His Dark Materials in AD&D.

[Spasticteapot]

After re-reading the first two books of the trilogy (Yes, I've read all three), I was thinking that perhaps HDM would make a good setting for D&D. Admittedly, "Charismatic hero" or "Strong hero" make more sense than just using "Fighter", and there are no clerics per se, but one must admit that the whole thing has a decidedly epic bent to it, and there are a plethora of magic-users mentioned in the books.
Of course, there's the question of the one thing that D&D doesn't yet cover: Daemons. I think that Daemon should be on a Feat tree, and have HP, attacks, and whatever based on the feats spent on them. (The mandratory "has a daemon" feat would take up the free first-level Feat for humans.) Daemons would also qualify as animal companions or familars for whatever benifits they may grant. In addition, a "Witch" prestiege class will likely need to be added, the Shamans fit the Druid class pretty well.

Also, I cooked up some rules for the mighty Armored Bear. An Armored Bear is a sentient bear with amazing metalworking ability, combat prowess unmached by almost anything, and access to the mysterious "cloud-iron" armor.

Armored Bears: These sentient beings are much mightier than the average human. Although they have difficulty using anything other than their natural weapons, an armored bear with cloud-steel armor is a deadly opponent indeed.

Armored Bears as PC's
Armored bears start with three monstrous humanoidr levels, giving them one feat in addition to the starting feat all characters receive, 3D8+(consitution modifer x 3) hit points, and a +3 attack bonus.
Level adjustment: 5
Stat modifiers: +12 strength, +6 constitution, -5 charisma.
Size: An armored bear is a Large creature, resulting in a -1 penalty to AC. They must use Large-sized weapons and armor.
Other: Armored Bears have a +6 racial bonus to Sense Motive checks, in addition to Sense Motive being a racial skill. In addition, they gain a +4 racial bonus on all Craft checks associated with manipulating large metal objects, such as blacksmithing. An AB's great strength allows them to make blacksmithing checks with no penalty from a lack of tools. All other penalties from improvised tools are halved (round down.) They may also Craft Cloud-Iron Armor every three character levels.
Damage resistance 3/cold, +4 bonus on all fortitude saves versus cold. After all, ABs can swim quite nicely even in near-freezing water.
+4 racial bonus on all Swim checks, and a +15 racial competence bonus on all survival:Tundra checks. (Bears are bears, and even the sentient ones can happily survive on raw seal and fish.)
-3 racial penalty on all Will saves. Armored Bears tend to have problems resisting psychological offensives and alcohol.
Favored classes: Barbarian, Fighter.

Craft Cloud-Iron Armor: Every three character levels (including monster levels), an armored bear may craft or enhance a previously made set of cloud-iron armor. The armored bears have yet to reveal the source of this material, which is as strong as adamantine but rusts like iron. The armor's benefits are as follows:

Craft Cloud-Iron Armor (3rd level): At 3rd level, an Armored Bear may craft a great suit of armor for his use and his use alone. The armor has an Armor Check Penalty of seven, gives a +8 bonus to AC, and reduces the movement rate to forty. 300 experience points must be paid. The maximum dexterity bonus is 2.
If a suit of cloud-iron armor is found, 1/2 of the experience required to create it may be deducted from the amount required to create a suit by using it for base materials. Experience may not be gained in this manner.

Craft Improved Cloud-Iron Armor (6th level): At 6th level, an Armored-Bear may create a new suit of armor, or improve his old one. The defensive bonus increases to +9, the armor check penalty is five, movement is increased to 45. The maximum dexterity bonus is 2. Improved cloud-iron armor also grants a +7 bonus on all saving throws made by the armor, and a +3 bonus on saves vs. cold. 900 exp. Must be paid, minus any exp. Already paid.

Craft Greater Cloud-Iron Armor (9th level) At 5th level, an armored bear's armor becomes truly mighty. The defensive bonus is raised to +10, movement is 50 feet per round, and the armor check penalty is reduced to +3. In addition, the armor has a total +10 bonus to any saves it might make, and an additional +3 bonus is gained on all saves made by the wearer vs. acid. 2000 exp. Must be paid, minus any exp. Already paid.

Craft Masterwork Cloud-Iron Armor (12th level): At this level, the defensive bonus is increased to +11. Saves made by the armor gain a +15 bonus, and the wearer gains a +5 bonus on all saving throws vs. fire. 4000 exp. Must be paid in addition to any exp. Already paid.

Craft Cloud-Steel armor: (15th level): At 15th character level, an armored bear gains the ability to craft Cloud-Steel Armor. 4,000 experience must be paid regardless of any experience already paid. However, the armor grants the wearer a +5 bonus on saves vs. Acid, Cold, and Fire, and gives damage resistance 5/magic. A +13 armor class bonus is gained, in addition to an armor check penalty of 1 and no penalty to movement rate. (It's still medium armor.) This armor is incredibly rare.

Cloudsteel armor may be worn only by its creator. However, if a suit is found, it may be smelted to reduce the amount of experience needed to procure the next suit of armor by 1/4 the amount required to make it. Experience may not be gained in this manner.

