Making Formians LA+0

[Pleh]

First off, I did try to search Formians as a playable race and there was already a thread on the subject from 2012 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?262202-A-Formian-Problem), but it doesn't quite go far enough for me.

I have to admit, I have a special fondness for the Formians and want them to be a Material Plane, Playable Race, LA+0 element of my games.

So let's do it. I'll throw together where I think it's about right and you guys get to pick it apart and decide how well you think it works. If you guys have any other resources from people already having done something similar that I failed to find, I'm more than happy to look into that content as well.

With no further ado, let's get's started.

Hive Mind belongs to the Queen alone. Other Formians only benefit when within her range.

Formian Worker - Minions! Inspired by Goblins and Kobolds

+2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha - Strong and fast for a character their size, but they aren't used to having to think for themselves or relate to others outside of the hive mind.
Small Size, with all that implies.
Base Speed of 30ft, Climb Speed 10ft - They don't have full Spiderclimb as the supernatural ability, but their feet are built for climbing, so they get at least a little climb speed.
Darkvision 60ft - We're dropping all those Extraplanar resistances and immunities, so adding Darkvision for primarily subterranean creatures isn't breaking the bank.
Tool Claws: A Formian Worker's hands are chitinous claws, but not designed for combat or dealing damage. They act normally as hands for holding onto things and climbing, but they lack the fine motor manipulation to effectively wield weapons. They do provide an excellent grip for a +4 to Grapple checks.
Natural Weapon: Bite (1d4) - Their bite is more intended as a tool than a weapon, but since its effective at handling stone, it's about like wielding a non-weaponized pick in the hands of a commoner who works as a miner.
Stability: Formians have four legs, clawed feet, and climbing speed. The are at least as hard to push around as Dwarves are.
Race Skills: +8 Racial bonus to Climb. They may take 10 on climb checks even when distracted or threatened. +4 Racial Bonus to Craft Checks made to repair items
Hive Dependency: let's homebrew a bit; I'm aiming to create something similar to the Kobold's Light Sensitivity Formian workers do not have the Hive Mind quality. That's being reserved as a primary function of the Queen to provide communication between members of the Hive. At the start of every encounter that a Formian Worker is not in contact with their Queen's Hive Mind, they must make a Will Save or they will be Shaken for the rest of the encounter. This is a Mind Affecting Fear Effect, so allies can take precautions to encourage a Formian Worker Ally (such as a Paladin's Aura of Courage) and it can also be removed from the encounter with spells and abilities that remove fear.
Make Whole: Gain Mending at will as a spell like ability and 1/day Make Whole (as caster equal to your level) with a casting time of 10 minutes - I've never been a fan of character options that require multiple characters to function, so I've modified the Formian Make Whole so it can work with a single character. I like to imagine the fluff for this ability is that when the Formian Worker chews on stone or sand, they add supernatural saliva and the paste temporarily takes on properties similar to Shapesand. After it dries, the shapespit transmutes into a similar substance as the material it is bonded to.
Mute: Formians tend to communicate through pheromones and body language, paired with telepathy through their Queen's Hive Mind. They also tend to minimize communication so as to reduce the mental strain on their queen. They don't have vocal chords and their mouths couldn't form our words anyway, meaning they can understand basic speech, but they can't speak it. They have developed a Formian Sign Language, though most races don't bother to learn it as most cultures interacting directly with Formian civilization can communicate telepathically with the Queen or indirectly through her Myrmarch taskmasters. They can read and write as any other sentient creature can, but their hands aren't great at holding a writing utensil, so they usually employ "finger" painting to write.
Great Ally: borrowed from the Kenku in MM3 When successfully aided on a skill check or attack roll by an ally, or when aiding another, a Formian Work applies or gains a +3 bonus on its check or attack roll (instead of the normal +2 bonus). Furthermore, a Formian Worker gains a +4 bonus on attack rolls against an opponent flanked by an ally (instead of the normal +2 bonus).

