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Soulblazer87
2013-05-19, 11:43 AM
Initially, it was posted at the DtD homebrew forums (here: http://s4.zetaboards.com/LawfulNice/topic/9880400/1/ ), but lack of responce for a week has 'forced' me to post it here as well, in hopes of completing this class.

So... yeah. Moster Tamers.

Watching ancient anime/cartoons again, playing some Final Fantasy again (the I-VI, not the new-age crap >.>)... And I get this.

I know that Druids have an Animal Companion, but to them it's more of a "yeah, it's there". It's good... but it could be so much better. So, I made this, a class that focuses on hunting down wild animals and trying to tame them.

It's still VERY much of a WIP, so I need lots of help, in both phrasing rules as well as arranging feats and stuff in a logical, reasonable progression (regardless of how much I want my class to dominate Void Dragons, this won't happen, so sad :( ).

Rough Outline (WIP)

Whisperer:
Requirements:
Class Attributes: Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma, Fellowship
Class Skills: Perception, Crafts, Acrobatics, Athletics, Ballistics, Brawl, Weaponry, Animal Ken, Command, Intimidation
Feats:
-Capture
-Training
-Ranch
-Weapon Proficiency (Flail OR Ordinairy OR Cavalry)
-Evolution*
-Breeding*

Sword Schools:
Devoted Mind
White Raven

Completion Bonus: Increase a Physical Characteristic by 1 and another Characteristic by 1. Increase Threat Level by 1 and Level by 1. Threat level and level do not affect Beast Companions of Threat Level equal to your Monster Tamer level.


Speaker:
Requirements:
Class Attributes: Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma, Fellowship
Class Skills: Perception, Crafts, Acrobatics, Athletics, Ballistics, Brawl, Weaponry, Animal Ken, Command, Intimidation
Feats:
-Training
-Ranch
-Armor Proficiency (Light)
-Stance
-Breeding*
-Evolution*
-Obtain Familiar*

Sword Schools:
Devoted Mind
White Raven
Completion Bonus: Increase a Physical Characteristic by 1 and another Characteristic by 1. Increase Threat Level by 1 and Level by 1. Threat level and level do not affect Beast Companions of Threat Level equal to your Monster Tamer level.



Tamer:
Requirements:
Class Attributes: Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma, Fellowship
Class Skills: Perception, Crafts, Acrobatics, Athletics, Ballistics, Brawl, Weaponry, Animal Ken, Command, Intimidation
Feats:
-Training
-Ranch
-Devolution
-Nature Sense
-Weapon Proficiency (Flail OR Ordinairy OR Cavalry) OR Minor Magic
-Stance
-Bond*
-Breeding*
-Evolution*

Sword Schools:
Devoted Mind
White Raven
Completion Bonus: Increase a Physical Characteristic by 1 and another Characteristic by 1. Increase Threat Level by 1 and Level by 1. Threat level and level do not affect Beast Companions of Threat Level equal to your Monster Tamer level.



Breeder:
Requirements:
Class Attributes: Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma, Fellowship
Class Skills: Perception, Crafts, Acrobatics, Athletics, Ballistics, Brawl, Weaponry, Animal Ken, Command, Intimidation
Feats:
-Training
-Ranch
-Read
-Stance
-Evolution*
-Breeding*
-Armor Proficiency (Medium)*
Sword Schools:
Devoted Mind
White Raven
Completion Bonus: Increase a Physical Characteristic by 1 and another Characteristic by 1. Increase Threat Level by 1 and Level by 1. Threat level and level do not affect Beast Companions of Threat Level equal to your Monster Tamer level.



Master:
Requirements:
Class Attributes: Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma, Fellowship
Class Skills: Perception, Crafts, Acrobatics, Athletics, Ballistics, Brawl, Weaponry, Animal Ken, Command, Intimidation
Feats:
-Training
-Ranch
-Fight As One
-Push
-Beast Mastery*
-Evolution*
-Breeding*
-Expert Tracker*

Sword Schools:
Devoted Mind
White Raven
Completion Bonus: Increase a Physical Characteristic by 1 and another Characteristic by 1. Increase Threat Level by 1 and Level by 1. Threat level and level do not affect Beast Companions of Threat Level equal to your Monster Tamer level.



MONSTER TAMER

Some think that Rangers and Druids represent the ultimate union of companions. With their power to summon aid and keep a loyal animal at their heel, who would argue?

Those who actually learn to have LOTS of companions, of course!

Monster Tamers come from one of two paths, usually; those who tame great beasts out of need, whether to hunt or otherwise contribute to their places of residence, and those who do it out of sport, capturing and selling highly trained beasts.

To do that, Monster Tamers are uniquely trained in both melee and ranged combat, tracking and in sensing danger. Since most of their prey is big, bad and with nasty teeth, it pays greatly to be able to defend long enough to actually tame the beast.

