[3.5/PF] Help me design the PC's spirit animals

[Wonton]

tl;dr - An adventure path (Serpent's Skull book 2) has an encounter where the PCs (level 4, for the record) take a very powerful hallucinogen and descend into a trance, eventually transforming into their spirit animal. This effect works like Beast Shape II (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/beast-shape), and during this effect they fight a "Dream Serpent" - an Advanced Giant Venomous Snake (CR 4, 51 hp, 15 AC, bite 1d6+4 plus poison)

The list of spirit animals (rolled randomly, or chosen by the GM) is given as:

1d10 Spirit Animal
1 hoofed mammal (antelope, buffalo, cow, or goat)
2 canine (hyena, jackal, or wild dog)
3 carnivorous vermin (mantis, spider, or wasp)
4 equine (horse, wild donkey, or zebra)
5 feline (cheetah, lion, or leopard)
6 large mammal (elephant, hippopotamus, or rhinoceros)
7 bird (eagle, hawk, owl, or vulture)
8 reptilian (crocodile, dinosaur, lizard, or turtle)
9 small mammal (rat, porcupine, or weasel)
10 simian (ape, gorilla, lemur, or monkey)

There are some problems with this as written, however, since if you stick to the rules of the Beast Shape II spell, a PC transformed into something like a Wasp (whether randomly, or because it made sense personality-wise) would be completely useless, while a PC who became something like a gorilla would actually be very strong. I feel like this thing has the potential to be really cool (how often do you get to transform into a spirit animal and fight something?), so I wanted everyone to have some fun in their spirit animal form. Also, it's all a dream/hallucination, so there's no risk of anyone actually dying.

As a result, I thought I would try designing specific animal forms for each PC, with special abilities that would complement their existing role in the group. Here's what I came up with:

Warpriest (tank): Turtle/Tortoise. Medium, 10ft speed, +2 Str, +8 Natural Armor, can retreat into its shell as an Immediate action for another +4 Natural Armor. Bite: 1d6+Str. I considered giving it Trip (the warpriest has Improved Trip and it's a staple of his), but they're fighting a snake, which can't be tripped, so...

Barbarian: Gorilla. Large, 30ft speed, +4 Str, -2 Dex, +4 Natural Armor. 2 slams: 1d6+Str. The Barbarian still has his Rage ability in this form.

Rogue: Jackal. Small, 40 ft speed, +2 Dex, +1 Natural Armor, Scent. Bite: 1d4+Str. 2d6 Sneak Attack.

Witch Necromancer (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/witch/archetypes/paizo---witch-archetypes/gravewalker): Spider. Medium, 30 ft speed, +2 Str, +2 Natural Armor. Bite: 1d6+Str. Web and Poison just as the Giant Spider (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/vermin/spider/giant-spider), except the poison deals Con.

I quite like the first three, but I'm not so sure about the fourth. The Witch is basically a necromancer, and he mainly lets his minions do the dirty work, while staying back and occasionally throwing out a hex or debuff himself. I wasn't really sure what a fitting spirit animal for this would be.

So, some questions off the top of my head:

1) Do you think the core concept of designing spirit animals for each of the PCs is good, or am I overthinking this?
2) Should the spirit animals match the existing strengths of the PCs? Rogue - Jackal, Barbarian - Gorilla, etc. On the one hand, it's cool, and very thematic. On the other hand it means that in this crazy, trippy encounter, they kind of end up doing the same mundane things they usually do - the rogue flanks, the barb rages, etc.
3) Any ideas for a fitting spirit animal for the Witch Necromancer?
4) As it stands, this encounter will just be 4 animals beating on a snake in melee 'til it dies. Not the most interesting tactically, but I see no way to make it more interesting while keeping the basic theme. Animals do tend to be melee.
5) Is the level of complexity right? I thought about going crazy with each animal having several unique, thematic abilities, but that might be too much, especially considering they face a total of 1 enemy in this form.
6) Should I let the casters use their spells in this form?
7) And of course, any other suggestions for improving any of the animal forms?

Thank you ahead of time, I know it's a long post, and I appreciate your input. :smallredface:

[ExLibrisMortis]

You could make the witch necromancer a scorpion. They carry their offspring on their backs (or at least, some species do), which is a neat refluff for minionmancy.

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/scorpion-mother-carrying-her-brood-ingo-arndt.jpg

[Falcon X]

A few notes/inspiration:
- This reminds me of Etherkai the Nightmare Dragon from 4e Worldbreakers. Check it out, maybe you'll get a few ideas: http://www.epicwords.com/attachments/3874
- I did something similar in my game. A shadowmancer sent the party's spirits to the Demiplane of Dread (but they had a built-in way to eventually get out). They each had a form based on something important to their nature. The Druid was permanently in her Honeybadger wild shape. The bard who carried the Eye of Vecna (secretly) turned into the monster by the same name (http://lomion.de/cmm/img/eye.gif). The lycanthropic cleric of Selune got stuck in her wolf form. The dragon-blooded paladin remained as himself, as he viewed himself as perfect, but would slowly turn into a serpent.
I also had the idea that they started out in their normal bodies, or close to their normal bodies, but if they died they became shadow creatures in the listed forms.

