Ladybug Fighter


Homebrew and House Rules


Greetings, all!

I'm about to DM a campaign whose primary arc consists of "luck/unluck" archetypes. The enemies will be unluck focused (black cats/mirror golems, etc) and the players' allies will be luck focused.

One of the allies I have imagined is a ladybug combat warrior. She is able to fly (due to the wings on her back, of course) and generally fights with a longsword. There are a few other things I'd like to implement:


  • I'd like for her to be a balanced character, especially since I plan to use her as an allied NPC. I don't want to make her overbalanced as a monster, but actually something I could potentially use in other campaigns.
  • While I understand "normal" beetles can't do this, I had this idea that this ladybug could detach her back shell (which protects her wings) and use it as a shield. This trade-off allows her to use her natural armor as well as a shield bonus of the same value in the front, but loses her NA (or a portion of it) in the back.
  • Since she needs to fly, I don't want her bogged down by hundreds of pounds worth of gear or magic items. Is there a way to progress her as a character without resorting to DM handwaving? I am considering porting over "Vow of Poverty" from 3.5, but I'm looking for other options as well. Thanks, Lady-J! Automatic bonus progression should do wonders for this.
  • This might be the hardest to implement. As currently she has little to offer in terms of ranged attacks, I'm trying to add the ability to cast Scorching Ray. It seems a bit horrendous to have this as an at-will ability, but I'd like her to be able to do it more than X/day. Maybe with some sort of breath weapon condition, like having to wait 1d4 rounds before doing it again.

The shield ability makes the most sense as an actual monster ability, so I'd like for it to stay there. However, the beam ability could come from either the monster or from various character progression.

Character progression can be done with class levels, especially since I plan on giving her classes as well (currently planning on fighter, with a dabble in rogue for free evasion). I've also thought about Qinggong monk, since they can use their ki pool for scorching ray, but that gives me lots of other benefits that I'm not looking for. The same thing happens when I look at dabbing into sorcerer/wizard/magus, although magus fits the bill best.

I also looked into psionics, which I'm wary of simply for not being Paizo material. The kineticist has a nice ability that could be used, but again, I get a lot of additional powers and things that I'm not really looking for.

In addition to the difficult stuff, I'm not sure of good values for fly speed, natural armor, and the like.

Any suggestions?

~Nerds13~


automatic bonus progression


Lady-J wrote:
automatic bonus progression

Wow, I hadn't seen this! Thank you!


I found a psionic race that sort of has what I'm looking for, and I also found the "Race Builder" from the ARG that also helps.

First, These are the abilities of the Dromite race, from Psionic Unleashed:

Dromite:

    Racial Traits

  • +2 Charisma, +2 Dexterity, –2 Strength: Dromites are self-willed go-getters and naturally agile, but are weaker due to their small size.
  • Insectoid Blood: Dromites are of the humanoid (insectoid) subtype.
  • Small: Dromites are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
  • Slow Speed: Dromites have a base speed of 20 feet.
  • Chitin: Dromites receive a +1 natural armor bonus and one of the following kinds of energy resistance of their choice at creation: cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5, or sonic 5. This choice is permanent and stacks with any future energy resistance gained through other effects.
  • Naturally Psionic: Dromites gain the Wild Talent feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. If a dromite takes levels in a psionic class, he instead gains the Psionic Talent feat.
  • Dromite Psionics: Dromites gain the following psi-like ability: 1/day—energy ray. A dromite always deals the kind of energy damage that its chitin has resistance to (for example, a dromite who has resistance to cold 5 deals cold damage with its energy ray). The manifester level for this effect is equal to 1/2 the dromite’s level (minimum 1st).
  • Scent (Ex): This special quality allows a dromite to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. Dromites with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights. Dromites can detect opponents within 30 feet by sense of smell. If the opponent is upwind, the range increases to 60 feet; if downwind, it drops to 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at triple normal range. When a dromite detects a scent, the exact location of the source is not revealed—only its presence somewhere within range. The dromite can take a move action to note the direction of the scent. When the dromite is within 5 feet of the source, it pinpoints the source’s location.

    A dromite with the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom (or Survival) check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10 (no matter what kind of surface holds the scent). This DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Survival skill. Dromites tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.

  • Compound Eyes: Dromites receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
  • Psionic Aptitude: When a dromite takes a level in a favored class, it can choose to gain an additional power point instead of a hit point or skill point.
  • Languages: Dromites begin play speaking Common. Dromites with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dwarven, Gnome, Goblin, and Terran.

