Sunday, June 17, 2007

Semi-Random Crunch - The Greenjacket

Graa! Otu Update! Templated Creature! Work As Always!

Greenjacket Huge Vermin Hit Dice: 6d8+6 (33 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 40 ft. (good), climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (–2 size, +3 Dex, +5 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+15
Attack: Sting +5 melee (1d6+3 plus poison)
Full Attack: Sting +5 melee (1d6+3 plus poison) and bite +0 (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., scent
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 17, Con 13, Int –, Wis 14, Cha 2
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide -1, Listen +6, Spot +10, Survival +2*, Swim +11
Feats:
Environment: Temperate marshes
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 4
Advancement: 7–18 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment:
A thin but huge, bright green and black creature that resembles a mixture between a mosquito and a wasp flies through the mangroves.
The greenjacket is a frail vespid that more resembles a mosquito. It is striped green and black, with yellow dots on its forehead. Unlike many vespids, it is a solitary creature, and both the male and the female possess a stinger.
The greenjacket is well at home in the swamps, and even swims in the muddy waters in which it is born to ambush its prey.
Poison (Ex): Injury; Fortitude save DC 14; initial and secondary damage of 1d6 Con. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Skills: Greenjackets have a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Listen checks, and a +8 racial bonus on Balance, Climb, Spot, and Swim checks. A greenjacket can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Semi-Random Crunch - The Leornis

Well, would you look at that. I've got stuff that, more or less, only needs to be formatted, saved to be published quickly... and still nothing appears on here. :p
Simple concept here, turning a creature into a bird.

Leornis
Large Animal
Hit Dice: 5d8+5 (27 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (–1 size, +4 Dex, +3 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+11
Attack: Talon +6 melee (1d8+4)
Full Attack: 2 talons +6 melee (1d8+4) and bite +1 melee (1d8+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Pounce, improved grab, rake 1d4+2
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +2
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Balance +8, Hide +6*, Jump +12, Listen +5, Move Silently +14, Spot +5**
Feats: Alertness, Run B, Stealthy
Environment: Warm plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or flock (6–10)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 6–8 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment:
The creature pouncing out of hiding is a large bird with pale yellow feathers and a wicked beak. Its wings are small and probably cannot carry it aloft, but they are topped with sharp claws, though these are dwarfed by the talons on the creature's powerful legs. The creature's head is framed with several rows of large feathers spread backwards.
Leornithes are large flightless birds that hunt other animals for food. They are about nine feet high, and live in small flocks. When hunting in a flock, they often attack animals much larger than themselves, but alone or in pairs, they only attack smaller creatures and occasionally resort to scaring away smaller predators from their prey, or eat carrion.
Pounce (Ex): If a leornis charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a leornis must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake.
Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +7 melee, damage 1d4+2.
Skills: Leornithes have a +4 racial bonus on Balance, Hide, and Move Silently checks. *In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +12. **In areas of bright illumination, leornithes have a +4 circumstance bonus on Spot checks.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Semi-Random Crunch - The Ulhgra

Since I didn't exactly get anything updated in my prepared posts while I had no connection, here's the second templated monster. Again, no points for guessing the base creature. ;)
I'm also contemplating to post the manticore-touched template later.

Ulhgra
Medium Humanoid (Orc)
Hit Dice: 1d8+2 (6 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 13 (+3 studded leather armor), touch 10, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+4
Attack: Falchion +4 melee (2d4+4/18–20) or javelin +1 ranged (1d6+3)
Full Attack: Falchion +4 melee (2d4+4/18–20) or javelin +1 ranged (1d6+3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Qualities: Darkvision 120 ft., light blindness, stonecunning
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +0, Will –1
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 11, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 4
Skills: Handle Animal -1, Intimidate +3, Listen +2, Spot +2
Feats: Alertness
Environment: Underground
Organization: Gang (2–4), squad (11–20 plus 2 3rd-level sergeants and 1 leader of 3rd–6th level), or band (30–100 plus 150% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 10 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and 3 7th-level captains)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Often lawful evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +1
A powerfully-built orc clutches a seemingly well-kept falchion, sizing you up with a surprisingly bright expression.
Ulhgras are a powerful but rare subrace of orcs living almost solely underground and isolated. Sometimes claimed to be the original orc race that was displaced by the elves and dwarves, they are highly organized and as smart and perceptive as humans. They look down on their cousins and most other races, but have a grudging respect for those who can hold their own in battle. Many ulhgras keep slaves and animals for work, and the number of slaves an ulhgra can keep is a status symbol.
An ulhgra's hair usually is black. It has lupine ears and reddish eyes. They prefer wearing uniform colors that blend into the darkness of the underground world. Their equipment is well-kept. An adult male ulhgra is a little over 6 feet tall and weighs about 210 pounds. Females are slightly smaller. Ulhgras speak Orc and Common, and many know Goblin or Giant as well. The favored class of ulhgras is ranger.
Ulhgras use concealment and ambushes to great advantage to keep their low numbers from dwindling further, and are quite adept at organized assaults and misdirection. Ulhgras honor whatever rules of engagement are considered to be standard for their near neighbors if these neighbors strictly follow them as well, but are quick to exploit any lapses, real or perceived, as chances to break the status quo.
Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds the ulhgra for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, it is dazzled as long as it remains in the affected area.
Stonecunning (Ex): This ability grants the ulhgra a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction (even when built to match the old), unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. An ulhgra that merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if it were actively searching, and it can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. An ulhgra with this ability can also intuit depth, sensing its approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up. The ulhgra has a sixth sense about stonework, an innate ability that it gets plenty of opportunity to practice and hone in its underground homes.
Skills: The ulhgra has a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate checks, and a +2 bonus on Handle Animal checks.
This ulhgra is a 1st level warrior. Its statistics before the racial adjustments were Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, and Cha 8.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Semi-Random Crunch - The Octocore

While I'm preparing some more substantial stuff to post, I'm posting some creatures created by homebrew templates of mine. No points given for guessing the base creature! :p And for the first instance, also no points given for guessing the ...er... inspiration. ;)

Octocore
Small Magical Beast (Aquatic, Augmented Animal)
Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 30 ft.
Armor Class: 17 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Arms +5 melee (0); or spike +5 ranged (1d4)
Full Attack: Arms +5 melee (0) and bite +0 melee (1d3); or spike +5 ranged (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, spikes
Special Qualities: Darkvision, ink cloud, jet, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 3
Skills: Escape Artist +13, Hide +11, Listen +2, Spot +5, Swim +9
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Environment: Warm aquatic
Organization: Solitary, pair, or nettle (5 – 10)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 3–6 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment:
A reddish octopus crawls along the beach. From its head, betweeen its eyes, eight long and thin spikes grow, seemingly easy to detach. Its arms are backed with barbs.
These sea creatures are relatively harmless, but like to annoy travelers at beaches and rivers by sniping at them from afar with their head spikes. They are however rather cowardly, and will attempt to escape if cornered. Unlike other octopuses, octocores are social creatures, and often form small “ambush” groups.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, an octocore must hit an opponent of any size with its arms attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and automatically deals bite damage.
Spikes: An octocore can shoot a single spike from its head as a standard action. This attack has a range of 120 feet with no range increment, dealing 1d4 points of damage plus 1/2 his Strength modifier. The octocore can launch only eight spikes in any 24-hour period.
Ink Cloud (Ex): An octocore can emit a cloud of jet-black ink 10 feet high by 10 feet wide by 10 feet long once per minute as a free action. The cloud provides total concealment, which the octocore normally uses to escape a losing fight. All vision within the cloud is obscured.
Jet (Ex): An octocore can jet backward once per round as a full-round action, at a speed of 200 feet. It must move in a straight line, but does not provoke attacks of opportunity while jetting.
Skills: An octocore can change colors, giving it a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks.
An octocore also can squeeze and contort its body, giving it a +10 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks.
An octocore has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Mayhaps...

...I ought to give up on Blogging? :P

Or actually do something with this blog. :o

Saturday, September 23, 2006

It is always nice to see...

...when your creations are talked about. In two recent ENWorld threads, MoogleEmpMog talked about my Brainstealer Dragons, which appeared in Dragon #337.

Though as great as this is, there is a downside - the brainstealer dragons are so popular that they drowned out the other four monsters in the article: Illithocytes, Mind Worms, Nerve Swimmers and Ustilagors. Show them other brain nibblers some love!



Ewww I think that came out wrong.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Kind of envious

For quite some time, Eric Burns of Websnark fame managed to post meaningful, long posts on Websnark, daily. Each and every day. Not anymore, but that's beside the point. I just want to know how he did it. ;)

Part II of the Worldbuilding post is approximately halfway done, I think.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Semi-Random Crunch - Unleash Aspect of Creativity

While I compose the coming updates, here's a spell to enjoy.

Unleash Aspect of Creativity
Conjuration (Creation) [Aspect]
Level: Bard 5
Components: V, S, (DF), XP
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One created creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
This spell extracts your imagination and enhances it, forming it into an aspect of your creativity. The aspect appears as a creature almost identical to you, and its statistics are based on yours. It receives a +10 insight bonus to a single Craft, Perform or Profession skill, chosen at the time of casting.
The aspect of creativity suffers a –10 penalty on all attack rolls, and can only cast Conjuration (Creation) spells, Illusion (all except shadow) spells, and Transmutation spells that target objects. The aspect and you share the same prepared spells or available spell slots, as appropriate. If the aspect casts a spell, it is expended just as if you cast it. Aspects cannot cast spells with the Aspect descriptor.
The aspect has equipment appropriate to the skill it receives the bonus to, and basic clothing. The aspect and all its equipment dissipate at the end of the spell.
For the duration of the spell, you suffer a –2 penalty to all mental ability scores. If the aspect of creativity is killed, the spell ends, and you suffer 2 points of ability drain to all mental ability scores. If you are killed, the spell ends immediately.
XP Cost: 50 XP

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Otu's Monster Makeovers - The bodak

Inspired by Mike Mearls' Monster Makeover articles over at Wizards.com (namely the rust monster and the ogre mage, soon to be followed by the mind flayer), and previously posted on ENWorld, the bodak.

