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    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default We Knew the World Would Not be the Same

    The Protean Chimera

    "The old warlord wasn't taking us seriously, so to impress him to do his duty
    Zatic took on her towering, multi-armed form and said
    'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'
    Warlord ponied up his troops in a hurry after that."

    -Grok the Half-Orc Barbarian

    There are forces in this world that are untamed and untamable. Disasters that touch the land and leave the inhabitants with no choice but flee or be destroyed. The wild fire, the tornado, the earthquake, the hurricane. Forces of nature without pity or remorse. Forces of nature that none are foolish enough to believe they could control or oppose. And at times such forces touch the heart of a mortal and they are transformed into such an instrument of retribution.

    The Protean Chimera is a hurricane in a bottle. She points herself at a problem, uncorks the stopper, and leaves devastation in her wake. Sometimes she even manages to get rid of the problem in the process.
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    Adventures: To a Protean Chimera adventures are a chance to prove her mettle and hone her feral skills. She may seek power simply for her own sake, or they may seek power to face the imbalance to the world she was destined to confront. Regardless of her reasons, the Protean Chimera typifies the oldest canon of the natural world. Nature is red in tooth and claw.

    Characteristics: The Protean Chimera is defined by by her ability to take on hyrbid, Chimera forms assembled from creatures in the world around her. Even in her base state the Protean Chimera boasts thick natural armor and fearsome claws. A Chimera early in her career fights much as a lycanthrope might. A Chimera at the pinnacle of her power becomes a colossal force of nature that even an adult dragon would be hesitant to cross.

    Alignment: The Protean Chimera is often born as a counter-weight to some wrongness in the state of the world. As such she gravitates away from extreme alignments and favors the balance of neutrality.

    Religion: The Protean Chimera is rarely aware of where her powers come from nor of the forces that drive her inexorably toward her destiny. She may have a vague idea that fundamental aspects of existence have chosen her as a champion, but such forces are aloof to mortal worship. More commonly a Protean Chimera will devote herself to the ideal embodied by their calling. A Good Chimera may venerate the concept of protection of the young while an Evil Chimera might cherish the destruction of the weak.

    Background: The Protean Chimera's uncanny powers arise without consent or warning in a mortal chosen for reasons unknown. Depending on where the Chimera lives she may be embraced as a harbinger of balance or as driven away as an untamed monster to be feared. Regardless of upbringing a Chimera is driven toward survival and self-sufficiency, lending herself toward skills useful in the wilds and a feral, vicious fighting style.

    A Chimera's experience often times leads her to familiarity with the natural world and the wild things that fill it, knowledge and familiarity that she harnesses to shape her Chimera Form.

    Races: Because the racial strengths of many species are eclipsed by the superior physical prowess of Chimera Forms humans are often chosen due to their innate adaptability, a skill that is without question vital to a Chimera carrying out her destiny. Any race may be called, but only the most cunning and flexible survive.

    Other Classes: The Protean Chimera values personal strength and can often find common ground with other martial classes. The magic of casters, both arcane and divine, remind the Chimera of her own, powerful and mysterious. Her relationship with Druids is mixed, however. Some Druids view the Chimera as a destructive manifestation of the world where as others see her as an aberration acting outside the established natural order.

    Role: The Protean Chimera functions as an extremely durable, highly mobile front line combatant able to present herself as a threat that is impossible to ignore. In her base state her lack of armor allows her to move stealthfully and skillfully while being quite aware of her surroundings, making her an ideal scout.


