Pathfinder likes to give options for player to play "monsters". Basically, anything can be a "player race". It just comes down to what you allow in your campaign. Personally, I don't like to open the Bestiary for players to pick and choose their races. I might allow the odd "monster" in a group, but it's very rare and only with a great back story. Simply saying, "Oh! I like what duergars can do. Can I play one", is a definite NO for me. It takes away some of the mystique if players just use a Besiary as an extended race guide. So, in other words, it's all up to you whether it's a player race or not. If your "huh meter" is going off, it's probably a good indication that you should say no.
For people who aren't aware, Duergar Tyrant is given a racial statblock in Occult Bestiary. They're intended for GM's to use to make NPC's though, they're not balanced as a player race (though it doesn't say that anywhere which is stupid as hell).
These "xx as characters" entries say only how to create characters of these races, not whether they are of a balanced power level compared to other races. The Duergar Tyrant from the Occult Bestiary, along with such races as the Munavri and the Drow Noble, is definitely more powerful than a standard Duergar, let alone a member of a core race.
And the Hobgoblin entry in the PRD and in the Bestiary does have such an entry -- and it is not insanely more powerful than a core race as the previously mentioned races are.
For people who aren't aware, Duergar Tyrant is given a racial statblock in Occult Bestiary. They're intended for GM's to use to make NPC's though, they're not balanced as a player race (though it doesn't say that anywhere which is stupid as hell).
They do give one subtle clue to that effect when they state that their CR equals their character level. Drow nobles have a similar statement in their entry. A race that is balanced against core races or only marginally more or less powerful would have a CR one point less than their character level.
Duergar Tyrants racial stats are listed at the bottom of this page.
The Duergar Tyrant gets many of the abilities of a Kineticist in addition to everything their actual class gives them. They also get +6 net attribute bonuses and spell resistance.
They don't sound well balanced with the regular races.
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Nothing is a player race unless the DM says it is.
Personally, I include a list of campaign accepted races in the character creation guidelines for all campaigns I run.
I recommend letting him play the Duergar tyrant and then let everyone else play Ancient Silver Dragons, they are in the bestiary too and it would amuse me to see a munchkin caught out.
More seriously what is suitable as a player race depends on two things
1)relative power level , all the races should be comparable to each other
2) Campaign fit. Some races may not exist in your campaign world or may otherwise inappropriate. In many campaigns races like Duegar and Drow are inappropriate as they are not found locally to the campaign area
I recommend letting him play the Duergar tyrant and then let everyone else play Ancient Silver Dragons, they are in the bestiary too and it would amuse me to see a munchkin caught out.
There is a pretty big difference between a NPC entry which include a specific section on using members of that species as a race, and a monster entry of a high level creature without any specific racial provisions.
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The Advanced Race Guide and Inner Sea Races defined three 'power levels' for races; Standard, Advanced, and Monstrous. The vast majority of Pathfinder races with character stats provided are 'Standard' races. Duergar Tyrants are a 'Monstrous' race. Even regular Duergar are an 'Advanced' race.
Thus, a Duergar Tyrant in a party with Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and other 'Standard' races would be unbalanced unless the GM made adjustments (to weaken the tyrant or empower the other characters).
I recommend letting him play the Duergar tyrant and then let everyone else play Ancient Silver Dragons, they are in the bestiary too and it would amuse me to see a munchkin caught out.There is a pretty big difference between a NPC entry which include a specific section on using members of that species as a race, and a monster entry of a high level creature without any specific racial provisions.
I was joking.
I might actually do it if a player actually tried something like the Duergar tyrant on me , but more likely I would laugh at him , but I don't have these sort of problems with any current group
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Really, the core rulebook races should be available in most standard campaigns without any balance issues. Anything else is up to GM approval. Personally, I'm pretty loose about it as long as the choice won't be disruptive. Right now, I'm running a Shattered Star campaign where the party has a goblin, a kobold, and a sylph.
The fact that the race choice is setting off warnings in your head is a good indication that you should probably not allow it.
I personally give point buy based on Race, so you can be a Centaur but you get decreased point buy for it. The only "weak" race I give increased point buy for is the lovable Kobold. Honestly if you can't make it balanced then don't allow it. A basic Duergar is balanced, but a Tyrant is pretty strong, I'd give 10 less point buy if it were me. Which would probably cause him to take regular Duergar which is fine.
I personally give point buy based on Race, so you can be a Centaur but you get decreased point buy for it. The only "weak" race I give increased point buy for is the lovable Kobold. Honestly if you can't make it balanced then don't allow it. A basic Duergar is balanced, but a Tyrant is pretty strong, I'd give 10 less point buy if it were me. Which would probably cause him to take regular Duergar which is fine.
Too much work.
I just whitelist what I approve of. If you want something not on the whitelist, sell it to me based on the it's merits.
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A player wants to bring in a duergar tyrant. The rules give stats for a player character but my 'huh' meter is going off big-time.
Are they considered a legitimate player race?
The entry does give full player character information which confuses me, because a race like hobgoblin does not.
Thanks!
Trust your gut.
Pretty much anything with a racial statblock *can* be a player race, it's up to the GM to say "no" to certain things because they don't fit the power level, setting, or theme of the campaign (though it's good form to suggest that a player would be able to play that character in a different campaign.)
Trust your gut, it's no worse to say "hey, a Grindylow PC probably won't work in this desert campaign" than it is to say "hey, a Paladin PC probably won't work in this 'let's be pirates' campaign."
I mean, at least the player isn't walking up to you with a custom built race and custom homebrew racial archetype.
I, uh, had that happen once...