The Levee - Life and Death on the Streets of a Crooked City

Game Master Zesdead

Also, I was seriously considering taking the warhound archetype (if the GM permits, he's been thinking about it). This will get Rigo a flanking buddy that doesn't require the mostly squishy PC's in the party to close to melee range.

Thoughts?

I think I'm cool with the Warhound archetype having reviewed it in more detail...

I think slayer is a good fit for Rigo, and my isn't it deadly. Also a feline warhound is just too funny to pass up.

I will select HP and BAB (and probably for Thea too, I'll have to check), and will update my stats tonight or tomorrow.

Just a note to everyone, please let me know if you think Rigo's getting overpowered. It's kind of hard to gauge that given that everyone else is a caster type, while he's a front line melee type. Especially given how melee types are front loaded and caster types are back loaded.

@GM
Slayer Level
+5 Skill Points (+6 Slayer +2 Background +1 Int +1 FC / 2)
+1 Linguistics, +2 Stealth, +1 Survival, +1 Perception
Gain Track Class feature (+1 Survival)
Gain Class Skills
Gain 4 HP (6 Level + 2 Con / 2)
Gain Animal Companion : Riukka (Fuzzy Ears in Tabaxi)
Warcat (Adolescent Liger)
SQ low-light vision, scent.

Ability Scores Str 15, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 5
Size Medium; Speed 40 ft.; HP 14
AC 16 (+2 Dex +4 natural armor)
Attack bite +3 (1d6), 2 claws +3 (1d6); Special Attacks rake +3 (1d4)
Skills : Perception +4, Stealth +6
Fort/Reflex/Will : +5/+5/+0
Improved Natural Attack (Claws)

Riukka at level 2

Riukka at level 9

Riukka size reference, Level 9

@Salom - Given his animal companion is a warcat, I think we'll be calling it Warcat archtype! :P

Hey! I'm a rouge so no casting on my end. I know I have not been particularly helpful but I am here :( and I did originally plan to go for the front of the line but that has not been working out for me. Capricious dice roller has forsaken me in all my games.

Though I have had a thought about that. Oh lovely GM Zed how do you feel about witches? I really like the Alley Witch archetype. Though there is a lot of potential with a creative GM for the patrons.

Also kinda curious where you will be getting Riukka.

Oh and Audria I am not sure if I came off kind of mean in my previous post. I swear if I did that was not my intent!

Ooops, sorry, I somehow thought you were an Investigator.

Rogues can be front lines, but yeah, the dice roller has been a bit capricious lately. A flanking buddy is always good!

As to Riukka, that's up to the GM, but I kind of figured he might be in the circus as an animal they bought but can't really control and are about ready to dump in the river or something. The GM said we'd talk about it when he got the class level ic if the warhound was approved.

That reminds me, I need to shift a point from Survival to Handle Animal, forgot I need that.

Rigo also needs to go revisit the Temple, and we need to see about getting that ring to the boy's relatives, along with word that his killers are dead. That could both be combined into one thing, visit the temple, give them the ring and finger, and explain the situation while under confession.

Never actually looked into the Investigator. They have magic? There are so many classes.

Also I will be waiting until I get an answer from GM Zed before doing any leveling.

Though I have had a thought about that. Oh lovely GM Zed how do you feel about witches? I really like the Alley Witch archetype. Though there is a lot of potential with a creative GM for the patrons.

Now that is a cool, and flavourful, archetype... totally cool with you taking it however, in recognition that the Blight is an enormous city with many discrete districts, I would prefer she was attuned (with her 'Speak to the City' feature) to only one part of the city (i.e. Festival, Toiltown, Booktown, The Sinks, etc) at a time... but that she would attune to any new area within a day or two... generally each part of the adventure is set within one particular area of the city anyway so there's no huge mechanical thing - more about the RP I think :) ...thoughts?

I am ok with that! I have a fascination with the class just not the name. Totally works since I did not dump Int. And I am always down for the RP option. Always. You might have to remind me when I change areas so I know not include anything for a day or two. Probably going to start with the carnival area that we are in and since that is the place is knows best.

If you want to thrown something else in I am game. Patrons are fascinating. Probably will be choosing a cat for the familiar. Plus we are clearly a feline friendly group. Though I assume I do not get the kitty and ears of the city till level time. Though I might be having the cat do some friendly stalking if that is ok :D

So I would take saves and half HP. Though I do not remember how we were doing that.

Investigator's are Rogue/Alchemists, so magicy/casty types, with emphasis on skills. The Dread Investigator is an archetype that's perfect for this setting.

Will get updates this weekend.

And no worries, Alexis. I've got thick skin even if Audria does not. ;)

Salom gains: +3 hp, +1 BAB, 3 skill ranks (Perception, Survival, and Heal), and 1 background skill rank (Linguistics)

Looks like Thea doesn't progress until we actually hit level 2, since she's considered a "Class Feature".

Oh, we don't get any class features? Darn.. Do we get things like proficiencies?

Oh, we don't get any class features? Darn.. Do we get things like proficiencies?

Nope... It really just is the numbers improving a little... like I said when offering it out, it's just a little bump to recognise the first part of the adventure and some experience gained... But it isn't true advancement per se.... we can definitely weave in your companion appearing in game though - even if it isn't mechanical yet :)

Yeah, about that, I can't do that after all. :( I just noticed that the warhound companion doesn't get share spells. Since it doesn't get share spells, it can't get any of the archetypes, since they all switch out share spells. Unless you want to hand wave that requirement, or let his 'Share Studied Target' feature count for the archetype application.

If you do decide to allow that to count for archetypes to switch out, I'd be ok with any of these archetypes :

Abberant
Augmented
Deathtouched
Draconic

Basically, all of these give the AC darkvision, which is what I was looking for.

If it can get abberant, augmented or deathtouched (or if it can't get any), I'll probably add Precocious to it, which will end up making it much smarter than the average tabby.

Just a note to everyone, please let me know if you think Rigo's getting overpowered.

"Racial Hit Dice: A tabaxi begins with two levels of humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice"

I think part of the problem with Rigo's power level is that he's level two already. If you level up with us, you'll always be a level ahead. Not a big deal, but a bit of a complication if you're going to add level-powered class features like an animal companion.

Rigo only has one racial level currently (he's an adolescent, not an adult). Rigo has to take another racial level at level 5. So he's currently level 1.

Basically, he's losing two class levels over the first 5 levels in order to have 2 racial levels.

That was always the issue with racial levels vs. class levels as it was explained to me. It never seemed to balance out. It isn't supposed to as I understand it though.

Does he get all the Tabaxi bonuses as teenager?

The stat bonuses, yes. So he's front loaded, but will lose on the back end. That's why I'm not tooo concerned about being overpowered, as everyone else will go up faster than Rigo does. So nasty at level 1 (which I think is good as it keeps the squishier PC's alive) but at level 5, you'll all have 5 class levels, and Rigo will have 3 class levels and two racial hit dice.

Thanks for explaining! It does seem like having Christmas come early to get your powers now and pay for them later. Are there downsides to being an adolescent? Not super familiar with those rules. I’d love to see his build if you ever have the time and inclination to post it.

The character sheet is in the blue link in my header of all my posts. What we did was just take the Tabaxi Racial stats as is. Give him his normal racial hit die (maxed since it's a first level instead of a traditional racial level with a class level) and then go. So...

Tabaxi

Tabaxi characters possess the following racial traits.

+2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom.
Darkvision: Tabaxis can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Racial Hit Dice: A tabaxi begins with two levels of humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +3, and Will +0.
Racial Skills: A tabaxi’s humanoid levels give it skill points equal to 2 x (2 + Int modifier).
Racial Feats: A tabaxi’s humanoid levels give it one feat.
AC: +1 natural armor bonus.
Natural Weapons: Tabaxis can fight with 2 claws that deal 1d4 base damage, plus a bite attack that deals 1d3 base damage. They also can rake with their hind claws for base 1d3 damage when pouncing or when grappling a foe, but only if both hands are free.
Special Attacks: Grab, pounce, rake (see left).
Special Qualities: Weapon aptitude (see left).
Languages: Tabaxis begin play speaking Common and Tabaxi. Bonus languages can be chosen from the following: Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.