    Game Information
    The Protean Chimera has the followings game statistics:
    Abilities: Constitution aids a Chimera's durability and helps her keep herself out of a berserk state, making it one of her most vital abilities. Strength and Dexterity both improve her capability to give out and avoid attacks. Finally, Intelligence improves her Knowledge skills which are pivotal to determining what creatures she is familiar with for the use of her Chimera Form and aids her in shaking off berserk states.
    Alignment: Any Neutral.
    Starting Gold: 2d4 x 10
    Starting Age: As Barbarian
    Hit Die: 1d10

    Class skills
    The Protean Chimera’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex).
    Skill Points at Level 1: (6+Int Modifier)x4
    Skill Points at each additional level: 6+Int Modifier
    Full BAB
    Good Fortitude and Reflex Saves

    The Protean Chimera

    1st: Chimera Form 1/Day, Chimera's Armor+0, Chimera's Claws 1d6, Aspect of the Beast, Animal Chimera
    2nd: Chimera Form 2/Day
    3rd: Vermin Chimera
    4th: Large Form, Chimera's Armor +1, Chimera's Claws 1d8 Magic,
    5th: Two-Fold Chimera
    6th: Chimera Form 3/Day
    7th: Magical Chimera
    8th: Chimera's Armor +2, Chimera's Claws 1d10 Aligned
    9th: Evershifting Form, Huge Form
    10th: Chimera Form 3/Day, Three-Fold Chimera
    11th: Plant Chimera
    12th: Extraordinary Assumption, Chimera's Armor +3, Chimera's Claws 2d6 Metallic
    13th: Uncanny Anatomy
    14th: Chimera Form 5/Day, Gargantuan Form
    15th: Four-Fold Chimera, Aberrant Chimera
    16th: Chimera's Armor +4, Chimera's Claws 2d8 Adamantine
    17th: Supernatural Apotheosis
    18th: Chimera Form 6/Day
    19th: Draconic Chimera, Colossal Form
    20th: True Chimera, Chimera's Armor +5, Chimera's Claws 2d10 Epic

    Class Features
    All of the following are class features of the Protean Chimera.
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    Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The Protean Chimera is proficient with all simple weapons and her natural weapons. She is not proficient with shields or armor.

    Chimera Form (Su): As Wildshape except as noted here. The Protean Chimera takes on a Chimera Form between her base form and the selected Animal, using the best racial traits of each. She may apply her base ability scores to her new Chimera Form as if it were her new race. If her Con Modifier increases she gain associated Temporary Hit Points for the duration of Chimera Form.

    While in Chimera Form she gains a Berserk Pool that starts at zero and increases by an amount equal to the damage she takes while in Chimera Form. When she takes damage she must make a Concentration Check (DC: Berserk Pool). If she fails this check she enters a berserk frenzy and attacks the nearest creature to her blindly, favoring first those attacking her. She may remake the Concentration Check at the end of each of her turns to try to regain control of herself. Each round while she's berserk the Berserk Pool decreases by an amount equal to her Int modifier plus one. Alternately, she can use a full-round action to end Chimera Form prematurely and return to her base form. Returning to her base form resets the Berserk Pool to zero.

    She may speak normally in her Chimera Form. When she use her Chimera Form her Size corresponds to the largest component creature in her Chimera Form or the Size of her base form, whichever is larger.

    Armor, shields, and mundane equipment are absorbed into her form and become non-functional until Chimera Form ends. However, all other magical equipment modifies to fit her new form.

    To determine if she is familiar with a creature she must either observe it first hand or succeed on a related Knowledge check (DC: 10+creature's HD) to see if she is aware of its existence.

    Chimera's Armor (Ex): While wearing no armor and wielding no shield the Chimera gains Natural Armor equal to her Con Modifier plus a flat amount as she gain levels. This flat amount begins at +1 at level 4 and increases by 1 every level thereafter, to a maximum of +5 at level 20. This Natural Armor does not stack with the base Natural Armor of the component creatures of her Chimera Form, use the higher value instead.

    Chimera's Claws (Ex): The Chimera gains two 1d6 Claw Attacks in her base form. Claw Attacks are always considered her only primary natural weapons regardless of form. At level 4 her damage improves to 1d8 and Natural Weapons are considered Magical for the purpose of overcoming Damage Reduction.

    At level 8 the damage improves to 1d10 and they count as aligned weapons based on her Alignment. If the Chimera is True Neutral she may choose Lawful, Chaotic, Good, or Evil as the alignment type of her Natural Weapons. Once this choice is made it can not be changed.

