Theo Dudek, Ultimate Game Master

Did you think I was dead? >_<;; First off, I am sorry for taking such a long time between posts! Now that it is summer, I am finding myself more busy than ever with roleplaying campaigns, particularly my new "Neo-Pegana" campaign in Glendale and revising/updating Scott Bennie's "Testament" for 4th edition. In the process I have been doing lots of research into ancient Mesopotamia, farming cultures, and whether they had the time to play roleplaying games and, if so, what animal's knucklebones they would be most likely to make dice out of.

I am also working on a new project which I will hopefully be able to release on this blog in the not too distant future-- a new standalone RPG!!! (ﾟ∀ﾟ) I am normally skeptical of "homebrew" systems, on the basis that the DM should speak to players in their own language and there is no reason "reinventing the wheel" if one of the preexisting RPG systems is suitable for your game style. A DM should express himself *through* the preexisting RPG framework, with subtlety, rather than making up new rules on the fly and going nuts all the time; I think I set a nice example of this moderation in my own games. But I think I have hit on something truly original here, so I hope you will all like it when it's finished! DMing and designing games is a full-time job, and I have spent a lot of time recently gathering playlists of music from boss battles from 8- and 16-bit JRPGs (for the final battles with the Four Dragons of Assyria in my new campaign), buying and making poster maps, statting up balanced encounters, sending miniatures to India to be painted, etc. I am only one person and, sadly, I can only DM 8 or 10 people at a time, but I hope that someday, blog readers, I will be able to be a personal DM for each and every one of you!

While trying to get satellite maps images of Iraq for the Mesopotamia game, I have also been thinking a lot about the tremendous amount of technological gaming resources available on the Internet. It is pretty fascinating that the entire world has now been satellite-mapped, and that even the smallest island or chunk of rocks in the sea somewhere has a Wikipedia entry. It reminds me of the old Ultima CRPG series that my friend Phanes used to tell me about. In Ultima IV, the first game set in the game’s main world of Brittania, the world seems vast and unexplored, but in later games set in the same world, the timeline advances and the technology level advances with it, and cities expand, until the whole map is pretty much covered with houses and suburbs and roads and farms. An even more extreme example of the same thing was seen in the Ultima Online MMO, which had unlimited player-generated housing, so that just weeks after the launch, every bit of open space was covered with endless mazes of houses. The eerie effect reminded me of the continuous city of Trude in Italo Calvino’s book Invisible Cities. If a MMORPG reflects people’s deepest hopes and ambitions (naturally), is this what our own world will turn into, an infinite suburb?

On the one hand, it is depressing to realize that our world has been completely mapped and charted. No more games of exploration and colonization, no “7th Sea,” no “O Desafio dos Bandeirantes.” But on the other hand, this just means that the realm of exploration has gone entirely inside the infinite territory of the human mind. -_- Now, it is the artists, the gamers, people who work with the imagination, who are the explorers, the creators.

And now, back to designing Mystery Project “M******”! I’ll post again soon!

Lately there has been a great deal of attention to the card game Dominion. However, I feel that I must set the record straight by exposing some things that have been bothering me.

Basically: “Dominion” is not a RPG. This is obvious, but what is not obvious is, it is even less of a RPG than most other borderline RPG-esque card games & board games. -_- Since it is not a Role Playing Game, and does not engage the player in forming a ROLE, I do not give it my support. There are two core elements in tabletop RPGs which Dominion lacks:

* A Setting for the Game to Take Place In
* A Persona or Identity for the Player

Dominion lacks a board. Now, most RPGs aside from D&D and other tactical games lack a board as well, so this is not necessarily a problem. **BUT!!** In the absence of any other RPG-esque features, a board still helps facilitate identification with the game, because a board — if it is a board on which a single player is identified by a single piece, like, say, “Candy Land” but unlike “Chess” — forces the player to exist within the world of the game. Gaming is about boundless opportunity, but the human mind can only cope with so much at once, so it is often helpful to limit the world to the scope of a board. “The map is not the territory,” they say, but games with a map or board of some kind are an imaginative aid which can, at times, produce even more fruitful roleplaying than purely mental RPGs. By locating ourselves on a map, we create the world around us. For the same reason, “Magic: The Gathering” is superior to other CCGs because it has Lands (despite Richard Garfield’s later vacillating on the idea), which situate each game of Magic as taking place within a world, not just an empty, barren battlemap defined only by the opponents. So, games without maps (such as Dominion and most other card games) are generallyy less imaginative than board-based games.

Secondly, Dominion lacks any kind of ‘player character’ or player role. In board games like “Shadows over Camelot” or “Cosmic Encounter” or “Talisman,” the player chooses a character at the start of the game, and their powers are different depending on that choice. This simple element of choice distinguishes one player from another and aids with individualization. In deck-building CCGs, a player constructs their identity *before* the game begins, by choosing (and buying) their cards. But in “Dominion,” every player starts with the same basic powers as everyone else. As the gimmick goes, they “build their deck during gameplay,” but since they are drawing from the same pool as all the other characters, there is little room to stand out, and every character begins the game as a sort of generic feudal-medieval abstraction.

The lack of these elements makes “Dominion” substantially less suitable for roleplaying and imagination and, thus, substantially less interesting. -_- Even “Monopoly” is more exciting. In “Monopoly,” we have a board representing the physical space of the city, and not only that, it’s a board which changes and develops based on the economic investment (i.e. the will) of the player-characters. A very advanced concept for the time! Also, in “Monopoly,” although there are no character powers in the standard rules, at least you have the option to pick between a thimble, a steam iron, a top hat and a little dog, which summons up imagery of a millionaire with a background in the sewing, housewares, millinery or petwares industry! A true roleplayer needs nothing more than such simple cues to construct an epic drama of capitalism in the rough, a la Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” or Martin Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York.” Thus, “Monopoly” is a better game than “Dominion.” I plan to print this blog post out onto a small business card which I can hand to people when asked to play “Dominion” in the future ^^

I recently made this three-level set of pirate ships maps for use in my “Isle of Doom” tournament adventure. ^^ I was inspired to make them after buying this PDF of a “ship’s plans” from a RPG site, only to discover to my extreme irritation that they were not even broken down into 5-foot squares! \_/ A few minutes and some cardboard boxes later, and I generate the following deck plans. I don’t have a photo of the plans set up in a three-tiered 3D display, so you will have to imagine it. There’s nothing like surrounding these cardboard ships with a few plastic sharks and painting the 1″ square matboard with blood!

An impressive fusion of tabletop roleplaying and Catholicism… I am reminded of the old RPG Dragonraid, although that game has more of a Born-Again Protestant perspective. I am disappointed that the dice are not actually functional.

Lately I have been thinking about running another campaign of Testament, the Biblical-era D&D 3.0 setting published by Green Ronin. (A philosophy blog recently remarked on it here.) In search of miniatures, I found an excellent site, The Foundry, which specializes in oldschool lead/pewter miniatures from different historical eras!

