Have we learned nothing from Spiderman? Great power should be balanced with responsibility, not a curse or drawback to use.
Over on the GiantITP forums, we have a little thing called "Grod's Law":
Quote:
Grod's Law: You cannot and should not balance bad mechanics by making them annoying to use.
Spoiler:
When you do:
The disruptive munchkin ignores it, argues it, or forces the rest of the group to suffer through it. His power remains the same, and he gets more annoying to play with.
The inappropriate powergamer figures out how to circumvent the restriction. His power remains the same.
The reasonable player either figures out how to circumvent the restriction (rendering it moot), avoids the class (turning it into a ban) or suffers through it. His power remains the same and/or his enjoyment goes down.
The new player avoids the class or suffers through it. His enjoyment goes down.
Notice how the problem players feel the least impact?
And yeah, you can yell and fiat at your players all you want to stop them from "cheating" the system, but that only works if you have a reasonable group to start with-- ie, one that's not going to disrupt the game through munchkinry.
And this is why Firearms have so much controversy. Great power (hitting touch AC) was balanced by sucky drawbacks (misfire, expensive ammo, slow rate of fire) that everyone tries to circumvent (weapon cords, extra arms, gun twirling, endless free actions, etc.).
The SLAs are already limited by the creature's hit dice. Familiars don't gain hit die as their master levels up, so we're looking at a creature that can cast charm person and Faerie Fire. That's well in line with other familiars.
That was my first thought too, but I just double checked the exact wording.
D20PFSRD wrote:
"Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master's character level or the familiar's normal HD total, whichever is higher."
Does anyone else interpret that as the familiar could get all those spell-like abilities? For comparison, does a Fiendish or Celestial Familiar get better DR and Resistances?
I know it isn't as tailored as your ideas, but I find it is easier to get "buy in" from others in your group if you keep modifications simple and the changes have a precedent in published material.
@Chemlak - I apologize if I wasn't clear, but I would never use someone else's work unless I had explicit permission or they had released it under the OGL. Anything else is _not_ cool and I would not do that. (Re-reading that, I do not mean to come across as harsh, I just want to assure you that I would never do that.) I do thank you though for your advice.
@Matt Thomason - Thank you for clearing that up. I was kind of wondering if homebrew was like jaywalking - technically not allowed (since they are using OGC without the OGL) but so minor and so prevalent that no one cared.
I guess it is closer to someone writing Buffy fanfiction in their basement - it's not illegal unless you try to sell it as your screenplay with names and other IP intact. :)
I will take to heart your advice though - ALWAYS ASK FOR PERMISSION!!! (Probably a good rule for life in general)
@Math Thomason - Thank you for the advice. In fact, section 11 of the Pathfinder Compatibility License is partly what made me start wondering if other OGL publishers appreciated notification if you used part of their work.
@Owen Stephens - Thank you - but to make sure I am clear, to follow your example say I were to publish a small adventure booklet where the final encounter is a muffin slinging alchemist. I would credit TGGtHA in my section 15 at the end of the pdf, and I would reprint the "Explosive War Muffin" statistics, but I would have to rename it maybe "muffin bomb" and drop any flavor text from the original publication. That would (theoretically) keep me in compliance and no one would feel I stepped on their toes?
Also - thank you for the warning. I might have accidentally used someones product title (with good intentions, but we know where that road leads). :)
I will keep my "citations" in the section 15.
As for actual usage of other publishers material, I do not ever intend to use large portions - usually never more than a single item. Most of the time, I am trying to make a weird character and grow frustrated with how none of the options I am looking at do _exactly_ what I want (I'm way too picky), so I make my own. However, I when I finally write up my own "fix" I feel it is only right to credit others whose ideas may have influenced or inspired me.
(From my understanding) Under the OGL, I can use open content created by another publisher if the author has designated that item as open content under the OGL.
However this becomes muddled when someone puts up "homebrew". I would normally credit them under section 15 of my OGL posting, however many of those who post homebrew do not do so explicitly under the OGL.
