Additional Fantasy races for SWADE

[mikeawmids]

Additional fantasy races, loosely based on the PF Advanced Race Guide, but built using the Custom Race guidelines in the core SWADE book, feedback welcomed!

Aasimar
[+2] Charismatic edge
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Halo (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Light power)
[-1] Racial Enemy hindrance: Demons & Devils
[-2] Vow hindrance (Major): oppose evil, however it manifests

Dhampir
[+2] Attractive edge
[+1] Infravision
[+2] Nerves of Steel edge
[-2] Dependency: Blood
[-1] Environmental Weakness: Daylight

Drow
[+2] Agile (d6 starting Agility)
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Poison Use (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Smite power, with poison trapping)
[-2] Light Blindness (character is blinded [-2 all actions requiring sight] until they make a successful Vigour roll to recover)
[-1] Outsider hindrance (Minor)

Fetchling
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Shadow Blending (character starts with A/B: Gifted and the Deflection power)
[-1] Outsider hindrance (Minor)

Gnome
[-1] Small (-1Size & Toughness)
[-1] Reduced Pace (-1 Pace, running d4)
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+1] Gnome Know-How (d4 starting Occult)
[+2] Natural Illusionist (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Illusion power)

Goblin
[+2] Agile (d6 starting Agility)
[+1] Infravision
[-1] Small (-1Size & Toughness)
[-1] Outsider hindrance (Minor)
[+1] Sneaky (d6 starting Stealth)

Ifrits
[-2] Impulsive hindrance
[+1] Infravision
[+2] Fire Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with fire trapping)
[+1] Environmental Resistance: Fire

Kobolds
[-1] Small (-1Size & Toughness)
[+1] Natural Armour: AV2
[+1] Infravision
[+1] Sneaky (d6 starting Stealth)
[-2] Yellow hindrance
[-2] Calculating edge

Orc/Half Orc
[+2] Strong (d6 starting Strength)
[+1] Infravision
[+2] Menacing edge
[-2] Bloodthirsty hindrance
[-1] Outsider hindrance (Minor)

Oread
[+2] Strong (d6 starting Strength)
[+2] Stoic (d6 starting Vigour)
[-2] Reduced Pace (-3 Pace, running d4, -2 Athletics)
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Earth Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with earth trapping)
[-1] Poor Parry (-1 Parry)
[-2] Big

Ratfolk
[+2] Agile (d6 starting Agility)
[-1] Small (-1Size & Toughness)
[-1] Reduced Pace (-1 Pace, running d4)
[+1] Infravision
[+2] Rodent Empathy (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Beast Friend power, with rodent only trapping)
[-1] Racial Enemy: Catfolk

Sylphs
[-1] Anemic hindrance
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Air Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with air trapping)

Tengus
[+2] Linguist edge
[+1] Natural Weapons [Beak]: Strength + d4
[+1] Sneaky (d6 starting Stealth)
[-1] Frail
[-1] Greedy hindrance (Minor)

Tieflings
[-1] Outsider hindrance (Minor)
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Fiendish Sorcery (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Darkness power)

Undines
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Water Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with water trapping)
[+1] Environmental Resistance: Cold
[-1] Frail
[-1] Hesitant hindrance

EDIT: It's kinda' screwy that practically every race in PF has some form of darkvision. :s

[Deskepticon]

Do you have point values assigned to these abilities?

Are these all supposed to be balanced against one another? Because just at first blush, they don't seem to be. Aasimar are either +2 or +3, depending on if Vow is Major or Minor, respectively, but Dhampir are sitting at around +8 or +9.

[mikeawmids]

They should all be +2 total, the exception being Dhampir; where I treated Undead Traits as a +2 ability that is theoretically balanced out by the inconvenience of Dependency: Blood.

Alternativelt, you can just use the Dhampir template from the Horror Companion, which I did not have to hand last night.

[mikeawmids]

Edited post to show my working out.

[Deskepticon]

mikeawmids Ah, I see! Thanks. It's a shame I began responding before you did... would have saved me a lot of grief.

