Have to say after 3 levels of this I am not a fan of the tactician.
All my options are exceedingly limited.
and here i am, trying to make it to 6th level for the class ability that kicks off my build.
You're welcome to multiclass, or use retraining if you aren't having fun with the class.Both are non-options from the stand point of not wanting to further be a lump.
Right now my options are to shoot, and probably just get shot straight back down. Melee and get eaten by godzilla. Or teleport Sam out and have someone else get eaten by godzilla.
If this were an odd tactical encounter I'd be upset but not frustrated like the negative energy elementals. But it's a cut and dry big guy on an open field supported by some archers. A formula so vanilla you ahd to light it on fire to make it more interesting.
The trouble I'm having with the class is that it's poorly designed for the psionic rules and awful next to the magic ones.
I get spirit of many at 2nd level but my first real network power at 3rd and unable to use it in any good capacity until 4th.
So if I want to hit everyone in the group with a 2nd level buff I'd have to be 6th level and spend 6pp. This is without augmenting the power itself.
The power list itself is small while at the same time being all over the place like they wanted the class to do many things but were afraid to let them do one well.
My original intent was to play the class like a reach support cleric. However my available powers are so small I only get the choice of being a bad support character or a bad psychic warrior.
This, again, wouldn't be bad if I had abilities that did something one way or another. Even coordinated strike the short time I had it was a wash given it gave a bonus that is way too common for too short a time.
Yeah, I keep wishing for a cleric or a bard or a psychic warrior and getting somethign who really should have had stronger focus on his abilities.
yeah, i have a lot of fun with Vitalist in another game, but it suffers from the weakness many psionic manifesters have in that the system leans heavily toward augmenting powers to the max, which cuts the crap out of your powers/day.
and here i am, trying to make it to 6th level for the class ability that kicks off my build.Have to say after 3 levels of this I am not a fan of the tactician.
All my options are exceedingly limited.
Yeah, hello 6th Level, helloooo prestige class that gets me more psi powers.
In fact, if I was just a straight psion, no prestige class, I'd be multiclassing into Soulbolt. Alys has really shown me how the class is useful, rather than just a mind-blade. The ability to "make a gun" is better than actually having a mundane gunslinger class level. mdt, I can foresee Soulbolt honor guards among the wealthy and nobles back on the flying islands. It just "fits" somehow with a psionic-only setting.
If it makes anyone feel better, you should be hitting 4th level after dealing with this encounter. Which might make things better for Selven.
Sammark, don't forget Autohypnosis: Resist Dying!
If that lizard-man is the merciless type I'll use the little astral construct to drag Sam away as fast as possible.
hmmmm how do we feel about aegises?
hmmmm how do we feel about aegises?
Most people assume the Aegis is a tank. Closer inspection reveals that an Aegis is actually a crafter, with Astral Repair, Master Craftsman, as well as his or her three astral suits. So the Aegis is more than a football linebacker.
The Aberrant archtype gets rid of the suit and goes for a Lycanthrope-looking theme instead.
Ectopic Artisan is a psionic hybrid of the Psion (Shaper) and the Summoner’s Eidolon from the Advanced Player's Guide.
The Trailblazer is an Aegis focused on Survival in wild environments.
Crystal Warrior from Ultimate Psionics uses a psicrystal as a material focus. He or she adds ranged attacks for free from the astral suit.
I won't deny we need a tank/heavy-hitter. But I'd hate to give up the Collective/Telepathy just as it was getting useful (Level 4, sharing healing). I guess Reaghar needs to craft as many Natural Healing tattoos as possible to replace our healer until as many people as possible get Body Adjustment.
They're sort of a bastard cousin of Synthesis Summoners. You'll have fewer powers and no healing, but you'll be a very effective HTH fighter or ranged attacker (depending on how you build your suit).
Also would we use one of the original three arrays or do you want to go ahead and roll three new ones?
At the moment I'm keeping Selvan at least for a while. I like the character quite a bit. But, I tend to think his time in the engine room has done a lot to soothe his nerves and bring his particular story towards some form of conclusion. He won't ever be a great general or powerful swarmlord but he's coming to realize he needs neither that nor the approval of his family to actually be happy. He got to ride on and help defend important ships from dragons while performing a necessary task. Which in a way is what he would be doing anyway. A future in the mercantile fleet looks rather appealing.
I'll roll up a set of new ones if you want to make a new character.
Travelling with Connor probably also helped with that whole family expectation thing.
EDIT : In recruitment thread. I'm suspecting either set 2 or set 3.
