Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Race Guide (OGL)

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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Race Guide (OGL)
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Get the most out of your heritage with the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide! Embrace your inner monster by playing one of 30 iconic races from mythology and gaming history, or build an entirely new race of your own. If classic races are more your style, go beyond the stereotypes for elves, dwarves, and the other core races with new options and equipment to help you stand out from the crowd.

The Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide is a bold new companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds on more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

The 256-page Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide includes:

  • New rules and options to help you customize all seven of the classic core races, including new racial traits, racial subtypes, and racial archetypes.
  • 30 exotic races, from mischievous goblins and reptilian kobolds to crow-headed tengus and deadly drow, each with complete rules for use as player characters, plus archetypes, alternate racial traits, and other options for maximum customization.
  • A complete and balanced system for creating an unlimited number of new races, mixing and matching powers and abilities to form characters and cultures specific to your campaign.
  • Tons of new race-specific equipment, feats, spells, and magic items for each of the races detailed!
  • ... and much, much more!

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-390-3

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Last Updated - 7/29/2015

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Probably one of my favorites...

5/5

All the new races and traits and feats and racial magic items really helped me flesh out my campaign world. The addition of being able to make your own race made me sing soprano. Excellent, excellent book for those who want to play a race that's completely outta the ordinary. Part of the reason I got this book is because in the core rulebook it says something like this: "only for more experienced GMs, having players play odd races can be rewarding and fun, but you have to be careful" etc. but doesn't give you a glimpse of the races or explain how they might effect a campaign world a certain way. Using this book, you can experience what it would be like to play a rare (and really cool) race. Being an Oread is awesome and probably one of the most exciting and fun experiences in my gaming career.

Awesome product, Paizo!


Too campaign-specific

2/5

The book is focused heavily around the PFRPG "host" campaign, with no clear instructions on how to extrapolate for other campaigns (we use the 3.0 Forgotten Realms setting). So in the end, most of this book is filler and not really very useful. Even the second printing tied the book more closely with the "home team" setting.

What little can be gleaned from the book is helpful, but it's not worth the hardcover price if your campaign is something other than the generic one sponsored by Pathfinder. I wonder why it is, that almost every "host" campaign seems like a patchwork quilt of several others, with most of the interesting stuff left out?


The ARG is how the ACG should of been

5/5

The Race Guide is how the Advanced Class Guide should have been set up- with clear rules and customization options to create your own class. Great book for players and GM's ready to venture out into some custom races.


Hit the sweet spot

5/5

I don't quite know what it is but this is one of my favorite Paizo products to date. Maybe it's the way the book is organized with each race with its own section. Maybe it's the swappable racial traits akin to class archetypes. Maybe it's the artwork, showing two to three examples of each race to demonstrate the variety within each species. Maybe it's the archetypes, favored class bonus options, notes on society and appearance, spells, feats. It just felt like icing on the cake to include a race builder at the end.


Exactly What my Campaign Needed

5/5

please excuse any typos.

so you're supposed to start off easy, right? go by the book, go by the campaign setting they give you. just stick to the six core races, and don't go overboard trying to invent stuff, right? well, I didn't exactly do that. I created a whole world from scratch, messed with the core qualities of numerous races, core races or otherwise, and on top of that, invented a pantheon and mythos which is completely incompatible with Golarion's. this is the first game I will ever GM. to be frank, I'm in trouble.

with that context, this book is a godsend, and I'm glad to have the freedom and ease of use this guide gives me. having a game world populated with multiple monstrous races (most of them completely reimagined), I needed to have a way to make sure the stats reflected the people. it breaks immersion to have a race with traits that quite clearly do not make sense for them. something that always bothered me with the core material is how race was treated: I found it restricted, stereotypical. clearly, the Pathfinder race system needs a little diversity, especially if your campaign isn't actually set in Golarion.

one clear example of the usefulness of this guide for worldbuilding and racial diversity is the Gnome trait "hatred". see, the rules state that the Gnomes have a deep-seated hatred of goblinoid and reptilian races, but in my campaign, Gnomes and Goblins hail from different corners of the universe, and logically, shouldn't even be aware of the other's existence. it simply wouldn't make sense for me to have a gnome character that's trained against a race they've never seen before in their life. thank god this guide has other plausible gnome traits that I can replace that problematic one with one with. not even to mention how the Ifrits, Oreads, Sylphs, and Undines had filled a gaping hole in my mythos. (though I was dissappointed to find that the Kobolds were still utter weaklings)

in another spur of greatness, I can already tell that my players, by now fairly intoxicated on the freedom I've given them, are going to love these new options. I can already see one of them deciding they want to go with one of the very comprehensive and imaginative archetypes, or choosing catfolk or kitsune instead of elf or goblin. the best part is, this book is so easy to figure out, so I am perfectly able to give them this freedom without puzzling over the rules for a month (like I embarrassingly did with the core rulebook).

