Here's a fun thought experiment; How would you recreate the Pathfinder Core Rulebook using third party races and classes?
You can use any Paizo race or any 3pp race but you're limited to no more than 7 races.
You can use any Paizo core/base class or any 3pp class but you're limited to no more than 12 classes.
For me it's:
Races;
Humans
Elves
Dwarves
Gnomes
Giant
Ferran
Humans, Elves and Dwarves for sure, those are just iconic. Gnomes get to stay as they resident fey-race and small race. Giants from Rite Publishing will replace Half-orcs as the 'bruiser-race' to keep in line with the pseudo-Norseness that the lineup has so far. The Ferran from Thunderscape: World of Aden because having a diverse 'wild' race at the core rules would be valuable and cover a lot of concepts without eliminating design space. It would actually eliminate a lot of animal classes by letting the flavor talk more than the mechanics without getting too complicated.
Talented Fighter from RGG is pretty much what I think the Fighter wanted to be and opens up more design space for talents. I also think that with talents it can cover the territory of Barbarian and Monk so instead of those I'd go for the Mystic from Amora Game. Because after Spheres of Power from Drop Dead Studios, I hate spells with a passion I may as well just remove them from existence by moving in the Mageknight, Hedge Witch and Incanter in and no other casters. They cover bigger concept range than all of Paizo's caster's put together and gain some of their class features all without having archetypes themselves. Also I'm aware of how much space these new core classes would take up so I'll free up about 90 pages by replacing spells with spheres. The Bard always felt less like a core class due to it's general theme of music and sound. I'd replace it with something that achieves a jack of all trades skill/knowledge monkey and all around generic adventurer, The Scholar from Tripod Machine's A Fistfull of Denarii. Another Amora Game class, the Metamorph covers a lot of ground that Sorcerer could have especially if we're really use with how the power's source is defined. Speaking of being loose with flavor, the Theurge from Thunderscape could make a great cleric replacement assuming we treat some legends as tales from deities. In fact this way could replace any nature or divine caster. The fallen from Thunderscape is a bit iffy without it's expansion but with it the class would be a good core addition as something that is unique and covers a lot of grounds.
And that's it. I really think those 9 classes cover any concept I would like to see in a core rulebook and have a lot of design space. After that the only ones you really need are the ones that are genre specific or introduce a new kind of system like maneuvers or technology or psionics.
I'm a fan of slightly higher tech levels than the base PF setting, so the additional core races reflect that, I think. Half-Orc could be replaced, but I'm not entirely familiar with other 3pp races, so they won't go the way of the halfling just yet.
Classes-wise, I think I'd need to spend some time thinking on. At some level, having more generic classes as the base makes sense to me (if RGG's Shadow Assassin replaced the Rogue, it'd be weird that all rogues were in love with the shadows).
I know that Ssalarn runs some events at LGS that are entirely 3pp classes. It'd be interesting to see which he uses to cover various roles.
I'm a fan of slightly higher tech levels than the base PF setting, so the additional core races reflect that, I think. Half-Orc could be replaced, but I'm not entirely familiar with other 3pp races, so they won't go the way of the halfling just yet.
Classes-wise, I think I'd need to spend some time thinking on. At some level, having more generic classes as the base makes sense to me (if RGG's Shadow Assassin replaced the Rogue, it'd be weird that all rogues were in love with the shadows).
I know that Ssalarn runs some events at LGS that are entirely 3pp classes. It'd be interesting to see which he uses to cover various roles.
It depends on the evening. I've actually found that healer tends to be the least needed role, so long as the party has access to a few potions and maybe a wand. Skill-monkey is typically the second least necessary, as long as the rest of the group is composed of 4-6 + Int skill point classes. During our last game when we ran Four Dollar Dungeon's "Dance Macabre", we had a lot of people out do convention season and we ended up with a 3 man group composed of the Nightblade (Ascension Games), Lunar Guardian Druid (Ascension Games), and Daevic (Dreamscarred Press, pending release). It worked pretty well with the Daevic covering social skills, the Nightblade covering technical skills, and the Druid covering survival skills. Daevic tanked, Nightblade provided some control, and the Druid provided a mix of control and healing. Granted, there was a TPK in that adventure, but that had more to do with very poor choices and even worse die rolls than a lack of party synergy or capability.
If I were going to recreate the CRB using 3pp materials, my races would be:
Humans
Elves
Dwarves
Gnomes and Halflings would be combined into a single race with variant offshoots
Orcs
Ironborn (Rite Publishing)
Half-Giants (Dreamscarred Press)
Half races would be covered by traits.
And my classes would be:
Armorist (Drop Dead Studios) - primary tank
Battle Lord (Amora Games) - primary leader
Cryptic (Dreamscarred Press) - primary skill-monkey
Death Mage (Rogue Genius Games) - debuff and control
Momenta (Amora Games) - secondary leader, healer, and skill-monkey
Monster Trainer (Northwinter Press) - primary pet class
Swordmaster (Dreadfox Games) - primary dpr
Runesmith (LRGG) - secondary healer and/or secondary tank
Vitalist (Dreamscarred Press) - primary healer
Vizier (Dreamscarred Press - primary controller
Isn't NeoExodus too setting specific to be core rules?
