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So I created a class that's supposed to be a combination of the Oracle and Cleric. I'm fairly sure it's overpowered, but I'd like people's opinions on it as well as suggestions how to fix it.
I put it here as two Google documents because there's the basic class and there are also devotions that go with it. It's very long.
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Base Class
First off, thematically I like where you've gone here. Not a niche another class is currently filling being a knowledge seeking diviner. Not something I see in vanilla pathfinder (and for a reason) but I really like.
On the format, you can make the table: Eccliasiast wider, which will make things like "base attack bonus"'s spacing better. Make the other table a bit smaller, again it will fit better. Nothing else worth nit-picking about.
Mechanics, in no particular order:
I think you should give the eclesiast use magic device based on where he/she comes from; being interested in all religion surely means you need to read scrolls and use magic devices?
I don't understand why you aren't giving any armor or shield proficiency; the only reason to do that would be for arcane spell failure, which I'm not seeing. You're making someone who has no bonus feats eat multiple feats to get medium armor, and more for a shield? I'd multiclass a level of fighter rather than eat 3 feats; is there a reason you did this?
It's weird that you chose arcanist casting, but I guess it works.
Mechanically, your channel energy dice are weird. Is there a reason you did them this way? advancing from d4s to d6s may seem like you're getting something, but hides a basically dead progression level for the d4s. You've got two good options: The more natural progression would be 1/2 d4 /level, for a max of 10d4, average 25, high 40, or 5d6, average 17.5, high 30. Neither is great, but considering you do other things with the channel, the d4s would be okay. Please use d4s.
Normally you'd need to limit the healing/harming of channel based on alignment; Because of the theme of the class you're going with (at least how I interpreted it) you may not need to. If this is the case, you need to specifically note that the eclesiast's channel may heal or harm regardless of alignment.
I do not like the capstone ability at all, it seems everywhere and nowhere. Can you tell us where you're coming from with it?
I'll go through the devotions once I understand where you're coming from/going to on the things above.
First off, thematically I like where you've gone here. Not a niche another class is currently filling being a knowledge seeking diviner. Not something I see in vanilla pathfinder (and for a reason) but I really like.
Thanks! Now I'm curious what the reason is.
On the format, you can make the table: Eccliasiast wider, which will make things like "base attack bonus"'s spacing better. Make the other table a bit smaller, again it will fit better. Nothing else worth nit-picking about.
I noticed that. The tables looked fine in Word, so I'm not sure why they got so weird here. They (hopefully) should now be fixed.
Mechanics, in no particular order:
I think you should give the eclesiast use magic device based on where he/she comes from; being interested in all religion surely means you need to read scrolls and use magic devices?
Ack! I included that now.
I don't understand why you aren't giving any armor or shield proficiency; the only reason to do that would be for arcane spell failure, which I'm not seeing. You're making someone who has no bonus feats eat multiple feats to get medium armor, and more for a shield? I'd multiclass a level of fighter rather than eat 3 feats; is there a reason you did this?
I couldn't think of a good reason they would have armor or shield proficiencies. I now include light armor and shields, but I can't see a reason they'd need to use medium or heavy armor whilst seeking divine knowledge.
It's weird that you chose arcanist casting, but I guess it works.
The arcanist combines the sorcerer and the wizard. Since the oracle and cleric are their divine counterparts (more or less) I thought it would likely be the best way to go here. If you can suggest a better casting, I'm willing to include it.
Mechanically, your channel energy dice are weird. Is there a reason you did them this way? advancing from d4s to d6s may seem like you're getting something, but hides a basically dead progression level for the d4s. You've got two good options: The more natural progression would be 1/2 d4 /level, for a max of 10d4, average 25, high 40, or 5d6, average 17.5, high 30. Neither is great, but considering you do other things with the channel, the d4s would be okay. Please use d4s.
