I'm starting up a new campaign, and as part of the process, I want to make sure that players have -exactly- the character that they want to play. I've already had them describe the character (their most ideal character, without mentioning any class/race) and 8 scenarios with them explaining how this character would handle the scenario.
We are currently working on classes, because I intend to house rule things in a manner that they can play their ideal character (hence the recent "Temporal Bard" thread, for the guy who wants to play a highly charismatic time traveller).
I'm also thinking of letting them home-brew their own races, and whatever they home-brew, making sure that their creation is the 'standard' for that race. I will force them to pick an existing race and modify it, but only if it's a thematic change...
I've never let people home-brew races before, and never had the pleasure of playing in a game with a home-brew race, so first thing I'm asking the community is, if there's anything I need to make sure to avoid?
My intent is to allow them to start with an 12RP race, and allow them to "evolve" (something that won't be so common amongst the races in game) by 1RP per level (2RP at 2nd level).
For example, having tested this as if I was the player instead of the GM, I was thinking of taking the Sylph Race, 3 points into Outsider (Air), 5 points into Sneaky (+4 Stealth) and 4 points into Flight (Clumsy/30'). Each 4 levels, add another level of flight so he has the max flight by level 12. (Can't imagine the game would go past level 12, but if it does, that shouldn't be a problem).
I realize the guy playing the catfolk will likely jump on a chance to maximize natural attacks, but since thematic is a thing, he obviously would be limited to claws and a bite at best, maybe a slapping tail...
Seem fair? Or is there a reason people don't let players create their own races? :P
I'm also thinking of letting them home-brew their own races, and whatever they home-brew, making sure that their creation is the 'standard' for that race.
It's a cool idea, but I'm not sure it's a good idea. Adventurers are oddballs. Having a whole race with the same "theme" as the PC kinda takes away some of the player's thunder.
Plus it's a lot of work for you to create a realm for a new race; with the added risk that it clashes with the player's vision after all.
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I agree with what VRMH said, more or less. Your PCs can certainly epitomize many of the qualities of their race (dwarves are tough and spiritual and love to drink, orcs are strong and crude and belligerent, gnomes are jolly and mischievous and have an affinity for machines, elves are smart and graceful and good at magic, etc), but by definition of what it means to be a PC, they ought not simply be "the standard."
What you might do is look at your PCs as they come out, then extrapolate what an entire civilization of people sort of like this, but without the exceptional qualities that makes a PC a PC, would look like. For example: Does one of your players make up a race of flying budgerigar-people who are small but quick and charismatic, have a gift for languages, can survive on very sparse vital necessities, and are good at creative teamwork? Such a race as a whole might be a NG-leaning civilization of nomads, diplomats, and fair-minded traders who are generally well-liked by other races and valued as intermediaries and wilderness guides, but are also sometimes taken advantage of, or used as slaves or scapegoats.
I am talking mechanics, not roleplaying, of course. The standardized elf is +2Dex/Int, -2Con with certain racial traits.
So, if someone were to plan an elf and change the traits of that race, for my game I would convert elves to have those traits by default. That is no more making all elves act like the character than it is to say that all standard elves are the same...
However, being the houserule forum, the real questions are about the mechanics. Are the race creation rules balanced? Are there things to watch out for? Is there an abuse of the system that stops people from allowing their PCs to create their own races?
End result I kinda hope, is to play a fantasy game that doesnt have humans, elves, dwarves, etc, but all home generated races, stepping out of tolkien without stepping out of fantasy. Where the primary races of the game are the favorite home gen races they develop...
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The one thing to keep in mind is that sometimes RP values are written at having values not indicative of their strength, especially in relation to each other. Some examples:
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Members of this race gain a +1 bonus to CMD.
Prerequisites: Advanced or monstrous power level.
Modifiers: Pick either mental or physical ability scores. Members of this race gain a +2 bonus to all of those scores, a +4 bonus to one score of the other type, and a –2 penalty to one other ability score of the other type.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Members of this race receive a +2 racial bonus to Strength.
Special: This bonus can be taken multiple times, but each additional time it is taken, its cost increases by 1 RP. Its effects stack.
Natural Armor (2 RP)
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Members of this race gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
Improved Natural Armor (1 RP)
Prerequisites: Natural armor racial trait.
Benefit: Members of this race gain a +1 natural armor bonus.
Special: This racial trait can be taken multiple times. Each additional time you take this trait, increase its cost by 1 RP. Its effects stack.
Your players can make some seriously over-powered racial stuff if they chose, and you're going to have to judge once in a while if an option is simply too strong for the RP value. And as you already mentioned, the natural attack options would be highly prized. Very low RP value on an extremely powerful attack style.
My Leveled Mutations (I would have liked more other player input) are built around 20th level max, but you can speed it up. At 5th, 10th, and 15th level you can -1 from the level attainable. Go to Leveled Mutations. As racial traits, they may more stable. Pixie midges might just be tiny, like Tinkerbelle.
