Aww, nuts, I saw this a few days ago, and started musing on a Bloodrager//Skald but figured I still had plenty of time to apply. Just now read that submissions are closed. :(
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Good luck everyone!
Questions: Nibs usually nurses his resentment silently for those who because of race or station have more than he does. He will probably begin to see himself as a sort of "king of the fools" -- he gets to move among the kings because he is a king and he has his own domain, but he will always be seen as lesser than the other kings. He can order around the other fools, though, and maybe that will help his temper. :)
He is servile and obsequious with his betters, though he hates himself for it. Most of his brother and sister ratfolk are scavengers, and he is quite familiar with the notion of keeping down "in his place" in society to get ahead. He also feels great loyalty to those he identifies as family. Since he has been exiled from his brood, anyone who helps him avoid imprisonment and execution will have his enthusiastic support and obedience. Maybe a good way to put it is that he expects to be treated the way he treats his eidolon. He is its master, it must do what he tells it, but if he abuses it he may find that it does not serve him as well as it could. Likewise, Nibs will serve his masters well as long as the upstairs-downstairs agreement holds; they provide for him and protect him and he does what they tell him to do.
Here is my concept, a little anthropomorphic rat creature named Nibs. Background:
Nibs was caught performing a vile ceremony in a room beneath a holy shrine to Mitra, defiling it; he had captured eight others of his race and knotted their tails together before ritually killing them as part of a spell to bind a strange otherworldly being known as the Rat King. This evil outsider burst forth from the fresh corpses compelled to serve the novice summoner, and unfortunately for Nibs the authorities arrived immediately afterward.
Life was not easy for Nibs, it should be said; ratfolk are among the lowest of the lower classes in Matharyn, and perhaps he would have received mercy if he had been born a human or an elf or even a halfling. Instead, Nibs was cast out of his brood because he refused to serve the patriarch, a low-stakes crime boss called Feyling who required his extended family to steal for their living. Without his largess and exiled to the surface streets, Nibs had to beg and scrounge to survive, completely on his own in the world. Always outside society looking in, Nibs grew obsessed with arcane magic and would often sit in the tunnels beneath the grand library listening to the wizards and sorcerers practicing their spells. Magic seemed to him the answer to all of his problems: he wouldn't have to work or serve, and he could punish those who had wronged him. He began sneaking into the library and stealing books, which he read voraciously. He learned about devils and other outsiders and how they can be bound by occult rituals, and he knew he had found his calling. The Rat King lives inside all ratfolk, or so the legends told. Borrowing from dark rites invoking Asmodeus, Nibs plotted his ceremonial summoning very carefully to ensure that the spirit of the king of rats would be forced to serve him and not the other way around. And yes, the creature that emerged looked exactly like him in every detail, except for brief afterimages when it moved, almost as if many identical copies of itself were overlapping the same space. If he were to somehow escape his imprisonment and execution, Nibs dreams of running his own underground empire. Perhaps summoning the spirit of the Rat King has inflamed these desires, but it gives him joy to picture driving Feyling and his henchmen from their burrows and alleys near the Matharyn docks, and setting up a gang of ratfolk loyal to him instead. Perhaps he is even thinking too small; he could imagine one day setting up and leading a criminal organization that spans all of Talingarde. With his dark servant's help, he might someday become the literal Rat King, and bring his subjects to the better life that they have been denied for too long. Description:
Nibs appears more or less like an ordinary ratfolk. His fur is dark and his eyes are black, and he wears clothing like other humanoids. His voice is rough and whispery, with a slightly lower-class accent. He is generally not very clean, and looks especially dirty after being imprisoned for the journey to Branderscar. His eidolon rarely speaks, but otherwise looks and sounds exactly like its master, like a mirror image of Nibs. Both of them have a glowing rune on their foreheads. Left to his own devices, Nibs is calculating and quiet. Around other creatures-- particularly those who are bigger and stronger than he is-- he is obsequious and servile, though he hates this instinct in himself. He loves magical things: scrolls, wands, wondrous trinkets of all sorts. He thinks of himself as a great and powerful wizard and enjoys things that encourage this charade. He also likes rats in general, and he devotes hours to caring for them and training them. He is afraid of cats and other creatures that typically prey on rodents, partly for himself and partly on behalf of his many pets. Though he is not particularly pious or religious, he sometimes leaves offerings (coins, food, blood) to Asmodeus when he has the opportunity, believing that as a summoner of evil creatures it never hurts to have powerful friends on the other side. Many of the tomes he has read say that Asmodeus rewards those who worship and serve him, and he's already got one foot in that pit already, so he figures what the hell.