[Dragonmuncher]

daemons could easily be a familiar that everyone gets. There'd have to be a distance thing, with subdual damage dealt after a certain distance. The daemon would have the ability to wild shape whenever they wish, but I guess only small animals and less? although I think that they can be panthers and stuff. So, medium size and smaller? After a certain age, they'd have to pick a form.

[Caelestion]

Remember that Lyra's world is the one with daemons - Will's world (ours) doesn't effectively have them. Planar travelling will have to be amended of course and then you'll have to decide whether to set it before or after the series' events.

Cael.

[OracleYori]

Our world DOES have daemons- just not seperate ones.
After all, by the end, his was seperated from him and did become a seperate entity.

And indestructable (except by the knife side that cuts all that is material) armor doesnt really work too well in D&D...but the way you did it, it works pretty well.

[AdInfinitum]

So a feat to recognize the daemon then?

[LazyJoe]

Why the -2 to INT and WIS for armoured bears? Admittedly, most of the bears aren't incredibly intelligent, but they (certainly Iorek) were wiser than any human.

[The Glyphstone]

And the Armored Bear seriously needs a LA. I'd put it at +4 or even +5.

[OracleYori]

i think that is what he meant by a -5 level penalty...

[Yuki Akuma]

Random feat that should probably be the first level bonus feat for the Witch PrC:


SEPERATE DÆMON [Racial]
You and your dæmon can travel far from one another while suffering no ill effects.
Prerequisites: Human, Reveal Dæmon, character level ?
Benefit: Your dæmon can travel an unlimited distance from you. Your telepathic link only works out to a range of one mile. You do not automatically know anything your dæmon learns once they go out of normal range, although you have the same link with a place your dæmon sees as if you had seen the place yourself. Also, the Fortitude save to survive having the link between you and your dæmon severed recieves a +5 bonus.
Normal: Blah
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.

[Spasticteapot]

First, I'm really happy that everyone likes my idea. Anyone who has any ideas, such as the feat mentioned below, should feel free to post them.

On the issue of the Armored Bear, there are a few more modifications I'd like to make.
Damage resistance 3/cold, +4 bonus on all fortitude saves versus cold. After all, ABs can swim quite nicely even in near-freezing water.
+4 racial bonus on all Swim checks, and a +15 racial competence bonus on all survival:Tundra checks. (Bears are bears, and even the sentient ones can happily survive on raw seal and fish.)

I've yet to decide on the base attacks. AB's seem to have somewhat more prehensile paws than real bears, but they have little trouble mauling anything that moves. Perhaps a Claw/Claw/Bite option might work?
Also, some armored bears wear sharpened steel covers for their claws. How would this be managed?


Also, I was thinking about the Witch character class. Here's a quick-and-dirty run-through of a few of my ideas.

HD: D8
Attack bonus: 2/3 level
Spells: Mix of some wizard spells (mostly enchantment) and a few druid spells. With the exception of Goodberry, little or no healing.
Special Abilies:
Freebie feat at 1st level (Seperate Daemon)
Ability to fly (delayed?)
Speak with Animals (delayed?)




Now, to answer a few questions:

Posted by: LazyJoe

Why the -2 to INT and WIS for armoured bears? Admittedly, most of the bears aren't incredibly intelligent, but they (certainly Iorek) were wiser than any human..
You have a pretty good point there. While creating the stat modifications, I hoped to add at least a small semblance of balance; however, the five-level level adjustment takes care of that pretty well. I threw that in assuming that Iorek was an exception to the rule, but you're right in that it would make more sense without it.
On the other hand, a will save penalty might make sense. Even Iorek had trouble managing his alcohol consumption, and it balances out an AB's bonus to fortitude saves.

Posted by: The_Glyphstone


And the Armored Bear seriously needs a LA. I'd put it at +4 or even +5.
.
You hit the nail on the head. The AB is a tremendously powerful entity in a campaign; one of them can tear through almost anything, and the armor they craft makes them all but immune to many attacks. The LA of 5 makes them a shade less powerful.

Posted by: Yuki Akuma


Random feat that should probably be the first level bonus feat for the Witch PrC


SEPERATE DÆMON [Racial]
You and your dæmon can travel far from one another while suffering no ill effects.
Prerequisites: Human, Reveal Dæmon, character level ?
Benefit: Your dæmon can travel an unlimited distance from you. Your telepathic link only works out to a range of one mile. You do not automatically know anything your dæmon learns once they go out of normal range, although you have the same link with a place your dæmon sees as if you had seen the place yourself. Also, the Fortitude save to survive having the link between you and your dæmon severed recieves a +5 bonus.
Normal: Blah
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.

I personally think that this should be a "SA" class feat attainable by any character. Will, shortly after attaining his Daemon, gained the ability to seperate himself from him much like a witch.
On the subject of normal range, perhaps 20 feet + Wisdom bonus x 5?

[Yuki Akuma]

I didn't say normal humans couldn't take it. I just said witches should get it at first level.

Also, the link between human and dæmon seems a very physical thing as well as a mental one... perhaps it could be 20 + Wis + Con x5? Possibly 20 + ((Wis + Con)/2) x5....

