The city had once been a marvel, with towers of gold and glass, airways, and skywalks carrying its plant-like inhabitants and gleaming crafts. Waterways and parks adorned with artworks glittered in the sun.
Cronossuss materialized, his feet floating down to touch the ground.
He now walked through a devastated place. Towers had fallen, broken skyways and walkways littered the streets, and the once-glistening crafts lay in shattered, eggshell-like forms all around. Parts burned and blasted, as fires still raged.
He surveyed the looted shops, shattered glass windows, and the dead—there were so many, some clad in blue and others in green. The factions of this civil war had made their positions clear: the Blues sought technology and life in space, while the Greens desired a return to nature, to reconnect with the land, and to reject technology. They fought and killed each other until the Blues unleashed mechanical weapons that never ceased. The Greens resorted to bioweapons, turning the dead into killers. Ultimately, both sides were decimated—almost all were gone.
Cronossuss found some steps and walked down them. Passing through a series of thick doors, he finally arrived at a lab. There, both Blues and Greens worked feverishly on a device—a basic time vortex creator that could allow a single person to travel to the past. They hoped to change history, to stop the war, and to make everything better. Their plan was simple: go back in time and kill the leaders of their respective factions.
But in 300 years, a lesser hairless ape species they had overlooked would claim this world, discovering the remnants of this civilization of plant beings. They would learn to be cautious and avoid the same path to self-annihilation. Cronossuss knew all of this because he had seen it. The gem embedded in his forehead had informed him of a possible time breach. That’s why he was here in the past, observing as they worked.
He could see that the time device they had created would work. However, he faced a difficult choice: he did not want to harm them, as that wasn't necessary. All he needed to do was stop the device. Reaching out with an invisible hand, his finger pressed against a single wire, and in an instant, it broke inside—no sound, no fuss.
As a time warden, his task now complete, he didn't want to wait and witness only working device they had fail; he just hoped that the wouldn’t burn itself out to much. he know that now nature and fate would take care of the rest. Perhaps a few of them would survive, but he doubted it, they were too combative with one another to do that.
So he faded from this time and headed back to a new age. The proctor had said the game would be streamed tonight; he was a big fan of Tree-Football after all.
Sgrack is mostly done, only needing to buy magic items aka the worst part.
I am very much nearing completion on my Epilektoi / Legendary Fighter. At the moment, they're on a Myth-weaver's sheet, but once they're done, I'll transfer them to a new Alias.
Just wanted to ask, but how many Mythic Abilities do we get? I know we get 2 bonus mythic feats as well as 2 Gestalt Mythic Paths, but that doesn't actually give us more than 1 mythic ability per tier, correct?
All right, I have a nearly-complete spreadsheet version of The First Flame here. Still need to finish deciding on equipment, but other than that it's a complete draft. I'm rather pleased I was able to settle on a perfectly balanced ratio of Destruction, Life, and Light talents. :D
It's pretty straightforward for the most part. If people need some healing, it can heal 12 creatures within 85 feet of it for 7d20+125 damage, and if it needs something to die it can throw out a ray of burning light that deals 224 damage which ignores spell resistance and fire resistance and does such fun things as blinding, setting on fire, or exposing the target to radiation. Or it can blow up a 85' radius area within 3500' range with that damage. It can also radiate light that gives a bonus against fear saves... or 50 damage a round.
Oh, it can also bite you, but that's not really very impressive except for the fact it can add that destructive blast onto its attacks.
Is it the most optimized damage-dealer? Not by a long shot. It feels like a gigantic sun-phoenix, though, and that's what I was really going for.
Let's see, remaining issues...
* I'd still really like it to be telepathic, but building a long-range telepathy aparatus was getting expensive. The Helm of Telepathy is not really how I want its telepathy to work, though. Ideally its telepathy would actually work through its Light--the concept I have is that it actually communicates through the light it sheds, but obviously there's not going to be anything for that in the rules...
* Its Wisdom is two points short of the maximum, and given how much it's depending on spells that's probably a problem.
Okay, for all intents and purposes, my Epilektoi / Legendary Fighter is complete!
Behold, Arc Zeon - Humanity's Zenith!
I've done what I could to complete eschew all forms of traditional magical spellcasting, while making sure he remained 100% human.