Roleplaying notes:
Nibs is a bit like Rocket Racoon: wry, a little sarcastic, violent, and scrappy. He is angry at the world and at creatures of other races, especially humans, though escaping prison and execution has changed his perspective somewhat. He feels strong pack loyalty, and that will quickly extend to the others who have been placed in similar circumstances. Character stats:
Name: Nibs Race: Ratfolk Alignment: Lawful Evil Deity: Asmodeus (sort of) Class: Unchained Summoner (Twinned Summoner) Roles: Rogue skills, arcane magic support, striker damage Crimes: Consorting with Dark Powers, Desecration, heinous Murder Abilities: Str 10-2 (-1), Dex 18+2 (+5), Con 14 (+2), Int 13+2 (+2), Wis 8 (-1), Cha 17 (+3) Size: Small (+1 attack/AC, -1 CMB/CMD) Level: 1 HP: 11/11 (1d8+3) AC: 16 (+5 Dex, +1 size) Initiative: +5 (+5 Dex) Speed: 20' (slow speed, no armor) Saves: Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +1 BAB: +0 Weapons: dagger +6 (1d3+0*, +1 vs flanked enemies, 19-20 x2) Armor: none Race traits: Darkvision (60'), Rodent Empathy (+4 Handle Animal vs rodents), Swarming (2 ratfolk may occupy same square, flank opponents they both attack), Tinkering (+2 Craft Alchemy/Perception/Use Magic Device) Favored class bonus: Summoner, +1 hp Traits: Cruelty (Drawback, -2 attack vs non-dying or non-helpless foes when dying or helpless foes are present), Murder (+1 damage when flanking), Vagabond Child (+1 Escape Artist, class skill), Wicked Leader (+1 Cha vs evil creatures, evil cohort may be one level higher) Feats: Agile Maneuvers*, Combat Expertise*, Deadly Aim*, Power Attack*, Scurrying Swarmer (can share space with ally, treated as having Swarming and teamwork feats), Weapon Finesse* Summoner abilities: spellcasting (CL 1), life link (can take lethal damage from eidolon), summon monster (summon monster i, 3+CHA/day, 6/6 remaining), twinned eidolon Summoner spells:
Adventuring skills: Escape Artist 1+9, Knowledge (Arcana) 1+5, Perception 1+1, Stealth 0+9 (small size), Use Magic Device 1+8 Background skills: Craft (alchemy) 1+7, Handle Animal 1+6* (+4 vs rodents) Languages: Common, Infernal, Undercommon Equipment: none
Eidolon stats:
Name: "The Rat King" Base Form: Biped Subtype: Twinned Size: Small (+1 attack/AC, -1 CMB/CMD) Abilities: Str 12 (+1), Dex 14 (+2), Con 13 (+1), Int 7 (-2), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 11 (+0) HP: 14/14 (1d10+1, +3 Toughness) AC: 15 (+2 Dex, +2 natural armor, +1 size) Initiative: +2 (+2 Dex) Speed: 30' (no armor) Saves: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +2 BAB: +1 Weapons: 2 claws +4 (1d3+1, x2); dagger +4 (1d3+1, 19-20 x2) Armor: none Feats: Agile Maneuvers*, Combat Expertise*, Deadly Aim*, Power Attack*, Toughness, Weapon Finesse* Eidolon abilities: darkvision, link, share spells Maximum natural attacks: 3 Evolutions: (evolution pool: 1) limbs (arms) 0; limbs (legs) 0; skilled (Disable Device) 1; skilled (Disguise) 0; weapon training 0 Adventuring skills: Acrobatics* 1+5, Bluff* 0+0, Climb* 1+4, Disguise 0+8, Disable Device* 1+13, Knowledge (Planes)* 0-2, Perception* 1+3, Sense Motive* 0+0, Stealth* 0+6, Use Magic Device* 0+0 Background skills: Craft (alchemy)* 1+1, Sleight of Hand 1+2 Languages: Common, Infernal, Undercommon Equipment: none
Build notes: Nibs is an attempt to build a serious version of the "two gnomes standing on each others' shoulders wearing a trenchcoat" character. As a ratfolk, Nibs gets the Swarming trait, which says that when two or more ratfolk share the same space, they are considered flanking an opponent they both attack. The Scurrying Swarmer feat allows him to share his space with his eidolon and attack as if they both had Swarming. The eidolon doesn't have Swarming, but does share all of Nibs's teamwork feats, and so over time they will both gain the benefit of Improved Spell Sharing, Swarm Scatter, Rat Stack, Precise Strike, Rending Swarm, Outflank, Shake It Off, Swarm Strike, Squirming Pile, and Paired Opportunists. I plan for Nibs to take Vile Leadership at level 7 and recruit an evil ratfolk rogue cohort that can also share his space thanks to Rat Stack and automatically flank thanks to Swarming. It's probably overkill, but then again the whole point is a whirling mass of attacks, so maybe there's no such thing. Plus, the cohort would bring more useful skills to the party. Nibs is primarily a support caster, with things like barkskin, greater magic fang, haste, heroism, mage armor, resist energy, and shield, and later communal stoneskin, dimension door, greater heroism, mass bull's strength, protection from spells and greater teleport. He is not a bad melee fighter, and will be able to deal consistent damage to single targets once he gets an agile weapon, but it's through his eidolon that he will dish out the most pain.
