Just wondering (and sorry if this has been answered somewhere else) but is Pathfinder going to add new PC/playable races for the setting? Thanks!
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It's been mentioned before, but for now at least, it looks like the answer is "no". Golarion seems to be a pretty traditional RPG setting. Where you might (almost certainly will, actually) find some new races is on the other planets. Check out the blog; the Paizo staff aren't limiting themselves to one planet.
I'm guessing from the source of this question that you have plans?
It's been mentioned before, but for now at least, it looks like the answer is "no". Golarion seems to be a pretty traditional RPG setting.
Pathfinder RPG won't introduce new races or classes into the core rules. There might be extra races and classes and whatever in supplemental books, both for the Pathfinder RPG and maybe also for Pathfinder Chronicles.
Note that Pathfinder RPG isn't tied to Pathfinder Chronicles; Golarion's pecularities won't carry over to the RPG.
Note that Pathfinder RPG isn't tied to Pathfinder Chronicles; Golarion's pecularities won't carry over to the RPG.
Maybe or maybe not. Paizo might take "PFRPG II" (or whatever they're going to call it) as the appropriate time to introduce races from the other planets or other planes.
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I hope no time soon.
The core races are enough for me. Everything else is a monster race and should stay that way.
And while I agree there are several monster races out there that would be fun to play, I don't think they should be shoehorned into PC play. If we're going to start a high level campaign, or someone joins a high level campaign and gets to start with a character of almost equal power, sure break out the monster race if you can make it work... but for level 1-5 YUCK.
In the "Sticking with 3.5" seminar at Gen Con, Jason mentioned that part of why they wanted to slightly boost the PCs races was so that they might "tweak" some of the +1 LA races to open them up to starting play. Its not going to be something in the core rules, and they are still batting it around, but it was part of the thought process.
Still, the main focus of the RPG will be the core 3.5 PC races. Anyone else that was in the seminar might fill in some details if I got anything wrong or misunderstood.
Man that room was small.
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The only race I would suggest adding to the core races are Orcs. It's something I can live without, but I have a soft-spot for the green guys and I love using them in my campaigns as both antagonists and protagonists. Other than that, I would say they should not add any new races to the core. If Golarion had some more "exotic" denizens, I would welcome them. I love diversity, I just like it to stay in the splatbooks.
I got the feeling its not a matter of adding any races to anything, so much as being able to list fewer "LA +1" races on the "X as PCs" line in the monster book, if a player and DM want to try out a new race that makes sense for the campaign.
I don't mind if there are supplements with additional playable races, but I'm all for keeping the classic seven as the only ones that appear in core. Deviate too much and it stops being Dnd.... er, I mean Pathfinder.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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The two characters I've played so far in Golarion have been a Goblin DMPC (probably the funnest character I've ever played, period.) and a Tiefling (where my DM is converting Crimson Throne to 4E).
Suffice to say, I love Monstrous races, and I'd love to see more of them!
But I know some people don't like that sort of thing, so I'd be cool with a supplement for freaks like me who find anything that doesn't have a tooth-filled football head, goat legs, horns, or some other strange deformity a bit too blasé.
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James mentioned several times on the chat, that he doesn't like to include more playable races. Paizo won't go the WotC-Route and turn their setting into a freak show. We will, of course, see new races (like f.e. in The Great Beyond), but they won't be designed with the idea in mind to make them playable. I wouldn't mind seeing additional playable races, but I won't be disappointed if there aren't any. I definitly don't want to see uninspired new races in every scource book and just for the sake of having new races like WotC used to. Heck, there were so many poorly designed and badly thought out races in the WotC books, that I ruled all races besides the core ones out of my games to prevent abominations like illumians, raptorans and wildren from showing up in my campaigns. Sure, there were good ones as well (like f.e. the whisper gnome or the new core races from Eberron), but those were the minority. I'm quite glad that Paizo won't follow this example.
What Jason mentioned in the seminar wasn't so much coming up with new races, as existing creatures from the game that are currently LA +1 being more viable, but not as core races.