    At level 12 the damage improves to 2d6 and they count as either Silver or Cold Iron. Once this choice is made it can not be changed.

    At level 16 the damage improves to 2d8 and they count as Adamantine. At level 20 the damage improves to 2d10 and they count as Epic Weapons.

    Aspect of the Beast (Ex): At the beginning of each day the Chimera may choose an aspect (a single natural weapon, an Extraordinary Attack, or a mode of movement) of a creature she can apply to her Chimera Form and apply it to her base form. When she enters Chimera Form this aspect is lost and she may choose a new one when she returns to her base form. At level 12 she may choose an Extraordinary Quality. At level 17 she may choose a Supernatural Attack or Quality.

    Animal Chimera (Ex): The Chimera may incorporate Animals into her Chimera Form. Additionally, she gains Low Light Vision in all forms.

    Vermin Chimera (Ex): The Chimera may incorporate Vermin into her Chimera Form. Additionally, she gains Scent in all forms.

    Large Form (Su): The Chimera may include Large creatures in her Chimera Form. If she takes on a Large form she may scale up all her natural weapons to Large Size.

    This ability improves to include Huge Size at level 9, Gargantuan Size at level 14, and Colossal size at level 19. Additionally at level 19 she may also advance Gargantuan creatures to Colossal size for the purpose of using this ability even if the Gargantuan creature is not normally Colossal (+8 Str, +4 Con, +5 NA, -8 penalty to AC and ToHit instead of -4, Space/Reach 30').

    Two-Fold Chimera (Su): The Chimera may take on a Chimera Form which is a combination of her base form and two other creatures. When creating her Chimera Form she takes the best features of both creatures. For example, if one creature had a 1d8 Bite and a second had a 2d6 Bite, she would gain a 2d6 Bite rather than two separate Bite attacks.

    This ability improves to three creatures at level 10, four creatures at level 15, and five creatures at level 20.

    Magical Chimera (Ex): The Chimera may incorporate Magical Beasts into her Chimera Form. Additionally, she gains Darkvision 60' in all forms.

    Evershifting Form (Su): The Chimera may use her Chimera Form ability as a Move Action rather than a Standard Action. Additionally, she may shift into a new Chimera Form during the duration of the ability. Returning to her base form still ends the duration prematurely. She may only gain Temporary Hit Points once per use of Chimera Form.

    Plant Chimera (Ex): The Chimera may incorporate Plants into her Chimera Form. Additionally, she gains the ability to move through difficult terrain at full speed and immunity to Entanglement.

    Extraordinary Assumption (Su): The Chimera gains the Extraordinary Qualities of the creatures she incorporate into her Chimera Form.

    Uncanny Anatomy (Ex): The Chimera's vital organs have diffused and reorganized through her body, rendering her immune to Critical Hits and Sneak Attack damage.

    Aberrant Chimera (Ex): The Chimera may incorporate Aberrations into her Chimera Form. Additionally, she gains Blindsight 30' in all forms.

    Supernatural Apotheosis (Su): The Chimera gains the Supernatural Attacks and Qualities of the component creatures in her Chimera Form.

    Draconic Chimera (Ex): The Chimera may incorporate Dragons into her Chimera Form. Additionally, she gains Blindsense 60' and her Darkvision improves to Darkvision 120'.

    True Chimera (Su): The Chimera gains the Shapechanger subtype and may shrug off any form-altering effect as a free action. She may use her Chimera Form ability as a free action and/or an immediate action. Returning to her base form while berserk still requires a full-round action and resets the berserk Concentration check DC, but it no longer ends the duration of Chimera Form.

    Finally, she may take on a Chimera Form which is a combination of her base form and five other creatures.


    Feats
    The following are Feats available to the Protean Chimera.
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    Extra Chimera Form
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature.
    Benefit: You gain two extra uses of Chimera Form per day.
    Special: You may take this Feat multiple times, its effect stacks.

    Augmented Transformation
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature.
    Benefit: You may use creatures in your Chimera Form with up to 4 Hit Dice above your level. You must still qualify for a creature of that Size and Type.
    Special: You may take this Feat multiple times, its effect stacks.

