Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Alzrius 10-27-03, 03:05 AM	As we all know, one of the most heated topics seen on these boards recently was between those who subscribed to what the Silver Marches said about Wulfgar and Catti-brie...namely that they were married...versus what the novels said about those two...that it didn't work out for them. Well, those who subscribed to the staple that canonity is always right, and sourcebooks (et al) trump novels, can take note that WotC has finally retconned their stance in Silver Marches to the point where it now matches whats in the novels. Where, you ask, is this new statistical source of information that contains this update? Right here: http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/lonedrowstats This article (which is, we know, official, being on WotC's own website, and of course newer material takes precedence over older material) has stats for Catt-brie, Regis, Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, an updated 3.5E Guenhwyvar, and quite a few of the magic items from Salvatore's books. The characters have flavor descriptions and their history too, hence why this is an update. Finally, the debate can be put to rest!
E'tii'stil Shadowsil 10-27-03, 03:18 AM	YAY!!!!!!!!!!! :D :cool: :thumbsup: However, this has been bugging me... how by Cyric's Blackened Nostrils is Guenhwyvar NE????? :confused: Guenhwyvar: AL NE;
Alzrius 10-27-03, 03:24 AM	Originally posted by E'tii'stil Shadowsil However, this has been bugging me... how by Cyric's Blackened Nostrils is Guenhwyvar NE????? :confused: :eek: I'll be damned... I'm relatively confident that should just be N...but even so...oi, one headache solved, another opened... I wouldn't be so disturbed by this but for the fact that WotC never seems to go back and change anything on one of their webpages once its been released...
Ryltar Swordsong 10-27-03, 06:16 AM	I haven't seen this topic discussed in quite a while, and anyone who thought Catti-brie and Wulfgar were really married must've been living under a rock at the bottom of a deep pit. And Guenhwyvar isn't NE. Just another error from the folks at WotC. What a surprise. :rolleyes:
Darkmistress 10-27-03, 06:22 AM	Originally posted by Ryltar Swordsong And Guenhwyvar isn't NE. Just another error from the folks at WotC. What a surprise. :rolleyes: *insert scathing, sarcastic remark in regard to WotC's seeming lack of editors and proofreaders here* I mean, really...
TomCosta 10-27-03, 09:50 AM	My apologies, the NE is probably a typo on my part that I missed when writing it up. I intended Guen to be NG. You could easily argue for true N, that said I think she has shown herself to have a generally noble heart, a distaste for serving evil masters, and as a now-native to a NG plane, I felt NG more appropriate. For the nitpicky among you who caught the obvious typo, you missed another one: the silver masterwork arrows under Catti-brie's note should be "alchemical silver masterwork arrows." :-) I've notified Wizards of both.
baerdith 10-27-03, 03:29 PM	When did Pikel gain control of Guenhwyvar????? And maybe it's just me but I always thought he was very wise, not too bright, but really *aware*his wisdom would be higher than 16.
jasamcarl 10-27-03, 03:50 PM	Anybody notice that the dwarf fighter 8 has exotic weapon proficiency (dwarven war axes)? Obviously someone forgot about weapon familiarity...
Monch9 10-27-03, 04:22 PM	Tom, Yeah, I would like to know about the Pikel/Guen issue as well. Other things. Khazid'hea : I think you should add the sure striking property. In the ask Richard Baker thread, he said it is now in the Players Guide to Faerun. It's a +1 property and can ignore Alignment DR. Story wise, I think it's appropriate. Taulmaril : Is there any change to the Force property? If not the bow is a +7!?!?! (+3, +3 force, +1 keen) yikes. Personally, why +3 for an just an additional +1d6 of force? Guen : She's been describe as a Large animal (close to the big cats like a tiger) and at 600lbs. I think the medium size does not suit her. (I have a thread for a Dire Panther Progression for Guen you might want to check that out). Or I can email you for that. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1520070#post1520070 Monch
TomCosta 10-27-03, 04:42 PM	I noticed a couple other differences from my original, including the Pikel deal and a few other, mostly minor matters I also sent in.
Ryltar Swordsong 10-27-03, 05:05 PM	TomCosta: Aside from the minor errors the nitpicky among us (myself included) pointed out, the article was very well done. Thank you for the good work.
Monch9 10-27-03, 07:42 PM	Tom, I'll 2nd Ryltar's compliment. Very well done indeed. Back to nitpicking :) The Doo-Dad (Pikel) - In the Thousand Orcs, he constantly uses the spell Tree Stride which is a 5th level Druid spell. Unfortunately, that brings the Doo-dad to a minimum 9th level Druid. Monch
primemover003 10-27-03, 08:31 PM	Originally posted by Monch9 The Doo-Dad (Pikel) - In the Thousand Orcs, he constantly uses the spell Tree Stride which is a 5th level Druid spell. Unfortunately, that brings the Doo-dad to a minimum 9th level Druid. Monch Or Mielikki is just giving him a little divine intervention. I mean he does see a unicorn and the Moon elves say his magic is "sporadic" but druidic nonetheless. Mayhaps a Dwarven Chosen in the making?
TomCosta 10-28-03, 09:31 AM	Glad you guys liked it aside from some errors. Trying to get them all fixed up. Pikel's level was very difficult to figure out. I didn't want to increase his level much higher than it was in the Heroes' Lorebook because those levels didn't seem to change much for most other heroes in 3E, I didn't think he should be a higher level than his brudder (or at least not much higher), he clearly began as a fighter, hasn't been a druid long, and he doesn't really use wild shape at all. At the same time, I agree he used some pretty potent spells. So I chalked it up to some divine intervention, perhaps the unseen use of a scroll, or some similar but lower powered spell usage.
baerdith 10-28-03, 11:29 AM	Originally posted by Monch9 Tom, I'll 2nd Ryltar's compliment. Very well done indeed. Back to nitpicking :) The Doo-Dad (Pikel) - In the Thousand Orcs, he constantly uses the spell Tree Stride which is a 5th level Druid spell. Unfortunately, that brings the Doo-dad to a minimum 9th level Druid. Monch He also used LiveOak (6th level) or maybe Animate Plants (7th level) at the VERY least it was Awaken (5th level). Clearly there is more to Pikel than meets the eye!
Amaranthine 10-28-03, 03:04 PM	Circlet of Starlight Sight: This circlet grants the wearer low-light vision, which is the ability to see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination.Cattie-brie used this item to travel the Underdark without a light source. Perhaps if it also generated light (equivalent to starlight) that was visible only to the wearer?Quiver of Anariel...+4,005 gp for cold iron arrows, or +200 gp for alchemical silver arrows;Is the +4005 a typo?
BHC_Crow 10-28-03, 08:55 PM	Its got to be hard for the game guys at WoTC to keep up with all the details. We all know how big the realms are. We also have to remember that when theres a game statistic printed or posted. That we normally have to tweek them anyway to make them fit into what we invisioned them being. Look at all the postings for Drizzts stats and you know what I mean. With that in mind Ive learned to just take a deep breath and change what we know is right for our game and go on. Smooth sailing on stats (and the players dont have to know about changes on paper anyway). They go off of what DMs describe during a friendly/unfriendly encounter. I personally would make Gwen large size as well. and tweek a few things. and well Catti brie .. to each DM tweek on.
Kerrexl 10-29-03, 09:12 AM	a little semi-off-topic: TomCosta, doesn't WotC have like a database, listing all introduced characters in the FR, listings about different cities, areas etc. ? I would have thought so, since that would make cross-references very easy - okay the database would grow large, but still... ?
Amaranthine 10-29-03, 09:58 AM	Just thought I'd mention that the stats for Khazid'hea more closely resemble it's abilities in the book than any other write-up I've seen for it. While it was based on the 2nd edition 'Sword of Sharpness', it didn't really mesh with what that item did (loping off limbs). Adamantine and Keen reflect the writing better.
