So. Player joining my campaign at level 7. His character concept is a Golarion-imagining of Adventure Time's Finn and Jake. At first, I thought "pff, this is stupid, make a real character," but I do know him as a very good roleplayer, and he's had characters in the past that started off with silly ideas, but developed into their own unique and serious personalities. So I've started to play around with some ideas just in case.
Finn: Ranger 7, two-handed weapon style.
Jake: Awakened Animal 1 HD, Transmuter Wizard 4.
The idea here is that Jake had the Awaken spell cast on him at some point. The player is taking the Leadership feat, and losing his animal companion class feature (when Jake is awakened, he is no longer eligible for companion status, so Finn is entitled to a new one, but declined), so I'm charging half cost for the Awaken spell.
My options for Jake would be either to come up with a unique Magical Animal with self-polymorphing abilities, or to give him class levels that let him cast various polymorph spells. The problem with the former is that I'd need to balance those powers through all 20 levels, whereas with class levels there is power progression built in (even if at the start Golarion-Jake can't do all the things that Ooo-Jake can do.)
We chose Wizard for Jake because when we rolled his intelligence, he got 16 on the 3d6, and only 3 charisma. His feats are going to be Eschew Materials and Dodge. He is a transmuter, with the shapechange subschool, and he's going to be focused on providing flanking and other support to Finn. Battleshaping allows him to grow a natural attack for a round with an enhancement bonus. He'll be taking Improved Reposition later.
His spell list will be focused on buffing transmutations, which he'd cast on himself before combat. The spell I wish he could have is Enlarge Person, but he isn't a humanoid, and the spell Animal Growth is 5th level. Animal Aspect, reflavored somewhat, would allow him to do some stretchy powered things, so he'll be taking that. Shield to keep him safe.
Since Jake as a cohort is costing Finn both a feat, an Awaken spell, and a class feature, I am considering allowing Jake to do some things beside the rules. I'm considering allowing Enlarge Person to affect him (after all, it's not like he's a CR 7 elephant), as well as the ability to wield weapons and use items like wands and other things that require hands. I'm not sure if this is overpowering the RAW awakened animal companion cohort idea, or if it would be removing the penalties he has for taking an awaken animal as a cohort as opposed to a human of the same level.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Truly, I am putting much too much thought into this. I only hope my player sticks to his guns and doesn't make Finn and Jake too much of a joke character...
I think, since Jake is not going to be an AC, that there is little thematic reason to choose the Ranger class. Finn is definitely all about being the fighter. (and with all those feats, you could more easily sculpt the character you want)
I like your ideas for Jake! If you get the gumption to do it, I would maybe just consider making him a unique creature using the monster building rules... just a thought.
We have two players who are rock-solid regular and two to three more who are fairly dependable but can flake out from time to time. I've been talking with the first two about creating a side campaign that's a little different just for the two of them, for when the rest of the group is unable to make it. The theme/concept is 'The Adventures of Bobble and Squeak' and it stars a Bobble, Goblin Brawler and Squeak, a Draconic Sorcerer. Both characters have high stealth and perception scores to add to their respective talents, but it will be (as intended) about as far frmo an optimized game as possible. I expect it to be a lot of fun.
What I'd really like to do is to choose an AP and tailor it for them, but I'm not sure which if any would lend itself to such low-powered gaming.
DajellyMan; that's true about not much reason to be a ranger. Jake was originally going to be Finn's AC, before we found the Awaken spell. As I said, it's not going to be exactly Finn and Jake as much as Golarion's version of it, with a different origin story.
A unique creature from the monster building rules would be the best to get a perfect Jake, but I worry about the balance, and the other players complaining about him getting too powerful a cohort. Since Jake would level up by Leadership rules, I'd have to balance him throughout his career, and I'm definitely not comfortable enough with the monster building rules to do that. Although, are there any other creatures with a similar, stretchy powered type ability, that I could use as a base?
Maybe a choker, but with improved reposition instead of constrict. Knock as a spell-like ability (Key Hand!)...
Snorter; Does he? I'll admit, I haven't actually seen much of the show yet. But that would make sense. I don't think he'd be a Paladin in Golarion, as he doesn't strike me as pious, but he could still be a LG fighter.
JBB; I don't know any APs off by hand that would fit that, but I imagine there could be a lot of shorter adventures that could be lower leveled for them.
Dotting. I want to see where this is going.
Magical Beast could work as a creature type for Jake, if we're not going with awaken.
I agree that fighter would be the most fitting for Finn, at least mechanically. I don't remember him ever doing anything spell-like, which rules out both paladin and bard. As such the only issue is finding enough skill ranks as a fighter (being a human might help here) to throw some into perform sing. (which kind of performance is beat-boxing?)
Thymus; We've already given him Perform(Beat-Boxing) as a skill, hah. If we do take fighter, and he doesn't have any int bonus, then we're still likely going to "waste" some points on it regardless. Although Bardic Beatboxing could be interesting...
Redchigh; A magical shapeshifting creature would work well. And yeah, an alchemist-type ability would work. Although I'm thinking just going with spell-like abilities in this case. X/day ability to cast knock, enlarge person (on self, to large size), and animal aspect (for various other types of shaping).
JTibbs; the background is definitely something that we need to work on, being Golarion and not Ooo. A Fey creature would be perfect, I think. Not entirely unprecedented.
I should mention that we are taking Finn and Jake, but imagining them in a real-world view (or as realas Golarion gets). Jake was going to have a racial bonus to disguise/bluff to appear as a regular dog (Finn and Jake would have special signs to communicate without Jake talking and blowing his cover). We're also aging them up, to Jake being about 18, getting much more physical stats than he looks as a kid.
Just for the hell of it, I'm trying to run through the race builder to make a custom race for Jake. I've never used it before, so it may be a while, and I'm not in any way expecting you to use whatever I end up with. This is purely for my own entertainment, but I plan on sharing.
So far I'm going with monstrous humanoid for his type, but would you prefer fey? (Fey gives low-light vision and costs 2 RP while monstrous humanoid gives darkvision and costs 3 RP, though I'm probably going to disregard RP costs for the most part)
I think fey would likely be best, although considering Ooo is a post-apocalyptic world, a good-aligned aberation could even work.
The reason he's not a weapon finesse build is mostly for party-inclusion reasons, although its also supposed to be an older, stronger Finn as well, so the player wants him to be strength based.
Here's an idea: Neither fey nor monstrous humanoids can be affected by reduce/enlarge person, and that's a problem with Jake. However, as animalistic as they all look, both catfolk, kobolds and tengu are humanoids, respectively with the catfolk, reptilian and tengu subtypes, so we could go with something like a humanoid with the canine subtype. I can still get him some low-light vision (or darkvision) if that's to be desired.
Also, I'm having some trouble determining what his ability modifiers should be. I kind of want to give him a bonus to strength and/or constitution, but I don't know if I should give him a bonus to a mental stat, and what to throw any potential penalties into. The easy solution would've been to say +2 to any given ability score, but that option has human subtype as a requirement.
Are you saying I should give him some level of poison resistance?
Weird Suggestion:
Finn is a Summoner with an heirloom weapon longsword (or greatsword, depending on your view of it), and Jake is his Eidolon. All of Finn's spells are actually Jake stretching out and duplicating the effects.
Finn, of course, just hits stuff with his sword.
Examples:
Enlarge Person: Duh
Expeditious Retreat: Jake gets super long legs and runs them out of there
Feather Fall: Jake turns into a parachute
Grease: Jake sweeps a super long leg under the enemy legs, or stretches out to yank their weapon away, or expands to shake off a grappler, etc.
Shield: Jake stretches out some of his body into a shield
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I at first thought Summoner as well, since I can't imagine building a proper Jake any other way. Trouble is, teh summoner himself doesn't match Finn at all. Even if the summoner's "spells" are just Jake doing it, that implies that Jake is doing all that AND getting a full-attack in while Finn just stands there and watches.
I would say, make Finn a fighter, and use Leadership to give him the Eidolon of a 5th-level summoner, minus the summoner.
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Well, here goes.