    Improved Aspect of the Beast
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature.
    Benefit: You may choose two aspects to apply to your base form rather than one.

    Superior Aspect of the Beast
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature, six or more levels in Protean Chimera, Improved Aspect of the Beast.
    Benefit: You may choose three aspects to apply to your base form rather than two.

    Perfect Aspect of the Beast
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature, twelve or more levels in Protean Chimera, Improved Aspect of the Beast, Superior Aspect of the Beast.
    Benefit: You may choose four aspects to apply to your base form rather than three.

    Feral Resolve
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature
    Benefit: When you take damage while in Chimera Form reduce the amount you add to your Berserk Pool by 5, to a minimum of 1.
    Special: You may take this Feat multiple times, its effect stacks.

    Serene Frenzy
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature
    Benefit: While berserk your Berserk Pool decreases by two plus twice your Int modifier rather than one plus your Int modifier each round. Additionally your Berserk Pool decreases by 1 each round while you aren't berserk.

    Face Stealer
    Prerequisite: The Chimera Form class feature
    Benefit: You have learned to use your shifting form to allow you to mimic others and infiltrate. Rather than its usual effect you may use your Chimera Form to take on the appearance of a humanoid you have observed, granting you a +10 bonus to Disguise to pass as that creature. When used in this way equipment is not absorbed into your form. Add Bluff, Disguise, and Gather Information to your Class Skill list.


    Broken Combos
    These are Chimera Forms that result in potentially game-breaking (or at least rather odious cheese) combos of abilities that DMs should be on the look out for if one of their players wish to play a Protean Chimera. For players, don't you even dare considering any of these unless your DM specifically okays it after understanding what the combo will result in.
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    Immune to Damage Sans Bludgeoning: Tendrilculos(MM) + Leechwalker(MM2) + Digester(MM) available at level 13 (level 12 with Augmented Transformation)

    The Tendrilculos has Regeneration 10/Acid or Bludgeoning. The Digester is immune to Acid and the Leechwalker is immune to non-lethal damage while taking half damage from bludgeoning. End result? Only bludgeoning damage hurts you and it is cut in half. Nasty tanking combo in addition to the other fun tricks these three monsters afford. Unless you don't mind Clerics running around with Beastland Ferocity/Delay Death then strongly consider banning the existence of Leechwalkers from your game.
    Last edited by Rebonack; 2014-06-25 at 12:37 AM.
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  2. - Top - End - #2
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    So, the idea here is nice, but I'm a little worried about a class whose primary class feature makes them likely to attack their allies. Without that this would be either low T3 or high T4 since it would be very effective in combat, but that risk makes things definitely tricky. The full-round action option will help, but the basic situation could be tricky.

    The Extraordinary and Supernatural abilities at the later levels will obviously help (especially because there are a lot of those which can be used for out of combat stuff) and probably pushes this into T3, but it would be nice if it has some sort of out of combat ability before 12th level.

    Also, since their abilities depend on making knowledge checks, they should definitely have access to all knowledge skills. And they should probably get (small) bonuses to knowledge to recognize creatures.

    I suggest as they develop each creature type maybe give them some minor bonus that always applies even when not in Chimera form? Say animals could give them scent. Vermin could give a +2 bonus on saves against mind-affecting effects. Aberrant might make them have an anatomy that moves around resisting critical hits. Etc.
    My homebrew:

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    Completed:
    ToB disciplines:

    The Narrow Bridge
    The Broken Blade

    Prestige classess:
    Disciple of Karsus -PrC for Karsites.
    The Seekers of Lost Swords and the Preserver of Future Blades Two interelated Tome of Battle Prcs,
    Master of the Hidden Seal - Binder/Divine hybrid
    Knight of the Grave- Necromancy using Gish



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  3. - Top - End - #3
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Maybe not likely but that's a possibility. The goal was to try to capture the feel of playing an unrestrained force of nature without getting into the silly TPK potential of things like the Frenzied Berserker.

    Keep in mind that her Concentration modifier would be pretty high due to high Con score on whatever nasty critter she happens to be using in Chimera Form. Even at level 1 she would have to suffer a pretty healthy chunk of her max HP in damage before she starts getting into the danger zone.

    Should the Chimera go berserk she would have at least a few rounds of stomping all over hostile creatures before she turns her sights on her party. If she still isn't in control at that point she could always spend a full-round action to end Chimera Form. So long as the ability is ended before she eats someone her party isn't ever in any real danger.

    If this downside to Chimera Form seems too potentially hazardous I can think of two ways to reign it in. Either increase the DC (Int mod +1 to x2Int mod +2?) drop each round in the berserk state OR make the DC tick down each round regardless of state so it won't build up between encounters. I don't like the idea of removing it, though. As flavor it's pretty nifty and helps capture the unstoppable force feel.

    On the Knowldge skills, all of the critters the Chimera can utilize are covered by the Arcana, Dungeoneering, and Nature skills. Hence, those are the only three she gets as class skills.

    That leaves us with additional abilities to add to their base form. That one I'll consider and see what others think.

    Thanks for the feedback!
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    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Rebonack View Post
    Maybe not likely but that's a possibility. The goal was to try to capture the feel of playing an unrestrained force of nature without getting into the silly TPK potential of things like the Frenzied Berserker.

    Keep in mind that her Concentration modifier would be pretty high due to high Con score on whatever nasty critter she happens to be using in Chimera Form. Even at level 1 she would have to suffer a pretty healthy chunk of her max HP in damage before she starts getting into the danger zone.

    Should the Chimera go berserk she would have at least a few rounds of stomping all over hostile creatures before she turns her sights on her party. If she still isn't in control at that point she could always spend a full-round action to end Chimera Form. So long as the ability is ended before she eats someone her party isn't ever in any real danger.

    If this downside to Chimera Form seems too potentially hazardous I can think of two ways to reign it in. Either increase the DC (Int mod +1 to x2Int mod +2?) drop each round in the berserk state OR make the DC tick down each round regardless of state so it won't build up between encounters. I don't like the idea of removing it, though. As flavor it's pretty nifty and helps capture the unstoppable force feel.
    Yeah, you've convinced me that as it stands, it makes sense. Probably doesn't need any adjustment.

    On the Knowldge skills, all of the critters the Chimera can utilize are covered by the Arcana, Dungeoneering, and Nature skills. Hence, those are the only three she gets as class skills.
    Ok. Good enough then.

    That leaves us with additional abilities to add to their base form. That one I'll consider and see what others think.

    Thanks for the feedback!
    You are welcome.
    My homebrew:

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    Completed:
    ToB disciplines:

    The Narrow Bridge
    The Broken Blade

    Prestige classess:
    Disciple of Karsus -PrC for Karsites.
    The Seekers of Lost Swords and the Preserver of Future Blades Two interelated Tome of Battle Prcs,
    Master of the Hidden Seal - Binder/Divine hybrid
    Knight of the Grave- Necromancy using Gish



    Worthwhile links:

    Age of Warriors

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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Oookay, I've added some abilities gained with each creature type as well as the ability to assume a single aspect of a critter in the Protean Chimera's base form only. That should give her a few more tools to work with in case she has to dump her Chimera Form duration to prevent herself from eating her party.

    I would imagine that an Extra Chimera Form feat along the lines of Extra Wild Shape would be quite viable as well. Two extra uses per day at level 1 would be pretty handy.
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    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Just to be certain here but the abilities with each extra form there count for all forms as stated or are they only usable in the form of the base creature?

    Also, does the berzerk pool start from zero each time they shapeshift or does the pool carry over for each following shift as well? Does it reset to 0 when they resume natural form or sleep or what?

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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    I rather like this; I can't give an indepth look at the moment, but this is quite classy.
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Terumitsu View Post
    Just to be certain here but the abilities with each extra form there count for all forms as stated or are they only usable in the form of the base creature?
    The Two-Fold Chimera feature (and the other upgrades to it) work basically like gestalting a class. You select the best features of two (or more) creatures and apply them to the resulting gestalt class, eg the Chimera Form. Or at least I think that's what you're asking about?

    Also, does the berzerk pool start from zero each time they shapeshift or does the pool carry over for each following shift as well? Does it reset to 0 when they resume natural form or sleep or what?
    The Berserk Pool returns to zero every time the Protean Chimera reverts to her base form. So say she uses her Chimera Form and takes 12 damage, placing her Berserk Pool at 12. Then she ends Chimera Form and spends the next hour in her base form. Later she uses Chimera Form a second time. Because she returned to her base form the Berserk Pool is now zero again.

    Quote Originally Posted by Amechra
    I rather like this; I can't give an indepth look at the moment, but this is quite classy.
    And thank you sir or ma'am. I'm glad my class is classy. If one felt so inclined they could pick up a Hat of Disguise and stomp around as a giant monster in dapper formal wear. That's sure to improve even the most gauche of battlefields.

    EDIT OF DOOM

    So the word is in and the Protean Chimera has fallen into High-T3, otherwise known as 'Keep an eye on these guys because they have one or two tricks that might break the game Tier'. That places the Chimera in good company with the Dread Necromancer, the Beguiler, and the rather wonderful Teleporter. Cool beans! Especially since that's more or less what I was shooting for.

    But that also means the class has some lurking potential for abuse. To that end I'll be adding a section to the opening post regarding potentially broken critter combinations that DMs should keep an eye out for and shoot down the moment the suggestion is made.

    The most obvious one that comes to mind is the Tendrilculos' regeneration combined with one of many sources of immunity to non-lethal damage. The Leechwalker from MM2 would probably be the best candidate since it also offers 50% damage reduction to bludgeoning damage.

    If you fine folks can think of any other potentially nasty combo please feel free to chime in and I'll add it to the watch list.
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Sorry for the delay in the PEACH, but here we go.

    You're going to be berserking a lot, especially because the highest Concentration check a player can make is proportional to level, but the DC is proportional to rounds times (damage-INT mod, a tertiary stat). The check might be failed on the first round, but it will probably fail on the second and will definitely be failed on the third round. I like the mechanic, but I strongly suggest aggressively increasing the berserk Pool's recovery. I suggest it divide by a constant at the end of each round, probably two but maybe three. Also, wouldn't it make sense for becoming calm to base itself off Wisdom instead of Intelligence? (For example, see Bruce Banner)

    Chimera's Armor does not specify a "flat amount".

    Chimera's Claws does not specify what the damage dice of the claws is. It does in the table, but not in the text. I'd add it to the text anyway.

    Aspect of the Beast is cool, but I can see it leading to lots of combos. You might want to consider instead taking evolutions from Pathfinder's Summoner. They are "a wide variety of modifications and upgrades that add new abilities, attacks, and powers" like a tentacle, a breath weapon, wings, an extra limb, and so on.

    Overall, I think the class is really cool. I don't know how I feel about having loss of control built into the main class feature, but I like the premise and it seems well-executed. If you're looking for more things to give it, I'd suggest different class features that emphasize it being a natural disaster. Great Cleave as a class feature, fast movement, and so forth.
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Thanks for the feedback.

    Berserk is meant to do two things. First, it helps to capture the hurricane in a bottle feel. The Protean Chimera doesn't have full control when she unleashes herself. She struggles to prevent the destructive force she represent fly out of control. Second, Chimera Form is a really powerful ability and Berserk forces the Chimera to shut it down early if she doesn't play her cards right.

    If you're fighting one bit monster the Chimera is probably going to be going toe-to-toe with it. If she goes Berserk she's going to be going after whatever has been attacking her first, eg, the bad guy. Once that monster is dead if the Chimera hasn't managed to reign in Berserk yet she can simply end the ability as a Full-Round action.

