In a nearly future faerun game I´m going to play a kind of master hunter. A were-wolf who become a were-dire wolf, and finally he has evolved into a Beast of Malar.
Roleplaying he has devour every creature with the same or more HD than him. My master and I have decided it would be fun is the character would evolve with the Malar blessing.
So the idea is a to analize the Beast of Malar (monster of faerun) as a character race, not a template. With a four form as a bipedal form similar to a human, to roleplaying purposes.
So guys the question is how playeable is the Beast of Malar? Which ECL woul you put on him? How would you optimice him?
Hugs guys!
Monsters of Faerun is a 3e book that I don't have access to at the moment, but from what I remember and what you say, it's got multiple forms (probably three printed) and a Consume ability. This would require a lot of racial HD or level adjustment if it were considered for player use, and level adjustments were one thing that weren't around in 3e, so we'll have to estimate.
I'll answer more when I have access to my library again.
I will wait till I see new comments.
Thanks Tempest_Stormwind
Druid that happens to worship Malar = easy to figure, decently in the neighborhood.
Werewolf template racial class, is here:
www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/200...
Slowly roll in the 3 levels on table SP-16.
That fits your back story rather well.
LA+3 can use LA Buy-off and be gone by level 20 (but just barely).
I alredy were a werewolf. In this game backstory, decisions and roleplay is the most important. Back in the days my character used to be a were dire wolf wordshiper of malar.
After every big batle I used to devour the most powerful challenge believing this way I would become stronger.
The game ended shortly after I devour a really big bad guy.
So in the next weeks we are going to continue that campaign again, and I will no longer be a were-beast. Malar has blessed me to become something more complex, and I have become a Beast of Malar.
To let my character roleplay I can use a human form. But in the game mechanic I´m a beast of malar as a player race.
So far we are thinking about putting it at 9HD + 3LA: Total of 12 level character and 1 level in any class (not selected yet).
I came here to see what you guys think about that, Its right that ELC?
My second question is, what now? I have no idea which feats take or items. About the class I thought about the Warshaper PrC, as I will start at level 13 with 1 level..
Well any help is welcome
(Beast of Malar will work as a race, not a template. I can not change the race to anything else, we are starting at level 13, I can optimice as far as i think it can be done (as my character will is nerfed to the rest of the characters I think)) My role won´t be damage dealer, with this race I think i can´t atleast...
See you guys and thanks, DrZoius
So far we are thinking about putting it at 9HD + 3LA: Total of 12 level character and 1 level in any class (not selected yet).
I came here to see what you guys think about that, Its right that ELC?
My second question is, what now? I have no idea which feats take or items. About the class I thought about the Warshaper PrC, as I will start at level 13 with 1 level..
Well any help is welcome
9 HD + 3 LA sounds about right from what I saw in a few quick searches online. The DR, shapeshifting that heals, and I am guessing exceptional stats (didn't see those) come out to about +3 LA, particularly when you add in a human form. That said, the 9 HD might offset a bit of that level adjustment. Probably not too much though, since I'm guessing you have at least two or three stats at +10.
With some of the feats and spells that increase your daily resting rate, you could general some significant healing output. Warshaper should be an excellent choice for class, probably 4 levels, though quick shapechange would be incredibly nice with your healing on shapechanges and might be worth the 5th level and loss of a point of BAB.
To supplement, I would probably consider some of the tome of battle classes-- likely Warblade or Crusader. At Beast 9/Warshaper 3 you will have an initiator level of 6 and your first level will enable you to take 4th level maneuvers.
I alredy were a werewolf. In this game backstory, decisions and roleplay is the most important. Back in the days my character used to be a were dire wolf wordshiper of malar.
After every big batle I used to devour the most powerful challenge believing this way I would become stronger.
The game ended shortly after I devour a really big bad guy.
So in the next weeks we are going to continue that campaign again, and I will no longer be a were-beast. Malar has blessed me to become something more complex, and I have become a Beast of Malar.
Does all this mean that, in effect, your blessing will replace all the wolf HD and the level adjustment / special abilities of the Werewolf template with the racial HD, level adjustment, and special abilities of the Beast of Malar (i.e. are you building a beast of Malar separately but he's still playing the same character narratively, or are you going to still have some of your werewolf levels?) This will kind of matter overall.
I still haven't had a chance to check Monsters of Faerun, but going on what Balthanon says (he's almost always spot-on in judgement), you almost have to be doing the former.
Also, I concur about the ToB classes - likely Crusader, I'd suggest (they lack Tiger Claw, yes, but they have the natural divine connection thing, and their abilities work well with self-healing - in fact, I'd suggest renaming Martial Spirit to be Feast of Blood and working with that idea in mind.)
First I will answer the quickest question: There is a totally new character in the game set but it continues the story right where it ended, so I left all the were wolf stuff and go to the beast of malar race.
About the tricky questions:
Beast of malar has 3 forms (panther, bear, and bat). Every form share the con, wis, cha and int scores; and change the Dex, and Str ones.
We are going to put these pasive stats as a bonus to my own stats (at least cha) in human form. The bonus to CON and the bonus to WIS will aply in the beasts forms (but I will use the buffed CON to calculate total HP). STR and DEX will be buff depending of the form I ll be using in that moment.
Here´s the stats at ECL 12 (1 buyoff alredy aplyed):
HUMAN PANTHER BEAR BAT
STR 16 20 36 22
DEX 15 27 19 19
CON 16 26 26 26
INT 16 16 16 16
WIS 8 12 12 12
CHA 15 15 15 15
Non elite roll scores (I pick high int to invest in the "savage hunter" concept with the habilities)
Total HP:129 (bad rolls :/ )
BAB 7
Feats I have thinked so far (nothing close to definitive):
Fast change (to change forms faster) and Fount of life to defend myself from energy drain and similar attacks.
Items will be a problem as I can only buy some tipes (no armor and very few weapons by example)
PD: About the bonus heal when changing from forms we still have to discuss it, ad my DM mentioned he thinked it was a big bonus.
Still the hardest part for me is the feat and items selection.
Crusader can be a good choice, but honestly I have never spent more than 1 hour reading the tome of batle. Something very deep inside me dislike that manual. But I can give it a shoot with a litle help.
A hug guys, Good night.
I would probably bump your level adjustment up to at least +4 LA, particularly if level adjustment buyoff is on the table. All told, the benefits that the beast gains are probably worth about +7 LA (and that's being a bit lenient going by Savage Species guidelines). However, 9 racial hit dice is a considerable jump and you don't get to use every single ability all at once, so you can offset probably about +3 LA of that either because at the levels you'll be playing they aren't worth quite as much or they need to take the place of the class abilities you would otherwise be getting. Magical beast hit dice are actually quite decent as well, which limits how much they'll reduce your LA (not quite outsider or dragon quality, but they're up there).
The big keystone LA bumps are definitely the more than decent DR, regeneration, and immunities and the absolutely massive stat boosts that you just can't duplicate with classes or feats though. How much all of that is actually worth depends somewhat on what other players in your game are getting too though-- if they're playing normal races without any DM gifts of any kind, I think +4 is probably fair though.