Spriggans spring up, so they could seem to be normal sized Gnomes till they relax and become their true size. Exploring a dungeon, they might not have room to expand. If they were knocked unconscious, everyone could be pinned against the walls. You can see how drawbacks can reduce point costs. So can defects. Natural weaponry can come with -2 to dex, with arm and hands. Having a snout full of sharp teeth might result in -2 charisma only with social interaction. -2 DC for command and suggestion because they can be hard to understand.
The race building guidelines exist as a tool to help GMs create custom races. They're not intended for players to use on their own. Giving your players a RP budget and letting them cherrypick whatever abilities they want from the book is a really bad idea.
If you want players to create their own races, then have them describe the race to you and then you stat the race using the race building guidelines.
Take it from me, a designer who played two custom races of his own creation and statted out a race for a player who had pictures and stories commissioned for his fantasy race.
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Well, the races are in. :) You can tell me if they went overboard. :P
Of note: I house-ruled that Darkvision was not allowed as a freebie, so the guy that took Outsider, lost darkvision for lowlight vision, lowering the cost of outsider to 2 instead of 3. :)
I've been having fun making the world with the races in mind... they all took an "animal" type race. There's a Reptile Outsider, 2 Canine Humanoids, 1 Feline Humanoid and 1 Shapeshifter.
The first is a Dragonbourne (Outsider/Reptile). He wanted to make a dragon-kind, but 10 pts out of the 12pt limit was too much to do anything interesting. He chose Outsider to get some "fire" stuff that he wanted. He went Advanced on attributes: +2 to all Physicals, +4 to Charisma, -2 to Wisdom. Fire in the Blood, and Damage Resistance, Moon Touched.
The 2nd was a Tigroid (Humanoid/Feline). +2 Dex, +2 Con (Flexible). Low Light Vision, Silent Hunter, Nimble Attacks, Climb, Claws and Bite.
Next was the Shapeshifter (Humanoid). +2 Dex, +2 Wis (Flexible). Greater Change Shape, Greater Lucky.
Then a Wulfen (Humanoid/Canine). +2 Wis, +2 Dex, -2 Cha (Standard). 120' Darkvision, Lowlight vision, Scent, Keen Senses, Stalker, Fearless.
Lastly Gnogg (Humanoid/Canine) +2 Cha, +2 Con, -2 Wis (Standard). Lowlight vision, Emissary, Silver Tongues, Gnome Magic (no gnomes in the world, so ignoring subtypes), Urbanite, Skill Training (Diplomacy/Bluff), Elven Immunities.
Here's my ideas... The Canine Races and Feline Races have had a long standing enmity going on, put recently to an end by the Dragonbourne who hold the peace. The Dragonbourne are obviously the toughest and most dangerous of the races, and their high Physical and Charisma supports a large retinue of Paladins amongst the race. They're the "dwarves" of the setting, sticking to the mountains and only having come out to put an end to the centuries long war when it started spilling into their domains.
The canines are the "humans" of this setting, populating huge cities, particularly the Gnogg ones, the Wulfen tend to stick to the wilderness. They're not only the most civilized, they're the most numerous.
The felines are the "elves" of the setting, sticking to trees, and practicing magics (mostly divine, none of the major races are int based, though int is also not a weakness anywhere either). These have rituals from birth that teach and recall the gods to their children in complete contrast tot he Gnoggs which have dropped the idea of worship almost entirely.
Then there are the shapechangers/mutants, which are not so much a race as a mutation. 1 in nearly 200 of those born into any of the 3 races, or any of the other races of the setting (which will include minorities in Ratfolk Tengu Etc), are born unable to maintain their shape. In the past they were quickly killed to stop the "demons", but as the Gnogg race dropped belief in the gods, they also decided it must be something other than a demon. Together with the feline races, they created "temples" in where the children were taught to control their shape. Now, centuries later, they maintain themselves, and only the mutated are allowed to enter the Temple (AKA: Temple of the Faceless God, perhaps slightly borrowed from GoT).
The races are only now becoming familiar/friendly with each other, and it is no longer an oddity to see a member of one race, in the domain of another. A "peaceful" time.
There are also 4 other prevalent sentient races in the setting, they are slaves, and nobody has ever thought twice about them. The idea of "Freedom" never entered the minds of anyone... you're born into your station, and you die from there. However some of the Gnoggs have started to oppose the idea of slavery and are determined to free these slaves in this lifetime. Those are the elementals, also known as Ifrit, Sylph, Oread and Undine. There are also Suli, but a suli is the equivalent of the mutants, and are sent to work as slaves at the Temple to the Faceless God.
What isn't known is that the Suli's were "freed" within the 1st generation of the shapechangers, and are considered as equals to the mutants. It's the Mutants, masquerading, that have started the efforts to free the elemental races.
And, as if this political turmoil wasn't enough, a new race has appeared on the coast, a gigantic sphere blocking all passage as well as spells, covers several miles of land at the coast, and beneath this globe can be seen horrific looking pale skinned, furless creatures that are building a steel city at an incredible rate. They lack claws, wear clothing, and have teeth like a goat or sheep (herbivorish), so are not considered to be a real threat, but nobody can understand the globe.
