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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6727743" data-attributes="member: 37579">Originally posted by wrecan:I introduce a character with gunpowder weapons. Of course, it was for the "Create the Cheesiest" character you can, so make of that what you will. <img src="http://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/smile.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Originally posted by wrecan:Gerome RootwalkerGnome neutral good 6th level druidDescriptionGerome either appears as a typical gnome, silver hair, gleaming ice blue eyes, standing about three and a half feet in height and weighing about 45 pounds, wearing well-crafted hide armor, a large wooden shield, five shortspears and a belt pouch jangling with change, or as a vicious silver-streaked dire badger with rage and murder in its eyes! In gnome form, he will be riding bareback on his dire badger companion named Francis. In dire badger form, the two of them mercilessly charge their prey, or explore the underdark in their freshly dug tunnels.PersonalityIn gnome form, Gerome is winsome but quiet. A mischievous glint in his eyes hides a fundamentally impatient nature. He is restless to explore the underworld and find new challenges. In badger form, he is aggressive and vicious, spoiling for a fight. Gerome prefers his badger form to his humanoid form, but at the moment he can only spend about half his day as a badger. As his powers grow, however, his gnome personality will begin to become subsumed into his feral badger personality. Unless he finds a reason to maintain a connection to humanoids, the original Gerome the Gnome might be lost forever, and only the badger will remain.HistoryGerome was born, ironically, in his parent’s root cellar, where they hid as their village was overrun and occupied for almost a year by a family of stone giants and their goblin servants. For almost a year, Gerome and his family stayed hidden in that cellar, living on roots, jams and rainwater until a band of adventurers slew the goblins and most of the giants (only one – a particularly vicious stone giantess child named Opalia – escaped). The gnomes slowly rebuilt their village, but while other children relished the sunlight, Gerome found that he enjoyed the dank cozy close quarters of his root cellar. He had gathered a collection of burrowing friends, mostly moles and mice, with whom he spoke. Then, one day, his life changed forever. While sitting in his cellar, a hole burst open in the floor, and out leapt an earth elemental! Gerome almost died of fright, when the elemental changed form into a human. It was a druid named Cormoran, and he was gravely injured. Gerome helped Cormoran into his parents’ house and there, Cormoran began a long convalescence. His injuries were supernatural, not physical in nature, and it took Cormoran some time to unlock the means of his restoration. As he researched and rested, he would tell Gerome stories of his travels underground, and Gerome’s eyes widened as he learned of the mysteries, wonders and dangers of that world.Cormoran required an assistant in his studies, and thus began Gerome’s training as a druid. Gerome learned quickly, much to Cormoran’s pleasure. Eventually, they managed to cure Cormoran of the curses laid upon him.Cormoran then revealed that the reason for his travels in the underworld was that a tribe of grimlocks had discovered an ancient artifact that threatened to release a great evil on the world. Thankfully, the grimlocks’ blindness prevents them from reading the glyphs on the artifact. But Cormoran fears other evil races, spriggans, duergar, drow, even the mad derro might come into its possession and activate its dark powers. Cormoran asked Gerome to accompany him on his next venture into the darkness and Gerome readily agreed.Cormoran and Gerome traveled for many years with a variety of adventuring companions, many of whom did not survive. Finally, the pair tracked down the leader of the grimlocks, a barbarian lord named Mosscent. The battle ended when Gerome grabbed the artifact as Cormoran pushed Mosscent over a large cliff, and then wild shaped into a sparrow to fly to