Hey guys, new to the forum, but loving the game so far.
After playing a couple of rounds with some of the default characters, I didn't feel like any were "me", so I sat down to hash out a custom mage. Let me know what you think.
POWERS
Handsize - 6 []7
-For your combat check, you may recharge a spell with the arcane trait to use your arcane skill + 1d6 ([]+1, []+2) and add the Attack, Fire, and Magic traits. This counts as playing a spell.
-Instead of your first exploration on your turn, you may discard the top card of your deck, so that on your next turn you shuffle 1d4([]+1) cards from your discard into your deck.
The flavor I was thinking was that instead of the sorcerers way to discard a card for their attack, I'd be able to recharge an arcane card to fireball. I'm not good at making something out of nothing, but able to manipulate existing magic. Being a fire mage, I saw the second power as a sort of cauterizing. You're discarding a card immediately, giving up the initial explore (wasting a blessing) and then healing a bit the next turn.
Additionally, Survival is under intelligence because knowledge is power, and I've read tomes of the world.
Played a bit with him, and he seems to play fine, not too overpowered. No roles yet. Thanks for any advice in advance!
Thanks for coming bye! Glad to hear you're enjoying the game and getting into it as much as you are. It's a shame you haven't found any characters that fit you so far, as there are a lot of different potential play styles available.
See below for my comments on your character, hope they help!
Skills: I think you do have too many skills. Your readout is almost exactly the same as Ezren, except that you are adding 2 skills, including one to your d12 (and since survival is usually wis based, you are effectively upgrading a d4 to d12+1). Knowledge may be power, but survival is generally considered more about practicality than book smarts. I don't know your character well enough to recommend specific changes, but I'd drop at least 1 skill.
Cards: Cards look fine, no changes needed.
Powers: Your first power feels a bit off to me. First, that's something of a signature Sorceror ability, and since you're Int based, it seems strange to give it to this character. Also, I really don't have a good gauge of the difference in power between recharging a particular card and discarding any card, so keep an eye on that power. It might be fine, but it might be too strong.
Your second power I have a few issues with. First, I don't like memory issues, and this creates a big one (remembering to heal at the start of your next turn). If you're going to keep this power, that really needs to be a display power, that you discard (or bury, we'll get to that) when you actually do the heal.
Second, the power level seems a bit off. Comparing it to the cleric (which was the obvious model), you discard any card from the top, rather than a divine card from hand, but in exchange it is delayed, can only be used on yourself, and heals 1 less. Despite the power weakening, the fact that you can always use it, and it doesn't damage your hand, makes it a risk. In a solo game, I feel like this character would be nearly immortal, especially combined with the spontaneous attack spellcasting. I'd consider burying the card instead of discarding, to make it more fair.
Overall, the character works pretty well. It seems slightly on the high end of power, but you can't perfectly balance everything, so it might be close enough. Fortunately for you, unlike with some risky power level characters I've made, you have a lot of knobs to turn to keep it reasonable. Hope it works out.
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Below is some additional commentary I had before, but wasn't sure if it was too negative or poorly worded. This is a much better first attempt at a character than several I've seen (potentially including some of mine). If you'd like, you can read it, but don't feel you have to. Cliff's Notes: I'm not a fan of the way you seem to have approached this character from a technical ground up approach, rather than a flavorful top-down approach.
Spoiler:
Finally, I don't like the flavor. With the heal, I understand the cauterize concept but this feels like too big of a heal for that. A minor single recharge here or there would work better, I think. In addition, at this point, you've professed to make a mage, yet pulled stats from the wizard, a power from the sorceror, and a power from the cleric. This feels less like a character and more like smashing powers that you liked together because you didn't want just one of them. Did you have a theme or character in mind when you started? Each of your power descriptions feels more like an excuse for the power to be on this character, rather than an explanation of how you showed off a character trait with it (Especially the survival skill. It's like saying Ranged should be int-based because you've read the how-to guide on bows).
Maybe I'm wrong and this was the only way you could think to showcase Terok the Fire Mage as he exists in your mind. If so, I'm sorry. That being said, there is a good reason why these powers only appeared on one character each. They were the major defining differentiating feature of the characters, and by putting them all together you risk losing what made those classes unique. Just think about it.
