Mulchkin [3.x Race] [PEACH] Testing dual creature types.

[Dr.Orpheus]

A mulchkin is a very strange and rare form of Shambling Mound with a plant born condition like gangrene that causes the plant to decompose, but still live. These plants, somewhat rotted into a sludge are actually more hearty based on conserving their energy with slow moving, but follow a human-like physical and mental decline and become barely sentient rotting piles, but unlike gangrene these piles are not anywhere near the end of their life cycle and can regain some mental aptitude and grow into handicapped adventurers.

Mulchkin

+8 Strength, -8 Dexterity, +8 Constitution, -6 Intelligence, -8 Wisdom, -8 Charisma.
Medium size. No bonuses or penalties based on size.
Space/Reach: 10 feet (very short and wide)/10 feet (stretchy limbs).
A mulchkin can easily be walked on top of by a small or larger creature without making a climb check, but a mulchkin counts as difficult terrain and requires a reflex save vs. being engulfed or partly engulfed if the mulchkin chooses.
A mulchkin’s base land speed is 10 feet and also has a climb and swim speed of 10 feet.
A mulchkin is blind, but has blindsight out to 60 feet.
Racial Hit Dice: A mulchkin begins with two levels of ooze/plant (they count as both), which provide 2d10 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +3, Ref +0, and Will +0.
Racial Skills: A mulchkin’s ooze/plant levels give it skill points equal to 5 × (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Move Silently, Disguise, and Survival.
A mulchkin gets a +8 bonus on disguise checks to appear as a pile of moss, leaves, or grass clipings and a +8 bonus on climb checks and swim checks, but gets a -4 to spot, listen, and search checks because it cannot see things in detail with blindsight.
Racial Feats: A mulchkin’s ooze/plant levels give it one feats.
+5 natural armor bonus.
A mulchkin has a slam attack With it's pseudopod dealing 1d8 damage plus str mod.
A mulchkin has improved grab and engulf. A mulchkin may partly engulf something of any size or engulf something of equal size where the partly engulfed is subjected to all the effects of being fully engulfed but they may escape with a grapple check they are entitled to make each round instead of being grappled until the engulfer dies. The reflex save DC is 10 + half of it's HD + str mod on a failed save the engulfed or partly engulfed target takes slam damage each round.
As an ooze/plant a mulchkin is immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning, mind-affecting effects is not subject to critical hits or flanking, and does not require sleep.
Take Root: A mulchkin can take root in a surface with a hardness less than it's HD which gives it a bonus vs. bulrush attempts (or any other means of physically moving them) equal to 2 + the grounds hardness.
Fast Healing: A Mulchkin heals 1 HP per day whether or not it is has less then -10 HP except when all parts of it are 10 feet apart or more when it is regenerating.
Automatic Languages: Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Common, Elven, Gnome, Halfling.
Favored Class: Barbarian.
Level adjustment +0.


Part of the reason I would like you to PEACH is to help me with the LA, I put down 0 because that is the most generous I could imagine a DM being. I could see a player using the penalties to ability scores to make those good abilities not seem as overpowered in comparison.

[Loek]

While the idea is nice, besides the type traits, it doesn't seem to be doing much in terms of combining the two.

Up sides of the race:
medium but large size space (how did that happen?)
10 ft reach, neat. (but again, seems more like it's actually large size...)
climb and swim speed of 10
blindsight 60ft
+5 NA
As an ooze/plant a mulchkin is immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning, is not subject to critical hits or flanking, and does not require sleep. (plant and ooze traits)
some minor bull rushing and disguise abilities.

Downsides of the race:
-14 total on ability scores (hitting extremely hard on the metal aspects).
slow speed (even if he can swim/climb)
3 racial hit die (decent HP, crap BAB and meh saves - not to mention the missed class levels)
Downsides to spot listen and search (and the whole "blind beyond 60ft" aspect, at least I'm assuming it's like an ooze and blind except for its blindsight - otherwise it needs the plants low light vision as well)

The engulf part seems weird (punctuation would probably help there). It somewhat seems like a a full engulf is an automatic death sentence.


Conclusion
Interesting critter, but only as a (near) mindless (tank) enemy.
And overall, I don't think the upsides are worth the downsides (maybe even coming short if the engulf really is an instant death). I'd normally say, reduce the LA... but it doesn't have any... maybe remove (at least) 1 racial hit die?


PS: it should gain 6X skills (3 levels, the first gives 4X) instead of 5X.