Formian Warrior - Reminds me of the Xenomorph. Inspired by Orcs, Bugbears, and Lizardfolk

+4 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int, -4 Cha - Built for one purpose: tearing enemies of the Queen to pieces. Outside of this singular calling and profession, they tend to be bad tempered and difficult to get along with.
Medium Size
40ft base speed - we'll pass on the climb speed since these guys aren't building or repairing housing structures like the workers are, but they'll get a race bonus to climb.
Normal Hands: Warriors, unlike Formian Workers, have hands comparable to other humanoids, with all the same advantages and disadvantages of the kind.
Darkvision 60ft
+2 Natural Armor bonus to AC - about as much as anyone seems to get short of LA increase or Dragon Mag, I'm a fan of the idea that their exoskeleton should be more than just for show, especially when they'd have such a hard time finding a pair of pants that fit them.
Natural Weapon: Sting (1d4) with Poison (Injury, DC 10 + Con mod + character level, 1d3 Str damage with no secondary damage) - So, to be a playable character, I don't want to use claw hands that substitute whatever weapons the player might want to use, especially when melee users need magic weapons anyway. Plus, a stinger on the end of your butt isn't exactly a great primary weapon by itself (you're ants, not wasps), it's a grappling weapon (look at real life ants and you see they very commonly bite to keep their targets from avoiding the sting). The notion is that this poison attack isn't very strong, but is a respectable backup whenever caught in a grapple. The weapon can be used freely whenever you're in a grapple and if the poison hits, it weakens the opponent, improving your odds of winning future grapples. You'll notice I've also tailored the poison to do less damage, but for its DC to scale with Level. Seems more appropriate to a PC character weapon that you get more opportunities to use it and it more gradually wears your enemy down.
Stability: As the Dwarven ability.
Race Skills: +4 to Climb and to Sense Motive (identifying threats is their most basic function, making them difficult to fool). They may take 10 on climb checks even when distracted or threatened.
Mute: Formians tend to communicate through pheromones and body language, paired with telepathy through their Queen's Hive Mind. They also tend to minimize communication so as to reduce the mental strain on their queen. They don't have vocal chords and their mouths couldn't form our words anyway, meaning they can understand basic speech, but they can't speak it. They have developed a Formian Sign Language, though most races don't bother to learn it as most cultures interacting directly with Formian civilization can communicate telepathically with the Queen or indirectly through her Myrmarch taskmasters.

Even though there is no ant that can survive apart from its colony, warrior ants tend to be better off than their worker counterparts when encountering enemies on their own. Ant species vary greatly, but many species of ant warriors will patrol the colony's territory solo, while the foragers almost never operate on their own.

Formian Taskmaster - ... that's not a race.
I don't particularly see the need for this to be a separate race now that I'm redefining the entire species to be LA+0 mortals of the material plane. I find it more likely that these are Formian Warriors who take levels in Psion for Telepathy and later progress into Mindbender as the psionic variant. Funny enough, the Taskmaster listed in the SRD has 6HD and the Psion should be able to meet the Mindbender's prereqs by 5th level, meaning the 6th level could be Mindbender granting them the 100ft Telepathy that would otherwise be hard to justify as a racial ability LA+0. The taskmasters often function as Hive Mind Range Amplifiers as the Queen can send her signal to Formians in her Taskmaster's range, but outside her own.

