Animal party [Archive] - Wizards Community

Animal party [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Khazra
02-14-04, 05:04 PM Loads of people have monster parties but could sum1 help me with a party of 5 awakened animals. Any ideas will be very helpful in terms of what animals are what classes. And please dont say 5 dire bears cos it has no flavour, although one isnt outa the question. But definetly want ape or dire ape cos they can use weapons, particuarly lance.
Sisyfos
02-14-04, 05:28 PM Have someone who can fly in that party. Its a great boon to your information gathering skills.
Khazra
02-14-04, 05:31 PM Which class should i take for that or does it depend on animal?
Rugraknot
02-14-04, 05:41 PM Ferret Socerer
Raven Wizard
Racoon Rouge
Dog Fighter
Fox Cleric
Stoned Golem
02-14-04, 05:54 PM How about a dire bear barbarian and an ape paladin? The paladin would use a lance and ride the barbarian into battle of course.:D

If you have a bard, I think some species of bird would be a fun choice.
catharz
02-14-04, 06:00 PM A party of Anthro animals or Lycanthropes wouuld be simpler.

Anthro Giant Squid frontliner
Anthro Bat druid
etc.
Khazra
02-15-04, 06:39 AM Dont want both a sorcerer and wizard. Cool idea for the ape but wont a dire bear be dificult to ride. If any ones gonna be ridden they'll be a monk so they can go mega fast. then flurry sum1.
If i were to have a dire wolverine barbarian would them already having rage make the ability better.
Should level adjustment be applied cos for instance having opposable thumbs and huge stat bonuses make some animals way good.
Khazra
02-16-04, 04:25 PM :bump:
CrimsonRyoko
02-16-04, 05:07 PM Tick Psion (wiggle your way in, dominate, and now your human!)
Butterfly Sorcerer (hehehe nobody ever suspects the butterfly!)
Slug Cleric (Meh why not?)
Fly Rogue (Sneak attack, and imagine the speed!)
Flea Monk (Hea-yah!)

Lol. . . or not. . . ya know, whatever!
Snow Savant
02-16-04, 07:02 PM An interesting character would be an Awakened Tiger with Druid or Wiz/Sorc levels. Why?

Imagine casting Flaming Sphere. Which you can roll around each round using your MEA. Using your standard action, you can charge and pounce, getting your full attack action (which could include Rake). That's pretty nice multi-tasking utility.

Other similar spells are Dessicating Bubble and Stone Sphere.

XO,
Snow :cloud9:
Stoned Golem
02-16-04, 07:44 PM I thought the only time you could charge as a standard action was when you could only take a move or standard action on your turn, for instance while you were slowed, or on the surprise round.
Khazra
02-18-04, 04:41 PM I should definetly have a druid in this party, let him wildshape into human.
Will apes be too good because of there ability to use weapons.
Conaill
04-02-04, 06:04 PM I've just started a brand-new Awakened Animal thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=213092), and I would love you all to join me to continue the discussion there.

I decided to write out "Awakened Animal" as an actual template, just to force me to be as explicit as possible about exactly what the change in type and the extra HD give you. Dissenting opinions are welcome, of course...
ck2001wendt
04-02-04, 06:07 PM Teenage [Awakened] Ninja Turtles
Conaill
04-02-04, 06:09 PM [@nal]Shouldn't that be "Ninja Awakened Teenage Turtles"?[/@nal] :D
ck2001wendt
04-02-04, 06:24 PM Grammar was never my strong point...I do whatever the media tells me.

Just think about it. They all could be Level 1 Awakened Turtle monks. Though I guess Leonardo would have to be a Samurai, since he's toting daisho. Raefael would probably have to be a straight Ninja as well, but I don't see why Monk flury shouldn't work with paired Sai.

Oh, they'd probably also need something to get them up to at least Medium size. K, I'm officially lame.

In all (partial) seriousness:

You want to go with the classic 4-party set up: Martial/Arcane/Healer/Skilled, plus your Ape Paladin

-The Martial should be something big and brawny, like Snow's Awakened Dire Tiger or a Bear, then go the Barbarian route. Large size and big Strength bonuses would be nice.

-The Ape Paladin SHOULD be able to ride a large creature (assuming he's medium). Just buy a saddle. But whatever you do...make sure it's okay with your Bear buddy first. But since he's the only one who can throw down with weapons, why not give him some basic archer abilities?

-The Arcane could be a flying creature with superb maneuverability. This would bring a whole new meaning to the term "battlefield control," kind of a living Flying Fortress. As Complete Warrior mentions, an eagle flying at 300 ft (fireball range) is hard to detect at low levels (Spot 26), whereas concentrations of foes are very easy to Spot.

