Squole character ideas?

[5w337x7007h]

I'm curious about playing squoles (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/3rd-party-races/alluria-publishing/squole), but I'm not sure where to start. What would you guys recommend?

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Well wizards are straight out, and ranged characters are heavily disadvantaged. Looks like a formula for a decent martial, since they come with a nice bundle of immunities. I'd go with an invulnerable rager myself. If you are set on a caster, battle oracle with the clouded vision curse would work, since it doesn't cripple them in any way beyond what they already have. Just max out perception so you can hear stuff outside your blindsight radius.

[Just Helping]

Well, I'll try to give some help by breaking down the features of a squole, and then give a blurb about what that might mean for you. This will lead to a mechanical analysis over a thematic one, but such is the way of things. Ninjaxenomorph's post is an effective TL;DR for mine, though.


Stats:The +2 DEX and +2 CON both are very helpful for either a melee or ranged combatant, though the -2 INT makes life a bit harder. I'd recommend staying away from classes with 2+INT skill points (a maxxed Perception is very important, and more than just that would also be very nice), but being an out-and-out skillmonkey will be an uphill battle. INT-based casting is also going to be decreased in effectiveness.

Size and Speed: The default arrangement.

Blind and Blindsight: Long story short, I'd think it impossible to be a spellbook or scroll user, and ranged combat will be much more difficult. On the plus side, melee will be made somewhat easier, as blindsight is a much more accurate sense than normal sight (as the page details).

Boneless: Bonus to Acrobatics is good for melee and ranged combat, the rest is good for melee combat.

Elemental Resistance: A defensive attribute that favors all, especially those more targeted by elemental spells -- this depends on group tactics. I do not know which is the best element to pick, but fire is the element the monsters seem to have most often for resistances.

Humanoid Ooze: This defensive trait will make a front-liner rest quite a bit easier, as many of these attributes affect the melee characters most often.


So what do we have? A melee type, essentially.

As Ninjaxenomorph detailed, a barbarian will make an excellent class for such a character -- easiest thing to do here is throw your highest stat into Strength, let the racials boost Dex and Con, and keep Wisdom somewhere decent so your Will save isn't so bad. Try to grab Beast Totem for pounce, and superstition is something to consider to compensate to the weak Will save. (A bloodrager can also play similarly, but keep Charisma up higher so you can cast.)

A Scout Unchained Rogue would also work well; just max out Dex and keep Con and Wis high. Level 3 gives Dex to damage with a chosen weapon, and level 4 means sneak attacks on a charge.

Apart from that, any wisdom- or charisma-based caster should work out nicely, as long as your spell selection has a good amount of melee self-buffing.

[5w337x7007h]

Mkay, so if I went invulnerable rager, would this work?

Fast Movement, Rage, Power Attack
DR1/-, Lesser Beast Totem
Extreme Endurance, Improved Sunder
DR2/-, Power: Strength Surge
Extra Rage Power: Superstition
DR3/-, Cold Resist1, Beast Totem
Extra Rage Power: Reckless Abandon
DR4/-, Witchunter
Cold Resist2, Combat Reflexes
DR5/-,Gtr Beast Totem
Greater Rage Dazing Assault
Cold Resist3, DR6/-, Come and Get Me
Extra Rage Power: Spell Sunder
DR7/-, Eater of Magic
Cold Resist4, Raging Brutality
DR8/-, Ghost Rager
Tireless Rage, Extra Rage Power: Smasher
DR9/-, Cold Resist5, Surprise Accuracy
Extra Rage Power: Sunder Enchantment
Mighty Rage, DR10/-, Good for What Ails You

Wield a falchion and swing for the love of all that is blood for the blood god?

Also is it physically possible for a Squole to read, using it's blindsight? I know that when you write things, depending on the amount of pressure you apply to the paper, you can leave an indentation on it, sort of like how charcoal rubbings work, but in reverse.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Ratfolk actually have something delightfully called 'stink-ink', that can be used by them to 'write', and even be used in arcane writings such as spellbooks and I believe scrolls. Not sure if they can be used by non-ratfolk or beings without scent...

I've actually been thinking about picking up the book the Squoles are from, some of the races are very interesting. The Entobians are my favorite.

[5w337x7007h]

Mkay, Well I'm thinking of playing the blind illiterate barbarian ooze, because I think it'd be fun. So maybe it just eats anything organic when it's hungry, like the sign that says "Keep Out".

Though... I need to know what the drawback of being Squole is. Their pseudo-sight is based on sensitivity to vibration. Does that mean they can't see flying creatures? Would a party member be able to help a Squole to fight things beyond it's vision?

[Azoth]

They would still have total concealment from you, but an ally calling out distance/angle would allow you to target the right square until the target was in range of you.

I view it working best with an AoE blaster caster. Very similar to the point in Full Metal Alchemist where Lieutenant first Class Riza Hawkeye is giving a blind Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang targeting coordinates for the Homunculus in the Flask so that he can accurately use his flame alchemy in the fight.

[5w337x7007h]

Squole have blindsight 40ft. Does that mean creatures within 40ft still get total concealment?

[Spore]

Does that mean they can't see flying creatures? Would a party member be able to help a Squole to fight things beyond it's vision?

Air currents are also vibration in that sense. If you are very VERY literal in the interpretation of spells, a Darkvision spell SHOULD provide eyed based vision. But that is a thing that would make my DM angry if I used the Darkvision spell without his permission in this manner so run this by him.

The arguments pro:
- It's a third level spells and thus not easy to obtain
- Blindsight makes the spell mostly useless in close quarters anyway
- Accepting a situational penalty in vision based perception is very acceptable IF this thing is allowed

Arguments con:
- You have no eyes, it's all "multifunctional cells"
- no vision to improve means no effect at all
- the base rule is "special rule trumps general rule" yet it's not sure if Darkvision or the Blind Racial trait is more "special" and what take precedence



I view it working best with an AoE blaster caster. Very similar to the point in Full Metal Alchemist where Lieutenant first Class Riza Hawkeye is giving a blind Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang targeting coordinates for the Homunculus in the Flask so that he can accurately use his flame alchemy in the fight.

I like the idea. I would invest three feats - Skill Focus Know: Planes and Eldritch Heritage (Arcane) and Improved Familiar - to get an Ooze Mephit. It's very expensive though. Maybe there is a cheaper way?

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Actually, isn't there an alchemist extract that grows eyes all over your body to give you all-around vision? Would that work, or does the spell not work for sightless creatures?

[5w337x7007h]

Yeah, but my GM thinks the race is completely OP, so I'm trying to figure out how this blindsight through vibration sensitivity works. So far I don't want to agree, but it's becoming more and more obvious. Are there any drawbacks that would balance the Squole out a bit more?

[Spore]

Actually, isn't there an alchemist extract that grows eyes all over your body to give you all-around vision? Would that work, or does the spell not work for sightless creatures?

This should definetely work. Most Alchemist extracts are Transmutation spells as well, which only underlines the face that it changes your physiology.


Yeah, but my GM thinks the race is completely OP, so I'm trying to figure out how this blindsight through vibration sensitivity works. So far I don't want to agree, but it's becoming more and more obvious. Are there any drawbacks that would balance the Squole out a bit more?

This race feels powerful on paper but the drawbacks are severe. You can't see. It's not even the Clouded Vision Oracle curse which is pseudo blindness. You are completely blind. They can't cast spells farther than 40 ft, their melee combatants can't even know how many people they fight (unless you abuse meta).

This race is not OP but it's senses are so different from your standard group that your DM has to :
- make an effort to describe the scenario twice; once for an able-bodied person, once for a blind creature
- deal with a genderless and completely alienated creature that most folk shun
- hope you don't destroy your severe weakness with metagaming

They are weaker than Aasimars or Tieflings as far as outsider races go but they are weird to DM for.

[5w337x7007h]

With blindsight, I'm pretty sure the Squole knows the general number of enemies and their shapes, but beyond that I think it's something like when Neo saw the matrix during the end of the first movie. MATRIX VISION!!! (http://s204.photobucket.com/user/cap_franklin/media/matrix36.jpg.html?t=1260849760)