Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Devigod 01-05-08, 06:42 PM	So this is king of a wolf fey that I'm going to put into this northern campaign. Kinda a snowy forest thing. The idea building it was to make a wolf that is more wise and fey than feral, but anyway: Lumyr: Fey (Shapechanger) This pale humanoid has silver hair, sharp features and a lithe, yet sturdy form. Slightly hunched, his legs are long and powerful, he is nevertheless comfortable in his stance. Under the moonlight his hair and limbs assume an ethereal blue tinge and his eyes shine bright blue. +2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Wis: Lumyr are graceful and hardy, but also very wise and cautious. Medium: As medium creatures, Lumyr have no bonuses or penalties due to size. Base Land Speed: 30 feet, 40 prone (see below) Quadruped: Lumyr in light or no armor with both his hands free and unoccupied can assume a prone position and move at a speed of 40 feet, the penalties that are incurred for being prone are halved (-2 to attacks and ac). Low-Light Vision: Lumyr can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. Racial Hit Dice: Lumyr begin with two levels of fey, which provide 2d6 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +3 and Will +3. Racial Skills: A Lumyr's fey levels give it skill points equal to 5 x (6 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Balance, Climb, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Move Silently, Search, Spot, Survival, Swim and Tumble. Racial Feats: A Lumyr's fey levels give it one feat. Lunar Affinity: Lumyr gain a +1 to attacks and damage when immersed in moonlight. Survival Senses: Lumyr possess the Scent ability and gain a +4 racial bonus to listen, search, spot and survival checks. Lumyr are natural survivors and hunters, adept at tuning into their surroundings. Alternate Form (Su): A Lumyr can shift into the form of a wolf at will. Its gear is not affected, and it does not regain hit points for changing form. When in wolf form, a Lumyr gains a +2 bonus to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. A Lumyr also gains a natural armor bonus of +2, a base land speed of 50 feet, and the Trip extraordinary ability. Lumyr in wolf form cannot use manufactured weapons, items that require hands or equiped magic items but gain a natural bite attack dealing 1d6 damage. Changing to and from wolf form is a standard action. A slain Lumyr does not revert to its original form. Carried equipment is dropped when wolf form is assumed, unless it is carried in a specific harness that binds to the wolf form and doesn't fall off. Such a harness can be attached to a backpack, waterskin or sheath to carry food, water or equipment. Armor with the Wild (DMG pg. 219) special quality becomes barding for the wolf with the same armor bonus and special qualities. Automatic Langauges: Common and Lupin Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan Favored Class: Ranger Level Adjustment: +2 Thats the lot of it. I need some advice on it, for a while, I was messing around with HD and level adjustment, and an alternate form is always hard to scale like that, so any suggestions or criticism would be great. I soon plan to make a Pureblood Knight prestige class that gains more wolf and dexterity based combat abilities, fluff coming soon as well.
tenguroEd 01-05-08, 09:45 PM	wouldn't getting a +2 bonus to four abilities warrant a LA2?
Devigod 01-05-08, 10:14 PM	Exactly why I posted it. Would it be comfortable +1 with 3 boosted stats? I'll just nix the Cha, I don't even remember why that's there... Go Michigan!
tenguroEd 01-05-08, 11:19 PM	Exactly why I posted it. Would it be comfortable +1 with 3 boosted stats? I'll just nix the Cha, I don't even remember why that's there... Go Michigan! Probly I'm not all that good at race building, but I know for a fact having a bonus to four abilities along with all the other abilities the Lumyr get, would warrant a LA+2, I just checked the draconic creature(Races of the Dragon, PG.74) they get a +2 bonus to 3 stats but, they also get a bit less then your race and they are la+1, I know comparing your race and the draconic creature template isn't the best comparisions. So I still say the Lumyr will be a LA+2. Also more specifically GO BLUE!
JLaurHughes 01-05-08, 11:20 PM	This is more of an LA +3 race: Alternbate Form supernatural ability is +1, racial hd is +1 and unbalanced ability modifiers +1. And it's a weak +3, or strong +2 because of Alternate form.
Devigod 01-05-08, 11:25 PM	We pwned Florida. Go Blue! Don't the HD put down the level adjustment? If not, maybe I should make them monstrous humanoids...
JLaurHughes 01-06-08, 12:03 AM	Racial or Monstrous HD give a +1 for every 2HD of the race/creature. The creature type has little to no bearing on the level adjustment.
