Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Let me start by saying I am in no way advocating for the removal of anything within the server. That includes both Aasimar and Tieflings.

What this thread is about is me asking the 'what-if' question so someone more astute than I can hopefully answer it... Just for the sake of my own curiosity!

IF Aasimar and Tiefling were removed as a race in BGTSCC what would be the next most-played race in the server, and how do you think it would affect builds that are currently maximized with these two races?

Let me just say as a final word that I am cool with Aasimars and Tieflings being 100% playable. This is just for the sake of curiosity because it does seem pretty true that Aasimar (at least) and Tiefling are pretty popular as a race despite not being so regular in the lore. Again, I don't care but I am curious.

<3

Well you also gotta realize the population of actual players does represent a rather small percentage of the Sword Coast/Baldur's Gate population. There are masses and masses of just normal folk.

But I would just stay human or maybe go dwarf. I refuse elves as I hate them on principal alone(damn that Legolas...)

Larzs wrote:Well you also gotta realize the population of actual players does represent a rather small percentage of the Sword Coast/Baldur's Gate population. There are masses and masses of just normal folk.

But I would just stay human or maybe go dwarf. I refuse elves as I hate them on principal alone(damn that Legolas...)

Yeah I know that we as player-characters are the exception to the rule, generally-speaking. I agree with you. Except about elves... I like dwarves and elves! Dwarves are a bit cooler though.

wood elf +2 str +2 dex?

izzul wrote:wood elf +2 str +2 dex?

Seems like it'd be good even now. I wonder why it isn't played more often? My guess is bc CHA, WIS and INT are all a bit more useful than STR & DEX together.

Babuguuscooties wrote: IF Aasimar and Tiefling were removed as a race in BGTSCC what would be the next most-played race in the server, and how do you think it would affect builds that are currently maximized with these two races?

An AIR genasi is very similar to a tiefling, except it has -2 wis, and favored class as a fighter.

In general, you'd see a lot more hin rogues, dwarven fighters (because dwarven defender), earth genasi barbarians and half-elven archers (because arcane archer).

I also do not get an impression that tieflings are incredibly popular.

NegInfinity wrote:

Babuguuscooties wrote: IF Aasimar and Tiefling were removed as a race in BGTSCC what would be the next most-played race in the server, and how do you think it would affect builds that are currently maximized with these two races?

An AIR genasi is very similar to a tiefling, except it has -2 wis, and favored class as a fighter.

In general, you'd see a lot more hin rogues, dwarven fighters (because dwarven defender), earth genasi barbarians and half-elven archers (because arcane archer).

I also do not get an impression that tieflings are incredibly popular.

I can't recall if Valefort released a pie chart with the most to least played races or not, but out of curiosity what do you think the most played races are? Like the top 3 most played races. I think Aasimar is number 1, right? That seems safe to say, at least. Human probably beats out tiefling though.

Babuguuscooties wrote:ased a pie chart with the most to least played races or not, but out of curiosity what do you think the most played races are? Like the top 3 most played races. I think Aasimar is number 1, right? That seems safe to say, at least. Human probably beats out tiefling though.

Something without ECL, definitely.

i'd expect elves and half-elves to be #1 choice currently, and if you think that most played class is an aasimar, then you're most likely incorrect. So, it is not a safe choice.

I do not recall many aasimars on the server, to be honest, and they're mostly useful if you want to roll a smiter. Or want to get that sweet,sweet,sweet +1 DC at your sorcerers spells at the cost of being more miserable during leveling process. Or if you really wanna play a paladin, which is favored classes for aasimars.

The most useful classes are non-ECL ones, with humans and half-elves being the most versatile, and dwarves being the toughest.

NegInfinity wrote:

Babuguuscooties wrote:ased a pie chart with the most to least played races or not, but out of curiosity what do you think the most played races are? Like the top 3 most played races. I think Aasimar is number 1, right? That seems safe to say, at least. Human probably beats out tiefling though.

Something without ECL, definitely.

i'd expect elves and half-elves to be #1 choice currently, and if you think that most played class is an aasimar, then you're most likely incorrect. So, it is not a safe choice.

I do not recall many aasimars on the server, to be honest, and they're mostly useful if you want to roll a smiter. Or want to get that sweet,sweet,sweet +1 DC at your sorcerers spells at the cost of being more miserable during leveling process. Or if you really wanna play a paladin, which is favored classes for aasimars.

The most useful classes are non-ECL ones, with humans and half-elves being the most versatile, and dwarves being the toughest.

I didn't realize half-elves were all that superior. They are flexible due to no ECL and no favored class, but other than that they get no ability score bonuses and they lack the bonus feat Humans get. I play a half-elf, and I have seen a handful since I started playing here (now level 22), but I honestly feel like I've seen more tieflings and aasimar than half-elves. That's anecdotal though, to be fair.

As I understood it Aasimar is a superior race because its bonus stats are unique to it (and maybe Drow for the CHA). I don't think any other race gets WIS though.

