|
In a upcoming adventure my friends and I will be playing Son's/Daughter's of previous characters. Because of one of my characters current relationships there is a strong probability of me playing a Mul (half-Dwarf). I looked around but couldn't find any anyone had built such a thing so a took the ARG and gave it a try. I wanted to keep it near standard level (older D&D Muls were very powerful +1LA) so I kept the RP count under 12. Any advice would be great.
MUL
Humanoid (Dwarf/Human) 0RP
Speed 30 0RP
HUman stats 0RP
+2 to any stats
Advanced Constitution +2Con 4RP
Hardy - 3RP
+2 to all poisons, spells and Spell like abilities
Darkvision - 2RP
Integrated - 1RP
+1 bluff, disguise, knowledge local
Total: 10 RP - 1 more than humans and 1 less than dwarves
Muls are a mixed-breed offspring of humans and dwarves. The term mul is derived from "mule" which are sterile hybrids, polite pronunciation rhymes with "dull," the pronunciation rhyming with "yule" is often used derogatorily.
A mul is a powerful crossbreed of a human and dwarf, a natrual warrior and laborer. A mul gets what are, perhaps, the best attributes from each of its parents. From his human parent, he receives height and Versatility. From his dwarven parent, the mul gets incredible stubbornness and endurance. At maturity, a mul stands as much as 6½' tall, weighing 240-300 lbs. Each is fair skinned, though sometimes tending toward a coppery coloration. A mul's eyebrow ridges are pronounced, and the ears are usually pointed toward the back of the head; otherwise, facial features are basically human. Regardless of sex, most muls are naturally bald, but those who aren't usually shave their heads.
Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Muls are tough but varied. They gain a +2 to Constitution and a +2 to any one other ability score.
Size: Muls are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Muls are Humanoids with the Dwarf and Human Subtypes.
Base Speed: Muls have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Muls Begin play speaking Common & Dwarven. Muls with high intelligence scores can choose from Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and any human language.
Defensive Racial Traits
Hardy: Dwarven blood runs through a Mul's veins, they gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Feat & Skill Traits
Integrated: Mul's receive a +1 bonus to Bluff, Disguise and Knowledge-Local checks.
Senses: Muls bear the eyes of their dwarven brethren. They have Dark vision 60ft.
Edit: really need to do more spell checking :-P
I'd ditch the Integrated trait, which doesn't really fit with the old-school mul and give them the following (desert runner) renamed to tireless, which resembles one of the original mul traits from ad&d:
Tireless (2 RP) Muls receive a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue and exhaustion, as well as any other ill effects from running, forced marches, starvation, thirst, and hot or cold environments.
I'd do the desert runner renamed to tireless thing, and instead of doing the ability scores like you did, I'd go Specialized: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma or Intelligence for 1 point. Hardy and the renamed Desert Runner take up 5 more, so your at 6 points total, adding the dark vision (2 points) puts you at 8 points spent. I'd probably spend that on either Stubborn (2 points) or Static Bonus Feat (Endurance) ( 2 points) for a total of 10.
Meh, that's me off the cuff, I always liked muls. By the way, the Advanced (Attribute) can't be taken by normal costing races, it is an advanced trait, not a standard, so advanced or monsterous races only.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Ok, Here is the updated version.
MUL
Humanoid (Dwarf/Human) 0RP
Speed 30 0RP
Human stats 0RP
+2 to any stat
Desert Runner 2RP
+4 bonus on Con checks and Fort saves to avoid fatigue and exhaustion
Resistance 2 RP
+2 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects and poison.
Darkvision - 2RP
Relentless 1RP
+2 CMB to bull rush or overrun only if both on ground.
Ancestral Arms 2RP
One Exotic or Martial Weapon Prof
Total: 9 RP - same as humans and 2 less than dwarves
Mul
Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Muls are tough but varied. They gain a +2 to any one ability score.
Size: Muls are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Muls are Humanoids with the Dwarf and Human Subtypes.
Base Speed: Muls have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Muls Begin play speaking Common & Dwarven. Muls with high intelligence scores can choose from Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and any human language.
Defensive Racial Traits
Blood of Stone: Dwarven blood runs through a Mul's veins, they gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison and mind effecting effects.
Tireless: A Muls strong constitution allows them to keep going with little rest. They gain a +4 Racial bonus on Constitution checks are fortitude saves to avoid fatigue and exhaustion.
Feat & Skill Traits
Ancestral Arms: Humans and Dwarfs have a long legacy of battle and Muls are no exception. They may choose 1 exotic or martial weapon they are proficient with.
Senses: Muls bear the eyes of their dwarven brethren. They have Darkvision 60ft.
I am making these guys a little closer to Golorian's look on demi-humans rather than what the Dark Sun did. They are not bred for battle and such as much as they are a very rare cross-breed.
EDIT: Took off con bonus, and fixed pricing for feat. Thanks Krigare, thats what I get for doing at when I am still sleepy.
OK, where are you getting the +2 bonus to Con from? Advanced Constitution? If so your moving the power level of the race up from Standard to Advanced. And your a few RP short on your calculations if so.
