I am adding several new races to a campaign world I am working on for my hobby shop. Here is a suggestion (compiled from several sources) for a Half-Dryads racial traits.
Half-Dryad Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution: Half-dryads are agile and their attitude makes them naturally agreeable, but their form is frail.
Medium: Half-dryads are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Half-dryads have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Half-dryads can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. See Chapter 7.
Dryad Immunities: Half-dryads are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Keen Senses: Half-dryads receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Woodland Stride: Half-dryads may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect half-dryads.
Woodcraft: Half-dryads receive a +2 racial bonus to Craft checks involving wood.
Weapon Familiarity: Half-dryads treat any weapon with the word “dryad” in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Half-dryads begin play speaking Common and Dryad. Half-dryads with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Celestial, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Orc and Sylvan.
This is only the racial traits, I do not have the descriptions finished yet for the race.
Any feedback would be appreciated,
Thanks
David Smith
The Hobby Locker LLC
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Balance-wise, it seems alright.
I do have to ask though...
Weapons with 'Dryad' in the name? Does such a thing exist?
Here's my two cents:
-2 Strenght +2 Dexterity +2 Charisma
Medium: Half-dryads are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Half-dryads have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Half-dryads can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. See Chapter 7.
Spell-like abilities (CL is equal to class level):
Tree shape 3/day
Barkskin 1/day
Forest Sense: Half-dryads receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks while in forest area.
Woodland Stride: Half-dryads may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars,
overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment.
Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect half-dryads.
Woodcraft: Half-dryads receive a +2 racial bonus to Craft checks involving wood.
Forest dependant: Like dryads, Half-dryads are depentant on trees. If Half-dryad is away from a forest for more than 24h, he must make a DC 15 fortitude check or take 1d2 constitution damage every day.
Weapon proficiency: Half-dryads are proficient with longbows and any weapon with "dryad" in it's name.
Fighting with wood: Half-dryad gets +1 to attack every time he uses a wooden weapon. In addition, everytime Dryad uses wooden armour, he gets Armour training 1 (equal to the fighter ability)
Languages: Half-dryads begin play speaking Common and Dryad. Half-dryads with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Celestial, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, and speak with plants.
Changes I would make:
Abilities: +2 Dex/Cha, -2 Str. Dryads are hardy but weak.
Woodcraft: This ability seems entirely off base. With a dryad's devotion to her forest, and more specifically her spirit tree, I just can't see her being really comfortable with crafting anything of it- much less having a racial bonus. I'd go with a bonus to knowledge: Nature & survival.
Weapon Familiarity: Do you intend to create some dryad weapons? Otherwise, you're wasting space.
Languages: There is no such language as Dryad. Dryads speak Common, Elven, & Sylvan. I imagine that their children would also speak these.
You might offer the ability to cast Speak with Plants 1/day as a spell like ability. It's so rarely useful, yet wonderfully flavorful.
Thank you everyone for the feedback.
After looking at the dryads abilities, strength is lower than con by 3 points. So strength should probably be the -2 instead of con. I overlooked that part.
The dryad itself gets the woodcraft ability (although at a +6 instead of a +2) so I do not see the harm in allowing the half-dryad the same ability. But I do see your point, this may need some more thought.
Dryad weapons may be to few and far between to make this ability usefull, I guess it depends on the campaign.
I misread the languages, will change that.
I thought about the forest dependant like ability, but was afraid it would make the character useless in settings other than forests. Playability is important to me. Maybe a lesser penalty of some sort?
Thanks for the input
David Smith
It also is a lesser penalty compared to the dryad's "tree dependant".
I'd suggest you give it something more to balance things out (even remove the -2 STR?)
Or than just give it more spell like abilities
Also it's possible that Forest dependant acts like a curse, giving -1 to attack, damage and saves after that 24hrs
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I personally wouldn't do any sort of a forest dependency. It penalizes the character and makes it difficult to play ("Sorry guys, I know we need to rest and all but I've got to head back to the forest or I'm gonna start racking up penalties. Peace.") in many settings.