Actually based on the question you stated, it isn't. One the area of races I planned for each race to be able to replace the "feel" of a standard core race with out have to be that specific race. While the NeoExodus race may look different and unique from other fantasy races, at their core they are traditional fantasy races.
i'm only barely starting to get into 3pp stuff, but i'm really liking path of war and spheres of power (and the classes and such that they introduce). havent gotten into psionics (i've heard good things aobut dreamscarred press' take on the subject) or other races yet, so watching this thread carefully.
The Rite Publishing Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG) is an archipelago of volcanic islands rather than a complete world, however like a Ravenloft cluster, its borders are a cosmic separation from the world it resides. Requiring the Core, APG, UC, and UM at the minimum, Kaidan has its own unique class archetypes, a few alternate classes, completely new classes and prestige classes and races intrinsic to its reincarnation cycle:
Humans
Kappa
Kitsune
Korobokuru
Hengeyokai
Tengu
Because in some ways Kaidan is its own demiplane, as well as an empire and shogunate, inhabitants are separated from deities and their planes, magic is slightly altered, PC death results in mandatory movement on the cursed reincarnation cycle with no chance of resurrection.
Many traits, feats and spells are unique to Kaidan as well, even its demonic forces, oni, kami and undead are found no where else in the multiverse.
We hope to release our GM's Guide to Kaidan in the next few months. Though there currently exists a 3 module introductory AP, 4 one-shot modules, 2 class/faction guides, 3 race guides and a haunts guide. Currently unique setting rules can be found in the Curse of the Golden Spear intro AP. All these products added together could essentially form a Kaidan Core ruleset.
Arguably, you can say, Kaidan is too setting specific, but since 3PP cannot use Golarian, wouldn't all 3PP core books be "too setting specific" by definition as well?
Classes:
The Talented Monk and Ranger from Rogue Genius Games.
The Psion, Psychic Warrior, Wilder, Stalker, Warder, and Warlord from Dreamscarred Press.
The Battle Scion, Theurge, and White Necromancer from Kobold Press.
Cleric (or a Warpriest with better abilities).
Races:
Dwarves
Humans
Elan and Half-Giant from Dreamscarred Press
Dragonkin from Kobold Press
Tiefling
Aasimar
Races:
Gnomes (Core Rulebook)
Dwarves (Core Rulebook)
Elves (Core Rulebook)
Oread (Advanced Race Guide)
Sylphs (Advanced Race Guide)
Taurians (In the Company of Minotaurs)
Elan (Ultimate Psionics)
I'd prefer to mix in some Greek influence along with the norther European races. Halflings are out...I guess I'd keep the non-mythological races out of core. Humans are out because I never really felt they fit in the D&D race system. Every other race has a variety of strengths and weaknesses. Humans, almost from the beginning, have been the "best at everything" race. A lot of the 'human only' game elements are things I think should be open to everyone, anyways, which they can be if humans are eliminated as a core race. The Taurian racial paragon class could be introduced in a supplement.
Classes:
As I say rather often, in a class-based system, I think classes should be as mechanically distinct as possible. The only reason to have classes using similar rules is to make multiclassing easier. I'd prefer only two or three classes per subsystem (plus prestige classes and/or multiclassing archetypes/hybrids). In core, since space is limited, though, I'd go with only one class per subsystem, with only a couple exceptions. So...
1. Sorcerer (Core Rulebook): The standard 'build your own class' class, who can pick its class features from a gargantuan list of spells.
2. Psion (Ultimate Psionics)
3. Soulknife (Ultimate Psionics): this sort of breaks my rule of one-subsystem-per-class rule, but I feel there should be at least one easy-to-learn class in core, and it isn't actually a manifester. Also, there should be multiple melee-oriented classes in core.
4. Warder (Path of War)
5. Divine Channeler (The Secrets of Adventuring): The domain system in the core rules is a good way to represent world-neutral(ish) divine power, but I feel the cleric underutilized it.
6. Maestro (Ultimate Composition/Strange Magic): This is one of my favorite subsystems of all time. As far as fluff goes, it also fills the role left by the bard.
7. Luckbringer (The Secrets of Adventuring): Possibly with the Black Cat Bugler archetype made the default, and the 'normal' luckbringer made into an archetype. Oh look! It's the rogue replacement!
8. Ethermancer (Ultimate Ethermagic/Strange Magic)
9. Truenamer (Ultimate Truenaming/Strange Magic)
10. Occultist (Pact Magic Unbound)
11. Onmyoji (The Onmyoji- A Japanese Occult Diviner): I'd probably change the default fluff somewhat, but as it is it fills the "nature" theme left by the druid and ranger, and I find its mechanics much more interesting (and distinct).
Similarly, I believe you could do an all Rogue Genius Games one as well. If the classes of a setting are there to fit the needs of the setting, it would certainly tell an interesting tale. Here's a world where the children of gods walk amongst mere mortals, the world flush with dragons and their riders constantly fighting the forces of undead, led by death mages and death knights. Due to the constant warring and colossal states, it's figuratively and literally a gloomy world, well suited for shadow assassins to keep track of others and take them out efficiently. The archons and rivenmages peel away at the current foundations of magic, looking for any trump cards they can use in the war, all while the time wardens battle the time reavers, the latter intent on bringing the end of the world. This is a world where almost everyone has magical abilities of some sort, from being able to paint magic as a mosaic mage, to blending martial might with eldritch knowledge as the vanguard. In such a magic rich world, one would need dedicated witch hunters.