He makes liberal use of Path of War disciplines as well as Spheres of Might.
His main duty is to fulfill the role of "Party Tank" which he can do in several ways.
Without using actions he can increase party AC and give the party DR/- vs incoming attacks, so long as they remain within 20 ft of him.
With immediate actions, he can parry enemy attacks, and even redirect enemy attacks towards himself. He can even give allies total cover from one direction that blocks both attacks and spells alike.
With Combat Patrol from the Guardian Sphere, he can increase his threatened area, and move around it to support allies further, buffing their attacks, AC or saves as needed. This also puts him in range to utilize his Impossible Warrior abilities to parry spells aimed at anyone within his reach.
Offensively, he's deceptively weak in base, but he has access to a number of explicitly stackable bane-esque abilities that should greatly help bolster his damage numbers in a full attack. And without a full attack, he still has access to Mythic Vital Strike + Berserker Sphere's Brutal Strike to help keep him a threat.
Defensively is where he shines, though. Dude has a ton of HP for a guy with no templates, since he adds his WIS to his CON for hit points. Moreover, he's pretty much immune to most methods of killing him without dealing hit point damage directly, due to one of Epilektoi's capstone abilities, Immortal Hero.
Then he has DR that's difficult to bypass due to Legendary Fighter's Armor Mastery ability. He can further convert a small amount of the damage he takes to non-lethal damage via Robust Physique. Moreover, since he isn't knocked unconcious by nonlethal damage thanks to Unstoppable, he's more than capable of abusing Forbidden Consumption Technique to freely power anything that requires the expenditure of martial focus.
Thanks to Luck of the Mortal Races, this generally means that killing him requires the enemy to not only deplete his hit point bar, but ALSO max out his nonlethal damage. Even then, he can persist beyond the point where he will die for a short amount of time at least once per day, and even if he does die, can be easily brought back to life with regular healing.
Oh, and he can use his Major Artifact Shield to absorb damage for him at least once a round, as well as absorbing critical hits. So he's really strong vs singular big hits as well as vs multiple small hits. You really need multiple big hits to pressure him.
Of course, simply being unkillable does no good if the party is dead, so he's actually capable of some modicum of party healing as well. Healing/buffing the party, debuffing enemies, tremendous defenses, and non-inconsequential offenses. He's also pretty decent as a party face, thanks to Master of Words shenanigans.
I'll start making an alias for him over the next few days. Feel free to let me know if I've made any mistakes with the build.
Okay, it was pointed out to me that I could buy some Wishes to boost The First Flame's wisdom, so I just need to figure out the telepathy thing.
Okay, it was pointed out to me that I could buy some Wishes to boost The First Flame's wisdom, so I just need to figure out the telepathy thing.
If you're still conscious about your Wisdom, you could do what I did, and trade a class capstone for the alternate capstone ability, "Perfect Body, Flawless Mind."
It gives you a +8 to your stats that can be split up however you wish. I gave up the Fighter's Weapon Mastery for it, cuz I thought it was a worthwhile trade.
I hate having to issue another alert to people, but some of you that watch the weather may know that ANOTHER big stormfront is going to be hitting the southeast where I live tonight and tomorrow morning. I've done my best to prep the last 24 hours so that the expected hail doesn't ding my car up and so that too many things don't get blown away, but it's going to be another case of waiting to see what happens. If I don't reply, it's probably an issue with power lines or the internet company, so please be patient.
@Kaouse: Yes, a Major Artifact with ten tiers of abilities created via Legendary Items is an acceptable choice for that boon. Just be sure to flavor it up so that it's more than a pile of stats and powers and actually has the artifact vibe.
So with mythic gestalt, you actually DO get most things from each path. You don't double up on basic mythic features like mythic power uses and such, but you do gain each mythic path's path features (including the actual path abilities). I know it's a messy way of describing it, so hopefully that makes sense.
Not gonna lie, I'm digging Arc Zeon! Maybe it's the Path of War fanatic in me, but that character looks glorious as a support tank with your maneuver choices and Implacabilities. I can already see some of the strategies you're likely to use and I dig them.
@Sgrack: That's fine with the Blood Gaunt thing! I was just confused when I saw "Blood Gaunt" and was wondering if it was something I'd never heard of before. I sometimes forget about those 'alternate template ideas' blurbs in books since they're atypical.
