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I would suggest re-reading the Reincarnate spell and consider the following:
First eliminate the subject's racial adjustments (since it is no longer necessarily of his previous race)
So removing the -2 and the +2 to Con/Wis
The subject of the spell gains two permanent negative levels when it is reincarnated
He rolled good, I don't think there should be a 'tone down' for being lucky, not to mention he's receiving 2 negative levels.
Oh and he's a bugbear, my guess is that bugbears aren't that popular in most worlds (aka, people will run or attack him)
Oh sorry missed that part.
This can be tough. Because the player WAS a dwarf and has his memories of when he was a dwarf, his other features may be at question. (hardy, stability). This would bring up real issues with stability, considering the Character would be used to his stocky frame that these 'old' racial features would not apply. I have no idea on what the ruling would be on this, but as for the feat alone.
I would suggest that he keep the feat till he levels, and then allow him to retrain. (assuming the feat doesn't work b/c he's no longer a dwarf, or if it still works b/c he was a dwarf is probably the harder question)
Reincarnate is basically a plot device; the GM has complete and total say about how the spell functions. Do what'll work best for your game.
Please be aware that he can get rid of the negative levels with a restoration spell, at some cost.
By rule, you take away his dwarf ability score bonuses/penalties, then add whatever the ability score bonuses in the table under Reincarnate.
This bit is foggy:
Oh sorry missed that part.
This can be tough. Because the player WAS a dwarf and has his memories of when he was a dwarf, his other features may be at question. (hardy, stability). This would bring up real issues with stability, considering the Character would be used to his stocky frame that these 'old' racial features would not apply. I have no idea on what the ruling would be on this, but as for the feat alone.
I would suggest that he keep the feat till he levels, and then allow him to retrain. (assuming the feat doesn't work b/c he's no longer a dwarf, or if it still works b/c he was a dwarf is probably the harder question)
By rule you don't erase any of his other Dwarf stuff, such as Greed, Stonecutting, base languages, etc. He keeps that, because he's still a dwarf, just in a bugbear body. But that would also mean that by rule he would still be stuck with 20 foot movement / etc, which is very unintuitive. In our games, we typically just dump everything from the entire race other than languages known and replace it with the new race, and we leave feats in place even if the prerequisite went away.
By rule you don't erase any of his other Dwarf stuff, such as Greed, Stonecutting, base languages, etc. He keeps that, because he's still a dwarf, just in a bugbear body. But that would also mean that by rule he would still be stuck with 20 foot movement / etc, which is very unintuitive. In our games, we typically just dump everything from the entire race other than languages known and replace it with the new race, and we leave feats in place even if the prerequisite went away.
I agree that keeping racial features does seem a bit unintuitive, and even be completely opposite of what one might think. As a Dwarf you get Hardy and Stability, because of the internals of the Dwarf, they are built stocky and hardy and can power though spells, poisons, and combat maneuvers. In any other body, these things dont seem to fit. BUT Greed and Stonecunning? Those are more based on the personality of the Dwarf, would these be changed?
My only suggestion is to stay consistent and consult with the other players, ask them what they think is fair, and get them all to agree.
Ahh, good point.
But it makes the Rules As Written even worse, if you think about it. Technically it never states you lose the "extraordinary abilities and the like" from the previous race, but it does state explicitly that you gain those of the new race. If you're rich enough, you could cycle through a dozen races and collect all the extraordinary abilities of each.
This could be quite a boon for the Reincarnated Druid archetype. Find a safe place to die repeatedly and a couple months later you've got Gnome magic, Dwarven encumbrance beating, Elvish spell resistance, etc.
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Change the physical attributes, don't change the mental ones. That's the simplest way to put it. That's what I've always done, and I've read a lot of the game designers from 3.5 and Pathfinder do it the same way.
For your dwarf, that means:
Keep:
+2 Wis, Defensive Training, Hatred, Greed, Weapon Familiarity and Stonecunning (these things are mental attributes, they work off of knowledge, training, memory, etc.)
