Erom Gib Nuf

Here’s the next in the series of Spellfire cards-turned-NPCs that I spoke about previously. This time it’s the first “Gib” card ever printed, Gib Ekim.

Gib Ekim was the first in a handful of cards that, as you can see to the left, had a split level designation, which the text on her card indicates are her levels as a wizard and as a fighter. Despite how obvious it seems now, at the time it took me a little while to realize that this was meant to be indicative of her being a multiclass character (or rather, “dual-class,” as we said back during AD&D Second Edition).

In converting Gib Ekim to Pathfinder, this presented some interesting decisions regarding how much to “tailor” her conversion. Obviously I’d need to fill in some areas using my own judgment, since a Pathfinder stat block is much more complicated than a Spellfire card, but there were a few aspects of converting her character that gave me pause.

Her levels were a big one. While I was initially intent on converting her levels as shown, making her a wizard 5/fighter 7, I couldn’t help but be struck by just how poor that build was. After all, multiclassing can really cripple a character if the classes don’t complement each other, and that was the case with a straight wizard/fighter build. But at the same time, I wanted to be true to her original depiction on the card.

Ultimately, I compromised. While she still has a total of twelve levels, I split the difference by giving her as few levels of wizard and fighter as I could while devoting the rest to levels of eldritch knight. This kept most of the abilities she’d have from her fighter levels, while at the same time saving most of her abilities as a wizard.

Beyond that, most of Gib Ekim’s build is structured around buffing her AC. Given that her picture (which, like virtually all Spellfire cards, is recycled art that TSR owned) didn’t show her wearing heavy armor or using a shield, I elected to find a number of less-direct methods of helping her avoid being hit. If you elect to use her in your game, please let me know if her design worked!

GIB EKIM

This beautiful woman regards you warily, dropping her backpack to the ground in anticipation, but without apparent hostility. Dressed in a fairly skimpy garb, she has no armor save for an odd crown-like headpiece over her long wavy brown hair. One hand falls to the hilt of her blade, which along with her crossbow are the only weapons she seems to be carrying.

Gib Ekim CR 11

XP 12,800

Female human wizard 5/fighter 1/eldritch knight 6

CG Medium humanoid (human)

Init +2; Senses Perception +9

---

DEFENSE

---

AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +1 deflection)

hp 73 (5d6+10 plus 7d10+7)

Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +7

---

OFFENSE

---

Speed 30 ft.

Melee masterwork cold iron longsword +13/+8 (1d8+3/19-20)

Ranged masterwork light crossbow +12 (1d8/19-20)

Special Atks Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise, hand of the apprentice 3/day, Vital Strike

Spells Prepared (CL 10^th; concentration +13)

5^th – baleful polymorph (DC 18), hold monster (DC 18)

4^th – fire shield, lesser globe of invulnerability, stoneskin (DC 17)

3^rd – fireball (DC 16), gaseous form (SM), protection from energy (DC 16), slow (DC 16)

2^nd – cat’s grace (DC 15), darkvision (DC 15; SM), false life, glitterdust (DC 15), scorching ray

1^st – endure elements (DC 14), feather fall, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 14), shield

0 – detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, mage hand

Arcane School universal

---

STATISTICS

---

Str 16, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 17, Wis 8, Cha 12

Base Atk +9; CMB +12; CMD 25

Feats Arcane Armor Training, Arcane Armor Mastery, Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Scribe Scroll, Spell Mastery, Toughness, Vital Strike

Skills Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +14, Knowledge (history) +14, Knowledge (local) +14, Knowledge (nobility) +14, Perception +9, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +16

Languages Common,

SQ arcane bond (ring), diverse training

Spellbook as spells prepared, plus

5^th – interposing hand, passwall

4^th – detect scrying, illusory wall (DC 17)

3^rd – phantom steed (SM), water breathing (DC 16)

2^nd – knock, whispering wind

1^st – alarm, unseen servant

0 – acid splash, arcane mark, bleed (DC 13), dancing lights, daze (DC 13), flare (DC 13), ghost sound (DC 13), light, mending (DC 13), message, open/close (DC 13), prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic, resistance (DC 13), touch of fatigue (DC 13)

“SM” indicates spells utilized with the Spell Mastery feat

Gear masterwork cold iron longsword, masterwork light crossbow, 30 bolts, +2 glamered chain shirt, ring of protection +1, minor crown of blasting, scrolls (CL 10) of detect scrying, illusory wall, passwall, phantom steed, and water breathing, diamond dust (750 gp), 10 days’ trail rations, waterskin, 50 ft. silk rope, spellbook, explorer’s outfit, backpack, bedroll, blue sapphire (1,000 gp), golden yellow topaz (500 gp), 2 silver pearls (100 gp each), 53 gp, 9 sp

---

SPECIAL ABILITIES

---

Hand of the Apprentice (Su): Gib Ekim can cause her longsword to fly from her grasp and strike a foe before instantly returning to her. As a standard action, she can make a single attack using a melee weapon at a range of 30 feet. This attack is treated as a ranged attack with a thrown weapon, except that her attack bonus is +12. This ability cannot be used to perform a combat maneuver. She can use this ability three times per day.

