Challenge: Let's Refluff it!

[Phelix-Mu]

Hello, everyone.

There have been numerous threads looking into the concepts of fluff/crunch relationships, refluffing, the various justifications thereof, and so forth. But, here, I hope to explore the creative aspect of new fluff and generating new contexts for existing rules.

In short, let's refluff it!

Premise: Bring a concept to this thread, in as much or as little detail as you like, and the thread contributors come up with an interesting and creative way to adapt existing rules to the concept. Obviously, detailed concepts will provoke more detailed responses, I believe, and concepts that are easily covered by existing rules and their fluff, while still adaptable, will probably be less interesting. Anyone is free to contribute anything they wish for consideration, or, alternatively, people may present character builds or choice crunch and ask for fluff to cover that bit of rules (which can be very helpful to DMs wishing to present players with unusual stuff without wanting to homebrew from scratch).

Format: Please use a P/R (premise/response) format, similar to that used in the Q&A thread, where you head up your proposed premise with P followed by the current number. Bolded headings help more, especially with mobiles. Responses should be headed by R and the number corresponding to the premise being dealt with. I will not be strict about this (since I'm retconning this in as we speak), but it will greatly add to clarity. Example follows:

P0: Refluff DM.

R0: Change mastermind behind the screen to previous champion of the world, who has the power to bend reality to his whim to fit the story, his entertainment. Now dance! Certainly darker....

Disclaimer: We are trying to stick to refluffing. While homebrew and houserules may be mentioned, RAW and RAI are preferred, since I need a justification to keep this thread here instead of the homebrew subforum.

That being said, I personally believe that some refluffing can be very intensive, stripping down to bare mechanics and reskinning the whole thing in a different vein. Is that homebrew? Maybe. Regardless, we are borrowing heavily from official materials, so I would feel wrong claiming any kind of creative ownership of crunch thusly hijacked. Thus, this forum seems appropriate (and more traffic, too, tee hee).

Alright, have at thee! Hopefully this thread will be as interesting in real-life as it is in my head, lol.

[Vhaidara]

Warforged Totemist. Current Fluff is that Merrix d'Cannith (guy who operates one of the 2 remaining Creation Forges) was experimenting with putting a soul in a warforged. The result was Soulforged, a kind of warforged with a natural inclination towards Incarnum.

I'm interested to hear what kind of spin other people put on a Warforged meldshaper.

[Phelix-Mu]

Warforged Totemist. Current Fluff is that Merrix d'Cannith (guy who operates one of the 2 remaining Creation Forges) was experimenting with putting a soul in a warforged. The result was Soulforged, a kind of warforged with a natural inclination towards Incarnum.

I'm interested to hear what kind of spin other people put on a Warforged meldshaper.

Hmm. Interesting. So there is possible refluff both of warforged and the meldshaping, but perhaps mainly the meldshaping. Let's see.

The basis of Incarnum is generally that there is this ambient soul-energy that is out there, much in the way that magic-energy is just out there, waiting to be harnessed by people with the right talent/training. Personally, I ditched that flavor for my world, and wasn't going to allow Incarnum at all, until a campaign gave me a good reason: the emergence of a quasi-divine being made up of a kind of proliferation principle sprang up in the wake of a quasi-divine/elder evil-grade threat that had consumed large parts of reality, resulting in an "existence vacuum" which led to the new being, Incarnation, coming into existence to fill the vacuum with its strange blue energy of existence.

So, maybe we start with a refluff of Incarnum. Alright, well, here are my top three, on-the-spot ideas:

1.) The Force/Metachlorians: It's an omnipresent mystical thing. Pretty bland, and more than slightly ripped-off. I would probably fluff it more toward the Incarnate's alignment emphasis, and leave the Totemist as the counterpoint to that, the primal force that exists in the amoral vacuum pre-dating the Outer Planes (or some alternate cosmology). So, Light/Dark Side are Incarnate, and I'd probably fluff Totemist as some kind of elder gods/Far Realm influence; something so alien and primordial that it defies the normal ideas of good and evil. This totemist actually fits in quite well with Eberron, though the Light/Dark Side doesn't. Interestingly, perhaps Light/Dark Side just purport to be about alignment, but are really just as optionally amoral as the rest of setting is (I haven't played much in Eberron, so I only know about reduced alignment impacts from hearsay). Fluff the melds to be more Jedi-like, if desired, or, in the case of the Totemist, more eldritch horror-flavor.

2.) Nanobots: Through the quasi-science/magic blend of construct creation, the creators of warforged made warforged up out of lesser mechanical parts that exist in a collective being, just as cells and such make up living parts of a greater organism. Accordingly, some warforged (particularly this advanced type made by Dr. Light this npc that was mentioned) have greater control over these...lets call them nanites. The nanites in their body form their essentia pool, and can be requisitioned to shape the various melds, which are given a techno-magica flavor, just like the rest of warforged.