Its always been a fine line between keeping it core and having every type of race in a game or setting. I lean towards liking a lot of races, but I understand why core is core. If we are speaking core the only race I would want added would be Orcs. Never really understood why half-orcs and half-elves are races, so to Elves but not Orcs. Must be a DnD tradition I don't know about. One of my best games I ever had was with a group of heros that included a half-orc and orc along with a Dwarf who can only be discribed as being John Wayne in the Searchers, the orcs being the indians. (if you know the movie you know how dark that game got within the group). Now that's role-playing.
In any case the best solution would be to give racial levels (maybe even pargon levels) for humaniod and monsterious humaniod races in the MM. A Lizard Folk or Centaur need not be core, unless the GM wants it to be, but it would be nice to not have to work every such race up. If savage spices made a mistake it was in the fact that not many people played a Beholder but Centarus were prob. common choice yet the rules laid everything out for both. On the other hand it was useful to water down said Beholder to make it CR 3 for a low level game that a GM just wanted it there.
Makes me thing that since the final Pathfinder will be PHB & DMG mabe the MM can also be SP, espically if we can assume there will addtional MM books and a lot of the fluff support for monsters will come visa ve The Revisted line.
BTW good to see you back Kae Yoss, Haven't seen you on the boards for a while.
TTFN Dre
I always liked genasi, myself. A paizo version would be nice
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I always liked genasi, myself. A paizo version would be niceI too love Genasi, but aren't they Wizard's IP?
Well, we already have tieflings in Golarion, for one, albeit as NPCs, not as a playable character race. I would imagine genasi and aasimar are OGL material, as well, so that wouldn't be a problem to include. I do like the notion of making them LA +0, instead of LA +1. I wouldn't add them to the core book, but having them as playable would make sense. In general I don't mind notes on playing any number of weird character races/templates, but that's different from making them core races.
As far as Illumians/etc, yes - Blech. Those races struck me as being ill-conceived notions of a way to pad those books, rather than just having two races to put in there. More races simply for the sake of more races is not necessarily a good thing.
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I tried an attempt at new versions of the various planetouched here. The Genasi are WotC IP, true, and as such they won't ever be appearing in Pathfinder. Green Ronin, though, does have the open content Planetouched template in the Advanced Player's Manual (p15-16), including good, evil, elemental, lawful, and chaotic bloodlines.
Note that Pathfinder RPG isn't tied to Pathfinder Chronicles; Golarion's pecularities won't carry over to the RPG.Maybe or maybe not. Paizo might take "PFRPG II" (or whatever they're going to call it) as the appropriate time to introduce races from the other planets or other planes.
That sounds more like a Pathfinder Chronicles Product. Some PFC stuff will probably have rules content.
BTW good to see you back Kae Yoss, Haven't seen you on the boards for a while.
Right now, I'm only able to post on the weekends, as I'm away all week, stranded without internet connection, but that will change in a couple of weeks. It will still probably mean that I'll be here less than before, but certainly more than right now.
Just wondering (and sorry if this has been answered somewhere else) but is Pathfinder going to add new PC/playable races for the setting? Thanks!
I've always liked the idea of some of the more traditional monstrous races being playable, like centaurs and some fey (what can I say I loved The Complete Book of Humanoids). And with the changes in look we've made with harpies, and depending on where we go with satyrs, I think both of them have the potential to be cool PC races too. But for now, since we won't know how we're going to handle more powerful races until sometime after the Pathfinder RPG releases, I wouldn't start holding my breath quite yet.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'd really love to see even a semi-offical Paizo take on a tiefling race for PCs :) We're plotting chars for Second Darkness, and I really want to do a tiefling that's daddy was a Rakshasa from Korvosa (hush, don't mention more, my DM for SD is a player in my CotCT <G>).
I'd thought there might be something in the Beta or the Campaign Book (both being eagerly read) since there are rather high numbers of tieflings in Riddlerport, but alas, there was nothing more than a mention.
I know we can create something of our own to go on, working with Lavender Lil, and trying to make something more Rakshasa-ish, but if there's any stats and fun that are lurking about the Paizo offices, please share! :)
Harpies have been reenvisioned/Golarionized already?
Yeah, they're less monstrous. There's a pic of a few in Pathfinder #4 (with blindfolds, but you get the general idea). The idea is that they're less monstrous and more hot bird gals. But that's it: one piece of cool but semi-weird art and a few ideas bumping around our heads. I'm sure there will be more coming down the line though.
