/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>193892
>You may as well speak about it.
The mechanics are in the link. There's a few different types.
There are other haunting rules in Libris Mortis too.
>But she doesn't have a reason to rob the grave
Posey doesn't need a reason to rob graves.
>magical ring
That's a reason. Magic jewelry is great.
>Uh... what?
It's a 5e-ism. Referring to the mid levels of character progression.
>Technically it was supposed to be a secret mission by a single naval commander who is doing all of this secretly and off the books because he has no trust in his own government and the Blackhooves specifically
Very well. I can build a relationship with Captain Waters.
>In what way?
Perhaps the party might go on quests that impact the results of major wars in the region, join certain sides, or otherwise influence history.
>This sounds pretty appealing to me. Is this what players want? Is this what (You) want?
Yes. It's Posey's main mission as an infiltrator.
The reason why Posey goes about using her real name despite her precarious position is that she wants to raise her public profile for her own vanity and power.
>you keep missing them when I add them in the game
..... Hmmm, that does pose a challenge...
>I have not included almost any canon characters at all because any canon character is immediately more important than basically any of my original characters, and in any event, the intent was always to keep the campaign kind of smaller scale. Beneath the level of the canon events of the show.
Understandable.
>Why? Why would it depend on that?
Mostly because spell access it would determine what my character is capable of in her free time, and whether or not she has minions she can control.

>>193884
Huzzah! (Potential) New friend!

>Touch attack weapon
I mean... You can just as easily throw a Molotov cocktail

>As a griffin
Oh... A griffin

Griffin males are a little less desired as they are less desirable in romantic interactions than pony stallions (certainly i can make it work as necessary)... Bu I get the impression that the preference is no romance at all.

>I've gotten the impression you guys met before coming to this imageboard
No, I know all of the people here from this imageboard. Of the active players I've only met Cavaliere, and Shimmering Spark, Tenebrous, and Brie among the inactive players

>Just show up in a new area
Maybe

Right now the party has three warriors and one half of a spell caster. So a spell caster or a rogue would be most useful

>>193885
>No unicorn mount
You don't want a unicorn mount? I mean sure, you can't mount a unicorn in the traditional sense, but there are ways to work with this.

>>193890
Hello again!

>>193892
>I recently had a plan for Silver or especially Cavaliere to encounter a haunting. I like hauntings.
I prefer Cavaliere to deal with missions of the physical variety, though I can see this working as a partnership.
>Uh... There are so few places cold enough for that.
Baltimare is relatively warm but in January much of Equestria would have snowfall. Even Ponyville has it.
>Technically it was supposed to be a secret mission by a single naval commander who is doing all of this secretly and off the books because he has no trust in his own government and the Blackhooves specifically, and he's paying for all of this by pretending that the party are pirates he is paying a ransom to. But maybe?
Sounds like a big gamble on his part. I don't know how this will affect him, but for the party it will attract attention from some powerful personages within the Blackhooves.
>This sounds pretty appealing to me. Is this what players want? Is this what (You) want?
Besides Cavaliere being able to carry his revolver in Baltimare (which the Blackhooves may not even be able to affect, given the civilian administration), it's not terribly important for either of my characters. I have no use for a standing army, and if a PC is not either military or a rebel I don't see how having an alive "army" would even work in an organized occupation state. It makes sense in the pseudo-renaissance world of DnD, less so in this setting. Maybe if we were in the EaW version of Yugoslavia and we could recruit partisans, but that's not what this is.
>And in about half of all instances, players have completely failed to discover the infiltrators.
Players keep missing magic items lying out in the open and you're surprised that they don't spot spies who are trying not to be found?
Nevertheless, this is the sort of thing Cavaliere is cut out for and he hasn't had a chance to find any yet.
>Like what?
Aforementioned infiltrators, criminals on the run, missing ponies, personal disagreements that need a negotiator, etc. Small-scale stuff that can be solved by a single, skilled creature with wits and a gun.
And yes this is completely at odds with what Posey wants, which is why I think they'll have to split ways.
>>193893
>The reason why Posey goes about using her real name despite her precarious position is that she wants to raise her public profile for her own vanity and power.
But she goes by the alias Rosey Ring.
>>193894
>Griffin males are a little less desired as they are less desirable in romantic interactions than pony stallions (certainly i can make it work as necessary)
Come now, the -1 charisma penalty is not that bad. One just needs a good personality.

>>193895
You could apply the magic-blooded template to a race for +2 Cha -2 Wis
>alias
Rosey Ring is her actual name (matches her cutie mark). Posey is her nickname.

>>193894
>Molotov cocktail
But can I store up molotovs as the condensation of my unused daily magic energies?
Also don't molotovs, even in the game, burn a little but until they make a check? Also something about tossing unhealth potions just appealed to me, though after reading about PF deities that have both life and death domains, I would as a cleric thereof, have to be doctrinally opposed to everything I find out about Posey, since undead things in general stand against their domain. Life is natural, death is natural, the god's goal is for greater, more natural existence, and here I would be consorting with the unnatural.

>But I get the impression that the preference is no romance
Every group I've been with, player or DM, has been of the murderhobo variety. Also I never play 'dating sims' because they're dumb and nothing about that tortuous set of rituals appeal to me.

>So a spell caster or a rogue would be most useful
Most systems I try to play a gnoll sorceror, though the charisma hit a 3.5 gnoll has can make that ... challenging but against that, the 4thEd game I DM'd had as their major damage dealer, a "seven foot four, three hundred and seventy five pound sneakity-sneak" who carried a rapier but generally did-in foes with his 1d6-twice claws.
Plus sneak attack.

>>193895
>Come now, the -1 charisma penalty is not that bad
So, this invites the major question what material are you using?
I have a now-dated set of Ponyfinder books (random cover attached, and I don't think I have that one) that rely on Pathfinder rules, but in that system I can use PCgen, which has a great deal of anything I might like to include in my games, already converted. 3.5 exists for it, but seems very limited - can't find the healer class, or surely there were some books extending the race choices to play-as-monsters once in a while?
I know some of the 1e diehards hate PF with a passion because there are so many races, and of course a lot of people hate 5e because yes there are as many races as you like but it doesn't make the slightest difference (that's my major problem with that system, is that nothing makes any difference - no feats, incredibly limited stats, magic items are heavily constrained...what was the point of calling it a fantasy system?)

The other question, is what level are you guys at? Running around at 1st-level is never fun, and especially when everyone else has a nice set of problem solvers. But in reading the post about Posey's challenges, it seems everybody is at their own level? As with 5e, a 'level isnt important' game probably isn't something that would be all that fun after a while, so I should consider that, too.

>>193897
>I would as a cleric thereof, have to be doctrinally opposed to everything I find out about Posey, since undead things in general stand against their domain.
Posey is operating incognito and has gone so far as to cast a "hide alignment" spell for this quest. Though, her concealment does leave much to be desired....
>Also I never play 'dating sims' because they're dumb and nothing about that tortuous set of rituals appeal to me.
That's alright. Just keep in mind there is a lot of it between PCs and NPCs, even though it has not been common during this quest. They also get quite explicit.
>So, this invites the major question what material are you using?
I'm not sure what all the sources GM Pony is using but it's a mish-mash. I don't know what's been taken from Ponyfinder, but almost everything mechanical is derived from DnD 3.5e. Some things, like guns, are from DnD Modern, and of course the entire setting comes from Equestria at War. As for classes, any official 3.5e source books are probably allowed and Posey's player is a good source if you have questions. You can also ask the GM Pony about what's allowed; Kirafiki is a half-snake half-pony lamia which is not a canon race in either FiM or EaW. Equestria at War also has every race which was shown in the show and movie, so there's hardly any limits.

>The other question, is what level are you guys at?
Silver Sword and some other characters are at level 6. Amber Sunset and Cavaliere are at level 5. Posey is at level 4, I think, but that is due to an offset because of her character build. I will warn you that GM Pony is extremely reluctant to level characters up due to difficulty in creating balanced encounters. I'd advise developing your character as a finished product rather than as a starting point, because you will be waiting a while.

>>193897
>So, this invites the major question what material are you using?
I would like an answer to this question too.

Here are some potential quest ideas. These ones are... maybe medium length or intensity? These are more "martial" ideas, which is to say, yeah, let's assume that party members have been more or less allowed to form their own mercenary force. Just assume that force size is limited to ~28 characters.

Yakyakistan
Yakyakistan is being invaded by the Changeling Hegemony and at least portions are expected to fall quickly. Fly in, and rescue a set of Equestrian emigres. This quest is presumably either given by people related to the emigres as a sort of rescue mission, by ELF who wish to cause harm to changeling efforts, or possibly by the Blackhooves who either have assets they want to withdraw or wish to cause harm to the changeling efforts. This would be a semi-mountainous location, have perhaps buildings like ancient monasteries or fortresses carved into mountains, and could take place either in the present time (January, heart of winter) or spring.

New Mareland
Wingbardy has launched a counter invasion of Talouse, and then Wingbady is now launching a force into the New Mareland heartland. No troops can be spared, so mercenaries are brought in as a stop gap measure to attempt to plug and repel breaches in the line. This idea has multiple possible executions

One, trench warfare. Hold the line against repeated Wingbardian assaults as they invade.

Second, Outback. After the Wingbardians have created a breach they spill into an a rural area with sheep-stations - little ranch houses with water-windmills, barbed wire, shrubs and thin plains - and small rural towns.

Third, Hoovesplain. This is along the same river-defense line, but further south in a large city. One concept for this was to have the dam upriver of the city be blown, and parts of it are underwater. The idea was that you move in a small boat, or fly or however, from the exposed rooftops of houses and buildings, trying to find barges carrying enemy guns attempting a crossing, and call in air or artillery strikes against them. In a different conception, possibly after the latter, there is an aluminum foundry that must be protected, as well as a factory making aircraft bodies, with fighting through or around the factories.

Another idea is a drained lake, where you fight in a mostly dead, brown and muddy depression that was recently the reservoir of a blown dam. There may be ruins from drowned buildings and towns, or boats and barges left in the mud. This area may not be about fighting so much as finding a site that could be an entry to a parallel dimension - the Dream Time.

Les Meridianes
This takes place in a chain of islands south of the dragon island sort of between Equestria, Zebrica, and New Mareland. These islands, at least I think, were originally inhabited by ponies, but were later colonized by waves of horses, zebras, and especially the Aquellians, who set up a colonial rule over the island chain. When the Aquellian Revoution took place, the islands remained loyalist and declared independence.

There are a few ideas for how these become involved, but my favored idea is that an Equestrian naval commander of Free Equestria decides to just takeover an island as his personal fiefdom. This incites other factions like rebelling natives, Republican Aquellia, and New Mareland to intervene and potentially take things for themselves. Tropical island setting. This idea could become complex quickly.

Forbidden Jungles
There have been many ideas for the Forbidden jungle, mostly centered around New Mareland-aligned groups fighting against rebels and separatists in the forbidden jungles. ELF fighters, separatists from the earth-pony tribes, and bat pony separatists.

A recent idea had chiropterran mercenaries intervening.

Uh, anyways, that's kind of a truncated description of a few ideas for more-military quests. Maybe there could be one directly against changelings, like if the Changelings make an incursion nominally to fight rebels, that needs to be pushed back?

>>193900
I appreciate these ideas, and they are very well-thought out, but they're not relevant to the direction I want to take either Cavaliere or Amber.

>>193894
>I mean... You can just as easily throw a Molotov cocktail
Yeah, it's easy in d20 modern. Would definitely be cheaper than potions. 3.5e potions are notoriously overpriced.
>one half of a spell caster
HEY!
"You DARE doubt my powers?!"
>So a spell caster or a rogue would be most useful
It's why I recommended Factotum.
Factotum builds are really easy too (after allocating skills). Just take Font Of Inspiration as many times as possible.
>You don't want a unicorn mount? I mean sure, you can't mount a unicorn in the traditional sense, but there are ways to work with this.
How would you adapt that class feature?
May as well just play a Cleric or Archivist imo. Clerics are great. I was going to play Posey as a Cleric, and I low-key wish I had.
>Players keep missing magic items lying out in the open and you're surprised that they don't spot spies who are trying not to be found?
This.
>Nevertheless, this is the sort of thing Cavaliere is cut out for and he hasn't had a chance to find any yet.
Yeah, I would strongly recommend taking Changelings as a Favored Enemy.
Furthermore, since Cavalier is good aligned, you qualify for the Nemesis feat, which would allow you to automatically detect all Changelings within 30 ft.
Specializing into Favored Enemy would be great on a Swift Hunter Ranger/Scout build. Would be great as a gunslinger too, especially with Fly-by-attack.
>Some things, like guns, are from DnD Modern
I assumed this at first, but from what I observed this does not seem to be the case, particularly with the automatic weapons which seem to just outright give extra attacks.
I have asked a couple times how firearms work, without a complete response.
>Posey is at level 4, I think, but that is due to an offset because of her character build.
I spent a bunch of XP during character creation, erroneously thinking that having a low ECL would let me earn it back quickly...
Four levels until I can cast Animate Dead...

>>193902
Partially meant for >>193898
>>193895

>>193902
>Yeah, I would strongly recommend taking Changelings as a Favored Enemy.
That makes no sense considering they were not his typical encounter in his backstory nor have we encountered them (to our knowledge) on this quest. Griffons are his favored enemy and ponies will be his second favored enemy.
Don't get me wrong, mechanically it's a good idea, but it makes no sense thematically. Plus automatically detecting changelings would make things too easy. It would be the equivalent of yellow paint in modern games.

Since I was so terse with my response regarding quest ideas, here is what I have envisioned:
Cavaliere — quests focused around individuals or small groups and services, disagreements or conflicts surrounding them. This can be any variety of things, including finding a missing person, tracking down a local magnate's wayward son or daughter, stopping a factory strike, getting justice for some creature who was murdered, or taking care of a sensitive matter for one of Baltimare's various factions. He may also come across charity cases, like that one pony having trouble in immigration (no I haven't forgotten about him). I don't mind quests that take Cavaliere outside of Baltimare as well, nor ones where has to either avoid or win a gunfight against a larger group, but Mended Horn should be the exception rather than the rule since I don't want to do commando raids constantly.

Amber — if Cavaliere's missions should be more mundane compared to what we're currently on, Amber's should be practically everyday. She has not come into her own as an adventurer, let alone her paramore, and if the two can stay together they have to be eased into it. Exploring Baltimare, such as the shady underground area, would be fun without involving gunfights. I want her to find out who's responsible for breaking High Sewn's window. She also needs to come into her own as a bard and needs musical training from some source. She is too poor to pay for that and that may be an intermediate goal, at the end of which she reaches level 6. I don't mind if she comes across the other PCs or important NPCs, but until she reaches that goal, and is believably seasoned from more minor adventures, it makes no sense to be putting her into seriously dangerous quests.

