Spitfire Quest (Worm x D&D) - Character Creation & Mechanics Discussion

[evildice]

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. You even checked the university library, and the few papers you could find about trigger events didn't say anything about weird dreams of being a giant man-eating flying lizard.

Whatever. You have powers. This is your ticket out of mediocrity, and the weird dreams won't get in your way. Nothing will.

Your name is Emily, and you can spit fire.

Quest Thread 1​

~ Spitfire Quest (Worm x D&D) ~​

Image source: http://www.motaen.com/wallpapers/get/id/25575/resolution/2560x1024​

Spoiler: House Rule

The rules for Emily are mostly 3.5e, except as noted here.
The rules for everyone else in the setting are mostly d20 Modern.

Emily will receive +1 to two different Ability scores every even level (2, 4, 6, etc.).

Using the 4e HP rules:
- Your base HP is your Constitution score.
- At first level, add your max HD value (+8 because yours is a d8).
- Every level above that, gain a fixed small number of HP based on your HD (+2 because yours is a d8).
- Expect human NPCs to have at least 10 hp each, more if they train harder (+Con) and have combat experience (+level). Brutes have even more, of course.

Using Pathfinder-style consolidated skills:
- Acrobatics as Pathfinder: Tumble, Balance, and Jump
- Athletics (new): Climb, Jump and Swim, plus random Athletic stuff like resolving a sprint
- Perception as Pathfinder: Spot and Listen
- Stealth as Pathfinder: Hide and Move Silently
(Yes, Jump appears twice. This is on purpose. Lung is notable as a Str-based Brute who jumps really high; expect other Brutes to also Jump well.)

Gather Info is an Intelligence base skill, not Charisma. It applies to all sorts of non-academic research: finding opinions on the internet, figuring out what the rumors are and who's behind them, and the like.

Using d20 Modern Knowledge skills even for Emily, because the alternative is dumb, and not dumb in an entertaining way.

Emily's powers are close enough to parahuman powers to interact with them. Dispel magic works against active powers, treating each use as a spell — for example, if Rune has three cars in the air, a dispel magic could knock one of them down.

The Invocation Magical Insight allows you to see active parahuman powers. Passive or unused powers are not visible. Instead of replicating the identify spell, the Invocation can be discharged to identify the powers of a parahuman by touch.

Spoiler

DC 2   - $5			DC 42  - $1200000
DC 3   - $12			DC 43  - $1500000
DC 4   - $20			DC 44  - $2000000
DC 5   - $30			DC 45  - $2750000
DC 6   - $40			DC 46  - $3500000
DC 7   - $55			DC 47  - $5000000
DC 8   - $70			DC 48  - $6500000
DC 9   - $90			DC 49  - $9000000
DC 10  - $120			DC 50  - $12000000
DC 11  - $150			DC 51  - $15000000
DC 12  - $200			DC 52  - $20000000
DC 13  - $275			DC 53  - $27500000
DC 14  - $350			DC 54  - $35000000
DC 15  - $500			DC 55  - $50000000
DC 16  - $650			DC 56  - $65000000
DC 17  - $900			DC 57  - $90000000
DC 18  - $1200			DC 58  - $120000000
DC 19  - $1500			DC 59  - $150000000
DC 20  - $2000			DC 60  - $200000000
DC 21  - $2750			DC 61  - $275000000
DC 22  - $3500			DC 62  - $350000000
DC 23  - $5000			DC 63  - $500000000
DC 24  - $6500			DC 64  - $650000000
DC 25  - $9000			DC 65  - $900000000
DC 26  - $12000			DC 66  - $1200000000
DC 27  - $15000			DC 67  - $1500000000
DC 28  - $20000			DC 68  - $2000000000
DC 29  - $27500			DC 69  - $2750000000
DC 30  - $35000			DC 70  - $3500000000
DC 31  - $50000			DC 71  - $5000000000
DC 32  - $65000			DC 72  - $6500000000
DC 33  - $90000			DC 73  - $9000000000
DC 34  - $120000		DC 74  - $12000000000
DC 35  - $150000		DC 75  - $15000000000
DC 36  - $200000		DC 76  - $20000000000
DC 37  - $275000		DC 77  - $27500000000
DC 38  - $350000		DC 78  - $35000000000
DC 39  - $500000		DC 79  - $50000000000
DC 40  - $650000		DC 80  - $65000000000
DC 41  - $900000		DC 81  - $90000000000

Starting with DC 17, you can find the converted price for any DC by subtracting 8, getting that DC's price, and multiplying by 10. You can repeat this process for extremely high DCs. -16 would be x100, -24 would be x1000, ect.

