tigmades
2013-05-06, 12:28 PM
Firstly, I'm an animal lover (more like obsessor). I've played druids, shapeshifters, etc and my DM granted my request of homebrewing a sentient tiger character. I realize homebrewing can be quite difficult to make balanced, so I'm hoping I could receive some aid/feedback as this is the first time I've attempted it (it would be much appreciated!!!).
I have The Noble Wild handbook, and they do have a tiger, however it has an LA of +3, and our campaign starts at ECL 1 and thus the homebrewing component. So what I did was fiddle around with the progression of the tiger class, which there are 6 levels (but I'm turning into 9 to account for LA), and the plan is to level as a barbarian afterwards. (Ergo much of it is similar to the Noble Tiger in the The Noble Wild handbook, however abilities are given at different levels).
Please keep in mind that this character's sole purpose is to deal damage with natural attacks, and that is it: no magic, no tricks, just tigery goodness (much like a barbarian), so I'm expecting to have higher damage output than normal because that's all I'm good for! ;)
Sentient Tiger Racial Traits
small
Size threshold: 5th and 8th hit dice
Base speed 30ft
Natural weapons: Bite (1d4), 2 claws (1d3)
-2 STR, +2 DEX
Low-light vision
Scent (Ex)
+4 racial bonus to balance, hide, move silently, swim. Hide increases to +8 in areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth
Automatic languages: feline and high fauna. Bonus languages: Bat, Camel, Canine, Common, Crocodilian, Elephant, Equine, Herdspeak, Hyena, Lizard, Monitor, Raptor, Rodent, Serpent, Simian, Songbird, Ursine, and Woodland.
Natural talent track: Alertness, Improved Natural Weapon (bite), Improved Natural Weapon (claw)
(Natural talent track is from the Noble Wild book - essentially if I take all those feats, when I take the last one on the list I get my choice of bonus feat)
Sentient Tiger Character Class Features
HD: d8
Class skills: Balance, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Survival, Swim
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier
Good fortitude and reflex saves, poor will save
BaB starts off 0 at lvl 1 but increases 1 each level thereafter
Ability Increase: At 4th and 8th levels your Dexterity score increases by +2.
No weapon or armor proficiency granted
Natural Armor: At 5th level tigers gain +1 Natural Armor bonus.
Pounce (Ex): At 5th level you gain the Pounce special ability. If you charge a foe, you can make a full attack.
At 5th level, base landspeed increases to 40ft
Improved Grab (Ex): At 6th level, you gain the Improved Grab special attack. To use this ability, you must hit with your bite attack. You can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If you win the grapple check, you establish a hold and can Rake if you have that special attack.
Rake (Ex): At 8th level, you gain the Rake special attack. When you make a charge attack using the Pounce special attack, or when you make an Improved Grab attack, you can also make 2 additional claw attacks that do the same base damage as your front claws (without any specific magical bonuses) with your rear claws. This attack always counts as a secondary attack.
The Noble Wild also introduces deeds that have 5 levels - so after x happens you can pay x experience for x benefit (eg. lvl 1 deed: kill a foe equal or higher lvl and you pay 125xp for a +1 to attack and damage roles of one natural weapon). Eventually I will get +5 to attack/damage roles by paying an xp cost, once I reach lvl requirements for deeds, which I might only get for bite or claws (I can take deed for each natural weapon).
From the size charts, going from S to L I will get:
+12 STR
-4 DEX
+6 CON
+2 natural armor
bite damage: 1d4 --> 1d8
claw/rake damage: 1d3 --> 1d6
-2 Attack/AC mod
+8 Grapple (mod bonus total +4)
-8 hide (mod bonus total -4)
3x carrying capacity
To get an idea of approximate damage, I made up a lvl 9 char with this build. Assuming I took feats multiattack, natural weapon attack:bite, natural weapon attack:claws, damage would look roughly like this IF I hit with everything:
Standard attack: 2d6+STR (~9)
Full attack: 2d6+STR, 2x 1d8+1/2STR
Pounce attack: 2d6+STR, 4x 1d8+1/2STR
I probably would be pouncing 1-3x by my guesses in a fight depending on the number of enemies and positioning. Is this too much? Base attack bonus would be 8 for primary weapon and 6 for secondary.
Or instead of those 3 feats, should I go for Power Attack, Improved Bullrush (prereq) to get Shock Trooper for the Heedless Charge benefit?
My apologies if I've forgotten to include anything... this was moreso just me getting feelers out to see how things are progressing and how/if I should change them. Any opinion is greatly appreciated!
Thank you ^_^
I have The Noble Wild handbook, and they do have a tiger, however it has an LA of +3, and our campaign starts at ECL 1 and thus the homebrewing component. So what I did was fiddle around with the progression of the tiger class, which there are 6 levels (but I'm turning into 9 to account for LA), and the plan is to level as a barbarian afterwards. (Ergo much of it is similar to the Noble Tiger in the The Noble Wild handbook, however abilities are given at different levels).
Please keep in mind that this character's sole purpose is to deal damage with natural attacks, and that is it: no magic, no tricks, just tigery goodness (much like a barbarian), so I'm expecting to have higher damage output than normal because that's all I'm good for! ;)
Sentient Tiger Racial Traits
small
Size threshold: 5th and 8th hit dice
Base speed 30ft
Natural weapons: Bite (1d4), 2 claws (1d3)
-2 STR, +2 DEX
Low-light vision
Scent (Ex)
+4 racial bonus to balance, hide, move silently, swim. Hide increases to +8 in areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth
Automatic languages: feline and high fauna. Bonus languages: Bat, Camel, Canine, Common, Crocodilian, Elephant, Equine, Herdspeak, Hyena, Lizard, Monitor, Raptor, Rodent, Serpent, Simian, Songbird, Ursine, and Woodland.
Natural talent track: Alertness, Improved Natural Weapon (bite), Improved Natural Weapon (claw)
(Natural talent track is from the Noble Wild book - essentially if I take all those feats, when I take the last one on the list I get my choice of bonus feat)
Sentient Tiger Character Class Features
HD: d8
Class skills: Balance, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Survival, Swim
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier
Good fortitude and reflex saves, poor will save
BaB starts off 0 at lvl 1 but increases 1 each level thereafter
Ability Increase: At 4th and 8th levels your Dexterity score increases by +2.
No weapon or armor proficiency granted
Natural Armor: At 5th level tigers gain +1 Natural Armor bonus.
Pounce (Ex): At 5th level you gain the Pounce special ability. If you charge a foe, you can make a full attack.
At 5th level, base landspeed increases to 40ft
Improved Grab (Ex): At 6th level, you gain the Improved Grab special attack. To use this ability, you must hit with your bite attack. You can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If you win the grapple check, you establish a hold and can Rake if you have that special attack.
Rake (Ex): At 8th level, you gain the Rake special attack. When you make a charge attack using the Pounce special attack, or when you make an Improved Grab attack, you can also make 2 additional claw attacks that do the same base damage as your front claws (without any specific magical bonuses) with your rear claws. This attack always counts as a secondary attack.
The Noble Wild also introduces deeds that have 5 levels - so after x happens you can pay x experience for x benefit (eg. lvl 1 deed: kill a foe equal or higher lvl and you pay 125xp for a +1 to attack and damage roles of one natural weapon). Eventually I will get +5 to attack/damage roles by paying an xp cost, once I reach lvl requirements for deeds, which I might only get for bite or claws (I can take deed for each natural weapon).
From the size charts, going from S to L I will get:
+12 STR
-4 DEX
+6 CON
+2 natural armor
bite damage: 1d4 --> 1d8
claw/rake damage: 1d3 --> 1d6
-2 Attack/AC mod
+8 Grapple (mod bonus total +4)
-8 hide (mod bonus total -4)
3x carrying capacity
To get an idea of approximate damage, I made up a lvl 9 char with this build. Assuming I took feats multiattack, natural weapon attack:bite, natural weapon attack:claws, damage would look roughly like this IF I hit with everything:
Standard attack: 2d6+STR (~9)
Full attack: 2d6+STR, 2x 1d8+1/2STR
Pounce attack: 2d6+STR, 4x 1d8+1/2STR
I probably would be pouncing 1-3x by my guesses in a fight depending on the number of enemies and positioning. Is this too much? Base attack bonus would be 8 for primary weapon and 6 for secondary.
Or instead of those 3 feats, should I go for Power Attack, Improved Bullrush (prereq) to get Shock Trooper for the Heedless Charge benefit?
My apologies if I've forgotten to include anything... this was moreso just me getting feelers out to see how things are progressing and how/if I should change them. Any opinion is greatly appreciated!
Thank you ^_^