Perhaps I misinterpreted the direction this campaign was going. When I made Amber there already was a very clear disconnect between her and the other PCs, and I have only myself to blame. I was hoping to get her to catch up eventually, but I put that off by focusing on her more mundane life events. She should get involved in the sort of aforementioned adventures but even then it will be a very long time until she is "Mended Horn" ready.
However when I made Cavaliere every adventure was within Baltimare and was very small-scale, with the largest fights being at Hoebuck, Curwhinny's Farm and that gang-operated bar. I was hoping for more of that urban fantasy with this character, Cavaliere operating largely alone since that was the trend with every other PC. If you wanted commando raids I would have made a different character to fit that role better. I hope urban fantasy is not off the table even at level 6. I especially want quests where if they're played intelligently they can be resolved without violence or with it being limited in scope. They would fit MLP's themes even in this fallen world and they make sense within a city where every bullet fired negatively affects quality of life. Blue Skies chewing out Silver's gun-ho attitude at that bar comes to mind.

>>193904
>Don't get me wrong, mechanically it's a good idea, but it makes no sense thematically.
The fact that they're not a typical encounter and difficult to detect means that there's even more reason for a hunter to specialize.
>Plus automatically detecting changelings would make things too easy. It would be the equivalent of yellow paint in modern games.
You say that, but it's limited Range. There are far more powerful detection abilities (Scent, Lifesight, freaking Mindsight)
>She has not come into her own as an adventurer
Amber is a lvl 5 member of an elite adventuring class: she is heroic by definition. You are not obligated to continue roleplaying a lvl 1 character when you have powers that exceed 99% of characters in the setting.
>She also needs to come into her own as a bard and needs musical training from some source.
This should only be necessary if you're going for an obscure prestige class that requires spiritual epiphany or exposure to primal music, like Seeker Of Song.
Still, looking for musical secrets to expand her powers sounds like a cool quest.
>She is too poor to pay for that
We need to have a serious conversation about starting equipment and Wealth By Level. 3.5e game balance falls apart of wealth by level is not honored.
>I was hoping to get her to catch up eventually, but I put that off by focusing on her more mundane life events.
What is holding you back? You can just do it.
Tbh, if you're that hesitant about roleplaying a hero, you could have her have a spiritual awakening, or contact with her muse. Bards are all about inspiration. Just think of what would inspire her.

>>193905
>The fact that they're not a typical encounter and difficult to detect means that there's even more reason for a hunter to specialize.
Cavaliere is not a specialized changeling hunter and never has been, neither in Nova Griffonia nor in Equestria. They will be a new threat he will have to deal with, but he will still be mostly dealing with ponies and griffons. If I wanted to make a specialized changeling hunter, I would write a different character, maybe a rogue who is a spy or double agent. I like that idea but that is not who Cavaliere is.
>You say that, but it's limited Range. There are far more powerful detection abilities (Scent, Lifesight, freaking Mindsight)
Those are interesting abilities and I should look into those. However when I redesign Cavaliere I will probably be moving away from vanilla ranger and monk.
>Amber is a lvl 5 member of an elite adventuring class: she is heroic by definition. You are not obligated to continue roleplaying a lvl 1 character when you have powers that exceed 99% of characters in the setting.
When I made her I was not as aware of that fact and there is no good explanation for why she is so strong when she is basically a commoner. However I wrote her this way and she is stuck along that path for the time being. In my defense, at the time none of the PCs seemed particularly heroic or elite so I thought a level 5 character could be of any background or experience. Maybe it would have been better if we started at level 1 and worked our way up, but GM Pony had other ideas.
>This should only be necessary if you're going for an obscure prestige class that requires spiritual epiphany or exposure to primal music, like Seeker Of Song.
>Still, looking for musical secrets to expand her powers sounds like a cool quest.
When making her character sheet I forgot to give her points in perform, but I don't want to redo it so I'm playing along until she levels up and has justification to suddenly be better at music
>We need to have a serious conversation about starting equipment and Wealth By Level. 3.5e game balance falls apart of wealth by level is not honored.
Being poor is part of her background and I intentionally wrote her this way. She isn't written to be balanced, she's written to be out of her depth in a big city.
>What is holding you back? You can just do it.
This is why I made Cavaliere.
>Tbh, if you're that hesitant about roleplaying a hero, you could have her have a spiritual awakening, or contact with her muse. Bards are all about inspiration. Just think of what would inspire her.
She had an inspiring dream. Like I said, I want her to reach music school and then she can come into her own.

>>193894
>I mean... You can just as easily throw a Molotov cocktail
Pic
Once I get my minions, I will be a lot more invested into weaponry of all kinds.
>>193900
>Yakyakistan
I don't really care for Yaks, and Posey would not unless Yakfolk genie Sorcery is involved (one of my fallback character was a Yak Sha'ir), but undermining Changelings sounds like fun.
>This would be a semi-mountainous location
I would really like to ritually freeze a prisoner on top of an icy mountain to create an Icegaunt. I was going to do it here on Mended Horn, but alas.
>ancient monasteries or fortresses carved into mountains
Hmmm, could these dungeons hold forbidden magical secrets, seal imprisoned monsters, or ancient mummified monks, or forgotten treasures?
>Wingbardy has launched a counter invasion of Talouse, and then Wingbady is now launching a force into the New Mareland heartland. No troops can be spared, so mercenaries are brought in as a stop gap measure to attempt to plug and repel breaches in the line. This idea has multiple possible executions
This is what I was expecting when I joined the game. I would certainly be interested, especially after I have my minions.
>One, trench warfare. Hold the line against repeated Wingbardian assaults as they invade.
Great use for minions.
>Outback
What would be the mission here?
>Hoovesplain
I already established that Posey has sea sickness, although since it's purely psychological there's no reason why she could not overcome it after this mission.
Sounds interesting.
>There may be ruins from drowned buildings and towns, or boats and barges left in the mud.
Reminds me of the town in Dragon Age Inquisition that was drowned by the Magister who raised the dam; it was full of undead.
>This area may not be about fighting so much as finding a site that could be an entry to a parallel dimension - the Dream Time.
Sounds like something that a Sorceress would investigate.
>Equestrian naval commander of Free Equestria decides to just takeover an island as his personal fiefdom.
>This incites other factions like rebelling natives, Republican Aquellia, and New Mareland to intervene and potentially take things for themselves.
Hmmm, perhaps Posey might want to depose him and make it her own personal fiefdom on behalf of the Dread League.
>Maybe there could be one directly against changelings, like if the Changelings make an incursion nominally to fight rebels, that needs to be pushed back?
Sounds interesting.

>>193906
You could also take evil creatures as your favored enemy. It's quite optimal. It would also fit the paladin-like theme you wanted.
>However when I redesign Cavaliere I will probably be moving away from vanilla ranger and monk.
Elaborate. What kind of build do you want?
>However I wrote her this way and she is stuck along that path for the time being.
Remember what I said about spiritual epiphany? The inspiration to be a hero could come suddenly to you, like it does for most Bards. It's all about inspiration. Try meditating, praying, observing nature, making a pilgrimage, pouring yourself into the arts, or contacting your muse.
Could also try something like the ritual of burning hearts.
>When making her character sheet I forgot to give her points in perform, but I don't want to redo it so I'm playing along until she levels up and has justification to suddenly be better at music
Just spend a few weeks of downtime retraining your skillpoints. A Bard with no perform ranks makes no sense.
>Being poor is part of her background and I intentionally wrote her this way.
Being a slave was part of my backstory, but I still put my wealth into non-material body enhancements, surgeries and rituals (which were later removed...). There are other ways you could allocate your starting wealth. Could buy a couple bonus feats. The only valuable equipment posey came into the game with that she still has is Gloomy (100 gp slave).
>She had an inspiring dream.
Sounds like you've already met your muse. Your path to greatness begins today.
>Like I said, I want her to reach music school and then she can come into her own.
This could take as little as one week in universe. As a Bard, you are implied to be innately talented. Once you pick up the art seriously you would realize that you are a genius. Retraining does not take very long, and I don't think GM will be stingy about putting ranks in perform as a Bard.
Think of the career of a pop star: when it happens, it begins very quickly.
Once you reallocate your skills, you could make public Perform checks to attract the attention of wealthy patrons, bardic colleges, distant nobles and even extraplanar beings who would accept you as a private performer or wish to enroll you in their school, and make some gold every day while you do so.
Equestria us a very Bard-centric setting anyway.