Aahhh… Assyrians, Canaanites, Egyptians, all the superstars of the Ancient World! ^^ Frankly I have always been disappointed that D&D, particularly recent editions, doesn’t draw more from the Bronze Age and from non-European cultures for its visual style and tech level. In fact, the general trend seems to be towards the modern era, with Eberron, steampunk and the various Final Fantasy-influenced magic/tech admixtures… is this forward creep inevitable? In 300 years, will we really all be playing RPGs set in the exciting, rollicking days of the early 21st century? Personally, I am trying to address these issues with the Bronze Age campaign setting I’m working on now, Neo-Pegana.

Anyway, I just put down a bunch of money on metal miniatures, so hopefully everything will work out. The only problem is painting them. Gray, leaden miniatures will clash with the colorful plastic WotC miniatures on my gaming table when the Hittites end up fighting lizard men and troglodytes. And although I know my way around a miniatures brush, I don’t want to spend the time to paint 1,000 minis when I could be using that time coming up with encounters and statting out NPCs. Luckily there are several miniatures painting services in the third world (is it possible that the Assyrian minis could be painted by… an actual Assyrian!?!?!?) which have very reasonable prices (even after the exorbitant air-mail shipping costs :/ ), so I am planning to use one and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll post more when the minis come back!

Lately I have been spending a lot of money on miniatures and landscape for my D&D games. I know that some people would say it’s unnecessary, and certainly I like boardless and rules-light RPGs too, but there is something appealing about creating an entire *space* for use in role-playing games. When I see incredible layouts for Warhammer — or even model trains — I always think, “If only someone ran a roleplaying game using that setting!” A few train bum and railway yard worker figures could add greatly to the illusion of interactivity. On the other hand, the problem with train settings and many other dioramas is that the ground is not always flat (like in, say, Final Fantasy Tactics, so it is difficult to place miniatures on it without them falling.

One of my other big problems is what to do with plants. I like to create a realistic-looking world, and plantlife is a major part of this if you have a lot of outdoor scenes in your games. But typical diorama trees are not very useful in games, because (1) they aren’t made in discrete units than can be taken apart and put back together, except for the poorly made ones and (2) they are often made of scratchy, crumbly pieces of foam and wire which are a pain to have at the gaming table. For this reason I have sought out a variety of plant figures for tactical tabletop roleplaying games. I could make my own, but first let’s look at what’s on the market already.

Although WotC has not released any decent terrain, Games Workshop has produced a variety of interesting plantlife molds. Look at that great jungle, excuse me, I mean rainforest! You can practically smell the potent mixture of lush greenery and rotting vegetation. Unfortunately all the Games Workshop plant pieces are fairly expensive.

At a local toy store a year ago I discovered the Schleich line of animal and plant figures. They are all very high-quality; unfortunately, they are 2x or 3x out of scale compared to D&D, so a baby crocodile becomes a Huge or Gargantuan crocodile, a housecat becomes a Large tiger, etc. Still, their African line includes some very nice-looking trees, such as an acacia (pictured) and baobab, which could serve as the towering canopy of a giant forest. The mopane bush, when placed next to a standard-sized D&D figure, makes a very nice tree, although the base covers a few too many squares and the branches hang a little too low.

I am generally not very impressed by the terrain in Heroscape, which has the opposite problem of model train layouts: it just looks too clunky and modular. But their Ticalla Jungle set looked so incredible, I just had to get it! ^^ Using an Exacto knife, I was able to cut away the edges of the base so that they fit in 1″x1″ squares instead of the hexagonal squares normally used in Heroscape.

I have to confess I have a weakness for jungle settings, so that is where most of my searching has gone. But I think modular terrain adds a great deal to a D&D game and I’ve been enjoying collecting a lot of plants. Soon I will explore methods of making your own plant minis in such a way that they can be easily transported to roleplaying games, unpacked and used. In the meantime, let the earth bring forth grass! And vegepygmies!

I seem to be cleaning out my closets of 3.x stuff lately, so here’s another character that I played in a friend’s campaign back in the day: an Indian/Tibetan style sorceress who summons tentacled monsters. ^^ She was the sister of another character of mine, Raj Shiva, who died a few characters before I made this one.

This is the kind of character that you cannot make in D&D 4.0 — a pure summoner! ^^ After providing almost zero summoning support in the first PHB, the designers of 4.0 eventually provided somewhat better options in PHB2, Arcane Power and Primal Power, but conjurer/summoner characters are still a lot weaker than they used to be. The supposed reason for this is that summoners took up too much time compared to other characters, because while one person was doing a single move & attack, a summoner might be controlling 3 or 4 monsters and having them each do some crazy complicated thing like running to the store and buying the fixings for a peanut butter sandwich. I’m not a wizard-exclusive player like some people, but personally, I think that weakening summoners for this reason is a poor design philosophy– just as some people IRL are valets and some are surgeons, it’s simply realistic if some classes are more complicated and time-consuming than others. If it gets too out of control, the DM can easily quash the time-wasting characters, after all. Anyway, sadly, Raj Sanjeevani did not like very long, dying in a solo infiltration-and-investigation mission in which she relied too much on her summoned monsters. -_-;; She never got a chance to shine…

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Raj Sanjeevani

Raj Sanjeevani, the youngest sister of the wizard Raj Shiva, did not initially show any magical promise. Being a youngest child, she was notably spoiled by the family and “parented” by all her elder siblings. As a young girl, she was not particularly pious or studious, and spent most of her time playing, or hiding in the green reeds by the water’s edge watching insects and fish in the river. Although Arjunian society is sexually segregated, she often fought with the boys her age, and otherwise behaved in an independent and brash manner, although physically she was very lightly built and somewhat clumsy.

As she neared adolescence, she sometimes saw hallucinatory visions, which were explained away as possible visitations from friendly spirits. When she was not quite a teenager a passing group of mendicants of the Yungdrung faith asked the castellan of Rajni Muthu’s estate (Rajni Muthu was away on a journey) to stay in the estate to escape a fierce monsoon. When one of the mendicants saw Raj Sanjeevani, he announced that he had seen her in an augury and that she had a powerful spirit inside her. The mendicants gave Sanjeevani a gift—a “Third Eye” jewel which she thereafter wore on her forehead, not dissimilar from others worn by Arjunians. But the local priest detected that it was magical. The local priest suggested that the Third Eye should be confiscated from Raj Sanjeevani, but since it was a minor and beneficial magic, and since the village priest was then in argument with the Shiva family over another issue, Raj Sanjeevani’s mother allowed her to keep the gift.

After this encounter, Raj Sanjeevani became much more focused, and began studying mystical and arcane texts. She would often command her personal servants to accompany her to the libraries in the larger neighbouring cities. Although she did not tell anyone but some close friends, the hallucinations had also increased in number. When she was 14 years old, she announced that instead of marrying, she was going to take a vow of chastity and join the Yungdrung temple. Since there was no priest in the family, she was allowed to do so, after some hand-wringing. Raj Shiva himself gave her his encouragement, although the then-young heroic wizard was not very close to his sister, being almost ten years older.