Example:
Just as an example, if I were to publish something with an NPC using a "mighty" crossbow, I would credit the amazing Kirthfinder. However, there is no OGL on his site.
I realize that easiest (and probably best) answer is, "Don't take inspiration from Homebrew." but using my example, I would almost feel barred from ever using a crossbow that added a characters strength to damage because I first saw it in Kirthfinder.
Since Homebrewers are using OGC, is their work legally implied to be Open Content?
Has anyone else ran into this problem? Is there any advice/rules of thumb I should follow?
Thank you!
Disclaimer:
I will not hold anything said here as legal advice under any circumstance. I understand I should speak to lawyer before doing anything ever. Thank you so much!
(First off - please correct me if any of my assumptions are wrong.)
From my understanding of the OGL, someone (like me) may use open content created by another publisher in my own product. (assuming they have designated it as open content, I utilize the OGL properly, etc.)
My question is, is there some sort of courtesy that is observed in the community? Such as, before you use something you contact the creator and let him know, or send a complimentary copy of whatever you publish to the author?
I am (slowly) getting ready to publish and I want to maintain good relationships with everyone and I don't want to upset anyone right out of the gate. :)
Thank you so much!
Disclaimer:
I will not hold anything said here as legal advice under any circumstance. I understand I should speak to lawyer before doing anything ever. Thank you so much!
There are so many feats out there and some are really cool, even if they are not the most effective for your character.
For instance, if I played an Aasimar, I would like to take the Angelic Blood, Flesh, Wings, and Metallic Wings feats. But honestly, I am always feat starved and four feats is a steep price to pay.
I would gladly pay out an equivalent amount of loot for these feats as though I had purchased them as magic items (even with the 1.5X premium for being "slotless").
Sometimes you want your character to be cooler, not just the stuff he has.
I don't know of one that just awards metamagic feats, but I found a three level one that's pretty nice, the Metaphysical Spellshaper.
At first level you can take ability damage instead of raising the level of the spell, it grants a bonus metamagic feat at 2nd level, and at third level it lowers the level of metamagicked spells by one.
All you need is two metamagic feats and be able to cast third level spells. (and craft weaving 3, spellcraft 5, and knowledge arcana 5, but that's small potatoes)
It is 3.5, but if you are open to third party to start with that shouldn't be too big of a stumbling block.
The supplement is for sale on Amazon here, and online at Scribd, but I won't link it here.
:
No, I'm not kidding. Yes, it is in there. No, I don't know why.
One thing that may help, I store my CRB laying on its "back" (i.e. spine down) and sandwiched between my other hardbacks. It seems to help preserve it reasonably well.
Second, I noticed the feat Aldori Dueling Mastery is still named...Aldori Dueling Mastery. I saw you were "generic-ing" the names and thought you would like to know.
Third, I do not see the style feats on the main feat page, the feat database, or the feat tree page. I do see they have their own entry on the left side, but they don't seem to be on the other pages.
Am I the only one who read these feats and thought they were underpowered?
Not only do you need to spend two feats to have the Weapon Focus line apply to a whole fighter weapon group, but Martial Mastery has a Fighter level 16 prerequisite!
Can anyone can tell me why Martial Mastery is so powerful that you shouldn't have it before level 16?
Would it have been too powerful if they had only been one feat, taking the benefits of Martial Mastery with the prerequisites of Martial Versatility?
Maybe I am just dissatisfied because I remember the old Aptitude weapon enhancement from the Book of Nine Swords.
Very interesting. The "one big hit" melee combatant has a bunch of options out there, but they have trouble working together most of the time and as a result the archetype still struggles to keep up with the sheer damage of the full attack combatant.
This build looks very good though, kudos to you for putting it together.
The one we still talk about was my friend's animal companion "Buck the Wonder Dog".
