The Katara

[Jdvn1]

Its certainly not for a melee-bound character with two physical minuses, but then, size small things don't do well with that anyways. Also, giving +4 to any stat, especially Dex, which has so many uses, is asking for trouble in an ECL +0 race.

I think the two -2's balance it out pretty well, especially since one of them is Con.

I'm mostly dubious about a +2 Cha. The -2 Con is too bad and a -2 Wis doesn't seem to work, for me.

 

[Rystil Arden]

I think the two -2's balance it out pretty well, especially since one of them is Con.

I'm mostly dubious about a +2 Cha. The -2 Con is too bad and a -2 Wis doesn't seem to work, for me.

I think that the fact that many people consider sun elves (+2 INT -2 CON) and star elves (+2 CHA -2 CON) to be too powerful to be good proof that the mental stat at least makes up for the Con penalty (If people play with it and determine it is too strong for them, then it probably at least isn't weak, right?). Frankly, for anyone who really wanted the Int or Cha, the Str penalty is basically negligible, so its like being a Star Elf and getting halfling mods for free.

 

[Knight Otu]

I haven't heard about those two races being particularly overpowered, and I don't particularly subscribe to the idea that a bonus to a mental stat is really that powerful, to be honest.

As for the proposal at hand, a close comparison would be halflings. Let's take a look:

Halfling	Katara
=		+2 Cha, -2 Con
+2 Climb	+6 Jump, +2 Balance, Tumble
-		Balance is always a class skill
+1 to all saves	-
+1 against fear	-
+1 thrown weapons
-		Low-Light Vision
+		-1 to saves against charm, -2 to sense motive.

The biggest strike is the additional +6 to Jump above what the halfling has, which puts the Katara on par with races that have a 30' movement. It fully negates the penalty for low speeds. They seem balanced otherwise, but I'm tempted to recommend adding the Concentration penalty Bront has mentioned.

 

[Bront]

I haven't heard about those two races being particularly overpowered, and I don't particularly subscribe to the idea that a bonus to a mental stat is really that powerful, to be honest.

As for the proposal at hand, a close comparison would be halflings. Let's take a look:

Halfling	Katara
=		+2 Cha, -2 Con
+2 Climb	+6 Jump, +2 Balance, Tumble
-		Balance is always a class skill
+1 to all saves	-
+1 against fear	-
+1 thrown weapons
-		Low-Light Vision
+		-1 to saves against charm, -2 to sense motive.

The biggest strike is the additional +6 to Jump above what the halfling has, which puts the Katara on par with races that have a 30' movement. It fully negates the penalty for low speeds. They seem balanced otherwise, but I'm tempted to recommend adding the Concentration penalty Bront has mentioned.

Good to see that they stack up as "Not Halflings", but are compairable to them as far as general balance.

A bonus to a mental stat is just as powerful for a spellcaster as a bonus to a physical stat is to a non-spell caster. At least in my oppinion.

The other option might be instead of the -2 Concentration penalty, I could simply drop the jump down to +4, but I think that gives them a bit more flavor (And makes them more cat like, which is kind of the idea).

The more I think about it, the more I think that the -2 Concentration should be there. My cat has been distracted while playing several times... by her own fur. Seems reasonable.

 

[Bront]

Small (20', +1 size bonus to AC/Attack, +4 size to hide)
+2 Dex
+2 Chr
-2 Str
-2 Con
Keen Ears - +2 racial bonus to Listen,
Natural Grace - +2 racial bonus to Move Silently, Balance, and Tumble, Balance is always a class skill.
Increadable Leap - +8 racial bonus to Jump, and have no maximum jump distance
Wondering Mind - -1 save vs enchantment/charm effects, -2 racial penalty to sense motive and concentration
Lowlight vision x2
Favored Class: Bard

Still debating the -2 Wis vs -2 Con, but this seems to be a bit more popular so far.

 

[Bront]

Ok, I changed the crunch on the proposal, and think it's ready for approval. Still looking for a good place to have them from in a background, but that can be tweeked as well (Especialy given the mutable nature of Enworld).

If there are any further comments or suggestions, let me know.

 

[Jdvn1]

Have you come up with any ideas for the background? They're certainly not common on EN World, maybe they're from off the map?

 

[Bront]

Have you come up with any ideas for the background? They're certainly not common on EN World, maybe they're from off the map?

I was pondering a jungle area perhaps, or foresty mountain region (Basicly, areas where their jump ability is a very usefull survival tool). Leaning towards a foresty region.

I'm not too familiar with the Enworldian map. I'll have to break it down and find a good spot, though I'm open to suggestions.

I was worried more about the crunch, after that and if they're acceptabe as designed, I think we can find a place for them.

My guess is that they have several small comunities in some forest/mountain area. They probably do some traiding with their "Furry faced" friends (dwarves), and occasionaly with some elven comunities, and have only reciently been wandering farther (insert direction).

I'll write something up in the next day or two when i get a chance to crunch the map at home.

 

[Jdvn1]

I'll write something up in the next day or two when i get a chance to crunch the map at home.

I look forward to that. I'm curious! I think the stats are better now, though.

 

[Knight Otu]

I guess towards the eastern regions, between the region of the Fire and the Earth tower, could be a fitting place if you want a jungle environment. Not to the extreme end, of course.