@Almonihah: Anything that would go over the stat cap just doesn't apply, so you're fine with Titanic's big numbers.
I think one of the aeon-flavored templates out there grants their unique form of visual/mental telepathy if that's something you want to look into. The exact name and book location is slipping my mind though.
@pad300: Fair enough with Great Mind being taken normally and all, I just wanted to be sure you knew about how Aligned Class works in case you swapped things around for whatever reason. There's already been a several boon swaps in the thread and I just wanted to make sure it was known.
I also wanted to mention the whole Spheres-CL thing since you were taking Great Mind and it was designed with Spheres in mind. I saw you had some Spheres content, so I wanted to point that out in case you decided to build out towards SoP stuff later on for whatever reason.
Now, here is something very interesting reading Kaouse/Arc Zeon is that apparently we've created somewhat similar characters but that play very differently.
Sgrack isn't a full epilektoi, since he dives more into the akashic rules, but he also uses the guardian/protection spheres and even the eternal guardian discipline and even is remarkably tanky... however, Sgrack is absolutely not on the side of protecting the team.
While he also relies on the patrol ability, he is focused on offense and maximizing AOO potential. He also draws hate from enemies, but does so because once he is attacked, he counter-attacks.
Sgrack has effectively 1700+ hp thanks to his familiar and once he is down to below 0, many of his abilities trigger so he becomes a bloody god of murder. I hope at least lol. At this power level, it is very tricky to actually create something a self-damaging character because of the massive rocket-tag nature.
Fixed Godwyn, and found out that there is a space limit on profiles. That’s why I lost his background and most of his mythic writeup! So I’ve been shortening things…crazy how much goes into this.
And then come back to this thread only to find more characters to happily read over. I’ll update the running list of submissions when I get the chance.
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So far Maedyri is a symbiat (gravecrawler)/legendary rogue with the trickster and spheremaster mythic paths. With drider, mutant and half celestial templates.
I'm stuck on what to do for the second boon... An artifact could be cool but I haven't really found one that matches her. Maybe I should take the Boon of Wealth and Stature, make my own spy network or something.
Open to ideas but besides the 2nd boon (and writing out the fluff), I'm mostly done
I should probably ask, but are there any issues with applying Foe-Biting to a +10 weapon? The new version of Foe-Biting now just gives the weapon Bane, but does that work if the weapon is already +10?
Speaking of which, I picked up Psibane, which deals extra damage against psionic opponents but also cannot be wielded by psionic characters without giving them negative levels. Since Psionic-Magic transparency is in effect, does this act as a Magic-bane weapon, that deals extra damage to ALL magic users, but also cannot be used by magic users without giving them a negative level?
I'm thinking of fluffing the Shield as a "Natural World Overcomes The Supernatural" type of Artifact. A Prime Mover/Holy Grail, that can only be wielded by humans, meant to be used to take down the gods and protect the meek. I'm thinking of calling it, "Vitalis: Life's Shield" as it not only protects life, but also increases the vitality of those around it. This is partially represented by the Everlasting ability it imparts onto it's wielder, and partly by the Green-Touched ability, where it grows thorns and vines to aid in it's protective abilities (increasing DR by double it's enhancement, but only for the first attack that hits per round).
Open to ideas but besides the 2nd boon (and writing out the fluff), I'm mostly done
Talking of Fluff, Maedyri
Question GM: would you be ok and me doing a 10 Minit background for my PC.
I have always found it really useful and GMs seem to like it.
Would this be ok with you.
The Ten-Minute Background
Step 1: write five things about your character’s concept and background, five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character. You don’t have to stop at five, if you like…this is just a minimum.
Step 2: List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game. During any session in which you take positive action to achieve that goal, I will award you an action point that can only be used in scenes furthering that goal. These Action Points are separate from the action points you gain by resting and reaching milestones. You can change goals later, though you lose all the accumulated Action Points for the goal you abandoned.
Step 3: List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!