With a little animal growth spell here and some wizard buffing there (anyone remember the Arcane Hierophant prestige class?) the line, "Buck! Put down that Frost Giant!" became a classic at our table.
There is still some debate based on how big the ship is and where the unfortunate soul is standing on the ship.
As for him having to swim faster that the ship was sinking in order to escape it - I am not sure it would work that way with (proceed with caution here) real world physics.
For instance, would you have to move faster than the car you are inside of in order to move from the back seat to the front? He would already be moving at the same speed as the ship, I do not believe he would have to move faster than the ship as he is already moving at the ships speed.
It also gives you a +2 bonus to Strength (+4 greater) and gives a +10 ft bonus to range (and Returning with greater) but it takes the same slot as the Blinkback belt which hurts.
Clerics and druids (of Gorum) may prepare rage as a 3rd-level spell and iron body as an 8th-level spell. Clerics may prepare heat metal as a 3rd-level spell. Druids are forbidden from using the rusting grasp spell. Druids can wear metal armor, though they cannot cast spells while wearing it, nor does it meld with them when they use wild shape; druids interested in metal armor acquire a set for a specific beastform and have allies or slaves put it on them when it is time to fight.
Don't know if this helps you, but I thought you would like to know.
"reworking" magic items, changing their size or shape.
Let's say I have found a large sized +1 keen trident and I want to transform it into a medium sized +1 keen trident, it is possible? And at what cost/DC?
The possibility to recover some of the value of the unwanted magic items would be interesting.
I would like to second this. I still really like the Arcane Anvil.
Apologies if this was brought up earlier in the thread (on break at work and running out of time :) ) but rules for upgrading one item into another related item. (Much like the Synergy properties in DMG II)
Example: Can I upgrade my Pearl of Power I into a Pearl of Power II?
Can I upgrade my Ring of Wizardry II into a Ring of Wizardry IV?
I am sure there are other examples but my break is over. :)
Thanks so much!
P.S. I second Thazar on expanding intelligent item possibilites as well as crafting alternate versions of "unique" items.
First of all, dotting. I and a few friends are looking into this as well.
Secondly, my most heartfelt thanks go out to Daniel Marshall, Little Red Goblin Games, and LMPjr. Your advice is so appreciated. Many other publishers would not give out advice as you have done.
Third, Gamer-Printer and Marc Radle, thank you for sharing your experiences and lessons learned.
Finally - Thank you Covent for starting the thread and asking all the questions I have been pondering.
P.S. Thanks Liz. I have no idea how I missed that FAQ. -_-'
Osyluth Guile Feat
You need Dodge and 8 ranks in Bluff, but if you have this and are fighting defensively or taking the total defense action you may add your Charisma bonus to AC as a dodge bonus against one opponents melee attacks. You are going to have to wait until 8th level for it (5th level with a trait that grants you Bluff as a class skill) but in the meantime can I interest you in...
Unarmed Fighter Archetype
Real nice at first level. Level 1 - Gain proficiency with all Monk weapons (including exotics!), Improved Unarmed Strike, and any 1 Style feat (may I suggest Crane Style?) Later levels you get a lot of Grappling, Tripping, Dragging, and Dirty Trick options.
Crane Style Feat
Normally fighting defensively is a -4 to attacks and a +2 to AC, which kinda sucks. But with Crane Style and 3 ranks in Acrobatics you can fight defensively for a -2 to attacks and a +4 to AC! With Unarmed Fighter you can select this at level 1. The later feats (Crane Wing and Crane Riposte) will eventually allow you to deflect one melee attack per round (Crane Wing) and then grant you a counterattack each time you deflect an attack! (Crane Riposte) You have to have one hand free, but you can just fight unarmed (and unarmored and unclothed...)
Something you may want to look into is an "S" corporation. It combines some of the best parts of a sole proprietorship with the protections of a traditional corporation.
Also - dotting. I and a few of my friends are trying to put something together. Any and all information is appreciated. As the guy in the group working towards his CPA I have a feeling a bit more of the business end is going to end up on my plate. :)
Thank you LazarX and Mok for the links.