    If there are more foes then you end up playing a little mini-game with your party. You shuffle around to make sure the Chimera eats the little monsters instead of buddies. And if it looks like she's about to munch the Rogue on her next turn she can, again, end Chimera Form.

    Most of the custom feats for the Protean Chimera are aimed at mitigating the downside to Chimera form. Some make it so the berserk pool fills up more slowly, some make it drain faster, some give more Chimera Form uses per day so you don't need to worry so much about canceling Chimera form, and the Aspect of the Beast feat chain is all about increasing the Chimera's power in her base form.

    I made Int the stat that lowers the Berserk pool because it represents the Chimera's rational, logical mind (Int) trying to overcoming the instinctual part of her mind (Wis). And for a mechanical reason as well. If she needed to pump Wis then she would be shoehorned into a more Wis focused build. But with the Face-Stealer feat the Chimera also has the choice of running a more Ch-focused build. That and the Chimera has several skills that she is more or less required to rank up due to the function of her abilities, so the extra skill points from Int help.

    I really don't think the Chimera needs more features at this point. She already boasts a pretty impressive degree of flexibility and utility both in and out of combat.

    With the above points in mind regarding Berserk, do you still feel the Berserk pool needs to decay more quickly?
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    omg how did i miss this?

    I'd have to playtest to be sure but the Berserk Pool looks like it'll be ok if you're int is high enough.
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Came from PEACH exchange:

    Very interesting. I tried to make something similar once (a PrC based on wildshape), but failed at it . Anyway, this is pretty neat. It looks like heaven for a min-max-player though, not sure if thats good or bad. Its hard to judge how strong it really is, probably pretty strong due to its flexibility (Tier 2?).

    Some pointers and suggestions:
    • Maybe make it so that adopting multiple forms increases Beserk Pool DC somehow, seems to make sense and may balance this a bit more? You could make fewer forms a bit easier as you level in the class. This way the player requires to make some considerations between power and reliability, thus introducing a bit more depth to the class.

    • Maybe introduce some sort of absorption/study/anatomy feature, where you actually have to encounter a form before you can adopt it. Sort of "gotta catch them all" idea. If so, add some tracking skills? Not sure, just a idea that seems to fit. It would also give the DM a more subtle control over the class. Such a feature could also lead to cool track-and-hunt side missions.

    • I don't think dragons fit well in this list to be honest. I would rather see Monstrous Humanoids.

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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    One suggestion, and something I might even try working on if you're interested: a PrC centered around manifesting multiple heads in your chimera form, or perhaps even extra extremities in general.

    Also, now I'm trying to think of wicked ACFs or Racial Substitution Levels for Changelings and Shifters.

    Hmm, and maybe Warforged. You know, if you just have to be Mechagodzilla.

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    Default Re: We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Might someone explain exactly how chimera form works just so to make sure I understand it properly

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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Zakaroth View Post
    Came from PEACH exchange:

    Very interesting. I tried to make something similar once (a PrC based on wildshape), but failed at it . Anyway, this is pretty neat. It looks like heaven for a min-max-player though, not sure if thats good or bad. Its hard to judge how strong it really is, probably pretty strong due to its flexibility (Tier 2?).
    It doesn't have quite the degree of world-shaping power that, say, a Sorcerer does. But it is pretty powerful. Especially if the DM doesn't shoot down some of the potentially game-breaking combos it can pull off later in the game (lawl, damage immunity). It has a few really strong tricks and has nice versatility, so I would probably put it in the same general class as the Beguiler or the Dread Necro. Which is good company, I think.

    Quote Originally Posted by Zakaroth
    Some pointers and suggestions:
    • Maybe make it so that adopting multiple forms increases Beserk Pool DC somehow, seems to make sense and may balance this a bit more? You could make fewer forms a bit easier as you level in the class. This way the player requires to make some considerations between power and reliability, thus introducing a bit more depth to the class.
    That's an interesting idea, though I would probably have to make it a bit easier to control lower numbers of component creatures once '#-fold Chimera' grows in power. I set up the numbers to straddle something of a knife-edge as it is. If controlling a two-fold or higher chimera form got harder then controlling it at all would get sticky in a hurry.

