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Post by username on Mar 28, 2019 19:19:17 GMT -6
This thread is to Document and prepare for community ideas to revise certain Core Races, similar to the core rulebook exalt revision thread. Anyone can post in this thread as long as they contribute balance changes. Discuss mechanical balance changes only. Their fluff is fine, and if you disagree please create your own fluff thread to discuss it there. When posting changes, present the entire race's mechanics clearly and in full and clearly mark changes. Then explain how this makes the race more balanced. Only discuss Core Races If you wish to discuss homebrew, please do so in their threads. If posting single mechanics changes, also include mechanics they interact with. Revisions as created by the zetaboards tapatalk Proboards Dungeons: The Dragoning 40k: 7th Edition forum community will be posted in this post, once things are decided. Aasimar
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 2.4-2.6m Average Weight: 100-140kg Languages: Trade, Celestial Common Personality Traits: Stoic, focused, quiet, loyal, obedient. Common Physical Traits: Great height, long face, metallic hair, glowing eyes, exceedingly tough. Example Names: Antonius, Caecilia, Eligius, Junia, Leontius, Rhea
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Wisdom or Constitution Skill Bonus: +1 Command and Ballistics Power: And They shall know no fear - Aasimar are immune to Pinning, Fear and Fear Effects and may treat feats that deal with Fear and Pinning as already possessed for the purposes of class completion and access. Size: 5
Racial Feats
Celestial Wrath [Aasimar] Stars shine, the wind blows, birds sing, and brother - you hurt people. Once per scene, add your Charisma as rolled dice on a damage roll.
Terminator Honors [Aasimar] One of the Greatest things an Aasimar can hope for is to be selected for the elite Terminator units. Aasimar with this special training may spend a Hero Point to negate an amount of wounds from an attack equal to their size.
Made of Mettle [Aasimar] Aasimar do not like having weaknesses. Most Aasimar will train hard to eliminate whatever they feel is their greatest weakness. +1 to your lowest characteristic. If multiple characteristics qualify, choose one.
Dark Eldarin
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.6-1.9m Average Weight: 50-65kg Languages: Trade, Dark Eldarin Common Personality Traits: Sadistic, seductive, dangerous, relentless, insane. Common Physical Traits: Nimble, intense gaze, pitch-black skin, white hair, spiky bits. Example Names: Alaurirra, Belaern, Dhaunae, Gwylyss, Ilharess, Jaezred.
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Charisma or Dexterity Skill Bonus: +1 to Deceive and Forbidden Lore Power: Warp Miasma - Summoning a burst of raw warp power as a half action, the Dark Eldarin creates a 4m radius sphere of darkness. This blocks line of sight and anyone within the sphere is blind. The sphere lasts for one round per level and can be used once per scene at Level 1, twice per scene at Level 3, and three times per scene at Level 5. Size: 3
Racial Feats
Dark Cruelty [Dark Eldarin] You've got a kind of dark charisma that manages to both repulse and fascinate. You gain +1k1 to Intimidation and Charm checks.
Warp Fire [Dark Eldarin] Once per scene as a half action, you may outline a target with a kind of sickly multicolored light. For the rest of that scene, attacks against that target are at +2k0 to hit.
Recluse [Dark Eldarin] Dark Eldarin often spend decades making themselves inured to toxins and poisons, either on purpose to better survive their harsh culture or on accident as part of life-long drug abuse. You are immune to all poisons and the Toxic property. The TN to resist the Toxic property from attacks you make is increased by 5.
Dragonborn
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 2.1-2.5m Average Weight: 120-170kg Languages: Trade, Dragonborn Common Personality Traits: Proud, wise, straightforward, watchful, grandstanding. Common Physical Traits: Hissing voice, shimmering scales, darting eyes, massive form, sharp teeth. Example Names: Thuath, Shaan, Arark, Thaash, Shysik, Arima.
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Strength or Charisma Skill Bonus: +1 to Command and Intimidate Power: Dragon Breath - Once per scene, you may make an attack with your breath weapon. It is a Natural Weapon and uses the same weapon profile as a Good quality Flamer and cannot jam. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. Size: 5
Racial Feats
Dragonborn Frenzy [Dragonborn] When you hurt a Dragonborn, it just makes them more angry. As long as you have at least one point of critical damage, you roll an extra amount of damage dice on all damage rolls equal to the highest amount of critical damage you currently have, to a maximum of +5k0.
Dragon Sight [Dragonborn] Dragons are known for seeing in the dark, sensing the heat of their prey. You may reroll one failed perception check per scene and gain the Dark Sight Trait.
Elder Wyrm's Fire [Dragonborn] Some dragonborn have stronger breath weapons than the average, often with more impressive visual effects like blue fire or bolts of lightning. Your breath weapons deals +1k1 damage.
Eldarin
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.7-2.1m Average Weight: 65-75kg Languages: Trade, Eldarin Common Personality Traits: Quiet, careful, mysterious, secretive, restless. Common Physical Traits: Willowy build, fragile bones, sinewy build, birdlike movements, pale skin. Example Names: Aurian, Farendis, Khiraen, Krullagh, Macha, Eldrad
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Wisdom or Intelligence Skill Bonus: +1 to Academic Lore and Arcana. Power: Warp Step - Once per scene, you may teleport up to twice your speed as a half action. You must be able to see your destination. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. Size: 3
Racial Feats
Extra Warp [Eldarin] Some Eldarin can slip in and out of the Warp easily. You may use Warp Step one additional time per scene.
Guess Destination [Eldarin] You don't need to see the target of your Warp Step, you've got enough experience with it to just make a good guess. If you cannot teleport into that space, you're shunted to the nearest safe spot.
Ancestral Recall [Eldarin] Eldarin have a deep connection to the mysteries of the warp that is second only to the ancient Syrneth. You have a more direct connection than most. The maximum you may increase your effective Magic School rating when pushing a spell is increase by 1. Furthermore, you may increase your effective Magic School rating by 1 when casting a spell unfettered without automatically causing psychic phenomena but any psychic phenomena the spell does cause is rolled at +10 on the table.
Elf
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.6-1.9m Average Weight: 70-80kg Languages: Trade, Elven Common Personality Traits: Respectful, patient, modest, peaceful, observant. Common Physical Traits: Thin build, tanned skin, sharp eyes, simple clothing, quiet footfalls. Example Names: Garryth, Kaelyssa, Ravyn, Ossyan, Rahn, Vyros
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Wisdom or Dexterity. Skill Bonus: +1 to Perception and Charm. Power: Elven Accuracy - Once per scene, an Elf may reroll a failed Attack test. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. Size: 3
Racial Feats
Elven Precision [Elf] Elves have an ability to make even the most impossible shot look easy. Whenever you use Elven Accuracy to reroll a failed Test, you gain +2k0 to the reroll.
Light Step [Elf] Elves are great at moving silently and seemingly only barely touching the ground. You gain +2k0 to all acrobatics and stealth rolls.
Precise Technique [Elf] Elves are good at everything, especially when they cheat. You may use an Elven Accuracy reroll with any skill check once per session.
Gnome
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.3-1.5m Average Weight: 45-55kg Languages: Trade, Gnome Common Personality Traits: Curious, creative, impressionable, pensive, reckless. Common Physical Traits: Dirty skin and clothes, scrawny build, hyperactive motion, surprisingly tough. Example Names: Snorrig, Noblar, Grazbaag, Rord.
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Intelligence or Fellowship. Skill Bonus: +1 to Crafts and Academic Lore. Power: Tinker - Gnomes can make almost anything given something to work from. By sacrificing an item of average or better quality, the Gnome may create another item of the same or less rarity with one less level of quality. This takes one hour. Size: 3
Racial Feats
Improvise [Gnome] Gnomes are known for an inborn ability to maintain machinery but sometimes ability also takes the form of inherent knowledge of weapons and armors needed to prevent the machines from being threatened in the first place. You gain one Weapon Proficiency feat and one Armor Proficiency feat of your choice.
Eureka! [Gnome] Gnomes tend to have tools and junk on them that can solve any problem. And typically breaks immediately afterwards. A Gnome may, once per scene, make a Crafts or Tech-use check in place of any other check, pulling out some device or trinket to solve a problem.
Explorer [Gnome] Gnomes can find the strangest things, and are especially fascinated with maps, often leading to forgotten ruins and hidden Crystal Spheres. You have a map. To an exciting place! When you go there, you can get a new map. Additionally, you may serve as Navigator aboard a Spelljammer without dots in Divination, and when navigating the warp roll at -2 on the Warp Encounters chart.
Halfling
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.0-1.2m Average Weight: 24-35kg Languages: Trade, Halfling Common Personality Traits: Easygoing, spirited, laid back, sneaky, clever. Common Physical Traits: Hairy feet, fast hands, childlike appearance, expressive features, surprisingly quick. Example Names: Angol, April, Autumn, Banin, Bradoc, Jasmine, Mallin, May, Rose.
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Intelligence or Fellowship. Skill Bonus: +1 to Larceny and Deceive. Power: Shifty - Halflings get an extra +1 Static Defense for every point of Dexterity they have and may count their Dexterity as being two dots higher for the purposes of determining movement distance. Size: 2
Racial Feats
Second Chance [Halfling] Halflings are so slippery that it's more than just skill, it has to be luck. Once per combat, you may force an opponent to reroll one attack roll made against you.
Halfling Agility [Halfling] When you're as small as a Halfling it’s sometimes like you’re not even there. You get a +4 bonus to your Static Defense.
Escape Artist [Halfling] Halflings are pretty much dead if they can't move. You aren't likely to die from that anytime soon. You are immune to the Immobilized Condition.
Human
Languages: Trade, Human Characteristic Bonus: +1 to any one Characteristic. Skill Bonus: +1 to any two skills. Power: Heroic Heritage - A human begins play with one additional Hero Point. Size: 4
Racial Feats
Able Learner [Human] Humans are good at picking up new skills. You may buy all skills if they appeared in any class progression you possess.
Human Perseverance [Human] Humans have an innate talent to put forth an extra effort when they're challenged. You gain an extra raise to the final result of an opposed roll when you did not instigate the opposed roll.
Mixed Heritage [Human] Sometimes it seems like humans will have sex with anything. Choose a race. Gain one racial feat that race has. If the racial feat references or improves a racial power you do not have (such as Elven Accuracy), you may not take that feat.
Ork
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 2.3-2.7m Average Weight: 160-200kg Languages: Trade, Orkish Common Personality Traits: Argumentative, foolhardy, individualistic, impatient, fun-loving. Common Physical Traits: Many scars, pointed tusks, mottled green skin, blood-curdling roar, bulky physique. Example Names: Waagrot, Duffthug, Ogork, Ugurty, Naznob, Skabbad
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Strength or Willpower Skill Bonus: +1 to Intimidation and Scrutiny. Power: WAAAAAGH! - At the beginning of each combat, heal hit points equal to your level. Size: 5
Racial Feats
Mobbing Up [Ork] Orks believe in strength in numbers. Whenever you fail a fear test or suffer a result of the Shock Table, you may choose to retreat towards any ally rather than suffering the normal consequences of that check. Once you are adjacent to that ally, you may stop fleeing.
I'm Da Boss! [Ork] There is nothing quite like physical strength and size in ork politics. You may add your size as a static bonus to Command and Politics tests.
WAAAAAGH CRY! [Ork] If there is anything an Ork does well, it's motivating other Orks to krump things harder. If you're especially good, you can even motivate non-Orks in the same way. When ganging up on an enemy, allies get an additional +1k0 to hit and damage.
Squat
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.2-1.4m Average Weight: 75-100kg Languages: Trade, Squat Common Personality Traits: Brave, gruff, persistent, reliable, stubborn. Common Physical Traits: Beard, barrelchest, sturdy build, drunk, incredible endurance. Example Names: Hrothgar, Durik, Snorl, Durgen, Gorten, Gudrun
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Constitution or Willpower Skill Bonus: +1 to Crafts and Common Lore. Power: Squat Toughness - A Squat's Resilience is treated as being one higher for the purpose of determining hit points lost due to damage. Size: 3
Racial Feats
Squat Stability [Squat] Reduce the Static Defense penalty your receive for any Armor you are personally using by an amount equal to half the armor’s AP. Squats are naturally good at carrying weights and this is just another aspect of that. Also they're low to the ground and such.
Squat Stability [Squat] Squats don't really get knocked on their asses. They tip over, but don't fall down. Whenever an enemy would force you to move or knock you prone, you may ignore that effect.
No One Tougher [Squat] You may use Constitution instead of Dexterity for determining your Static Defense.
Tau
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.7-2.0m Average Weight: 85-100kg Languages: Trade, Tau Common Personality Traits: Understanding, tolerance, honor, diplomatic, naive. Common Physical Traits: Frail build, farsighted, mobile, enduring, light-fingered. Example Names: Aun'va, Shaserra, Shovah, Shas'La, Dynerah, Kais.
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Intelligence or Composure Skill Bonus: +1 to Common Lore and Persuasion. Power: Fall Back - Whenever you successfully dodge a melee attack, you may Withdraw as a free action, but you may only move half of the normal Withdraw distance. Size: 4
Racial Feats
Farsighted [Tau] You've got a wide view of things, or you're disciplined enough to resist charms. You gain +3 Resolve and +5 to your Mental Defense.
Move And Shoot [Tau] Tau have an ancient fighting style where they mostly avoid getting close to anyone and run away while shooting. Whenever you attack with a ranged weapon and move in the same turn, your static defense increases by 5 until your next turn.
Silent Arcana [Tau] Tau are not naturally good at spellcasting, but they can suppress a lot of the pomp and circumstance that others use when they get around to trying their hand at it. You can increase the DC of a Focus Power check by 10. If you do, it loses the Verbal, Somatic, and Material keywords and most observers cannot tell the caster of the spell - it seems to come out of thin air. Other spellcasters can Test Arcana + Wisdom (TN 20) to determine the source.
Tiefling
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.5-3.0m Average Weight: 100-300kg Languages: Trade, Abyssal Common Personality Traits: Passionate, flighty, loud, magnetic, untrustworthy. Common Physical Traits: Dark eyes, intimidating height, sharp teeth, inhuman mutations, powerful build. Example Names: Criella, Linaera, Verstaadt, Kiltre, Marchaud Vinton, Liera
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Dexterity or Constitution Skill Bonus: +1 to Intimidate and Weaponry. Power: Bloody Minded - You may reroll damage dice that land on a 1. Size: 5
Racial Feats
Mutation [Tiefling] Often, Tieflings have cloven hooves, claws, or tearing horns. You're one of them, and you can kick some ass with them. You have a natural weapon with the following profile: (2k2 I or R, Melee, Brawling). The damage type is selected upon obtaining the feat.
Outsider [Tiefling] Tieflings have strange internals that don't quite match up with what you'd expect – they have redundant organs, thick blood that clots easily, and so forth. The first time you would suffer critical damage in a scene, you instead take only one point of critical damage. Obviously, if you'd only be taking one point anyway, this ability has no effect.
Beneficial Mutation [Tiefling] Tieflings are not made to any particular plan, and their bodies can continue to mutate throughout their lives, sometimes in response to great failures or injury. Gain up to two dots in your lowest characteristic (if multiple characteristics qualify as "lowest", choose one) and lose one dot to a different characteristic.
BOOK 2 Thri-Kreen
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 2.0-2.3m Average Weight: 100-120kg Languages: Trade, Thri-Kreen Common Personality Traits: Restless, Conformist, Inscrutable, Curious, Jumpy Common Physical Traits: Sand-Colored Exoskeleton, Long Antennae, Constantly in Motion, Dark Compound Eyes, Short-Lived Example Names: Chak-tha, Drik-chkit, Kacht-ta, Kat’chka, Pak’cha, Ptekwe.
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Dexterity or Wisdom Skill Bonus: +1 to Acrobatics and Perception Power: Multi-Armed - A Thri-Kreen's smaller pair of arms allow them to take a Ready action as a free action once per round and reload their weapons in half the listed time (E.g. 4Full to 2Full, Full to Half, Half to Free, etc). They may treat the quick draw feat as optional and already possessed for the purposes of class completion and access. Size: 4
Racial Feats
Lightning Bug [Thri-Kreen] Though it's something of a rare trait, you have a natural bioluminescence that allows you to produce light like a lantern or Torch at will. With some effort you can vary the color and intensity of the light through different shades of red, yellow, and green. You can also expend your internal energy to shoot a bolt of bio-electricity. You gain the Luminen Blast feat and immunity to the Shocking property.
Mandibles [Thri-Kreen] All Thri-Kreen have a mildly poisonous bite, but for most it doesn't cause more than a rash in most sentients. Your bite is significantly more dangerous. You gain a natural weapon with the following profile: (1k1 R; Pen 4; Melee, Toxic, Brawling).
Noisy Cricket [Thri-Kreen] Thri-Kreen are naturally suited towards long jumps thanks to their powerful legs. You gain a Jumping specialty in Acrobatics. Whenever you make an Acrobatics test to jump, every raise you get counts as three raises, and regardless of the test result you may still jump at least a height or distance (whichever is greater) up to to twice your Strength plus Acrobatics.
Kenku
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.5-1.8m Average Weight: 30-40kg Languages: Trade, Kenku, one extra that is not Syrneth nor Spirits Common Personality Traits: Tricksy, friendly, good-humored, independent, incorrigible Common Physical Traits: Dark feathers, sharp beak, grasping talons, beady eyes, precise and beautiful voice. Example Names: Akegarasu, Utsuho, Aya, Itsume, Kozue, Takayuki
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Dexterity or Wisdom Skill Bonus: +1 to Acrobatics and Perception Power: Wing-Aided Movement - As long as they have room to unfurl their wings, Kenku do not suffer from falling damage. Even when unconscious they instinctively slow their fall and glide, falling only two meters per round and being able to glide horizontally at their normal speed. Kenku get +2k0 to all acrobatics tests. Additionally, a once per scene, a Kenku may choose to gain the Flyer trait for a round, at a speed twice their normal speed. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this Flyer portion of the power per scene. Size: 3
Racial Feats
Ace Pilot [Kenku] Kenku are natural pilots, able to push their machines harder than anyone else. Whenever they serve as Helmsman for a ship, the ship's Maneuver is increased by +5. Any vehicles they control also get +5 to their maneuver. When using the Evasive Maneuvers action with a vehicle, you do not need to reduce the vehicle’s Momentum by 1 to do so.
Developed Wings [Kenku] While all Kenku have wing-aided movement, not every Kenku's wings are strong enough to allow them to actually fly. Yours, however, are that strong. You gain the Flyer trait, at your normal Speed.
Teacher [Kenku] Kenku are great teachers, and even a few words of advice can give people great insight into an area the kenku knows well. You can allow anyone you can speak with (including through commlink, radio, or whatever) to use one of your Specialties on the next test they make.
Kobold
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.0-1.2m Average Weight: 15-20kg Languages: Trade, Draconic Common Personality Traits: Practical, vengeful, spite-filled, impatient, demanding. Common Physical Traits: Shorter than short, ratlike tail, clawed fingers, glowing eyes, yapping voice. Example Names: Meepo, Ark'er, K'irk, A'thrin, S'sko, P'kard
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Charisma or Dexterity Skill Bonus: +1 to Arcana and Stealth Power: Power in the Blood - Kobolds are spiteful and strong-willed enough to demand power now that they can't handle. Once per round as a free action, they may spend two Hit Points to gain a resource point which must be immediately spent. However, this does not count against the number of resource points they may spend in a round. Size: 2
Racial Feats
K'sten'mannav [Kobold] Because of the respect most kobolds have for the K'sten'mannav and their upholding the ideals of their race, non-K'sten'mannav kobolds will not willingly attack a K'sten'mannav unless he attacks them first. Of course, this doesn't extend to anyone he is with, but he might be able to get a few words in while his friends are getting stabbed. Additionally, because of their long-ingrained distrust for others, they gain the Paranoia feat. Furthermore, being no strangers to working through channels rather than venturing out themselves, they do not have the time of their acquisition tests increase by one step for having servants, negotiators or factors handle the effort of searching for the items to be acquired for them.
K'vend'l [Kobold] K'vend'l are among the greatest merchants in the Wheel. They keep close connections to each other and can find nearly anything, even things that others think impossible to locate at market. You may reduce the TN of Wealth Tests by 5, and the maximum TN of an item you can find in a location is increased by 5.
Legal Miner [Kobold] Almost every kobold is born and raised in a mine, deep underground and safe from the prejudices and attacks of other races. You automatically notice unusual features in worked stone and reduce the TN to find traps, hidden doors and the like by 10.
Trapmaster [Kobold] Kobolds are not very good at standing up and fighting fair, but they are excellent at fighting dirty. You gain a free Traps specialty in Crafts and Tech-Use. Once per round as a free action, you may spend two Hit Points instead of Hero Point to reroll a failed roll in which you have a specialty.
Dryad
Physical Characteristics Average Height: 1.5-1.8m Average Weight: 100-140kg Languages: Trade, Elven, Spirit-tongue Common Personality Traits: Aloof, passive, communal, open, confident. Common Physical Traits: Green skin or hair, small leaves growing on the body, living clothing or equipment, the scent of fresh flowers, flesh dense and tough like wood. Example Names: Ampelos, Erato, Heliades, Karya, Phoibe, Tithorea
Racial Statistics Characteristic Bonus: +1 to Charisma or Dexterity Skill Bonus: +1 to Arcana and Stealth Power: Pheremones - Dryads can produce a type of pollen that subtly affects the minds of others. A Dryad may cast Attraction, using their Level + Fellowship in place of the spell's normal Focus Power test. This Focus Power Test is Spell-like rather than a spell: it does not cause Psychic Phenomena but may only be cast unfettered, not as fettered or pushed. Size: 4
Racial Feats
Matron [Dryad] Unlike the majority of Dryad adventurers, you are in your third stage of life, a huge treelike being with skin like bark and arms like strong branches. Your characteristics are significantly different from the average Dryad. You lose a point of Fellowship and Dexterity, but gain a point of Strength. You lose the Dryad's racial power of Pheromones and gain +2 Size. You also gain the Armor Plating (2) trait and your brawl attacks deal +2k0 damage thanks to your clublike fists.