3.) Lifeforged: Instead of the warforged being inanimate stuff given a semblance of life, make it dead flesh given a semblance of life. Thus, remove robot-fluff, insert Frankenstein's Monster-fluff. The Soulforged now become the next step in the Monster's attempt to find humanity. Insert a bit of the fluff of Data from Star Trek: TNG as desired, in his quest to "discover" what it means to be human and journey toward a more human existence. Part of this quest, as a "living" being, is to network with other living creatures; the Monster from the book is a tragic being because he has no part in the natural order, and is alive despite himself, with no "purpose." Thus, to network, the Soulforged pursue connection to the rest of life, and thus learn to mutate their artificial forms into different shapes, to better empathize with the forms they now resemble. Essentia becomes "mutation pool" and the melds are biological in nature. You can keep or ditch the resemblance to various magical beasts. Personally, I'd go for a more animal flavor (but I'm a druid, so obvious bias).

Oh, yeah. Other, less developed ideas:

1.) Ooze-forged: Could get weird.

2.) Incarnum-forged: The warforged was never warforged, but a sentient intelligence of incarnum that spontaneously gained material form.

3.) Doppel-formed: Connected to the changeling fluff, consider using a living, biological form (as per lifeforged), but have the mutation based on doppelganger-blood. Or those magical shapechangers from FR. Yeah, this could work, style the essentia and melds more as shapeshifting potential. Sadly, all racial shapeshifting in the game is largely blown out of the water by the shapeshifting spells, which allow huge versatility, as opposed to an incarnum-based system with melds, which would be much, much, much more balanced/limited.

I am open to pursuing any of these that strike your fancy in more depth. Just brainstorming at this point, lol. Man, I love doing this.

[Vaz]

Inspector Gadget.

All of the abilities are actually warforged components, and the power which grants life to a warforged can rerouted to empower their abilities, and can be overcharged at 20th level.

[Phelix-Mu]

Inspector Gadget.

All of the abilities are actually warforged components, and the power which grants life to a warforged can rerouted to empower their abilities, and can be overcharged at 20th level.

Hmm. Well, there are two ways about this.

1.) Living first. This is hard, as an actual transformation from low level is hard to accomplish in 3e, at least insofar as type-change is considered.

2.) Living capstone. Not quite so hard as a number of PrCs involve some type of transformation. Would require some serious reskinning and refluffing, though.

So, going with number two. Hmm. Maybe psionic artificer, with a special allowance to allow entry into Elemental Savant, with the elemental transformation changed into a humanoid transformation. Hmm. Humanoid transformation is pretty terrible, though, a strict downgrade. So maybe humanoid with Timeless Body or the Ageless trait (become an elan!).

.....

Hmm, just occurs to me that I may have misinterpreted your post, Vaz. Maybe you are going more for a Megaman concept than a Pinocchio concept?

[Vaz]

Hmm? I was meaning in regards to the Warforged Totemist as posited earlier.

The Warforged, instead of channeling essentia, he is redirecting power from his core to his implanted gear;

Beast Tamer Circlet; an implant which allows him to understand animal body language, a vocal and aural modulator
Frost Helm; an implant which allows temperature regulation
Hunter's Circlet; an improved memory core with access to greater information
Shedu Crown; spikes which lock you into the ground, the ability to project magic thoughts into peoples minds etc...

[Vhaidara]

Hmm? I was meaning in regards to the Warforged Totemist as posited earlier.

The Warforged, instead of channeling essentia, he is redirecting power from his core to his implanted gear;

Beast Tamer Circlet; an implant which allows him to understand animal body language, a vocal and aural modulator
Frost Helm; an implant which allows temperature regulation
Hunter's Circlet; an improved memory core with access to greater information
Shedu Crown; spikes which lock you into the ground, the ability to project magic thoughts into peoples minds etc...

Oh lord, I'm now imagining doing this. You have the full set of Soulmelds all at once, and the difference is what is powered. I want to see this in a movie.

[Vaz]

Why not, I'm doing nothing else. I'll edit them into this post.

[Phelix-Mu]

Oh lord, I'm now imagining doing this. You have the full set of Soulmelds all at once, and the difference is what is powered. I want to see this in a movie.

Hmm. I do like the idea. It would have to not involve gp costs of normal components, though, to retain the flexibility of the incarnum. But maybe they are just exceptionally modular implants (or nanobots, as suggested, that can form into whatever). Definitely has a Transformers/Megaman flavor, which is pretty much awesome incarnate.

Yeah, so maybe your first level of totemist gets you all the implants as a class feature, and your essentia is like your power core, which can power more stuff as you level up.

Or you go to Dr. Light and get upgrades from time to time, after defeating strong opponents or gathering resources, lol.

