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View Full Version : Introducing the Cloaker as a playable race- AND a symbiont! Awesome!



kwanzaabot
2008-04-27, 08:07 AM
Part 2 in what's turning into a series of what I like to call "Player races that shouldn't be". Most likely completely unbalanced, so feel free to help me make it more good. :P

More fluff coming soon.

Racial Traits
http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/044/e/3/Ambush_by_UdonCrew.jpg
Which one of these people is wearing a Cloaker? It's Gary, in the back.

Cloaker

• +2 Int, -2 Dex
• Medium Abberation (Symbiont)
• Base land speed is 10ft.
• Base flight speed is 40ft (Average Maneuverability). Only Cloakers of 5 HD or more can fly.
• Darkvision 60ft.
• Symbiont Subtype: Probably not allowed to reproduce this, so check out the Eberron campaign setting for more info. Basically an intelligent item.
• Poly-Cotton Blend: A Cloaker can only attach itself to a willing host; the would-be bearer must actually don the robe (as a full round action), at which point its tendrils dig into the flesh to bond with the body of the host. A Cloaker is treated as a robe or cloak suitable for a Medium-sized creature, and is situated on the same place on the body that an actual robe would use. Attaching or removing a Cloaker deals 1 point of Strength damage to the host.
Cloakers also cannot make physical attacks of their own when worn, but are perfectly capable of casting spells, or using the host's attacks if the Cloaker's Ego score allows it to gain dominance over him/her.
• Spell-like Abilities (Sp):
1 time per day: Sound Burst. This spell is accompanied by a horrible, high-pitched screech.
3 times per day: Mirror Image and Silent Image. This ability is effective only in dark or shadowy areas.
Caster levels equal the Cloaker's total HD. Cloakers may use their Spell-like abilities one extra time per day for each level beyond 1st.
• Light Fortification (Ex): A Cloaker has light fortification (25% chance to negate any critical hit or sneak attack) and imparts this ability to its host.
• Stabilize Host (Su): A Cloaker can stabilize a host that has dropped to negative hit points. This is a free action that deals 1 point of Strength damage to the host. The Cloaker can do this without prompting from the host, and will generally do so whenever the situation arises.
• Telepathy (Su): A Cloaker can communicate telepathically with its host, if its host has a language.
• When joined with a host, a Cloaker and its host recieve a +5 racial bonus on Hide Checks when in areas of darkness or shadowy illumination. A Vampire wearing a Cloaker can survive one extra round in sunlight before being destroyed.
Additionally, being worn allows the host to fly (if the Cloaker can) at a base speed of 20ft (Poor Maneuverability). If the host can already fly, use that speed instead.
• A character must suceed on a DC 10 Spot or Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check to identify a Cloaker as anything other than a mundane article of clothing.
• Automatic Languages: Common
• Bonus Languages: Any
• Favoured Class: Wizard

Fluff etc
Nobody knows why they do it, but it's a fact of life. Wizards love to play god. Just look around: Owlbears, Malboros... the world is full of things that shouldn't be, but are. Cloakers are no exception. Created during the great Nudist Invasion of '53 as a defence against the unspeakable horrors of the human form, Cloakers represent something of an oddity.
Not quite mere intelligent items, but not quite practical enough to thrive on their own like normal animal species, Cloakers strive to break free of the shackles of fashion and opression and establish their own independent society.

It is said that the bigger, meaner Cloakers found in the wild are descendants of those who managed to find their place in the world and upon realising this went utterly mad for some reason or another, but most scholars believe that they're simply Cloakers made by evil and unfashionable wizards, as intelligent items are still too stupid to survive on their own without some kind of assistance.

Physical Description: At a glance, Cloakers look like an ordinary person wearing a hooded robe. It's only upon closer inspection that it is revealed that a Cloaker isn't actually being worn by anyone, but is actually a robe-shaped creature that can move of its own free will. The “hood” of the outfit is the Cloaker's mouth, and there are a pair of barely noticeable small, beady black eyes on the top. Their “sleeves” contain four finger-like claws and a thumb each. Cloakers also have a long, spine-like vestigial tail.
A Cloaker doesn't change size when being worn, so on a Small character she'll seem much too big, and on a Large character she'll look too tight. Cloakers have a natural elasticity, but can only stretch so far- on a Huge or larger character, the Cloaker will just try to fit as well as she can, even if it means being worn as a turban, bandana, loincloth or some other appropriately sized piece of clothing.

Adventurers: As a symbiotic species, Cloakers prefer to move about while being worn by a friend (or in some cases, an oblivious subject who simply believes he/she is in posession of a magic cloak), and as such can grant a wide range of protective bonuses to their wearer. In return, Cloakers who are too young to fly gain the ability to move at a faster rate than they'd normally be able, and are able to benefit from armour, which is typically much to heavy to be worn by the cloth-like Cloakers.
Cloakers rarely make a point to go adventuring on their own, simply travelling where their partner does. As they experience the world around them, adventuring Cloakers eventually develop a taste for life on the road, even if they were against the idea to begin with.

