New race creating (pixie)


Advice


Hello.
Need advice.
One of players want to play pixie. I read different posts about disbalance of that race and so on, but still have questions to understand mechanic of creating new race.

Question - what race trait or qualities I must take and how many RP it will be cost if I want to have "magic dust" ability like pixie in Bestiary (dust that pixie use on their arrows and have 3 effects)?


There's a pixie race in 2e, but mechanically a size tiny creature is very different in 1e.


D&D 3.0's "Savage Species" had rules for running a Pixie PC, though they sort of hearkened back to the old "race as a class" rule of earlier pre-AD&D rules. Basically, you started at level 1 with a small set of Pixie abilities and as you increased in level you gradually ended up with the full suite of powers. If you could clap your eyes onto a copy of that book (probably available now as a .pdf) it might give you some pointers.


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DungeonmasterCal wrote:
D&D 3.0's "Savage Species" had rules for running a Pixie PC, though they sort of hearkened back to the old "race as a class" rule of earlier pre-AD&D rules. Basically, you started at level 1 with a small set of Pixie abilities and as you increased in level you gradually ended up with the full suite of powers. If you could clap your eyes onto a copy of that book (probably available now as a .pdf) it might give you some pointers.

This is a useful starting point, but proceed with caution. I actually played a pixie using those exact rules, and the 5 levels it took for me to be a full pixie left me massively under powered in relation to the rest of the party. If you also look at Pathfinder's Advanced Race guide, you might be able to use both books to homebrew something that works for you.

Good luck, I love undersized races.


Thanks)
But does somebody know answer or have thoughts about my question (price in RP and type of race trait that need to take ability "pixie dust" for arrows)?


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As far as doing an appropriate RP for this:

Special Arrows (Su) wrote:

Special Arrows (Su)

When a pixie fires an arrow from any bow, it can decide to change the arrow’s properties by sprinkling it with magical pixie dust. Doing so is a free action as long as the pixie is the one who fires the arrow. A pixie can generate a number of uses of dust equal to its Charisma score each day (16 uses per day for most pixies)—the dust is useless to another creature unless the pixie gives the dust freely. In this case, the pixie chooses what effect the dust will have on an arrow when it is applied, and it takes a standard action to apply the dust to the arrow. Once pixie dust is applied to an arrow, the pixie’s chosen effect persists on the arrow for only 1 round. As long as an arrow is altered in this way, it does not inflict damage when it hits—it only causes its new effect. A pixie can choose any one of the following three effects when dusting an arrow. Save DCs are Charisma-based.

Charm: The target must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be affected as though by a charm monster spell for 10 minutes.

Memory Loss: The target must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be affected by a modify memory spell (this effect can only eliminate the previous 5 minutes of memory—a pixie typically uses this ability to make the target forget it encountered the pixie so it won’t chase the pixie when he flees).

Sleep: The target must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or fall asleep for 5 minutes.

I would use the "Spell-Like Ability, At-Will (Variable, see Special)" entry in the quote below. And rather than making it Cha Score times per day as per the Special Arrows (Su) ability in the Pixie monster entry, just make it at-will for ease of RP calculation. And it's one less thing for the PC to keep track of on a daily basis.

Charm Person is lvl 1, so 2RP.
Modify Memory is lvl 4, so 8RP. <--- The max for this is 3rd lvl spell, so this is going to be a GM discretion to allow/disallow.
Sleep is also lvl 1, so 2RP again.

=12RP.

If you keep the DC's static, this will undoubtedly suck lvl 5+, so I would change these DC's to become 10 + (Primary Mod) + 1/2 level (rounded down) so that they're actually usable in the mid and late game.

I would also add Fey (2RP) and Tiny (4RP), for a total of 18RP.

Then, I would sift through this Creating New Races page and give their new race a -3RP weakness of some appropriate type to make it 15RP.

I use custom races in my own games quite a bit, and I've found that 15RP gives the PC plenty of customization but doesn't break your game. Even Thanos agrees that this is "perfectly balanced, as all things should be." But obviously, feel free to set the max RP at whatever you feel is appropriate.

Creating New Races wrote:

Spell-Like Ability, At-Will (Variable, see Special)

Prerequisites: None.

Benefit: Choose a 3rd-level or lower spell that does not attack a creature or deal damage. Members of this race can use this spell as an at-will spell-like ability. The caster level of the spell is equal to the user’s character level.

Special: This trait costs as many RP as twice the level of spell chosen (minimum 2). Up to five spells can be chosen when you take this trait. Each time you take an additional spell, adjust the RP cost of this trait appropriately.

=============================================

Fey (2 RP)

A fey is a creature with supernatural abilities and connections to nature or to some other force or place.

A fey race has the following features:

Fey have the low-light vision racial trait.
Fey breathe, eat, and sleep.

=============================================

Tiny (4 RP)

Prerequisites: Aberration, construct, dragon, fey, outsider (native), or plant type.

Modifiers: Tiny creatures gain a +2 size bonus to Dexterity and a –2 size penalty to Strength. Tiny races gain a +2 size bonus to their AC, a +2 size bonus on attack rolls, a –2 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a +8 size bonus on Stealth checks. Tiny characters take up a space of 2-1/2 feet by 2-1/2 feet, so up to four of these characters can fit into a single square. Tiny races typically have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can’t reach into adjacent squares. They must enter an opponent’s square to attack it in melee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the squares around them. Other creatures can move through those squares without provoking attacks of opportunity. Tiny creatures typically cannot flank an enemy.


It starts with 3 racial HD, and Dodge/Weapon Finesse, whatever BAB and saves 3HD of Fey gets you. Whatever ranks in whatever skills the Pixie in the book has, or at least 3HD worth of those skills.

Probably a +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Str...

Drop its fly speed to 40', since twice the land speed seems to be common for playable races.

Drop the Invisibility. Maybe add a FCB or racial feat that gives it to for a number of rounds per day equal to your HD. These rounds do not need to be consecutive. Blah blah blah... I would guard it and restrict it to higher level play... maybe 11HD? It's literally Greater Invisibility... a Wizard doesn't get it until level 7, so neither should you... 11HD is fair since you start with a 3HD head start.

Drop the constant SLA's to at will.

Drop all except one of the 1/day SLA's.

Drop the Spell Resistance. Make it a racial feat you can pick up later... also 11HD minimum... but get you SR equal to 11+HD.

Drop the Damage Reduction. Make it a racial feat you can pick up later. Say a 5HD minimum, but you get DR equal to half your HD (rounded down). Remember, you already would have a 3HD head start.

I would leave the arrow stuff, as-is. It only matters to people using arrows, and screw it... cupid charm arrows/slumber arrows are awesome.

Ultimately, it is still absolutely $#!+ balance... probably charge out the @$$ for it... 20RP? More if you actually want to keep any of the abilities I put on feats. Think about the Noble Drow being like 41RP... and they aren't Tiny with special arrows... no, they have Poison Use, which sucks.

I hope every playable Pixie character gets killed by a flyswatter.

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