And then the Hellion is like "I'm an underappreciated class that has a really cool concept, so I'm going to go pout and put a hex on someone."
Similarly, I believe you could do an all Rogue Genius Games one as well.
I agree.
And just use the "Talented Warrior" in the back of T Barbarian to cover multiple archetypes, as well as the Magister as the only full 9 level spontaneous class. RGG classes are often extremely flexible, and give more options.
Humans
Dragons, Taninim (Rite Publishing Racial Class)
Elves
Gnomes
Goblins
Magogol (Alluria Publishing)
Planetouched, or Tieflings to be specific
The reasoning for the choices are thus. 1: who wouldn't want to play as a dragon. Elves are cool and varied fantasy creatures, although gnomes can more easily fill the roles of halflings and dwarves plus are sadly underused. Magogol are genetically good-aligned frog people with an interesting culture of occupation-based names. Tieflings are a popular option with some players I game with, and in my last campaign and the one I'm in goblins have been fleshed out beyond the typical Level 1 evil-fodder, so I'm now partial to them.
Path of War classes are very fun and versatile martial classes who can replace most of the non-casting martials with certain things (Primal Fury Warlord replacing Barbarian, Broken Blade Stalker replacing Monk, etc). The Nightblade is a neat sneaky gish that my group took to, so I'd include them for that reason. Taninim Dragons are a racial class, so they're on this list too. Alchemist, Inquisitors, and Magi are good hybrid classes. Oracles and Sorcerers are a reasonable step down from Tier 1 Primary Casters, while the Theurge is a good means of allowing for prepared casters.
I can't think of a 12th class to put, but perhaps either the Tinker or Gadgeteer from Interjection Games for a non-magic techie class.
The world was created as a planer cross roads experiment, that is left with magic/psionic residue polluting the environment causing random mutations from the Traveler Wars (travelers are those that tried to steal it from those that created it)... While magic and psionics are present, it is rare and limited to a few who can adapt it. Present yet limited.
Iron Born (Rite Publishing) – created by the creators
Cynean (LPJ Design) - result of magical/psionic pollutions
Manadragoran (Rite Publishing) / Dalrean (LPJ Design) – result of magical/psionic pollutions
Humans - slave race of the travelers, left behind
Half-giant - slave race of the travelers, left behind
Forgeborn - Dreamscarred – travelers and creators experiment
Top Classes:
Demiurge (Amora Game)
Mosaic Mage (Super Genius/Rogue Genius), but expanded flavor and redefined spell list
Wilder (Dreamscarred)
Umbra (Amora Game)
Awalim (Purple Duck Games), but recreated and structure with house rule fixes. (it actually is more of a cultural class of a community in the world.)
Kusa (Rite Publishing)
Most martial classes non magical/psionic class. Anything with sneak attack is out unless it is swapped out and made a different house rule. Sneak attack becomes more of a feat in my world, not a class given.
Um .. imagine a Cynean Demiurge, Iron Born Kusa, Dalrean wilder, and a Human Mosaic Mage. It is a cool campaign so for.
Races:
Human
Suli with the ability to specialize in an element
Tengu
Dwarf with Duergar specialization
Goblin
Elf with options for Half-elf and Drow
Dhampir
So I have to use 3pp races? Do I have to use races at all?
The thing about the Race Choice is that I don't really care much for Pathfinder's racial stats anymore. As far as I'm concerned any race I'd use would have "human" stats (replacing Skilled with another Bonus Feat) and we'd be done. No matter what! I sometimes think about "angels", "demons", "witch species", "androids", and some others, but in the end that all seems like too much work for what I believe should be cosmetic differences.
Classes are easier: all classes have to have "magic", but no more using of discreet spells. That basically means Spheres of Power.
Unfortunately my knowledge of 3pp is limited so that's all I've got. Still, that feels like enough: I don't think I need to force two more choices when there's probably other stuff to fill the space with.
I can understand it though. We all have our own agendas with questions like this. My own race roster shows a bias towards preserving a pseudo-nordic flavor and my class lineup is what I feel maximizes the possible concepts while restricting the material to high fantasy so you could say that I'm biased towards keeping the core rulebook in a certain genre range, biased against spells over spheres, and keeping alchemy/technology/alternate magic systems in the expansion territory.
In case it wasn't clear, that post was a joke. Of course I expect writers to like their own work. If someone asked me for a way to seperate alignment from the game mechanics, or for an alternative point-buy system for ability scores that was more fair, I know I'd point them to mine. After all, if you don't enjoy what you write, why do it?
Humans ( 6 feet tall average )
Halfling (4 feet tall average, medium size race and speed )
Dwarfs ( 5 feet tall average, keep the 20 feet but not effected by armor/weight)
Elves ( 7 feet tall average )
Serpent men ( 6 feet tall average )
Kobolts ( 4 feet tall average, medium size race and speed )
Lizard Men ( 5 feet tall average, 20 feet movement speed, but not effected by armor/weight).
