Character Concept [Archive] - Wizards Community

Character Concept [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
bluelighter0
05-11-05, 07:30 AM I need help with multiple aspects of a character, and I'm not sure where the best place to ask would be, so I figured I'd start here. I'd like some feedback on my idea, and if any of you happen to be adept at homebrewing races/classes and can help me stat this guy, that'd be nice too.

Battle is waged across the open grassland. A small tribe of bugbears fights against a group of hired mercenaries and adventurers charged with driving the monsters away from the nearby city. As a mighty barbarian cleaves through the monsters while in the grip of a powerful rage, a slight Elven woman opens an ancient tome and calls forth arcane might, bringing fire raining down upon the startled beasts. As the bugbears and the adventurers trade blows, one monster notices a lone child standing just at the edge of the battlefield. With a maniacal growl, the bugbear advances, ignoring the sudden chill wind rising from the ground around the child. The boy looks up at the advancing beast and gives it a puzzled look. In a soulful, haunting voice, he says "You mean to harm me. My friend doesn't like that.". The wind whips itself into a frenzy, and one of the many bladed weapons hanging from the boys back lifts itself into the air and flies straight through the chest of the confused Bugbear. The boy gives the dying creature a sad smile. "If only you had wanted to be friends."

Sorry, I get a little cinematic at times. Any ways, the idea I have plays on the Telekinetic Thrust power from the XPH, which effectively allows the character to hurl things (like rocks or arrows or weapons) through the air at his/her enemies. While thinking about that power, I considered the possibility of a haunted child, someone who's life was so miserable and who was so downtrodden that even a poltergeist would take pity on him and work to defend him. Utilizing some of the more common back story elements (an abusive home or a childhood as an orphan) to explain why a creature as malevolent and misunderstood as a lost spirit would choose to devote it's existence to watching over him, I'd like to make a character that doesn't necessarily fight for himself, but can still hold his own in combat in his own unique way.

I'm not going for making a real homebrew class out of this, although if someone wanted to take the concept and do that, that'd be fine with me. What I'm looking for is a way to play a character like this in a single game. I'm going to go over the idea with a DM, but any advice or suggestions would help that process a lot. Maybe give him a limited power point progression just to use TK Thrust (and maybe a couple of other powers like Inertial Armor that could be a representation of the ghost acting to protect the boy, and some kind of empathy to know when someone meant to harm him), and link Manifester Level to hitdice (or 1/2 hitdice or whatever, for balance). Possibly there'd be a way to treat the "class" like a monster or NPC progression, where specific bonuses and traits were acquired based on hitdice or at a certain level. If I could find a happy medium with balance AND flavor, I would be ecstatic.

Any suggestions both for flavor and mechanics are much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Shar_Narishma
05-11-05, 08:32 AM i think the power you are looking for(seeing if there is anyone who wishes to harm you), would have to be Detect Hostile Intent, its a second level power on the psion/wilder list.

I like the concept, sounds fun to play.
agent_paper
05-15-05, 10:19 AM What might be good as a class choice for such a character would be Wilder. They learn very few powers, but can manifest them well, their power is tied to their emotional state - seems to fit the concept pretty well, it seems. Do you agree?
bluelighter0
05-16-05, 11:18 AM My DM also suggested Wilder, so unless I can come up with something else, that might be my only option. The problem, though, is that the Wilder does gain other powers, even if it's only a few, and they can't access TK Thrust until 6th level. Beside that, I don't see myself using any of the Wilder's abilities, and flavor-wise, the wilder doesn't really work. The kid's emotions don't matter, it's all about his guardian spirit.

Like I mentioned, I was thinking something more like they way some monsters gain abilities and powers as they gain HD. Or maybe a specific class. I don't really know, I've never made anything "homebrew" before.

I was thinking that at first level, the ghost could provide either Inertial Armor or TK Thrust every round, but not both, and nerf both abilities at low levels to balance out their "at will" bonus.

Thrust, as the power, says you can throw one item/person per ML (to a max of 15 targets), with a total weight of 250 lbs., and you can augment to increase the weight limit. Maybe we could impose a really low weight limit that scaled naturally towards the original limit as the character progessed, and limit the number of thrown items to 1 every 4 character levels or something. Is being able to throw 1/3rd of the normal max enough of a limit to reflect it being useable at any time?

And what about Inertial Armor? If you figure a 23rd level manifester (20 levels plus Overchannel for 3) could manifest Inertial Armor with a +15 to ac (+4 for the power, +11 for augmentation), what would be a sufficently low enough bonus to have it on all day, and how would it scale? +1 at first level seems pretty self-explanitory, but then what?

Is Detect Hostile Intent too powerful to have "always-on"? I may be misreading, but it seems like it would give you a leg up on invisible creatures and the like. Maybe nerf the "cannot be caught flatfooted..." part, or have it kick in at a higher level?

What other powers would be fitting with a ghosts interaction on the material plane? Concussion Blast? Some kind of weak Magic Missile? I'm mostly looking at [Force] powers here, because that just seems like the most logical form of "expression" a ghost could make in the real world.

