Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Magic_is_Mighty 07-16-07, 09:38 AM	I want to make a race that is a shapechanger. However, they can have more than 1 animal form, but all the animals they can form into are small forest animals. I will list the characteristics of this race and I need advice of what LA i would have to give this race. Woodling: Woodlings are a peacefull race that love nature and the creatures in them. They stand no more than 4 feet tall when fully grown, looking almost like a child to a human adult. They look like small elves except with longer ears and pale blue skin. Woodlings live in large communitys of about 200 people in the clan. They build there homes in trees way up in the tops as to avoid enemy contact. Woodling Stats: -- +2 Wis. -2 Str. -2 Con. -- Size: Small. Woodligns take all penalties and bonuses of a small humanoid. -- Speed: 20ft. Woodlings have smaller legs than a human. -- Animal Forms: Woodlings have a special bond with nature at at an early age learn to shapechange into several animals for protection and mostly fleeing from battle when they are too youn gto fight. Woodling gaurds have stronger forms such as maybe a tiger or other fighting form, however normal woodlings do not. Changing in to an animal form is a movement, or attack action, you choose. Getting out is a free action. When you change you keep your stats, HP, and AC. However you gain natural speed, shape, attacks, special abilities, and any size or natural armour. Also, your items do no tcome with you so u have to loose your clothes. The animal forms that you can change into are as listed: Hawk, Fox, Small Snake, and a Small Shark. -- Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day Animal Messanger, Charm Animal, Speak w/ animals. Woodlings are at one with nature and can communicate with animals. -- Animal Companion: Woodlings have a small pet such as a cat, sparrow, or something of the like that they are bonded with. They can communicate with it mentally at a range of 1 mile and the woodling can see through the animals eyes as if it was there eyes. -- Languages: Common, Sylvan, Woodling. Bonus: Any. -- Favored Class: Druid. This is my race. I want all comments on the LA and of theres a way I can make it less powerfull if it seems too powerful and things like that.
runestar 07-16-07, 10:16 AM	Seems too useful to be had at LA+0. The animal forms look like they might have excellent utility outside of combat, such as when you need to double as a scout or infiltrator. I would peg the LA at high +1. Perhaps limit the number of times you can wildshape, and have this number slowly scale as you gain more HD? That should suffice in cranking down the LA to +0.
elondir 07-16-07, 10:18 AM	So far I'd say it's a weak LA 0. (CR 1/2). To balance it against the core races, add low light vision, a bonus feat, a +2 bonus vs one school of spells, and +6 worth of skill bonuses (survival +2, knowledge (nature) +2, handle animal +2). That would make it a solid LA +0 race.
Magic_is_Mighty 07-16-07, 10:19 AM	Ok, thank you. Thats what I was thinking. This may sound stupid but how do you get a picture for yourself? Also I don tthink I cna add that stuff because then it might get too powerful.
radkins 07-16-07, 01:12 PM	This race reminds me of the tibit from dragon. They turn into house cats at will. To me, this build doesn't look unbalanced at all. As for the animal companion, maybe add a bonus if you choose it to be your animal companion or familiar with a class.
Platstud 07-16-07, 01:29 PM	So far I'd say it's a weak LA 0. (CR 1/2). To balance it against the core races, add low light vision, a bonus feat, a +2 bonus vs one school of spells, and +6 worth of skill bonuses (survival +2, knowledge (nature) +2, handle animal +2). That would make it a solid LA +0 race. Yeah, why not also give it +5 natural armour, 2 3d6 claw attacks and damage reduction 1000/tactical nuclear strike. That would be a decent LA +0. Point aside, I'd say it's a little strong for +0. In fact, if you give it +2 dex and the stuff elondir mentioned it would probably make a decent +1. Or as suggested above limit the usage of it to 1/day and an additional 1/day every 4 HD.
trapspringer 07-16-07, 02:54 PM	Yeah, why not also give it +5 natural armour, 2 3d6 claw attacks and damage reduction 1000/tactical nuclear strike. That would be a decent LA +0. Agree. Compare this race to the shifter from Ebberon. Those guys get a similar ability, but they only get one form and it's limited use per day. An animal companion cancels out some of their miscellaneous abilities, and your spell-like abilities create a comfortable margin of error for me to say that this race is better than a shifter (who aren't really all that strong). Add in the small size and bonus to a mental stat (like the Blue :gah:) and you've got a solid +1 LA race, and a neat one at that.
