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Author Topic: Revised Gholam
dscrank
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Member # 56185


posted November 08, 2002 08:59 PM      Profile for dscrank      Edit/Delete Post
I've been considering ways to improve the gholam in the book, as I think he's rather underpowered. My idea is to treat gholam as a race, and then just give him levels of a Hero class. In so doing, he'd have the following racial attributes:

1. Damage Reduction 5/-- [since there's no evidence gholam are vulnerable to Power-wrought weapons], One sense, weave immunity, boneless, ter'angreal vulnerability

2. Skills: +4 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently [I changed this from +8 Move Silently and instead evenly split this between the two]. Background skills should probably be Hide, Move Silently, then maybe Tumble and Escape Artist.

3. Attributes: +X Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution [I haven't decided what X is yet. You can build the gholam attributes in the book with X=10 and a 30 point buy, but +10 on three attributes? He's supposed to be practically unstoppable, but still...]

4. Background Feats: Just two, Martial Arts and Improved Martial Arts from the SW RPG. These are more powerful than WoT's Improved Unarmed Strike, and I think wholly appropriate, since gholam apparently kill with their bare hands.

The most likely class for a gholam would be Woodsman. It's not perfect, but I think it's probably the best fit for an unarmored warrior. Nature's Warrior isn't much use, but Stealth bonuses are good, Track makes sense, as does Partial Improved Initiative. Plus Spot, Listen, Hide, Move Silently, Intimidate, Wilderness Lore (for Track), and Search are all class skills.

Now, please note I'm not trying to balance the gholam as a new race. They're supposed to be outright terrifying--I'm just trying to come up with a good way to build a truly dangerous gholam.

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-Donald S. Crankshaw

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Eosin_the_Red
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posted November 08, 2002 10:46 PM      Profile for Eosin_the_Red   Email Eosin_the_Red    Edit/Delete Post
I just say "You guys see a Gholam. Who wants to roll up thier new character first?"

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Call of the Horn
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From: Norman, OK, USA | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Shadowkiller
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posted November 08, 2002 11:03 PM      Profile for Shadowkiller      Edit/Delete Post
[ROFL] [ROFL] [ROFL] [ROFL] [ROFL] [ROFL] [ROFL] [ROFL]
That gholam might actually challenge my players. It'd almost be worth a try to find out.

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Children of the Dragon
^My Website^

From: Currently-Germany | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
Melriken
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posted November 09, 2002 12:29 AM      Profile for Melriken   Email Melriken    Edit/Delete Post
or you could just take the one in the book and advance it by character class... add a few levels of Woodsman to the stats in the book and you have a harder gholam... why reduce it to a race, when you can just use it as one and put the class levels on top.

makes it easyer to figure out the challange too.

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The prior post is in no way intended to represent the thoughts and/or opinions of the author. Read at your own risk.

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dscrank
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posted November 09, 2002 12:57 PM      Profile for dscrank      Edit/Delete Post
I reduced it to race because I think that's actually cleaner. I tried just adding levels, but that was too messy... I couldn't decide what his current level was, where he got his feats, what skills should be considered background skills, etc. This way, he gets first level benefits (including background feat and 4xskill points). I can throw in the Martial Arts feats, I can create background skills, and I now have rules which allow me to give him attributes different from the book's. Finally, I replace his original odd stats with a hero class hit point, save, and defense progression.

[ November 09, 2002, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: dscrank ]

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-Donald S. Crankshaw

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Melriken
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posted November 09, 2002 07:06 PM      Profile for Melriken   Email Melriken    Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by dscrank:
I reduced it to race because I think that's actually cleaner. I tried just adding levels, but that was too messy... I couldn't decide what his current level was, where he got his feats, what skills should be considered background skills, etc. This way, he gets first level benefits (including background feat and 4xskill points). I can throw in the Martial Arts feats, I can create background skills, and I now have rules which allow me to give him attributes different from the book's. Finally, I replace his original odd stats with a hero class hit point, save, and defense progression.

he is level 10 by his printed stats, just like he had 10 levels in one class and whatever you add on top of that. (see page 236)

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The prior post is in no way intended to represent the thoughts and/or opinions of the author. Read at your own risk.

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dscrank
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posted November 10, 2002 09:38 AM      Profile for dscrank      Edit/Delete Post
Possibly, but I noticed that the class he has ten levels in is severely underpowered. It could be warrior, but he gets less skill points and no armor compatibility, and no first level or Background feat. Although he does have +2 to Defense (equal to the Hero class bonus) and Reflex saves.

I like this way better. It creates a more complete gholam. In the end, it's really a matter of taste.

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-Donald S. Crankshaw

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The Great Gray Skwid
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posted November 11, 2002 09:47 AM      Profile for The Great Gray Skwid   Email The Great Gray Skwid    Edit/Delete Post
Um, no offense, but armor compatibility for a Gholam is kind of absurd.

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Evan "Skwid" Langlinais
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http://www.thehumblest.net/
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From: The Big D | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
dscrank
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posted November 11, 2002 10:28 PM      Profile for dscrank      Edit/Delete Post
I'm not saying he should have armor compatibility (unless you include natural armor), I was just pointing out that the gholam's 10 levels were underpowered even for an NPC class.

Let me show you what a 10th level Woodsman gholam would look like. I decided not to give him Nature's Warrior, since with his high Dexterity it'd be too much, and instead gave him Stealth in all environments. I used a +8 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, and a 30 point buy (and +2 for advancement):

Str: 22, Dex: 24, Con: 21, Int: 14, Wis: 12, Cha: 10.

Def: +24 (+7 Dex), Init: +11, HP: 110
BAB: +10
Bare Hands: +14/+9 right and +14/+9 left (2d4+6, crit 19-20/x2)
Saves are:
Ref: +10
Fort: +10
Will: +4

Special abilities: Damage Reduction 5/--, One Sense, boneless, weave immunity, ter'angreal vulnerability, Partial Improved Initiative, Stealth (+2) (factored into skills)

Feats: Track, Martial Arts, Improved Martial Arts, Power Attack, Ambidexterity, Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Combat Expertise

Skills: Listen +14, Spot +14, Wilderness Lore +14, Hide +27, Move Silently +27, Search +15, Tumble +13, Escape Artist +13, Climb +13, Jump +13

[ November 11, 2002, 10:47 PM: Message edited by: dscrank ]

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-Donald S. Crankshaw

Registered: Jan 2002  |  IP: Logged


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