Photosynthetic [Dryad] As plants, all Dryads can gain some nourishment from sunlight, but you can gain everything you need from the light of the sun. You no longer need to eat food as long as you spend at least two hours basking in direct sunlight, and you heal one hit point per hour you spend in direct sunlight. Vampire Dryads do not gain these benefits, but instead lose a vampire's Sunlight Weakness.
Treestrider [Dryad] One of the most famous powers of the Dryads is their ability to appear anywhere in a forest. While not every Dryad can actually do this, you can. You may, as a full action, enter one tree or other large plant and then exit another large living plant anywhere within one kilometer per level. You don't have to know your exact destination, just a general distance and direction.
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Post by username on Mar 28, 2019 19:40:56 GMT -6
People have been discussion changing some of the races mechanically for a while, but it gets pushed back. Halflings specifically have a troublesome racial power that is either useless or ungodly good depending on how much of a munchkin you are. While the idea of Halflings = Munchkin is funny, it still needs to be fixed. Some others have some slight wording troubles, so they can be addressed too. To start things off, I went through each race and took a look at their Powers and Racial Feats, examining for potential changes, if any, and tried to explain why I felt that way. I'll say right away that I don't think the Size, Skills or Characteristics of any race need to be changed. AASIMAR Power: And They shall know no fear - Aasimar are immune to Pinning, Fear and Fear Effects and may treat feats that deal with Fear and Pinning as already possessed for the purposes of class completion and access. [MAJOR CHANGE; originally Aasimar were immune to fear. Now they just get two feats. I suspect this was done so they don’t need to buy those feats later in a class, but then the second book introduced new feats that they would still need to buy such as Headstrong. The change also made them need to test willpower with Fearless; I suggest this change to make their Racial Power better than just 2 feats and remove some oddities.]
Terminator Honors [Aasimar] One of the Greatest things an Aasimar can hope for is to be selected for the elite Terminator units. Aasimar with this special training may spend a Hero Point to negate an amount of wounds from an attack equal to their size. [MAJOR CHANGE, now negates wounds instead of damage. Reducing 1 attack by 5 damage is INCREDIBLY situational and rather a waste of a Hero Point. Could probably rephrase it a bit so it is specifying you ignore the wounds equal to size, not an attack equal to size.]
Celestial Wrath [Aasimar] Stars shine, the wind blows, birds sing, and brother - you hurt people. Once per scene, add your Charisma as rolled dice on a damage roll. (NO CHANGE)
Made of Mettle [Aasimar] Aasimar do not like having weaknesses. Most Aasimar will train hard to eliminate whatever they feel is their greatest weakness. You gain+1 to your lowest characteristic. [MINOR WORDING CHANGE]
DARK ELDARIN Power: Warp Miasma - Summoning a burst of raw warp power as a half action, the Dark Eldarin creates a 4m radius sphere of darkness. This blocks line of effect and anyone within the sphere is blind. The sphere lasts for one round per level and can be used once per scene at Level 1, twice per scene at Level 3, and three times per scene at Level 5. (NO CHANGES, possibly change it to reduce wordcount similar to the Dragonborn, Eldarin and Elven powers)
Dark Cruelty [Dark Eldarin] You've got a kind of dark charisma that manages to both repulse and fascinate. You gain +1k1 to Intimidation and Charm checks. [NO CHANGE]
Warp Fire [Dark Eldarin] As a half action, you may outline a Target with a kind of sickly multicolored light once per scene. For the rest of that scene, attacks against the target are at +2k0 to hit. (No change, perhaps reword to clarify that the power is used once per scene, not once per target per scene. Perhaps let you use your racial power to get extra uses as well?)
Recluse [Dark Eldarin] Dark Eldarin often spend decades making themselves inured to toxins and ppoisons, either on purpose or to better survive their harsh culture or on accident as part of life-long drug abuse. You are immune to all poisons and damage from the Toxic Quality, and targets roll twice and take the worse result when you make them test against the Toxic Quality. [Rephrased, changes to how toxic weapons work, clarified second part?] Recluse [Dark Eldarin] Dark Eldarin often spend decades making themselves inured to toxins and ppoisons, either on purpose or to better survive their harsh culture or on accident as part of life-long drug abuse. You are immune to all poisons and Toxic weapons, roll damage from Toxic quality twice and take the better result. [ORIGINAL]
DRAGONBORN Power: Dragon Breath - Once per scene, you may make an attack with your breath weapon. It uses the same weapon profile as a Flamer, but does not Jam. At level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. (Changed to specify your mouth doesn't Jam when flamering, although it is somewhat mediocre)
Dragonborn Frenzy [Dragonborn] When you hurt a Dragonborn, it just makes them more angry. As long as you have at least one point of critical damage, your attacks deal extra damage equal to the amount of critical damage you have. [SLIGHT reword. No real change. Seems pretty fine, if unlikely to do much since the amount of damage is so small.]
Dragon Sight [Dragonborn] Dragons are known for seeing in the dark, sensing the heat of their prey. You may reroll one failed perception check per scene and gain the Dark Sight trait. [CHANGED second part to just give Darksight; seeing in the dark is somewhat unclear]
Elder Wyrm's Fire [Dragonborn] Some Dragonborn have stronger breath weapons than average, often with more impressive visual effects like blue fire or bolts of lightning. Your breath weapon deals +1k1 damage. (NO CHANGE; should it specify the racial power more directly? As written it could apply to the D-blooded breath or Dragonform too, which I actually like.)
ELDARIN Power: Warp Step - Once per scene, you may teleport up to twice your speed as a half action. You must be able to see your destination. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. (NO CHANGE made)
Guess Destination [Eldarin] You don't need to see the target of your Warp Step, you've got enough experience with it to just make a good guess. If you cannot teleport into that space, you're shunted to the nearest safe spot. (NO CHANGE)
Extra Warp [Eldarin] Some Eldarin can slip in and out of the Warp easily. You may use Warp Step one additional time per scene. (NO CHANGE MADE. Not as good as it was originally when you only got 1 warp per scene, but still not bad)
Ancestral Recall [Eldarin] Eldarin have a deep connection to the mysteries of the warp that is second only to the ancient Syrne. You have a more direct connection than most. You gain +1k0 to all magic tests but +10 on Warp phenomena rolls. [MINOR WORDING CHANGE. This feat is somewhat shit in my opinion, but functional.)
ELF Power: Elven Accuracy - Once per scene, an Elf may reroll a failed Weaponry or Ballistic skill Test. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. [NO CHANGE; perhaps include Brawl too?]
Elven Precision [Elf] Elves have an ability to make even the most impossible shot look easy. Whenever you use Elven Accuracy to reroll a failed Weaponry or Ballistics Test, you gain +2k0 to the reroll. [NO CHANGE, if Elven Accuracy is changed to include brawl then it probably should here too]
Light Step [Elf] Elves are great at moving silently and seemingly only barely touching the ground. You gain +2k0 to all acrobatics and stealth rolls. (NO CHANGE)
Precise Technique [Elf] Elves are good at everything, especially when they cheat. You may use an Elven Accuracy reroll with any skill check once per session. [MINOR WORDING CHANGES]
GNOME Power: Tinker- By sacrificing an item of average or better quality, the Gnome may create another item of the same or less rarity with one less level of quality. This takes one hour. [MAJOR CHANGE, made racial feat into racial power] OLD POWER FOR REFERENCE: Power: Improvise - You begin play with one free Weapon proficiency of any type and one free Armor proficiency of any type.
Eureka! [Gnome] Gnomes tend to have tools and junk on them that can solve any problem. And typically breaks immediately afterwards. A Gnome may, once per scene, make a Crafts check in place of any other check, pulling out some device or trinket to solve a problem. [NO CHANGE]
Explorer [Gnome] Gnomes can find the strangest things, and are especially fascinated with maps. You have a map. To an exciting place! When you go there, you can get a new map. [Corrected spelling; NO OTHER CHANGES]
HALFLING Power: Shifty – Treat your Dexterity as 2 higher for the purposes of movement distance and Static Defense. [MAJOR CHANGE; gave something similar to the Fast asset and gives +6 SD. The old feat led to odd set ups where it wasn’t very useful unless you went ultramunchkin, where it became gamebreaking instead.] OLD POWER FOR REFERENCE: Power: Shifty - While most races use Wisdom and Dexterity to determine Static Defense, Halflings instead have a Static Defense equal to ten, plus six for every dot of Dexterity, minus twice their size.
Second Chance [Halfling] Halflings are so slippery that it's more than just skill, it has to be luck. Once per combat, you may force an opponent to reroll one attack roll made against you. [NO CHANGE]
Halfling Agility [Halfling] When you're as small as a Halfling it’s sometimes like you’re not even there. You get a +4 bonus to your Static Defense. [Minor grammar; no other changes. It might need to be changed if we change to Racial Power to add to SD natively as well.]
Escape Artist [Halfling] Halflings are pretty much dead if they can't move. You aren't likely to die from that anytime soon. You are immune to immobilization. [NO CHANGE]
HUMAN Power: Heroic Heritage: A human begins play with one additional Hero Point. [MINOR SPELLING FIX]
Able Learner [Human] Humans are good at picking up new skills. You may always buy skills as if you were in Free Study. [NO CHANGE, although somewhat shit. Perhaps make it treat all skills as class skills or make it so you’re always in Free Study entirely.]
Human Perseverance [Human] Humans have an innate talent to put forth an extra effort when they're challenged. You gain +1 to the final result of an opposed roll. [NO CHANGE, although rather lame. Perhaps make it just +1 to all tests or something. Currently, it just makes you win on ties, which is okay I suppose.]
Mixed Heritage [Human] Sometimes it seems like humans will have sex with anything. Choose a race. You may take racial feats that require that race. If the racial feat references or improves a racial power you do not have (such as Elven Accuracy), you may not take that feat. [MINOR WORDING; original says racial ability but that isn’t a defined thing; the text makes it seem like it means racial power. There is some issue with what it takes to be a reference; I would say it needs to directly interact or name the racial feat. This feat is a bit of a doozy]
ORK Power: WAAAAAGH! - At the beginning of each combat, heal hit points equal to your level. [NO CHANGE]
Mobbing Up [Ork] Orks believe in strength in numbers. Whenever you fail a Fear check, you may choose to retreat towards any ally rather than suffering the normal consequences of that check. Once you are adjacent to that ally, you may stop fleeing. [NO CHANGE]
I'm Da Boss! [Ork] There is nothing quite like physical strength and size in Ork politics. You may add your size as a bonus to Command tests. [MINOR WORDING CHANGE, CHECKS changed to TESTS]
WAAAAAGH CRY! [Ork] If there is anything an Ork does well, it's motivating other Orks to krump things harder. If you're especially good, you can even motivate non-Orks in the same way. When ganging up on an enemy, allies get an additional +1k0 to hit and damage. [NO CHANGE, take note you don’t need to be part of the ones ganging up for this feat to be in effect]
SQUAT Power: Squat Toughness - A Squat’s Resilience is treated as being one higher for the purpose of determining hit points lost due to damage. [NO CHANGE]
Squat Armor Proficiency [Squat] Halve the proficiency penalty for all Armor. Squats are naturally good at carrying weights and this is just another aspect of that. Also they’re low to the ground and such. [NO CHANGE; should this be reworded to clarify how it interacts with the penalty Heavy, Extreme and Power armor still have when you’re proficient?]
Squat Stability [Squat] Squats don't really get knocked on their asses. They tip over, but don't fall down. Whenever an enemy would force you to move or knock you prone, you may ignore that effect. [NO CHANGE; it may be good to be more specific in what part you’re ignoring]
No One Tougher [Squat] You may use Constitution instead of Dexterity for determining your Static Defense. [NO CHANGE]
TAU Power: Fall Back - Whenever you successfully dodge a melee attack, you may move as if you made a Withdraw action but you may only move half of the normal Withdraw action distance. [REWORDED; the current feat says you may make a free withdraw action, not that you can withdraw as a free action. This is a little confusing with things that may interact with Withdraw so I changed the wording a little bit. You can still do it whenever you successfully dodge a melee attack and can move the same distance as the original. You are no longer taking the actual Withdraw action though; it may be best to have it that you are still taking the Withdraw action too so that thins that interplay with that are still triggered] ORIGINAL POWER WORDING FOR REFERENCE: Power: Fall Back - Whenever you successfully dodge a melee attack, you may make a free withdraw action, but you may only move half of the normal distance.
Farsighted [Tau] You've got a wide view of things, or you're disciplined enough to resist charms. You gain +3 Resolve and +5 to your Mental Defense. [NO CHANGE]
Move And Shoot [Tau] Tau have an ancient fighting style where they mostly avoid getting close to anyone and run away while shooting. Whenever you attack with a ranged weapon and move in the same turn, your static defense increases by 5 until your next turn. [Added “until your next turn” at the end.]
Silent Arcana [Tau] Tau are not naturally good at spellcasting, but they can suppress a lot of the pomp and circumstance that others use when they get around to trying their hand at it. You can increase the DC of a Focus Power check by 10. If you do, it loses the Verbal, Somatic, and Material keywords and gains the Subtle keyword if it doesn't already have it. [MAJOR CHANGE NEEDED; Subtle is about the spell’s EFFECTS, not the casting. A subtle Spell, per the rules, means someone may not notice the effects without an Arcana+Wisdom test and ONLY spellcasters can try that test. A Tau may be able to an Energy Meteors and nuke a room and no one would notice unless they were a spellcaster. This is more an issue with the Subtle keyword; it may be good to change the subtle keyword when we modify spells to address the CASTING of the spell rather than the EFFECTS]
TIEFLING Power: Bloody Minded - You may reroll damage dice that land on a 1. [NO CHANGE. It is a little confusing; as it is worded now it is what the die rolls, not the end result. If you roll a die and it gets a 10 and then you roll a 1 on that explosion, do you reroll that one too? Probably not, but the power seems fine]
Mutation [Tiefling] Often, Tieflings have cloven hooves, claws, or tearing horns. You're one of them, and you can kick some ass with them. You have a natural weapon with the following profile: (2k2 I or R, Melee, Brawling) [NO CHANGE]
Outsider [Tiefling] Tieflings have strange internals that don't quite match up with what you'd expect – they have redundant organs, thick blood that clots easily, and so forth. The first time you would suffer critical damage in a scene, you instead take only one point of critical damage. Obviously, if you'd only be taking one point anyway, this ability has no effect. [NO CHANGE]
Beneficial Mutation [Tiefling] Tieflings are not made to any particular plan, and their bodies can continue to mutate throughout their lives, sometimes in response to great failures or injury. You gain +2 to your lowest characteristic and -1 to another characteristic. [MINOR WORDING CHANGE, no mechanical difference]
BOOK 2 RACES THRI-KREEN Power: Multi-Armed: A Thri-Kreen's smaller pair of arms allow them to take a Ready action as a free action once per round and reload their weapons in half the listed time. [NO CHANGE; we may wish to address how it works with reload times less than Full, but the book doesn’t have any guns with less than a Full action reload.]
Lightning Bug [Thri-Kreen] Though it's something of a rare trait, you have a natural bioluminescence that allows you to produce light like a lantern at will. With some effort you can vary the color and intensity of the light through different shades of red, yellow, and green. You can also expend your internal energy to shoot a bolt of bio-electricity. You gain the Luminen Blast feat. [NO CHANGE]
Mandibles [Thri-Kreen] All Thri-Kreen have a mildly poisonous bite, but for most it doesn't cause more than a rash in most sentients. Your bite is significantly more dangerous. You gain a natural weapon with the following profile: (1k1 R, Melee, Toxic, Brawling). [ADDED BRAWLING PROPERTY, WHICH WAS MISSING. YIKES]
Noisy Cricket [Thri-Kreen] Thri-Kreen are naturally suited towards long jumps thanks to their powerful legs. You gain a Jumping specialty in Acrobatics. Whenever you make an Acrobatics test to jump, every raise you get counts as three raises. [NO CHANGE]
KENKU Power: Wing-Aided Movement: As long as they have room to unfurl their wings, Kenku do not suffer from falling damage. Even when unconscious they instinctively slow their fall and glide, falling only two meters per round and being able to glide horizontally at their normal speed. Kenku get +2k0 to all acrobatics tests. [NO CHANGE, although I somewhat think the racial feat that gives flight should be their Racial Powe. Nothing is actually broken though]
Ace Pilot [Kenku] Kenku are natural pilots, able to push their machines harder than anyone else. Whenever they serve as Helmsman for a ship, the ship's Maneuver is increased by +5. Any vehicles they control also get +5 to their maneuver. [NO CHANGE]
Developed Wings [Kenku] While all Kenku have wings, not every Kenku's wings are strong enough to allow them to actually fly. Yours, however, are that strong. You gain Flyer, at your normal Speed. [NO CHANGE, although I somewhat think it would work better as the racial power. The current racial power is really nice for things in the air though, since it makes you almost immune to fall damage]
Teacher [Kenku] Kenku are great teachers, and even a few words of advice can give people great insight into an area the kenku knows well. Once per session per skill, a Kenku can allow anyone they can speak with (including through commlink, radio, or whatever) to use one of their Specialities on the next test they make. [NO CHANGE]
KOBOLD Power: Power in the Blood: Kobolds are spiteful and strong-willed enough to demand power now that they can't handle. Once per round as a free action, they may spend two Hit Points to gain a resource point which must be immediately spent. However, this does not count against the number of resource points they may spend in a round. [NO CHANGE]
K'sten'mannav [Kobold] Because of the respect most kobolds have for the K'sten'mannav and their upholding the ideals of their race, kobolds will not willingly attack a K'sten'mannav unless he attacks them first. Of course, this doesn't extend to anyone he is with, but he might be able to get a few words in while his friends are getting stabbed. Additionally, because of their long-ingrained distrust for others, they gain the Paranoia feat. [NO CHANGE, it might be worth making it so you can’t get this AND K’vend’l, but I don’t think it is “broken”]
K'vend'l [Kobold] K'vend'l are among the greatest merchants in the Wheel. They keep close connections to each other and can find nearly anything, even things that others think impossible to locate at market. You may reduce the TN of Wealth Tests by 5, and the maximum TN of an item you can find in a location is increased by 5. [NO CHANGE, it might be working making it so you can’t get this AND K’sten’mannav, but I don’t think it is “broken”]
Legal Miner [Kobold] Almost every kobold is born and raised in a mine, deep underground and safe from the prejudices and attacks of other races. You automatically notice unusual features in worked stone, reducing the TN to find traps, hidden doors and the like by 10. [NO CHANGE]
Trapmaster [Kobold] Kobolds are not very good at standing up and fighting fair, but they are excellent at fighting dirty. You gain a free Traps specialty in Crafts and Tech-Use. [MINOR WORDING fix “Speciality to Specialty”, this feat doesn’t seem very good]
DRYAD Power: Pheromones: Dryads can produce a type of pollen that subtly affects the minds of others. A Dryad may cast Charm Person, using their Level + Fellowship in place of the spell's normal Focus Power test. This Focus Power Test is Spell-like rather than a spell: it does not cause Psychic Phenomena but may only be cast unfettered, not as fettered or pushed. [CHANGED TO MAKE POLLEN NOT TELEPORT PEOPLE OR MAKE IT RAIN BLOOD; Even still I really, really don’t like this ability since it is just a 1st level spell. I think something more unique would be better, I’ve only ever seen people play Dryads as Matrons]
Matron [Dryad] Unlike the majority of Dryad adventurers, you are in your third stage of life, a huge treelike being with skin like bark and arms like strong branches. Your characteristics are significantly different from the average Dryad. You lose a point of Fellowship and Dexterity, but gain a point of Strength. You lose the Dryad's racial power of Pheromones and gain +2 Size. You also gain the Armor Plating (2) trait and your brawl attacks deal +2k0 damage thanks to your clublike fists. [NO CHANGE; some may prefer it to only be allowed to be taken at character creation but I prefer not to restrict it; perhaps the exaltation causes a growth spurt or something else, leave it to the player and SM to decide. Most people do take it at character creation anyway though since most people make Dryads with this feat in mind]
Photosynthetic [Dryad] As plants, all Dryads can gain some nourishment from sunlight, but you can gain everything you need from the light of the sun. You no longer need to eat food as long as you spend at least two hours basking in direct sunlight, and you heal one hit point per hour you spend in direct sunlight. Vampire Dryads do not gain these benefits, but instead lose a vampire's Sunlight Weakness. [NO CHANGE]
Treestrider [Dryad] One of the most famous powers of the Dryads is their ability to appear anywhere in a forest. While not every Dryad can actually do this, you can. You may, as a full action, enter one tree or other large plant and then exit another large living plant anywhere within one kilometer per level. You don't have to know your exact destination, just a general distance and direction. [NO CHANGES; although a dryad could probably enter another Dryad to teleport; how lewd]
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Post by GuardianTempest on Mar 28, 2019 20:28:19 GMT -6
I think "better result" for D.Eldar's Recluse should be reworded to "lower result" as some people might parse "better" as "more damage". Unless you mean your attacks? Also, TOxic weapons, you're immune to the special quality or including the damage rolls from weapons with it?
For Human Perseverance, I think a good "in-theme" suggestion is +0k1 to opposed tests as long as they're the defending roller. I think it's thematically appropriate for the "get stronger under pressure" feel the description implies. If +0k1 is too strong, then +2k0 should suffice as it's fairly tangible (more than +1k0) but not overwhelmingly powerful.
Mixed Heritage: Since it's an intrinsic trait a character begins with, perhaps restrict it to Character Creation? Otherwise it would be a bit awkward when your genes are perfectly bland and normal until you leave the ballroom and suddenly your DNA is all sorts of messed up.
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Post by Traskus on Mar 28, 2019 21:26:59 GMT -6
I'll chip in and say that human perserverance should be a raise to opposed rolls. It can very well be the difference between victory and defeat. It's a tangible, useful thing that will come up more than a perfect tie.
