The Optimized Races Niche Compendium
A Work In Progress
Too many races got you down? Do you just want to know the best one for your character niche without all that icky fluff getting in the way? Then step right up, today's your lucky day.
Organized by Race:
This post is out of date and is being reorganized:[SPOILER]
Anthropomorphic Bat[SPOILER]
Anthropomorphic Bat (savage species pg.215)
-4 Str +6 Wis -2 Cha
SMALL
5 ft. (fly 20 ft. average)
blindsense (ex)
Favored class: druid
monstrous humanoid[/SPOILER]
Use: because you need Wisdom, and you need it now. The fly speed and blindsense are suboptimal but free. Makes for easy CoDzillas because the 1HD can explicitly be traded for your first class level.
Azurin[SPOILER]Azurin (MoI 7)
Human and Incarnum subtypes (meaning they count as human)
ANY FEAT
1 Essentia
Common + Any
Soulborn Favored Class[/SPOILER]
Use: The Channel Incarnum Azurin Cleric substitution is needed for
max DMM-able poolsDrow:[SPOILER]
Savage Progression Drow
+2dex, -2con, +2int
hand crossbow, rapier, and short sword proficiency
Dancing Lights 1/day
Darkvision 60'
immune to magic sleep effects.
Light Blindness
+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks
passing within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if he were actively looking for it.
Common, Elven, Undercommon + Abyssal, Aquan, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, Goblin.
Favored Class: Wizard (male) or cleric (female)[/SPOILER]
Use: Take Drow paragon 1 for excellent early entry capability. I love PrCing with just 1 base spellcasting level.
Daelkyr half-blood[spoiler]Aberration
Darkvision 60'
Proficient with all simple weapons
Personal Symbiont (Ex): Gain one symbiote: breed leech, crawling gauntlet, or throwing scarab. If the personal symbiont is lost, a daelkyr half-blood can grow a replacement from his own flesh over a period of 2d4 days. A daelkyr halfblood can’t grow or regrow symbionts that he has gained in any other manner, nor can a daelkyr half-blood grow a replacement for a symbiont if the original symbiont yet lives. As a daelkyr half-blood advances in level, he can grow a new personal symbiont as indicated on the table below. Any new personal symbiont grown replaces the old symbiont. A daelkyr half-blood can choose additional symbionts from the list provided above, as well as from new choices as they become available, as indicated on the table:
1st Breed leech, crawling gauntlet, throwing scarab
5th Stormstalk, winter cyst
10th Spellwurm, tentacle whip
15th Tongue worm
Symbiont Mastery bonus feat.
Everyday without contact with a symbiont he takes 1 Con damage which cannot be restored by any means as long as no symbiont.
Any creature that even studies his mind, must make a cha-based Will save (1/2 half-blood’s level) or be dazed for 1 round.
Automatic Language: Common. Bonus Language: Daelkyr.
Favored Class: Rogue.[/spoiler]
Dwarf:[SPOILER]
badlands (Sand42) dwarf for faith scion (w/o homebrew)
BONUS Heat Endurance feat
+2 Constitution, -2 Charisma.
20' ms
move at speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load
Darkvision 60 feet
+2 search on water related things, can spot it like elves
Treat dwarven waraxes + dwarven urgroshes as martial weapons
Stability
+2 racial vs poison.
+2 racial vs spells and spell-like effects.
+1 racial hit vs orcs and goblinoids.
+4 dodge AC vs giants
+2 survival
Common, Dwarven + Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, Undercommon
Favored Class: Fighter.
48+con hours w/o water before dehydration[/SPOILER]
Use: Dwarven PrCs. No not the silly defender one. The only RAW way to get at this
ridunkulous class which darn-near beats out Arcane Hierophant for max ubermountage.
Elan:[SPOILER]Aberration
-2 Charisma
No darkvision.
2pp
1 power point -> not need to eat or drink for 24 hours.
immediate action -> reduce 2 damage per 1pp
immediate action -> 1 power point for a racial +4 to saves until the beginning of his next turn.
Automatic Languages: Common.