Gib Ekim is one of an exceptionally small band of individuals across myriad worlds and planes who have taken the prefix “Gib” in front of their name. While their reasons for doing so are unclear, as they never volunteer information about their organization – indeed, usually denying that they’re part of an organization at all, but rather coincidentally possess similar names – though it seems to have something to do with the notorious Gib Htimsen.

In combat, Ekim tends to focus on defense while she tries to discern her opponents’ abilities. She always uses false life and endure elements each morning, and will use shield as soon as a fight breaks out, following it up with lesser globe of invulnerability, stoneskin, fire shield, and protection from energy, in that order. If her opponents consistently hit her, she’ll use her Combat Expertise feat to its fullest.

Ekim prefers to fight at range. She’ll use her hand of the apprentice ability first before falling back on her crossbow. She’ll target truly dangerous martial fighters with hold monster, and dangerous spellcasters with baleful polymorph. In the event that defeat seems imminent, she’ll try and flee using gaseous form or her scroll of phantom steed. If needing to use a spell that she hasn’t prepared (or has already expended), she’ll use her arcane bond with her ring to cast it again.

How Much XP is CR 1/7 Worth?

If you have a high Perception bonus, you may have noticed a new entry under my blogroll. This is for a new Pathfinder blog called CR 1/7, and you should definitely check it out.

Updated every Friday (in other words, far more consistently than me), CR 1/7 publishes a new customized monster, “customized” here meaning a standard monster altered with class levels, templates, and/or advanced natural Hit Dice. It’s a great resource if you’re looking for interesting variants to keep your players on their toes!

From all of us here at Intelligence Check (which is to say, me), congrats to CR 1/7 on their debut, and here’s hoping for many interesting new monsters for many Fridays to come!

EDIT (10/21/14): As has been evident for some time now, the CR 1/7 blog is, sadly, no longer around. As such, I’ve removed it from my blogroll. It’s a shame that it’s gone, but such transience is not unusual in the blogosphere.

What’s Old Is Young Again

It should be self-evident, due to this blog, that I’m a fan of Paizo. I have been for a while; ever since they formed to keep Dragon and Dungeon magazines alive, in fact. But for all my admiration of the excellent material Paizo continue to put out to this day, it’s the indie third-party publishers whose work excites me most.

Part of this is the ingenuity that comes from these smaller companies. While bigger outfits have to play it somewhat safe to protect their sales margins, a company that’s run by a couple of guys (or even just one guy) as a hobby is free to experiment with something more “out there,” regardless of market potential. Admittedly, a lot of the time this doesn’t work, and production values (such as editing, interior art, etc.) can vary wildly, but when everything clicks it can produce pure gold.

The other great thing about third-party publishers is that they’re more likely to be open to freelancers who submit unsolicited material. While larger companies can afford to produce their products in-house, and/or have a stable of well-known freelancers with proven track records, a smaller company is more open to working with an unknown. This is particularly true in terms of judging a work on its own merits, rather than having to consider issues of scheduled releases, typsetting and layout, and name-recognition.

Yeah, this is rather long. How about a picture of a lively kitten to help?

Given all of the above, it’s probably no surprise that, prior to starting this blog, smaller third-party publishers were my venue of choice for when I had a Pathfinder (or, prior to August, 2009, 3.X) idea that I wanted to share with everyone. True, I could have posted them on a messageboard or home-made website, but like most would-be game designers, I’m narcissistic enough to want the unspoken tag of “official third-party” hanging over my work. In fact, to me that’s often more important than being paid for the submission (though it’s nicer to be paid in addition to that distinction).

There were several third-parties that I worked (and still work) with. One of the more esoteric ones, however, was The Grand OGL Wiki.

Started back in September of 2008, the Grand OGL Wiki is the culmination of an idea that was gaining popularity at the time – that of compiling a free online repository of Open Game Content materials from various publishers. While this seems obvious to us Pathfinder fans now that we have the d20PFSRD website, it was fairly controversial back in the day. A lot of people, including some publishers, were critical of the idea, claiming that it robbed companies of the profits for their hard work by making it available for free – “after all,” the reasoning went “why would anyone buy something if all of the crunchy bits are a few keystrokes away?”

Again, we know better now, but at the time more than a few people thought that was sound reasoning. Still, for every person who thought that way, there was another (including plenty of publishers) who thought it was a great idea.