Magic_is_Mighty 07-16-07, 03:50 PM	This is my new and improved race thanks to all your comments. -- +2 Wis. -2 Str. -2 Con. -- Size: Small. Woodligns take all penalties and bonuses of a small humanoid. -- Speed: 20ft. Woodlings have smaller legs than a human. -- Animal Forms: Woodlings have a special bond with nature at at an early age learn to shapechange into several animals for protection and mostly fleeing from battle when they are too youn gto fight. Woodling gaurds have stronger forms such as maybe a tiger or other fighting form, however normal woodlings do not. Changing in to an animal form is a movement, or attack action, you choose. Getting out is a free action. When you change you keep your stats, HP, and AC. However you gain natural speed, shape, attacks, special abilities, and any size or natural armour. Also, your items do no tcome with you so u have to loose your clothes. The animal forms that you can change into are as listed: Hawk, Fox, Small Snake, and a Small Shark. -- Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day Animal Messanger, Charm Animal, Speak w/ animals. Woodlings are at one with nature and can communicate with animals. -- Racial Skills: Survival +2, Knowledge (nature) +2, Handle Animal +2. --Bonus Feat: Endurance. -- +2 Spell Ressistance vs. Nature spells. -- Animal Companion: Woodlings have a small pet such as a cat, sparrow, or something of the like that they are bonded with. They can communicate with it mentally at a range of 1 mile and the woodling can see through the animals eyes as if it was there eyes. If your class gives an animal companion or minion, you can either choose to have that and this little one, or you can add 1 extra hd to the one from your class per lvl. -- Languages: Common, Sylvan, Woodling. Bonus: Any. -- Favored Class: Druid. This should be more equal to get closer to +0 LA.
Lawlicron 07-16-07, 04:06 PM	-- +2 Wis. -2 Str. -2 Con. -- Size: Small -- Speed: 20ft. -- Animal Forms: Woodlings have a special bond with nature. At an early age they learn to shapechange into several animals for protection. Changing in to an animal form is a move action. Returning to normal form is a free action. When you change your abilities, hit point, and armor class remain the same. However you gain the speed and movement forms of the new animal, natural attacks, special abilities, and any size or natural armor. Any held or worn items drop to the ground when you change forms. The animal forms available to you are: Hawk, Fox, Small Snake, and a Small Shark. -- Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day Animal Messenger, Charm Animal, Speak with animals.Their caster level equals half their character level (minimum one). -- Racial Skill Bonuses: Survival +2, Knowledge (nature) +2, Handle Animal +2. Woodlings are at one with nature and deal well with it. --Bonus Feat: Endurance. -- +2 on saves versus nature based spells. -- Animal Companion: Woodlings have a small pet such as a cat or sparrow that they are bonded with. They can communicate with it mentally at a range of 1 mile and the woodling can see through the animals eyes as if it was there eyes. -- Languages: Common, Sylvan, Woodling. Bonus: Any. -- Favored Class: Druid. Fixed Is the caster level equals half their character level rounded down alright? You didn't have one listed. I'd suggest the Woodling having to choose a form at character creation to lower LA. I'd also say get rid of the racial animal companion. Its kind of useless, because it can act as a scout, but the Woodling itself is already a very good scout on its own. You should probably limit the bonus languages too, maybe to Elven, Goblin, Gnome, Halfling. I completely took the part out about Woodling Guards, it didn't make any sense. Whats a Woodling Guard, is it a PrC or an extension of the race, or is it simply a high level Woodling Druid?