Formian Myrmarch - A princess in every castle. Inspired by Raptorans

No ability modifiers - mentally going over how I want to picture them, I see all their bonuses and penalties breaking even across the board. They're slender, but chitinous. Intelligent, but single minded. Leaders, but also followers.
Medium Size - No, your highness, that carapace doesn't make you look fat.
30ft base speed - Running is for peasants.
Normal Hands: Myrmarchs, unlike Formian Workers, have hands comparable to other humanoids, with all the same advantages and disadvantages of the kind.
Darkvision 60ft
Wing Aided Movement: +10 to Jump Checks
Flight: when a Formian Myrmarch reaches 5HD, her wings grow strong enough to give her 40ft Fly speed (Good Maneuverability) as long as she isn't Fatigued, Exhausted, or carrying a Medium or Heavy Load. She can fly for a number of rounds equal to her Constitution Modifier (minimum 1 round). It is possible to fly up to twice that long, but doing so leaves them Fatigued at the end of their flight. When she reaches 10HD, she no longer becomes Fatigued from flying and it is no more tiring than running or walking. Formian Myrmarchs that can fly may make Dive Attacks and may Run in a straight line while flying.
Stability: As the Dwarven ability.
Manipulator: +2 Racial bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive.
Budding Hive Mind: +1 Manifester Level for Telepathic powers.
Mute: Formians tend to communicate through pheromones and body language, paired with telepathy through their Queen's Hive Mind. They also tend to minimize communication so as to reduce the mental strain on their queen. They don't have vocal chords and their mouths couldn't form our words anyway, meaning they can understand basic speech, but they can't speak it (but see below). They have developed a Formian Sign Language, though most races don't bother to learn it as most cultures interacting directly with Formian civilization can communicate telepathically with the Queen or indirectly through her Myrmarch taskmasters.
Speak without Sound: Borrowed from Ghostwise Halflings Myrmarchs can communicate telepathically with any creature within 20 feet, just as if speaking. The halfling can only speak and listen to one person at a time, and he must share a common language with the other person or creature he speaks to telepathically, or the telepathic link fails.
Metamorphosis: A Myrmarch that reaches the 10th level of Mindbender may choose to become a Formian Queen, though doing so requires finding a secure location to transform into a large, immobile monarch and begin giving birth to a new nation of Formian workers and warriors.


Notes on their culture as I see it: Myrmarchs probably serve as Taskmasters while they're growing into a state that they could become a Queen, but it all depends on the temperament of the queen they serve. Sometimes a Queen will deliberately sabotage her myrmarchs so they can't become rivals to her territory, enslaving them as taskmasters for their entire lives. But the greatest threat to a Formian Queen is sometimes a Myrmarch that reaches metamorphosis, overpowering the colony hive mind and having the workers butcher her predecessor in her own chambers, only to supplant the ruler after the chambers have been cleaned and readied for the new monarch to take power. As a result, some Queens are careful to exile Myrmarchs that grow to a certain age, instructing her warriors to kill such threats found in her territory on sight. The most paranoid Queens might even kill Myrmarchs the moment they have developed enough to be identified (probably by their pupa stage when it becomes clear they are growing wings).

Finally, I'd probably make Formian Queen a Template rather than a race or class, with a prerequisite of being a Formian Myrmarch with 10 levels of Mindbender. But I'm less interested in the mechanics of playing an immobile, epic level monarch. Seems better for an NPC and at that point, you can just use the stats in the SRD for an NPC anyway. It's a little like becoming a Demi Lich in that "I'm super powerful, but I paid all my arms and legs to get it."

So, if you're still reading this, thoughts? PEACH and all that jazz.

This has been a fun afternoon's work in any case. Hope you've enjoyed reading as I've enjoyed writing.

[Quertus]

Mute: Formians tend to communicate through pheromones and body language, paired with telepathy through their Queen's Hive Mind. They also tend to minimize communication so as to reduce the mental strain on their queen. They don't have vocal chords and their mouths couldn't form our words anyway, meaning they can understand basic speech, but they can't speak it. When they make friends with creatures from other races, their friends tend to learn the scent of some of the more common pheromones like "danger/fear," "hunger/want," "happy/content," "yes/no," and so on. They can read and write as any other sentient creature can, but their hands aren't great at holding a writing utensil, so they usually employ "finger" painting to write.
Great Ally: borrowed from the Kenku in MM3 When successfully aided on a skill check or attack roll by an ally, or when aiding another, a Formian Work applies or gains a +3 bonus on its check or attack roll (instead of the normal +2 bonus). Furthermore, a kenku gains a +4 bonus on attack rolls against an opponent flanked by an ally (instead of the normal +2 bonus).

There's a lot of things I like; the bolded parts are what I specifically don't.

[Pleh]

There's a lot of things I like; the bolded parts are what I specifically don't.

Fixed the typo. Care to elaborate on what you don't like?

[Quertus]

Fixed the typo. Care to elaborate on what you don't like?

Sure, I just didn't have much time when I made the first post.