Old SRD stats:
BODAK
Medium Undead (Extraplanar)
Hit Dice:
9d12 (58 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (+2 Dex, +8 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+5
Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d8+1)
Full Attack: Slam +6 melee (1d8+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Death gaze
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/cold iron, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to electricity, resistance to acid 10 and fire 10, undead traits, vulnerability to sunlight
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +7
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 15, Con —, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 12
Skills: Listen +11, Move Silently +10, Spot +11
Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (slam)
Environment: A chaotic evil-aligned plane
Organization: Solitary or gang (2–4)
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 10–13 HD (Medium); 14–27 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment:

Bodaks are the undead remnants of humanoids who have been destroyed by the touch of absolute evil.
A bodak retains fleeting memories of its past life and can speak Common (or some other humanoid language).

COMBAT
Death Gaze (Su): Death, range 30 feet, Fortitude DC 15 negates. Humanoids who die from this attack are transformed into bodaks 24 hours later. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Vulnerability to Sunlight (Ex): Bodaks loathe sunlight, for its merest touch burns their impure flesh. Each round of exposure to the direct rays of the sun deals 1 point of damage to the creature.



Bodaks are supposed to have been destroyed by the touch of absolute evil. They have a bit of a glass jaw if their Death Gaze doesn't kill their foes, and a DC of 15 isn't that hard to make. If it doesn't gain a benefit from the death gaze, it turns into something of a sitting duck, with little ability to do anything (a single slam for 1d8+1?! Come on!).

My re-interpretation comes from the angle that bodaks are destroyed by that touch of absolute evil - they effectively become the fingers of that absolute evil. First off, let's remove the death gaze, and replace it by something similar.

Presence of Absolute Evil (Su): The Bodak exudes an aura that hints at the darkness that created it and haunts any living creature near it. Every creature within 60 feet of the bodak suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
Intensify Presence (Su): As a swift action, the bodak can intensify the aura for one round, increasing the penalties to -6. Good creatures in the area must make a Fortitude save (DC X) or be nauseated for 1d4+1 rounds. Once the bodak uses this ability, it cannot use it again for 5 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.

The Presence ability will almost always impact the fight, and can hit stronger if necessary. It can also be more powerful against good characters if intensified. However, now it doesn't really have a "kill" ability, and is still stuck with the measly 1d8+1. In fact, its very stats are a bit lacking, so I'll up them a bit. Now, for the kill ability, I'll return to the idea that bodaks are essentially "fingers" of the absolute evil.
Touch of Absolute Evil (Su): The touch and the natural attacks of a bodak transfer bone-chilling evil, capable of corrupting any foe to the bones. Any creature hit by a bodak must make a Fortitude save (DC X) or take 1 point of ability damage to all abilities. Evil creatures get a +2 circumstance bonus to this save. If any of the victim's ability scores drops to 0, it dies. 24 hours later, it rises as a bodak without its special attacks - it gains them after a week has passed since its creation. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Of course, this new bodak is no longer the silent ambusher, capable of killing the unsuspecting. It is more of an agent of evil, and as such should have different skills and feats, and a better speed. To round things out, I'll add an ability for better survivability (reducing the DR to compensate), and make a few more flavor tweaks (why resistance/immunity to fire/electricity if sunlight weakens it?). I feel the end result might easily be a CR 9, but that has to be determined by playtesting.



Semi-Final Stats:

BODAK
Medium Undead (Extraplanar, Evil)
Hit Dice:
9d12+9+27 (94 hp)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 22 (+4 Dex, +8 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: Slam +8 melee (2d6+3, touch of absolute evil)
Full Attack: Slam +8 melee (2d6+3, touch of absolute evil)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Intensify Presence, Presence of Absolute Evil, Touch of Absolute Evil
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/good and cold iron, darkvision 60 ft., force into the world, immunity to cold, resistance to acid 10 and sonic 10, turn resistance +2, undead traits, vulnerability to sunlight
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +7
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 19, Con —, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 16
Skills: Intimidate +15, Listen +13, Spot +13
Feats: Ability Focus (Touch of Absolute Evil), Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Weapon Focus (slam)
Environment: A chaotic evil-aligned plane
Organization: Solitary or hand (2–5)
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always evil (any)
Advancement: 10–13 HD (Medium); 14–27 HD (Large), or by class level
Level Adjustment:

Bodaks are the undead remnants of humanoids who have been destroyed by the touch of absolute evil.
A bodak retains fleeting memories of its past life and can speak Common (or some other humanoid language).

COMBAT
Presence of Absolute Evil (Su): The Bodak exudes an aura that hints at the darkness that created it and haunts any living creature near it. Every creature within 60 feet of the bodak suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks.
Intensify Presence (Su): As a swift action, the bodak can intensify the aura for one round, increasing the penalties to -6. Good creatures in the area must make a Fortitude save (DC 17) or be nauseated for 1d4+1 rounds. Once the bodak uses this ability, it cannot use it again for 5 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Touch of Absolute Evil (Su): The touch and the natural attacks of a bodak transfer bone-chilling evil, capable of corrupting any foe to the bones. Any creature hit by a bodak must make a Fortitude save (DC 19) or take 1 point of ability damage to all abilities. Evil creatures get a +2 circumstance bonus to this save. If any of the victim's ability scores drops to 0, it dies. 24 hours later, it rises as a bodak without its special attacks - it gains them after a week has passed since its creation. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Vulnerability to Sunlight (Ex): Bodaks loathe sunlight, for its merest touch burns their impure flesh. Each round of exposure to the direct rays of the sun deals 1 point of damage to the creature.
Force into the World (Ex): The bodak gets bonus hit points equal to its Hit Dice times its Charisma bonus (if any). It literally forces itself into the world by its sheer power of spirit.

Underappreciated World Building Tools - Classes I

With the perception that there is a glut of base classes released for d20/D&D, it seems that people lose sight of one fundamental aspect of what base classes are. They are not "just" building blocks for characters, be they PCs or NPCs. Like races, they are fundamental building blocks of the entire world.
It may seem like stating the obvious, but few games have room for all base classes currently available even from WotC. Deciding which classes are available - and to whom! - can easily set tone, flavor, dynamics, and mechanics of everything in your game. Even seemingly basic classes have a profound effect.
Just looking at the classes available from the core rules, there are multiple influences on your game world that are worthy of being closely examined.
  1. PC classes versus NPC classes. If you use both kinds of classes, you send a very clear message, namely that there are two tiers of characters- weak, standard, characters, and elites. Duh, you say. Yes, it is obvious, and makes sense. And you don't necessarily need both sets of classes for that effect. If there are no PC classes, the powerful characters simply have more levels, and vice versa. If there are no NPC classes, everyone has the potential to be a hero. But wait, there's more.

    1. The commoner class. The most basic of the NPC classes, and the weakest. Surely it must exist? Well, what happens if it doesn't? For many creatures, nothing. Typically, only humanoids use it, and only those advance more than one level in commoner. The class could easily be replaced by giving a single Humanoid HD to the affected creatures as a standard, to be replaced by class Hit Dice. This makes the "commoners" of a world hardier, but to better excel at what they do, they need to advance as an expert.
    2. The adept class. This class is a bit of an oddity, as there is no easily-found counterpart among the PC classes for it. The adept is part druid, part wizard, and due to the mixing of the spell list, has his own flavor. As the basic spellcaster, his presence or absence can have profound impact on the peoples' views of magic. Used verbatim, the adept is essentially a traditional witch, or a hedge wizard, in Vancian form, with healing abilities, curses, weather magic, and a familiar. As such, magic would seem a very mixed blessing to the rural folk the adept will most likely have contact with. Having this adept class in the campaign should invite many of the common superstitions about wizards cursing people who displease them, and keeping the elements at their whim. Spellcasters of any kind would be approached for healing or crop blessing by the common folk, as "that's what the hedge wizard here does, too." The adept is essentially a gift from heaven for the world builder, and changing what he does can greatly enhance the world.
    3. Expert versus Aristocrat versus Warrior. This set of classes is a pretty natural progression from flexible skill-user, to skill warrior, to pure warrior. This allows NPCs to cover all, or at least most, non-supernatural basics. Though there is some implied flavor in the aristocrat class, it can mimic a "lesser" ranger or paladin just as well as a noble, swashbuckler or barbarian once you look past the name. If NPC classes exist, expert and warrior should definitely be among them.

  2. PC classes versus Ability classes. Ability classes as they are used in d20 Modern can prove a flavor-stumbling block for a few people. Rather than clear-cut archetypes, you have broad ability sets. Rather than being defined by what they do, they are defined by what they can. Yet, the classes are just as archetypal as the more comfortably-known D&D classes once you look at the setting of the game - the modern world. In a D&D world, there may be knights and wizards, assassins and priests adventuring, while farmers till the field. Archetypes that lend themselves to certain mechanics. But in the modern world, there are far too many potential archetypes to be comfortably been given classes and distinct mechanics. There may be militaries, construction workers, truckers, librarians, college students, hackers, occultists, celebrities, and tons more. Some could get classes. Most couldn't ("I'm a 5th level student now!" - "I'm a 5th level scientist, but have absolutely no student levels. Shouldn't I have some?"). Putting much more emphasis on what the characters can has a similar effect as removing NPC classes - everyone has the potential for greatness, for being a hero or villain, and adds an element of uncertainty about the abilities of the people you meet.

    1. Ability classes and a bad ability score. One of the biggest stumbling blocks in accepting the ability classes is the fact that you can have a weak Strong Hero, or a dumb Smart Hero, at least compared to their colleages. What may seem like a flaw can be a great opportunity instead. Rather than having an all-purpose scientist with high Intelligence and tons of Knowledge skills, you can have a dedicated scientist with the Savant talent and a level of Dedicated for Skill Emphasis. He doesn't know as much as his colleages do about other fields, but knows a lot about his chosen field.

  3. Base Classes versus Prestige Classes. The age old discussion. What should be a base class, and what shouldn't be? Back in my first post on this topic, I said that it depends on the game world on how specific a base class can be. Many point to Paladin and Blackguard as an example - if one is a PrC, the other should be as well. There is good logic in that statement, but having them separate sends an interesting message about the game world: The Champions of Good are born. The Champions of Evil are made. To become an active force of Evil (not just evil), you have to, more or less, pursue that goal, whereas a Champion of Good might have been a simple farm girl until she receives a vision from her god and sets out to fight for Good. While this distinction wasn't planned by the original design team to the best of my knowledge, such distinctions should be kept in mind when creating a campaign world.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Let's try this again, shall we?

I kind of abandoned this thing, but contents update are following this one.

:o

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Andy Weir's new webcomic

Cheshire Crossing is the name and (part of) the setting of Andy Weir's (of Casey & Andy fame) new webcomic. Read it!

Spoiler warning!

In the year 1904, the young girl Alice Liddell is found by her father lying unconcious on the grass after having been missing for 6 days. He carries her home while a disembodied face smilingly watches.
6 years later, she and a girl named Wendy Darling are brought to Cheshire Crossing, supposedly an institute for people suffering from dissociative psychosis ("crazy by means of creating an imaginative world," in the words of Alice). Later, they also meet a Dorothy Gale. These three are introduced to Dr Ernest Rutherford, by their new nanny and tutor - Mary Poppins. He reveals to the girls that he knows that they are not crazy - and that they really travel into other worlds...

From this short overview, it should be obvious that Andy Weir "shamelessly stole" several known characters to tell a new story. In order of appearance:
Alice Liddell - The character from Alice in Wonderland. She has black hair and is constantly angry. She can step through mirrors to Wonderland, which she describes "too terrible not to be [real]". She wants to escape the institute, and is not afraid to steal for this end.
"The Psychic Aide:" He has been given no name yet, but he has demonstrated some kind of foreknowledge. I don't know whether I should know him.
Dr Ernest Rutherford: Wikipedia knows him best.
Wendy Darling: The character from Peter Pan. She has blond hair, and she has a sword and knives. To reach Neverland, she heads towards the second star to the right, and she "can ####ing fly!"
Mary Poppins: She's perfect. She is to be the tutor and nanny for Alice, Wendy, and Dorothy.
Dorothy Gale: The character from Wizard of Oz. She is brunette and has ruby slippers. With these, she (and as it turns out, others as well) can reach Oz. Due to the circumstances, she doesn't get much screen time in the first issue.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

d20 Spectaculars Canceled

At least according to this ENWorld thread.

Odd that a book would be canceled that late in the process. Either d20 Modern as a whole is going pretty badly, or it has to do with licenses.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

WotC February releases found

By takasi on ENWorld:

Barrow of the Forgotten King
Ed Stark
$19.95
96 pages

Secrets of Sarlona
Keith Baker, et al
$29.95
160 pages

Terrain: Dungeonscapes
Keith Baker, et al
$29.95
160 pages

Keith Baker confirmed that he did not work on Dungeonscapes. The author list is most likely a copy & paste error.

Monday, May 15, 2006

The Cavalrist - Special Mounts First Draft

Cavalrist's Mount (Ex): A cavalrist may begin play with a mount selected from the following list: camel, riding dog, horse (light or heavy), pony, or wolf. If the campaign takes place wholly or partly in an aquatic environment, the following creatures are also available: porpoise, or Medium shark. This mount is a loyal companion that accompanies the cavalrist on his adventures as appropriate for its kind.
The cavalrist receives a +2 bonus to Handle Animal and Ride checks made with his mount.
A 1st-level cavalrist' mount is completely typical for its kind except as noted below. As a cavalrist advances in level, the mount’s power increases as shown on the table. If a cavalrist releases his mount from service, he may gain a new one by training with a new mount for a week. This training can also replace an mount that has perished.
A cavalrist of 3rd level ro higher can bond with multiple mounts. Each additional mount gained this way decreases the cavalrist's effective level by 2. (If this adjustment would reduce the cavalrist's effective level to 0 or lower, he can’t have that creature as a mount.)
A cavalrist of 4th level or higher may select from alternative lists of mounts (see below). Should he select a mount from one of these alternative lists, the creature gains abilities as if the character’s cavalrist level were lower than it actually is. Subtract the value indicated in the parentheses from the character’s cavalrist level and compare the result with the cavalrist level entry on the table to determine the mount’s powers. (If this adjustment would reduce the cavalrist's effective level to 0 or lower, he can’t have that creature as a mount.)
A cavalrist's mount is superior to a normal creature of its kind and has special powers, as described below.

Class LevelBonus HDNatural Armor Adj.Str/Dex Adj.Special
1st–2nd+0+0+0Mounted Combat
3rd–5th+2+2+1Devotion
6th–8th+4+4+2Improved Speed
9th–11th+6+6+3Mounted Resistance
12th–14th+8+8+4Improved Speed
15th–17th+10+10+5Mounted Resistance
18th–20th+12+12+6Improved Speed

Mount Basics: Use the base statistics for a creature of the mount’s kind, but make the following changes.
Class Level: The character’s cavalrist level.
Bonus HD: Extra Hit Dice of the type normal for the mount's type, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Remember that extra Hit Dice improve the mount’s base attack and base save bonuses. A mount gains additional skill points and feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice. A mount does not grow in its size category
Natural Armor Adj.: The number noted here is an improvement to the mount’s existing natural armor bonus.
Str/Dex Adj.: Add this value to the mount’s Strength and Dexterity scores.
Mounted Combat: While riding his mount, the cavalrist is treated as having the Mounted Combat feat.
Devotion (Ex): The mount gains a +4 morale bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells and effects.
Improved Speed: One of the mount’s speeds increases by 10 feet.
Mounted Resistance (Ex): The cavalrist chooses a single saving throw category (Fortitude, Reflex, or Will). Once per round, if the cavalrist or the mount must make a save of that category while together, the cavalrist may instead make a Ride check with a -10 penalty.

ALTERNATIVE MOUNTS (Work in Progress)
A cavalrist of sufficiently high level can select his mount from one of the following lists, applying the indicated adjustment to the druid’s level (in parentheses) for purposes of determining the mount’s characteristics and special abilities.
4th Level or Higher (Level –3)
Lizard, monitor (animal)
Boar (animal)
Shark, Large1 (animal)
Dire badger
Dire bat
7th Level or Higher (Level –6)
Dire wolf
Deinonychus (dinosaur)
Dire boar
Pegasus?
10th Level or Higher (Level –9)
Megaraptor (dinosaur)
Whale, orca1 (animal)
Nightmare?
13th Level or Higher (Level –12)
Elephant (animal)
16th Level or Higher (Level –15)
Dire shark1
Triceratops (dinosaur)
1 Available only in an aquatic environment.

Celestial or Fiendish Mount (An additional level -3)
Half-Celestial or Half-Fiend Mount (An additional level -6)
Half-Dragon Mount (An additional level -6)
Skeleton Mount (No change)
Zombie Mount, 5 or less HD (An additional level -3)
Zombie Mount, 6 or more HD (An additional level -6)

Sunday, May 14, 2006

The Cavalrist - Balance Concerns

With the decision that the cavalrist should have 4 skill points, I'm in a bit of a bad corner. Level 1 of the Cavalrist class is currently almost strictly better than level 1 of the fighter class. That, obviously, shouldn't be. I see a few possible ways to remidy that:

  • Delay the Mounted Combat feat, and grant a different feat at first level (such as Animal Empathy or Skill Focus (Ride))
  • Reduce the Hit Dice to a D8. Still in line for a fighting class.
  • Change the good save to Reflex. A fighting class without Fortitude as a good save is odd, but not without precedent (waves to the knight class).
I'm not yet sure where to go with that.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

The Trample feat...

... is a bit of an oddity among the mounted feats, isn't it?
  • It gives your mount an additional ability, rather than the rider.
  • It almost explicitly refers to horses, or at least horse-like creatures (hoof attack)
  • And it does not give the trample special ability, though it is a similar concept.

The Cavalrist - Expanding on the basics

You may have noticed that I jumped right into the class abilities of the cavalrist rather than take a look at the basics. I did so with the temporary assumption that these basics would be very similar to those of a fighter - d10 Hit Dice, good BaB, Good Fort, 2 skill points per level. Class skills Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).

For various reasons, at least the skills would be disappointing if they were exactly the same. A cavalrist certainly wants Ride, and probably Handle Animal. Add to that the fact that we'd want a few other skills so that the cavalrist can fulfill a few more roles, and the skill budget becomes tight, especially since they'll probably be cross-class skills under this assumption.

Let's build the list of class skills first - Handle Animal and Ride are musts. Craft and Profession are commonl found with most classes. That's four skills compared to the fighter's seven skills. To add a bit flexibility, I'll say that the cavalrist may choose three additional skills as class skills. That should give a bit of role flexibility.