[paladin2019]

FWIW, half-orcs only have Infravision, Outsider (Minor),and Strong per Fantasy Companion.

Goblins are a 1 point race (0 if Outsider is Major) and giving them a bite attack without doing the same for orcs (as Savage Rifts' Arcana and Mysticism does) is a disconnect.

The aasimar racial enemy is problematic unless demons and devils are going to be common in the setting and the players are expected to interact with them socially.

"Our kobolds are different"

Ratfolk are a 1 point race.

Please be clear whether a Hindrance with the option is Major or Minor.



(RE: Darkvison, that's what happens when you open the floodgates to all the "monster" races that are supposed to be a problem for the light dependent PCs. )

[mikeawmids]

FWIW, half-orcs only have Infravision, Outsider (Minor),and Strong per Fantasy Companion.

These aint' your Grandpa's half-orcs, son! Like I said, I used the PF Advanced Race Guide as my template, so their will likely be some differences from the generic half orc of yesteryear.

Goblins are a 1 point race (0 if Outsider is Major) and giving them a bite attack without doing the same for orcs (as Savage Rifts' Arcana and Mysticism does) is a disconnect.

Have you seen PF goblins? Those things got teeth for days!

Also, it fits with their chaotic nature.

The aasimar racial enemy is problematic unless demons and devils are going to be common in the setting and the players are expected to interact with them socially.

While this statement is true, I've never encountered a setting that features one without the other.

[mikeawmids]

Actually, you were right. I'd miscalculated Weak as -1, not -2. I've altered every instance of Weak to Frail for the time being, so the math should check out.

[Deskepticon]

Except that now you are "double-dipping" on the Toughness reduction: one from Size -1 and one from Frail.

[mikeawmids]

It's a temp fix until I can spend a little more time on it. I'll sort it.

Fix'd Gnomes, Goblins & Kobolds!

[Deskepticon]

...feedback welcomed!

Okay, but you asked for it.

Aasimar
Charismatic edge
Low Light Vision
Halo (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Light power)
Racial Enemy: Demons & Devils
Vow: oppose evil, however it manifests

• Charismatic (+2)
• Low Light Vision (+1)
• Halo (+2)
• Racial Enemy (-1) : This ability is only used with another common race, often a playable one. Designating "Demons & Devils" suggests they are commonto the setting.
• Vow, Major (-2) : Suggests all Aasimar are paladin-level of annoying when it comes to not minding their own business. Personally I dislike such blanket "behavioral" abilities on an entire race without very good justification. As far as I'm aware, Aasimar can be neutrally aligned; they just can't be evil (or very rarely are).
• Total (+2)

Dhampir
Attractive edge
Infravision
Undead traits (+2 Toughness, +2 Spirit rolls to recover from being Shaken, ignore additional damage from Called Shots, ignore 1 point of Wound penalties, dont breathe or eat, immune to disease & poison, don't Bleed Out, can only be healed by magical healing)
Dependency: Blood
Environmental Weakness: Daylight

• Attractive (+2)
• Infravision (+1)
• Undead (+10) : The sum total of all these abilities have some synergistic effects, similar to Construct. It has stricter requirements on healing, bringing it's value down slightly.
• Dependency (-2) : Presumably any blood would do (rats, dogs, pigeons). The stigma of getting caught is a narrative effect, possibly earning the character a Wanted Hindrance, so it doesn't affect the value.
• Environmental Weakness (-2) : There's some missing info here since "daylight" is not normally a damaging effect. Regardless, I doubled the value because of how common the "environment" is. If you want this to be lethal, I suggest borrowing from the SWADE vampire's Weakness list.
• Total (+9)

Drow
Agile (d6 starting Agility)
Low Light Vision
Poison Use (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Smite power, with poison trapping)
Light Blindness (character is blinded [-2 all actions requiring sight] until they make a successful Vigour roll to recover)
Outsider hindrance

