Gargoyles
Gargoyles are a race of winged stone statues. At 36RP they are incredibly overpowered, boasting +5 AC, DR 10/magic, a fly speed of 50, and four primary natural attacks. Their mental penalties prevent them from being absolutely bonkers at everything - but they are still pretty bonkers at most things.
Racial Traits:
Ability Scores: +4 Constitution, +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma. The mental penalties will definitely hinder the gargoyle, and dissuade him from being a full caster, but everything else just screams melee.
Type: Gargoyles are monstrous humanoids, meaning they are immune to a small handful of spells, some beneficial, some detrimental.
Size: Gargoyles are medium sized
Land Speed: Gargoyles have a normal, 30 foot move speed.
Fly Speed: Gargoyles have a a 50 foot fly speed in addition to everything else.
Defensive Training, Greater: DR 10/magic is absolutely incredible. It will make you invincible at low levels, and difficult to kill at higher ones. This, in combination with the next trait, makes the gargoyle the best tank in the game.
Ferocity: +5 AC? +5? Purple is the new, above sky blue color for mind-bogglingly good. Tank away!
Stalker: +2 to stealth seems downright lame compared to the previous, but why complain?
Natural Attacks: Bite, Claw, Claw, Gore: Soooo, four primary natural attacks to start things off? Two of which (bite and gore) can be used alongside manufactured weapons? And all of which can be used to make a deadly sneak attack character?
Desert Stride: Darkvision is best vision.
Ferocity: +5 AC? +5? Purple is the new, above sky blue color for mind-bogglingly good. Tank away!
Stalker: +2 to stealth seems downright lame compared to the previous, but why complain?
Desert Stride: Darkvision is best vision.
Classes:
Alright: Gargoyles are a RP36 race. They are really, really good, especially at melee - however, nobody is going to say no to +5 AC, DR, a fly speed, and darkvision. For this reason, I am designating a new color, Pink, for the absolute creme de la creme.
And two classes fit into this category: Rogue and Barbarian, and for very different reasons. The gargoyle's AC and DR buff completely overcome the Rogue's survivability issues, and the four primary natural attacks mean that the rogue will have four opportunities to deal sneak attack at full BAB. He also won't have to worry about Dexterity or two-weapon fighting, and saves on a ton of feats in a feat starved class.
The Barbarian can become the ultimate tank and, importantly, all of his abilities that key off of Constitution have a huge boost.
Next comes the rest of the more simple melee martials: The Fighter, the Ninja (suffering slightly from a Charisma penalty), the Monk, and the Cavalier are all a solid sky-blue. The bonuses more than overcome the Ninja Charisma dependancy, and the Monk's Wisdom dependancy.
Next come those melee fighters who depend a decent amount on a mental score. The Paladin, Bard, Inquisitor, and Ranger are still a strong blue, and all excellent choices.
In a very respectable green are those classes who can enter melee, but who are (generally) full casters. Even the Magus, Cleric, and melee Oracle make the list, despite their mental penalties.
Last, in orange, comes everybody else. The full casters, such as the Sorcerer, Wizard, Summoner, and Witch will live long, healthy lives, but won't have the same offensive punch as their more intelligent and charismatic party members. The Alchemist and Gunslinger also are bound to survive, but not able to contribute overmuch.
Nobody comes in red. Even if you don't excel as a gargoyle, you probably aren't going to die.
And two classes fit into this category: Rogue and Barbarian, and for very different reasons. The gargoyle's AC and DR buff completely overcome the Rogue's survivability issues, and the four primary natural attacks mean that the rogue will have four opportunities to deal sneak attack at full BAB. He also won't have to worry about Dexterity or two-weapon fighting, and saves on a ton of feats in a feat starved class.
The Barbarian can become the ultimate tank and, importantly, all of his abilities that key off of Constitution have a huge boost.
Next comes the rest of the more simple melee martials: The Fighter, the Ninja (suffering slightly from a Charisma penalty), the Monk, and the Cavalier are all a solid sky-blue. The bonuses more than overcome the Ninja Charisma dependancy, and the Monk's Wisdom dependancy.
Next come those melee fighters who depend a decent amount on a mental score. The Paladin, Bard, Inquisitor, and Ranger are still a strong blue, and all excellent choices.
In a very respectable green are those classes who can enter melee, but who are (generally) full casters. Even the Magus, Cleric, and melee Oracle make the list, despite their mental penalties.
Last, in orange, comes everybody else. The full casters, such as the Sorcerer, Wizard, Summoner, and Witch will live long, healthy lives, but won't have the same offensive punch as their more intelligent and charismatic party members. The Alchemist and Gunslinger also are bound to survive, but not able to contribute overmuch.
Nobody comes in red. Even if you don't excel as a gargoyle, you probably aren't going to die.
It seems like it'd be hard to get a DM to agree to let players us 'em, short of a gargoyle-group!
ReplyDeleteI'd say the Summoner is at least as blue as the bard. They are 6-level casters as well. Furthermore they can use their gargoyle offensive abilities to make a great team with their eidolon overcoming the poor defensive of a regular summoner.
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