I've always wanted to do this campaign. I have a solid concept, a very rogue-ish ratfolk summoner-- let's see what I roll!
I can totally work with that. :)
Hi, GM Mustache. I got inspired thinking about it and decided to write up a character for your consideration. I'm willing to play on Discord using a computer and I enjoy fiddling with spreadsheets. Meet Verity Medvyed:
All her life, she was shunned and scorned for her physical appearance-- husky and plain, to put it kindly-- but since she is a scion of her noble family's house, she was expected to be influential and charming. As a young girl, she prayed every day to the goddess of beauty to make her pretty, but alas as she grew older she became even uglier. She felt she had no place at her family's estate, and started to exile herself from their company. She built a play-fort in the forest and pretended it was her castle. She imagined all sorts of courtiers and subjects who lived there, but none of them were human. Her realm was a court of monsters, and she was their queen. She had heard legends that there were fairies living in the forest, and sometimes she thought she could hear them drawn to her domain, spirits taking roles in her play. In this land she felt paramount, and she treated with visiting dignitaries wisely and kindly, confident in her authority. In dreams, she pictured Shelyn taking great pride in her barony, appreciating the beauty of her imagination. Over time, she came to believe that she had been blessed by the goddess, and given a peculiar task. The Eternal Rose desired her to bring her message of love and joy to all the ugly creatures of the world, to the monsters of the untamed wilderness, that in her worship they could become beautiful. She transformed her forest hideaway into a shrine where all wild creatures were welcome, and soon they began to appear when she called them. Her parents were amazed when they came to find her; at home she was dour and morose, but in the wild she was witty, articulate, and even imposing. They concluded that she had indeed received a divine blessing, this new confidence, though she was still very homely and uncivilized. They allowed her to spend more and more time at her rustic chapel, and helped her decorate it appropriately. Perhaps she would make something of herself after all, they thought. When Verity came of age, her parents arranged to send her to the capital, with the hope that she would influence the nobles to their family's benefit. There she joined the king's guard, where she ceremonially wielded Shelyn's glaive in defense of his majesty's person and court (and several times prevented violence). When word reached them of Rostland's sponsorship of a new kingdom in the Stolen Lands, King Noleski decided that he should send his own envoys to join them. Verity humbly begged the king to allow her to represent him, and to lead the expedition to the new country. Surprisingly, he agreed. Verity is in love with Brevoy's king, and wants desperately to impress him. This is her opportunity to show him what a worthy partner she would make, she believes. She also feels very strongly that Shelyn has given her this chance for a reason: to bring her faith to all the twisted and misshapen creatures of the wild, and with her blessings show them the way to true beauty. Traveling with her are a train of Brevoyan merchants, clerks, farmers, and laborers all seeking a new life in the south-- as well as one or two unusually monstrous citizens who have converted to Shelyn's worship and hope for better treatment in a new kingdom.
