Hello, everyone.
I'm tinkering with a homebrew character, and I'd appreciate feedback and ideas on what I have so far. In terms of story driving powers, I'm picturing his life this way: if he's survived this long as a were, he must be pretty good at getting away...
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VRENNAT (Human Male Lycanthrope Fighter)
SKILLS
STR 1d12 ... +3
_ +2 Melee
DEX 1d6 ... +2
CON 1d8 ... +3
INT 1d4 ... +2
WIS 1d8 ... +4
_ +2 Stealth
_ +3 Survival
CHA 1d4 ... +1
CARDS LIST
WEAPON 4 5 6
SPELL 0 1
ARMOR 2 3 4
ITEM 4 5 6
ALLY 1 2
BLESSING 4 5 6
_ Favored type: WEAPON
POWERS
HAND SIZE 4 5
PROFICIENT WITH [ ] Light Armor ____ [X] Weapons
If the top card of the blessings deck
has the Basic trait, gain the Animal trait.
If you have the Animal trait, for your
Strength die, roll 1d8+1d6. This counts
as rolling 1 die. For your combat check,
you may use your Melee skill +2 ([ ] 4)
plus your Stealth skill and the
Slashing trait.
After your turn ends, recharge 2
cards at random ([ ] or if you didn’t have the
Animal trait this turn, 2 cards of your
choice) to move to another location.
If you don’t have the Animal trait, for your Intelligence die roll 1d10.
"After your turn ends" is not a phase; should probably be "At the end of your turn." Your changing die size wording is awkward as well, check recent Linis for a good way to word that.
Beyond that, the powers are way too powerful. Bumping a d4 to a d10 for free when the dice already add to 42 makes the character naturally more powerful than all other characters. Treating two dice as one makes blessings way too good (and interacts really awkwardly with spending mythic charges to get d20s). That power should probably just be a "For your combat check" style power that adds a bonus die instead to represent both claws (aside: both claws should use the same die size instead of one being weaker, as in the RPG claw x2 is treated as two primary natural attacks that have the same attack bonus and damage).
I'll post a follow up in a bit that has a few more ideas/questions (mostly about flavor/backstory rather than mechanics), hard to type an essay on the phone :P
"After your turn ends" is not a phase; should probably be "At the end of your turn." Your changing die size wording is awkward as well, check recent Linis for a good way to word that.
Meaning... Druid class deck? I don't own that one, but there oughta be a downloadable thing so I can see the language. It should really be "After you reset your hand...."
Beyond that, the powers are way too powerful. Bumping a d4 to a d10 for free when the dice already add to 42 makes the character naturally more powerful than all other characters. Treating two dice as one makes blessings way too good (and interacts really awkwardly with spending mythic charges to get d20s). That power should probably just be a "For your combat check" style power that adds a bonus die instead to represent both claws (aside: both claws should use the same die size instead of one being weaker, as in the RPG claw x2 is treated as two primary natural attacks that have the same attack bonus and damage).
The dice total being high is a good point. What do you think of this: either the moon's out or it's not. Therefore, if we're going to be bumping up his more human skills when it's not, he's always receiving some "bonus" (such as either getting an increase to his Strength or to his Intelligence) then his baseline dice total doesn't have to add to the standard number; it can be low, since he never uses it exactly as printed. Something like:
STR 1d6 ... +3
_ +2 Melee
DEX 1d6 ... +2
CON 1d8 ... +3
INT 1d4 ... +2
WIS 1d8 ... +4
_ +2 Stealth
_ +3 Survival
CHA 1d4 ... +1
As for adding two dice, I was thinking that they'd function as one die together, so that adding blessings would mean adding another pair... but that does make mythic swapping for a d20 more awkward. The 1d8+1d6 combo is clearly higher than a d12 -- the pair would be replaced first -- but other combos wouldn't be as obvious. (There'd be an obvious hierarchy based on the pair/set's mean and standard deviation (3d4 > 2d6 > 1d8+1d4 > 1d12), but it'd turn into something to look up, and who wants that?)