Haven't finished rounding out all the edges, but it's a start. :)
Some suggestions: first, don't allow the Dragonbourne to have Advanced attributes. Way too powerful. Cut him back to Flexible, Paragon or Greater Paragon. If he really wants a bunch of pumped stats, have him use the rules for the Advanced Ability Score traits I wrote below.
I also wouldn't allow damage resistance. If he really wants DR, let him get DR 5/bludgeoning or piercing (his scaly skin is resistant to slashing attacks) for 2rp. Or let him get the bonus to natural AC trait, but never more than +2.
Don't let the Gnogg use Emissary with feint checks. +4 is enough and it's not in flavor for the trait.
Everything else seems fine.
When they advance in level, don't allow the Advanced Ability Score traits as written. I would change it so it costs 2rp but can only be taken for a stat that doesn't already have a racial bonus. The trait can be taken multiple times, but each time beyond the first costs 3rp.
I'm glad to see that none of them took the Static Bonus Feat trait. I would only ever allow that for one of the more useless feats, like Endurance. Otherwise I would make them spend the 4rp for the Flexible Bonus Feat trait.
Yeah, I sort of figured out the Advanced Traits was ovepowered when he came at me with an 18/18/18/18/10/10 stat spread... His character was reworked to be a dragon type, with subcategory of fire, going over the 12pt limit, but balancing things out. And then he couldn't afford the DR anymore, so that fixed that. :P Will check your Advanced Ability Score traits and see if they're something he's interested in.
I'll let the Gnogg know not to feint with it, but he's playing a Bard with minimal physicals, so I don't think that was ever his plan, though he's likely going to Bluff/Stealth a lot. :)
Hmmm, can't find your Advanced Ability Score trait. :/
It's under the Ability Score Racial Traits section. There's six Advanced "stat" traits, one for each stat. What I'm suggesting is to not use them as written. Allow them to only buy one of them for a stat that doesn't already get a boost, at the reduced cost of 2rp, and then each additional one they buy (once again, only for stats that don't have a boost) costs 3rp.
Otherwise a cheese monkey could make a race like this:
Orc of the Swol, 12RP
+8 str, -2 int, -2 wis, -2 cha
Darkvision 60'
(Paragon 1rp, Advanced Strength 4rp, Advanced Strength 5rp, Darkvision 2rp)
Ah, I see what you mean. Ok.
His final race selection (Which did end up as 12pts after all, because I forgot to discount the Darkvision):
Dragon (10pts)
Standard (+2Cha, +2Str, -2Wis)
No Darkvision (-2pts)
Elemental Assault (Fire) (1pt)
Pyromaniac (3pts)
Making a Paladin Greater-Oathbound (Oath against Undeath).
Feels a lot more balanced. :P
For all 12 RP, you could indeed have +5 Natural Armor... or a crap-ton of Natural Attacks. However, you would 'make' the race, not play it, just as the dragonborn did. Then we sit down and figure out if it's balanced, run some numbers, and draw out what this Gore/Slam/Talons/Wings/Claws/Bite race actually looks like.
However, I think I'd be ok with a +5 Natural Armor (which would be less effective than a +4 Natural Armour and some DR 5/Silver or Cold Iron). But since theme is equally important, it wouldn't be a Kobold race, it'd likely be a version of the Oread without the Outsider template of course (bound to 12 RP). And having someone that went the Natural Attacks route, I had already added in the max of 2 Natural Attack traits (which ended up as Claws and Bite), limitation. :)
You missed the point I'm afraid (or perhaps I am misunderstanding you). The allowance was that they could 'build' their own race. Not take a race, and add on to it. This wasn't intended to stack on with an existing race. :) The allowance that let them continue to add on to their race as they level'd (1RP per level) was to duplicate racial feats without requiring feat slots, via progression.
Your math is a bit off... if you went with a purely natural armour build, you'd have 2+1+2+3+4 (+5 starting), +1 at 5th level, +1 at 11th level +1 at 18th level for +8 max. I'd allow it, though I'd recommend a more advantageous use of the points.
Well, with 12 points, and a base cost of 4, that's +4 Dex max to begin with. Assuming you'd go with Greater Paragon for +8 starting, you'd be at +12 max by 20th level... So yeah, I could see me blocking access to Advanced <Ability> past a single use of it...
Fast Healing is Monstrous though, I limited it to Advance in the 1st post.
Another way to pursue this is to look at Rite Publishing's In the Company of Monsters series of supplements, each of which include what RP called a racial paragon class. This is a character class that epitomizes what a given race is best known for (in folklore or literature).
For example, kappa (those weird Japanese turtle-shelled humanoids). In Japanese folklore, kappa are known to be remarkably strong wrestlers despite their small size with a penchant for breaking bones (and healing them). They are closely associated with water. Thus Rite Publishing offers the Bone-breaker racial paragon class for kappa.
Rite Publishing offers racial paragon classes for: angels, dragons, giants, gargoyles, ironborn (constructs), fey, hengeyokai, kappa, medusa, minotaurs, tengu, and few custom races like wyrd (half oni/half elf) and a few others.