Grippli
Gripplis are small-sized
humanoids who look like walking frogs. They are rare in Golarion and so not
many people see them. Their small size makes them great at hiding (especially
in swampy areas). They remind me of poison dart frogs, as some of them can even
extrude a poison from their skin!
Racial
Traits:
Ability
Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength. Grippli are nimble and alert, but
a bit physically weak. Like most small-sized creatures, this makes them great
at hiding and sneaking up on enemies, as well as spotting traps.
Size: Gripplis
are small creatures, so they get a bonus to attack, AC, and Stealth. They
aren’t slow like some other Small creatures, so there’s really no negative to
having a small size for a Grippli!
Type: Gripplis
are humanoids with the grippli subtype.
Speed: Gripplis
have a base speed of 30, unlike most small creatures, and they also have a
climb speed of 20, so climbing trees and walls is a piece of cake!
Camouflage: In
addition to their +4 to Stealth from being small, gripplis also get a +4 racial
bonus to Stealth in marshy or forested areas. Since this bonus is dependent on
your surroundings, I think that the Toxic Skin alternate racial trait shown
below is probably better overall.
Swamp
Stride: I don’t know how much you plan to be hanging out in swamps in your
campaign, but if you do find yourself in a swamp, your grippli character can
ignore nonmagical difficult terrain. Not a very exciting ability, in my
opinion, so I would trade it out for Toxic Skin.
Weapon
Familiarity: Proficiency with nets can come in extremely handy,
since nets are an exotic weapon. This is essentially a free feat!
Darkvision: I’m sure
you’re aware by now how I feel about darkvision. It’s good. Case closed.
Alternate
Racial Traits:
Glider [Swamp
Stride]: This is a pretty cool ability, allowing your grippli character to
glide around as she’s falling, and take significantly less damage from the
fall. For any non-melee character, this is a pretty decent option, though for
melee characters Toxic Skin is too good to pass up.
Jumper
[Camouflage]: Replacing a situational bonus to Stealth with the ability to Jump
from a standing position is a pretty even tradeoff. I would say if you like
this one, grab it, but Toxic Skin is just overall better in my opinion.
Princely [Swamp
Stride, Weapon Familiarity]: For a non-martial character who is also playing
the party face, like a Sorcerer or Oracle, this is a pretty good option. A +2
bonus to Diplomacy and Intimidate can go a long way in negotiations. You’ll
also get proficiency with the rapier, which is a great weapon. If you’re not
worried about being poisonous, this is a solid choice.
Toxic Skin [Swamp
Stride, Camouflage]: Being able to exude your own poison is pretty excellent,
though I do wish that it was usable based on Con modifier instead of just once
per day. Six rounds of 1d2 Dexterity damage can be pretty debilitating, and
unlike poisons that you buy, the save DC on this one gets better and better as
you go up in level. This is a great choice for any melee character.
Classes:
Alchemist: This is
the only class that a grippli gets a racial archetype option for, and it’s an
even better option if you picked the Toxic Skin racial trait, because the
favored class option gives you more uses of that poison per day! The Bogborn Alchemist archetype replaces Throw
Anything with a modified form of mutagen that grants your grippli the
amphibious special ability (meaning she can breathe underwater!) and a swim
speed of 15 feet. This is great for any aquatic environment, obviously, as well
as getting across a fast-moving river. It’s important to note, though, that
giving up Throw Anything also means you don’t get to add your Intelligence
bonus to thrown splash weapon damage (including bombs) and most bomb-focused
alchemists rely on that damage. Instead, I would suggest taking the Vivisectionist archetype to gain sneak
attack damage instead of bombs, because of the huge bonuses to Stealth that
your grippli will have. You’ll also definitely want to pick up two new
Alchemist discoveries written just for grippli Alchemists, Chameleon and Deadly Excretions. Chameleon gives you ANOTHER
+4 to your Stealth checks, increasing to +8 at 10th level, and Deadly
Excretions makes your racial poison alternately deal Constitution damage
instead of Dexterity damage.
Barbarian: A
Strength penalty hurts grippli Barbarians (just like gnomes and halflings), and
nothing else really says “grippli Barbarians rock!” to me, so I’m gonna say
this is a sub-optimal choice.
Bard: Nothing’s really helping or hurting you as a
grippli Bard (though the idea of a frog singing makes me all warm and fuzzy
inside) so go for it if you want!
Cavalier
[Samurai]: Small size doesn’t really lend toward being an
excellent melee cavalier, but a ranged build is a different story. If you take
the Luring Cavalier archetype, your Dexterity
bonus will be very helpful, and I also love the fact that you can combine the
Beast Rider archetype with that, so that your grippli Cavalier can ride a
thematic mount like a hippo or a giant snapping turtle! If you go the Samurai
route, you’re stuck with a pony or wolf, but you can still make a great mounted
Samurai!