I apologize, if I may highjack this thread with two related questions?
Does anyone have any information on how to approach artists? I and my friends have been considering DeviantArt. What would be a ballpark going rate?
Also, does anyone have any tips relating to getting your product licensed as Pathfinder compatible and getting them to sell it on their website?
#1Knife Master Rogue Archetype
Your Sneak Attack while using daggers goes up to a d8, while your sneak attack for all other weapons goes down to a d4.
You lose Trapfinding and Trap Sense, but gain a bonus = 1/2 you level on Sleight of Hand to conceal daggers and a dodge bonus against attacks made with light blades.
As for overcoming the penalties of Defensive Stance, I saw a post about a Paladin/Stalwart Defender who used Lay on Hands with the Fatigue Mercy each round to simply ignore the drawback of ending his defensive stance.
If you read Stonelord carefully, you will see that although they trade away their 3rd, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th level mercies they still have their 6th level mercy.
At 6th level you can choose from: Fatigued, Shaken, Sickened, Dazed, Diseased, or Staggered. Do I really have to point out which one is the one you should pick? :)
Your turn #1: Start Stance, Attack.
Enemy's turn #1: Run around the Wall of Dwarfiness
Your turn #2: End stance as a free action (become fatigued), Lay on Hands on yourself as a Swift action (remove fatigue and heal yourself), follow bad guy as a move action, enter stance again as a free action, attack thoroughly stunned bad guy as a standard action.
"I thought you couldn't move!!!"
"You were dead wrong"
There is someone at Paizo who loves us Paladins. Thank you Sir.
First off, my answer will not be exactly in line with your question. Your real goal is to help out your Antipaladin player, correct? May I make a suggestion?
I, first of all, would not allow him to smite his own alignment. That kinda breaks the concept of Smite Evil/Good. But that is my opinion.
If I were in your position though I would consider allowing him to take a modified version of the 3.5 feat Cuthbert's Smite. It allows Paladins of St. Cuthbert to Smite Chaos as well as Law and grants them one additional use of Smite Evil/Chaos. The feat required you to have St. Cuthbert as your patron and have the Smite Evil ability.
Cuthbert's Smite Location:
It is from Dragon magazine #306 p. 101 and was reprinted in the Dragon Compendium p.95.
I would simply flip-flop the feats alignment axis 180 degrees and allow him to Smite Law with his Smite Good ability. I might also change the feat to requiring a deity that is CN, a CE deity that favors Chaos over Evil (perhaps Ghlaunder, Lamashtu, or Rovagug?), or maybe a Qlippoth Lord/Demon Lord that was originally a Qlippoth.
Qlippoth Lords:
Cyth-V’sug, Dagon, Jubilex, Mazmezz, Yhidothrus, and Zevgavizeb - Lords of Chaos pages 13, 14, 18, 20, 28, and 28 respectively
I would probably remove the additional use of Smite, as Pathfinder has vastly improved the ability. As they have not seen fit to add a feat called "Extra Smiting" I would assume they feel the ability may be too powerful to grant extra uses through a feat.
End result? Your player has an improvement that he can start taking advantage of now rather than when he can afford it and it is not so overpowered that he will be crushing everything.
As a final thought, if you remove the extra use of Smite Good/Law from the feat, I would probably add the ability to Detect Law to the feat. Determining who is evil or good without using Detect is sometimes pretty easy (Lich Bad, Unicorn Good!) however creatures don't wear their Law/Chaos axis on their sleeve quite as often.
Adding Detect Law Power Comparison:
I realize that there is currently a feat (Detect Sin from Ultimate Magic) that grants the ability to Detect Evil to a Paladin that cannot (as the Oath Against Undead replaces it with Detect Undead) and that adding the ability to Detect an additional alignment to a feat that already grants benefits may be considered more powerful than previously printed material.