On the sharpened iron claws: Make them a weapon only creatures with claws can use. Make them deal one die higher damage than usual (so 1d8 becomes 1d10, 1d10 becomes 2d6, et cetera)... Or, alternatively, increase the critical threat range.

[Spasticteapot]

I cooked up some stats for the Witch. (Yes, there are male Witches.) This is hardly a complete character class, but it's a start.
HD: D8
Attack bonus: Equal to fighterl
Spells: Mix of some wizard spells (mostly enchantment) and a few druid spells. With the exception of Goodberry, little or no healing.
Special Abilies:
Freebie feat at 1st level (Seperate Daemon)
Ability to fly (delayed?)
Speak with Animals (delayed?)
Weapon proficiency: All simple weapons, and shortbow.
Armor proficiency: All light armor.
Special: May not use any sword, and may not wear any armor heavier than Studded Leather while flying.

Special abilities:
Gain spells per day from list below as per Druid.
L1: Nature Sense (see druid)
L2: Wild Empathy (see druid)
L4: May discern if natural water/food/whatever is edible at will
L7: May start flying. Maneuverability is bad, speed is 70 feet per round. Maneverability increases by one class and speed by 20 ft/round every three levels therafter.

Spell list:
0-level:
Create Water
Detect Poison
Guidance
Know Direction
Mending
Resistance
Light

1st level:
Alarm
Calm animals
Charm animal
Detect Animals/plants
Endure elements
Goodberry
Hide from Animals
Magic Fang
Obscuring Mist
Pass without trace
Speak with animals.
Daze monster

2nd level:
Animal Messenger
Animal Trance
Delay poison
Fog cloud
Reduce anima
Tree shape
Warp wood
Wood shape
Invisibility
Hold animal
Sleep

3rd level spells:
Magical fang, greater
Neutralize poison
Plant growth
Remove disease
Speak with plants
Commune with Nature
Charm Person

4th level spells:
Antiplant shell
Scrying
Charm monster

5th level spells:
Control winds
Find the Path
Confusion
Sympathy

6th level:
Fire seeds
Ironwood
Control Weather
Charm monster, Mass

If anyone has any ideas for special abilities or whatever, let me know.

[Caelestion]

I don't think you need to pump the Bears too high. After all, amongst normal D20 Modern-esque humans, it doesn't take a lot to becoime a vengeful murdering tank!

Cael.

[Spasticteapot]

I don't think you need to pump the Bears too high. After all, amongst normal D20 Modern-esque humans, it doesn't take a lot to becoime a vengeful murdering tank!

Cael.

True.
(I presume that by "pumping" you mean LA.)

Then again, there's also another minor issue: how well Cloud-Iron armor defends against bullets. 1/2" of adamantium will stop anything short of a howitzer. (A 12-guage shotgun firing slugs might make a small dent at best.) I'm not to familar with D20 modern's rules (heck, I don't even own the book), so I may as well just give all Armored Bears damage reduction to all projectile weapons. This also helps to balance out the fact that an AB cannot manipulate most forms of ranged weapons anyway, and a grenade will take one out quite nicely.
Another issue is that of the AB's paws. How well, exactly, are they able to manipulate items? Do they have opposable thumbs?

[Yuki Akuma]

Sort of. Armoured bears have opposable claws... they can manipulate objects just as well as humans.

[Spasticteapot]

Yuki Akuma has forwarded these ideas for Æsahættr, a.k.a the Subtle Knife. I've modified them a tad.

Æsahættr:
Masterwork vorpal knife. (+1 to hit.) 1D10 damage; however, all attacks that hit automatically critically threaten. (I'm not too familar with the D20 modern system for crits, but I can assume that they tend to hurt a great deal). Ignores all damage reduction and hardness, and ignores all armor class modifiers due to armor or natural armor class modifiers. (Note that AC is still modified by size and dexterity.) It can also hit spectral or incorporeal opponents, and is pretty much the only thing in the known universe that can kill Spectres. In addition, the true user may cast a form of Gate at will, requiring a full-round action. Æsahættr is non-magical, but is an alchemically-based weapon.

[Pedantic]

The subtle knife is good, but you've got to mention something about closing the rifts (anyone who knows how can do it) and something about Specters.

Oh, and maybe something about the knife's curse (losing the finger) and finally perhaps have it ignore hardness?

I'd probably up it to at least dagger stats instead of jsut a measly (if still powerful) 1d3.

[Vaynor]

This is a great idea! I love those books and i also think that the classes should be restricted to probaly witch, rogue, fighter, barbarian, monk, shaman, and scout.

[Yuki Akuma]

Keen doesn't make sense when the Knife already has the ability to threaten a crritical hit on any hit. Also, yes, critical hits in D20 Modern hurt quite a lot...

If you think Vorpal would be a good idea, it'll still only work on a natural twenty

Also, about witches: I think there should be a race AND a class. The race is close to immortal (maybe give them the Elf or possibly Elan aging rate), and has the favoured class of Witch. Other humans can become witches, though, but stay mortal.

[HempRope]

I have a few things that I'd like to add... though first of all, I'd like to say that I find this immensely interesting.