doink1212 07-16-07, 04:19 PM	This is my new and improved race thanks to all your comments. -- +2 Wis. -2 Str. -2 Con. -- Size: Small. Woodligns take all penalties and bonuses of a small humanoid. -- Speed: 20ft. Woodlings have smaller legs than a human. -- Animal Forms: Woodlings have a special bond with nature at at an early age learn to shapechange into several animals for protection and mostly fleeing from battle when they are too youn gto fight. Woodling gaurds have stronger forms such as maybe a tiger or other fighting form, however normal woodlings do not. Changing in to an animal form is a movement, or attack action, you choose. Getting out is a free action. When you change you keep your stats, HP, and AC. However you gain natural speed, shape, attacks, special abilities, and any size or natural armour. Also, your items do no tcome with you so u have to loose your clothes. The animal forms that you can change into are as listed: Hawk, Fox, Small Snake, and a Small Shark. -- Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day Animal Messanger, Charm Animal, Speak w/ animals. Woodlings are at one with nature and can communicate with animals. -- Racial Skills: Survival +2, Knowledge (nature) +2, Handle Animal +2. --Bonus Feat: Endurance. -- +2 Spell Ressistance vs. Nature spells. -- Animal Companion: Woodlings have a small pet such as a cat, sparrow, or something of the like that they are bonded with. They can communicate with it mentally at a range of 1 mile and the woodling can see through the animals eyes as if it was there eyes. If your class gives an animal companion or minion, you can either choose to have that and this little one, or you can add 1 extra hd to the one from your class per lvl. -- Languages: Common, Sylvan, Woodling. Bonus: Any. -- Favored Class: Druid. This should be more equal to get closer to +0 LA. I would add in a requirement for the spell like ability charm animals, similar to a gnome, Like a wisdom score of 13. I personally would make it so the woodling chose one animal shape from the list, Possibly matching their supposed alignment. I would allow a choice of animal from the summon monster I list, with the same alignment.
Lawlicron 07-16-07, 04:37 PM	I would add in a requirement for the spell like ability charm animals, similar to a gnome, Like a wisdom score of 13. I personally would make it so the woodling chose one animal shape from the list, Possibly matching their supposed alignment. I would allow a choice of animal from the summon monster I list, with the same alignment. I like the requirement to the spell-like abilities like the gnome has. The animal matching alignment takes away a lot of versatility and is kind of a dead give away if Woodling is going to be a common race in a game, "He turned into a fox he's Chaotic Evil, kill him!". You should probably give stat adjustments for each of the forms. I suggest a big reduction in strength and a bonus to dexterity.