OK, time for some questions :)
I'm assuming this is someone in Golarion; if that isn't the case many of the questions may not apply as much (or at all). Also, while I'm drawing on how lycanthropes work in the RPG a lot for these questions, keep in mind you're not beholden to exactly how lycanthropes work in the RPG, as this isn't the RPG. If you want your lycanthrope to work differently because it'd be cooler/better/whatever, feel free to do so.
1. What type of lycanthrope is your character? Werewolves and wererats are the most numerous, but lycanthropes can be pretty much any creature. Werebats, werebears, wereboars, werecrocodiles, werehyenas, wereleopards, weresharks, and weretigers are all found on Golarion as well, as are many other breeds. Some can be found all over whereas others are typically only found in specific geographical regions.
2. Is your character a natural lycanthrope or afflicted lycanthrope? Natural lycanthropes are born that way, whereas afflicted lycanthropes got lycanthropy in some fashion (usually by being bitten by a lycanthrope of the same breed). Natural lycanthropes are in better control of their shape-changing abilities. Afflicted lycanthropes have a harder time controlling their changes; not only does it take them longer to change (and it may fail), but during nights of the full moon it is impossible for an afflicted lycanthrope to revert to human form should they succumb to the curse (a difficult Constitution check to avoid), whereas natural lycanthropes can make a shot at doing so with an even more difficult Constitution check.
3a. If an afflicted lycanthrope, how did the character become afflicted? Is he aware he is a lycanthrope? What does the character do as a "day job"?
3b. If a natural lycanthrope, did the character grow up with others of his kind, or was he isolated from others and need to do a better job of keeping his curse hidden so he could survive through childhood? Did he grow up in a village in the wildnerness, in a city, or what?
4. What is one defining event that happened for the character after they became a lycanthrope? For example, being chased out of town by an angry mob after being presented with evidence of his rampage on full moon. This moment should ideally define how he acts and what his goals are after the event.
5. What is the character's motivation? Why are they off adventuring, instead of being a baker or blacksmith or something?
6. What is one defining event or decision that could go one of many ways that has yet to happen to the character? For example, he could kill his brother in a rampage during the full moon, and then react either with sorrow and trying to rein in his curse and seek a cure, or he can react with rage at those around him for not keeping him or his brother safe and start sowing even more destruction. Or, he could decide that he is less effective with his sword and try fighting more in hybrid form, or he could decide he is less effective in hybrid form and try fighting more in human form. This event or decision can help you determine what the two sides of the role card should be.
Answering these questions can help inform how to best allocate skill dice, powers, and cards. I always like coming up with a character idea first and basing the mechanics around that instead of the converse, as it (to me) results in a much more flavor-filled character. Using the character background section of Ultimate Campaign can help with this as well (see the links at the bottom of the page for early life, adolescence, and adulthood).
I have almost every Pathfinder book there is, so if you have any other questions about how lycanthropes work in Golarion, ask away and I'll try to dig out the answer for you. If you couldn't tell by my avatar, they're one of my favorite things so I don't mind spending time researching them more ;) Most of the above research is taken from the lycanthrope article in Pathfinder #45 as well as the Player Companion Blood of the Moon. The Inner Sea World Guide also contained a (very) small section on lycanthropes that I drew some stuff from.
"After your turn ends" is not a phase; should probably be "At the end of your turn." Your changing die size wording is awkward as well, check recent Linis for a good way to word that.Meaning... Druid class deck? I don't own that one, but there oughta be a downloadable thing so I can see the language. It should really be "After you reset your hand...."