Race name: [Jake the Dog]
Type
Humanoid, [Jake the Dog] 0 RP
Humanoid races have few or no supernatural or spell- like abilities, but most can speak and have well-developed societies. Humanoids are usually Small or Medium, unless they have the giant subtype, in which case they are Large. Every humanoid creature also has a subtype to match its race, such as human, giant, goblinoid, reptilian, or tengu. If you are making a new humanoid race, you should either find an existing subtype to match or make a new one by using the name of the race as the subtype. If you are making a half- breed race, it should have the racial type of both parent races. For example, a half-elf has both the human and the elf subtypes. Subtypes are often important to qualify for other racial abilities and feats. If a humanoid has a racial subtype, it is considered a member of that race in the case of race prerequisites. A humanoid race has the following features.
• Humanoids breathe, eat, and sleep.
Size
Medium 0 RP
Medium races have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. A Medium creature has a space of 5 feet by 5 feet and a reach of 5 feet.
Speed
Normal speed 0 RP
The race has a base speed of 30 feet.
Ability Score Modifier
Standard 0 RP
Members of this race gain a +2 bonus to one physical ability score, a +2 bonus to one mental ability score, and a –2 penalty to any other ability score.
Language
Standard 0 RP
Members of this race start with Common plus their racial language (if any). Furthermore, choose up to seven languages (except for Druidic or other secret languages). Members of this race with high Intelligence scores can choose from any of these additional languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Defensive Training, Greater 4 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class.
Natural Armor 2 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
[/b]Feat and Skill Racial Traits[/b]
Beguiling Liar 2 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +4 racial bonus on Bluff checks to convince an opponent that what they are saying is true when they tell a lie.
RESKIN THIS TO A BONUS TO DISGUISE TO PASS FOR A REGULAR DOG
Skill Bonus: Bluff 2 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefits: Pick a single skill. Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on skill checks made with this skill. Alternatively, pick two related skills—each member of this race gains a +1 racial bonus on these skills during character creation. Special: This trait can be taken up to three times. Each time it is taken, choose a different skill (+2 bonus) or two different
skills (+1 bonus on one of character’s choice).
Magical Racial Traits
Spell-Like Ability, Lesser: Enlarge Person 1 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Choose a 2nd-level or lower spell that does not attack a creature or deal damage. Members of this race can use this spell as a spell-like ability once per day. The caster level of the spell is equal to the user’s character level. Special: This trait costs as many RP as the level of the spell chosen (minimum 1 RP). This trait can be taken up to three times. Each time you take an additional spell, adjust the RP cost of this trait appropriately.
Spell-Like Ability, Lesser: Reduce Person 1 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Choose a 2nd-level or lower spell that does not attack a creature or deal damage. Members of this race can use this spell as a spell-like ability once per day. The caster level of the spell is equal to the user’s character level. Special: This trait costs as many RP as the level of the spell chosen (minimum 1 RP). This trait can be taken up to three times. Each time you take an additional spell, adjust the RP cost of this trait appropriately.
Offense Racial Traits
Bite 1 RP
Prerequisites: Small or larger size; Benefit: Members of this race gain a natural bite attack, dealing damage equivalent to that of a creature two size categories lower than normal for their size (Bestiary 302; 1d2 for Small races, 1d3 for Medium, etc.). The bite is a primary attack, or a secondary attack if the creature is wielding manufactured weapons. Special: This trait can be taken up to two times. The second time it is taken, the bite damage increases by one size category.
Race name: [Jake the Dog] It is five in the morning and I can't be bothered to figure out a proper race name, and simply "dog" would be confusing with the animal.
Type Humanoid for the sake of enlarge/reduce person. Subtype should be the same as race, unless someone can find an already existing subtype that fits the bill.
Size I originally went for small because Jake is not the tallest dude in the world, but then I realised he needed to be medium to carry Finn after enlarge person. Larger dogs are also medium sized anyway. I imagine he uses the same dice as dwarves for determining height.
SpeedI don't think Jake should be slower than normal, but we could also drop him to slow speed and never have his speed reduced due to encumbrance (just like dwarves). This would cost -1 RP and bring us down to 12 RP spent.
Ability Score Modifier I haven't really decided what to do with this yet. If anyone else has a great idea for how to assign these modifiers, great. If not, this is sort of a placeholder.
Language Standard seems like the obvious way to go, although I didn't pick any languages to choose from (again, five in the morning). Alternatively, for +1 RP, he can have Linguistic and have common, a racial language, and pick between all languages except for Druidic and other secret languages for his bonus languages.
