A character intended to survive combat without contributing damage dealt needs nerfed without reducing AC or health. a creature with templates and character levels for utility and healing needs defanged. I’m avoiding home brew but first / third party / dnd or Pathfinder is acceptable.
im also trying to modify breath weapons to not cause direct damage. Is there any feats to modify the effect to buff / debuff or healing. Even changing it to a breath of plant growth would be fine.
As a monster stat block, you can just copy and switch their damage dealing powers to buffs, aura's, and heals.
If using the character builder, I just ignore all the abilities that deal damage. Bards, Paladins, and Clerics seem to work best for this, but other classes have some useful features. You could also create some homebrew boons only given to those NPCs.
You don't need a guide, or even to have the NPC have a stat block. Your player characters are heroes. Adventurers. Above the common rabble. They simply shouldn't be expected to engage in combat. So their only goal during combat is to hide. Have your enemies take that NPC hostage in lieu of dishing out damage to the NPC.
I stand by my initial comment though - a guide doesn't need a statblock. They might be a normal Commoner. They will either run, or hide. If they choose to hide (and there is somewhere realistic) then just have them do that. A commoner wouldn't be a threat to any smart enemy or monster. So they would literally be the last person targeted (unless its an escort mission).
As to the dragonborn breath weapon - every character sheet function does have a section allowing it to be customised. Just take the normal breath weapon and edit the 'Name' and 'Notes' section to remind you what it should be doing instead of its basic form.
Yeah I'm kind of confused by the ask here. You can control NPC behavior by just having it not attack. If you wanted dragon breath to grow plants, you say that instead of a damage roll. I don't think this is as complicated as you are thinking.
A character intended to survive combat without contributing damage dealt needs nerfed without reducing AC or health.
a creature with templates and character levels for utility and healing needs defanged.
I’m avoiding home brew but first / third party / dnd or Pathfinder is acceptable.
im also trying to modify breath weapons to not cause direct damage. Is there any feats to modify the effect to buff / debuff or healing. Even changing it to a breath of plant growth would be fine.
Any help would be appreciated.
As a monster stat block, you can just copy and switch their damage dealing powers to buffs, aura's, and heals.
If using the character builder, I just ignore all the abilities that deal damage. Bards, Paladins, and Clerics seem to work best for this, but other classes have some useful features. You could also create some homebrew boons only given to those NPCs.
You don't need a guide, or even to have the NPC have a stat block. Your player characters are heroes. Adventurers. Above the common rabble. They simply shouldn't be expected to engage in combat. So their only goal during combat is to hide. Have your enemies take that NPC hostage in lieu of dishing out damage to the NPC.
For those NPC hirelings that need stat blocks, there's a great example of their usage in Dragon of Icespire Peak's 'Sidekicks' section: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/doip/sidekicks
I stand by my initial comment though - a guide doesn't need a statblock. They might be a normal Commoner. They will either run, or hide. If they choose to hide (and there is somewhere realistic) then just have them do that. A commoner wouldn't be a threat to any smart enemy or monster. So they would literally be the last person targeted (unless its an escort mission).
As to the dragonborn breath weapon - every character sheet function does have a section allowing it to be customised. Just take the normal breath weapon and edit the 'Name' and 'Notes' section to remind you what it should be doing instead of its basic form.
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Yeah I'm kind of confused by the ask here. You can control NPC behavior by just having it not attack. If you wanted dragon breath to grow plants, you say that instead of a damage roll. I don't think this is as complicated as you are thinking.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm