Kaiju Claws
2016-05-10, 07:28 PM
Greetings all. I'm running a game in Pathfinder and I could use some help.
My party of intrepid adventurers, Faustus Mora, has finally made their way to the end of my campaign's first section. Soon they will face the main villain (an Anti-Paladin with a few illusory forms to stave off any early deaths :smallsmile: ) before starting to find out why and how to stop him. In this second part of the story, they will meet with a character who had been framed for treason and presumed dead.
It is this character who vexes me.
This character is a former player character from our previous campaign (not DM'd by me). I minimized his presence early on to give the players proper focus (and to inspire them to seek revenge for his framing and possible death). He is their link to the campaign setting, with all of them being foreigners to this land. I had always intended for him to return, as I confess to really enjoying this character. However, I did not realize that he would become so interesting for the party as well. Each of them has, to one degree or greater, spoken up for him and become vested in his character/survival.
Now this character is troublesome for me to advance. He is a homebrewed dragonman, class Bloodrager (from the Pathfinder ACG), draconic bloodline. He has a breath weapon and swim speed/water breathing, but has always remained balanced with the party (1 breath/day, not a water heavy campaign). The question I'm grappling with is in what form he should return.
My original intention was always for him to return as a full-blown dragon. I designed one for use, but he came across as too powerful to me. So, I've been struggling with what to make of him. Here are my ideas:
Make him a half-dragon. Apply the half-dragon template to the former character and advance him as a Bloodrager.
Make him a Taninim ala In the Company of Dragons. Keep him a Bloodrager, but use the Draconic Hero archetype (the problem with this is there is no indication on what to replace for Bloodrager).
As option 2, but replace Bloodrager as his class and perhaps go Cleric (the character has always had a strong religious bent).
Just make him a dragon already. :smalltongue: A Taninim Draconic Exemplar this time vs a custom Bestiary style dragon.
The character will be level 13, giving him just enough of an edge on the party to be an interesting combatant if they decided to rough him up (a distinctive possibility given his gruff nature and the method of his return). My main concern is balance; I DM for a party of 7 (and have done so for about 4 years). I want him to be strong, but not to outclass them so terribly that they think he is the hero.
This game is not set within any official Pathfinder setting, just something I've cooked up on my own, so all options are on the table.
I am terribly sorry about the length of this post, but I figured more context couldn't hurt.
My party of intrepid adventurers, Faustus Mora, has finally made their way to the end of my campaign's first section. Soon they will face the main villain (an Anti-Paladin with a few illusory forms to stave off any early deaths :smallsmile: ) before starting to find out why and how to stop him. In this second part of the story, they will meet with a character who had been framed for treason and presumed dead.
It is this character who vexes me.
This character is a former player character from our previous campaign (not DM'd by me). I minimized his presence early on to give the players proper focus (and to inspire them to seek revenge for his framing and possible death). He is their link to the campaign setting, with all of them being foreigners to this land. I had always intended for him to return, as I confess to really enjoying this character. However, I did not realize that he would become so interesting for the party as well. Each of them has, to one degree or greater, spoken up for him and become vested in his character/survival.
Now this character is troublesome for me to advance. He is a homebrewed dragonman, class Bloodrager (from the Pathfinder ACG), draconic bloodline. He has a breath weapon and swim speed/water breathing, but has always remained balanced with the party (1 breath/day, not a water heavy campaign). The question I'm grappling with is in what form he should return.
My original intention was always for him to return as a full-blown dragon. I designed one for use, but he came across as too powerful to me. So, I've been struggling with what to make of him. Here are my ideas:
Make him a half-dragon. Apply the half-dragon template to the former character and advance him as a Bloodrager.
Make him a Taninim ala In the Company of Dragons. Keep him a Bloodrager, but use the Draconic Hero archetype (the problem with this is there is no indication on what to replace for Bloodrager).
As option 2, but replace Bloodrager as his class and perhaps go Cleric (the character has always had a strong religious bent).
Just make him a dragon already. :smalltongue: A Taninim Draconic Exemplar this time vs a custom Bestiary style dragon.
The character will be level 13, giving him just enough of an edge on the party to be an interesting combatant if they decided to rough him up (a distinctive possibility given his gruff nature and the method of his return). My main concern is balance; I DM for a party of 7 (and have done so for about 4 years). I want him to be strong, but not to outclass them so terribly that they think he is the hero.
This game is not set within any official Pathfinder setting, just something I've cooked up on my own, so all options are on the table.
I am terribly sorry about the length of this post, but I figured more context couldn't hurt.