Author Topic: Hybridization  (Read 5692 times)

Offline Garryl

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Hybridization
« on: March 23, 2013, 03:11:00 AM »
Hybridization rules that should work with standard races as well as monster classes.


Hybrid Races
Your body becomes an amalgam of both base races. The exact nature of this amalgamation varies with each hybrid. Your original race is referred to as your primary race. The race you gain the features of through hybridization is referred to as your secondary race. The result is referred to as your hybrid race.
  • Type: If the creature type of your secondary race is different from that of your primary race, choose which one you use for your hybrid race. Your hybrid race also gains the other one as an augmented subtype.
  • Subtypes: Your hybrid race has all subtypes of both your base races.
  • Size: If your secondary race is two or more size categories larger than your original race, your hybrid race is one size category larger than your primary race (do not adjust ability scores and natural armor as a result). Similarly, if your secondary race is two or more size categories smaller than your original race, your hybrid race is one size category smaller than your primary race. If both races are within one size category of each other, you can select which of the two your hybrid race is.
  • Speed: Your hybrid race has a base land speed equal to the average of both base races' base land speeds. It has all movement modes that either base races possess, each with a movement speed equal to the average of both base races' speeds for that movement mode (treat a base race that does not have a movement mode as having the equivalent of a 0 foot speed). For any movement mode with a maneuverability rating that both base races possess, the hybrid race has the better of both races' maneuverability categories for that speed. If only one of the base races possesses that movement mode, the hybrid race's maneuverability is instead one category worse, to a minimum of clumsy. Round each of these movement speeds up to the nearest 5 foot increment.
  • Limbs and Natural Weapons: Your hybrid race has all of the limbs that your primary race normally possesses. It also gains any limbs that your secondary race possesses but your primary race lacks. If your base races both have natural weapons on the same limb, you choose which one your hybrid race possesses for each limb.
  • Body Slots: Your hybrid race's body shape is an amalgam of both races. If the two base races have different body slots, your hybrid race has all shared body slots, and you can further choose from the remaining body slots that either base race has, up to a total equal to the maximum number of body slots either base race possessed.
  • Ability Scores: Your hybrid race has ability score adjustments equal to the sum of both base races' ability score adjustments. If one base race had a nonability for one of its ability scores and that nonability was not just a result of creature type, but the other did not, treat the nonability as equivalent to a -4 racial modifier when determining the hybrid's racial ability score adjustments. If both base races treated the same ability score as a nonability, the hybrid race also treats it as a nonability.

    If both base races have racial penalties to the same ability score, you can elect to reduce the hybrid race's penalty to that score by also reducing the racial bonuses to one or more other ability scores. For each such penalized ability score, you can reduce the hybrid's penalty by any amount, to a minimum penalty equal to the greater of both base races' penalties to that ability score. However, you must subtract an equal total amount from the bonuses to ability scores that the hybrid race has. You cannot reduce an ability score bonus below the lesser of both base races' modifiers to that ability score, nor below +0. Reductions to each ability score bonus or penalty must be in even-numbered amounts.

    Unlike most races, the ability score penalties from hybrid races can reduce ability scores below 1 (and can even reduce Intelligence below 3 for PCs). The survival rate of such hybrids is... limited.
  • Racial Abilities: Your hybrid race has all racial abilities (other than those derived from creature type) of both base races. Racial abilities that grant untyped or racial modifiers resulting from essentially the same trait (for example, keen ears or exceptional stability) do not stack with each other, nor do natural armor bonuses.
  • Hybrid Disguise: You can attempt to disguise yourself as a member of either base race. If your hybrid race is the same size category and is the same creature type as the base race you are disguising yourself as, you do not suffer the normal -2 penalty on your Disguise check. If your hybrid race is within one size category of the base race, you can still attempt to disguise yourself despite being significantly larger or smaller, although you do so at a -10 penalty (this replaces both the normal -2 penalty for disguising yourself as another race and the epic -25 or -50 penalty for disguising yourself as more than 10% larger or smaller).
  • Level Adjustment: Your hybrid race has a level adjustment equal the sum of both base races' level adjustments (minimum +0).
  • Hit Dice: Your hybrid race has racial hit dice equal to the total racial hit dice of both base races minus 1. If one or both of the base races have 1 or fewer racial hit dice, your hybrid race instead has racial hit dice equal to the higher of the two.
  • Languages: Your hybrid race has all automatic and bonus languages of our primary race. It treats all automatic and bonus languages of your secondary race as bonus languages.
  • Favored Class: Your hybrid race treats whichever of the base races' favored classes is highest level as its favored class.
As an amalgam of multiple races, your hybrid race counts as being a member of each of them and allows you to take options normally restricted to either base race (such as feats, paragon classes, and racial progressions).

Becoming a Hybrid
You can become a hybrid in any of the following ways.
  • Template: Being a member of a hybrid race can be treated as an inherited template. As a template, being a hybrid has a level adjustment 1 higher than normal (minimum +1).
  • Feat: A character who takes the Hybrid Body feat (see below) can transform himself into a hybrid. This method of hybridization is more limited than the other methods, but can easily be applied in the middle of play.
  • Gestalt Hybridization: When playing using the gestalt character variant, a character may play as a hybrid race instead of a normal race at no additional cost, treating either race as the primary race. The character must, however, take a level of each races' racial progression or paragon classes at 1st level, although he is not obligated to further progress them together (or even at all).
« Last Edit: November 02, 2014, 02:43:33 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2013, 03:11:26 AM »
Hybrid Feats
These feats allow you to alter your race, taking on the traits of another.