Now, using the "RP Method" in the Race Builder, I've made these modifications:

Modifications:

  • +2 CHA, +2 DEX, -2 STR -> +2 DEX, +2 INT, -2 CHA ( 0 RP)
  • Insectoid subtype -> Unchanged ( 0 RP)
  • Small -> Medium ( 0 RP)
  • Slow speed -> Normal (+1 RP)
  • Chitin: +1 NA, ER 5 -> Lose ER, +2 NA (+1 RP)
  • Naturally Psionic -> Hover feat ( 0 RP)
  • Dromite Psionics -> (Sp) not (Ps) ( 0 RP)
  • Scent -> Dropped (-4 RP)
  • Compound Eyes -> Dropped (-1 RP)
  • Psionic Aptitude -> Dropped (-1 RP)
  • Languages: Common -> +Sylvan ( 0 RP)

I know that the RP builder is not the most well-structured system, but it was the closest thing I had on hand that would give me a list of "reasonable" possibilities. Since this race already had a ray attack, I could modify from here.

There are a few things I'd still like to implement here. For one, the "back shield" ability is not seen. Indeed, neither is the flight. I was thinking I could add these as a possibile racial feat. Would that be a good idea?

Alternatively, I could do an RP design from a different base race (e.g. Strix) but I don't know how much the "energy ray" ability would cost.

~Nerds13~


There are no variant multiclassing rules for Paizo's kineticist (Occult Adventures), but you could come up with something comparable focused around getting one elemental kinetic blast (in this case, fire) and progressing it at a reduced rate. If it didn't provide any other kineticist class features, I'd say getting an at-will kinetic blast at 3rd level and scaling normally from there (treating your effective kineticist level as your character level minus 2) seems like a reasonable trade for half your feats as you level (3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th). That comes out to 1d6 + 1 + Con mod at 3rd level, 2d6 + 2 + Con mod at 5th, and so on. If you want to add more kineticist features like burn and magma blast, maybe dial it back a bit (1/2 character level instead of character level minus 2).

This is just spitballing--I haven't playtested it. : D You may need to dial it back anyway if the above is too strong for an at-will power that isn't even your main class progression.

Edit: Note that this would be an option apart from race, though you could tie it strictly to your ladybug race. But it means you don't have to try and model the ability using the race building rules, which are pretty iffy and don't really allow for something like you're talking about.


blahpers wrote:

There are no variant multiclassing rules for Paizo's kineticist (Occult Adventures), but you could come up with something comparable focused around getting one elemental kinetic blast (in this case, fire) and progressing it at a reduced rate. If it didn't provide any other kineticist class features, I'd say getting an at-will kinetic blast at 3rd level and scaling normally from there (treating your effective kineticist level as your character level minus 2) seems like a reasonable trade for half your feats as you level (3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th). That comes out to 1d6 + 1 + Con mod at 3rd level, 2d6 + 2 + Con mod at 5th, and so on. If you want to add more kineticist features like burn and magma blast, maybe dial it back a bit (1/2 character level instead of character level minus 2).

This is just spitballing--I haven't playtested it. : D You may need to dial it back anyway if the above is too strong for an at-will power that isn't even your main class progression.

Edit: Note that this would be an option apart from race, though you could tie it strictly to your ladybug race. But it means you don't have to try and model the ability using the race building rules, which are pretty iffy and don't really allow for something like you're talking about.

This is awesome, thanks for the reply. I felt a little weird attaching it to the race anyway, at least trying to get it to fit storywise. I agree that the race building rules seem imbalanced. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!


Maybe racial hit dice would be better that class levels here. I don't know that I'm visualizing what you want correctly because your description is still vague, here goes.

-Proficiency with simple and martial weapons, and shields.
-Full BAB, d10 HD
-Good Fort and Fort
-Custom skill list. Look at the fighter and fey skill lists.

Natural armor, with scaling improvements. Should more or less be the equivalent of medium armor.

If you want a bit of a ranged attack, you could do something like the alchemist's bombs. But make it single target with no splash. You could fuel it from a point pool too if you like. As it gains hit dice you could provide additional things to spend the points on aside from just breathing fire.

If you want removable wings, would it be a tower shield? Maybe spend a point to do something cool with the wings, shield?

Fly Speed. Average maneuverability at the best. Worse than that would be fine too. Maybe spend a point to gain a brief improvement or speed boost?

It would be worthwhile to have some ladybug specific features too. If we're talking the traditional red ladybug, then a Stealth bonus is out of the question. They are known to prey on pest bugs. Maybe give it smite evil? They are generally looked upon favorably, worldwide I think. Maybe a bonus on Diplomacy?

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Homebrew and House Rules / Ladybug Fighter All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Homebrew and House Rules