Spoiler: Character Sheet

Emily Garfunkle ("no relation")
Classes and Levels: Dragonfire Adept 1 // Rogue 1

Spoiler: XP

Total XP: 1,100

First Mission: 500 xp

Stumbling Forward: 600 xp

Str: 8
Dex: 12
Con: 16 (15, +1 L2)
Int: 14
Wis: 10
Cha: 14 (13, +1 L2)

Initiative: +5 (+1 dex, +4 Imp.Init feat)

HP: 27 (16 Con score, +8 class, +2 level, +1 dragontouched feat)

AC: 13 (10 base, +1 dex, +2 natural armor)
Touch: 11

Fort: +4 (2 class, +2 con)
Ref: +3 (2 class, +1 dex)
Will: +2 (2 class, +0 wis)
- Special: +1 to saves vs. Sleep or Paralysis effects (Dragontouched feat)

BAB (medium): +0
Melee: -1 (0 BAB, -1 str)
Ranged: +1 (0 BAB, +1 dex)

Attacks:
- Fist -1 (nonlethal; 1d3 -1; 20/x2; +1d6 sneak attack)
- Fist -5 (lethal; 1d3 -1; 20/x2; +1d6 sneak attack)
- Makeshift sap -2 (nonlethal; 1d4 -1; 20/x2; +1d6 sneak attack)

Breath Weapon (Su) at-will
DC 14 (10 +1 level/2 +3 con)
15 ft. cone, or 30 ft. line
- Fire: 1d6 fire (Reflex half)
- Lightning: 1d6 lightning (Reflex half); line only
- Entangling: deal half damage and Entangle for 1d4 turns. If your breath weapon deals damage, the victim suffers 1d6 damage each turn it spends Entangled.

Languages:
- English (native)
- Spanish (int bonus)
- Mandarin (int bonus)

Gear:
- Backpack
- Winslow janitor's keys (duplicate)
- Lock pick set
- Small hand-held mirror
- $30
- 2 gp

Contacts:
- Johnny Green, locksmith and fence near Archer's Bridge.

Skills: 11/level (8 base, +1 human, + 2 int); x4 at 1st level

Spoiler: Skills

+6 Acrobatics (5 ranks, +1 dex)
+1 Athletics (-1 str, +2 synergy)
+2 Appraise (+2 int)
+8 / +14 Bluff (5 ranks, +3 cha)
+2 Computer Use (cc; +2 int)
+3 Concentration (+3 con)
+2 Craft (+2 int)
+2 Decipher Script (+2 int)
- Demolitions (cc; int; trained only)
+11 / +17 Diplomacy (4 ranks, +3 cha, +4 synergy)
+6 Disable Device (4 ranks, +2 int)
+9 Disguise (4 ranks, +3 cha, +2 synergy)
+1 Drive (cc; +1 dex)
+1 Escape Artist (+1 dex)
+2 Forgery (+2 int)
+0 Gamble (cc; +0 wis)
+8 Gather Information (4 ranks, +2 int, +2 synergy)
+3 Handle Animal (cc; +3 cha)
+6 / +12 Intimidate (1 rank, +3 cha, +2 synergy)
- Knowledge: Art
- Knowledge: Behavioral Science
- Knowledge: Business
- Knowledge: Civics
- Knowledge: Current Events
- Knowledge: Parahumans
- Knowledge: Physical Sciences
- Knowledge: Pop Culture
+7 Knowledge: Streetwise (5 ranks, +2 int)
- Knowledge: Tactics
- Knowledge: Technology
- Knowledge: Theology & Philosophy
+6 Open Lock (5 ranks, +1 dex)
+5 Perception (4 ranks, +0 wis, +1 feat)
+3 Perform (+3 cha)
- Pilot (cc; dex; trained only)
+0 Profession (+0 wis)
- Repair (cc; int; trained only)
+3 Search (+2 int, +1 feat)
+5 Sense Motive (5 ranks, +0 wis)
+7 Sleight of Hand (4 ranks, +1 dex, +2 synergy)
Speak Language
+6 Stealth (5 ranks, +1 dex)
+0 Survival (cc; +0 wis)
+0 Treat Injury (cc; +0 wis)
+1 Use Rope (+1 dex)

