Couatl! [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Couatl! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
couatlfan
03-26-08, 02:35 PM Hi, guys!

I really, really want to play a couatl as a PC in our upcoming campaign, and my DM is willing to allow it, as our group will be in the 16-18 level range. I know the race pretty well, and I think I could do a damned fine job of portraying one properly.

However, I wanted to come to you guys and discuss a few things, because I could certainly use some ideas.

How exactly would I convert the couatl into a playable race?

Would all of the couatl's abilities/stats be unaffected? (My DM is willing to let me keep the couatl's listed ability scores, for instance.)

What class would/should the couatl be? (I'm guessing sorcerer, going by what I read in its stats.)

Would the couatl's Shape Change ability allow me to wear armor and carry weapons in a humanoid form, or would they possibly be damaged/destroyed during a change?

Any other thoughts would be appreciated as well. I'm really excited about this, as they are a particular favorite race of mine, and I really want to make this work.
Sarig the Genie
03-26-08, 03:20 PM Would all of the couatl's abilities/stats be unaffected? (My DM is willing to let me keep the couatl's listed ability scores, for instance.)

Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 19, Cha 17

That's for an average member of the species, so subtract 10 or 11 where appropriate.

Str +8, Dex +6, Con +4, Int + 6, Wis +8, Cha +6 <-- That's your racial adjustments to ability scores. Then use whatever stat generation method the other players used, and add those modifiers. Otherwise it's like playing a human with 10 10 10 11 11 11.

Same with hit points, roll it up as part of character creation, and iirc, the skills listed in it's stat block are counted as class skills for the creature for its racial HD.

Speaking of which!

Features

An outsider has the following features.

* 8-sided Hit Dice.
* Base attack bonus equal to total Hit Dice (as fighter).
* Good Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves.
* Skill points equal to (8 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die.

That's for your racial HD, pretty nice, eh?

And I believe if the equipment can be used/fit in your new form, you can keep it, otherwise it melds into it and isn't functional for the duration of the change (see polymorph rules).
couatlfan
03-26-08, 03:37 PM That's beautiful! It should really allow me to do pretty much everything I need to do.

Now, let me ask a couple of other things, because I simply don't know how they work, and I want to make sure I understand exactly what you've told me.

The couatl's racial HD is 9(d8), and it's level adjustment is 7. Would that mean that the absolute minimum level for a couatl PC would be 16?

When I roll for hit points, I would roll 9d8? The couatl's stats give its hit points as 9d8+18, so would that mean I add 2 to each roll?

The skills it has listed (Concentration +14, Diplomacy +17, etc.), those are all added automatically as class skills 'cause of its racial Hit Die? Does that mean that the skills points I'd get for level adjustment would depend on the class that I choose for the couatl?

And finally... do you think that this couatl would be a suitable PC? I think it has tons of roleplaying potential, which I'm definitely up to, and I know that couatl are on a neverending quest for knowledge and wisdom... so I figure that they fall somewhere in between sorcerer and cleric as far as their role in a party. But I'm always open to hearing someone's opinion on the subject.

Thank you very much. I feel much more prepared now. :)
ArochanoX
03-26-08, 05:23 PM For the most basic info, check out Dungeon Master's Guide pg. 172-174 Monsters as Characters. It has some talk of effective character level, racial hit dice and level adjustments.

Basically a Couatl PC would be a lvl 16 character without any class levels.

Couatl has 9d8 racial hit dice, so technically you have 9 levels of an Outsider. Then you have 7 levels worth level adjustment (dead levels with no hit die) to buy all the neat abilities like ethereal jaunt, psionics, spells. To make your effective character level 16.

