Child, Variant (3.5e Template)

Author: Sulacu (talk) Date Created: January 10, 2008 Status: Under Development Editing: Clarity edits only please

Rate this article Your rating for this article: Favor Like Neutral Dislike Oppose Submit | Cancel Discuss this article

Child (Variant)

File:Child smiling.gif

240px

The knight errant's young squire, the child pupil of a wizard or druid, the prepubescent savage. Despite their difference of life style, they all have one thing in common. They are all young and inexperienced, and usually runs quite a few years short of adulthood. This template allows you to create a child character fairly easily. For information of how children with a character class are interpreted, please view the Children and Class Features section.

Creating a Child

Most truly, the child template is neither acquired nor inherited. The template serves to tone down the base creature's strengths to a level more natural to that of a relatively inexperienced child. The best way of describing this template is as a way to create a character of level 0.

Size and Type

For all intents and purposes and regardless of the child's actual size, it is treated as being one size category smaller than its normal counterpart. Its type remains the same, although it gains a 'Child' subtype.

Hit Dice

The actual Hit Dice of a child is half that of the base creature's racial Hit Dice. For base creatures with only one racial Hit Die, like humans, elves and dwarves, the child has a fractional ½ HD. If a child with one or more racial Hit Dice attains a particular class, one of its racial Hit Dice will be replaced with a level in that class.

Note: A child of a base creature with only 1 HD that takes up a class with good base attack progression, like a fighter, still has a BAB of +0, since it possesses half a Hit Die and is, technically, 'level 0'.

Example: A gnoll has 2 racial monstrous humanoid Hit Dice. A gnoll child has 1 racial Hit Die. If that gnoll child becomes a barbarian, its racial Hit Die becomes a level in barbarian. It becomes an effective barbarian 1

Example: A troll has 6 racial giant Hit Dice. A troll child will have 3 racial Hit Dice. If that troll child becomes a ranger, one of its racial Hit Dice becomes a level in ranger. It becomes an effective ranger 1 with 2 giant Hit Dice.

Speed

A child's base land speed is in accordance to its new size category, excluding certain effects due to class.

Example: A human child will have a base land speed of 20 ft., but a human barbarian's child will have a base land speed of 30 ft.

Armor Class

The child gains a bonus (or loses a penalty) to AC in accordance to its smaller size. If the base creature has an innate natural armor bonus, it is halved and round down. The same goes for other such bonuses to AC, if applicable.

Example: A human child will have a +1 size bonus to AC. A troll child will have only a +2 natural armor bonus to AC, and furthermore loses its parents' -1 size penalty to AC.

Attack

The child retains his ability to use manufactured weapons, although they wield weapons corresponding to their size. They also retain any natural weapons of the base creature, their damage decreasing one step as per size. They gain a size bonus or lose a size penalty to attack.

Example: A human child wields a normal longsword two-handed, and can no longer use longbows or greataxes. A human monk child's unarmed strike will deal 1d4 damage instead of 1d6 damage.

Special Attacks

The child retains all special attacks of the base creature. Special attacks that deal physical damage change according to size category, whereas damage from magical special attacks decreases one die step (d6's become d4's, etc.). The DC of any special attack the child may have decreases according to the loss of HD. The range and duration of all of a child's special attacks halves.

Example: A troll child's Rend extraordinary ability deals a base damage of 2d4 instead of 2d6.

Example: An elephant has 11 HD and a DC 25 Trample special attack. An elephant calf only has 5 HD and has 2 points of Strength less than an adult elephant. Its Trample DC is 21.

Special Qualities

The child retains all special qualities of the base creature. Special qualities like energy resistances, damage reduction, fast healing, regeneration have their quantities halved (round down). Spell resistance decreases by the amount of racial HD lost (minimum 1). The range of sensory special qualities such as blindsight and darkvision are halved.

Example: An ogre mage child has regeneration 2 instead of 5, darkvision out to 30 ft. instead of out to 60 ft, and spell resistance 16 instead of 19.

Saves

A child gains saves in accordance with his Hit Dice. For children with ½ HD, good saves have a +1 base save bonus and average saves have a +0 base save bonus.

Example: A human child fighter has the following base save bonuses: Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +0.

Abilities

-2 Strength, -2 Wisdom.

Skills

A child with fractional racial Hit Dice gains half the number of skill points a first level character of the same race, class, and Intelligence score gets, i.e. twice the base skill points per level gained. Such a child may have a maximum of 2 ranks in any class skill, and a maximum of 1 rank in any cross-class skill. A child with multiple racial Hit Dice gains skill points normally as a creature of its Hit Dice, although if such a child has taken up a class, the last Hit Die is replaced with a class level and the skill points it grants him.

Example: A human child fighter with Int 10 has a total of 2×2 class skill points plus 2×1 racial skill points, for a total of 6 skill points. He may invest a maximum of 2 ranks in a class skill and 1 rank in a cross class skill. When this child reaches adulthood (or the starting age necessary to pursue his class), he will have 12 skill points; the regular quadruple base skill points of a 1st level fighter with 10 Int.

Example: A troll child with Int 8 that has no class level gains a number of racial skill points equal to 6×(2 - 1) = 6 skill points. If that same troll child would be a ranger, it instead gains 5×(2 - 1) plus (6 - 1) = 10 skill points.

Feats

A child gains a number of character feats according to its HD to a minimum of 1 (even with ½ HD). A child does not normally gain bonus feats due to class, and gains only racial bonus feats. For this purpose, a human's extra bonus feat at 1st level does not count as racial. Only the first feat may be a background feat.

Example: A human child has only one feat. He does not gain the extra bonus feat due to his being human. A troll child however has 3 racial Hit Dice, and therefore two feats.

Environment

Any.

Organization

Any.

Challenge Rating

Half that of the base creature.

Alignment

Same as base creature.

Advancement

By character class. A child that 'levels' becomes a 1st level character (whether it is by gaining adulthood, gaining experience or simply becoming sufficiently trained or schooled).

Level Adjustment

−1.

Children and Class Features

A child can have a class same as his adult counterparts. Some might even become unusually skilled for their age and improve their skills before reaching adulthood. Savage children are taught how to hunt, druid children to respect the land. A wizard's pupil might know a few cantrips and, through diligent study, become more than just an innocent face. A fighter child knows how to handle a weapon and swing it. A monk child is brought up in a cloistered environment and knows the beginnings of enigmatic martial arts. A child bard knows how to perform. Children can do the same things as their adult counterparts, but are usually slightly less experienced and skilled at it. This section gives some pointers as to integrate class features into your child build.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

When a child's class bestows any sort of general weapon proficiency (i.e. simple or martial), he may instead pick two weapons of each category he is proficient in that he can wield without penalty. A child may not pick any weapons that count as two-handed for its base creature's appropriate size category. A child automatically gains all specific weapon proficiencies from its class (such as a druid's proficiency with a scimitar, or a monk's proficiency with a kama.

A child gains all armor and shield proficiencies that its class bestows, except for proficiency with heavy armor and tower shields.

Spells

A child that has a spellcasting class gains only the benefit of cantrips (0 level spells). They gain half the number of cantrips that a 1st level spellcaster of their class would be granted, rounded down. A child sorcerer for instance knows and can cast 2 cantrips per day. at half caster level

Class Features

A child has access to a number of class features that his class normally bestows at 1st level. Class features that contain special attacks that do damage decrease their damage die by one step (for example, a child rogue's sneak attack and a child monk's unarmed strike only do 1d4 damage). Class features that bestow enhancement or morale bonuses have these bonuses halved (a barbarian's rage for example will only grant a +2 bonus to Strength and Constitution and a +1 morale bonus to Will saves). Class features that bestow temporary penalties are unchanged.

A child gains only 1st level class features that comply with at least one of these two criteria:

• The class feature associates with a certain Skill (using a skill check to perform a special task). Examples of this are, but do not limit to, a ranger's Track and Wild Empathy, a bard's bardic music and bardic knowledge, a rogue's trapfinding, etc.
• The class feature directly builds upon movement, weapon or armor proficiencies or combat capability, but may not grant additional attacks. Examples: a monk's unarmed strike and AC bonus, a rogue's sneak attack, a barbarian's rage, a paladin's Smite Evil.
• The class feature is an animal familiar.
• The class feature is an extraordinary ability.

A child does not gain 1st level class features that comply with the following criteria:

• The class feature is a spell-like ability. Examples: a paladin's detect evil.
• The class feature is an emanation or area effect. Examples: a paladin's Aura of Good.
• The class feature is a bonus feat.
• The class feature is an animal companion or mount.
• The class feature is a supernatural ability.

If for some class feature, both consequences apply, the child does not get that class feature.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Monsters → Templates