I'd either ditch it or offer them some sort of bonus while in the forest (+1 to fort saves, maybe). Also, I hadn't seen that about the woodworking- good call.
Why should half-dryad be on the same level with core races? Because of forest dependancy, it would only be played in campaign settings full of forests, jungles and such. I see it more of a flavour race than any other.
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Why should half-dryad be on the same level with core races? Because of forest dependancy, it would only be played in campaign settings full of forests, jungles and such. I see it more of a flavour race than any other.
Personally as a DM, I'm willing to bend my game so much around the dependencies of the players and yet don't like to refuse a PC concept just because I don't have the foresight to know how much or a problem it may or may not become.
I wouldn't mind a PC race that realizes the full potential of its racial traits in a particular environment, but I dislike races that forces me to use a certain type of environment just to make the character sustainable.
In other words, don't make-it a forest-based aquatic elf, but a bonus when in forest could be appropriate. From what I see however, many of the abilities are already nature-dependent or only apply in natural settings.
Wow, I had the exact same idea! Here's what I've got so far.
Overview
Half-dryads are the offspring of an elven or human parent with a Dryad. They are not tied to any specific tree as their Dryad parent is, however, they do harbor a tremendous love of nature. Many are torn between their non-Dryad parent's tendencies towards city life and their Dryad parent's natural existence, but they find it tough to adapt to Dryad society because of its dependence on oak trees for shelter and survival.
Personality
Half-Dryads are of varying temperament and motivation in Gallorian. Many take after their Dryad parent and only wish to remain close to the area where they were born, becoming in tune with nature in that area and acting as its protector. Others will feel the need to wander, and undertake a quest to figure out their identity and place in existence. They possess an inner sadness because they are unable to commune as closely with the trees as their Dryad parent, and will often leave the parent's grove because of this inner turmoil. For those that attempt to integrate with their humanoid society, they sometimes meet with success in one form or another, but are always pulled towards the wilderness, which they can never be as close to as they desire.
Physical Description
Like most combinations between fairy and Elf, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between a Half-Dryad with an Elven parent and a full-blooded Elf. They meet the same size, clothing, and eye-color standards in this case. Human-Dryad combinations are often notable because they are stockier than Elves and full Dryads, often reaching 5 1/2 feet tall. Their eye colors can run the range of both, Human and fairy norms, ranging from black, blue, and green, to yellow, violet, and red. Half-dDyad hair color changes with the seasons, adopting light colors like blonde and white in the winter, dark colors like brown and black in the summer, shades of green in the spring, and shades of red and orange in the fall. Skin tones usually stay within the norms for Humans and Elves, but also vary greatly with the season, going from stark white in the winter to a deep tan in the summer.
Relations
Half-Dryads are tolerated well, and some say even pitied, among full-blooded fairies. These races have nothing against their parentage and usually do not blame them for it.
Alignment
Most Half-Dryads tend to follow the ways of goodness. Their humanoid parentage will often influence how they go about expressing it. Often, those with an Elven parent are chaotic, and those with human parents are neutral. On average, Half-Dryads are neutral and good.
Half-Dryad Lands
Half-Dryads lack any unified homeland, however; they commonly make their homes amongst Humans, Elves or even Halflings.
Religion
As they lack any unified culture, Half-Dryads often find themselves worshiping deities of their fathers or those that take a special interest in the forests and wild lands. Erastil and Ketephys are common choices.
Language
Most Half-Dryads speak Taldane [common] as their main tongue, and many know Sylvan, which is the common language for all sentient woodland creatures. Those with an Elf parent will know Elven. Treant is another common language for most Half-Dryads.