EDIT: To address my confusion above, we should probably label requests as such, or quote what we are responding to in our responses. I'm not going to enforce anything, though, lol; super unmotivated in that regard.

[nedz]

Warforged Totemist — The Tin Woodman

We all know about the Magi-Girl who gives him a Heart at the end of the story, but various Munchkins come along the road every morning and given him all manner of other things. He has no Soul, of course, but it is a Heart which he aspires too.

[No brains]

I once came up with some fluff on what a 'hit point' is that at least one person thought was good.

1 hp is a measure of caloric/metabolic energy that is a surplus from eating and drinking your size category's right amount each day. Typically eating right can give back 1hp per HD a day, but abstaining from action allows the body to dedicate that extra energy directly into 1hp/HD healing. Long term care from a DC 15 Heal check helps distribute energy directly to where it is needed, doubling hp regained by either above method.

One useful way to use this definition is to imagine that damage equates to blood loss/shock that takes energy away from a body. A 5hp hit can floor and eventually kill a healthy commoner, so it could be described as losing about a few pints of blood. Blood that would need to be replaced over five days of eating while working or only one of dedicated care.

It is an unpolished idea that still hits some nonsense with higher numbers, but it works well enough for lower levels.

Another idea I had was in response to a tyrannosaurus's swallow whole attack. The attack mentions that the severe wound caused by cutting one's way out of the dino's stomach instantly closes from a 'muscular action'. I decided to use this sticky BS a grout to plug a logic hole in something else: all creatures have that action as a response to almost all wounds and that is why bleeding out doesn't usually happen. Only special attacks and near-fatal wounds cause creatures to 'bleed' and so they must somehow disable or inhibit this response. Now a bizarre rule doesn't make an exception, it defines the norm.

[Bluydee]

Fragging Fist of Forest Frostrager. The only thing I came up with, is a protector of a snowy forest, the other option me deciding to go to a forest, protect it, then saying screw it and go to a tundra.

[paperarmor]

Fragging Fist of Forest Frostrager. The only thing I came up with, is a protector of a snowy forest, the other option me deciding to go to a forest, protect it, then saying screw it and go to a tundra.

A raging Avatar of the winter strom, Or possessed by the Windego Spirit. Could also be the embodiment of the Forests of Everwinter

[...]

Take an unexplained mystery in a sourcebook. Think about the Far Realm for a bit. Problem solved.
EXAMPLES:

Where does monster X come from? THE FAR REALM

What happens when you perform action X? YOU GO TO THE FAR REALM

Where do the powers of this mysterious magic item come from? THEY COME FROM THE FAR REALM

Like so.

[deuxhero]

Not my idea, but I've seen suggestions of playing a Warforged Dragonfire Adept as just purely technological.

Who says a robot that can shoot fire, see stuff nobody else can, knows a lot of stuff, fly and turn invisible has to have ANYTHING to do with dragons?

[Vhaidara]

Not my idea, but I've seen suggestions of playing a Warforged Dragonfire Adept as just purely technological.

Who says a robot that can shoot fire, see stuff nobody else can, knows a lot of stuff, fly and turn invisible has to have ANYTHING to do with dragons?

I actually played a half-dragon warforged (legal template application) with DFA levels and the Maug Rollers graft. I was a flamethrower tank that could fly.

[...]

I actually played a half-dragon warforged (legal template application) with DFA levels and the Maug Rollers graft. I was a flamethrower tank that could fly.

That is awesome...

[Phelix-Mu]

Self-bump, in case anyone has any new requests or things for refluffing.

[Phelix-Mu]

Alright, this time my request.

Another incarnum refluff, but this time for a sneaky (and possibly psionic) incarnate, probably either human, azurin, or kalashtar (so human or close to it, basically). Thematically, I'm looking for some fluff that backs up a chaotic outlook, a jack-of-all trades that is mainly out for himself, but more for the fun of it than for personal power or gain.

General build/feat suggestions welcome (still brainstorming at this point), but I'm interested on where you all would take this basic concept of a sneaky incarnum-user.

[Jeff the Green]

Alright, this time my request.

Another incarnum refluff, but this time for a sneaky (and possibly psionic) incarnate, probably either human, azurin, or kalashtar (so human or close to it, basically). Thematically, I'm looking for some fluff that backs up a chaotic outlook, a jack-of-all trades that is mainly out for himself, but more for the fun of it than for personal power or gain.

General build/feat suggestions welcome (still brainstorming at this point), but I'm interested on where you all would take this basic concept of a sneaky incarnum-user.

Do you particularly want to keep the soul magic fluff of Incarnum (or the heavy magic fluff of Faerun incarnum)?

If not, I rather like the idea of it being shadowstuff from the Plane of shadow—sort of a counterpart to the Shadowcaster, but with more focus on infusing his own body with shadow than using it to create external effects.

