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Some Races I Made - Fine-tuning

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Here's the races for a campagin I'm working on. I'd like to fine-tune them a little bit more before starting the campaign.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Umm.....

So, I'm guessing these races are for a Gestalt game? 'Bound to Magic' seems to imply this, at least.

As far as I can tell, it would seem as if you gave Transformed Dragons the 'mixed weakness' quality to justify granting them additional racial points over the standard human race. Which is something I think is a mistake.

The race builder is a very criticized tool, as you can build races of very varying amount of power with the same number of racial points. What you should be doing is to compare the new races with the existing races, and decide if you feel that the difference in power is manageable.

As it is, I'd probably prefer to play as a normal human instead of any transformed dragon, since the ability score modifiers are really restrictive (this might not be as much of a problem if you're playing with a 30 point buy or something).

For example, let's say I want to make a transformed dragon wizard. Illumination and Vengeance both provide an Intelligence bonus, with Illumination being a better fit flavor-wise. But now I'm stuck with a -4 penalty to Constitution, which is a major setback.

So then I'll have to ask myself:

"Is Darkvision, +1 Natural Armor and +2 to Dex worth a -2 penalty to Fortitude, and -2 HP/Hit Dice?"

*****************

I'd refrain from using the 'mixed weakness' modifier. Skip the -4, and give the different transformations a minor penalty to specific saves to reflect on their origin (if you want them to be about as viable as humans).

Looked it over. Gave some opinions.

Thanks for the feedback. I made some changes.

Now for some flavor text and polish.

I'm using the Modern Path, Spheres of Might/Spheres of Power, and gestalt rules in addition to official Paizo stuff for this campaign.

Campaign Story:
In the Medieval Era:
Humans and the True Gods, who spawned all of the fantastical creatures of the world and are sustained by the use of magic by humans, had lived peacefully for millennia, but humans have started to turn their backs on magic in this era. Fearful that they would fade from the world, the True Gods collectively cursed the humans to never being able to avoid magic entirely, gaining a second, Draconic form that has magic grafted into its very essence. The last nine faithful followers of the True Gods, viewing this curse as a blessing, volunteered to transform and convince the humans to return to magic. These followers ultimately failed and were forced into hiding.

The Modern Era (201X):
The world appears much like the real world. However, all humans have been unified under a single language (Common) and currency (Credits; one credit is equivalent to one copper piece) by an international government alliance called the Union. Regional languages exist, but are used mostly for private or personal conversations, and all other forms of currency has been outlawed. The True Gods still survive, if only because of the Dragons in hiding. Fantastic creatures have become very Very VERY few and far between, and are hollow husks of themselves, designed only to force humans into using magic.

At the start of the campaign, a Dragon (a 3rd-month Dragon of Vengeance with the Quadruped Mutation) who goes by Loxsis has been hacking all of the screens in the world for a month, demanding civil rights for Dragons, claiming that Dragons are actually humans, and that the human genome contains 150 more chromasomes than originally determined. The Union seems interested in the points Loxsis makes, and forbids all attempts to arrest or punish him involving his hacked messages. The PCs start in a 1960s-themed dinner in New York City during the Spring Break week. Loxsis hacks the screens again, claiming that a human will transform into a Dragon if their heart rate ever exceeds 120 bpm. Panic sets in when people try to work their heart rates up, only to discover that what Loxsis is saying is true, and so the campaign begins...

Any trait name changes or flavor text I should add?

Should I change the names for Bound to Magic and Self-Made Hubris?

I'm not familiar with The Modern Path so it may affect things in ways I'm not familiar with.

I like the way you incorporated flight into the races. However, you're going to need to have many instances of anti-magic to justify the power differences between the extraordinary and supernatural flight since outside antimagic fields supernatural is superior to extraordinary flight in every way.

The mutations I'm not a fan of especially since the human equivalent of secondary studies is a player choice. If the players were to get to pick what the mutation they get to start with that would be okay, but going in with a random boon that does nothing for them or worse the penalty from Heavy Build could make an already slow-moving (such as medium armor or a medium load) character even slower. I notice there seems to be an implication from the four-arm that it's possible to gain more than one possibly at a later point if this is the case then with the exception of the heavy build penalty unless additional mutations are optional.

