Anthropomorphic Cachalot

[KevlarTheD]

This race seems almost broken for druids or fighters. For a +1LA you get +8 STR, +4 DEX, +6 CON, +6 WISDOM, +9 Natural Armor, Large Size, and 3D8 Racial HD.

That's amazing as it is. Those stats are pulled straight from the Savage Species sourcebook. I have a question about the race, though:
Anthropomorphic Animal is defined as a template you can apply to any non-dire animal. Upon checking the actual entry for a Cachalot (sperm whale) in the monster manual, they have listed several Special Qualities (Blindsight 120ft, hold breath, low-light vision) and Feats (Alertness, Diehard, Endurance, Improved Natural Attack and Toughness). Does a first-level Anthrocachalot character receive any of these feats and/or abilities in addition to the base stat adjustments listed in SS?

Thanks! You guys are amazing for answering my (sometimes silly) questions!

[kulosle]

So i have not check you sources yet to see if it really does give all that, i'm willing to believe it does. That's 4 levels, 3 with level buyoff, that would prevent druids, and all other casters, from getting 9th level spells. Anthropomorphic bat is LA +0.

As for making a monster class for them, that is not my expertise, and i'll leave it to a different playgrounder.

[Big Fau]

This race seems almost broken for druids or fighters. For a +1LA you get +8 STR, +4 DEX, +6 CON, +6 WISDOM, +9 Natural Armor, Large Size, and 3D8 Racial HD.

Although it has been answered, let's break those qualities down:

+8 Strength: Meaningless unless the Druid has the Shapeshift variant from PH2, as Wild Shape replaces your Strength score.

+4 Dex: Irrelevant, see Strength.

+6 Con: Actually decent.

+6 Wis: Again, decent.

+9 Nat Armor: Irrelevant, see Wild Shape.

Large Size: Irrelevant, see Wild Shape. Could be potentially harmful to the Druid if in a situation where the Squeezing rules come into play.

3d8 RHD: Horrible. 3 more levels of Druid are vastly superior to animal RHD.

Blindsight 120ft: Good. Possibly the only real redeeming quality if Anthro Bat wasn't a thing.

Hold breath: Irrelevant, see Wild Shape.

Low-light vision: Irrelevant, see Wild Shape.

Feats (Alertness, Diehard, Endurance, Improved Natural Attack and Toughness): Not worth it outside of various prerequisites. Even then, all of these abilities are numerical bonuses that the Druid doesn't care about.

[kulosle]

Essentially you want the base animal to have 1 RHD and no LA or at least LA of 3 or less, if using la buy off. And the only stats you care about are wisdom and con. Sorry if it seems like we're crushing you ideas, but people have scoured books to try and abuse anthropomorphic creature, and it seems bat is probably the best.

[Novawurmson]

Not for druid, but for the average beatstick, it's pretty incredible. I feel like incarnum or ToB would work well.

[Gemini476]

Essentially you want the base animal to have 1 RHD and no LA or at least LA of 3 or less, if using la buy off. And the only stats you care about are wisdom and con. Sorry if it seems like we're crushing you ideas, but people have scoured books to try and abuse anthropomorphic creature, and it seems bat is probably the best.

Anthropomorphic baleen whale begs to differ.
Although Druid 20 is better than most anything, especially RHD.

[ArqArturo]

So, basically it's the whale from the Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[Phelix-Mu]

So, basically it's the whale from the Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy.

But less messy.:smallwink:

[KevlarTheD]

Thanks for the huge response! I think I figured out how I was miscalculating the level adjustment. The LA+1 from SS is added to LA+1 for the 10' reach and LA+2 for the natural armor, for a total LA of +4. Makes sense, a bit sad I missed it the first time. Definitely balances it out, in any case.

I'm realizing that a lot of the druids' most powerful abilities come from the Natural Form, though. I'm not going for 100% optimized per se or I'd be following a build template instead of figuring one out myself. I was quite interested in one of the UA variants - You gain wisdom to AC and fast movement like a monk (which I thought amazing) and some minor ranger feats in exchange for weapon and armor proficiency and your natural form ability. Is that ridiculous, to want to play a beatstick druid that doesn't use animal form? I thought that would go well story-wise with the fact the character would be permanently half-morphed into an animal.

The bat wouldn't work for a combat druid unless you shift, so as nice as it looks with the huge wisdom bonus, IDK. Also, weirded out because as far as I can tell I'd have to fly everywhere (not always an option in my group) or move 10 feet/turn. A big LA dent to spell casting would normally be pretty much a deal breaker, but I'm not extremely worried because our campaigns tend to run between levels 2 through 16, not quite hitting epic level. Also, I plan to be good at hitting things.

I'm keen on the idea of an anthro variant druid, having just discovered those races and that variant class. Within these slightly odd parameters, can anyone suggest a good race to use with this variant class? Maybe an anthro elephant?
I'm getting the sense you can't go wrong with a druid, but I also get the sense I want to do the only 2 things that can mess that up - taking a big level adjustment and dropping an excellent class ability for some flavorful but comparatively underwhelming abilities?

Thanks!

[Karnith]

I think I figured out how I was miscalculating the level adjustment. The LA+1 from SS is added to LA+1 for the 10' reach and LA+2 for the natural armor, for a total LA of +4.
Sorry, where is this coming from? The table on page 216 of Savage Species is pretty clear that an Anthropomorphic Cachalot Whale has 3 RHD and LA +1. WotC already calculated the LA for the creature, you don't need to do your own calculations. The guidelines from earlier in the book are intended to be used when there isn't a listed level adjustment for a creature.

[KevlarTheD]

In that case, I'm a little unclear on how RHD work. I think I also misread Big Fau's post - I had thought the RHD did something with the level adjustment, then went back to SS to check and followed the template rules. Because, well, it came out to 3 and that was the number "missing" in my head I figured I had hit on it.

Guess I have to look up RHD again

Thanks!

[Karnith]

Guess I have to look up RHD again
Racial Hit Dice are weird. They are like class levels - you get HP, skill points, save increases, and base attack bonus increases from RHD, and they count towards your Effective Character Level (ECL). An Anthropomorphic Cachalot Whale, with 3 RHD and LA +1, has an ECL of 4, or is the equivalent of a 4th-level character for the purposes of the experience necessary to level up, and for WBL.

You can read up about the relevant rules here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monstersAsRaces.htm), and/or read GitP user Urpriest's excellent guide on monsters here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207928).

[Lord Haart]

I think you're all forgetting the main problem with the Anthropomorphic Cachalot. Namely, that even i know of no DM short of myself that would allow it in his game. And even i'd have very mixed feeling and demand for it to be either refluffed into a water ogre or something or have a backstory in vein of "After realising that he's sentient, the character escaped Australia by venturing into open ocean".

[Spuddles]

The bat wouldn't work for a combat druid unless you shift, so as nice as it looks with the huge wisdom bonus, IDK. Also, weirded out because as far as I can tell I'd have to fly everywhere (not always an option in my group) or move 10 feet/turn.

Quick Trait (unearthed arcana) gives you -1hp per level for +10 feet. There's a feat you can take that improves your maneuverability one step.

And turning into an animal is really the only way to go with druid. You get a gazillion uses a fay by the time you're level 9, and it lasts hours and hours. It's a superior ability.

At low levels, aspect of the wolf (spell compendium) is where it's at. Turn into a wolf, gain a 50ft move speed, trip attack. Very nice. Put a couple buffs up, then turn into a wolf.


I think you're all forgetting the main problem with the Anthropomorphic Cachalot. Namely, that even i know of no DM short of myself that would allow it in his game. And even i'd have very mixed feeling and demand for it to be either refluffed into a water ogre or something or have a backstory in vein of "After realising that he's sentient, the character escaped Australia by venturing into open ocean".

My DM let me play a feral anthro baleen whale once. It was a badass, stinky beast. He was later killed in a cave by a cave troll.