And here is mourge40k's submission.
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Howdy folks! So, Changelings are by far one of my favorite races, mainly because I like the flavor of them. I am also quite the fan of the Annis-born trait, Hulking Changeling. For those of you who don't know it off the top of your head, Hulking Changeling gives you a +1 trait bonus to damage for all melee attacks. I know it's nothing earth-shattering, but it still seems like a nice little incentive to build a melee-based changeling. However, there's one little problem with that: The changeling stat array. -2 constitution, along with a +2 to wisdom and charisma/intelligence make being a melee changeling... less than optimal. However, I for one merely view this as a challenge to be overcome, which led to this lovely little girl! So, in short, I'd like to see how other people have risen to the challenge, and what you guys have done to best utilize the trait.
Meet Marigold. She's here to kindly tell you that you are, in fact, not going to cast that spell.
And there's the post!
"Maybe they were thinking of that time the basement goblin bit you on the nose?" Marigold whispered in her usual tone, shifting uncomfortably at all the attention and the fact that Shalelu was here. "They did a good job at least. I think it should've been smaller though." Of course, Marigold was not going to mention how uncomfortable the sheer rage and battle-ready nature of her part of the statue made her feel. The others would almost certainly be able to guess that she didn't like it, but she certainly wouldn't be the one to mention it. "And you're getting close to being that big yourself, aren't you John?"
Man, he's been taking his time with that PM.
Not personally, no.
Stand aside, puny non-polearm wielders! We all know that a raging Marigold has got all of you beat! But in all seriousness, I'm glad I've got at least one vote of assent for how I think things should have gone down. However, I do have to say that I like John's story for how we handled Barl personally. The rest of us could have hit him up to give him a reason to want to give up after John got his lucky Earthbreaker crit. As for the others, I think I've come up with a fair list of who got the "final blow." Nualia: Marigold. Too much good symmetry there to pass up.
Also, one last major campaign note: Did we, or did we not become the Lords of Fort Rannick?
And reposting for general purposes of the thread.
1). All standard races are allowed as well as playable races in the bestiaries(1-4) Lycanthropes are not a standard playable race. This includes things like Tengu, Dhampir, etc. Not Lycanthropes. 2). Going off of 1, no, it was not built using the same rules. Hell, you even have one more trait than the rest of us, and have even outright crafted Magic items that you don't have spells for. I know this is kosher by the rules (the items at least), but it's not helping your case at all. 3). Again, see Mary-Sue reference. 4). Here's the thing: How she used magic hasn't been established in this campaign. You may have a plan, but if you truly want this concept instead of making an entirely new character, then you'll have to change. It's like how Marigold would have to change if she was going to be in a group with another reach fighter. Yeah, I'd be bummed because of how much I love reach Combat, but in the end, I can make her very effective regardless. For example, with very minimal adjustments, Marigold could be a Paladin. She could rock Oracle. I could even switch out some race traits and make her an intelligence based caster, or she could have gone Cleric. But here's the thing: The only thing that changes in all of these cases is the mechanics. She will still be the same person with the same story regardless. The story may not resonate as well as it did with Bloodrager, but it'd still be good. 5). Pounce with multiple natural attacks. Pounce is an ability classes specifically build to have, and it's very potent. Like, I could have easily set up Marigold to have Pounce as a Bloodrager. You know when it'd come online? Level 12. Barbarian? Level 10. Beastmorph Alchemist? Level 10. The absolute lowest belongs to the druid, with either one of a few specific Animal companions at level 7, or at 6th level with Wildshape. So, ummm... Yeah. Pounce from the get go does not set you only one level ahead. Now I am absolutely done with this discussion. I tried to be polite and make you see things my way, but you continue to refuse everyone's helpful advice, including what the DM says is a good idea. And yet you continue to try to fight for an option that everyone obviously disapproves of and wasn't allowed in the rules in the first place. On top of that, you insist that we're trying to trample on your power ability, and how we obviously want you to play a masterless familiar or kobold. We are trying to play a game with you, and help you get what you want while still being comfortable with it as well. If you're this uncooperative on this front, how on Earth are we supposed to get along as this goes through the rest of the story?