So, just last night, I was talking to a friend about dogs, cats, etc, and how most animals have superior senses to humans - especially smell.

So, when I read your post, the notion that other (generally humanoid) species would even notice the pheromones just struck me wrong.

Now, I don't have a live Forman to test on, but, personally, I've never noticed ants "hungry" scent. So, I guess, unless there's something in the rules (of either D&D or this reality) to contradict my experiences, it just strikes me wrong to assume that companions (PCs) would have been able to sense, distinguish, and interpret these scents.

[Pleh]

Whenever I'm eradicating real world ants from my kitchen counter, I can rather smell something from them and it always seem to be the same smell. It's probably not the same as pheromones, but it might be part of whatever secretion they use to deliver pheromones. I'm not getting all that close to the ants and I don't just smell it from ants being in my house. I assumed it was a cry for help and/or warning to stay away from danger.

So I guess I just figured that these formians would be noticeably smelly, even if non formian would lack a lot of nuance.

Sort of like how many animals understand the undertones of human vocalization, even if the complexities of words is beyond their comprehension. Those that spend their lives with humans usually pick up a handful of common and important words, even if they continue to rely on body language and tone.

It didn't seem like much of a stretch to me, but it wouldn't be a big change to give them a sign language rather than an odor. Ymmv

[Quertus]

Whenever I'm eradicating real world ants from my kitchen counter, I can rather smell something from them and it always seem to be the same smell. I assumed it was a cry for help and/or warning to stay away from danger.

So I guess I just figured that these formians would be noticeably smelly, even if non formian would lack a lot of nuance.

Well, how embarrassing. I'm senile enough, I forgot that my sense of smell is suspect. :smallredface:

Yes, if you've smelled their release of danger pheromones, then it's at the very least detectable by human senses - even if I personally have never perceived it.

[Pleh]

Well, how embarrassing. I'm senile enough, I forgot that my sense of smell is suspect. :smallredface:

Yes, if you've smelled their release of danger pheromones, then it's at the very least detectable by human senses - even if I personally have never perceived it.

Ok. You're probably right to begin with. I had never thought to google it before, but it looks like the smell I've taken for granted since childhood is more likely a defense mechanism than pheromones (makes more sense). The exact odor can vary by species, but since it's acid based, it typically is described as being a citrus-y aroma, compared to rotten coconut or "chemical" lemon. It's probably meant to make themselves less appealing to predators.

I'll go ahead and modify the Formians to just use sign language. It's less complicated for new readers to follow.

Edit: I changed that text to instead read as

They have developed a Formian Sign Language, though most races don't bother to learn it as most cultures interacting directly with Formian civilization can communicate telepathically with the Queen or indirectly through her Myrmarch taskmasters.

[Feantar]

Sure, I just didn't have much time when I made the first post.

So, just last night, I was talking to a friend about dogs, cats, etc, and how most animals have superior senses to humans - especially smell.

So, when I read your post, the notion that other (generally humanoid) species would even notice the pheromones just struck me wrong.

Now, I don't have a live Forman to test on, but, personally, I've never noticed ants "hungry" scent. So, I guess, unless there's something in the rules (of either D&D or this reality) to contradict my experiences, it just strikes me wrong to assume that companions (PCs) would have been able to sense, distinguish, and interpret these scents.

There's a good fluff justification for this. Formians take slaves from other races constantly.

Also, as to the OP, ghost sound cannot replicate speech, so change that to just illusory speech.

Posting from a smartphone.

[Pleh]

Also, as to the OP, ghost sound cannot replicate speech, so change that to just illusory speech.

Posting from a smartphone.

I get that you're AFB, but when you get the chance, do you have a citation for that?

Here's what I've got:


... You can produce as much noise as four normal humans per caster level (maximum twenty humans). Thus, talking, singing, shouting, walking, marching, or running sounds can be created.

Only limit seems to be volume, not complexity. I suppose the idea was they didn't want you able to deal damage with a 0 level spell (either deafening or sonic damage).

EDIT: Your point DID actually make me reconsider the Mute disadvantage, which may be more crippling than I realized. It could be read as stating that Formians are incapable of producing Verbal Components for spells.