Step 4: Describe three people that are tied to the character though blood, romance or honor. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. All can do something useful for you, if you can get the situations to line up. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
Step 5: Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
Example
Other players, if I may ask your indulgence, do you think your PC knows Fallen? If so, what kind of event would have lead to them meeting. Also how would your PC act toward him. I ask because I would like to add your PC to Fallens 10 min background, as others he knows and events he has had etc
Maedyri
I think Fallen would know, Maedyri because she is a Legendary Rogue, there are times when he would not be able to fund things out. Be unable to get to time brakes, and Maedyri would be ideal for that. Her amazing gifts of infulltrain would be critical in past events.
Qeetan'Chachol Shaaldanarth
I think with Qeetan being an occultist and super smart magei their paths would have crossed at some point in the past, could have been a joint task dealing with some horror or event.
Candraphon
We talked here about how Fallen would ask Candraphon to be the remover of time corrupted sites. Acting as a maker of fire brakes so the time brake dose not spread. Really like that idea.
Godwyn Blaecwulf
I think as he also hangs around the higher plans of good, And being and Angel, they would have meet in those planes at some point. Again psobly fighting some great evil or danger to reality.
I picked the above PCs as I feel like he would know them, but he would also know others I have no debt, the 10 min background only asks for 3 so have more then needed for that, they just seem to fit best for background.
Considering we are all members of the same organization, I think it is a given we all know each other.
Also, Qeetan will not be finished since I swapped for Sgrack.
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Bors is basically a dwarf who was born superior[Advance Template], became a lord of rats [Animal Lord:Rat] after choosing to capture and release alot of rats instead killing them indiscriminately. Later finding an Ancirnt Brass dragon near death who bestowed not only the Axe of Dwarvish Lords, he was protecting from powerful Tribe of Goblinoids with Orc mercenaries, as well as implanted its heart scale and transformed him into a Half-Dragon of his blood.
Thus this simple vermin slaying tunnel rat, became a powerful warrior in the depths of his adopted home and then foudn the Axe and Dragon in the infested home of his former clan. Still he found living amongst the rats and unwashed better than Clan Leaders, Guildmasters and Nobles of the world.
I've been treating the Gestalt Mythic Paths as if we had taken a free Dual Path Mythic Feat, where you gain access to another path and their intro abilities, but don't gain anything further.
But looking at a number of other people's characters, it appears that we do in fact gain a Mythic Tier ability from each one of them, beyond just their intro abilities.
If that's the case, then that's great, since it opens me up to take Limitless Range from my Champion side, without giving up Sacrificial Shield from my Guardian side.
Also, if my Legendary Item Major Artifact abilities aren't limited by my mythic tier, then that means that I don't need to take Mythic Paragon just yet.
Funnily enough, I'm thinking of replacing it with Dual Path, so that I could theoretically gain access to a third mythic path (The Gifted), but I'm wondering if that might be pushing it...
Work continues on Vulpiano, who is shaping up to very much be a problem solver type, able to adapt and overcome all sorts of challenges.
He's also going to be a quite the capable non magical healer, thanks to to a variety of class features and feats.
Offensively, he'll be able to deal a fair amount of damage, but he's definitely not build as a DPS role.
Skill are where he'll shine brightest. Atm, he has 23 skills per level, though he also has bonus ranks from two of his Spheres. He can use his Int for several non Int based skills, and he can use inspiration(which also has several boosts) on most every skill thanks to two of his talents. Finally, thanks to L. Investigator, all skills are class skills!
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I am always up for an epic character building challenge! Kind of late to the party, but I really appreciated Grumbaki's summary of other submissions so far, since it gave me a good place to start from which I could be somewhat confident that I wasn't doing anything too similar to what somebody else was doing.
What I settled on building is a kind of dark gish character, a judow legendary fighter // shadow master. The judow race was created by the kytons to fight in their battles, and so I envision this character as someone who was raised by kytons to be a true believer in their sadistic worldview, but once exposed to other perspectives they began to change their mind. Sent to spy on the Shadowed Court, they were first captured and then eventually adopted by the Masters of Vagaries. No longer lawful evil, they now favor a more neutral outlook towards others.
Mechanically, my focus is on extreme versatility. I'm thinking of taking the Boon of the Well-Traveled Wanderer (Master of Vagaries 10), the Boon of the Evolution's Chosen (Alacritous CR+2, Savant CR+2, and Shadow-Traced CR+2), and the Archmage Path and Path of the Bound for mythic. GM, are these choices acceptable to you? Also, are you okay with me treating umbral magic like psychic magic for the purposes of integration with Archmage powers and abilities?