>>193907
Forgot pic

>>193907
>You could also take evil creatures as your favored enemy. It's quite optimal.
Wait, you can just do that? I thought it had to be a race. That sounds broken.
>Elaborate. What kind of build do you want?
Powerful with ranged weaponry (revolvers in particular), good at unarmed, varied skill set. Tries to not get hit at all rather than rely on armor or HP. That sounds vague but there are different suggestions you gave in the OOC threads a while ago (spellblade I think had the most potential). Sometime soon I'll look over every combination and see what's optimal. Normally I don't care about minmaxing but Cavaliere is meant to actually be heroic and is meant to complete some quests on his own.
>Remember what I said about spiritual epiphany? The inspiration to be a hero could come suddenly to you, like it does for most Bards. It's all about inspiration. Try meditating, praying, observing nature, making a pilgrimage, pouring yourself into the arts, or contacting your muse.
>Could also try something like the ritual of burning hearts.
>Just spend a few weeks of downtime retraining your skillpoints. A Bard with no perform ranks makes no sense.
That's what the music school is for. Sure there are these alternate methods, and she does practice on her own time, but I want it to be believable as well as give chances for socialization.
Even talented ponies need to practice.
>Once you reallocate your skills, you could make public Perform checks to attract the attention of wealthy patrons, bardic colleges, distant nobles and even extraplanar beings who would accept you as a private performer or wish to enroll you in their school, and make some gold every day while you do so.
>Equestria us a very Bard-centric setting anyway.
I look forward to it. Maybe that would be a good way to get into school, and having a tutor would be an intermediate step. I'll leave it up to the discretion of the GM Pony.

>>193910
>Wait, you can just do that?
There's a couple ways to do it, yeah.
>I thought it had to be a race.
You can also choose rival organizations, members of a particular religion, foreign merchants and priests, or Arcane Spellcasters. Bigotry knows no bounds.
>That sounds broken.
Nah. It's a better pick than most, but Favored Enemy is still a pretty weak feature overall. It can be quite interesting if you specialize in it though.
I mention it because it's good for Rangers who wish they were paladins, which describes you.
>Powerful with ranged weaponry (revolvers in particular), good at unarmed, varied skill set. Tries to not get hit at all rather than rely on armor or HP.
A Mystic Ranger Swift Hunter build would suit this very well. Take Flyby-Attack and all of its derivatives to help you in both ranged and melee combat. Use the Scout's Skirmish ability to boost your AC and damage while moving quickly. Take Evil as your favored enemy and progress it through both Ranger and Scout.
If you want to fixate more on Unarmed Damage Mystic Ranger / Swordsage would be the best, with a focus on the Setting Sun School. Take Improved Trip, Ranged Trip and Knockdown. That would be a lot more melee focused though.
>I want it to be believable as well as give chances for socialization.
I'm just saying you shouldn't need to spend that much time on it. Don't put arbitrary obstacles on your roleplay potential.

>>193911
>You can also choose rival organizations, members of a particular religion, foreign merchants and priests, or Arcane Spellcasters. Bigotry knows no bounds.
There are many of those in the setting of EaW, and Cavaliere sometimes has to face those of any background. Considering how many griffons and ponies there are, having those as two favored enemies would encompass the vast majority of enemies. I would have to look into evil-aligned favored enemies.
>A Mystic Ranger Swift Hunter build would suit this very well. Take Flyby-Attack and all of its derivatives to help you in both ranged and melee combat. Use the Scout's Skirmish ability to boost your AC and damage while moving quickly. Take Evil as your favored enemy and progress it through both Ranger and Scout.
>If you want to fixate more on Unarmed Damage Mystic Ranger / Swordsage would be the best, with a focus on the Setting Sun School. Take Improved Trip, Ranged Trip and Knockdown. >That would be a lot more melee focused though.
I have to look into flyby attack but the issue is that Cavaliere is a poor flyer (racial feature) and often fights indoors where that would be impractical. I like scout but last I checked it has a significant skillpoint nerf, and if anything I could use more skills. It's a balancing act among attack bonus (for dueling and trick shots), AC (for not getting hit), feats (fun and useful stuff) and skills (what will actually make my character viable on his own).
I want a good balance on ranged damage and unarmed damage. Ranged damage is lethal, melee nonlethal. No combination really fits the exact sort of character I'm going for which is why this is a difficult decision. I have to make multiple character sheets just to know how everything would work together.
>I'm just saying you shouldn't need to spend that much time on it. Don't put arbitrary obstacles on your roleplay potential.
For me roleplay is in the journey, not the destination. I've had a lot of fun with Amber so far despite her mundane life, and I see it only getting better from here.

>could Posey's unseen put some of that leaked fuel in

I've [accidentally] inspired another game element, haven't I?

Ah, well. I'll see what I can find class-wise. I still want reasonable flight including hover unless circumstances warrant a fly-check (someone's shooting at me, there are high winds, the air isn't breathable) and to come in matching the crew (lvl.5)

PF1 was built to discourage multil-classing, but 3.5 seems to implicitly encourage it. Maybe a bard/sorceror with a level of healer to access that cure-minor spell?

for humor, have some AI : I asked for a gryphon singing, while casting fireball; first pic. Amused by being cast as a singer, or whatever happened, I replaced casting with drinking fireball. Cue 2nd pic.

>>193912
>Cavaliere is a poor flyer (racial feature)
How poor? If you have poor maneuverability, you can still pull off a Flyby-Attack build.
>often fights indoors
You can fly indoors. As little as 5 ft off the ground.
>I like scout but last I checked it has a significant skillpoint nerf
Scout has more skillpoints than Ranger. It's tied with Rogue for the most skillpoints in the game.
Skirmish works for both melee and ranged combat, especially with flyby attack and all of its derivatives.
You can do non-lethal damage with a sap, whip or other non-lethal weapon too. You could also use rubber bullets, Merciful magic weapons, or take Non-lethal damage feats.
You could also just dip Unarmed Swordsage 2 at the end of your build while still being primarily Ranger/Scout. Your non-swordsage levels will contribute to your initiator level halfway.

Oh, I guess you could use Predator Ranger to trade Combat Style for Wildshape, which could be traded for Aspect of Nature or Shapeshifter, which could give you some unarmed combat abilities. Those could stack with Scout ala Swift Avenger.
>No combination really fits the exact sort of character I'm going for which is why this is a difficult decision.
I really think Ranger/Scout with Favored Enemy (Evil) and some non-lethal weapons/ammo/tactics would fit your character well.
>>193913
>3.5 seems to implicitly encourage it.
It encourages prestige classes. Multiclassing less so (except for instances like Swift Hunter).
Thou shall not lose caster levels.
>Maybe a bard/sorceror with a level of healer to access that cure-minor spell?
No.
You would be better off as a Bard / Sublime Chord if you want to be a powerful spellcasting Bard. Lyric Thaumaturge is also a good prestige class for this concept.
If you want divine spells and healing as a Bard, Green Whisperer is your home. Divine Bard works too.
https://www.joshuad.net/new-bard-handbook/

>>193914
< >Maybe a
>No.

Heh.

>Sublime Chord [] Lyric Thaumaturge [] Green Whisperer
I'll look into those. But if the table thinks you don't need a healer, my go-to is sorcerer. Though neither 3.5 nor EaW/MLP have anything allowing for what PF1 calls a Dragon's Disciple, which I got to play once as a kitsune rogue (relying on racial feats for 'spontaneous caster' prereq).

Anyway I'll continue giving it some thought; thanks for the suggestions.

>>193915
Sublime Chord adds Sorcerer spells to the Bard, going up to 9th level. A high-op Bard has the casting abilities of a low-op Sorcerer.
If you were to do that, your spellcasting abilities would probably exceed Posey's.
>Though neither 3.5 nor EaW/MLP have anything allowing for what PF1 calls a Dragon's Disciple
It's a prestige class in 3.5e.

Dragonfire Adept is a really good base class too. Very easy to play: just spit fire at everything.

>>193913
>pic
Kek and cute

>reasonable flight
To get hover you would need two feat ranks of improved fight, bumping up your flying skill from poor to good.
https://dnd.arkalseif.info/feats/complete-adventurer--54/improved-flight--1494/index.html

>PF1 was built to discourage multil-classing, but 3.5 seems to implicitly encourage it. Maybe a bard/sorceror with a level of healer to access that cure-minor spell?
It does, and DnD also has prestige classes which are even more specialized. There probably is one out there that matches what you want.

>>193914
>How poor? If you have poor maneuverability, you can still pull off a Flyby-Attack build.
There is a handy maneuverability table for this: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Fly
>You can fly indoors. As little as 5 ft off the ground.
>half minimum fly speed
>no hover or reverse
>45 degree turn angle
>no turn in place
Indoors this is slapstick waiting to happen. For a serious character, I would take any other feat other than one guaranteeing crashing into stuff constantly.
>scout
Okay I must have misremembered. I will definitely look into it. I remember there being some cons (of course, in order to be balanced) but they might be worth it.
>You can do non-lethal damage with a sap, whip or other non-lethal weapon too. You could also use rubber bullets, Merciful magic weapons, or take Non-lethal damage feats.
But muh brawler flavor. Pistol whipping is also an option but nothing is more satisfying than an old-fashioned beatdown.
>You could also just dip Unarmed Swordsage 2 at the end of your build while still being primarily Ranger/Scout. Your non-swordsage levels will contribute to your initiator level halfway.
This is promising. I was also considering the Wushu fighting style for monk, which adds more class combinations to compare (two levels here give me just about everything I want): https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCore/monk.html#fighting-styles
>Oh, I guess you could use Predator Ranger to trade Combat Style for Wildshape, which could be traded for Aspect of Nature or Shapeshifter, which could give you some unarmed combat abilities. Those could stack with Scout ala Swift Avenger.
I don't want Cavaliere to shapeshift to fight. His skills should depend on his training of his own griffon body.
>I really think Ranger/Scout with Favored Enemy (Evil) and some non-lethal weapons/ammo/tactics would fit your character well.
Got any resources on evil favored enemies?

>>193915
Healers are always good, but sorcerers are also welcome. I forgot if Spark (old inactive player) was a wizard or sorcerer. This class works best with unicorns.

I keep referring to racial bonii but to tell the truth I have no idea what the bonii are aside from unicorns being somehow better at magic, pegasi being the best flyers, and earth ponies have +2 to strength and constitution. In fact this was never settled on when I made Cavaliere and I had forgotten that his sheet doesn't have racial bonii or penalties applied. Hopefully GM Pony can make a decision on this.

>>193916
>A high-op Bard has the casting abilities of a low-op Sorcerer.
I will discourage any sort of build that plans around levels higher than around 7. It would be nice to have consistent level ups but GM Pony has repeatedly asserted a reluctance to level up the party due to making mundane encounters against enemies such as gangsters impossible to balance. This is a problem with DnD as a whole due to level scaling and I think the game would benefit from each level being split in half to allow more incremental progression. Maybe it would have been better if we started from level 1 and if we reached around level 5 by now.

>>193917
>Poor
Plenty good for Flyby Attack.
Protip: if you fly 5 ft off the ground, you can drop to the the ground as a free action at the end of your turn, no longer having any maneuverability penalties, functionally making it a wing-boosted pounce.
>I remember there being some cons (of course, in order to be balanced) but they might be worth it.
Combining Mystic Ranger with Scout with Swift Hunter is basically just the core Ranger but better.
>But muh brawler flavor.
I think you could pick up Combat Martil Arts or Brawl from a d20 modern occupation. It would work with Scout.
Nerve Pinch might work too, although that's d20 Future.
>Got any resources on evil favored enemies?
Iirc, it's in Players Guide to Faerun, a tribal background from the North, iirc the Worm, had Evil as a favored enemy for Rangers. The setting content is adaptable, particularly because Griffons are from Hyperborea.
Foreign Merchants was on that table too.
Stalker Of Kharash prestige class also gives Evil as a Favored Enemy.
>I will discourage any sort of build that plans around levels higher than around 7.
Mfw I don't get Animate Dead until level 8 and until then I just have a handful of shitty touch-range spells (Video)

>>193917
>To get hover you would need two feat ranks of improved flight

While I get that for DnD, where (nearly) all PCs are ground-bound in their day to day lives, this is based on MLP; where fliers are routinely shown to hold conversations while hovering, or sitting on clouds.

I've DM'd a oneshot where the mid-level wizard got a flying carpet; I get the concern about combat balance. But if I'm playing as a winged amongst the ponies, I expect that means I can just fly. Concentration check while casting and flying, sure. Fly-check at the normal penalties (-6 for clumsy, IIRC) and normal DCs when "something happens" such as melee or magical winds - but if you're all roleplaying as fursuiting humans I want out, and I may as well learn this before I create a character "the old fashioned way" since PCgen doesn't have the breadth of materials the SRDs list.

>due to making mundane encounters against such enemies
Similar problems; I want to play a fantasy game, you're playing Call of Cthulhu at best. Why would you be the only wizard on the block? The gansters hired a dragonfire adept as bodyguard to their necromancer. BOOM! balanced.

>slapstick
Ah, I remember a trap-only dungeon that catapulted the plate-armor'd paladin into the air. I made him do a fly check; he warned that he was untrained in it and I said that was fine.
[gladdos voice] He got a negative 15, so that was fun. [/voice]

But in all honestly, I should wait to hear a bit more from your DM before I decide anything.

>>193918
>Protip: if you fly 5 ft off the ground, you can drop to the the ground as a free action at the end of your turn, no longer having any maneuverability penalties, functionally making it a wing-boosted pounce.
Basically it would be fighting like Max Payne? I'll consider it. I thought of Cavaliere's fighting style as relying more on cover to boost his effective AC.
>Combining Mystic Ranger with Scout with Swift Hunter is basically just the core Ranger but better.
Is one level from each better than three in ranger? Multi-classing to this degree, with four different classes, is a little excessive and I have no idea if class requirements would even allow it.
>I think you could pick up Combat Martil Arts or Brawl from a d20 modern occupation. It would work with Scout.
I will look into that too. I don't know how much of D20 Modern is allowed to be included in character design but there are good features from that module.
>Players Guide to Faerun
I wasn't able to find that feature in that document. Also Cavaliere does not have a tribal background.
>Stalker of Kharash
That does look good, and it's one that can be readily picked. That's yet another prestige class to consider.
>Mfw I don't get Animate Dead until level 8 and until then I just have a handful of shitty touch-range spells (Video)
Hence why I'm trying to spare him the disappointment.
>>193919
>While I get that for DnD, where (nearly) all PCs are ground-bound in their day to day lives, this is based on MLP; where fliers are routinely shown to hold conversations while hovering, or sitting on clouds.
True but flight is the only special feature pegasi get and other species get flight too. EaW implies that pegasi are the best fliers in the setting.
>but if you're all roleplaying as fursuiting humans I want out
We're not? I'm not sure what you mean by this. Different species have had different advantages from the start of the game. I'm just not sure what these advantages exactly are since they have been homebrewed and there's no reference document yet.
>Why would you be the only wizard on the block? The gansters hired a dragonfire adept as bodyguard to their necromancer. BOOM! balanced.
That works. From what I know, skilled wizards are around but are relatively uncommon compared to regular unicorns who have basic telekinesis. Meanwhile, guns are more common and are meant to be very lethal.
> He got a negative 15, so that was fun
kek
>But in all honestly, I should wait to hear a bit more from your DM before I decide anything.
That's the best move.

>>193920
>I thought of Cavaliere's fighting style as relying more on cover to boost his effective AC.
What cover?
>
Mystic Ranger 3 / Scout 3 would be good. Then you could advance by putting levels in either of them.
Mystic Ranger 2, Scout 4 could also work. You could skip Combat style in favor of the Scout's Bonus feat.
>Multi-classing to this degree, with four different classes
You would be better off staying in one or two classes if you want to be an effective Swift Hunter, imo, but that's just my opinion.
Then again, martial classes are quite front-loaded, so you could do Ranger/Fighter/Barbarian/Monk if you want.
>That does look good, and it's one that can be readily picked. That's yet another prestige class to consider.
It's adaptable. Depends on GM though.

>>193921
>What cover?
Doorframes, crates, other sorts of objects that could stop a bullet. The sourcebook talks about how they can be used in combat.
>Mystic Ranger 3 / Scout 3 would be good. Then you could advance by putting levels in either of them.
>Mystic Ranger 2, Scout 4 could also work. You could skip Combat style in favor of the Scout's Bonus feat.
Yes but what about melee capability?
>Then again, martial classes are quite front-loaded, so you could do Ranger/Fighter/Barbarian/Monk if you want.
This is why putting only two ranks into monk has been advantageous for me. The downside is that monk is not a very friendly class for multiclassing and you lose your benefits if you outpace it with anything else imo I want to homebrew that out since monk is weak enough as-is
>It's adaptable. Depends on GM though.
GM Pony, like me, has never heard of most of these prestige classes. Telling him about a potential build feels like giving a marketing pitch to a corporate executive; it has to be easy to understand yet detailed.

>>193922
>Yes but what about melee capability?
Well, that's +2d6 damage on all attacks if you move 10 ft, +4d6 if with Improved skirmish. It applies to melee and ranged attacks.

Wing Expert could be useful for charges, particularly since you are a griffon and could do double damage with diving charge Attacks. Cavalier arguably qualifies for Catfolk Pounce too.
High Dex could allow you to make use of the Great Flyby Attack feat, and allow you to hit a lot of creatures in melee by flying through them. Adroit Flyby Attack would help with this.

Alternatively, you could just do 100% Swordsage, or Mystic Ranger + Swordsage. Swordsage is by far the strongest option mentioned here for melee, or damage in general. It's stronger than Monk by far.

>>193923
Thank you for the tips. I guess now I just need to make a big Excel spreadsheet with all these combinations and see what works best.

>>193923
Does Posey have a soul? Like an actual soul like other living beings?

>>193925
No comment.

>>193922
>Doorframes, crates, other sorts of objects that could stop a bullet. The sourcebook talks about how they can be used in combat.
The Woodland Archer feat may help you with this, if combined with flyby attack.
>The downside is that monk is not a very friendly class for multiclassing
If you're that serious about Ranger/Monk multiclass, you should have the Ascetic Hunter feat, which stacks Ranger and Monk levels for certain abilities.
Arguably, you don't even need Monk levels for Ascetic Hunter, just Improved Unarmed Strike. A variant unarmed Ranger Combat Style grants this. Combat Martial Arts or Brawl from a d20 Modern Starting Occupation should work too.
There's also the Pugilist Fighter variant. It has some good level 1 features. Trade the heavy armor proficiency for the Underdark Fighter's Hit-and-run ability: Dex to damage against flat-footed targets.

Taking the Brawl feat from d20 modern starting occupation would also qualify you for Knockout Punch, which auto-crits flat footed enemies when hit with unarmed strikes. Combine this with Stealth, Fly-by Attack, and that one Tumble Skill Trick from Complete Scoundrel that allows you to attack a target flat-footed by dashing past them.
Note that you can trade you Ride class skill for the Tumble class skill in Urban adventures.

Oh yeah, brass knuckles are a thing in d20 Modern: they give +1 damage on unarmed attacks. They cost pocket change.
As a griffon, you can also use claw extenders from Dragon #334, for an additional +1 damage.
Then you could use special materials on both (dragonfang, Iron-filled, Razor-Sharp, etc).
>Yes but what about melee capability?
You should understand that 3.5e martials are very feat-reliant, so leaning into a particular weapon or fighting style is recommended.
There's no build that is optional for both melee and Range, unless you would prefer to completely rebuild as a Cleric with the Animal and Hunt Domains, and then specialize into Prestige Ranger, with Intuitive Attack for Melee and Zen Archery for Ranged Combat. Then take Ascetic Hunter for unarmed damage. Clerics are just good at everything.
The Scout's Skirmish still works in melee though. You just need to keep moving, which Flyby Attack helps with.
>it has to be easy to understand
I just explained it to you. It's more of a matter of acceptance than understanding.

>>193926
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...another question: how would Posey react if one day in a battle she took a hit and it for once oddly hurts. Then she looks down at the wound and sees that she's bleeding...blood. Red, crimson blood.

I get the distinct sense this recent line of questioning has accidentally killed all discussion by the cause of how awkward the air in the room just got.

So I'm going to turn the boxfan on and get back to flight statistics.
>Pic attached
Griffons aren't precisely known for their flight prowess, but in Fallout Equestria, they are known for equipping wing razors - a specialized subset of the idea of barding meant to allow the leading edge of their wings act as a weapon during high-speed flight against a slower, or ground bound target.
Also, Gilda in particular considered herself the equal of RD, and no one in she show disputed it.

So I posit that griffons should have flight abilities that are within reach of the pterripi''s 'normal'
I feel this needs reconsidering of the DnD 'flight chart' - I wouldn't, if this was at a "normal" DnD table where gnolls, elves and humans happened to be travelling with a flying, talking horse-person, but since this is Equestria...

Hippogriphs are a different problem. They spent an entire generation being seaponies and disallowed their young to come to understand the nuances of flight. This was recent enough that it still haunts today's energetic, youthful new workers. They would suffer flight checks not so much because their wings aren't strong, but because they don't have the culture or history to know what to do with the extra limbs.
Like legs. (2nd attachment)

According to Surf And/Or Turf,
<[ Season 8 Episode 6, https mlp _ fandom _ com /wiki/Surf_and_or_Turf ]
Hippogriffs still have the right to become seaponies.

Which [would/should] could massively alter the immediate course of this campaign to confront a sea monster and its willingly enthralled minion(s)

>>193925
No.

>>193930
>Griffons aren't precisely known for their flight prowess, but in Fallout Equestria, they are known for equipping wing razors - a specialized subset of the idea of barding meant to allow the leading edge of their wings act as a weapon during high-speed flight against a slower, or ground bound target.
That's an idea. In Equestria at War, the setting for this campaign, the special unit for griffons are "knights," heavily armored units that are holdovers from a more archaic time but which can be improved via enchantment research to better resist gunfire. We haven't encountered any so far, but their existence implies that griffons are less inclined to mobility and flight, though they're capable of it. Ponies have a couple of unique units in the mod, with pegasi being dedicated, fast-moving paratroopers. On average, it seems that pegasi have better flight than griffons and we can chalk Gilda up to being both exceptional and having spent time with flight-focused pegasi.

We also aren't entirely sure on what the natural weapons of each race are, though we know we have them (hooves for ponies, horses and deer, claws for griffons, just about any race can bite, etc.) The monstrous form of griffons in default 3.5e have the "rake" ability which is frankly overpowered in this game, but maybe that could be a feat for griffons?

>hippogriffs
My interpretation of them in EaW and in this game is that they are a jack of all trades, master of none (except swimming). They would be ungainly on land despite their appearance and wouldn't fly well, but being able to move through any medium is valuable. In EaW they have the best marines.

>>193932 →
>I'd rather the players figure out where they want to place NPCs rather than letting them free roam
I mean, we tried that, but here we are all these weeks later with no progress.
Furthermore, this is an opportunity for you to decide how many NPCs you want to run at once in the given encounters, and which of them you actually want to roleplay.
I have a Thrallherd in my Sunday game, and I try to work with him to streamline when/when he brings his 30+ minions on the ship to avoid slowing the game down, as well as give him a heads up so that he can preserve his named-character slaves while letting his expendables do expendable work. And that's for his controlled NPCs.

If we go back to debating who goes where, we might just spend another three weeks arguing. We don't actually control any of these NPCs, we do not have their statistics or combat stats, and they only barely trust us enough to follow our plans: better to let the ponies themselves decide what they're prepared to do based on their mindedness and capabilities.

I don't actually care what we do in the end. My only real priority was keeping the airponies from being killed, but if we seize the boat(s) we can probably sell them for more than our reward, so I am less anxious about that. Do whatever. Let's just decide somehow so that we can go back to roleplaying.
>>193936
>We haven't encountered any so far
I killed a griffon Knight. It was Luminous. He sadly didn't have any of his equipment except for a suit of chainmail, but I gave him my +2 Silver sword so we could have a semi-honorable fight.
I still have his bones. Might do something with them later.
Posey fought griffon knights throughout most of her military service, and that's basically her specialty.
>but their existence implies that griffons are less inclined to mobility and flight, though they're capable of it.
I don't really see anything that implies this. Griffons seem to be strong fliers in the show. It would also be kind of stupid to have a bird-based race not be strong fliers when so many other flying creatures exist in the universe.
Imo, Griffins could use stats similar to 3.5e Raptorans, except I guess you should give them flight at lvl 1 that also improves as they gain levels.
Maybe check out Races Of The Wild, or just do whatever ponyfinder does.
>On average, it seems that pegasi have better flight than griffons
This is true.
>We also aren't entirely sure on what the natural weapons of each race are
>claws for griffons
I would like answers to this.
Griffins should at minimum have two 1d4 claw attacks, ideally 1d6. Perhaps you could let them spend feats to give them a rake attack as well. I think they should qualify for catfolk pounce too. Griffons should be good as flying charger martial builds.
>The monstrous form of griffons in default 3.5e have the "rake" ability which is frankly overpowered in this game, but maybe that could be a feat for griffons?
Oh, looks like you already though of that.
Griffons have cat-like anatomy, so being able to take is nice.
>hooves
Considering that kicking is often depicted in the show, ponies could have a hoof attack.
A 3.5e pony (animal) has two 1d3 hoof attacks. Hooves are only secondary natural attacks though (-5 penalty), so they wouldn't be all that useful in combat. Still, an extra attack is an extra attack.
>just about any race can bite
Nah, I wouldn't do that. If a 3.5e horse does not have a bite attack, then neither should an average pony.
(t. has a bite attack)
Considering that this is a setting with guns, I think being generous with natural attacks is fine. Griffons at least should be able to have good natural weapon builds.
>They would be ungainly on land despite their appearance and wouldn't fly well
Mythologically, hippogriffs are better fliers than pegasi or griffons. The Holy Roman Empire really romanticized them as the ideal mount for Paladins.
>>193933
Rood
>>193928
Posey is a masochist.
If she bled red, she would think that she either needs to go easier on Gloomy, or recognize it as some sort of advancement in her necrotic evolution and proceed to study it. She prides herself in her ability to pass for a living pony despite being dead, unique among Necropolitans, a trait she attributes to her vampiric heritage.

>>193937
>Griffons seem to be strong fliers in the show. It would also be kind of stupid to have a bird-based race not be strong fliers when so many other flying creatures exist in the universe.
I suppose so but my concern is balance. How good at flying should pegasi be by default? The answer is better than any other flying race, because it's all that pegasi have going for them. Griffons are a complicated answer, so let's do a simpler comparison with batponies. Batponies also can fly, but in addition to flight they have echolocation, which is a type of darksight. One way of balancing them is to give a negative, but the only negative which makes sense for them is a social disadvantage in pony society. However social disadvantages can easily be worked around while darksight is a really cool power, so batponies are simply better by default. The easiest way to balance the two races is to make pegasi naturally better at flying than batponies.
>Imo, Griffins could use stats similar to 3.5e Raptorans, except I guess you should give them flight at lvl 1 that also improves as they gain levels.
>Maybe check out Races Of The Wild, or just do whatever ponyfinder does.
I will have to research this.

>Griffins should at minimum have two 1d4 claw attacks, ideally 1d6. Perhaps you could let them spend feats to give them a rake attack as well. I think they should qualify for catfolk pounce too. >Griffons should be good as flying charger martial builds.
I don't know how these abilities would transfer over to a monk build with a focus on nonlethal damage.
>Griffons at least should be able to have good natural weapon builds.
I agree and the way to balance them would be a small charisma debuff (-1) and going by bipedal weight rules (all equines use quadrupedal weight rules). I'm still not sure how this works with a monk/nonlethal unarmed build, or what other abilities and balancing methods should be incorporated.

>>193935 →
>bringing the possessed ponies for a "Light of Ourabouros" gambit
internally screams

>>193938
>I suppose so but my concern is balance.
Imo, it's a bit late to care about "balance" when races that fly at-will at lvl 1 are on the table. Flight is such a powerful ability that trying to nerf it with maneuverability feels like cope. It would still be the strongest ability by far.
>How good at flying should pegasi be by default?
To reflect the show, their flying ability should be Average maneuverability with a speed twice as fast as their land speed. They should also have the opportunity to upgrade their flight through feats.
I also think Pony land speed should be 40-50 ft though, so 80-100 ft.
>Griffons are a complicated answer, so let's do a simpler comparison with batponies.
Is it though? Assuming we're letting races have flight at lvl 1, their maneuverability should be average, like that of an eagle. Make their flight speed twice as fast as their land, which imo should be slower than ponies.
>Batponies also can fly, but in addition to flight they have echolocation, which is a type of darksight.
>The easiest way to balance the two races is to make pegasi naturally better at flying than batponies.
Just give Batponies low light vision and a hearing-based blindsense, with the opportunity to upgrade it to Blindsight.
Bat wings aren't as optimal for flight, so you could reduce their speed. Batponies would be adept to flying in narrow corridors, so their maneuverability should be fine albeit with lower speed.
Then also give them Light Blindness, like Drow. Or at least Light Sensitivity. That is a reasonable debuff.
>One way of balancing them is to
See, you're thinking from a "balance" perspective again, when you've already committed to a "show-acurrate realism" perspective by letting races fly at lvl 1. Start by giving them basic abilities that represent their abilities in the show, then balance them with each other. Ponyfinder does this: the most "broken" thing about it is still the fact that races fly at lvl 1 and games need to be written with that in mind.
Really, you could probably just use PF1e Ponyfinder for a lot of metrics.
>I don't know how these abilities would transfer over to a monk build with a focus on nonlethal damage.
Well, having a Claw Attacks might qualify you for the Beast Strike feat, which is good. Claw attacks are just nice to have overall, but imo don't impact the game all that much, particularly if you don't have multi attack. They're excellent to have it you're a Psychic Warrior or Totemist though.
Btw, Psychic Warrior is very, very, very good for unarmed combat. It multiclasses well with Monk too, ala Tashlatora.
It even multiclasses well with Ranger, ala Illithid Slayer.
If you want to focus on Non-lethal damage, the Book Of Exalted Deeds has some stuff written on that.
You could also buy weapons with the Merciful Enhancement, particularly an Amulet Of Natural Attacks or Claw Extenders.
>I agree and the way to balance them would be a small charisma debuff (-1)
I actually disagree. A debuff to the most commonly dumped stat is not a balancing measure, despite what early 3.0 writers thought it would be. If you don't use Charisma, -2 Cha does nothing.
>weight rules (all equines use quadrupedal weight rules)
Carrying capacity is a non-issue for most games unless someone is a Hulking Hurler, but sure.
Buy a Bag Of Holding.