TomCosta 10-29-03, 10:05 AM	A couple things. Thanks again for the comments. Happy to answer questions if I can. First, I am not an employee of WotC, though it is a thrill to get to do this stuff on the side. As far as I know there is no NPC database. That sort of project would be enormously labor intensive and I doubt WotC has either the time, staff, or resources to devote to such a project, though its pure speculation on my part. As with anything based on the novels, there is a lot of going back and forth and everyone will have a different opinion. Does a character gain a feat if he uses something like that ability once, or is that a guess. What if the writer is simply a good writer and not a gamer and/or has little appreciation for the rules? Basically, everyone will have their own interpretation. I personally found Drizzt's official stats to be pretty close to what I would have written up (with the exception of his magic items, which I understand were weakened to match up with NPC levels). Nevertheless, clearly there are folks that thought they didn't match up well enough to the books and have been tweaking them ever since. All that to say, what I write up may not match up exactly with what you had in mind, but hopefully it's close enough to be useful or substitute for what you had in mind.
TomCosta 10-29-03, 10:11 AM	A few more comments on specific questions: Regarding Catti-brie's bow: Taulmaril was a +3 longbow and Catti-brie’s quiver generated +1 arrows in the 2E Heroes’ Lorebook. This doesn’t appear to quite match the weapons awesome power. Descriptively, the arrows launched from the bow are constantly described as streaking bolts of silver light, though Catti-brie is never described as having arrows that do that. The clear implication is that the bow does this. Catti-brie also has a magic quiver that never runs out of arrows. In 2E these arrows were considered +1 arrows. However, bow and arrow enhancement bonuses don’t stack in 3.5E. I think a more accurate description is that the bow turns the arrows into force weapons from the Arms and Equipment Guide, p. 96-97 (reprinted below). The extra force damage also explains how her arrows damaged demons with damage reduction (which doesn’t stop force damage) and slays most 1-2 HD humanoids with one shot. The bow has also been described as dealing an energy like electricity that can scorch things, making the shock or perhaps even the shocking burst property appropriate; however, demons, who were clearly hurt by the weapon, are immune to electricity damage in 3.5E. The quiver could should then generate alchemical silver arrows (the combination of the force effect and silver explaining the streak of light effect), as is specifically noted in Streams of Silver. (Note silver arrows do –1 to damage.) The keen property helps explain the bow’s name “Heartseeker” a bit, but as it only adds +1 to the threat range could easily be dropped. FYI, the bow has never been described as composite bow, but always a plain longbow. Regarding the pricing on the quiver. No mistakes. Here's what I did: + 28,000 (minor creation, 4 [spell level] x 7 [caster level] x 2000 [use-activated] x .5 [limited to arrow creation only]) + arrow bonus squared x 2000 x 2 [for constant refilling effect], so… + 1000 (masterwork, .25 x 2000 x 2) = 29,000 gp + 4000 (+1, 1 x 2000 x 2) = 32,000 gp +16,000 (+2, 4 x 2000 x 2) = 44,000 gp +36,000 (+3, 9 x 2000 x 2) = 64,000 gp +64,000 (+4, 16 x 2000 x 2) = 92,000 gp +100,000 (+5, 25 x 2000 x 2) = 128,000 gp Special Materials add the cost for 50 pieces of ammunition x2, so +6000 gp for adamantine, +4,005 gp for cold iron, and +200 gp for alchemical silver. Regarding Guen's stats, here was my reasoning: This version of Guen uses a leopard animal companion of a 12th-level druid, so it has the extra abilities of a 9th-level animal companion (see page 36 of the PH) with an additional +3 ability bonus to Con, Int, Wis, and Cha, and the additional powers of plane shift and magic strike. I did not include an animal companion’s power link as it is superceded by the power of the figurine. This seems fairly appropriate to Drizzt’s level and the power Guen is shown to have in the books as an equal of the rest of the Companions of the Hall, as well as fighting giants almost single-handedly and assisting with battles against demons of various sorts, including a balor. The devotion, bonus tricks, and evasion abilities also seem particularly apt for Guen. In addition, Guen’s history (see Realms of Magic) shows her to be a unique figurine of wondrous power that doesn’t work quite like other figurines. One could argue that she became the ranger Josidiah’s animal companion. Her other powers are a case of her being exceptional, a function of the accident that created her, her long magical life, and a result of her new home plane being the House of Nature (thus the addition of the extraplanar subtype). As for her size. I think its debatable. Just because she's bigger than a man, doesn't make her Large. Eight-feet is still Medium and in this case, being Large only would hurt her, so I left her as Medium, an awfully big Medium, but Medium. It's debatable of course. Regarding Catti-brie and Regis' higher CR, I bumped it up by +1 because their magic items far exceeded the level normally found in NPCs (and IIRC PCs) of their level -- enough so in my opinion to warrant a +1 CR. The rest I'd mostly and respectfully chalk up to differences of opinion or interpretation. For those of you who haven't checked a few edits have been made since the first posting.