Although the particular mendicant who had discovered Raj Sanjeevani had died, or rather vanished, the Yungdrung priests recognized her by her Third Eye and welcomed her in. They soon discovered that she was the reincarnation of the Tsungpo Lama of the Black Egg, a master wizard and seer of the lore of Yungdrung (although not the very highest figure in their history). To simplify a very complicated pantheon, the Yungdrung followers believe that the world, the planes, and the gods were hatched from successive eggs which appeared in a black sea. (Or the sea may have been blue, or red, or there may have been successive levels of the void-sea corresponding to the negative and prime material planes.) However, there were other beings which existed already in the sea (possibly beings which hatched from a kind of frog- or fish-like eggs, as opposed to bird-like eggs, at an even more remote time), and it is these beings who the Yungdrung priests worship. The reflection of the images of the newly created beings on the waters of the eternal sea caused the beings of the original creation to, in some cases, mirror themselves after the appearance of the newly created beings whom we know as humanoids, beasts, plants and monsters. But (the deeper theology goes) the originally created beings of the lightless sea are superior to all the beings that came after. They exist in a state of natural enlightenment; their name, Sag Lhu, literally means “enlightened ones.” Of course,this state of enlightenment is almost impossible for human beings to achieve except through the teachings of Yungdrung. In short, the Yungdrung followers believe—although they do not go around shouting it—that theirs is the superior religion and that the gods and demons worshipped by most mortals are the the inferior reflections of the beings from the Black Egg. The Yungdrung priests/wizards perform a good deal of charitable work and the details of their beliefs are not well known outside the cult.

In a few short years, Raj Sanjeevani became one of the five or ten most powerful sorcerers of the Yungdrung faith, and since she is the reincarnation of one of their former leaders (and her faith is unquestionable, despite her great ego), she is given a great deal of freedom. She also did some adventuring, performing divinations and fighting evil spirits and local threats for common people who came to the temple. Occasionally she was asked to meet with the other city priests (although of course, she isn’t a “priest” in the literal sense) to decide on some issue facing the entire city. Infrequently she accompanied other members of the cult on expeditions to faraway mountainous plateaus or other lonely places where together they dug up ancient cult lore and fought off scavenging monsters. At one point a group who ran a bookstore in Brindenford stole some ancient scrolls from one of the Yungdrung temples, and Raj Sanjeevani went alone to investigate the theft. She found the bookstore already ruined by the time she arrived, but certain clues led her to a lengthy mission away from the cult during which she made temporary allies with some other adventurers.

At one point in her journeys Raj Sanjeevani had a terrifying vision of herself being consumed by Garuda, the bird-headed god of justice and destroyer of evil. She knows herself not to be evil, but the vision shocked her greatly, and ever since then she has been repulsed by birds (things with feathers and beaks, basically). Strangely, she was also afraid of baby birds when she was very young, although for a period she overcame it — a premonition of the future?

Raj Sanjeevani
Human Female
Sorcerer 8/Alienist 5
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 86,171 inherited
Phobia: Birds

CHA 22 (15, +1 4th, +1 8th, +1 12th, +4 Cloak)
STR 9
DEX 9
CON 18 (14, +4 Amulet)
INT 14
WIS 10 (12, -1 Alien Blessing)
Saving Throws:
+8 Ref (+3 base, -1 Dex, +5 vest, +1 Alien Blessing/insight)
+13 Fort (+3 base, +4 Con, +5 vest, +1 Alien Blessing/insight)
+16 Will (+10 base, +5 vest, +1 Alien Blessing/insight)

AC: 9 (10, -1 Dex)
HP: undetermined (include +3 from alienist-class toughness)

FEATS:
Alertness
Augment Summoning
Improved Familiar (Pseudodragon)
Past Life (Knowledge (The Planes))
Extend Spell
Persistent Spell
Extra Spell (level 4)
Extra Spell (level 4)

SKILLS:
Knowledge (The Planes) 16
Knowledge (Arcana) 8
Concentration 16 (+10 from magic item)
Knowledge (Religion) 2 (cross-class)
Listen 4
Spot 4
Spellcraft 4

LANGUAGES (3 free):
Serishan, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial, Aquan

EQUIPMENT:
Reagents: small bags and candles, bat fur, granite dust, bird’s feather, hemispherical piece of clear crystal, hemispherical piece of gum arabic, 250 gp diamond dust (x20)
Vest of Resistance +5 (25,000)
Cloak of Charisma +4 (16,000)
Amulet of Health +4 (16,000)
Ring of Wizardry I (20,000) (doubles # of first-level spells, except bonus spells)
Ioun Stone – Vibrant Purple (12,000) (stores 6 spell levels)
Third Eye of Concentration (2,000)
Wand of Haste (50 charges, 5th-level caster) (11,250)
Royal Outfit (200)
Third Eye of Awareness (4,000) (worn by Pseudodragon)
TOTAL: 109,650 out of 110,000

FAMILIAR:
Pseudonatural Pseudodragon
Tiny Dragon; HD 7; Init +0; Spd. 15/fly 60; AC 29 (touch 12, flat-footed 29, including +7 natural armor from familiar); Atk +5 sting (1d3+poison DC 12), +0 bite (1)
STR 11, DEX 11, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 10
HP: 1/2 of Sanjeevani’s
SKILLS: Hide +16/+24 in forests, Intuit Direction +3, Listen +5, Search +12 (see below), Spot +15 (see below), Alertness
FAMILIAR ABILITIES: Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Empathic Link, Touch, Speak with Animals of Its Type, Master may Scry on Familiar once per day
PSEUDODRAGON ABILITIES: Immune to sleep and paralysis; See invisibility 60’ (continuous); Telepathy with beings that speak Common or Sylvan 60’
PSEUDONATURAL ABILITIES: Electricity, Acid Resistance 10; Damage Reduction 5/+1; Alternate Form: -1 morale penalty on opponents’ attacks; True Strike 1x/day
Third Eye of Awareness (4,000) (+10 on Spot, Search rolls)

SPELLS/DAY:
0/?, 1/13, 2/7, 3/7, 4/7, 5/7, 6/5 (6 with Purple Ioun Stone)

SPELLS KNOWN:
LEVEL 1: Unseen Servant, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Silent Image, Shield
LEVEL 2: Detect Thoughts, Mirror Image, Invisibility, Silence, Summon Monster 2
LEVEL 3: Magic Circle vs. Evil, Major Image, Protection from Elements, Fly
LEVEL 4: Summon Monster 4, Arcane Eye, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, Stoneskin, Polmorph Self (Extra Spell), Attune Form (Extra Spell)
LEVEL 5: Summon Monster 5, Teleport, Telekinesis
LEVEL 6: Summon Monster 6, Shades

Another obscure old ’80s anime I statted out… why did I ever stat out Dragon Half? It must have been one of Phanes’ favorite anime or something… I do think the half-dragon template was pretty awesome in 3.0, and I wanted to include a character that used it.

