CanOfWorms wrote:there're so many words in the OP I can't actually find where the gimmick of the race is actually spelled out
Point taken. Doubly so since you completely misunderstood the gimmick. My OP was pretty awful and I have heavily revised it.
Quazifuji wrote:I wasn't trying to argue that all races (or all new races) should have flat aptitudes. The main point I was trying to make was the it seemed like OP was not just trying to make the race suited to the playstyle they wanted, but like they specifically wanted to pidgeonhole the race to fit only the playstyle they wanted. Wanting the race to be good at being a squishy evasive melee character who makes up for their melee with a variety of supporting magic doesn't have to mean making a race that is bad at doing any other playstyle. You don't want a race that's just amazingly good at everything because then they're just overpowered, but that doesn't mean the race shouldn't have multiple playstyles it's well-suited to.
For example, I see no reason that they should be bad at ranged weapons, besides the fact that OP wants to use them in melee. The poor conjurations aptitude also seems unnecessary, since it's already somewhat redundant with their gimmick making them poorly-suited for a conjurations-focused playstyle. I also see no reason to try to force them into using a one-handed weapon with no shield, except that OP thinks it sounds cool.
I think you have a point, but you're also reading things into my post that I didn't intend. I don't blame you for that, however, because I expressed my idea quite poorly. However, I did express reasoning in my post beyond what you're quoting.
The species is specifically not intended to have flat aptitudes. It is intended to have high aptitudes in certain areas similar to other species that have high aptitudes that encourage a specific role, like to minotaurs and deep elves. I don't think it would be a good idea to just give it high aptitudes everywhere; if some are high, others have to be low, and I decided on the low aptitudes for reasons other than that's the kind of character I want to play or because I think it would be cool.
Ranged aptitudes were set low (though perhaps you didn't catch that I said -1 bows was there specifically to keep a ranged option open) because I think the design space for "ranged character with lots of magic" is already full. Conjurations was set low for heuristic purposes, perhaps you think that's unnecessary, but I would rather be conservative. Nevertheless, I've raised some of the aptitudes that were arbitrarily low and explained some reasoning for it in my post.
Regarding the off-hand, I specifically gave reasons for it other than "it sounds cool". I phrased it poorly in my original post, but I intended no shield to simply be a good choice, not something I would force them to do. However, you have a good point, so will increase the proposed shields aptitude to +1. That makes it more of a choice between very good offense at high investment with a two-hander, defense at moderate investment with a shield and pretty good offense for cheap without a shield.
Quazifuji wrote:My thoughts on the gimmick in particular: I think this might be overcomplicated. A much simpler idea: just double the mana costs of all spells. This preserves the core idea (you're good at learning spells but can't cast very many in one combat) without being as fiddly or potentially confusing. It also solves the idea of not wanting the species to be able to rely on Dragon call.
Also, mild magic could be a possible alternative to high spellcasting aptitude. It promotes the idea of a species that can learn a wide range of spells but shouldn't rely on them as its main form of offense, and many utility spells don't really care too much about spellpower anyway (although I personally wouldn't mind that changing).
That certainly would be much simpler, but I have some issues. First, doubling the cost of all spells seems really harsh. I don't know how book starts would function. A fractional increase might work, but would be hard to represent and also potentially confusing. Second, I'm not sure how you'd counterbalance it. +3 spellcasting wouldn't seem to be enough, I think you'd have to bump up other aptitudes significantly as well. And no strong early damage boost would make the species miserable hybrids early on, just like HE. Perhaps aux unarmed would be enough, though.
Actually, I think in practice my idea wouldn't be so awkward, I'm just perhaps not doing a good job explaining it. After you cast once or twice, you get a mp cost +1 status. That increases to mp cost +2 and so on. The status decrements when you deal damage with a weapon or gradually over time. The trick is balancing it so that book starts can still cast enough to survive early on, while having the increments remain relevant, but not brutal late. I admit that might not be so easy.
I don't like the idea of placid magic because with my proposal, between high int, spellcasting and enough xp to go deep into one school with good single school spells (hexes, earth, air, summons, etc.) you could cast high impact spells from it, just without great frequency.