Everybody concentrate firepower on Grimjowl the lizard-man. My little astral construct is going after Sammark while my new Medium-sized construct will attempt to be more than a one-hit wonder.
If we can just get Sam awake he can do Entangling Debris again.
No, no. Sam has learned his lesson. Direct violence is the only answer.
I'm thinking Energy Push or Concussion Blast for my first 2nd level power.
Concussion Blast makes for a good an immediate smack down on a foe but Energy Push can situationally do more damage.
Concussion Blast (1D6, pumpable with 2pp/1D6); Concussive Onslaught (3D6; rnd/lvl; 2pp/1D6; 4pp/moves) is better (2nd level vs. 3rd level power).
Energy Push is much more variable, with all the various energy types (2D6 fire, cold, sonic, electricity) (2pp/1D6). So I can see your dilemma. :) But why not Energy Missile (3D6, 1pp/1D6), Mr. Kineticist?
We're already encountering an opponent with some kind of fire shield or fiery effect. Cold is a good counter, but Sonic or Force would be just as effective, IMHO.
Just a note that selvan will stick around for a while yet so there is time to get solid healing powers on all the manifesters.
Energy Missile would certainly make more things deader, faster...
We're now at a level where 3 hp via tattoo doesn't get us to 0+ hp anymore. So when we get to Kalliert I'm planning on spending some dough on 12 hp tattoos via Reaghar and Selvan.
Maybe I should go for Body Adjustment? What is the equivalent of staves for psionics again?
I've already planned on getting Body Adjustment (cryptic 2, gifted blade 2, marksman 2, psion/wilder 3, psychic warrior 2, vitalist 2) at 5th Level. It's 1d12 hp healing, 2pp/1D12hp, so it's not a "sure" thing like Natural Healing, but it is a power we can all (except Alys) acquire. Connor's getting Cleanse Body and Empathic Condition Relief at 4th Level. With Reaghar doing the Scribe Tattoo, we can make tattoos now, which anybody can use. Connor can also make power stones now.
Tattoos = Potions, which anybody can use
Scrolls = Power Stones, but you have to have the power on your list
Wands = Dojres, ditto
Cognizance Crystals = extra power points
Crystalline Focus = only for soulbolts/aegis, permanent representations of their power(s) that add an enhancement bonus. You can make a lightsaber effect with one variation.
Staffs = Psicrowns, fantastically expensive
Shards, melding stones, synaptic masks, crystal masks (universal items) = skill point bonuses
Psicrystal Staff = NOT a "staff" like a magical staff, useful only if you have a psicrystal like Hero
So, on a whim I decided to scrounge the various baords to see what I was doing wrong and apparently I wasn't doing anything not pretty much already being considered. So, that kind of sucks.
In any case let's see if I can make life hell for the archers.
I think we're going to need you to do some healing, Selvan. :) First on Alys, then yourself, then Sammark. Don't be stingy with those psionic power points. You can do Natural Healing at 3pp (9 hp) now.
If we can get Sammark awake he can do Entangling Debris again and tie up the archers.
You do understand I can't precisely heal people right? I heal by hurting myself and then healing the damage off. Two standard actions. Two turns. Two archer volleys to my 9 damage healed. :/
I'd love Sam to be up. But not so much for the archers so much as I know he can really harm Godzilla.
Um. I thought Natural Healing was a "touch", not a "personal". You can still heal yourself.
In other words, we need to make a wheelbarrow-full of Psionic Tattoos of Natural Healing (max'ed - 4th Level if we level after this battle for 4pp and 12 hp). Wouldn't hurt to make some max'ed Vigor tattoos too. Or power stones.
Alright, Reaghar, you're covered in Natural Healing tattoos. Can you reach the others for a transfer & tap?
Connor's got 1 tattoo left. And he's the furthermost away.
I just noticed that alchemists are allowed per the original thread.
Other than obviously being psionic in nature is there any important changes to them I should be aware of? I'm imagining replacing things like Extend Potion with
It's getting me rather excited since I can solve two problems at once.
Building the aegis I can get suuuuuper tanky but run into the trouble of not finding a good attack roll boost other than "Don't power attack".
I could have used some harnessed power stones to deal with this.
But the alchemist let's me take care of so many things. I can pass out infusions of actual cures. And I can still build a very beefy melee guy.
So I can cover the holes better this time around.
The only changes are, you base your formula off Psionics rather than Spells. So, if you make an infusion using a magic spell formula, it's magic (with that down side). If you make an infusion using psionic formula, then you are making a psionic infusion instead.
Alchemists are the only class that can 'cross the lines'. If you are serious about wanting to play one, I'll work this weekend on putting together an Alchemist psionic formula list.