However the Oath against Undead Paladin still retains the ability to Smite Evil and that feat is balanced against the Paladin regaining the ability to Detect creatures he is still able to Smite. Granting the ability to Detect the creatures of an alignment the Antipaladin can smite seems logical to me as otherwise his Smite ability would be dependent on luck and guessing.
Both Awesome, both might be what you are looking for.
Thunderstriker is a switch hitter capable of two handing his weapon or two-weapon fighting with buckler and weapon. I've seen it played where the guy was dishing out nice damage one round then spiked his AC into the stratosphere the next. Very Cool.
Rondelero Duelist is a Falcata and buckler fighter. He gets bonuses to hit and damage with both his falcata and buckler like weapon training (not named that so RAW doesn't work with dueling gloves, talk with your DM), can disarm with his buckler and can sunder without provoking AoO and shield bash with a buckler as if it where a light shield.
Uses Aldori Dueling sword (don't have to be proficient, in that case you just use it as a longsword) You get the ability to:
Disarming Strike: Deal damage every time you disarm someone
Steel Net: When you fight defensively you reduce the penalties by 2 and increase the dodge bonus by 2
Counterattack: When you are hit by an enemy in melee you can attack them back!
Steel Net Optimization:
Combine with Crane Style and three ranks in Acrobatics for a net -0 to attacks and a +6 to AC!
Best part? You can have all this by level 11. You can continue the Crane Style feat tree and eventually you can fight defensively for no penalty, deflect one attack a round that would normally hit (Crane Wing), then get an immediate attack against that enemy (Crane Riposte), then if they hit you again you can attack them a second time! (Aldori Swordlord Counterattack)
[Edit] With the Aldori Swordlord the focus is not on the buckler, but there is nothing in the build that precludes using it. He can still use it to boost his AC even higher and it stacks with his fighting defensively to give an AC that would make even heavily armored fighters salivate. It still leaves his hand free for Crane Wing and Deflect Arrows.
If your focus is to simply use a buckler to boost AC, then you may want to consider Aldori Swordlord. If you want to make the buckler the focus of your build consider the Thunderstriker or Rondelero Duelist.
FYI and CMA (Cover my ... butt):
The stacking fighting defensively penalties and bonuses may not be interpreted by others the way I see them.
Acrobatics states "If you have 3 or more ranks in Acrobatics, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively".
Crane Style states "You take only a –2 penalty on attack rolls for fighting defensively. While using this style and fighting defensively, you gain an additional +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class."
Steel Net states "When fighting defensively the swordlord’s penalties on all attacks in a round are reduced by 2, and the dodge bonus to AC is increased by 2 for the same round."
I interpreted all this to mean that the Steel net ability applies after Crane Style and Acrobatics since it reduces the penalties and increases the bonuses. Others may interpret differently.
See this thread for that discussion. I believe there were some FAQ tags handed out there because of the lack of clarity.
Cheers! :)
Oops! Sorry, I didn't realize this had come up before. I broke the cardinal rule of searching before posting. My apologies.
I mainly asked because the 3.5 PHB had a line about the ability applying only to magic items and special effects, however the Pathfinder Core Rulebook doesn't.
From the 3.5 PHB
Half-orcs, for example, are just as vulnerable to special effects that affect orcs as their orc ancestors are, and they can use magic items that are only usable by orcs. (See the Monster Manual for more information about orcs, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more on magic items.)
Then again the line was not included in the SRD, so that probably explains why it was not added into the race description. Paizo had to go off the SRD to be OGL compliant.
My group normally plays it as just magic items and stuff like the bane weapon ability, but I was building a Half-Orc Fighter based on being the toughest guy in the room and I was salivating over the human-only feat Fast Learner from the Paizo Blog. I wanted to get both a hit point and the Half-Orc favored class option of +2 to stabilize checks. (Never mind that the wording for that feat is a little wonky right now too!)