Proficiencies:
- Rogues are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and short sword. Rogues are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.
- Dragonfire Adept Invocations are subject to arcane spell failure from wearing armor or a shield.

Human: (+1 Skillpoint/level, +1 feat)
Level 1:
- Sneak Attack +1d6
- Breath Weapon 1d6 (fire)
- Trapfinding
- Skill points (11 skills, 4 points each): Acrobatics, Bluff, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Gather Info, Know:Local, Perception, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Stealth
- Invocation (least): Beguiling Influence - gain +6 to Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks for 24 hours.
- Feat: Entangling Exhalation
- Human feat: Improved Initiative
- Dragonfire bonus feat: Dragontouched (+1 HP; +1 to Perception and Search checks; +1 to saves vs. Paralysis or Sleep)

Level 2:
- Breath Effect: Lightning breath
- Ability boost: +1 Con, +1 Cha
- Skill points (11 points): +5 Open Locks, +1 each: Acrobatics, Bluff, Kn:Streetwise, Sense Motive, Stealth, Intimidate

Spoiler: Non-SRD Feat Choices

ENTANGLING EXHALATION [Breath] (from Races of the Dragon)
Prerequisites: Dragonblood subtype, breath weapon

Benefit: When you use your breath weapon, you can choose to enmesh all creatures in its area instead of producing its normal effect. Your breath weapon deals only half its normal damage; however, any creature that takes damage from your breath weapon becomes entangled and takes an extra 1d6 points of damage, of the same energy type as normally dealt by your breath weapon, each round at the start of your turn. This effect lasts for 1d4 rounds.

Notes:

- I'm going to need help running this. Good, in-character write-ins will be very welcome.

- The start of this Quest is right before Emily meets the Undersiders & Faultline.

- Emily is level 1/1. She's going to advance in both classes over time, but right now she has no overt abilities other than her canon power.

- She does not have control over her character build choices: we do. She will just have to deal with the consequences of our choices as best she can.

- The source of her powers is not a Shard.

- For the most part, her abilities are being played straight (not adapted). For example, she is proficient with spears and crossbows, but not guns. Ranks in Drive must be bought cross-class.

- An exception to the above is Knowledge skills. We'll use the Knowledge skills from d20 Modern: http://systemreferencedocuments.org...paper/modern/smack/skillsorder.html#knowledge (replacing Arcana with Parahumans)

- The dragon who occasionally talks to her in her dreams claims to be both magical and from the future. This makes no sense and she thinks he's probably lying, but she doesn't know why.

- This is not a Gamer crossover: loot must be carried manually, she does not get a pop-up with ability score buffs, etc.

- There are no magic items. There is no Use Magic Item skill, nor is there a Spellcraft skill. Anything which requires ranks in Spellcraft, just ignore that requirement.

 

[redaeth]

[X] Enrolled in Dragon's experimental remote-presence classroom project at Claredon (age 16; school will not be relevant to the story). "Lecture in 3… 2… 1… beep. Good morning class!"

Because Dragon teaching a nascent dragon.

[X] An orphanage, and you have no friends there. The dragon in your dreams nods wisely. "Adventurer, yup."

 

[evildice]

This thread is for character creation choices (ability score assignment, feat choices, skill choices, etc.), and for deciding what Emily's background will be.