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Yeah, they're less monstrous. There's a pic of a few in Pathfinder #4 (with blindfolds, but you get the general idea). The idea is that they're less monstrous and more hot bird gals. But that's it: one piece of cool but semi-weird art and a few ideas bumping around our heads. I'm sure there will be more coming down the line though.And with the changes in look we've made with harpies, and depending on where we go with satyrs, I think both of them have the potential to be cool PC races too.Harpies have been reenvisioned/Golarionized already?
Gah, my mind completely blanked out on that one then. Thanks for pointing me towards it. All I could recall at the moment was that they were apparently selling their musk for fun and profit.
I wholeheartedly support this treatment carrying over to medusas by the way!
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'd really love to see even a semi-offical Paizo take on a tiefling race for PCs :)
For now, as far as I know, we're just using the tiefling from the planetouched section of the MM. Yeah, it's LA +1, so GMs might not let folks use them as a starting class, but it's something. Maybe there will be a new version in the future, but again, with the Pathfinder RPG looming, it'll be sometime after that before we seriously start to talk about handling powerful PC races.
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Well there are plenty of races that would be relatively easy to convert over for player use I'd imagine with a little bit of work. If it's something from an early 3.5 book you would probably beef it up a little bit more then if it was from a later book.
Who knows what the future might bring though? If the game succeeds and takes off, there might be a call for some new splash books or campaign settings and then there might be a need for a few new races.
I'd personally like to push for more kobolds as well. They really deserve to be a PC race by now, given how much they've suffered.
Gah, my mind completely blanked out on that one then. Thanks for pointing me towards it. All I could recall at the moment was that they were apparently selling their musk for fun and profit.
Just like James does. Gross.
I wholeheartedly support this treatment carrying over to medusas by the way!
Interesting... I think I like.
Isn't it Medusae?
I've always liked the idea of some of the more traditional monstrous races being playable, like centaurs and some fey (what can I say I loved The Complete Book of Humanoids). And with the changes in look we've made with harpies, and depending on where we go with satyrs, I think both of them have the potential to be cool PC races too. But for now, since we won't know how we're going to handle more powerful races until sometime after the Pathfinder RPG releases, I wouldn't start holding my breath quite yet.
Since rules for playing them are in the MM, it would make sense if the Pathfinder Monster Book (whatever it will be called) will have that information as well.
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Isn't it Medusae?
Technically, and it sounds better, but damned if I've ever seen them referred to as such in a D&D product.
I just brought them up when I remembered the difference between the 2E Monstrous Manual Tony DiTerlizzi-drawn Medusa and the 3E incarnation. Not that the 3E version was bad or anything, it's just that that's never how I really saw them.
Though I also never really saw them as having legs and being part of the "snake from the waist down" crowd, but that's what Greater Medusas/ae are for IIRC.
I just realized Cayden Cailean and Calistria are totally going to clean up in the area of satyr clerics if they ever come down the line as a PC race.
I didnt read any responses since I gotta go. I only read the starting post. So I apologise if this was already suggested.
I hope the Paizo guys read this and give me their opinion.
I dont think new PC races should be introduced in the main Pathfinder RPG book. I like the traditional core. But expansion books is just fine of course.
So what do you guys think of this?
PATHFINDER CHRONICLES: HEROIC RACES REVISITED
Just like Classic Monsters Revisited, we get a book full of flavor regarding the PC races. It can discuss how halflings seem to have big fuzzy bare feet again and how elves are taller than humans..and most importantly...Go into detail about how weird and new Gnomes are.
Maybe in that book will be a bonus chapter fleshing out a new PC race.
I didnt read any responses since I gotta go. I only read the starting post. So I apologise if this was already suggested.
I hope the Paizo guys read this and give me their opinion.
I dont think new PC races should be introduced in the main Pathfinder RPG book. I like the traditional core. But expansion books is just fine of course.
So what do you guys think of this?
I agree. Core races should be core races and everything else should be optional. Adding races to the core is pretty much the same thing as telling players that they can play that race, regardless of what their DM thinks.
