Would some imm care to comment on why dwarven bards are not allowed? I can SO see drunken dwarven drummers singing rousing tunes to the troops, it seems like a fun role to play. Purely from a game mechanics point of view they'd appear pretty balanced without any special issues, sure they'd be the heartiest of all bards, but with their gruff voices poorer singers than the rest (least natural mana not to mention their only average charisma). Naturally they wouldn't be able to learn to sneak, either.

Not only are dwarves not exactly singers and artisans, but bards are finesse oriented. Combine the low racial dex with low racial charisma, and I don't see why they'd be any good at it.

In general, I'm not a fan of "Let every race be every class they'd be remotely half-good at." I think it dilutes the culture of a race.

I realize mechanics-wise they'd be quite similar to certain existing races, but that's irrelevant with regard to the new role opportunities they'd offer

Halflings have come up before, and they always sound exactly like dextrous gnomes to me. What role opportunities exist there that gnomes don't cover?

valguarnera@carrionfields.com