Edward Scissorhands Character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Edward Scissorhands Character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
KhalaKyRelai
02-18-06, 07:13 PM I want to make an Edward Scissorhands type character in an upcoming game I'll be playing. It'll probably be a solo game with just my brother as the DM and me as the player. I don't know how to create Edward, though.

He is called an "artificial man." That would lead me to believe he is a construct type, but he has scars on his face which means his skin healed somehow, so apparently he has a constitution score?

I'm thinking he's either some sub-type of human or he is a living construct.
So, I was planning on making a stat block for him, but I don't know about story. I could just use the story from the movie and say he is an unfinished project, or I could create a race similar to him. That would allow more customization and I could just make it how I want it; it would probably be easier, and it would allow for a "normal" story, but I don't know if it would make sense for a race to get by with scissorhands.
Maybe I'll have them with only one hand scissory.

Thoughts on that idea please?

If signs point toward the new race, I'll start a new post in the Races forum and leave this one alone.

Thanks.
CryoSilver
02-18-06, 08:36 PM My suggestion? Treat him as a normal human, except instead of skills and feats, he gets claw attacks.

Changing his type has major ramifications: certain spells will not work on him, his proficiencies will change, etc.

Leave him humanoid.
UndeadMouse
02-18-06, 08:38 PM hmm...

I would make a living construct with 2 'claw' (1d4-1d6 damage) natural weapons. lower strength, raise dexterity, and maybe have 1 point of damage dealt to whatever he grabs/grapples. also +2-4 natural armor bonus. -2 or +2 charisma (can't decide if having sharp fingers makes people like or hate you more), inability to wear armor, possibly inability to weild weapons (if you do this, jump the claw damage up a bit). +2 intimidate, -2 sleight of hand.

that would be for a unique character. hope this helps
KhalaKyRelai
02-18-06, 09:59 PM Yeah, I like those ideas.
I was thinking of making the race with only one clawed hand so that it would be possible to use items and weapons. If the both hands are kept as scissors, he can't use items.
+2 intimidate sounds nice, -2 sleight of hand, I was also thinking of +2 pick lock but I could just spend skill points on that I suppose, it's not really innate.

About the charisma thing, I would make it a -2. Why do you propose the -2 to strength?

I planned on making the claw attacks 1d6.

Why the NA bonus?
CryoSilver
02-19-06, 10:02 AM I dunno.... There's lots of races out there with clawed hands, but they don't get skill modifiers based on them.

In a world where these folks are fairly well known, I wouldn't give them the bonus. I mean, Urskans from Frostburn are giant humanoid bears with steel claws, but they don't get a racial bonus to Intimidate, so why should Johnny Depp?
KhalaKyRelai
02-19-06, 01:52 PM :bump:
CryoSilver
02-19-06, 05:53 PM Except in engineering class, I'm a firm believer that simple is best.

Now, let's establish that we want the LA as low as possible.

Obvious features: claws, humanoid-ish.
Standard racial traits: skill bonuses, ability mods, sensory mods

So, uhm, we have, from the start, a humanoid with d4 claws. Okay, with nothing else, that's pretty weak. So, let's upgrade that to d6 (effectively giving them INA for free). That's slightly weaker than the human bonus feat, since you don't have a choice which feat. Claws are more powerful than a free skill point, but the gap is filled by the feat thing. IMO, still LA 0.

Ability mods? Hm... well, I can't say, since I never watched the movie. But, with a balanced, even slightly subpar tradeoff, I think you can still pull off LA 0.
doktorziplok
02-19-06, 07:46 PM i think creating a race, considering natural weapons and all is a mistake. it creates problem, just to justify whatever answers you have.

basically, edward was human. he didn't have 6 arms, breathe fire, fly, shoot rays from his eyes, or glow in the dark. he was human (undead, maybe, he had a bit of vampire-y agelessness to him).

a scissorhands-like pc should simply be made out of a human, with scissors for hands. put your high scores in cha, int, and dex (in that order). class-wise, i'd think he'd be a bard and/or rogue. put some skill points in to profession(hairdresser) or craft(topiary). treat him as always armed, give him two-weapon fighting, and treat the scissors as daggers for combat purposes.

