windlings. why them ?

[galafrone]

i did the mistake to allow a player the chance to roll on a 1d100 choosing a number to play a windling
he said 00
and rolled it
and now i have nightmares
i hate windlings
sigh

[Dragonbreath]

Hates Windlings? Must be a Troll.
Have you really just admitted, you're a forum-Troll?

[galafrone]

lol noes
but whoa.. they are particularly nasty if played well, and i love consistency, so i cant tailor too much the adventures to have a serious opposition for him.
shiet, give me flak !!!

PS: i really loved the absence of windlings in cathay. LOVED IT

[Dragonbreath]

Serious opposition for Windlings is a problem? Why? Because they can fly?
If the windling flies to far away from the group, he may regret it, when a group of flying predators attack and he has to return to the group to survive.
Or let it rain, when the opponents attack. Wet wings aren't a windling's friend.
There lack in strength and toughness make even normal creatures to a challenge in combat.
And "funny ideas" you can expect from every kind of character. This is based on the player, not the character.

[ragbasti]

besides, a couple bows and the occational spellcaster are usually enough to keep the player from overdoing it ^^

When in doubt: Jub-jub attack !!!

[galafrone]

both posts are good and valuable ideas.
but the problem is more deep than that
first, i had him take and train a zoak.
so he is actually a carrier based windling (and that's my fault, i know.. sigh)

second, isnt the overdoing in combat (luckily he is smart enough to avoid the overdoing because he knows that will bring doom on him quickly), but is the aerial dimension of the windling himself, that gives:

1) more scouting opportunities for his party and so more chance to surprise the opposition
2) more flexibility in combat (that is a truth, even if you ideas are ok, i cant have rain all the times, bows all the times, casters all the times, for the problem due to consistency)
3) the added dangers arent only versus him (i cant focus on him all the times, but i have to spread the uses of my flak on the rest of the group aswell, with the consequence that the group, that cant fly, is more in danger than the windling himself since if it's going bad, he can go away in a quick)
4) the windling is a 5th circle thief at the moment, after 16 months of regular play. he is str 10 (not bad for anyone) and toughness is 10 aswell.
add 5 ranks of durability and he has like 47/61 hp.. that are good enough to sustain any combat

well, it was my scarce knowledge of the game that had me let him play a Windling.
i will never, ever, do the same mistake again
no more windling for me.
i hate anything that flies in a RPG

[ragbasti]

ultimately you could channel your hatred into a gamechanging event ^^
Get your characters into a trap, enemies don't always have to sit waiting above ground ! Cut one of his wings off ! ^^
Do whatever you want with him and see how he deals with it.
Just because the GM is a mean motherf**** doesn't mean it's not fun ^^

There are so many things you can do to a windling if you think about it. You could get your group involved with a globberog and the slime could hinder the windlings ability to fly for days. If you wander about in a cave or a desolate area, sometimes its better not to use your last bit of water to clean the windlings wings.

You could also stress the wild nature of the Zoak a little more. Animal insticts can always be played out to the player's advantage but also his disadvantage.

For example I have a windlings in my group that decided to befriend a Jub-Jub ^^
Even though it turned him into a little bit of a Squiq-Rider-ish thing (Warhammer) his new found companion also has his downsides.
Giving an animal certain traits can make things more interesting. The Jub-Jub for example has bad eyesight - almost once per fight it mistakes his little master for something to eat and lashes at him



PS:
I know alot of the things I suggest sound radical but it's only to inspire you a little into thinking out of the box.
A windlings above the treetops scouting cannot see what is going on below the roots, that is a fact. A zoak certainly has instincts that kick in when a situation gets too dire and unless the bond is magical I don't see how it would sacrifice it's own life for the sake of it's owner.
And since windlings have no versatility and Thiefs don't get animal bond there can only be a skill involved.

[galafrone]

yeah, it's how you say, and i will resort to any "honest" way to hamper him
i dont want persecute him toh, so my decision to be totally fair and honest at the point where my sandbox campaign will not have any particular "modifier" to the opposition since him being a windling
but as you say, there are the sworn foes
those KNOW his abilities, they can study the group or just the windling and take the correct countermeasures.
that will be honest and fair, and will be totally correct

also yes, i will detail the zoak more to the "wild side", since even if the windling has animal training and animal bond but as skills only, the beast cant be more of a "carrier".

[Mogre]

I've not had a problem dealing with Windlings as of yet.

[galafrone]

the main problem is the flight and how a windling can go around at hostacles that arent so easy to circumvent for others "Non flyers"