So the bolded bits were just adjusted down to :

1d8 Hit Die, 1 + Int Bonus skill points, BAB 0, Ref +2

So when he hit's level 5, he'll get 7 hp (5 for racial + 2 con, 4 skill points (2 + 2 background) and +1 BAB and Ref +1. No other abilities or class stuff.

HA I've been curious for a long while but I never noticed that that was link formatting, not OOC formatting. Thanks!

Moira's taking Saves and the BAB boost. She's also putting her three skill ranks into: Diplomacy, Disguise, and Bluff.

Thanks for explaining! It does seem like having Christmas come early to get your powers now and pay for them later

There is also the issue that Tabaxi are, by far, a rare sight in Castorhage - I worry that when the group move away from the slightly wilder district of Festival into less 'accepting' suburbs then poor old Rigo is going to stand out like a sore thumb... oh... did I say 'I worry'? What I meant to say was, your horrific GM looks forward to making sure Rigo is pointed out, persecuted and targeted for abduction, taxidermy and other fun activities!!!

Yeah, about that, I can't do that after all. :( I just noticed that the warhound companion doesn't get share spells. Since it doesn't get share spells, it can't get any of the archetypes, since they all switch out share spells. Unless you want to hand wave that requirement, or let his 'Share Studied Target' feature count for the archetype application.

Yeah... let's not overthink this too much - happy to hand-wave the requirement; also, can we not go with Draconic archetypes - dragons really don't play much of a role in this adventure whilst aberrant, augmented and deathtouched are all remarkably 'Blight'!!!

This is what hats of disguise are for. :P

Thoughts from the peanut gallery on which of the 3 to put on the liger?

Abberant has the least down side, but the most situational bonuses at 9th level.

Deathtouched is the most appropriate given the makeup of the party, but also the hardest to deal with (the whole healing thing is a pain).

Augmented is in the middle, and the least like something Rigo would be ok with (especially given our resident construct person).

Yeah... let's not overthink this too much.

I will try!

Sorry, will try to have things updated tomorrow. Work is starting to slam me this week.

@GM - What's your interpretation of Precocious on the Animal Companion archetypes?

It says it replaces 'the +2 bonus', but no animal companion actually gets a +2 bonus. Most of them get +8 or +6 or +4.

The Devs in this thread said someone did it right, but didn't specify which of the two were correct.

My interpretation is that it reduces the gain by +2, rather than eliminating it (other wise you end up with things like horses that have 10 str) which is foolish (basically a +6 Str/+4 Con becoming +2 Int, +4 Wis/Cha vs a +6 Str/+4 Con becoming +4 Str/+2 Con +2 Int +4 Wis/Cha). The former leads to weird results like grizzly bears with str scores that are 10. The latter leads to smarter but physically weaker bears, but who are still bears.

At 4th or 7th level, whenever the precocious companion would normally gain the choice of a listed score advancement or a +2 bonus to Dexterity and Constitution, it instead gains a +2 bonus to its Intelligence score and a +4 bonus to +4 its Wisdom and Charisma scores.

Instead of taking the listed benefit at 4th or 7th level, you can instead choose to increase the companion’s Dexterity and Constitution by 2.

I think the little-used rule above is the source of the confusion. At 7th level, a precocious tiger gets +2 Int, +4 Wis, +4 Cha instead of either its usual Str +8, Dex –2, Con +4 OR its +2 Dex + 2 Con (which nobody ever ever does).

Which makes Precocious an archetype that should NEVER be taken for any companion that increases in size, especially to large. Trading a +8 Str/+4 Con for a +2 Dex and +4 Wis/Cha makes adult tigers that are sickly and barely able to carry their own bulk. :P A large creature with a 10 str is not even recognizable as a tiger.

Reducing the bonuses by +2 would still be a hit, but would be balanced compared to the advantage gained.

They really should take account of how much the animal companion is gaining. If it's more than the +2/+2, then it should reduce the normal gain by 2 for each stat bonus gained, to make it equal to the +2/+2 you could alternately give up.

It's a terrible archetype, yeah.

I think I'm missing something, though--do you think they'd lose strength? Wouldn't it just be a large tiger retaining its starting 13 Str that never gets to be a large tiger with 21 Str?

Maybe they cited the +2 Dex/Con rule as a reminder that you don't have to increase in size (that one removes the size increase). You'd just stay medium, and your 13 Str would be sufficient to haul your clever self around.

If it doesn't increase in str and con, but does become large, it basically retains the same weight and mass it had when it was a cub but grows up to the size of an adult.

This would be the equivalent of a human girl at age 10, weighing 72 lbs and being 54 inches tall, then growing into an 18 year old girl who weighs... 72 lbs and is 64 inches tall. This would be a girl we'd send to medical centers for anorexia, she'd be skin and bones, and very unhealthy.

That might be getting too simulationist...

I think the archetype is there for people who want a ranger with a dog (for instance) who can do lots of tricks and are willing to sacrifice almost all combat usefulness for Lassie, but who are unwilling to go the familiar route (a tiny dog familiar was still missing last I checked). Not for making tigers more intelligent for a trade-off in strength.

It's a terrible archetype designed for someone who is trying to get more RP out of their companion--that's all. If one really wants those mental boosts without a frail large creature, one can always leave the companion medium.

@GM - What's your interpretation of Precocious on the Animal Companion archetypes?

It says it replaces 'the +2 bonus', but no animal companion actually gets a +2 bonus. Most of them get +8 or +6 or +4.

The Devs in this thread said someone did it right, but didn't specify which of the two were correct.

My interpretation is that it reduces the gain by +2, rather than eliminating it (other wise you end up with things like horses that have 10 str) which is foolish (basically a +6 Str/+4 Con becoming +2 Int, +4 Wis/Cha vs a +6 Str/+4 Con becoming +4 Str/+2 Con +2 Int +4 Wis/Cha). The former leads to weird results like grizzly bears with str scores that are 10. The latter leads to smarter but physically weaker bears, but who are still bears.

If you go back and read the developer's response:

Precocious companion only swaps out the ability score changes (like Hank's post just above mine...

...I would take it as the former of the two options where it is a swap rather than an 'adjust' - so its +2INT, +4 WIS and CHA - which I agree does give a strange animal. There's hopefully a little bit of time before you need to build your animal companion so I am minded to see if one of the devs weighs in with a clarification...

Well, if it's a completely replaces, then there's no way you'd ever take it. It's just not worth it, unless you're dealing with a small companion who never gets any bonuses to begin with. Like a fox or cat.

Will add more when I don't have to rush off to work

Sorry guys I've been putting out fires at work, I hope to return to "normal" tomorrow.

Alexis wants to do some looking around for places to sell stuff along with looking for the swan tattoo.

Since there is some time to kill in the morning are there some checks that I could roll to see if Alexis could find a few places to sell things or to look for Mr. swan tattoo? I have no book to help me with the setting. This also makes me sad. The ghats and the Jaati Untouchables stuff was awesome Moria!

I am really liking this setting. Might be what I ask for when my birthday rolls around.

Aww, thanks Alexis! I think a Jaati could be in line as my replacement if Moira ever happens to switch sides and joins the dead team.

As for the player's guide, it's a pretty good read, fifty pages of background and the pdf is ten bucks.

Blight Player's Guide

Got the half updates done. Went with the BAB and the save bonuses. Skill points added to Perception and Perform(Dance and strings). Updated stats below.

Sorry it took so long.

Hmmm, payday did just happen. I might be buying that. Thank you darling

My ranks will be going into Acrobatics and Local. I will be taking the saves and the HD though I am not sure how to do the HD. Do I roll?

My ranks will be going into Acrobatics and Local. I will be taking the saves and the HD though I am not sure how to do the HD. Do I roll?

Normal HP levelling would be half hit dice rounded up - so I guess, for this staggered, you should just go with half of what you would get at level (taking into account CON and favoured class as appropriate)....

so with my d6 and con would it be a 3 from the class or a 4 for the half? Then my impressive con adds a +1.

D6 is 4, con adds one, that's 5. Half of that is 3.