Ge'ko'men ( 7 feet tall average )
.....................
Psionic = ( same as cleric, except spontaneous caster based off wisdom, get access to only 1 domian spell's selection ( not power's ), but domain spell are added to the list of spell that can be cast spontaneously cast in addition to cure spell ). Add Heavy armor proficient back to class and Heavy shield, and any simple weapons (no restriction, just they need to multi-class into adventure to gain access... or spend a feat to gaint access).
Good Will saves, but Fortitude and Reflex bad.
Mage = ( same as wizard, except spontaneous caster based off Intelligence). Would gain access to a single school (Air/Fire/Water/Earth/Void), that would also grant a single extra spell per level, that they can also spontaneous cast.
==== The reason i said wizard instead of sorcerer... is i want to chuck all the special abilitys of bloodlines.... but i want to keep all the bonus meta magic / item creation feats that wizard get ====
Good Fortitude save, but Will and reflex bad.
Adventure = 1d12 hp, Full BAB, Full access to all weapons, but only proficient with light and medium armor and light shields. Gains the skills and backstable ability of Rogues per level, while getting the feats and access to use them as a Fighter per level.
Good Reflex save, but will and Fortitude bad.
..................
... <@><@> what am board, just rambling, nevermind.
Other 3rd Party Material: Any 3rd party product must be available to all members of the group.
Not Accepted
No summoners
Is "available on d20pfsrd" count as "available to all members of the group"?
Also, have you checked out the unchained summoner? It is substantially more balanced.
Yeah, if a thing is approved for use and is on d20PFSRD it's allowed. The issue comes when people use D20PFSRD and don't look at the source (I'm looking at you Hellcat Stealth!)
That rule just came out of the fact that there were a few games I was in where players would use some 3pp thing and I (as a player) had no idea what they were. Like it's one thing to have someone say, "Oh I'm a marshmallow-based fighter/cleric hybrid" but it's a total other ballpark to have it in my hands. It also allows me, as a player, to be able to call my party member out on something if they are breaking the rules (intentionally or unintentionally).
And I am working my way through Unchained. I've read it all and I like the summoner a bit more but I still haven't run it in a game yet. Also- opening up things to Unchained gives some very unique options but not always ones that I'd want in a game. Once I've played with it a bit more it'll probably end up on that "with approval" list rather than the "acceptable sources" list. On a related note- I totally dig the book. It feels very much like Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved (and that's high praise).
You can use any Paizo race or any 3pp race but you're limited to no more than 7 races.
You're killin' me! Ultimate Psionics has 10! Just kidding, I can work with this. I create my list with the expectations that I can still take supplemental books. After all, a core implies that there are things in which to surround it. Therefore my main list involves covering main d20 RPG archetypes, with my own personal twist. Though if I had theoretically infinite page space, I'd be sure to force so many subsystems in with my 12 classes it would be ridiculous.
Races:
1.Human
2.Duergar (DSP Duergar are my favorite Dwarf)
3.Half-Giant (I wanted a big-person race, and DSP delivers. Plus Psionics)
4.Kobold (Ksaren Kobold, from DSP's Third Dawn. My favorite of all little people.)
5.Qahngol (Rite Publishing's Heroes of the Jade Oath Half-orcs. Best fluff I've ever seen with Half-orcs, and their crunch even matches it)
6.Yueren (My favorite elves. Again, Rite Publishing's Heroes of the Jade Oath)
7.Ironborn (Rite Publishing, In the Company of Ironborn or In the Company of Monsters)
Classes:
1.Psion (DSP Psionics. To be the pure “spellcaster.”)
2.Wilder (DSP Psionics. To be the more forceful pure “spellcaster.”)
3.Vitalist (DSP Psionics. The psionic healer pure “spellcaster.”)
4.Psionic Warrior (DSP Psionics. Psionic super gish.)
5.Cryptic (DSP Psionics. Psionic skillguy, tracker, trap guy, and gish.)
6.Battlelord (Amora Game's Liber Influxus. Commander martial)
7.Mystic (Amora Game’s Liber Influxus. Bender/Jedi warrior)
8.Metamorph (Amora Game’s Liber Influxus. Ability to play a monster in the Core rulebook!)
9.Spell-Less Ranger (Kobold Press. Gotta have an outdoors person who can potentially be an animal person)
10.Freebooter (Green Ronin, Freeport Player's Guide. My Core fighter.)
11.Noble (Green Ronin, Freeport Player’s Guide. Nonmagical skill guy.)
12.Unchained Monk
The subsystems I would be going for are the Psionic subsystem (Obvious) and both Rite Publishing’s Heroes of the Jade Oath ki feat system (less obvious), along with Dragon Tiger Ox’s (Red Goblin Games) feats, combat styles, unarmed combat subsystem, and ki support (No way of knowing).