I imagine even without vocal chords, Formians could produce verbal speech patterns. They would likely just be a chattering, buzzing sound that would be almost impossible for normal humanoids to replicate. The question is if the canonical D&D magic system accepts this alternative vocalization pattern to satisfy verbal spell components.

If it doesn't, then this race as written has a much larger handicap than I imagined when writing it.

[Lapak]

Regarding the speech thing, I have two thoughts. First, they seem primed for psionics anyway, so not having traditional casting isn't completely terrible. But that aside, you could draw inspiration from another always-mute scent-communicating D&D race (Saurials) and give them an alternate 'vocalization' that's pitched outside most beings' range. Sub- or hyper-sonic vibrations in their carapace, say. That might end up going from disadvantage to buff, though, if it effectively gives them Silent Spell for free.

[liquidformat]

Pretty cool concept here are a couple thoughts:

- take a look at Ghostwise Halflings speakwithout a sound ability it might work in place of Myrmarch Ghost Speech ability and maybe communication for the other two as well.
-Formian Worker are you going with 30' land speed instead of 10' land speed because of their multiple legs making them faster than other small races? Also isn't +8 climb bonus standard for races with a climb speed, are you intending the +4 climb bonus to be in place of that or on top of that? It would be good to be a bit more explicit about that.
-Inside the entry for each of the three races it is important to be explicit about whether or not their clawed forelimbs are functional hands or not. As it stands from reading these I would assuming Workers have no functional hands, warriors maybe given the vague reference, and Myrmarch no clue want to say yes but nothing points either way...
-Mechanically having the Queen being a prc is probably easier than a template since you are already going for base race with no la and templates at high levels are weird especially if they add la.

[Pleh]

Regarding the speech thing, I have two thoughts. First, they seem primed for psionics anyway, so not having traditional casting isn't completely terrible. But that aside, you could draw inspiration from another always-mute scent-communicating D&D race (Saurials) and give them an alternate 'vocalization' that's pitched outside most beings' range. Sub- or hyper-sonic vibrations in their carapace, say. That might end up going from disadvantage to buff, though, if it effectively gives them Silent Spell for free.

Or I could just trash the whole problem and give them normal humanoid mouth and voice parts. I like the idea of roleplaying mute characters, though.

I was just looking up the psionic variant of Ghost Sound (full disclaimer, I'm not very familiar with Psionics past the part that they're basically magic variant that uses points instead of slots). Create Sound is a 1st level power whose crunch is lifted straight out of Ghost Sound, except they added that, "if you wish to create a specific message, up to 25 words can be created and they repeat for the duration of the power" (somewhat paraphrased).

This might have been what Feantar was thinking as it might be closer to the RAI for how Ghost Sound works as well.

This is actually kinda cool. So suppose I give Myrmarchs Create Sound as an at-will psi-like ability. It now takes them a Standard Action to say 25 words out loud (they can dismiss the effect at will, so it doesn't repeat if they don't want it to). Out of combat, it doesn't matter because it's an at-will ability that doesn't cost them power points, they just have to take their time to speak. They can still use writing, drawing, sign language, and possibly telepathy later on in cases where they need less limited communication.

The beauty of this system is that it paints a picture in my minds that Myrmarchs, when they use their Create Sound PLA would probably speak in something like a Haiku. Because most people don't bother counting how many words they need and it would be terribly annoying to have to wait 6 seconds to hear the end of a sentence, they likely train themselves to make every sentence fit a rhyming format so they never end in the middle of a sentence. Not that this needs to be roleplayed by the player necessarily, it could easily be abstracted to help move the game along. But it could be if a player and their group was into the idea.

As for the mute handicap on verbal spell components, I really want any LA+0 race I make to truly be ready to combine with any class you want (especially the Core classes). Playing a Formian Wizard adventurer shouldn't be like playing a polyplegic fighter. I would also try to avoid the "sub/hyper" sonic vocalization due to the free Silent Spell loophole. Rather, I think I would just rule that the species is designed for a Campaign Setting where the Laws Of Magic are independent of language and vocalization type. The fact that they CAN speak in some way means they can form the arcane verbal components to a sufficient degree (because magic language wasn't written in any of the mortal tongues to begin with).