trust me. if you're the kind of Game Master that doesn't like playing by the rules, and likes to do your own thing lore wise (like create a complete departure from the default setting), then this book is almost a necessity for you. for anyone else who likes the idea of monstrous PCs, you'll love this one.


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Sean K Reynolds wrote:
Volkspanzer wrote:
So what about that nagaji druid archetype? If I had to assume anything, does it allow the druid to turn into a naga via wild-shape??
Something like that, yes.

Sweet.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Guys, I found a mistake in the book. In the credits, it says

Quote:
Senior Software Developer: Gary Teter

His actual title is:

Quote:
Lord of All Code: Gary Teter

I think you need to stop the presses, guys.

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Shisumo wrote:


I just thought I'd mention that the Redeemer archetype might well have been written specifically with you in mind...
Gorbacz wrote:

PREEMPTIVE STRIKE!

Mikaze: there's a Redemeer Half-Orc Paladin archetype. It doesn't shoot Beams of Good from eyes, but still it's something that should scratch your itch.

Cheapy wrote:


Just to wet Mikaze's pants some more:

Quote:

Redeemer (Paladin)

As most half-orcs are outcasts, a half-orc paladin
recognizes that often those who are monstrous are not
necessarily evil and that sometimes even those who
are evil became that way because of circumstances
and misfortune. Some half-orc paladins take up these
misunderstood creatures as their cause, standing up
for the monstrous creatures and, when possible, leading
them to the light. These paladins are called redeemers.

Oh my God.

:D

Seeing those words in print makes me happier than you can imagine. WANT. SO MUCH.

My copy can't get here fast enough. checks UPS Halfway there...


The kinslayer dhampire inquisitor archetype is pretty much what it sounds like, yes? (Vampire Murder) or is it slightly more broad in the sense that they can butcher undead quite well in general?

Dark Archive

Undead in general, with the potential to be expanded to evil outsiders and lycanthropes.

Scarab Sages

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Cheapy wrote:
Saint Bernard wrote:
Will the Spelldancer archetype stack with either the Bladebound or Spire Defender archetypes?
It works with the Spire Defender archetype.

Gee, you'd think they'd been written by the same freelancer...

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Oh holy, I didn't notice O.K.C.S. on the author list until now! We're not worthy! We're not worthy!

Liberty's Edge

7 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

Anyone know where the Pure Strain spell listed in the Imperious bloodline bonus spells is located?

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

Shadows_Of_Fall wrote:
Regretting not being a subcriber :( Now I have to figure out how to wait until the 20th ...

By the way, if you subscribe, I'm pretty darn sure you can start your subscription with the ARG, and then you'll get the PDF too ...

Liberty's Edge

Can anyone give me an idea what the Sylph/Undine archtypes are like, please?


1 person marked this as a favorite.

The undine adept is a druid that focuses on water and the creatures therein. It didn't really wow me, to be honest...

But the Watersinger bard is pure awesomeness. It might beat out Archaeologist as my favorite bard archetype. Here's the deal. They can animate and control a 5' cube of water. They can make it look however they want, and make it support weight as if solid ice. Need a short bridge? No problem. How about some cover? Sure. It's just an extremely thematic and versatile mechanic. I love it. I need to figure out who wrote it so I can sing their praises. Oh, and at higher levels, they can command it to attack, using their innate force of will to guide it. And you know that joke about Jesus being able to turn the blood of his enemies into wine? Yea, this guy can do similar things.

It's just a really cool, really well done archetype. The only issue with it is a reference to a Perform check that isn't necessary.

Liberty's Edge

That sounds like a pretty fun bard archetype, yeah. :) Hopefully there are some racial trait changes that make them fit a bard a little better. I'd love to get the book, but Amazon doesn't have them yet and saving $13 is always a good way to go, however much I may love Paizo. I'm considering the subscription, though, having a PDF would be nice.

What about the Slyph archetypes?


I wonder how long it would take to get it if I ordered it from Paizo today?


Grrrr... Still no pdf...

