StoryKeeper
2008-11-17, 09:52 PM
Once upon a time I ran a campaign in which all the players played monsters. Now I used the level adjustments and whatnot, but eventually I let the players do some stuff that made a couple of players far stronger than the others. That was my bad.
The players have expressed interest in continuing the campaign after I had had a break and some time to think, and I'm finally ready to run it again. This time, however, I would like to do a better job of balancing the party.
The two characters who are especially powerful are the vampire and the mind flayer. I have taken some time to try and balance them out without making them take those annoying monstrous hit die.
Please give me suggestions on how to improve the balance of the following and feel free to point out huge completely incorrect things.
LA +4 VAMPIRE
(original template here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/vampire.htm)
Type: Changes to Undead.
Abilities: +4 STR, +4 DEX, +4 CHA
Special Attacks:
-Blood Drain (as vampire template)
-Create Spawn: (as vampire template)(Keep in mind that this one will be less powerful than normal as the nature of the campaign will make it difficult to find beings who can be turned into vampires.)
Special Qualities:
-Fast Healing: (see: vampire template)
-Gaseous Form: (see: vampire template)
-Resistance 10 VS Cold and Electricity
Level Adjustment: +4
Am I way off on the level adjustment? Would you do anything differently?
LA +4 MINDFLAYER
Type: Abberation
Abilities: +5 INT, +2 WIS, +2 CHA
Base Speed: 30 ft.
Natural Attacks: Tentacle (1d4 damage)
Bonus Feats: Improved Grab
SPECIAL ATTACKS:
Mind Blast: 30 ft. cone. All creatures in area must make a will save (DC 10+ 1/2 MindFlayer's HD+ CHA modifier) or be stunned for 3d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting ability usable 1/day/CHA modifier.
SPECIAL QUALITIES:
Telepathy: Can "speak" telepathically with any creature it is aware of within 100 ft. This one-way only. The other creature cannot return speech telepathically.
PSI-LIKE ABILITIES:
Detect Thoughts: As the spell 1/day/CHA modifier. Caster level equal to HD.
Level Adjustment: +4
I was even more iffy about this one than the vampire. If I need to lose something, some of the ability score adjustments would be the first things to go. Detect Thoughts is dropable too, and I could lose Improved Grab and the Tentacle attack if necessary (thus restricting the player to brain eating outside of combat only.)
The players have expressed interest in continuing the campaign after I had had a break and some time to think, and I'm finally ready to run it again. This time, however, I would like to do a better job of balancing the party.
The two characters who are especially powerful are the vampire and the mind flayer. I have taken some time to try and balance them out without making them take those annoying monstrous hit die.
Please give me suggestions on how to improve the balance of the following and feel free to point out huge completely incorrect things.
LA +4 VAMPIRE
(original template here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/vampire.htm)
Type: Changes to Undead.
Abilities: +4 STR, +4 DEX, +4 CHA
Special Attacks:
-Blood Drain (as vampire template)
-Create Spawn: (as vampire template)(Keep in mind that this one will be less powerful than normal as the nature of the campaign will make it difficult to find beings who can be turned into vampires.)
Special Qualities:
-Fast Healing: (see: vampire template)
-Gaseous Form: (see: vampire template)
-Resistance 10 VS Cold and Electricity
Level Adjustment: +4
Am I way off on the level adjustment? Would you do anything differently?
LA +4 MINDFLAYER
Type: Abberation
Abilities: +5 INT, +2 WIS, +2 CHA
Base Speed: 30 ft.
Natural Attacks: Tentacle (1d4 damage)
Bonus Feats: Improved Grab
SPECIAL ATTACKS:
Mind Blast: 30 ft. cone. All creatures in area must make a will save (DC 10+ 1/2 MindFlayer's HD+ CHA modifier) or be stunned for 3d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting ability usable 1/day/CHA modifier.
SPECIAL QUALITIES:
Telepathy: Can "speak" telepathically with any creature it is aware of within 100 ft. This one-way only. The other creature cannot return speech telepathically.
PSI-LIKE ABILITIES:
Detect Thoughts: As the spell 1/day/CHA modifier. Caster level equal to HD.
Level Adjustment: +4
I was even more iffy about this one than the vampire. If I need to lose something, some of the ability score adjustments would be the first things to go. Detect Thoughts is dropable too, and I could lose Improved Grab and the Tentacle attack if necessary (thus restricting the player to brain eating outside of combat only.)