ksbsnowowl
2017-04-13, 04:42 PM
The God-Blooded template in MM5 has Imix-Blooded as one of the sample templates. Imix is the Prince of Evil Fire Elementals (à la ToEE), and I'm looking to expand upon this idea with a template from Olhydra, the Princess of Evil Water Elementals.
Most specifically I am looking for the granting of a swim speed, which seems pretty simple and basic. Imix-Blooded grants the Fire subtype, so logically Olhydra-Blooded would grant the Water subtype, and the Water subtype specifies that all creatures with the water subtype have swim speeds.
Water Subtype
This subtype usually is used for elementals and outsiders with a connection to the Elemental Plane of Water. Creatures with the water subtype always have swim speeds and can move in water without making Swim checks. A water creature can breathe underwater and usually can breathe air as well. Coincidentally, this power alone is about on par with the Water Heritage feat from the Planar Handbook, which grants a 20 foot swim speed, plus bonuses to hold your breath. Comparatively, the Fire Heritage feat grants a +1 bonus on Initiative, and +1 fire damage on unarmed and natural weapon attacks.
All God-Blooded creatures gain Divine Endurance (DR 10/– that can be activated & deactivated; once it has prevented 40 points of damage, you lose the template), plus two to four additional abilities. In the case of Imix-Blooded, the creature gains the Fire Subtype, a once per day ability that enhances attacks for one round with bonus fire damage (both weapon and [fire] spell damage), always-on retributive fire damage (3 points per attack) against any melee attacker, and a Death Throes ability that does damage based on CR in a 30-foot radius (save for half).
The Water subtype in and of itself isn't all that useful, aside from granting a swim speed and allowing a creature to breath under water (the same could be said of the Fire subtype, aside from granting immunity to fire and vulnerability to cold), so I'd judge those approximately on par with each other. So, the Olhydra-Blooded template should provide three or so additional abilities. Aiming to emulate the types of things granted by Imix-Blooded, one of the three should probably be a once per day one-round attack buff, one should be an always-on ability of a somewhat defensive nature, and one should be a once per lifetime ability, though Death Throes isn't really what I would be looking for.
Anybody have any ideas on what might fit?
Looking for a little inspiration, the Avatars of Elemental Evil from MM4... the Holocaust Disciple has Fire Shield as an at-will SLA; the Imix-Blooded templates retributive fire strike emulates that. The Avatar inherently does fire damage with each hit, which the template's once-per-day ability emulates. Sadly, I'm not seeing much on the Waterveiled Assassin that would be appropriate to copy in reduced form on a templated character. Perhaps a twice per day ability as an immediate action that would emulate the waterveiled assassin's Liquid Body ability? (50% chance to not be affected by an effect that allows a Reflex save, because the fluid form allows it to press against the wall/floor, outside the blast.)
Maybe an always-on ability could be a small portion of the Waterveiled Assassin's Malleable Form ability (which lets it flow through difficult terrain without slowing its speed, as well as flow into/through permeable objects [wooden or brick walls, etc] at half speed). Just allowing the creature to ignore difficult terrain may be too powerful, but that's one idea. Just this part of the Waterveiled Assassin's ability:
Malleable Form (Ex) A waterveiled assassin’s control over its form allows it to flow through tiny cracks in objects and move through the earth, walls, and other obstacles. The assassin moves at normal speed through terrain that slows movement. ...
Just rewrite the fluff a bit, and limit the ability to flowing through difficult terrain at normal speed?
Maybe the Divine Endurance, the Water subtype (along with swim speed of 30 feet), a twice per day 50% chance to ignore a reflex save spell (immediate action), and the ignoring of difficult terrain at all times... maybe that's enough for the whole +1 CR/LA template.
Thoughts?
Most specifically I am looking for the granting of a swim speed, which seems pretty simple and basic. Imix-Blooded grants the Fire subtype, so logically Olhydra-Blooded would grant the Water subtype, and the Water subtype specifies that all creatures with the water subtype have swim speeds.
Water Subtype
This subtype usually is used for elementals and outsiders with a connection to the Elemental Plane of Water. Creatures with the water subtype always have swim speeds and can move in water without making Swim checks. A water creature can breathe underwater and usually can breathe air as well. Coincidentally, this power alone is about on par with the Water Heritage feat from the Planar Handbook, which grants a 20 foot swim speed, plus bonuses to hold your breath. Comparatively, the Fire Heritage feat grants a +1 bonus on Initiative, and +1 fire damage on unarmed and natural weapon attacks.
All God-Blooded creatures gain Divine Endurance (DR 10/– that can be activated & deactivated; once it has prevented 40 points of damage, you lose the template), plus two to four additional abilities. In the case of Imix-Blooded, the creature gains the Fire Subtype, a once per day ability that enhances attacks for one round with bonus fire damage (both weapon and [fire] spell damage), always-on retributive fire damage (3 points per attack) against any melee attacker, and a Death Throes ability that does damage based on CR in a 30-foot radius (save for half).
The Water subtype in and of itself isn't all that useful, aside from granting a swim speed and allowing a creature to breath under water (the same could be said of the Fire subtype, aside from granting immunity to fire and vulnerability to cold), so I'd judge those approximately on par with each other. So, the Olhydra-Blooded template should provide three or so additional abilities. Aiming to emulate the types of things granted by Imix-Blooded, one of the three should probably be a once per day one-round attack buff, one should be an always-on ability of a somewhat defensive nature, and one should be a once per lifetime ability, though Death Throes isn't really what I would be looking for.
Anybody have any ideas on what might fit?
Looking for a little inspiration, the Avatars of Elemental Evil from MM4... the Holocaust Disciple has Fire Shield as an at-will SLA; the Imix-Blooded templates retributive fire strike emulates that. The Avatar inherently does fire damage with each hit, which the template's once-per-day ability emulates. Sadly, I'm not seeing much on the Waterveiled Assassin that would be appropriate to copy in reduced form on a templated character. Perhaps a twice per day ability as an immediate action that would emulate the waterveiled assassin's Liquid Body ability? (50% chance to not be affected by an effect that allows a Reflex save, because the fluid form allows it to press against the wall/floor, outside the blast.)
Maybe an always-on ability could be a small portion of the Waterveiled Assassin's Malleable Form ability (which lets it flow through difficult terrain without slowing its speed, as well as flow into/through permeable objects [wooden or brick walls, etc] at half speed). Just allowing the creature to ignore difficult terrain may be too powerful, but that's one idea. Just this part of the Waterveiled Assassin's ability:
Malleable Form (Ex) A waterveiled assassin’s control over its form allows it to flow through tiny cracks in objects and move through the earth, walls, and other obstacles. The assassin moves at normal speed through terrain that slows movement. ...
Just rewrite the fluff a bit, and limit the ability to flowing through difficult terrain at normal speed?
Maybe the Divine Endurance, the Water subtype (along with swim speed of 30 feet), a twice per day 50% chance to ignore a reflex save spell (immediate action), and the ignoring of difficult terrain at all times... maybe that's enough for the whole +1 CR/LA template.
Thoughts?