Devigod 01-06-08, 01:37 PM	Unless thats in Savage Species, (which I don't own), I think that you have it reversed. HD are used as a balancing tool that aren't quite as big a penalty as LA, but are still a penalty. A level in rogue is better than a level in fey. As you have more HD, you have a lowered LA. More racial HD mean less class levels.
Neutronium_Dragon 01-06-08, 02:24 PM	It isn't in Savage Species. Racial hit dice reduce LA, they don't increase it. Two comments: Dump the unusual form trait. Unless their form is so weird that they should properly be classified as an Aberration then there's no need for this - all the other weird-shaped humanoids and monstrous humanoids don't use it. Shapeshift: Unless this is somehow limited then it effectively translates into three more stat boosts. I'd drop the stat changes in alternate form, especially since this also simplifies running the creature as the alternate form effectively just becomes "gains a natural weapon" without having to recalculate anything else.
Devigod 01-06-08, 02:41 PM	Okay, thanks for the advice, I followed suggestion one, allow me to explain number two: The alternate form effectively turns them into a wolf. They already have some of the modifiers in humanoid form, but they assume the rest when they assume wolf form. With a nonelite stat set of 11, 11, 11, 10, 10 and 10, a wolf gains a +2 to Strength, a +4 to Dexterity and a +4 to Constitution. They have lowered social and personality stats as they are animals. Taking on wolf form gives them identical physical stats of a wolf and a natural bite attack, while they can no longer use weapons. Does that clarify it, or does it seem like irrational defense? It should simplify the transition just to make weapon and stat changes, they still have the same set of skills, BAB and saves, but boosted animal physical stats. Should they retain the ability to talk in animal form, or should I make them speachless there? The abnormal shape was to try to balance the class, but I will take your suggestion and dump it. I'll push LA to +2 to compensate and due to suggestion though.
Neutronium_Dragon 01-06-08, 04:01 PM	Removing the unusual shape won't have any effect on their LA, frankly. It's not significant as a balancing factor to anything. If you want them to have a wolf's modifiers then simply give them the full stats in their base form. Then the alternate form doesn't need to change anything. It's bad to have the alternate form changing stats because then you need to recalculate large parts of their character sheet every time they change form. Also... Quadruped: Lumyr can move quadrupedally at a rate of 40' as long as their hands are free (not holding anything or otherwise occupied). Moving while prone would mean that they can essentially wriggle along the ground like a snake at a rate of 40' - that's not what you want.
Devigod 01-06-08, 04:09 PM	Actually, I copied the line of text directly from an SRD resource. I think it means not while you are in any prone position, but you go onto your hands and knees, and are considered half prone while running on four legs. Okay, reworded. I like the implied imagery however, that was a very amusing comment. I don't see how the modifiers are any more difficult to calculate than a druid's wildshape, a wizard's polymorph, or even a babarian's rage. They just have a slightly higher AC, damage threshold, chance to hit and one more hitpoint per hit die. I believe that giving them as flat bonuses in any form would make the race more powerful and potentially unfair. Plus it would remove any incentive to become a wolf for a bit and forgoe weapons. Thanks for the opinion though.
Devigod 01-10-08, 05:41 PM	*Bump* :bump:
HernetheHunter 01-11-08, 12:26 AM	Quick Questions. Where did you get the 5 in your Racial Skill formula? In Lunar Affinity, what does "immersed in moonlight" mean? More definition I think. And the Charisma bonus you mentioned would be due to a fey's supposed Charismatic way and usually any SLA's they possess use Charisma as their spellcasting stat.
Devigod 01-11-08, 01:52 PM	Well... 5 x means that they have two levels. Their first level counts as times four, the second brings it up to times 5. It would be up to the DM's discretion. Immersed could mean whenever they are under the full moon with a clear sky, or even if it is filtered by overhead treetops. I picture it as being struck by moonlight unblocked by clouds.
Neutronium_Dragon 01-11-08, 07:38 PM	> It would be up to the DM's discretion. Never, never write race or class abilities like that. If you can't spell out a clear, simple, and unambiguous definition of when it applies, it doesn't belong in a stat block.
Devigod 01-11-08, 09:57 PM	I actually got it from an SRD source, or something of the like. It was a whole bunch of player material, I had the same problem when I typed in quadruped, someone said it was too vague.