Incidentally, I 'brewed up something that might help if you're not averse to using homebrew for this concept. The Nightwearer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?273832-3-5-PrC-I-shall-wear-midnight-Beguiler-Incarnum-theurge-(PEACH)&p=14803136#post14803136) is a Beguiler/Incarnum theurge (usually Beguiler 4/Incarnate 1, though other configurations are possible) that focuses on three new soulmelds that aid in stealth and sneaky magic. I'm currently playtesting it as a chaotic kenku, and it's working as intended so far. Except for when the DM through a corrupture at us—when basically everything you can do either targets sight or is mind-affecting, oozes are not your friend.:smallyuk:

(If you particularly want to be psychic rather than magical it wouldn't be too hard to modify. Progress Sneak Attack instead of Cloaked Casting, require Midnight Augmentation instead of Incarnum Spellshaping or Midnight Metamagic, and maybe give the soul manifester's psionic investment instead of [Incarnum] spells as bonus spells. The hardest part would be figuring out the proper conversion for Midnight Vestments.)

[ben-zayb]

Since Incarnum is already alignment-based, I'm not even sure whether this is refluffing or merely expounding on a concept.

Soulmelds are sheer physical and mental resolve taken form, ala Lantern Constructs. Chaotic Incarnates, in particular, are those who do not let anyone or anything restrict their freedom, to the point that their sheer willpower/resolve to this philosophy allows them to even occasionally break the laws of reality if the former gets in conflict with the latter. Thus, their power source is _________, which is the embodiment of pure defiance--chaotic, unbound, and unfettered. It lends its power to those whose own body and will is strong enough to defy an established order.

With the general subsystem refluff done to match up a chaos-inspired outlook, I think fluffing the PC could be easily accomplished. A chaotic, JOAT, trickster-type of sneak isn't exactly an unknown archetype. So in my mind, I could see building something like a Human or Azurin Beguiler / Incarnate / Soulcaster, picking up Able Learner and Shape Soulmeld to aid your stealth. While he uses sheer resolve to improve himself by breaking reality, he also uses his immense creativity and craftiness to manipulate everything else by tricking reality.

[nedz]

This is The Doctor surely ?
Well more sort of Incarnate/Factotum using Incarnum for the Sonic Screwdriver, Psychic Paper and Regeneration.

[Marlowe]

Warforged Totemist. Current Fluff is that Merrix d'Cannith (guy who operates one of the 2 remaining Creation Forges) was experimenting with putting a soul in a warforged. The result was Soulforged, a kind of warforged with a natural inclination towards Incarnum.

I'm interested to hear what kind of spin other people put on a Warforged meldshaper.

Hmmm. An intelligent metallic construct capable of altering its form to suit a given situation.

A mechanical being that transforms for combat or utility.

A Transforming Mecha.

Nope. Never heard of such a thing ever. No clue how to fluff it. That's way too out there.:smallsmile:

[Segev]

Alright, this time my request.

Another incarnum refluff, but this time for a sneaky (and possibly psionic) incarnate, probably either human, azurin, or kalashtar (so human or close to it, basically). Thematically, I'm looking for some fluff that backs up a chaotic outlook, a jack-of-all trades that is mainly out for himself, but more for the fun of it than for personal power or gain.

General build/feat suggestions welcome (still brainstorming at this point), but I'm interested on where you all would take this basic concept of a sneaky incarnum-user.

Given the chaotic aspect and the focus on "ability to do anything," I'd go with Elan for racial mechanics, and combine Incarnum and Psionics to create a nascent Q-like being forged of his own pure will that has assumed a human form, but is still technically made of the energies of his own consciousness. He's mischievous and tricky, using his innate powers to seem omni-capable and to appear seemingly out of nowhere, but knowing already what's going on (thanks to spying from hiding before appearing).

[snailgosh]

Hmmm. An intelligent metallic construct capable of altering its form to suit a given situation.

A mechanical being that transforms for combat or utility.

A Transforming Mecha.

Nope. Never heard of such a thing ever. No clue how to fluff it. That's way too out there.:smallsmile:

I know, I know! It's the T-1000!

[ben-zayb]

I know, I know! It's the T-1000!
Nah, it's clearly the power ranger robots/zords/w:smallcool:hatever.

[aleucard]

I'd like to see what could be hammered into the shape of Megaman and/or Vectorman, to be honest. Refluffed Warlock with a few blast shapes and invocations, and something similar to Incarnum for the variant abilities/equipment options is my best idea.

Another amusing idea? The main characters from Order of Ecclesia (Charlotte from Portrait of Ruin also fits here), Lament of Innocence, and Curse of Darkness. How would 3.5 support transplanting any of those 3 basic archetypes in as complete a manner as possible?

[Segev]

For Megaman, I'd go with some sort of Warforged Soulbow/Spellthief, using the former for the blaster shots and the latter for the "copy enemies' abilities" power.