@Almonihah: Anything that would go over the stat cap just doesn't apply, so you're fine with Titanic's big numbers.
I think one of the aeon-flavored templates out there grants their unique form of visual/mental telepathy if that's something you want to look into. The exact name and book location is slipping my mind though.
I'm probably going to go with the Apparatus idea for the telepathy, I realized there's a way to make a Spheres of Power item an implant, so I could more-or-less make it an innate ability that way.
Still going to cost a lot of gold, though. XD I'm just pretty settled on Holy, Advanced, and Titanic for templates.
This is my calculation for the telepathy apparatus:
Base complexity: 1
Mind Sphere Alternate Charm (Project Thoughts) 1
Open Mind 1
Mass Charm 2
Powerful Charm 1
Long Range 3
Duration?
Unique Effect (Can only speak with those on whom its light shines) -1
Drawbacks: Educated (Light) Magical Signs (Wavering Light)
Boons: Grafted
Chest Slot
Total Complexity: 8
Cost: 128000
That said, I *think* I'm done with the build now. I just need to transfer it to a profile...
@Sgrack: Yeah, I noticed that your character and Kaouse's had some overlapping features, but I remembered you were building more for the much more literal blood knight experience. That type of build's incredibly fun to play at anything past 10th-level.
Also, concerning PCs knowing one another, they're not just in the same organization, but the same Circle within that organization, so they should be well-acquainted unless someone recently stepped in as a replacement for a retire/lost/dead member.
@Godwyn Blaewulf: So there's a character limit in aliases? That'll be good to know in case someone ever opens a high-level game and I start going hogwild with my statblock-crafting!
@Maedyri: What sort of artifact are you looking for? Maybe I can help suggest something that fits.
@Kaouse: We're eventually going to be getting into epic-level gear and some of the artifacts requested are already beyond +10, so I don't see Foe-Biter's activation as a Bane weapon causing any issues.
Psionic-Magic Transparency is just there to make it easier to interact with effects from both. Some things still only affect one or the other and Psibane is one of those, although I'd probably also allow it to interact with those who use psychic magic as well just because it's themed as an anti-psionic option.
I thought I mentioned Limitless Range in the opening spiel about mythic changes and banned content, but apparently forgot to. Limitless Range is banned because I know of a few "orbital strike" builds that ranged characters can use to snipe foes from a theoretically infinite distance away with no penalties. Hopefully that doesn't change your build too much since this kind of got sprung on you at the last minute.
I don't have an issue with Dual Path, but just remember how it's worded since it's not a complete extra path in and of itself.
@Cronossus Fallen of Time: I'm fine with ten-minute backgrounds.
@Critzible: I still find that rags (rats?) to riches story a nice subversion of the normal hero origin story!
@Dr. Vulpiano Arvanxi MD: Skill monkey types are definitely useful! What's the good doctor's background, if you don't mind me asking at this pre-statblock stage?
@eriktd: There's still a good two(ish) weeks, so you're not too late to the party!
What's the Shadow Master class you mentioned on the dedicated third-party side? You mean Shadow Assassin, Shadow Weaver, etc? Or is that just a placeholder until you figure out what class you want to use?
I banned Shadow-Traced earlier in the recruitment because of how easily it can be abused with certain builds, but the other templates you mentioned are completely fine.
Those mythic paths are all fine as well.
@Almonihah: What form is the telepathy apparatus going to take? Just curious since you could potentially make it take some cool forms: an embedded cosmic gem, some kind of strange starmetal that lines the First Flame's feathers, or what have you. It's not really a huge deal or anything, I just found myself wondering about the visuals.
@Sgrack: Yeah, I noticed that your character and Kaouse's had some overlapping features, but I remembered you were building more for the much more literal blood knight experience. That type of build's incredibly fun to play at anything past 10th-level.
Also, concerning PCs knowing one another, they're not just in the same organization, but the same Circle within that organization, so they should be well-acquainted unless someone recently stepped in as a replacement for a retire/lost/dead member.
Yes, I leaning a lot on the undead/blood aspect, but had to make some concessions. As an example, since I'm focused on being martial I can't spend enough resources to make the saves against my abilities nowhere near to be relevant at our level, so in many cases I've decided to avoid abilities that rely on saves and I did this so I'm not frustrated.