But how many skill points should the cavalrist have? 2, like the fighter? As said earlier, that would be a tight skill point budget. An idea that would help with that would be virtual ranks - when interacting with his special mount, the cavalrist is treated as having level +3 ranks in Handle Animal and Ride. That would allow the cavalrist to skimp a bit on these two skills, and empathise the special bond between mount and rider. But it would become odd when the cavalrist has to change mounts, and appears to be a bumbling fool around horses!

Of course, there would be the solution to say that the cavalrist has full ranks for his special mount, and half ranks for other mounts (or whatever ranks he actually has). But honestly, this would be rather silly - at that point we could just as well remove the Ride skill from the class skill list. The solution seems to be to increase the number of skills to 4 per level. This needs to be kept in mind for class balance later on.

Friday, May 12, 2006

WotC Update - Design and Development

WotC has posted a new Design and Development column, based on monster concepts. For those wanting to tae a more active part, we can post the concept for the You Craft the Creature aberration.

Also of note is the MM 4 excerpt of the Redspawn Arcaniss, also known as the Burning Ones of Tiamat.

My contribution is as follows:
This creature, twice as tall as a man, seems vaguely humanoid at first glance, but its pale green features and limbs shift in impossible ways, and sometimes seem to disconnect from the body. Its skin vaguely resembles moss and fungi.

As a mastermind, this creature tends to remain just out of melee reach, instead letting its minions work for it. When it does take active roles, it is usually a disruptor of spellcasters, thanks to its wild magic aura.

Semi-Random Crunch - The Cavalry Line

I mentioned previously that I wanted to talk abou the cavalry line. I feel that the basic idea can already be found in the SRD, in a different context. I a cavalry line, each member would occupy less space than normal. What other rule is there that does the same? Squeezing!

A quote from the SRD:
Squeezing: In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn'’t as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. Each move into or through a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares, and while squeezed in a narrow space you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls and a -–4 penalty to AC.
When a Large creature (which normally takes up four squares) squeezes into a space that'’s one square wide, the creature'’s miniature figure occupies two squares, centered on the line between the two squares. For a bigger creature, center the creature likewise in the area it squeezes into.
A creature can squeeze past an opponent while moving but it can'’t end its movement in an occupied square.
To squeeze through or into a space less than half your space'’s width, you must use the Escape Artist skill. You can'’t attack while using Escape Artist to squeeze through or into a narrow space, you take a -–4 penalty to AC, and you lose any Dexterity bonus to AC.
The -4 penalty to attacks and Armor Class is likely too high, and since the "obstacles" are not as solid and unmoving as a wall, it can easily be reduced.

Forming a Cavalry Line: Mounted characters trained in the Ride skill can form a cavalry line, as long as each member is trained in the skill. In a cavalry line, the spaces of two Large or larger mounts may overlap, as long as no mount completely shares the space of another mount. Each member of the cavalry line takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls and AC.

Example: Riders x, y, and z forming a cavalry line:
xyßz
xyßz
Rider x occupies the x and y squares. Rider y occupies the y and ß squares. Rider z occupies the ß and z squares.

Rider of the Line [General]
You are capable of fighting in a cavalry line more comfortably.
Prerequisites: Ride skill, Mounted Combat
Benefit: You do not suffer a penalty to your attack rolls while in a cavalry line.
Special: Fighters may take Rider of the Line as a fighter bonus feat.

The Cavalrist - Mechanics

Since the class concepts are pretty clear, I'll take a look at what mechanics I want to implement for the class.
The Mounted Combat feat is a must, of course, and the cavalrist should get it as a bonus feat. A small number of related bonus feats can be added to the mix as well for the later levels.

One problem people have with the 3.5 space rules is the idea that horses somehow became square, making cavalry lines impossible. I do plan to address this later, but for now, let's say the cavalrist can have an ability to help out with that. That ability would be part of a combat style ability set that the cavalrist may choose. Since I already planned a small number of bonus feats, the combat styles should not be feats - or at least, not only feats.

This leaves the mount. The cavalrist will get a special mount similar to a mixture between a paladin mount and a druid animal companion. The mount will improve by level, and the cavalrist can gain a more powerful mount, which will receive fewer benefits.

That's all quite a bit already. All this (Mounted Combat, Combat Style and Special Mount) does sound like it should be granted at first level. Obviously that's too much. An idea would be to give out Mounted Combat and Special Mount at first level, but the Special Mount does not gain extra abilities until a later (say, 3rd) level, and give out the combat style at 2nd level. That sounds good for now, but it may change as we develop the details.

LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1st+1+2+0+0Mounted Combat,Special Mount
2nd+2+3+0+0Combat Style

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Starting a Theme Week

I'll go and develop the cavalrist class mentioned in my earlier posting in this blog. As a kind of celebration, I'll call the following seven days (this friday to next thursday) the "Ride skill week," where I'll take some looks at stuff related to the Ride skill.
Developing the cavalrist class will likely take more than that, it is a good week to start that in. ;)

Unfortunately...

