Here's my idea for the goliath race from races of stone, 3.5. I took a few liberties and tweaked some things here and there.
Medium: Goliaths are Medium creatures, with no penalties due to their size. See Powerful Build, below. (0 RP)
Humanoid (Giant): Goliath are humanoids with the Giant subtype.
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity: Goliaths are big, and this makes them tough and powerful. However, their size also makes slower to move and react. (1 RP, counting this as specialized)
Speed 30 ft. (0 RP)
Darkvision 60 ft. (2 RP)
Defensive Training, Lesser (Giants): Goliaths are trained in battle against their giant kin, and receive a +4 dodge bonus to AC against creatures of the Giant subtype. (1 RP)
Natural Armor: Goliath have tough, rocky skin that gives them a +1 Natural Armor bonus. (1 RP)
Mountaineer: Goliaths are immune to altitude sickness and do not lose their Dexterity bonus to AC when making Climb checks or Acrobatics checks to cross narrow or slippery surfaces. (1 RP)
Powerful Build: Goliaths are very large for Medium creatures, and they can count as Large sized whenever it would benefit them. They receive a +1 size bonus to CMD and CMB, and count as large for determining when an enemy ability, such as Grab or Swallow Whole, would be able to affect them. They can also wield weapons one size larger than normal without a penalty to attacks. However, they still have the space and reach of a Medium creature. (5 RP. I'm pricing this as less than Large, mostly because reach is the biggest benefit of a size increase. I can't fully decide on this, however.)
Languages: Goliaths begin play speaking Gol-Kaa. Goliaths with high Intelligence scores can choose additional languages from the following: Common, Dwarven, Giant, Terran. (0 RP)
Total RP: 11 RP
Is powerful build too much as it is? I don't think so.
EDIT: Added darkvision.
i actually considered an idea where powerful build required large size as a prerequisite but only cost one point. that being said i do like the way you did this, though maybe maybe an even 6 might be doable. in the end it is up to you but my experience with powerful build is that it is a tremendous martial booster.
I think it's an advantage that quickly melts away once you get above level 4 or 5. It eventually becomes equivalent to about 1.5 weapon specializations (on average), and only for two-handers. It's definitely a nice boost, but I think 5 is a fair price for it. 5 is a lot.
Plus I gave them xenophobic languages, which is a tiny penalty, but one more so for a martial character, so he'd be less inclined to dump INT so that he can speak to his companions.
I don't think they need Darkvision, and see no point in adding a new language. Common, Giant or Terran as a native tongue would be fine.
I don't think they need Darkvision, and see no point in adding a new language. Common, Giant or Terran as a native tongue would be fine.
For some reason I thought they had darkvision in 3.5. Consider it gone. I was mistaken, I see. I kind of feel like they should have keen senses or low-light vision. What do you think? And I like the distinct goliath language (gol-kaa) from Races of Stone, which goes into some detail on it. I'm a linguistics student, so I'm gonna keep it.
Why is +2 Str/Con, -2 Dex costing RP? Does two +2's and a -2 normally cost RP? If it's because of the two physicals (man, that's dumb), switch it to like +2 str, +2 wis, -2 cha or whatever.
And if you want to be faithful to the 3.5 version, it's +4 str, +2 con, -2 Dex.
I'm sure the +2 strength is to keep it in line with other core races.
I favor low-light vision as they live on mountains but not under them. I like keen senses but so many other races have it, its been over done! The 3.5 goliath had a bonus to sense motive. They were also very competitive. Didn't they get a bonus to opposed rolls?
+2 Phys, +2 Phys, -2 Phys is not covered in the ARG. So I figured I'd go with 1 RP just to be safe. I know the 3.5 is +4 strength, but that seems like too much to me.
I'm sure the +2 strength is to keep it in line with other core races.
I favor low-light vision as they live on mountains but not under them. I like keen senses but so many other races have it, its been over done! The 3.5 goliath had a bonus to sense motive. They were also very competitive. Didn't they get a bonus to opposed rolls?
No bonus to opposed rolls. They did have a +2 to Sense Motive. Should I include that? With that and low-light vision, they'll stay at 11 RP. What they did have that is different here is their mountain movement vs. the current mountaineer. They didn't take penalties for standing long jumps and could accelerated climb with no penalty. I just used something similar that was in the ARG already, and that also covered their immunity to altitude sickness.
I don't think they need Darkvision, and see no point in adding a new language. Common, Giant or Terran as a native tongue would be fine.For some reason I thought they had darkvision in 3.5. Consider it gone. I was mistaken, I see. I kind of feel like they should have keen senses or low-light vision. What do you think? And I like the distinct goliath language (gol-kaa) from Races of Stone, which goes into some detail on it. I'm a linguistics student, so I'm gonna keep it.
They actually did have darkvision in 3.5. It wasn't listed in with their racial traits, but all monstrous humanoids get darkvision 60 ft.
They actually did have darkvision in 3.5. It wasn't listed in with their racial traits, but all monstrous humanoids get darkvision 60 ft.I don't think they need Darkvision, and see no point in adding a new language. Common, Giant or Terran as a native tongue would be fine.For some reason I thought they had darkvision in 3.5. Consider it gone. I was mistaken, I see. I kind of feel like they should have keen senses or low-light vision. What do you think? And I like the distinct goliath language (gol-kaa) from Races of Stone, which goes into some detail on it. I'm a linguistics student, so I'm gonna keep it.
Well I prefer it with low-light anyways.
EDIT: Prefer it better? No thank you, redundant sentence.