So, I really love Pathfinder. As much as I love it though, and appreciate its setting and world, I am someone who likes to create his own world and story. And as such, I wish to create my own races and pantheon. But for now, just the races. I already created a post about the half-dwarf, which I like to think was fairly well received. And now, for the half human half Halfling. The name is a placeholder, and I'm not interested in debating whether this race could even exist; I'm just curious to see whether it seems balanced especially in reference to Paizo's core races (excluding gnomes. No gnomes in my setting). Thanks everyone!
FARLINGS:
STANDARD RACIAL TRAITS:
Size: Small
Speed: 30ft.
Ability Scores: +2 to any one score
Languages: Linguisitic (1 RP)
DEFENSE RACIAL TRAITS:
Fearless (1 RP)
FEAT AND SKILL RACIAL TRAITS:
Integrated (1 RP)
Alertness (2 RP)
Scavenger (2 RP)
OFFENSE RACIAL TRAITS:
Kneecapper (1 RP)
Weapon Familiarity (1 RP):
Farlings are proficient with bows and slings
EDIT: There are 5 other races I've designed, but let's take care of this first.
Bump?
I think that this is fairly balanced, around the relative power of a dwarf or halfling
I think that this is fairly balanced, around the relative power of a dwarf or halfling
Kind of, except this race doesn't do anything. Dwarves have Stonecunning. Halflings have Luck/Jinx. They both have alternate abilities that do interesting things. While this race has some nice skill bonuses (and +2 to any score, in my opinion, is better than +2/+2/-2 for class availability), it lacks a signature ability to set it apart from the other races.
That is to say, you may want an alternate ability or two to add a bit of flavor. It might also help to define whether you want the race to feel like a tomb raider, a kender, or a trash-scavenging urchin.
Other than that, the power level seems reasonable.
Decent, but might be a tad weak. RP rarely add add up to a balanced race. I expect to see fluff and backstory soon. Raw stats and such can be generated any of several ways, a place in the game world for them is harder.
I've seen other settings call half-Halflings "Quarterlings." Because one half of one half is one quarter.
...
Math.
Woo.
I'm working now, so can't write everything out now. The basic idea is that Halflings and Humans produce offspring, and this the result. They're approximately 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet tall, but certainly under 100lbs. In this process, they 'lose' some of the luckiness of the Halfling but compensate by increasing a Halfling's perceptive prowess and ability to accomplish things unnoticed as well as intermingle with society with (comparatively) less discrimination/hardship.
And the problem with quarterling is that Halflings are HALF in relation to Human. Thus, being half Halfling and half human, they're actually 3/4. Which is kinda dumb to make a name out of.
EDIT: Alternate features are a bit tougher to sort out. I'm just trying to produce a decent baseline for now.
Also, mostly unrelated, but with RP not necessarily being a good indicator of things, how good is:
Spell Resistance, Lesser (2 RP)
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Members of this race gain spell resistance equal to 6 + their character level.
?
Bump/help?
meh
Combined with a racial feat might work.
And where is the RP story? Are these just Humans with a magic quirk? Do they have divine tendencies from the Blood spilt? Presuming this is a 'stable' mutation, are there negative side effects. A friend had the idea that the divine blood you were most exposed to could be seen in your body mutating Humans into half-Elves and half-orcs, their origin in his world. A similar origin could explain the AAsimar and Tiefling.
meh
Combined with a racial feat might work.
And where is the RP story? Are these just Humans with a magic quirk? Do they have divine tendencies from the Blood spilt? Presuming this is a 'stable' mutation, are there negative side effects. A friend had the idea that the divine blood you were most exposed to could be seen in your body mutating Humans into half-Elves and half-orcs, their origin in his world. A similar origin could explain the AAsimar and Tiefling.
I'm gonna be honest. I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Is the meh a reference to Spell Resistance, or the whole thing?
And I don't know what you're asking about the RP thing, either. They're what happen when humans and Halfling (invariably, I feel) intermingle and well, breed with each other. Like, why is it a given that half-elves are a thing, but not these guys? Because Paizo said so? Or Wizards of the Coast before them? Or Tolkien before that? And the result of the interbreeding (because this is fantasy, after all) is this stable and new race.
I think it's an incompatibility issue. The organic mechanics may be a (forgive the term) bit of a stretch. Dragons, demons, orcs, humans, and elves share (sometimes through magical means) the same size category. It's not even a matter of the act itself, but more the gestation and delivery of a being that is substantially larger than the gestating host. Dwarves would possibly be the notable exception.
But humans in real life with dwarfism can have children without... And I sincerely hope nothing in that statement was offensive.
Not to mention women that are about 5 ft tall having children over 6 ft. Because that's about the difference I'm talking about here. 3ft Halfling, 4 1/4 ft Farling.