It might have remained just an idea (since, as I recall, there were a few aborted attempts) had not Mark Gedak stepped up to the plate and formed The Grand OGL Wiki. From the very beginning, Mark was classy about his approach to the GOW (as it came to be called), always making sure that he had a publisher’s permission before reposting their Open Game Content, despite the fact that under the terms of the OGL, he could have done it anyway. Several publishers even allowed him to repost some of their Product Identity as well (though still closed, so it could not be subsequently reposted elsewhere).

And here it… wait… this isn’t the picture I uploaded.

Mark put out an open call for people to help him post content, and several people responded, myself included. Of course, I quickly lost steam after posting a comparatively small amount, so my contribution remains miniscule compared to that of others.

Of course, Mark eventually aimed his sights even higher, and eventually started his own third-party publishing company, Purple Duck Games, which puts out a number of excellent products.

This isn’t to say that the Grand OGL Wiki has been allowed to languish, of course. Just the fact that the link to it and the link to Purple Duck Games lead to the same page should be enough to put the lie to that. Indeed, Mark continues to quietly update the GOW with more Open Game Content to this day, in addition to expanding Purple Duck’s catalogue.

There is one aspect of the GOW that has been allowed to fall into disuse, however, and it’s the reason for today’s post. In late March, 2009, Mark expanded on the GOW’s original mission and created the DM Sketchpad. From then until February, 2010 (with bits and pieces up through that November), the DM Sketchpad was the place Mark posted new material he’d written, making it all Open Game Content.

He also allowed anyone else to submit material, something which suited me quite well, for reasons posted above. Thus, I became an infrequent contributor to the DM Sketchpad, sending various new rules material that I’d written (along with sending in requests for material, something Mark encouraged).

Nowadays, the DM Sketchpad is still around, though accessing the older pages require that you manipulate URL (the last four digits, specifically, to showcase the month and year that you want to see) a little bit. Given that the material on there is all Open Game Content, and isn’t easily accessible any longer, I’ve decided to repost my original submissions here for wider access.

To be clear, what I’ll be posting here is only my own work; the material done by Mark and others (including material written based on requests I submitted) will not be reposted here. With that said, let’s turn to today’s piece from yester-year.

Updated Actuarial Tables

A recent discussion on the Paizo messageboards mentioned how elves in Pathfinder weren’t so much “eternally young” as they were “eternally old.” While that’s a slight exaggeration, it does highlight how the longer-lived PC races can spend a lot of time being, well…old.  Afterall, according to the Aging Effects table, elves can spend up to four hundred years being “venerable” age! It was with that thought in mind that I wrote the following:

The listed aging effects never seemed entirely sensible to me where demihumans were concerned. Why does an elf have the potential to spend up to four hundred years – more than half his life – in the venerable age category? The gnome is in a similar position, and a halfling could spend literally half his life that way. That doesn’t seem plausible, so I rewrote the aging effects table.

This table reduces the maximum age each race can live down to a single die roll. The excess dice had their averages added to the venerable age category, and the other age categories were modified to match, as each race has their middle age category as exactly half their venerable age, with old age being the mid-point between them.

For example, elves normally have a maximum age of 350 + 4d% years. This takes the average of three of those d% dice (50 each) and adds them to the venerable age category, making it 500 years, and the elf’s maximum lifespan is now 500 + d% years. This adjusts middle age to be 250 years (half of venerable) and old age to be 375 (halfway between middle age and venerable). While this slightly shortens the maximum number of years a given race could live, for most people it actually heightens how long they’re likely to live, and broadens the range of each age category.

One notable exception to this rule is that humans have not had their age category altered. This is because the maximum age for humans, 70 + 2d20 years, does adequately cover the range of how long a healthy human can live. Since humans are commonly thought of as being the most adaptable and versatile of all races, having a comparatively broad maximum age fits with this image.

TABLE: REVISED AGING EFFECTS

Race	Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
Human	35 years	53 years	70 years	70 + 2d20 years
Dwarf	150 years	225 years	300 years	300 + d% years
Elf	250 years	375 years	500 years	500 + d% years
Gnome	150 years	225 years	300 years	300 + d% years
Half-elf	73 years	109 years	145 years	145 + d20 years
Half-orc	33 years	49 years	65 years	65 + d10 years
Halfling	70 years	105 years	140 years	140 + d20 years

¹ At middle age, –1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

² At old age, –2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

³ At venerable age, –3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Needless to say, this seems to make things a lot simpler for the demihuman races (bonus points if you remember when “demihuman” was a much more common term), particularly since now they’ll remain younger longer.

After all, the longer you remain young, the easier it is spend your youth killing things and taking their stuff.