Hey, everybody! I went ahead and developed a new Race using the Paizo Pathfinder Race creation system (Advanced Race Guide) but I don't know how well it turned out considering that it's my first time creating one.
Here's everything I've got so far. Tell me what you think!
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Dryadborn Race Description
These rare and exotic creatures are the result of human-dryad relations; largely unheard of, yet not impossible. The Dryadborn is human in appearance, at least from a distance, but up close, their strange heritage becomes apparent.
Dryadborns tend towards the lifestyle of either Druids or Rangers; some defending their mother’s forest even after she herself has perished, others taking the fight to the enemy by becoming adventurers and scions of the wilderness in general.
Physical Appearance: The average Dryadborn is between 5’8” and 6’ tall. Their skin, like their mothers, seems to me made of wood, though at a distance, is hardly noticeable. Their hair tends to resemble leaves and other foliage.
Society: Lacking any culture of their own, most Dryadborn are raised in the wilderness by their mothers and simply adopt the culture of surrounding civilizations or that of the father, if he’s even present during the Dryadborns childhood at all. Dryadborn generally consider Sylvan to be their ‘racial’ language.
Relations: Dryadborn tend to be very sociable and comfortable with Elves, Half-Elves, Humans and Halflings, though they tend to avoid Half-Orcs for obvious reasons. Still any individual caught vandalizing the forests is surely no friend to the Dryadborn.
Alignment and Religion: a Dryad usually wouldn’t dare to mate with any creature of an Evil alignment, so most of their offspring tend to be of any Good alignment, due to a mix of Fey heritage and upbringing, although, for those few Dryadborn who are spirited away by their fathers at birth, the path of Evil is a possibility, though still unlikely.
Most Dryadborn choose to worship Erastil, Shelyn, Desna or even Gozreh or that of their Human parent. Still, others instead choose to devote themselves to an ideal rather than a deity. Common themes are the forces of Mother Nature, the animal kingdom or any similar concept with the DM’s approval.
Adventurers: Most Dryadborn adventurers tend towards Classes which are more at harmony with nature, such as Druids and Rangers, though other Classes are not unheard of. Most Dryadborn Druids choose to study the Healing, Plant, and Travel Domains. Most become travelers after their mother’s perish, if they have not yet vowed to protect the surrounding forest. A common goal amongst these Dryadborn is the discovery of their true fathers.
Dryadborns are Humanoids with the Fey creature subtype
Low-Light Vision: A Dryadborn sees twice as far as a Human in conditions of dim light
Medium: Dryadborn are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size
Normal Speed: Dryadborn have a base speed of 30 feet
Ability Scores: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Con
Languages: Taldane, Sylvan (racial language), Any (except secret languages such as Druidic)
Bond to the Land: You gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC when in forests (2RP)
Camouflage: You gain a racial +4 bonus on Stealth checks made when in forests (1RP)
Natural Armor: You gain a +1 to AC (2RP)
Terrain Stride: Move through naturally difficult terrain in forests (1RP)
Skill Bonus: You gain a +2 bonus on Knowledge Nature checks (2RP)
Skill Training: You gain the Knowledge Nature and Handle Animal skills (1RP)
Weapon Familiarity: You are proficient with Bows and Daggers (1RP)
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So? What did I do wrong/right? Any helpful suggestions?
I think it's a good start, especially with the forest concept, but I'm not exactly drawn in yet. I would add a lot more fluff for flavor. I don't really have a good idea of who Dryadborns really are besides "humanoids with wood-like skin and like nature". It's all about good, descriptive writing. This kind of feels like a quick synopsis. I think you should go more into the human dryad relations and what it is like to be a "half breed".
Besides that though, I really dig the "no father" thing. I think you should flesh that out a bit more, and maybe make it so most Dryadborns don't have fathers, instead of just a select few. Important tid bits like this will really make your race more unique and pop out to players.
This is just my own personal opinion.
The humanoid (fey) throws me a little bit. I'd go with the Fey type (2 RP, adds the low-light vision for free, and strengthens the bond to the fey parent). Skill training Handle Animal, while nature friendly, maybe should be replaced with Survival to show their ability to survive in the wilds or just left out entirely. Also, bow and dagger proficiency doesn't seem to fit very well (especially since every core class gains access to daggers).
Race Point total as it stands is 12, but if you dropped weapon familiarity, skill training, and linguist while swapping Humanoid (fey) for Fey type, you'd have a perfectly fine RP 10 race that gets low-light vision for free, and a number of nature oriented bonuses.
I do agree with Incredilee in that some more fluff would be nice to flesh out the race concept, but otherwise a good first attempt.
This is just my own personal opinion.
The humanoid (fey) throws me a little bit. I'd go with the Fey type (2 RP, adds the low-light vision for free, and strengthens the bond to the fey parent). Skill training Handle Animal, while nature friendly, maybe should be replaced with Survival to show their ability to survive in the wilds or just left out entirely. Also, bow and dagger proficiency doesn't seem to fit very well (especially since every core class gains access to daggers).
Race Point total as it stands is 12, but if you dropped weapon familiarity, skill training, and linguist while swapping Humanoid (fey) for Fey type, you'd have a perfectly fine RP 10 race that gets low-light vision for free, and a number of nature oriented bonuses.
I do agree with Incredilee in that some more fluff would be nice to flesh out the race concept, but otherwise a good first attempt.
Thanks for all the awesome feedback, guys. This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll be sure to make those adjustments suggested above but the truth is, while I'm a descriptive thinker, I'm not so good at descriptive writing :( Though I'll try to flesh it out a bit more and focus on human/Dryadborn relationships and the whole "daddy wasn't around" concept too. Thanks again!