I'm sorry if this seems fragmented or confusing. I'm pulling an all nighter, and I don't think I'm explaining it the right way. It makes sense in my head, but I can't get it to make sense on here. Oh well.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bluelighter0 05-11-05, 07:30 AM	I need help with multiple aspects of a character, and I'm not sure where the best place to ask would be, so I figured I'd start here. I'd like some feedback on my idea, and if any of you happen to be adept at homebrewing races/classes and can help me stat this guy, that'd be nice too. Battle is waged across the open grassland. A small tribe of bugbears fights against a group of hired mercenaries and adventurers charged with driving the monsters away from the nearby city. As a mighty barbarian cleaves through the monsters while in the grip of a powerful rage, a slight Elven woman opens an ancient tome and calls forth arcane might, bringing fire raining down upon the startled beasts. As the bugbears and the adventurers trade blows, one monster notices a lone child standing just at the edge of the battlefield. With a maniacal growl, the bugbear advances, ignoring the sudden chill wind rising from the ground around the child. The boy looks up at the advancing beast and gives it a puzzled look. In a soulful, haunting voice, he says "You mean to harm me. My friend doesn't like that.". The wind whips itself into a frenzy, and one of the many bladed weapons hanging from the boys back lifts itself into the air and flies straight through the chest of the confused Bugbear. The boy gives the dying creature a sad smile. "If only you had wanted to be friends." Sorry, I get a little cinematic at times. Any ways, the idea I have plays on the Telekinetic Thrust power from the XPH, which effectively allows the character to hurl things (like rocks or arrows or weapons) through the air at his/her enemies. While thinking about that power, I considered the possibility of a haunted child, someone who's life was so miserable and who was so downtrodden that even a poltergeist would take pity on him and work to defend him. Utilizing some of the more common back story elements (an abusive home or a childhood as an orphan) to explain why a creature as malevolent and misunderstood as a lost spirit would choose to devote it's existence to watching over him, I'd like to make a character that doesn't necessarily fight for himself, but can still hold his own in combat in his own unique way. I'm not going for making a real homebrew class out of this, although if someone wanted to take the concept and do that, that'd be fine with me. What I'm looking for is a way to play a character like this in a single game. I'm going to go over the idea with a DM, but any advice or suggestions would help that process a lot. Maybe give him a limited power point progression just to use TK Thrust (and maybe a couple of other powers like Inertial Armor that could be a representation of the ghost acting to protect the boy, and some kind of empathy to know when someone meant to harm him), and link Manifester Level to hitdice (or 1/2 hitdice or whatever, for balance). Possibly there'd be a way to treat the "class" like a monster or NPC progression, where specific bonuses and traits were acquired based on hitdice or at a certain level. If I could find a happy medium with balance AND flavor, I would be ecstatic. Any suggestions both for flavor and mechanics are much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Shar_Narishma 05-11-05, 08:32 AM	i think the power you are looking for(seeing if there is anyone who wishes to harm you), would have to be Detect Hostile Intent, its a second level power on the psion/wilder list. I like the concept, sounds fun to play.
agent_paper 05-15-05, 10:19 AM	What might be good as a class choice for such a character would be Wilder. They learn very few powers, but can manifest them well, their power is tied to their emotional state - seems to fit the concept pretty well, it seems. Do you agree?
bluelighter0 05-16-05, 11:18 AM	My DM also suggested Wilder, so unless I can come up with something else, that might be my only option. The problem, though, is that the Wilder does gain other powers, even if it's only a few, and they can't access TK Thrust until 6th level. Beside that, I don't see myself using any of the Wilder's abilities, and flavor-wise, the wilder doesn't really work. The kid's emotions don't matter, it's all about his guardian spirit. Like I mentioned, I was thinking something more like they way some monsters gain abilities and powers as they gain HD. Or maybe a specific class. I don't really know, I've never made anything "homebrew" before. I was thinking that at first level, the ghost could provide either Inertial Armor or TK Thrust every round, but not both, and nerf both abilities at low levels to balance out their "at will" bonus. Thrust, as the power, says you can throw one item/person per ML (to a max of 15 targets), with a total weight of 250 lbs., and you can augment to increase the weight limit. Maybe we could impose a really low weight limit that scaled naturally towards the original limit as the character progessed, and limit the number of thrown items to 1 every 4 character levels or something. Is being able to throw 1/3rd of the normal max enough of a limit to reflect it being useable at any time? And what about Inertial Armor? If you figure a 23rd level manifester (20 levels plus Overchannel for 3) could manifest Inertial Armor with a +15 to ac (+4 for the power, +11 for augmentation), what would be a sufficently low enough bonus to have it on all day, and how would it scale? +1 at first level seems pretty self-explanitory, but then what? Is Detect Hostile Intent too powerful to have "always-on"? I may be misreading, but it seems like it would give you a leg up on invisible creatures and the like. Maybe nerf the "cannot be caught flatfooted..." part, or have it kick in at a higher level? What other powers would be fitting with a ghosts interaction on the material plane? Concussion Blast? Some kind of weak Magic Missile? I'm mostly looking at [Force] powers here, because that just seems like the most logical form of "expression" a ghost could make in the real world. I'm sorry if this seems fragmented or confusing. I'm pulling an all nighter, and I don't think I'm explaining it the right way. It makes sense in my head, but I can't get it to make sense on here. Oh well.