Any D&D feats and skills can be taken without justification.

However, note that Emily lives in a d20 Modern world. The d20 Modern feats and skills can also be taken, but they require in-story justification. For example, to become proficient with guns, Emily would need to spend time in the story receiving instruction and practicing with guns.

As mentioned above in the Notes, I'm very open to constructive write-ins.

I am bad at Quests, please forgive my many likely mistakes.

 

[Trilonias]

[X] A wilting wallflower at Winslow (age 15). "Oh-em-gee, did you hear what Emma did?"

[X] An orphanage, and you have no friends there. The dragon in your dreams nods wisely. "Adventurer, yup."

 

[1986ctcel]

[X] A wilting wallflower at Winslow (age 15). "Oh-em-gee, did you hear what Emma did?"
[X] An orphanage, and you think of the other kids as your little brothers & sisters. The caretakers and workers are really nice, too.

 

[The Shadowmind]

[X] A wilting wallflower at Winslow (age 15). "Oh-em-gee, did you hear what Emma did?"

[X] An orphanage, and you think of the other kids as your little brothers & sisters. The caretakers and workers are really nice, too.

[-] An orphanage, and you have no friends there. The dragon in your dreams nods wisely. "Adventurer,
yup."


Parents are only something for the BBEG to hold hostage. Okay, but I resevere the right to say, "I told you so."

 

[evildice]

Parents are only something for the BBEG to hold hostage.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, but if you don't give the DM any convenient relatives to hook, he's going to take your stuff instead.

 

[1986ctcel]

Doesn't anyone want Spitfire to have a HAPPY orphanage life? (and I think looking after a bunch of surrogate little brothers and sisters should help us when dealing with Labyrinth if we still join Faultline)

 

[Tetsurō]

[X] A wilting wallflower at Winslow (age 15). "Oh-em-gee, did you hear what Emma did?"
[X] An orphanage, and you think of the other kids as your little brothers & sisters. The caretakers and workers are really nice, too.

 

[evildice]

Alright, so 5 votes for some kind of Orphanage, and all votes have Emily pretty under-age (either Winslow or Claredon).

People who like the idea of Emily feeling like the orphanage is her family, post a quick character sketch for a kid or two and one adult. I'll start, using some random names from http://random-name-generator.info/random/

Albert Hines - "Big Al" - Technically just an accountant who spends one day a week at the orphanage, and rotates between other jobs the rest of the week, Big Al had previously spent a couple of evenings a week helping out with the kids on his own time. He moved into a room at the orphanage when his house burned down. It was supposed to be temporary, until his home insurance came through, but his insurance only paid out half of what his house cost, and he found that he likes living with all the kids too much. He's a beefy 33-year-old bald black man who dislikes wearing his glasses. His recreational interests are baseball (watching and playing), and jazz music (listening but not playing himself).

April Pratt - This 8-year-old girl joined the orphanage 4 years ago. She claims to not remember her parents, but sometimes she cries while whimpering "mommy" in her sleep. She's got a few freckles across her nose, and her hair is an unruly tangle of rusty brown loose curls; in the summer, she has faint red highlights. She's a strong, sporty girl, but she wishes she were elegant instead ("like a ballerina"). Her school record is decent, though she's been reprimanded for fighting twice. She likes Disney movies, and Aleph movie imports in general.

 

[WyldCard4]

[X] A wilting wallflower at Winslow (age 15). "Oh-em-gee, did you hear what Emma did?"

[X] Basically the third layer of Hell, I mean my god, Brad won't stop being a brat for even five minutes, and Daddy won't buy you a car, and Mom won't even let you go out at night without checking in with her multiple times. Why don't they trust you or give you any privacy? I mean, like, you're practically an adult!

 

[evildice]

Anyone have thoughts on the specifics of the character build?

- Ability scores (or at least, which ones are a priority).
- Skills.
- Two Feat choices.
- One Invocation choice.

With respect to the Invocation choice, we also need to decide if powers count as magic for the purpose of detecting active power usage and dispelling active powers. If powers don't count as magic, then some Invocations will be worthless; if powers do count as magic, our decisions become more difficult, because we'll have access to some nasty Trump effects.

