Earthquake: Tumbling into Toreurkral (A classless dungeon crawl)

[Magrus]

Upon seeing the notice of the work being done with the new ownership, I decided that I'd like to try again and offer a more straight forward concept in a dungeon crawl. One that can be run for members old or new. I am going to revive an old concept that I am revamping and attacking from a new direction and region, with a new start. Folks who have played the old "Eye of the Beholder" CRPG game from the days of Dos this game will start in a similar fashion of a troupe trapped underground, forced to explore and combat the evil beings which inhabit the tunnels and caves underground. This will be a draconian DM run Dungeon Crawl TM, and by that I mean my style is the following:

1: I only fudge rolls if RNG skews things so far out of the player or the DM's hands that it is a run ending situation that is in no fault of anyone *playing* such as a player rolling 4 1's in a full attack in a crucial moment and me, the DM rolling several nat 20's in a freak double streak where the player missing and the NPC auto-hitting ends a PC's life, leading to a TPK. These kinds of situations are worth skewing things to save a run that are just freak RNG which shouldn't kill off the entire game.

2: I run my NPC's to act in a manner appropriate for their capabilities, and how they work in my world. Orc raiders pillaging a dwarven mine is a situation of racial hatred with a generations long history of brutality and mercy is rarely shown for example. Therefore Orc on Dwarf violence might be prioritized over attacking another PC. Goblins might be cowardly, but they aren't morons, and are capable of utilizing weaponry and tactics to be dangerous in numbers and on their terms. Flesh eating ghouls with a hatred for the living and hunger for flesh aren't just "Zombies +1 CR" and have personalities and motives that are alien and different to living creatures. Dragons *are* better than humans and know it, and aren't afraid to show them it is so, even goody two shoe dragons. Just because you have a companion tiger does not mean it will automatically follow your attack order against something that is clearly out of it's league in a suicidal blind rush, it is an intelligent creature with a survival instinct.

3: PC death happens, it is inherent in rpg games and tactical rpg's. I learned to play where you were expected to have a backup character sheet ready for the session if you walked over a trap into an ambush and were cut down for it. Where your PC's death was an opportunity to try something new. I run this way as well.

4: My focus is tactical teamwork based combat where the party working together and communicating in character their tactical decisions and communication is the majority of the RP opportunities of this dungeon crawl. There rarely will be beings you encounter who are not immediately hostile to you, however these will be very rare in this game. This means your opportunities for RP largely are among your party in their struggle to survive trapped underground. There won't be a way out and back to the surface nearby to trot off to and hit a tavern and the armorers forge. If you are looking for high rp in a game, you must enable it yourself here amongst each other for the most part in this game bar only a few specific situations.

5: The best way to describe the tone/style is: Battle Brothers in a tunnel. Turn based tactical combat in a 10'x10' hallway, sometimes tighter, sometimes opening up into caverns. Don't run out of food or ammo and be careful where you sleep. Teamwork and covering for allies in bad situations where you are wounded and exhausted and still force to push on is a thing here. Your decision making in when to push far and when to take steps to secure a safe space to rest are very large in your ability to survive in this type of game.

6: I will handle my end of things via a combination of creating environment's in Tokens and Tileset's when I can use the simple following stonework tileset in order to showcase the region you are in with it's limited 2.5d, never finished capabilities. I will then utilize Fantasy Grounds to take tokens and shuffle them around a map with a grid for the tactical combat aspect based off of the PC portrait players offer me. This will be taken via a screen shot and linked to my posts to give you a visual representation of who is where in relation to your PC. This use of images for map round to round will not be friendly to folks using a phone to post with a limited data plan, you have been warned.

7: This particular game is largely centered around a variety of types of one monster Type with only rare exceptions. I have shared this information with parties prior to game and all I get are X bane weapons and custom races with special anti-X race traits and Favored Enemy: X across the party. Hence, in order to provide an organic "Fall into a new mission the party is unprepared for" experience I am not sharing this information this time around. You will gain XP and be able to *adapt* and grow to fight these units via my XP buy classless system much easier than being forced to go from say Rogue to Wizard or Cleric to Barbarian type transitions like in standard PF so have no worries about that aspect. I simply wish the players to experience the premise I want to run for people. With 1 exception:

You will be underground for the entire game. If you want to just grab a race with Darkvision, or build your own race with Darkvision I encourage this for your survival. Light sources and noise underground signal "Warm food" to the creatures that exist in darkness. Beware noise as well, shouting and banging on things means noise will carry, vibrations running long distances in the rock will be noticed by various beings who sense via touch and sound instead of using light with their weak eyes. Understanding this is important, like knowing to swim when venturing into the ocean, hence the notice in bold and underline. Shouting with a lit torch in your hand is the underdark equivalent to bleeding in the ocean, you will attract attention. This is not instant death, but you will ring the dinner bell for nearby predators and you need to plan your actions as if you are swimming with sharks.

Now that my DM style is covered:

System

I run using my own Classless Hack of Pathfinder 1e. It has been significantly altered and has a variety of new features, options and manner in which character creation, combat, and magic work. This post here: https://www.thetangledweb.net/forums...43#post1316043 has a link to it, and a link to a video walkthrough of my hack which is roughly an hour long, and a video of "How to build a Battle Bear or any new race" with my hack. It's a lot to go through but it essentially allows organic character creation instead of class based, while shaking things up with a dynamic new combat and magic system while bringing in Martial Training and Chakras and Armor as DR into the system as new things to help Martial characters be better than Fighters. I can help with any hand holding or questions an interested player has who might want a more in-depth character creation experience and challenging encounters with critters you've never faced before, anywhere.

Premise of the dungeon:

While on a mission from Lord Ambry to stop a raid on the North shore of the River Var by your party felt an earthquake happen deep underground. As your knees wobbled and the ground seemed to shiver and ripple at your feet nearby trees fell, pulling your attention upwards to watch for falling Oaks and Willows. The danger to you however, was not from above as a loud *crack* resounded and the ground opened up below you. As you tumble through a crack in the ground dirt flies past you like snow in a blizzard and the light from the surface fades. You feel as if you have been thrown off of a cliff as you are deafened by the sounds of grinding and tumbling rock on rock chaos that is unfolding around you. As you fall time seems to slow as it becomes hard to breathe and cold in the assault on your senses. What seems to be ages later you hear another loud *crack* and then the clattering of many rocks slamming into solid rock before you crash into a stone surface, bruising your hip and knocking you unconscious.

You awaken in darkness, prone on a bed of rubble covered rock. Bruised and hungry, you can hear the reassuring sounds of your comrades breathing around you like you remember from long nights in camp together. However, the light is gone and the strong smells of dirt and stone are around you. Not the scents of grass and willows nor the distant smells of the river. The light and warmth of the sun has been replaced with a cold darkness that makes a moonlit autumn night seem warm and bright. The mission for Lord Ambry suddenly seems unimportant as you assess your situation from your back in the dark.

Character Creation:
Direct info is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing
My "Copy and Make one for yourself" amatuer sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

I don't require you to use that sheet, however it may help some organize things, and has some auto-calc stuff like being able to set Size and Quadruped if you wanted to build a Dragon character for instance, as well as a tab for tracking XP purchases and logging Spells you design for the game. I am assuming you have spent an hour at least on watching this walkthrough of my hack so you have an idea of what it offers and where to find it by navigating the massive spreadsheet before attempting character creation. If you have any questions, just ask, I expect them from even veterans who have used my system before. It's a large collection of rules and adjustments that even I need to refer to and reread regularly. I will be posting several builds of spending 136 XP into a basic XP buy template for character concepts in this thread as examples which anyone could steal as a character to pick feats, skills and gear for. These builds are the equivalent of you looking up on the SRD the chart of a class you want like Barbarian and reading off what they get across 4 levels. However, you being able to customize things, can pull from a variety of options to make hybridized things that form organic concepts.

If someone wants to play and has a concept but wishes me to setup a character for them because life is just too busy, just let me know. If someone can get through most everything, but gets hung up on something and needs me to knock out say Attack Rolls or "what's my damage with this ArP stuff?" things I can easily help with this stuff.

Character Example 1: Gort the Exile

Race: Dhalrang Dwarf (81 XP)
Role: Apprentice Stoneseer [Baby Tank/Earth Shaman effectively]
Attributes: Str: 21, 13, 23, 13, 22, 11
HD: 4d6 [0 XP] HP: 52 [(6+6+1)x4]
Saves: Fort: 9 {11 vs Poison, SLA's, Spells} (2+5+1); Ref: 3 (2+1), Will: 8 (2+6) [9 XP]
Defense: 17 (Reduces 17 Dmg from each attack, minus ArP of attack
Dodge: 11 [10+1 Dex]
Speed: 20
BAB: 2 [2 XP] 1 Attack Per round via 13 Dex: PA/FF Warpick +8 (1d8+11/19-20x4 with ArP and ArD 8)
Skills: 24+4=28 [4 XP] [Spellcraft +8 (4+3+1) *Is Required*]
Feats: 6 [5 XP] [Feat Tax: Power Attack, Furious Focus, Quick Draw, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Combat Expertise; Racial: Toughness; Choose 6 feats: ]
Proficiencies: Light Armor +Shields, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Exotic Armor: Battle Plate, Simple, Martial, Exotic: Dwarven Warpick, Throwing Hammer [8 XP]
Traits: 2 Traits [0 XP]
Background: Mason [0 XP; Str: +2, Con: +2, Cha: -2; Craft: Stoneworking and Profession: Mason +2 each, Proficiency (Light Hammer) ]

Special
*Armored Mage: Heavy [9 XP]

Spellcasting
CL: 1 [2 XP]
SP: 5 (3+2 (Wis 22/CL 1)) [1 XP]
Range: Close, Self, Touch [1 XP]
Target: 1 Self, Touch, 5' Diameter Burst or 15' Line [1 XP]
Duration: Instant, 1 rd/CL, 1 Min/CL [1 XP]
Seeds: [12 XP] Armor 1 (3 XP), Earth 1 (4 XP), Ward 1 (4 XP), Divination 0 (1 XP)

Spells:
0 SP Options: Mage Armor (+4 Defense [Armor], Shield (+4 Defense [Shield] personal), Detect X line of options, , Resistance, Resist Energy (10 of element of choice), Shield of Faith (+2 Dodge), Alarm, Protection from Alignment X, Hold Portal, Endure Elements, Arcane Lock, Book Ward,
1 SP Options: Level 1 Armor, Earth and Ward Seed spells with a single Range, Target OR Duration kicker; Rock Toss (1d6/CL (cap 5d6) damage [B, P or S with ArP or ArD {5+1/3 CL}] Ranged Touch Attack at Close Range)

Equipment: 496.5 gp for odds and ends
Runecrafted Battleplate+1: 6500 gp [16 Defense, Max Dex: 1, AcP: 4, Durability: 260; 125 lbs]
Masterwork Dwarven Warpick: 370 gp [1d8 Piercing/19-20x4 with ArP 8 and ArD 8; Durability: 70; 25 lbs]
Throwing Hammers x4: 120 gp [1d6 Bludgeoning/x2 with ArD 4; Durability 40; 8 lbs; Range: 20']
Spell Component Point x2: 10 gp, 4 lbs
Rations: 7 Days (3.5 gp; 7 lbs)

In a Wrap up: This young exiled dwarf has a limited grasp of the basics of magic with a focus on abjuration and earth magic that his race has a knack for. He grew up as a mason, and his familiarity with rock picks lead him to learn how to use the larger warpick which the miners called to war use when not chopping away at stone. Having stolen his fathers Battleplate he now wears, Gort has found employ as a mercenary for Lord Ambry. With the armor to keep him safe and his finely forged warpick to do away with threats to him, Gort is yet a warrior of limited skill. The hardiness of his ancient bloodline has had more to do with his survival so far than his skills with weaponry or magic, yet he is young and eager to experience the world. Capable of shredding the armor of his foes as well as sculpting rock, this dwarf can see 120' in darkness and is hard to be moved if he doesn't want to be. A player who wanted to pick feats and skills for this character could later invest heavily into martial skills, heavily into spells, or find a balance and work both in here. While slow, this dwarf will outlast his comrades when the going gets tough, fighting on when the others are gasping for breath. His Outsider (Native, Earth) type makes him immune to "Person" spells, and grants him a variety of special racial traits which can be found in Row 29 on the "Races" tab of my hack, and the descriptions for the abilities listed can be found here or linked at the top of my "Race Building" tab of my hack.

Character Concept 2: Ifrit Pyromaniac

Race: Ifrit (15 RP)
Role: Evoker/Battle Mage
Attributes: Str: 9, Dex: 19, Con: 17, Int: 19, Wis: 7, Cha: 24
HD: 4d8 [4 XP] HP: 36 [(8+1)x4]
Saves: Fort: 5 (2+3); Ref: 6 (2+4), Will: 0 (2-2) [9 XP]
Defense:
Dodge: 15 [10+4 Dex]
Speed: 40'
BAB: 2 [2 XP]
Fire Toss: Ranged Touch +6/+1/-4 (3d6+3 Fire damage/x2 per shot) within Medium Range (140' +10' per new level)
Skills: 24+16+20 {60) [4 XP] [Spellcraft +8 (4+3+1) *Is Required*]
Feats: 6 [5 XP] [Feat Tax: Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Piranha Strike, Combat Expertise, Quick Draw, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot; Choose 6 feats: ]
Proficiencies:
Traits: 2 Traits [0 XP]
Background: Schooled Mutant [50 XP; +4 to Int, Cha, -4 to Str, -2 to Dex and Wis; +25 RP free, 20 Skill Ranks]

RP Buy 26 xp over
Fire Tosser: Ranged Touch Attack at Close Range (3d6 Fire+Con mod) [19 RP]
Advanced Con +4 [8 RP]
Advanced Str +4 [8 RP]
Gifted Linguist: [2 RP] +4 on Linguistics checks, +1 Language per rank

Spellcasting
CL: 4 [8 XP]
SP: 15 (7+8 (Cha 24/CL 4)) [2 XP]
Range: Close, Self, Touch [1 XP]
Target: 1 Self, Touch, 5' Diameter Burst or 15' Line [1 XP]
Duration: Instant, 1 rd/CL, 1 Min/CL [1 XP]
Seeds: [ XP] Fire 1 [4 XP], Life 1 [3 XP]
Spellcasting Expertise: Expert Range (Free 1 Spell level worth of Range component) [3 XP]
Spells:
0 SP Options: Flare (Close range, DC 17), Scorch (1d4 Fire damage Close Ranged Touch Attack), Light (4 rounds, Close Range), Burning Fist (5d6 Fire as a Touch Attack), Scorching Ray (5d6 Fire as a Ranged Touch at Close Range)
1 SP Options: Purge choice of 1: Disease, Sickened, Dazed, Fatigue (Close Range)
2 SP Options: Flame Lance (15' line deals 5d6 Fire with a DC 18 Ref Save for Half)
3 SP Options: Purge [Close+15' Line] (Choice of Disease, Sickened, Dazed, Fatigue)

In a Wrap Up:

This character is essentially a humanoid fire elemental with minor caster training which is capable of being a Face with Gifted Linguist picked up among a number of racial Add-ons which chewed a number of experience points from this build between Background and the extra 13 RP purchased. We are locked out of RP buy now that we have purchased spells, so we cannot upgrade or add on any racial abilities. This in mind, I bumped the Fire Toss ability to Medium range and a 3d6 damage per shot level before locking him out so his pew pew has a bit of punch the rest of the game. He will be a strong striker with further investment into BAB against anything flammable, able to fire 3 times per round with diminishing chances to hit each shot rolling directly vs the Dodge of a character, bypassing Defense. Ignorant of how to use weaponry and armor, he relies on his ability to dodge attacks and staying at a distance to stay alive. This character has 60 skills and only 4 Ranks spent on Spellcraft so he can learn how to manipulate Seeds and Components into casting spells. He's got 6 feats to choose as well with 7500 gp to spend for anyone who wants to throw fire in the dark. I went with a "vital and living flame" theme and tossed Life Seed 1 in case someone wanted to make him a healer who can later revive the dead, but for now he's good for removing diseases and fatigue on your party. One could ignore future spellcasting utterly, and focus on Chakras and a Martial Path, or go full Evoker and pick up all the seeds to throw death at the enemy as they wish with future XP here.


*phew* If folks have interest, or questions. Hit me up. If folks want to build and use characters in a hard mode dungeon in new ways with new abilities. I'll be back with more builds soon. A combo of a ranged striker and an armored dwarf who would shine as a rear guard is a good start to showcase options. 3 hours of posting, props if you made it through actually reading all of the above.

[Magrus]

Next up, a spin on the classic Daredevil or LoL champ Lee Sin for a twist on the standard human and the standard monk. We will build a custom version of a human with enhanced reflexes and Blindsight which makes him useless as a night watchmen to track things at a distance, but deadly accurate with his hearing and his fists. This KISS concept allows us to delve into the martial realm of things without a demand of specific equipment like the standard warrior concept. In order to qualify for taking Blindsight we need to be spending 26 or more RP prior to the 10 this takes. So we shall enhance our fledgling character with 14 more RP. The simplest way to do this without turning our character into a freak with horns and wings and a breath weapon type things is straight attribute bonuses which synergizes with the concept of a blind monk with superior senses and intense physical training. Intense physical training would increase physical strength, endurance and agility so that's 3 attributes we can tackle following this logic. A flat +4 to each is 24 RP, which pushes up 10 over what we needed to activate paying for Blindsight. If we take this KISS setup, we burn through a bunch of XP on RP, but it sets up this character to do work with his body as a weapon. 34 RP extra is 67 XP out of our 136 XP total. OOF for cost, but it's a theme to run with. We perhaps should pull the attribute boosts back to +2 each, which is 12 Rp and a new addition to the race builder I added: Living Ki which grants a Ki pool and the ability to heal HP or attribute damage by burning Ki on yourself. This puts us at 15 over with a +10 for Blindsight which costs 49 instead of 67 XP which allows for a bit more wiggle room in terms of abilities, 16 XP worth in fact. Being flexible and adjusting for cost is a thing with a classless setup, and we've just done that here. We have 87 XP left.