... it turns out that the May backup doesn't exist. We'll manage anyway.

Thoughts on new base classes

With Heroes of Horror, Expanded Psionic Handbook, the Complete Series, Tome of Magic, Miniatures Handbook, Magic of Incarnum, and now Player's Handbook II, we have a ton of base classes available for characters, and it does not look like the amount of new base classes will get any lower. One may ask - do we have too many base classes now?

The answer I can give for myself is - no! Surprising as that may sound, I believe that there are still nieches untouched, or at least barely explored (transformative base classes would be one example). Also, new classes can easily occupy existing nieches as long as they don't overshadow the existing classes in that nieche (knight to fighter and paladin).

However, that doesn't mean that I would support the creation of n fighter-like classes that differ in their choice of bonus feats and class skills. A new base class should do one of the following:
  • Provide an ability set that was not seen yet.
  • Provide a mix of abilities that is hard or impossible by multiclassing between base classes.
Let's assume we want to build a cavalrist base class. We should first define what we want out of that class.
  1. Obviously, he should be an expert in mounted combat. [That's a fighter's territory]
  2. To make the mount matter, it should improve as the cavalrist increases in level. [druid, paladin or ranger]
  3. He should not be a spellcaster.
  4. He should be both suitable for the role of a noble knight fighting in mele and a barbarian scout fighting with the bow. [Fighter, paladin, or ranger (via a ranger's combat style)]
It looks like such a cavalrist might make a decent base class, tough it might end up looking similar to the fighter or ranger. That leaves one topic I haven't talked about - how specific should a base class be?
In d20 Modern, there are three types of classes - Base classes, which are broad; advanced classes, which are somewhat specialized, and prestige classes, which are highly specialized. Is that actually the case with Dungeons and Dragons as well? Not if you use the core rules as written, with the Fighter being a lot more flexible than the Ranger, the Bard more specialized than the Rogue, Blackguard being a prestige class and Paladin a base class.

Of course, the core rules are not necessarily a good measure, but I think there is just one answer - it depends on the game world. In some worlds, it might be necessary to have a Elven Leafgatherer base class. In the Forgotten Realms, why shouldn't there be a Red Wizard of Thay base class (in fact, this class would have the added benefit that it could be used as an arch-specialist class)?

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

A glimmer of hope?

There is a small chance that a more recent backup of ENWorld will come online. I certainly hope that this comes to pass, but I have the files from the Google cache in any case.

We're beaten, but not dead

ENWorld lost pretty much every post since December. The hopes of recovering all that are minimal, as the Google cache and the caches of other search engines are fading pretty fast, but a lot has been recovered from there.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Semi-Random Crunch - Dire Voice

Since I anticipate there will be some large amount of howling on ENWorld when it gets back up, here's a feat that'll help :D

Dire Voice [General]
Your voice carries great power and threat.
Prerequisites: Charisma 15, Persuasive
Benefits: You get a +2 bonus on all Intimidate checks.
Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws of your racial sonic special attacks, exceptfor spells.

Balance-wise it is half a Persuasive, and one or more halves of Ability focus. In most cases, the one who takes this feat only will have one such special ability, but a few creatures benefit more from it, for which I added a few prerequisites.

Well, sh**

That's a big one.
Pooka/Spoony Bard, despite the earlier fallout, tries to repair ENWorld. I once said after that fallout that I respect his work, but that he lost any other respect I had for him. Still, he does help after all that's been trashed on him. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Aaand....

... the new OOTS is up.

Hmm, textless.

Semi-Random Crunch - Ashnar's Shield Swarm

My Living Enworld character Ashnar (one of currently two) is a lawful evil wizard specialized in evocation, but the school of abjuration is close to his heart as well (necromancy may be as well, but that's not the topic).
However, he hasn't been much of a protector yet, but I hope to propose a spell that helps with that once ENWorld comes back up.

Ashnar's Shield Swarm
Abjuration [Force]
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: Up to 1 ally/level
Duration: 1 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
Small shields of force start hovering around the targets, intercepting attacks made against him or her.
You create one shield per caster level, to a maximum of ten shields, and distribute them among you and your allies as you wish, except that no character may have more than five of these shields. Affected allies gain a shield bonus to their Armor Class equal to the number of shields distributed to them. This bonus applies against incorporeal touch attacks, since it is a force effect. The shields have no armor check penalty or arcane spell failure chance.
Shields that cannot be distributed are lost.

Obviously based on the shield spell, this spell offers the possibility to ward multiple characters in the same action, but probably with a lower bonus than shield or mage armor. Also, it cannot stop magic missile like the standard shield spell. It is second level because I do think that on the whole, it is still stronger than shield. I'm looking forward to what Rystil Arden, who is pretty much a balance expert over at ENWorld, has to say about the spell. ;)

While it was down

Sunday, 7th May - ENWorld is down, and Michael Schumacher won the Grand Prix of Europe. Not something that helps lift my mood really. What better day is there to start a blog? ;)