I’m trying my hand at using the custom class and race section in the player’s guide, and am looking for some criticism/ suggestions. It’s for a future Japan-themed setting I’m working on here and there.
Korobokuru in D&D are presented as ‘Asian Dwarves’ in the 1E Oriental Adventures book. Not knowing much about them, I hit up that font of all human knowledge, Wikipedia. Here’s an excerpt:
The Ainu believe that the koro-pok-guru were the people who lived in the Ainu’s land before the Ainu themselves lived there. They were short of stature, agile, and skilled at fishing. They lived in pits with roofs made from butterbur leaves.
Long ago, the koro-pok-guru were on good terms with the Ainu, and would send them deer, fish, and other game and exchange goods with them. The little people hated to be seen, however, so they would stealthily make their deliveries under cover of night.
Agile, stealthy, hidden folks that sneak into human villages? That sounds a lot like the European faeries (brownies, et al). The closest “classic” race in terms of capabilities would be halflings, not dwarves. Nobody wants “non adventurer” halflings in their game… so, I’m working on the Korobokuru Scout as a custom race-class.
Build Points
Fighter 2, HD 1, Thief 1
Fights and saves very similar to the explorer class - d6 hit points
Trades 2 fighter restrictions (narrow armor - restricted to leather or lighter armor)for some custom powers.
Thief Class abilities include Climb, Move Silent, and Hear Noise like a thief of the same level, along with the proficiencies of Tracking and Pass Without Trace (earned through the fighter restrictions).
Race abilities include Difficult to Spot, AC bonus +1 (size), Hardy (dwarf save bonuses), and +1 on surprise rolls in the wilderness.
The problem is if I add up the XP, it looks to come out to 2,200 xp for 1st level, which seems high for the kind of punch this guy packs, but maybe it’s right (1,300 for fighter 2 with 2 bonus powers/restrictions; 500 for HD 1; 200 for Thief 1; 200 for having similar costed race abilities as the dwarf).
How would limiting the race advancement to level 8 or 10 affect the XP required?
Should it also get some XP lowered by limiting the weapon choice (ie, no human size 2-handed weapons).
I’m hoping to figure out the whole race-class thing, as I’d like to work on ‘Spirit Folk’ and ‘Hengeyokai’ race-classes as well.
Edit: The Korobokuru Scout is kinda boring - just trying to learn the process - but I could see something like the Korobokuru Spirit Talker (a Shaman variant) being totally hot. The Korobokuru are indigenous to an island like Honshu, a misty, mountainous, forested island where the kami frequently appear.