Isaic, thanks for the quick feedback! All great points, and being that it was my first character, I knew there'd be issues.
I agree with the survival skill. I wasn't 100% sure where it needed to go, because I noticed that Sorcerers have Arcane under Charisma, while Wizards have Arcane under Intelligence. I didn't know if you could put something under a different category based on how you thought your character developed that skill. I felt that only have Arcane and Knowledge made my character semi-useless in anything other than Int checks (or diplomacy).
The first power I felt was a way to put utility spells into my deck (Detect Magic, Arcane Armor) and still be able to be offensive. Without weapons, if I ran into a monster, I could either A) Load up on offensive spells or B) Roll the d6 for Strength. The inspiration was absolutely from the Sorcerer, but I didn't know how to make it an ability that was "I like to use fire magic. I can throw fireballs." It was the only way I'd thought about it at this point. Any more suggestions for how to fit a fire based ability in, I'm all ears.
The second power I had concerns with. It can be used every turn, which makes it very powerful, and the fact that it's only on yourself makes sense in the context of cauterizing yourself. That being said, I didn't know quite know how I wanted to really flesh out the second ability because I wanted something that could be useful most of the time rather than some of the time (like a reduction to fire damage). With that in mind, I thought about abilities I could incorporate into the game without being A) Overly complicated and B) Break the game.
The way I wanted to treat it was that in harming yourself in the short term, you heal yourself long term. But a wizard who can heal, now that just seems a little weird, but I also found that trying to recharge spells constantly, you can run into issues where you've burned through your deck and are useless to your team (assuming no healer).
Blah, after all that, I'm still thinking away on this. I really like the idea of a fire mage. Thanks again for your suggestions, they've set me off in the right direction! :)
I think you need to compare your character to the ones that come in the game. Along that line...
Your first power is very similar to Seoni. Except she can use any card and has to discard it, while you have to use a spell card but can recharge it. So you are more limited in terms of it being 6/15 (plus any items that you get that have the Arcane trait) of your deck to fuel your power, while hers is limiting in the "cost" being higher. But also note the Seoni has very few spells. So yes, she has a "fireball" on hand at any time, which lets her puts mostly utility spells in her deck, but she still isn't carrying very many utility spells. I'd recommend limiting it a bit more. Maybe make the cost discard, or even bury. Or perhaps instead go with a different approach like, "You may discard ([]recharge) any card with the Arcane trait to add 1d4 with the Fire trait to a Combat check." That lets you help others and yourself, gives you the Fire feel on any combat check, and feels a bit more balanced to me.
Your second power just doesn't feel right to me. Like it doesn't belong on a Wizard/Mage. I'd let someone else cover the healing and maybe come up with something new. There are other ways to assist other characters. Maybe a power that let you add the Magic trait to check? Or a power that helped others acquire a boon by tacking on your Knowledge bonus to their result?
Looking forward to seeing what you end up settling on. Good luck!
Terok the Human Fire Mage
SKILLS
Strength d6 []+1 []+2
Dexterity d6 []+1 []+2
Constitution d6 []+1 []+2 []+3
Intelligence d10 []+1 []+2 []+3 []+4
Wisdom d4 []+1
Charisma d8 []+1 []+2 []+3
Arcane: Intelligence +2
Knowledge: Intelligence +2
Diplomacy: Charisma +1
POWERS
Handsize - 6 []7
-You may recharge a card with the Arcane Trait to add 1d4 and the Magic and Fire trait to any combat check.
-In place of Strength for your combat check, you can use your Arcane die -2. It now has the fire trait.
CARDS
WEAPON - []1 []2
SPELL 6 []7 []8 []9
ARMOR -
ITEM 3 []4 []5
ALLY 2 []3 []4
BLESSING 4 []5
This allows helping others to kill things that would be difficult to kill as just a melee character (like a ghost), while also allowing the ability to fight monsters on my own. Think of it like punching with fire. Thoughts in that regard? Also, toned down my Intelligence (only 40 total on all of the dice). Figured that would make me a little more different as well.
Looks a lot more in theme than your first version.
