Post/Author/DateTime	Post
megatherion 01-29-06, 01:46 PM	Final Version: The Halfling Man-eater "It tastes like crodlu." - Ranaj, the halfling Man-eater, answering a silly question. Man-eaters, the feared subgroup of halfling hunters, are commonly formed when a great threat looms over their communities. Threat from the tablelands, to be sure. On many occasions did groups of people, and demi-people as well, try to root out the halflings from parts of the Ringing Mountains, trying to start the exploitation of the fertile forests. At such occasions the Great Chief calls upon the Ritual of the Hunt and Forrest Cleansing, which forms these barbaric and brutal cannibals. The sheer ferocity of these warriors was always more than enough to drive the intruders away, screaming in fear. The Ritual of the Hunt and Forrest Cleansing is actually a very simple ceremony, though undoubtedly mystic to the untrained eye. The halfling Man-eaters-to-be have their teeth sharpened into spiky needles (very painful to be sure, which is remedied by the use of natural herbs to dumb the pain), and the Great Chief would impart on them some of the more frightening aspects of the nature through the use of naturalistic magic. These aspects are permanent and are considered to be a great honor among the halflings. Some halflings grow their fingernails into claw-like fashion at an almost magically sharp and alarming rate, others would get a mad-like look as their eyes would widen. They would all remain quite sane as these transformations are used only to impart a sense of dread onto their enemies. Hit Die: d10 Requirements Race: Halfling Base attack: +5 Skills: Climb +8, Jump +8, Intimidate +5 Feats: Acrobatic or Athletic, Poison Resistance, Track ability Special: Must have attended the Ritual of Hunt and Forrest Cleansing. Class Skills: The halfling Man-eater's class skills are: Climb, Craft (Poison-making), Craft (Alchemy), Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Survival Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. CL BAB F R W Special 1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Bite attack, Poison Use 2nd +2 +3 +0 +0 Poison spit, Scare 3rd +3 +3 +1 +1 Claw attack, Run 4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Climb Food 5th +5 +4 +1 +1 Poison Bite, Fear Class features Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Halfling Man-eaters gain proficiencies with all natural weapons such as their bite and claws. They also gain proficiency with the halfling blowgun*. They gain no additional armor or shield proficiencies to those they have already. * see appendix for the halfling blowgun dart rules. Bite attack: Having teeth sharpened, a halfling Man-eater's bite attack is quite demoralizing to the enemy. It deals d4 + strength modifier piercing damage, and is considered a primary natural attack. Poison use: Man-eaters are proficient with the use of poison and never risk to poison themselves when applying a poison to a blowgun dart. Furthermore, they also do not risk poisoning themselves when using their Poison spit and Poison bite attacks. Poison spit: At second level, Man-eaters can forgo the use of the blowgun and spit the poisoned blowgun dart with alarming precision. The range increment of such an attack is 20 ft, while it deals 1 point of piercing damage. They in fact carry the dart between their sharpened teeth, and cannot accidently swallow the dart or poison themselves. They can also manipulate the dart with the tongue and shift if between the rear teeth so that is does not interfere with their speech and is out of sight. A Man-eater can only have a single blowgun dart in his teeth at any given time. Once spit, the dart can be 'reloaded' as a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Scare (Su): At second level the frightening image of a halfling descending to eat his enemy allows the Man-eater to use the Scare ability, as per spell. The save DC is 10 + halfling man-eater level + halfling's charisma modifier. If the halfling has negative charisma, it is considered as positive. This is a supernatural ability usable once a day for every 4 levels the Man-eater has. Claw attack: At third level the Man-eater's fingernails have elongated into claws. The Man-eater can use them now as a primary natural weapon that deals d6 + strength modifier slashing damage. Run: The Man-eater at third level gains the Run feat, offsetting the problem of his smaller legs. He is now quite skilled at quickly gaining on his foes and at jumping. Climb Food (Ex): To the horror of his enemies, the veteran Man-eater is quite able at climbing his food-to-be. When he approaches a medium sized or larger humanoid opponent, he can either jump at his neck and bite at his head, or climb him using claws, dealing damage along the way. Each of these two special attacks requires a full-round action and provokes attacks of opportunity from any other opponent standing nearby, but not from the one being jumped or climbed. - Jump and bite: 1. Jumping on head: The attack requires a successful Jump check equal to 10 + opponent touch AC. 2. Biting at face: This is a normal attack using teeth against the opponent's touch AC. 3. Dealing extra damage: The halfling now pushes himself against the opponent with his legs, trying to rip out the flesh. If he succeeds a strength check vs. the opponent, the bite he scored previously is a critical hit. 4. Landing down: The halfling lands in front of the opponent and facing him at the end of his jump attack, no matter the result. - Climb and slash: 1. Climbing opponent's back: This attack requires a successful Climb check equal to 10 + opponent AC. The Man-eater is now mounted on the opponent's back. 2. Dealing damage along the way: If he succeeded the Climb check he has automatically pierced the opponent's back armor. He deals normal claw damage, and thus ends the Man-eater's round. 3. Staying on back: The opponent has -4 penalty on attack rolls against the Man-eater, due to the peculiarity of the Man-eater's position. The opponent can alternatively throw him away (10 ft) with a successful strength check that is a full-round action. In that case the Man-eater needs to make a successful DC 10 Reflex save or land on his back. 4. Dealing damage: For every round the Man-eater is on the opponent's back, he can attempt to make a standard or full attack against the opponent's touch AC. He tries to score slashes and bites at the opponent's head and neck. Jumping down is a move-equivalent action, and lands the Man-eater directly behind his opponent. Special: While the halfling Man-eater is mounted on his opponent's back they both regain their dexterity, as this is not a standard grapple-and-pin fight. Poison bite: The Man-eater has perfected the handling of the blowgun darts with his teeth and tongue, and can deliver the dart's poison with a successful bite attack. He can still only have a single dart in his teeth, and 'reloading' it is a move-equivalent action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Fear (Su): The look of blood-caked crazy-eyed halfling with needle teeth and razor sharp claws is quite unsettling. The Man-eater gains the Fear ability, as per spell, with the save DC equal to 10 + halfling's man-eater level + halfling's charisma modifier. Again, a negative modifier counts as a positive one for this effect. This ability is usable once per day. Feat: Poison Resistance You are unusually resistant to poison, having built up a tolerance from repeated exposure at an early age. Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all fortitude saves vs. poison and nausea effects. Halfling blowgun dart: The blowgun dart is a poison delivery tool. Less than an inch long, and a quarter-inch in diameter, it fits into the halfling blowgun nicely. Providing the air thrust of the blowgun it can do minor piercing damage (d3), if aimed precisely. Without the blowgun thrust (as in the Poison spit and Poison bite attacks) by itself it only deals 1 point of piercing damage.
Ruhl-Than Sage 01-29-06, 03:05 PM	:D Awesome! Few notes however, change 'fangs' to 'claws' or 'talons'. Fangs are in your mouth, not on your hands. Crodlu is spelled with a 'C'. Alchemy is not a knowledge, its a craft. The DC on your fear effect should probably be 10 + Halfling Man-Eater Level + Cha modifier. Also rather than the poison dart in the mouth thing, what about requiring the following feat as a prerequisite, and then making members of this PrC immune to poison as a supernatural ability at 2nd level. That way you could have them just literally spit the poison or apply it to their teath. Poison Resistance You are unusually resistant to poison, having built up a tolerance from repeated exposure at an early age. Prerequisite: Halfling Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all fortitude saves vs. poison and nausia effects. Special: This feat can only be taken at 1st level.
megatherion 01-29-06, 03:08 PM	:D Awesome! Thanx a LOT! I'll implement the changes immediately! ...Although I think your poison resistance should be general, not halfling-only nor regional. Anyone can dabble in poisons anywhere. Son of some bard for example. I think you're right about the feat but I'd put that in and leave the darts as well. I'd leave this at this, and see what others say. Those Scare and Fear abilities - are they supernatural or spel-like abilities? I'm a bit confused in this particular case..
Ruhl-Than Sage 01-29-06, 03:51 PM	Thanx a LOT! I'll implement the changes immediately! ...Although I think your poison resistance should be general, not halfling-only nor regional. Anyone can dabble in poisons anywhere. Son of some bard for example. I think you're right about the feat but I'd put that in and leave the darts as well. Fair enough :) Those Scare and Fear abilities - are they supernatural or spel-like abilities? I'm a bit confused in this particular case.. Spell-like abilities are supernatural abilities (but, supernatural abilities aren't necessarily spell-like abilities). These are spell-like abilities and thus supernatural abilities as well. So the (Su) listed after the ability names is correct, but when specify what type of ability they in the text you need to say that they are spell-like abilities. BTW once you finish refining this PrC you should submit it to Jon for inclusion in the PrC2 document :D
megatherion 01-29-06, 03:53 PM	So the (Su) listed after the ability names is correct, but when specify what type of ability they in the text you need to say that they are spell-like abilities. Well, I did say "as per spell" so I guess that's reasonable enough. It won't work in an anti-magic field and that's all there is to it. :) Thanx again for the help!
