Seb30's page

Looking for a group of RPG players to join in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ideally 3.5 in Eberron world, or Faerun (I have the books or PDF) but I could learn new stuff.

I used the racial HP bonus for my game. I love the way they add to racial flavor, without giving too much to power-hungry players. It's just a bit better than the old 3.5 toughness feat - and I hate this feat, with its "mandatory for wizard" connotation.
Otherwise, a second best is the flat 6.

Basically, racial bonus or flat 6 are transforming an old 1st-level frail character into an almost 2nd-level. Enough to help survive, but not so much you do not feel threatened anymore by a puny goblin. Wizards will double their HP, warriors will just get about half as much - they still need one another to go explore this dungeon, so apparently no break of character motivation or class balance here.

Constitution score adding 12 or more, I'm afraid it will make low-level characters too resilient for their usual encounters. But some challenging games may require it. No issue with all of these options remaining options.

About racial HP bonus, I would put the Gnome race on the standard +6 list - in my view, their bonus to CON should cancel their malus to STR.

I agree with Sueki Suezo, I am dubious about the bonus for favored class.
Now, I should say one thing: two potential favored classes per race is a wonderful idea. It expends the basic archetypes for each race. Now the elves could be multiclassed Rangers, and the halflings don't have to be Rogue anymore.
However, this 1 HP/1 SP bonus per favored class level... This past week, I mastered a game in which I introduced some Pathfinder changes in my usual 3.5 game. All my 7th-level players picked the 7 HP bonuses, and not a single skill point bonus. My game has skill checks, plenty of them, but my players all prefered the given enhancement (more hit points) to the roll-related bonus (and thus, a random bonus), and, logically speaking, they were right to do so.
I am trying to have my players using their skills more often rather than simply charging into melee, but here I just gave them more reasons to jump directly into battle. I feel it to be a bit counter-productive.
I could live with this rule, but I wonder if I will not enforce skill points over hit points bonus. Maybe it's just my personal style showing up - I never have enough skill points for the characters I am designing. I also tend to have uni-dimensional characters and I am a bit afraid of this HP bonus pushing me to create even more conservative characters.

I tend to agree with Jreyst - I like the old way the HDs were set for each class. Maybe it's just because we worked so hard making these frail characters survive, and we are reluctant to dismiss our experience...
As for rolling 1, in my games (player or DM), we usually roll twice for new HD. He's really an acursed player who rolls two 1's in a row (or three 1's, let's be merciful).
I could accept d6 for spellcasters, but lowering the Barbarian d12 - oh, heresy.
(and what about other d12 races from the other company?)
I think the Pathfinder is already giving plenty of occasions to buff up your HP without resorting to un-randomize hit dice rolls.

A Barbarian on d10 is starting to look less like a different class, and more like a different sort of Fighter. Anything to keep these classes distinct is worth having, I think. The basic idea was to have Mr Universe in a leather loincloth...

I also think the dual effect Heal/Destroy Undead of the energy channelling is too much for a single character. It is basically adding 3(+Cha bonus) spell-slots to the Cleric, who, to my point-of-view, is already too much of a walking wand of cure light wounds.
The developpers said in the beta version, this is freeing the other Cleric's spell slots, so the Cleric may have a chance to cast something else than cure spells, but I am afraid this channel energy is still resulting in the Cleric spending round after round healing his pals.
I would prefer that the healing is temporary hit points, like the damage to the undead. For a few rounds, the undeads are weakened, the party is feeling better. Take your chance, dudes.
If the healing effect is to be focused on a single character, it could curve down the power of this ability, but it's too much like the Paladin's lay of hands.