Names
A lot of Half-Dryads do not have last names because they do not know who their father was, for one reason or another. If they grew up and were accepted into a Human or Elven household, they may take on the name of that family. First names depend on who named them. If raised by their fairy parent, they will often have a Dryad name. Otherwise, their name will be that of an average Human or Elf.
Adventurers
Half-Dryad adventurers are numerous because so many of them are searching for inner peace. These quests can take many forms, from finding a lost parent, to fitting into society.
The following are the base statistics for a Half-Dryad (created using the PF race creation system)
Half-Dryad are considered to be Fey type creatures (2RP)
Low-Light Vision: A Half-Dryad sees twice as far as a Human in conditions of dim light (free)
Medium: Half-Dryads are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size (free)
Normal Speed: Half-Dryad have a base speed of 30 feet (free)
Ability Scores: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con (free)
Languages: Taldane, Sylvan, Treant, Any 7 (except secret languages such as Druidic) (free)
Treespeech: Communicate with plants as if under the effects of a constant Speak with plants spell (2RP)
Camouflage: You gain a racial +4 bonus on Stealth checks made when in forests (1RP)
Natural Armor: You gain a +1 to AC (2RP)
Terrain Stride: Move through naturally difficult terrain in forests (1RP)
Skill Bonus: You gain a +2 bonus on Knowledge Nature checks (2RP)
Skill Training: You gain the Knowledge Nature and Survival skills (1RP)
Ulrich,
Thanks for the look at your design. May I ask one question though, why the +2 to wisdom instead of charisma. I was just curious.
Thanks,
David
Nice ideas, but I highly disagree with a -2 on Con. Trees are nothing if not sturdy. Penalty to strength would make more sense to me.
I'd probably go for a photosynthesis-styled quality that can be used forgo food every other day if there is sufficient sunlight and/or increased natural healing during the day. The downside would be fatigue when not exposed to sunlight for several days.
I agree with big bad on that, in the updated Half-Dryad I did, the stat mods were +2 Dex, +2 Cha, and -2 Str.
I've also had cause for developing a Half-Dryad for my group. Here's what I came up with:
+2 Wisdom (With a Druidic Nature, this seemed logical)
+2 Charisma (Charming and Seductive)
-2 Strength (Too tough to lose Con, and made more sense than a loss of Dex)
Fey Origins: Considered both Human and Fey type creatures.
Medium: Half-Dryads are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size
Normal Speed: Half-Dryad have a base speed of 30 feet
Nature's Creatures: Half-Dryads gain a +2 racial bonus on both Knowledge (Nature) and Survival skill checks.
Treeshape: Once per day, as a spell-like ability, Half-Dryads can cast Tree Shape using their overall level as their caster level.
Treespeech: Communicate with plants as if under the effects of a constant Speak with plants spell.
Aversion to Metal: Half-Dryads lose their Treeshape and Treespeech abilities as well as their Racial Bonus from Nature's Creatures if they are in contact with any metal object, or metal objects are on their person.
What I'm most interested in seeing though, are a good set of Alternate Racial Traits to replace Nature's Creatures, Treeshape, and Treespeech; which would also be negated by Aversion to Metal, if anyone has any ideas...
Thinking Pass without Trace, 1/day Merge with Tree (like Tree Stride, but without the Teleport), Barkskin, etc....
Why would it be hard? It's only stopping you from turning into a tree and talking to them. It's not preventing Class abilities or powers.
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Personally as a DM, I'm willing to bend my game so much around the dependencies of the players and yet don't like to refuse a PC concept just because I don't have the foresight to know how much or a problem it may or may not become.
I wouldn't mind a PC race that realizes the full potential of its racial traits in a particular environment, but I dislike races that forces me to use a certain type of environment just to make the character sustainable.
I heartily agree.
Even PAIZO is guilty of this - an example would be the Azlanti Gillman.Let's see what we can do.
Going off the Dryad description on Bestiary I p. 116
This weighs in at 10 points, though with Damage Reduction, they are still a quite powerful.