Looking back at this old list of anime & manga character stats, I’m half inspired to go back to the character builder and make some stats for more recent anime/manga characters for Pathfinder or 4.0. Here’s a few series that jump into my mind as being worthy of adaptation, and appropriately fantasy-esque: Inuyasha, Fushigi Yugi, Bleach (not really appropriate since it’s set in the present day, but…), Naruto, Hoshin Engi, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Saiyuki, and possibly Soul Eater. Actually, I could probably get even more players for one-shots at anime conventions if I included stats for the characters from Final Fantasy, etc. But where do you draw the line… should I stat out characters from Kingdom Hearts? Donald Duck vs. Guts from Berserk? @_@ Like the Capcom mixup fighting games, after a certain point it just becomes ridiculous. Realistically, anyone who wants to play a Kingdom Hearts character probably doesn’t want to play a gory, violence-crammed D&D game. But this is just a sign of the diversity of role-playing. It was fun coming up with all these stats, and I got some good D&D games at FanimeCon and Anime Expo out of it. Use them yourself if you like!

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Mink
Origin: Dragon Half
Race: Half-Dragon
Gender: Female
Class: Fighter 8
Age: About 16
Alignment: Neutral

STR: 24 (+7)
DEX: 15 (+2)
CON: 18 (+3)
INT: 12 (+1)
WIS: 8 (-1)
CHA: 14 (+2)

Hit Points: 80
AC: 21 (Base 10 +4 Natural +5 Armor +1 Dexterity +1 Dodge)
Initiative: +1 Dexterity
Movement: 30 feet walking or flying

Items:
Longsword +2
Scale Mail Bikini +1
Ring of Evasion

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +15/+10 (+8 Base +7 Strength)
Ranged: +9/+4 (+8 Base +1 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Longsword +2 Bite
Total Attack Bonus: +17/+12 Total Attack Bonus: +15/+10
1d8+9 1d6+7
Critical: 19-20/x2 Critical: 20/x2

Claw
Total Attack Bonus: +15/+10
1d4+7
Critical: 20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +11 (+6 Base +3 Constitution +2 Great Fortitude)
Reflex: +7 (+3 Base +2 Dexterity +2 Lightning Reflexes)
Will: +2 (+3 Base –1 Wisdom)

Skills:
Jump 18
Climb 18
Swim 16
Knowledge (her favorite star, Dick Saucer) 14
Knowledge (Dragons) 14
Appraise 10

Feats:
Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Dodge
Mobility
Spring Attack
Great Fortitude
Lightning Reflexes

Special Half-Dragon Abilities:
Half-Red Dragon: Immune to Sleep, Fire and Paralysis
Can breathe a 30-foot cone of fire (DC 19; damage 6d10) once per day
Low-Light Vision & Darkvision 60’
Can Fly at 30’ movement (poor maneuverability)

Bastard!! is another one of the most well-known D&D-esque fantasy manga/anime of the late ’80s and ’90s. It’s sort of a classic in that way, although actually, most of the references are limited to shamelessly copying artwork from D&D supplements such as “Ravenloft” (some of these swipes were altered in artist Kazushi Hagiwara’s redrawn “Complete Edition”, published later). Anyway, it is a series drenched in Western fantasy tropes… at least at first, later it veers off into an angels/demons/Kaballah plotline.

Random thoughts: (1) I loved Metamagic Feats in 3.x! ^^ (2) The Bastard!! monthly comic series from Viz included D&D stats for many of the spells used in the series, some of which were statted out as Epic level spells. (3) Initially I tried to balance all these characters at 13th level, but I made Dark Schneider a 14th level wizard just out of bias, because he is supposed to be incredibly powerful. His weakness of randomly transforming into a little boy makes up for it, I think.

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Ninja Master Gara
Origin: Bastard!!
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class/Level: Fighter 2/Rogue 5/Ninja Spy 4
Age: About 32
Alignment: Neutral

STR: 18 (+4)
DEX: 17 (+3)
CON: 18 (+4)
INT: 13 (+1)
WIS: 11 (+0)
CHA: 10 (+0)

Hit Points: 75
AC: 17 (Base 10 +3 Armor +3 Dexterity +1 Dodge)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dexterity)
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Sword of Mystery (Keen Thundering Shock Longsword (Katana) +3)
Lots of Giant Shuriken
Ring of Regeneration (Heals 1 hit point/hour)
Spiked Leather Armor +1

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +12/+7 (+8 Base +4 Strength)
Ranged: +11/+6 (+8 Base +3 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Sword of Mystery Giant Shuriken
Total Attack Bonus: +15/+10 Total Attack Bonus: +11/+6
1d8+1d6+7 (3d8+2d6+14 on a critical hit) 1d10+4
Critical: 17-20/x2 Critical: 20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +12 (+8 Base +4 Constitution)
Reflex: +11 (+8 Base +3 Dexterity)
Will: +5 (+5 Base)

Skills:
Tumble 22 Climb 28
Jump 28 Balance 18
Bluff 10 Disguise 7
Ride 10 Hide 12
Move Silently 12 Open Locks 8
Innuendo 8 Intimidate 8
Spot 6 Listen 6

Feats & Special Abilities:
Improved Evasion (takes no damage against certain attacks on a successful save; takes half damage on a failed save)
Uncanny Dodge (doesn’t lose DEX bonus to AC when “flat-footed”)
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (giant shuriken)
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (ninja-to)
Slow Fall (no damage from falls of 30’ or less)
Ki Breath (+4 on Constitution rolls to hold breath)
Acrobatics Bonus +10
Hide in Plain Sight Poison Use
Sneak Attack +4d6 Skill Focus (Bluff)
Dodge Mobility
Expertise Spring Attack
Whirlwind Attack Leadership (wyvern)

Really Special Ability:
Can use the spell “Mirror Image” once per day as an 11th level wizard

Follower:
Wyvern
STR 19, DEX 12, CON 15, INT 6, WIS 12, CHA 9
Hit Points: 59, AC 17, Initiative: +1, Movement: 20 feet (fly 60 feet)
Base Attack Bonus: Sting +9 (1d6+4+poison; DC 17; initial & secondary 2d6 CON damage), Bite +4 (2d8+2), 2 Wings +4 (1d8+2); or 2 Claws +9 (1d6+4)
Saving Throws: Fortitude +7, Reflex +6, Will +6
Abilities: Improved Grab, Snatch, Scent, Alertness, Flyby Attack, Listen +13, Move Silently +9, Spot +13 (+16 during daylight)

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Abigail
Origin: Bastard!!
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class/Level: Cleric 11
Deity: Anthrasax
Age: About 200
Alignment: Neutral Evil

STR: 14 (+2)
DEX: 10 (+0)
CON: 16 (+3)
INT: 18 (+4)
WIS: 20 (+5)
CHA: 11 (+0)