(Btw, Jake should totally know Tian. Golarion-Lady Rainicorn would probably speak Tian in place of Korean)
Defense Racial Traits I went with +2 dodge bonus to AC to reflect on the strange ways Jake can bend, and I just felt like he should have natural armor for some reason.
[/b]Feat and Skill Racial Traits[/b]Well, here's both your bluff bonus and your disguise bonus to pass for a regular dog, even if I had to reskin/rewrite one of the existing traits to do the latter.
Magical Racial Traits These speak for themselves.
Offense Racial Traits He's a dog. A dog without a bite attack would be very sad.
13 RP if nothing gets changed. It's more than the standard races, but less than stuff like drow, aasimar and fetchlings, and on par with tiefling.
No, just make sure his size transformations are REAL transformations.
He can at will change his body to become stronger, heavier, lighter, and all the benefits that entails...
I wanted to do this, but chose not to do so for the sake of modesty, as at-will SLAs are only accessible to races with 20+ RP. But since Jake really should have enlarge/reduce person at will, let's buff him up a little!
Changes/new stuff is in italics.
Race name: [Jake the Dog]
Type
Humanoid, [Jake the Dog (13 RP)] 0 RP
Humanoid races have few or no supernatural or spell- like abilities, but most can speak and have well-developed societies. Humanoids are usually Small or Medium, unless they have the giant subtype, in which case they are Large. Every humanoid creature also has a subtype to match its race, such as human, giant, goblinoid, reptilian, or tengu. If you are making a new humanoid race, you should either find an existing subtype to match or make a new one by using the name of the race as the subtype. If you are making a half- breed race, it should have the racial type of both parent races. For example, a half-elf has both the human and the elf subtypes. Subtypes are often important to qualify for other racial abilities and feats. If a humanoid has a racial subtype, it is considered a member of that race in the case of race prerequisites. A humanoid race has the following features.
• Humanoids breathe, eat, and sleep.
Size
Medium 0 RP
Medium races have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. A Medium creature has a space of 5 feet by 5 feet and a reach of 5 feet.
Speed
Normal speed 0 RP
The race has a base speed of 30 feet.
Ability Score Modifier
Flexible 2 RP
Members of this race gain a +2 bonus to any two ability scores.
(I suggest +2 strength and +2 dexterity)
Language
Standard 0 RP
Members of this race start with Common plus their racial language (if any). Furthermore, choose up to seven languages (except for Druidic or other secret languages). Members of this race with high Intelligence scores can choose from any of these additional languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Defensive Training, Greater 4 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class.
Natural Armor 2 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
Resistant 2 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects and poison.
[/b]Feat and Skill Racial Traits[/b]
Beguiling Liar 2 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +4 racial bonus on Bluff checks to convince an opponent that what they are saying is true when they tell a lie.
RESKIN THIS TO A BONUS TO DISGUISE TO PASS FOR A REGULAR DOG
Skill Bonus: Bluff 2 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefits: Pick a single skill. Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on skill checks made with this skill. Alternatively, pick two related skills—each member of this race gains a +1 racial bonus on these skills during character creation. Special: This trait can be taken up to three times. Each time it is taken, choose a different skill (+2 bonus) or two different
skills (+1 bonus on one of character’s choice).
Magical Racial Traits
Spell-Like Ability, At-Will: Enlarge Person, Reduce Person 4RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Choose a 3rd-level or lower spell that does not attack a creature or deal damage. Members of this race can use this spell as an at-will spell- like ability. The caster level of the spell is equal to the user’s character level. Special: This trait costs as many RP as twice the level of spell chosen (minimum 2). Up to five spells can be chosen when you take this trait. Each time you take an additional spell, adjust the RP cost of this trait appropriately.
Offense Racial Traits
Bite 1 RP
Prerequisites: Small or larger size; Benefit: Members of this race gain a natural bite attack, dealing damage equivalent to that of a creature two size categories lower than normal for their size (Bestiary 302; 1d2 for Small races, 1d3 for Medium, etc.). The bite is a primary attack, or a secondary attack if the creature is wielding manufactured weapons. Special: This trait can be taken up to two times. The second time it is taken, the bite damage increases by one size category.
Senses Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision 1 RP
Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.
