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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Manaketes from Fire Emblem: Crouching Human Hidden Dragon (LA+1/ no RHD, see how!)



Fizban
2016-04-28, 06:59 AM
Couldn't resist the pretentious thread title, heh. Design goals: significant change between forms even at LA +1, matching the feel of the Fire Emblem characters in spite of DnD general mechanics (including out of turn shifting), playable for any class by virtue of low LA. Solutions: restrictions on some 3.5 problem mechanics and scaling abilities for later levels. The date on my notes indicates I called this finished back in February, but I never really felt like posting it for a number of reasons. The-Mage-King just posted his version though (here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?486257-A-surprisingly-playable-Manakete-race-3-5-FE-homebrew-Race-and-toys-PEACH&p=20715860&posted=1), check it out for a bit more fluff and his own mechanics), and rather than give a laundry list of changes I'd suggest I might as well post mine in full instead. So first some rambling, then the stats.

If you're familiar with the Fire Emblem games (specifically 1 and 3 or their remakes Shadow Dragon and Heroes of Light and Shadow, as well as Awakening which is set in the far future of the same world) then you know what's up. The-Mage-King has the gist of it in his version, though I wasn't going to be as specific about what caused the madness of the dragons: it's not important what or why and some campaign settings already have a time period when dragons went nuts so I'd leave it up to the DM weather it was internal or external or what.

Either way, the main thing is that at some point in the history of the world dragons started going crazy, so some of them decided to seal their power away and live as humans in order to avoid going crazy themselves. They can still shift into dragonform to fight, but in the games your dragon characters move around in human form: they literally shift into dragon and then shift back out at the start and end of every fight, wielding no weapons or armor and simply transforming when faced with incoming attacks. Try here (http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/File:Myrrh.gif) for animated .gif if you don't want to search blindly (the rest of the fight's been cropped out, but it's surprisingly hard to find a decent .gif or youtube).

Physical Description: again, The-Mage-King's is pretty good here (I like the note about bright hair and scale colors). Medium person turns into Medium dragon, four limbs, bitey mouth, breath, wings, tail, the works, and then turns back when they're done. The styles vary significantly between games/consoles, so for DnD purposes you can go with whatever appearance the DM/player wants.

The only fluffs I had fully written up/decided on are my notes on religion and aging:

Religion: Manaketes refer to Bahamut as Naga, and Tiamat as the Shadow Dragon. According to their history, rather than creating the chromatic dragons, the Shadow Dragon was the ruler of a dragon tribe that made war on humans and other tribes that sympathized with them. Naga bestowed power upon the humans to give them a fighting chance at survival, and sent his descendants -the Divine dragons, to aid them. The Shadow Dragon was resurrected and rose from defeat several times, until the accumulated power and worship of millennia allowed it ascend into godhood. Unfortunately for the Shadow Dragon, it turned out that godhood came with restrictions and now Naga can keep the Shadow Dragon in check with his power alone. And so Bahamut and Tiamat have their proxy wars between the Metallic and Chromatic dragons and their servants and spawn, and the Manaketes and Humans live relatively peaceful lives-barring other interference.

Aging: a Manakete reaches full ability scores and is playable at the Human rate (by 15 or 20 years), but does not reach full height and weight until some time after. Manaketes remain childlike in temperament until at least 100 years of age, and in Manakete society they are allowed to remain children until that time. Despite this they do have their full mental abilities and inherit (similar to the ancestral memory of True Dragons) a certain amount of instinctual wisdom and worldliness that allows them to "act grown-up" if needed. Even as their companions are exasperated by their antics, a childlike Manakete knows how to respond in an emergency and will occasionally say something profound that sets their "elders" at ease (or possibly unnerves them further).

Once matured a Manakete will live as long as a True Dragon, gaining no modifiers for aging and reaching 1,200 years with ease but with final age maximums largely dependent on the individual. Few Manaketes may have even reached such ages depending on how recently they arose and how turbulent their history has been (in the source material, most surviving dragons are mad beasts or mindless clones, while Manaketes are nigh extinct and live in hiding).

And what you're really here for:

Manakete Racial Traits
-2 Wisdom: Manaketes can sometimes be brash or foolhardy, and maintaining links to their Dragonforms allows a small edge of the madness that afflicted their race originally to seep through.