[ThisIsZen]

A character who is basically a 'bleed-through' point for the Plane of Shadow. The stronger they become, the stronger that conduit to the Plane of Shadow becomes, making them more and more of a weak point in the fabric between the planes.

Now the obvious idea is just a bunch of Shadowcaster levels but I'm wondering if there's anything that would enhance the flavor here. The character's presence is literally bending the planar boundaries together, so I imagine there are some multiclass options and etc. that could model that fairly well.

[The Vagabond]

Re fluff a wizard into a technological jenious

[Vhaidara]

To the wizard, just crib the fluff from the Artificer. That is basically a wizard of items. Fireball becomes a grenade launcher, Lightning Bolt is a Tesla gun, Fly is magnetically based, etc.


A character who is basically a 'bleed-through' point for the Plane of Shadow. The stronger they become, the stronger that conduit to the Plane of Shadow becomes, making them more and more of a weak point in the fabric between the planes.

Now the obvious idea is just a bunch of Shadowcaster levels but I'm wondering if there's anything that would enhance the flavor here. The character's presence is literally bending the planar boundaries together, so I imagine there are some multiclass options and etc. that could model that fairly well.

Not really sure what the refluff is here, but I would recommend the Umbral (Savage Species), Dark (Tome of Magic), or Shadow (Lords of Madness) templates. Maybe all three. On a Shadowcaster base with the Child of Night PrC.

[ThisIsZen]

Yeah I guess maybe it wasn't so much a 'refluff' as 'this is just straight-up the fluff.' My bad there. Thanks, though!

[Prime32]

Re fluff a wizard into a technological jeniousBut that's already wizard fluff. :smallconfused: Science doesn't stop being science just because they study different laws from ours.

One idea I'm fond of is refluffing a necromancer as something similar to Franken Fran (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/FrankenFran) - a genius doctor who can save anyone even after they're clinically dead, thanks to a surgical style focused on rearranging or repurposing organs. Her patients are damaged by conventional healing magic because it tries to revert their body to its original state, tearing it apart in the process (e.g. if she built you a new heart from a section of your intestines, healing magic will turn it back into intestine).

[Phelix-Mu]

Some nice stuff. Welcome to all new challenges and concepts, this is the routine bump.

@Prime32: That is a pretty cool way to handle it. Opens up some pretty interesting Dr. Frankenstein/Isle of Doctor Moreau flavor that D&D is often sorely missing.

EDIT: The bard refluff following is P9.

[A_S]

Here's one I've always wanted different fluff for: the Bard class.

There's got to be a cooler-but-mechanically-equivalent explanation for empowering your allies than "I perform really well and it inspires them...to hit things harder."

[Vhaidara]

Here's one I've always wanted different fluff for: the Bard class.

There's got to be a cooler-but-mechanically-equivalent explanation for empowering your allies than "I perform really well and it inspires them...to hit things harder."

I've seen it done with Oratory and rousing speeches.

Comedy is making you foes less intimidating.

Tea Ceremony is just weird.

[Eldan]

Divine Aura of Courage? If the Paladin can do it, why can't the bard? Just say they are constantly reciting hymns to their chosen battle god, who in exchange imbues their party.

[ben-zayb]

Bard can be refluffed with Truenaming of sorts, cant it?

[Psyren]

Ooh, a creativity challenge. Finally one that interests me.



2.) Nanobots: Through the quasi-science/magic blend of construct creation, the creators of warforged made warforged up out of lesser mechanical parts that exist in a collective being, just as cells and such make up living parts of a greater organism. Accordingly, some warforged (particularly this advanced type made by Dr. Light this npc that was mentioned) have greater control over these...lets call them nanites. The nanites in their body form their essentia pool, and can be requisitioned to shape the various melds, which are given a techno-magica flavor, just like the rest of warforged.

This, right here, should definitely be a suggested refluff of the Incarnum/Akasha system as a whole :smallbiggrin: *Heads off to make suggestion.*

[Extra Anchovies]

Bard can be refluffed with Truenaming of sorts, cant it?

I've always thought that Warlock would make an interesting Truenamer refluff - just rename the invocations. Baleful Utterance -> Word of Shattering, See the Unseen -> Word of Vision. Truenaming works best with at-will powers, IMO.

[Milo v3]

I've always thought that Warlock would make an interesting Truenamer refluff - just rename the invocations. Baleful Utterance -> Word of Shattering, See the Unseen -> Word of Vision. Truenaming works best with at-will powers, IMO.

Eldritch Blast = Swearing in Truespeak could be fun....

[nedz]

Eldritch Blast = Swearing in Truespeak could be fun....

I normally describe someone casting Blasphemy as "He swears at you, very badly"

[Psyren]

Bard can be refluffed with Truenaming of sorts, cant it?

