Characters Player request, Ramna 1/2? Looking for ideas and suggestions

[Herobizkit]

You want total randomness? Have the transformation occur when he first rolls a 3 or 13, and changes back when s/he rolls a 2 or 20.

In Sacred Number Theory (which predates modern numerology), 2 is the primal masculine number and 3 is the primal feminine number.

(Source: Sacred Number Theory: The Roots of Numerology : The Unicorn Shoppe, Magick, Metaphysical, Triquetra, Wicca Store)

[Relique du Madde]

Originally Posted by Herobizkit

You want total randomness? Have the transformation occur when he first rolls a 3 or 13, and changes back when s/he rolls a 2 or 20.

In Sacred Number Theory (which predates modern numerology), 2 is the primal masculine number and 3 is the primal feminine number.

(Source: Sacred Number Theory: The Roots of Numerology : The Unicorn Shoppe, Magick, Metaphysical, Triquetra, Wicca Store)

Numerology wise 3 and 12 would be better choices for the "female number" then 3 and 13 (that is depending on the system you use.).

[xazil]

One way to handle the stat abuse issue is to give them -4 Str in one form and -4 Dex in the other.

The bonus is the flexiblity of having two faces etc.

[Herobizkit]

Originally Posted by Relique du Madde

Numerology wise 3 and 12 would be better choices for the "female number" then 3 and 13 (that is depending on the system you use.).

Numerology aside, I was going for a '2' that shows on a d20 for one change (although I forgot about '12' lol), or a '3' on the other. Any random number would do, as d20's get rolled a lot.

[AllisterH]

Originally Posted by Relique du Madde

TECHNICALLY, there were some differences. It was generally excepted (in some Ranma 1/2 based games, OAVs, and Movies) that Ranma was faster and more agile in his female form then he was in his male form. This often lead to him changing forms during the beginning of some fights when he was wearing down his opponent. Of course, the strengths/weaknesses didn't really matter in the end once special attacks were thrown into the mix.

Not true in the manga (we hashed this out years ago on the FFML). There were NO benefits physically to Ranma changing into female and only drawbacks (namely a shorter reach).

[Nebrok]

Originally Posted by Herobizkit

You want total randomness? Have the transformation occur when he first rolls a 3 or 13, and changes back when s/he rolls a 2 or 20.

Thanks, that had to be my favoret suggestion yet. It is completely random and completely out of the PCs control.

[Herobizkit]

Well, thanks! This is all dependent on how often the PC rolls the dice, of course. Just make sure that the player's expectations are considered, too; if the player is expecting 3-4 switches a session (like on the cartoon), you may want to consider different 'odds', or using a separate die (like a d8, maybe) each time the PC rolls a d20.

[TheWyrd]

I rather like the idea of an 'allergy' to magic. It might be fun to do it based on the type of magic so Arcane magic is 'Masculine' and Divine magic is 'Feminine'. This gives you some room to have extra fun when a mindflayer shows up and blasts the party with psionics.

Mechanically, I wouldn't go with an ability change as it just comes with a lot of overhead. A variable feat might be cleaner. Toughness in Male form and Dodge in female form as an example. It is less of a hassle to rework the stats that way.