I was using the variant rules for Cleric channeling, which calls for the die to be half normal (1d3 at 1st level) in exchange for an additional effect that comes with it. These additional effects are listed under the devotions. I don't like d3's very much, so I thought a d4 might be a bit easier. I changed it to reflect the half-power (altering d3's and d6's), but I'm willing to go strait d4's if you think that will be better.
Normally you'd need to limit the healing/harming of channel based on alignment; Because of the theme of the class you're going with (at least how I interpreted it) you may not need to. If this is the case, you need to specifically note that the eclesiast's channel may heal or harm regardless of alignment.
Okay. I didn't think of that. Yeah, alignment isn't going to matter for the heal or harm effects. I've now included that.
I do not like the capstone ability at all, it seems everywhere and nowhere. Can you tell us where you're coming from with it?
The capstone I presented is the generic option. It was my idea that the character could ultimately find the divine inside themselves and manifest it outwardly. However, it is one of four options - the other three are all specifically tailored to a devotion. You can only choose one of them, though. I can change it if you make suggestions on how it could be better.
I'll go through the devotions once I understand where you're coming from/going to on the things above.
That's fair. I fixed the things you mentioned. The devotions are pretty important, though, since they provide a lot of the more interesting parts to the class. They are one part clerical sphere and one part oracle mystery. I know the descriptions are going to likely need changed, but I'm not sure what else will need fixed.
Okay, going through things in order again:
From what I've seen, which includes a fair bit of opinion and speculation, religious studies including both very good and very evil don't fit into the world of Golarion, which I'm admittedly not very familiar with. It could might also be a generally touchy subject in some places, so is just best avoided from a company's perspective; all I really know though is I like it.
Yeah, with the formatting it helps if you export it as a pdf, then link the pdf copy so everyone sees the same thing. I was once linked this when I forgot to do so.
Light armor and shields is what I would think too for someone so specialized.
There's nothing wrong with the Arcanist's casting, and I didn't mean to imply there was. I'm not used to seeing it yet, and my group's dedicated caster doesn't much care for him, and uses the sorcerer/oracle's casting type instead. If you like what the Arcanist does, you should use his spell casting system like you are.
Oh! Variant channeling like that! I had forgotten it existed. It may be easier to use the regular channeling rules in your write-up and reference the variant channeling rules.
I like the idea of manifesting your own divine self, it fits with the theme of the class, and gives context for your description. My mechanical concern is the spell resistance; it tends to be overpowered, especially at 30. Don't feel obligated to change it from just me though.
I'll take a look at the devotions and get back to you today or tomorrow.
Edit: appears the link is dead. Suffice to say dropbox on ipad with a word document makes everything completely unreadable.
My suggestions for Focused Channel
Change the name to Channel Energy. This will allow the character to use existing channeling feats.
The alternating d3 and d6 motif is actually kind of annoying. You can either substitute the entire thing with d4s, or use d6s and slow the progression (levels 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 or 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 or 1, 5, 9, 13, 17). If you feel you need to, you can drop the number of uses per day from 3 + Cha to either 1 or 2 + Cha.
Be careful with terms like rolls and statistics. Both are words we use while gaming, but neither one is actually a Pathfinder game term. Use checks and ability scores.
Get rid of the last paragraph. Copy and paste the cleric's Channel Energy class feature into your document and make the appropriate changes. If there is another class feature that plays off of Channel Energy, then you can mention it here but keep the details in the other class feature.
Okay, going through things in order again:
From what I've seen, which includes a fair bit of opinion and speculation, religious studies including both very good and very evil don't fit into the world of Golarion, which I'm admittedly not very familiar with. It could might also be a generally touchy subject in some places, so is just best avoided from a company's perspective; all I really know though is I like it.
Ah, okay. I mostly created this as a thought experiment inspired by the arcanist.
Yeah, with the formatting it helps if you export it as a pdf, then link the pdf copy so everyone sees the same thing. I was once linked this when I forgot to do so.
Okay. Is there an easy way to make a pdf? I've never done it before and I really can't afford to buy any new programs right now. It'd be very useful for the devotions since I really want there to be an index that links down below but I don't know how to do that in Word.
