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I quite like the idea of giant kin PC races whether they're Half-Giants from Dark Sun or Goliaths from 4th ed. I've looked into Golarion lore and see that Ogres take the design space of half giants and aren't exactly appropriate for PCs and so I've chosen to go with Half-Ogres instead.
Half-Ogre
Ogres are infamous for their inbreeding and other vile activities. Half-ogres aren't as rare as these rumors would have people believe, but with deformities among ogres so common they can often be overlooked and considered to be a true ogre. However from time to time a half ogre may find itself among humans where it will struggle to fit into their society, often relegated to menial labour due to their size and appearance.
Type: Humanoid (human, giant) (0 RP)
+2 to any one ability score (0 RP)
Size: Medium (0 RP)
Speed: Normal (0 RP)
Vision: Low light vision (1 RP)
Natural Armor (1 RP): +1 natural armor
Mountaineer (1 RP): immune to altitude sickness and don't lose Dex to AC when climbing or crossing narrow ledges.
Stubborn (2 RP): +2 racial bonus against charm and compulsion effects and if failed may make a second check on their next turn.
Relentless (1 RP): +2 to bull rush and overrun checks.
Weapon Familiarity: proficient with greatclubs and ogre hooks. (1 RP)
Light sensivity (-2 RP): Dazzled when in bright light.
Languages: Linguist starting with common and giant (1 RP)
Alternate racial traits:
Bond to the land (2 RP): replaces mountaineer and natural armor
Cave Dweller (1 RP): replaces mountaineer
Urbanite (1 RP): replaces mountaineer
Bite (1 RP): Replaces weapon familiarity
Weak willed (0 RP): You lose light sensitivity but also lose stubborn.
Darkvision (2 RP): This replaces lowlight vision and relentless.
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I based this on the ogre and Ogrekin entries. I decided to go with a medium size as ogres are rather small for giants.. I also decided on the flexible human bonus rather than +4 strength as that's what the other core half races get. I looked for ways to include the weaknesses from Ogrekin without forcing players to take them.
What do people think? Is this balanced against the core races? Does this feel like a half-ogre to you?
I appreciate what you're trying to do here. I've been attempting to craft/rewrite a bunch of races recently. My first suggestion would be trying to fit in something size related. The whole point of giant kin is that they're, well... giant.
Though the 3.5 Half-ogre was pretty broken, I did like some of the large, but not quite "Large" benefits they gained.
for instance: Powerful Build (Ex): +4 to grapple, bull rush, overrun. You are considered size category large for wielding weapons and determining natural attack damage, and carrying capacity. (That probably has a hefty RP value, and I would probably drop the carrying capacity bonus, but it does give a notion of how close they are to being officially large. If you want to mitigate the benefits a bit, you can always grant them the large penalties to hit and/or AC)
I would drop the human stat bonus, and focus on upping their physical stats at the detriment of their mental. While not as strong or dumb as true ogres, I feel that that crossbreeding wouldn't allow for the level of flexibility that half-orcs and half-elfs receive. Maybe a paragon Ability score modifier focusing on strength or con.
Hey neato. I would definitely suggest sticking Powerful Build in there like Rawhead says.
Thanks Rawhead UsagiTaicho.
How about in place of resilient:
Powerful Grip (3 RP): +2 to grapple checks and your considered large for when determining who you can target.
Total race cost: 8 RP
I've played several half-ogres through several editions of the game.
All based on the article in Dragon Magazine #73 & Best of Dragon Vol.4.
Even had a 1st edition campaign where they were as common as half-elves & half-orcs, and they even had their own clans.
Used bastard swords, long spears and custom racial throwing weapons modeled on Star Trek episode "Friday's Child", Cappelan kligats. I think we gave them the ranges for darts used but 10# each & on a nat 20 a strength check to knock down a medium target. Damage was as a heavy crossbow. They could also throw longspears.
Tribal members had to go on a walkabout when 14(?).
Almost no changes were ever needed, just updating for skills and minor details like powerful build instead of being large. High Str & Con, average Dex & Cha, low Int & Wis (kinda).