As proposed, goblins would get the highest traps & doors aptitude in the game. This would make them excellent thieves, if, well, thieves were still in the game and had a point. They're good stabbers... but bad at stealth (making it hard to stab). Not to mention they're poor at short blades. This kinda makes a stalker or assassin a mediocre start, at best.
With that +3 in hexes, I guess they could be good enchanters. Enscollered hibernation removes a lot of need for stealth. Also, as a small dexterous race, it looks like we finally have a natural looking candidates for whip use. For the bigger, brute-ier races, going with a whip over something big, heavy, and blunt. But a whip is very thematic fit for a gobbo.
Why not give the goblins some skill with crossbows? No one has more than a +1 now, so it'd be a differentiating feature. Also, I always liked the idea that goblins had a natural affinity for things mechanical and nasty- this would also justify the good traps and possibly evocations. Heck, if we define their racial flavor as "nefarious tinkerers" than that justifies good transmutations too- they're just more biologically minded goblins.
Overall, I have nothing against a race that's harder to play, or doesn't fit many roles well. You don't need to have special racial mutations or abilities either. But you do need to have some kind of theme to base the race around.
varkarrus wrote:Potential nonvanilla race:
Hamsterfolk.
Okay... let's see what I can do. Obviously, tiny size. Felid item item manipulation restrictions, or worse. No armor slots. No ring fingers- but they can wear one ring as a hat, like my rats of nimh idea. Unfortunately, as these hamsters
aren't genetically engineered lab creatures, they don't have hands. That means they can't wield anything, or even manage to covert a scroll of paper into a cloak. Maybe they can kind of walk into an amulet and wear it cord around the neck, amulet resting on their back? I'm assuming crawl amulets are small tasteful things, and not like the giant things pharaohs are shown wearing in leu of a shirt. Bad hp and str growths. Average (or less) int growth, mediocre (or lightly better) dex.
Vegetarian. Teeth 1 or 2 (they do have rodent chompers, but them again, herbivore). Possibly slow metabolism 1, regen 1. Flavor wise, blame it on the pudge. They got enough physical reserves to supplement biological needs for the duration of the game. Sinvs seems natural for a rodent. Speed, maybe around centaur level, or a little less? Fur, obviously, but not much AC. No Claws.
...stopped to actually wiki the little buggers. Apparently they're omnivores. And nearsighted. So we could let them eat meat, but then I'd take away the slow metabolism. ...of course, without hands, they can't butcher, so no corpse meat. All you gain is meat rations and sausages. Maybe I'll leave Slow met. We could remove the Sinvs too, but it'd be nice to have
something going for them. Maybe justify it by saying they draw the map from smell, not sight? This would allow S(mell)invs, immunity to LOS interruptions by clouds (although smelly clouds might be a problem), immunity to blindness (since they ain't looking anyways),
and illusions.
All weapon, laucher, armor skills, na. Uh... burrowers, so they gotta have something positive in earth. They like wheels, so arguably we have some kind of mechanical affinity, so I'll justify decent traps and doors skills. I'm pretty sure Ham-hams are stealthly (or at least, David Willis has lead me to believe they are). Dodging.... let's say 2 or 3. That's worse than spriggns, but they're smaller, so they get a size modifier. I'm say mediocre spell casting and hp, since they don't look particularly smart/dump strong/fragile. The rest of the magic schools are kinda tough. Maybe good charms, cause they're cute? :p Dunno, we'll leave that hanging.
Alright, so far, we've got felids with less equipment, poorer apps, and no extra lives. What positives can we add?
Special racial ability:
Maybe a "run between their legs" thing- the ability to move
through a monster occupied square to the other side. Basically, an adjusted version of pass wall. Certainly not foolproof, and moving through/by an enemy takes more time than normal movement.
Hamster ball. When equipping a hamster balls, a hamster gains bonuses in speed, evasion, damage, and AC. While inside the hamster ball, you lose the abilty to make extra unarmed attacks (biting, kicking) and suffer a stealth penalty. You can also be trampled (knocked around) much more easily. Attacks with hamster balls train maces and flails, and wearing one trains armor. Solid helms (but not hats)may be used as an improvised hamster ball- but suffer penalties. Crystal balls can be used as flawless crystal balls. ...and the orb of Zot functions an a one of a kind, fixedart hamster ball.
This, in of in itself, is awesome enough to justify the whole dang race, challenge and all. It reduces the game to an attempt to attain ultimate hamster
magical powered riding armor.
Flavor text: Hamster: a small, pudgy rodent whose sense of smell is more reliable than many races' eyes. Hamsters lack much in the way of physical prowess, nor are they particularly attuned to the arcane or divine, but they do posses a unique way to combine weapon, armor, and transportation. They are, admittedly, poor adventures (much better pets) but every so often one is drawn to the dungeon's depths, lured by the tales of the prize in it's deepest reaches. In a way, attaining the orb of Zot would hold more personal significance to a hamster than a member of any other race.
Saturday, 5th March 2011, 11:11 
Of course it's only basic idea and requires brainstorming