Thanks!

 

[The Shadowmind]

[-]Not magic. OCP that cuts both ways. Anti-power abilities don't work on Emily. Anti-magic abilities don't work on parahumans.

 

[evildice]

[-]Not magic. OCP that cuts both ways. Anti-power abilities don't work on Emily. Anti-magic abilities don't work on parahumans.

Click to shrink...

Very good point. That would cut both ways.

If we go this route, the one Detect / Identify power is off the table, and so are both of the Dispel powers.

 

[AZATHOTHoth]

[X] Fucking done with school, that's what I am (age 18). "Man, the economy in this town sucks."
[X] An orphanage, and you have no friends there. The dragon in your dreams nods wisely. "Adventurer, yup."

 

[Jack of Olives]

DnD and Worm? Dragonfire Adept!? Sign me up!!!

[X] Fucking done with school, that's what I am (age 18). "Man, the economy in this town sucks."

[X] An orphanage, and you think of the other kids as your little brothers & sisters. The caretakers and workers are really nice, too.

Jack's Sneaky Dragon Build 1.2! (Bat-Dragon!)
Abilities:
Str: 10 ('Meh')
Dex: 14 (AC and stuff)
Con: 15 (HP and our breath weapon's DC)
Int: 13 (Useful for Detective Work)
Wis: 12 (A little common sense is useful)
Cha: 8 ('Just like Armsmaster the real Batman')

Skills: 38 (assuming we started as a rogue)
Hide 4 (good for Sneak Attacks)
Move Silently 4 (Ditto)
Spot 4 (Insanely Useful)
Listen 5 (Ditto)
Jump 5 (Parkour)
Tumble 4 (Ditto)
Knowledge (Local) 4 (Important)
Search 5 (Useful for detective work)
Sense Motive 5 (Ditto)
Intimidate 5 ('Talk!')

Feats:
H) Draconic Senses (Lets us respond more quickly to danger)
1) Draconic Vigor (Can self heal)

Invocation: Draconic Knowledge (Knowledge is Power, after all)
@ 3rd level: Beguiling Presence (Helps w/ Intimidate)

Alternatively:
Jack's Social Butterfly Dragon Plan 1! (Diplomancer)

Abilities:
Str: 8 (Not useful for us, so Dump Stat)
Dex: 12 (AC and stuff)
Con: 15 (HP and our breath weapon's DC)
Int: 10 (Overrated)
Wis: 14 (A little common sense is useful)
Cha:13 (Being personable will save us trouble later)

Skills: 36 (assuming we started as a rogue)
Bluff 5 (Good for fooling people)
Intimidate 5 (Boo!)
Diplomacy 5 (Useful for making friends)
Sense Motive 5 (Good for seeing who's trustworthy)
Spot 4 (Insanely Useful)
Listen 4 (Ditto)
Jump 4 (Parkour)
Tumble 4 (Ditto)
Knowledge (Local) 4 (Important)

Feats:
H) Draconic Senses (Lets us respond more quickly to danger)
1) Draconic Vigor (Can self-heal)

Invocation: Beguiling Presence (Why fight when we can talk all our problems away )
@ 3rd level: Endure Elements for team fights

Edit: changed my vote.
Edit 2: Added the build.
Edit 3: Fixed up the build a bit.
Edit 4: Changed Weapon Finesse to Improved Initive.
Edit 5: Changed the Feats & Invocation due to awesome idea & added second build.
Edit 5.1: Made the builds a bit more distinctive.

 

[evildice]

H) Weapon Finesse

Click to shrink...

BAB is +0 at the moment. No Finesse for you.

Invocation: Deafening Roar

Click to shrink...

Unusual choice. Why do you like that one?

Er, I probably ought to lay out the other options...