Stats and Level Adjustment Analysis
All Forms
- Medium Magical Beast (Shapechanger)
- 9d10 HD
- +9 BAB
- +6 Fort, +6 Ref, +3 Will
- 12 * (2 + Int modifier) skill points
- Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Swim, Survival
- Darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision
- Shapeshifting (full round shift, 3 forms, heals as polymorph)
- Damage reduction 10/magic and silver
- Regeneration 6 (divine magic and blessed weapons lethal)
- Fear immunity
- +10 Con, +4 Wis, +6 Cha
- +4 Listen, Spot
Hunting Panther
- 60 ft move
- +5 natural armor
- 2 claws (1d4) and bite (1d6)
- Pounce
- Improved Grab
- Scent
- Rake (1d4)
- +4 Str, +12 Dex
- Track, Weapon Finesse
- +8 Hide (+12 vegetation), Jump, Move Silently and +12 Balance
Claw Slayer
- 20 ft move, 20 ft climb
- +11 natural armor
- bite (2d6) and 4 claws (1d6)
- Improved grab
- +20 Str, +4 Dex
- Improved Critical (claws), Power Attack
Bat Form
- 10 ft move, 30 ft (clumsy) fly
- +5 natural armor
- +6 Str, +4 Dex
- Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Weapon Focus (bite)
Level Adjustment
- +2 LA (DR, regeneration, fear immunity, healing on shift)
- +1 LA (natural weapons and natural armor) [reduce to +0 due to racial hit dice]
- +2 LA (stats)
- +1 LA (scent, pounce, rake, improved grab) [reduce to +0 due to racial hit dice]
- +1 LA (flight and bonus feats) [reduce to +0 due to racial hit dice]
All Forms
- Medium Magical Beast (Shapechanger)
- 9d10 HD
- +9 BAB
- +6 Fort, +6 Ref, +3 Will
- 12 * (2 + Int modifier) skill points
- Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Swim, Survival
- Darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision
- Shapeshifting (full round shift, 3 forms, heals as polymorph)
- Damage reduction 10/magic and silver
- Regeneration 6 (divine magic and blessed weapons lethal)
- Fear immunity
- +10 Con, +4 Wis, +6 Cha
- +4 Listen, Spot
Hunting Panther
- 60 ft move
- +5 natural armor
- 2 claws (1d4) and bite (1d6)
- Pounce
- Improved Grab
- Scent
- Rake (1d4)
- +4 Str, +12 Dex
- Track, Weapon Finesse
- +8 Hide (+12 vegetation), Jump, Move Silently and +12 Balance
Claw Slayer
- 20 ft move, 20 ft climb
- +11 natural armor
- bite (2d6) and 4 claws (1d6)
- Improved grab
- +20 Str, +4 Dex
- Improved Critical (claws), Power Attack
Bat Form
- 10 ft move, 30 ft (clumsy) fly
- +5 natural armor
- +6 Str, +4 Dex
- Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bite), Weapon Focus (bite)
Level Adjustment
- +2 LA (DR, regeneration, fear immunity, healing on shift)
- +1 LA (natural weapons and natural armor) [reduce to +0 due to racial hit dice]
- +2 LA (stats)
- +1 LA (scent, pounce, rake, improved grab) [reduce to +0 due to racial hit dice]
- +1 LA (flight and bonus feats) [reduce to +0 due to racial hit dice]
Amaziing job guys, truly amazing.
We were looking at the 3.0 version. And we are studing your analysis and the options we have.
I won´t probably be able to use weapons (except maybe claws of the beast or similars). Same with armors.
Necklakes, rings, bracers... I will be able to use them a bit more expensive to let them change with me while switching from forms.
I will update soon.
For the versioning, the 3.5 update doesn't change a ton-- the biggest items are probably the DR and which feats are bonus feats.
Yes you are right, indeed. But we calculated a total of 9 racial hd, and LA of +3 without that magical beast hd (we used animal hd) and that DR (we used 5/+1), So we have to take a look at this.
Frankly I think this is good as we alredy balanced close to your conclusions. ´
Today I was thinking about getting grafts in my build, for the flavor of savage hunter.
That Stinging tail made me fall in love of it.
The ones I have thinked so far are:
Sting tail, paison fang (yuanti), fiendish jaw, strong leg, spike stones, antennae graft, legs of the undying marcher, perception seed, treebark carapace and wakeful mind.
Most of them I have listed have been chosen for flavor and utility. I won´t need anyone who put them on my character, in game we are going to fit them as a malar gift (but paying them).
Will update as soon as posible