There's nothing wrong with the Arcanist's casting, and I didn't mean to imply there was. I'm not used to seeing it yet, and my group's dedicated caster doesn't much care for him, and uses the sorcerer/oracle's casting type instead. If you like what the Arcanist does, you should use his spell casting system like you are.
You didn't, I just honestly wanted to know if you could suggest a better one. I'm perfectly willing to alter the class to make it better any way I can.
Oh! Variant channeling like that! I had forgotten it existed. It may be easier to use the regular channeling rules in your write-up and reference the variant channeling rules.
The only problem I have is the variant channeling rules are part and parcel of the class itself. I'm not sure just referencing them will work since when you choose a devotion, you also choose a sphere of focus which provides the variant for the channel effect. They don't all follow those exactly, and I don't want to create confusion.
I like the idea of manifesting your own divine self, it fits with the theme of the class, and gives context for your description. My mechanical concern is the spell resistance; it tends to be overpowered, especially at 30. Don't feel obligated to change it from just me though.
It's actually a combination of the spells divine vessel and overwhelming presence. In divine vessel, you gain a Spell Resistance of 12 + your caster level. I figured since you wouldn't gain this ability before level 20, that would logically result in a Spell Resistance of 32. I reduced it to 30 for an even number.
I'll take a look at the devotions and get back to you today or tomorrow.
Okay, thanks! The devotions are what really worry me because they're the heart of the class and I want them to work out okay. I'm probably going to need to rework the devotions entirely, but I'm not sure where to go.
Edit: appears the link is dead. Suffice to say dropbox on ipad with a word document makes everything completely unreadable.
They both seem to still be working for me. Do you need me to relink?
My suggestions for Focused Channel
Change the name to Channel Energy. This will allow the character to use existing channeling feats.
Um, okay, but I thought I was fairly clear that the character could already do that.
The alternating d3 and d6 motif is actually kind of annoying. You can either substitute the entire thing with d4s, or use d6s and slow the progression (levels 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 or 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 or 1, 5, 9, 13, 17). If you feel you need to, you can drop the number of uses per day from 3 + Cha to either 1 or 2 + Cha.
I'll just use d4's, then. I don't want them to be full channelers because they get to do something else besides just use positive or negative energy.
Be careful with terms like rolls and statistics. Both are words we use while gaming, but neither one is actually a Pathfinder game term. Use checks and ability scores.
Okay. That's odd because I mostly copied and pasted from Pathfinder materials to create this. Can you be more specific where you see this happening? If not I can find and replace.
Get rid of the last paragraph. Copy and paste the cleric's Channel Energy class feature into your document and make the appropriate changes. If there is another class feature that plays off of Channel Energy, then you can mention it here but keep the details in the other class feature.
Would you mind showing me exactly what you want to see here? I thought I had most of the Channel Energy feature in there. The changes I made are not from another class but from a variant form of channeling that, normally, a GM can choose or not choose to use. You can see the details here. It is an important class feature and is slightly varied from what's listed there. I'm not sure how else to address it.
I agree with Ciaran Barnes. Don't change the mechanics of channel energy. If you want to make it weaker, then make it have a slower progression.
I haven't gone through the devotions -- there's a ridiculous amount of them and I find the document very annoying to read. However, the class seems okay but very bland flavorwise. It's basically a cleric that casts spells like an arcanist and has a bag of talents. That's it.
When you roll a d20 and add a relevant bonus, you are making a check. A check is made against a target number. A saving throw or skill is a check a DC. An attack is a check against an AC. You roll dice for damage and miss chance, but those are not checks. Strength and wisdom are not statistics - they are called ability scores.
Overall this looks pretty good, and like it includes most of the neater traits of the oracle and cleric. That said, with how long the package of Devotions is, it's pretty clear why this wouldn't work well as a published/official class. I do think that 4 Skill points/level wouldn't hurt though, and I feel the same way for the Cleric.
Then again, there's that Harrowed Medium that is floating around in publication limbo, so...