And as you said, with 40 points, you might want to buff Dex or Wisdom a bit. Which would give him a kind of Mage/Monk vibe. Would fit the punching with fire part.^^
Now to get to your new powers. For the first you might want to think about restricting the range. Most powers of this style either work only at your location, or only at other location. (I have nothing against all locations, but my chars always tend to be on the powerful side.)
And for your second power, is it intended that you can use it with weapons (if you take the card feats for it)? As it is now, it would work with any Melee weapon and even Longbows.
Part 2 of your second Power: Is there a specific buffing reason you took Arcane -2 instead of just Int (which would be technically exactly the same)?
(Oh, and punching with Fire that isn´t magical in nature but doesn´t burn yourself, that seems kind of odd too.)
I like the idea of upping my dex. If I'm punching with fire, it would suck to be slow at that :P
I agree, restricting the range is something I should have done. It makes sense to "buff" another character's combat check if you're adventuring at the same location, but not if they're in another location.
I think for the second power I might restrict it to just melee weapons, since my character already doesn't use weapons (unless I take a card feat), and then lean towards making a role card that is about augmenting your weapons.
The reason I chose Arcane is because I didn't mind using the Int die, but liked that any character who could buff an Arcane check could also buff your attack ( the Acolyte comes to mind). That made sense to me though, but I could be completely out to lunch.
If you want to keep the cauterize feel, here's a power I might suggest (possibly on a role card): When you play a spell with the fire trait, recharge a random card from your discard pile.
That way it's incidental heals (which keeps him from feeling like a divine caster), and directly related to the fire concept.
I second Fenris's suggestion of Int. The obvious symmetry between the +2 arcane and the -2 power makes it feel so redundant, and I don't think it's worth the added value of the bonus to Arcane effects. You could also potentially just bit the bullet and use the straight Arcane die, but that might be too strong. Maybe if Arcane was reduced to +1?
Also, and this question is borne out of the terminology change between RotR and S&S, do you mean the unmodified die, or the total value of the skill? In RotR, Arcane die meant the full skill, but in S&S it just refers to the unmodified die (and I don't think is used for secondary skills). For the full value, with skill feats, you would refer to your Arcane or Intelligence Skill.
Also, by dropping Int to d10, you opened up a lot of room for skill points (having Arcane and Knowledge attached to a d10 instead of a d12 drops their value a bit). I'd consider bumping wis to d6 and adding Survival +1 back attached to it.
Hey guys, it's been a while. I've been playing with my Fire mage off and on for a few months, and have been loving it. Now I'm at the cross roads for his role upgrade. After some tinkering, this is what I've come up with.
Quote:
Terok - Archon of Flame
Hand Size 6 []7
Proficient with
Old powers
You may recharge a card with the Arcane trait to add 1d4 ([]2d4) and the Magic and Fire traits to a combat check at your location([] at any location). This counts as a spell.
In place of Strength for a combat check, you may use your Arcane skill ([] + 1d4). This check now has the Magic and Fire traits. This cannot be used with a weapon. This counts as a spell.
New powers
Hand size []8
[] Whenever you acquire a boon with the magic trait, you may immediately explore again.
[] Whenever you use a spell with the Fire trait, you may recharge a random card ([] or card of your choice) from your discard.
[] Reduce fire damage dealt to you to 0
[] You automatically succeed at a check to recharge a spell with the Fire trait
[] If you fail a check that has the Arcane trait, you may bury ([] or discard) a card from your hand to ignore the result and reroll the dice. You must take the second result.
So the feeling I got from the role is that he is very fire focused. The recharge is something we discussed before, and the auto recharge is due to proficieny and the final power is like burning yourself out to over charge almost.
These powers are good, but not too good, you know? The only little problem is some monsters are immune to fire and this fire Mage is gonna really struggle then. But it's good to have weaknesses to have to figure out. Very thematic.
If you are a fire mage then why not a power that adds 1d4 {}+1, []+2 to fire spells. Your fellow travellers would love to have you around when helping them with spells like fire sneeze and incendiary cloud.
Have you considered tying in to allies with the animal trait as a familiar in the same as wizards can?