Uhhhmmmm.... Alicorn, I think you're leaning just a tad bit onto the rude side. We're trying to help everyone be happy here, including you. You know, as the person who started this little thing, perhaps you'd like to hear about why I had a problem with your character being a Lycanthrope. Since you seem to be so eager for us to be "honest," I'll be honest. 1). This sort of option was not advertised for anyone. To be perfectly frank, if it had been, I never would have applied to the game in the first place. Pretty much the same case as playing in a game of Gestalt or Mythic, in my mind. Just makes people who want power instead of substance show up. And, for the record? The way you're reacting is sort of cementing that image of you in my mind. 2). I like for characters to all be built using the same rule set. If you were in a game were 3 people had to use a 15 point buy, and one guy was given a 20 for "story" reasons, how would you react? This is the same case for using the race builder to build your super-mega-awesome shapeshifter, despite our other suggestions that give you pretty much exactly what you want. 3). I'll be honest: I despise "special snowflakes." I fully acknowledge that I say this as someone playing a race that closes in on Special Snowflake territory, so I'm somewhat of a hypocrite in that regard. That being said... Your character isn't even a native of Golarion. You come from another plane. Adding being a lycanthrope on top of that just seems honestly mary-sue in nature to me. Like, your character seems to me to be like "Hai guyz, I'm this super-awesome sneaky spellcaster who's also good at fighting. Oh, and I'm from another plane, and I can turn into a tiger!" Is that a bit mean-spirited on my part? Probably. But it's still the impression I have. 4). I honestly don't see how your story changes with our suggestions. Maybe some details shift (I couldn't go animal for 6 levels! My magic is different now!) but, at its core, everything else remains the same. You can technically shift into many things as a Druid or Hunter, but you could easily just change into the same tiger every time, and flavor that as all you can do. For why you couldn't change from the get-go, maybe the magic of this plane differs from yours on a fundamental level, so your shape-shifting mojo was funky for a while until you adapted. Same goes for your magic. 5). Continued Story Dominance. From the moment we handled our first goblins in Sandpoint, Churley and Bright were humans, Marigold was a changeling, and John was a half-elf. You? You could turn into a massively more powerful tiger at level 1 whenever you wanted. This is the main reason I've been suggesting other races and other ways to get the flavor you want: The rest of us kind of fall to the wayside for quite some time with this, and... Well, I am really looking forward to figuring out how we work together better and better as we adventure. Now, I'm still trying to be polite here. I want this game to work out as well as possible, because some cool people have applied. But if you really want to be your were-tiger sorceress/rogue at heart, then go ahead. You'll just be doing it without me in the game. I know I can find other stuff to do, so while I'll be a little disappointed that this didn't turn out, I can mod Marigold so that she can apply to one of the other RotRL games again. Meanwhile, I'm unsure if you'll find another game willing to accept your were-tiger.
I'm personally highly against using the race builder. It's unbalanced, and gives some extremely powerful options for very little. My thought on the matter is that the rest of us used normal races, and got what we wanted through class abilities. John has given you numerous helpful suggestions to help you concept remain intact, and I think that they would definitely help keep you in line with the rest of us power-wise as well. Add in the DM approval of these ideas, and I think it would be a good option to help you out.
Alright. So, now that that's handled with for now.... Onto the actual fun bits! I personally think that the Shayless problem is best thrown into the lap of Alastar (Mildly attractive nerd could be hilarious, and kids become a real possibility depending) or Marigold (Worships Shelyn, remember?). My personal vote is on Alastar myself. As for Aldern, I think a lust obsession would be good for Marigold. Besides, it's appropriately creepy, and it's fun. Also, we need to determine who did what with each major "boss" we've encountered so far. In that vein, I've got my votes. Nualia: Beaten to unconsciousness, turned over to Magnimar
Well, if you want an elf caster who can shift into a tiger warrior, then John's suggestion of being a Lion Shaman is king. A Skinwalker (base or Were-tiger kin could both work well) Lion Shaman keeps all of your flavor intact, but without the unliked parts of being a Lycanthrope (like being able to turn giants into were-tigers, or the DR that's getting as good as a 20th level Invulnerable Rager). It does require some changes stat-wise and the like, but again, I can definitely help out on that if needed. While this does give us some Druid overlap, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
This, all the way! Alternatively, if you want to keep that whole trickster vibe you've got going on while still being a shapechanger who's good at magic, I would recommend going Kitsune. They've got a feat chain that lets them pick up pounce, and rock at using rogue and sorcerer.
Alright. So, I went ahead and took the liberty of math-hammering things in the race builder from the Advanced Race Guide. The half-elf has a base cost of 10 Race Points, and you keep all its advantages when you shift to hybrid, so I added things up from there to get what she'd have in hybrid form. Here are the results: Specialized Ability Modifiers (+2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Cha) - 1 RP Large (+2 Str, -2 Dex, other benefits) - 7 RP Advanced Strength x2 (+4 Str, still one short of Lycanthrope boost as were-tiger) - 9 RP Advanced Constitution (+2 Con, still one short) - 4 RP Advanced Wisdom (+2 Wisdom, and only way to fully replicate the base lycanthrope adjustments) - 4 RP DR 10/Silver (Some rule-bending needed to get this to work here, but should be roughly equivalent to alignment DR. Moon-touched Damage Resistance gives DR 5/Silver for 3 RP) - 8 RP +5 Natural Armor - 12 RP Bite - 1 RP Claws - 2 RP Scent - 4 RP Things that can not be replicated with Race Builder:
Total Race Point Cost w/ Half-Elf - 62 The most expensive creature made in the race-builder is the Gargoyle, which costs a grand total of 36 Race Points. I'll be happy to kit-bash things to help build something that still has the flavor you want. In particular, I recommend just being a skinwalker. But I'm going to stand by my "Not playing with a were-tiger" statement still.
