Advanced Race Guide Preview: It's Almost Here!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Advanced Race Guide will be shipping out to subscribers and stores in the very near future. As we wrap up our previews of this mighty tome, it’s time to for a peek into Chapter 4 and the rules for building your own race.

This section of the book received a good deal of playtesting late last year and we made a large number of tweaks and changes to take that feedback into account. For example, the core races do not all add up to the exact same point value as they did in the playtest. In addition to showing you how the existing races are built, we included a number of examples of new races that you can build using this system. Take a look at the Kasatha.

Kasatha

Hunters and raiders of the wasteland, the clannish, four-armed kasatha guard their territories by way of lightning-fast raids and terrifying assaults. As young adults, some members of this race roam the world for a full year looking for adventure and treasure to bring back to their clans. A renegade few decide to forsake their clan and spend their life adventuring.

Illustration by Rayph Beisner

Type   Humanoid (kasatha)	0 RP
Size   Medium	0 RP
Base Speed   Normal	0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers   Flexible (+2 Dex, +2 Wis)	2 RP
Languages   Standard	0 RP
Racial Abilities Defense Racial Traits   Defensive training, greater   Desert runner	4 RP 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits   Stalker	1 RP
Movement Racial Traits   Jumper   Terrain stride (desert)	2 RP 1 RP
Other Racial Traits   Multi-armed (4 arms)	8 RP
Total	20 RP

While more powerful than most races (which usually have a cost of about 10), a kasatha makes for an interesting addition to any game, either as a PC (perhaps one level lower than the rest of the party) or as an exotic NPC or even a villain. The above format is written for the race builder in particular. Here are the racial traits in a more traditional layout.

Kasatha Racial Traits

+2 Dex, +2 Wis: Kasatha are both nimble and wise.
Medium: Kasatha are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Kasatha have a base speed of 30 feet.
Defensive Training, Greater: Kasatha receive a +2 dodge bonus to their Armor Class.
Desert Runner: Kasatha receive a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue and exhaustion, as well as any other ill effects from running, forced marches, starvation, thirst, and hot or cold environments.
Stalker: Kasatha always treat Perception and Stealth as a class skill.
Jumper: Kasatha are always treated as if having a running start when making Acrobatics skill checks to jump.
Desert Stride: Kasatha can move through difficult terrain in a desert environment at their normal speed. Magically altered desert terrain affects them normally.
Multi-Armed: Kasatha possess four arms. While all of the arms can wield weapons, all but one are considered off-hand weapons. Kasatha take the normal penalties for two-weapon fighting when using more than one weapon.

Well, that about wraps up the previews of the Advanced Race Guide. Grab a copy, and explore the exciting race options that await you within.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Advanced Race Guide Preview: Of Dreams and Nightmares

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

While every child may curse her mother as a hag from time to time, changelings are justified to make such claims. Cursed offshoots of hag liaisons in the mortal world who are dropped at the door of mortal adoptive parents, all changelings are affected by their heritage in some way. Some rebel against it, but many come to terms with it, using the power of their heritage for their own purposes or to aid the innocent.

It’s not surprising that many changelings gravitate toward the witch class since that class’s powers complement both the abilities and the theme of the race. In this week’s preview, we will take a look at the first race presented in Chapter 3 of the Advanced Race Guide by sharing the archetype presented in the section: the Dreamweaver, a witch empowered by dreams and nightmares.

Illustration by Rayph Beisner

Dreamweaver (Witch)

A changeling dreamweaver draws upon her hag heritage to ply the dream realms in order to touch mortal minds and souls, for good or ill. A dreamweaver witch has the following class features.

Class Skills: The dreamweaver adds Sense Motive to her list of class skills and removes Healing from her list of class skills. Patron: A dreamweaver’s patron is normally portents or stars (Ultimate Magic 83).

Spells: A dreamweaver replaces some of her patron’s spells with the following: 2nd—sow thoughts (see below), 4th—dust of twilight (Advanced Player's Guide), 6th—deep slumber, 8th—modify memory, 10th—dream, 12th—cloak of dreams (Advanced Player's Guide), 14th—ethereal jaunt, 16th—moment of prescience, 18th—astral projection.

Dream Spinner (Su): At 2nd level, when a dreamweaver casts a mind-affecting spell on a target that is sleeping because of her slumber hex or a spell she cast, she adds +1 to the mind-affecting spell’s DC. If the target succeeds at the saving throw against the spell, it does not wake up, nor does it have any recollection of having resisted a spell. If appropriate, the dreamweaver may incorporate elements of a mind-affecting spell (i.e., sow thought, suggestion, and so on) into the target’s subconscious so it believes the spell’s effects originated in its dreams (the details of how these elements fit into the dream is up to the GM). This ability replaces the witch’s hex gained at 2nd level.

Dream Thief (Su): At 6th level, a dreamweaver can alter the sleeping mind of any creature that is sleeping because of her slumber hex or a spell she cast. She can reshape one of the target’s memories as if using modify memory. Alternatively, she may insert herself into the dreaming memories of the target, prompting the target’s mind to show her some specific information; the dreamer’s subconscious may resist, or try to deceive her with out-of-context memories, similar to the way a corpse can resist when questioned with speak with dead. A Will save negates either effect (DC equal to that of the witch’s hex). Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day. This ability replaces the witch’s hex gained at 6th level.

Dream Possession (Su): At 10th level, a dreamweaver can take control of any creature that is sleeping because of her slumber hex or a spell she cast. This effect functions as magic jar, using the witch’s familiar acting as the soul receptacle. A Will save negates either effect (DC equal to that of the witch’s hex). Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day. This ability replaces the witch’s hex gained at 10th level.

Hexes: The following hexes complement the dreamweaver archetype: charm, slumber (Advanced Player's Guide); beast of ill-omen (Ultimate Magic).

Major Hexes: The following major hexes complement the dreamweaver archetype: nightmare, vision (Advanced Player's Guide).

Grand Hexes: The following grand hexes complement the dreamweaver archetype: eternal slumber (Advanced Player's Guide); dire prophecy (Ultimate Magic).

Come back next week for another preview of the Advanced Race Guide.

Stephen Radney-MacFarland
Designer

Advanced Race Guide: Art Preview

Thursday, April 12, 2012

We wrested our Advanced Race Guide preview back out of the hands of Tuesday's pernicious pirates. Inside this upcoming tome of cutting-edge characters and radical races you'll find all the information you need on creating members of all three of the races previewed here, along with any other exotic beings you’ve ever wanted to play or can possibly imagine. Check back next Tuesday for your first look at some of the Advanced Race Guide's new rules, with a focus on its woodsier wonders...

Really this time.

Illustrations by Ben Wootten, Anna Christenson and Rayph Beisner

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor