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[5e] QL's Al-Qadim Game
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6958949" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>Ok, [MENTION=6803188]VLAD the Destroyer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] (thanks for sounding off!), I took at stab at the Pact of the Chain gen familiar. Here it is! I had to assimilate some stuff from the <em>Complete Sha'ir's Handbook</em> which I'll explain below in more detail.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]78814[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>First off, I wanted a CR 1 critter to be roughly equivalent to an imp or a quasit. So, the 7 HP, 13 AC, invisibility - those are ripped right from the imp/quasit. And the Invisibility maps nicely to one of the "gen improvements" called <strong>cloak of gathering shadows</strong>.</p><p></p><p>Now, there's a bunch of "gen improvements" in <em>Complete Sha'ir's Handbook</em>, starting with the most basic: <strong>improved damage</strong> and <strong>improved armor class</strong>. I incorporated those to get the gen familiar's Offense CR to about 1. Had to get creative with what "improved damage" means for the djinnling and maridan gens.</p><p></p><p>Next, <em>Complete Sha'ir's Handbook</em> presents <strong>enhanced senses</strong> with a whole lot of options. The first of these are <em>infravision</em> and <em>detect invisibility</em>. There's also one called <em>scent of danger</em> which seems like a sixth sense. I interpreted these by giving the gen familiar 60 ft. darkvision and the Otherworldly Perception feature of the kuo-toa. It just felt right. And inline with the 2nd level <em>detect invisibility</em>, which spellcasters get at 3rd-level (when Warlocks can choose Pact of the Chain).</p><p></p><p>Also, looking over the <strong>enhanced senses</strong> options for <em>eyes of the eagle</em> and <em>sounds of the zephyr</em>, they basically amounted to "perceives really darn well", so I interpreted that as expertise (double prof. bonus) to Perception.</p><p></p><p>Then I realized the gen familiar was lacking in defenses (its defense CR was 1/8, and I needed it more like defense CR 1). The imp/quasit relies on Magic Resistance and Damage Resistances to make up its defensive power, but even then its defense CR only comes out to 1/4 using the DMG guidelines. So somehow the imp/quasit is benefiting from the combo of Shapechanger, Invisibility, and Scare in terms of defense CR calculation in a way the DMG doesn't take into account. Or it was designed before the DMG came out. This is a bit of art, anyway.</p><p></p><p>So my move was to give the gen familiar Spell Sharing of "self" spells. I roughly equated this to benefiting from <em>mage armor</em> at-will, akin to the Armor of Shadows eldritch invocation. This means the gen familiar could feasibly have an AC of 16, and that will bump its defense CR to 1/4, same as the imp/quasit. Looking further, I thought about increasing its hit points, but then compared the hit points of the other Pact of the Chain Options: imp 10, quasit 7, pseudodragon 7, sprite 2. So leaving the hit points alone seems the best bet. The other thing I like about Spell Sharing is its versatility, and to me at least it feels like the sort of thing that makes sense to imbue a familiar with, emphasizing the close bond between sha'ir and gen.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">EDIT: Drat! There are no "self" spells in 5e. Spells like <em>mage armor</em> are touch. So maybe it still applies, just change the language to something like.... "Spell Sharing. When the gen’s master casts a touch spell on him or herself, or benefits from a healing or abjuration spell, the spell may also affect the gen at the master’s discretion."</span> </p><p></p><p>Between Spell Sharing and the normal touch-casting of a familiar, this maps nicely to the <em>Complete Sha'ir's Handbook</em> improvement called <strong>spell conduit</strong>.</p><p></p><p>With the CR pretty balanced, I wanted to provide a bit more exploration/roleplaying utility to the gen, ideally determined by their type. This took a bit of brainstorming, and it's the part I'm not yet 100% satisfied with; editing and critique is welcome <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/glasses.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt="B-)" title="Glasses B-)" data-shortname="B-)" /></p><p></p><p>What I did was take a bunch of the gen improvements from <strong>enhanced senses</strong> that I hadn't used yet and mapped those to the various gen types:</p><p></p><p>Daolani (sand gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with digging up secrets buried in the desert sands. One of the improvements called <em>tracker scent</em> seemed apropos, so I adapted it using <em>locate person.</em></p><p></p><p>Djinnling (wind gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with whispers carried on the wind. One of the improvements called <em>the whispering of the wind</em> granted perfect lip reading, basically, so I adapted that.</p><p></p><p>Efreetikin (flame gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with purification and revelation by flame. One of the improvements called <em>the sound of lies</em> seemed like a good candidate to incorporate our new spell <em>fire truth.</em></p><p></p><p>Maridan (sea gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with obfuscation and seeing through mischief. One of the improvements called <em>eye of truth</em> essentially allowed a % chance to see through illusions, and so I adapted that as best I could.