I agree with the mixed heritage opinion above, but for a different reason. I think a player should either a) plan ahead for their character and pick the race accordingly or b) not be able to waffle around and pick the race based on the circumstances of the game.
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Post by Lestat on Mar 29, 2019 2:48:51 GMT -6
I intentionally looked away from other people's feedback while creating my own as to see what thoughts between myself and others line up, and where they contrast. The only thing I did was adopt the same general structure of presentation as Username to make comparing and contrasting easier. I decided that characteristics and skills do not need to be touched as even a non synergistic skill still counts for versatility while a weak feat adds nothing but chaff. Book 1AasimarPower: And They Shall Know No Fear - Aasimar begin play with the feats Jaded and Fearless. [No change required.]
Celestial Wrath [Aasimar] Stars shine, the wind blows, birds sing, and brother - you hurt people. Once per scene, add your Charisma as rolled dice on a damage roll. [No change required.]
Terminator Honors [Aasimar] One of the greatest things an Aasimar can hope for is to be selected for the elite Terminator units. Aasimar with this special training may spend a Hero Point to negate a number of wounds from an attack equal to their size. [Keep It Simple Stupid. Damage changed to wounds. One of the strongest feats in the game lets you negate all damage. This is slightly below that, and doesn't require you to bend over backwards to change it.]
Made of Mettle [Aasimar] Aasimar do not like having weaknesses. Most Aasimar will train hard to eliminate whatever they feel is their greatest weakness. You gain a dot in your lowest, or one of your lowest characteristics. Only take this feat at character creation. [While it also specifies that you gain a dot, more importantly it adds a favorite homebrew clause: only at character creation. Nothing uses this clause in core, but without it any feat that gives dots is also an XP juggling feat. I strongly dislike things that insensitivize you to juggle dots to gain more effective XP, but if it is only at character creation there is less abuse possible, and it also competes with Assets and Background dots. It only nets 100 total XP if you have at least 2 dots which is difficult to do, and net 0 XP if you have a 1 dot characteristic which is still useful for getting a characteristic you normally don't have access to. I can see this also giving one skill dot if needed to be buffed.] Aasimar has always been about the well placed dots in Ballistics, and Wis/Con being good combat stats in addition to immediate Fearless, and Jaded to clear through early classes that use it. Terminator Honors is the most desperate feat for change, Made of Mettle is a part of the game design I dislike, but overall doesn't appear on most people's radar as a problem. Dark EldarinPower: Warp Miasma - Summoning a burst of raw warp power as a half action, the Dark Eldarin creates a 4m radius sphere of darkness. This blocks line of sight and anyone within the sphere is blind. The sphere lasts for one round per level and can be used once per scene at Level 1, twice per scene at Level 3, and three times per scene at Level 5. They also gain the Dark Sight trait, though not even this allows them to see through their Warp Miasma. [Line of effect -> line of sight. Drow are the #1 Dark Sight race, so they should get it. It also clarifies the level of darkness Warp Miasma brings.]
Dark Cruelty [Dark Eldarin] You've got a kind of dark charisma that manages to both repulse and fascinate. You gain +1k1 to Intimidation and Charm checks. [No change required.]
Warp Fire [Dark Eldarin] As a half action, you may outline a target with a kind of sickly multicolored light once per scene. For the rest of that scene, attacks against that target are at +2k0 to hit. [No change required.]
Recluse [Dark Eldarin] Dark Eldarin often spend decades making themselves inured to toxins and poisons, either on purpose to better survive their harsh culture or on accident as part of life-long drug abuse. You are immune to all poisons and Toxic weapons, when you inflict the Toxic property the target rolls their test twice and takes the lower result. [It is known the second half did nothing. This tries to keep the rerolling mechanic on some level.] Dark Eldarin have a critical lack of flavor by not having Dark Sight. Usually flavor can take a backseat, but it is too obvious. They're Drow: those people that live in darkness, and create darkness. Reclusive has always not worked and needs a change. DragonbornPower: Dragon Breath - You gain a natural breath weapon with the profile of a Flamer, which you are proficient in. You may use this breath weapon a number of times equal to your Level each scene. [The core power is a free arm mounted Flamer with 1/2/3 ammo you can't reload in combat. Issues with this: Flamers require Dexterity. A race with no Dexerity bonuses and size 5 might not want maxed Dexterity. 3 attacks isn't enough to bother focusing on, and you can't slip a Flamer easily into your combat if you refuse to focus on it, leaving it mediocre at best, and truly useless otherwise. 5 attacks isn't much better but it allows someone who will focus on it to get more use.] Dragonborn Frenzy [Dragonborn]When you hurt a Dragonborn, it just makes them more angry. As long as you have at least one point of critical damage, you roll an amount of extra damage dice on all damage rolls equal to the highest amount of critical damage you've taken. [Did nothing before. Now it is abusable. Better than nothing in my point of view, and it keeps the wording as close to the original as possible.]Dragon Sight [Dragonborn]Dragons are known for seeing in the dark, sensing the heat of their prey. You may reroll one failed perception check per scene and can see in the dark. [No change required.]Elder Wyrm's Fire [Dragonborn]
Some dragonborn have stronger breath weapons than the average, often with more impressive visual effects like blue fire or bolts of lightning. Your breath weapon s deals +1k1 damage. [The most minor change possible with two notable repercussions. It allows a Dragonborn to buff ANY breath weapon they acquire, and by making it a general boost to breath weapons instead of just your Power it allows Mixed Heritage to pick it up, which hopefully if nerfed will not be an issue.] There is already a homebrew feat that allows Dragonborn to get armored scales. They currently lack that and claws, any dragon man wants to be able to claw at people. There is the obvious problem of competition between Dragonblooded and Dragonborn. I think their feats should compliment one another whenever possible, but also work apart. Dragonborn can get base armor, and Dragonblooded can get stacking armor. Both get breaths, and Elder Wyrm's Fire can be expanded to work on ALL breaths a Dragonborn has. A feat for unarmed combat can be added to let you deal R damage with a minor damage boost, etc. Dragonblooded is still the Exalt, but even D&D Dragonborn feel more like Dragonmen than DtD's superpowered Dragonborn. EldarinPower: Warp Step - Once per scene, you may teleport up to twice your speed as a half action. You must be able to see your destination. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. [No change required.]
Extra Warp [Eldarin] Some Eldarin can slip in and out of the Warp easily. You may use Warp Step one additional time per scene. [No change required.]
Guess Destination [Eldarin] You don't need to see the target of your Warp Step, you've got enough experience with it to just make a good guess. If you cannot teleport into that space, you're shunted to the nearest safe spot. [No change required.]
Ancestral Recall [Eldarin] Eldarin have a deep connection to the mysteries of the warp that is second only to the ancient Syrneth. You have a more direct connection than most. You may push your Focus Power tests one additional time. [Before it gave a negligable Focus Power boost for an awful downside unless you can ignore Phenomenae. Now it gives the same negligable boost when you want it for a lesser downside, but also it allows you to increase your Magic School rating for effects that care about it, giving it a tangible use.] All this race does is teleport, but whatever. It's a good ability. Ancestral Recall requires a change. +10 to phenomena and +1k0 to magic tests? It is only viable in the sense that it is so bad you can abuse Chosen of Tzeench harder. ElfPower: Elven Accuracy - Once per scene, an Elf may reroll a failed Weaponry or Ballistic skill Test. At Level 3 and 5 you gain an additional use of this power per scene. [No change required.]
Elven Precision [Elf] Elves have an ability to make even the most impossible shot look easy. Whenever you use Elven Accuracy to reroll a failed Weaponry or Ballistics Test, you gain +2k0 to the reroll. [No change required. But if I would change something I would change failed Weaponry of Ballistics test to "failed test" to synergize with the Book 2 feat Precise Technique.]
Light Step [Elf] Elves are great at moving silently and seemingly only barely touching the ground. You gain +2k0 to all acrobatics and stealth rolls. [No change required.]
Precise Technique [Elf] Elves are good at everything, especially when they cheat. Use an Elven Accuracy reroll with any skill check once per session. [No change required.] Nothing actually NEEDS a change, but if anything is changed I'd think it'd be the interaction between Precise Technique and Elven Precision. GnomePower: Improvise - You begin play with one free Weapon proficiency of any type and one free Armor proficiency of any type. [No change required. But if I were to change something I'd swap this and Eureka!.]
Eureka! [Gnome] Gnomes tend to have tools and junk on them that can solve any problem. And typically breaks immediately afterwards. A Gnome may, once per scene, make a Crafts or Tech-Use check in place of any other check, pulling out some device or trinket to solve a problem. [I'd like to add a clause that Crafts can also use Intelligence, but I think this is simpler, and it has its own merits.]
Tinker [Gnome] Gnomes can make almost anything given something to work from. By sacrificing an item of average or better quality, the Gnome may create another item of the same or less rarity with one less level of quality. This takes one hour. [No change required.]
Explorer [Gnome] Gnomes can find the strangest things, and are especially fascinated with forgotten ruins and hidden Crystal Spheres. You may serve as Navigator aboard a Spelljammer without dots in Divination, and you count your journey as one step lower on the Voyage by Time and Difficulty table. [Spellcheck. It is a SM controlled quest that leads to a different SM controlled quest. If you want to journey as a Gnome you should gain some real bonuses to traveling the Wheel.] By default you can't use Intelligence for Eureka!. That sucks. I'd like to switcharoo the power and Eureka!, but that is minor. Explorer however is magical map summoning man on the surface, and quest in a feat underneath. I don't find anything compelling about either mostly as it is so roundabout in how it does either. HalflingPower: Shifty - Halflings get an extra +1 Static Defense for every point of Dexterity they have. [Halflings should be encouraged to stack Dex as high as they can stack it. The output is the issue, not the concept of stacking Dex.]
Halfling Agility [Halfling] When you're as small as a halfling it's sometimes like you're not even there. You get a +4 bonus to your Static Defense. [No change required.]
Second Chance [Halfling] Halflings are so slippery that it's more than just skill, it has to be luck. Once per combat, you may force an opponent to reroll one attack roll made against you. [No change required.]
Escape Artist [Halfling] Halflings are pretty much dead if they can't move. You aren't likely to die from that anytime soon. You are immune to immobilization. [No change required.] Everyone wants to change Shifty. I want to ensure that more Dex always gives more returns. This race has cornered static defense hard. They should be the best at it, but that "best" needs to come down by some double digits. Also this is the EPIC LotR super stealth man race, right?? Halflings are basically ninjas at this point in tabletop, so them not having a stealth feat is out of place. HumanPower: Heroic Heritage - A human begins play with one addtional Hero Point. [Got OCD? Only Human and the Book 2 races use ":" after the power name instead of "-"]
Able Learner [Human] Humans are good at picking up new skills. While in Free Study you may improve any skill as if it had appeared on one of your class tracks. [Spending 100 XP to count as being in Free Study when Free Study is always a few hundred XP away at most is foolish. This can potentially save XP on a wide reaching character build.]
Human Perseverance [Human] Humans have an innate talent to put forth an extra effort when they're challenged. You gain an extra raise to the final result of an opposed roll. [The only thing that makes this change feel bad is that Mixed Heritage makes any buff to Human feel like a buff to Mixed Heritage.]