Let us begin.

The Blind Monk

Race: Modified Human [49 XP; +2 to Physical, Living Ki and Blindsight over base Human on my hack; Flexible is +2 Int and Wis]
Role: Striker
Attributes: Str: 20, Dex: 19, Con: 15, Int: 13, Wis: 22, Cha: 7
HD: 6d12 [18 XP] HP: 84 (We are at 1/2 our HD cap for our level, investing in large HD for a melee build that lacks armor here.)
BAB: 8 [20 XP] (We are at our BAB cap for our level. We hit things, it's our job and we want to do it efficiently.)
Saves: 4/4/4 Base [24 XP] (Unable to sense the enemy further than 30' away, with iron will and enhanced physicality, we have pushed saves to resist danger from a distance)
Skills: 24+4+4=32 Ranks [4 XP]
Feats: 4+1 (Human) [0 XP] {Feat Tax: Power Attack, Furious Focus, Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike, Dodge, Quick Draw, Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim] [Pick 5 feats]
Proficiencies: 0 [0 XP]
Traits: 2 [0 XP]
Background: Fisherman [0 XP; +2 Str, Dex and Wis; -2 Int and Cha; K (Nature) +2, Survival +2, Trait: Endurance (+1 Endurance), Proficiency (Net, Harpoon, Spear)]

Special:
Monk Unarmed Strike: 1d8 [3 XP]
Monkish Dodge: Wis mod to AC [10 XP]
Evasion: [5 XP]
Ki Pool: [3 XP] Gains [(1/2 Level+Wis Mod)] as base pool, plus (Wis Mod) from Living Ki= 14 Ki currently

In a Wrap up:
I've created a very KISS striker that is capable of the simple tasks of dodging incoming hits and dishing out his own with blindsight. He lacks a lot of the frills of being a "monk" like Flurry of Blows, Fast Movement, Ki Powers, Ki Strike, Still Mind, Style Strike as well as fun options I have added like Martial Paths and Chakras. However, the heavy investment into achieving the power level of accessing Blindsight cost him essentially, all of the above. We went with Fisherman because we liked the concept of a young boy fishing with his father who's boat was attacked in which the father was lost at sea and the boy was taken as a slave and blinded in order to prevent his escape who learned to fight in order to break free and make his own way in the world for this concept. This simple setup allows a player to grab and bend this basic setup to their will by piling on abilities as they see fit with future XP. The 14 Ki and the racial Living Ki here allows him to spend Ki at a rate of 1 Ki per 3 HP healed or 1 Attribute per 3 Ki as a Full Round action while meditating. Allowing him to heal up to 42 HP of his own injuries daily given he lacks any Ki Powers purchased which he can grab down the road or ignore. This is 1/2 of his total HP pool of 84. With a Dodge of 21 {10+1 (Dodge Feat) +4 (Dex) +6 (Wis mod)} he is hard to pin down and strike despite his blindness and is immune to Gaze attacks and ignores Displacement or Blur effects. With an attack routine of: Unarmed +13/+8/+3 (1d8+5x2 with ArD 2) without access to Flurry of Blows this character can pickup FoB or pay for it to trade out for say, Master of Many Styles archetype and grab the Dragon Style feats to boost damage and perhaps Wolf Style to trip enemies. Investing into Ki Strike will enhance the ArD of this character to be able to break armor passively quickly with his unarmed strikes.

A Martial Path like Crane Path grants things like Immunity to Critical Hits, boosts Dodge, boost attacks per round by sacrificing damage, and grants a 1/rd Parry ability as a simple option that fits a nimble blind monk like Daredevil. The Naturalist Path alternatively boosts the characters attributes significantly. Mantis Path spikes Wisdom, allows your AOO's to crit on a roll of 16 or higher *and* your Crits to Stun as Stunning Fist as well as granting Immunity to Mind Effecting status disables which is all good for such a character. Oak Path increases his reach, his defense, damage, grants Resist Cold 10 and boost CMD vs things that would knock him around, meaning another solid option for him. There are more you can find on the Martial Training tab of my hack that would fit this concept as well.

Chakra options that truly suit this character are the Brow line which grants Sacred boosts to rolls and checks as well as boosting Wisdom. The Heart and Root lines which boost Con score, grant Regen, a swift action Gain a Move action for the round, Resistances, a daily Stoneskin effect and 1/2 Con Mod to Defense. Comboing those to really spike defenses for a character. Sacral boosts Dex, Dodge and Reflex as well as granting Water Walking/Breathing, +5 Reach and the ability to squeeze into tight spaces better than others. All of these are good pickups which enhance the defenses of this character.

Just in case anyone wanted to kick butt and chew bubble gum in a dungeon.

[Magrus]

Insomnia has struck and building npc's is what I do, so with extra time at the moment, random concepts in case anyone wanted to grab one. The theme of this dungeon is a dark hole the party stumbled into deep underground where the party must survive out of their element, against the odds using their wits and leaning on one another.

The first is an irreverent build for fun. Chad Torchington, the simple manly warrior who has no fear, and rings the dinner bell because he is always hungry.

Chad Torchington

Race: Human [0 XP]
Role: Martial front line
Level: 4

Attributes: Str: 22, Dex: 18, Con: 19, Int: 13, Wis: 9, Cha: 15
HD: 7d20 [35 XP] HP: 185 (Our boy Chad has the biggest hD we offer, but these are costly and not reaching our cap of 12 here for level 4)
Saves: Fort: +8 (4+4); Ref: +6 (2+4), Will: +3 (4-1) [8+3+8=19 XP]
Defense: 12 (Breastplate +1 with Armor Mastery 1)
Dodge: 17 [10+4 Dex+3]
Speed: 30
BAB: 4 [6 XP] (We invested a lot into saves and HD here, so conservatively maxing to Level instead of the x2 Level cap here)
Full Attack: Flambard +1 w/ Power Attack (PA) and Furious Focus (FF) active: +13/+8/+2 (1d10+19/19-20x2 with ArP 5)
Skills: 18 [3 XP] [Acrobatics, Perception, Repair are maxed at 4 ranks each here to move through combat, scout and repair his gear in downtime. KISS]
Feats: 10+1 (Human) [8 XP] [Feat Tax: Power Attack, Furious Focus, Quick Draw, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Combat Expertise; Improved Unarmed Strike is the Human Bonus as a Pre-requisite, Weapon Focus and Specialization (Flambard). Choose 8 feats: ]
Proficiencies: Simple, Martial and Flambard; Light+Shields, Medium, Heavy armors [6 XP]
Traits: 2 [free]
Background: Soldier [20 XP] +2 Str, Dex; -2 Int, Cha; +15 XP Core Spending (+3d20 HD purchased), Proficiencies: Light Xbow, Longsword; Choice: Breastplate

Special:
*Access to Weapon Specialization: [2 XP]
*Armor Mastery 1: [4 XP] Defense +1 in Armor
*Armor Training 2: [5 XP] +2 Max Dex cap, Reduce ACP by 2, full move in Heavy Armor
*Bravery 2: [2 XP] +2 Saves vs Fear (Chad Torchington has no fear!)
*Bob and Weave 2: [8 XP] +2 Dodge
*Duck: [3 XP] +1 Dodge
*Iterative Training 1: [3 XP] Iteratives move at a -4 per step reduction in BAB, instead of -5 as standard.
*Weapon Training 1: [3 XP] +1 Attack and Damage with Heavy Blades

Martial Training: Bear Path [13 XP] for Stance (Powerful Build), Defense Minor (+2 Defense, Stability trait), Offense Minor (Grab with Unarmed Strikes)
Steel Back Path [3 XP] for Stance (Doubles Durability of Armor and Shield Worn)

Chakra: Heart (Open: +2 Con) [12 XP] (On this path leads to Regen 1 for our front liner, with 48 XP to get to that point)

Equipment: Breastplate +1 (1150 gp over free Med Armor), Flamberd +1 (2350 gp), Healing Belt (750 gp, MIC item), Ioun Torch x2 (150 gp); 3100 gp for odds and ends a player wants

Wrapping up: Chad is your "typical fighter" translation into my hack. We grabbed the "fighter basics" Armor and Weapon Training and Bravery with the proficiencies, along with my new Iterative Training, Bob and Weave and Duck investments which add QoL for martials to be harder to hit and reduce the penalties of your iteratives. We included tier 1 Armor Mastery for a +1 Defense, allowing us to shrug off more damage per hit. We have dual Ioun Torches as a part of the meme, but they allow him to light up a room for his simple Human eyes. This build is a hybrid Dodge *and* Defense with a striker edge who can later grab a shield and use the Flambard 1 handed like a longsword in heavier armor if he wants by advancing Armor Training to increase the Dex Mod cap on Full Plate Armor for instance. Or stick with a two handed swing for increased damage in Medium armor in case the player wants to grab a Ring of Sustenance for 2500 gp and the Endurance feat in order to only need 2 hours of sleep and be able to sleep in his Breastplate to always be at the ready.

We opened the Heart Chakra which with a further investment of 48 XP into it will grant: +3 more Con to bring us to 22 Con score. That will give us 6 daily uses of burning a Swift action to get a free Move Action, useful to close in to a target *and* full attack for a striker. As well as Regen 1 so the Chad never dies.

We opened up two different Martial Paths for options. The first is Bear, giving us Powerful Build in case we find another weapon made for a Large creature we want to grab down the road. It grants +2 Defense, and Stability like a Dwarf making him hard to knock of his chosen position on a grid map. He also gets the Grab ability if he 1 hands the Flambard and punches, letting him make a free Grapple check when he does so to help control the enemy on the front line. Pushing this further next level will boost Defense by 2, Str by 4, grant Reach and the Mettle Ability, letting him take a lesser effect if he saves with Fort and Will Saves like the Psywarrior. This path gives the Chad a "large and in charge" feel next level that really lets him shine.

The second: Steelback is an option he can swap to as a Full Round Action. He only knows the basic Stance, but if someone starts actively attacking his Armor with the intent to sunder it, he can shift his stance to double the durability of his armor to keep it from being destroyed as easily. At level 9, if he has completed both Bear and Steelback, he can take the "Twisting Paths" feat and blend both, gaining extra Defense twice, ArP 3 with his sword to pierce armor better, and Halving the ACP his armor and shield cause allowing him to climb and swim and jump in his armor easily. This would turn him into a monster in melee and someone hard to push out of the way who can dodge incoming hits and shrug them off in armor.

Chad Torchington is an irreverent meme, but a functional mauler for an interested person.

Next up, we have the blind monk above, so we will continue with two builds that are a nod to LoL's world series going on and 10 seasons anniversary for some fun options. A tank and sniper combo.

Rammus

Race: Armordillo 52 RP [73 XP]
*Magical Beast [2 RP]
*Medium [0 RP]
*Fast Speed [1 RP] 40'
*Flexible [2 RP] +2 Str, +2 Con
*Adv. Con +4 [8 RP]
*Augmented Defense +6 [18 RP]
*Fast Healing 2 [13 RP]
*Bite [2 RP] 1d6 Primary
*Gate Crasher [2 RP] +2 Str checks to break objects and +2 on Sunder checks
*Powerful Charge: Bite [2 RP] x2 Dice and 1 1/2 Str mod on Bite when charging
*Darkvision 60' [2 RP]
Role: Tank
Level: 4

Attributes: Str: 22, Dex: 17, Con: 35, Int: 5, Wis: 13, Cha: 11
HD: 12d10 [12 XP] HP: 264
Saves: Fort: +16 (3+12+2), Ref: +8 (3+3+2), Will: +4 (3+1) [9 XP]
Defense: 33 (6+6+6+1+14=33)
Dodge: 13
Speed: 40'
BAB: 4 [6 XP]
Full Attack: Bite [FF/PA] +10/+3 (1d6+11/x2 with ArP 3 and ArD 2); Charge 80' range: +12 (2d6+14/x2)
Skills: 24-12=12 [4 XP] {Acrobatics +6 (4 Ranks +3 Trained +2 Dex-3 ACP), Perception +8 (4 Ranks + 3 Trained +1 Wis), Taunt +7 (4 Ranks +3 Trained)}
Feats: 4 [Free] [Feat Tax: Power Attack, Furious Focus, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Natural Armor, Quick Draw, Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim; Run, GF, LR, NM; Choose 4 feats]
Proficiencies: Light, Medium, Heavy Barding [3 XP]
Traits: 3 [1 XP]
Background: Wildman [0 XP] +4 Physical, -4 Mental; Feats: Run, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Nimble Moves; Pays Double Ranks to improve (Craft, Knowledge, Profession and all Social) skills
Special:
Armor Training 2: [6 XP] Max Dex +2, ACP reduced by 2, Move full in Heavy armor

Martial Training: Turtle Path [13 XP] Stance: +4 Con, Def Minor: Def Bonus=1/2 Con Mod (+6 Current), Off Minor: Free Grapple when using Bite or Unarmed Strikes
Chakras: Root: Clear [24 XP] +3 Con, Harden Skin: 1/2 Con Mod to Defense Bonus (6 Current)
Gear: Full Plate Barding +1 (4150 gp), Ring of Sustenance (2500 gp), 850 gp odds and ends for player choice

Wrapping Up: We take a custom critter and slap a Con boost, speed boost, and augmented Natural Armor/Defense here with darkvision as our base costing us more than 50% of our initial XP pool. Ouch, and that's without any truly special abilities. That's OK, as our concept is simple: A fast moving armored tank that can taunt and tank a beating. In his magic barding with his Turtle Path and Root Chakra setup, this guy negates *33* damage per strike before Armor Piercing (ArP) is applied. Next level, we invest 18 XP to bump Turtle Path to being completed, gaining Resist (All) at 1/2 Con Mod so Resist 6 (All) to shrug off energy damage coming his way out of Defensive Major. Out of Offense Major: "When Struck in Melee, unarmed attackers take damage equal to 1/2 the amount of defense you have. If Armed, the Weapon takes Durability damage at 1/4 your Defense." This grants this tank a Thornmail/Defensive Curl type ability that will punish those who attack him.

In order to ensure people attack him, he has Powerful Charge letting him rush ahead of the party and bite+Grab onto something. He has invested into the new Taunt skill included in my hack, letting him roll vs the Sense Motive of his target to bait them into angrily attacking. Investing a feat into "Skill Focus: Taunt" is suggested here, as Wildman dumps his Mental stats as his background. This guy might be uneducated and rough around the edges, but if you want someone to tank hits for the team, he's your Armordillo! Let's not forget, we spent 22 XP to get Fast Healing 2, so he heals up nicely between combats, and in prolonged fights, will continuously heal through them. He has Gatecrasher, so he can do work on attacking structural objectives like doors, or if he feels the need to try chewing through someone's sword or armor. All in all, it's a simple setup, but will build into a front line terror to deal with.

Captain Teemo

Next is a short range sniper that is feared in the top lane of the Rift. Yes, Teemo. We'll drop the blowgun for a fuzzy Fey that can throw toxic thorns and if threatened in melee, turn the thorns on the enemy for some extra ArP. A nimble critter with a debilitating poison and Tarantula Path is the goal here, which means Dex, Con and Wisdom are key for this build. Being we will keep him unarmed, and unarmored, we will utilize a bit of Monk training to keep him alive. We shall keep him Medium sized for simplicity instead of making him smaller. A future build I have in mind for later this week will be the itty bitty option instead.

Race: Custom Fey [69 XP]
*Fey [1 RP] Low Light Vision
*Darkvision 60' [2 RP]
*ASMQ: Standard (+2 Dex, Wis; -2 Str) [Free]
*Advanced: Con, Dex, Wis +2 [12 RP]
*Fast: 40 Spd [1 RP]
*Claws: 1d6 [4 RP]
*Thorns [7 RP]
*Thorn Tossing [6 RP] 1d6 at Close Range as an Attack Action
*Toxic [15 RP] No daily limit, DC (10+1/2 Lvl+Con Mod +3) Paralytic Venom (1d2 Dex per tick, Ticks 1/rd for 6 rounds, Cure is 2 Saves)

Role: Scout and Sniper
Level: 4
Attributes: Str: 15, Dex: 24, Con: 20, Int: 13, Wis: 19, Cha: 7
HD: 12d6 [Free] HP: 132 (High RP cost means we are greeding with hitting our HD cap of free d6's here for survivability)
BAB: 6 [12 XP] (Snipers need to hit things, so 3/4 of our Cap here to be good at striking)
Ranged Attack: Thorn Toss w/Deadly Aim +11/+6/+1/-4 (1d6+2/x2 with ArP 5, Paralytic Poison DC 22 and 1/rd DC 16 Fort or -4 Attack for 1 rd on target) within Close Range 35' current (25+5'/2 Levels)
Saves: Fort: +8 (3+5), Ref +10 (3+7), Will +7 (3+4) [9 XP]
Dodge: 24 (10+7 Dex+4 Wis+3)
Defense: 1
Feats: 6 Spell-less [2 XP] [Feat Tax: Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Piranha Strike, Quick Draw, Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim, Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Natural Armor; Pick 6 Feats]
Skills: 36 [8 XP]
Proficiencies: [Free]
Traits: 3 [1 XP]
Background: Hunter [Free] +2 Dex and Wis, -2 Cha; K (Nature), Perception and Survival +2 Racial; Proficiencies: Dagger, Shortbow

Special:
Monkish Unarmed Strike: [1 XP] 1d6
Monkish Dodge: [10 XP] Wis Mod to Dodge
Duck: +1 Dodge [3 XP]
Bob and Weave 2: +2 Dodge [8 XP]

Martial Training: Tarantula Path [13 XP] Stance +2 Dex and Wis; Def Minor: May 5' step as Immediate Action when threatened in melee; Offense Minor: 1/round a Thrown Weapon striking an Opponent applies a Penalty to Attack=Wis Mod for 1 rd if Fort Save DC (10+1/2 Level+Wis Mod) is failed.