-Kcinlive


Pathfinder Adventure, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Cheapy wrote:


But the Watersinger bard is pure awesomeness. It might beat out Archaeologist as my favorite bard archetype. Here's the deal. They can animate and control a 5' cube of water. They can make it look however they want, and make it support weight as if solid ice. Need a short bridge? No problem. How about some cover? Sure. It's just an extremely thematic and versatile mechanic. I love it. I need to figure out who wrote it so I can sing their praises. Oh, and at higher levels, they can command it to attack, using their innate force of will to guide it. And you know that joke about Jesus being able to turn the blood of his enemies into wine? Yea, this guy can do similar things.

It's just a really cool, really well done archetype. The only issue with it is a reference to a Perform check that isn't necessary.

*checks* Wow, you're right, Watersinger is amazing. Definitely something that will work perfectly for people who want to create a 'waterbender' character.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Reading through mine now. Like the elf magus archtype, wish it was half elf too.

Edit: Every time I read 'slyph and undine variants' I still think Battle Armor.


Did someone say Waterbender?

Look, I'm already going to BUY the book - this one in hardcopy, too! There's no need to pander to me further.

Liberty's Edge

I went ahead and subscribed, now give me my PDF!

I can't wait to see it though, every book so far has been great. :)

Hopefully once I see the Undine ones and find out what Slyphs have, they'll let me play some of character concepts I've always wanted to try. I've never yet managed to get an air mage in a game that lasted, since I play mostly PbP- and I've made a ton of them.


Is the waterbending a limited or unlimited ability?


It's a bardic performance.


OK, limited, but not super limited, with options for making it less limited (Harmonic Spell+Cantrips and lingering performance).

Shame that with the way archetypes work in PF it is impossible to put it on a Sensei monk without GM fiat.


Tell us more about these elf options that grant dimension door as a SLA. Magus archetype?

Not a combination I've ever been interested in until now.


Pathfinder Adventure, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
deuxhero wrote:

OK, limited, but not super limited, with options for making it less limited (Harmonic Spell+Cantrips and lingering performance).

Shame that with the way archetypes work in PF it is impossible to put it on a Sensei monk without GM fiat.

Hmm, it would take some minor modifications to give it to the Sensei, but I would find a way just because it would be so awesome.

Also, just so you know, the 'Watersinger' gets to add pretty much every water spell there is to his/her spell list. Such a well done archetype... I think the only modification I would make is giving it some method to add a magical enhancement bonus to the water attacks (like an amulet of mighty fists), otherwise they'll be a bit unreliable.

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Ifrit wishcrafter (sorcerer) is REALLY cool.

That and the Gnome Experimental Gunsmith (Gunslinger) are my favs so far.

Contributor

3 people marked this as a favorite.
thebwt wrote:
Ifrit wishcrafter (sorcerer) is REALLY cool.

Totally so.

I was practicing using the Twist Wish ability all day today at work; whenever a kid would say something like, "I wish I didn't have to go outside," I would say things like, "Poof! You're a carpet. Carpets don't have to go outside."

Such a fun little sorcerer archetype!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Robert Little wrote:
Anyone know where the Pure Strain spell listed in the Imperious bloodline bonus spells is located?

Nowhere - that's an error that the devs will need to address. It sure does sound eugenics-ish.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Generic Villain wrote:
Robert Little wrote:
Anyone know where the Pure Strain spell listed in the Imperious bloodline bonus spells is located?
Nowhere - that's an error that the devs will need to address. It sure does sound eugenics-ish.

Shades of Harry Potter.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16

It looks like the Grippli got the Aquaman end of the stick when it comes to archetypes :/

Tell me there's more to it than just swim speed and amphibian. Alchemists can already cast Alter Self, and the Beastmorph Alchemist appends it to his mutagens.

I'm a big Grippli fan (and quite partial to Vanara), I hope there's some gems there at least.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

At first look through, this is a really interesting book. I can tell right away that the monster race write-ups are going to be extremely useful to Gms who like to add class levels to monsters.

Dark Archive

I must say I really did not want to give this book a chance as I thought it was just going to be the crazy race building rules.Flipping through the PDF it looks pretty darned good, I like the write ups on the races and all the various options, especially the racial archetypes.

I still doubt I will allow players to use 90% of the races in the book but it looks better than I expected.

Silver Crusade

Got it.

I'm still trying to sneak in some time to give it the full read-through, but so far I've got pretty mixed feelings.