Character stats: Name: Verity Medvyed Race: Human (Issian) Alignment: NG Class: Inquisitor (Monster Tactician) 4 Abilities: Str 16+2 (+4), Dex 13+1 (+2), Con 14 (+2), Int 7 (-2), Wis 14+2 (+3), Cha 7 (-2) AC: 18 (+2 DEX, +6 armor), touch 12, flatfooted 16 Saves: Fort +6 / Ref +3 / Will +7* (+1 vs fey) Initiative: +5 BAB: +3 Weapons: glaive +7 [-1] (1d10+6 [+3] slashing damage, x3) Racial Traits: Dual Path (+2 to two ability scores) Feats: Summon Good Monster; Paired Opportunists*, Power Attack Traits: Inner Beauty (+4 Bluff/Craft/Diplomacy/Perform 1/day), Noble Born (Medvyed) Skills: Bluff 1+6, Diplomacy 4+6* (+2 vs fey), Intimidate 1+8, Knowledge (Arcana) 1+1* (+WIS monster lore), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1+1* (+WIS monster lore), Knowledge (Geography) 1-2, Knowledge (Local) 1-2* (+WIS monster lore), Knowledge (Nature) 1+1* (+WIS monster lore), Knowledge (Nobility) 4-2, Knowledge (Planes) 1+1* (+WIS monster lore), Knowledge (Religion) 1+1* (+WIS monster lore), Linguistics 2-2, Perception 4+6, Profession (courtier) 1+6, Sense Motive 1+8, Survival 2+6* (+2 track) Languages: Common (Taldane), Giant, Sylvan Inquisitor Abilities: domain (Conversion), domain power (Charm of Wisdom: use WIS for Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate), monster lore (add WIS to appropriate Knowledge checks), stern gaze (half level to Intimidate/Sense Motive), summon monster ii (standard action, lasts 1m/level, 3+WIS/day); cunning initiative, detect alignment, expanded summon monster (giant weasel, stag, trumpeter swan), track (half level to appropriate Survival checks); solo tactics Inquisitor Spells Known:
Equipment: breastplate, glaive Kingdom role: Verity would make a good Councillor, General, or Warden. I wonder if your house rules would allow Verity to accept a Charisma-based role in the kingdom and use her Wisdom score in its place? Shelyn's charms allow her to use Wisdom for most Charisma-based skills, so it would be very appropriate for, say, the Grand Diplomat.
There's so many fun Fighter archetypes, though a lot of them miss out on cool new stuff because they give up weapon training. I used to adore the Mobile Fighter until the Weapon Master's Handbook came out.
I love Desna-worshipping starknife-wielding Ricochet Toss fighter builds! Go for it! :D
I'm interested! Putting something together now.
I’m interested! I’ll put together some kind of arcane magic-user type tonight.
Ooo, sounds cool, I'll check it out!
I’m planning on a roguish summoner ratfolk. :)
I've modified my characters' stats accordingly. :)
Aw, thanks for the compliment, Tiger Claw!
@yiannisph I think chill touch works with mystic bolts even without Spellstrike. You can always deliver spells that require a touch attack through an unarmed strike or natural weapon. But if most of what you want to supplement the Magus VMC is spells, since you'll be using Arcane Pool with a weapon, you might consider making a Cabalist instead of a Warlock, since Cabalist gets the witch spell list and there's a lot of really good touch attack spells on there. :)
Much appreciated GM!
All these expectations are good with me. I've never seen the Dynamic Lighting feature, though. Does it light things subjectively, so that people can't see around corners? That seems like it would be kind of cool to me, though granted it means a lot of characters having to describe what is in front of them.
Well, as long as you're still open, I might as well give it a roll... Rolls:
= 16
= 10 = 13 = 13 = 10 = 8 Ugh, a 14-point buy. I guess I'll plan on a 20-point buy instead! I'm thinking a cleric of Pharasma, let me see what I can come up with.
I'm interested!
Yeah, I have a serious crush on fighter gestalts. Advanced Weapon Training! Feats! BAB and hit points! And all your skills and saves covered by the other half. I'm very jealous of all the martial apps. :)
VMC just replaces half the character's feats with class abilities, so it leaves most gestalt characters severely feat-challenged. I imagine it's not recommended generally for that reason. :)
Just posting to say I’m interested, I have a half-orc skald that I’d like to work on this weekend for this.
