Most Powerful Phb Race!

[MythandLore]

[Most Powerful Race!!!]

Lets see it this works this time.
I tried to make a poll earlier but it only posted the message.

Vote For the Most Powerful PHB Race!

Before the Boards crashed last time I did a poll asking you who the most powerful PHB class was.
We had over a hundred votes:
#1 The Cleric was the Clear Winner, with over 48%
#2 The Wizard was a distant Second with about 30%
No other class scored over 10%

THIS TIME I ASK YOU: WHAT PHB RACE IS MOST POWERFUL?
Who are the Masters of 3rd Edition!?


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[MythandLore]

Humans seem to be polling well, looks like people think Gnomes are powerful for some reason too.
Hmm... I wonder why.


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[MasterOfHeaven]

Humans will win this poll, most likely, even though they are not the most powerful race. The customization allowable through the bonus feat and skill pionts makes Humans the most popular race, despite the fact they aren't pound for pound better than the Dwarf.

Dwarves are the best PHB core race as far as pure power goes, mechanics wise. They have the best statistics tradeoff, the +2 bonus to all saves vs. spells (Name me one feat that does the same), as well as Darkvision, the bonuses to hit Orcs and so on make the Dwarves the most powerful race available from the PHB.

 

[Talaysen]

Dwarves are the most intrinsically powerful race in the Player's Handbook. I've been developing a point-based PC race construction system, and dwarves cost 17 points to build - the ideal range is 10-15 points (most races are really between 10 and 13 points, but I rounded up). If you want to get technical, they really should be an ECL +1 race.

 

[Omegium]

Have to vote for the dwarves: +con is very good, -cha is not so bad since cha is only used for a couple of checks. They have darkvision, the +2 to spells is powerful, looking for traps as a rogue can if they are built within stone is also powerful, if you are inside a standard dungeon.

In our campaigns we had just a few humans. Only our last campaign consists of an elf, a dwarf and 4 humans. But that is an exception.

Hmm. weird that gnomes get so high. They have a very long list of special, but those are not very good.

 

[MythandLore]

I don't think Dwarves need a ECL +!, that's a bit overboard.

Gnomes seem to be polling very well, must be from their powers, their political powers.
Everyone knows the Gnomes control Switzerland.

 

[Talaysen]

Under my system, gnomes cost 13 points to build.

I just grabbed my notes, so for the benefit of the curious, here's how it breaks down, from highest to lowest:

DWARF - 16 points (ok, forgot I'd recalucated it - still higher than normal, though)
HALF-ELF - 15 points
ELF - 13 points
GNOME - 13 points
HALFLING - 10 points
HUMAN - 10 points
HALF-ORC - 1 point (yeah, that's right - ONE; half-orcs REALLY got the shaft)

Half-elves rated highly only because they have a number of bonuses with no real penalties to keep them balanced. Even humans have one penalty - one less automatic language than the other races. (I factored in pretty much everything, though languages weren't worth too many points.)

Here are some non-PHB races with point totals calculated according to my system. Bear in mind that ECLs take away points just as various ability penalties and such do, and the ECLs given in the FRCS have been factored in.

DUERGAR - 16 points
DROW - 15 points
SVIRFNEBLIN - 15 points
AASIMAR - 10 points
TIEFLING - 10 points

Rather interesting, actually...it would seem that dwarves in general are slightly higher point-wise than they should be. Of course, so far I've only examined the two noted subspecies.

 

[MythandLore]

Under my system, gnomes cost 13 points to build.

I just grabbed my notes, so for the benefit of the curious, here's how it breaks down, from highest to lowest:

DWARF - 16 points (ok, forgot I'd recalucated it - still higher than normal, though)
HALF-ELF - 15 points
ELF - 13 points
GNOME - 13 points
HALFLING - 10 points
HUMAN - 10 points
HALF-ORC - 1 point (yeah, that's right - ONE; half-orcs REALLY got the shaft)

Half-elves rated highly only because they have a number of bonuses with no real penalties to keep them balanced. Even humans have one penalty - one less automatic language than the other races. (I factored in pretty much everything, though languages weren't worth too many points.)

Here are some non-PHB races with point totals calculated according to my system. Bear in mind that ECLs take away points just as various ability penalties and such do, and the ECLs given in the FRCS have been factored in.

DUERGAR - 16 points
DROW - 15 points
SVIRFNEBLIN - 15 points
AASIMAR - 10 points
TIEFLING - 10 points

Rather interesting, actually...it would seem that dwarves in general are slightly higher point-wise than they should be. Of course, so far I've only examined the two noted subspecies.

If you ever put your point system in writing, I'd like to take a look at it.
I'd like to see how you came up with your numbers.
I think someone else came up with a system too (Soladarin? I don't remember) but it was kinda complex.
His version made it come out +ECL like the WotC stuff.

 

[Talaysen]

Don't worry - once this system is done, I fully intend to release it to the public. Still trying to figure out what format it'll be in; we'll have to see what seems feasible at the time.

I'll also be looking for playtesters in a while. I'll announce the start of that phase here once I'm ready for it. (Well, somewhere in the EN World messageboard system, at any rate - maybe not HERE, exactly.)

 

[MythandLore]

Don't worry - once this system is done, I fully intend to release it to the public. Still trying to figure out what format it'll be in; we'll have to see what seems feasible at the time.

I'll also be looking for playtesters in a while. I'll announce the start of that phase here once I'm ready for it. (Well, somewhere in the EN World messageboard system, at any rate - maybe not HERE, exactly.)

Cool, I can't wait!
Like I said the other guys system was really complex, well to complex for me to read all the stuff on it, it was .1 this .3 that.(Not that I can find it now - if someone else has a link to it post it)
It seemed like a solid system, I just couldn't really use it.