When making powerful characters I want to be flavorful as much as I can, but taking stuff that I know I'll suck will quickly become frustrating... gestalt is great because we've got many abilities, but our action economy doesn't change much, so flavorful but powerless abilities will be sidelined.
Sgrack can still deal a lot of bleed/bloodloss damage overtime and heal through them. It gets many blood slots from akasha thanks to the Bloodfuser PrC Boon. It can sense and "see" bleeding creatures, spray blood everywhere and coat foes in slimy/slippery blood! It can also feed its companions with its own infused blood to give them abilities. It should be fun!
But it should also be a beast in combat and I'd love your opinion if I went too far into Sgrack's numbers as I'd rather tone it down than not being selected because I overdid it.
Aside from that, there are a couple rules interactions I'd like to run through you:
I'm good with all, but I think C is a bit complicated.
2) Technique feats: On the Path of War rules, we have technique feats and a session explaining that they were released prior to some "weapon style" feats in PF. This session advises GMs to turn these technique feats into style feats, thus swapping the descriptor and adding Weapon Focus to the Pre-reqs. I thought this made sense, so I went with that. You are ok with this?
3) How much leeway we have into customizing magic items? As an example, we have some magic items that give us an ability once per day. With the amount of gold we have, I could simply buy a couple of them and swap between fights, but that seems clunky. Can we buy multiples and just add the charges together? Or could we use the creations rules to add more charges?
Example: The base item costs 2k and can be used 1/day. Could I:
A) Buy it 5 times for a total of 10k and have it be usable 5/day;
B) Use the crafting rules, which would make it cost the same actually... since the math is Price/(5/charges), so if for 1 charge it is 2k, then for 5 charges it is 10k.
4) I took the "with this sword" alternate capstone, so now what? This gives me +100k to spend on my weapon and turn it into a minor artifact. I intend to make it an intelligent item, but I feel we should work together to make something interesting as it would be a missed opportunity for me to come up with a dedication that will not come up or that is too generic. If you are up for it, I'll work on my background so you know from where I'm coming from.
Some artefact ideas I would like:
1.Something that focuses on enchantment/mind sphere or divination magic.
2.Alternatively something useful for a spy/assassin.
3.Something that improves natural attacks or poisons.
4.Something spider-themed. Something like the White Scythe works thematically but not mechanically.
@Sgrack: I'd say option C for the Delayed Damage Pool.
I never clarified on Technique Feat conversions, but yes, that's something I homebrewed even before it was mentioned.
Customizing magic items is something that requires players to be a little more specific in what they're asking for. In most cases, your option B is what we'd go with. Some things may not be eligible or have a cap, such as someone wanting to make a Cloak of Elvenkind that gives a +50 bonus or something like that, as there are some unintended consequences that could crop up due to third-party bringing different niche cases for abuse.
I'm cool with that alternate capstone. Just lay out whatever relevant information you've got and I'll offer whatever feedback/input you need on it.
@Maedyri: I have some options for 1 and 2 that I know offhand. If you can narrow things down just a bit, I could probably make a good suggestion from those.
What's the Shadow Master class you mentioned on the dedicated third-party side? You mean Shadow Assassin, Shadow Weaver, etc? Or is that just a placeholder until you figure out what class you want to use?
I banned Shadow-Traced earlier in the recruitment because of how easily it can be abused with certain builds, but the other templates you mentioned are completely fine.
Those mythic paths are all fine as well.
Oh, how embarrassing! I meant the Shadow Weaver class, since I'm going for strong City of 7 Seraphs theming. I guess I had 'master' stuck in my head because of the Master of Vagaries prestige class.
Sorry I missed the restriction on Shadow-Traced. I thought I read through everything but I guess I missed a lot. :) I'll see what other templates fits. Fortunately, Shadow-Traced was just to match the flavor I'm going for, so there should be other templates that work just as well or even better.
1. I don't have anything specific in mind
2. Something for hiding from divinations, or something for silent takedowns, but I'm open to other kinds of spy/assassin-themed artifacts
@Almonihah: What form is the telepathy apparatus going to take? Just curious since you could potentially make it take some cool forms: an embedded cosmic gem, some kind of strange starmetal that lines the First Flame's feathers, or what have you. It's not really a huge deal or anything, I just found myself wondering about the visuals.
