Build a Character Race

[zanshin]

As the points based character creation system I proposed evoked minimal interest (and thats fine, its all a matter of taste after all - I am not bitter ) I wonder if people would be interested in thinking about a framework for character race creation.

Taking the 6 characteristics of 5e T&T, the baseline would be humans (x1 each stat, no special abilities or bonuses)

That gives us a starting point of 6 Kindred Points for normal humans.

Each multiple of a stat is that many 'points'

So, Dwarves have a kindred point value of 7.67 (x2 str, x2 con, x 2/3 cha).

The GM could use this principle to both pitch their campaign at a particular power level, and manage the creation of new races.

For example, I had a player who wanted to play a Warbear (like the one from His Dark Materials - The Northern Lights). I ruled ST and CN would be x2, Cha would be x 2/3, Dex would be x2/3 due to lack of fine manipulation skill and bulk, that his claws would be worth 2 dice each, his hide worth 3 AP, and that his skill as a warrior would reflcet the power of war bear armour.

I would say thats an 8 point race by my scheme, strong , but not overpoweringly so.

Is this concept of any use to others and worth exploring more?

[gaptooth]

I'm planning a campaign, based on folklore, in which there are only two Kindreds and their hybrids: Humans, Wights, and Changelings. My basic scheme is each ability with a x3/2 multiplier is offset by an ability with a x2/3 multiplier, with the exception of humans.

So humans get x4/3 in any ability of the player's choice, but they can only be warriors, rogues, or professionals, not full wizards.

Wights are a hidden people, like the elves, goblins and fey of folklore, and there are two kinds: the Fair and the Dread. The prerequisite for playing a wight hinges on the your unmodified Charisma score. There are very few wights in human society, and they are enslaved. Player Character wights were born into slavery. Wights can't bear the touch of iron, and they drop one die when using weapons of iron or steel, and halve the protection of iron or steel armor. Wights can be any Type, but they are very obviously not human.

Fair wights require a minimum of 15 in Charisma before Kindred multipliers. They get IQ & CH x3/2, ST x1/3.

Dread wights may have no greater than 9 in Charisma before Kindred multipliers. They get ST & HT x3/2, CH x1/3.

Changelings appear to be human in every way, but they are exceptional. A changeling player can multiply any ability x3/2, offset by any ability other x2/3. Changelings can be any Type, and they can use iron without penalty.

I stole this multiplier offset scheme from a thread here that's gone now, but I changed it to create an edge comparable to giving humans a x4/3 on one ability. I saved a text snippet from the source post about "Half-Dragons", but when I google for it, I find this thread on Dragonsfoot.

[gaptooth]

P.S. In Northern Lights (AKA The Golden Compass), Iorek shows Lyra that he actually has superhuman dexterity, successfully blocking and parrying all her blows with a flick of his claw. This was supposed to represent that a human couldn't trick a panserbjørne.

Since Dexterity affects what weapons can be used, your decision makes sense-- maybe the kind of dexterity Iorek was demonstrating could be thought of as high Combat Adds derived from his Strength and Luck.

[ProfGremlin]

Dec 10, 2010 9:56:32 GMT -5 gaptooth said:

I saved a text snippet from the source post about "Half-Dragons" ...

Gaptooth, was this the post/thread you were looking for?

[princeofcups]

Dec 10, 2010 8:57:23 GMT -5 zanshin said:

Each multiple of a stat is that many 'points'

So, Dwarves have a kindred point value of 7.67 (x2 str, x2 con, x 2/3 cha).

That's exactly what I used to sort my list of races for my games. igsgames.com/TunnelsAndTrolls/NewKindreds.pdf

[sligo]

I like the idea - perhaps what you should do is flesh this out and apply your formula to all the monsters listed in the various versions of the rules (M!M!, 5.x, and 7.x). Once you've done this, write an article that explains it and how to create your own, and we can publish it in a future issue of TrollsZine.

[gaptooth]

Dec 10, 2010 10:14:28 GMT -5 ProfGremlin said:

Gaptooth, was this the post/thread you were looking for?

That's exactly the one. Looks like it was shuffled into a different forum since I linked to the thread here.

[cartomancer]

Hey Zanshin.

I loved the work on the point buy systems and, just by chance i happened upon a freebie that might be of help to you in this. :0).

Freebie: www.welshpiper.com/downloads/1000_ChimeraBasic_3.0.pdf

[zanshin]

Interesting thank you Cartomancer, thats a good resource you found. I may well use it for inspiration. Good to have you contributing again

Fair comment regarding panserbjorn Gaptooth - you could make an argument for high Dexterity and or Speed. I was striving for a s balance

Thank you Sligo, if the energy, enthusiasm and inspiration strikes I may submit something on these lines to TrollsZine

[cartomancer]

Dec 10, 2010 17:31:31 GMT -5 zanshin said:

Interesting thank you Cartomancer, thats a good resource you found. I may well use it for inspiration. Good to have you contributing again

Cheers!

I may still be pretty sparse in my updates for a while but, given time i'm sure i'll be back to full force.