Favored Class: Psion.[/SPOILER]Use: Cohorts or followers with share pain. Even outside of battle they can be damage sponges. They make tanky Psion20s
Elf:[SPOILER]
gray
fire elf (if wizard) or snow elf (if melee)
-2 Str, -2con, +2dex, +4 Int, -2cha or +2dex, -cha
Immunity to magic sleep effects
+2 vs enchantments
Low-Light Vision
Weapon Proficiency: longsword, rapier, longbow and shortbow including composites
+2 Listen, Search, and Spot checks
passing within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for it.
Common, Elven + Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan.
Favored Class: Wizard
+1hit vs fire creatures
-2saves vs water or cold effects and creatures
resist fire 5[/SPOILER]
Use: Eternal Blade. Yes its painful to get into, but that immediate turn thing is nearly game-breaking in low-magic campaigns.
Feytouched:[SPOILER]
savage progression feytouched
+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Charisma.
fey
Low-Light Vision
+4 racial vs mind-affecting effects.
Common, Sylvan + Elven, Gnome, Halfling.
Favored Class: Bard or rogue.[/SPOILER]
Use: You're Fey. You get
free and awesome feats. See
its transition class if you want an army of peasants at level 2. Getting into Mindbender at ECL6 with only 1 level of a spellcasting class is fun too.
Gnome:[SPOILER]
whisper gnome
-2Str, +2dex, +2Con, -2cha
Small with 30'
Low-Light Vision
Darkvision 60'
hammers as martial weapons
+4 dodge AC against giants
+2listen, +2spot
+1hit kobolds, goblinoids
Common, Gnome + Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc
1/day silence centered + if Charisma 10 mage hand, ghost sound, message.
Favored Class: rogue[/SPOILER]
Use: Shadow craft mage without wasting the precious ECL of other entry methods. Because everyone loves conjuring fake things that are more real than reality! Wait, what?
Halfling[SPOILER]
water strongheart halfling
-2str, +2dex, +2con
BONUS FEAT
SMALL SIZE
+1hit w/ thrown weapons and slings
+2morale vs fear
+2 racial Climb, Jump, Listen, Move Silently.
rogue favored class
swim speed (+8racial swim)
-2saves on fire stuff
+1hit againt fire creatures
halfling, common + dwarven, gnoll, goblin, aquan, orc / halruaan,shaaran[/SPOILER]
Use: Halfling Outrider anyone? Belkar wanna-be? Still close to human, but small.
Half-Orc[SPOILER]
frostblood (DM10) desert half-orc (counts for all the orc stuff)
+2con, -2int
BONUS endurance feat
BONUS run feat
BONUS heat endurance feat
dragonblood
resist cold 10
vulnerability to fire
no lowlight vision or lowlight vision after darkvision template
Common, Orc + Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Abyssal.
favored class: Barb
+4racial fort vs hot weather[/SPOILER]
Use: Gets all those yummy orc feats and a few fuffy PrCs. Human-ish and clearly descended enough to use the 'counts as human' variant. The real benefit comes after you
psychic reformation those bonus feats.
Ice Gensai:[SPOILER]
Lesser Ice Gensai (forgot source)
-2dex, +4con, +2wis, -2cha
it gets some minor mist or something iirc. Feel free to correct.[/SPOILER]
Use: because you need Constitution, and you need it now. You get more bang for the buck without being an ugly mongrelfolk.
Kobold:[SPOILER]
Desert kobold
-4Str, +2Dex, -2Wis, +1nat
small but 30'
darkvision 60'
+2 racial Survival, craft (trapmaking), search
Draconic + Common, Undercommon.
Favored Class: Rogue.
+4racial fort vs hot weather[/SPOILER]
Use: Pazazu, Pazazu, Paz - nevermind. For a playable, but just really, really power (aka broken to most
other people) take the dragonwraught feat and the Loredrake Sovereign Archetype. Now be a
sorcerer with a few rituals and some dragonspawn templates. Its
almost as good as min-maxed fast-casting!
Muckdweller[SPOILER]muckdweller (serpent kingdoms pg.71)
-6Str, +6Dex, -2Wis, -2Cha
TINY SIZE
20 ft. (swim 20 ft.)
Squirt [water] (ex) 25' Dex-based Reflex DC or be blinded for 1 round
monstrous humanoid
Draconic[/SPOILER]
Use: because you need dexterity and you need it now. The Tiny size is worth the 1RHD that most DM's throw out without question. Because its possible to interpret the 'humanoid-only update' to
this as not being a reversal but only a clarification that doesn't apply in this case.