Personality: Cloakers have a natural flair for style, and will often judge someone by the kind of clothes they wear or the company they keep (in the case of people who wear Cloakers). If something is unfashionable, Cloakers are quick to mock, criticize or ostracize it.
Cloakers also have a tendency to be “backseat drivers”, thanks to their inability to get around on their own effectively.

They probably suffer from being needlessly complicated, but you guys really helped me with my Malboros, so hopefully my Cloakers can get better too.

And yes, I do seem to have a thing for Aberrations.

MAJOR EDIT: I've been struggling with the mechanics behind being worn, but it turns out these already exist- in the form of Symbionts! Thank you, Eberron. :smallwink:

Devin
2008-04-27, 09:36 AM
I really like this whole "turning monsters into playable races" thing you have going on. Have you seen Cuddles the Cloaker from Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic?

I'm afraid I can't help much with the mechanics, but it seems like a race with +2 Int should have an Int based class as it's favored class. I could be wrong, though.

kwanzaabot
2008-04-27, 07:10 PM
I really like this whole "turning monsters into playable races" thing you have going on. Have you seen Cuddles the Cloaker from Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic?

I'm afraid I can't help much with the mechanics, but it seems like a race with +2 Int should have an Int based class as it's favored class. I could be wrong, though.

Actually, Cuddles was my inspiration for it. =P

And yeah, I'm changing that favoured class to Wizard. I'm kinda absent-minded when it comes to details like that.

kwanzaabot
2008-04-28, 08:04 PM
Nobody has any other opinions on this, huh? Dang.

arkanis
2008-04-29, 03:29 PM
I think it's a really neat idea but you've really left out a few important notes:

Area effects would affect the cloaker as well who would of course make their own Fort and Will saves, but be dependant upon their wearer for the Reflex save.

Being an "item" on the person means they can be disarmed/sundered? Any attempt to sunder the cloaker would instead just be an attack against the wearer + cloaker's natural armor bonus + size bonus to AC?

Donning a cloaker? Full-round action? Standard action?

kwanzaabot
2008-04-29, 08:09 PM
I think it's a really neat idea but you've really left out a few important notes:

Area effects would affect the cloaker as well who would of course make their own Fort and Will saves, but be dependant upon their wearer for the Reflex save.

Being an "item" on the person means they can be disarmed/sundered? Any attempt to sunder the cloaker would instead just be an attack against the wearer + cloaker's natural armor bonus + size bonus to AC?

Donning a cloaker? Full-round action? Standard action?

Let's see what I can clear up. :)

Magic and physical attacks divide the damage between the Cloaker and wearer, so this would logically include area effects. When worn, the Cloaker depends on the wearer utterly, but yeah, maybe they should have their own extra damage (or extra protection) depending on their own saves. I wouldn't know how to word that, though.

As for the sundering... well, as it says, you attack the wearer + cloaker (they're medium creatures with no natural armor, so there's no bonuses there), and then if the Cloaker dies, it drops off.
You can't really disarm a living thing like you would an item, but I guess someone could always grapple it off.

Does that really need to be mentioned, though? Seems kinda self-explanitory- they pretend to be magic items, but they're still living things.

As for donning the Cloaker, I always assumed it would take exactly as long as it'd take to don a regular cloak. Turns out I can't find the rules for that (I can find the rules for donning armour, but that's a little different), so I guess we could just call it a standard action. :D

Mewtarthio
2008-04-29, 08:52 PM
You know what would be awesome? A Cloaker Psion (telepath) / Thrallherd. Nobody ever expects the apparent BBEG to be a hapless puppet of his stylish cloak. :smallbiggrin:

kwanzaabot
2008-04-29, 09:53 PM
You know what would be awesome? A Cloaker Psion (telepath) / Thrallherd. Nobody ever expects the apparent BBEG to be a hapless puppet of his stylish cloak. :smallbiggrin:

Ooh, totally. :smallamused:

arkanis
2008-04-29, 10:10 PM
Well if you're going to make it that simple just state that its sharing a square with its "wearer" as a normal creature would and requires a ??? action to separate or come together. All grapples, attacks, area effects, etc. would work as if it were just two creatures sharing a square with an ally.

In which case the cloaker can act separately, but in order to provide their wearer with the bonuses and stay in their square they must use up their actions to do so.

That would be the simplest way to go (but you have to exclusively say "sharing space" in order for that to apply to those rules).

kwanzaabot
2008-05-15, 12:20 AM
Bumpity bump! I need more input on this, guys!

Blanks
2008-06-02, 07:48 AM
Apart from this being a completely zany idea, here is some feedback :smalltongue:

Don't you have to factor in some rules regarding cover? I mean they really have a meatshield all the time...

kwanzaabot
2008-06-03, 05:01 AM
Apart from this being a completely zany idea, here is some feedback :smalltongue:

Don't you have to factor in some rules regarding cover? I mean they really have a meatshield all the time...

Nah, it's much easier to just leave it the way the Symbiont subtype works. It counts as a seperate entity, both can be targeted seperately, but they can share personal spells. It saves it from being too much of a headache in my opinion.

bibliophile
2008-06-13, 04:12 PM
This is an excellent idea

kwanzaabot
2008-06-14, 02:06 AM
This is an excellent idea

Aww, shucks. :smallredface: