Contributor
|
In Sean's latest Paizo blog, he gave a tip for having new Pathfinder players take on the role of monsters to simplify the options and rules they have to learn.
I've been wanting to run a Pathfinder scenario for my 8yo daughters for some time, and this tip struck me as a brilliant option.
My question is, what creatures from the Bestiary would be good to present them as options. I'm thinking I should keep things in the low- to mid-CR range. I don't want things to be too complicated, but a I also want them to have a few fun powers to use.
There are some neat possibilities in the CR 4 thru 6 range (pixie, minotaur, djinni, bralani, even half-celestial unicorn).
Anyone have thoughts or suggestions?
If she's 8, I'd go with an awakened normal animal, or something based on a normal animal. That would give her something familiar. A few examples :
Awakened Lion
Awakened Tiger
Awakened Dire Tiger (yes, CR 8, but she's 8, so not that big a deal).
Awakened Wolf
Awakened Dire Wolf
Pegasus
Simplified Lycanthrope (Just give her animal/human forms)
Unicorn (as you said, for an 8yo girl)
Alternately,
You could go with a 'construct' that was alive. Like a Homonculus or Carytid Column (durable). Another option is a Hound Archon or a Lantern Archon.
I can't help myself... must... quote... movie...
"In my world everyone is a pony, they eat rainbows and poop butterflies!"
-Katie (Horton Hears a Who)
If you wanted to start them as 1st level animals, there's always this... Noble Wild. I just bought it last weekend and haven't had much time to read through it, but the overall feeling is Disney-like.
|
Contributor
|
I can't help myself... must... quote... movie...
"In my world everyone is a pony, they eat rainbows and poop butterflies!"
-Katie (Horton Hears a Who)If you wanted to start them as 1st level animals, there's always this... Noble Wild. I just bought it last weekend and haven't had much time to read through it, but the overall feeling is Disney-like.
Because your suggestion is so helpful, I'll forgive the "pooping butterflies" quote. ;)
Thanks, Daniel. Let me know what your further impressions of "Noble Wild" are. I think the idea opens itself up to some great stories. I get a real Chronicles of Narnia vibe from it.
I can't help myself... must... quote... movie...
"In my world everyone is a pony, they eat rainbows and poop butterflies!"
-Katie (Horton Hears a Who)If you wanted to start them as 1st level animals, there's always this... Noble Wild. I just bought it last weekend and haven't had much time to read through it, but the overall feeling is Disney-like.
Because your suggestion is so helpful, I'll forgive the "pooping butterflies" quote. ;)
Thanks, Daniel. Let me know what your further impressions of "Noble Wild" are. I think the idea opens itself up to some great stories. I get a real Chronicles of Narnia vibe from it.
I also think Noble Wild is a good choice. It is rather more balanced and thus easier to use with other children as well. Plus it has rules for the core classes used with the animals.
I was getting ready to explain the game and campaign to a new player, she took one look at the isle of dread map from dragon magazine and pointed at the hippogriff picture. "Can I be that? I want to play that..."
As a rule, I don't argue with my players /or/ discourage enthusiasm, so I jacked up the INT on a hippogriff. She's been playing it ever since, and has had a lot of fun inventing / explaining hippogriff culture, eating habits and so on. (This is NOT a child, btw, but I think a child would have just as much if not more fun with some creative control of critter culture. For advancement, it's a tweaked griffon from Savage Species.)
I like the awakened Lion idea, too. Who wouldn't want to be a lion? If the world is still fairly normal otherwise, it would be good fun for an 8 year old to intimidate folks and act a little "lion-y," but still be stereotypically "noble" without violating "cartoon logic." I think I'll pitch the idea to my niece... ;-)
Honestly, if the whole point is to keep it simple for new players, anthropomorphs, lycanthropes and third party sourcebooks might not be the best solution. ;) I'd also stay away from evil at the start.