baerdith 10-29-03, 12:46 PM	Originally posted by TomCosta For those of you who haven't checked a few edits have been made since the first posting. Just looked. IT still has Guen as Pikel's Animal Companion?? What's up with that?
Klyden 10-29-03, 02:03 PM	I have to disagree with the stats of Drizzt Do’Urden, Wulfgar, Catti-brie, Bruenor Battlehammer, Regis, Ivan Bouldershoulder, and Pikel Bouldershoulder. I think they should be much higher in level. I would perfer the following stats: Drizzt Do’Urden: Male drow Barbarian 2/Fighter 10/Ranger 6 of Mielikki; CR 19 Wulfgar: Male human Barbarian 10; CR 10 Catti-brie: Female human Fighter 8/Ranger 2; CR 10 Bruenor Battlehammer: Male shield dwarf Fighter 15; CR 15 Regis: Male lightfoot halfling Rogue 10; CR 10 Ivan Bouldershoulder: Male shield dwarf Fighter 12; CR 12 Pikel Bouldershoulder: Male shield dwarf Fighter 3/Druid 9 of of Mielikki; CR 12
TomCosta 10-29-03, 02:03 PM	I didn't say all the changes, just a few. :-)
Klyden 10-29-03, 02:18 PM	No worries...your stats are still good. Though I don't suppose you could make some unofficial stats from the character levels above could you? Nah, I guess you not allowed. Shame really.
Klyden 10-29-03, 02:21 PM	Heh...I just gots me an idea. What if I paid you to produce the following stats for the following characters: Drizzt Do’Urden: Male drow Barbarian 2/Fighter 10/Ranger 6 of Mielikki; CR 19 Wulfgar: Male human Barbarian 10; CR 10 Catti-brie: Female human Fighter 8/Ranger 2; CR 10 Bruenor Battlehammer: Male shield dwarf Fighter 15; CR 15 Regis: Male lightfoot halfling Rogue 10; CR 10 Ivan Bouldershoulder: Male shield dwarf Fighter 12; CR 12 Pikel Bouldershoulder: Male shield dwarf Fighter 3/Druid 9 of of Mielikki; CR 12 Taern Hornblade: Male human Evoker 18; CR 18 Methrammar Aerasumé: Male half-elf Fighter 7/Wizard 9; CR 16; I really don't know how busy you are Tom or what your asking price would be, are you interested? If so, please e-mail me at Jem2012@yahoomail.com okay? Thanks for hearing me out. Your the best. :D P.S.: I included Taern Hornblade and Methrammar Aerasumé to the list under the asumption that you could convert them to 3.5 edition if I pay you for the entire job (the entire job is of course including Taern Hornblade and Methrammar Aerasumé).
TomCosta 10-29-03, 03:05 PM	I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to decline. In most cases your just adding a few levels, so I'd say knock yourself out. If you think most of the characters should have a few extra levels, it shouldn't be too hard to do so.