Besides that they get some resistances (I think), and the super OP spell-like ability of Light!

But really, don't Aasimars make the best: Sorcerers, Druids, Clerics, Paladins, Bards? As well as any PrC that relies on WIS and/or CHA like Blackguard, Divine Champion, Ghost-Faced Killer, Guild-Thief? (Not sure on this but I think bluff is CHA right?) etc.

Maybe I'm wrong. I admit that is very possible. I just got the impression that Aasimar was probably the best race after drow in terms of what it offers. However, I really don't want to discount human just because of its seemingly fantastic flexibility. It may end up being a few points behind Aasimar and Drow with the same build, but that bonus feat and extra skill points are pretty worth it, imo.

Babuguuscooties wrote:I can't recall if Valefort released a pie chart with the most to least played races or not, but out of curiosity what do you think the most played races are? Like the top 3 most played races. I think Aasimar is number 1, right? That seems safe to say, at least. Human probably beats out tiefling though.

Charts. Lots of charts!

I do feel like there are a lot of tieflings around to interact with on the server right now. But there are the numbers

Pimple wrote:

Babuguuscooties wrote:I can't recall if Valefort released a pie chart with the most to least played races or not, but out of curiosity what do you think the most played races are? Like the top 3 most played races. I think Aasimar is number 1, right? That seems safe to say, at least. Human probably beats out tiefling though.

Charts. Lots of charts!

I do feel like there are a lot of tieflings around to interact with on the server right now. But there are the numbers

Thanks, Pimple! You're a real archmage.

So its 1) Human, 2) Drow, 3) Aasimar.

I'm surprised to see Shield Dwarf beating out Tieflings! I love Shield Dwarves <3

But Half-Elves do appear to be played less often than Tieflings.

Again, I know these numbers do not matter at all. I'm just bored at work here.

Apparently Aasimar can now use all the same face models as humans. Or so I was told. Makes newer characters less recognisable.

Meanwhile I see tail everywhere. Tails! I mean tails.

Yeah, I guess it makes sense for Aasimar and even Tieflings to share faces with Humans since they aren't necessarily supposed to stand out -that- much. It could be cool to see the Genasi get a similar treatment, don't you think? We might see a few more played if they didn't have to look so 'weird'

Babuguuscooties wrote: I didn't realize half-elves were all that superior. They are flexible due to no ECL and no favored class, but other than that they get no ability score bonuses and they lack the bonus feat Humans get. I play a half-elf, and I have seen a handful since I started playing here (now level 22), but I honestly feel like I've seen more tieflings and aasimar than half-elves. That's anecdotal though, to be fair
.

Half elves get bonus skillpoints, like human, bonuses to detection skills, they see in the dark without ECL, get a longbow/longsword proficiency, and have access to arcane archer class. And no favored class. They're also immune to sleep. There are also bonuses to bluff/diplomacy, which would help to make a feinter.

Elves get "Keen Sense", which is a dream of many rogues.

Humans still get that damn extra feat, though.

And as a tiefling, you'll have to deal with rogue being favored class, meaning fun stuff like fighter 4/warlock 26 is a not go.

Babuguuscooties wrote: As I understood it Aasimar is a superior race because its bonus stats are unique to it (and maybe Drow for the CHA). I don't think any other race gets WIS though.

Wrong. Aasimar get a very inconvenient favored class: paladin. This shuts down many useful routes in character building. Gray orcs get wisdom bonus and scent feat which allows them to sniff out sneaks even when they're hidden.

Babuguuscooties wrote: Maybe I'm wrong. I admit that is very possible. I just got the impression that Aasimar was probably the best race after drow in terms of what it offers.

Your impression is incorrect. Aasimar is mostly useful if you want to get epic divine might or make a smiter. And this is it. For making a bard, for example, you might want F4/Bard26, and that'll make you subject to multiclassing penalty.

Earlier you posted that "when xp from giants drops below 25...". This pretty much means that you're used to all the good stuff you get from playing a non-ecl race. The MOST you ever get from any fight as ECL is 20, and to get 30 xp from a giant, you need to hunt them at level 10 or 12. In epic levels you'll be getting 10..15 xp top, and if you have multi-classing penalty on top of that then the amount of xp will drop to 9 xp per kill. I had a character like that, trying to get anywhere feels miserable. I believe multicalassing penalty applies to ALL xp, including quests.

As I said, the most versatile class on the server is human. Because they get extra feat, and because they have no favored class. This opens up incredible amount of possible class combiantions. For example, you can make a fighter4/druid26. As a tiefling/aasimar, you can't really do that, unless you want your life to be horrible. Genasi are slightly superior, because they have fighter as a favored class, which opens some of the useful combos, but nothing like what you can do with a human.

Babuguuscooties wrote:We might see a few more played if they didn't have to look so 'weird'

I feel like that would cheapen the race and reduce it to stat bonuses. Which is probably not a good thing.