I purposefully didn’t want to include Path of War, Spheres of Power, and Akashic Mysteries because 1. That is way too many subsystems for a Core rulebook. 2. I think they work better as supplements to core due to the length of the new systems they add, and so that they actually have the page space to introduce all of their awesomeness. I wouldn’t want to include PoW without all of its classes and Traditions, Spheres without most of its classes, and Akasha without all its classes and races. I only wanted one major subsystem in the book, and you need magic in the core, so I had to make the tough decision.
Like some invertebrates, rather than developing as most humanoids do, trox undergo gradual metamorphosis, moulting a number of times as they grow in size before finally reaching their adult stage. An immature trox is smaller, weaker, and lacks some of the traits of a mature trox, their smaller arms not yet developed enough to allow them to burrow through the ground or aid them in grappling, and have yet to possess genitalia. However, their smaller, lighter size, along with their undeveloped arms can allow them to climb up walls in a way that a mature trox could never emulate, and their chitinous carapace is surprisingly tough before their final moulting.
Yet more than this, perhaps the most startling difference between an immature trox and their mature form for those familiar with mature trox is not the physical differences, but the mental ones. Unlike the relatively dull and unfriendly nature of a mature trox, an immature trox's mind is quick, filled with an insatiable curiosity, and far less aggressive. As they increase in size with each moulting, their temperament slowly changes, until they become a mature trox - stronger and more powerful, but generally incurious and correspondingly less adept at socializing with others not of their race. While other races find these changes to be somewhat disturbing, trox simply accept them as the norm for their race...neither being mature or immature is the superior state, and both have their place.
However, despite the fact that immature trox are not the final form a trox will take, mature trox do not treat immature trox in the same way most humanoid races tend to treat their children. They are aware that immature trox are often capable of coming up with creative solutions to problems despite their lack of experience, can provide a useful alternative perspective, and that their curiosity can lead them to new and useful discoveries that benefit the clan, as irritating as mature trox often find this mental hyperactivity...most of them, lacking the patience or interest, simply tell immature trox to go investigate for themselves. In short, they treat immature trox as equals, capable of making their own decisions, possessing their own advantages and disadvantages compared to mature trox, and many immature trox take advantage of this freedom to go explore, meet members of other races, and see the world before returning to their clan. Not all of them survive their curiosity...and of those that do, a few choose not to return, though this is relatively uncommon.
An immature trox usually moults about once a year. It takes somewhere between twenty and thirty moultings before a trox reaches maturity. An immature trox does not know what sex it will become when adult, so most tend to not develop a gender identity until they take their place in their society as a mature trox, though some who spend time with other humanoids have been known to wind up developing one...but not always one that matches their final sex. A few rare immature trox never reach maturity, their moultings finishing before they become a full adult. As such, these trox can never naturally reproduce, but they retain their intellect and curiosity throughout their lifespan.
+2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom: Physically powerful and intensely curious about their surroundings, immature trox tend to be impulsive, not always thinking things through before trying to satisfy their curiosity.
Monstrous Humanoid: Immature trox are monstrous humanoids.
Medium: Immature trox are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Immature trox have a base speed of 30 feet and a Climb speed of 20 feet.
Darkvision: Immature trox can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Toughened Carapace: Immature trox have a +1 natural armor bonus from their strong, chitinous covering.
Insatiable Curiosity: Immature trox are naturally inquisitive about the world around them. They gain a +4 bonus on Diplomacy checks to gather information, and Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (local) become class skills for them. If an immature trox chooses a class that has either of these Knowledge skills as class skills, they gain a +2 racial bonus on those skills instead. They also gain a +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste.
Immature Grabbing Appendages: Though an immature trox's smaller arms cannot be used to burrow or grapple like a mature trox's, it can still use them to carry objects. Incapable of wielding weapons, they allow it to retrieve a small, stowed object on its person as a swift action.
Languages: Immature trox begin play speaking Terran. Immature trox with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Common, Dwarven,
Giant, Orc, and Undercommon.
General Race Thoughts:
I thought long and hard about whether or not humans should be included, but ultimately, decided against it. I tend to feel like humans as they are statted up are ultimately poisonous due to their lack of definition as a race combined with their superiority to most other races, being an easy first choice for any class. I'm not going to go into an extended rant on the subject, but I'll just say that I think either every race should be just as versatile or adaptive as humans, or no race should. Maybe a variant human that acknowledges humanity's actual characteristics, but I don't want to get into that here.
I didn't really pick any third party races, my apologies to third party developers there. I've found generally DMs are more likely to allow a third party class than a third party race unless it's a unique hybrid or something along those lines, so I'm just not really terribly familiar with them. On the other hand, I do have a copy of Kobold Press' recent Kickstartered race thing heading my way, so maybe. But anyways, onto the races I did pick.
The gathlain fill the obvious role of a wild, fey race with close ties to nature in general and plant-life in particular. They're also small, dextrous, and capable of flight. Given their native environments are various forests, small size and flight mesh well. I envision them dwelling in trees, often reshaping the trees so they grow into buildings, but other - usually younger communities - may simply build a series of interconnected tree houses. Despite their preference for nature, they do have some towns and cities, usually in the center of a forest, most of their buildings grown rather than built, though they often take for granted their own flight when it comes to their architecture. When dwelling with other races, they prefer tall buildings and generally refuse to dwell in places where trees are not a part of the scenery. I like to think their apparent sex is arbitrary, and that they reproduce when their wings burst into bloom during spring, spreading pollen through the air and fertilizing each other.
