[D&D-3.5e] Lost Cause

[Clawsome]

Character Name: Bansheba Spiritcaller Race: Human Class: OA Shaman Party Role: Melee, Healing and Survival Support Appearance: A small, thin woman of 5’ tall. Her hair is long and black as night with feathers and beads braided in. Her golden eyes gleam of wisdom and power. Her body is covered in tattoos and trinkets Personality: She is a tribal shaman and used to tribal rules and rituals. She is strong willed and direct as is common among tribes which to others can come across as pushy. She is very wise and calculating which catches many off guard when dealing with her. She is used to the dealing with other tribes and the natural world. She willing acknowledges that she is out of her element when dealing with city issues and folks. Memories or Expected Background: She remembers she is a shaman as the spirits were quick to remind her of such, but other than that she cannot even remember why she was even on a ship in the first place. She is sure the spirits will guide her to the truth. Special Ability: Animorph Expected Character Progression: OA Shaman for now no plans to multiclass

[Ermine]

Yay, another smol one!

[97mg]

Hello! This looks really fun, and I haven't played 3.5e for quite a long time!

The Collector of Monsters (or at least their pictures) Name: Rodantha Skribb Race: Nezumi (from Oriental Adventures, kinda Ratfolk) Class: Archivist Party Role: I'm small and easily injured, but I'm really useful, I promise! Everyone loves healing, right? But that's not all this rat lass can do. How does a buff sound? Some secret knowledge to help you defeat that scary monster? Tell me you noticed it, that tentacled thing right over there! Furthermore, I'm pretty smart actually, who needs a skill monkey when you can have a skill rat? Appearance: It would be pretty rude to describe me as a large white rat, that prefers to walk on two legs instead of four. I'm quite civilized, thank you very much. I have short fur and a pink tail, and my eyes are often sparkly and inquisitive. There is always a book by my side and often a writing instrument tucked under a large ear, unless of course you've just washed up on a beach in the middle of some unknown continent... Personality: Before I left home, my master told me I was attentive and focused. Were these just nice words, to make the imminent departure by sea, a little more pleasant? Of course not! I'm all about learning things and taking notes. Most of all, I'm into documenting different races, and their strengths and shortcomings. Monsters especially. Monsters like, well you know, humans, dwarves, goblins, walking wardrobes, ghosts etc. As you can imagine, studying unusual folks and creatures, it requires an element of bravery and quick-thinking. That's me to a tee! I'm a friendly creature, who has been subjected to things both good and horrible in the past, so above all, I like to try to help and protect anyone who calls me a friend. Memories or Background: There are gaps in my recollection of things. If only I could find my damned journal! I must have bumped my head on some coral, or the side of the ship. Anyway, I was supposed to be heading home after taking my first pilgrimage out to learn about the "creatures" of the south. My book was loaded with illustrations and notes, my master likely to be oh so very proud! I can smell the cheese-platter now, my reward. Oh damn, that reminds me... I'm soooo hungry. Anyway, mid-journey something went wrong with the ship, and the next thing you know, I woke up on a beach! Are there creatures here? I wonder if there are creatures here? What kind of creatures are here? Should I be scared of the creatures here? Hey, where's my book! Oh great, someone's underwear just washed up onto the sand beside me... Special Ability: Morphology or Rejuvenation sounds fun! Expected Character Progression: I'm an archivist, through and through!

Questions An archivist without a book might be a challenge to play, would it be acceptable to hope that I might come across the equivalent of my spell book along the way? Making one from scratch sounds kind of fun too.

[triedtherest]

Are the Special Abilities granted at Character creation?

[RisenMartyr]

You could start with part of your book and find additions plus create more. If all else fails, it could be found amongst the wreckage.

Yes, the special skills are granted when you create your characters.

[Ermine]

Do we choose them? (I included my preference in my sheet)

[RisenMartyr]

Yes, you choose the special ability.

[Ermine]

Good to know~

[97mg]

Originally Posted by RisenMartyr

You could start with part of your book and find additions plus create more. If all else fails, it could be found amongst the wreckage.

Ok fantastic! That sounds great

[Clawsome]

Special Ability: Morphology or Rejuvenation sounds fun!

EWWWW a giant white rat

[Clawsome]

I take it the special abilities work just like class abilities with same name. Ie animal companion stats, benefits grow as you level. Mon sum I, II II etc like caster. So we do find or have our equipment around the beach or were basically naked.

No tank or melees..this could be interesting

[Ermine]

I was looking through Magic of Incarnum and saw this. Would be nice, even if the result would technically be homebrew. Dunno what one would replace incarnate radiance with, anyway, I was just curious since alignment is kind of something I'm not really a fan of focusing on.

Adaptation: It could be possible to create a variant meldshaping class based on the incarnate but without the incarnate’s rigid focus on alignment. By deleting alignment-focused abilities (aura, detect opposition) and removing restrictions on shaping soulmelds that do not match the character’s alignment, then replacing the incarnate radiance ability with a different class
feature, you would create a more generalized meldshaper.

Edit: I'd even be fine just dropping incarnate radiance as a penalty for not having a strict alignment code. But I mean, if you don't change it, I'll still play an incarnate. It's definitely not a deal-breaker if you leave incarnate as-is.

[Snicker]

So, I have two concepts in mind:

One would be a druid using the Shapeshift feature from the Player's Handbook II. This basically switches out Wild Shape (and the animal companion) for more vaguely-defined "forms" that provide bonuses to strength, AC, and other attributes depending on the specific form. The benefit, besides simplicity, is that this ability can be used from first level and with no restriction on uses per day. However, I worry about redundancy with other character concepts, since we already have a lot of casters (including another druid, though my druid will be of a fairly different "flavour").

My other idea would be a fighter using the Thug variant from Unearthed Arcana, who I'd present as a sailor (I'd request some changes to the skill list to accommodate this). This is more distinct mechanically from other characters, but the issue is that fighters just aren't that interesting.

Both characters could probably serve as melee/tank units, though the fighter moreso than the druid.

RisenMartyr, do you have a preference?

[Ermine]

My advice would just be "play what's fun." If you find fighters boring, maybe the shapeshifter druid is a better option?

(Not that you asked my opinion)

[RisenMartyr]

I'll take a look at the class. I figure replacing the detect alignment with detect magic and the aura could change to just a magic aura without an alignment. As for the radiance ability, I'm not sure yet. I'll look at other classes to see what could replace it.

Play what you like best. Like Ermine said, if you don't like what's possibly missing from the party, then don't worry. Just have fun.