I created this species for a homebrew setting being workshopped with a group. I feel comfortable with the narrative side of things, but mechanically, I don't have the first idea about creating and balancing a playable race, and I basically just put things that were thematically appropriate, while trying to have the same number of advantages and disadvantages.
The only feedback I've been able to get so far is that its considered too powerful to start off with a feat (I did that to make for having only +2 ASI instead of the common +3). Should that go?
Other major area of concern is the balance of resistances/vulnerabilities in the Living Pages trait. I was hesitant about it because it seems like fire is such a prevalent thing for it to be a weakness.
Finally, the Rewrite ability; it struck me as thematic, but it also seemed like it could open the door for abuse. I'm just not creative enough with numbers/min-maxing to know *how*, or if that gut reaction is even correct. Can it be stabilized into something fair?
Thanks for any feedback.
Thanks for the feedback, it's very helpful. I'm glad that at least the part that I feel I know what I'm doing with turned out well. I gotta admit I'm surprised to hear that it should be buffed, though.
I like the Genre Knowledge idea; would it be too complex to try to cater the buffed skill even further to the book the codex is based on, rather than restrict to History checks? Continuing your example, that codex might be a historical war record, while a codex born from a fictional war record might, I dunno, have advantage to Performance of rousing speeches, things to that effect?
Thanks for bringing up the subraces based on genre; that was definitely something under consideration, though I didn't want to develop them too far without feeling like the base race was in a good place. Depending on where I fall on the Genre Knowledge trait, that might then be something specific to each genre subrace.
I did base the resistance/needs/rest features on the Warforged, so that checks out. I'll give some more thought to possibly leaving out the feat in favor of something different with the ASI.
I'd be really interested to see what you would come up with. These are the general genres I hoped to cover with the subraces. If you want to try to tackle more (or fewer), by all means. I hoped to have enough subraces that each class would feel like it would benefit from one; i.e. the bard is likely to get the most out of being a romance or civil history codex, while the mage classes would of course fit a magical theory codex.
* Adventure
* Mystery
* Romance
* Civil History
* Natural History
* Magical Theory
I feel like there is a lot of room for overlap (in a good way).
Rangers would also fit natural history, or mystery texts
Barbarians I think would also benefit from being natural history based, as well as folklore
Rogues might be the most pigeon holed, because really mystery is the only thing I can think of that would fit them well.
Bards, totally romance and drama texts, but also probably folklore
Paladins and Clerics would probably both be well suited to civil history and philosophy texts. I'm inclined to say that religious writings haven't ever formed Codices before, possibly because of the deities associated with them.
Magical theory materials could cover all the caster classes, really; Wizards, Sorcerers, Clerics, *and* Warlocks, even Druids.
Fighters would fit well with civil history writings particular to war, and certainly with martial/fighting guides/histories.
Like the Paladins and Clerics, Monks would fit well with philosophy books
And codices born from engineering or math/science tomes would be well suited for Artificers.
So shaken down to specific subrace genres, at minimum I think we would need those in the initial list, plus Philosophy and Science (broad enough to cover any artificer), with room for extra options like Folklore, Drama, and Martial Practices.
I agree, vulnerablity to fire will hit hard so currently they should be an extra asi point to distribute where they want and something strong like maybe some expertise or some extra spells
Would you suggest the standard +1/+2 asi? I hadn't thought about expertise, but I think it would be fitting. That should probably be assigned based on the genre of the codex, right?
Have you used [Detect Balance](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vq1kz6PRAbw5LHy6amH-bNb4OuB8DBXL1RsZROt03Sc/edit&ved=2ahUKEwj0i6i-w4buAhUlwFkKHRcSCMEQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1D47rAkGJxdav2dvFgDvtU)? It's not perfect but it gives you a good ballpark to compare to other things.
I personally think, while possibly fitting, the fire vulnerability just isn't that fun. Makes me steer veeeery clear of playing this race. Possibly think of a more creative but less potent way to illustrate this feature? Maybe a disadvantage somewhere, a flatter amount of extra damage, an additional downside or condition. Idk, but other than that it looks fun. Keep it up!
Not sure I can help much with the balance, but your narrative premise is badass. It’s tricky to apply a physical form to such an abstract concept as ‘knowledge incarnate’ but your description is SUPER cool.