Aquatic Adaptation - Gain a Swim speed and you can breathe & use your breath weapon under water.
Beguiling Influence - +6 on Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks all day.
Breath of the Night - as the spell Fog Cloud
Darkness - as the spell
Deafening Roar - everyone in 30 ft. cone deafened for 1 hour (Fort negates)
Draconic Knowledge - +6 to all Knowledge skills, and treat all Knowledge skills as trained.
Endure Exposure - you and any number of allies (by touch, one at a time) are immune to discomfort from hot or cold weather, and also they don't take damage from your breath weapon.
See the Unseen - gain Darkvision and See Invisibility.

Note that we can trade out this choice at 3rd level, so it's okay to try something weird.

 

[Jack of Olives]

Unusual choice. Why do you like that one?

Click to shrink...

At first I was focusing more on the Dragonfire Adept aspect than the Rogue one. I've since changed it. ^_^;

My original reasoning was 'Dragon Roar' and that the Deafening effect is a lot more useful than most players think.

 

[evildice]

At first I was focusing more on the Dragonfire Adept aspect than the Rogue one. I've since changed it. ^_^;

My original reasoning was 'Dragon Roar' and that the Deafening effect is a lot more useful than most players think.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, in a modern setting it's actually pretty useful to be able to Deafen a whole group of cops / thugs / mercs at once.

Now, just because we're a Rogue, doesn't mean we have to be sneaky. But if we're going to be sneaky, we could go about it in a slightly different way...

There's a [Draconic] feat Draconic Senses which gives a +x bonus to all Search, Spot and Listen checks, where x is the number of [Draconic] feats you have.
You also get Low-Light Vision.
If x >= 3, you also get Darkvision 60 ft.
If x >= 4, you also get Blindsense 20 ft.

For our other feat, maybe Draconic Vigor, so we can heal damage by casting our Invocations. That also puts us only one feat away from Darkvision.

Or Draconic Knowledge, which gives a +x bonus to all Knowledge checks. Or that one which buffs Sneak Attack up in the OP (Dragonfire Strike).

Or Two-Weapon Fighting, or Dodge... but Dodge is a bit on the weak side, isn't it? Unless you have a plan for which it's a prerequisite?

 

[evildice]

Also -- super ultra mega important here -- we need to decide what our dear Emily Garfunkel looks like.

Spoiler: An unholy hybrid of these two?

---

 

[The Shadowmind]

Qucik before work post.

Oh it is 3.5 rules. The mention of 4e health rules made me think it was fully 4e.
Recommended feats:
Entagling Exhalation A must have for any DFA.
Knowledge Devotion Boring but useful bigger numbers feat, combines well with Draconic Knowledge.
Probably not allowed, but: Least Dragonmark, Mark of Mending. Since tinkertech isn't magic, this is really useful.
Draconic Vigor is useful, since it restores allies to up to half health. And 1 point of magic healing instantly stabilizes a person.
Power Surgeneeded to take meta-breath feats depending on how Zergloli rules.
Meta-breath feats.




For invocations:
Draconic Knowledge is fairly useful, since it should apply to the d20 Modern skills as well.
Endure Exposure is fairly good if you are in a group. Less so if you are solo and in an area with decent weather.


Is there anyway to swap the rogue level with something like Factotum or Psychic rogue?

 

[evildice]

Edit 5: Changed the Feats & Invocation due to awesome idea & added second build.
Edit 5.1: Made the builds a bit more distinctive.

Click to shrink...

Very nice! This seems pretty viable and solid. The vote choices below reflect that your build is currently the default.

Oh it is 3.5 rules. The mention of 4e health rules made me think it was fully 4e.

Click to shrink...

Oops. Yeah, it's mostly 3.5e, except where it's not.

Recommended feats:
Entagling Exhalation A must have for any DFA.
Power Surgeneeded to take meta-breath feats depending on how Zergloli rules.
Meta-breath feats.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, good stuff. Those top two are in the box of feat ideas.
Meta-Breath stuff might be great, eventually.

Knowledge Devotion Boring but useful bigger numbers feat, combines well with Draconic Knowledge.

Click to shrink...

Kinda feel 'meh' about this one. Our main attack is an at-will area effect which has no to-hit roll, so the attack bonus is not particularly useful. (Also: the link was broken, I fixed it in my quote.)

