Pretending to be another class.

[MidgetMarine]

Hey GitP.

I need some help.
So my current campaign is looking as if it's coming to a close some time soon.

Anyways, me and my friend have started to come up with character ideas.
I've got mine down (Anthro Bear Paladin/Divine Cr./Fist of Raziel. But that's not the point of this thread)

And he does too.

He's planning on playing a whisper gnome Wilder into Anarchic Initiate (High-born, running from a political marriage) Anyways, he wants to keep his manifesting abilities a secret, even from the other players, for as long as possible.

To do this, we're planning on having him masquerade as another class, but all the classes we've looked at have been too hard to fake being.

We were thinking factotum, but that still presents problems.

So, what do you think?
What class should he pretend to be?

My thanks, MidgetMarine.

[Fouredged Sword]

Take ranks in preform bagpipes. Pretend to be a bard, but every time someone asks you to play, belt out a bald of polka and just don't stop.

[MidgetMarine]

Take ranks in preform bagpipes. Pretend to be a bard, but every time someone asks you to play, belt out a bald of polka and just don't stop.

I appreciate you.

Me and my friend just collapsed into a fit of giggles.

But we need something slightly more convincing.

[Ninja_Grand]

I think there are rules for this. Dark sun had a "this is not arcane! this is is manifesting!"trick. Switch it around and say he is a sorcerer.

Sorry for not being more helpful. Im AFB


p.s. Cool avatar

[MidgetMarine]

I think there are rules for this. Dark sun had a "this is not arcane! this is is manifesting!"trick. Switch it around and say he is a sorcerer.

Sorry for not being more helpful. Im AFB


p.s. Cool avatar



I'll check that out.
It'd be interesting to see how that could go.

And thank you, I am rather proud of it. :D

[Urpriest]

Yeah, there are ways to fake casting. False Theurgy, for example, is a skill trick that lets you fake casting one spell when you're actually casting another. It wouldn't be hard to homebrew a version for psionic powers instead.

One basic question is whether this guy is going gishy or blasty. If gishy, as long as you don't pick up obvious stuff you could just be a barbarian or the like. If blasty...it's harder to justify spraying crystals at people as anything other than psionic. Energy rays are at least a bit more flexible. If you're trying to fool people without spellcraft, a good Bluff and waving your hands around might make you look like a caster anyway.

[MidgetMarine]

Both those sound interesting.

Though, as a note that I may have passed over in the intro, when masquerading (Probably only for a few sessions at most) He doesn't want to use his powers if he can.

[MidgetMarine]

And he is definitely not gish-y.

He'll be blasty-ish

[koboldish]

What are his stats? If he has decent STR and CON, I would suggest a barbarian. Find a way to communicate with the DM so no one expects anything.

"Why did that person just fall down dead!?!?"
"Thog not know. Thog hit with axe mabye?"

Anyways, do the other characters know about his backstory? If they do, it would be hard to explain the apparant lack of intelligence. Could you give me a little bit more information so I can work on some stuff for you? Thanks.

[danzibr]

Hmm I don't really see the Whisper Gnome passing himself off as a dumb Barb. You could try Rogue. I mean, that's what people expect when they see a Whisper Gnome. Then he can sneak around and only use powers when peoe aren't looking. Or suppress the visual stuff and manifest powers whose source you can't discern.

[Erik Vale]

Yea, pump your concentration and take 10 to supress all the signs. Your energy ray is just people spontainously being struck by lightning.

[Larkas]

"What is this 'class' stuff you're talking about? I just concentrate really hard and stuff happens!"

If he doesn't want to show having special abilities, however, have him pass as a soldier. Or a merchant, maybe?

[Maginomicon]

The dispense with displays option (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicPowersOverview.htm#display) all manifesters have is so ambiguous that it can become really powerful (primarily for stealth reasons) if your GM doesn't know what he's doing.

For example, I've made the following houserule to combat it:

...the psionic character could “dispense with displays” (and generally will always attempt to anyway since there’s no negative cost for failure) to completely remove that display. However, if the power’s description directly describes a grenade-like, bullet-like, or ray-like effect as a means for the power to get from the manifester to the destination, then the dispense with display option will not dispense with that aspect of the display (and thus, still requires true line-of-effect).("grenade-like", "bullet-like", and "ray-like" are terms I explicitly define elsewhere in my house rules, but you can get the gist of what they mean).

Depending on your GM, they might let you simply make a concentration check to manifest the power without a display.

[White_Drake]

Wizards (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195049) are very easy to fake being.

[Maginomicon]

Wizards (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195049) are very easy to fake being.
The filidh class (barbarian-like wizard variant; Dragon 324 page 90) would like to have a word with you...

[Sith_Happens]

Wizards (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195049) are very easy to fake being.

Yeah, just suppress the displays on your powers, wiggle your hands around while you manifest them, and make sure you have an excuse for when people's Spellcraft checks get a 404 error.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Yeah, just suppress the displays on your powers, wiggle your hands around while you manifest them, and make sure you have an excuse for when people's Spellcraft checks get a 404 error.
"It's a pretty obscure spell. You've probably never heard of it." :smallcool:

[koboldish]

Oops, I think I misread your original post. Anyways, I don't think party members would take kindly to a PC playing a merchant, even if he did have hidden powers of psychic doom and stuff. As mentioned, a rogue would be easy to fake. A bard doesn't seem that hard to do. Ranger, mabye?

[MidgetMarine]

Thanks for the help guys.
:)
All of these ideas are awesome, and I'll run them past him.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Take Bluff (somehow). Pretend you are someone who is good at pretending at using osionics. You are not a Psion: you are charlatan pretending to be a Psion. It is meta-brilliant!