Player’s Options: Aasimars, Tieflings, and Elemental Templates is now available at DriveThruRPG and will hopefully be available here at Paizo tomorrow!
Have you ever wanted to play an aasimar, tiefling or elemental-kin, but you also wanted to play a halfling or an elf? Or maybe you've just always wondered why, if outsiders regularly mate with humans to produce aasimars, tieflings and elemental-kin, why don't they do the same with dwarves, gnomes or even minotaurs? The answers to those questions are, you can and they do!
Player’s Options: Aasimars, Tieflings, and Elemental Templates turns each breed into a template that can be easily applied to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid race, allowing players to create halfling aasimar, half-orc tieflings, or djinni-kin minotaurs. Each of the three types is further broken down into multiple templates, depending on the exact lineage of the character, giving players a total of eighteen new options to customize their characters!
w00t! Didn't have to wait long! It's already available HERE at Paizo!
Oh, and it's already received a 5-star rating at DriveThruRPG, too! Double w00t!
Very cool, so when does the fey race player options book come out? :)
It is scheduled for May 2012.
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I'm still amazed that the product went up, and within 50 minutes it had a 5 star rating O_O.
I'm still amazed that the product went up, and within 50 minutes it had a 5 star rating O_O.Some companies send reviewers copies a week or two in advance of it going on sale.
Black magic, got it.
I'm still amazed that the product went up, and within 50 minutes it had a 5 star rating O_O.
Probably not as amazed as I was!
But Talon was highly anticipating the release, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.
Less than 24 hours after release, this product is now #3 on DriveThruRPG's Top 100 Small Press items!
After peaking at #3, we've held steady at #4 the rest of the week on DriveThruRPGs Top 100 Hottest Small Press items!
We have updated the file for this product for some minor edits to pages 4, 5, & 6: Air-kin, under Skilled, changed the Jump skill to Fly; Lightning-kin, specified -2 to Strength; Lightning-kin, under Skilled, changed the Jump skill to Fly; Fireblooded; under Skilled, changed the Jump skill to Sense Motive.
Whether you purchased at Paizo or at DriveThruRPG, you should get a notice soon that a new version is available for download.
After peaking at #3, we've held steady at #4 the rest of the week on DriveThruRPGs Top 100 Hottest Small Press items!
That's impressive.
After peaking at #3, we've held steady at #4 the rest of the week on DriveThruRPGs Top 100 Hottest Small Press items!That's impressive.
It makes me happy, that's for sure. It's dropped off to #6 now, but I'm not complaining about that.
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What sort of power boost do these templates give to existing races?
I'm definitely interested in the product, so I'm rather curious.
Also: It's on my to buy list. Waiting for a paycheck. :)
End already did a nice review on it. I am working on a review and will have it up this week. If you want to know more, check out End's review it is pretty informative.
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End already did a nice review on it. I am working on a review and will have it up this week. If you want to know more, check out End's review it is pretty informative.
Aha! I checked DTrpg, and they didnt go into much detail. will check out ends review now.
[Edit] Thats the same review.
I was hoping for a bit more detail.
If I put one of these templates on a human, how much more powerful are they supposed to be in a party of other dwarves? Close to the same? better overall?
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End already did a nice review on it. I am working on a review and will have it up this week. If you want to know more, check out End's review it is pretty informative.Aha! I checked DTrpg, and they didnt go into much detail. will check out ends review now.
[Edit] Thats the same review.
I was hoping for a bit more detail.
If I put one of these templates on a human, how much more powerful are they supposed to be in a party of other dwarves? Close to the same? better overall?
They are not meant to be applied to humans. They are optional for other races.
Lets take Aasimar the Archon Hound type.
Normally a Aasimar gets.
+2 Chr, +2 Wis
Darkvision 60ft
+2 skill Diplomacy and Perception
Daylight once a day as a spell like ability.
5 cold, acid, elec resistance.
Now the Archon Hound Aasimar gets
+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Dex
Darkvision 60ft
+2 to two skills from the choices (Acrobatic, Intimidate, Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth and Survival)
They can take either Lesser Scent ability or a spell like ability (aid, Comprehend Languages, detect evil, light, protection from evil or magic weapon)
15 Elec Resistance
So by looking that this, the hound has a bonus to str and wis but a penalty to Dex, instead of the +2 wis and chr. I would consider that a net draw.
Both have darkvision
both have two skill bonuses at +2, though the Archon is more flexible list of skills to pick. I give the Archon a slight edge.
Same with the special ability, giving up daylight for some other choice. Having options making it I think a little better.
Finally instead of 3 lower res they get one high res. I consider it a net draw.
So taken as a whole I think the Archon Hound is a little better than the default Aasimar but not a ton better.
Which is true for pretty much all of the templates accept the Succubus which has only two stat changes one bonus one penalty, which i think they may be a little weak. Great Sorc or Bards but weaker as anything else though than the default Tiefling.
What sort of power boost do these templates give to existing races?
I'm definitely interested in the product, so I'm rather curious.
Also: It's on my to buy list. Waiting for a paycheck. :)
You can see a full size preview of the first four pages HERE. That might help answer some of your questions.
They are not meant to be applied to humans. They are optional for other races.
We don't specifically state that; in fact we state the templates can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature. There's no reason you can't use these templates for a "different" flavor aasimar or tiefling for a human. :D
Also, remember that as a template, the ability adjustments are in addition to the normal racial adjustments for any race - human, dwarf, elf, etc., which is why End thought they were a little too powerful, probably. We think they're just right, but that's just us. :D
If I put one of these templates on a human, how much more powerful are they supposed to be in a party of other dwarves? Close to the same? better overall?Lets take Aasimar the Archon Hound type.
Normally a Aasimar gets.
+2 Chr, +2 Wis
Darkvision 60ft
+2 skill Diplomacy and Perception
Daylight once a day as a spell like ability.
5 cold, acid, elec resistance.Now the Archon Hound Aasimar gets
+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Dex
Darkvision 60ft
+2 to two skills from the choices (Acrobatic, Intimidate, Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth and Survival)
They can take either Lesser Scent ability or a spell like ability (aid, Comprehend Languages, detect evil, light, protection from evil or magic weapon)
15 Elec Resistance
The Hound Archon Aasimar template added to a human would get the above, PLUS: +2 to any one ability score (so you could go ahead and take the +2 to CHR a regular aasimar gets), +1 skill rank per level, one extra feat at 1st level.
So that becomes:
Hound Archon Aasimar Human
+2 CHA, +2 STR, +2 WIS, -2 DEX
Darkvision 60 ft.
+2 to two skills from the choices (Acrobatic, Intimidate, Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth and Survival)
+1 skill rank
They can take either Lesser Scent ability or a spell like ability (aid, Comprehend Languages, detect evil, light, protection from evil or magic weapon)
1 extra feat
15 Elec Resistance
Compare that to a standard dwarf:
+2 CON, +2 WIS, –2 CHA
Slow and Steady
Darkvision 60 ft.
Defensive Training: +4 dodge bonus against monsters of the giant subtype.
Greed: +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks to determine the price of nonmagical goods that contain precious metals or gemstones.
Hatred: +1 bonus on attacks against humanoid creatures of the orc and goblinoid subtypes
Hardy: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Stability: +4 racial bonus to CMD when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
Stonecunning: +2 bonus on Perception checks to potentially notice unusual stonework
Weapon Familiarity: proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers, and treat any weapon with the word “dwarven” in its name as a martial weapon.
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They are not meant to be applied to humans. They are optional for other races.We don't specifically state that; in fact we state the templates can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature. There's no reason you can't use these templates for a "different" flavor aasimar or tiefling for a human. :D
Also, remember that as a template, the ability adjustments are in addition to the normal racial adjustments for any race - human, dwarf, elf, etc., which is why End thought they were a little too powerful, probably. We think they're just right, but that's just us. :D
Ok, I thought they was just to replace the existing off races. Like I did in my example. But if you can flat apply it to humans and get all the powers. Then i agree with End I think they are a bit strong. I think they should give up some of the base race powers to apply for the template personally.
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Ok, I thought they was just to replace the existing off races. Like I did in my example. But if you can flat apply it to humans and get all the powers. Then i agree with End I think they are a bit strong. I think they should give up some of the base race powers to apply for the template personally.
Yeah, that was my point, I knew that they were templates that you add on-top of existing racial modifiers.
That to me means the drawbacks and positives should be cancelling eachother out, or you have a net power gain.
With what you described as an example, I can see it being ok if everyone is using one of these templates, but it would be broken if you put one of these in a group with a regular elf.
Ok, I thought they was just to replace the existing off races. Like I did in my example. But if you can flat apply it to humans and get all the powers. Then i agree with End I think they are a bit strong. I think they should give up some of the base race powers to apply for the template personally.
No, not at all. These templates are designed to make any type of humanoid creature potentially planar in origin. We recognize that they are powerful, but we disagree that they are too strong, but that is our opinion on things, of course. Our belief is that if a GM is going to allow a succubus tiefling drow (as a random example), then the GM should be prepared for a powerful PC. We felt it better to present good, strong templates rather than water them down for the sake of parity.