And thus, I ended up giving him some poison resistance anyway, because I had to spend those last 2 RP on something, and I don't really want to exceed the 20 RP minimum.
How about you just give him a Spriggan reskinned with a bite attack, then, if you want Finn to be a fighter?
And I am pretty sure everyone knows Jake is not a normal dog, so there's no reason to give him any bonus of that nature.
I kind of like the idea of Jake as a magical beast with levels of Sorcerer of the Aberrant bloodline and the Lunge feat. Or maybe Jake is a synthesist summoner.
Thymus, that's awesome! I'll definitely think about using something like that. If he's got his own race, would he level up with racial HD or with class levels? And what class would Jake even be?
For the purpose of my campaign, we do want to hide Jake as a real dog, at least for as long as possible. The point is that Finn and Jake are just the base, not the actual result. We actually wanted to hide the inspiration from the rest of the players for a while.
I really like the idea of the spriggan's size change ability being used, and I think if I build him as a monster, it would definitely use that.
Silent Saturn's idea of building him as an eidolon that casts on himself is interesting, but in that case, I might as well just go with my original idea of making him a transmuter wizard.
EDIT: I forgot about the synthesist summoner. That's something I should look into.
I honestly don't know how to make a balanced cohort out of Jake by using custom races, even though Thymus' race ideas area really cool. Same goes for making him out of a Spriggan-based monster. I know how to build a monster to a specific CR, but I'm not sure how to balance CR to effective character level. The Monstrous Mounts section in Leadership has monsters and their cohort level, but the CR and cohort levels don't match up.
Blink Dog CR 2, Cohort 4
Dragon Horse CR 9, Cohort 16
Griffon CR 4, Cohort 8
Hell Hound CR 3, Cohort 7
Shadow Mastiff 5, Cohort 8
Unicorn CR 3, Cohort 8
Worg CR 2, Cohort 5
I would really like Jake to be a monster that levels up with racial HD instead of class levels, because I really don't see any classes fitting with him and his special abilities. Granted, this is definitely a home campaign, but I still care about balance.
EDIT: So, I read the Monster Creation and Race Creation rules, and I think I have a better idea on what I want to accomplish with him.
To recap, I need Jake to be a cohort to a level 7 fighter, meaning he needs to be on par with a 5th level adventurer. I don't want him to have a ton of feats or powers beyond the racial abilities from the show.
What I plan on doing is using Thymus' 20RP Jake thing, and giving him levels in NPC class Warrior. I'm going to hope that the fact that he's a 20RP race but has NPC classes will balance out to approximately the same power for a 5th level adventurer.
That's awesome. Feel free to adjust him if you find something in the race builder that seems more appropriate than what he already has. (I considered giving him scent at +4 RP, but I can't remember if he has ever used his nose to track anything).
I like the idea of trying to balance him out by giving him NPC levels. Are you maybe planning on letting him take levels in PC classes later? I can't imagine using NPC classes to balance him out would be fair forever.
Maybe consider letting him have a tiny intelligent construct follower as B-MO? It should be largely useless, but well versed in the perform skills: Act to reflect on B-MO's play pretend that he does all the time, and probably oratory to make up for not being a playable console.
While definitely not perfect, a souldbound doll could be a good place to start. Adjust the skills and maybe replace an SLA with mirror image, and then the biggest problem is that soulbound dolls aren't made from metal.
You wouldn't have to let him have this from the beginning—he could meet B-MO and pick him up as a follower through gameplay. If your player isn't reading this thread, just imagine how awesome it would be to do this without him knowing beforehand. (But remember to give your other players something equally awesome so they don't feel like he gets special treatment).
According to his wiki page (god I am spending too much time on this) he does have a high scent ability.
I came up with an altered version of Thymus' Jake race. I've bolded changes.
Type: Magical Beast (0RP)
This is not a standard race choice, but Jake is an NPC run by me anyway, so I might as well throw caution to the wind. He is treated as humanoid for any racial benefits, but is treated as a Magical Beast for other effects
Size: Medium. Speed: Regular. Ability:Standard (-Str +Dex, +Cha). Language: Standard.
