The Advanced Race Guide have an example entry of the Lizardfolk race. It goes like this:
LIZARDFOLK
Type: Humanoid(reptilian) 0 RP
Size: Medium 0 RP
Base Speed
Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers: Flexible (+2 Str, +2 Con) 2 RP
Languages: Xenophobic 0 RP
Racial Traits:
Defense Racial Traits: Natural armor 2 RP
Movement Racial Traits:
Swim 1 RP
Offense Racial Traits:
Bite 1 RP
Claws 2 RP
Total 8 RP
This would make a character that:
is a medium sized humanoid creature.
Has a +2 str and +2 con bonus.
Has a base speed of 30 ft.
Would begin with Draconic(I assume) as a language.
Begins with a +1 natural armor bonus.
Begins with a bite attack dealing 1d3 dmg
Begins with 2 claw attacks dealing 1d4 dmg each.
The movement is iffy, because the book lists Swim as a 2 RP race advancement, that gives the race a Swim speed of 30 ft and a +8 bonus to Swim checks. However only 1 RP has been paid for swim. I have been unable to find a rule that states you can cut the cost in half to half the output, but if we assume it can be done, we end up with one of the following.
<continued from after 2 claw attacks>
And begins with a Swim speed of 30 ft and a +8 racial bonus of swim checks. (This would be taking full advantage of the race advancement, without paying full cost)
or
<continued from after 2 claw attacks>
And begins with a Swim speed of 15 ft and a +4 racial bonus to swim checks.
This is the Advanced Race Guide example of a Lizardfolk character.
Then we have the Lizardfolk from the bestiary. While we cannot comment on the stat-bonuses (or we can, and I just don’t understand the monster creation rules <- likely) we can see that the bestiary Lizardfolk start with:
a +5 Natural Armor bonus to AC
a base speed of 30 ft.
a swim speed of 15 ft.
a +4 racial bonus on acrobatics checks (though this is more than likely a mistake, seeing as how the lizardfolk start with +8 swim and +2 acrobatics)
a bite attack dealing 1d4 damage
2 claw attacks dealing 1d4 damage each
Draconic as their sole language
The extraordinary ability Hold Breath
Quite a bit different from the example from the Advanced Race Guide. Lastly let us check the SRD entry for the lizardfolk race.
These dudes start with:
+2 str and +2 con
a base speed of 30 ft
+2 natural armor
A swim speed 30 ft and a +8 racial bonus to swim checks. (for the price of 1 RP)
A bite attack (with unlisted damage, possibly 1d6 standard (bestiary p. 302))
2 claw attacks (with unlisted damage, possibly 1d4 standard (bestiary p. 302))
Now we’ve been through 3 separate entries for Lizardfolk. The most noteworthy differences were:
Natural armor going from +1, to +2, to +5
Swim speed going from 15 to 30
Racial skills bonus going from +8 swim to +4 acrobatics(likely swim, but still)
Bite attack damage going from 1d3 to 1d6
Have anyone heard anything about the inconsistencies here? Have I completely missed something, or are these 3 entries as different as they appear to be? Have there been any clarification to this race? Mostly which one I should go with, if I want to roll up a Lizardfolk character, or something along those lines?
Thanks in advance.
-Nearyn
They are three different races designed by different groups for different purposes.
The Bestiary version is the original monster. It was not designed to be a player character race, but it can be made one by use of the "monsters as player characters" rules. Note that it has racial hit dice and is a minor update by Paizo of the monster from the D&D 3.5 rules by Wizards of the Coast.
The ARG version uses that book's Race Builder rules to make a race that approximates the race from the Bestiary as a race with no racial hit dice. As a result, it has the same general traits, but the numbers are not necessarily the same. Paizo put that one together.
The d20pfsrd version (currently inaccessible to me) appears to be a race created by a 3rd party publisher. It was probably designed by somebody outside of Paizo. You would have to check the original source (most likely cited at the bottom of the racial entry) to find out the design goals and philosophy behind that version.
The d20pfsrd version, weirdly enough, claims to be the version from the Advanced Race Guide O.o?
Then any differences between the two entries would have to be errors by one or the other -- most likely d20pfsrd, if your first example was straight from the ARG book.
- It works out perfectly if the version in B1 was made with the ability score adjustments -2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Cha.
There's clearly an inconsistency between the B1 version and the race builder version, but the B1 version is internally consistent.
And I know this is a 9 years old post, but in case anyone's wondering:
And begins with a Swim speed of 15 ft and a +4 racial bonus to swim checks.
A swim speed always comes with a +8 racial bonus to swim checks - that's not something that is (or at least should be) directly granted by the racial trait. So a discounted racial trait for half the swim speed would still result in the full +8.
a +4 racial bonus on acrobatics checks (though this is more than likely a mistake, seeing as how the lizardfolk start with +8 swim and +2 acrobatics)
with a +0 in dex, and a -2 ACP from a heavy shield, a +4 racial bonus to acrobatics results in a total +2, so that works out.
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What I can't figure out is why the Lizfolk in the Bestiary has the scores it has. NPC class build raw ability scores are 13 12 11 10 9 8 for a total ability score point build of "+3"
Lizfolk has S13 D10 C13 I9 W10 Ch10 with race mods of +2 Str/Con
Adjusted for the bonuses to str/con, the Lizfolk now has raw scores of:
S11 D10 C11 I9 W10 Ch10
There is no 13, no 12, no 8 either. The total ability score point build is "+1" not "+3". This bugs the crap out of me. It makes Lizardfolk weaklings but does not define why.
Unless otherwise indicated, a creature’s ability scores represent the baseline of its racial modifiers applied to
scores of 10 or 11.
Then the exception:
Creatures with NPC class levels have stats in the standard array (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8), while creatures with character class levels have the elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8); in both cases, the creature’s ability score modifiers are listed at the end of its description.
Lizardfolk CR 1
XP 400
N Medium humanoid (reptilian)
Init +0; Senses Perception +1
Defense
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (+5 natural, +2 shield)
hp 11 (2d8+2)
The lizardfolk in the Bestiary have racial HD, they use the 10-11 scores, not the standard array.
Their stats are:Str 13, (11+2) Dex 10, Con 13 (11+2), Int 9 (11-2), Wis 10, Cha 10
3 abilities with a base of 11, 3 abilities with a base of 10.
And for the original question:
RACE EXAMPLES
This chapter features numerous examples of races designed with the race builder. Sidebars early in the chapter offer detailed examples of races found in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, Bestiary 2, and Bestiary 3 that would normally have racial Hit Dice, skills, and other abilities. PC members of such races, however, calculate these benefits based solely on their class. Note that these races are only an approximation of their monstrous counterparts and may not match exactly.