EDIT: I think it should be obvious that I meant children who grow to be over six feet, not born that large.
Yes, and then you factor in the fact that bear cubs are born roughly the size of walnuts... life just isn't fair sometimes. I used to work in Labor and Delivery, so I know there are possibilities... just don't know if corner cases need a stat block. You could easily play a tall halfling or short human as written and just flavor the backstory as desired.
Yes, and then you factor in the fact that bear cubs are born roughly the size of walnuts... life just isn't fair sometimes. I used to work in Labor and Delivery, so I know there are possibilities... just don't know if corner cases need a stat block. You could easily play a tall halfling or short human as written and just flavor the backstory as desired.
I think I see where you're coming from. But my biggest concern was the balance of the class, as in, is it, compared to the other core races? The flavor of the race is meant to combine the practicality of humans with the cageyness of halflings. Less lucky-magical than halflings, but almost even MORE perceptive to make up for it, as well as more integrated into society and less of, well, an oddity.
Honestly, the reason for making them is twofold. It's to round out the last of the half-races in my Homebrew, and to have a small race with a +2 to any stat. At this point I'm basically wondering if they're overpowered (doubtful), underpowered (potentially), and about the flavor and whether they're racial qualities fit.
Example:
'meh' is used for 'I read it and was left neither liking or hating' or as I tell students: 'you can do better'. in this case, the SR is that neither.
SRY, RP is short for role play. Our group goes deep into such. Dwarves and elves don't actually fight, but their cultural philosophies clash...hard! We had a pair arguing over how best to serve meat in the middle of a fight, a bit over the top, but memorable. Totally improvised and player driven, the GM having the good sense to not call them. To this day, every player remembers the argument but not the foes, Troglodytes, I think.
With half-elves, the stock is social pariah in both cultures, but in mine, the nobility is primarily 1/2E and the very core of society. Another has Elves as plants (Runequest) and Dwarves cut from stone. The twist on role play gets weird fast. One has the Elf as the half-elf, real Elves being vaguely divine and not for PCs. In each world, the GM made sure there was a background to swing from, allowing players to fill in blanks. The problems of logging suddenly take on a survival theme with the plant-elves! And there culture would be more like the start of Highlander where another hunts down the new elf and teaches it what's what. Less internecine, I hope.
Halflings in my game are a branch of humans, of which there are several, and few really notice differences what with the cosmopolitan world I run. When your boarder has horns, hoofs and a tail, who notices a difference in height? Halflings still have a culture of their own, often at odds with the stuffy world of the Taluns (tall ones), hence rogues as they are skill monkeys for real.
@Bwang
Ha! Sorry, I know what meh and RP mean. I just wasn't sure what you were referring to specifically.
For Spell Resistance Lesser, I didn't mean it for this race. I was just asking how good it was when building a race. Like, how good mechanically.
As for RP, in my setting Halflings are a distinct race and kind of incorporate the mischief and cheeriness of gnomes (since there are none) into their own propensity for stealthiness and luck.
So, Farlings are different inasmuch as they're somewhat more proud and less relaxed. Like, they recognize that they're often disadvantaged compared to larger races, but take almost a perverse pride in that and in overcoming it. They are also rather industrious. They are kind of obsessed with proving themselves. Specifically, proving themselves the equal of both humans and halflings. In pretty much every way.
Also, gonna switch out Fearless (1 RP) for Illusion Resistance (1 RP).
And switching Weapon proficiency to flail and heavy flail proficiency.
Adding options to switch out the flail proficiencies for bows and slings along with trading Kneecapper for Hatred - Goblinoids.
So now it's like this:
FARLINGS:
STANDARD RACIAL TRAITS:
Size: Small
Speed: 30ft.
Ability Scores: +2 to any one score
Languages:
Linguisitic (1 RP)
DEFENSE RACIAL TRAITS:
Illusion Resistance (1 RP)
FEAT AND SKILL RACIAL TRAITS:
Integrated (1 RP)
Alertness (2 RP)
Scavenger (2 RP)
OFFENSE RACIAL TRAITS:
Kneecapper (1 RP)
Weapon Familiarity (1 RP):
Farlings are proficient with flails and heavy flails
ALTERNATE RACIAL TRAITS:
1. Self-sufficiency: Switch Weapon Familiarity - flails and heavy flails - (1 RP) and Kneecapper (1 RP) for:
Weapon Familiarity - slings and bows (1 RP) and Hatred - Goblinoids and Orcs
And to Reiterate:
Farlings are distinct from Halflings inasmuch as they're somewhat more proud and less relaxed. Like, they recognize that they're often disadvantaged compared to larger races, but take almost a perverse pride in that and in overcoming it. They are also rather industrious. They are kind of obsessed with proving themselves. Specifically, proving themselves the equal of both humans and halflings. In pretty much every way.