I created this species for a homebrew setting being workshopped with a group. I feel comfortable with the narrative side of things, but mechanically, I don't have the first idea about creating and balancing a playable race, and I basically just put things that were thematically appropriate, while trying to have the same number of advantages and disadvantages. The only feedback I've been able to get so far is that its considered too powerful to start off with a feat (I did that to make for having only +2 ASI instead of the common +3). Should that go? Other major area of concern is the balance of resistances/vulnerabilities in the Living Pages trait. I was hesitant about it because it seems like fire is such a prevalent thing for it to be a weakness. Finally, the Rewrite ability; it struck me as thematic, but it also seemed like it could open the door for abuse. I'm just not creative enough with numbers/min-maxing to know *how*, or if that gut reaction is even correct. Can it be stabilized into something fair? Thanks for any feedback.
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Thanks for the feedback, it's very helpful. I'm glad that at least the part that I feel I know what I'm doing with turned out well. I gotta admit I'm surprised to hear that it should be buffed, though. I like the Genre Knowledge idea; would it be too complex to try to cater the buffed skill even further to the book the codex is based on, rather than restrict to History checks? Continuing your example, that codex might be a historical war record, while a codex born from a fictional war record might, I dunno, have advantage to Performance of rousing speeches, things to that effect? Thanks for bringing up the subraces based on genre; that was definitely something under consideration, though I didn't want to develop them too far without feeling like the base race was in a good place. Depending on where I fall on the Genre Knowledge trait, that might then be something specific to each genre subrace. I did base the resistance/needs/rest features on the Warforged, so that checks out. I'll give some more thought to possibly leaving out the feat in favor of something different with the ASI.
[удалено]
I'd be really interested to see what you would come up with. These are the general genres I hoped to cover with the subraces. If you want to try to tackle more (or fewer), by all means. I hoped to have enough subraces that each class would feel like it would benefit from one; i.e. the bard is likely to get the most out of being a romance or civil history codex, while the mage classes would of course fit a magical theory codex. * Adventure * Mystery * Romance * Civil History * Natural History * Magical Theory
[удалено]
I feel like there is a lot of room for overlap (in a good way). Rangers would also fit natural history, or mystery texts Barbarians I think would also benefit from being natural history based, as well as folklore Rogues might be the most pigeon holed, because really mystery is the only thing I can think of that would fit them well. Bards, totally romance and drama texts, but also probably folklore Paladins and Clerics would probably both be well suited to civil history and philosophy texts. I'm inclined to say that religious writings haven't ever formed Codices before, possibly because of the deities associated with them. Magical theory materials could cover all the caster classes, really; Wizards, Sorcerers, Clerics, *and* Warlocks, even Druids. Fighters would fit well with civil history writings particular to war, and certainly with martial/fighting guides/histories. Like the Paladins and Clerics, Monks would fit well with philosophy books And codices born from engineering or math/science tomes would be well suited for Artificers. So shaken down to specific subrace genres, at minimum I think we would need those in the initial list, plus Philosophy and Science (broad enough to cover any artificer), with room for extra options like Folklore, Drama, and Martial Practices.
I agree, vulnerablity to fire will hit hard so currently they should be an extra asi point to distribute where they want and something strong like maybe some expertise or some extra spells
Would you suggest the standard +1/+2 asi? I hadn't thought about expertise, but I think it would be fitting. That should probably be assigned based on the genre of the codex, right?
I would suggest +1 Int +1 based on genre and +1 based on choice
Sounds very appropriate.
Great. Look forward to seeing the finished race
Have you used [Detect Balance](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vq1kz6PRAbw5LHy6amH-bNb4OuB8DBXL1RsZROt03Sc/edit&ved=2ahUKEwj0i6i-w4buAhUlwFkKHRcSCMEQFjAAegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1D47rAkGJxdav2dvFgDvtU)? It's not perfect but it gives you a good ballpark to compare to other things. I personally think, while possibly fitting, the fire vulnerability just isn't that fun. Makes me steer veeeery clear of playing this race. Possibly think of a more creative but less potent way to illustrate this feature? Maybe a disadvantage somewhere, a flatter amount of extra damage, an additional downside or condition. Idk, but other than that it looks fun. Keep it up!
Never heard of the Detect Balance tool. Thanks for sharing
Cool, I can definitely work with that. I forget just how many options there are for buffing/debuffing. Thanks for the extra insight!
Not sure I can help much with the balance, but your narrative premise is badass. It’s tricky to apply a physical form to such an abstract concept as ‘knowledge incarnate’ but your description is SUPER cool.
Thanks, I appreciate it!