Mixed Heritage [Human] Sometimes it seems like humans will have sex with anything. Choose a race. You may take racial feats that require that race at twice the normal cost. If the racial feat references or improves a racial ability you do not have (such as Elven Accuracy), you may not take that feat. [Something must be done. Another change is making it at character creation only to compete with Assets. Another one is to let it only give you one feat upon acquisition, but that could be better if you only want one feat. Other solutions feel clunky and like an obvious patch.] Mixed Heritage is too good, so it must be nerfed. Everything else is too bad, so they must be buffed. OrkPower: WAAAAAGH! - At the beginning of each combat, heal hit points equal to your level. [No change required.]
Mobbing Up [Ork] Orks believe in strength in numbers. Whenever you suffer a result of the Shock Table, you may choose to retreat towards any ally rather than suffering the normal consequences of that check. Once you are adjacent to that ally, you may stop fleeing. [People keep skipping straight to the Shock Table. This gives Mobbing Up a potential use over Fearless (even though I think anything that jumps to the Shock Table should say Fearless ignores it.).]
I'm Da Boss! [Ork] There is nothing quite like physical strength and size in ork politics. You may add your size as a bonus to Command and Intimidate tests. [Command really is the worst social skill. A Titan with +30 to all Command tests is slept upon. I think adding Intimidate opens up some crazy game breaking issues. This however is the most simple patch to give it use for a typical player. To give it wider use, but less potential abuse would require clunky safety clauses.]
WAAAAAGH CRY! [Ork] If there is anything an ork does well, it's motivating other orks to krump things harder. If you're especially good, you can even motivate non-orks in the same way. When ganging up on an enemy, you and allies get an additional +1k0 to hit and damage. [One of the most neurotic changes, which should be outside the scope of this revision, but Orks prefer to be the ones krumping themselves.] Too many things skip to the Shock Table, Mobbing Up is like Fearless but worse. Giving Mobbing Up a way to get around things that get around Fear gives it a niche outside of "I couldn't get Fearless". I'm Da Boss! might have never changed any campaign ever, at least the +5 to the skill that is used on people already on your side. It brings way more flavor than effect. I think the addition of Intimidate exemplifies this. Nobody has ever had a moment of hesitation at +30 Command Titans, but +30 Intimidate? They are different beasts. That said it is boring otherwise. WAAAAAGH CRY! is similar, it lets your friends hit hard, but you're not some weak commander, you're the boss, and the boss has got to krump 'ard too. SquatPower: Squat Toughness - A Squat's Resilience is treated as being one higher for the purpose of determining hit points lost due to damage. [No change required.]
Squat Armor Proficiency [Squat] Halve the proficiency penalty for all Armor. Squats are naturally good at carrying weights and this is just another aspect of that. Also they're low to the ground and such. [No change required.]
Squat Stability [Squat] Squats don't really get knocked on their asses. They tip over, but don't fall down. Whenever an enemy would force you to move or knock you prone, you may ignore that effect. [No change required.]
No One Tougher [Squat] You may use Constitution instead of Dexterity for determining your Static Defense. [No change required.] Nothing to say here other than how anyone who has ever taken Squat Armor Proficiencty has thought "Half of half is lame". TauPower: Farsighted - You've got a wide view of things, or you're disciplined enough to resist charms. You gain +3 Resolve and +5 to your Mental Defense. [Switcharoo. This is the best social racial feat in the game, the Matron of social combat, and can make it almost impossible to not take it as a Resolve abusing Exalt. If Mixed Heritage is nerfed this is not as necessary, but I believe this is more core to Tau than running away.]
Fall Back [Tau] Whenever you successfully dodge a melee attack, you may make a free withdraw action, but you may only move half of the normal distance. [Switcharoo.]
Move And Shoot [Tau] Tau have an ancient fighting style where they mostly avoid getting close to anyone and run away while shooting. Whenever you attack with a ranged weapon and move in the same turn, your static defense increases by 5. [No change required.]
Silent Arcana [Tau] Tau are not naturally good at spellcasting, but they can suppress a lot of the pomp and circumstance that others use when they get around to trying their hand at it. You can increase the DC of a Focus Power check by 10. If you do, it loses the Verbal, Somatic, and Material keywords and gains the Subtle keyword if it doesn't already have it. [No change required.] Farsighted is the most broken social feat in the game. I'd feel better if it was their core power. This is less of an issue with a more balanced Mixed Heritage. TieflingSize: 2-5 [Tieflings are the mirror to Aasimar, however Aasimar are all created near identically while Tieflings are the representation of Chaos. Many Tieflings just want to be humans with horns anyway. This adds much variety, and flavor with a very minor increase in potential power.] Power: Bloody Minded - You may reroll damage dice that land on a 1. [No change required.]
Mutation [Tiefling] Often, Tieflings have cloven hooves, claws, or tearing horns. You're one of them, and you can kick some ass with them. You have a natural weapon with the following profile: (2k2 I or R, Melee, Brawling) [No change required. One of the best natural weapons in the game, but let core races have their power.]
Outsider [Tiefling] Tieflings have strange internals that don't quite match up with what you'd expect - they have redundant organs, thick blood that clots easily, and so forth. The first time you would suffer critical damage in a scene, you instead take only one point of critical damage. Obviously, if you'd only be taking one point anyway, this ability has no effect. [No change required. Not super reliable, but whatever.]
Beneficial Mutation [Tiefling] Tieflings are not made to any particular plan, and their bodies can continue to mutate throughout their lives, sometimes in response to great failures or injury. Gain up to two dots in one of your lowest Characteristics up to your maximum, and lose one dot in a different Characteristic. Only take this feat at character creation. [Better and more abusable than the Aasimar equivalent. The changes and thoughts are the same as Made of Mettle. Not a fan of dot juggling in general.] Variable size Tieflings just make sense. Beneficial Mutation has the same problems as Made of Mettle. Overall Teiflings are very strong with explosions and super natural weapons. Book 2Thri-KreenPower: Multi-Armed - A Thri-Kreen's smaller pair of arms allow them to take a Ready action as a free action once per round and reload their weapons in half the listed time, rounded down to a minimum of one half action. [Core weapons don't have Half Action reloads. Homebrew does. Quarter action reload?]
Lightning Bug [Thri-Kreen] Though it's something of a rare trait, you have a natural bioluminescence that allows you to produce light like a lantern at will. With some effort you can vary the color and intensity of the light through different shades of red, yellow, and green. You can also expend your internal energy to shoot a bolt of bio-electricity. You gain the Luminen Blast feat, and are immune to the Shocking property and environmental electric hazards. [There are now a million Luminen Blast races/exalts that shit all over this. Electric bug sitting on a generator is thematic and beefs it up. I would prefer it give Luminen Charge however, but this is a revision, not rewrite.]
Mandibles [Thri-Kreen] All Thri-Kreen have a mildly poisonous bite, but for most it doesn't cause more than a rash in most sentients. Your bite is significantly more dangerous. You gain a natural weapon with the following profile: (1k1 R; Pen 4; Melee, Toxic). [Honestly a natural weapon is either good or shit. Thri-Kreen has a shit natural weapon, and Pen won't save it, but it might make it a backup fatigue generator with a chance for extra wounds. Tearing would be more effective at this, but I feel that is too pushed.]
Noisy Cricket [Thri-Kreen] Thri-Kreen are naturally suited towards long jumps thanks to their powerful legs. You gain a Jumping specialty in Acrobatics. Whenever you make an Acrobatics test to jump, every raise you get counts as three raises, and your minimum jump height or distance (whichever is greater) is twice your Strength plus Acrobatics. [Spellcheck. Fuck rolling to jump. Nobody likes doing it in any RPG. The minimum is close to the average meaning if you do always roll for it it'll still help, but now you can just say you achieve it without wasting everyone's time.] Revision time? If people add Half Action reload weapons then their power should have a clarification. Lightning Bug is like all those other Luminen Blast homebrew feats but awful. Mandibles is also a feat to completely skip as you get a Power Fist. Noisy Cricket lets you jump ultra high and far, but requires you to slow down your game. A minimum jump range/height can speed up the game and bring sanity to jumping rules by ignoring them. KenkuPower: Wing-Aided Movement - As long as they have room to unfurl their wings, Kenku do not suffer from falling damage. Even when unconscious they instinctively slow their fall and glide, falling only two meters per round and being able to glide horizontally at their normal speed. Kenku get +2k0 to all acrobatics tests. [People playing a bird person want to fly. If it wasn't for a single throwaway line about not all Kenku being able to fly I'd swap this for the flight feat in an heartbeat. Many homebrew flying races have kept Kenku in a bad spot.]
Ace Pilot [Kenku] Kenku are natural pilots, able to push their machines harder than anyone else. Whenever they serve as Helmsman for a ship, the ship's Maneuver is increased by +5. Any vehicles they control also get +5 to their maneuver. [No change required. But it is a very minor bonus, maneuver is one of the least important parts of a ship or vehicle. Shooting people with massive fuckoff guns is. Too many lukewarm powers leads to a lukewarm race.]
Developed Wings [Kenku] While all Kenku have wings, not every Kenku's wings are strong enough to allow them to actually fly. Yours, however, are that strong. You gain Flyer, at your normal Speed. [No change required?]
Teacher [Kenku] Kenku are great teachers, and even a few words of advice can give people great insight into an area the kenku knows well. Once per session per skill, a Kenku can allow anyone they can speak with (including through commlink, radio, or whatever) to use one of their Specialities on the next test they make. [I truly dislike how limited this feat is, but it also doesn't stick out as totally useless, just like the rest of Kenku.] Many homebrew flight races have taken a dump on Kenku. Nothing they do is really fantastic. Nothing stands out as needing a change, but that doesn't mean Kenku as a whole doesn't stick out as needing a change. KoboldPower: Power in the Blood - Kobolds are spiteful and strong-willed enough to demand power now that they can't handle. Once per round as a free action, they may spend two Hit Points to gain a resource point which must be immediately spent. However, this does not count against the number of resource points they may spend in a round. [Only used when abused, but when abused you at least take on a hard to manage cost.]
K'sten'mannav [Kobold] Because of the respect most kobolds have for the K'sten'mannav and their upholding the ideals of their race, you gain the feats Peer (Kobolds), and Good Reputation (Kobolds). Additionally you may elect to begin social combat before an encounter with any with a group of kobolds, even if you would normally be ambushed, your kin being unwilling to spill your blood without hearing your side of the story. Additionally, because of their long-ingrained distrust for others, they gain the Paranoia feat. [This feat was too passive, and didn't fit in with how social combat has developed in homebrew over time. This allows you to be more active with your relation to Kobolds, having a stated phase of social combat to act as the previous ability to never be attacked as your group dies in a 15 second combat encounter while you attempt a 15 minute debate, in addition to using those Peer and Good Reputation bonuses to seek out Kobolds and influence them with your boosted rolls outside of merely avoiding bloodshed.]
K'vend'l [Kobold] K'vend'l are among the greatest merchants in the Wheel. They keep close connections to each other and can find nearly anything, even things that others think impossible to locate at market. You may reduce the TN of Wealth Tests by 5, and the maximum TN of an item you can find in a location is increased by 5. [This feat is actually one of the best in the entire game, but nobody really cares.]
