Any Fans of Race Building Rules?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


So are there any fans of the race building rules from Advanced Race Guide?

Have you or someone is your party used the rules?


they're okay - a guide really.

It does show a bit of a bias as nobody is going to quite agree on some of the point costs.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

It's a functional system. Not as comprehensive as it could be, but that's probably because of space considerations.

Also, concepts that deviate more drastically from PF1e core assumptions are harder to fit into the Race Builder mechanics.


I only use it to tweak the existing races when the players want to play something interesting. I do not let them use it to custom make their own races.


DeathlessOne wrote:
I only use it to tweak the existing races when the players want to play something interesting. I do not let them use it to custom make their own races.

That's pretty much all I ever used it for, too. And even then, it was mostly just a tool for judging what made a fair trade when swapping out racial traits for new traits, to create new subraces for my homebrew settings.

Or how much I needed to add to beef up an underpowered race to be more on par with the core races. Like when I wanted a kingdom ruled by a dragon, whose primary minions were kobolds. But those little yappers are so freaking PUNY in 1E, they needed to hit the gym or something, sheesh. :D


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Tim Emrick wrote:
Or how much I needed to add to beef up an underpowered race to be more on par with the core races. Like when I wanted a kingdom ruled by a dragon, whose primary minions were kobolds. But those little yappers are so freaking PUNY in 1E, they needed to hit the gym or something, sheesh. :D

Depending on the PCs' level, just giving them some organization and tactics could help. Even before adding NPC or PC class levels. They didn't have to be Tucker's Kobolds, but making them sneaky special ops types (traps, hit and run, multiple prepared positions) could at least make them (to an extent) respectable threats.

I remember hearing about several original Kingmaker campaigns that incorporated the Sootscales into their kingdom.


Like any other explosive, use with extreme care.

I had a GM challenge me to make a broken race as proof of concept. I won't put everything here, but Just mention I named them 'Nemesis' and gave them (among other abilities) the:

1. Static Bonus Feat (2 RP): Dedicated Adversary(Cats)
-yes, i know it has a Prerequisites and the rules say a fixed feat without one, but the gm allowed Prerequisites that require not to have something, by simply not having the race have the violating aspect.

2. Spell-Like Ability, At-Will (Instant enemy - cost 6).

you can kinda see where this is going.

Silver Crusade

I could see a lot of roleplay fun with this at the conclusion of a campaign. Party is super-high-level, has an artifact to create life forms and has to decide what to do with it.

As a GM in that space, I would drop plenty of hints that they would eventually face enemies of that race, so if they go overboard, it’s their fault the adventure just got harder.


It was nice to have something. But eventually I replaced it with third-party systems.


SilvercatMoonpaw wrote:
It was nice to have something. But eventually I replaced it with third-party systems.

What 3rd party systems for designing new races did you use and would recommend?


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Andostre wrote:
SilvercatMoonpaw wrote:
It was nice to have something. But eventually I replaced it with third-party systems.
What 3rd party systems for designing new races did you use and would recommend?

Keep in mind I haven't playtested anything, so while I like the following, I don't know if they're "better" than the official race builder:

* Spheres of Origin (Drop Dead Studios): Don't need to calculate points, just pick from a few lists. I like this one because it includes options for building quadruped/hand-less races. Sapient beasts are an important part of my fantasy.
* Hybrid Blood (Silver Games LLC): Pick two physical and one cultural options. More of an attempt at creating hybrids of existing races, but you can reflavor the result for something new. Also has sapient beast options.
* Play Manga d20 (d20PathfinderSRD.com Publishing), Genius Guide To The Talented Bestiary (Rogue Genius Games): These two are honorable mentions, as they both have ways to build races, but I haven't payed as much attention to them so can't easily summarize.


I do think the system has issues and is missing some things. But I still think it is an interesting option.

Liberty's Edge

As with all these kinds of modular systems, it has a serious problem if the player wants to make an unbalanced creature. As long as the GM is in control and there is a gentleman's agreement about what people want to make, it is workable.


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I just use the Chase rules from the GMG when I want to build a race.

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