Special Conversion Thread: The Ghazneths

[Shade]

It gets the following abilities found in other classes: Evasion, fast movement +10 ft., trackless step, trapfinding, uncanny dodge

In addition, it gets the following:

Battle Fortitude (Ex): At 2nd level, a scout gains a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves and initiative checks. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 20th level. A scout loses this bonus when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load.

Skirmish: A scout relies on mobility to deal extra damage and improve her defense. She deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on all attacks she makes during any round in which she moves at least 10 feet. The extra damage applies only to attacks taken during the scout's turn. This extra damage increases by 1d6 for every four levels gained above 1st (2d6 at 5th, 3d6 at 9th, 4d6 at 13th, and 5d6 at 17th level).

The extra damage applies only against living creatures that have a discernible anatomy. Undead, constructs, oozes, plants, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to extra damage from critical hits are not vulnerable to this damage. The scout must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. Scouts can apply this extra damage to ranged attacks made while skirmishing, but only if the target is within 30 feet.

At 3rd level, a scout gains a +1 competence bonus to Armor Class during any round in which she moves at least 10 feet. The bonus applies as soon as the scout has moved 10 feet, and lasts until the start of her next turn. This bonus improves by 1 for every four levels gained about 3rd (+2 at 7th, +3 at 11th, +4 at 15th, and +5 at 19th level).

A scout loses this ability when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load. If she gains the skirmish ability from another class, the bonuses stack.

 

[freyar]

Boy, these aren't really a great match for the ghazneths, are they? Skirmish, trackless step, and fast movement might make good Expend Magic abilities, but I'm at a loss for the others. Do you have any ideas?

 

[Shade]

Based on what I could find via Google, it looks like Rowan was actually a "royal scout" of Cormyr, which is actually a prestige class from Dragon #307 with different powers. At 5th level (in the 5-level prestige class), he'd get evasion, improved uncanny dodge, and the following unique powers...

Reliable Messenger (Ex):
Royal scouts are the Crown's swiftest and most dependable messengers. This ability grants the Royal Scout a +2 bonus on all Innuendo and Ride checks.

Pride of Purpose (Ex):
The Royal Scouts are so committed to Cormyr that at 2nd level they gain a +2 bonus on Will saves against fear (magical or otherwise) and other mind-affecting spells and effects.

Forester (Ex):
Royal scouts are constantly afield, patrolling Cormyr's frontier and learning the ways of the land. This ability grants the royal scout a +2 bonus on all Heal and Wilderness Lore checks.

Voices of the Wolf Woods (Su):
In days of yore, when Cormyr was still in the mighty talons of dragons and the delicate hands of elves, the great forest that covered the Forest Country was known as the Wolf Woods. Although the dragons and elves are mostly gone from the land, they have left their mark on the land they loved.

At 5th level, a royal scout of Cormyr, having traveled the breadth of Cormyr, has become attuned to some of the place magic of Cormyr and gains the power to detect evil (as the spell) at will. In addition, the scout gains the power to sense evil that enters the Forest Kingdom's borders (not those already within its borders). This power detects evil outsiders of at least CR 5, evil elementals and undead of at least CR 10, and other evil beings of at least CR 15 who plan to do harm to the land or people of Cormyr. The power does not give the scout the exact location of the evil, but with successful Intuit Direction checks (DC 15), the scout can make his way toward the creature or creatures, whereupon he gains a +10 insight bonus on all Wilderness Lore checks to track the evil down.


Also, Rowan supposedly gained "powers of the storm" upon becoming a ghazneth.

 

[Cleon]

Based on what I could find via Google, it looks like Rowan was actually a "royal scout" of Cormyr, which is actually a prestige class from Dragon #307 with different powers. At 5th level (in the 5-level prestige class), he'd get evasion, improved uncanny dodge, and the following unique powers...

That looks an even worse match to a Gazneth than the base class of Scout.

I guess you could invert the Voices of the Wolf Woods so it detects Good creatures that mean to benefit the land or people of Cormyr, or maybe keep it Evil-sensing and have it track down the malefactors to recruit them as allies.

The "powers of the storm" has a good range of possible spells to borrow - call lightning storm, control weather, control winds, whirlwind et cetera.

 

[freyar]

Err, sorry guys, my travel has kept me pretty busy this week. I'll dig through the Candlekeep threads next week sometime. If the storm bit is right, we can come up with good stuff for that, and we could replace detect magic with detect evil (though the magic is perhaps necessary for a ghazneth to "feed"). But I'm inclined to focus on the skirmish or maybe bonus abilities as powered by the magic levels and switch evasion, etc, for the more standard DR.

 

[freyar]

First, there's an independent (I think) source at Candlekeep that he has weather control, so let's go with that.

Ok, looking at Xanthon at CR 8, we can probably do similar level abilities. Maybe some hefty precision-based damage, detect magic, fast healing (maybe 5 for 10 min), something like lightning bolt or chain lightning or lightning "breath weapon", and a limited control weather or something with extent determined by concentration. What do you guys think?

 

[Shade]

That seems a good fit to me.

 

[freyar]

Copy/pasting from Xanthon for a basic framework, reducing HD to 8 and stats a little. If this looks good, we can work on expend magic.

Ghazneth, Rowan Cormaeril ??
Medium Outsider (Evil, Ghazneth, Native)
Hit Dice: 8d8+16 (52 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 21 (+2 Dex, +9 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 19
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+12
Attack:
Full Attack:
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Expend magic
Special Qualities: Absorb magic, damage reduction 10/cold iron, darkvision 60 ft., expend magic, rejuvenation
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +7
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 19
Skills: xxx
Feats: x
Environment: Cormyr and surrounding lands
Organization: Solitary or band (Rowan and 1-5 other ghazneths)
Challenge Rating: X
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Neutral evil?
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -

 

[Cleon]

First, there's an independent (I think) source at Candlekeep that he has weather control, so let's go with that.

Ok, looking at Xanthon at CR 8, we can probably do similar level abilities. Maybe some hefty precision-based damage, detect magic, fast healing (maybe 5 for 10 min), something like lightning bolt or chain lightning or lightning "breath weapon", and a limited control weather or something with extent determined by concentration. What do you guys think?

I'm thinking empowered call lightning storm.

 

[freyar]

Well, we are aiming for CR 7 or 8, I think.

Here are the easy ones:

Expend Magic (Su): Rowan may expend stored magic to utilize the following powers.

Detect Magic (Su): Rowan continuously detects all magic (as the detect magic spell) within 1 miles. This ability drains one stored magic level per day.

Fast Healing (Su): Rowan may expend one stored magic level to gain fast healing 6? for 10 minutes.

...

Now we can argue about the rest (assuming we're happy with 8HD and abilities). I'm also unsure if we should perhaps drop to fast healing 5. What do we think? Make him equivalent to Xanthon or a little less powerful?