Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 luckyrob Jun 13, 2011 2:24:46	I've been working on converting Mystara to 4E.  Here is the gist of it: The Rakasta A thoughtful and contemplative nature masks the true beast within. RACIAL TRAITS Average Height: 5′ 5″ – 5′ 11″ Average Weight: 130 – 170 .lb Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom or Strength Size: Medium Speed: 6 squares Vision: Low-light Languages: Common, Rakasta Skill Bonuses: +2 Perception, +2 Religion Claws: Your unarmed attack deals an extra point of damage from retractable claws. Rakasta Weapon Proficiency: You gain proficiency with the kasa or ‘war claw’. Predatory Advantage: You may roll a Perception check to avoid being surprised. Leaping Shift: You can use leaping shift as an encounter power. Leaping Shift  Racial Power You pounce across the battlefield seeking your prey. Encounter Move Action * Personal Effect: You shift three squares. You can pass through enemies squares on your shift, but must end in an unoccupied space. The entire write-up (as well as some game history and some rakasta inspired images) are here: www.halfblogre.com/2011/06/pc-race-rakas... Thanks, let me know what you think.
#2 estlor Jun 15, 2011 10:28:09	I don't really see anything overly broken about the race as you present it, but I also don't see anything really "special" about it either.  I'll elaborate: Claws - This is really more fluff than a concrete, mechanical benefit.  Reason being - any rakasta that finds themselves in melee is going to be carrying a weapon since it will always do more damage than their unarmed attack.  If you look at the only other PC race with a natural weapon - the gnoll - they go the route of requiring a feat to use your claws and treating it as a weapon/etc.  But there are issues with that and claws are a lot more inherent to a rakasta than a gnoll. Because of all that, I think you can get away with being a little more generous with this, perhaps something like: "Claws: Your unarmed attacks are treated as a +3 proficiency weapon in the unarmed and light blade groups.  You gain a +1 racial bonus to damage on unarmed attacks made with your claws." The idea here is a rakasta is more likely to pick their claws of a spiked gauntlet because they have comparable damage (1d4+1, 2-5 range, 3.5 average; 1d6, 1-6 range, 3.5 average) and their claws benefit from light blade feat support.  The only oddity left is the whole, "Can I enchant them?" Predatory Advantage - I don't know if I follow this one.  Is the idea that you get to make an active Perception check in place of a passive one?  If so, a better universal benefit might just be a racial bonus to passive Perception checks...  Actually, I kind of like that passive Perception bonus, since it makes them harder to hide from and better at spotting traps and small items, like their cultural background makes them that much more attentive to details. Leaping Shift - The way this is worded, you've given them (in effect) the shadar-kai's Shadow Jaunt power, minus the insubstantial at the end plus being negatively effected by difficult terrain.  (Okay, it's a shift, not a teleport, so you don't need line of sight, but still...)  At the least I'd add the sentence, "This movement ignores difficult terrain," to the power so it's not inherently inferior to another existing racial power.  Maybe also make it a minor action instead of a move to account for the fact that Shadow Jaunt also grants the powerful insubstantial condition and Leaping Shift gives no such bonus. Skill Bonuses - Coming from the perspective of a game world in which rakasta and lupins both exist, I associate Perception (and the ability to ferret out hidden people and objects) with dogs more than cats.  When I think of cats I think of lithe, agile creatures who can sneak up and pounce on their prey.  That sounds a heck of a lot more like Acrobatics and Stealth than Perception and Religion.  That also does a fair job of approximating the 2e rakasta's inherent thief skills they received even if they weren't a thief. And lastly, since rakasta are just cat people, it seems reasonable that they'd have some way to represent the old, "Cats always land on their feet," saying.  Maybe steal from the dwarf a little and toss in: Sure Footed: Any time you would be forced to fall prone, you can make a saving throw to remain standing. So, hey, I fall.  I still take falling damage, but I land on my feet.  You hit me with knockdown strike, it trips me up a little, but I catch myself.  Etc.  And it's different enough from a dwarf because 1) you don't resist forced movement and 2) you can save against any prone, not just attacks. I won't comment on the ability score modifiers other than my personal preference would be +2 Dex, +2 Str/Cha but only because I'd attempt to account for both the Asiatic rakasta from Matera and the English, bardic rakasta from Bellayne in my design.  If you've decided to focus on the ritualistic warrior side, the +2 Cha option doesn't make as much sense.