Legal Miner [Kobold] Almost every kobold is born and raised in a mine, deep underground and safe from the prejudices and attacks of other races. You automatically notice unusual features in worked stone, reducing the TN to find traps, hidden doors and the like by 10. [No change required.]
Trapmaster [Kobold] Kobolds are not very good at standing up and fighting fair, but they are excellent at fighting dirty. You gain a free Traps specialty in Crafts and Tech-Use. [Spellcheck. Its a pretty shit feat, but you can theoretically say it is better than one Skill Focus.] This is the only race with 4 feats. I take this as liberty for one additional homebrew feat be added to round out the shortcomings of all other races, or two for all or races to bring the total to 5, and one more for Kobold. Kobold has some very extremely powerful abilities, and some do-nothing abilities, it is hard to bridge the two. DryadPower: Pheromones - Dryads can produce a type of pollen that subtly affects the minds of others. A Dryad may cast Attraction on themselves, using their Level + Fellowship in place of the spell's normal Focus Power test. [Matron problems. Nobody bats an eye at losing the Pheremones power. You could say its because Matron is so strong, but a part of the issue is that Pheromones is quite forgettable. +2k0 if they fail a test is cool. +1k1 is cooler.]
Matron [Dryad] Unlike the majority of Dryad adventurers, you are in your third stage of life, a huge treelike being with skin like bark and arms like strong branches. Your characteristics are significantly different from the average Dryad. You lose a point of Fellowship and Dexterity, but gain a point of Strength. You lose the Dryad's racial power of Pheromones and gain +2 Size. You also gain the Armor Plating (2) trait and your brawl attacks deal +2k0 damage thanks to your clublike fists. [It has been discussed dozens of times. Matron is better than most feats most races can imagine. It can't be taken by Mixed Heritage. Any homebrew race that comes up with a power comparable to Matron is shot down. I still approve of it. Perhaps one additional downside, but it certainly doesn't fail to make you feel like a giant treant.]
Photosynthetic [Dryad] As plants, all Dryads can gain some nourishment from sunlight, but you can gain everything you need from the light of the sun. You no longer need to eat food as long as you spend at least two hours basking in direct sunlight, and you heal one hit point per hour you spend in direct sunlight. Vampire Dryads do not gain these benefits, but instead lose a vampire's Sunlight Weakness. [No change required.]
Treestrider [Dryad] One of the most famous powers of the Dryads is their ability to appear anywhere in a forest. While not every Dryad can actually do this, you can. You may, as a full action, enter one tree or other large plant and then exit another large living plant anywhere within one kilometer per level. You don't have to know your exact destination, just a general distance and direction. [No change required.] Nobody cares about non Matron Dryad, but there should be a reason for them to. I'd prefer if that was done mostly through a buff to base Dryads, but if nerfs are needed it shouldn't cripple Matron's status as large, damaging, and powerful.
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Post by Lestat on Mar 29, 2019 3:54:14 GMT -6
If you resist the saving throw for a Subtle spell you become aware of it. There are also subtle spells which are all about others noticing their effects, Ghost Sound being something you want people to hear, and Flush of Life something you want others to see. Any issue with Subtle is with the wording of Subtle itself.
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Post by GuardianTempest on Mar 29, 2019 6:57:05 GMT -6
First impulse responses to Lestat.
For your Thri-Keen power, the Half Action minimum is a nice idea for a different reason: I'm certain there are homebrew that changes the hierarchy of reload times, from 2Full > Full > Half > Free/Reaction (I can't recall); which would invalidate the need for certain gun mods and Katas.
For Lightning Bug, the part about shooting electric shocks over charging stuff is kinda feasible since it's easier to just spurt out voltage like a Bombardier Beetle than releasing it in a controlled flow. It's a pretty insectoid mechanism so I'm fine with not getting Luminen Charge.
For Mandibles, I suggest you also add Brawling since virtually not a lot of non-Brawling melee weapons have k1 damage rolls. Giving it Tearing would just mean one free wound (with a slim chance of 2-3). On the other hand if it had Brawling then the extra Pen is more justified.
Kobold's Racial Power: I'm not to keen on being able to break the resource cap spent. Sure, the damage gained is pretty hefty but on the other hand, with stuff like Multiple Attacks or resource-fueled exaltation abilities, it might end the fight before the HP loss is relevant.
Your change to Pheromones I find logical. It's possible that due to air currents your sweet scent can drift beyond your initial target (unless you're the sort to insta-manufacture your pollen tailored to a specific individual).
On the subject of "Jaded and Fearless but still need Nerves of Steel+Headstrong", that's where the "Close Enough" rule comes, though there would be people who go by RAW and get upset at having to buy redundant feats. Ah well.
Here's my stuff
Ace Pilot (Kenku feat): ...You also get +5 to Drive/Pilot tests using a vehicle. What kind of ace pilot is only good at commanding a ship, anyway? Strikethrough text is an optional filter in case custom vehicles using alternate skills might be too good or to give the two skills more importance.
Teacher (Kenku feat): Kenku are great teachers, and even a few words of advice can give people great insight into an area the kenku knows well. Once per scene, a Kenku can allow anyone they can speak with (including through commlink, radio, or whatever) to use one of their Specialities on the next test they make. Whenever a Kenku makes an Aid Another action, the recipient gains an additional bonus equal to their Level as well as an applicable specialty. Adding a secondary effect to give it another niche, also "Once per scene" is easier to digest than the previous iteration. Strikethrough text is an optional bit that can be kept if it's not too broken. Could also increase the frequency of the feat usage by saying "number of times equal to your level" though it might get clunky.
Pheromones (Dryad Power): ...This Focus Power test can only be cast Unfetted but does not cause Psychic Phenomena. Safety clause as not everyone is aware of Spell-like abilities house rule. Can't have a grass lass suddenly cause a rift to the Warp just by sneezing a bit. Unless the game's more comedic and the Dryad is Old Spice incarnate. Also, whatever we decide on, I could use suggestions for buffing the Alraune half of my homebrew Paragon asset.
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Post by username on Mar 29, 2019 16:25:13 GMT -6
Here's my stuff Ace Pilot (Kenku feat): ...You also get +5 to Drive/Pilot tests using a vehicle. What kind of ace pilot is only good at commanding a ship, anyway? Strikethrough text is an optional filter in case custom vehicles using alternate skills might be too good or to give the two skills more importance.Teacher (Kenku feat): Kenku are great teachers, and even a few words of advice can give people great insight into an area the kenku knows well. Once per scene, a Kenku can allow anyone they can speak with (including through commlink, radio, or whatever) to use one of their Specialities on the next test they make. Whenever a Kenku makes an Aid Another action, the recipient gains an additional bonus equal to their Level as well as an applicable specialty. Adding a secondary effect to give it another niche, also "Once per scene" is easier to digest than the previous iteration. Strikethrough text is an optional bit that can be kept if it's not too broken. Could also increase the frequency of the feat usage by saying "number of times equal to your level" though it might get clunky.Pheromones (Dryad Power): ...This Focus Power test can only be cast Unfetted but does not cause Psychic Phenomena. Safety clause as not everyone is aware of Spell-like abilities house rule. Can't have a grass lass suddenly cause a rift to the Warp just by sneezing a bit. Unless the game's more comedic and the Dryad is Old Spice incarnate. Also, whatever we decide on, I could use suggestions for buffing the Alraune half of my homebrew Paragon asset.Ace Pilot already gives a +5 to Drive/Polot tests when using a vehicle: You add your maneuver to any control tests you make. It also adds to Static Defense (Although is unlikely to make that big of a difference since vehicles are so bulky; for moderately sized ones attacked by vehicle weapons though it could make a difference since vehicle weapons are relatively inaccurate). Maneuver is quite expensive on bigger vehicles, so it can save a lot of points there and it also gives a nice buffer between when you need to start making Punch Its instead of maintaining control. On top of this, it is a +5 SD to ships too from the other part of the feat Teacher's a crappy feat the way it is currently; The Aid Another idea isn't a bad one, although the language of whose level should be clarified. I think it might be good to compromise and make it so the Kenku can do it once per specialty per scene or session, and also whenever they are doing an aid another, without the +level static bonus. This way they can talk people through things for several different skills without any action beyond free (probably) on the kenku's part, and if it doesn't work the kenku can be more hands on. I made a similar change suggestion to Pheromones. I even backdoored the idea of Spell-like into it as well. Pheromones is pretty bad either way though.I'm tempted to just have them get a bonus +1k0 or +2k0 to social rolls instead of bothering with the spell.
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Post by username on Mar 29, 2019 16:38:20 GMT -6
I'll chip in and say that human perserverance should be a raise to opposed rolls. It can very well be the difference between victory and defeat. It's a tangible, useful thing that will come up more than a perfect tie. I agree with the mixed heritage opinion above, but for a different reason. I think a player should either a) plan ahead for their character and pick the race accordingly or b) not be able to waffle around and pick the race based on the circumstances of the game. +5 to opposed rolls is a lot, an extremely powerful thing. Strong enough that we nerfed it on Pride asset for Daemonhosts. Opposed tests happen almost all the time, especially in combat and flat static bonuses like that will stack with everything. Hell, you could even try to dispel your own Focus Power tests, purposefully failing, in order to get a +5 to the end result. I'd lean more toward something like +1 to all tests, which will also come up almost literally all the time but not be quite so potent and abusable.
Book 1 and 2 racial feats never require the player to take them at character creation and I don't think it is a restriction we should introduce as a revision to any, although I know some would be keen to the idea. Mixed heritage especially I could see the character discovering their ancestry during play and having it assert itself. Mixed heritage is extremely good as it is though due to Human core abilities (Hero Point, any characteristic and any skills). It already does have an opportunity cost of 100xp, since the feat itself is just paying for the change to pay more xp. Lestat's idea of increasing the cost of the purchased feats may work, although unless you plan to load up on several feat you're already paying double for the first one.
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Post by Lestat on Mar 29, 2019 16:40:39 GMT -6
Brawling should be added, but those changes are my in-a-vacuum first impressions, and won't be changed other than fixing any formatting issues. I would change it to: Mandibles [Thri-Kreen] All Thri-Kreen have a mildly poisonous bite, but for most it doesn't cause more than a rash in most sentients. Your bite is significantly more dangerous. You gain a natural weapon with the following profile: (1k1 R; Pen 4; Melee; Brawling, Toxic).
I'm not ready to remove reasons for people to play Kobolds. From 5 to 6 points spent per round is a 20% boost which is my benchmark for abilities like this. I also want to refrain from adding as many safety clauses as possible. When somebody uses Kobold's power they have a clear understanding of what they're getting out of it, and they should be excited to do so. People should look at the revisions as a place for weaker things to become cool, not for cool things to be neutered. The strongest feats should remain the strongest feats after revision, but the gap between them and the weaker feats should be bridged to a degree that opens new ways to play without closing previous ways to play. Kobold's power is something that is always useful, but it is more useful in some builds than others. I don't see this as a Halflling Shifty problem where one kind of use is literally twice as numerically powerful as the typical use. Additionally the resource cap breaking clause is likely because you must use the point immediately, if you already used your maximum number of points then you've barred yourself from using this power. Making it work with the cap means you leave players dancing around the cap by spending 4 points not 5 to avoid not being able to use their power each round.