megatherion 01-29-06, 05:46 PM	BTW once you finish refining this PrC you should submit it to Jon for inclusion in the PrC2 document :D Hmm, I think this is it, for now, although I'd like to see some comments/tests on the jump and climb attacks. (oh btw, I always thought those two skills are woefully under-used) Say, we have a generic Man-eater with STR +2 and 12 ranks in Climb and Jump. Say it's +14 with Jump and +16 with Climb due to the feat. Base attack +9 because he's a 5th lvl ranger / 4th lvl man-eater. Generic enemy: Fighter, touch AC 12, AC 17 (armor+shield). Base attack +10 for a 10th lvl fighter. Strength +4. Jump and bite: 1. PC has to beat AC 22 with a jump check, thus he has to roll 8 to hit a fairly ordinary touch AC. Check. 2. Hit touch AC. Halfling has to roll 2 to make that hit. Well, this is also ok, since it's not much damage. 3. The tricky part. strength check against an always more powerful opponent, since halflings have strength penalties. Only 40% chance of a critical hit. Result: If the halfling made a normal full attack with his claws, he'd have to roll 6 of first attack and 11 on second. You can see that the halfling easily can do as much and more damage id he's not jumping the enemy. Adding to that is the fact he landed right in front of an enemy who can now do a full attack on him. That's why I'd allow this. Needless to say, the halfling will have a trophy - an ear or an eye after his attack succeeds. Climb and slash. Round 1: 1. PC now has to beat AC 27 with his climb check. He has to roll 11 or more, which is circa 50%. Check. 2. PC deals damage automatically if he sucedded 1. - d6+2, bad, but this damage is only preliminary, since the whole point of climbing one's back is to slash him over and over on the unprotected face, at step 4. Round 2: 3. On the next round the enemy makes a strength check to toss him over. 40% chance of remaining in saddle. Much lower if climbing a half-giant. 4. Halfling starts his massacre. Having +11/+6 attacks, he has to roll 2 on the first attempt and 6 on the second to deal damage. Now, this is the good part. Every round he has only 40% chance to remain "in saddle", but if he does, he deals damage practically unhindered. Result: This is a much harder approach since the odds are greatly against the halfling. But if the halfling has two-weapon fighting feat he can slash with his other hand as well, and damn, it looks cool.
megatherion 01-31-06, 03:29 AM	The playtesting of the Man-eater's climb and jump attacks went fine, both are very simple to use and not too powerful. Whenever there's a half-giant, it's damn easy to climb him but noone ever remained on his neck for more than one round, nor did the critical on the jump-to-face attack. Damn, the half-giant's skin is simply too tough. (failed strength checks, obviously halflings are not ment to climb half-giants). Are there any other objections or suggestions from you dear people, or should I wrap this baby up as the final version for submission? Are the attacks clear? Is there anything missing/undefined? Any questions or corrections?
Ruhl-Than Sage 01-31-06, 12:07 PM	edit, nevermind...
NytCrawlr 01-31-06, 12:13 PM	I'm suprised no one else responded to this one! Yeah, very creative. Haven't had time to tear it apart yet though. If you will wait a little while I can. The biggest thing that sticks out to me is the d1 dart damage thing, that needs to be killed and just stick with normal dart rules. Maybe say they can only spit darts that are one size category smaller than themselves?
megatherion 01-31-06, 01:07 PM	Yeah, very creative. Haven't had time to tear it apart yet though. If you will wait a little while I can. The biggest thing that sticks out to me is the d1 dart damage thing, that needs to be killed and just stick with normal dart rules. Maybe say they can only spit darts that are one size category smaller than themselves? The way I see it, the blowgun darts are not crossbow bolts. They are a small poison delivery tool that fit into a quarter-inch wide blowgun pipe. If they're so small hey can't do much damage and without the blowgun air thrust they only do minimal damage. If you have a suggestion on how to aviod the d1 rule, by all means, I'm willing to implement it. As for the playtest, please! I'd be more than happy to hear other people's results on how this lil monster works! :D
NytCrawlr 01-31-06, 01:12 PM	The way I see it, the blowgun darts are not crossbow bolts. They are a small poison delivery tool that fit into a quarter-inch wide blowgun pipe. If they're so small hey can't do much damage and without the blowgun air thrust they only do minimal damage. If you have a suggestion on how to aviod the d1 rule, by all means, I'm willing to implement it. If you don't want to use the darts out of the PHB then I suggest writing up the rules for these darts and only make them do 1 point of damage instead of saying d1, especially since there is no such thing as a d1. ;)
megatherion 01-31-06, 01:39 PM	If you don't want to use the darts out of the PHB then I suggest writing up the rules for these darts and only make them do 1 point of damage instead of saying d1, especially since there is no such thing as a d1. ;) Lol, thanx! Fixed now. :) Edit: added the halfling blowgun dart description and rules, fixed proficiencies to reflect this.
megatherion 02-05-06, 02:49 PM	Has anyone (but me) tried to playtest this one? If so, any observations? If none I'll submit it for the PrC2.