safety. Cormoran, his quest finally achieved, prepared to return to the forests of his youth. But Gerome has no interest in leaves and clouds. He had a taste of rocks, earth and roots, and he would not abandon it. Gerome said fare well to his mentor and decided that the caverns beneath the soil would be his grove. Cormoran gave him the surname “Rootwalker” and then gave him his pearl of power as a farewell present.Shortly thereafter, Gerome encountered Francis, a dire badger who was being harried by a pair of vicious cave trolls. Gerome drove the cave trolls away, and the gnome and badger became quick loyal companions. Gerome is always looking for more companions with which to travel, to explore the underworld he has made his home and to defend his “grove” from evil.Friends and EnemiesCormoran: Gerome’s mentor lives peacefully in his wooded grove above the earth. Gerome might be able to call upon him for a favor or two as they parte don good terms. However, Cormoran has grown concerned of late about Gerome’s obsession with badger psychology. He fears his pupil might be more threatened by demons within than without.Francis: Gerome’s dire badger companion is a steadfast and loyal ally. However, even Francis is sometimes concerned with Gerome’s violent behavior. Francis fears it is because Gerome mostly only turns into a badger when it is time to fight, and has not been able to fully enjoy the pleasures of a badger at play. Francis cannot understand why anybody would ever want to live with only two legs, and is thus more friendly to a party’s mounts than to the adventurers’ themselves… unless they rub his belly. He likes anybody who will rub his belly.Mosscent: The grimlock barbarian’s corpse was never discovered, and barbarians are notoriously difficult to kill. Mosscent may maraud the underdark still, biding his time until he can wreak revenge on the young druid who helped humiliate him.Opalia: One of the few reasons Gerome might be lured above-ground (other than to get supplies) is a chance to get revenge on the stone giantess who plagued his village. Gerome was too young to have any actual memories of her, but the stories his parents told of her brutality gave him nightmares as a child. Were he to discover where she lived, he would drop everything to destroy her.Gerome’s Stats[sblock](boldface numbers represent his stats when Gerome wild shapes into a dire badger)AbilitiesStr 10 14 (12-2 for race)Dex 10 17Con 14 19 (12+2 for race)Int 10Wis 18 (17+1 for level)Cha 11DefensesAC 19 16 (+1 size +3 shield +5 armor) (+3 Dex +3 natural) (shield has missile deflection quality, +4 dodge against giant-type)Fort +7 +9 (+5 [druid] +2 +4 [con])Reflex +2 +5 (+2 [druid] +3 Dex)Will +9 (additional +4 against spell-like abilities of the fey, additional +2 racial against illusions) (+5 [druid] +4 [Wis])Combathp 42 (8 [1st] + 22 [2nd-6th] + 12 [con])Initiative +0 +3Attack: Shortspear +5 melee 1d4 or shortspear +4 ranged 1d4/20’ increment Claw +2 melee (1d4+4) (+4 [BAB] +1 ) (+1 racial against kobolds and goblinoids)Full Attack: As standard attack 2 claws +6 melee (1d4+4) and bite +1 melee (1d6+3)Move 20 ft. (30 ft. when mounted) 30 ft. (6 squares), burrow 10 ft.Size: Small MediumPowersLanguages: Common, Gnome and badgerFeats: Spell Focus (Conjuration) (CL1), Augment Summoning (CL3), Natural Spell (CL6)Skills (36 points): Handle Animal +9 (+13 with animal companion) (5 ranks +4 Wis), Heal +6 (+8 with kit) (2 ranks +4 Wis), Hide +4 +3 (0 ranks +4 size) (0 ranks +3 Dex), Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6 (6 cross-class ranks), Knowledge (nature) +9 (5 ranks +2 druid +2 synergy), Listen +6 (0 ranks + 4 Wis + 2 race), Ride +9 (7 ranks +2 synergy), Survival +11 (+13 in above-ground natural environments and underground) (5 ranks +4 Wis +2 druid)Racial Abilities: Alchemical proficiency (+2 on Craft [alchemy]) (unutilized), favored class (bard) (unutilized), illusion focus (+1 to DC of any illusions cast), low-light vision, spell-like Abilities (CL 1, DC 10+SL, 1/day— dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, speak with animals [burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute]), Weapon familiarity (gnome hooked hammer) (unutilized).Class