Hit Points: 70
AC: 19 (Base 10 + 9 Armor)
Initiative +0
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Morning Star of Disruption +2 Hammer of Spell Storing +2
Unholy Symbol Full Plate Armor +1

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +10/+5 (+8 Base +2 Strength)
Ranged: +8/+3 (+8 Base)

Weapons:
Morning Star of Disruption +2
Total Attack Bonus: +12/+7
1d8+4 (undead must make Fortitude save vs. 14 or be destroyed)
Critical: 20/x2

Hammer of Spell Storing +2
Total Attack Bonus: +12/+7
1d8+4 (Current Stored Spell: Dispel Magic)
Critical: 20/x3

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +10 (+7 Base +3 Constitution)
Reflex: +3 (+3 Base)
Will: +14 (+7 Base + 5 Wisdom +2 Iron Will)

Skills:
Knowledge (Religion) 18
Knowledge (Arcana) 18
Knowledge (The Planes) 18
Concentration 17
Spellcraft 18
Heal 10
Spot 8
Listen 8
Bluff 10
Diplomacy 10

Feats & Special Abilities:
Cleric Domains: Death, Magic
Death Power: Can use “death touch” once per day (touch opponent and roll 1d6+11; if it exceeds opponent’s current hit points, he/she dies)
Magic Power: Can use scrolls, wands, and similar devices as a 6th level wizard
Rebuke Undead 7 times/day
Extra Turning
Iron Will
Extend Spell (+1 level)
Enlarge Spell (+1 level)
Empower Spell (+2 levels)
Cleric (Must choose spells at the beginning of each day)
Spell Difficulty: 4+level
Spells Per Day:
Level 0: 6 Level 1: 7 Level 2: 6
Level 3: 6 Level 4: 5 Level 5: 4
Level 6: 2

Preferred Spells:
Level 0: Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Guidance, Light, Mending, Read Magic, Resistance
Level 1: Cause Fear, Nystul’s Undetectable Aura, Deathwatch, Shield of Faith, Bane, Curse Water, Command, Detect Undead, Doom, Invisibility to Undead
Level 2: Death Knell, Identify, Darkness, Bull’s Strength, Protection from Elements, Silence, Undetectable Alignment, Desecrate, Endurance, Gentle Repose, Hold Person, Summon Monster 2
Level 3: Animate Dead, Dispel Magic, Tool (Searing Light), Inflict Serious Wounds, Blindness/Deafness, Bestow Curse, Contagion, Continual Flame, Negative Energy Protection
Level 4: Death Ward, Imbue with Spell Ability, Sending, Lesser Planar Ally, Poison, Neutralize Poison, Restoration, Dismissal, Divine Power, Summon Monster 4
Level 5: Slay Living, Spell Resistance, Raise Dead, Righteous Might, Slay Living, True Seeing, Unhallow, Flame Strike, Summon Monster 5, Heretika (Circle of Doom)
Level 6: Create Undead, Antimagic Field, Antilife Shell, Blade Barrier, Harm, Forbidden (Forbiddance), Accused (Geas/Quest), Planar Ally, Summon Monster 6, Legend (Find the Path), Asp (Banishment)

Special Weakness:
Can’t convert regular spells into “cure” spells

***********************

Arshes Nei
Origin: Bastard!!
Race: Half-Dark Elf
Gender: Female
Class/Level: Wizard 10/Fighter 1
Age: About 100
Alignment: Neutral

STR: 16 (+3)
DEX: 18 (+4)
CON: 15 (+2)
INT: 18 (+4)
WIS: 13 (+1)
CHA: 15 (+2)

Hit Points: 65
AC (Armored): 21 (Base 10 +8 Armor +3 Shield) (Spell failure 1-8 on d20)
AC (Unarmored w/Shield): 17 (Base 10 +4 Dexterity +3 Shield) (Spell failure 1 on d20)
AC (Unarmored): 14 (Base 10 +4 Dexterity)
Initiative +4 (+4 Dexterity)
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Sword of Lightning (+3 Shock/Shocking Burst Longsword; Can become a Nue 1x/day)
Full Plate Armor (rarely wears when casting spells) Small Steel Shield +2 Spellbook

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +9/+4 (+6 Base +3 Strength)
Ranged: +10/+5 (+6 Base +4 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Sword of Lightning
Total Attack Bonus: +13/+8
1d8+1d6+6 (3d8+2d6+12 on a critical hit)
Critical: 19-20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +8 (+5 Base +3 Constitution)
Reflex: +7 (+3 Base +4 Dexterity)
Will: +8 (+7 Base +1 Wisdom) (+10 vs. enchantments)
Skills:
Concentration 20 Spellcraft 18 Knowledge (Arcana) 15
Knowledge (The Planes) 15 Knowledge (History) 10 Listen 10
Spot 10 Search 10 Ride 10 Intimidate 8

Feats & Special Abilities:
Wizard Specialty (evocation) (Can’t use Enchantment or Illusion spells)
Weapon Focus (longsword) Leadership (Griffin)
Empower Spell (+2 levels) Persistent Spell (+4 levels)
Combat-Casting Mounted Combat Spell Focus (evocation)
Energy Substitution (Electricity) Immune to Sleep spells Low-Light Vision

Followers:
Robhal the Griffin
STR 18, DEX 15, CON 16, INT 5, WIS 13, CHA 8
Hit Points: 59, AC 17, Initiative: +2, Movement: 30 feet (fly 80 feet)
Base Attack Bonus: Bite +8 (2d6+4), 2 claws +3 (1d4+2)
Saving Throws: Fortitude +8, Reflex +7, Will +3
Abilities: Scent, Pounce, 2 Rake Attacks +8 (only during a Pounce; 1d6+2 damage), Jump +12, Listen +6, Spot +11 (+15 in daylight)

Arshes Nei doesn’t have a familiar.

Nue (Water creature with monkey’s head, tiger’s body, and snake’s tail)
(If the Nue is reduced to 0 hit points, it turns into the Sword. If it dies, the Sword is destroyed. The Nue can turn back into the Sword at will, but the Sword can only turn into the Nue once per day.)
STR 23, DEX 15, CON 17, INT 7, WIS 12, CHA 6
Hit Points: 77, AC 14, Initiative: +2, Movement: 40 feet walking, 90 feet swimming
Base Attack Bonus: 2 Claws +9 (1d8+6), Bite +4 (2d6+3)
Saving Throws: Fortitude +8, Reflex +7, Will +3
Abilities: Pounce, 2 Rake Attacks +9 (only during a Pounce; 1d8+3 damage), Balance +10, Hide +9 (+13 in water), Listen +3, Move Silently +13, Spot +3,
Elemental: Immune to Poison, Sleep, Paralysis and Stunning. Not subject to critical hits.
Damage Reduction 5/+1, Water Breathing, Darkvision 60’
Water Mastery (+1 bonus on attack & damage if both it and its opponent touch water. If either is landbound, it suffers a -4 penalty on attack & damage rolls.)
Drench (Puts out flames, acts as a dispel magic cast by a 6th level sorcerer against magical fires.)
Wizard (Must choose spells at the beginning of each day)
Spell Difficulty: 4+level (6+level for evocation spells)
Spells Per Day:
Level 0: 4 Level 1: 6 Level 2: 6
Level 3: 5 Level 4: 5 Level 5: 3