The ghoran, on the other hand, are somewhat more alien and a little disturbing, their plant-like nature seeming to lend itself well to almost ruthless pragmatism at times, as opposed to the more mystical gathlain. They would have their backstory altered a bit so that they're a natural race, rather than artificially created...and flesh out their reproductive cycle. To differentiate themselves from the plant-like gathlain, rather than the forests, I envision them as dwelling primarily in plains and other areas that are relatively wide-open, the trees in forests actively being competitors for the sunlight they need to survive. It's possible some of them dwell in deserts as well, particularly near oases. Given that as plants they don't need to sleep, I imagine during the daytime, they primarily focus on soaking up sunlight, and during the night is when they perform most of their day-to-day activities. Given the lack of trees in their environment, ghoran settlements are usually created using clay, straw, and stone, though most of their buildings remain open to the air, barring those designed to store perishable goods. The settlement itself is built around the center of a plot of fertile land where ghorus seeds are to be grown when the situation arises, as well as any new seedlings. I imagine them being, ironically, a farming culture, growing other plants for food and materials for weaving baskets and making their daub and wattle buildings, as well as domesticating animals, primarily trading excess food and woven goods with other races.
Immature trox are a compromise, since I quite like the aesthetics and flavor of the trox - what there is of it - but it certainly doesn't make sense to include a race you can't play until 3rd level as a core race. Their insect-like appearance, a fondness for biology, and memories of aliens from some science fiction tales gave me some inspiration for how to overcome this, a nymph version of the completed creature. Like the ghoran, their artificial origins are removed, but rather than a biological caste system, I felt a more communal roles would be interesting (after all, we already have formians and thriae for such systems). Thus we have a race of burrowing insect-like humanoids who can fill a subterranean niche nicely, and it's easy to see them engaging in mining, much like dwarves, yet far less adept in general when it comes to crafting, though immature trox would likely be good at it should they choose to divert their interests towards it, perhaps developing techniques that adult trox could make use of. Adult trox on the other hand are probably only rarely casters, generally retraining any levels the immature trox might have had into more martial-based classes, though some might learn to harness the power of blood magic instead.
Lashunta are probably the most human-like of the races presented, but still certainly have their own unique traits, such as their own form of telepathy, their sexual dimorphism, and their matriarchal tendencies, their love of knowledge, and a limited ability to read people's minds. It's easy to envision their society being rather comfortable with each other, valuing directness and having little use for lies, which gets in the way of the pursuit of knowledge...and it must be harder to misunderstand someone when they communicate that knowledge directly. At the same time, one can also imagine relations with other races being somewhat strained at times. Given their psychic tendencies, I like to imagine them doing special things with crystals, growing them into buildings, making crystal gardens, even libraries of crystals filled with thought-information (in the form of crystal gardens?), hallways lit by glowing crystalline structures, and other such things. I can also imagine specialists using their mental powers to control even the most savage beasts, keeping them as guardians, mounts, pets, or even livestock.
Tieflings were picked partially because they're awesome, and partially to fill the role of being a versatile race that can fill many roles. In this setting, they would be their own race, rather than the occasional misfit, allowing them to have their own culture despite their dark roots. Their presence likely heralds some great disaster or outpouring of evil in the past, but that was long ago, and despite the dark urges many struggle with, they have for the most part moved past that, finding understanding if not always peace with others of their kind. Some are very much human in appearance (though that means little in a setting without humanity currently existing), while others are quite monstrous; particular bloodlines have mixed and mingled so that any heritage is as likely as any other. I envision them as being nomadic for the most part, settling down in places for a time, but possessed of a dark, restless spirit that often has them moving on after a time.
Wyrwood make the cut because I like constructs and I think they're quite interesting in general, a small but coldly rational race with their own agenda. Besides, I think that as a core race, it becomes more important to make feats and spells that integrate the peculiarities of constructs, rather than leaving odd gaps when one inevitably gets added in later. As a race that doesn't eat, breathe, or sleep, but knows how to create others of their kind, one can easily imagine them being industrious and skilled crafters for the most part, producing many goods to trade with other races while keeping many of their methods of production to themselves for the most part. Their origins could also be shrouded in mystery, perhaps even hailing back to whatever mysterious event created the tiefling race, leading to some unknown tension between the two races at times. Rather than the ruins or underground suggested in Bestiary 4, I imagine them having complex towns and cities, though often mostly underground, where outsiders are rarely welcome unless they have done the wyrwood race a great favor...or more likely because it suits their schemes.
The wyvaran show up as clannish, territorial mountain-dwelling dragon men (and women), often dwelling in cliffs and caverns that other races have trouble accessing. Much like ghorans and trox, their artificial origins are also removed, leaving them as natural as any race. Their territorial nature and general possessiveness makes for interesting traits, as does their loyalty to those who befriend them, as well as their clan. Probably one of the more primitive of the races, one can also imagine them making loyal mercenaries willing to fight for other races if rewarded properly (for a time) and perhaps even eventually integrating into other societies, as well as acting as relatively noble savages.