Dump the Dwarf's physical traits:
+2 Con, Size, Base Speed, Darkvision, Hardy, Stability (these are physical, some of this stuff isn't actually going to change, but I'm including it to be complete.)
Add the bugbear's physical traits:
+4 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, Scent, Darkvision 60ft, +4 Racial modifier to Stealth, +3 Natural Armor, Base Speed, Size
The Racial Mod to Intimidate isn't added because Intimidate is a CHA-based skill and counts as a mental trait. Since Stealth is DEX-based, it goes in the physical list. You also don't get the Bubgbear's extra racial HD since you're not originally a bugbear.
Congratulations on being a dwarf who became a bugbear. You now have a +1 to hit yourself!
Change the physical attributes, don't change the mental ones. That's the simplest way to put it. That's what I've always done, and I've read a lot of the game designers from 3.5 and Pathfinder do it the same way.
For your dwarf, that means:
Keep:
+2 Wis, Defensive Training, Hatred, Greed, Weapon Familiarity and Stonecunning (these things are mental attributes, they work off of knowledge, training, memory, etc.)Dump the Dwarf's physical traits:
+2 Con, Size, Base Speed, Darkvision, Hardy, Stability (these are physical, some of this stuff isn't actually going to change, but I'm including it to be complete.)Add the bugbear's physical traits:
+4 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, Scent, Darkvision 60ft, +4 Racial modifier to Stealth, +3 Natural Armor, Base Speed, SizeThe Racial Mod to Intimidate isn't added because Intimidate is a CHA-based skill and counts as a mental trait. Since Stealth is DEX-based, it goes in the physical list. You also don't get the Bubgbear's extra racial HD since you're not originally a bugbear.
Congratulations on being a dwarf who became a bugbear. You now have a +1 to hit yourself!
100% agree. This is probably how I would rule it too.
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Change the physical attributes, don't change the mental ones. That's the simplest way to put it. That's what I've always done, and I've read a lot of the game designers from 3.5 and Pathfinder do it the same way.
(specifics)
Yes, this is how my group does it, and the fact that the Reincarnation table doesn't include mental ability scores and only states that the physical scores may change supports the position that mental stats don't change.
Retraining any feats you don't qualify for any more seems fair.
To answer your second question:
do people think it would be right for me to tone down the stat increases or do people think at 7th level an extra four strength and two dex wouldn't have much of an effect?
Reincarnation is a gamble, especially for a martial character who stands to see significant changes in their physical stats. You could just as easily (more easily, in fact) have come back as a kobold with a net -4 to both Str and Con. Instead, you hit the jackpot. Your net gain is +4 Str, +2 Dex, +3 Natural Armor, Scent, and 30ft base speed, and you lose only Hardy, Stability, the ability to wear armor without reducing speed (probably works out the same anyway), and possibly the ability to sit in a tavern without your former dwarven kinsmen giving you dirty looks. Large size cancels out the racial stealth bonus and gives you a -1 to attack and AC which mitigates the other benefits somewhat, but also gives you +1 to all CMB and CMD. Congratulations on your lucky win.
However, you are right to notice that this likely puts you a bit above your fellow PCs. It might not be a problem, particularly if your character is less optimized than the others or if you rolled stats and yours were a little on the low side originally. My group had a barbarian who was similarly reincarnated into a Gnoll, and his stat boost didn't cause any problems for us.
If you do find that you are overshadowing the other PCs, or if the other players feel you've gained an unfair advantage, the most natural way to address it is for you to take a smaller share of the loot for a few sessions until it balances out. Your skin is naturally tougher, so maybe you don't need that Amulet of Natural Armor as much as the Cleric does. Maybe the Rogue would like that Belt of Physical Might. However, this is only necessary if you or your party is actually feeling like the reincarnation upgrade is actually impeding your enjoyment of the game. If it's not causing problems, don't bother fixing it. My group's barbarian didn't.