Humanoid (Dragonblood): Manaketes have taken human as their primary form, losing many dragon traits and becoming susceptible to spells that affect Humanoids, but retain a connection to their Dragonform at all times.

Dragonblood Feats: a Manakete who has feats with a (Dragonblood) prerequisite such as Dragon Wings or Dragon Tail expresses those feats both in Humanoid form and in Dragonform.

Manaketes are Medium size and have a base land speed of 30'.

Darkvision 60' and Low-light Vision: Manaketes retain some of their draconic senses, though not at their original strength.

Dragonform (Su): at will, a Manakete can assume their Dragonform. The action required and maximum duration improve as they gain hit dice and each type has unique abilities. All Dragonform choices must be made during character creation and cannot later be changed. Assuming Dragonform is similiar to the Alternate Form special ability: True Seeing reveals both forms, if killed they revert to Humanoid form, and they gain a +10 bonus on Disguise checks for fooling those who don't recognize their Dragonform's unique appearance. Most worn or carried gear melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional, though the Manakete may choose to retain held items and up to one worn magic item upon beginning to shift. When in Dragonform a Manakete is unable to speak normally (managing short single words at best, with some practice), nor wield weapons or form somatic components for spells except Invocations.

At 1st level shifting requires a Standard action and lasts for a maximum number of rounds equal to the Manakete's Constitution modifier (minimum 1). Once ended they must wait at least 1 round (from start to end of turn) before shifting again.
At 5th level shifting requires only a Swift action.
At 10th level shifting can be done as an Immediate action, and the maximum duration increases: They may maintain Dragonform for up to 10 minutes per point of Constitution modifier, but doing so increases the delay between shifts to 10 minutes as well (if returning to humanoid form within con*rounds they need only wait 1 round between shifts, as before).
At 15th level a Manakete can maintain their Dragonform indefinitely until they choose to revert.

Using Dragonform is tiring: Manaketes spend most of their lives in Humanoid form, the feat their ancestors reshaped themselves to accomplish. Manaketes require an additional amount of sleep or rest each day equivalent to the amount of time spent in Dragonform. This is why most Manaketes do not make constant use of it, and why even the most powerful tend not to remain shifted for more than necessary. A Manakete of 15th level who does not return to humanoid form soon enters a state of hibernation, waking only for brief periods until they return to Humanoid form.
All Dragonforms share the following benefits:
+4 Strength, +4 Natural Armor
Shifting Scales: Dragonform scales are somewhat malleable and can emerge thicker and stronger for those accustomed to wearing armor in Humanoid form. A Manakete in Dragonform gains an additional bonus to armor class depending on their armor proficiency: Light +4, Medium +6, or Heavy +8. This does not stack with the Armor bonus granted by armor, barding, or spells such as Mage Armor, but magic items based on the Enhancement bonus formula (primarily Bracers of Armor) apply as normal if functioning.
Natural Weapons: 2 Claws (1d6) and Bite (1d8), with Claws as the primary weapon.
Breath Weapon: a 30' cone or 60' line of acid, cold, fire, or electricity, both aspects chosen at creation. A Manakete's breath weapon deals 1d8+1d8/3 HD damage, the save DC is 10+1/2HD+Con, and it is usable every 1d4 rounds.
Wings: while not capable of flight or gliding, a Dragonform's wings still grant a +10 racial bonus on jump checks.

Additionally, choose one of the types below:
Flight
At 1st level your wings give you the ability to Glide with a speed of 60' (average) for 30' of travel per 5' of descent, and reducing fall damage to 1d6 when in Dragonform.
At 5th level you gain a fly speed of 60' (average)
At 10th level your fly speed increases to 120' (average)
At 15th level you reach 200' (average)

Special: Flyers who take the Hover feat may begin hovering as part of the action used to assume Dragonform, allowing them to transition seamlessly into precision aerial maneuvers.


Breath
At 1st level your breath weapon recharge is reduced to 1 round, allowing you to breathe every round.
At 5th level you choose a second energy type, and may pick either type when using your breath weapon.
At 10th level you choose a third energy type, and half the damage of your breath weapon ignores resistances and immunities.
At 15th level you can use any of the four energy types, and your breath ignores all resistances and immunities.

Special: Breathers who take the Dragonfire Adept or Warlock classes have access to an alternate class feature that uses their Dragonform breath weapon.