Words of Creation are actually in Truespeak and great for bards, so you can actually do this mechanically as well.

[Segev]

Could be the Bard is, instead of inspiring people, instead dragging them almost magically into a show-stopping song and dance number, and the bonuses to hit and damage are due to being in sync with the tune and not being the fall guys on the other end of it.

[Phelix-Mu]

R9:

Could be the Bard is, instead of inspiring people, instead dragging them almost magically into a show-stopping song and dance number, and the bonuses to hit and damage are due to being in sync with the tune and not being the fall guys on the other end of it.

OMG. MIND BLOWN. IT'S THAT EPIC EPISODE OF BUFFY WITH THE SHOW TUNES. Now I can do that in D&D!

You, good sir, have just made my day. +1 cookie.

[Extra Anchovies]

Could be the Bard is, instead of inspiring people, instead dragging them almost magically into a show-stopping song and dance number, and the bonuses to hit and damage are due to being in sync with the tune and not being the fall guys on the other end of it.

I once was in a group with a player that tried to do that. I was considering having their character killed (I am not a show-tunes sort of person), but the group (do to unrelated reasons) never got past the first session. And I thought there wasn't anything worse than a Bard who only sings Beatles songs... (that happened to me as well).

[Vhaidara]

OMG. MIND BLOWN. IT'S THAT EPIC EPISODE OF BUFFY WITH THE SHOW TUNES. Now I can do that in D&D!

...Mother of God.

I used my music on an entire army. I know have the BEST mental picture for that ever.

[Psyren]

...Mother of God.

I used my music on an entire army. I know have the BEST mental picture for that ever.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bxoC5Oyf_ss/hqdefault.jpg

[Phelix-Mu]

...Mother of God.

I used my music on an entire army. I know have the BEST mental picture for that ever.

That episode totally blew my mind. I still find myself humming the tunes, and it tore down some of my genre impressions, really bringing out the characters in a way the normal show never did. That song where Buffy first reveals to everyone that they yanked her out of paradise when they brought her back from the dead still sends shivers down my spine; "give me something to sing about" indeed.

Would be super kickass to refluff a bard as a person like the demon that was manipulating people by having them sing out their secrets, expose their hearts, and finally dance themselves to death.

Seriously, this one revelation has made this entire thread worthwhile. +1 internet cookie was not good enough, Segev. I hereby upgrade you to +1 internets!!

[Larkas]

Might I suggest at least numbering the refluff requests?

[A_S]

Could be the Bard is, instead of inspiring people, instead dragging them almost magically into a show-stopping song and dance number, and the bonuses to hit and damage are due to being in sync with the tune and not being the fall guys on the other end of it.
I got Erfworld-style dance fighting from this, rather than Buffy. Still cool.

[Phelix-Mu]

Might I suggest at least numbering the refluff requests?

I had suggested this somewhere, but may have then forgotten to change the first post to reflect this wisdom. Will do so now.

EDIT: Done. New premise count is arbitrarily set to 9. Thus, the next proposal shall be P10; I will make an effort to retroactively edit in numbers for the premises that I have authority to edit later, when I am more at my leisure. Feel free to beat me to it if you have already made a premise upthread, just try to pick a number less than 10 that hasn't been used yet.

[daremetoidareyo]

Refluff talon of tiamat as a character that wants to redeem the dark goddess by convincing her to become the daughter that io always wanted. Sees bahamunt as sanctimonious and perpetuating unnecessary dragon based conflict.

Perhaps best as a fallen dragon born?

[Phelix-Mu]

P10:

Refluff talon of tiamat as a character that wants to redeem the dark goddess by convincing her to become the daughter that io always wanted. Sees bahamunt as sanctimonious and perpetuating unnecessary dragon based conflict.

Perhaps best as a fallen dragon born?

(stuff here to satisfy minimum message length)

[Phelix-Mu]

P11:

Alright, for today's exercise: NECROTIC CYST LINE!

1.) Some other fluff for something undead-related that uses the mechanic.

2.) Some non-undead fluff for the concept.


R10:

Refluff talon of tiamat as a character that wants to redeem the dark goddess by convincing her to become the daughter that io always wanted. Sees bahamunt as sanctimonious and perpetuating unnecessary dragon based conflict.

Perhaps best as a fallen dragon born?

Ooh. I kind of see an interesting merging here of refluffs of Shadownsun Ninja and Talon of Tiamat/the whole Tiamat-Bahamut dynamic. Or maybe a refluff of Master of Masks with each mask being one of the dragon gods. Could be a pretty cool concept for a neutral-ish character that views the two facets of the pantheon as extremes that must be balanced.

[Prime32]

Ooh, a creativity challenge. Finally one that interests me.