Overall, I went with rather exotic races, just because to some extent I'd like to see people push their imaginations as they try on different roles, but also because I think it's interesting to speculate on the interactions of such different races. Additionally, most of them have their own unique environments they prefer, gathlain in the forests and jungles, ghorans in the plains, trox in the subterranean depths, wyvaran in the mountains, while lashunta, roving tieflings, and wyrwood can be found most places...it's interesting to envision.
Well, obviously, I had a lot more third party material in mind here! It was pretty tough to narrow some of these down, and I was really tempted to replace the Brewmaster and Soulknife with Drop Dead Studio's Armorist and Zombie Sky Press' Starseed...in the end, though, the archetypes Dreamscarred Press has for the Soulknife kept me to my choices. Ascension Games' Nightblade almost made it in too...it was pretty tough to pare them down. Ultimately, I decided I was going to have four full BAB classes, four 'caster' type classes, and four that were more hybrids or oddballs. Thus, the Brewmaster, Daevic, Soulknife, and Swordmaster became my martial choices, Incanter, Occultist, Onmyōji, and Vizier became my caster choices, with Alchemist, Hedgewitch, Kineticist, and Technicians as my hybrids and oddballs.
So, the alchemist. Paizo may have made this one, but I've always thought it actually made the most sense as a Vancian caster...so to speak, since it isn't exactly a caster. Its bombs offer crowd control and damage, its mutagens can make it effective in battle, and it also has an oddball assortment of extracts and alchemical abilities. Along with with its penchant for self-experimentation, the possibility for healing, the transmutation effects, and, of course the many, many archetypes available, I felt like it was unique and versatile enough to be included, and that its skill with alchemical items adds a nice piece of flavor to the setting to boot.
The brewmaster is a complex but interesting martial class that offers a wide array of versatility with its unique, tailored brews, acting in many ways like a hybrid alchemist/barbarian, but with a unique flavor all its own. Its flavor isn't the most serious, which did make me think about whether or not I wanted to include it, but flavor is mutable and it doesn't hurt to have one somewhat non-serious class for people to have fun with, and it's certainly interesting mechanically. It also fills the role of a Wisdom-based martial.
The daevic is a bit simpler as martial goes, but by no means uninteresting. Its ability to manifest magical constructs on its body that reflect its partner is both flavorful and intriguing, and the various passions he can select from can grant a fairly wide array of styles, ranging from sword and board to natural attack monster to a skilled thrower. It also helps establish a precedence for those sought out by the supernatural in the setting, whether that be for justice, tyranny, or sheer greed...and, of course, it fills the role of a Charisma-based martial.
The hedgewitch is an astoundingly versatile class making use of the sphere magic system that allows a wide array of concepts, working for divine-themed magic, nature-themed magic, herbalism, witchcraft, combat prowess, bardic magic, and much more on the frame of a hybrid caster. Given a large number of skills to work with and the fact that it can use any mental ability score to key off of, it works well for pretty much every race...and the blood magic option can make it work for even adult trox.
The incanter is much like the hedgewitch, albeit with far fewer skill points, but with greater skill in magic, gaining abilities like a sorcerer, cleric, or a specialist wizard should you choose...or eschew them all for simply focusing on magic. Like the hedgewitch, any mental ability score can key off of it, and the blood magic option makes it easier for an adult trox to use.
The kineticist may not even be out yet, but everything I've heard and seen makes me want it on this list. I suppose one could make the argument that the incanter could easily outdo it with use of the Destruction sphere and a few others, but I like the flavor and what we've seen of it so far, and with more wild talents to choose and more that can be taken, and I rather suspect it will have its own advantages...like continuous flight and some other abilities the incanter would have to pay spell points to manage.
The occultist is here because I love pact magic, I loved it back in 3.5, and the Grimoire of Lost Souls looks to be shaping up to be excellent. With a large number of spirits chock full of flavor, it makes an excellent and thematic addition to a setting while bringing with it an eldritch selection of possibilities in the world, ranging from ravager spirits to pact magic ailments and more. The class itself is extremely versatile depending on what spirits you have bound and what binder secrets you've selected, allowing the occultist to become a potent fighter, a clever thief with supernatural tricks, a potent healer, or someone who just unloads the raw power of the spirits on their foes. As a bonus, it comes with some fun archetypes that allow a number of other interesting roles to be filled.
The onmyōji brings in another caster with a spiritual twist, this one with a distinctly Japanese flair, though that can certainly be altered to some extent with judicious reflavoring. Petitioning the spirits and using special seals (or perhaps runes if you seek a more western flair) with his origami familiar, he has a number of interesting abilities to contribute.
The soulknife is our third martial, a class that can materialize a potent weapon from their own mind or soul, gaining the ability to modify and customize it to suit his needs with an array of special blade skills and weapon enchantments, allowing an array of fighting styles. Furthermore, Dreamscarred Press has also provided a number of archetypes to allow other interesting variants, such as one that can create armor around itself, a more skill-oriented backstabbing variety, one that can empower their unarmed strike instead to fill the monk's shoes, one that allows one to transform into a bestial version of itself with natural attacks rather than creating a weapon from itself, one that gains some psychic powers, ranged attacking, and so on and so forth. While the default flavor is psionic, there's no reason it has to be so if you prefer not to, you could easily make it some other form of supernatural phenomena...there's certainly plenty of fictional precedent for manifesting a weapon out of raw magic or your soul or something else along those lines.