I have to admit, the big thing I was hoping for outside the race-building rules didn't make it. It ran in the exact opposite direction in fact. I probably shouldn't have gotten my hopes up to start with, but the Orc entry was the first thing I went to. Just can't win with Golarion material or setting neutral material it seems. :( I guess that means that hope is shot down for good. I get that the guys in charge of the setting don't like the idea of non-evil orcs and don't want to support it, but couldn't we have had them in the setting-neutral stuff? All that flavor written up, and it was just a repeat of Orcs of Golarion.

I really, really like the redeemer. I've got a lot more to say about this one when I do a full read-through, but this one feels "more paladin than paladin" in a lot of ways.

The art here tends towards awesome.

Liberty's Edge

Lord Fyre wrote:
Generic Villain wrote:
Robert Little wrote:
Anyone know where the Pure Strain spell listed in the Imperious bloodline bonus spells is located?
Nowhere - that's an error that the devs will need to address. It sure does sound eugenics-ish.
Shades of Harry Potter.

I have a feeling it will work similarly to the Half-Orc Extraction spell from ARG and allow the caster to turn a willing half-breed into a human permanently (both seem to be 5th level spells, so its the right power level).


Mikaze, when one's views are extremely fringe, it's probably best to never get your hopes up.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Cheapy wrote:
Mikaze, when one's views are extremely fringe, it's probably best to never get your hopes up.

"Extremely fringe"? Really? Define?

Did someone take a poll of the Gaming population recently?

Mikaze wrote:
I have to admit, the big thing I was hoping for outside the race-building rules didn't make it. It ran in the exact opposite direction in fact. I probably shouldn't have gotten my hopes up to start with, but the Orc entry was the first thing I went to. Just can't win with Golarion material or setting neutral material it seems. :( I guess that means that hope is shot down for good. I get that the guys in charge of the setting don't like the idea of non-evil orcs and don't want to support it, but couldn't we have had them in the setting-neutral stuff? All that flavor written up, and it was just a repeat of Orcs of Golarion.

Always Chaotic Evil is a HUGE reason why I would prefer to play in a genre other then Fantasy.

Unfortunately, most of the systems out there have a shocking dirth of supporting material.

Mikaze wrote:
The art here tends towards awesome.

Paizo's art always tends toward Awesome. :D

Silver Crusade

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Cheapy wrote:
Mikaze, when one's views are extremely fringe, it's probably best to never get your hopes up.

Prefering non-always-evil orcs and not liking Always Chaotic Evil being pushed hard and fast as gospel and not liking to have every non-evil character from certain races forced into the "Drizzt/lone rebel against his own kind" role is hardly fringe.


Quote:
Prefering non-always-evil orcs and not liking Always Chaotic Evil being pushed hard and fast as gospel and not liking to have every non-evil character from certain races forced into the "Drizzt/lone rebel against his own kind" role is hardly fringe.

Orcs? Evil? HEAVENS NO! Orcs are race of spiritual vegetarian nomads steeped in tradition and honor who inhabit the "Plains of Maltak"! Their people are famous for their Huk Thak Warriors (Fighter Archetype), their Akta Lifegivers (Oracle Archetype), their Nakta Deathguides (Oracle Archetype), and their Chandak Performers (Bard Archetype). They worship Mshgruu (Orcish Deity of the Orcs, Honor, Nature, and War)! ^_~


First off i'd like to give 2 thumbs up to paizo for putting this book out and working hard on it. Its a great book full of helpful content. there is one place where it is "iffy" in its lack of consideration and balancing; the build your own race. i realize that this area of the game let alone this book is often shaded with grey or mixed feelings dependant upon your group/DM(GM). However, there are some aspects of the racial point buy system that really need a once over again. For instance the racial stat block building section. makes no sense mathematically but in its breakdown of categories (human, standard, flexible) makes some sense for their racial point costs. there are a few that do not however; Paragon, greater paragon, advanced, weakness, and greater weakness. A lot of these groupings do not break down mathematically to match up with another in RP costs. Nor do a few of the Traits add up either. Flying 2 for 30ft(clumsy), 2rp for +10ft and one step improvement on flight control. Nice, but doesn't add up to some races like the Strix for RP costs (probably why they excluded it from the breakdown). Swim 30ft., 2rp gets +10ft. Good, but then have a 4RP cost of Water Child that gets you +8 to swim skill and can take 10s. Cost makes some sense in that it improves a skill that much, but the ability to have a swim speed inherently gives you +4 or +8 (i dont recall) and can take 10s (unless in stressful situations)to the skill anyhow. This doesnt add up. There are a few others that do not add up either, but i was only able to take so many notes since i read it while at a friend's who has it already.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

From what little I've heard from a friend (long distance acquaintances who know each other love Pathfinder), this book is going to be awesome. Subscribed at like 7 or 8 EST so maybe if I'm *REALLY* lucky it will ship either tomorrow (most definitely not THAT lucky) or Saturday (oh god please).