2.) Nanobots: Through the quasi-science/magic blend of construct creation, the creators of warforged made warforged up out of lesser mechanical parts that exist in a collective being, just as cells and such make up living parts of a greater organism. Accordingly, some warforged (particularly this advanced type made by Dr. Light this npc that was mentioned) have greater control over these...lets call them nanites. The nanites in their body form their essentia pool, and can be requisitioned to shape the various melds, which are given a techno-magica flavor, just like the rest of warforged.

This, right here, should definitely be a suggested refluff of the Incarnum/Akasha system as a whole :smallbiggrin: *Heads off to make suggestion.*Similarly you can use Binder to represent "option packs" - specialised backpacks/limbs/etc. that can be swapped out for different situations (http://www.gundam.info/uploads/image/20110614011831-71997.jpg). If you have the Rapid Pact Making feat then you can even pull off that maneuver where you call for home base to launch a new pack to you and dock with it mid-combat.

[Phelix-Mu]

Similarly you can use Binder to represent "option packs" - specialised backpacks/limbs/etc. that can be swapped out for different situations (http://www.gundam.info/uploads/image/20110614011831-71997.jpg). If you have the Rapid Pact Making feat then you can even pull off that maneuver where you call for home base to launch a new pack to you and dock with it mid-combat.

Ooh, or link it to synaptic learning like in The Matrix, where skill loadouts can be uploaded directly into the cortex. That would be pretty cool for a kind of techno-psionics blend, a la Shadowrun. Cool.

And Gundam references are win.

[...]

Refluff Spawn of Tiamat to something that does not involve Tiamat.

[Phelix-Mu]

P12:

Refluff Spawn of Tiamat to something that does not involve Tiamat.

R12:

- Drawing from recent and thoroughly cool Doctor Who plots, perhaps they are a spontaneously evolved form of life surrounding the birth of a new genus locii. They are reflections of the four elements found in the terrain. Lose the dragonblooded thing, and the reptilian appearance, and go with something more xenomorphic or dire animal-esque; perhaps they look like those critters from the video game Spore or whatever it was called. Or maybe they look like some strange blend of plants and oozes in vaguely humanoid form (SWAMP THING!).

- Varieties of cultists that have emerged in the rise of the Cult of Elemental Evil, mutated into new creatures by the powers of the avatars of elemental evil in that Monster Manual (5 was it?).

- A race of eugenically bred creatures that have come to the Prime via the Plane of Shadow from some alternate Prime. They have a rigidly defined caste system in which everyone has well-defined roles. They breed using powerful fertility magic that essentially churns them out of artificial wombs in batches, much like clones.

[Larkas]

This one is something I've been considering for some time but never got the time to flesh out in its entirety. Let's see what cool ideas you can come up with!

P13: Refluff the Pathfinder Summoner as a caster that draws from the same source of power as Incarnum.

[Extra Anchovies]

This one is something I've been considering for some time but never got the time to flesh out in its entirety. Let's see what cool ideas you can come up with!

P13: Refluff the Pathfinder Summoner as a caster that draws from the same source of power as Incarnum.

Well, if you're a synthesist, you can be this guy, who sorta looks like a totemist:

http://cache.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-sci-fi-fantasy-2007/894-1.jpg

[Psyren]

P14: Is there some way we can tie Dracolexi to Truenaming?

P15: Can we make a Shadowcaster whose powers come from weaving light instead of shadows? Or some other medium entirely?

P16: Is there a way to refluff a Ninja or Monk (3.5 or PF) that fits in better with a western fantasy setting? Specifically the "ki" based aspects.

P17: For a fey-themed warlock, what are some iconic non-fiendish beings that could be a power source? (Good, Neutral and Evil?)

[zyggythorn]

P17:
adrenaline points.
Refluff them into internal mastery sort of classes.

'By training day in and day out in dangerous situations the Boxer (monk) and Night Spy (ninja) are able to focus the fight or flight response at the very moment of impact whilst attacking, and even unlocking the hidden potential of all sentient races for a short time. (Last bit refers to ninjutsu)'

[Prime32]

Speaking of the PF Summoner, one explanation I'm fond of for why you can't summon monsters while your eidolon is out: your eidolon is all those monsters, fused together. Or if you prefer, when you cast a summon spell you're summoning a single aspect of your eidolon.


P16: Is there a way to refluff a Ninja or Monk (3.5 or PF) that fits in better with a western fantasy setting? Specifically the "ki" based aspects.You're a nimble thief or assassin who drinks small amounts of poison until you become immune to it. I guess you're immune to disease because you're a sewer rat or something? Abundant Step is "finding shortcuts" (you're lv12; you're really really good at shortcuts).

You could also try playing it as some kind of ghost.

Though since anyone in D&D can learn magic, I'm not sure what the problem is with "I learned magic that does that". :smalltongue:

[Psyren]

Though since anyone in D&D can learn magic, I'm not sure what the problem is with "I learned magic that does that". :smalltongue:

I'm fine with it being "magic" - but it's clearly not a "spell." (Or "alchemy" for that matter, since it's innate.)