Our fourth martial option is the swordmaster, a mostly non-supernatural swordsman who establishes a partnership with a particular blade which grows in power and begins to awaken, becoming intelligent. Yet his primary power lies in his sword arts, allowing him to pull off a dazzling array of special techniques with his blade, moving from opener to sequitur to finisher. A lightly-armored combatant, Dexterity and Intelligence are his stock in trade, utilizing even the most massive blades with a light touch, and the options he gains in combat with his sword arts are impressive, to say the least.
Certainly a controversial option, but the technician heralds electrotech into the core setting, bringing in pulp science to create a delicious science-fantasy blend. Utilizing gadgets and tinkers fueled by his unique battery pack, a trade and chosen innovations help define him further. Additional archetypes can make him into a cyborg, a medic, someone who plays with half-construct undead, or even someone who combines electrotech with the occult. Throwing in symbionts as an option just allows for even more fun. Easily reflavored as magitech for those who prefer it (and in many ways, I'd argue it is), it's definitely a flavorful option.
Finally, the vizier finishes things up as our final caster and class. Rather than anything resembling normal spellcasting, however, this class forms shapes out of raw chakra that gift him with special abilities, infusing them with essence to further empower them. Fitting into the same category as the daevic, but far less martial, the vizier is primarily dependent on his veilweaving abilities...but what abilities they are, boosting his skills, unleashing raw magical power, changing the battlefield, and more.
Overall, I tried to pick classes that offered a wide array of concepts and used a number of very different subsystems. For full BAB classes, I tried to include ones that offered interesting options, enabling a number of fighting styles. The brewmaster tends to specialize in bludgeoning and reach weapons, as well as the use of his special brews, capable of buffing himself, providing battlefield control, and more, using a system that offers a lot of customization. The daevic gets an assortment of veils to weave that can either boost his existing capabilities, or grant new ones altogether, and, depending on the chosen passion, get some free bonus feats and other advantages. The soulknife gets a weapon he can customize via magic weapon special abilities and blade talents to pull off a number of interesting tricks, can use his psychic strike to be even more lethal, as well as coming with a variety of archetypes that let him pull off even more combat styles, such as an armored style or an unarmed strike style that lets him emulate a monk, or a backstabbing style that lets him emulate a slayer, further increasing versatility. Finally, the swordmaster has a complex but interesting style of combat that adds a lot more options than whether you want to move and attack or full attack...though the number of options could be considered intimidating and one should be expected to keep track of the sword arts they have to work with!
I also avoided normal full casters, seeking alternatives to vancian magic that I hoped could still handle the things magic needs to deal with and hopefully without being quite as problematic as traditional full casters tend to be. In many ways, I used the incanter and the hedgewitch as crutches, thanks to their frankly insane versatility, capable of handling a ridiculous number of concepts when combined with casting traditions. The occultist and the onmyōji are both capable of handling a fair number of situations as well, as is the alchemist, for that matter. The final kineticist may have some interesting options there as well, but certainly isn't a proper caster. Also, I wanted there to be a lot of options for casting subsystems, rather than a single subsystem, which will certainly pad out the book, but I think makes it more interesting...and besides, a lot of spells have certainly been cut (ie, everything not on the alchemist/technician 'spell lists'). Though that certainly only helps so much with as many subsystems as I'm including. And hopefully it can take the time to address the oddities of alchemist 'spellcasting' while it's at it, since alchemist is in on the ground floor...
As a final note, while alchemists, hedgewitches, and technicians can all deal with magical traps with the right selections, I'm rather leaning towards the notion that without having to justify the excised rogue's existence, dealing with traps shouldn't be something class specific. Anyone with either a fairly cheap piece of gear that occupies the eye slot or access to something like detect magic can make a Knowledge (arcane) or Spellcraft check to examine and comprehend the mechanics of a magical trap, and a Disable Device check to actually disarm it by interfering with said mechanics utilizing another fairly cheap piece of gear designed to allow it. Characters that have the trapfinding ability don't need the specialized gear or the Knowledge (arcane)/Spellcraft check because they've been trained to possess innate sensitivity to that particular kind of magic flow and using the trace amounts of internal magic all creatures have to disarm it. As well as the boost to Perception for spotting them in the first place.
I originally intended to expand on this a bit in an overall thoughts section, but it's probably already too long, as much as I'd like to muse a bit on the combination of classes and races and what that might imply about the setting, the importance of spirits in it judging by the classes involved, lashunta crystaltech, the steampunk-ish hidden lairs beneath wyrwood cities, citified trox and the importance of their mining complexes, galthain and their interest in symbionts...ahem. Suffice it to say I like wild and weird settings?
Edit: Hmm, should there be a side-challenge about what subsystems, alternate systems, magic items, and other such you'd want to include in Core? Rite Publishing's 101 New Skill Uses, for example, or Everyman Gaming's Psychological Combat...
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