Firstly, I don't really think that there should be a limit -- at least not such a small one -- on the amount of distance a familiar can travel from a witch. So I think that perhaps they ought to be granted the feat Improved Separate Daemon at some point, preferably pretty early on.
Also with regard to witches: I don't see why you are giving them full BAB. They're good with bows, but I don't think that it's much of the witch concept.
I'm also tempted to lower their HD to d6...
If this made them extraordinarily weak, we could increase spellcasting.

About the bears, now. What you have looks good, for the most part. But we do need to add a huge bonus to Sense Motive. Remember how all of the bears (except whatshisname, the leader) could see right through any lies of feints? Well, I think that they should get something like a +10 racial bonus to Sense Motive, and can take 20 on it.

Any rebuttles?

[LazyJoe]

With the subtle knife thing, I think it should definately do more damage, at least 1d8. Daggers in the SRD are just regular old daggers, but the subtle knife is infinately sharper and, let's not forget, magical. And yeah, I do think it should be vorpal (think Will in the final battle running around slicing cliff ghast's heads off).

[Spasticteapot]

Perhaps Witch should be made a race/class.
Witch:
All witches have Damage Resistance 5 to all magical cold, and can survive in any climate without difficulty. Witches live roughly 1,000 years; they are born of Witches, but their other parent is usually a normal human.
In addition, all Witches can fly. A witch has a maneuverabilty of Bad, which improved by 1 class for every 5 character levels they ascertain. They have a starting fly speed of 100'/round, which improves by 10 for each 3 character levels they obtain. Flying requires a branch of a Cloud-pine respective to their home plane; the branch must be unworked, and must be removed from the tree by the witch who is to use it.
LA: 2

On the issue of the high BAB, one must consider that the Witches engage in combat on a regular basis in the novels. On many occasions, they make attacks that require an amazing degree of accuracy and skill and do so with great effectiveness. Also, their spell list is pretty limited (almost no offensive spells, and no healing spells aside from Goodberry). The inability to use heavy armor is also a minor problem; a high BAB is not terribly useful if you can't get close enough to your oponent to take advantage of it.

On the issue of daemon seperation damage:
An individual can have their daemon up to (wisdom+constitution+35) feet away; for each 5 feet away in excess of this number, the daemon's human counterpart will take 1d4 points of subdual damage. This means that if a person with a Wisdom and Constitution of 10 has his daemon fall off a 150 foot cliff, he will take 19d4 points of subdual damage per round.

And to answer HempRouge's question:
Witches recieve Improved Seperate Daemon at 1st level.

[Yuki Akuma]

On Seperate Dæmon: The feat has no limit. The only limit is on people without the feat. Maybe Improved Seperate Dæmon could allow dæmons to be on other planes without their human counterparts?

[Spasticteapot]

On Seperate Dæmon: The feat has no limit. The only limit is on people without the feat. Maybe Improved Seperate Dæmon could allow dæmons to be on other planes without their human counterparts?

Not a bad idea. However, I might specify that the Daemon can survive on another plane even when there is no gate between the worlds. If there is a gate between the worlds, anyone can send their daemon in between the worlds, so long as they don't move too far away from the gate.

I'm thinking that maybe a combination of D20 modern and D&D might make more sense. HDM moves between modern Britan and a fantasy-based setting on a regular basis; firearms and angels are both prominent features. Of course, this would requre me to shell out fourty dollars for the D20 modern sourcebook.

[The_King_of_Durf]

Wells there's more than just Will's world and Lyra's world. You should add the world with the giant trees and the highways built into the ground, also the Heaven Floating Castle, and the world that Lyra's father uses as his stronghold for the war. Btw, His Dark Materials=Best Book Ever

[Caelestion]

Incidentally, the armoured bears probably don't have much Natural Armour - one of the books states that bear flesh is unprotected and can be hurt like anyone else.
I'd also stay away from giving out huge bonuses to skills. Simply make Sense Motive a constant class skill and give +2 to it.

Cael.

[HempRope]

OK, I was exaggerating with Sense Motive. But I do think that there needs to be a major bonus to it.

Sorry about the confusion on Separate Daemon. I thought that the limit you were working out was for that feat, rather than for those who have not taken it.

[Spasticteapot]

The subtle knife and Armored Bear posts have been altered.

Any thoughts on Daemons? I'm still clueless as to how they should be ruled. And they would also count as animal companions and familiars...how would that work?

[LazyJoe]

If the armoured bears have a -5 to CHA, wouldn't that make intimidate checks a bitch? Think about it: a huge armoured bear, known for its ferocity and power in combat. Shouldn't they get a bonus to intimidate checks or something?

[Caelestion]

Use even stat mods at all times - you could have -4 Cha and +4 bonus to Intimidate though.
The Witch as written is well overpowered for only +2 LA.

Cael.

[Venatius]

I think there was a blatant ripoff of the Armored Bears published in... Frostburn, I believe? Not sure if it was originally provided anywhere prior to that.

I actually did stats for Galevespians (I'm so sure I'm spelling that wrong) as PCs, but I don't have access to the stats right now. Dimunitive size, racial poison attack, favored class of rogue. I know they really ought to have fighter as their favored class, but pragmatically speaking, I think it'd be best to just play their roguery as stealthy tactical fighting. It's just really implausible to make an effective frontliner out of one of these ittybitties.