Let's see, just flipping through the pages... ooh, a lantern archon could be a great starting character. Ignore Gestalt and they're pretty darn simple. CR2, but they're very strong against the average non-spellcasting monster. Aid at will lets them play as support characters, which IMO is good for new players: less can go wrong if someone else is in front of you. Teleportation and flight are great for teaching a new player how great teleportation and flight are. ;)
Doppelgangers might be pretty cool, depending on the scenario. Mimicry gives free proficiency with absolutely everything, which simplifies gear concerns. Detect thoughts and Perfect Copy serve a similar purpose to teleportation and flight, above. Less impressive in combat than the lantern archons, but great for showing them that there are powerful alternatives to combat.
A wyrmling dragon could make a great starting character, and has the advantage of being a dragon. I mean come on, how cool is that?
Y'know, I've always wanted to write up a mimic assassin. "Having studied you for three rounds, the dining table lunges..." But anyway.
Just how typical are these 8-year-old girls? Because I think pegasus and unicorn have already been mentioned; but, pegasus and unicorn.
foolish question, does she like fairies? if so the nixie in the bonus bestiary might be a good option, though they suffer from aquaman syndrome so you might want to through in some water here and there for them.
Personally, I've always wanted to play a talking dog. Some dead wizard's old familiar.
|
Contributor
|
Tejon may be right, actually. Simplicity is more the goal. Frankly, I expect I'll be picking up the Noble Wild, because I'm sure my girls would love playing an animal. Combining that with the awakened animal idea makes for some cool story possibilities (the powerful Druid of the Forest has awakened his animal friends to help him battle a great evil rising in the land...that kind of thing).
For their first scenario, though, I think something else might be better.
I do like the faerie dragon option. They have a good variety of abilities, but aren't quite up to much physical combat. Might be fun to pit them against kobolds or goblins or something, though.
An adventure with faery dragon characters...It kind of reminds me of that episode of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. Hmmm...
The girls do love fairies. We've played some Faery's Tale Deluxe, but I'd like to introduce them to Pathfinder. It'd be nice to have some stats for the Disney-style faeries (i.e., Pixie Hollow/Tinkerbell faeries).
I'll do some more brainstorming on this.
Thanks, all!
Talking dog is cool too.
Tejon may be right, actually. Simplicity is more the goal. Frankly, I expect I'll be picking up the Noble Wild, because I'm sure my girls would love playing an animal. Combining that with the awakened animal idea makes for some cool story possibilities (the powerful Druid of the Forest has awakened his animal friends to help him battle a great evil rising in the land...that kind of thing).
I still have not gotten around to reading the darn book, life has been busy lately, an oddity unto itself.
Anyway... About 15 years ago I had a DM who was infatuated with everything "Lion King", we ran what is now referred to as "awakened" animals in almost exactly the plot that you described above. An elder druid who dies of old age and leaves his closest animal friends a parting gift of being "awakened", with the idea that they would defend the forest in his place, while overcoming their own differences. We also received rings that allowed us to become "humanoid" for a short duration, so we could 'attempt' to interact with 'people from the city'. (Boar = Orc, Panther = Drow, Owl = Wingfolk, etc.)
The girls do love fairies. We've played some Faery's Tale Deluxe, but I'd like to introduce them to Pathfinder. It'd be nice to have some stats for the Disney-style faeries (i.e., Pixie Hollow/Tinkerbell faeries).
Faeries are probably a good start, you could dumb them down really and just make them tiny flying humans instead of dealing with all the silly little abilities. A "David the Gnome" or "Fern Gully" style setting could be fun. :D
|
I've used Noble Wild in a 3.5 game to great effect before (before PFRPG even came out)...
I would highly recommend it instead of merely "awakened" animals (as far as for use as PCs)...
It allows you to keep it simple at first, and as your children grasp more and more of the game, you can get more and more detailed with it...
Just my thoughts...
-That One Digitalelf Fellow-