To respond to your questions directly:
1. I think the spirit animal idea is a great one, as long as they don't get trapped too long, perhaps a single session. It can get a little deeper into the nature of their character and will provide a change of pace.
- Some people really don't like DM intrusion on their character. If you know someone in your group is an extremity of this, you might have something that allows them to choose their animal.
- If you use experience points to level up, continue to do so here. The players will want their rewards. Flavorwise, the characters are learning more about themselves in a direct way, so if anything they should be getting heightened experience.
2. The spirit animals should in some way connect to the character. This could be a representation of their physical qualities like strength, but it could also be representative of their personalities, such as a fast moving, fast talking sociable person might be a rabbit. Shadowrun does a great job of this. Take some of their listings as a guide: http://albinognomghul.de/totems.htm
3. I would do the witch necromancer based on the personality.
- Something like a scorpion or a crustacean with an exoskeleton might be thematic.
- How about a Lemur. They have an other-worldly look, symbolize death, and their name even means something akin to "spirit".
- A Jackal, because Anubis the death god from Egyptian mythos had a jackal head.
6. It certainly wouldn't be normal for them to use spells, seeing as they cant make the hand signs. However, this is a dream so you can do whatever you want. You might consider making the spellcasting limited to verbal components or only giving a few select powers but making it intuition based.
-Personally, I wouldn't. However, place things in their paths like spell components that might allow the wizard to MacGyver up a spell.

[Extra Anchovies]

You may want to use the Animal Companion (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions) stats (with the PCs keeping their usual mental stats) as a starting point - it would help make sure the PCs are all generally balanced against each other, and having totally different stats in the dream-state is more interesting than just getting Beast Shape II. Applying the advancement bonuses to each of them is probably a good idea, because that's when a lot of the companion options really come into their own. Giving each of the spirit animal forms an ability from the corresponding PC's class could make for some interesting gameplay, too.

As for specific suggestions, how about these.

Warpriest - there's a few good choices that stand out for a tanky bruiser. The Tortoise (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Tortoise) has a whopping +14 natural armor and solid Constitution, but not much else - just low Dexterity, a 10-foot land speed, and unimpressive weapons (just a bite for 1d6+1.5*Str). The Snapping Turtle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Snapping-Turtle) would probably be a better choice, with +12 natural armor, a decent bite (1d8+1.5*Str plus grab), and some interesting utility from Scent, Hold Breath, and a swim speed (20 feet, same as its land speed). If you're open to using dinosaurs, though, I have to recommend the Ankylosaurus (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Ankylosaurus); +11 natural armor, and a 2d6+1.5*Str tail attack with a cool save-or-daze effect when it hits. Regardless of which animal you choose (although you should totally go with the ankylosaurus), letting the Warpriest access their Blessings would be fun.
Barbarian - the War Bull (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Bull-War) seems like a good fit here. With a speed of 40 feet, a 2d6+1.5*Str gore, and trample, it moves fast and hits hard, and it has decent natural armor and solid Constitution. Adding one of the Barbarian's rage powers would complement its abilities nicely, perhaps accompanied by Fast Movement or Uncanny Dodge. The War Bull is a bit lacking in noncombat abilities, so you may want to consider giving it scent.
Rogue - I recommend the Giant Mantis (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Mantis-Giant). Darkvision, flight, and a climb speed make for a decent scout. A die or two of sneak attack would go well with its two/three attacks, and would help reinforce the mantis's role as an ambush predator.
Witch - given the Witch's penchant for necromancy, a carrion-eater would be thematically fitting; how about a Giant Vulture (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Vulture-Giant)? Unimpressive defenses (13 Dex, +4 natural armor) means they'd be a bit squishy, while flight gives them a means of keeping out of melee. Giving them Flyby Attack would allow for some interesting chances to use their surprisingly powerful bite (2d6+1.5*Str) without risking their hide in a sustained flight. I also recommend letting the witch use whatever hex they learned at third level - there's nothing more thematically fitting for a carrion bird than the power to bring curses and ill omens, after all.

The encounter as written sounds really boring. Dream Serpents should be more than just big snakes with teeth and poison. Perhaps giving it some unusual and/or magical abilities would spice things up. Here's a few ideas:

A Mirror Image SLA or effect; fighting a group of enemies, only one of which is real, makes sense for a dreamscape encounter.

Swift-action invisibility for 1 round every 1d4+1 rounds; have it vanish, slither off, and then strike from a different location on its next turn, to make the combat more interesting than standing in place and rolling to hit again.

Have the serpent pit poison for ranged-touch acid damage (1d6 or so); the PCs will be lacking ranged weapons, so the snake changing tactics midway through the fight to try to keep its distance would require them to adapt their own strategy accordingly.

Use terrain to its advantage; maybe it slithers up a tree early in the fight, and the vulture and mantis have to make it fall from its perch so the bull and ankylosaurus (who might help by slamming the tree's trunk to shake it) can go to town with their powerful attacks.