[LazyJoe]

With animal companion: dragonfly.

[Yuki Akuma]

With animal companion: dragonfly.

I wouldn't call their dragonfly steeds animal companions. They're just that: steeds.

[Spasticteapot]

Out of curiousity, does anyone have any ideas for a campaign or adventure? I figured that there would be a billion possibilites, but I've yet to come up with one.

[Sir_Banjo]

have them be spies. Espionage is always fun.

[Yuki Akuma]

I've been thinking of some stats for Dæmons. I'll post them when I get home (I'm at college right now). In effect, I think they should function somewhat like familiars, but have a telepathic link instead of an empathic one...

Also, two new Dæmon-centered feats:

DÆMON FEAT [Racial]
Your dæmon learns a feat.
Prerequisites: Human or Witch, Reveal Dæmon, character level 3rd
Benefit: Choose one feat your dæmon qualifies for. Your dæmon gains that feat.
Normal: Your dæmon does not gain feats naturally.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time it is taken, select a new feat that your dæmon qualifies for.

SHARE FEATS [Racial]
You and your dæmon can now use any feat either of you knows.
Prerequisites: Human or Witch, Reveal Dæmon, Dæmon Feat (any two), character level 12th
Benefit: You and your dæmon gain access to any feats either of you possess that you qualify for.
Normal: You and your dæmon can only share certain feats.


What do you think? I was thinking normally dæmons can only share weapon and armour proficiencies, and skill-based feats...

[Spasticteapot]

Here's my set of daemon rules. Tell me what you think!

Daemons
Daemons are one of the most prominent features of the HDM world. Only humans seem to have them, and they mirror closely the personality of their master. They change form at a moment's notice until adolescence, when they then assume a single form. (For this reason, almost no daemon feats can be taken after the Daemon has assumed a form, the exception being Daemon Toughness.) Any human may take a Daemon at character creation, or obtain one at a later time at the cost of a feat. (Feats such as Flying Daemon may be taken before Reveal Daemon, allowing for a flying or medium daemon.)
Daemons are creatures much like Familars. Daemons assume all of the qualities of the animal companion and/or familiar a character may have. The Daemon must be decided at character creation. A Daemon must be of tiny size (unless the requisite feats are taken), and is almost always a natural animal, such as an osprey or rabbit. Characters have numerous options for their daemons, and may improve them by taking assorted feats.
If a character moves too far from his Daemon, he or she will take subdual damage. If the character is more than (constitution+wisdom+30) feet from his or her daemon, the character (or NPC) will take D4 subdual for every 5 feet the daemon moves away per round. (For example, if a person with a wisdom and charisma of 10 has his daemon fall off of a 200 foot cliff, he would take 30d4 points of damage per round.) The character cannot, however, fall unconcious from this subdual damage until the daemon moves inside the (wis+con+30) range.
“basic” daemons have 1d4+2 hp, and cannot fly. Although they only have an empathic bond to a character, they may speak telepathically to their master and to other daemons. They may be almost any natural animal, and they usually reflect the nature of the character. Daemons are optional; the character must decide to obtain one at character creation. (Characters who choose the “Recognize Daemon feat will be able to choose the daemon at that time.) Armored Bears cannot have daemons.
Sorcerers and Wizards must have their daemon also be their familiar. However, a sorcer's or wizard's daemon may change over time, following the rules for their respective class.

Daemon Feats:

SEPERATE DÆMON [Racial]
You and your dæmon can travel far from one another while suffering no ill effects.
Prerequisites: Human, Reveal Dæmon, character level ?
You and your daemon may move apart up to a range of one mile. You do not automatically know your dæmon learns once they go out of normal range, although you have the same link with a place your dæmon sees as if you had seen the place yourself. Also, the Fortitude save to survive having the link you and your dæmon severed recieves a +5 bonus.
Normal: You may move up to (30+wisdom+constitution) feet away from your daemon before receving damage.
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.


GREATER DAEMON [Racial]
Your daemon is particularly fierce, and may be of medium size.
Prerequisites: Human.
Greater Daemon must be taken at the time of or before the daemon is revealed. (A character with an unrevealed daemon may take this feat, but he will gain no benefit until he obtains a daemon.) A daemon affected by Greater Daemon has 3d6+8 hp, and has normal attacks, burrowing abilities, and whatever as per the creature in the PHB. This feat may be taken as a Daemon Bonus Feat; however, it may not be taken in conjunction with Flying Daemon.
Normal: You may have a tiny daemon.
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.

FLYING DAEMON [Racial]
Your daemon may fly.
Prerequisites: Human.
Flying Daemon must be taken at the time of or before the daemon is revealed. (A character with an unrevealed daemon may take this feat, but he will gain no benefit until he obtains a daemon.) A daemon who takes this feat gains 2 hp, and may be any small or tiny flying natural animal, and has normal attacks, burrowing abilities, and whatever as per the creature in the PHB. This feat may be taken as a Daemon Bonus Feat; however, it may not be taken in conjunction with Greater Daemon. Also, note that flightless birds such as penguins would instead require Greater Daemon.
Normal: You may only have a flightless daemon.
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.

DAEMON TOUGHNESS [Racial]
Your daemon is tougher.
Prerequisites: Human.
Greater Daemon must be taken at the time of or before the daemon is revealed. (A character with an unrevealed daemon may take this feat, but he will gain no benefit until he obtains a daemon.) A daemon affected by Daemon Toughness gains HP equal to the character's class level or three, whichever is larger. In addition, the damage the creature deals is improved by one level of die. (I.E: D6->D8). This feat may be taken as a Daemon Bonus Feat.
Normal: You may have a tiny daemon.
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.

REVEAL DAEMON [Racial]
You may release your inner daemon.
Prerequisites: Human.
Reveal Daemon allows a character to bring out his inner daemon. Daemons revealed in this way are identical to daemons created at character creation; however, most characters have a definite catalysing event involved in releasing them
Normal: You don't have a daemon.
Special: You can only take this feat if you do not already have a daemon.

[HempRope]

Well... those look pretty good. I'll comment at a later date.

Also, I agree with Cael that witches should probably have more than +2 LA. I don't really think that Barbarian should be a favored class along with Fighter. I remember the bears being quite calm in battles.

Now, on to the subject of my 'Bears w/ Sense Motive!' obsession.
I personally think that they deserve a greater than +6 bonus to the skill. But that's open for discussion, of course, and I won't lobby constantly for its inclusion/adaptation.
One thing that I really think should definitely be added, though, (and it was originally suggested by Cael, so that's one person who probably doens't think that it's a horrible idea) is that Sense Motive is always a class skill for armored bears.

[Sophistemon]

Sorry if someone's already mentioned this, but Daemons can only change shape while their master (is that the right word?) is still young. Once the master (?) reaches a certain age the Daemon adopts a permanent form. At least, that's how I remember it. I've only ever read The Subtle Knife.

[Spasticteapot]

Well... those look pretty good. I'll comment at a later date.

Also, I agree with Cael that witches should probably have more than +2 LA. I don't really think that Barbarian should be a favored class along with Fighter. I remember the bears being quite calm in battles.

Now, on to the subject of my 'Bears w/ Sense Motive!' obsession.
I personally think that they deserve a greater than +6 bonus to the skill. But that's open for discussion, of course, and I won't lobby constantly for its inclusion/adaptation.
One thing that I really think should definitely be added, though, (and it was originally suggested by Cael, so that's one person who probably doens't think that it's a horrible idea) is that Sense Motive is always a class skill for armored bears.

Class skill added. I meant to add it a while ago and forgot. The +6 is assuming that most of 'em have a LOT of ranks in it. Of course, if you want to use these rules, alter them at your leisure.


Sorry if someone's already mentioned this, but Daemons can only change shape while their master (is that the right word?) is still young. Once the master (?) reaches a certain age the Daemon adopts a permanent form. At least, that's how I remember it. I've only ever read The Subtle Knife.

Good point. However, I've never actually seen any of them get any bigger than a large cat, so I'm going to use the normal rules, but state that they can change form. I'll write something up about it eventually.

[HempRope]

And of course, in their mutable state, they can fly.

I would also like to add that I think if characters start as children, before their daemons take on a definite form, then they can take the Greater & Flying Daemon feats. As it only matters once the Daeomns have a single form.

[Spasticteapot]

And of course, in their mutable state, they can fly.

I would also like to add that I think if characters start as children, before their daemons take on a definite form, then they can take the Greater & Flying Daemon feats. As it only matters once the Daeomns have a single form.


You know, I never thought of that. You have an excellent point.
Then again, I never assumed that anyone would play a kid, much like normal D&D, where they're stupid.
Then again, I also forgot that the entire trilogy was based on a few kids.
In short, I am a doofus in need of sleep.

[Yuki Akuma]

Just two more and I'll stop it with the feats (unless you want me to continue...)

ADVANCED DÆMON [Racial]
Your dæmon may take the form of a large animal.
Prerequisites: Human, Greater Dæmon
Benefit: As Greater Dæmon, except your dæmon may take the form of any non-flying animal up to large size.
Normal: Your dæmon may only be an animal or vermin* of up to tiny size.
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.

GREATER FLYING DÆMON [Racial]
Your dæmon may be a flying animal of up to medium size.
Prerequisites: Human, Flying Dæmon, Greater Dæmon
Benefit: Your dæmon may take the form of any flying animal or vermin of up to medium size. Otherwise, as the Flying Dæmon feat.
Normal: Your dæmon may only take the form of any non-flying animal or vermin of up to tiny size.
Special: You can only take this feat if the link between you and your dæmon is intact. If it is severed, you cannot choose this feat.

Yeah...

*Note: Dæmons aren't just animals; Pantalaimon often took the form of a moth, which would be a vermin in d20 rules.

[Caelestion]

By the panzerbjorn racial hit dice, I presume you mean that they are Monstrous Humanoids. You haven't stated.
The Strength is far too high - are you seriously suggesting that an armoured bear is stronger than a minotaur, ogre or ogre mage? They are interacting with (fairly) normal people, so try to keep their stats in line (I'd suggest +8 Str at max.) Their Con modifier should be positive.

Suggestions: Str +8, Dex -2, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha -4. +4 Intimidate and Sense Motive.

[Yuki Akuma]

One more thing about dæmons (can you tell I love dæmons?): You should specify their ability scores. Personally I think it should work like this:

Str, Dex, Con - As base animal
Int - As human
Wis, Cha - As human, modified by animal. For example: Say the animal had a Wisdom of 14. The human the dæmon is linked to has a Wisdom score of 16. Thus, the dæmon would have a Wisdom score of 20, 16 + the animal's racial bonus (+4 in this case).

[Spasticteapot]

By the panzerbjorn racial hit dice, I presume you mean that they are Monstrous Humanoids. You haven't stated.
The Strength is far too high - are you seriously suggesting that an armoured bear is stronger than a minotaur, ogre or ogre mage? They are interacting with (fairly) normal people, so try to keep their stats in line (I'd suggest +8 Str at max.) Their Con modifier should be positive.

Suggestions: Str +8, Dex -2, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha -4. +4 Intimidate and Sense Motive.

First, they are not humanoids. They are polar bears with more versatile paws, and an amazing degree of sentience. They move about on all four of their paws; they cannot use almost all normal weapons.
On the issue of strength, The PHB lists the strength of a polar bear as 27. A +12 modifier will give strength scores not much higher or lower than 27 for an average PC. Considering that their given dexterity is 13, I don't believe a penalty is warranted.
Secondly, the LA of 5 is a definite factor. An AB with 3 monster levels is no match for an ordinary fighter with 5 levels. Sure, they're insanely strong; on the other hand, they don't get daemons, can't use missle weapons, and won't fit in some buildings.

To Yuki Akuma:
Go right ahead! I wish I had included more feats myself. (Maybe one for a venomous daemon, etc. etc. etc.)
However, I'm not so sure about the large daemons. In the books, I never recall seeing a daemon larger than a wolf.
That said, PC's are essentially the exception to the rule, and the nice thing about the multiverse is that things are different in different places. People might have whales for daemons on some world, for all I know.

[Caelestion]

Then you should give them Animal hit dice, not Monstrous hit dice. Their racial HD should fit their type. Also, if you're insisting on porting over polar bear stats, you should give them polar bear HD too. I don't think that they only have 3 HD.

Cael.

[Yuki Akuma]

Lyra's father has a big cat (I think a panther) as his dæmon. Also, I don't think they should be COMMON... note that a first level character can't start with a dæmon larger than medium, for one. They require three feats to own, making them very rare.

[HempRope]

Yeah, but I think that cat is just medium sized.

And I don't think that they should get any bigger, either. Becuase a 3rd level human could have something crazy like a... a tiger, or something. Which is going overboard.

[Spasticteapot]

An excellent point. I'm adding a level requirement to the "large daemon" feat.
However, I always thought that daemons never changed after your reached adulthood; with the exception of Daemon Toughness, the daemon may not be improved. That's also the advantage of starting with a hidden daemon; you can take the feats before you take "reveal daemon".
Also, GM permission and imput is required, much like a familar. Rouges will likely have rats for daemons; warriors may have badgers. A wizard, however, will not have a lion for a familar unless he was a particularly warlike individual.

On the issue of the Armored Bear hit dice:
The armored bear PC is assumed to have levels of warrior; most armored bears do. Although I would like to use a higher number of hit dice, the LA this would result in would be so high that no one would ever play one. An AB with a few levels of fighter will have HP and saves similar to that of a normal bear, but the assorted fighter feats and the like that a normal sentient character would have. And remember, an armored bear cannot have a daemon. There's a big disadvantage in itself.

[Caelestion]

Therefore, if you are cutting back on the bears' HD, you could easily cut back on their stats too.

Cael.

[Elurindel]

daemons could easily be a familiar that everyone gets. There'd have to be a distance thing, with subdual damage dealt after a certain distance. The daemon would have the ability to wild shape whenever they wish, but I guess only small animals and less? although I think that they can be panthers and stuff. So, medium size and smaller? After a certain age, they'd have to pick a form.

Don't forget that Daemons lose their ability to change shape once their person reaches adulthood, so most adventurers will have one witha permanent shape.

[HempRope]

Yeah, that was included in the original definition.

Has there been a decision made regarding hit dice? The whole issue is confusing me. ???!

[Spasticteapot]

Posts have been modified.

If anyone has any feats, races, weapons, omlette recipies, or any other HDM->D&D related stuff, go ahead and post it!

[HempRope]

I think that we should include hot air balloons.

Will return to concept after sleep.

[Yuki Akuma]

Here's an idea for classes:

Characters born in a world similar to our world must have one of the D20 Modern base classes as their first class, and cannot take levels in a fantasy class unless they travel to a fantasy world. The reverse is true for fantasy worlds.

I suppose we could elaborate and say certain classes are available for starting levels in certain worlds, but that'd take ages..

[Vaynor]

Seeing as a polar bears natural claw attack is 1d8 I think that the AB attack should be 1d8. Thus saying there should be something that can go over their claws that deals an extra 1d8. You shbould also remember the things that change when a human becomes a witch. Or you could just make witch a class with an LA because you can't just change your race (actually you could write that up), so you should either make witch a class or a race you can become.

[Yuki Akuma]

Seeing as a polar bears natural claw attack is 1d8 I think that the AB attack should be 1d8. Thus saying there should be something that can go over their claws that deals an extra 1d8. You shbould also remember the things that change when a human becomes a witch. Or you could just make witch a class with an LA because you can't just change your race (actually you could write that up), so you should either make witch a class or a race you can become.

Witches are born as witches. They're born with super long life and magical affinity. HOWEVER, they don't automatically know magic, and could just as easily take another class (like Fighter).

[HempRope]

And that sounds like a very good way to run it.
So the class 'Witch' has a prerequisite of being a Witch, yes?

Ought the prereqs include minor other things, like the ability to cast 2nd level spells, perhaps?

[Spasticteapot]

Ought the prereqs include minor other things, like the ability to cast 2nd level spells, perhaps?

I apologize if my writing was unclear; my original intention was to make Witch both a race (which is, in its own right, pretty lousy), and a character class (which is pretty darn effective.)
I'm currently trying to make a Witch's flying ability at low levels much like that of a real-world ultralight aircraft; they can move pretty fast and are useful for scouting, but they're not terribly useful in ground-based combat and can't carry much weight. (Does anyone remember the rules for firing a bow while riding a flying mount?) At lower levels (i.e. 1-4) a Witch's ability to control her broom is considered to be iffy, at best; I figure that the penalties would be roughly double those of a standard flying mount, and decrease slowly over time.

Also, does anyone remember if monstrous humanoid levels stack with normal levels to determine character level? I'm still adjusting from D&D 2e and Shadowrun to 3.5, and I'm still a shade fuzzy on some of the rules.

Things which I am working on:
-The Shaman class. Best demonstrated in John Parry, this class is similar to the Druid class we know so well, but with no healing spells in a similar fashion to the Witch, and easier access to Control Weather and the like. In addition, they gain access to Call Lighting, a spell capable of knocking out most aircraft and many large assault vehicles within a few rounds. Although they lack the wild shape ability, they have the ability to travel into the astral plane, and even move between worlds. They may also have some abilities pertaining to spirits; any suggestions in this area?
-Multiverse travel penalties. As is shown in the Subtle Knife, a human can start to feel the effects of travelling between worlds mere hours after they move between them.
-Lyra's Universe: Unlike our own universe (where MapQuest can even tell you where a character must turn off the highway to get to the pizza restaurant), there's a lack of maps pertaining to the geography of Lyra's home plane. Although the geography is likely to be very similar to our world, the pattern of settlement is likely to be very different.
-Alien worlds. Ruta Skadi mentions lizard-men and male witches, amongst dozens of other things while visiting Lord Asriel's fortress. I hope to concoct rules for at least a few.

[Vaynor]

Yes, thats a very good idea, merging class and race.

[Yuki Akuma]

All HD (racial and class) add up to create character level.

Character level plus level adjustment add up to creature effective character level, which is for wealth and XP, but nothing else.

Also... D&D HAS rules for lizardmen, you know.. :P

Another thing: High level witches DO have access to healing spells. They can even bring the dead back to life if they haven't been dead very long.

[Spasticteapot]

Another thing: High level witches DO have access to healing spells. They can even bring the dead back to life if they haven't been dead very long.

Where does it say that? I know that Witches can cook up some powerful healing brews (hence Goodberry; I'm still thinking of a way to make their form of healing fit with game mechanics), but I don't remember them bringing the dead back to life. (That said, my memory is comparable to that of a goldfish. I'll modify the list if I made a mistake.)



Also... D&D HAS rules for lizardmen, you know.. :P


Yes, but mine shall be....Metallic! and.....Purple!
(Are'nt infinite multiverses fun? ;) )

[Yuki Akuma]

Where does it say that? I know that Witches can cook up some powerful healing brews (hence Goodberry; I'm still thinking of a way to make their form of healing fit with game mechanics), but I don't remember them bringing the dead back to life. (That said, my memory is comparable to that of a goldfish. I'll modify the list if I made a mistake.)

The Amber Spyglass: Serafina (I doubt i spelled that right. I'm not even ATTEMPTING her other name) butchers a rabbit, then applies a healing salve and brings it back to life.

I guess it is more like Goodberry than Cure Light Wounds, but then you're going to have to come up with spells/rituals (the healing "spell" that Serafina used on the rabbit and Will's hand was more a ritual than an actual spell) so the Witches can get their healin' mojo on. Or I could help, I guess...

[Spasticteapot]

The Amber Spyglass: Serafina (I doubt i spelled that right. I'm not even ATTEMPTING her other name) butchers a rabbit, then applies a healing salve and brings it back to life.

I guess it is more like Goodberry than Cure Light Wounds, but then you're going to have to come up with spells/rituals (the healing "spell" that Serafina used on the rabbit and Will's hand was more a ritual than an actual spell) so the Witches can get their healin' mojo on. Or I could help, I guess...

As I seem to recall, the rabbit's innards were still twitching and it's heart was still beating; the rabbit was not so much dead as about to die.

Any thoughts on the metallic purple lizardmen?