Perhaps, less powerful than a free Silent Spell, using Spellcraft to identify a Formian's spell is more difficult because their verbal components are so strange? Sort of like how constructs and undead are immune to precision damage because their anatomy is strange/nonessential/nonexistent, you'd have to know Formian as a language or you'd take a penalty to Spellcraft to identify their spells.


Pretty cool concept here are a couple thoughts:

- take a look at Ghostwise Halflings speakwithout a sound ability it might work in place of Myrmarch Ghost Speech ability and maybe communication for the other two as well.

Sounds good. I will definitely look into it. I'm assuming that race is in the Ghostwalk setting book?

EDIT: Google Fu found it. Races of Faerun.


-Formian Worker are you going with 30' land speed instead of 10' land speed because of their multiple legs making them faster than other small races?

I think you mean "20ft" instead of "10ft" which is the standard speed for small creatures, and yes. Formians are supposed to be fast for their size, but that also only puts them on part with Goblins and Kobolds.


Also isn't +8 climb bonus standard for races with a climb speed, are you intending the +4 climb bonus to be in place of that or on top of that? It would be good to be a bit more explicit about that.

I probably should just follow the standard on that. The first post was thrown together over the course of a single morning and afternoon, so as I was researching a bunch of things and I generally wanted to err on the side of caution. I didn't want to accidentally tip the scales to LA+1 by having too many little things adding up. At this point, I think it would be fine to just say they have the standard +8 to climb for having a climb speed.


-Inside the entry for each of the three races it is important to be explicit about whether or not their clawed forelimbs are functional hands or not. As it stands from reading these I would assuming Workers have no functional hands, warriors maybe given the vague reference, and Myrmarch no clue want to say yes but nothing points either way...

You've got it right, but I can easily clarify that better in the race description. Worker hands are mostly only useful for grabbing and holding things, but not fine manipulation required to wield weapons (like holding a sword with a pair of scissors), nor are they tough enough to act as weapons in their own right. Meanwhile, Warriors and Myrmarchs are meant to have basically human hands that have all the same advantages and disadvantages.


-Mechanically having the Queen being a prc is probably easier than a template since you are already going for base race with no la and templates at high levels are weird especially if they add la.

Ok then. Again, I don't know how much I'd invest in crafting that particular set of mechanics because I don't think there'd be much adventuring left to do once you've reduced your Str and Dex to 0 and given up all ability to move under your own power (besides possibly teleporting since you're still a powerful manifester/caster, but again you have little reason to want to actually go anywhere unless the colony is destroyed, in which case you don't really have anywhere to go).

EDIT: Updated the OP with some of the recommended changes. In addition to clarifying the Tool Claws of Formian Workers, I decided that taking away their ability to wield weapons seemed a bit harsh, so I gave them +4 to grapple in exchange. I feel like it paints a picture that fighting Formians, they would probably first try to flee to higher ground and let the Warriors do the fighting, but if backed into a corner, they'd swarm the enemy, climbing onto various appendages and start trying to "dismantle" the threat with their rock crushing jaws. Mechanically, it would amount to a grapple fight with a gang of Ant Centaurs who are surprisingly good at Grappling for their size and surprisingly dangerous in large groups.

[liquidformat]

yep meant 20' not 10'; if you are worried about balance, you could always go with 5' climb speed so they can still climb just they aren't particularly fast since they are a base race that can climb. Over all I don't think it is a big deal, barbarians can get a climb speed equal to half their land speed at level one through ape totem after all.

Ghostwise halfling is actually from forgotten realms campaign setting. They are a mute race


A ghostwise halfling, unlike other halflings, can communicate telepathically with any creature within 20 feet, just as if speaking to him or her. The halfling can only speak and listen to one person at a time, and he must share a common language with the other person or creature he speaks to telepathically, or the telepathic link fails.

there are also Buomman from Planar Handbook which are mute by choice and take damage and penalties if they do speak. Specifically for the workers and warriors I think requiring silent spell for them to be spell casters isn't horrible since it balances them out somewhat. In the case of the Myrmarch since she doesn't have ability scores tweaking her to be able to be a spell caster without need of silent spell wouldn't unbalance her as a la 0 race.

As far as queens go players wanting to play them or not really depends on how they are handled. They were actually talked extensively about in the LA assessment thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?485938-The-LA-assignment-thread/page23).
The fact that they come online at ~15 means not being able to move really isn't as big of a deal as it would be at earlier levels. With access to things like polymorphic and other spells having a base race incapable of movement isn't much of a hurdle to overcome.

Honestly creating the class would be relatively straight forward:
- first level Str & Dex become _ gain still spell and silent spell that don't change spell level
- give 7 levels of spell casting over 5 levels so queen ends up with cr 17 at 20
- add con/wis/int/cha bonuses at each level
- full bab all good saves, d8, 8+int skills
- add slas at each level
- 10 mile telepathy radius/level

I would adjust the slas and ability bonuses to reflect the level of power you are aiming for. Given all 10 levels of mindbender being the prereq for the prc giving 7 levels of spell casting over 5 levels only gives you cr 17 you can adjust if you are worried about power level as well.

[Feantar]

I get that you're AFB, but when you get the chance, do you have a citation for that?

Here's what I've got:



Only limit seems to be volume, not complexity. I suppose the idea was they didn't want you able to deal damage with a 0 level spell (either deafening or sonic damage).

EDIT: Your point DID actually make me reconsider the Mute disadvantage, which may be more crippling than I realized. It could be read as stating that Formians are incapable of producing Verbal Components for spells.

I imagine even without vocal chords, Formians could produce verbal speech patterns. They would likely just be a chattering, buzzing sound that would be almost impossible for normal humanoids to replicate. The question is if the canonical D&D magic system accepts this alternative vocalization pattern to satisfy verbal spell components.

If it doesn't, then this race as written has a much larger handicap than I imagined when writing it.

It's in a weird place, in the entry for figments figments: A figment that includes audible effects cannot duplicate intelligible speech unless the spell description specifically says it can. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#figment).

On the mute thing, there are the Buommans who have taken an oath of non-speech(not silence) who can take a feat called non-verbal spell to cast spells with verbal components. That would fit. If you want to, give them the feat as a racial feat and you've solved it. They are in the Planar Handbook (pg 9, look at the bullet-points in the lower right side), if you want to check them out yourself.

[Pleh]

It's in a weird place, in the entry for figments figments: A figment that includes audible effects cannot duplicate intelligible speech unless the spell description specifically says it can. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#figment).

On the mute thing, there are the Buommans who have taken an oath of non-speech(not silence) who can take a feat called non-verbal spell to cast spells with verbal components. That would fit. If you want to, give them the feat as a racial feat and you've solved it. They are in the Planar Handbook (pg 9, look at the bullet-points in the lower right side), if you want to check them out yourself.

That is weird, though I feel there's still ambiguity with the Ghost Sound description saying it could produce the sound of "Talking" which sounds like it qualifies as intelligent speech. I guess that would be a DM's call.

Either way, borrowing the Ghostwise Halfling's Speak without Sound ability seems to do the trick without worrying about whether Ghost Sound works for this application.

[Elkad]

Ants emit formic acid.
Anyone who's ever distractedly poured a bowl of ant-infested cereal and started eating knows exactly what I'm talking about.

The smell is more subtle, but it's the same.


Incidentally, the reason you serve chocolate-covered ants is so the alkaline chocolate neutralizes the formic acid.

[liquidformat]

That is weird, though I feel there's still ambiguity with the Ghost Sound description saying it could produce the sound of "Talking" which sounds like it qualifies as intelligent speech. I guess that would be a DM's call.

Either way, borrowing the Ghostwise Halfling's Speak without Sound ability seems to do the trick without worrying about whether Ghost Sound works for this application.

So one of the ways to make it sound like everyone one stage at a play is lively talking as background noise without them all holding conversations is to have everyone repeat the word rhubarb over and over again at their own tempo. Given that Ghost sounds could simulate groups of people speaking without actually having any coherent speech...