Half-Janni

[boroie]

"Half-Janni" (secret eXtremely Rare)
- FC: Cleric
- DEX -2, WIS +6, CHA +8
- Free Feats: SF/GSF/ESF: Abjuration, Extra Turning, Improved Initiative, Great Charisma I
- Other: Undeath to Death becomes Abjuration, Survival: Levitation, Survival: Firewalk


This is a question rather than a suggestion. Why does Half-Janni have a negative to Dexterity? The BUR equivalent is presumably Radiance Genasi which has also has a net +12 to attributes but no negative to dex. Looking at the other XRs, only 4 other races have negatives to any attribute - Daokin (DD) -2 cha, Favored of Solonor (AA) - 2 cha, Favored of Mielikki (ranger) -2 cha and Half-Goliath (2hander) -4 wis. Two of those are just dump stats though the Favored of Mielikki seems a little odd (animal empathy) and Goliath is specifically engineered not to have wis by ranger/monk restrictions. Half Janni is the only race with a physical attribute drop. 

If I was to make a suggeston, it would be purely selfish and a request to set the dex attribute to 0 rather than -2. However maybe there is a specific reason for the negative? It does seem to stand out.

[simpetar]

No other race has +6 to one and +8 to the other. If a subby has +8 to something (primary stat, usually for DC based toons), the sum of other stats is 4. For instance, Lolth-Touched +8/+4, Kaorti +8/+2/+2, God-Blooded +8/+2/+2 etc. As unpleasant as it is, this dex penalty of Half-Janni makes it fall in line with the others. Plus it gives you an authentic turner experience, they find Erinyes pretty, they always have

[chainlink]

If you don't like the physical attribute drop you could request an Int drop instead

[boroie]

I was actually wondering if it was a railroad to use abj, ie go heavy armor + shield, by making robes less palatable?
I was not around when the races were being designed and debated, hence not aware of design choices w.r.t. statting.

No other race has +6 to one and +8 to the other.

"Half-Goliath" (secret eXtremely Rare)
- FC: Fighter
- STR +8, CON +6, WIS -4, INT +2, CHA +2
- Free Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Epic Prowess, Great Cleave
- Other: add +6 Shield modifier to weapon wielded if no shield, no Monk levels, and < 2 Ranger levels

Not that a -4 to a stat is especially desirable either but it is at least designed for a specific theme (2 hander, no wis ac splash).
Thats why I find the Half Janni dex drop weird. Why not drop strength like Rad Gen?

I mean don't get me wrong, its still a nice race, but the dex drop is what seems very odd to me.

[simpetar]

Oh yeah, sorry, my bad.

It is a dedicated turner race, so yes, it is bit railroaded. Splashing is out of question, so you cannot efficiently use robes for defensive purposes. Even offensive use of the Ely robe is debatable; stunning relevant plant creatures is fishing for 1s and you can forget about destroying them altogether, instead they will destroy you (damn viper trees...). In short, turners survive thanks to the combination of massive Gate soak, high immunities from heavy armors and tower shields, maintained GR and having monsters around them stunned. AC tends to cap somewhere around 130-132, which is passable in hells and abyss.

Keep in mind that turners need 25 BASE wisdom and charisma for Planar Turning, and then max charisma for powah. That leaves low dexterity anyways, so it makes little difference, if they fail dex checks with 8 or 6 base.