PoeticallyPsyco
2020-03-25, 01:00 AM
So I've been chipping away at a build for the much-delayed Junkyard Wars (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?603826-Junkyard-Wars-XXVIII-1MF-CPA-amp-A-T) competition. And I've hit a wall. And I've found a possible way around that wall. But I'd love some advice/input on said way.
Fair warning, the spoilered section will probably give the game away as to which entry is mine, so if you care about that, read no further. OTOH, right now it's looking like I'm the only entry in the works, which would make the whole thing a moot point.
While stuck on an aspect of the build, I hit on a solution that I at first dismissed as too cheesy, mainly because it doesn't fit with the concept I'm going for. Symbiotic Creature (Savage Species pg 131).
But then I thought about it some more, and actually it could play quite nicely with the concept... with the right guest and host creatures. The original concept is a man turned into a cyborg after a serious injury, for which Sym. Cr. is a poor fit, but adapted to a fantasy setting there are several ways it could work:
The original man back as a corporeal tiny intelligent undead or something (would have to retain at least one class feature), inhabiting some medium creature (a construct of some sort? Warforged?). Would also work at larger sizes, for that matter. Main thing here would be fitting the type requirements; Human Heritage works for the original man, and would work for some hosts too. What templates/creatures work best? Maybe Incarnate Construct for the host?
OTOH, with a larger host you don't even need a template for the guest (the original man). However, with the added size being a significant departure from the original idea, I'd prefer something especially 'cyborg-y' for the host. Incarnate Construct might work for this, too.
For both of these, lower HD is better, natch. That said, in an effort to make this cheese less stinky, having the final product end up with a reasonable ECL would be nice. Note that Symbiotic Creature explicitly works on guests/hosts with LA --, setting their LA to +1 because it is broken.
TL;DR I'd like recommendations for two creatures that combined would work well thematically for a fantasy cyborg/small mech suit. One has to be a (former?) humanoid-ish that still has its class features; the second one has to be at least two sizes larger than the first and be an animal,
humanoid, plant, or vermin.
Oh, one last thing. This freaking question (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/166781/is-there-a-way-to-get-decisive-strike-with-a-non-monk-weapon/166782#166782) is the sticking point in my build that kicked this whole idea off. I would be much obliged to anyone that can figure out a better answer than mine (Symbiotic Creature). It also just straight up tells you the build concept I'm working around, so if you don't want it spoiled don't click. Corollary: if you're curious and want to know, check it out.
EDIT: I ended up finding a different (and far more elegant) work-around. That said, I'd still be curious as to what creatures you guys think fit/would work with the concept.
Fair warning, the spoilered section will probably give the game away as to which entry is mine, so if you care about that, read no further. OTOH, right now it's looking like I'm the only entry in the works, which would make the whole thing a moot point.
While stuck on an aspect of the build, I hit on a solution that I at first dismissed as too cheesy, mainly because it doesn't fit with the concept I'm going for. Symbiotic Creature (Savage Species pg 131).
But then I thought about it some more, and actually it could play quite nicely with the concept... with the right guest and host creatures. The original concept is a man turned into a cyborg after a serious injury, for which Sym. Cr. is a poor fit, but adapted to a fantasy setting there are several ways it could work:
The original man back as a corporeal tiny intelligent undead or something (would have to retain at least one class feature), inhabiting some medium creature (a construct of some sort? Warforged?). Would also work at larger sizes, for that matter. Main thing here would be fitting the type requirements; Human Heritage works for the original man, and would work for some hosts too. What templates/creatures work best? Maybe Incarnate Construct for the host?
OTOH, with a larger host you don't even need a template for the guest (the original man). However, with the added size being a significant departure from the original idea, I'd prefer something especially 'cyborg-y' for the host. Incarnate Construct might work for this, too.
For both of these, lower HD is better, natch. That said, in an effort to make this cheese less stinky, having the final product end up with a reasonable ECL would be nice. Note that Symbiotic Creature explicitly works on guests/hosts with LA --, setting their LA to +1 because it is broken.
TL;DR I'd like recommendations for two creatures that combined would work well thematically for a fantasy cyborg/small mech suit. One has to be a (former?) humanoid-ish that still has its class features; the second one has to be at least two sizes larger than the first and be an animal,
humanoid, plant, or vermin.
Oh, one last thing. This freaking question (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/166781/is-there-a-way-to-get-decisive-strike-with-a-non-monk-weapon/166782#166782) is the sticking point in my build that kicked this whole idea off. I would be much obliged to anyone that can figure out a better answer than mine (Symbiotic Creature). It also just straight up tells you the build concept I'm working around, so if you don't want it spoiled don't click. Corollary: if you're curious and want to know, check it out.
EDIT: I ended up finding a different (and far more elegant) work-around. That said, I'd still be curious as to what creatures you guys think fit/would work with the concept.