Other than that the three races seem reasonably balanced with one another.

And I know it's fantasy, but the biology is a bit jarring. The number of chromosomes is the most easily determined piece of genetic information (so if there are more they must be hidden by magic) and 120bpm is relatively slow isn't even the bottom end of a cardio workout for all but the most elderly.

Made some fixes. I plan on making a racial feat called Advanced Mutation, which would grant an additional Mutation, but I haven't figured out the prerequisites or how often the feat can be retaken.

As for the heart rate, I meant for it to be high enough that you'd have to be going through some serious s---, but since I don't know what that number should be, I went with the usual peak rate while playing a jumpscare game, assuming you don't suffer cardiac arrest. What would be a better number?

Would 240 bpm be a reasonable rate, or is it too close to being a heart attack?

Heart attacks are a bit more complicated than just bpm. About 200bpm is the upper limit when things begin to go south very rapidly.

For how often, I suggest either require level 5 or 7 for the first time they can take it and another 5 levels before they can take it again.

I decided on 180 bpm and got the feat done.

What should I put down for the racial backgrounds/summaries?

I plan on using True Dragons. Should I rename the Dragon races?

Hmm...

This looks very good. I suggested the name Drakon. Some of the mutations (like dragons) are weaker than the others.

Made the changes.

I still can't shake the feeling that there's better names for Bound to Magic and Self-Made Hubris. Any suggestions?

Nothing? *Sigh* Alrighty then!

However, I won't walk away from this without adding a one to two paragraph description for each race. Any suggestions?

You should definitely mention how each race feels towards the other (at least in general terms) as well as towards true dragons or other prominent races.

I updated the races.

I've come up with a couple more racial feats for Drakons. Any suggestions on them?

*Ahem*...Gentlemen?

...*Cough*...

Not much to say. The feat that adds a mutation is fine.

Then you have a feat that removes a racial trait. That's not really good design. You should probably need at least two feats. Technically Toughness could counter the hit point penalty and Great Fortitude could mitigate the Fort penalty. There shouldn't just be a 1st level feat that remove a major racial weakness completely.

The last feat isn't really spelled out exactly how a mutation advances with character level. Do claws get bigger? Does a Transformed Drakon with Human mutation get to turn into one different human per level? I don't see how advancing works for almost any of the mutations, and if it's only going to work for even 60-70% of them... it probably not considered complete.

Removed Healthy Mutations.

For Progressive Mutation, I was considering the following:

Human Form: ability to temporarily manifest a single Mutation, as well as an animal form, maybe another form not pertaining to either alternate form.
Aquatic: remove underwater combat penalties, some other underwater badassery.
Breath Weapon: bigger, more destructive, and more frequent breaths.
Insulated: Handle Animal bonuses, maybe favored terrain or summon nature's Ally.
Strong Tail: not sure.
Four-Armed: not sure.
Drakontaur: not sure, maybe split between a Pack Mule and a Mount package.
Feral: adding a bite attack, damage die increase, ability to gain the effects of the Rage or Transformation spells for a short period of time.
Limber: not sure.
Heavy Build: eventual size increase.

I'm not sure how quickly the Mutations should advance with the feat. Any suggestions?

Bump.

I would still say it's not going to work. See, if your mutations were created and designed around HD and class level advancements, you might be able to have a feat that bumped them a bit HD wise (as it is, I think only the breath weapon is easily doable).

In my opinion (and that's all it is, I am not playing in your game, so do what works for you), I think you have the mutations fine enough as is, balance-wise (for a homebrew game). Trying to balance them all out over the course of 20 HD to make sure nothing is plainly and obviously better is just going to dilute your time and effort. You're better off playing through and seeing what does and does not work in actual testing and then adjusting and tweaking off actual data and observation.

I would say, lose that feat and (assuming you want more) create some that focus on traits and uniqueness and personality of drakons rather than just a feat that tweaks a trait of drakons. If that makes sense.

A feat that gives them some benefit or kindred with true dragons maybe, or a feat that affects how they interact or deal with Hollows (whatever those are) or humans. Maybe a drakon can channel their anxiety into sort of AoE anxiety burst (like a bane effect against those who fail or something). Just opinions though.

Dropped the feat.

Hollow is a template that I will apply to all creatures that aren't either Drakon, Human, or a real life animal or vermin that isn't extinct in the present day(such as dinosaurs and human-sized scorpions).

How about a group of feats that each require three specific Mutations and are mutually exclusive to each other? Here's a couple of examples:

Dragonhood (Human Form, Breath Weapons, and Feral): gain Form of the Dragon as a spell-like ability, add a bite attack, and the breath weapons scale every two character levels.
Atlas' Disciple (Strong Tail, Drakontaur, and Heavy Build): Remove Heavy Build's speed penalty, considered a Gargantuan Quadruped when determining carrying capacity (after factoring in Heavy Build), and can fly while carrying a medium load.

...........................................................................

Lazaryus wrote:
How about a group of feats that each require three specific Mutations and are mutually exclusive to each other?

That would be a good start, however, with that specific example, you need to realize that your drakons get one mutation. That means they would have to take the Advanced Mutation feat twice to get up to three mutations and then the one feat that gives them the benefit from having those three feats. Which means if they get their last Advanced Mutation at 9th (when they can take it a second time) it will likely be level 11 or later for the feat you are making.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, and since you know the level those feats will come online (unless there's a way to get those three mutations faster) it will let you set the power level appropriately. Just understand it will be a long time and require them to plan for that feat for some time.

Naturally, you could change the feat requirement to 2 specific mutations, which would let you assume they will be 5th before they can take the feat you're contemplating by 7th. You just need to make sure its power level and use fits that range of abilities.

Quote:
Here's a couple of examples:

Those are good starting examples (meaning those are good examples for conveying what you're contemplating). In the specific case of Atlas' Disciple, however, I still prefer to just add equivalent Strength rather than adding effective size (it's easier on a GM or player having to look up the numbers, rather than doing numbers, then doing modifications for size, then modifications for quadrupeds, but some people mind it less than others). Also, I wouldn't see a need to mention fly speed changes, since none of the mutations involved have anything to do with flying. It's better to leave that out. You could instead just make a separate feat that allowed drakon to fly with medium loads (and having Atlas' Disciple will increase the medium load in conjunction with it). For example:

Increased Lift (the name is just a quick example)
You can fly with a heavier load than normal.
Req: drakon, Flight.
Benefit: You can fly with a medium or lighter load.
Normal: Drakons cannot fly with a medium or heavier load.

You could also make feats based on advancing specific mutations (rather than your initial broad attempt at progressing them based on HD with no real method of keeping them balanced). An example might be:
Repugnant Oil
Req: drakon, Insulated mutation.
Your body oil is repugnant to creatures.
Benefit: Any creature striking you with a bite attack or a creature with scent within five feet of you must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Con mod.) or become sickened for one minute. A creature that succeeds on its save becomes immune for 24 hours (though this doesn't end any sickened effects from previous failures).

or a feat based on the number of mutations, similar to how 3.5 had bloodline feats based on the number of bloodline feats already taken, like:
Armored Mutation
Your mutated body is tougher than normal.
Req: drakon, one or more mutations.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to natural armor for every drakon mutation you possess.
I am not saying whether this is worth it or not, just an example.
You could do the same kind of feat with extra hit points per mutation (or just add both with one feat).

What if I removed the Mutations as prerequisites, simply boosting them instead, and make it so that the feats had to be taken at 1st level and that they're mutually exclusive to each other?

I added Improved Lift and a revised version of Dragonhood to demonstrate what I'm proposing (the Feral portion looks lackluster, though). Thoughts?

Any suggestions?

Bumpski!

Dragonhood: Have the Feral Mutation also gain Arcane Strike at 3rd character level, and then have the natural attacks gain +1d6 energy damage every 5 character levels.

Just my 2 cp...

Will do!

You need to do a new thread. This one is starting to become misleading.

How about I handle the True Gods for you?

Oh, okay. Sure, you can do the Dual-Edge Genesis God Pantheon.
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