Go for it. If nothing else you'll have fodder for future npc's to wreck us with.
So I went to bed last night and realized that a straight spell for power conversion is actually an awful idea.
This is mainly due to the fact that powers by design almost never ever scale with level while spells do. The idea is that a 1st level power with 5pp invested into it would be the equivalent of a 3rd level power.
This gives them a good deal of versatility since they never need spend more points than they require. In general there powers tend to be more versatile and can get more powerful based on investment.
But it's balanced by the tendency of psions and such to have fewer powers.
So the question becomes how to ensure that the alchemist can use the powers like they should without creating something a bit too out of there.
Let me think on it...
Psionic Formula
1st Level
Biofeedback
Bite of the Wolf
Burst
Chameleon
Claws of the Beast
Conceal Thoughts
Corrosive Aura
Elfsight
Force Screen
Fortify
Grip of Iron
Inevitable Strike
Metamorphosis, Minor
Metaphysical Claw
Natural Healing
Precognition
Precognition, Defense
Precognition, Offensive
Precognition, Tactical
Synesthete
Thicken Skin
Vigor
2nd Level
Bestow Power
Body Adjustment
Detect Hostile Intent
Energy Adaptation, Specified
Everyman
Heightened Vision
Inertial Armor
Natural Linguist
Resist Toxin
Sustenance
Thought Shield
Wall Walker
3rd Level
Body Purification
Claws of the Vampire
Danger Sense
Endorphin Surge
Exhalation of the Black Dragon
Knockdown
Mend Body
Metamorphosis
Object Reading
Psychofeedback (Self only)
Ubiquitous Vision
4th Level
Aura Sight
Claw of Energy
Energy Adaptation
Flexible Trajectory
Mindwipe
Physical Acceleration
Resist Death
Steadfast Perception
Suspend Life
Touchsight
5th Level
Adapt Body
Battlesense
Battle Transformation
Defer Fatality
Empathic Feedback
Graft Armor
Graft Weapon
Incarnate
Oak Body
Pierce the Veils
Power Resistance
6th Level
Barrage
Body of Iron
Breath of the Black Dragon
Cleanse Spirit
Form of Doom
Heal Injuries
Hypercognition
Inertial Barrier
Metamorphosis, Greater
Precognition, Greater
Restore Extremity
Temporal Acceleration
Simple really.
The Alchemist get's the same number of Power Points per day as a Cryptid.
If he uses a magical spell formula, it takes :
1st : 1 PP
2nd : 3 PP
3rd : 5 PP
4th : 7 PP
5th : 9 PP
6th : 11 PP
So, if he has 25 PP, and he wants to make 3 2nd level Magical Extracts, that takes 9 PP, leaving him 16 PP to spend on Psionic Extracts. He can use as few or many as he wants on the extracts, within the limits of the power. If he's making them ahead of time, he has to guess how much to augment. If he leaves some PP unspent, he can use exactly what he needs, but needs 10 minutes to do so (just like a normal Alchemist leaving unprepared extracts).
Simple really.
The Alchemist get's the same number of Power Points per day as a Cryptid.
If he uses a magical spell formula, it takes :
1st : 1 PP
2nd : 3 PP
3rd : 5 PP
4th : 7 PP
5th : 9 PP
6th : 11 PPSo, if he has 25 PP, and he wants to make 3 2nd level Magical Extracts, that takes 9 PP, leaving him 16 PP to spend on Psionic Extracts. He can use as few or many as he wants on the extracts, within the limits of the power. If he's making them ahead of time, he has to guess how much to augment. If he leaves some PP unspent, he can use exactly what he needs, but needs 10 minutes to do so (just like a normal Alchemist leaving unprepared extracts).
You know I was coming to the exact same conclusion in way fewer words. I started typing the post when I refereshed the page on a whim.
I have the advantage of already having thought of this at the beginning of the game. :)
What about a Psionic Alchemist keeping/using psionic focus? Any benefit to holding focus, like other psionic classes?
Since we've already established that Psionic Tattoos = Spell Potions, what's the difference with psionic extracts?
A quick scan of Dreamscarred Press' messageboards does not have the Alchemist discussed as a psionic alternative - I'm intrigued!
Actually, it could be a very cool aesthetic if psionic alchemists are covered with swaths of ever changing tattoos. You could call them 'Inked Men' or something and have sort of a animistic tradition set up around them. Less a worship of gods and more a worship of the natural forces and other concepts.
I had a different idea of utilizing solidified thought.