Growth
At 1st level your Strength bonus increases to +6 and your natural weapons bypass DR/magic
At 5th level you become Large (long), Strength increases to +8, and Dexterity decreases to -2
At 10th level you gain a pair of Wing attacks (1d6 at Large size)
At 15th level you may use a Standard action to assume a Huge (long) Dragonform, which gains +12 Strength and -4 Dexterity. This otherwise functions just as your normal Dragonform, and you may still assume your Large form as an Immediate action from Humanoid form.
Languages and Level Adjustment
Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic. Bonus Languages: Celestial, Elven, Dwarven, Halfling, Infernal, and Sylvan. The Divine heritage and Infernal influence on their history led many Manaketes to learn the planar languages. Manaketes learn the languages of the civilized races, especially the long-lived, and similarly fey creatures attract their attention- but dealings with the less civilized tribes are almost unheard of.

Level Adjustment: +1. A Manakete's natural abilities are formidable compared to those of a 1st level character, but also restrict their ability to use weapons, spells, and magic items so they cannot always take full advantage of their racial, class, and gear abilities in the same manner as other adventurers.


Manakete Feats:

Divine Dragon
Prerequisite: Manakete, 1st level
Benefit: You are a Divine Dragon, decendent of Naga, capable of harming the Shadow Dragon as well as his servants. Your natural weapons have the Bane (Dragon) property, and your breath weapon deals double damage against such creatures. The Dragonforms of Divine Dragons have features such as feathered wings or an ethereal radiance that make them stand out among their fellows.
Special: as a heritage feat, this feat may only be taken at 1st level. You're either born a Divine Dragon or not.

Dragonshape Vocal Training
Prerequisite: Manakete
Benefit: Though it took many hours of disjointed practice, you've learned to speak with the altered vocal chords of your Dragonform. Additionally, your draconic voice lends power to spells you cast with a vocal component while in Dragonform. This effect gives you +2 caster level with such spells, though you remain unable to form somatic components.
Normal: most Manaketes spend very little time in Dragonform, let alone practicing speech when shifted, and thus cannot speak in Dragonform.

Manakete Item Channeling
Prerequisite: Manakete
Benefit: In addition to the one worn item and any handheld items you may choose to exclude from merging when you use Dragonform, you retain the benefits of any number of continuous worn magic items that do merge with you. Merged items cannot be activated for specific effects: you retain only the continuous benefits.
Normal: You lose the effects of all gear that merges into your Dragonform.

Reactive Dragonform
Prerequisite: Manakete
Benefit: You may shift to your Dragonform as an Immediate action, but doing so causes you to lose your next standard action. When your shifting improves to a Swift action, you may instead do so as an Immediate action (and the previous penalty no longer applies). When it would normally be an Immediate action, you may do so as a non-action outside of initiative even if you are flat-footed.
Normal: Dragonform normally becomes an Immediate action at 10 hit dice.


Alternate Class Feature:

Breath Channeling
Prerequisite: Dragonfire Adept or Warlock 1st, Manakete
Replaces: Breath Weapon or Eldritch Blast
Benefit: you may modify your Dragonform's breath weapon with the Breath Effects gained from Dragonfire Adept, or Eldritch Essences learned as a Warlock.

New Invocation:

Draconic Blast (Lesser, Dragonfire Adept and Warlock)
You may convert a damaging breath weapon into an Eldritch Blast, similar to that of a Warlock. Your breath weapon becomes a 60' ray requiring a ranged touch attack to hit, and the target struck recieves no saves against damage. Saves against non-damage effects remain as normal, and the blast is negated by spell resistance if you fail your caster level check. Draconic Blast can be modified by Blast Shape and Eldritch Essence Invocations, as well as Breath Effects, but not by other feats or abilities that modify breath weapons.


(Disclaimer: I never finished writing this part up in full before since it's mostly common sense guidelines and I didn't see a need for a new item system, but here's the idea.)

New Magic Item: Dragonstones

A Dragonstone is a fist sized gem within which a faint glimmer or swirling of energy can usually be seen, a magic item which carries some number of properties that enhance a Manakete's Dragonform. Activation is simple: you may choose a Dragonstone held in your hand when you shift into Dragonform which then melds into your new form (as do most other items), becoming functional until you leave Dragonform (unlike most items unless you have Manakete Item Channeling). Only one Dragonstone can be used at a time, unless the DM wants to approve an "extra dragonstone slot" feat. Creating a Dragonstone requires Craft Wondrous Item as well as any other appropriate spells, feats, etc.