-I'd love to see an Awkakend Druid. Something that could Wildshape into a human, as was already mentioned. This guy is also your third combatant.

-A good Rogue would be a Tiny creature with a great climbing ability and stealth skills. Who would ever suspect a squirrel of disarming all your fort's traps? And imagine the nightmares the fort's defenders would have after the squirrel lays down a Sneak Attack (Bite) and tears out someone's jugular! Cast Fly on him, and let the Monty Python comparisons begin (big, sharp, nasty, POINTY teeth!)
Morka
04-02-04, 09:42 PM What about an eagle arcane trickster?

Or a toad necromancer, specialized in the spell magic jar? There is a thread somewhere explaning that an halfling wizard could pass all day long possessing a big and strong guy, letting his lifeless corpse under the care of a cohort. Imagine an awaken toad possessing your favorite monster, what is more easy to carry than a dead toad?
ck2001wendt
04-03-04, 12:20 AM That's pretty good, though I'd love to see an eagle OR a toad manipulate lock picks... :)
Balthanon
04-03-04, 01:17 AM Originally posted by ck2001wendt
That's pretty good, though I'd love to see an eagle OR a toad manipulate lock picks... :)

It's only a -2 penalty to pull it off with your claws (i.e. no thieves' tools.) ;)

I think if I were going with an all animal party, I would probably stay away from the more powerful, high hit dice animals and primates for both flavor purposes and keeping power levels at a relatively even keel. Keeping at 3 hit dice and under to try and accomplish that, I would go with:

Wolverine Barbarian/Fighter (Unlimited raging each day, albeit with limitations, seemed like a good fit for the party tank and the wolverine wins out over the badger because it's bigger and meaner.)

Leopard Rogue/Ranger (Pounce, a high dexterity/initiative and sneak attack go together very well. And as a scout, the bonuses to hide and move silently don't hurt. Felines also have some of the most dextrous paws/limbs outside of the primates and those claws that give a decent alternative to thieves' tools.)

Cat Sorcerer (Abandoned familiar? It had the highest charisma of the animals in the Monster Manual and I just couldn't see an awakened animal wizard, aside possibly from an owl, who would still have difficulty with that spellbook.)

Paired Eagle and Owl Druids (All the birds have higher than average wisdoms and could use wild shape the most in my opinion for dungeons and the like where flying room is limited. Two of them because I think druids are more appropriate than clerics in this instance but aren't quite as good at healing, which could be a necessity with potentially limited armor/ac. Eagle and owl was basically just for flavor purposes and to differentiate them, plus the spot bonuses at different times of day could come in handy. Another decent alternative would be the boar, since the druid is going to be the healer of the party, and ferocity (plus a decent con) will let it stay up longer than usual.)

Surrogate Spellcasting [Savage Species] is a necessity for the spellcasters in order to get by without hands for somatic components.
Khazra
04-09-04, 04:24 PM well, weve played the campaign now starting at level 15 going through to 28 but staying non-epic, giving us a chance to fight harder creatures (mostly big scary devils). I decided to go legendary tiger (we all took legendary forms but our dm min-maxed every bad guy so it evened out) paladin 20/ figther10.
Key parts of this build were power lunge, pounce, permenant greater magic fangs +5, natures favour(+10 hit/damage), natures avatar (another +10 hit/damage), 5 smites, a buffed strength of 66, power attack 20 & rhino hide armour. Using all of this on charge i managed to do 1366 damage

Calcualtion
330 (str)
125 (spells)
100 (5 smites)
100 (power attack)
28 (damage dice) All X2 for rhino hide

Goes to show that being a legendary ape isnt all that good just cos it can use a sword
Conaill
04-09-04, 05:46 PM Was this an awakened legendary ape? I don't believe the Legendary template gives Intelligence, does it?

If you guys were indeed playing awakened versions, I would *love* to hear what sort of LA's you were using...
Khazra
04-10-04, 09:01 AM That was an awakened legendary tiger rolling up stats, the reference to legendary ape was just for people who say its the best form to wildshape into, legendary tiger kicks its ass! We werent doing La, it was too difficult. But almost everything we fought was pretty uber and a devil to compensate for how good we were(the final boss was the arch devil Mephistopheles, i had to be ressurected half way through but it was fun ).
In the end there was :
legendary tiger fighter/paladin
monster of legend hyena rogue (gave a few skill bonuses to put it up as it was under powered compared to a few others)
monster of legend megathirium monk (this was scary)
Owl druid (used half celestial template instead as it was for divine spell casters, it wild shaped into humanoids)
monster of legend crocodile battle sorcerer/eldricht knight (this was the coolest in my opinion)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Khazra 02-14-04, 05:04 PM	Loads of people have monster parties but could sum1 help me with a party of 5 awakened animals. Any ideas will be very helpful in terms of what animals are what classes. And please dont say 5 dire bears cos it has no flavour, although one isnt outa the question. But definetly want ape or dire ape cos they can use weapons, particuarly lance.
Sisyfos 02-14-04, 05:28 PM	Have someone who can fly in that party. Its a great boon to your information gathering skills.
Khazra 02-14-04, 05:31 PM	Which class should i take for that or does it depend on animal?
Rugraknot 02-14-04, 05:41 PM	Ferret Socerer Raven Wizard Racoon Rouge Dog Fighter Fox Cleric
Stoned Golem 02-14-04, 05:54 PM	How about a dire bear barbarian and an ape paladin? The paladin would use a lance and ride the barbarian into battle of course.:D If you have a bard, I think some species of bird would be a fun choice.
catharz 02-14-04, 06:00 PM	A party of Anthro animals or Lycanthropes wouuld be simpler. Anthro Giant Squid frontliner Anthro Bat druid etc.
Khazra 02-15-04, 06:39 AM	Dont want both a sorcerer and wizard. Cool idea for the ape but wont a dire bear be dificult to ride. If any ones gonna be ridden they'll be a monk so they can go mega fast. then flurry sum1. If i were to have a dire wolverine barbarian would them already having rage make the ability better. Should level adjustment be applied cos for instance having opposable thumbs and huge stat bonuses make some animals way good.
Khazra 02-16-04, 04:25 PM	:bump:
CrimsonRyoko 02-16-04, 05:07 PM	Tick Psion (wiggle your way in, dominate, and now your human!) Butterfly Sorcerer (hehehe nobody ever suspects the butterfly!) Slug Cleric (Meh why not?) Fly Rogue (Sneak attack, and imagine the speed!) Flea Monk (Hea-yah!) Lol. . . or not. . . ya know, whatever!
Snow Savant 02-16-04, 07:02 PM	An interesting character would be an Awakened Tiger with Druid or Wiz/Sorc levels. Why? Imagine casting Flaming Sphere. Which you can roll around each round using your MEA. Using your standard action, you can charge and pounce, getting your full attack action (which could include Rake). That's pretty nice multi-tasking utility. Other similar spells are Dessicating Bubble and Stone Sphere. XO, Snow :cloud9:
Stoned Golem 02-16-04, 07:44 PM	I thought the only time you could charge as a standard action was when you could only take a move or standard action on your turn, for instance while you were slowed, or on the surprise round.
Khazra 02-18-04, 04:41 PM	I should definetly have a druid in this party, let him wildshape into human. Will apes be too good because of there ability to use weapons.
Conaill 04-02-04, 06:04 PM	I've just started a brand-new Awakened Animal thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=213092), and I would love you all to join me to continue the discussion there. I decided to write out "Awakened Animal" as an actual template, just to force me to be as explicit as possible about exactly what the change in type and the extra HD give you. Dissenting opinions are welcome, of course...
ck2001wendt 04-02-04, 06:07 PM	Teenage [Awakened] Ninja Turtles
Conaill 04-02-04, 06:09 PM	[@nal]Shouldn't that be "Ninja Awakened Teenage Turtles"?[/@nal] :D
ck2001wendt 04-02-04, 06:24 PM	Grammar was never my strong point...I do whatever the media tells me. Just think about it. They all could be Level 1 Awakened Turtle monks. Though I guess Leonardo would have to be a Samurai, since he's toting daisho. Raefael would probably have to be a straight Ninja as well, but I don't see why Monk flury shouldn't work with paired Sai. Oh, they'd probably also need something to get them up to at least Medium size. K, I'm officially lame. In all (partial) seriousness: You want to go with the classic 4-party set up: Martial/Arcane/Healer/Skilled, plus your Ape Paladin -The Martial should be something big and brawny, like Snow's Awakened Dire Tiger or a Bear, then go the Barbarian route. Large size and big Strength bonuses would be nice. -The Ape Paladin SHOULD be able to ride a large creature (assuming he's medium). Just buy a saddle. But whatever you do...make sure it's okay with your Bear buddy first. But since he's the only one who can throw down with weapons, why not give him some basic archer abilities? -The Arcane could be a flying creature with