Your cost on Ancestral Arms is off a little as well. Half Elves replace their skill focus with that, and their skill focus is just a static bonus feat at a cost of 2 RP.
So from what I can tell, your at 13 points total for the race, which is just over the bar for an Advanced race, making the Advanced Constitution a legal choice, and cost wise puts you on par with Tieflings.
Out of curiosity, comparing what your trying vs the Golarion half-breeds, why are you avoiding assigning a penalty to a stat? Your paying extra for your stats by doing it, and breaking away from how the other half-breeds/cross breeds have been done.
If the negative to a stat seems that bad, there is always the Flexible attribute quality for 2 RP that gives you +2 to any 2 stats.
|
|
THanks Krigare, I updated the post above.
I am using the Human stat because that's what the other half human races I have seen get. I haven't seen a half-breed with set stats so I am following that pattern. The reason I did it initially was to call back to the original Muls but I like the other traits for that more. I do not want this to be an advanced race but a solid one. I took out the con bonus.
I like it - reflects, without being over the top, the Mul quite well.
No problem =)
I'll admit, I'm a Dark Sun fan, the iteration of it anyway. I've still got all my books and boxed sets for it lol.
But yeah, for a Golarian version of the Mul, that looks to be about right on par with half orcs and half elves.
|
|
Thanks both of you. Krigare, I am also tempted to keep the pure awesomeness of the old school Mul in place but a few of the people I game with are wary of power creep and I don't want them to feel like I am building myself extra power. Plus the reasoning of the Dark Sun muls just isn't in Galorian (unless I had them come from cheliax or something...).
Oh, I agree, the Dark Sun fluff for Mul's wouldn't fit into Golarion very well.
As to power creep, it is always good to be wary of it, but I think Paizo has given us plenty of racial examples to use as benchmarks for whether we are going to over the top or not.
As it is, like I said, what you've got right now stacks up well compared to a half orc and half elf. For Golarion, it is probably just right.
|
|
To help with the Mul flavor, I'd recommend adding a racial trait.
Dwarf Blooded: Mul's count as dwarves for the purpose of qualifying for feats, classes, items, etc.
On Athas, Muls were always extra tough and hardy, an option like this would give a player some options to reflect that with existing game rules.
Is that needed? I was under the impression that half races counted as both races for those types of effects because they have both subtypes.
Half races don't count as either of the parents races for meeting feat/archetype/prestige requirements. For everything else by and large, yes. So bane, favored enemy, a magic item or spell that checks for the subtype, yes. Just having the subtype itself isn't enough for anything else.
And Booksy, not sure how access to dwarf feats makes the mul any tougher or hardier. The dwarf specific feats in PF mainly have to do with combat (cleave in particular) or very specific racial things, like crafting. Same with the dwarf requirement on PRC's and archetypes.
Did you check out the 3.5 version of the race on athas.org ?
It'd available here.
|
|
Yes I did but I felt it was over powered. I also found another one done by dragon magazine that was different. So I made my own to try out. Though the dwarven blood idea is tempting. I will have to look and see how many RP that is.
Edit: upon further consideration. I don't think I will do that. I am trying to establish a solid half-race. I am avoiding things that make them "Dwarves but Better!" so I will leave off that ability.
Half races don't count as either of the parents races for meeting feat/archetype/prestige requirements. For everything else by and large, yes. So bane, favored enemy, a magic item or spell that checks for the subtype, yes. Just having the subtype itself isn't enough for anything else.
Is there a specific page you can cite regarding this? I'm asking, because there may be some older material I never noticed. Advanced Race Guide indicates in the humanoid entry (which may be a change from your reference):
"If you are making a half-breed race, it should have the racial type of both parent races. For example, a half-elf has both the human and the elf subtypes. Subtypes are often important to qualify for other racial abilities and feats. If a humanoid has a racial subtype, it is considered a member of that race in the case of race prerequisites."
This is one if the issues with the ARG. A statement like that directly contradicts the official FAQed answer on another question about race archetypes that is in the FAQ for the APG.
The best example of it comes in for orcs and half orcs. They are listed separately on many of the racial feats, however, some are orc only, some are half orc only. If having the subtype was enough to qualify you for the feats, why list them separately?
Either way, I was just going by RAW as I understand it for that part. I think a huge number of the racial feats are more societal traits and less traits inherent to biology, which is what (to me) a racial feat should be, something that requires physiology unique to that race. Quite a few of the racial feats just cover certain fighting styles, and not one that should be unique to a race imo.
I still don't see how access to dwarf feats makes them any tougher or hardier.
It'd be too much to expect consistency between FAQ answers & printed material, lol. It's why I pretty much ignore the FAQ unless there's an issue we can't resolve in-house, which hasn't been a problem thusfar.
As for the racial feats, dwarf feats aren't a big deal, I agree.
Yeah, when I DM a game, I generally open up the racial combat feats to everyone, and the non-physiology ones to the halfbreeds because they could be raised in the society. The big exception is the ones that naturally enhance the races shctick, like Martial Versatility/Mastery for humans.