Beyond that, the powers are way too powerful. Bumping a d4 to a d10 for free when the dice already add to 42 makes the character naturally more powerful than all other characters. Treating two dice as one makes blessings way too good (and interacts really awkwardly with spending mythic charges to get d20s). That power should probably just be a "For your combat check" style power that adds a bonus die instead to represent both claws (aside: both claws should use the same die size instead of one being weaker, as in the RPG claw x2 is treated as two primary natural attacks that have the same attack bonus and damage).The dice total being high is a good point. What do you think of this: either the moon's out or it's not. Therefore, if we're going to be bumping up his more human skills when it's not, he's always receiving some "bonus" (such as either getting an increase to his Strength or to his Intelligence) then his baseline dice total doesn't have to add to the standard number; it can be low, since he never uses it exactly as printed. Something like:
STR 1d6 ... +3
_ +2 Melee
DEX 1d6 ... +2
CON 1d8 ... +3
INT 1d4 ... +2
WIS 1d8 ... +4
_ +2 Stealth
_ +3 Survival
CHA 1d4 ... +1As for adding two dice, I was thinking that they'd function as one die together, so that adding blessings would mean adding another pair... but that does make mythic swapping for a d20 more awkward. The 1d8+1d6 combo is clearly higher than a d12 -- the pair would be replaced first -- but other combos wouldn't be as obvious. (There'd be an obvious hierarchy based on the pair/set's mean and...
"At the end of your turn" is before you reset your hand. If you want the power to go off after the reset, the correct phrasing would be "When you reset your hand." In general, never use the word "after" in a power because it doesn't give clear indication of the sequencing (exception: After you act, because that's a clearly defined game term). "After you reset your hand" could be immediately after, or it could be after the next person scouts the villain and therefore I move before they explore and encounter it so I can temp close something.
Having the base dice lower and giving a free bump to one or the other based on the top of the blessings discard seems like a really novel idea, I like it! Something like "If you have the Animal trait, use a d12 for your Strength die; otherwise, use a d10 for your Intelligence die." with a base of d6 Strength and d4 Intelligence (and dice adding to 36). A power feat (possibly role-only) could add a second sentence that lets you discard/recharge a card for a d10 Intelligence while in hybrid form to indicate gaining more control over the transformation.
I was thinking more of Lini from Skull & Shackles, as CD Lini doesn't seem to have a wild shape power. S&S Lini has the power "You may discard a card to use a d12 for your Strength or Dexterity die." The above wording mimics that phrasing (using "use" instead of "roll").
OK, time for some questions :)
Because I don't play the RPG and don't know too much of the details of how characters work, my method for making characters will tend to run the other way -- what's something different I can make a character do in the game, and then build something around that. Case in point: We've seen the Veteran trait migrate slowly from banes-only until it's now started to appear on boons, and something similar has happened with the Lycanthrope trait: banes-only, to one boon that I know of in S&S (which also appears in at least one class deck or other)... so if an ally can be a lycanthrope then a character could too.
I'll answer the questions I've already addressed in what little bit of a character sketch I have of Vrennat. Because the interesting mechanic for him is his "fourth trait" rather than class, I made his class as vanilla as I could. Just to make use of the two sides of him, the sheer length of text for his powers is already pretty long.
2. Is your character a natural lycanthrope or afflicted lycanthrope?
In my head, afflicted, since whether he's in were form or not is governed by a thing outside of his control -- the blessings deck. From what you're saying, an RPG lycanthrope at least has some measure of control most of the time. I suppose he'd need it to be able to function within a party.
That said, that aspect of the character might just make it a nightmare to play, never being sure of what capabilities your character has. That might be more true to being a lycanthrope, but whether it'll be fun is a different matter.
3a. If an afflicted lycanthrope, how did the character become afflicted? Is he aware he is a lycanthrope? What does the character do as a "day job"?
He is aware and on the run, which is one reason I settled on the Fighter class. It's something he can do easily as he travels. In my head, he didn't intend to become an adventurer at all until this happened to him. I'm not sure his having a day job
6. What is one defining event or decision that could go one of many ways that has yet to happen to the character?
I have looked ahead to the role card and sketched some things out, and the ideas I had for the roles were one in which he gained more control and was able to channel that behaviour, and one in which he has even less control over it and he's essentially succumbed to the curse.