</p><p></p><p>Finally, I left the following gen improvements on the cutting floor because they just didn't seem to fit: <strong>touch of opening</strong> (cast <em>knock</em> basically) I cut because I think the less people intruding on the rogue's awesomeness with lock-picking the better & <strong>the falcon's wings</strong> (granting the gen flight) I cut because the djinnling gen already has fly and I didn't want to step on its conceptual toes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 6958949, member: 20323"] Ok, [MENTION=6803188]VLAD the Destroyer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] (thanks for sounding off!), I took at stab at the Pact of the Chain gen familiar. Here it is! I had to assimilate some stuff from the [I]Complete Sha'ir's Handbook[/I] which I'll explain below in more detail. [ATTACH]78814._xfImport[/ATTACH] First off, I wanted a CR 1 critter to be roughly equivalent to an imp or a quasit. So, the 7 HP, 13 AC, invisibility - those are ripped right from the imp/quasit. And the Invisibility maps nicely to one of the "gen improvements" called [B]cloak of gathering shadows[/B]. Now, there's a bunch of "gen improvements" in [I]Complete Sha'ir's Handbook[/I], starting with the most basic: [B]improved damage[/B] and [B]improved armor class[/B]. I incorporated those to get the gen familiar's Offense CR to about 1. Had to get creative with what "improved damage" means for the djinnling and maridan gens. Next, [I]Complete Sha'ir's Handbook[/I] presents [B]enhanced senses[/B] with a whole lot of options. The first of these are [I]infravision[/I] and [I]detect invisibility[/I]. There's also one called [I]scent of danger[/I] which seems like a sixth sense. I interpreted these by giving the gen familiar 60 ft. darkvision and the Otherworldly Perception feature of the kuo-toa. It just felt right. And inline with the 2nd level [I]detect invisibility[/I], which spellcasters get at 3rd-level (when Warlocks can choose Pact of the Chain). Also, looking over the [B]enhanced senses[/B] options for [I]eyes of the eagle[/I] and [I]sounds of the zephyr[/I], they basically amounted to "perceives really darn well", so I interpreted that as expertise (double prof. bonus) to Perception. Then I realized the gen familiar was lacking in defenses (its defense CR was 1/8, and I needed it more like defense CR 1). The imp/quasit relies on Magic Resistance and Damage Resistances to make up its defensive power, but even then its defense CR only comes out to 1/4 using the DMG guidelines. So somehow the imp/quasit is benefiting from the combo of Shapechanger, Invisibility, and Scare in terms of defense CR calculation in a way the DMG doesn't take into account. Or it was designed before the DMG came out. This is a bit of art, anyway. So my move was to give the gen familiar Spell Sharing of "self" spells. I roughly equated this to benefiting from [I]mage armor[/I] at-will, akin to the Armor of Shadows eldritch invocation. This means the gen familiar could feasibly have an AC of 16, and that will bump its defense CR to 1/4, same as the imp/quasit. Looking further, I thought about increasing its hit points, but then compared the hit points of the other Pact of the Chain Options: imp 10, quasit 7, pseudodragon 7, sprite 2. So leaving the hit points alone seems the best bet. The other thing I like about Spell Sharing is its versatility, and to me at least it feels like the sort of thing that makes sense to imbue a familiar with, emphasizing the close bond between sha'ir and gen. [color=red]EDIT: Drat! There are no "self" spells in 5e. Spells like [I]mage armor[/I] are touch. So maybe it still applies, just change the language to something like.... "Spell Sharing. When the gen’s master casts a touch spell on him or herself, or benefits from a healing or abjuration spell, the spell may also affect the gen at the master’s discretion."[/color] Between Spell Sharing and the normal touch-casting of a familiar, this maps nicely to the [I]Complete Sha'ir's Handbook[/I] improvement called [B]spell conduit[/B]. With the CR pretty balanced, I wanted to provide a bit more exploration/roleplaying utility to the gen, ideally determined by their type. This took a bit of brainstorming, and it's the part I'm not yet 100% satisfied with; editing and critique is welcome B-) What I did was take a bunch of the gen improvements from [B]enhanced senses[/B] that I hadn't used yet and mapped those to the various gen types: Daolani (sand gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with digging up secrets buried in the desert sands. One of the improvements called [I]tracker scent[/I] seemed apropos, so I adapted it using [I]locate person.[/I] Djinnling (wind gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with whispers carried on the wind. One of the improvements called [I]the whispering of the wind[/I] granted perfect lip reading, basically, so I adapted that. Efreetikin (flame gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with purification and revelation by flame. One of the improvements called [I]the sound of lies[/I] seemed like a good candidate to incorporate our new spell [I]fire truth.[/I] Maridan (sea gen) are tied to an elemental province associated with obfuscation and seeing through mischief. One of the improvements called [I]eye of truth[/I] essentially allowed a % chance to see through illusions, and so I adapted that as best I could. Finally, I left the following gen improvements on the cutting floor because they just didn't seem to fit: [B]touch of opening[/B] (cast [I]knock[/I] basically) I cut because I think the less people intruding on the rogue's awesomeness with lock-picking the better & [B]the falcon's wings[/B] (granting the gen flight) I cut because the djinnling gen already has fly and I didn't want to step on its conceptual toes. [/QUOTE]
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