CLASS NAMES:
Whisperer -> Speaker -> Tamer -> Breeder -> Master

Sword/Gun Kata:

White Raven (Very team-oriented)
Devoted Mind (extremely team-oriented and has Aid Another which is pretty much the best thing for this)
Tiger Claw (whips, chains... yup, pretty tamer-y to me)

Elemental Gearbolt (How many hunters don't use bows and crossbows? And elemental magic would be DAMN useful in such a case)
Silent Scope (But sometimes, you have to snipe...)

Possible Class Completion Bonuses: -1 to all Animal Ken checks
OR
Replace Training feat (remove it as feat, gain the 300exp per Beast Companion at class end)
OR
Replace Breeding (remove the feat, gain the upgrades at class end)
OR
Increase a Characteristic (other than Intelligence) by 1 point for each Beast Companion, works retroactively.
OR
Increase a Physical Characteristic by 1 and another Characteristic by 1. Increase Threat Level by 1 and Level by 1. Threat level and level do not affect Beast Companions of Threat Level equal to your Monster Tamer level.

List of Possible Feats (help me put them to level and debug them);

Ranch (every level): Choose an animal that is your Beast Companion, gained via Capture feat. This animal is now a permanent ally and will not leave after the session is over. You can select this feat multiple times, each time you can keep a new Beast Companion, but you may not have more Beast Companions than dots in Charisma. You may, as a minute-long rite, release a Beast Companion to make room for another, if you will.

Breeding (every level): Choose one companion and one quality from the list below. The Beast Companion gains the benefits of that quality;
Large: Increase size by 2, reduce Stealth tests by 2k0.
Small: Reduce size by 2, increase Stealth tests by 2k0.
Fast: Increase movement speed by 4m.
Tough: Gain Armor Plating (2), or increase existing Armor Plating by 2.
Dangerous: Increase damage of all Natural weapons by 1k1.
Enduring: Increase HP by 3.
Resistant: Gain Aura (2).
Each time you gain this feat, you must choose another Beast Companion, but you may use the same quality over and over.

Training (every level): You may divide 300exp to all your companions to use as you see fit, as if you were spending them. This feat works retroactively for all Beast Companions. You may train your Beast Companions in any Magic School, Sword School or Gun Kata you are proficient in or they are proficient in on their own

Obtain Familiar (1st): As per Feat of same name.

Environmental Adaptation: Better able to survive hostile environments (WIP) Potentially; remove fatigue penalties for extended march, gain bonus to withstand extreme conditions, such as heat etc.

Capture: Make opposed Charisma+Animal Ken tests, against the target beast, whose Threat Rating may not be higher than your Monster Tamer level. Must succeed at least 10 times. If successful, the target becomes a Beast Companion for the rest of the session, unless you have empty spots via the Ranch feat Commanding your Beast Companions directly on what to do requires a half-action per Companion. Otherwise, they will act as their natural instincts tell them to, unless you have given them a Stance or they are intelligent enough to formulate and stick to a plan. If you use a maneuvre based on Aid Another, you can command the Beast Companion it affects at the same time.

Evolution (every level): Select one Beast Companion. Grant them a Special Quality or Trait.

Armor Proficiency (Light -Medium): As per Feats of same name.

Weapon Proficiency (Shield - Chain - Primitive - Ordinairy - Cavalry): As per Feats of the same name.

Push (5): Push companions to greater effort (WIP) Potentially: Increase all Physical characteristics by 2 dots and increase all physical skills by 2 dots as well. The Beast in question takes 1 fatigue damage per round this bonus is active and may last until they faint or for 5 rounds, whichever is shortest. Usable once per scene.

Beast Mastery (Undead, Magical, Warp, Dire, Cyber): You have mastered taming Beast Companions of other types as well. Undead must be permanent. Magical and Daemon must still be non-sentient beings, but still capable of magical powers or other tricks. Semi-Sentient might be a being with 1 or 2 Intelligence at the most, but still beast-like (such as a very young dragon). Cyber can be a robotic or cybernetic being that fulfills the same requirements. Beasts with 2 Intelligence cannot be forced into servitude and may instead have to be bartered for using other means. Using different skills to Capture them might also be required (such as Arcana, Forbidden Lore or Tech-Use).

Stance (Aggressive - Defensive - Independent - Helpful): Select one of the following stances. You may teach any Beast Companion to enter and stay in them until you decide.
Aggressive: An Aggressive Beast Companion will attack first and foremost, often ignoring its defence, commonly using All-Out Attack.
Defensive: A Defensive Beast Companion will seek to protect its Master and fights defencively, often using Fight Defensively.
Independent: An Independent Beast Companion may move far away from its Master, definitely further than 100m, provided it has a goal to accomplish.
Helpful: A Helpful Beast Companion will often try to use Aid Another to help its Master or fellow Beast Companions or other Allies.