superb maneuverability. This would bring a whole new meaning to the term "battlefield control," kind of a living Flying Fortress. As Complete Warrior mentions, an eagle flying at 300 ft (fireball range) is hard to detect at low levels (Spot 26), whereas concentrations of foes are very easy to Spot. -I'd love to see an Awkakend Druid. Something that could Wildshape into a human, as was already mentioned. This guy is also your third combatant. -A good Rogue would be a Tiny creature with a great climbing ability and stealth skills. Who would ever suspect a squirrel of disarming all your fort's traps? And imagine the nightmares the fort's defenders would have after the squirrel lays down a Sneak Attack (Bite) and tears out someone's jugular! Cast Fly on him, and let the Monty Python comparisons begin (big, sharp, nasty, POINTY teeth!)
Morka 04-02-04, 09:42 PM	What about an eagle arcane trickster? Or a toad necromancer, specialized in the spell magic jar? There is a thread somewhere explaning that an halfling wizard could pass all day long possessing a big and strong guy, letting his lifeless corpse under the care of a cohort. Imagine an awaken toad possessing your favorite monster, what is more easy to carry than a dead toad?
ck2001wendt 04-03-04, 12:20 AM	That's pretty good, though I'd love to see an eagle OR a toad manipulate lock picks... :)
Balthanon 04-03-04, 01:17 AM	Originally posted by ck2001wendt That's pretty good, though I'd love to see an eagle OR a toad manipulate lock picks... :) It's only a -2 penalty to pull it off with your claws (i.e. no thieves' tools.) ;) I think if I were going with an all animal party, I would probably stay away from the more powerful, high hit dice animals and primates for both flavor purposes and keeping power levels at a relatively even keel. Keeping at 3 hit dice and under to try and accomplish that, I would go with: Wolverine Barbarian/Fighter (Unlimited raging each day, albeit with limitations, seemed like a good fit for the party tank and the wolverine wins out over the badger because it's bigger and meaner.) Leopard Rogue/Ranger (Pounce, a high dexterity/initiative and sneak attack go together very well. And as a scout, the bonuses to hide and move silently don't hurt. Felines also have some of the most dextrous paws/limbs outside of the primates and those claws that give a decent alternative to thieves' tools.) Cat Sorcerer (Abandoned familiar? It had the highest charisma of the animals in the Monster Manual and I just couldn't see an awakened animal wizard, aside possibly from an owl, who would still have difficulty with that spellbook.) Paired Eagle and Owl Druids (All the birds have higher than average wisdoms and could use wild shape the most in my opinion for dungeons and the like where flying room is limited. Two of them because I think druids are more appropriate than clerics in this instance but aren't quite as good at healing, which could be a necessity with potentially limited armor/ac. Eagle and owl was basically just for flavor purposes and to differentiate them, plus the spot bonuses at different times of day could come in handy. Another decent alternative would be the boar, since the druid is going to be the healer of the party, and ferocity (plus a decent con) will let it stay up longer than usual.) Surrogate Spellcasting [Savage Species] is a necessity for the spellcasters in order to get by without hands for somatic components.
Khazra 04-09-04, 04:24 PM	well, weve played the campaign now starting at level 15 going through to 28 but staying non-epic, giving us a chance to fight harder creatures (mostly big scary devils). I decided to go legendary tiger (we all took legendary forms but our dm min-maxed every bad guy so it evened out) paladin 20/ figther10. Key parts of this build were power lunge, pounce, permenant greater magic fangs +5, natures favour(+10 hit/damage), natures avatar (another +10 hit/damage), 5 smites, a buffed strength of 66, power attack 20 & rhino hide armour. Using all of this on charge i managed to do 1366 damage Calcualtion 330 (str) 125 (spells) 100 (5 smites) 100 (power attack) 28 (damage dice) All X2 for rhino hide Goes to show that being a legendary ape isnt all that good just cos it can use a sword
Conaill 04-09-04, 05:46 PM	Was this an awakened legendary ape? I don't believe the Legendary template gives Intelligence, does it? If you guys were indeed playing awakened versions, I would love to hear what sort of LA's you were using...
Khazra 04-10-04, 09:01 AM	That was an awakened legendary tiger rolling up stats, the reference to legendary ape was just for people who say its the best form to wildshape into, legendary tiger kicks its ass! We werent doing La, it was too difficult. But almost everything we fought was pretty uber and a devil to compensate for how good we were(the final boss was the arch devil Mephistopheles, i had to be ressurected half way through but it was fun ). In the end there was : legendary tiger fighter/paladin monster of legend hyena rogue (gave a few skill bonuses to put it up as it was under powered compared to a few others) monster of legend megathirium monk (this was scary) Owl druid (used half celestial template instead as it was for divine spell casters, it wild shaped into humanoids) monster of legend crocodile battle sorcerer/eldricht knight (this was the coolest in my opinion)