Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Master_Vega 10-18-07, 06:43 PM	Awhile back I made a campaign setting for D20 Future, where there was a race of genetically enhanced super soldiers that humanity "forgot". A byproduct of this project was an intelligent canine species. They were made as companions for the super soldiers, and needed to be capable of following more complex orders than the average canines. I haven't run this campaign yet, and I'm just now coming back to working on it... and I'd like some help on the template. I know that D20 Modern and Future have their own boards here -heck, I post there regularly-, but I posted about this a few months back and got no replies there. Here's hoping someone wants to help. Altered Canine Size: Medium or Large, some Altered Canines have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size, but larger ones take a –1 size penalty to Defense and a –1 size penalty on attack rolls. Racial Hit Die: Large Altered Canines start with two levels of (monster?). Ability Modifiers: +2 Strength (+4 if Altered Canine is large), +2 dexterity, +2 Constitution. Base Speed: 60 feet. Natural Weapons (Bite): An Altered Canine can bite opponents for 1d6 piercing damage. Larger ones deal 1d8 piercing damage instead. Low-Light Vision: Altered Canines can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. Scent: This ability allows an Altered Canine to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. See Special Qualities for more information. Trip: An Altered Canine that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent as a free action (see page 152) without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the wolf. Communicate with Canines: Altered Canines can communicate with their less intelligent cousins through instincts hardwired into their brains. They may obtain simple pieces of information in this manner, but nothing beyond the scope of the other animal’s intelligence. Filtering Lungs: Altered Canines gain a +4 to fortitude saves against toxins and viruses that enter the body via inhaling. Immunities: Altered Canines are immune to gorgon paralysis. Paws: Altered Canines have trouble using equipment that is not designed for them and take a -8 penalty on all checks involving devices not designed specifically for their use (IE: any craft check, repair check, drive check, or other such check without special equipment.) Combat prone: Like all altered, the Altered canine's mind is charged toward combat and the thrill of anything competitive. Once having entered combat, an altered Canine will not flee until the enemy has been captured or he or his foe is dead. If the Altered Canine wishes to exit combat prior to either of these conditions, he must succeed a will save (DC 15+1/2 his Character Level) or be overcome by his urge to fight. Skill Bonuses: Altered Canines receive a +4 species bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent. They also gain a +4 on listen checks from of their sensitive ears. Free Language Skills: Speak (English) Level Adjustment: +1 if medium, +2 if large. (Cohort) Note: The D20 Modern system does not use preferred classes because the system is made for multiclassing. Edit: the reason it gets Speak (English) is because all of the Altered Canines have a cybernetic implant that, when issued a specific mental command, broadcast whatever thoughts they choose to 'speak'. The natural language is English because the United States government is the only government in the setting to have actually made use of the canines. Thanks in advance!
baby_kamikaize_kobold 10-19-07, 03:44 PM	I'm thinking that it should be +1 LA for the medium version and +2 for the large version but then again I don't play modern too often so I don't know if the LA system is different in Modern.
Master_Vega 10-19-07, 04:16 PM	It's prettymuch the same as in D&D... and you're probably right about the LA, unless you think the massive penalties for not having hands compensate for the bonuses. Anything else? What do you think of it?
Finfreeze 10-19-07, 09:14 PM	It's hard for me to come up with a LA for a few reasons. Modern and 3.5 are inconsistant with sizes of large+ creatures. For instance, brown bears in Modern have 10' reach, while the same bears in D&D have 5' reach. I need to know more about the setting to see how debilitating the lack of hands are. If dogs have custom-made tools and guns easily available for them, it might not be all that bad. I mean, if they can mind-link with vehicles to drive them, it's just as good as doing it the normal way. Natural weapons (except for slams, which are handled differently and are just plain weird in both games) don't get iterative attacks. Combined with the potential lack of weapons for canines, this can prove to be a quite a disadvantage when BABs hit the +6, +11, and +16 marks. Modern is slightly more lenient with LAs and uses a different set of rules than 3.5 does. The shadowkind ogre is a cheap LA +3 (ECL 3), while the fantasy ogre costs 4 HD and 2 LA (or ECL 6). Finally, combat prone—while flavorful—is one of those intangible disadvantages that take away control from the player. Unless you need to retreat, it's not a disadvantage, and there's a chance that the dog may never have trouble running away. But if you look at the numbers, the save becomes nearly impossible after a while unless you take a +Will class or feats. One bad roll (or even a good roll) could spell certain death. Like the Combat Fear mutation, it's hard to score and can be annoying in play. I'd say for now...toss on 2 species hit dice on the larger one to make it more appealing, or at least give it 10' reach. Add the (cohort) tag to their level adjustment notes. If there's some way to overcome these disadvantages, it might be capable as a PC. It might need some playtesting first. Hm...
Master_Vega 10-20-07, 01:59 AM	First, thank you very, very much for posting this. I was hoping someone would pick it apart. It's hard for me to come up with a LA for a few reasons. Modern and 3.5 are inconsistant with sizes of large+ creatures. For instance, brown bears in Modern have 10' reach, while the same bears in D&D have 5' reach. I need to know more about the setting to see how debilitating the lack of hands are. If dogs have custom-made tools and guns easily available for them, it might not be all that bad. I mean, if they can mind-link with vehicles to drive them, it's just as good as doing it the normal way. While they will have several weapons created for their race, they must take the Weapon Mount (I think that's what it's called) cybernetic to use them. Similarly for utilities, they must take the Utility Mount to make use of them. I'm not sure whether or not they are able to mind link with vehicles. If they are, I might have to come up with a system for the bonuses and disadvantages of such a link. Natural weapons (except for slams, which are handled differently and are just plain weird in both games) don't get iterative attacks. Combined with the potential lack of weapons for canines, this can prove to be a quite a disadvantage when BABs hit the +6, +11, and +16 marks. Point taken... Any ideas on how to take care of this, or did the idea I posted above already do that? Modern is slightly more lenient with LAs and uses a different set of rules than 3.5 does. The shadowkind ogre is a cheap LA +3 (ECL 3), while the fantasy ogre costs 4 HD and 2 LA (or ECL 6). There's also a large race that's only +1 LA in Future... at least if I remember correctly. It's not in the SRD, so I can't really go into much detail on it. I just remember the half-dragon in Urban Arcana is a +3LA, just like it's D&D cousin. Finally, combat prone—while flavorful—is one of those intangible disadvantages that take away control from the player. Unless you need to retreat, it's not a disadvantage, and there's a chance that the dog may never have trouble running away. But if you look at the numbers, the save becomes nearly impossible after a while unless you take a +Will class or feats. One bad roll (or even a good roll) could spell certain death. Like the Combat Fear mutation, it's hard to score and can be annoying in play. Should I make it something like a frenzied rage, or just get rid of the crunch and leave the fluff? I'd say for now...toss on 2 species hit dice on the larger one to make it more appealing, or at least give it 10' reach. Add the (cohort) tag to their level adjustment notes. If there's some way to overcome these disadvantages, it might be capable as a PC. It might need some playtesting first. Hm... I'll get on this tomorrow. Thanks for the help! Edit: More stuff... I wanted players to have the option to play an Altered Canine, but for the most part this species would function as a cohort species for most of the Altered and unaltered humans (I guess I could post the former species too, sometime). The era for the setting is PL6 (progress level six, Fusion Age) with some PL7 technology, and a larger focus on ballistic weapons than on lasers.