[Dr.Orpheus]

I fixed typos and punctuation some more. In regards to engulf it is modeled after the gelatinous cube except it does not paralyze as well as grapple so someone can attack with a dagger while engulfed for example.

[Debihuman]

Space and Reach are Size dependant. Not even oozes take up more space than their size allows. Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with stretchy limbs). Also, which of its limbs are stretchy? How many limbs does it have? See also slam attack. Assuming it can make only 1 slam attack (it's not Large so it should have only one slam attack).

I'm not fond of these as playable races. Since PCs have to have a minimum of 3 in their stat block to be playable, rolling up these will result in a lot of unplayable characters. 3d6-8 will result in a 2 on average. These would be a whole lot better as monsters than as PCs. I'd never play one.

2 HD only provides 1 racial feat in 3.x.

Oozes are blind. Are these blind too? If they can see, then blindsense is redundant.

Considering it has such low Int, how does it have so many languages?

Take Root is a form of Stability -- see dwarf entry. Variable bonuses are not my favorite. How does the DM determine the ground's hardness? Shouldn't it be more difficult to set down roots in rocks rather than in dirt? I'm not a fan of this since you don't define or cite to any ground's hardness. Don't make the job of DMing more difficult.


Regeneration is missing which attacks deal normal damage. See Special Ability Regeneration for details.

Debby

[Dr.Orpheus]

I don't know what to do with the space because I don't see an oozy patch ground ten feet in diameter being large when the highest point is only two feet off the ground. The stretchy limb is a pseudopod that will reach out of the center of the mound to make slam attacks. I will have to make a description to avoid this confusion.

Using 3d6-8 you get 3 just as often as 2 the point is that most players have 4d6b3 and the rule for playable races with Int penalties is that they have a minimum of 3 even if they roll below it or 30-40% of trolls could not learn to speak giant or gain levels in an NPC class even with years of training. Not wanting to play one is a personal preference, perhaps a widely held one, but I like it.

That was an error from removing 1 RHD.

It's implied it is blind because it is an ooze, I need to write down a few more things from the creature types so that people don't accidentally think that.

It has only one cause it does not start with bonus languages, but for later in the mulchkins adventuring career they are the only languages available without taking ranks in speak language.

I will cite the page in the DMG where the hardness of different materials can be found.

Maybe I should call it something other then regeneration, but the regeneration it has ends when it is separated so it's parts can't meld back together.

You can expect these changes to be made tomorrow, but now I have an IRL GRUPS game to go to.

[andreichekov]

I don't know what to do with the space because I don't see an oozy patch ground ten feet in diameter being large when the highest point is only two feet off the ground. The stretchy limb is a pseudopod that will reach out of the center of the mound to make slam attacks. I will have to make a description to avoid this confusion.

You make it medium long



Maybe I should call it something other then regeneration, but the regeneration it has ends when it is separated so it's parts can't meld back together.

fast healing maybe?

[Debihuman]

You make it medium long
Actually a Medium long creature still would be 5 feet.

You can tweak regeneration, but do fire and acid do normal damage?

Debby

[Dr.Orpheus]

Technically all damage is normal damage, but rather then die when at -10 a mulchkin will be out for several days.

[Debihuman]

This is how Regeneration should work:


Regeneration
Creatures with this extraordinary ability recover from wounds quickly and can even regrow or reattach severed body parts. Damage dealt to the creature is treated as nonlethal damage, and the creature automatically cures itself of nonlethal damage at a fixed rate per round, as given in the creature’s entry.

Certain attack forms, typically fire and acid, deal damage to the creature normally; that sort of damage doesn’t convert to nonlethal damage and so doesn’t go away. The creature’s description includes the details. A regenerating creature that has been rendered unconscious through nonlethal damage can be killed with a coup de grace. The attack cannot be of a type that automatically converts to nonlethal damage.

Creatures with regeneration can regrow lost portions of their bodies and can reattach severed limbs or body parts. Severed parts die if they are not reattached.

Regeneration does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation.

Attack forms that don’t deal hit point damage ignore regeneration.

An attack that can cause instant death only threatens the creature with death if it is delivered by weapons that deal it lethal damage.

A creature must have a Constitution score to have the regeneration ability.

What you seem to be suggesting is some sort of immortality since they never die even when at -10 hit points. Not a fan of that.

Debby

[Dr.Orpheus]

I will change it to fast healing sense a vampire has a special condition on their fast healing that allows them to come back to life (Yes their ability to come back in their coffin is part of their fast healing) and regeneration does not often have exceptions.