Hybrid Body [General]
Prerequisites: Hybrid Infusion.
Benefit: You become an amalgam of your original race and the race whose essence you infuse yourself with. Choose a race for which you have the Hybrid Infusion feat. You become a hybrid of both races, using your original race as your primary race and your infused race as your secondary race.
Special: You can select this feat multiple times. Each time, choose a different race for which you have the Hybrid Infusion feat.

Hybrid Infusion [General]
Prerequisites: See text.
Benefit: By infusing yourself with the essence of another creature, you take on some of its power. Choose a race with no more than 1 racial hit die and a level adjustment of +0 or less. You gain a single racial trait of your choice that members of that race normally possess. You may not select ability score modifiers, creature type or subtype, or bonus feats, nor can you select racial traits granted by the race's type, subtype, or nonability scores. Additionally, you count as a member of both your original race and the chosen race when interacting with spells and magic items, and for the purpose of selecting racial feats.
Special: If the race you choose grant a bonus to one or more ability score, you must have at least a 13 in that ability score. For example, to infuse yourself with the essence of a Dwarf, you must have a Constitution score of at least 13.
Special: You can select this feat multiple times. Each time, choose a different race.


Example Hybrids
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: November 02, 2014, 02:44:08 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2013, 03:11:45 AM »
There, that should be about it. Hybridization rules that should work with standard races as well as monster classes. Is there anything that I still need to address?

Edit: Added clarification for movement speeds and Disguise checks.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2013, 02:19:28 PM by Garryl »

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2013, 03:33:06 PM »
This works fantastically, thank you!
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Offline Garryl

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2013, 04:00:24 PM »
You're welcome. I'm glad you like it.

Say, do you know what's up with the Disguise skill? I could have sworn I read somewhere that you can't normally disguise yourself as more than 10% lighter/heavier/larger/smaller, but I can't find it in the SRD except implicitly (the epic rules have modifiers for 11% through 50% differences). I might be thinking of a 3.0E rule that was removed or just neglected in 3.5E. I'd like to get it right for Hybrid Disguise, if possible.

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2013, 04:13:22 PM »
You're welcome. I'm glad you like it.

Say, do you know what's up with the Disguise skill? I could have sworn I read somewhere that you can't normally disguise yourself as more than 10% lighter/heavier/larger/smaller, but I can't find it in the SRD except implicitly (the epic rules have modifiers for 11% through 50% differences). I might be thinking of a 3.0E rule that was removed or just neglected in 3.5E. I'd like to get it right for Hybrid Disguise, if possible.
I don't think that restriction exists in 3.5.  You may be thinking of the Disguise Self spell, which has something similar, but is independent of the skill.
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Offline Garryl

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2013, 03:28:20 AM »
I just noticed that the racial HD rules are open to abuse. Hybridizing with a 0 RHD race (such as the PHB races, most standard player races, etc.) actually reduces your RHD by 1. The primary intent behind subtracting 1 from the sum of both races' RHDs was so that a pair of 1 RHD races, which normally get replaced by class levels, wouldn't add up to 2 RHD, which then eat up a pair of levels. The secondary (and admittedly shakier) intent was to lighten the burden of RHD, which cost the same as LA against your class levels but are worth less due to giving back level-based statistics, which would probably add up to more than intended cost for the benefit when adding two races together. The easiest fix is just to use the higher RHD instead of adding together and subtracting 1 if either of the races have 1 or less RHD to begin with. That also deals with the slight bug of dropping RHD entirely (to 0) when dealing with two races with fractional RHD (ex: 1/2 + 1/2 -> 0 HD), and having fractional RHD greater than 1 when adding a fractional RHD race to a 2+ RHD race (ex: 1/2 + 3 -> 2.5 HD).

Offline linklord231

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #7 on: July 14, 2013, 03:46:25 AM »
I don't think there's such thing as a 0 RHD race.  Races like Humans and Elves have a single Humanoid hit die, which they trade for a class level according to Monster Manual pg 310. 
I'm not arguing, I'm explaining why I'm right.

Offline Garryl

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Re: Hybridization
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2013, 03:56:05 AM »
I don't think there's such thing as a 0 RHD race.  Races like Humans and Elves have a single Humanoid hit die, which they trade for a class level according to Monster Manual pg 310.

Elves, Dwarves, and most other races that have MM entries have 0 racial hit dice. Their entries show them with 0 RHD and 1 class level (usually the Warrior NPC class, although Blues take a level of Psion). Humans don't even have a MM entry, interestingly enough.

Edit: Oh, I see the passage you're referring to. Note that it states that the 1 RHD humanoids are presented as Warrior 1, not that Warrior 1 humanoids all have 1 RHD. There's a very significant difference. Further, even though this may make the MM1 Warrior 1 humanoids unclear, MM3 explicitly has 0 RHD creatures as indicated in that little table on the last page of the book regarding HD and ECL of the playable monsters. In any case, it's better to be clear about things so that RAW follows RAI no matter what interpretation of things is used (where feasible).
« Last Edit: July 14, 2013, 04:07:18 AM by Garryl »