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No, not at all. These templates are designed to make any type of humanoid creature potentially planar in origin. We recognize that they are powerful, but we disagree that they are too strong, but that is our opinion on things, of course. Our belief is that if a GM is going to allow a succubus tiefling drow (as a random example), then the GM should be prepared for a powerful PC. We felt it better to present good, strong templates rather than water them down for the sake of parity.
Ok, I thought they was just to replace the existing off races. Like I did in my example. But if you can flat apply it to humans and get all the powers. Then i agree with End I think they are a bit strong. I think they should give up some of the base race powers to apply for the template personally.
Yeah I get what your saying. I don't think they are so powerful as to be a EL, but I also look at them and wonder. Why anyone would then take a default human with out taking a template first. Since it just makes the default race better.
Of course this is just my personal opinion but I think you should add a side bar on two ways to handle them. More options basically, one way is how they are done now but point out they will be strong characters then. The other is offer up a sample, if you use this template on a human the human loses the bonus skill point and feat or something like that to put them closer to on par with a default human. Anyways as I said just my personal opinion.
They shouldn't be equal to regular mortals, because they aren't regular mortals. They've got something extra. There's a reason so many mythic heroes are demigods or the like - that little something extra gives them an edge over regular heroes. If the DM is going to include such templates, then they have to be prepared for powerful characters, because that's exactly what they're allowing. As for "Why would anyone play a regular human, when all this is available?"
Because they want to play one. Some people don't play to optimize, they play to a concept, and that concept isn't always going to include unearthly heritage or secret sources of power.
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They shouldn't be equal to regular mortals, because they aren't regular mortals. They've got something extra. There's a reason so many mythic heroes are demigods or the like - that little something extra gives them an edge over regular heroes. If the DM is going to include such templates, then they have to be prepared for powerful characters, because that's exactly what they're allowing. As for "Why would anyone play a regular human, when all this is available?"
Because they want to play one. Some people don't play to optimize, they play to a concept, and that concept isn't always going to include unearthly heritage or secret sources of power.
Yeah i get what you guys are going for. But by not giving a sidebar option on how to scale it down to be on par with the core races, it makes the product less useful. I mean as it is now I like the product but will have to do my own scaling, cause I would like to use them with the core races and have them be roughly equal in power. If you guys has listed the default and then a side bar on how to power them down it would have made the product more useful to more people. More options is always a good thing.
Yeah i get what you guys are going for. But by not giving a sidebar option on how to scale it down to be on par with the core races, it makes the product less useful. I mean as it is now I like the product but will have to do my own scaling, cause I would like to use them with the core races and have them be roughly equal in power. If you guys has listed the default and then a side bar on how to power them down it would have made the product more useful to more people. More options is always a good thing.They shouldn't be equal to regular mortals, because they aren't regular mortals. They've got something extra. There's a reason so many mythic heroes are demigods or the like - that little something extra gives them an edge over regular heroes. If the DM is going to include such templates, then they have to be prepared for powerful characters, because that's exactly what they're allowing. As for "Why would anyone play a regular human, when all this is available?"
Because they want to play one. Some people don't play to optimize, they play to a concept, and that concept isn't always going to include unearthly heritage or secret sources of power.
Including rules for parity only makes sense if parity is the desired result, which it wasn't. If you want to tone them down, that's fine, that's the way to run your game. But on the other side of the coin, if they're equal to everyone else, why bother having the template?
A Shelby Mustang is a terrible station wagon, but that doesn't make it a bad car.
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Hmm.
Are there any sorts of examples of what races these planars are on par with?
Like, if you put them on a human, is the human as strong as a noble drow? Stronger?
It would be useful to know roughly where existing races (like the powerful ones) fit in relation to a basic race with one of these.
Personally I dont care if theyre more powerful than say; humans, but I want my players to be on a level playing field unless they intentionally make weaker characters. So at the moment that would mean *requiring* a template to catch up to the guys who have one, or... (insert other equally powerful race here).
Hmm.
Are there any sorts of examples of what races these planars are on par with?
Like, if you put them on a human, is the human as strong as a noble drow? Stronger?
It would be useful to know roughly where existing races (like the powerful ones) fit in relation to a basic race with one of these.
Personally I dont care if theyre more powerful than say; humans, but I want my players to be on a level playing field unless they intentionally make weaker characters. So at the moment that would mean *requiring* a template to catch up to the guys who have one, or... (insert other equally powerful race here).
You can see in this post where I applied the Hound Archon Aasimar template to a human, so you can compare that to a drow noble.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this product #7 on Paizo's Top Downloads from Other Companies this week! w00t!