My Pathfinder Races

[Valkyn Highwind]

I thought I start sharing the races that I've created for Pathfinder using the rules from the Advanced Race Guide. I'll start things of this the Canidae, my canine race.

Canidae: The Canidae are a proud people that value honor, tradition, friendship and spirituality. As a people they have a great love of nature and the outdoors. Whenever they take something from nature such as trees for shelter or livestock for food, they return it twice over. When taking stone and metals from the ground they do so in the least invasive manner possible. They do these things because their ancestral home was a cold, inhospitable climate and they were taught to value everything they had as if it were precious to them.

[Aralicia]

This race works well, I think. My main issue is that it is a bit too geared toward a role (the scout/skirmisher guy), and even the available Alternate Traits doesn't change that.
This race having a strong emphasis on nature and hunting isn't an issue, but I think that Alternate Traits could be a good way to represent other less common aspects of the race.
For example, how about traits like the following :

Loresinger: You have a knack remembering and singing the stories of your people. You recieve a +2 racial bonus in knowledge (history) and your choice of perform(oratory) or perform(sing). This trait replaces Nature Walk and Sharp Eyed.

Clan Runner: When your kin has learned to not be followed, you learned to go as fast as possible, in order to relay messages between clans. You can use Longstrider 1/day as a spell-like ability (caster level equals the canidae's level). This trait replaces Ghost Walker.

[Cyrad]

I think it looks fairly solid overall. However, I do have a few issues with it.

1) The write up is rather sparse. There's very little information about the race other than "we're wolf people all about honor and tradition!" The statistics feel a little bland, but serviceable.

2) None of the racial traits say what kind of abilities they are (Ex, Su, or Sp). This is specifically a problem with the Ghost Walker ability that gives pass without trace as a spell-like ability, but doesn't label it as a spell-like ability. If it's a spell-like ability, it needs a line of text that says the character can't cast it unless they meet the ability score requirement for a casting a 1st level spell. That's why other race descriptions say something like "Elves with this racial trait and an Intelligence score of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities once per day."

3) It feels really out of place that the race gets a spell-like ability when they don't seem magical at all. I could understand if Ghost Walker was an extraordinary ability, but as I mentioned above, you don't indicate it as such.

4) The alternate traits look too good. Ghost in the Wind takes away a Perception bonus (good but not as good as a feat) and a bonus to a minor skill in exchange for an ability that's better than Stealthy Sniper, an advanced rogue talent that even an unchained rogue can't get until level 10. Child of the Steppes also seems particularly powerful as abilities that increase the threshold of death are pretty rare and useful. Yet, it only replaces Thick Fur and a Survival bonus. It takes away two highly situational, minor abilities to gain a decent ability that's always useful to have on a character. At the very least, it's obvious that the alternate traits are better than what they take away.

5) So, wait, they're supposed to be honorable, but they can gain bonuses to Stealth and sniping?

6) Minor nitpick: You shouldn't refer to Pathfinder rules by page number. It looks like you went out of your way to make this look as professional as possible with enough polish to make it look like it could be a publishable product. However, referring to a rule by page number is a violation of the Pathfinder Compatibility License.

[Valkyn Highwind]

Aralicia: Those look nice. Hope you don't mind if I use them.

Cyrad: I've flagged Ghost in the Wind, and Child of the Steppes, to be repalced with something a little more reasonable. I've also noted what grade ability (Ex, Sp, Su) some things are though I'm confused as no other races I've seen in any of the books do this. I'm keeping the Ghost Walker SLA for now and will try to find a reason for them to have it if I can.

[Cyrad]

Valkyn Highwind wrote:

Aralicia: Those look nice. Hope you don't mind if I use them.

Cyrad: I've flagged Ghost in the Wind, and Child of the Steppes, to be repalced with something a little more reasonable. I've also noted what grade ability (Ex, Sp, Su) some things are though I'm confused as no other races I've seen in any of the books do this. I'm keeping the Ghost Walker SLA for now and will try to find a reason for them to have it if I can.

As I said, it's specifically a problem with the Ghost Walker as it's not clear whether it's a spell-like ability or not. Most racial traits don't have a noted ability type because they're natural abilities. If you're not sure, then look for an existing race that has a given ability. It *usually* will say in the race builder what ability type it is.

