Ptolus Centaur's.

[Odhanan]

The best way to handle monstrous characters with level adjustment is to break down the "levels" within the level adjustment and make them level up until they reach the full template of the monstrous creature, a la Savage Species.

Stopping some players from leveling up is unbalanced and no fun. If you don't want to proceed with a level breakdown, disallow it altogether and make sure you explain your reasons to the player.

 

[lukelightning]

A Ptolus centaur's what?

Anyhoo, while many people give centaurs all sorts of penalties for being horses, there is nothing in the rules that say they can't climb, go up and down stairs, or do anything else a Large creature can do. There is no climb penalty for being quadrapedal.

 

[hexgrid]

There is no climb penalty for being quadrapedal.

This might be a case where common sense should overrules the rules. Having four legs could both help or hinder climbing, depending on the nature of the climb.

Common sense would also argue in favor of granting quadrupeds a bonus to many balance checks.

 

[lukelightning]

Common sense would also argue in favor of granting quadrupeds a bonus to many balance checks.

Balance? I dunno, but they do have a bonus vs. trips and bullrushes.

 

[Voadam]

Common sense would also argue in favor of granting quadrupeds a bonus to many balance checks.

Centaurs are great tripwire artists?

 

[spectre72]

A Ptolus centaur's what?

Anyhoo, while many people give centaurs all sorts of penalties for being horses, there is nothing in the rules that say they can't climb, go up and down stairs, or do anything else a Large creature can do. There is no climb penalty for being quadrapedal.

OK, the worst instance I witnessed with our centaur player was in a dungeon (I believe it was the sunless citadel). There was a hole in the floor that dropped down to the next level with a tree in the center of it.

The DM and the player both agreed that the Centaur would not have a method for getting down to the next level without assistance.

This is one of those occurances that screams for common sense.

How would the centaur climb the tree?

And even if he jumped down and took the damage, how would you get him back up?

In our case he jumped down, and then we had to haul him back out with a block and tackle.

Every once in a while as GM you have to apply some common sense to situations.

If a centaur tried to climb a narrow set of stairs in a building what would happen?

Would his hooves fit on the stair treads?

Were the stairs even designed to hold the weight of a centaur?

If a centaur is in a 5' wide hallway indoors how does he turn around?

Centaurs would be great companions in adventures where the action was outdoors, but in a city or a dungeon it is not quite as simple.

Being woodland creatures would they really enjoy living in a city all the time, and only seeing a tree in the park?

Now before the RAW lashing starts, I understand that nothing in the centaurs entry says that he should be penalized in any of those situations.

I just think that common sense sometimes overides RAW and there is no way a Centaur will be climbing trees (without some kind of assistance).

 

[lukelightning]

Sure, a horse can't do it, but a centaur isn't a horse. A tree with strong enough limbs could support a centaur's weight; don't forget a centaur has incredibly strong arms as well. After all, a centaur weilds Large-sized weapons, just like an ogre or giant. An average centaur has a strength of 18; a heavy load for a large creature is 1200lbs, which is probably about what a centaur weighs, and they can lift up to 2400lbs.

 

[atomn]

On this, does anyone know of (or feel like inventing) a monstrous class progression for the Litorian? I know it's only +1 LA IIRC (my big book's upstairs) but it'd be nice to be able to allow players in the campaign I'm considering to play an ECL 1 Litorian. How about the lizardmen whose name I can't recall right now?

I recently got Arcana Unearthed and it has the Litorians in there with some sort of monstrous class progression. My friend has my book right now, but maybe that would be a good source. (Although if memory serves, they have 3 monstrous levels. So maybe it's not a good fit.)

 

[pedr]

I recently got Arcana Unearthed and it has the Litorians in there with some sort of monstrous class progression. My friend has my book right now, but maybe that would be a good source. (Although if memory serves, they have 3 monstrous levels. So maybe it's not a good fit.)

Thanks - but there's some real differences between the Litorian in Unearthed Arcana and the one in the Ptolus book. I guess I need to ask this on the Ptolus board - I just wondered if anyone here had turned their attention to the issue.

 

[frankthedm]

Sure, a horse can't do it, but a centaur isn't a horse. A tree with strong enough limbs could support a centaur's weight; don't forget a centaur has incredibly strong arms as well. After all, a centaur weilds Large-sized weapons, just like an ogre or giant.

They ONLY got those because because wotc did a blanket assignment of weapon damage die based on size. Thier weapons should be medium, they are human sized torsos on horse bodies.

A centaur is as big as a heavy horse, but much taller and slightly heavier. A centaur is about 7 feet tall and weighs about 2,100 pounds.