Gez 10-29-03, 06:14 PM	I noticed the same error as Amaranthine. In fact, the Circlet would be more appropriately described as giving darkvision. The viewer sees in total darkness as if it was lighted by starlight. Black and white only -- dim light does this. Limited range -- dim light does this too. It's not the same flavor as, say, a dwarf's darkvision (especially given that for a character with low-light vision, it would not be black-and-white only), but it's still closer than low-light vision.
Iakhovas 10-29-03, 06:46 PM	I not sure I understand the reasoning behind the "House of Nature" change. Guen's home has always been the Astral Plane and The Lone Drow still confirms this.
Gez 10-29-03, 08:23 PM	Originally posted by Iakhovas I not sure I understand the reasoning behind the "House of Nature" change. Guen's home has always been the Astral Plane and The Lone Drow still confirms this. Nope nope nope. In a Drizzt book (IIRC the one during which the Time of Trouble happens, but it made a long time since I read them) Guenwyvar is described in the Happy Hunting Grounds, chasing a prey. Paraphrased, "a harmonious, eternally repeated scene where predator and prey play their roles perfectly" or something like that. And Guen is summoned at this time.
Monch9 10-29-03, 08:58 PM	Tom, Regarding the quote below, I was just thinking to base Guen's size to a full grown lion or tiger. She's been described in the novels as being at least that large. In the SRD, both lions and tigers are classified large animals. From the SRD for the leopard. "These jungle cats are about 4 feet long and weigh about 120 pounds. They usually hunt at night. The statistics presented here can describe any feline of similar size, such as jaguars, panthers, and mountain lions." for the lion. " The statistics presented here describe a male African lion, which is 5 to 8 feet long and weighs 330 to 550 pounds. Females are slightly smaller but use the same statistics. " for the tiger. " These great cats stand more than 3 feet tall at the shoulder and are about 9 feet long. They weigh from 400 to 600 pounds. " Both the lion and tiger above have length and weight statistics based close to what RAS describes Guen. The leopard doesn't. From the Realms of Magic on the conversion of Guen, Josidiah was awed by the magnificence of Guen before she was converted. She's described as a rare animal at that time (Around the Netheril/Cormantyr age). That's when I thought of making a "Dire Panther" template which has statistics marginally better than a lion but close to the tiger. But this animal still pales compared to the Dire Lion and Dire Tiger. Anyway, I hope you were able to look into my Guen thread (link above). Originally posted by TomCosta A few more comments on specific questions: Regarding Guen's stats, here was my reasoning: This version of Guen uses a leopard animal companion of a 12th-level druid, so it has the extra abilities of a 9th-level animal companion (see page 36 of the PH) with an additional +3 ability bonus to Con, Int, Wis, and Cha, and the additional powers of plane shift and magic strike. I did not include an animal companion’s power link as it is superceded by the power of the figurine. This seems fairly appropriate to Drizzt’s level and the power Guen is shown to have in the books as an equal of the rest of the Companions of the Hall, as well as fighting giants almost single-handedly and assisting with battles against demons of various sorts, including a balor. The devotion, bonus tricks, and evasion abilities also seem particularly apt for Guen. In addition, Guen’s history (see Realms of Magic) shows her to be a unique figurine of wondrous power that doesn’t work quite like other figurines. One could argue that she became the ranger Josidiah’s animal companion. Her other powers are a case of her being exceptional, a function of the accident that created her, her long magical life, and a result of her new home plane being the House of Nature (thus the addition of the extraplanar subtype). As for her size. I think its debatable. Just because she's bigger than a man, doesn't make her Large. Eight-feet is still Medium and in this case, being Large only would hurt her, so I left her as Medium, an awfully big Medium, but Medium. It's debatable of course.