[Valkyn Highwind]

Regardless it does seem a bit much. I'll give a look at the other races as well.

[Vanity]

Valkyn Highwind wrote:

I thought I start sharing the races that I've created for Pathfinder using the rules from the Advanced Race Guide. I'll start things of this the Canidae, my canine race.

I'm inclined to agree with Cyrad on...actually, all of his points. However, perhaps I could make some suggestions that would allow you to retain the flavor.

Child of the Steppes: This can be addressed from both a thematic point, and a balance point. If these Children are born in the frozen wastes perhaps getting rid Ghost Walker (ice and rock don't leave tracks) and Sharp Eyed are a more suitable choice. Without constant need for both, they wouldn't have been likely to develop them. In a barren land where everything is sparse and creatures have camouflage, their eyes might not be as relied on as their Scent to detect prey or predators. And by removing these, as Cyrad pointed out, universally beneficial traits, it gives you some wiggle room for the wonderfully flavored Alternate trait you've developed. When it comes to the +5 Constitution bonus to stabilize, personally I wouldn't throw a fit about it, but reducing it to +2 keeps the flavor and goes a long way towards appeasing the more cautious DMs. As for the increased death cap, I would suggest getting rid of the hitdie aspect at all, and just improve it based on their Constitution modifier.

Ghost in the Wind: I'm actually not seeing a problem here, aside from Cyrad pointing out Honor/Stealth paradox. Sniping already carries a -20 penalty, so reducing it by 10 still leaves the sniper in a precarious position, especially at low levels. The claim that Rogues can only take it later is true, of course, but racial abilities can stretch that notion a bit. Winged creatures (Styriax, I believe?) can still fly all day despite Wizards not getting that ability until much higher levels.

[Valkyn Highwind]

Understood and will consider your comments, Vanity.

[Ciaran Barnes]

Wouldn't having thick fur make a creature more likely to overheat and get tired while exerting itself? I think it would do a better job of protecting a creature, like natural armor. I suggest changing either the name of the ability or what it does. Aside from that I suggest dropping the spell-like ability.

[Valkyn Highwind]

I'm considering dropping both abilities right now.

[Valkyn Highwind]

I altered Thick Fur, and dropped Ghost Walker. I also removed the alternate traits that affected Ghost Walker or the old version of Thick Fur.

[Valkyn Highwind]

Here's the rest of my races. Of them only the Dohiryuu approach the same level of completion that the Canidae were at.

Dohiryuu Medium sized, humanoid dragon-men.

Faelyn Halfling-sized Humanoid Felines with a never-ending variety, and pattern, of fur colors.

Gena Medium sized, native outisder. The Gena are made up of four subraces: Aer (Air/Electricity), Aqua (Water), Igni (Fire), and Terra (Earth/Acid).

Kynet Medium sized humanoids that display a heightened level of skill and interaction with advanced technologies.

Muhensai Medium sized, artificial humanoids. Their name, loosely translated, means boundless just like their potential.

Risen Medium sized, half-undead humanoids.

Rysan Small dragon-like humanoids with leathery wings capable of flight. Skin is composed of fine, tough scales that can range in color from dark red through the darker earth tones. Their scale coloring often makes them appear singed when this is not the case.

Soman Medium sized, humanoids that display an extraordinary affinity for languages of all types. The Soman are olive skinned humanoids with a physical build, and proportions, similiar to that of the human race but with the sharp pointed ears of the elven peoples. Their hair and eye colors come in any number of hues imaginable.

Sombra Medium sized, humanoids that make great use of darkness and shadows when not at home.

Taur'fei Medium sized, humanoids that are half elf and half minotaur. The Taur’fei are still generally Minotaur-like in appearance but their face is less bestial, and appears more elven with an elf’s pointed ears just in front of, and below a smaller set of horns that look the same as a minotaur’s only smaller. They have less body hair than a Minotaur, though they are still pretty furry, and have no tail. Their legs appear the same as a minotaur’s legs do. Their fur coloring tends toward the darker colors such as black, brown, and dark red.

Ursine Medium sized, humanoid bears.