Hold on. So let me get this straight. She still counts as 11th level, but unlike the rest of us chumps who went with (relatively in my case) normal races, she gets to have (whenever she wants to be a half-normal/half-animal thing): DR 10/Silver (Even a Invulnerable Rager or Geokineticist would only have 5/- by this level.)
11th level casting as a Sorcerer (9 levels of Sorceror)
Yeah.... Ummm... Look, I'll just be frank. I'm not going to play with this. That is how much of a problem I consider it. I may be somewhat selfish in this regard, but I'm not going to play in a game where I'm hopelessly outshined by someone who's the "same" level as me.
OK, while looking through everyone's stat blocks to figure out who fits Shayless' profile by the standard pick listed in the books, I looked at Chirinide's sheet. And, not to be rude or anything, but.... I have absolutely no idea what class she is, what level she is, or why on earth she was allowed the were-tiger template. Maybe I'm just missing something here, but I'm feeling a bit... Leery of her now.
"Ummm... Churley? Maybe you should consider yourself a bit smarter. You're smarter than me...."
Sorry man. Had to answer the question. I'm sure you understand.
Marigold, I can cast enlarge person spontaneously out of my first level spell slots, I imagine we've done that a bunch. Sadly, the Goliath Druid's Enlarge person only works on them. Which is a disappointment, to say the least. Oh well, Mari probably just stole the whole "hulking out" thing from you after seeing how effective it was. I totally need a summery because I have no idea who those npcs are. I also haven't heard of Grauls. The Grauls are.... Ummm.... Have you seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre? It's like that, except worse. Like I said, that shit is traumatizing.
Book 1 has some particularly important parts that definitely deserve more detail. First is one of the best comedy moments in Runelords, Shayless Vender. Shayless asks one of us to help with a rat problem in the basement of the general store. Apparently Sandpoint has very different ideas about what is a rat problem, because once down there, Shayless promptly takes off her top and tries to seduce whoever she brought down. Things become more hilarious as her over-protective father interrupts this attempt. In addition, Shayless' older sister is one of Aldern Foxglove's first victims. Speaking of Mr. Foxglove, he is also first introduced in Book 1, and takes us on a rather spirited boar hunt. This is where the seeds of his obsession are planted. As it turns out, Aldern owes people a lot of money. Oh, and his grandfather tried to turn himself into a lich, and stained his ancestral home with necromantic energy that created a truly nasty mold (which is incidentally developed into a disease by assassins, but that's another campaign). And finally, on the thread of Nualia.... If circumstances had been better for her, she would have been a nice person. Think of her as an example of what Marigold could have been, more or less. In particular, you should probably consider us as have finding these. Oh, and for Book 3... Suffice to say that Marigold has a lot of trouble finding beauty in ogres and any who would work with them. That shit was traumatizing.
Marigold, I get the feeling we will work wonders together. By the way how do you feel about spontaneously transforming into various monsters? I feel like I only have a few more levels until I do that as a free action when raging. However, Mari's much better using her weapon. If you can make her big, then that has priority. Aside from that, though... Well, she's pretty well set.
1). You know those hags in Book 3? You know, the ones who were working with Boulderbelly and raised the Black Arrows commander as a wight? One of them was Marigold's mother. The Call led right to her. Since you guys almost certainly helped out in that regard, that'll get Mari on your side. 2). Marigold could easily have been a lust target for Aldern. However, if any of you think you'd be a better fit with him, then I'd be good with that. 3). Alright, who wound up with Shayliss? One of us did, dammit, and we need to find out who! Also, dibs on Ameiko. Lastly, what the hell did we do with Nualia? Marigold would be up for a subdue and redeem, because "Paladin." In fact, up until the Grauls, Subdue and Redeem is pretty much Mari's ideal. As it turns out, I've run RotRL to completion before. Complete 1 to 18 haul. I've got what happens down.
Wow. Congrats to everyone that made it in with me! I'm so excited to run through this!
Sounds good. I can finish tuning Marigold up.
Alright then. With that in mind, I guess it's time to roll up Marigold's HP. HP Rolls:
Annnd that's below average by about 13 HP. Taking the average of 82 instead.
Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on Drawbacks? Are they allowed or not?
Dotting with extreme MAGIC!!! Marigold here aught to be fun to level up.
And here's my character contribution! I'll keep my fingers crossed for Ms. Marigold here to get in!
Quick opinion poll, brawler or skald? Eh, while I find the appeal of choking out/punching out giants absolutely fantastic, Skald just seems like one of those stupidly-fun things to me. But in a similar vein, trying to decide between Dwarven Cavalier, Human Witch, and Changeling Bloodrager. All of them have crunch ready to go. Just need to get the background Giantslayer specific.
Dotting for interest.
I'm trying out something that I hope is unique for a Reign of Winter campaign I'm trying to get into. Changeling Bloodrager with the Fey Bloodline and Primalist Archetype. Is it going to be fully optimized? Nope. But she's going to be really close thematically to her mother in terms of power-set!
Alright then. Here is mourge40k's character. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Marigold Hazeman, Shelyn-devoted Changeling Bloodrager. |