PATHFINDER CHRONICLES: HEROIC RACES REVISITED
Just like Classic Monsters Revisited, we get a book full of flavor regarding the PC races. It can discuss how halflings seem to have big fuzzy bare feet again and how elves are taller than humans..and most importantly...Go into detail about how weird and new Gnomes are.Maybe in that book will be a bonus chapter fleshing out a new PC race.
I think that's a fine idea, though I'd probably go 50/50 with the first half covering core races and the other half covering Paizo-ized optional races.
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PATHFINDER CHRONICLES: HEROIC RACES REVISITED
Just like Classic Monsters Revisited, we get a book full of flavor regarding the PC races. It can discuss how halflings seem to have big fuzzy bare feet again and how elves are taller than humans..and most importantly...Go into detail about how weird and new Gnomes are.Maybe in that book will be a bonus chapter fleshing out a new PC race.
As we are getting Pathfinder Companion: Elves, I assume we will be getting a Companion for each PC race. Thus, no need for a PC race book. But, I'd still like to suggest a book about optional new PC races. That would rock.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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I always liked genasi, myself. A paizo version would be niceI second that!! After elves, the genasi (all types, including para-genasi) are my favorite races to play.
I really like the Genasi as well. They aren't OGL though, so Paizo would have to come up with their own Elemental Planetouched Races.
Tieflings and Aasimar are both OGL and have both been used in the APs.A no LA+1 version of all of these races would be awesome.
What I would like to see is stats for playing races after their entry in the Pathfinder MM when it comes out (similar to what WotC did, but with every race that is potentially playable, not just picking and choosing - like the Pixie entry, where the Pixie is stated and the Nixie isn't and the Nixie is the one I like). This would make the need for Splat Books with new races obsolete, because every time there is a new monster that would make a good PC Race it can just have the stats at the end of the entry.
I really like the Genasi as well.
Yeah, me too. The trick is coming up with something that fills the same gap but doesn't feel like a rip off. But the idea is so basic that I'm sure we'll come up with something...
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I really like the Genasi as well.Yeah, me too. The trick is coming up with something that fills the same gap but doesn't feel like a rip off. But the idea is so basic that I'm sure we'll come up with something...
Bahhhh. Other races... all you need in the core book and any other book is dwarves. All other races pale in comparison!
That being said, I still like Minotaurs :)
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I'm not a huge fan of the current Genasi, which felt a little off to me. If races like the Azer took on that sort of role, I think I'd be more impressed by them.
I definitely love the idea of making the LA +1 races like Genasi, Tieflings, Aasimar and Hobgoblins fit better as starting races. If only the same could be done with Gnolls, Lizardfolk and Drow...
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You wouldn't be inclined to do the same for Medusas would you? I love Tony Di'terlizzi's drawing of one (google tony diterlizzi medusa if you don't know what I mean; it is not a recent piece of art).
Just a quick warning, Google Image serching for "DiTerlizzi Medusa" actually brings up a newer(NSFW) piece of art rather than the old 2E monster manual pic.
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Here is my take on the squirrel guys from Monstrous Compendium Annual 4. I've modified them slightly to make them more playable, but not much.
Kercpa Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength; Kercpa are physically weak but they are quick and quite smart.
Small:Kercpa are small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and +4 size bonus to stealth checks.
Normal Speed: Kercpas have a base speed of 30 ft. They have a climb speed of 45 ft.
Tail: Kerpcas have a long bushy tail that provides them with a +2 bonus to Climb and Acrobatics checks.
Woodslore: Kerpcas gain a +2 bonus to Stealth and Survival checks.
Languages: Kerpcas begin play speaking Common and Kerpca. Kerpca with a high Intelligence can choose any of the following: Elven, Gnoll, Halfling, Sylvan
Favored Class: The favored class of Kerpcas is Ranger or Druid. The choice must be made at 1st level and cannot be changed.
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I think that kercpa should have +4 to DEX or even +6, and -4 to STR. My favorite monster race are three-krin. They can be very deadly if played right.
If I was doing them strictly as a "monster" then that is exactly the direction I would have gone. However, since I wanted them as a playable race I needed to "dumb down" their bonuses and make them a bit larger than I would have done otherwise. They are still only about 2 feet tall though.
