Kercpa

[Drew]

For those who don't know, the Kercpa are a race of 1ft. tall Squirrel people the originally appeared in Dragon Magazine. I have interest in making them a playable race in my 3E homebrewed world. My goal is to avoid an ECL. So, here's what I have thus far:
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Kercpa

-4 Str, +4 Dex
Speed: 20 ft.
Bonus Lang: Elven
Prefered Class: ??? (Ranger, although they'd suck at it)
Size: Tiny (+2 to AC)

+2 Racial Bonus to balnce, climb, and hide. +4 Racial bonus to jump.

Low light vision.
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The problem is, according to Soldarin's ECL calculator
http://www.webspawner.com/users/enbsoldarin/
the Kercpa's Tiny size and slightly increased speed makes them ECL +1. I understand that there are advantages to being Tiny, but there are disavantages too. You have no reach, threaten no squares, and suffer AoO when you enter an enemy's square so you can attack him.

What, if anything, should I do to power the Kercpa down? Should I change the stat mods to -4 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Wis (to reflect their awareness of the woods around them)?

 

[CRGreathouse]

The problem with the race "as is" is theat it makes a perfect wizard: who cares about attacking and Str when you get all kinds of other bonuses and won't attack in melee anyway?

 

[Drew]

Hrmmm? What would you suggest then?

Is the problem, in your opinion, the +4 Dex?

 

[FoxWander]

I loved the Kerpas from 2ed.

My suggestions would be to keep the Dex/Str adjustments at +/- 4 but you could probably make them a little bigger so they fall into the "Small" category. Just over 2 feet is the smallest you could be and still be "small", that'd be a darn big squirrel but not unreasonable. And if the were that size they'd actually seem a bit underpowered compared to gnomes and halflings, so you'd be able to balance them out with some other benefits that seem appropriate to a race of squirrels. I'd give them a free "dodge" feat, to balance the gnome's illusions and the halflings save bonus. I'd also give them higher bonus to balance, climb and hide. A +4 to all of those is probably not overpowering.

Or you could keep them Tiny and balance by giving them a slower "walking" movement but a slightly faster "scampering" rate if they run on all fours. The faster speed would be balanced by the fact they can't hold anything while scampering. They're movement will probably be a moot point anyway as they will most likely hitch a ride with another character.

Regardless of which size you go with I'd also suggest that they have a special ability to move at their full rate thru tree branches or perhaps rooftops, provided they are close enough together. That's my 2c at least.

 

[Drew]

Yeah, the Kercpa are great. Thanks for the feedback. Making them small eliminates a lot of headaches, so I think that I'll use that. It makes them a little bigger than I originally envisioned them, but 2 ft is really not THAT different from 1 ft.

I really like the idea of the ability to move through treebranches at normal speed. That's good.

What do you think of the prestige class my friend created for them?
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Defender of the High Forest

Hit Die: D10

Requirements

Race: Kercpa
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Hide: 8 Ranks
Move Silently: 8 Ranks
Wilderness Lore: 4 Ranks
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot

Class Skills

The class skills for the Defender of the High Forest (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha), Climb (Dex), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Rope (Dex), and Wilderness Lore (Wis)

Skill points at each level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Features

Weaopon and Armor Proficiency: A Defender of the High Forest is proficient will all simple and martial weapons , light armor, and shields.

Ambush: If a Defender of the High Forest can catch an opponent off guard he can use his weapon to inflict extra damage. Basically, whenever an opponent is denied his dexterity bonus to AC the Defender of the High Forest may apply this extra damage. This extra damage may only be added to a ranged attack if the Defender of the High Forest is within 30 feet. This is an extaordinary ability.

Unseen Adversary: The Defenders of the High Forest are experts at concealment, ambush, and guerilla warfare tactics. This allows them to appear far more numerous than they really are, thereby keeping unwanted intruders from the Kercpa communities deep within the forest. When using the hide skill in natural woodland surroundings the Defender of the High Forest may remain hidden by making a hide check (opposed by his opponents spot check) with a -4 penalty. The Defender of the High Forest must make a new hide check each round he attacks while hidden with a cumulative -4 penalty per attack during the encounter. The Defender of the High Forest may apply his bonus Ambush dice to the damage dealt by attacks made while hidden in this manner. This is an extraordinary ability.

Amongst the Trees: Few are better at remaining hidden in the forest than the Defenders of the High Forest. When in natural woodland surroundings the Defender of the High Forest may apply the listed bonus to his hide and move silently checks. This is an extraordinary ability.

Evasion: Kercpa are small, agile creatures that are hard to hit with area effect attacks, the Defenders of the High Forest are especially hard to hit as they have had much experience taking cover as their enemies fire blindly into the forest, looking to harm their unseen attackers. At fourth level the Defender of the High Forest gains the evasion class ability as described in the PHB. This is an extraordinary ability.

Pass Without Trace: At fifth level the Defender of the High Forest gains the ability to Pass Without Trace at will as per the spell. This abiltiy only effects the Defender of the High Forest. This is a supernatural ability.

BAB: As fighter
Good Saves: Fort and Ref

Abilities:
1st - Ambush +1d6, Unseen Advesary
2nd - Amongst the Trees +4
3rd - Ambush +2d6, Evasion
4th - Amongst the Trees +8
5th - Ambush +3d6, Pass Without Trace

 

[thundershot]

WHOA! HEY! I attempted a conversion of them a while back, and one of my Players has been using one since 2E (so i kinda HAD to convert it) and it's worked great for him.

Here goes...

crap. it doesn't come out right here.

just go here then

http://www.thundershot.net/kercpa.htm

Strange. If it asks for a password, just hit cancel, and it brings the file up. I wonder why it did that... anyway..

We've been using it for over a year now. Wow. Please feel free to pick over it and comment. It's been playtested to death. But there's always room for improvement.


Chris

 

[Drew]

What are its stat adjustments? +4 Str -4 Dex? How has the tiny size effected game play? Do you think that the Dex bonus is too much?

Finally, does your version have an ECL?

 

[thundershot]

Stat adjustments? You do it like you would any creature from the DMG. Why do it like a PC race when you have perfectly good rules for it as is, y'know?

But I guess it would be... -8 for STR (I used Skip Williams "How to Create a Monster" article for stats), +8 for Dex. (again, it's easier just using the rules and tables in the DMG)

No ECL. Having a crappy STR like that means doing only 1 point of damage. Which means a spellcaster or rogue is a REALLY good idea. Or a crossbow.

At least, in all this time, I haven't SEEN a reason for an ECL. The Kercpa Cleric in the group (Tavi) DEFINITELY doesn't seem overpowering at ALL. Especially when he's flat-footed. Ouch.


Chris

 

[Tetsubo]

I think Thundershots idea works well. A Tiny creature just isn't going to be strong but will be fast and agile.

This got me thinking though. A Kercpa could easily pass themselves off as a larger characters familiar. If that Kercpa were a Sorcerer or other spellcaster that could be a nasty surprise.

What would be a good familiar for a Kercpa spellcaster?

 

[thundershot]

Since the group I DM only has a Cleric, it hasn't really come up as to what kind of familiar he would have. Tome and Blood has some familiars for smaller PC's. Like the mouse, screech owl, and sparrow hawk. I would assume a Kercpa would have something that doesn't look like a predator. Heh. Just have a squirrel as a familiar. That'd be kinda weird...


Chris