• Agile (+2)
• Low Light Vision (+1)
• Poison Use (+2) : Clever! I like this! It turns poison into an abstract commodity represented by PP, rather than an item. Recharging might represent finding plants, harvesting snake venom, etc. as a "background" task.
• Light Blindness (-2) : There's missing info here. How is this triggered? My evaluation assumes it occurs when exposed to bright light (anything above Dim). Also, why not just use the Distracted condition, triggered on a failed Vigor roll?
• Outsider, Minor (-1)
• Total (+2)

Fetchling
Low Light Vision
Shadow Blending (character starts with A/B: Gifted and the Deflection power)
Outsider hindrance

• Low Light (+1)
• Shadow Blending (+2)
• Outsider, Minor (-1)
• Total (+2)

Gnome
Weak (-1 Strength rolls)
Small (-1Size & Toughness)
Reduced Pace (-1 Pace, running d4)
Low Light Vision
Dodge edge
Natural Illusionist (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Illusion power)

• Weak (-2)
• Size -1 (-1) : Use the Size ability here so player can still choose the Small Hindrance if they wish.
• Reduce Pace (-1)
• Low Light (+2)
• Dodge (+2)
• Natural Illustionist (+2)
• Total (+2)

Goblin
Weak (-1 Strength rolls)
Agile (d6 starting Agility)
Natural Weapons [Bite]: Strength + d4
Infravision
Small (-1Size & Toughness)
Outsider hindrance
Sneaky (d6 starting Stealth)

• Weak (-2)
• Agile (+2)
• Bite (+1)
• Infravision (+1)
• Size -1 (-1)
• Outsider (-1)
• Sneaky (+1)
• Total (+1)

Ifrits
Impulsive hindrance
Infravision
Fire Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with fire trapping)
Environmental Resistance: Fire

• Impulsive (-2)
• Infravision (+1)
• Fire Affinity (+2) : Missing info here. Is the fire Trapping meant to limitation? Because the power normally affects all elements. If it's limited to just fire, I would double the Duration to 10 rounds. The Concentration Edge would double that again to 20.
• Environmental Resistance (+1)
• Total (+2)

Kobolds
Small (-1Size & Toughness)
Weak (-1 Strength rolls)
Natural Armour: AV2
Infravision
Calculating edge

• Size -1 (-1)
• Weak (-2)
• Armor +2, natural (+1) : no such thing as "AV2"
• Infravision (+1)
• Calculating (+2)
• [B]Total (+1)

Orc/Half Orc
Strong (d6 starting Strength)
Infravision
Menacing edge
Bloodthirsty hindrance
Outsider hindrance

• Strong (+2)
• Infravision (+1)
• Menacing (+2)
• Bloodthirsty (-2)
• Outsider, Minor (-1)
• Total (+2)

Oread
Strong (d6 starting Strength)
Stoic (d6 starting Vigour)
Reduced Pace (-3 Pace, running d4, -2 Athletics)
Low Light Vision
Earth Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with earth trapping)
Poor Parry (-1 Parry)
Big

• Strong (+2)
• Stoic (+2)
• Reduced Pace (-2)
• Low Light Vision (+1)
• Earth Affinity (+2) : see Ifrit above
• Poor Parry (-1)
• Big (-2)
• Total (+2)

Ratfolk
Weak (-1 Strength rolls)
Agile (d6 starting Agility)
Small (-1Size & Toughness)
Reduced Pace (-1 Pace, running d4)
Infravision
Rodent Empathy (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Beast Friend power, with rodent only trapping)

• Weak (-2)
• Agile (+2)
• Size -1 (-1)
• Reduced Pace (-1)
• Infravision (+1)
• Rodent Empathy (+2) : the limitation to only rodents is worth a reduction of 1 PP.
• Total (+1)

Sylphs
Anemic hindrance
Low Light Vision
Air Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with air trapping)

• Anemic (-1)
• Low Light (+1)
• Air Affinity (+2) : see Ifrit above
• Total (+2)

Tengus
Linguist edge
Natural Weapons [Beak]: Strength + d4
Sneaky (d6 starting Stealth)
Frail
Greedy hindrance

