial Utility
You harness your natural instability in the world and use it to relocate yourself.
At-WillTeleportation
Move Action - Personal
Effect: Teleport up to 3 squares.
Special: The distance that this power can be used to teleport can by no means by increased or decreased.
Think the Ossassin sucks? Think again! Check out my attempt at a fix!
I feel like that solution is so forced and inelegant, though. But either way, even with that restriction, that level of mobility (at-will teleport 3!?) is still absolutely unprecedented on a PC race. It's just too good, exactly because of all of the reasons that teleporting is desirable to begin with. I just don't think that anything more than 1 would stand a chance of being balanced.
Beyond mechanic, though, why is it that you feel that your race has to have a way to teleport at-will to begin with? A race flavored as being adept teleporters do not necessarily need to be able to teleport at will in order for that flavor to come across mechanically. Off of the top of my head, what about something like...
Planar Shift Encounter - Teleportation Minor Action, Personal Effect: Until the end of your next turn, you gain a teleport speed of 2 and all of your other teleportation powers allow you to teleport 1 additional square.
Compared to Shard Swarm, that looks about right in terms of power level, I think...
Speaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask? "If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB "If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave "WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm "Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha
Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further.
Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!
