[DF 11] Animal allies for Holy Warriors

[Stone Dog]

I am actually of the opinion that a SM +1 barbarian isn't actually nine feet tall, but rather is girthy like a DF Dwarf is girthy so he still counts as a SM bigger than he should be. But that is a campaign choice and a different thread so I can't really argue. ;)

Wouldn't the summonable riding bear be allowed to eat out in... where ever it is when it isn't summoned? That would actually be a decent reason why it doesn't show up on a failed roll, you caught it in a hungry time.

[fschiff]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I. Want. My. Riding. Bear.

The (female) Jägermonster Jenka from the online comic Girl Genius has such a bear named Füst.

See, now you have permission.

[Bruno]

Mrugnak's half Jägermonster at heart as it is (completely by accident, I played him for a decade before finding Girl Genius).

But to be honest, I'm not sure I have the points for having a big rack of horns (it's like having a fabulous hat built in!) and a cave-bear Ally, and having useful combat skills and the requisite ridiculous ST.

I'm working on it though! I'm thinking, 3 yard reach +8 ST impaling horns, I may not really need a melee weapon except as an emergency backup sort of thing...

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

Of course, if you want to come up with a "Holy Hound" and "Celestial Steed" writeup, for twice the points, feel free. But bear in mind that those will be some fearsome critters!

I think he probably should write up new Allies for that.

A Celestial Steed ought to be rather stronger than I remember the regular Divine Ally being, and of course have the Quadroped trait, or whatever it is called, No Fine Manipulators and so forth. Likewise, a Celestial Hound needs the relevant morphology traits, and perhaps Cannot Speak, and Discriminatory Smell.

Or just write up a couple of Lenses that modify the regular Divine Ally to become a Divine Ally Mount or a Divine Ally Hound.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

She hasn't asked yet =)

In the current campaign that I'm running, a SM2 riding bear for an SM1 barbarian is likely to bankrupt the party with its food requirements, but I guess that could be finessed with careful use of Doesn't Eat or Reduced Consumption.

How far can one get with the more realistic option of Cast Iron Stomach?

(Either way, try to get an omnivorous riding bear. Carnivores are very expensive to maintain.)

[Kromm]

I'm fine with holy warrior mounts worth as many points as the rider, actually. How to get to that power level isn't really a difficult exercise . . . munchkins should have few or no problems spending points! At any rate, I really did mean 100% of the PC's value, not 50%.

[Stone Dog]

Celestial Steed is easy. Take the Stallion from Druidic Allies. Give it a bunch of stuff off of the Divine Servitor list.

ST: 27 [85]*† HP: 27 [0] Speed: 6.00 [0]
DX: 12 [24]† Will: 11 [25] Move: 8/24 [10]
IQ: 6 [-80] Per: 12 [30]
HT: 12 [20] FP: 12 [0] SM: +1
Dodge: 10 Parry: n/a DR: 1 [5]
Bite (14): 1d+2 crushing.
Kick (14): 3d+2 crushing.

Advantages: Two slots of elements [100]; Acute Hearing 2 [4]; Blessed [10]; Claws (Hooves) [3]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Enhanced Move 1.5 (Ground) [30]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Night Vision 3 [3]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Ultrahearing [5].

Disadvantages: Animal Ally [-44]; Careful [-1]; Dependency (Sanctity; Very
Common; Constantly) [-25]; Restricted Diet (Herbivore) [-10]; Quadruped [-35]; Unnatural Features 1 [-1]; Weak Bite [-2].

Skills: Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]-14; Intimidation (A) Will-1; [2]-11; Mount (A) DX+2 [8]-14; Running (A) HT+1 [4]-13; Survival (Plains) (A) Per [2]-12.

Techniques: Kicking (Brawling) (H) [3]-14.

Classes: Animal, Servitor of Good.

There you go. A divine steed fresh from a gallop from the foot-hills of Mount Celestia. 239 points.

[Kromm]

Cool! That's the sort of thing I had in mind. The point value in DF 11 definitely isn't an erratum . . . what's really the problem is that I didn't suggest specific examples.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I'm fine with holy warrior mounts worth as many points as the rider, actually. How to get to that power level isn't really a difficult exercise . . . munchkins should have few or no problems spending points! At any rate, I really did mean 100% of the PC's value, not 50%.

Really? My mistake, then. I'd probably set up a standard "upgrade package" in that case, as the prescriptive nature of DF runs somewhat counter to letting a Munchkin go all-out in optimizing his Allies. Something like this:

Ally Upgrade (+125 points): DX+1 [20]; IQ+4 [80]; HT+1 [10]; Basic Speed +0.50 [10]; and Higher Purpose (Assist and protect master) [5].

Simple and effective. Or alternatively, borrow from the Divine Servitors:

Divine Upgrade (+125 points): IQ+2 [40]; Will-2 [-10]; Per-2 [-10]; Higher Purpose (Assist and protect master) [5]; and choose two divine element packages [100].

EDIT: Double ninja'd!

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

I'd probably set up a standard "upgrade package" in that case, as the prescriptive nature of DF runs somewhat counter to letting a Munchkin go all-out in optimizing his Allies. Something like this:

Am I missing something? Is there some exemption that allows the player to design his own allies in DF?