Spellbook:
Level 0: Resistance, Ray of Frost, Detect Poison, Flare, Light, Disrupt Undead, Mage Hand, Mending, Open/Close, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Read Magic
Level 1: Shield, Mage Armor, Obscuring Mist, True Strike, Magic Missile, Cause Fear, Ray of Enfeeblement, Feather Fall, Jump, Burning Hands
Level 2: Flaming Sphere, Shatter, Bull’s Strength, Cat’s Grace, Endurance, Resist Elements, Scare, Darkvision, Eagle’s Splendor, Filter
Level 3: Raven (Fly), Balvolt’s Thunderous Blast (Lightning Bolt), Fireball, Sleet Storm, Vampiric Touch, Flame Arrow, Protection from Elements, Haste, Keen Edge, Slow
Level 4: Def Leppard (Minor Globe of Invulnerability), TNT (Shout), Ice Storm, Stoneskin, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, Fear, Dimension Door
Level 5: Helloween (Empowered Lightning Bolt), Tesla (Electric Cone of Cold), Cone of Cold, Rary’s Telepathic Bond, Cloudkill, Summon Monster 5, Telekinesis, Teleport

***********************

Kall-Su
Origin: Bastard!!
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class/Level: Wizard 6/Elemental Savant (Cold) 5
Age: About 30
Alignment: Neutral

STR: 16 (+3)
DEX: 15 (+2)
CON: 17 (+3)
INT: 20 (+5)
WIS: 16 (+3)
CHA: 18 (+4)

Hit Points: 60
AC: 14 (Base 10 +2 Armor +2 Dexterity)
Initiative +2 (+2 Dexterity)
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Greatsword +3 Pearl of Power (Level 6)
Bracers of Armor +2 Wings of Flying
Crystal Ball Spellbook

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +8 (+5 Base +3 Strength)
Ranged: +7 (+5 Base +2 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Greatsword +3
Total Attack Bonus: +11
2d6+6
Critical: 19-20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +6 (+3 Base +3 Constitution)
Reflex: +5 (+3 Base +2 Dexterity)
Will: +12 (+9 Base +3 Wisdom)

Skills:
Concentration 21
Spellcraft 19
Knowledge (Arcana) 15
Knowledge (The Planes) 18
Scry 16
Diplomacy 10
Intimidate 10
Spot 6
Listen 6
Ride 6

Feats & Special Abilities:
Wizard Specialty (evocation) (Can’t use Transmutation spells)
Weapon Proficiency (greatsword)
Spell Focus (evocation)
Maximize Spell (+3 levels)
Widen Spell (+3 levels)
Combat-Casting
Energy Substitution (Cold)
Immune to Sleep spells and Paralysis
Elemental Focus (Cold) +2
Elemental Penetration +1
Scribe Scroll
Cold Resistance 10
Darkvision 60’

Follower:
None. Kall-Su doesn’t have a familiar.
Wizard (Must choose spells at the beginning of each day)
Spell Difficulty: 5+level (7+level for evocation spells, 9+level for cold evocation spells)
Spells Per Day:
Level 0: 4 Level 1: 6 Level 2: 6
Level 3: 6 Level 4: 5 Level 5: 4
Level 6: 3

Spellbook:
Level 0: Resistance, Ray of Frost, Detect Poison, Daze, Flare, Light, Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Disrupt Undead, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Read Magic
Level 1: Shield, Mage Armor, True Strike, Mount, Charm Person, Hypnotism, Chill Touch, Lesser Cold Orb, Summon Monster 1, Identify, Comprehend Languages, Silent Image, Negative Energy Ray, Magic Missile
Level 2: Ice Knife, Arcane Lock, Blur, Hypnotic Pattern, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Minor Image, Misdirection, Detect Thoughts, Fog Cloud, Resist Elements, Protection from Arrows, Arcane Sight, Summon Monster 2
Level 3: Balvolt’s Thunderous Blast (Lightning Bolt), Explosive Runes, Sleet Storm, Iceball (Cold Fireball), Ice Burst, Suggestion, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Phantom Steed, Summon Monster 3
Level 4: Ice Storm, Y&T (Cold Orb), Thanatos (Wall of Ice), Phantasmal Killer, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Summon Monster 4, Scrying, Danzig (Chill Shield),
Level 5: Axxis (Cone of Cold), Ghostform, Energy Buffer, Mind Fog, Dominate Person, Feeblemind, False Vision, Contact Other Plane, Rary’s Telepathic Bond, Shadow Evocation, Cloudkill, Magic Jar
Level 6: Biscaya (Widened Cold Fireball), Cold Fog (Cold Acid Fog), Acid Fog, Testament (Cold Chain Lightning), Legend Lore, Analyze Dweomer, Mass Suggestion, Chain Lightning, Celtic Frost (Maximized Cold Lightning Bolt), Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere, Tankard (Maximized Cold Fireball)

Special Weakness:
Can’t use fire spells

***********************

Dark Schneider
Origin: Bastard!!
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class/Level: Wizard 14
Age: About 400
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

STR: 17 (+3)
DEX: 13 (+1)
CON: 19 (+4)
INT: 20 (+5)
WIS: 14 (+2)
CHA: 18 (+4)

Hit Points: 80
AC: 11 (Base 10 +1 Dexterity)
Initiative +1 (+1 Dexterity)
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Sword of Flames (+3 Flame/Flaming Burst Bastard Sword; Can become an Efreet 1x/day)
Ring of Regeneration (Heals 1 hit point/hour) Pearl of Power (Level 6) Spellbook

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +10/+5 (+7 Base +3 Strength)
Ranged: +8/+3 (+7 Base +1 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Sword of Flames
Total Attack Bonus: +13/+8
1d10+1d6+6 (3d10+2d6+12 on a critical hit)
Critical: 19-20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +9 (+5 Base +4 Constitution)
Reflex: +7 (+5 Base +2 Dexterity)
Will: +13 (+9 Base +2 Wisdom +2 Iron Will)

Skills:
Concentration 22 Spellcraft 22 Knowledge (Arcana) 18
Knowledge (The Planes) 20 Knowledge (History) 18 Climb 8
Craft (golems & constructs) 20 Jump 8 Swim 8
Scry 10 Intimidate 12 Bluff 12

Feats & Special Abilities:
Wizard Specialty (evocation) (Can’t use Divination, Enchantment or Necromancy spells)
Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) Spell Focus (evocation)
Greater Spell Focus (evocation) Energy Substitution (Fire) Energy Admixture (Acid)
Widen Spell (+3 levels) Empower Spell (+2 levels) Iron Will

Really Special Weakness:
Every round of a fight or other stressful situation Dark Schneider has a 1 in 6 change on his turn of transforming into Lucien Renlen, Level 1 Commoner (this counts as a move-equivalent action):
STR 6, DEX 12, CON 11, INT 6, WIS 8, CHA 12
Hit Points: 4, AC 10, Initiative +0, Movement: 30 feet, Base Attack Bonus: Unarmed +0 (1d3-2 subdual), Saving Throws: Fortitiude +3, Reflex +4, Will +2, Abilities: Profession (doing laundry) 4, Move Silently 4, Hide 4, Tumble 4, Diplomacy 3, Special Abilities: Evasion, +3 Luck on Saves
If Lucien dies, Dark Schneider dies too. He can be transformed back only by the kiss of a virgin.