• Linguist (+2)
• Bite/Beak (+1)
• Sneaky (+1)
• Frail (-1) : List the effect so people know which version this is.
• Greedy, Minor (-1)
• Total (+2)

Tieflings
Outsider hindrance
Low Light Vision
Fiendish Sorcery (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Darkness power)

• Outsider, Minor (-1)
• Low Light Vision (+1)
• Fiendish Sorcery (+2) : Aspected power for a 1 PP reduction.
• Total (+2)

Undines
Low Light Vision
Water Affinity (character gains A/B: Gifted and the Elemental Manipulation power, with water trapping)
Energy Resistance: Cold
Frail
Hesitant hindrance

• Low Light Vision (+1)
• Water Affinity (+2) : see Ifrit above
• Elemental Resistance, Cold (+1)
• Frail (-1)
• Hesitant (-1)
• Total (+2)

_______________________

General Tips
It would really help if you included the type of Hindrance with these builds, as well as for abilities that have multiple tiers (like Frail). Also, if you're looking for feedback, include your estimated point values so people know where to instruct you on a build's weak spots.

All-in-all, they're servicable, apart from the few that need to be adjusted. Also, the smaller races all seem very similar, but that's mostly a fault of the source material. Rather than going for a straight conversion, try thinking outside the box and capturing what REALLY makes each different race unique. Making every Size -1 race "Weak" is boring and predictable since it stifles builds that rely on Strength.

[mikeawmids]

Thanks for your time and assistance!

I've done a temp fix on any race with Weak (changed to Frail) as I had miscalculated the modifier for Attribute Penalty. I'll revise those races when I get a chance.

The dhampir was always going to be a bit squiffy, but if I remove Undead Traits and add Nerves of Steel it will be rules legal. In fact, I'll do that now.

[mikeawmids]

... and done!

[mikeawmids]

Duergar
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+2] Tough (d6 starting Vigour)
[-1] Reduced Pace (-1 Pace, running d4)
[+3] Duergar Magic (character gains A/B: Gifted and two powers: Growth and Invisibility)
[-1] Racial Enemy: Dwarves
[-2] Light Blindness (character is blinded [-2 all actions requiring sight] until they make a successful Vigour roll to recover)

[mikeawmids]

Grippli
[-1] Small (-1Size & Toughness)
[+1] Camouflage (+2 Stealth, only applicable in swampy/marshy terrain) *
[+1] Infravision
[+1] Semi-Aquatic

* Ordinarily, Skill Bonus +2 would be [+2], but since I've limited it to swampy/marshy terrain, I've reduced cost to [-1].

[mikeawmids]

Kitsune
[-1] Quirk hindrance: naturally mischevious
[-2] Curious hindrance
[+1] Low Light Vision
[+3] Kitsune Magic (character gains A/B: Gifted and two powers: Shapechange and Illusion)
[+1] Natural Weapon: Bite: Strength + d4, fox-form only

Merfolk
Use Aquarian from the core book.

[mikeawmids]

Here's one of my own creation;

Rhinoc
[+2] Horn: Strength + d6
[+1] Leathery Hide: AV2
[+2] Size+2 (+2 Toughness)
[+2] Hardy
[-2] Thin Skinned hindrance (Major)
[-1] Bad Eyes hindrance (Minor)
[-2] Big

[mikeawmids]

Goliath
[+3] Size+3 (+3 Toughness)
[+2] Powerful Build (d6 starting Strength)
[+1] Environmental Resistance: Cold
[-2] Big
[-1] Outsider hindrance (Minor)
[-1] Quirk hindrance: naturally competitive

[mikeawmids]

... and two more from when I ran Mummy's Mask in 2019;

Catfolk
Graceful: start with d6 Agility.
Cat's Eyes: low light vision.
Natural Weapons (claws, strength+d4)
Curiosity (as per the hindrance)

Gnoll
Scavenger: start with d6 Survival.
Slavers: -2 charisma due to negative reputation.
Desert Dwellers: +4 to resist the effects of heat/dehydration.
Keen Nose: +2 Investigation/Notice using your sense of smell.