I'm also against "neurotic clauses" in core: things that aren't required in clarification for balance or function, but are just there for corner cases, or to grease the gears of an ability to fit the playstyle intended. This means I see no issue with Aasimar giving Fearless and Jaded, as it is clean, and gives them all the effects desired. I also see no need to put "spell-like ability" clauses in core. There is no real system for differentiating magical abilities from supernatural from extraordinary, and I'm not interested in Dryad needing to serve as some standard for shoving round objects in square holes. Core should be the simplest part of the game, and the powers of the races should be simpler than their feats. If it isn't a spell it shouldn't be a spell, it should be a generic social combat bonus, cutting out the middle man.
Maneuver already does most of what Drive/Pilot does, and more, letting you turn with high momentum, and adding to your Static Defense. It should work with ships and vehicles, not ships, but actually vehicles with ships as an afterthought.
Giving someone a specialty can often mean nothing. If they're bad at the skill they're likely still screwed. Lowing it to one time per scene just makes it even less likely to do anything as you need to actually roll the 1 to do anything, and will feel like a reget of a feat. I think the Aid Another part is the natural update. Aid Another was useless in core, now it is buffed in homebrew. If you want to support people you want to Aid Another. It should just give a raise, not +1 then +2, then +3 until the placebo adds up to a real bonus. Any racial feat should likely give raises and not per level bonuses as there's no good reason for them to not function well at level 1.
I don't follow the logic behind these changes. The power is clear, you make a Withdraw action and it is a free action to do. The only real clarification that should be made to match current rule interpretation is making it once per round as free actions aren't done as many times as you want. Clearly LawfulNice made some Free Actions intended to be used as many times as you want, and all the free actions that break the game are haphazardly kept in control with a hidden clause in the back of the book. If you want Tau to be able to move as many times as they can dodge it should be tied to the action, if it is once per round it should say once per round. Nothing interacts with Withdraw in core, and honestly almost nothing interacts with it in homebrew, so this feels particularly neurotic. Any wording changes should make it cleaner purely, there should be no changes made out of fear of degenerate effects as I don't even see what would be abusing it.
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Post by username on Mar 29, 2019 16:42:24 GMT -6
If you resist the saving throw for a Subtle spell you become aware of it. There are also subtle spells which are all about others noticing their effects, Ghost Sound being something you want people to hear, and Flush of Life something you want others to see. Any issue with Subtle is with the wording of Subtle itself. Things like this are why I wanted to address spells first and then races. Subtle is a dumb keyword that doesn't work properly the way it is, since it makes certain spells not function as they should like Ghost Sound and if thrown on other spells means they can break the hell out of the game. If you save against a subtle spell you become aware, but spellcasters can pump those rolls up high enough that there is no reasonable way of saving, and some spells such as Energy Meteors don't even have a save.
Subtle can work for Silent Arcana, but we would need to modify the subtle spell to be the Casting instead of Effects as pointed out. It seems like this is what LawfulNice had in mind when he was using subtle in the first place.
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Post by Lestat on Mar 29, 2019 17:03:40 GMT -6
I would prefer no feat compared to +1 to everything. It's just that extra bit of bean counting applied to everything. All powers should be something you can feel. The core power gives a near nonexistent boost to a limited thing. A raise to opposed tests feels like something you can control and direct, getting into opposed tests intentionally. A +1 bonus is the same issue as getting a 1% crit bonus in an MMO, it is just noise in the background that is just one drop in an ocean of numbers, and it won't change how your character plays OR feels.
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Post by username on Mar 29, 2019 17:10:52 GMT -6
Brawling should be added, but those changes are my in-a-vacuum first impressions, and won't be changed other than fixing any formatting issues. I would change it to: Mandibles [Thri-Kreen]All Thri-Kreen have a mildly poisonous bite, but for most it doesn't cause more than a rash in most sentients. Your bite is significantly more dangerous. You gain a natural weapon with the following profile: (1k1 R; Pen 4; Melee ; Brawling, Toxic). I'm not ready to remove reasons for people to play Kobolds. From 5 to 6 points spent per round is a 20% boost which is my benchmark for abilities like this. I also want to refrain from adding as many safety clauses as possible. When somebody uses Kobold's power they have a clear understanding of what they're getting out of it, and they should be excited to do so. People should look at the revisions as a place for weaker things to become cool, not for cool things to be neutered. The strongest feats should remain the strongest feats after revision, but the gap between them and the weaker feats should be bridged to a degree that opens new ways to play without closing previous ways to play. Kobold's power is something that is always useful, but it is more useful in some builds than others. I don't see this as a Halflling Shifty problem where one kind of use is literally twice as numerically powerful as the typical use. Additionally the resource cap breaking clause is likely because you must use the point immediately, if you already used your maximum number of points then you've barred yourself from using this power. Making it work with the cap means you leave players dancing around the cap by spending 4 points not 5 to avoid not being able to use their power each round. I'm also against "neurotic clauses" in core: things that aren't required in clarification for balance or function, but are just there for corner cases, or to grease the gears of an ability to fit the playstyle intended. This means I see no issue with Aasimar giving Fearless and Jaded, as it is clean, and gives them all the effects desired. I also see no need to put "spell-like ability" clauses in core. There is no real system for differentiating magical abilities from supernatural from extraordinary, and I'm not interested in Dryad needing to serve as some standard for shoving round objects in square holes. Core should be the simplest part of the game, and the powers of the races should be simpler than their feats. If it isn't a spell it shouldn't be a spell, it should be a generic social combat bonus, cutting out the middle man. Maneuver already does most of what Drive/Pilot does, and more, letting you turn with high momentum, and adding to your Static Defense. It should work with ships and vehicles, not ships, but actually vehicles with ships as an afterthought. Giving someone a specialty can often mean nothing. If they're bad at the skill they're likely still screwed. Lowing it to one time per scene just makes it even less likely to do anything as you need to actually roll the 1 to do anything, and will feel like a reget of a feat. I think the Aid Another part is the natural update. Aid Another was useless in core, now it is buffed in homebrew. If you want to support people you want to Aid Another. It should just give a raise, not +1 then +2, then +3 until the placebo adds up to a real bonus. Any racial feat should likely give raises and not per level bonuses as there's no good reason for them to not function well at level 1. I don't follow the logic behind these changes. The power is clear, you make a Withdraw action and it is a free action to do. The only real clarification that should be made to match current rule interpretation is making it once per round as free actions aren't done as many times as you want. Clearly LawfulNice made some Free Actions intended to be used as many times as you want, and all the free actions that break the game are haphazardly kept in control with a hidden clause in the back of the book. If you want Tau to be able to move as many times as they can dodge it should be tied to the action, if it is once per round it should say once per round. Nothing interacts with Withdraw in core, and honestly almost nothing interacts with it in homebrew, so this feels particularly neurotic. Any wording changes should make it cleaner purely, there should be no changes made out of fear of degenerate effects as I don't even see what would be abusing it. The Thri-kreen's weapon is weak. The biggest needed patch is adding brawling, but then it is still a rather mediocre weapon that doesn't compare with Tieflings; even with the Pen it is still much weaker. I know you said you wanted to avoid Tearing (I'll respond to your suggestions in general but it's a lot of to discuss) but it is better... presuming you go by how people have been using it, which is using it to bypass armor for the 1 wound instead of just the by-the-book version which still contends with that and only deals 1 wound if it gets to resilience part of the calculation. Adding Pen and tearing may work. Perhaps use Pen 4 and Razor Sharp? Getting 4 and often 8 pen is quite notable.
I absolutely agree with not changing the Kobold's racial power. It is a really fun one and allows for interesting and exciting set ups, with a reasonable cost that the player will need to contend with as well.
Specialties are quite mediocre. Even on a 10k10, a specialty averages to only +5 on average. It's nice when that 1 rolls into a 10, but most of the time it won't make a difference, statistically speaking. I hesitate on the Aid Another giving a full raise since it can combo with other things (Mana Generator for instance results in a +10 to an aided Focus Power test, which can net someone an additional +1 to all physical characteristics or add additional rerolls or other brokenness). We shouldn't design Book 1 and 2 revisions to pander to homebrew as a rule. I think it should try to avoid changing things excessively so that homebrew already isn't broken, but changing something with the intent that it be used with certain homebrew builds is not such a good idea. Despite what I said about a flat raise with Aid Anothers, I do agree that raises are a good benchmark with racial feats, but that's for more specific ones. The more broadly useful the feat, the lower the numerical bonus. Getting +5 to one or two skills is about in line with a racial feat, but getting it or giving it to all skills probably is not.
You state the power is clear in making a Withdraw action and it is a Free Action, but the power explicitely not a "Free Action Withdraw" or "Withdraw as a Free Action" but rather a Free Withdraw Action. As it is, it seems like the current version is wanting you to be able to do it for every dodge but the wording makes it seems like it might also be intended as a Free Action, which would run afoul of the glossary rule you reference. Ignoring the glossary rule entirely is bad for the reasons you allude as well, so the best thing to do is make it consistent. The only thing I can think of that making it moving like a Withdraw action instead of making the actual withdraw action would bork would be the rare, rare Withdraw sword school or Gun Kata. There might be some others that I don't recall though. Similar to the troubles with the Subtle keyword, LawfulNice was not really consistent with Free Actions, seeming to use it for some things when he intended them to be Free Actions like a D&D Free Action and others for things that need to be clamped down based on the glossary ruling. Unlike Subtle though, I don't think the problem is with the way the book defines a Free Action since the limitation is probably for the best and would affect an enormous amount of things in unforeseen ways if it were changed; it currently works as it is used, while Subtle does not.
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Post by Lestat on Mar 29, 2019 17:27:28 GMT -6
Two parts. The wording isn't confusing, it is just poor wording. The distinction is that there is nothing else a "free withdraw action" could possibly be referring to, and the only confusion that could stem from that is questioning if there is a mechanic "you missed", in reality there is nothing else it could be referring to, but without a confident and complete base of information you could wonder if there is some other "cost" to a withdraw action that removing could make it "free".
Second part: Because free actions are once per round RAW, and haphazardly as many times as you want semi-RAI the only mechanical change should be whether to: A: Let it work on all dodges you make, meaning it needs to avoid the free action, and instead be tied to the dodge action allowing all dodges to have a move tied to it. or B: Make it only work once per round to fit in with current free action limits, which would most clearly be signaled to new players by including a once per round clause to eliminate confusion over free actions. Which leads to the fact that any issue is with wording, not mechanical balance. There's no need to detach it from the Withdraw action from a mechanical standpoint, and if you do remove it from a mechanical standpoint it shouldn't be referenced by name, as it is superfluous, simply saying half your speed with no opportunity attacks is more obvious.
Edit: My view is that it should work with all dodges as that was the original intent most likely, and I don't want to weaken Tau in that way.
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Post by Traskus on Mar 29, 2019 17:28:45 GMT -6
This is a balance thread, not a "flavor" thread.
Homebrew is not to factor into this thread.
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