I've always wanted to play a gelatinous race in D&D just because oozes and such are awesome! So, I tried brainstorming up a race I thought was really nifty for the upcoming Elemental Chaos expansion, and from what I've read so far, it fits in like a glove. What're your thoughts, and what kind of improvements could be made?
Ichora
A people uplifted from primordial ooze, infused with the power of elemental chaos.
RACIAL TRAITS
Stat Bonuses: +2 Constitution, +2 Dexterity or +2 Wisdom. Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Stealth. Vision: Normal Languages Known: Common, Primordial
Androgynous: Ichora have no clearly defined features and may shapechange freely among any Medium-size creature. This act does not disguise the ichora, allow it to imitate fine or exact details, or bestow any racial abilities. Ooze Origin: For the purposes of spells and effects that relate to creature origin, you are considered an ooze and have the ooze keyword.
Telepathy 5: Ichora may instantly mentally communicate with any creature within 5 squares that they share a language with. Elemental Essence: Choose a damage type from acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, or poison. You gain resist 5 to the chosen type. This resistance increases to 10 at 11th level, and 15 at 21st. This choice remains throughout your character's life and cannot be retrained.
Chameleon Membrane: You gain the Chameleon Membrane racial power.
Chameleon Membrane
Ichora Racial
Your membrane and essence blend into your surroundings, like your gelatinous ancestors.
Minor Action - Personal
Effect: If you are 2 or more squares from any enemy, you may make a Stealth check with a +5 bonus to become hidden, even if you have no cover or concealment. You remain hidden until you attack, are discovered, or end the effect as a free action. If you are less than 2 squares away from any enemy, you may still make the check, but without the +5 bonus.
Racial Feats -
Heroic Tier
Gelatinous Vitality: You gain an additional healing surge(2 at 11th, 3 at 21st). Limber Membrane: You gain a +2 feat bonus to Reflex(+3 at 11th, +4 at 21st). In addition, whenever you are attacked by an enemy that is flanking you, make a saving throw. If you succeed on the save, you do not grant combat advantage for that attack. Ooze Senses: You gain blindsense 2(5 at 11th, 10 at 21st). Shifting Mindscape: You gain a +2 feat bonus to Will(+3 at 11th, +4 at 21st). In addition, you gain resist 5(10 at 11th, 15 at 21st) psychic. Slippery: You gain a +5 feat bonus on checks to escape grabs or restraints. Stress Tolerance: You gain a +2 feat bonus to Fortitude(+3 at 11th, +4 at 21st). In addition, you gain a +5 feat bonus to Endurance.
Paragon Tier
Malleability: You ignore all penalties for squeezing. Mending Gelatin: You may use a Second Wind as a minor action. If you do, spend the surge but do not regain any hit points. Instead, an adjacent ally may make a saving throw. You retain all other benefits for using a Second Wind. Mucus Membrane: When you shift, squares you vacate are difficult terrain for creatures other than you until the end of your next turn. Regenerative Membrane: When you take a Second Wind action, you also gain regeneration equal to five plus your Constitution modifier while bloodied until the end of the encounter. Seeping Slipstream: While you are bloodied, you do not provoke opportunity attacks from moving. Slithery: You may shift through opponents, but must end your movement in an empty square.
Epic Tier
Elemental Surge: When you are dealt damage of a type you resist with your Elemental Essence, you may use your Second Wind as an immediate reaction.
Flexible Core: When you are the victim of a critical hit, the attacker must make another attack roll immediately with the same modifiers and against the same defense. If this second roll indicates a miss, the critical hit becomes a normal hit.
Metallic Slime: You gain resistance to untyped damage equal to the resistance amount of your Elemental Essence.
Natural Camouflage: You are always partially concealed to non-adjacent creatures, and may make Stealth checks to hide from creatures farther than 5 squares from you as a minor action, even if you have no cover or concealment.
Oozy Footing: You gain a climb speed equal to your move speed and may move and even stop on fully vertical or inverted planes. If you are subjected to unwillingly forced movement or knocked prone, you must make a saving throw. If you fail, you fall.
Variable Resistance: When you take acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, or poison damage, you may as a free action change the type of damage you resist with your Elemental Essence ability to the type you were most recently dealt. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn.
- When you use an Action Point, your attacks deal extra damage equal to the amount you resist with your Elemental Essence ability of the type you currently resist with your Elemental Essence ability until the end of your next turn.
- You may add your Constitution modifier to your Will defense. This is in addition to your Wisdom or Charisma modifier.
Level 12 Features
- You gain the Shapeshifter's Defense power.
Shapeshifter's Escape
Feral Ooze Utility 12
Those that would try to pen you in find that oozes are natural escape artists.
Encounter ♦ None
Minor Action - Personal
Effect: You immediately end any grabbed, immobilized, or restrained conditions on you, and may shift up to half your speed. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. You may pass through squares occuped by enemies, but must end the movement in a vacant square.
Level 16 Features
- Any creature that starts its turn grabbed by you takes 2d8(3d8 at 21st) plus your Constitution modifier damage of the type you resist with your Elemental Essence ability.
Level 20 Features
- You gain the Split and Delta Slam powers.
Split
Feral Ooze Utility 20
You may have tasted their steel, but they've merely surrounded themselves by the act.
Encounter ♦
Immediate Reaction - Personal
Trigger: You are hit by a weapon attack.
Prerequisite: You must have a healing surge available to use this power.
Effect: Lose a healing surge, and a globule spawns in a square adjacent to you. This creature lasts until killed or until the end of the encounter. It is an ally to you and your allies. You share actions with this creature.
Special: If you are bloodied, this power spawns two globules instead, each in a square adjacent to you.
Delta Slam
Feral Ooze Attack 20
Linking with your gelatinous remnants, you pummel your foe from several directions.
Hit: 1W + highest ability modifier + Constitution modifier damage of the type you current resist with your Elemental Essence ability. Any globules you have command of may move up to their speed and make a melee basic attack.
Level 21: 2W + highest ability modifier + Constitution modifier damage of the type you currently resist with your Elemental Essence ability.
Special: If you are unarmed or using a non-weapon implement, roll 1d10 in place of your weapon damage die.
Special: You may only use this attack if you have command of a globule.
Special: The 'Varies' keyword is the type of damage your Elemental Essence resists.
Globule
Meduim ooze (ooze, blind)
HP your bloodied value; Bloodied your surge value; Defenses (add 1/2 your level to each) AC 14; Fortitude 20, Reflex 12, Will 16, Perception your perception +2 Speed 6, climb 3; blindsense 10 Resist your resistance type and amount from your Elemental Essence ability at the time of spawning
Standard Actions
Slam (varies) ♦ At-Will
Attack:Melee 2 (one creature); +13(+1/2 level) vs. Reflex Hit: 1d10 + highest ability modifier + Constitution modifier damage of the type you current resist with your Elemental Essence ability. Special: The varies keyword is the damage type you resist with your Elemental Essence ability.
Reconvene (healing) ♦ At-Will
Prerequisite: The globule must be adjacent to you. Effect: The globule is destroyed and you may spend a healing surge.
Skills your skill check values
Str 14
Dex 11
Wis 10
Con 18
Int 1
Cha 10
Languages any you speak, telepathy 10(only to and from you)
This reminds me of the Squole from Remarkable Races :D
There are a few things that might need some rewording, but other than that I think it's solid.
Can it speak normally, or just via telepath? Chameleon Membrance needs some rewording and clarification. I'm thinking that it should be something more like invisibibility until you move, it's easier to word and harder to abuse, but still a very fun and flavourful feature.
I really like the racial feats, and the picture is good ^^ :D
I was envisioning just via telepathy, like I would imagine Shardminds to. And I wanted to make it a little more faithful to the gelatinous cube's Invisibility, which allows it to hide until it's right next to you. Lets Defenders(especially DEX-based) try their hand at stealthy shenanigans, I'd figure.
And thanks for the compliment on the pic. I really like how it came out too.
EDIT: Stable Base could probably be reworded to a Feat bonus rather than an untyped, to slightly limit it, now that I look it over. In addition, I realize Variable Essence is a little... Wordy, but the idea is that they take the attack first, and THEN get resistance to subsequent attacks of that element if they so choose.
What I like about the pic is not only your choice of instrument, but how she looks completely human, except for the glossy texture (and gel-like toes) that give away her true nature.
I'll see if I can't reword some of these things:
Gelatinous Transperancy
Plasm Racial Power
You adjust the color of your body to make you almost completely invisible to the naked eye.
EncounterPolymorph
Standard Action - Personal
Effect: You become invisible to all non-adjacent creatures until you move, make an attack or until the end of the encounter.
Yes, this dumbs it down quite a lot. I know there is more to to being stealthy than just not being seen, so a stealth check is probably the "right" thing to do, but this looks far more appealing if you ask me ^^ This power can be changed to be a minor or a move action.
I think we'll leave the "can't talk" bit to flavor. Just write them as having telepathy 5 and two languages, and don't comment anywhere on whether they can talk or not.
Convert Oozy to the following feature:
Spineless: Whenever you attempt to escape a grab or restraints you can roll twice and use either result. In addition, you can take the squeeze action without penalties.
If you think it's a bit overpowered, than change the rerolls to a +2 bonus ^^
To give your race a more "offical" feel, use the phrase "This choice remains throughout your character's life and cannot be retrained".
Indeed she is. Check her forearms with her bracers as well, or her arm next to her chestwrap.
As far as the other changes, they look fine and all. I suppose invisibility is what it might work out to, but we'll see. I actually will have a chance to playtest it a little in a game, so I'll try to gather feedback. Any other thoughts, on pic or race?
Gotten a chance to play 'her' a bit. Lots of fun so far. Gonna add a few feats to the list though, I think they work nicely.
Natural Camouflage: When you use the Chameleon Membrane racial power, you retain the +5 bonus regardless of your distance to enemies. In addition, if this power fails, you're discovered, or the effect ends, you have partial concealment until the end of your next turn.
Engulfing Grasp: Creatures have a -2 penalty on checks to escape your grabs, and a creature that starts its turn grabbed by you takes 1d6 damage of the type you resist with your Elemental Essence.
Membrane Absorption: When you are dealt damage with a damage type you would resist with your Elemental Essence, you gain 3 temporary hit points after the attack resolves. This increases to 6 at 11th level, and 10 at 21st.
Definitely love this in concept! hehe Jelly girls :D
In execution, yea still needs a bit of refinement. I'm with mhbjarkisted that the racial would feel more appropriate as invisible rather than hidden mechanically. They still have their gear and what not after all.
Feat-wise, one similar to the Genasi Sandsoul would be very appropriate (go entirely ooze and fit through any opening), or some kind of puddle defense, for example:
Lose Cohesion Heroic Feat Prerequisite: Plasm Benefit: You gain the Lose Cohesion power.
Lose Cohesion Feat Power You surrender your form to escape a foe Encounter Immediate Interrupt Trigger: You would be hit by an attack Effect: You fall prone, but do not grant any bonuses to the triggering attack. You instead gain a +2 bonus to the targeted defense. If the attack still hits, you take only half the damage.
or something like that, I'm jut going off the cuff here.
A 'female' ichora playing an instrument.
Slam (varies) ♦ At-Will
I really like how it came out too.