Wrapping Up: We have a cute and furry fey that dodges incoming threats and responds by throwing poisoned darts with debilitating on hit effects that leech the Dex of his opponents. He can skitter away if enemies close in on him, and next level for 18 XP he can pick up two new options. Defense Major lets him throw a toxic thorn at an attack in melee with a +2 to hit as an AOO instead of relying on his claws or a punch. Offense Major adds Wisdom Mod to Dmg of all of his Thorn Toss attacks, which is a nice +4 to dmg. Investing into Iterative Training should be done moving forward, as his 4 attacks per round while using Deadly Aim to spike damage really do a number on his attack modifier. Investing skills into Stealth and Perception you can turn this guy into the party thief easily for an irreverent and fun option to play.

Thanks to all who read this, and as always, any of these are viable options for interested players to grab, dump skills and feats and finish up gear to play in my game. If you have questions, any questions, just ask!

[Magrus]

I'm back while watching blackfox play RE4 and chatting up a player about a solo game so while I am here, my next concept to showcase options for interested players. We've got two tanks, a martial striker, and two ranged strikers, what we lack is a legit caster here. Running with irreverent builds, let's utilize the race building to make a truly tiny Priest in a Pocket type build. We already have a Fey concept, so let's go tiny fey caster with a support lean who can ride on an ally's shoulder. The 6" tall cleric that weighs half a pound is a fun little build that has some perks with my magic rework that will be good for interested to note so we will show it off here. With a caster, we need all the XP we can get, so RP buy will be slight, although we *do* have the option of a costly background that grants RP like Schooled Mutant. Options is the goal of my hack for organic characters, so I have some wiggle room.

Race: Custom Fey [41 XP]
*Fey [1 RP] Low Light Vision
*Diminutive [+3 RP] Str/Con: -6 Dex: +6 Dodge: 3 Att: 3 CMB/D: -3 Stealth: 12 Speed: -20 (10') Fly: 6 Carry: 0.25
*ASMQ: Advanced: +2 Mental, +4 Dex, -2 Str [4 RP]
*G. Defensive Training: +2 Dodge [4 RP]
*G. Spell Resistance: 13+Lvl=17 [5 RP]
*Shadow Resistance: Resist (Cold, Electricity) 5 [2 RP]
*Imp Resistance (Cold, Electricity): bump to 10 [4 RP]
*Darkvision 120' [3 RP]
*Prehensile Tail [2 RP]
*Vestigal Wings [2 RP] +4 to Fly
*Flight [4 RP] 30' Clumsy (-8 to Fly)
*SLA (At Will): Greater Invisibility (Self/touch, 1 rd/Lvl) [6 RP]

Role: Support Caster
Level: 4

Attributes: Str: 7, Dex: 25, Con: 12, Int: 20, Wis: 20, Cha: 11
HD: 12d4 [+12 XP] HP: 60
Saves: Fort: +2 (1+1), Ref: +8 (1+7), Will: +6 (1+5) [3 XP]
Defense: 0
Dodge: 22
Speed: 10 (30 Fly-Clumsy)
BAB: 1 [1 XP]
Main Attack: Fire/Water Darts +11 [1d4 Fire/Water] to 2 targets within close range (35')
1 SP Attack: Force Bolts +11 [4d8 with ArP 7] to 2 targets within close range (35')
Skills: [XP] [Free] (30+{4x5}=50 Ranks to spend) [Must Max Spellcraft (4 Ranks/50) to function]
Feats: 1 [Free] [Feat Tax: Improved Unarmed Strike, Dodge; Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw, Combat Expertise ; Choose 1 feat]
Proficiencies:
Traits: [XP] 2 Traits [Free]
Background: Apothecary [20 xp] +2 Wis, +30 Skill Points, Med Herbs x5 (Heals 5 HP, stops bleeding, cures "Sickened")

CL: 4 [8 XP]
SP: 18+5=23 [7 XP]
Range: [4 XP] Self/touch, Close, Medium
Target: [12 XP] Self/touch; 5-10' diameter or 15-30' line; 1 ray/2 CL
Duration: [4 XP] 1 rd/cl/Instant, 1 Min/cl, 10 min/CL
Seeds: Air 1 [4 XP], Armor 2 [8 XP], Bolster 1 [4 XP], Divination 0 [1 XP], Fire 0 [1 XP], Force 1 [4 XP], Heal 1 [4 XP], Life 1 [3 XP], Ward 2 [9 XP], Water 0 [1 XP],
Spellcasting Proficiency: Expert: Range, Target, Duration (Free +1 Spell Level Component of each category to spells cast) [9 XP]

Wrapping up: My lady is impatient, so if someone is interested, I can flesh out spells this guy can cast, just ask! We listed a no SP cost attack option, and a 1 SP cost attack option for this build who can heal, grant Armor bonuses, Attribute Bonuses, Dodge bonuses, Energy Resistance, remove low impact disables and provide water for the party on demand. We ran with a "no cost core" setup until we ran down our casting setup due to the cost of the race and the background here. We ended up spending only 4 XP on our Core spending with gaining 12 XP back for taking 12d4 HD and denying ourselves the option of getting larger HD for a cost here until we level up. We lack any Defense, but that is easily shored up with Armor 2 letting us throw up a +6 Defense Mage Armor for 3 SP for 4 minutes. We can spike that to 12 Defense with another cast of a Shield variant. If we are under fire, this is a solid add-on to a 22 dodge which can be augmented for 3 SP to get +3 to Dodge for 4 minutes bringing us to 25 dodge. We can at will invoke Greater Invisibility on us or an ally we can touch as well to hide from the enemy. We can grant an AOE heal or fire rays within Close range to target two nearby allies for a 4d6 Heal for just 1 SP. We put simply, have options to assist a party with our fledgling tiny caster and a moderate pool of 23 SP. Lots of Skills without needing to spend any XP is a neat thing we got out of Apothecary background, and we have a singular feat to choose outside of our feat tax. We can fly, but are bad at it, despite our vestigal wings, so we ride one of the melee brothers of the company and share buffs with him for the leisurely ride. We have a small tail capable of manipulating spell components and the like for us.

This character could be a fun one to play for someone who's always wanted to play a sprite or leprechaun or other fey with a spellcasting background. We have both Int and Wis to 20, so the player can take their pick as to which of the attributes is their Casting Attribute here. This tiny fey could be the group sage and advisor who keeps them alive all while staying hidden in a pocket.

Thanks for reading, and if you have questions, as always, just ask.

[Magrus]

Roguetech kicked my rear like a steiner scout lance working on an urbie so we are back with another DM Mag builds concepts players might grab.

Our first is a construct, the former dummy in a magicians lab used to educate students anatomy come to life amid an assassination attempt on the mages life when she in desperation awakened the wooden structure to defend her. Now an intelligent being, of sorts, with a will of it's own it is out to make it's way in the world as a bodyguard and finds grappling foes that a more enjoyable experience than sitting in a lab being prodded by children.