Followers:
Dark Schneider doesn’t have a Familiar.

Efreet
(If the Efreet is reduced to 0 hit points, it turns into the Sword. If it dies, the Sword is destroyed. The Efreet can turn into the Sword at will, but the Sword can only turn into the Efreet once per day.)
STR 23, DEX 17, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 15, CHA 15
Hit Points: 65, AC 18, Initiative: +7, Movement: 20 feet walking, 40 feet flying
Base Attack Bonus: Slam +15/+10 (1d8+9+1d6 fire), Saving Throws: Fortitude +9, Reflex +10, Will +9, Abilities: Bluff +12, Concentration +16, Escape Artist +13, Intimidate +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +13, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +11, Spot +12, Immune to Fire, Double Damage from Cold except on successful save, At Will: Produce Flame, Pyrotechnics, Telepathy
1x/day: Detect Magic, Enlarge, Gaseous Form, Invisibility, Permanent Image, Polymorph Self, Wall of Fire (as an 18th level sorcerer); Can’t grant wishes or plane shift; Heat aura (1d6 damage)
Wizard (Must choose spells at the beginning of each day)
Spell Difficulty: 5+level (9+level for evocation spells)
Spells Per Day:
Level 0: 4 Level 1: 6 Level 2: 6
Level 3: 6 Level 4: 6 Level 5: 6
Level 6: 4 Level 7: 2

Spellbook:
Level 0: Resistance, Ray of Frost, Flare, Light, Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Mending, Open/Close, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Read Magic
Level 1: Iron Lightning Anthem (Magic Missile), Mage Armor, Unseen Servant, Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp, Ventriloquism
Level 2: Mace (Knock), Eagle’s Splendor, Resist Elements, Bull’s Strength, Blindness/Deafness, Flaming Sphere, Endurance, Levitate, Continual Flame, Daylight, Darkness, Glitterdust, Melf’s Acid Arrow
Level 3: Balvolt’s Thunderous Blast (Lightning Bolt), Raven (Fly), Major Image, Protection from Elements, Impellitteri’s Fireball (Fireball), Blink, Slow, Dispel Magic, Rainbow (Flame Arrow), Earthblast
Level 4: Guns ‘n’ Roses (Wall of Fire), Stoneskin, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Voivod (Fire Orb), Electric Orb, Dimension Door, Fire Trap, Minor Creation, Exodus (Fire Shield), Summon Monster 4
Level 5: Fiery Power Blast of the Damned (Empowered Fireball), Passwall, Telekinesis, Cloudkill, Transmute Mud to Rock, Transmute Rock to Mud, Helloween (Empowered Lightning Bolt), Accused (Geas/Quest), Dream, Metal Skin, Sepulchura (Fire Cone of Cold), Summon Monster 5
Level 6: Riot (Chain Lightning), Napalm Death (Fire Chain Lightning), Contingency, Sodom (Fire Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere), Led Zeppelin (Disintegrate), Megadeath (Widened Fireball), Talas (Flesh to Stone), Stone to Flesh, Bigby’s Forceful Hand, Summon Monster 6
Level 7: Venom (Acid Admixed Fireball), Magnum (Delayed Blast Fireball), Vengeance (Acid Admixed Lightning Bolt), Prismatic Spray, Energy Immunity, Simulacrum, Drawmij’s Instant Summons, Phase Door, Bigby’s Grasping Hand, Judas Priest (Empowered Fire Cone of Cold), Reverse Gravity, Summon Monster 7

Special Weakness:
Can’t use cold spells

Around the time that I was just getting into RPGs, some older anime fans said “Have you watched Slayers? It’s an anime about RPGs! I bet you would like it!” I have to admit I was not impressed. Even accepting the fact that it is a comedy, there are just too many jokes about food, and/or about the heroine’s breast size. I may be in the minority here, but I feel it is inappropriate to discuss female players’ anatomy except in an in-character context. Such things turn people away from gaming, and really, I find that most male gamers are able to concentrate on the game if their female fellows simply dress modestly, for instance covering the head with a wimple, chaperon or liripipe. As for the food jokes, as long as no gaming books or equipment are damaged, I am fine with food at the table.

Slayers is one of those anime where the heroes never lose and never even have to really worry about what they are facing. To me it’s boring, but the heroine is a good example of how the sorcerer class traditionally differs from the wizard — obviously Lina Inverse has a relatively low Intelligence, but her Charisma is pretty high, so *that* must be the source of her magical power! Her chutzpah and optimism is what fuels her magic! ^^ The “chimera” character has nothing to do with the Ancient-Greek-derived D&D chimera, being simply a ‘fusion creature’ in the medical sense of the term ‘chimera’… this is the way the term is most commonly used in Japan. (How did he end up being part golem, anyway?)

*******************************

Gourry Gabriev
Origin: Slayers
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class/Level: Fighter 11
Age: About 18
Alignment: Neutral Good

STR: 19 (+4)
DEX: 14 (+2)
CON: 16 (+3)
INT: 6 (-2)
WIS: 7 (-2)
CHA: 16 (+3)

Hit Points: 90
AC: 21 (10 Base +8 Armor +2 Dexterity +1 Dodge)
Initiative: +2 (+2 Dexterity)
Movement: 20 feet (30 feet without splint mail)

Items:
“Sword of Light” (Flaming Sword +5)
Half-Plate Armor +1

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +15 (+11 Base +4 Strength)
Ranged: +13 (+11 Base +2 Dexterity)

Weapons:
“Sword of Light”
Total Attack Bonus: +21/+16/+11
1d8+1d6+11
Critical: 19-20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +10 (+7 Base +3 Constitution)
Reflex: +7 (+3 Base + 2 Dexterity +2 Lightning Reflexes)
Will: +1 (+3 Base –2 Wisdom)

Skills:
Jump 10
Climb 10
Ride 6
Swim 6

Feats & Special Abilities:
Power Attack
Cleave
Great Cleave
Sunder
Improved Sunder
Lightning Reflexes
Weapon Focus (longsword)
Weapon Specialization (longsword)
Dodge
Mobility
Combat Reflexes

*************************

Naga the Serpent
Origin: Slayers
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Class/Level: Sorcerer 11
Age: About 17
Alignment: Neutral

STR: 10 (+0)
DEX: 15 (+2)
CON: 12 (+1)
INT: 13 (+1)
WIS: 8 (-1)
CHA: 16 (+3)