The most common Dragonstones are those that improve natural or breath weapons. These are priced and generally function as magic weapons, Necklaces of Natural Weapons, or Amulets of Mighty Fists (depending on number of attacks enhanced), save for the change in form and method of use. Improving breath weapons may be based on the magic weapon formulas or the Chasuble of Fell Power prices at the DM's option (you'll find they're quite similar), and/or mimicking other Warlock items if desired. A Dragonstone could also provide other bonuses such as enhancements to ability scores, AC or save bonuses, or basically any other item that makes sense or at least doesn't make un-sense. Pricing stacks as normal for putting multiple properties on a single item, so the price to add a new ability is +50% and trying to put everything on your Dragonstone is rather cost prohibitive.


How in the heck is all of that LA+1?
Well, how in the heck does an adventurer function with only 1-2 magic items and no spellcasting? Manaketes gain nothing in human form, it's all locked behind Dragonform, which heavily restricts the use of magic items and spellcasting. Bending those restrictions requires burning feats and still doesn't allow everything. It is expected that almost every Manakete will spend at least one feat on one of those problems, and when you compare LA+1 and a feat to a 1 level dip and a feat, you can get a *lot* of good stuff with a dip and a feat. The core breath weapon is based on the Dragonborn of Bahamut which most people don't seem to have a problem with, flight on Raptoran/Dragonborn, the base str bonus is based on the Goliath (but Dragonforms don't get Powerful Build or even use weapons). Personally I think the craziest thing is +4 natural armor and Shifting Scales, but these are what bring a melee Manakete back into playable. The interplay of magic item and casting restrictions with armor replacement followed by reprieves for constant items only is the spite of DnD general mechanics I mentioned back at the start. Shapeshifting normally doesn't inconvenience casters in the slightest, so this would all just be free stuff. Instead only Warlocks/Dragonfire Adepts can work without penalty (the two classes which would otherwise be most insulted by the breath weapon) while other casters eat penalties*. Melee characters get fat str bonuses in exchange for losing actual weapons, and stealthy/skirmisher characters can use the mobility of the flight focused trait.

And finally, for anyone assuming LA buyoff: you should not be assuming that now should you? LA buyoff doesn't actually work to begin with, but even if you disagree it should be obvious that it doesn't wok with this. Manaketes are a level behind in their class progression forever, a fair price to pay for gaining an entire set of alternate powers.

*Psionics avoid this entirely as always, but I'm not trying to write around them. I'm also ignoring Surrogate Spellcasting because it's dumb, but even then it's still a feat on top of the LA just to get back to square one.

Fizban
2016-04-28, 07:00 AM
Reserved just in case.

ImperatorV
2016-04-28, 09:48 AM
...Interesting.

While I like a lot of what you have here, I'm not sure I like your assumption that anyone playing this race will try not to break it. The one-item-limit is cripling at high levels, but not very meaningful early on, and optimizers will be able to finds ways around it easily. You flat-out recognize that psionics are OP with this, but don't do anything about it. Simply put, this race is not blanced in every possible campaign. Perhaps a blurb should be put at the top explaining that this race's balance makes some assumptions about the campaign, players and DM and may not be suitable for every campaign. Still, the concept of balancing a race by forcing it into an different play style then a normal adventurer is novel and I like most if what you did here.

Also, if you are going to make a no-buyoff rule you should include it in the LA section.

Fizban
2016-04-28, 09:41 PM
Well for one this was previously just my personal notes and would have only been used in my own games. Two, while it may have been implied I never stated such an assumption. And three, people gonna break stuff, it's what they do. "It's not balanced in every possible campaign" can be leveled at literally every game mechanic. I felt that such a blurb at the top would discourage people from actually reading, so I put that section at the bottom instead. I'd love to see some example builds of course, and if there's a glaring problem I would obviously consider addressing it (or why bother posting?), but not until I see examples.* My intent/expectation is that anything which breaks these can probably break something else just as hard already. An "any-RAW-goes" game already has enough problems: the goal here is making a nice Manakete, not defining the rules of engagement.

