Savage Species type classes

[Garnfellow]

I went through a kick last year where I made some monster classes for several races. They're a lot of fun and not too hard to develop, but it should be noted that these monster classes tend to be weaker than standard PC classes. As many folks have pointed out, racial HD are almost always a suboptimal choice next to a level in a PC class. And monsters with many abilities and few racial HD usually have "glass jaw syndrome": really neat abilities but one decent hit will knock them out of a fight.

Anyway, here are some of the monster classes I built:

• Core Rule Monsters
  • Grimlock
• Monsters from Third Party Books
  • Morrigan (Penumbra Bestiary)
  • Scorpionfolk (Scarred Lands)
  • Serpentfolk (Scarred Lands)
  • Wand-Liang (Oriental Adventures)
• Monsters Converted from Other Systems or Editions
  • Carnivorous Ape
  • Cidri Octopus
  • Rakasta

 

[luke_twigger]

What sources are there for racial classes, a la Savage Species?

Here's some info:
http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/monstersAsRaces.htm
http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/variantRaces.htm

 

[jmucchiello]

[shameless plug]
There's a chapter on monster classes that predates Savage Species in Character Customization. And while the first few chapters of the book are in (long overdue) need of updating for 3.5. The chapters on monster classes and templates work just fine in both 3.0 and 3.5.
[/shameless plug]

 

[Nyaricus]

Anyway, here are some of the monster classes I built:

• Core Rule Monsters
  • Grimlock
• Monsters from Third Party Books
  • Morrigan (Penumbra Bestiary)
  • Scorpionfolk (Scarred Lands)
  • Serpentfolk (Scarred Lands)
  • Wand-Liang (Oriental Adventures)
• Monsters Converted from Other Systems or Editions
  • Carnivorous Ape
  • Cidri Octopus
  • Rakasta

hey man, you made some excellent monsters here i like a few of them alot (esp. the walking squid one But you pointed out that they have "glass jaw syndrome" and that is because they don't have HD ay every level, as well as skill points, etc. That is what i rectifyed in my monster class level system.

You have great ideas though!

 

[Aus_Snow]

Garnfellow, thank you! Those are exactly the kinds of things I was looking for, and what's more they've provided more inspiration for me to try creating monster classes myself - and posting them somewhere on the net when I'm happy with them.

I'll also just add that your campaign setting sounds fantastic. The sources are (of course) nice, and your notes - and house rules - look very good.

Cheers!

 

[Imret]

Third vote for your collection being awesome, Garnfellow.

Particularly the Morrigan. I love them!