Hit Points: 45
AC: 13 (10 Base, +2 Dexterity, +1 Deflection)
Initiative: +2 (+2 Dexterity)
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Longsword +2
Robe of Resistance +2
Ring of Protection +1
Rod of Wonder (performs weird magic randomly; 30 charges)

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +5 (+5 Base)
Ranged: +7 (+5 Base +2 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Unarmed Longsword +2 (never uses her sword for personal reasons)
Total Attack Bonus +5 Total Attack Bonus: +7
1d3 subdual 1d8+2
Critical: 20/x2 Critical: 19-20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +6 (+3 Base +1 Constitution +2 Robe of Resistance)
Reflex: +7 (+3 Base +2 Dexterity +2 Robe of Resistance)
Will: +8 (+7 Base –1 Wisdom +2 Robe of Resistance)

Skills:
Concentration 14
Spot 6
Listen 6
Spellcraft 8
Diplomacy 8
Alchemy 8
Swim 8
Jump 8
Profession (drinking) 10

Feats & Special Abilities:
Combat-Casting
Weapon Proficiency (longsword)
Energy Substitution (Sonic)
Energy Substitution (Cold)
Subdual Substitution

Sorcerer (Doesn’t have to choose spells in advance)
Spell Difficulty: 3+level
Spells Per Day:
Level 0: 6 Level 1: 7 Level 2: 7
Level 3: 7 Level 4: 6 Level 5: 4

Spells Known:
Level 0: Ghost Sound, Prestidigitation, Dancing Lights, Ray of Frost, Daze, Detect Magic, Resistance, Mage Hand, Light
Level 1: Mana Bolt (Magic Missile), Mage Armor, Unseen Servant, Tenser’s Floating Disc, Jump
Level 2: Levitate, Web, Invisibility, Cat’s Grace, Freeze Arrow (Cold Melf’s Acid Arrow), Melf’s Acid Arrow
Level 3: Rae Wings (Fly), Spiritual Earth (Earthblast), Frozen Bullet (Cold Earthblast), Spirit Split (Sonic Earthblast), Fireball, Water Blast (Cold Subdual Fireball), Summon Monster 3
Level 4: Demon Howl Wind (Sonic Ice Storm), Sea Cucumber Spin (Subdual Ice Storm), Ice Storm, Minor Creation, Summon Monster 4
Level 5: Major Creation, Summon Monster 5

*************************

Lina Inverse
Origin: Slayers
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Class/Level: Sorcerer 11
Age: 15
Alignment: Neutral

STR: 9 (-1)
DEX: 14 (+2)
CON: 14 (+2)
INT: 13 (+1)
WIS: 8 (-1)
CHA: 16 (+3)

Hit Points: 50
AC: 12 (10 Base, +2 Dexterity)
Initiative: +2 (+2 Dexterity)
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Dagger +2
Robe of Resistance +3
Bag of Holding
Potion of Cure Serious Wounds (heals 3d8+5 hit points)

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +4 (+5 Base -1 Strength)
Ranged: +7 (+5 Base +2 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Dagger +2
Total Attack Bonus: +6
1d4+2
Critical: 19-20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +8 (+3 Base +2 Constitution +3 Robe of Resistance)
Reflex: +8 (+3 Base +2 Dexterity +3 Robe of Resistance)
Will: +9 (+7 Base –1 Wisdom +3 Robe of Resistance)

Skills:
Concentration 16
Spellcraft 10
Search 6
Spot 6
Listen 6
Knowledge (Arcana) 8
Knowledge (Thieves & Robbers) 10
Profession (dining out) 10

Feats & Special Abilities:
Empower Spell (+2 levels)
Enlarge Spell (+1 level)
Extra Slot (4th level)
Spell Focus (evocation)
Greater Spell Focus (evocation)

Sorcerer (Doesn’t have to choose spells in advance)
Spell Difficulty: 3+level (7+level for evocation spells)
Spells Per Day:
Level 0: 6 Level 1: 7 Level 2: 7
Level 3: 7 Level 4: 7 Level 5: 4

Spells Known:
Level 0: Flare, Daze, Dancing Lights, Open/Close, Light, Disrupt Undead, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Detect Poison
Level 1: Identify, Feather Fall, Magic Missile, Shield, Expeditious Retreat
Level 2: Levitate, Daylight, Flaming Sphere, Locate Object, Knock
Level 3: Rae Wings (Fly), Fireball, Dispel Magic, Protection from Elements
Level 4: Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, Arcane Eye, Dare Brando (Fire Orb)
Level 5: Dragon Slave (Empowered Fireball), Wall of Force, Bigby’s Interposing Hand

*************************

Zelgadis Graywords
Origin: Slayers
Race: Chimera (Weird Demon-Elemental Crossbreed)
Gender: Male
Class/Level: Wizard 7/Fighter 1
Age: About 18
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

STR: 17 (+3)
DEX: 16 (+3)
CON: 13 (+1)
INT: 21 (+5)
WIS: 14 (+2)
CHA: 15 (+2)

Hit Points: 45
AC: 19 (10 Base, +5 Natural Armor, +3 Dexterity) (Can Raise to AC 23 with Expertise)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dexterity)
Movement: 30 feet

Items:
Longsword +2
Two Pearls of Power (Levels 3 & 4)
Magical Scrying Mirror
Spellbook

Base Attack Bonus:
Melee: +7 (+4 Base +3 Strength)
Ranged: +7 (+4 Base +3 Dexterity)

Weapons:
Longsword +2
Total Attack Bonus: +10 (Can Lower to +6 with Expertise)
1d8+5
Critical: 19-20/x2

Claw Bite
Total Attack Bonus: +7 Total Attack Bonus: +7
1d6+3 1d4+3
Critical: 20/x2 Critical: 20/x2

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +5 (+4 Base +1 Constitution)
Reflex: +5 (+2 Base +3 Dexterity)
Will: +7 (+5 Base +2 Wisdom)

Skills:
Alchemy 10 Concentration 11
Knowledge (Arcana) 14 Knowledge (The Planes) 14
Move Silently 8 Hide 8
Spot 12 Listen 12
Spellcraft 8 Sense Motive 5
Scry 14 Search 8

Feats:
Expertise
Scribe Scroll
Silent Spell (+1 level)
Still Spell (+1 level)
Weapon Focus (longsword)
Combat-Casting

Special “Chimera” Abilities:
Acid, Fire, Cold, Electricity Resistance 20
Ability Score Increases: STR+4, DEX +4, CON +2, INT +4, CHA +2
Claw Attack (1d6) and Bite Attack (1d4)
Natural Armor +5
Darkvision 60’
Immune to Poison

Followers:
Familiar (choose a bat, cat, hawk, owl, rat, raven, snake, toad or weasel)
Hit Points: 23
Intelligence: 9
Natural Armor +4, Empathic Link, Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Gives its master the Alertness feat, Speak with animals of its type