For the 9 outsider hit dice the system works as for normal characters. You have 4 feats (HD 1, 3, 6, and 9), 2 ability increases (that are factored in to the Couatl's ability scores, so you do not actually gain these), +9/+4 Base attack bonus, +6 save bonus on all saves, total of 12*(8+Int) skill points with max ranks of 12/6. Your class skills for these Outsider hit dice are: Concentration, Diplomacy, Jump, Knowledge (any, taken individually), Listen, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, Tumble, and Use Magic Device

Because you're a Couatl, you also gain:

Large Outsider (native) (-1 size penalty on to hit rolls and AC, -4 size penalty to hide checks and +4 size bonus to grapple checks)
Ability score modifiers of: +8Str, +6Dex, +4Con, +6Int, +8Wis, +6Cha.
Movement modes: land 20ft, fly 60ft (good maneuvrability)
+9 Natural armor
Bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage + poison + Improved grab.
Constrict: 2d8+Str mod damage
Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC (14+con modifier), initial damage 2d4 Str, secondary damage 4d4 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Eschew materials as a bonus feat.
Darkvision 60 ft
Telepathy: A couatl can communicate telepathically with any creature within 90 feet that has an Intelligence score. The creature can respond to the couatl if it wishes—no common language is needed.
Ethereal Jaunt (Su): This ability works like the ethereal jaunt spell (caster level 16th)
Spells: A couatl casts spells as a 9th-level sorcerer. It can choose its spells known from the sorcerer list, the cleric list, and from the lists for the Air, Good, and Law domains. The cleric spells and domain spells are considered
arcane spells for a couatl, meaning that the creature does not need a
divine focus to cast them.
Psionics (Sp): At will—detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, detect thoughts (DC 12+Cha modifier), invisibility, plane shift (DC 17+Cha modifier), polymorph (self only). Effective caster level 9th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

(For psionics, note that there is a psionic couatl presented in the Expanded Psionics Handbook pg. 193-194)

Yeah. That's couatl as a playing character.
MrWildman
03-28-08, 04:11 AM First of all: ArochanoX, that post was a thing of beauty. My hat's off to you.

Second:
I know that couatl are on a neverending quest for knowledge and wisdom... so I figure that they fall somewhere in between sorcerer and cleric as far as their role in a party.
This makes me think of the Archivist, from Heroes Of Horror. If I did it right, then "This link" (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) should take you to the Archivist excerpt from the Wizards Previews page.