Probably not allowed, but: Least Dragonmark, Mark of Mending. Since tinkertech isn't magic, this is really useful.

Click to shrink...

On the one hand, it's a theological artifact from a different cosmology.
On the other hand, it's got "dragon" in the name.
I'm torn, but leaning towards no.
Perhaps instead: http://www.realmshelps.net/cgi-bin/featbox.pl?feat=Magical_Training

Draconic Vigor is useful, since it restores allies to up to half health. And 1 point of magic healing instantly stabilizes a person.

Click to shrink...

Draconic Vigor only heals the caster, but it's still pretty good in a world without Clerics.

For invocations:
Draconic Knowledge is fairly useful, since it should apply to the d20 Modern skills as well.
Endure Exposure is fairly good if you are in a group. Less so if you are solo and in an area with decent weather.

Click to shrink...

Yep. Draconic Knowledge applies to all Knowledge skills, including the d20 Modern ones, and including all our school work.
Endure Exposure will be good when we have a team. (We do not yet have a team.)

Is there anyway to swap the rogue level with something like

Click to shrink...

Nope.

---

Next Vote
VOTING CLOSED

It looks like we're 100% Winslow wallflower (5 votes), and probably orphanage-no-friends (4 votes) rather than orphanage-with-friends (3 votes), though that's only one vote different and therefore might change before tonight. I'll close that one out in three hours or so (24 hours from vote start).

Regarding the build, we've got a strong contender, so let's nail down the details. This vote will close in 27 hours or so.

Pick one, two or three: (basic character goals)
[_] Stealth is important. Dexterity, and skills like Hide, Move Silently, Spot, and Listen.
[_] Perception is important. Wisdom, and skills like Spot, Listen, Search, Gather Information, and Sense Motive.
[_] Social stuff is important. Charisma, and skills like Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive.
[_] Physical grace is important. Dexterity, and skills like Tumble, Jump, Balance, and Escape Artist.
[_] Knowledge is power. Intelligence, and skills like Gather Information, Knowledge (Local), and Sense Motive.
[_] Larceny is my thing. Dexterity, and skills like Sleight of Hand, Open Locks, and Disable Device.
[_] I am the mask. Charisma, and skills like Bluff, Perform (Acting), Disguise, and Forgery.
[_] This one time, at nature camp? Wisdom, and skills like Knowledge (Nature), Handle Animal, Survival, and Swim.
[_] Powers are totes for homework. Intelligence, and skills like Diplomacy, Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Geography), Perform (Oratory), Listen, and Concentration.

Pick one]: (feats and invocation)
[_] My secondary powers are covert; they can help me navigate day-to-day life.
[_] My secondary powers are covert; they help me perform acts of larceny.
[_] My secondary powers are overt (write-in how they help).

... or offer up a full build alternative, or specific tweak advice.

 

[Xilph]

[X] An orphanage, and you think of the other kids as your little brothers & sisters. The caretakers and workers are really nice, too.

Friends definitely gets my vote over no friends, that said I'll leave the complexities of builds to the people who are good at them.

 

[Jack of Olives]

[X] Perception is important. Wisdom, and skills like Spot, Listen, Search, Gather Information, and Sense Motive.
[X] Social stuff is important. Charisma, and skills like Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive.

[X] My secondary powers are covert; they can help me navigate day-to-day life.

 

[Trilonias]

[X] Perception is important. Wisdom, and skills like Spot, Listen, Search, Gather Information, and Sense Motive.
[X] Physical grace is important. Dexterity, and skills like Tumble, Jump, Balance, and Escape Artist.
[X] Social stuff is important. Charisma, and skills like Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive.

[X] My secondary powers are covert; they can help me navigate day-to-day life.

I wanted some intelligence too, but eh...

 

[The Shadowmind]

Vote changed to friends instead of friendless.

Draconic Vigor sucks unless Emily gets a level of a arcane casting class.

a dragonfire adept cannot benefit from the Spell Focus feat or from draconic
feats that let her convert or spend an arcane spell slot to
produce some other effect.