Fireclave 07-16-07, 05:37 PM	This is my new and improved race thanks to all your comments. Well let's take a look :) -- +2 Wis. -2 Str. -2 Con. -- Size: Small. Woodligns take all penalties and bonuses of a small humanoid. -- Speed: 20ft. Woodlings have smaller legs than a human. I can dig it. -- Animal Forms: Woodlings have a special bond with nature at at an early age learn to shapechange into several animals for protection and mostly fleeing from battle when they are too youn gto fight. Woodling gaurds have stronger forms such as maybe a tiger or other fighting form, however normal woodlings do not. Interesting idea Changing in to an animal form is a movement, or attack action, you choose. Just make it a move action. There's no point otherwise because a character gets a move and standard action each round. Sacrificing a move action to use this ability leaves you with another move action. Sacrificing a standard action to use this ability, again, leaves you with another move action. Getting out is a free action. When you change you keep your stats, HP, and AC. I assume you mean ability scores, which is more specific than saying "stats" ( which can mean alot of things). However you gain natural speed, shape, attacks, special abilities, and any size or natural armour. Okay Also, your items do no tcome with you so u have to loose your clothes. I would just have your equipment meld into your body, just like the Druid's wildshape. Otherwise, using this ability could be very annoying very quickly (unless you intended this to be a restriction to the ability, that is). The animal forms that you can change into are as listed: Hawk, Fox, Small Snake, and a Small Shark. What kind of snake? Constrictors and vipers have very different stats and abilities. -- Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day Animal Messanger, Charm Animal, Speak w/ animals. Woodlings are at one with nature and can communicate with animals. -- Racial Skills: Survival +2, Knowledge (nature) +2, Handle Animal +2. --Bonus Feat: Endurance. Okay -- +2 Spell Ressistance vs. Nature spells. Define "Nature Spells." -- Animal Companion: Woodlings have a small pet such as a cat, sparrow, or something of the like that they are bonded with. They can communicate with it mentally at a range of 1 mile and the woodling can see through the animals eyes as if it was there eyes. If your class gives an animal companion or minion, you can either choose to have that and this little one, or you can add 1 extra hd to the one from your class per lvl. What kind of action is it to see through your companion's eyes? And does using that ability impede your own sight? Is this racial animal companion intended to have any sort of progression tied with its owner's character level? Also, what happens if this animal companion dies? Is there any way to get another animal companion, and will the woodling have the same empathic abilities with it? Regarding the italicized text, cats and sparrows, technically, are not small. Cats are tiny, and sparrows would probably be diminutive. If you did intend to include small sized animals as possible candidates, you might want to add such an animal to your list of examples. For clarity, I would rewrite the first bolded part like this: Woodlings have a small pet that they are bonded with. This pet can be any animal of small size or smaller. And the second bolded part like this: You can choose to have your racial animal companion serve as your standard animal companion, familiar, fiendish servant, or special mount. If you choose to do so, you can treat your class level as one higher for determining your companion's abilities. With the above, since the ability says that you can choose to use your racial animal companion in those ways, you are not obligated to do so. Therefore, you don't need to included -- Languages: Common, Sylvan, Woodling. Bonus: Any. -- Favored Class: Druid. This should be more equal to get closer to +0 LA. I think the Woodling fall into a solid LA+1, mostly because the Animal Form ability grants flight very early in the game, as well as other potent bonuses (swim speed, ability to breath underwater, and if vipers are allowed, access to con poison at a very low level).
Lawlicron 07-16-07, 06:38 PM	Hey FireClave, just a heads up here but, I posted a reword about 4 posts ago.
Fireclave 07-16-07, 07:13 PM	Hey FireClave, just a heads up here but, I posted a reword about 4 posts ago. I noticed. But since your reword wasn't OP approved at the time, I decided to throw in my own two cents.
Lawlicron 07-16-07, 07:50 PM	Its just a reword that fixes the spelling and grammatical errors, the only thing I actually put in was the spell caster level for the spell-like abilities being half of the characters level minimum one. Sorry if I sounded or if I am currently sounding, a little hostile. I'm not trying to, but rereading it, it seems like I am.
Fireclave 07-16-07, 10:38 PM	Its just a reword that fixes the spelling and grammatical errors, the only thing I actually put in was the spell caster level for the spell-like abilities being half of the characters level minimum one. Sorry if I sounded or if I am currently sounding, a little hostile. I'm not trying to, but rereading it, it seems like I am. Didn't sound hostile at all. No offense taken. While your reword was very good, I just prefer to critque the work as originally written by the creator.
