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Ive just started a new campaign with a GM who allowed a player to make his own race. It was only After playing the first night i discovered this. The player says the race is "around" Aasimar build level, i assume that's 15 points give or take a point. My problem is the rest of the party is 8 to 10 bp by playing standard races, i wasn't told that building my own race was an option. When i brought this up to the GM and player they laughed and told me how the gm had to override the players previous characters due to things like perfect flight and othet such stuff. After asking some more questions i learned that the GM hadn't read the race builder section. I brougt up balance the GM said he'd kill my character so that i could have my own race. I'll admit i got upset, which was embarrassing, i feel as a fellow GM that the playing feild should be level. I brougt up letting the standard races pick race traits that follow the build rules for Advanced races with a flex limit of 1 point above or below the homebrew race. The gm is really hesitant to allow this. What do you think? Am i making a big deal out of nothing?
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Meh. People make a big deal about Tieflings and Aasimars being OP, but the truth is that the bonuses you get from the races are so minute that they're likely to not make enough of a difference to matter. True, they have some unique racial stat bonuses, but that's hardly grounds for decrying them.
5 race points, in the grand scheme of things, assuming they're not spent in a power-gamey, silly fashion, will not make any difference AT ALL at the table. Don't worry about it.
Ehhhh, build points are wishy-washy. You can build a 10 bp race that blows any official race out of the water, or a 15 bp race that's only as good as one of the standard races.
I'd need to see the race in question to really make a judgement. If it's no more powerful than an Aasimar (which are flexible build-wise, but whose benefits are negligible past first level), then you're probably fine.
I mean, Dwarves are only like 9 bp and they're really durn good.
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I respectfully disagree. At higher levels it balances out to a degree, yes, but at low levels the power difference is pretty noticeable. Seems like your GM is playing favorites and your fellow player is a serious munchkin.
I don't throw the m-word around lightly. I respect power gaming and optimization for the work they take and the effect they have on keeping a party around long-term, but if the guy was throwing down perfect flight at first level using the race builder without his GM even knowing how the race builder works and using an aasimar's power level as the standard as opposed to, I don't know, the standard races...well...he's clearly got one goal in mind, and it's not telling a story.
As to what you can do about it, that's a tough one. If the GM nerfs the guy back into standard races, he's gonna be resentful since his custom was already approved. You could ask for everyone to have custom races, I suppose, but that's gonna be a lot of work on your GM to work all that into his world (plus a lot of the other players may LIKE their characters and not want to go through that, even if they resent being less powerful than this custom race).
You're kind of in a pickle, dude.
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OH MY GOSH.
Less QQ, More PewPew.
Why don't you just play the character you want to play and not worry about someone else being a tad more powerful? An extra +1 here or there is NOT the end of the world. It's 5% extra success rate. Just play your character, and optimize your concept within the confines of the system. Don't feel bad because Johnny Munchkin-boots occasionally puts out a few extra points of damage.
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Less QQ, More PewPew.
Ouch, S+#!, I think I just cut myself on that edge.
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Isn't this why they had ECL before? How many build points do u get utill your overpowered? Should a player be allowed to play a svirfneblin while everyone else is a human? An 18 point difference? Granted thats not the case here (possible 6 points but no one knows) when does point difference become an issue? Give a power gamer freedom to create his own race i doubt you'll find balance.
Generally I don't worry too much about balance when I'm a player - I just play the character I want, and don't sweat it if someone else is playing a more powerful one.
However, the GM really should at least read the race builder rules before approving a new on invented by a player.
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I've played games where balance wasn't an issue. I played Palladium games for 10 years no balance there. I thought this game system was supposed to be designed for balance or at least attempt that. I enjoy my character I enjoy the other player's character I've calmed down now (I took it a little personal) and yet I still wonder about the Race Builder points and balance, should any attempt to even the spread be made? I mean in general in other games I may play or GM. Seems like most people say no, surprising.
It all depends on the playstyle of the group. When I GM, I sometimes give bonuses to one player or another, or allow one player to play a special character of some type (sometimes higher level than the rest, sometimes extra perks, whatever.) The purpose is all story-based, and always comes with some kind of caveats.
Other groups are much more worried about the mechanics and "balance" - reminds me sort of like WOW where everyone is comparing DPS or other metrics and thus all want to be on an even level to try to win the DPS race.
I'd suggest not worrying about the other player's race - just go with it and try to have fun. If it becomes apparent that the customized race is the GM's special snowflake, the rest of the players should notice pretty quickly and grow tired of it.
Don't feel bad because Johnny Munchkin-boots occasionally puts out a few extra points of damage.
Davor, that's a wonderful quote. Love it! Summarizes the "special snowflake syndrome" to a T.
Roleplaying makes a character special & memorable, not wierd shi+ from some splat book. I liked reading the advanced race guide, but I'm not looking forward to running PCs from the wild fringes of Golarion... or beyond.
If building a new race using those point buy rules looks fun to you & your group, all the more power to you. IMHO, though, it's asking for trouble. It's definitely not "balanced" in any way. It's intended as a GM tool, not as a player tool, so I would not want to turn my players loose on it.
But hey, if you play a lot, and are tired of the already numerous standard and rare races, why not go for some strange alien life form that has all its powers optimized for your new character. <g>