Thanks for the breakdown, Sven! I have an interesting character that I'd like to propose, which looks like she would fit in well. She's a Paladin//Skald, and she's all about inspired rage and healing effects. I'll post the details later today.
What are the current characters' classes, so our concepts don't conflict?
I have a Desna-worshiping halfling swashbuckler (flying blade) more or less ready to go, I'll write up the details.
I'd like to apply. Here's a die roll for my malignancy!
We've discussed this several times among the players in my group, and our verdict was yes, you can. Reach Spell lets you increase the range that the spell can affect, but reached shocking grasp is still a touch spell, albeit one where your reach extends further than usual. Generally, I think metamagic should not change the spell's definition, just the spell's effect. Especially when other class abilities only work with certain types of spells, like touch spells. As a touch spell, reached shocking grasp can be given to your familiar to deliver, and with something like reached chill touch you or the familiar can hold the charge between attacks. We treat it like spectral hand were automatically added to the spell, so you also don't lose the charge if you miss. You are still touching the target, not shooting a ray.
I notice you seem to keep conflating a spell with range: touch, a touch spell, and a spell with a touch attack. That makes it very hard to communicate the intricacies of this question, because they are all slightly different concepts. Anyway, Original Poster, there is some variation on interpretation of these rules, so feel free to share my support with your GM and see what they think.
It sounds like we agree that a Close Range scorching ray is not a touch spell just because it decreases the range, since the ability must specify that it is treated as a touch spell. A "melee touch spell," I note, the wording of which suggests to me that there is such a thing as a ranged touch spell. If it were possible to extend the range of a touch spell out to range: close, medium, or long, how do you think it would be worded? (As a side note, I always picture this looking like a spectral hand.) How would that be different from the wording of Reach Spell?
Reach Spell doesn't change the spell's range, it increases its range. The way I see it, this makes a Range: Touch spell reach further than it normally does, but doesn't change the spell's parameters. Range is a spell parameter. If you change the range then you have changed a spell parameter. As I said, I don't agree that Reach Spell actually changes the spell parameter. I think it increases the range that the touch spell can affect. As I see it, reach chill touch has Range: Touch, and the spell's controller can reach the equivalent of close range when casting it. I also don't see any rule that says that a spell with a ranged touch attack is not a touch spell by definition. Consider this from the other way, perhaps. Suppose a magus casts scorching ray using the Close Range magus arcana. Do we agree that this does not make the spell a touch spell simply because it changes the ranged touch attack to a melee touch attack?
Melikiador has stated things correctly. Range: Touch is what makes a spell a touch spell. If you use Reach Spell to change the range, then the spell is, by definition, no longer a touch spell. Reach Spell doesn't change the spell's range, it increases its range. The way I see it, this makes a Range: Touch spell reach further than it normally does, but doesn't change the spell's parameters.
Reach Spell says that "[s]pells modified by this feat that require melee touch attacks instead require ranged touch attacks." You can't hold charges for ranged touch attacks, and so you can't hold charges for a Reach Chill Touch spell. Furthermore, Familiars only get the ability to deliver melee touch attacks, not ranged touch attacks, so it couldn't make the attacks for you even if it was possible to hold the charges. The way I see it, chill touch says you can use this touch attack up to one time per level. Yes, Reach Spell changes it from a melee touch attack to a ranged touch attack, but this doesn't take away the part of the spell that allows you to hold the charge and deliver additional attacks. The spell is still Range:touch, because Reach Spell just increases the distance that the spell can affect. And since reach chill touch is a touch spell, you can still give it to your familiar to deliver, regardless of the increased range within which the spell's controller can attack.
First of all, provided that I do not cast a spell for the entire day after making the Familiar hold a spell, could I make a familiar hold onto a Touch spell until the next day? I think it's unreasonable to think that the familiar wouldn't discharge a held spell for a whole day. A few minutes at most. Also, if I have Reach Spell metamagic feat, can i make my familiar hold a Touch spell that has been meta-magicked into a ranged spell? Or make the spell become a ranged spell when my familiar releases it? I think this is fine. Your arcane bond allows you to deliver touch spells through your familiar, and (for example) chill touch is certainly a touch spell. And reach chill touch is the same spell, it just allows you to touch your target at close range instead of at touch range. You or your familiar can hold the charge as normal, until you cast another spell or your familiar touches something to disrupt it. |