Just a thought. Peace.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
couatlfan 03-26-08, 02:35 PM	Hi, guys! I really, really want to play a couatl as a PC in our upcoming campaign, and my DM is willing to allow it, as our group will be in the 16-18 level range. I know the race pretty well, and I think I could do a damned fine job of portraying one properly. However, I wanted to come to you guys and discuss a few things, because I could certainly use some ideas. How exactly would I convert the couatl into a playable race? Would all of the couatl's abilities/stats be unaffected? (My DM is willing to let me keep the couatl's listed ability scores, for instance.) What class would/should the couatl be? (I'm guessing sorcerer, going by what I read in its stats.) Would the couatl's Shape Change ability allow me to wear armor and carry weapons in a humanoid form, or would they possibly be damaged/destroyed during a change? Any other thoughts would be appreciated as well. I'm really excited about this, as they are a particular favorite race of mine, and I really want to make this work.
Sarig the Genie 03-26-08, 03:20 PM	Would all of the couatl's abilities/stats be unaffected? (My DM is willing to let me keep the couatl's listed ability scores, for instance.) Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 19, Cha 17 That's for an average member of the species, so subtract 10 or 11 where appropriate. Str +8, Dex +6, Con +4, Int + 6, Wis +8, Cha +6 <-- That's your racial adjustments to ability scores. Then use whatever stat generation method the other players used, and add those modifiers. Otherwise it's like playing a human with 10 10 10 11 11 11. Same with hit points, roll it up as part of character creation, and iirc, the skills listed in it's stat block are counted as class skills for the creature for its racial HD. Speaking of which! Features An outsider has the following features. * 8-sided Hit Dice. * Base attack bonus equal to total Hit Dice (as fighter). * Good Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves. * Skill points equal to (8 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die. That's for your racial HD, pretty nice, eh? And I believe if the equipment can be used/fit in your new form, you can keep it, otherwise it melds into it and isn't functional for the duration of the change (see polymorph rules).
couatlfan 03-26-08, 03:37 PM	That's beautiful! It should really allow me to do pretty much everything I need to do. Now, let me ask a couple of other things, because I simply don't know how they work, and I want to make sure I understand exactly what you've told me. The couatl's racial HD is 9(d8), and it's level adjustment is 7. Would that mean that the absolute minimum level for a couatl PC would be 16? When I roll for hit points, I would roll 9d8? The couatl's stats give its hit points as 9d8+18, so would that mean I add 2 to each roll? The skills it has listed (Concentration +14, Diplomacy +17, etc.), those are all added automatically as class skills 'cause of its racial Hit Die? Does that mean that the skills points I'd get for level adjustment would depend on the class that I choose for the couatl? And finally... do you think that this couatl would be a suitable PC? I think it has tons of roleplaying potential, which I'm definitely up to, and I know that couatl are on a neverending quest for knowledge and wisdom... so I figure that they fall somewhere in between sorcerer and cleric as far as their role in a party. But I'm always open to hearing someone's opinion on the subject. Thank you very much. I feel much more prepared now. :)
ArochanoX 03-26-08, 05:23 PM	For the most basic info, check out Dungeon Master's Guide pg. 172-174 Monsters as Characters. It has some talk of effective character level, racial hit dice and level adjustments. Basically a Couatl PC would be a lvl 16 character without any class levels. Couatl has 9d8 racial hit dice, so technically you have 9 levels of an Outsider. Then you have 7 levels worth level adjustment (dead levels with no hit die) to buy all the neat abilities like ethereal jaunt, psionics, spells. To make your effective character level 16. For the 9 outsider hit dice the system works as for normal characters. You have 4 feats (HD 1, 3, 6, and 9), 2 ability increases (that are factored in to the Couatl's ability scores, so you do not actually gain these), +9/+4 Base attack bonus, +6 save bonus on all saves, total of 12*(8+Int) skill points with max ranks of 12/6. Your class skills for these Outsider hit dice are: Concentration, Diplomacy, Jump, Knowledge (any, taken individually), Listen, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, Tumble, and Use Magic Device Because you're a Couatl, you also gain: Large Outsider (native) (-1 size penalty on to hit rolls and AC, -4 size penalty to hide checks and +4 size bonus to grapple checks) Ability score modifiers of: +8Str, +6Dex, +4Con, +6Int, +8Wis, +6Cha. Movement modes: land 20ft, fly 60ft (good maneuvrability) +9 Natural armor Bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage + poison + Improved grab. Constrict: 2d8+Str mod damage Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC (14+con modifier), initial damage 2d4 Str, secondary damage 4d4 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based. Eschew materials as a bonus feat. Darkvision 60 ft Telepathy: A couatl can communicate telepathically with any creature within 90 feet that has an Intelligence score. The creature can respond to the couatl if it wishes—no common language is needed. Ethereal Jaunt (Su): This ability works like the ethereal jaunt spell (caster level 16th) Spells: A couatl casts spells as a 9th-level sorcerer. It can choose its spells known from the sorcerer list, the cleric list, and from the lists for the Air, Good, and Law domains. The cleric spells and domain spells are considered arcane spells for a couatl, meaning that the creature does not need a divine focus to cast them. Psionics (Sp): At will—detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, detect thoughts (DC 12+Cha modifier), invisibility, plane shift (DC 17+Cha modifier), polymorph (self only). Effective caster level 9th. The save DCs are Charisma-based. (For psionics, note that there is a psionic couatl presented in the Expanded Psionics Handbook pg. 193-194) Yeah. That's couatl as a playing character.
MrWildman 03-28-08, 04:11 AM	First of all: ArochanoX, that post was a thing of beauty. My hat's off to you. Second: I know that couatl are on a neverending quest for knowledge and wisdom... so I figure that they fall somewhere in between sorcerer and cleric as far as their role in a party. This makes me think of the Archivist, from Heroes Of Horror. If I did it right, then "This link" (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) should take you to the Archivist excerpt from the Wizards Previews page. Just a thought. Peace.