I went with humanoid (faerie) for several of my fey-inspired races. The non-humanoid types (native outsider, fey, etc) granting immunity to certain enchantment spells over-inflates many of the values.
I'd also dump Bond to the Land and replace it with treespeech (2 rp). It is listed as plant type, but with their ties to trees, I don't think it'd be unreasonable to handwaive that requirement.
I went with humanoid (faerie) for several of my fey-inspired races. The non-humanoid types (native outsider, fey, etc) granting immunity to certain enchantment spells over-inflates many of the values.
I'd also dump Bond to the Land and replace it with treespeech (2 rp). It is listed as plant type, but with their ties to trees, I don't think it'd be unreasonable to handwaive that requirement.
The +2 dodge could come in handy considering that the Dryadborn has a -2 on Constitution. But I see where you're going with this. Although I fail to see the practical implications of being able to speak with plants on a whim. I'm not saying there aren't any. I've just never used it, really. Could you maybe give me an example of how you might use it in a combat or roleplay scenario?
At any rate; thanks for the feedback.
I went with humanoid (faerie) for several of my fey-inspired races. The non-humanoid types (native outsider, fey, etc) granting immunity to certain enchantment spells over-inflates many of the values.
I'd also dump Bond to the Land and replace it with treespeech (2 rp). It is listed as plant type, but with their ties to trees, I don't think it'd be unreasonable to handwaive that requirement.
The +2 dodge could come in handy considering that the Dryadborn has a -2 on Constitution. But I see where you're going with this. Although I fail to see the practical implications of being able to speak with plants on a whim. I'm not saying there aren't any. I've just never used it, really. Could you maybe give me an example of how you might use it in a combat or roleplay scenario?
At any rate; thanks for the feedback.
If you want a roleplaying scenario, you could give the race a bonus on Craft checks made with wood like the dwarf gets for metal and stone. In that case, the ability to speak with trees might allow the dryadborn to "make peace" with a tree they harvest lumber from to construct necessary weapons, armor, tools, or housing. Likewise, might give them access to the ability to craft items out of special materials normally only available to dryad crafters, such as greenwood.
It could also be useful to speak with trees on a whim if you are wondering if any other people had recently traveled down the same path you are on. Probably wouldn't be able to find out if they were the bandits you had been searching for or just a woodsman, but it could mean the difference between a happy day or a sad surprise round.
I know it's kind of a point cost, but how about a constant speak with plants ability?
I know it's kind of a point cost, but how about a constant speak with plants ability?
It's been mentioned; Treespeech- allows the user to speak with all forms of plant life as though under the effects of a constant "speak with plants" spell. Thanks though.
Also, a friend asked me to throw together a true Lycanthrope Race, so, here it is! Drawn up in less than 30 minutes! Tell me what you guys think...
paizo.com/threads/rzs2q1f3?Lycanthrope-Race-Needs-Feedback#1
I suggest you check this out.
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2nu8w?Dryant-the-offspring-of-a-Dryad-who-has
Isn't everyone already proficient with daggers?
Pheoran Armiez already flagged that upthread.
Isn't everyone already proficient with daggers?Pheoran Armiez already flagged that upthread.
Take that back, though. Commoners are not proficient with daggers unless they take dagger as their single weapon proficiency. I just wanted to be as accurate as possible.
d(^_^)z
Automatic proficiency with any weapon made primarily of wood?
Automatic proficiency with any weapon made primarily of wood?
Ooo, or here is an idea for a racial feature that uses the dryad's tree dependancy as a base for a sort of interesting ability. Might need some fleshing out, though.
Wooden Bond (? RP)
By performing a 10 minute ritual and making a successful DC 10 Will save, a dryadborn can forge a mystical bond with a single mastercraft wooden weapon or shield to reawaken the dorment wood to life. The bonded object functions as if it were made of greenwood (see special materials). A dryad born is always considered proficient with their bonded object, even if they don't have the normal proficiency for weapons or shields of that type. A dryadborn who moves more than 60 feet from their bonded object immediately becomes shaken. Every hour thereafter, they must make a DC 10 Will save to resist loosing the mystical connection to their bonded object, after which time their shaken condition ends. A severed bond can be restored by performing a new 10 minute ritual.
Something like this should be worth at least 2 RP for granting access to a greenwood item for free, but no more than 4 RP because of the negative effects and its limited usefulness.
Could even throw in a racial feat to improve it.
Improved Wooden Bond (Dryadborn)
Your mystical connection to a wooden object acts as a comforting boon while adventuring.
Prerequisites: Dryadborn, wooden bond racial trait.
Benefit: Whenever your wooden bonded object is within 60 feet of you, you gain a +2 racial bonus vs. fear effects. In addition, once per day, your bonded object can sprout a small number of berries (treat as goodberry spell, CL 1) as a standard action. Such berries last for 24 hours before spoiling and losing their magical properties.
Just a thought.
I suggest you check this out.
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2nu8w?Dryant-the-offspring-of-a-Dryad-who-has
I like what I'm seeing so far! I might revamp my Dryadborn a bit or make due with your "dryant" race. Intersting, I must say. Great work!
0.o This is crazy guys, I never expected it to take off like this! All great suggestions. Took a look at Arcanemuses "Dryant" Race and liked what I saw so I may end up drawing inspiration from that in the end. Though, the Treant side of things throws me a bit because I don't know that much about it. I'll have to do a bit of research.
Again, thanks so much for all of your feedback, guys!