Kercpa

[CRGreathouse]

IMNSHO, a Tiny race with -8 Str and +8 Dex and no HD would be ECL +2. Spellcasters still don't enter melee, so the -8 Str means little; Tiny and +8 Dex combine to give the creature +6 AC! Of the core races, the spread is -1 AC to +2 AC; there's nothing this extreme.

In fact, compare this race to elves for wizards. Elves usually make decent wizards (it's their favored class, after all), but have only +1 AC and actually lose hit points from their Con penalty. This race would be tougher...

I suggest a -2 Con and -4 Cha (look at animals' Charisma in the MM). This should be enough to make the race ECL +1 at least.

 

[thundershot]

When this all happened. ECL wasn't even a consideration. It was before the big ECL plunge. Taking away from Str is VERY considerable. Accoding to the DMG, taking one for one with Str and Dex is balanced. I didn't touch the others because, well... It didn't seem necessary. I see your point in being Tiny, but if they weren't Tiny, they wouldn't have that uber-high Dex and low Str.

Hm... I just can't imagine them +2 ECL after over a year of seeing one in play. Sure, he's a meaty little guy (or, as the Drow calls him, dirty washrag) at 7th level, but he hardly does any damage when attacking conventionally.


Chris

 

[CRGreathouse]

Sure, he's a meaty little guy (or, as the Drow calls him, dirty washrag) at 7th level, but he hardly does any damage when attacking conventionally.

Why in the world would a creature like that attack conventionally? The only explanation I can think of is that it's a rogue. Speaking of which, +8 Dex with a Weapon Finesse rogue is nasty, and quickly overcomes the Str penalty with SA damage. Most mid- to high-level rogues deal boatloads of damage, but hardly ever hit... this fixes the probelm with backward Power Attack. Just think - Dex 28 by Rog9, attacking at +19/+14 with +5d6 damage each time (Str 14 - 8 = 6; a +2 weapon offsets the penalty nicely). This is without Weapon Focus...

 

[ASH]

Well, Mr. Greathouse, I respect your rules opinion. What would you suggest for a Kercpa without an ECL?

At this point I'm thinking of going to make them size small (2 feet) and give them a -2 Str, +2 Dex.
What do you think? What stat mods would YOU give a Kercpa? I don't want them to be a monster race the PCs can play, I just want them to be a RACE the pcs can play.

 

[Drew]

Pretend that the above post (from Ash) is from me. Its my wife's account.

 

[CRGreathouse]

After paging through the MM (Appendix 1) for a while to look for ideas, I don't think it needs +8 Dex. How about this:

Kercpa
+4 Dex
-6 Str
-2 Con
+2 racial bonus to Balance, Climb, and Move Silently; +4 racial bonus to Jump.
+1 racial bonus on saving throws
+4 skill points on first level and +1 per level thereafter
Low-Light Vision
Base speed 20 feet
Tiny: +2 AC, +2 attack, +8 Hide, carry 1/2 what a Medium-size character with the same Strength carries. Kercpa armor weighs 1/10 what human armor weighs and provides 1/2 the protection; cost remains the same.
Favored class: sorcerer. The kercpa bloodline is faintly magical, and many follow its calling.
Automatic Languages: Common and Sylvan.
Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Gnoll, Giant, Goblin, and Orc.

I must warn you that I didn't playtest this, but it looks OK to me. If you think it's a little weak, expand on the "fey blood" concept by giving +2 Cha.

 

[thundershot]

I was just trying to break down the original file and do an 'official' conversion of them based on the Conversion Guide and the HD, AC, attacks, etc of the original stats. Also I used Skip Williams "How to Create a Monster" article for fine tuning.

Also, as for the PC race thing, ALL creatures are PC race-able if you reverse engineer them. Heck, the Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, etc will come out the same if you use the rules for monster PC's. So... you need a monster FILE first.

I was just trying to do it the right way. You can do it however you like in your own campaign.


Chris

 

[thundershot]

Also, nowhere in the Kercpa file does it say they make good spellcasters. In the 2E file, they were either Fighters, Shaman, or Figher/Mages, which is why I made the favored class "Fighter".

 

[peterka1]

reply to Soldarin's ECL calculator

Please visit my tread for race/abilities comparaison (peterka1) ... repost here as quote (copy and paste). My chart is more extensive...

I would like to compare abilities to create custom races and class. Please comment. Is strenght 1.5 better than constitution ?

My comparaison chart for a figthing character is, for each +1:

ST 1.5
CO 1
DX 1
IQ 0.75
WS 0.5
Ch 0.25
D6 1.3 (hit dice, add co bonuses and 1 HP for sleep for example)
d8 1.5
d10 1.7 ( so, an extra 1d2 hp = 0.2 = 1 skill point)
d12 1.9
bab 1.5
1 save 0.45
ac 0.7
skill 0.2
feats 1.5 the fighter's list worth half, ex. alterness. 0.8)



Comments ?

example of my chart: fighter vs rogue (1st level)

fighter: +1 bab (1.5), + 1 d10 (1.7), 2 skills (0.4), save +2 (1.5)1/2 feat (0.75), arms/armors feat (3, easy to get
with multiclass)= 9.9 points

rogue: +2/3 bab (1), + 1d6 (1.5), 8 skills (1.6), save +2avg (2), arms/armor feat 0.75, traps (1.5), sneak attack
1.5)= 9.9

 

[Angel]

After paging through the MM (Appendix 1) for a while to look for ideas, I don't think it needs +8 Dex. How about this:

Kercpa
+4 Dex
-6 Str
-2 Con
+2 racial bonus to Balance, Climb, and Move Silently; +4 racial bonus to Jump.
+1 racial bonus on saving throws
+4 skill points on first level and +1 per level thereafter
Low-Light Vision
Base speed 20 feet
Tiny: +2 AC, +2 attack, +8 Hide, carry 1/2 what a Medium-size character with the same Strength carries. Kercpa armor weighs 1/10 what human armor weighs and provides 1/2 the protection; cost remains the same.
Favored class: sorcerer. The kercpa bloodline is faintly magical, and many follow its calling.
Automatic Languages: Common and Sylvan.
Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Gnoll, Giant, Goblin, and Orc.

I must warn you that I didn't playtest this, but it looks OK to me. If you think it's a little weak, expand on the "fey blood" concept by giving +2 Cha.

So you want -8 to major physical abilities, to counter only +4 to a major physical ability?

Being a Tiny creature has a GREAT number of dissadvantages to counter what they get in an AC bonus. No reach, no threat range, the drasticaly reduced Str combined with the Tiny size result in PITIFUL carrying capacity...

I don't know WHERE you pulled Sorcerer as a prefered class from. In 2e, the ONLY single-classes available to them were Fighter and Shaman. They could only be Mages if it was in multi-class.

Likewise, I don't know where you thorized Draconic as a language, or the 'fey blood' thing from.

You say they make a natural spellcaster, but the fact is that they just don't have the history of it. In fact, as a cultural taboo, any kercpa that DOES cast spells NEVER uses fire magic of any kind. That's a severe hamper to that angle, as well.