Click to shrink...

What I was thinking of original was Draconic Aura(Dragon Magic), taking the Vigor(Players Handbook 2) aura. You can see how I got confused on the name. But, that Draconic Aura takes character level 3, so a ways off.

For ability selection. I think Cha>Con>Int>Everything else.

Cha is needed for DC for the invocations, Con is needed for the DC for the breath weapon and determines HP, and concentration checks. Int gives more skill points, and determines knowledge rolls.

 

[evildice]

Draconic Vigor sucks unless Emily gets a level of a arcane casting class.

Click to shrink...

Right, it does say that. Derp, sorry.

Yeah, level 3 Draconic Aura (Vigor) seems like a good idea.

For ability selection. I think Cha>Con>Int>Everything else.

Cha is needed for DC for the invocations, Con is needed for the DC for the breath weapon and determines HP, and concentration checks. Int gives more skill points, and determines knowledge rolls.

Click to shrink...

I wanted some intelligence too, but eh...

Click to shrink...

Yeah, and having 14 Int at level 1 is two more skills. We can put more points in Dex, Cha and Con as we level up, but the x4 skill point bonus only happens at level 1.

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Regarding level up bonuses, I'm thinking +1 to two Ability scores every EVEN level (2, 4, 6, etc.). That will somewhat compensate for lack of magic gear, and we can easily pick two Ability scores via voting.

Additional points in Con will increase max HP, of course.

Does this seem reasonable?

 

[The Shadowmind]

Regarding level up bonuses, I'm thinking +1 to two Ability scores every EVEN level (2, 4, 6, etc.). That will somewhat compensate for lack of magic gear, and we can easily pick two Ability scores via voting.

Additional points in Con will increase max HP, of course.

Does this seem reasonable?

Click to shrink...

Yes. The system pretty much assumes magic items are avaible, but since this setting doesn't have magic, a solution around that needs to be patched in. The other option is Vow of poverty, which sucks. VoP sucks even harder in a modern setting.

For level 2 and on, as we stuck advancing DFA//Rogue, or do we get more choices for then on? I like Dragonfire adept, but I find Rogue to be a very boring class.

 

[Guile]

[X] Fucking done with school, that's what I am (age 18). "Man, the economy in this town sucks."
Mercenary work actually doesn't sound that bad, after your five hundredth failed interview.

[X] A run-down apartment where you and Mom live. She's tired all the time, but she does her best for you.
The dragon within you obviously didn't recognize that RP experience is a thing.

Entangling Exhalation, yes please! Love that feat. After that, start building towards Flight invocation, and those three feats from the Dragonlance campaign that let you lay down a flame breath equal to your flight speed as you fly by; a proper dragon strafing run, that.

Lung ain't got shit, you hear me?

... Well, he has a lot of levels and a Brute rating. But aside from that-

EDIT: Aw, I'm slow. Again.

 

[evildice]

Yes. The system pretty much assumes magic items are avaible, but since this setting doesn't have magic, a solution around that needs to be patched in. The other option is Vow of poverty, which sucks. VoP sucks even harder in a modern setting.

For level 2 and on, as we stuck advancing DFA//Rogue, or do we get more choices for then on? I like Dragonfire adept, but I find Rogue to be a very boring class.

Click to shrink...

No Vow of Poverty in this Quest.

The system assumes gear but it also assumes scaling foes -- but we won't face scaling foes. Lung will be Lung no matter when we encounter him. Thugs will be thugs no matter when we kick their asses. So in part, this will be an exploration of how a D&D scaling character interacts with a static comic-book world.

I'm going to say DFA // Rogue up to 5//5 at least, and that DFA is going to be our main source for magical powers for this character. No Psion, Sorcerer, Wizard, Druid, etc. IMHO this is a bit of an optimization challenge, as I'm not used to playing such underpowered classes myself, so setting this limit and then trying to optimize within the limits is fun for me. Even if Rogue isn't your favorite, perhaps you can enjoy the challenge of optimizing with an unusual component?