But it would be awesome if it came in 1 or 2 days, then I could use it for my new summer campaign. I had already planned for them to start off in a huge racially diverse area where Orcs and Kobolds are treated as equals-ish and the 'savage' Orcs live a somewhat peaceful nomadic life outside of the city and act as hunter-gatherer traders. With this book I can not only enhance those NPCs but give my players some cool new options to play :)

All I need to do is figure out how to make them ship it in 1 to 2 business days so I can get my PDF >_< WHY DOESN'T MAGIC EXIST IN REAL LIFE. IT COULD SO HELP WITH THIS DILEMMA.

Looking forward to all core races, drow, dhampir, catfolk, duergar, genie races and...well...everything probably...but those the most...maybe.


correction: Water child gives +4 not +8 to swim skill and can take 10s. which doesnt help with its heavy 4rp cost vs the 2rp for swim speed 30ft.


GarvokTla wrote:
correction: Water child gives +4 not +8 to swim skill and can take 10s. which doesnt help with its heavy 4rp cost vs the 2rp for swim speed 30ft.

Having a swim speed won't save you from failing a swim check on drowning. Swimming underwater under less than ideal circumstances can easily drown a PC. Getting a +4 on top of skill points AND being able to take 10 will eventually guarantee that under pretty much all circumstances, you can't drown.

Having a swim speed just means, as long as you don't go under water, you're okay. There is a functional difference between the two.


PepticBurrito wrote:
Having a swim speed just means, as long as you don't go under water, you're okay. There is a functional difference between the two.

Uh... I would recommend you read up on swim speed. Having one gives you +8 to all swim checks, lets you take 10 in all circumstances, and allows you to use the run action while swimming. Water Child is just a worse version of it, with half the bonus and (in nearly all cases) a slower speed, and for some reason twice the price (perhaps the swim speed is advanced only or something?).

Have other people had a chance to look over the Race Builder section yet? I'd be interested to see how much it has changed from the Playtest (other than the "core races don't add up to 10 anymore" thing that was already mentioned). Hopefully it has been smoothed out, and this is just something that slipped through the cracks (or has a pre-req that went unnoticed).


Mort the Cleverly Named wrote:
PepticBurrito wrote:
Having a swim speed just means, as long as you don't go under water, you're okay. There is a functional difference between the two.

Uh... I would recommend you read up on swim speed. Having one gives you +8 to all swim checks, lets you take 10 in all circumstances, and allows you to use the run action while swimming. Water Child is just a worse version of it, with half the bonus and (in nearly all cases) a slower speed, and for some reason twice the price (perhaps the swim speed is advanced only or something?).

Have other people had a chance to look over the Race Builder section yet? I'd be interested to see how much it has changed from the Playtest (other than the "core races don't add up to 10 anymore" thing that was already mentioned). Hopefully it has been smoothed out, and this is just something that slipped through the cracks (or has a pre-req that went unnoticed).

I have the PDF in front of me. They are separated into different categories.

Water Child is an alternate elven racial trait.
Swim in the race builder. It is a movement racial trait of the standard kind.

I assume this is done so the GM can say "You can use alt racial traits, but we aren't racial building for this campaign".


Wonder if we can make modrons?


PepticBurrito wrote:

I have the PDF in front of me. They are separated into different categories.

Water Child is an alternate elven racial trait.
Swim in the race builder. It is a movement racial trait of the standard kind.

I assume this is done so the GM can say "You can use alt racial traits, but we aren't racial building for this campaign".

I am aware that Water Child is an elven alternate racial trait. However, according to GarvokTla's post, it is also in the race builder at a cost of 4, while the completely superior Swim speed is 2. Checking the Playtest, it was in there too (under "Skill and Feat Abilities - Standard Abilities"), with the same issue (except that Water Child cost 2 and Swim cost 1). The issue isn't that every player is going to take Swim instead of Water Child (since they likely won't have that option), it is that the race builder values Water Child twice as highly as Swim (despite it, again, just being universally worse). It doesn't bode well for a point system when something is half as good and costs twice as much.