Like an "Extract" is simply a copy of a memory, thought, or emotion put into a crystalline form. Bombs, for example, are manifestations of raw hostile energy triggered with a threatening thought and hurled like a bomb.
Or, an extract of expansion would represent memories of growth, or a thought of bullying others smaller than you.
That kind of thing.
mdt, in my RL gaming table we have an Alchemist - and her motto is "Bomb, bomb, bomb, and bomb some more!". With psionic Alchemy, we need to keep the psionic-kinetic flavor of "Energy _____" with fire, cold, sonic, electricity, force, and acid. I don't know how you would add that to the list of mindpowers known, or just change the text of the Alchemist to flavor.
Energy <blah> would be bomb discoveries. And the bombs would be, as Tark pointed out above, raw mental energy thrown.
Psionic focus would be given up when the extract was used to gain any 'lose psionic focus to do this' abilities associated with the power.
Now, some archtypes that focus on the 'bomb' energy and give free energy discoveries while getting rid of the extracts or mutagen might work. Same thing with the tattoo vs memory shards...
I don't have enough apathy to take the energy blah discovery.
Haha. :)
On a more serious note, you guys are making the same mistake my meat players made in this fight. Oh, big nasty, everyone concentrate on him... instead of wiping out the small fry first. The big guy hasn't done much of anything so far, the small fry are 2 for 7.
Connor is going to take Selvan's advice and send one Medium-sized astral construct their way. The other one has to go tap a tattoo on Alys first.
Well the idea was that the archers wouldn't be left alone. Either they'd be struggling through the debris or dealing with constructs. Unfortunately sam went down immediately and the lizard punked the constructs before they could get near the archers. So we simply adjust, adapt, and will probably still tpk because the dice roller has it against us.
Sam is awake, and theoretically he can manifest Entangling Debris again, even if he needs to roll Autohypnosis: Willpower (DC 20) to do it.
If anybody does take damage, Reaghar's got the Psionic Tattoos of Natural Healing to heal people. Connor can still make 2 more little astral constructs to lift/drag people out of the way.
Let the gnoll brothers handle Grimjowl, and start taking out those archers.
Can anyone get Sam further away from the lizard? I'd prefer not to have him get immediately stomped on again as soon as he manifests.
You've got a small astral construct who's about to start dragging you away in the tall grass with a STR of 15.
Parley?
WTF for?
Reaghar's the only person who can possibly tell everyone else to stop for a minute, unless the gnoll-brothers do some shouting. Connor's got one astral construct about to sprinkle some caltrops and go diving like a hawk (charge) at one of the archers, another about to tap a tattoo on Alys, and the third dragging Sammark so he can do another Entangling Debris on the archers. Connor himself was going to start sniping the archers from way, way in the rear.
Let's see if this is a "parley to hand over half your stuff" or "parley so we can ask you to fix a problem" or "parley to let others sneak up behind you".
The problem is, two of my astral constructs are short-term. 2-4 more rounds and they're gone, and with them, the only fighters going for the archers.
TEchnically speaking it's up to the brothers. Selvan's backing up to recover and maybe spare a heal if someone can get to him fast enough before he ascends adn starts taking out more archers.
From a meta standpoint this is a clear signal of the GM giving us a chance to survive a fight where the diceroller flat out decided to kill us.
Overall we made very very few "bad" decisions so much as they started with such a huge advantage we never had time for the dice roller to let us recover.
More and more I keep thinking about how much easier this might have been with a more classic party set up. Sam's entangle would have kept right on going past his unconscious state, Selvan might have had some real buffs, Alys aand Reaghar might have more effective ranges (or at least other options they can do).
I'm tempted to go back through the game and find these encounters again, run them with a traditional group and see how laughable they'd really be.
Not really, it means the GM always intended for him to ask to parley when a certain condition was met. Namely, his HP hitting half. That crit triggered the event.
I'm a tad confused. Connor is just lying on top of the wagon. He's not firing a weapon. He's just getting ready. Maybe I didn't write that sufficient enough. Connor is letting the gnoll brothers talk to Grimjowl.
If Connor is causing this, he will take his hands off of his crossbow.
I'd rather talk this out here than on the Gameplay tab.
Yeah, Connor's causing it. Everyone else took their hands off their weapons at the start of Parley, the brothers stuck their polearms in the ground, so did the lizardfolk. The archers even unstrung their bows.
Connor laid down, loaded, and then aimed his crossbow at the archers and readied an attack.
One of these is not like the others.
More assumptions and machinations by others. Connor's got a long report to write about the inhabitants of Kalliert, the Monastery, Vuomik, and the wildlands.
In less words: grumble, grumble, grumble, GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE. :)