I suppose his motivation, given that he's balanced on that knife edge, is to try to break the curse, or at least manage it better (the former of which he'll never do, since he'd cease to be a viable character for the game).
It's totally fine that you aren't familiar with the RPG, I was hoping to provide enough lore/flavor to inform you of how lycanthropes work on Golarion at least, so that it'd be a bit easier to work through what sorts of powers you want it to have. What you gave is a good start though, and quite probably good enough to go by, but the more the merrier in my opinion. In Golarion, lycanthropes (even afflicted ones) have total control over themselves at all times except during nights of the full moon. At that point in time, all lycanthropes (whether natural or afflicted) have a forced transformation that is difficult to suppress. The difference after that transformation is one of mind -- afflicted lycanthropes lose control completely and go off on a rampage, whereas natural lycanthropes retain more of their mental faculties and control.
Note: I'm putting my power ideas in spoilers so that you don't need to open them if you want to come up with the power mechanics 100% by yourself. It's your character, after all, so you should not feel like you need to implement any of my ideas. Hopefully the spoiler descriptions inspire you to come up with your own stuff though :)
Power feats could be used to add bonuses to the check or up the dice to 2d8 (probably on a role for that one). Note that it says you can't play cards, but still leaves it open to use other powers on the check, so a role could use that to provide additional synergistic powers on top of that. The power is meant to represent completely losing control while under the influence of a full moon, using nothing but claws and fangs (Melee die = bite, 2d6 = 2 claws).
Your role card idea looks pretty neat, would be nice to see what you come up with for that. You may want a power that can be used while in human form, but your card is getting pretty cramped as-is. Base character card maybe has room for 8-9 lines worth of powers. You can cheat around this a bit by giving him an Owner-trait card that further enhances him, like a Cohort charm he carries around to help resist changing or something that enhances him either in human form or hybrid form (or both).
Been having some trouble with DriveThruCards lately, so I didn't pursue this for a while, but it's fixed and I have time to look at this again.
FERAL TERROR
If the top card of the blessings deck has the Basic trait, gain the Animal trait; use a d12 for your Strength die. Otherwise use a d10 for your Intelligence die.
While you have the Animal trait, for your combat check use your Melee skill +2d6 ([c] +2d8) ([c] +2). You may not play any cards ([c] other than blessings) on this check.
When you reset your hand, recharge 2 cards at random ([c] or if you didn’t have the Animal trait this turn, 2 cards of your choice) to move to another location. ([c] You may then examine the top card of your location deck.)
[c] Discard an armor to gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +3.
[c] Reduce combat damage ([c] or Cold, Force or Poison damage) dealt to you by 1 ([c] 3).
[c] You may discard a blessing that has the Basic trait to the blessings discard pile to gain the Animal trait.
CURSEBENDER
If the top card of the blessings deck has the Basic trait, gain the Animal trait; use a d12 for your Strength die. Otherwise use a d10 for your Intelligence die.
While you have the Animal trait, for your combat check use your Melee skill +2d6 ([c] +2) ([c] +4). You may not play any cards ([c] other than blessings and allies) on this check.
When you reset your hand, recharge 2 cards at random ([c] or if you didn’t have the Animal trait this turn, 2 cards of your choice) to move to another location. ([c] You may also succeed at a Constitution 6 check to banish a card with the Curse trait next to your character deck.)
[c] You may add 3 to your check to acquire an ally with the Animal trait.
*** [c] While you do not have the Animal trait, when you would discard an ally to explore your location, recharge it instead. ([c] You may recharge any ally to explore your location.)
[c] When you would gain the Animal trait, you may draw the top card of the blessings discard pile and discard a blessing that does not have the Basic trait to the blessings discard pile.
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I'm having trouble with the wording and sequencing of the asterisked power. Vrennat is extremely mobile, so I'd like to grant the ability to use/discard allies that don't ordinarily allow you to explore for additional explorations. There aren't many of them, though, so I don't know if putting it first is essentially going to force a player to spend two power feats to get the better recharge-instead power.