    I'm a bit hesitant to give hard downsides to using more powerful class abilities. That isn't something that's really seen in other classes and this one already wields a two-edged sword as it is. The ability to use monster traits in the base form via feat investment is meant to be the class' 'low risk' option.

    Quote Originally Posted by Zakaroth
    • Maybe introduce some sort of absorption/study/anatomy feature, where you actually have to encounter a form before you can adopt it. Sort of "gotta catch them all" idea. If so, add some tracking skills? Not sure, just a idea that seems to fit. It would also give the DM a more subtle control over the class. Such a feature could also lead to cool track-and-hunt side missions.
    I had considered that. You've gotta nom a creature in order to get its form. While super-flavorful it can get a little stilted, though. The Druid and the Wizard don't even need to make Knowledge checks in order to transform themselves into exotic creatures. But that's a symptomatic problem with versatile form-altering abilities in this game. As it stands right now the Chimera can make a knowledge check to see if she knows enough about a creature to mimic it. If that check fails, then she would have to see the creature first hand to assume its form. I think a solid ruling would be that Knowledge checks can be made for anything out of Monster Manual I, but for anything else the Chimera has to encounter the creature in-game.

    Quote Originally Posted by Zakaroth
    • I don't think dragons fit well in this list to be honest. I would rather see Monstrous Humanoids.
    I have the feeling this won't get a reply, but I'm really curious why you think dragons don't fit. The theme of this class, especially for high levels, draws pretty heavily from the Kaiju genre of films. Dragons fit pretty well into the archetype of giant breath-weapon spewing reptile monsters. Monstrous Humanoids, not so much. Unless you're counting Ultra Man or something. But he's totally an Outsider.

    Either way, thanks for the feedback! If anything I think the Gotta Catch 'em All! style might make for a cool option rule. The player would have to work pretty close with the DM to make it work, however.

    Quote Originally Posted by Scaileanna
    Might someone explain exactly how chimera form works just so to make sure I understand it properly
    Think of Chimera Form as a racial gestalt ability. You don't double up on racial features if they're the same, you use the best one.

    Use the best ability score bonuses from either the PC's base race or their composite creatures. Let's say Jill the half-orc is a Chimera. She has a racial +2 to Str. But then she uses Chimera Form to splice herself with a pretty unicorn! The Unicorn has a racial +10 to Str! Her new bonus to Str isn't +12, instead she uses the highest value, +10.

    In the same sense, use the best features from each composite creatures. The best natural armor value, the best dice size on a particular type of natural weapon, the best fast healing value if you've survived long enough to actually be able to pick up fast healing, ect. If two composite creatures provide the same benefits Chimera Form never adds both of them together, it always uses the better of the two and ignores the weaker.

    Does that help at all? Your question was a bit vague, so I'm not totally sure what part of the ability I'm needed to address.

    ...I also need to fix that table.
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    Default Re: [D&D 3.5 Class]We Knew the World Would Not be the Same[PEACH]

    Think of Chimera Form as a racial gestalt ability. You don't double up on racial features if they're the same, you use the best one.

    Use the best ability score bonuses from either the PC's base race or their composite creatures. Let's say Jill the half-orc is a Chimera. She has a racial +2 to Str. But then she uses Chimera Form to splice herself with a pretty unicorn! The Unicorn has a racial +10 to Str! Her new bonus to Str isn't +12, instead she uses the highest value, +10.

    In the same sense, use the best features from each composite creatures. The best natural armor value, the best dice size on a particular type of natural weapon, the best fast healing value if you've survived long enough to actually be able to pick up fast healing, ect. If two composite creatures provide the same benefits Chimera Form never adds both of them together, it always uses the better of the two and ignores the weaker.

    Does that help at all? Your question was a bit vague, so I'm not totally sure what part of the ability I'm needed to address.

    ...I also need to fix that table.
    That actually answered everything I was questioning and more, thank you
    Last edited by Scaileanna; 2014-06-27 at 08:39 AM.

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