Author Topic: Blaster races?  (Read 5846 times)

Offline Drammor

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Blaster races?
« on: October 07, 2012, 03:28:23 AM »
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1281

There we go. That's the master list of 0 LA races. Now, I'm trying to figure out which of those races would be the most inclined toward choosing blaster-type as (one of) their class(es). Might anyone else have better insight on this than me?
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[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, J, FOR STEALING THE PURITY OF NORNS.
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Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2012, 10:30:04 PM »
Just pick the one that gives the highest possible bonus to your casting ability.

Offline Sevash

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2012, 10:31:18 PM »
That's not all of 'em if you're keen to think outside of the box.

My g/f is set up as a Lesser Celadrin in a game we're playing in, as a fire-based Sorcerer (using Easy Metamagic: Searing Spell and Energy Substitution(fire) to keep the concept worthwhile).  Resistance to fire, a bonus to Cha, and Scorching Ray as a spell-like ability just called out as the race to choose for a fiery caster.

Take a look at the Planetouched Handbook here on the boards for some other options that might work for you.  If I recall, there's an inevitable-blooded outsider that heals when hit with electricity.  That would make an ideal Stormlord, for example.

Offline Drammor

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2012, 04:50:48 AM »
Er, no. I'm not a player looking to play a blaster. I'm making a blaster class and I'm looking around for the races most likely to take it up. And as I haven't made all of the class abilities, yet, I don't know which stats are going to be best for it, yet. Who knows. It could be a Dex caster. I don't know.
[20:32] <DonQuixote> A POX UPON YOU ALL!
[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, J, FOR STEALING THE PURITY OF NORNS.
[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, DRAMMOR, FOR ENSNARING ME IN THIS FIENDISH PRISON.

Offline JohnnyMayHymn

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2012, 05:00:32 AM »
How about a Con based caster?
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Offline skydragonknight

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2012, 05:08:49 AM »
Small races are always decent casters at low levels, because they usually come with a (+2) Dex bonus and a size bonus for an easy +2 to hit with ranged touch spells, which are not auto-hits at those levels. Even the ones without a Dex bonus usually penalize the worthless Str stat in favor of a better stat.
Hmm.

Offline Drammor

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2012, 12:27:55 PM »
How about a Con based caster?

Isn't that usually the purview of incarnum?
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[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, J, FOR STEALING THE PURITY OF NORNS.
[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, DRAMMOR, FOR ENSNARING ME IN THIS FIENDISH PRISON.

Offline Halinn

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2012, 04:29:39 PM »
How about a Con based caster?

Isn't that usually the purview of incarnum?
There's an archetype (basically an ACF) in PFs Advanced Race Guide for Orc Witches (PF base class). Otherwise, there aren't any Con-based casters that I know of.

Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2012, 05:59:30 PM »
How about a Con based caster?

Isn't that usually the purview of incarnum?
There's an archetype (basically an ACF) in PFs Advanced Race Guide for Orc Witches (PF base class). Otherwise, there aren't any Con-based casters that I know of.

There's a dwarf sorcerer substitution that bases extra spell slots on Con.  Check Races of Stone for full details.

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2012, 06:55:16 PM »
Azuran (human) provides a piece useable
for a Psi Recharge set-up.
That's blaster material if there ever was.

Any race with a CL = 1/2 hd, or 1/1, or ML,
can finagle some casting, even if it wasn't
intended originally.  That doesn't make a
good "blaster", but you can still make one.
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Offline JohnnyMayHymn

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2012, 10:40:10 PM »
Anthropomorphic bats have +6 to wisdom, if you wanted a wise blaster...
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Offline snakeman830

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2012, 11:10:09 PM »
If it's a spellcaster, then Spellscale.  They can get access to a number of metamagic feats through their racial blood meditation ability.
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Offline Concerned Ninja Citizen

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #12 on: October 13, 2012, 04:05:57 PM »
If you're homebrewing a class, why are you trying to marry it to a published race rather than homebrewing one that fits naturally with it?

Not that there's anything wrong with doing it that way, I'm just curious as to why you are.

Offline Drammor

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #13 on: October 13, 2012, 04:32:35 PM »
I'm not trying to pair up the class with a single race at all. I'm just describing which races are most likely to take the class. It's taken care of now, though.
[20:32] <DonQuixote> A POX UPON YOU ALL!
[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, J, FOR STEALING THE PURITY OF NORNS.
[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, DRAMMOR, FOR ENSNARING ME IN THIS FIENDISH PRISON.

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #14 on: October 13, 2012, 04:36:56 PM »
2 Dead Blasters bloodline = custom major bloodline, the 10 feats for blasting purposes.

Fluff = so many dead blasters, the afterlife rejects the worst, binds the souls together to try again.
 :D
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Offline Twilightwyrm

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #15 on: October 25, 2012, 04:57:16 PM »
Why good sir, gnomes of course! Playing them is a blast
*ducks*
Now on a more serious note, pretty much anything with a Cha and/or Dex bonus tends to be nice. Charisma tends to be important for the arcane/divine classes that generally make the best blasters (such as sorcerer, shugenja, warmage, etc.), and having bonus spells perday is a must for those intent on using more than a single spell per battle. Dex, in turn, is nice for increasing the likelihood of the various ranged touch blasting spells to hit. You could theoretically get by with just AoE spells (which need Cha more than Dex, unless you are on the receiving end), but this is inadvisable, so a higher Dex helps.
It should be noted that Pathfinder is very friendly to blasters in this regard, with Dwarves being the only race that doesn't have a (potential) bonus to at least one of these, and multiple races have +2 to both Cha and Dex. Unfortunately, unless you are using adapted versions of the aforementioned classes, casters are now fairly balanced between Wis, Int, and Cha, with most of the blasting classes being Int based (I believe), making elves (with a +2 to both Int and Dex, as well as a +2 on CL checks vs. SR) generally a superior choice.
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Offline Drammor

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Re: Blaster races?
« Reply #16 on: October 26, 2012, 11:52:57 PM »
Thank you for that. It's very helpful.

Ultimately, I went with humans, elves, gnomes and warforged for this class, mentioning that kobolds, maenads and voldur also sometimes take it up.
[20:32] <DonQuixote> A POX UPON YOU ALL!
[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, J, FOR STEALING THE PURITY OF NORNS.
[20:32] <DonQuixote> YOU, DRAMMOR, FOR ENSNARING ME IN THIS FIENDISH PRISON.