Neraph[SPOILER]Outsider native to Limbo
+2 Natural
darkvision 60'
'"Neraph Camoufl age (Ex): When charging an opponent or when using a thrown weapon, neraphim can use a technique known as motion camoufl age (also called neraph camoufl age by other races), which predatory insects use to trick prey into thinking they are stationary even though they are moving closer. The target creature can be fooled into believing that the charging neraph or the neraph’s thrown weapon is in fact not moving closer, or moving closer only very slowly. A neraph can make one camoufl age attack per enemy per encounter (once a foe sees the attack in action, that foe can discern it for what it is for the duration of that combat). Creatures that are subject to a neraph’s charge or that are targeted by a weapon thrown by a neraph may not apply their Dexterity bonuses to their Armor Class. All conditions that pertain when a foe cannot apply his Dexterity bonus to Armor Class also pertain to the neraph’s attack (for instance, a sneak attack could also be made with this attack, if the neraph can make such an attack)."
Jump +5, Spot & Search +2
annulats are martial weapons for them
Automatic Languages: Neraph, Slaad. Bonus Languages: Common, Celestial, Abyssal.
Favored Class: Ranger.[/spoiler]
Sharn (Anauroch: The Empire of Shade 153) 4HD, +5LA
[SPOILER]Large Aberration 4HD, +5LA
+8str, +10dex, +10con, +8int, +8wis, +10cha, +5nat
10', 40' fly (perfect)
9 hands with claws & 3 heads with bites but 1 size smaller for wielding
DR 10 cold iron or lawful
darkvision 60
regeneration 2/Lawful
Immune to mind-effects, polymorping, petrifying or form-changing
multiple actions: 3 standard + 1 move is wonderful
alertness, multiattack, multiweapon fighting bonus feats
6th/6th sorcerer/favored soul casting as SLAs
cast spells as SLAs, but not from the same list more than once a round
full round to make up to 3 (su)AoO threatening 1-way hex portals within 20' for line of sight abuse (100') with a swift action to move 20' but have 40% miss.
automatic simple and martial weapon proficiency
can't be polymorphed into but can't polymorph
languages: common, draconic, dwarven, elven, sylvan[/spoiler]
Use: The ultimate ghestalt race. Alternatively, high powered games with DMs who allow either fair ECL variants or LA buyoff and restoration cheese. Otherwise it won't make ninths, but it still has a nice power niche before then.
Spirit Folk[SPOILER]Bamboo Spirit Folk (OA)
lowlight vision
spirit subtype (beware shamans :smallwink:)
Common, spirit language + Aquan, Giant, Goblin, 2 regionals
ANY favored class
+2 Survival, +4hide in woods
Trackless Step
+2 vs Earth, Rock, Stone, or Wood Effects
1/day 1 min speak with animals[/SPOILER]
Use: Arcane Heirophant early entry for all DMs who dislike playing semantics.
T'kel[SPOILER]Monstrous Humanoid
+2dex, -2int
20' swim
Darkvision 60'
2 1d4 claws
favored class: monk[/SPOILER]Use: when you need to be monstrous
Tibbit[SPOILER]You know you want to be a housecat just to kill a commoner :smallyuk:
I'm thinking the free form-change is worth it. Let me know if not. I haven't stated it because this one could be unnecesary.[/SPOILER]
Tiefling:[SPOILER]
Savage Progression Tiefling:
+2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma.
Outsider
Darkvision 60'
Darkness (Sp) 1/day (1st-level spell)
+2racial Bluff, Hide
cold, electricity, and fire resistance 2
Common, Infernal + Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc.
Favored Class: Rogue[/SPOILER]
Use: Its paragon 1 is useful for saves-maximizing after its RHD1 (which can't be swapped for a class level by RAW, since you are an outsider)
Warforged:[SPOILER]
+2con -2wis, -2cha
living construct (alive but no eating, sleeping, or breathing)
no natural healing, 50% healing gains, craft checks to heal
immunity to poison, sleep, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, sickening and energy drain[/SPOILER][/SPOILER]