Expert Tracker: May Track as Ranger

Read: Make a Perception check to identify Assets, Traits or Special Qualities that are obviously apparent.

Nature Sense

Fight As One (5): You may spread a number of dots in any Physical skill amongst your Beast Companions, as a free action each round,

Minor Magic

Bond: You may communicate in a verbal way with your Beast Companions. It's not very detailed and has to deal more with ideas, rather than precise descriptions, but it's possible.

Devolution: By spending a day in training, you may reassign all feats that deal with Beast Companions with a single Beast Companion.

So... please PEACH, RnR etc etc.

The Mentalist
2013-05-19, 11:13 PM
What system is this for?

Just to Browse
2013-05-19, 11:18 PM
What system is this for?

Dungeons: The Dragoning: 40,000: 7th Edition

I don't think anyone here is crazy enough to have read that rulebook, so you're not likely to get much help here.

The Mentalist
2013-05-19, 11:22 PM
I don't think anyone here is crazy enough to have read that rulebook, so you're not likely to get much help here.

Is it worth reading? I might look at it.

Just to Browse
2013-05-19, 11:36 PM
Is it worth reading? I might look at it.

It was basically an attempt to roll all the common RPGs--Wh40k, World of Darkness, D&D, into one big book as a joke, so as you read through it you'll find funny things. It uses a roll-and-keep and a bunch of not-D&D stuff and is 400 pages long, so if you're like me or most of the other posters here you're going to have a heck of a time learning it, let alone finding anyone to play with. They've got a forum set up, and a blog (http://lawfulnice.blogspot.com/), and you can find the first book (there are two) here (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?vf8yb6hxtz0dcst).

Soulblazer87
2013-05-20, 02:25 AM
It's actually a pretty cool system, and far more balanced than one might think. Sure, it allows for some absolutely crazy combinations (a Wraith Courtier for example can passively have more Armor than a freaking Space Marine) but whatever goes for you, also goes for your enemies, so it's okay.

In terms of gameplay, it doesn't offer anything new, but the way things are done is quite refreshing. Most feat, spell and ability descriptions are just a couple lines long, so you don't have to remember EVERYTHING and how they work together, you get what you get and then you combine them to do weird stuff.

Anyway, it IS a pretty cool system and I have found people to play with, so I'm trying to make it as great an experience for us as I can (and, lemme tell you, making a pony-based race isn't as easy as it might seem...).

vasharanpaladin
2013-05-20, 01:40 PM
Is it worth reading? I might look at it.

Having read it myself, I can say YES, it is. Allcaps. :smallamused:

But yes, recursive homebrew tends to get more support on dedicated forums, so it may have been a waste of time to post it here, Soulblazer... :smallfrown:

Soulblazer87
2013-05-20, 04:06 PM
I never expected anything better, vasharanpaladin. However, seeing as how little support I got 'back home' so to speak, I thought that I could maybe get some here, since most people here are experienced homebrewers even if by virtue of having seen almost everything.

Truth is, there might be a few players that could be interested in this class (as am I, I mean, Space Marine Berserker with a pack of velociraptors behind him? can there ANYTHING be more epic than that?), as well as several others I'm making (Warlock class, for those who just want to make stuff go boom) or my friends are making (an as of yet unnamed class that brings social combat into actual combat)... So, yeah. Finally found some people to play with, so I'm trying to make this as great an experience as I can.

Which, in some cases, means 'Pony Daemonblooded Berserker', but yeah.

DtD is actually a great system to play with, very fun and kind of a golden cut between DnD's 'fluffy'-ness and Vampire 'everything-is-more-dangerous'-ness.

And besides! Space Marine Spellcasters! You HAVE to play something like that! You just HAVE to!

Rule-wise, I find DtD to be quite surprisingly balanced, which is why I'm trying to balance all my classes (Warlocks, for example, could deal enough damage to breach Void Shields, but would very likely blow themselves up in the meantime as well).

Just to Browse
2013-05-23, 04:05 AM
OK, I'll give rating this a shot. I don't know all the rules because OH MY GOD WHY IS THE RULEBOOK SO LONG and I only got through the first one, but I'll do what I can.

The Completion Bonus seems better for the classes than most others. None of the classes have requirements--they totally should have requirements. Being able to control a large harem of monsters seems to be the easiest way to wreck this game, and is achievable with like 3 feats (Capture, Beast Mastery repeated, Ranch repeated), but I'm not sure what the actual outcome is. My intuition tells me you should cap Ranch to something--perhaps level.

Most importantly, I think you need to write out hard and fast rules for controlling other creatures (or reference them for me if they already exist). Before I read Stance, I assumed you could just do whatever with your animal, but apparently you need to have a feat to tell it to perform unusual actions and it only happens "commonly" or "often", which means there's some chance involved. I don't want to roll a behavior die every turn in which my animal acts, though that seems like something DtD would do.

Soulblazer87
2013-05-23, 05:45 PM
OK, I'll give rating this a shot. I don't know all the rules because OH MY GOD WHY IS THE RULEBOOK SO LONG and I only got through the first one, but I'll do what I can.

The Completion Bonus seems better for the classes than most others. None of the classes have requirements--they totally should have requirements. Being able to control a large harem of monsters seems to be the easiest way to wreck this game, and is achievable with like 3 feats (Capture, Beast Mastery repeated, Ranch repeated), but I'm not sure what the actual outcome is. My intuition tells me you should cap Ranch to something--perhaps level.

Most importantly, I think you need to write out hard and fast rules for controlling other creatures (or reference them for me if they already exist). Before I read Stance, I assumed you could just do whatever with your animal, but apparently you need to have a feat to tell it to perform unusual actions and it only happens "commonly" or "often", which means there's some chance involved. I don't want to roll a behavior die every turn in which my animal acts, though that seems like something DtD would do.

Thanks, finally some constructive criticism.

First of all; I haven't bothered with prerequisites, because the class is in barely alpha-stage. Before I consider it complete, I want to first have all the 'ideas' done, balance them, do some number-crunching and THEN release it. Keep in mind that, as you can only get a feat ONCE per class level it appears in, you will only get about 5 monsters. Sure, that might sound a lot, but, hey, the Magic User can keep on summoning new minions every round (or faster if they know how). Essentially Ranch IS capped by level -the CLASS level at that, not just the character level. You could very well be a level 5 Berserker, but if you have only 1 level as Monster Tamer, you're only gonna get one beastie.

Hard-and-fast rules about controlling the beasties; you're pretty much stuck with SM controlling unless you spend time out of a round to give specific commands. Though, learning to focus them in 'aggressive' or 'defencive' modes (via feat) is also helpful. But for accurate commanding (such as "get that archer") you'd need to spend a move-action to micromanage. A move action PER beastie you want to command, drastically limiting what you can do. Without Stance, your beasties are pretty much going on instinct; a fragile companion will try to run away, but a more predatory one will go for the neck. Without Stance, you're pretty much leaving it up to each Beast's individual personality, which, to me, gives a bit more flavour. Your Giant Scorpion 'Mr. Clakkertinks' could be far more cowardly than your OTHER Giant Scorpion 'Rednose'. Clakkerstinks would try to Stealth and back off, or at best attack from cover, while Rednose would charge head-first.

The level completion bonus is better than most classes, but it also doesn't affect the character himself, but rather the beasties, increasing them in power slightly (though, only when they are weak enough to benefit). And as we all know, a good SM/DM/ST can very easily deprive you of companions. So, while, yes, it is quite the boost when you have your entire pack with you, without it, you are far weaker.

Still, that is not to say I don't have my doubts on what to do. Which is why I'm posting here. My disagreements are more for the sake of discussion rather than outright disagreement. After all, without dissension, there is no discussion. With no discussion, there is no progress, right?

Just to Browse
2013-05-24, 01:59 AM
The only thing I want to add to this right now is that you really really shouldn't make the major class mechanic run off of SM judgment, because that gives him unnecessary work (basic monster tactics are easy to write, but not on the fly) and it's also... Well, lazy. Lazy is bad. I have suggestions for here, but the primary note is that you really need some sort of combat algorithm.

Also, I can't find monster types in DtD. Am I not looking hard enough?

Soulblazer87
2013-05-24, 02:10 AM
Most animals would be "I attack the one that my master attacks" or, if they are not predatory (which, admittedly, won't be that many, I mean, would YOU give up a Velociraptor for a Horse?) would be "I get as far away from danger as I can". Very little 'actual' tactics. But yes, if the SM wishes, the player could probably say what their beasties do, within reason.

Animals are written in the Antagonists block of the first book, but they're REALLY generalized. In the same forums I've originally posted the class in, there is another thread with several 'new' beasties, if you want to check them out.

What REALLY bothers me about this class is both the complexity (so many minions, so many rolls to make) and the potential for misuse. A single multi-classed Magic User with Porte (think Portal Gun in spell form) would be a very hard thing to face (especially since he would ALSO be able to teleport around as reaction actions)...

Which, as I said before, is why this class is just at alpha-stage.

While I DO want the beasties to increase in power along with their master, I don't want them gaining too much power, too fast. They SHOULD be able to affect a villain's tactics, for example, but they shouldn't be able to do the heroes' job for them.