Dark Archive

...Avoiding looking at the pdf until I can have the book in my hands, still waiting for my shipment to arrive.


Mort the Cleverly Named wrote:
PepticBurrito wrote:

I have the PDF in front of me. They are separated into different categories.

Water Child is an alternate elven racial trait.
Swim in the race builder. It is a movement racial trait of the standard kind.

I assume this is done so the GM can say "You can use alt racial traits, but we aren't racial building for this campaign".

I am aware that Water Child is an elven alternate racial trait. However, according to GarvokTla's post, it is also in the race builder at a cost of 4, while the completely superior Swim speed is 2. Checking the Playtest, it was in there too (under "Standard Abilities), with the same issue (except that Water Child cost 2 and Swim cost 1). The issue isn't that every player is going to take Swim instead of Water Child (since they likely won't have that option), it is that the race builder values Water Child twice as highly as Swim (despite it, again, just being universally worse). It doesn't bode well for a point system when something is half as good and costs twice as much.

They are separated kinds of traits. Swim is movement. Water Child is feat/skill. Which means they stack. This alone could explain why they cost different.

Judging from the example builds, swim meant to be context sensitive. Gillman, for example, have both a land speed and a swim speed. They are amphibians who are water dependent, i.e. they must go back to the water or have named affects.

Swim is also a useful buy for an underwater based campaign and in said campaign would be function the same as walking for the PCs.

Water Child is meant to be an racial trait replacement for elves in particular, without causing a power boost. It's cost reflects that. Giving an Elf "swim" would certainly be worth more than Water Child.

Basically, each ability buy has to be taken in context. Elves don't get swim, Lizardfolk do. If you want an Elf to be able to naturally swim is more expensive than it is for a Lizardfolk.

I can see the logic for it. The book clearly requires GMs to think if they allow players to do racial builds from scratch. There are guidelines that basically come to do "does this racial build make sense?". In the end, the GM will have to say "No, you can't make a water elf, that exists already and it requires water child. If you want a water elf, build a water version of Gillman and take some negatives to balance it out".

This book can clearly break a game before the first session. It also opens up doors for the GM and players that weren't available before. The GM just has to say "No, that doesn't work. Try again".


RigaMortus wrote:
Wonder if we can make modrons?

Looking over the available traits, I suspect so.


well, nice to see some feedback on my post. to help clear things up though, Water Child is not elf (or helf elf) specific. it was used in those races because yes there are aquatic versions of those races. in most of the other skill traits the RP cost is 1rp for +1 to 2 skills, +2 skills cost 2-4rp, +4 skills cost 1-5rp, each of the variable skill ones usually do makes sense the higher bonus for lesser RP cost is due to the limitation or situational uses of the skill. Yes, i did compare a skill trait verse a movement trait (and that they could stack, but who would spend 4rp for Water Child(+4swim and take 10) instead of Skill Focus(+4 early, +8 later) to stack with swim? absolutely no one who thought about it and understands the rules of swim speed and what bonuses it gives you.
you guys focus on one section of my example without seeing the rest of the post for what it is. which is that some of the racial build system does not add up for balancing issues with other abilities that are equally available.
yes the DM will have to be more judicial on the availablility of certain racial abilities and the book pretty much explains that when they say its an "option".
all i'm saying is as an option and as a rule set for racial builds and new races, that they should balance it more and figured out the point system a little better than they had. its a great lay out as is, its just the point costs dont always make sense. it can be argued that the evolutionary points for the Summoner eidolon is the same way. Yes, it all depends on your players and what the Gm allows, but if you are making a rules system to set an exampled pressident(sp?) for you to base most if not all variations and races on, then it should be more balanced and thought through.

Shadow Lodge

bloodmagekoboldbushwhackermutilatingtieflingsummonerplaguealchemistratfolkd uergarstuffaougpaidoainoiajguasoignasin

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0.0

That's my brain exploding. Paizo I want this more then any book you have pushed out and I can't wait till it hits shelves, what's even better is that you can put it out within a week of my birthday you always know what to get me lol.

Now is there anything for Hobgoblins, Also what does the kobold bushwhacker get/how is it different from the normal gunslinger, are there elf wizard archetypes, half-elf sorcerer archetypes, and what does the dhamphir blood mage do?

Ohh other thing do any of the new half-elf traits replace the adaptive trait (the one that lets you have 2 favored classes)?

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