Amaranthine 10-30-03, 03:28 PM	+ 28,000 (minor creation, 4 [spell level] x 7 [caster level] x 2000 [use-activated] x .5 [limited to arrow creation only])Wouldn't using the psionic talent 'Bolt' or an equivalent cantrip be more accurate? It would do exactly what is needed (create a single arrow) without having to 'artificially' limit a higher level spell to do the same thing. It would definitely be cheaper. (bolt, 1/2[spell level] x 1[caster level] x 2000[use-activated]x0.9[limited to arrows only (no bolts or bullets]) =900gp so... + 4000 (+1, 1 x 2000 x 2) = 4,900 gp +16,000 (+2, 4 x 2000 x 2) = 16,900 gp +36,000 (+3, 9 x 2000 x 2) = 36,900 gp +64,000 (+4, 16 x 2000 x 2) = 64,900 gp +100,000 (+5, 25 x 2000 x 2) = 100,900 gp Masterwork adds the cost of 50 pieces of ammunition x2, so +605 for masterwork (included at no cost for adamantine). Special Materials add the cost for 50 pieces of ammunition x2, so +6000 gp for adamantine, +4,005 gp for cold iron, and +200 gp for alchemical silver.
TomCosta 10-30-03, 03:39 PM	Regarding Guen's size again. It's certainly debatable, but I stick with my original response. I certainly don't mind if folks want Guen to be size Large in their campaigns though. Just subtract 1 from her AC and attacks. Regarding the various levels of the characters as noted on the Ask Richard Baker thread. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the number of books a character appears in is no gauge of their experience. These characters obviously do stuff 'off camera.' Plus, Catti-brie is not as capable a warrior as Wulfgar, though she's clearly caught up quite a bit. Similarly, Regis spends most of his time on his butt, not honing his skills. I think I got their levels pegged okay in comparison to other published characters, though again their is certainly room for disagreement. Similarly, the level of the brothers is based on the Heroes' Lorebook, but I am more open to thinking their levels would be higher, especialy Pikel. That said, I'm still satisfied with the way they came out. Regarding the cost of the quiver. Salvatore has never used psionics, plus 900 gp for a quiver that constantly generates arrows is way cheap. I think the price is pretty fair for what it does. Regarding Guen's plane now being the House of Nature. As has already been pointed out, she officially resided on the Beastlands in 2E. The House of Nature was the logical replacement.
Amaranthine 10-30-03, 04:26 PM	Regarding the cost of the quiver. Salvatore has never used psionics,Not 'never', just rarely. House Obladra's(sp?) power was based almost entirely on psionics. I think there is a spell version of Bolt anyway.plus 900 gp for a quiver that constantly generates arrows is way cheap. I think the price is pretty fair for what it does.Quite possibly. 900gp can buy you 18,000 arrows though. I'd probably peg the base cost at about 2000-2500gp, right around the Handy Haversack and the small Bag of Holding. Both of these can do essentially the same thing (ie 'unlimited' arrows), by stocking up on several hundred arrows while in town.
Iakhovas 10-30-03, 07:29 PM	Originally posted by TomCosta Regarding Guen's plane now being the House of Nature. As has already been pointed out, she officially resided on the Beastlands in 2E. The House of Nature was the logical replacement. Hmmm. Can anyone provide me a Novel/Page# with a reference to Guen living in the Beastlands? It's been many years since I've read the earlier Drizzt novels, but the recent few clearly state that Guen lives in the Astral. Hell, I'll even provide a quote... The Lone Drow p. 71 But he was the Hunter, not Drizzt, and he didn't move immediately for the figurine to dismiss the pained cat back to the Astral Plane and her peace. ..."Go home, Guen" Drizzt called softly, lifting the onyx figurine from his belt pouch. He knew that she would heal well on the Astral Plane, knew that no injuries Guenhwyvar received on this plane of existence could ever truly harm her. I certainly believe that the Beastlands error might have been referenced in a past D&D sourcebook, but designers are notorious for not fact checking, or even reading the novels their articles are based on.
TomCosta 10-31-03, 02:59 PM	Well, I have read all the books. I don't recall the book where Guen goes back to frolicking on the Beastlands, but it is definitely in the novels. As for the Lone Drow reference, I apparently missed that one. Mia culpa.
Iakhovas 10-31-03, 08:30 PM	In the back of my mind, I too recall some passage that Guen was running around, frolicking with other panthers. Still, I do not believe it was Guen's home. Someone earlier in the thread suggested that the passage might lie in Siege of Darkness, which I skimmed this evening. I did not find the Beastlands reference, but I did find the Astral reference again. Siege of Darkness p. 97 Guenhwyvar was a creature of the Astral Plane and could truly rejuvenate only among the stars.I'll keep looking for that pesky Beastlands/Happy Hunting Grounds passage though. Anyway, while skimming Siege of Darkness I came across this passage regarding Guen's size...Siege of Darkness p. 36 Guenhwyvar was six hundred pounds, twice the size of an ordinary panther, with a head almost as wide as Drizzt's shoulders, a paw that could cover a man's face, and spectacular, shining green eyes...I'm not sure what the D&D definition of large is, but clearly this panther much larger and heavier than a standard panther. My nitpicking aside Tom, you've done an admirable job of fleshing out these NPC stats -- certainly far better than any conversion to date. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work.
baerdith 11-02-03, 10:04 PM	Just curious, what is alchemical silver? Is there a writeup on it somewhere?
TomCosta 11-03-03, 09:10 AM	Alchemical silver is the new way to have silver weapons in 3.5E. It ties into the changes to damage reduction. For those playing 3E or earlier versions of the game, just think of it as silver. In 3.5E alchemical silver weapons deal -1 on the damage.
baerdith 11-03-03, 10:55 AM	Thanks Tom. Is this written somewhere or was it a designer errata?
TomCosta 11-03-03, 12:14 PM	It's straight from the 3.5E DMG (and I think it's also mentioned in the PH and MM).
Monch9 11-04-03, 05:17 AM	Tom, Some more nitpicks I think you should check : The 9th level animal adds just +6 to the natural armor. It looks like the stats reflect a +8 which is a 12th level animal companion. So you might want to bring down the AC for correctness sake. Monch Originally posted by TomCosta A few more comments on specific questions: Regarding Guen's stats, here was my reasoning: This version of Guen uses a leopard animal companion of a 12th-level druid, so it has the extra abilities of a 9th-level animal companion (see page 36 of the PH) with an additional +3 ability bonus to Con, Int, Wis, and Cha, and the additional powers of plane shift and magic strike.
Lawless 11-17-03, 11:29 AM	I like the write up overall their great in fact. My one problem is Catti-brie' s level. I'm sorry but she should definitely be higher than Wulfgar. Wulfgar was in limbo for 7 years while Cattie was hunting pirates and evidently doing a good job at it. From her 1st appearance right up to Wulfgar's 'death' should have put her at 7th level. Nevermind what happened since then, just because Wulfgar helped her escape the orc in 1000 orcs does not make him the better warrior. It just means she got in over her head and she needed help to get out, Drizzt done that a couple of times himself. Of course I still flabbergasted on how a 200 year old dwarf that loves a good fight is only 13th level compared to his 70 year old drow friend who only wants to be good, and tried pretty hard to stay out of fights when he first came to the surface. Neverminding the fact that said drow should pretty much be crippled with multiclassing penalties. Done ranting still a good job though.
Lawless 11-17-03, 11:29 AM	Double post please delete!
Kacesen_Black 11-18-03, 12:46 PM	I think that they all shoul be higher lvl then they are, i mean god they have done a lot of epic things. And whats with Pikle haveing gwuen???? did i miss somthing
Kacesen_Black 11-18-03, 12:46 PM	I think that they all shoul be higher lvl then they are, i mean god they have done a lot of epic things. And whats with Pikle haveing gwuen???? did i miss somthing
Kacesen_Black 11-18-03, 12:47 PM	I think that they all shoul be higher lvl then they are, i mean god they have done a lot of epic things. And whats with Pikle haveing gwuen???? did i miss somthing
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 11-18-03, 03:14 PM	But most novel characters have the tendency to do "amazing" things--it's a part of the story. Since what happens in novels don't transfer perfectly to game rules, I don't see why it's necessary to give them much higher levels than they have now (does RAS calculate how much exp the characters "earn" on their adventures?).