Defensive
Natural Armor (2RP)
Greater Defensive Training (4RP)
Feat/Skill
Beguiling Liar renamed "Dog Form": +4 Bluff/Disguise to convince people about being just a dog. (2RP)
Removed Skill Bonus:
Spell-Like At Will: Enlarge Person, Reduce Person(2RP)
Spell-Like 1/day: Knock AKA "Key Hand", Expeditious Retreat(Self), Feather Fall(Self), Bull's Strength(Self) (4RP)
Many of these spell-like abilities only work on Jake himself, so the RP costs are slightly lowered.
Offensive
Bite (1RP)
Senses
Low-Light Vision (1RP)
Scent (4RP)
Now, I'm definitely giving him unfair bonuses with the spell-likes, but like I said, NPC classes. Warrior levels, getting the full BAB and d10 HD, would almost be like just giving him racial HD. At least, that's how I see it. I don't want to give him PC class levels, just because I see his racial sp abilities being his primary boon to Finn. I'll have to talk to the player and see what he things.
Just increase his effectiveness by increasing his hit die, bab, and saves as a magical beast, because that's exactly what he is.
I love the key hand!
SLA at will should cost 4 RP, or did you also lower the cost for them because he can only use them on himself? I am also curious as to how you justify getting +4 to both bluff and disguise with Dog Form, but of course you're the GM, so it's your call.
I wish I'd get to see this in play.
Twenty rp works out to a one level adjustment I believe, so his CR would be 1. Add 2 to that and your effective cohort level would be 3. Add Hit die bab and saves as a magical beast beyond that point as normal. Jake should be accessible with all of these features by Finns fifth level.
If Jake's type is changed to magical beast, his reduce and enlarge person won't work without some further houseruling, though.
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Hrm. This is what I would use for Jake, personally.
+2 Strength, +2 Dexterity: Jake is both strong and nimble.
Humanoid: Jake is a humanoid creature with the dogfolk and sizechanger subtypes.
Normal Speed: Jake has a base speed of 30 feet.
Small: Jake is a Small creature, which grants him a +1 size bonus on attack rolls and to his AC, a –1 penalty to his CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Change Size (Su): Jake possesses a size pool with a number of points equal to his Hit Dice + his Constitution modifier. While Jake possesses at least 1 point in his size pool, he gains the compression universal monster rule. In addition, Jake can spend 1 point as a standard action in order to increase or decrease his size by one category. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack and Jake can return to his true size as a free action without spending points. When Jake's base attack bonus reaches +5, he can spend 2 points to increase or decrease his size by two categories. When his base attack bonus reaches +10, he can spend 3 points to increase or decrease his size by three categories.
Low-Light Vision (Ex): Jake can see twice as far in conditions of dim light than Finn the Human.
Natural Attacks (Ex): Jake possesses a bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage. This bite attack's damage increases or decreases with Jake's size.
Scent (Ex): Jake gains the scent special ability.
Languages: Jake can speak Common. If Jake possesses a wicked high Intelligence score, he can select from the following languages: Aquan, Korean, Ignan, or Terran.
Sizechanger Subtype: A creature with the sizechanger subtype is able to drastically alter its shape or size seemingly at will. A sizechanger receives a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against effects that cause physical ability damage or drain and negative levels and they can escape any transmutation effect that alters their size as a standard action; this does not allow the sizechanger to escape polymorph effects.
To top it off, sprinkle in some feats like this:
Morphic Limbs
You are able to alter your body in incredible ways.
Prerequisite: change size racial trait.
Benefit: Select 1 of the following spells. You can spend size points in order to use the following spells as supernatural abilities. Use your Hit Dice as the caster level for these effects, and any saving throw DCs are Charisma based. You must possess a Constitution score equal to the spell's level + 10 in order to select it with this ability.
Glide (1 point; self only)
Jump (1 point; self only)
Knock (2 points)
Stone Fist (1 point; self only)
Special: You can select this feat more than once. Each time it is selected, choose a new spell to add to the list of abilities you can spend size points on.
The +4 Bluff and Disguise bonus only applies to a very specific act, convincing people that he's just a normal dog, but not for any other form of lying or disguising. While I likely wouldn't let a regular PC have it, I'd do it for Jake.
Alexander, where did you get the Morphic Limbs and Change Size traits? Are they not on d20pfsrd?