edward scissorhands is not so much about mechanics as he is about a personality.
^Graff_EpsilonIX
02-19-06, 08:48 PM Maybe just give a normal human -2 dex and scissor attacks for hands. Either that or make a scissor golem and put the living construct template on it.
KhalaKyRelai
02-19-06, 08:59 PM Edward seemed very introvertive and I don't think he would have a charisma score above 9. His intelligence didn't seem too high either, maybe that was just because of his low charisma. I think that dexterity would be his highest score, as he can cut bushes and hair with perfect accuracy.

The reason I wasn't jumping at the humanoid thing was because he's an "artificial man" and I wanted to stick with that. If I created a race, I would make it humanoid, which is why I wanted to do that.

If I treat him as a human, I think I'd keep the skill points and feats and give him the -2 to sleight of hand. Maybe give him ability score adjustments, maybe just use my rolls to make him like he is in the movie, maybe just make him totally different personality-wise. He'd basically just be human with 2-1d6 claw attacks.

I thought about creating a race so I could make it not exactly like Edward, but with some of the same characteristics, and possibly only one scissored hand to keep it easy for me to use magic items, etc. at higher levels. Another reason for creating a race was that I could build a story from anywhere if these guys are common. If I go with the "artifical man" story line, I'm really limited.

I guess I could say he's a human who got transformed by magic to have claws maybe?
doktorziplok
02-19-06, 10:22 PM Edward seemed very introvertive and I don't think he would have a charisma score above 9. His intelligence didn't seem too high either, maybe that was just because of his low charisma. I think that dexterity would be his highest score, as he can cut bushes and hair with perfect accuracy.

no way. he definitely had a high charisma. edward drew the attention (and later love, and even later fear) of virtually everyone he encountered. he had certain "charm" over that little town.

he was smart, just not very wise. he spent most of his life isolated in vincent price's mansion. i wouldn't think a person with a low intelligence would be able to adapt, understand, and create like ed did.

and, yeah, super dex.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
KhalaKyRelai 02-18-06, 07:13 PM	I want to make an Edward Scissorhands type character in an upcoming game I'll be playing. It'll probably be a solo game with just my brother as the DM and me as the player. I don't know how to create Edward, though. He is called an "artificial man." That would lead me to believe he is a construct type, but he has scars on his face which means his skin healed somehow, so apparently he has a constitution score? I'm thinking he's either some sub-type of human or he is a living construct. So, I was planning on making a stat block for him, but I don't know about story. I could just use the story from the movie and say he is an unfinished project, or I could create a race similar to him. That would allow more customization and I could just make it how I want it; it would probably be easier, and it would allow for a "normal" story, but I don't know if it would make sense for a race to get by with scissorhands. Maybe I'll have them with only one hand scissory. Thoughts on that idea please? If signs point toward the new race, I'll start a new post in the Races forum and leave this one alone. Thanks.
CryoSilver 02-18-06, 08:36 PM	My suggestion? Treat him as a normal human, except instead of skills and feats, he gets claw attacks. Changing his type has major ramifications: certain spells will not work on him, his proficiencies will change, etc. Leave him humanoid.
UndeadMouse 02-18-06, 08:38 PM	hmm... I would make a living construct with 2 'claw' (1d4-1d6 damage) natural weapons. lower strength, raise dexterity, and maybe have 1 point of damage dealt to whatever he grabs/grapples. also +2-4 natural armor bonus. -2 or +2 charisma (can't decide if having sharp fingers makes people like or hate you more), inability to wear armor, possibly inability to weild weapons (if you do this, jump the claw damage up a bit). +2 intimidate, -2 sleight of hand. that would be for a unique character. hope this helps
KhalaKyRelai 02-18-06, 09:59 PM	Yeah, I like those ideas. I was thinking of making the race with only one clawed hand so that it would be possible to use items and weapons. If the both hands are kept as scissors, he can't use items. +2 intimidate sounds nice, -2 sleight of hand, I was also thinking of +2 pick lock but I could just spend skill points on that I suppose, it's not really innate. About the charisma thing, I would make it a -2. Why do you propose the -2 to strength? I planned on making the claw attacks 1d6. Why the NA bonus?
CryoSilver 02-19-06, 10:02 AM	I dunno.... There's lots of races out there with clawed hands, but they don't get skill modifiers based on them. In a world where these folks are fairly well known, I wouldn't give them the bonus. I mean, Urskans from Frostburn are giant humanoid bears with steel claws, but they don't get a racial bonus to Intimidate, so why should Johnny Depp?
KhalaKyRelai 02-19-06, 01:52 PM	:bump:
CryoSilver 02-19-06, 05:53 PM	Except in engineering class, I'm a firm believer that simple is best. Now, let's establish that we want the LA as low as possible. Obvious features: claws, humanoid-ish. Standard racial traits: skill bonuses, ability mods, sensory mods So, uhm, we have, from the start, a humanoid with d4 claws. Okay, with nothing else, that's pretty weak. So, let's upgrade that to d6 (effectively giving them INA for free). That's slightly weaker than the human bonus feat, since you don't have a choice which feat. Claws are more powerful than a free skill point, but the gap is filled by the feat thing. IMO, still LA 0. Ability mods? Hm... well, I can't say, since I never watched the movie. But, with a balanced, even slightly subpar tradeoff, I think you can still pull off LA 0.
doktorziplok 02-19-06, 07:46 PM	i think creating a race, considering natural weapons and all is a mistake. it creates problem, just to justify whatever answers you have. basically, edward was human. he didn't have 6 arms, breathe fire, fly, shoot rays from his eyes, or glow in the dark. he was human (undead, maybe, he had a bit of vampire-y agelessness to him). a scissorhands-like pc should simply be made out of a human, with scissors for hands. put your high scores in cha, int, and dex (in that order). class-wise, i'd think he'd be a bard and/or rogue. put some skill points in to profession(hairdresser) or craft(topiary). treat him as always armed, give him two-weapon fighting, and treat the scissors as daggers for combat purposes. edward scissorhands is not so much about mechanics as he is about a personality.
^Graff_EpsilonIX 02-19-06, 08:48 PM	Maybe just give a normal human -2 dex and scissor attacks for hands. Either that or make a scissor golem and put the living construct template on it.
KhalaKyRelai 02-19-06, 08:59 PM	Edward seemed very introvertive and I don't think he would have a charisma score above 9. His intelligence didn't seem too high either, maybe that was just because of his low charisma. I think that dexterity would be his highest score, as he can cut bushes and hair with perfect accuracy. The reason I wasn't jumping at the humanoid thing was because he's an "artificial man" and I wanted to stick with that. If I created a race, I would make it humanoid, which is why I wanted to do that. If I treat him as a human, I think I'd keep the skill points and feats and give him the -2 to sleight of hand. Maybe give him ability score adjustments, maybe just use my rolls to make him like he is in the movie, maybe just make him totally different personality-wise. He'd basically just be human with 2-1d6 claw attacks. I thought about creating a race so I could make it not exactly like Edward, but with some of the same characteristics, and possibly only one scissored hand to keep it easy for me to use magic items, etc. at higher levels. Another reason for creating a race was that I could build a story from anywhere if these guys are common. If I go with the "artifical man" story line, I'm really limited. I guess I could say he's a human who got transformed by magic to have claws maybe?
doktorziplok 02-19-06, 10:22 PM	Edward seemed very introvertive and I don't think he would have a charisma score above 9. His intelligence didn't seem too high either, maybe that was just because of his low charisma. I think that dexterity would be his highest score, as he can cut bushes and hair with perfect accuracy. no way. he definitely had a high charisma. edward drew the attention (and later love, and even later fear) of virtually everyone he encountered. he had certain "charm" over that little town. he was smart, just not very wise. he spent most of his life isolated in vincent price's mansion. i wouldn't think a person with a low intelligence would be able to adapt, understand, and create like ed did. and, yeah, super dex.