I'm still debating to some degree. My first inclination was to make it some weird part of its anatomy--a heart made of electron-degenerate matter like a white dwarf, or something like that. I liked the idea of it having some part of it that reflects different stages in the life cycle of stars that would also be something insanely rare and valuable the unscrupulous might covet.
But I just had an idea about how maybe The First Flame was voiceless when it came to be. The young gods of its universe didn't recognize it was actually a sapient at first because of this, until one inventor god realized just how intelligent it was and created a strange and wondrous device that, when fueled by the stellar phoenix's plasma, could attach thoughts and words to the light it shed. So I think I'm leaning towards some bizarre contraption made of celestial bronze tubes that's implanted in its chest.
@Sgrack: I'd say option C for the Delayed Damage Pool.
I never clarified on Technique Feat conversions, but yes, that's something I homebrewed even before it was mentioned.
Customizing magic items is something that requires players to be a little more specific in what they're asking for. In most cases, your option B is what we'd go with. Some things may not be eligible or have a cap, such as someone wanting to make a Cloak of Elvenkind that gives a +50 bonus or something like that, as there are some unintended consequences that could crop up due to third-party bringing different niche cases for abuse.
I'm cool with that alternate capstone. Just lay out whatever relevant information you've got and I'll offer whatever feedback/input you need on it.
The magic item I'm currently interested is a Corset of Delicate Moves, to help with the action economy. I'd like to either increase its number of uses per day or change it to once (or twice)/encounter. Both the Path of War maneuvers (with its boosts, stances and counters) and the Spheres of Might spheres abilities are very intense in the use of swift actions, and on top of that we have style feats, essence shift and so on. I'm trying to make it slightly better.
About Sgrack's background, this is my idea:
Oreana Del'Aandarth was already remarkable when she arrived in the City of Seven Seraphs with a host of holy knights behind her. Back then, she was know by names like the Ladylight, the Sublime, the Dawnheir, and the Jeweled One. Oreana was rumored to be a scion of Sarenrae, a goddess of sun and healing from a homeworld that was ravaged by a magic-corruption plague.
Oreana eventually created the Everlasting Dawn organization and was a pillar of society, tireless in her pursuit of healing others and fighting similar corruptions, evil and curses to those of her dying world. She eventually was also known as the Trinity Avenger and from her teachings arose both the Trinity Angels and the Trinity Knights.
Despite being mostly immortal in terms of age, as she was infused with the power of life itself, she could still be defeated. During a mission in an outer plane, Oreana and a retinue of other angels and knights were ambushed and defeated by Szuriel herself, the horseman of war. Oreana was then dragged to the Cinder Furnace and there her will to live and her connection to the life-giving power of the Dawnflower where turned against her.... there she was flayed and tortured until nothing but a mass of blood and bones remained, neither living nor undead, neither alive nor dead. Sgrack remained and emerged.
Sgrack was released from the Cinder Furnace as Szuriel's new champion and for centuries it waged war across the planes. It claimed Roshmolem's greatsword for itself.
Sgrack was eventually sent to the City of Seven Seraphs, this time ahead of a host of daemons. The fight that ensued was brutal, bu in a pivotal moment during the bloody battle, Sgrack found itself surrounded by Everlasting Dawn angels and knights, among them a descendant of Oreana, and something awakened inside it. Momentarily freed from Szuriel's grasp, Sgrack turned against its own daemons, which was the tipping point that caused the invasion to fail.
After the battle, Sgrack let itself be arrested, but not destroyed, and since them it has been used repeatedly as an instrument of war against invading forces. Its connection to Oreana and the Everlasting Dawn remains a secret, the Jewel Lords making sure it remains this way in order not to tarnish their standing. Just recently Sgrack was released from its shackles and then allowed to officially join the Circle of Wardens, now being a servant of Mrtyu, the psychopomp ushe of soldiers and victims of murder.
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@eriktd: I figured it was Shadow Weaver since I saw the Umbral Magic reference, but it never hurts to make sure! But yes, Umbral Magic would could for what you're asking about.