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 11-18-03, 03:16 PM	By the way, Tom, I also want to say "good job" to you--it's really nice to finally see Ivan and Pikel fully stated out! :) I'm also glad you didn't give Pikel an extremely low INT score just because of the way he talks--there was actually a controversy about that here a few months back.
TomCosta 11-18-03, 03:25 PM	Regarding the levels, I see a lot of what I would call level inflation when it comes to people's characters. That's fine in individual campaigns. Everyone wants their favorite characters or sees their favorite characters as 'da bomb,' but I also had to peg the levels of the characters against their officially written peers, notably Drizzt, Bruenor, and Wulfgar. Regarding the Catti-brie v. Wulfgar levels, I would only argue that while Catti-brie is a great warrior, it is her amazing weapons that allow her to go-to-toe with Wulfgar and not raw combat skill. Give them both regular weapons, who's gonna win. The way I've read the books, I'd say Catti-brie would give Wulfgar a surprisingly good fight, but he'd win in the end. At least that's how I interpret the books. Lastly, the books don't correspond to the game particularly well by the differing natures of the medium, so Catti-brie gaining levels while Wulfgar is imprisoned is a moot point. It only matters how Salvatore portrays the characters. Anyone, of course, is welcome to disagree. And adding some levels should be easy enough for anyone who wants to do so in their campaign. There are a still few things that crept in that I'm trying to get fixed, such as the Pikel having Guen as a companion.
Bloodnut the Insane 11-18-03, 04:34 PM	In the back of my mind, I too recall some passage that Guen was running around, frolicking with other panthers. I know when, in the Halflings Gem, When Regis gets taken to Pasha Pooks he comes back from the astral plane with Guen and alot more panthers to help in the end battle at some point. Also LaValle says to Pook before she brings regis from the Astral Plane to the Prime with the Toraus Hoop that he Regis was at the astral plane and also it says the Regis used the Statue to get there. But then, all these seperate places may be all merged into the books version of the Astral plane, like how Druzil (the imp from the Clerics Quintent) Is said to be a creature of pure chaos, spawned from the abyss, but imps are lawful and from the Nine Hells ,and how Erttu lies to the wizard in Passage to Dawn(I think) that he had better close the portal because 2 pit fiends are close behind and coming, but what would two Pit finds be doing in the Abyss, unless there being killed. Anyways, Good work, I think the stats fit ok, I mean books dont have AC and stuff, the have the flavor that makes the character/story interesting.
TomCosta 11-26-03, 12:12 PM	FYI, I think most of the errors that creeped into the article have been fixed. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/lonedrowstats
Iakhovas 11-26-03, 07:28 PM	Hehehe. The House of Nature reference is still there Tom, but I'm glad to see Pikel doesn't own Guenhwyvar anymore. Speaking of Pikel, I noticed that his new "handicap" from The Lone Drow didn't make it into the write-up. All in all a great job Tom. Are you working on any other novel NPC stats at the moment?
Meldorian 12-15-03, 12:24 PM	Even though this thread already is rather old, I would still like to post. Better than just making a new one about the same topic, I think. I just wanted to say that I really like those stats for Cattie-Brie, Ivan, Regis and Pickel. I especially like the idea of giving the characters equipment more expensive than their level would normaly suggests in order to remain true to the books, and think it should have been done with Drizzt and Enteri in the FRCS, too. Great job, Thomas Costa!
TomCosta 12-15-03, 02:20 PM	Thank you.
Ozymandias_79 12-15-03, 06:50 PM	Hello! Great article, Mr.Costa! But i Think you forgot to implement the feat "Improved Natural Attack (claw)" to Guenhwyvar's claw damage. If I am wrong, i appologize for this entry but it was the only thing that bugged me about the article. Ozymandias_79 Sweden
TomCosta 12-16-03, 09:06 AM	Glad you liked it. Thanks. FYI, the improved natural attack is applied to both of Guen's attacks, a base leopard has a d6 bite and d3 claw, Guen's have been upped to d8 and d4, as noted in the MM.