Yea, the reason I implemented this was less to be restrictive, and more because dhampirs are supposed to excel in these areas, so they really should have +0 modifiers at minimum for nearly all their stats, wisdom being the dump stat. IIRC most of the PCs in my game only have 1 or 2 stats below 9 anyway, so I'm sure players would qualify maybe half the time.
Cannibals would be interesting, though I would personally prefer dhampirs as PCs due to the fact that they’re not necessarily evil, but rather cursed. A cannibal is either part of a primitive tribe or a psychopath if domestic. I prefer PCs to be heroic, but don't enforce it except through the chance of consequences for antisocial actions.
As for dhampirs being outcasts, fair enough, though that could easily be true of a number of PC types.
Is it, though? Let's put this in perspective by comparing the fighter to the ranger, since 10% xp is also the difference between them.
So then how much better than a fighter is a ranger? Well, in return for their 10% xp buy-in the ranger gets 3 skills, a chosen enemy, and bow specialty. But it also loses heavy armour. That’s it.
What about the barbarian or paladin vs the fighter since those are an even bigger buy-in (25%!). The paladin gets a nice aura, an at-will spell, lay on hands, nerfed turn undead, and basic cleric spells at level 10. But they also have to tithe 10% and have a strict conduct. The barbarian gets hp boost, better surprise odds, 5’ extra movement, and rage (which is kind of a double edged sword). But they can only use leather.
Do you see what I’m getting at? 10% xp penalty isn’t really that big when you consider what xp is used to justify with regards to classes. Even 20% wouldn't be crazy if you wanted to justify something more powerful still, or perhaps just to justify erasing all the other negatives this race gets. That might be an option since it would also simplify matters, though I think the flavour of them being sun-averse makes for better role-play.
The sun penalties aren’t really so bad IMO. I mean, a -1 to hit is only 5%. I doubt it would affect gameplay all that much other than that they'd go out of their way to avoid fighting in the sun. But I get that people don't like negatives even if they're not very consequential. Again, I could see trading this and all other negatives for a higher XP penalty.
In what sense is a dwarf or elf more powerful? A dhampir gets all the same bonuses as an elf plus a grab bag full of innate abilities. An elf is also limited to d6 HP. A dwarf has better saving throws, yeah, but they don’t really have special abilities per se. Granted, saving throws can get you out of a lot of jams, especially in my games where I let PCs have death saves.TrickyNikki wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:19 am A dwarf is way stronger than a Dhampir atm. So is the classical elf. They both get dark vision as well as great saves and special abilities.
In a game where PCs are often clawing for HP I would think doubling it would be a big deal. In my games I see PCs push on without being full HP often. But yeah, in high level play it might become less important.
I think what you may have overlooked is that the dhampir's hypnotize ability may be used more subtlety than a magic-user’s. A magic user has to basically signal to everyone around that they’re casting a spell, whereas a dhampir only has to look at a person. Onlookers may be none the wiser, which has some utility. Not to mention that magic-user's charm is limited to 4-5 HD creatures IIRC. Granted, the magic user’s charm can last a long while on a dumb creature.TrickyNikki wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:19 am Charming is… fine? A first level wizard can do that way better.
Another point that hasn’t really been discussed is that dhampir has enhanced smell, hearing, and a tracking skills. 2-in-6 for those is higher than a lot of thieves start out. Like, it all adds up to being a pretty sizeable tote bag when you consider how little 10% xp really is.
But I get where you're coming from. At a glance the race isn't as flashy as a dhampir from popular media, and its benefits aren't immediately obvious. And nobody likes penalties even if they don't amount to much. But I think in old-school play this class's benefits would go a long way. Bear in mind that none of the PCs in BF are meant to be very powerful. They're meant to fear for their lives and avoid getting in fights. I designed this race option with all that in mind.
So does the dhampir need boosting? Maybe, but probably not by much. I could see maybe giving them roll-twice-take-highest for hit point gain, which is more or less a +1 but with a cap. Maybe some acknowledgment that they can hibernate pretty much indefinitely. Maybe a +2 against charm/paralysis. More could be done but I think it would involve increasing the xp penalty to 20%, which TBH wouldn’t be game breaking.