Thanks - (and I'm sorry if this becomes another huge thread war)
When I was looking over the Half-Orc today I stopped and really read the racial trait Orc-Blood.
Orc Blood: Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Has anyone else played as this ability allowing a Half-Orc to take a feat with a prerequisite of Human?
Now, my group has never played it like this, we always played it as you could use magic items that required you to be human without making a UMD check, or if a spell does extra damage to humans it would also do it to Half-Orcs. I'm pretty sure that is RAI, but I was wondering if anyone else had ever interpreted it differently.
This question of course also applies to a Half-Elf's Elf-Blooded trait.
These ones don't have all three good saves. They do have full Bab and at least 4 skill points per level
Barbarian/Antipaladin (Just the imagery is too cool)
Cavalier or Paladin/Barbarian (Take all those mounted rage powers)
Cavalier/Fighter (Dragoon) or Monk (Sohei) (Hey I'm an archetype based around having a mount. Now I actually have a mount!)
Gunslinger/Ninja (Just pump your dexterity into the atmosphere and relax. Learn to love sneak attack at range while invisible)
Paladin/Oracle (Cleric buffs with Paladin Charisma synergy)
Only two skill points per level
Paladin/Sorcerer (Yeah, it's an oldie but a goodie)
Medium Bab, but three good saves and at least six skill points
Magus/Rogue (Pump Dexterity and grab Weapon Finesse)
Monk/Inquisitor (Evasion and stalwart? All three good saves? Holy Crap)
I and my group are always sitting around trying to make up gestalt combinations but we never actually play. Ahh... to always be a bridesmaid, never a bride.
Anyway so a few days ago I was just sitting in my chair trying to figure out the most powerful character possible for the sole sake of being disgusting when it hit me. I shouldn't be racking my brain thinking about what the most overpowered character I can make would be, That's what spreadsheets are for!
So here's what I found out. (Listed without regard to synergy)
Full Bab, at least a D10, three good saves, and six skill points a level:
Barbarian with Bard
Cavalier with Bard
Fighter with Bard
Gunslinger with Bard or Inquisitor
Paladin with Bard, Ranger, or Rogue
Ranger with Bard, Cleric, Druid, Inquisitor, Magus, Monk, Oracle, Paladin, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch, or Wizard
Full Bab, at least a D10, three good saves, and four skill points a level:
Barbarian with Monk
Cavalier with Monk
Fighter with Monk
Gunslinger with Cleric, Druid, Magus, Monk, Oracle, Paladin, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch, Wizard
Paladin with Alchemist, Gunslinger, Monk
Out of those I listed a few combinations I thought were good:
Barbarian/Monk (Martial Artist) (Raging Flurry. Ouch)
Fighter/Monk (Either two-weapon or brawler archetype, I would not suggest the unarmed archetype)
Paladin/Bard (Saves, Smiting, Healing, Spells, and Singing. All Charisma based)
Paladin/Monk (So MAD, but you could make your save against "Rocks fall" and take no damage)
Paladin/Ninja (I'm the Dark Knight! I'm Batman!)
Ranger/Druid (Take the natural weapon style path from APG)
Ranger/Inquisitor (They just seem to dovetail so well IMHO)
Ranger/Monk (Two-Weapon fighting Beast, wisdom synergy)
You're not alone. My group is trying to convert the Warden, but honestly to convert any 4th edition class back you lose anything real "specific" about the class and you end up just trying to keep the "spirit". I'll give my friend who was converting it this page's address and ask him how it was going, but the last I heard was:
D12 hit Die
Full Attack
Good Fort
Poor Reflex
Poor Will (I Think)
Proficiency with all simple and martial weapons
Proficiency with all nonmetallic armors (Light, Medium, Heavy) and shields (Including Tower - remember, it's wood!)
1 -
2 - Natures Armament - Add Constitution Bonus to AC (instead of dexterity) but as a Natual Armor bonus.
3 - ...