Add some weaker supporting enemies; maybe instead of blood, the dream-serpent's wounds leak smaller snakes. Each round in which it was hit at least once, a viper (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/snake/snake-viper) enters combat adjacent to the dream serpent, and when it dies it collapses into a snake swarm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/snake/snake-swarm). Your players would not soon forget the time they fought the snake that bleeds more snakes. If you do this (which you totally should, because it would be awesome), it may be wise to remove the poison from the vipers and have them use Aid Another to get in the PCs' way. If you still want the vipers to be a direct threat, increasing their Strength to 8 and kicking their bite damage up two sizes (for a total damage of 1d4-1) would be less annoying and easier to keep track of than the poison they'd normally have.

[Wonton]

A few notes/inspiration:
- This reminds me of Etherkai the Nightmare Dragon from 4e Worldbreakers. Check it out, maybe you'll get a few ideas: http://www.epicwords.com/attachments/3874

In terms of theme, I am drawing inspiration from Bran's greenseeing and Daenerys' visions at the House of the Undying in Game of Thrones, the Yogg-Saron encounter in WoW, The Dominoes Fall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrwTDfdck7I&t=133) scene from V for Vendetta, and even the fortune-telling scene from the end of The Gunslinger. I plan to show them a series of past events (some that they saw firsthand, some that they had knowledge of but never saw, and some that they never knew about), and some future events (mostly in the near future to avoid foreshadowing things that are too far off, in case the campaign changes).


To respond to your questions directly:
1. I think the spirit animal idea is a great one, as long as they don't get trapped too long, perhaps a single session. It can get a little deeper into the nature of their character and will provide a change of pace.

Oh, like I said, it's a bit of talking, plus one encounter in the book... I can't see it taking more than an hour.


You may want to use the Animal Companion (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions) stats (with the PCs keeping their usual mental stats) as a starting point - it would help make sure the PCs are all generally balanced against each other, and having totally different stats in the dream-state is more interesting than just getting Beast Shape II.

Hm... that certainly is one option. The only problem is, they have much higher stats than those animal companions, so it might not be very fun to go from 14 Str, 22 Dex, 16 Con to 10 Str, 15 Dex, 10 Con. I'd rather keep basing it on Beast Shape, I think, though some of those abilities certainly give me ideas.


Witch - given the Witch's penchant for necromancy, a carrion-eater would be thematically fitting; how about a Giant Vulture (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Vulture-Giant)? Unimpressive defenses (13 Dex, +4 natural armor) means they'd be a bit squishy, while flight gives them a means of keeping out of melee. Giving them Flyby Attack would allow for some interesting chances to use their surprisingly powerful bite (2d6+1.5*Str) without risking their hide in a sustained flight. I also recommend letting the witch use whatever hex they learned at third level - there's nothing more thematically fitting for a carrion bird than the power to bring curses and ill omens, after all.

I really like this. His hexes are Slumber and Ward, which aren't great, but I might just give him a different set of 2-3 curses that matches the "ill omens" theme, like Evil Eye and Misfortune.


The encounter as written sounds really boring. Dream Serpents should be more than just big snakes with teeth and poison. Perhaps giving it some unusual and/or magical abilities would spice things up. Here's a few ideas:

A Mirror Image SLA or effect; fighting a group of enemies, only one of which is real, makes sense for a dreamscape encounter.

Swift-action invisibility for 1 round every 1d4+1 rounds; have it vanish, slither off, and then strike from a different location on its next turn, to make the combat more interesting than standing in place and rolling to hit again.

Have the serpent pit poison for ranged-touch acid damage (1d6 or so); the PCs will be lacking ranged weapons, so the snake changing tactics midway through the fight to try to keep its distance would require them to adapt their own strategy accordingly.

I love everything about this. Using it! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM7CMH045G8) :smalltongue:


Use terrain to its advantage; maybe it slithers up a tree early in the fight, and the vulture and mantis have to make it fall from its perch so the bull and ankylosaurus (who might help by slamming the tree's trunk to shake it) can go to town with their powerful attacks.

The problem with this, and some of the other things you suggested (swim speed, climb speed, scent, etc) is that I specifically don't want to send them into a dungeon or actual encounter area. As I described above, I basically think of this whole event taking place in a sort of dreamscape where they're all flying through the air high above the land. I feel like it would be jarring to actually put them on terrain and make a really tactics-heavy encounter while in a dream. I want it to feel sort of surreal.


Add some weaker supporting enemies; maybe instead of blood, the dream-serpent's wounds leak smaller snakes. Each round in which it was hit at least once, a viper (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/snake/snake-viper) enters combat adjacent to the dream serpent, and when it dies it collapses into a snake swarm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/snake/snake-swarm). Your players would not soon forget the time they fought the snake that bleeds more snakes.

I was totally thinking that it should summon more snakes, and this is a great idea for how to do it. I'm thinking when it vanishes, hundreds of tiny snakes (small vipers, as well as swarms) start appearing. It "spawns adds", to use a video game term. You've given me some great ideas, thank you!