Construct Bodyguard

Race: Custom Construct 51 RP [79 XP]
*Construct [12 RP] https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/ru...#TOC-Construct
*Small: +4 Dex, +1 Dodge/Attack, -1 CMB/D, -4 Str, +4 Stealth, +2 Fly, Carry: 0.75
*Slow -10' [+1 RP]
*Greater Paragon: +4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Wis [1 RP]
*Str +4, Dex +2
*Augmented Defense +5: [15 RP]
*Jumper: [2 RP] Always considered as having a running start when making Acro (Jump) Checks
*Kneecapper: [1 RP] +4 CMB with Trip
*Slam: [1 RP] 1d4 Dmg
*Grab: [4 RP] Free Grapple attempt when striking opponent with Slam
*Pounce: [4 RP]

Role: Bodyguard and Control Specialist
Level: 4
Attributes: Str: 22, Dex: 24, Con: -; Int: 15, Wis: 15, Cha: 7
HD: 12d10 [24 XP] HP: 130
BAB: 6 [12 XP]
Slam w P. Strike: +11/+6/+1 (1d4+10/x2 ArP 1 w/ Grab)
Trip: +16; Grapple: +16
Dodge: 18; Defense: 11
Saves: 0/0/0 [Free] Fort: 0 (Immune unless targets Objects], Ref: +7, Will: Immune to all Mind-affecting effects
Feats: 4 Spell-less [Free] [Feat Tax: Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Piranha Strike, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Natural Armor, Combat Reflexes, Quick Draw, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot; Pick 4 Feats]
Skills: Int Modx4 [Free]
Background: Oddity [20 XP] (Gain 15 RP {+5 Defense}, -4 Cha; Penalty: -2 to all First Reaction checks, as well as Disguise, Diplomacy

Wrapping Up: A random concept for a pair of characters working together with an unconventional bodyguard. This character spent next to nothing on a build. No saves, feats, skills, proficiency, no special abilities, spells, anything outside of Race, Background, HD and BAB. This leaves him a pretty open template with high physical stats and a decent unarmored defense to work off of. He can run in, Pounce, and on hit get a free Grapple attempt in order to lock down nearby threats to his comrade. Being able to attack the knees of his targets, he can easily bring down threats as well. Not a damage dealer, he works to keep his comrade safe as the hired bodyguard.

The wealthy Arbelist

Race: Human
Attributes: Str: 11, Dex: 22, Con: 15, Int: 17, Wis: 13, 18
Level: 4
HD: 12d6 [Free] HD: 96
BAB: 4 [6 XP]
Deadly Aim/Rapid Shot Mwk H. Xbow Full: +12/+12/+8/+4/+0 (1d10+10/19-20x2 with ArP 3) 120' range; empties clip>Free Action reload with Quick Draw+Crossbow Mastery
Saves: 4/4/4 [24 XP] Fort: +7, Ref: +12, Will: +6
Feats: Spell-less 8+1 (Human) [4 XP] [Feat Tax: Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Piranha Strike, Rapid Reload, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Combat Expertise; Weapon Focus+Specialization (Heavy Repeater), Crossbow Mastery (Free action Clip reload for Repeaters), Quick Draw, pick 5 feats]
Skills: 30+16+30=76 [6 XP] {Must max Craft: Alchemy for Bombs}
Proficiency: [Free] Simple, Martial, 1 Exotic (Heavy Repeating Xbow), Light Armor+Shields
Traits: 2 [Free]
Background: Noble [50 XP; +2 to Dex, Cha; +30 Skill Ranks; Simple, Martial, 1 Exotic (Heavy Repeating Xbow), Light Armor+Shields; MWK Heavy Xbow, MWK Chain Shirt, Cloak of Resistance +1]

Special:
Access: Weapon Specialization [2 XP]
Armor Training 2: [6 XP] +2 Max Dex, Reduce ACP by 2
Armor Mastery 1: [4 XP] Def +1 with Chain Shirt
Bravery 2: [2 XP] +2 to saves vs Fear
Evasion: [5 XP]
Iterative Training 1: [3 XP] Iteratives run a -4 per step instead of -5 per step sequence
Weapon Training 1(Xbows): [3 XP]

Complex Special:
Bombs: [8 XP] Aerodynamic [40' range] 2d6 dmg in a 5' diameter burst; 4+int mod uses daily

Martial Training:
Master Arbelist [13 XP]: Stance, Defense Minor, Offense Minor {using Xbows only: +3 Attack, +7 Damage, +2 Dodge and Defense}

Wrapping up: We have built a noblemen with a masterwork heavy repeating xbow who is learning to master the complex weapon and has taken on work as a mercenary in order to put his training to the test in the real world. Having hired his strange bodyguard, offering to teach him the ways of the world and see to his care and repairs in exchange for keeping dangerous creatures away from him. These two work in tandem to cut down the enemy, one from range, with the other guarding his back.

Thanks for reading, and as always, if you have questions, just ask.

[Magrus]

Next up:

Gnome Auradin

This concept is a hybrid of a paladin with a reach weapon specialization and some new Aura options listed on the Complex Special Abilities tab of my hack. Simple in functionality, this character will be setup to passively grant small bonuses to the team much in the way a Bard with Bardic music might support their team just without the noise and daily limits the Bard involves. We shall pull in the Ripsaw Glaive as the weapon of choice, which means our gnome will need to invest in Strength, but gives it a neat weapon to use from the rear of the tank line of the party to support them in combat. This auradin is limited in scope at level 4, but slowly gains in strength every 5 levels and will be able to fold in new abilities at the levels in between to be a flexible support character that can mold itself to the needs of the party like any good support can. Useful for any party.

Race: Gnome [15 XP]
Attributes: Str: 16 , Dex: 14, Con: 19, Int: 13, Wis: 16, Cha: 14 [12 XP for +1 Wis, Cha and Dex]
Level: 4
HD: 12d6 [Free] HP: 120
BAB: 4 [6 XP]
Saves: 4/4/4 [24 XP] Fort: +10, Ref: +8, Will: +9
Feats: Spell-less 8 [4 XP] [Feat Tax: Power Attack, Furious Focus, Rapid Reload, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Combat Expertise; pick 8 feats]
Skills: [Free] 30+4=34 Skill Ranks
Proficiency: [5 XP] Simple, Martial, 1 Exotic (Ripsaw Glaive), Light Armor+Shields, Medium armor, Heavy Armor
Traits: 2 [Free]
Background: Apothecary [20 XP] Simple Weapons, +30 Skill Points; +2 Wis, 5 Medical Herbs (5 hp heal, removes Bleed and Sicken effects)

Divine Grace: [10 XP]
Alignment Aura (LG and Paladin Code): [1 XP]
Detect Evil: [1 XP]
Aura of Courage: [3 XP]
Armor Training 1: [2 XP]
Channel Energy (2d6): [3 XP] 3/day channel a 30' radius burst of 2d6 Healing energy to Allies *OR* 2d6 vs Will save to Harm Undead
Aura Level (AL): 1 [5 XP] Swift action to activate any aura known and governs effect power. 30' radius to Allies within Line of Effect, dismissed is unconscious or slain.
Aura (Power): [5 XP] Damage = Aural Level (AL)
Aura (Toughness): [10 XP] Defense= AL
Aura (Vigor): [10 XP] Fast Healing= AL

Wrapping Up: This character has a lot they can add on around this core base of decent saves, low core investment support character. Baby aura's for the moment, but the ability to improve Attributes investing into Chakras and grabbing some of the other options like being able to grant Resistances or Perception bonuses can add more to her repertoire of aura's to rotate on top of the Paladin's line of aura's. Armor Training 1 means this little gnome can throw on Full Plate armor and tank if needed and still get that +2 to Dodge from Dex. A 14 Dex means two attacks a round from the front or the back with her Ripsaw Glaive with a choice of granting +1 Damage, +1 Defense or Fast Healing 1 to the party at all times within a 30' radius with Line of Effect on top of the 10' radius Aura of Courage to ensure her allies will not run from danger. A quick feat investment of Extra Channel can turn 3 per day into 5 channels per day to shore up the health pool of the party on demand. Between these and the ability to grant fast healing to everyone in the party between combats, this little gnome can keep a party healthy all day long. This character with 120 HP and ability to wear the heaviest of armor can be a front rank skirmisher or a back line support as needed, allowing flexibility other characters would not have at the cost of firepower and focus. Next level, paying [10 XP] to bump the AL of this character ensures the Aura's grant a +2 effect instead of only 1, meaning wading into danger with a +2 to Defense for the party will shave 2 damage off every hit the party takes as a passive at level 5 with this character in the party, and heal up rapidly after combat. From this point abilities like Lay on Hands, Divine Bond and Smite can be purchased to feel more like a Paladin, or investing into Martial Paths or Chakras to get Martial or other advantages could make this character shine in new ways further expanding its capabilities into new arenas. The base is set to be built on with little more needed to scale up what is already here, beyond this adding new capabilities allows a wide skill option like picking up Bardic Performance and as a gnome, investing into Alchemy to learn how to make bombs to throw.

Which brings us to....

Ziggs the Mad

We will rebuild the LoL character Ziggs into a mad halfling bomber. One could be a mage and throw fireballs, but not all characters have what it takes to be a mage. This halfling never had a knack for magic, but he was an excellent student learning alchemy. His itch to create explosions saw him expelled from his school and now he makes a living as a demolitions expert and mercenary. Not the best at making decisions in tense moments and a decided lack of judgement, the gnome is intelligent enough to understand the value of a good leader and gracious enough to fit into any group despite his proclivities of destruction.

Race: Halfling
Attributes: Str: 9, Dex: 20, Con: 16, Int: 17, Wis: 9, 17
Level: 4
HD: 12d8 [12 XP] HP: 112
BAB: 4 [6 XP]
Saves: 2/4/2 [14 XP] Fort: +7, Ref: +10, Will: +3
Feats: 5 Spell-less [1 XP] [Feat Tax: Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Piranha Strike, Quick Draw, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Combat Expertise; pick 5 feats]
Skills: [6 XP] [30+12+12 (Craft or Profession only)=54 total Ranks {Must max Craft: Alchemy and Craft: Blacksmithing for Bombs}
Proficiency: [2 XP] Light Armor and Shields, Simple Weapons
Traits: 2 [Free]
Background: Artisan [20 XP] +2 Dex, Wis; -2 Str; +12 Ranks worth of Craft or Profession; Sold Artwork for 650 gp

Special:
Duck: [3 XP]
Bob and Weave 2: [8 XP]
Evasion: [5 XP]
Trapfinding 1: [1 XP]

Complex Special:
Bombs: [4+27 XP] 2d6 in a 5' burst, 30 ft range, Int Mod+30 daily uses; Standard Action to Throw Ref DC [10+1/2 Level+Int Mod] for half
Fire: [3 XP] +1d6 Fire dmg to Bombs
Frag: [3 XP] +1d6 Piercing (ArP 5) to bombs
High Explosive: [3 XP] AoE upgraded to 10' radius burst
Aerodynamic: [3 XP] Range upgraded to 40' range toss

Wrapping up: This simple concept lets the character throw on leather armor and a shield and just every round Quick Draw a bomb and Standard Action toss it at a target within 50' to force all within 10' radius to roll a Ref Save DC 15 or take 2d6+1d6 Fire+(1d6 P with ArP 5) for a mixed damage AOE and with 33 to throw daily, he's got a small arsenal to throw all day. Able to wield an Xbow, a dagger, a spear, a mace, or any Simple weapon when a bomb won't do, the character is a weakling but shines with finessable weaponry here. With a Dodge of *19* and a humble suit of Leather Armor with a light shield will grant a Defense of 5 which will shave a bit of damage off incoming threats he can't dodge. This character could shine as the guy who repairs everyone's gear, or the sage of the party who knows how to identify threats and strange archeology. As the rogue who sneaks through the darkness and disables traps then heaves a grenade into the room to clear it. Next level, an investment of 5+5+3+3 XP will scale up the Fire, Piercing, AoE and Range by 1 level, and the following level an investment of 6 upgrades the base damage by 1d6, for an overall doubling of the damage in the next 2 levels. Ensuring this little guy packs a punch in clearing out hostiles moving forward with this pattern continuing in alternating levels to scale things. For the player who wants to hurl death, but not learn how my magic system works.


My expected plans fell through for the night, so a bonus non-humanoid build.

Faerie Dragon Scout

Race: [103 XP] (65 RP)
Dragon [12 RP]
Tiny [-1 RP] -4 Str/Con, +4 Dex, +2 Dodge/Attack, -2 CMB/D, +8 Stealth, +4 Fly, .75 Carry
Fast [1 RP] 30' base speed
asmq: Flexible [2 XP] +2 Dex, +2 Cha
Attribute (+4 Con, +2 Dex) [12 RP]
Augmented Defense +3 [9 RP]
G. Defensive Training [4 RP]
Bite 1d3 [2 RP]
G. SR: [5 RP] SR 16+Level (20)
Swift as Shadows: [3 RP] Move full stealthed at a penalty 5 less than normal.
Flight [8 RP] 50 (average)
Breath Weapon: [12 RP] Electrical Line 50', Ref (10+1/2 Level+Con Mod) Level(4)D6 Electrical Damage with a 1d4 round counter

Role: Scout
Attributes: Str: 11, Dex: 24, Con: 18, Int: 13, Wis: 9, Cha: 15
HD: 12d4 [+12 XP] HP: 96
BAB: 1 [1 XP]
Defense: 4; Dodge: 19
Saves: 3/3/3 [15 XP] Fort: 7, Ref: 10, Will: 2
Skills: 36+2 [8 XP]
Feats: 4 Spell-less [Free] [Feat Tax: Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Piranha Strike, Quick Draw, Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot, Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Natural Armor; Pick 4 Feats]
Traits: 3 [1 XP]
Background: Oddity: Gain +15 RP; -4 Cha; Penalty: -2 to all First Reaction Checks as well as Disguise, Diplomacy
*Silent Hunter [2 RP] Reduce penalty for Stealth while moving by 5 more; Can Run stealthed at -20 penalty.
*Sneaky [5 RP] +4 Racial Stealth
*Elemental Weapon (Electricity): [8 RP] +1d6 Electrical Dmg on all Natural Attacks

Wrapping Up: We have a tiny lightning dragon that is excellent at moving while hiding, in fact you gain a +5 *bonus* to Stealth while moving, using tricks of light and shadow and cover expertly to hide your movements. You are not a skilled combatant, but you are a young dragon out for adventure and learning! Relying on your speed and ability to dodge between breathing lighting on nearby threats, you are best served as the mobile scout for the party for now. Later, you could learn to cast spells, and simply pay [3 XP] to shift your feats to the cost of a spellcaster, then add on a Caster Level, SP, Components, Seeds and Spellcasting Proficiency to your hearts desire if you wanted a sneaky casting dragon. You could avoid that, and keep purchasing RP based abilities for things like increasing his size, his attributes, his Natural Armor based Defense, gaining a poison spit or a tripping tail or others. You could purchase Claws and Wing Attacks and a Tail attack, then learn how to fight in hand to hand and take the Dragon only Martial Path "Thrashing Dragon" after boosting your Strength and become a terror in melee. One could build a lot of different ways from this point, if they chose to do so.

Thanks for reading, and if you have questions, feel free to ask.

[Magrus]

I have posted a "How Combat Works" thing here that gives a rundown with the math of how to handle things like Attack, Fumbles, Dodge, Defense affecting incoming DMG, the new Taunt Skill and such for my game system here. It might give some context to the builds I am putting up here. Interested folks who are going "huh, I don't quite get what all this means" might find that helpful.

With that, I am back with a remake of an old favorite of mine, the wheezing and fragile wizard who needs someone to protect them. We shall turn this into a Summoner who had an imaginary friend as a child who now summons him to protect him. This will be a very limited scope being at level 4 of the potential such a character has. This character has the most flexible and options at their disposal as they level up out of any that can be built currently within my system I feel and deserve a spot being showcased due to this honor. I won't be able to show just how flexible at level 4, or have the time to list out all it is capable of at level 4, but put simply: This character can "Summon" a unit they can build just like a character with 125 XP which is 11 XP under the total XP for a level 4 build at this point. With a lower point buy, limited duration and no gear, but may summon any build as a Full Round Action for the cost of SP. This incredibly powerful ability allows a frail and niche caster to flex their SP into a bodyguard, a bard, a healer, an archer, an eagle with See in Darkness to scout, whatever they want on the fly. As they gain levels, they'll be able to pay XP to get a proficiency to get a free Extend Spell tacked on, and a single free spell level's worth of Components *on top* of the 1 free level of Range, Target and Duration and the +50 XP per cast which it will already be setup with at level 4. Level 7 is the big turn on, to be able to field all of the Summoners Expertise line to be able to get free 20 min/CL and a size upgrade and a range upgrade for free on this giving lasting summons of note.

For a player who doesn't know *exactly* what to play with my system, this character as the base allows one to experiment with build after build and custom fit in new allies with the tools the party needs on the fly. Outnumbered by orcs charging the party? Summon an ogre bodyguard with reach and give him the skills of a veteran raider to do battle against the horde one round and then cast Armor and Ward on him to grant him a Defense and Dodge boost to survive the next round. Party beat up after a fight? Summon a priest to heal and purge the poison running through your veins. The options this provides are limited by your level and imagination. Rain fire and death from behind your enchanted bodyguard or haste the party and grant them healing as a support caster. The options are vast.

The Fragile Summoner

Race: Human
Role: Summoner
Level: 4 [154 XP to spend]
Attributes: Str: 7, Dex: 19, Con: 11, Int: 24, Wis: 17, Cha: 11
HD: Roll 12d4 [+18 XP] (We are rolling d4's to get 1.5 XP per d4 rolled to fit the "Frail mage" and soak up needed bonus XP)

BAB: 0 [Free]
Saves: 0/2/4 [11 XP]
Skills: 30+28 (Int)+4 (Human) [6 XP]
Feats: 6+1 Human [6 XP]
Proficiencies: Simple [1 XP]
Traits: 2
Background: Sage [50 XP] Gain +4 Int, +2 Wis, -2 St and Cha; Int Based Skills cost 1/2 Rank to Purchase Ranks; Flat +2 Mod on all Knowledge skills.

Spellcasting
CL: 4 [8 XP]
SP: 45+8 (Int Mod) [22 XP]
Range: Self, Touch, Close [1 XP]
Target: Self, Touch; 5' diameter burst or 15' line [1 XP]
Duration: Instant, 1 rd/cl; 1 min/cl [1 XP]
Spellcasting Proficiency: Expert Range, Target, Duration; Summoner Expertise [24 xp]
Seeds: Summon 2 (10 XP), Armor 2 (8 XP), Cold 1 (4 XP), Ward 1 (4 XP), Divination 0 (1 XP)

Spell Concepts:
0 SP: Detect Magic, Alignment, Poison, Icy Ray (1d4 Cold within Close Range as Ranged Touch), Resistance
1 SP: Ice Lance [4d6 Cold in a 15' line, Ref for Half, Close Range, Fort Save or Slow 1 rd/5 CL]; Icy Grasp [4d6 cold as a Touch Attack, Fort Save or Slow (1 rd/5 CL)]; Mage Armor 1 [Defense +4 (Armor) for 1 min/CL up to 4 adjacent Targets or 3 in a line (15' line), Close Range], Shield 1 [+4 Defense (Shield) for 1 min/CL up to 4 adjacent Targets or 3 in a line (15' line), Close Range], Shield of Faith 1 [+2 Dodge for 1 min/cl up to 4 adjacent targets or 3 in a line (15' line), Close Range], Alarm, Resist Energy, Protection from Alignment, Summon 1 [12 RP, 85 XP for 1 min/CL and with a Range of Close from caster]
3 SP: Mage Armor 2 [Defense +6 (Armor) for 1 min/CL up to 4 adjacent Targets or 3 in a line (15' line), Close Range], Shield 1 [+6 Defense (Shield) for 1 min/CL up to 4 adjacent Targets or 3 in a line (15' line), Close Range], Summon 2 [125 XP, 12 RP, 1 min/CL and Close Range]

Wrapping up: This caster lacks frills like a Familiar or an Arcane School or the ability to cast in armor. It lacks a wide range of spells, but can gird himself in mage armor and a shield spell, and Resist Energy and Shield of Faith, as well as any summon he calls in. Speaking of Summons, all of the previous builds cost 136 XP. So this guy can just pull down any of the builds by shaving off a few points from the Saving throws for instance. Drop a Teemo and a Ziggs and a Rammus across 3 rounds to fight for the team for the cost of 9 SP and 3 rounds. Let them do work for you. Need I say more?

Thanks for reading, and if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[Magrus]

Tonight on my "to-do list" is to point out my new post in my hack thread about magic that I threw up earlier today which you can click here to go right to. Then move to a new option to showcase a rework I did of the Cavalier's "Order" ability to refocus the "mounted combat guy" into just that, a *mounted* combat guy focused setup which that class failed to do. We changed the Order ability to be a mount buff that you pick a tree option and run down it by furthering your investment as you level up to upgrade your mount. If you want to grant your Horse mount Wings and let it fly 100' per round like the pegasus of your dreams, that's "Beast Path" of the new Order ability in which you gain RP to purchase racial abilities for your mount. If you want to have a tougher, stronger, will heal from any wound mount the "Vitality Path" has you covered to eventually get +6 to Str, Con and Defense, as well as Regen 10/acid at level 19, with Fast Healing coming online at 13 prior to that. If you want to have a mount that is just immune to typical things that can rout mounts like Fear, paralysis, Poison, Charms, Fire, Cold and boost it's defense to it has a hide that can turn aside blows, "Juggernaut Path" is for your mount.

This option must fit in a tunnel and that means we are going for a Medium mount and a Small PC, so this will not be a shock cav build meant to do tons of damage TM in combat with thundering charges to one shot folks. No, this will be a mobile striker that can shift position quickly and dish a lot of attacks per round instead rotating between Mount and PC for a barrage of finesse based attacks. The neat thing about this is, I could even make the PC Tiny, and add a secondary pet that is tiny, or a familiar with this setup for a multiple rider setup on a mount. A "Large" mount *could* squeeze through tighter tunnels if everyone got off even, maybe a party on a large mount setup of pets. So perhaps we shall have XP for that moving forward, let's get to work this could get involved with multi-pet setup.

Grizzly-mobile

A faerie warrior riding a chimp companion who rides a bear companion with the fledgling Falcon friend and charming owl familiar.

PC

Race: [1 XP] {Tiny (+1 RP), Fey (1 RP), Flexible (2 RP; +2 Str, Con), Str +2, Con +2 [8 RP], Darkvision [2 RP], Kneecapper [1 RP]}
Level: 4
Attributes: Str: 11, Dex: 22, Con: 13, Int: 15, Wis: 19, Cha 14
HD: 12d6 [12 XP]
BAB: 4 [6 XP]
Saves: 3/3/3 [15 XP] Fort: +4, Ref: +8, Will: +6
Skills: 30+8 (Int)=38 Ranks [6 XP]
Feats: 4 [3 XP] [Feat Tax: Weapon Finesse (WF), Agile Maneuvers (AM), Piranha Strike(PS); Combat Expertise (CE), Quick Draw (QD), Deadly Aim (DA), Point Blank Shot (PBS); Pick 4 Feats]
Proficiencies: [Free] (Dagger, Short Bow or L. Xbow)
Traits: 2 [Free]
Background: Hunter [Free] (Dex: +2, Wis: +2, -2 Cha; K: Nature, Perception, and Survival (+2 each), Proficiency (Dagger, Short Bow or L. Xbow))

Familiar: 4th Owl [8 XP]
Nature Bond 1: 4th Bear [8 XP]
Nature Bond 2: 4th Chimp [16 XP]
Nature Bond 3: 3rd Falcon [15 XP]
Cav Order: Juggernaut 3rd x3 [9 XP]
CL: 4 [8 XP]
SP: 7+4 [3 XP]
Range: Self, Touch; Close [1 XP]
Target: Self, Touch; 5' diameter burst/15' line [1 XP]
Duration: Instant, 1 rd/level; 1 min/cl [1 XP]
Proficiency: Expert Range, Target, Duration (E: R, D, T) [9 XP]
Seeds: Bolster 1 [4 XP), Fire 1 (4), Transform 1 [4 XP], Heal 1 [4 XP]

Wrapping up: This character can wield a Shortbow from her perch on the chimps shoulder, who is riding the bear while the bear and chimp play rear guard and the falcon and owl scout for nearby threats as the most economical way to play this. The animals require low level light to function, Fire 0 grants Light for this, with Fire 1 we have ability to throw fiery bursts close by against heavily armored targets. We can heal our own, and buff our own units. If we invest 2 more Seed Levels into Transform to get Transform 3 and Caster Level 3 we can cast Animal Growth/Shrink to suit the needs at hand with resizing our pets as soon as next level if need be. It will be increasingly expensive to maintain these units, the Bear and Owl being cheap and on the same cost track, but the Chimp costing double the Bears cost, and the Falcon costing 3 times the Bears cost. Scaling up all three *and* the Juggernaut path on all three will eventually consume all XP for this build gained, so choosing who to invest in around your other needs will be important. Level 5 for Juggernauts [Immune to Paralysis, Fear] combo would be a good place to stop in the Falcon as a scout for instance, and bringing it up to that point would cost [23 XP] for the HD bump and the Immune to Paralysis.

Ignoring your Falcon after this might be ideal, allowing you to push the Chimp and Bear as bodyguards. This character is setup to easily grab some Monk training things to wade into battle unarmored with Dex and Wisdom to Dodge, and with Monk Unarmed damage could eventually scale up to do decent damage in melee with her 18 Strength if the player wishes to go this route. Ignoring Casting after 5th level is an utterly viable option with Bolster 3, Fire 1, Transform 3 and Heal 1 carrying you until level 11 comes around, letting you focus on the pets and your combat prowess if you wish to continue this route. Investing heavily from this point is an option as well.

I will refrain from building the host of pets, wife aggro and all >.< but I want to make note of my house rules for pets and familiars here as this is important for this build.

Companions:
1: All Companions get d10 HD size up from d8.
2: Companions get BAB to match their Level scaling the player paid for. BAB 4 here for all but the Falcon who is BAB 3 therefore.
3: 6+Int Mod Skill ranks, which means 2 per level if the animal has an Int of 2, 3 per level if you increase into to 4, etc.
4: Feats Gained: 2 at 1st, 1 at 3rd, 2 at 5th, 1 at 7th, 1 at 9th, 1 at 10th, 1 at 11th and 13th, 2 at 15th, 1 at 17th and 19th, 1 at 20th HD. Add Power or Finesse and Option C: Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Natural Armor as Feat tax.
5: WBL as a "Heroic NPC" scaled to the level you paid for. 2400 gp for the Bear and Chimp to be precise for their barding, muleback cords, boost or whatever you desire for their needs.

Familiars:
1: Feats at 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th level.
2: WBL as Heroic NPC scaled to the level you paid for. 2400 gp for the Owl friend.

In the event someone wants to play this, it's legal and could be tons of fun playing the tiny ecosystem on a bears back that fights evil together for someone who likes to micro units.

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have questions, just ask!