As you can see we didn't get far. There was various talk of:
- 6 levels of Wisdom-based spontaneous casting drawn from the Druid and Ranger lists.
- A lesser wildshape ability much like the PHB2 druid or a lycanthrope.
- A special ability that would allow them to use Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp, Rusting Grasp, Chill Touch, (Warp Wood, Heat Metal?)and others like them as special touch attacks or channeled through his weapon with scaling damage or effects as he gains levels.
We were going to look to the PHB2 knight and the druid for inspiration. Looking back, it was just kinda a bull session with us all throwing ideas out there, we should have had paper with us. If it ever becomes a reality I'll come back and post it here.
YuenglingDragon Said - Thanks for the link. I talked to my GM about keeping +4 Str in the race and was shut down. As long as Pathfinder continues to not have anything with better than +2 net stat benefits, our conversions won't either.
Thats actually how my group was converting races until we realized that there are a few different exceptions to the rule of net +2. Hobgoblins aren't the only exception. Aasimars and the Suli (Quadira page 29) also have a +4 overall. Merfolk even have a +6 overall (but admittedly they do have some other drawbacks)
First things first. If you haven't gotten to look at the alternative Tiefling traits in the back of the Bastards of Erebus go, buy it, read it and bask in its awesomeness, then come back here.
Now, as cool as that is, let's be honest here. Tieflings are cool on their own. Aasimers tend to be a little forgotten sometimes. (Nualia's a cool exception)
Basically I am just starting this thread to see what the community thinks and to see if they have any ideas. I'll start with a few ideas and add more as I think of them.
Variant Aasimer Heritages
Angel (Standard Aasimer's are assumed to have angelic parentage)
+2 Wis, +2 Cha
Azata
+2 Dex, +2 Int
Archon
+2 Str, +2 Cha
Agathion
+2 Con, +2 Wis
Titan
+2 Str, +2 Con
Lillend
+2 Dex, +2 Cha
It's at this point I'm running a little low on Good-aligned outsiders or their close equivalents. I was briefly tempted to put unicorns as a heritage - "briefly" being the operative word here. So unless you want your next paladin to have to order a specially crafted helmet to accomodate his horn throw out some more ideas please.
Variant Aasimer abilities (In no particular order) - The abilities presented here replace a Aasimer’s daylight spell-like ability, with a caster level equal to its class level.
1. You gain the ability to understand and speak with all creatures. You possess the truespeech ability of your angelic forbearers.
2. You have feathered angelic wings that grant you a +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics checks made to jump. In addition, you can use you wings to save yourself from a fall, no matter the height. If you were to become unconscious your wings automatically stiffen in an open position negating all but 1d6 of falling damage. These wings are not strong enough to carry you.
3. Immunity to petrification
4. When attacking an evil outsider or evil undead you deal +1d4 points of damage.
5. Once per day you can fire a ray of light that deals 2d12 points of damage, this bypasses all damage reduction.
6. Once per day you may change into any canine form as though using Beast Shape II.
7.
And it is about here I see it's almost 3:30. I had hoped to add more in the initial post. I'll stop back in and continue adding soon.
Thanks
P.S. Constructive critiscism is welcome always. Remember, this is just a first rough draft of one guy's opinions. I'm always open to suggestions. Lastly, sorry it's light on the fluff. I'm a bit crunch happy myself. If anyone wants to take a crack at adding fluff you're more than welcome.
I have to jump in here and add my extreme enthusiasm for the Tiefling article! It was so amazing I actually yelled out loud, "That's Awesome!" when I got to #67 (See in Darkness! Heck Yeah!)
But I post to add more than just my appreciation. I would do anything to see an article like this on the Aasimer. I really like angelic characters, Paladins, all that kind of thing. It would be so incredible to play a variant Aasimer.
In fact, I think I'll head over to the messageboards right now. Maybe the community can jump-start this bandwagon with a few cool ideas.
(Sorry if I sound pushy, it really is just my enthusiasm getting the better of me)
