Stat that movie!

[Psion]

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke

Prince Ashi-taka -- Fighter 4 / Ranger 5. Though Ashi-taka comes from a fairly primitive tribe, I wouldn't call him a barbarian. He has a good rapport with nature (including an animal companion/mount he can communicate with and an understanding of the forest spirits.) His "cursed mark" grants any weapon he is holding the keen and vorpal characteristics while the mark is active. The mark also lets him operate below zero HP and can boost his strength, though it will never heal him.

San -- San, on the other hand, is clearly a barbarian. She has the mobility and the rage. Perhaps some Druid levels as well (or if you use one of the Shaman supplements, make her a Shaman showing her connection to the spirits.) Say Barbarian 6 / Druid 2, or Barbarian 6 / Shaman 2. She obviously cannot heal herself (only via the spirits), so Shaman is clearly a better fit.

Jigo -- High level rogue. He might have some ranger levels, or might simply have taken the track feat. For now, I'll say Rog 7 / Rgr 2, with fey as a favored enemy.

Lady Eboshi -- Obviously a skilled leader as well as a skilled warrior, with some ranger levels as well. I'd say fighter 5 / ranger 2 / aristocrat 3 / warmaster 3.

The Gods -- Definitely pick up Green Ronin's Shaman's Handbook to handle this one. The animal gods look to be dire animals with the exalted beast template. The greatest of their kind might also have the beast lord template.

As a GM-induced side effect, beast lords that are injured by firearms may become demonic creatures.

Spirit of the Forest -- This one will require you to exercise a little originality. The elk form might be a modified elk beast lord; the nightwalker form you would have to make from scratch. In either case, use the DDG and give it the divine salient abilities granting power over life and death.

Edit: we need to turn down the filter a little bit...

 

[Chun-tzu]

Hey, good job, Psion!

Don't forget Ashi-taka's kick-ass stonehead vorpal arrows! (Okay, they aren't necessarily vorpal, but he chopped off at least one samurai's head by arrow!) And perhaps Yakkul is an animal companion.

Isn't Jigo supposed to be a monk? I agree, he acts much more like a Rogue, but maybe throw in a level of Monk as well.

WotC hasn't created any PrCs that focus on firearms, but that would clearly fit her well, especially if there's a design/construction aspect to the class.

 

[Psion]

Don't forget Ashi-taka's kick-ass stonehead vorpal arrows!

If you read my entry on Ashi-taka (note: I had to put the hyphen in or it triggers the filters), I attributed the vorpal aspect to the mark. The only time he ever severed limbs was when the mark acted up, so I attributed it to the mark.

But he is a pretty damned good archer, now that I think about it. Perhaps some levels of deepwood sniper would have been appropriate?

Isn't Jigo supposed to be a monk? I agree, he acts much more like a Rogue, but maybe throw in a level of Monk as well.

No. I would give him the track and improved unarmed strike feats, but nothing about the character suggests he was ever part of a monastic order.

Perhaps if you want to go outside of WotC books, he could have levels of Martial Artist from Chainmail Bikini Games' Beyond Monks.

 

[tsadkiel]

Someone had to do it.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Despite the modern setting, the core rules work fairly well for this one. It's clearly not a d20 Modern movie since d20 Modern doesn't let first level characters be spellcasters. The Second World campaign setting would fill in some details nicely, but since it's not out yet I'll stick to the core rules and FRCS (for feats).

Characters - almost everyone in the film has at leats one level of Wizard. Familiars are common (and purchasable), and magic clearly has an acedemic basis. The magic system isn't quite standard D&D, though. Wands seem to take the place of material components, and the spell list has been tweaked, giving Wizards access to some healing, but removing most of the "boom" spells. Also, see d20 gaffes.

Harry is a Wizard 1, Wizard 2 by the end of the film. His feats are Spellcasting Prodigy and Cosmopolitan (Ride). Harry blew most of his skill points on cross class skills like Balance, and maxed out his Ride. (Note - because of the nature of the campaign, the DM is clearly allowing the players to save skill points and feats and spend them in play). Harry has a familiar.

Hermione also starts out as a Wizard, and picks up a level over the course of the film. her player sensibly spent skill points on Wizard skills - some Knowledges, Spellcraft, and Concentration. Her feats are Skill Focus (Knowledge: Arcana) and Skill Focus (Spellcraft).

Ron is, again, a Wizard 1. His Int is only moderate, and like Harry he wasted most of his skill points on trivia like Knowledge: Chess. The DM was kind enough to let Ron use his chess skills later in the adventure, though.

Hagrid is a Wizard/Ranger - probably around 3rd/7th (but see d20 gaffes). He's maxed out Animal Empathy, and has one animal companion (a dog).

The teaching staff are all high level wizards of various stripes - McGonagall is a Transmuter, Quirrel is an Abjurer, etc.

Voldemort is a variant Ghost with a pretty narrow special weakness.

d20 Gaffes - Ina ddition to the tweaked spell lists, there are some discrepancies in how magic is handled. For one thing, while they're clearly first level these kids are tossing around some pretty heavy magical firepower. Hermione in particular casts what seems to be a Hold Person spell, as well as a Searing Light.

There are a few possible explanations for this - one is that the wands aren't just material foci for spells, they are in fact Wands in the D&D sense. Another possibility is that Hogwarts itself somehow raises the effective caster level of the students as long as they are on school grounds.

Probably the simplest explanation, though, is that the spells aren't what they seem to be. Either a sleep or color spray could have incapacitated Neville as seen on the film, and a flare or, again, color spray would have both produced a burst of light and possibly interrupted the grapple attack of the nasty plant whose name I can't recall.

Hagrid's trick with the umbrella can be explained ina similar fashion - he's clearly not high enough level to cast polymorph other, but the pig tail trick may be a less powerful polymorph variant or a property of his umbrella.

 

[wolff96]

Highlander

Characters

Connor MacLeod - Connor is an interesting individual. Born in the 1500s, he fought his first battle with the Highland Clan MacLeod in 1536. That's good enough to start him as a barbarian. After discovering his immortality (see Highlights & Gaffes), he is expelled and spends a few years as a farmer. He learns much skill and technique from Ramirez, granting him quite a few levels of fighter. Interestingly, from glimpses of his life in WWI, it seems apparent that he invested in the Heal skill. He also has high ranks in Appraise and Profession (Antique Dealer). From his skill choices, it's apparent that he has a pretty good intelligence to buy all those cross-class skills. Connor weighs in as a CR 17 Barbarian 1/Fighter 14. At the end of the movie, he levels up in a custom PrC: Last Immortal, gaining limitless telepathy as his first power.

Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez - Relying on his wits and dash more than his power, Ramirez is a classic swashbuckler-type. He has high ranks in Profession (Weapons Instructer) and spends quite a bit of time training Connor. The fight on the staircase proves he's got a relatively good balance score, and a high enough intelligence to seek higher ground against his powerful foe. He also has a good bluff score, convincing Kurgan that Heather is actually his woman, rather than Connor's. Ramirez weighs in as a CR 15 Fighter 4/ Rogue 3/ Duelist 6. His good scores are in dexterity, intelligence, and constitution.

Kurgan/Victor Kruger - The villain of the piece, Kurgan is your average player's version of chaotic evil. Starting life as a successful barbarian, Kurgan picked up several levels in a brutal fighting style that looks to compare well with Power Attack and Cleave. It isn't well revealed what other powers and skills he might have, other than a complete lack of Diplomacy (his insults in the church). Since we didn't see any evidence of fighting styles or any subtlety in his fighting, I think it's safe to leave Kurgan a barbarian throughout his career. He's a CR 18 Barbarian 16.

Brenda Wyatt - The police officer that pieces together the truth about Connor's existence, Brenda is an Expert 3 with skills focusing in Knowledge: Forensics and Profession: Law Officer.

Heather MacLeod - Connor's wife in the 1500's, Heather is a low-level character at best. She doesn't really do anything other than cook, indicating that she is a Commoner 1.


Highlights and Gaffes

In this low-magic, modernistic world, it's strange that the DM has decided to introduce immortality. It's obviously a variant of lichdom, since the character can survive underwater and recover in a few days from any wound that doesn't remove his head. The weakness of this template is that the character is forced to use their head for a phylactery, apparently. While less powerful than a true lich, the immunities alone make it a CR +2 template. One of the more unusual features of the template is the ability to sense anyone within a certain distance that also possesses the template.

The removal of the head of an opponent is wisely done by means of a Coup de Grace. Once the opponent is helpless, they drop to their knees and wait for a final blow. The killer then absorbs their power, another odd facet of the "Immortal" template. While some might argue that Ramirez's near severing of Kurgan's neck during their fight is a called shot, it is only the DM using descriptive combat techniques for a critical hit; this is obviously the case since Kurgan goes on to win the battle with no problem other than HP loss.

The DM should be commended for giving the characters a chance to show off their unusual skills -- Ramirez gets a chance to use his Balance in a crumbling tower fight, Connor gets to use his skills to run a successful business, and even Brenda gets to piece together Connor's identity. The introduction of a custom PrC only for members of the Immortal template who survive the Gathering is an odd choice, but may signify a campaign-ending event.

And of course... The biggest Gaffe of all was trying to make follow-up campaigns that seriously mucked with the previous storylines.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

And of course... The biggest Gaffe of all was trying to make follow-up campaigns that seriously mucked with the previous storylines.

Very funny- very nicely done. I like your critique of the dm.

FD

 

[wolff96]

Re: Someone had to do it.

Hagrid's trick with the umbrella can be explained ina similar fashion - he's clearly not high enough level to cast polymorph other, but the pig tail trick may be a less powerful polymorph variant or a property of his umbrella.

I'd actually call that a specially researched Alter Other, which the Commoner 1 Dursley child failed his saving throw against.

(Love the low magic explanations for spell effects, though!)

 

[silvertable81]

Where the Heart Is:

Novalee Nation: Com1
Lexie Coop: Com1
Thelma Husband: Com1
Ruth Meyers: Com1
Forney Hull: Com1


:

Sorry,
Novalee Nation is a level 3 Commoner
Lexie is a Com 2
Sister is a Bard 4 (variant with no spells)
Ruth Myers is a WIZ 1 with enchantment focus and excluding all other spells
Forney is an Expert 2 with skills all over the board.