Abilities: Animal Companion (see Francis, below), Wild Empathy (improve attitude of an animal per Diplomacy charts, but use 1d20+8 (+6 druid levels +2 synergy) to determine the wild empathy check result rather than Diplomacy skill), Woodland Stride (move through any sort of undergrowth at normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment), Trackless Step (leave no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked), Wild Shape (turn into any Small or Medium creature with the animal type with which he is familiar and back again twice per day for earlier of 6 hours duration or dismissal as the alternate form special ability, except gear melds with new form and becomes nonfunctional, changing form is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity, and each use heals 6 hit points).As a dire badger, Gerome enters a rage the turn after taking damage gaining +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, and -2 AC. Once enraged, he will not stop fighting until his opponent or he is dead.Spells Typically Memorized (5 4 4 3):Zero: Create Water, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Purify Food & Drink, Read MagicFirst: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Snares and Pits, Goodberry, Speak with AnimalsSecond: Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Delay Poison, Flaming SphereThird: Cure Moderate Wounds, Meld into Stone, Stone ShapeGerome’s Gear (which meld with his form when he wild shapes) (23.6 lbs. total)Explorer's outfit, holly & mistletoe, small heavy wooden shield of arrow deflection +1, small hide armor +2, 5 small shortspears, small belt pouch containing pearl of power (1st), 20 pp, 47 gp and 4 sp.Animal Companion (stats unmodified by spells)Francis, Dire Badger, Medium Animal, HD 5d8+28 (50 hp), Init +4, Spd 30 ft. (6 squares), burrow 10 ft., AC 20 (+4 Dex, +5 natural +1 armor), touch 14, flat-footed 16, BAB/Grp +3/+5, AT Claw +5 melee (1d4+2), FAt 2 claws +5 melee (1d4+2) and bite +0 melee (1d6+1), S/R 5 ft./5 ft., SA Rage (on round after taking damage, +4 Strength, +4 Constitution, and -2 AC until it or opponent is dead), SQ Evasion, link, low-light vision, scent, share spells, Saves (including cloak of resistance) Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +6, Abilities Str 15, Dex 18, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10, Skills Listen +7, Spot +7, Feats Alertness, Toughness, Track[UNKNOWN=sup]: B, Tricks Attack, Come, Defend, Fetch, Guard, Heel, Stay, Track, AL TN.Francis’ Gear (25.8 lbs. and 94.4 lbs. when ridden)Bracers of armor +1, cloak of resistance +1 and a backpack containing a healer’s kit, 30 goodberries, 150 unenchanted berries, 1 week of medium badger trail rations, 1 week of small gnome rations, wand of cure light wounds, 2 potions of protection from arrows 10/magic, small bedroll, small winter blanket, 50’ silk rope with grappling hook, miner’s pick and sunrod.Wealth and Weight CalculationsGerome’s Gear (gp/lb.) 00000.0/00.0 Small explorer's outfit 04165.0/12.5 Small hide armor +2 04157.0/05.5 Small heavy wooden shield of arrow deflection +1 00005.0/04.5 5 small shortspears 00001.0/00.1 Small belt pouch 01000.0/00.0 > Pearl of power (1st) 00750.0/00.0 > Wand of cure light wounds 00249.4/01.0 > 22 pp, 29 gp, 4 sp 00000.0/00.0 > holly & mistletoe 09327.4/23.6 Gerome’s Subtotal Francis’ Gear (gp/lb.) 01000.0/01.0 Bracers of armor +1 01000.0/01.0 Cloak of resistance +1 00002.0/01.0 Sunrod (on chain about Francis’ neck) 00002.0/02.0 Backpack 00600.0/00.2 > 2 potions of protection from arrows 10/magic 00050.0/01.0 > Healer’s Kit 00010.0/05.0 > 50’ silk rope 00003.5/07.0 > 1 week medium badger rations 00003.5/01.7 > 1 week small gnome rations 00001.0/04.0 > grappling hook 00000.5/00.7 > Small winter blanket 00000.1/01.2 > Small bedroll 00000.0/00.0 > 30 goodberries (assumes median number of enchanted but uneaten goodberries over 6 days) 00000.0/00.0 > 150 unenchanted berries (preserved using purify food & drink) 02672.6/25.8 Francis’ Subtotal 09327.4/23.6 Gerome’s Subtotal 00000.0/45.0 Gerome’s weight (to calculate Francis’ load when mounted) 13000.0/94.4 TOTAL[/sblock]</blockquote>

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