The magic item limit doesn't matter much at levels 1-5, sure, and that's also the range where shifting takes a standard action. What ways are optimizers going to use to ignore the item restrictions that work better than the feat?

While I recognize that psionics ignore the spellcasting restrictions, they do that for everything. Psionic characters can wear full plate without proficiency because they just don't care, at least a Manakete needs proficiency to get their extra bonus. You still lose a casting level which is something, and spending swift/immediate actions shifting on the first round cuts off a few favorite psionic powers (like Hustle and Lion's Charge) during that round. While the core power point system of psionics is clearly more balanced than vancian slots, the fact that they ignore all other restrictions is an inherent imbalance they've always had. If a Manakete Psywar or Psion is the most powerful possible build, I'd call that a win.

I guess I shouldn't have mentioned it at all if that's the first response I'm getting, but no I'm not putting in a "no LA buyoff" rule, because it's not a standard rule to begin with. It's an optional variant from a book of optional variants that actually does the exact opposite of what it's supposed to do (either someone ends up definitively more powerful, or everyone started with the same LA and the "buyoff" was unnecessary), and I will not write anything that takes it into account. I have altered the part where I mentioned it for clarity, but that's it. Moving on.

The real question comes down to: Is this worth LA+2? Compared to favorite LA+2 races like Half-Ogre (+6 str and large all the time and use whatever you want) or Petal (+10 dex/+8 cha and more, tiny size, flight, and DR 5/cold iron all the time), I'm pretty sure it's not.

*There will inevitably be rocky interactions with some mechanics, like layering shapeshifting or what happens to soulmelds when you shapeshift. No other race has ever been written to include all possible mechanics from other splatbooks either: it's up to the DM to decide how those should work as always. And that's another reason I shouldn't care about psionics :smalltongue:

~Corvus~
2016-04-30, 04:22 PM
Fascinating. Some questions...
What armor type is applied with Shifting Scales? Standard armor? Magical? Natural?

How would this breath weapon's ACF interact with Eldritch Glaive?

Whats that +2 effective caster level really going to do for a casting class? How many useful vocal-only spells do you know of?

I like the alternate feats. This race seems lots of fun to pair with a Totemist splashing a level of DFA or Lock.

Fizban
2016-04-30, 05:17 PM
The armor type I wasn't sure about, so I left it a bit vague on purpose to see if anyone asked that question. It could go either way: Manaketes often have decent-high magic resistance, and since we're using AC for defense that would make touch AC magic resistance, and an untyped AC bonus works against touch attacks. Since it's deliberately replacing armor you could count it as an armor bonus, which works fine but does mean that they're pretty much just as vulnerable against armor piercing as everyone else. So in the end I figured my current phrasing got the idea across and the best solution for that level of fine tuning was to leave it up to DM interpretation. If that's satisfactory I could add it to the notes at the end. As for running it myself, I'd probably go with untyped just to make them more special, but I also don't make a habit of throwing tons of touch/armor piercing attacks at my players so it's not as much of a buff.

As a Blast Shape, Eldritch Glaive doesn't work with the base ACF which only allows Eldritch Essences and Breath Effects. You need the Draconic Blast invocation to get something that can be modded by blast shapes so you can use Eldritch Glaive. I put that in specifically so that a Manakete Warlock wouldn't feel locked out of normal Warlock shenanigans, being that I basically made it their default caster class, and figured it'd be good for any DFA too.

The +2 caster level is basically combo bait. I didn't want to make a feat that only allowed you to speak because that would suck, and I hate +1's because they have no impact. There's at least one decent V only Bard spell (Love's Lament), teleportation spells are usually V only, and there are plenty of ways you might find yourself able to cast a stilled spell for free and just take the +2 as a bonus if you're trying. Or if you're just eating the Still Spell adjustment on a bunch of spells in addition to the extra feat for verbal, I figured some bonus might be in order (even though this goes back against the caster restriction with a refund).

Totemist is one of the expected power builds (once you decide what happens to soulmelds when transforming), though it's also one of the balance comparisons since Totemist is the best non-wildshape natural weapon build that's not something crazy like King of Smack. Obviously Warlock/DFA is expected, as could be Psywar, or Bard, or any gish build really. Pure melee off Fighter/Barb/whatever could be strong but I don't think it'd beat out standard Wild Shapes, and Marital Adepts have their own balancing systems.