Empirate 07-17-07, 12:14 PM	I really like the idea of the woodlings, and could even see me adopting the things in my campaign. I'd like to keep them at LA+0. For that reason, I'd really recommend to limit the daily uses of Animal Form. 1/day + 1/day per 4 levels sounds fine. I also like 1/day per point of Wis bonus. Also, do not include skill bonuses: you get those virtually by turning into the right kind of animal, that's all you need. Wanna hear well? Turn into an owl. Wanna climb? Turn into a monkey. And so on. I think this fits the flavor of the race better, too. I'd not put in low-light vision, even though it's very fitting for forest dwellers. Again, the need for this is mitigated by Animal Form. SLAs are fine with Wis: 13+ requirement, I think. You should probably insert a minor weakness to keep it a LA+0, I think. How about: After using Animal Form and turning back into humanoid form, you are fatigued for the rest of the encounter. Or: You are very empathic with animals and experience part of what they perceive. When within 30' of an animal that is suffering, you are staggered. Seeing animals hurt or killed in a cruel, wanton fashion (not for food or in self-defense) makes you fly into a berserk rage similar to the Wolverine's ability of the same name (this negates the staggering effect). You can never eat meat. Doing so is treated like being submitted to a dose of [insert kind of poison].
Magic_is_Mighty 07-17-07, 04:09 PM	Thanks for all of the comments. I will use them to make my race trying to use most of them and then post the final.
Magic_is_Mighty 07-30-07, 04:53 PM	Here's my final version. -- +2 Wis. -2 Con. -- Size: Medium. Woodling are only a little smaller than humans however taller than dwarves. -- Speed: 20ft. Woodlings have smaller legs than a human. -- Animal Forms: Woodlings have a special bond with nature at at an early age learn to shapechange into several animals for protection and mostly fleeing from battle when they are too youn gto fight. Woodling gaurds have stronger forms such as maybe a tiger or other fighting form, however normal woodlings do not. Changing in to an animal form is a standard action. Getting out is a free action. When you change you keep your ability scores, HP, and AC. However you gain natural speed, shape, attacks, special abilities, skill bonuses and any size or natural armour. Also, your items do not come with you so you have to loose your clothes. The animal forms that you can change into are as listed: Hawk, Fox(cat stats except 6 str, 14 dex, 40 ft. speed), Monkey, badger, and a Tiny Shark. -- Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day Animal Messanger, Charm Animal, Speak w/ animals. Woodlings are at one with nature and can communicate with animals. A woodling must have a Wsdom score of at least 13 in order to get these abilties. -- Racial Skills: Survival +2, Knowledge (nature) +2, Handle Animal +2. --Bonus Feat: Endurance. -- +2 Spell Ressistance vs. druid spells. -- Animal Companion: Woodlings have a small pet that they are bonded with. This pet can be any animal of small size or smaller. They can communicate with it mentally at a range of 1 mile and the woodling can see through the animals eyes as if it was there eyes. Using that abilty completely takes over your sight, and It is a Standard action. You can choose to have your racial animal companion serve as your standard animal companion, familiar, fiendish servant, or special mount. If you choose to do so, you can treat your class level as one higher for determining your companion's abilities. If your animal companion dies, a woodling suffers a complete natual brakedown and cannot use any of its racial spells or forms for 24 hours. A woodling must meditate for 24 hours without interuption in order to get another one, which he must do after his 24 hour brakedown. Once the meditation with the animal is complete, the woodling gains the special bonding abilties with it. -- Languages: Common, Woodling. Bonus: Gnome, Elven, Sylvan, Hafling, Dwarven, and Terran. -- Favored Class: Druid. -- Level adjustment +1. Hope you like it. :D
Magic_is_Mighty 07-30-07, 08:58 PM	Thanks everyone. I appreciated your PEACH. :D
Magic_is_Mighty 08-10-07, 11:02 PM	BUMP
Doleth 08-10-07, 11:42 PM	Your race seems fine to me, pretty cool too I must add, but there's something that been bothering me somewhat. The woodlings live in forests right? Then, how can they have a tiny shark form? Also, I can't find the stat for these sharks so maybe replace the tiny shark by tiny viper? They can swim too and they are more easy to find in the forest than sharks. Their poison can be pretty nasty, however the DC is 10, so it's not too dangerous tho you may want to drop the poison and maybe raise their bite damage a little.