>>193939
>Imo, it's a bit late to care about "balance" when races that fly at-will at lvl 1 are on the table. Flight is such a powerful ability that trying to nerf it with maneuverability feels like cope. It would still be the strongest ability by far.
This is a good point. I don't know how true it is in a world with guns and planes but the "fly-by-attack" feat is certainly powerful. Just getting from place to place quickly, at the cost of being easily spotted, has its benefits.
>To reflect the show, their flying ability should be Average maneuverability with a speed twice as fast as their land speed. They should also have the opportunity to upgrade their flight through feats.
>I also think Pony land speed should be 40-50 ft though, so 80-100 ft.
Agreed
>Just give Batponies low light vision and a hearing-based blindsense, with the opportunity to upgrade it to Blindsight.
>Bat wings aren't as optimal for flight, so you could reduce their speed. Batponies would be adept to flying in narrow corridors, so their maneuverability should be fine albeit with lower speed.
>Then also give them Light Blindness, like Drow. Or at least Light Sensitivity. That is a reasonable debuff.
These are good assessments. I forgot there are less powerful versions of dark vision. Also instead of taking the lazy route and relying on the flight table, individualized flight performance is a good idea.
>See, you're thinking from a "balance" perspective again, when you've already committed to a "show-acurrate realism" perspective by letting races fly at lvl 1. Start by giving them basic abilities that represent their abilities in the show, then balance them with each other. Ponyfinder does this: the most "broken" thing about it is still the fact that races fly at lvl 1 and games need to be written with that in mind.
>Really, you could probably just use PF1e Ponyfinder for a lot of metrics.
You're right. I still haven't read Ponyfinder
>beast strike feat
I didn't know about that. It would be useful for Cavaliere, though if it counts as lethal damage then it's less than ideal for subduing enemies. He doesn't kill enemies if he can help it but if he has no choice he might as well use a gun. Did I mention there's about a dozen viable feats he could take on as his next one?
I'll have to look into the other stuff.
>I actually disagree. A debuff to the most commonly dumped stat is not a balancing measure, despite what early 3.0 writers thought it would be. If you don't use Charisma, -2 Cha does nothing.
It would impact Cavaliere since convincing or intimidating other creatures is necessary for his work and I invested points into those scores. That's a good point. Also talking about debuffs is useless until you have a list of racial abilities and a baseline for what counts as "balanced," so we might as well ignore it.
>Carrying capacity is a non-issue for most games unless someone is a Hulking Hurler, but sure.
It has impacted Cavaliere pretty significantly but point taken.
>Bag of Holding
No idea how common that is in this setting. If it's something that can be readily made or purchased, militaries would absolutely use that magic for their logistics. Since it's core to 3.5e we can assume it exists (like the swan boat) until GM Pony says otherwise.

I happen to have a moderately complete copy of Ponyfinder.
Now, I know some folks are squeamish about bypassing the profits maybe getting to the author, so here's what I'll offer: I'll leave the link up just a time. Either about nine hours or about 26 - work happens in the middle of those two. Then I'll delete the link.

mega.nz/folder [slash] L9YCxbZS#56e4eQ7cDStXpjmfBRIWoA

>>193942
So we're all in agreement that this is very likely bait and isn't actually Ponyfinder, right?

>>193942
Thank you anon. As a poorfag I appreciate it.
>>193943
If he's punking us it's very well hidden. All the files seem legit.

>>193942
Thank you poner.

While we wait for a response from the NPCs, do we want to try using Monstro-kamikaze to sink the GRU ship before or after we enter the Kostroma?

Doing so before lets us know early if we could eliminate the threat of the GRU, and also gives us the opportunity to strike their ship while they are distracted with their wild goose chase on the island (an underwater approach followed by a free-Willie style flying leap could catch them off guard and compromise their hull by slamming into it while carrying the torpedos). It would also possibly increase allied NPC morale, as seeing the explosion would be spectacular, and the communists seeing the GRU ship sink would make it clear that they have passed the point of no return and cannot return to Stalliongrad, lest they be executed for treason/desertion: this makes them more likely to comply with our demands. This does, however, risk Monstro being destroyed, which would sadden me, but sacrifices must be made for the sake of the mission.

Doing it after means that Posey would be able to use Monstro as a combat minion aboard the Kostroma, which may help us against other monsters we may encounter aboard the ship. Monstro an attack flying enemies, has considerable reach, has decent HP and damage resistance, and can grapple+constrict+paralyze enemies. It would have to squeeze in narrow corridors though, which limits its combat potential, although that also makes it a means of total cover for the party if we want to use it to plug up a passageway to stop monsters from reaching or shooting us. It also leaves Monstro intact so that Posey can use it as a flying getaway vehicle to fly home if this mission goes south and fails and she is forced to flee while everypony else dies.

>>193946
I'm not so sure Monstro would be able to fit inside the ship corridors. I would vote to use Monstro to attack the GRU ship before rather than after, to remove the threat of the destroyer attacking either of these ships.

>>193946
After. Attacking their ship directly would kick the GRU's efforts into overdrive and they will come to kill us. I also don't have confidence in Monstro being able to sink the destroyer at all and I think you would be wasting a valuable summon. But he's your minion and it's up to you.

>>193947
>I'm not so sure Monstro would be able to fit inside the ship corridors.
Monstro is a huge creature. I think it can squeeze through a space barely wider then 5 ft, although it would not be able to fight comfortably in those conditions.
If we find ourselves in single file 5 ft corridor encounters, we should have somepony holding a tower shield take the lead.
>>193948
> I also don't have confidence in Monstro being able to sink the destroyer at all and I think you would be wasting a valuable summon.
Well, idk how many torpedos we have altogether, but I have been studying the rules for sinking ships in 3.5e and likewise calculating the HP for the hull section of ships in this era, and it should be doable based on my estimates of the torpedo damage. So long as it can either make contact with the ship, or drop something on top of
I'm still looking for the rules for WWII era radar detection, but based on the Range increment and damage of the ships guns it should be pretty difficult for them to completely destroy monstro before it gets within sprinting range.
A single torpedo can be swung or tossed as an improvised weapon against an AC of ~3 towards a hull section before it detonates, which will then detonate all other torpedos. The improvised weapon attack combined with the first explosion might be twice as much as it needs to destroy a single hull section of the ship (assuming hardness of tempered steel) and the AoE is large enough to affect at least 3 squares radius. Once a single hull section is destroyed, adjacent hull sections are automatically reduced to 50% max HP, which combined with the explosion would destroy them, causing a cascading chain reaction that would destroy maybe 9 sections and severely damage some others. Monstro could potentially pull this off without even destroying itself.
The ship would immediately begin sinking if at least one hull section is destroyed. Unless I'm gravely mistaken with the damage of a torpedo, one should be enough to sink it, and Monstro could carry a few.

But yeah, valuable minion. I might prefer to keep it to defend me in combat, particularly because it's large enough to give me cover in combat and has a very strong melee attack and incapacitating grapple. I should weigh the risk.