"Adrenaline" could work but still feels a bit too mundane, especially for the really fantastic stuff like turning ethereal.

Maybe spiritual power? Still a pretty eastern concept but if we avoid terms like "ki" or "chakra" we might get to something a bit more universal.

[Jeff the Green]

Maybe Ninja is the Shadowcaster's less flashy cousin? (Not being familiar with the PF Ninja, I'm guessing the powers are similar to the 3.5 one, but with less suck.)

Monks, on the other hand, are what Khelgar thought they were in the beginning of NWN2: guys who are just really good at barroom brawls. Or maybe, because I like the punniness of it, you could rename the PF Monk's Ki Pool "Kismet". They're then people who have discovered a measure of control over their own fate and have decided to use that power to go around and punch people.

[dascarletm]

I have a new challenge.

I currently have a Sylph Magus in a fairly new pathfinder campaign. Currently level 1, and if all the players have interest we plan to go to level 20.

The idea behind my character is a swordsman who uses his innate power over the element of air. So far I've refluffed hydraulic push (or that spell with a similar name) to use air instead of water, and I can see that there is some good air themed spells coming up.

Here is the problem though, I want some good utility and variety in my spell choices, while maintaining the theme as close as possible. I'm fine with a little electricity damage here and there, but mostly just air.

What spells would be good to add some diversity from the magus spell list, while being easilly refluffable as my characters ability to manipulate air?

Thanks in advance.

dascarletm

[Forrestfire]

Fire spells could be fluffed as rapidly compressing air (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_piston) to burn something, maybe.

[SamsDisciple]

P. 18
Ok I have some fluff that I honestly don't know if its even possible to really do by RAW but in my group it wont fly unless it is RAW or RAI. Lets make Kirby! As in a pink puffball that eats enemies and gains their powers (or at least some aspect of it.) The closest that I came up with during my musings was a pathfinder summoners eidolon and using the evolution surge spell (or finding a way to craft a magic item to cast this spell after successfully swallowing an enemy.) I am not very familiar with the 3.5 splat books so lets make Kirby!

[Larkas]

@P18: VERY interesting concept. Expand that a little and you've got a Blue Mage! I want to see what our fellow Playgrounders can come up with, since the only thing I can come up with is something based on Illithid Savant (which, admittedly, lands pretty close to what you want).

[Forrestfire]

P. 18
Ok I have some fluff that I honestly don't know if its even possible to really do by RAW but in my group it wont fly unless it is RAW or RAI. Lets make Kirby! As in a pink puffball that eats enemies and gains their powers (or at least some aspect of it.) The closest that I came up with during my musings was a pathfinder summoners eidolon and using the evolution surge spell (or finding a way to craft a magic item to cast this spell after successfully swallowing an enemy.) I am not very familiar with the 3.5 splat books so lets make Kirby!

While it is fiendishly overpowered and cheesy, you can do something like Illithid HD+LA/Illithid Savant x and just be done with it. Refluff to make it so that grappling all four tentacles onto someone represent swallowing them whole, and then take abilities as needed. Maybe use a permanent effect (can you Incarnate a Compression power?) to reduce size and turn into a pink puffball.

[Segev]

P11:

Alright, for today's exercise: NECROTIC CYST LINE!

1.) Some other fluff for something undead-related that uses the mechanic.

2.) Some non-undead fluff for the concept.


1.) The necromancer has fragmented and weakened the tie of his own soul to his body (replacing the Mother Cyst feat), and infects others therewith to gain power over them, ranging from being able to magically sense them as if they were himself (Necrotic Scrying) to being able to wholly possess their motivation (Necrotic Tumor). The damage is spiritual rather than physical, though it is literally an evisceration of the soul being forced out through every pour for Necrotic Eruption. The one thing this doesn't cover is why it works on those infected by something other than yourself. (e.g. skulking cysts, other necromancers)

2.) An advanced manipulation of the Lycanthropic (or vampiric, though that's undead-related again) curse. The bite infects people, and the master lycanthrope can sense his minions and brethren. The stronger-willed can cause the wounds to bleed (necrotic bloat) or even cause the infection to ravage from the inside (necrotic eruption), possibly bursting forth as a twisted canine-thing (skulking cyst). Domination and total control are achieved through similar master-lycanthrope means. This could substitute being cursed with Lycanthropy for having to have Mother Cyst, and would be otherwise useful for the "lycanthropes must obey their Alpha" kinds of storylines.

[Larkas]

P19: Alright, since P18 didn't turn out anything other than Illithid Savant, let's try being more direct. Is there any way to make a FF-style Blue Mage, i.e.: a character that learns spells and/or techniques by being hit with them?