Adding racial abilities to characters

Aldaron · July 8th, 2011, 02:51 AM

Hi guys,

Just wondering if there is a way of adding a racial ability to a character without having to create a new race? For example, let's say you have a human fighter who (somehow) gains the ability to have a poisonous bite; is there a way of adding in "Poisonous Bite (Ex)" to the character's Specials?

tatteredking · July 8th, 2011, 03:35 AM

theoretically, yes, but you would have to change the archetype for ALL humans. So all humans in your world would have poisonous bites. I doubt this is what you are looking to do.

I am sure there is a way around this. Not sure how right now. Might take a little outside-the-box thinking. How does this poisonous bite work? Can you add it as a weapon and then just add the weapon to your character? That way it would show up in your list of weapons useable...

chiefweasel · July 8th, 2011, 03:57 AM

you could also make a new race of human with the bite. just use the human race you want, copy it, and add the bite as a special ability.

Aldaron · July 8th, 2011, 04:35 AM

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. The problem is that I'm looking for something more over-arching; something that will led me add not only "Poisonous Bite" but "Fly" and "Damage Reduction" as well. These are just examples, mind you - I'm not actually trying to create a character with all of them, but sometimes is would be nice just to be able to quickly add a racial ability or special ability to an existing character without all the hassle of going into the editor, creating a new race and then going back to the character and changing its race.

Moreover, it may not be a human I'm trying to do it for. Let's say, for example, I want to have an eagle but give it something extra, like damage reduction, or somesuch. I can't just copy the eagle - I have to create the race from scratch. So in order to add one single little thing, rather than a couple of mouse-clicks, I have to create a new race from scratch.

I'm just wondering if there is any programming-based reason why this couldn't be implemented in future versions of HL? We can change challenge ratings, add extra feats, change hit points, etc...I just wonder if it's a huge ask to be able to quickly add racial abilities and the like?

Lawful_g · July 8th, 2011, 05:20 AM

You could create an Adjustment for this and other similar abilities. Just bootstrap the appropriate racial special (Poison) and weapon (Bite) to the new adjustment. Then just adding it to your character would add those things I believe.

chiefweasel · July 8th, 2011, 05:28 AM

Ah, in that case then Lawful_g has the best solution. just create the adjustments and select them when you need them.

ShadowChemosh · July 8th, 2011, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aldaron

Moreover, it may not be a human I'm trying to do it for. Let's say, for example, I want to have an eagle but give it something extra, like damage reduction, or somesuch. I can't just copy the eagle - I have to create the race from scratch. So in order to add one single little thing, rather than a couple of mouse-clicks, I have to create a new race from scratch.

You need to look at the Adjust tab in HL. There many things your asking for already exist. Adding feats, traits, spells, skills, HP, and Damage Reduction.

I have a community add-on that has additional adjustments my players have found handy. You can read about it HERE. The big difference with my DR adjustments is that it can REMOVE DR from a race also. Something the official version can't do. So if you suddenly had a player with a Hound Archon but didn't want it to have 10/Evil DR you can use my adjustment to remove it.

For the bite and other Racial abilities Lawful_G's suggestion is right on about creating new Adjustments in the editor and just bootstrapping the abilities to them. A very useful thread to read is the Spell and Conferred Ability Adjustments thread where I started to add spell adjustments to the game. Their are many good examples of bootstraping natural attacks and stuff in that thread.

Hope that helps.

ShadowChemosh · July 8th, 2011, 09:32 AM

It was a fun distraction for a little bit so I updated my adjustment addon to be able to now add Natural Attacks to any character. Once added you can easily set the name of the natural attack and the die size damage.

I also added poison and Grab attacks. You can read more about it HERE.

Aldaron · July 8th, 2011, 02:25 PM

Ah, perfect! That's exactly what I was wondering, guys. Thanks.

Aldaron Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 139 July 8th, 2011, 02:51 AM	Hi guys, Just wondering if there is a way of adding a racial ability to a character without having to create a new race? For example, let's say you have a human fighter who (somehow) gains the ability to have a poisonous bite; is there a way of adding in "Poisonous Bite (Ex)" to the character's Specials?
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chiefweasel Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Miamisburg, OH Posts: 1,322 July 8th, 2011, 03:57 AM	you could also make a new race of human with the bite. just use the human race you want, copy it, and add the bite as a special ability. Web site - Cheese Weasel Logistics - www.cheeseweasel.net Twitter - @CheeseWeaselGMZ For user created content check out www.d20pfsrd.com and www.cheeseweasel.net For video demos of Hero Lab go to http://www.youtube.com/user/TheChiefweasel?blend=9&ob=5
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Lawful_g Senior Member Volunteer Data File Contributor Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,245 July 8th, 2011, 05:20 AM	You could create an Adjustment for this and other similar abilities. Just bootstrap the appropriate racial special (Poison) and weapon (Bite) to the new adjustment. Then just adding it to your character would add those things I believe.
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