Trogdar; Leadership requires level 7, but luckily that's where he's starting at. He would have a leadership score minimum 7, giving him a Cohort Level 5th. So if that race would have LA of 1, and adding 2 for a cohort level 3rd, would I add two magical beast HD to get a cohort level 5th?
yep
@IcedMik Nope. I made them up just for this thread. Morphic Limbs is a feat by the way.
Alright, I've changed it up. I'm basing him less on the specific point-buy systems for monster/race creation, and just making him what feels right.
Made typing to Magical Beast, because that seems to fit best. Removed the enlarge/reduce person for a sizechanging ability that's not type dependant, from the Spriggan page that mplindustries suggested, and modified as Alexander's Change Size pool.
Gave him 3HD of Magical Beast, but I'm seriously worried he might be too squishy at level 7 game, so I made his Con slightly higher and a dog's natural armor. His ability scores come from the Common Dog creature base, but with an improved int and cha (as if he had the Awaken spell on him)
I would likely suggest if this was to be used, to give Jake some magic items to buff his defenses. I would hate to run a game where Finn has to go on living without Jake.
Jake the Dog
Male Magical Dog
N Small Magical Beast
Init +1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 12, (+1 dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 29 (3d10+12)
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee bite +5 (1d3+1),
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Morphic Limbs, Change Size
Morphic Limbs (Su)
Jake can spend a 1 point of his size pool (see Size Alteration) to gain one of the following effects. His effective caster level is equal to his Hit Dice, and his saving throw DCs are Constitution based.
Stone Fist (Sp): As the spell.
Key Hand (Sp): As the spell knock, but with a somatic component, and range of touch. This requires 2 points of his size pool to use.
When Jake gains more feats, he can spend them on the following Morphic Limbs abilities:
Glide (Sp): As the spell.
Jump (Sp): As the spell.
Size Alteration (Su)
Jake has a size pool equal to his HD + Con.
As a standard action, Jake can spend 1 point to change his size from Small to Large. Weapons, armor, and other objects on the Jake's body grow proportionally when he changes size (objects revert to normal size 1 round after a spriggan releases them). When a Jake becomes Large, he gains +12 Strength, –2 Dexterity, and +6 Constitution, and he takes a –2 size penalty to his AC. Returning to Small is a standard action but doesn't require a point.
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 12
Feats:Morphic Limbs (Key Hand and Stone Fist)
Skills: Acrobatics +7 (+11 jumping), Bluff +2 (+6 to convince being a dog), Perception +7, Perform(Viola) +5, Stealth +7, Survival +1 (+5 scent tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent
Languages: Common, Tien
SQ dog form, Jake's skills
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Dog Form (Ex): +4 Bluff to convince others that he is a mundane dog. Jake appears to be a mundane dog while not using his Change Size or Morphic Limbs abilities.
Jake's Skills:
Perform(Viola) is a class skill for Jake.
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My idea wasn't a summoner that casts on himself. My idea was that Jake is an eidolon. He wouldn't have the summoner's spells, and he wouldn't get the Share Senses or Life Link abilities with Finn (who'd be a fighter).
Functionally, Finn and Jake would be a fighter with an eidolon-- no summoner in sight. You'd just have to explain that, somehow, this eidolon doesn't have a summoner with whom he has bonded, and that this fighter is his best friend. At best, I'd give Jake the Skilled(UMD) evolution and a wand of Rejuvenate Eidolon or Evolution Surge (to make up for no summoner), but then that's not how Jake rolls. Maybe give him easy access to potions of it?
Maybe include something to give him hands so he can actually manipulate objects and play his viola?
Also, viola is included in Perform (strings), so I think it's unnecessary to limit it like that. If you specifically want the viola to be mentioned, how about giving him a trait that says "Jake receives a +2 trait bonus on all perform checks made while playing a viola, and perform (strings) is always a class skill for him"?
Finn is higher than 1st level and multiclassed (mostly fighter with a level of rogue and a level of wizard).
So, new episodes are out! Now, this is probably too late for OP's player, but how would you handle the Jake Suit without going synthesist summoner?
PB called him a mutant. I'm working on mutations as powers that go up by level. Having elastic shapeshifter allow him to simulate transmuter self spells would work. Cannon would say a magic mud puddle mutated him.