Cleric: The
Wisdom boost will help with your Cleric spells, and make sure to pick a
thematic domain, or grab the Trickery [Deception] domain to make use of your
excellent Stealth bonuses!
Druid: Like a Cleric, you’ll get a boost to spellcasting
thanks to the Wisdom bonus. I also like the idea of a grippli Druid who rides
around on his giant frog companion (with the Jumper feat, of course!).
Fighter: There’s nothing wrong with a grippli Fighter,
though you’ll probably want to stick with a ranged build to make use of the
Dexterity bonus.
Gunslinger: A
grippli can make a very nice Gunslinger, as the Wisdom bonus will help with
grit points, and the Dex bonus obviously boosts your attack bonus. I recommend
the Pistolero archetype, as it’s flat-out
better than the basic Gunslinger.
Inquisitor: Like the Cleric and Druid, the grippli’s racial
Wisdom bonus makes the Inquisitor a good choice, and you’ll probably want to
use a ranged build to make use of the Dex bonus.
Magus: Without
an Intelligence bonus, a grippli isn’t going to be the best Magus out there,
and most Magus builds require a decent Strength score as well. One fun option
would be to grab the Agile Tongue feat and use it to deliver
touch spells instead of your melee weapons.
Monk: A
grippli can make for an excellent Dex-based monk, thanks to the bonuses to
Wisdom and Dex. I don’t think there are any archetypes that specifically work
well for gripplis, but overall gripplis make great Monks.
Oracle: A grippli Oracle of Waves makes thematic sense, but without a
Charisma bonus you’re not going to be the most optimal Oracle out there.
Paladin
[Antipaladin]: Paladin is one of the worst
choices for Grippli, with a penalty to Strength, no bonuses to Con or Charisma,
and no archetypes or feats to offset these isssues.
Ranger: A bow-focused grippli Ranger can work out very
well, and if you are interested in making the most of your animal companion,
grab the Beastmaster archetype and take the giant
frog companion!
Rogue
[Ninja]: With the grippli’s insane
bonuses to Stealth, grippli Rogues are almost as good at being sneaky as
goblins are! Make sure to Toxic Skin racial trait and make use of that poison
on your sneak attacks. The Chameleon archetype fits VERY well with a
gripply who spends a lot of time in the swamps, so that’s one great option.
You’ll probably want the Agile Tongue feat so that you can use
Sleight of Hand checks and steal or disarm maneuvers from up to 10 feeet away!
Sorcerer: Grippli Sorcerers can work just fine, though
there’s not really anything good or bad about this option. The Aquatic and Verdant bloodlines are both great options for
a grippli. Also remember that you can go with the Empyreal bloodline to take advantage of the
grippli’s Wisdom bonus.
Summoner: Nothing
says a grippli can’t be a good Summoner, but there’s nothing specifically going
for you either.
Witch: Same
story here as with the Sorcerer and Summoner, there’s nothing saying you can’t
make a great grippli Witch, but it’s not optimal.
Wizard: Just like the Witch, no Intelligence bonus means
you can make a good, but not optimal, Wizard.
Racial
Favored Class Options:
Alchemist: This is
a really great favored class option, assuming you picked Toxic Skin as a racial
option. You get one more use per day for every four levels of Alchemist you
have, and that’s a great bonus!
Druid:
Concentration checks don’t come up terribly often unless you run a weird
melee-caster combination build, so I’d stick with a hit point instead of this
option.
Gunslinger: A bonus
to two of your best grit abilities, utility shot or dead shot, is an excellent
choice, so I would definitely go with this option.
Rogue:
Perception checks are very important for a Rogue, though this only works in a
forest or swamp, so if you’re not planning to be in those terrains often, you
should take a skill point instead.
Ranger: This
option is only useful if you know that you’ll be swimming often, but in that
case it’s a really good favored class option.
Racial
Archetype:
Bogborn Alchemist (Alchemist, duh): This archetype only actually has
one replacement power, which trades out Throw Anything for a swim speed of 15
feet and the ability to breathe underwater when using your mutagen. The real
treat here are the grippli discoveries, Chameleon, Deadly Excretions, and Underwater Demolition. That third one doesn’t
really interest me much, but Chameleon gives you an additional +4 to Stealth,
and Deadly Excretions lets you alter your racial poison to deal Constitution
damage, so both of those are excellent choices.
Racial Feat:
Agile Tongue: I like
this feat, because it gives you a bunch of different options for things that
you can do from 10 feet away, including delivering touch spells (both
offensively and defensively!). Grippli Rogues will also like the idea of making
Sleight of Hand checks to steal items from 10 feet away... wow!
Slayer?
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