Advice about creating a balanced construct playable race?

[Brumallan]

Hey guys, I'm making a campaign for a group of fairly experienced pathfinder players, and I want to make things a bit unique to start by making character creation race options a choice between 7 homebrew races. I've made the majority of them and they all thus far fall within the 'standard' RP range - usually 9-10. Now I'm trying to build a construct race to go with them, but the Construct race type is a whopping 20 base RP cost.

I've considered just changing them to half-constructs, but it works a lot better within the world and their race history if I could avoid that, and I've instead brainstormed ideas for weaknesses that would work to balance a construct race against the ones that I've already made. What I was wondering was if you guys have experience with creating balanced races, and which ideas work vs should be tossed out, or even if you can think of other weaknesses of your own.

Thank you all in advance! :)

Weakness ideas:

Cumbersome: The Elderguard take a -2 racial to their Armour Check Penalty

Dense Body: Elderguard take a -20 to their swim checks. (Less of a save-or-die then it could be since they don't breathe, and this particular campaign takes place far from any oceans, but certainly still a cause for worry).

Class Restrictions: I've considered different versions of a class restriction, such as preventing them from taking levels in a divine spellcaster class. I think players could make the argument for a sorcerer or wizard Elderguard, but divine would be much more of a stretch.

Slow reactions: Initiative and reflex saves take a -2 penalty.

Most of the other ideas that I've had were too complex or too inconvenient for most players to still keep interest in trying them out, but maybe you guys can give me advice or better ideas!

[Suthainn]

Would the Paizo Android race be what you were looking for perhaps? If not it's certainly a good starting point to see where you can go with a construct race I think and might spur some ideas.

[graystone]

Constructs already have enough weaknesses so I don't think you have to add more. They already have to figure out how to heal themselves while everyone else can just rest or get healing spells cast on them.

[Brumallan]

Suthainn wrote:

Would the Paizo Android race be what you were looking for perhaps? If not it's certainly a good starting point to see where you can go with a construct race I think and might spur some ideas.

I've actually never read the Android race before tonight, but that's actually very helpful :) it matches the flavour of the type of construct I'm going for more closely. Thank you!

[Brumallan]

graystone wrote:

Constructs already have enough weaknesses so I don't think you have to add more. They already have to figure out how to heal themselves while everyone else can just rest or get healing spells cast on them.

That's a fair point, and especially if the campaign were to start at low levels it'd be nearly impossible for them to heal. I had planned on actually letting them heal in the various ruins of their now-gone creators, sort of a "their latent magical fields heals you slowly, repairing you" explanation so they weren't too out of luck, but my worry was that it would result in the construct player leaving the party too frequently to hunt down a ruin and heal up.

[graystone]

Brumallan wrote:

graystone wrote:

Constructs already have enough weaknesses so I don't think you have to add more. They already have to figure out how to heal themselves while everyone else can just rest or get healing spells cast on them.

That's a fair point, and especially if the campaign were to start at low levels it'd be nearly impossible for them to heal. I had planned on actually letting them heal in the various ruins of their now-gone creators, sort of a "their latent magical fields heals you slowly, repairing you" explanation so they weren't too out of luck, but my worry was that it would result in the construct player leaving the party too frequently to hunt down a ruin and heal up.

They aren't totally without recourse. Infernal Healing will work on them and will most likely be the 'go to' healing for them. Impossible bloodline sorcerers can also use normal healing spells on them. Hunter [Verminous Hunter] can also shoot it's AC and take Vermin Focus [Worm] for fast healing 1 and a 25% chance to treat any critical hit or sneak attack as a normal hit.

Once you get a few levels, it becomes much easier for healing. The new Tech Guide also added some new spells like Greater Make Whole and Memory of Function that make the constructs life easier.

I'm a fan of Suthainn suggestion of Android. They've gotten some new feats (Empathy, Extra Surge, Rapid Recovery, Rapid Repair, Nanite Disruption) and traits (Blood Algorithm, Cellular Match, Nanite Revival) in the people of the stars book. There is also the Ecology of the Android in the first module of the AP Iron Gods, Fires of Creation pg#68-73 that give you insight into them and gives you variants like Child, Undead and non-human Androids.