Don't feel bad about missing my ruling on Shadow-Traced. It's unreasonable to expect someone to spot a single piece of information in almost 300 posts, especially with the walls of text I post every few replies.
@Maedyri: Have you considered the Shredskin? It's a pretty nice stealth tool. Granted, it IS a LE intelligent artifact, but there are ways to get around that negative level through Beyond Alignment or similar abilities.
@Almonihah: No pressure, I was just curious if you had any ideas in mind. I'm a sucker for cool visuals.
@Sgrack: I'm fine with alterations to a Corset of Delicate Moves. Just let me know what boost you decide on.
So Sgrack was a virtuous agent of the Eternal Dawning before being molded into an undead horror? That's a twist! As one of the biggest deathknight fans back in the ancient days of Wrath of the Lich King, I'm all for that kind of storyline!
@pad300: Dire Creature is allowed, yes.
Cronossuss
* Alignment: LG
* Race: Planer Elf
* Classes: Time Warden / Psion Uncarnate -Telepath
* Mythic: Overmind / Genius
Vulpiano
* Alignment: LE
* Classes: Scholar / Investigator
Godwyn
* Alignment: LG
* Race: Angel
* Classes: Paladin / Monk / Incanter / Angel Paragon
* Mythic: Spheremaster / Gifted
Azal-Ki-Lin
* Alignment: LN
* Race: Drow Noble
* Classes: Legendary Cleric / Investigator
* Mythic: Bonded / Path of the Mythic
Qeetan
* Alignment: N
* Race: Fey
* Classes: Raveler 20 // legendary arcanist 1/legendary sorcerer 1/legendary oracle 1/legendary wizard 17 // XXX tier 1
Candraphon
* Alignment: LN
* Race: Augmented Undead Human
* Classes: Legendary Sorcerer / Mighty Godling
* Mythic: Archmage / Trickster
Josten
* Alignment: CG
* Race: Aasimar
* Classes: Mighty Godling / Bard
* Mythic: Marshall / Trickster
Maedyri
* Alignment: CG
* Race: Veryx Drider
* Classes: Symbiat (Gravecrawler) / Legendary Rogue
* Mythic: Spheremaster / Trickster
Bors
* Alignment: NG
* Race: Dwarf - Half Dragon
* Classes: Fighter / Mystic
* Mythic: Champion / Guardian
Arc Zeon
* Alignment: LN
* Classes: Epilektoi / Legendary Fighter
* Race: Human
* Mythic: Guardian / Gifted
Sgrack
* Alignment: N
* Race: Undead Human
* Classes: "Epilektoi 1 of Mrtyu/keshig (khorchin) 9/trinity knight 10//raveler (martial raveler) 10/trinity angel 10"
* Mythic: Champion / Gifted
As always I apologize if anyone was left off or any details are wrong.
@Godwyn Blaecwulf: Qeetan is on longer in the run since I swapped for Sgrack.
@Kaouse: We're eventually going to be getting into epic-level gear and some of the artifacts requested are already beyond +10, so I don't see Foe-Biter's activation as a Bane weapon causing any issues.Psionic-Magic Transparency is just there to make it easier to interact with effects from both. Some things still only affect one or the other and Psibane is one of those, although I'd probably also allow it to interact with those who use psychic magic as well just because it's themed as an anti-psionic option.
I thought I mentioned Limitless Range in the opening spiel about mythic changes and banned content, but apparently forgot to. Limitless Range is banned because I know of a few "orbital strike" builds that ranged characters can use to snipe foes from a theoretically infinite distance away with no penalties. Hopefully that doesn't change your build too much since this kind of got sprung on you at the last minute.
I don't have an issue with Dual Path, but just remember how it's worded since it's not a complete extra path in and of itself.
Oh, that's entirely alright.
Not gonna lie, if we were given a few more mythic tiers, I totally would have made this an orbital strike build.
Still, without Limitless Range, I have no need to take Champion, and thus have just decided to stick with Guardian + The Gifted, with no need for Dual Path.
I ended up getting rid of my Deific Obedience, since I realized that it gave me an SLA, and I want this character to have zero spellcasting whatsoever.
I also got rid of a few of the feats that let me fight on below 0 HP, since I figured that such a thing is more of Sgrack's domain. I'm probably better off not going below 0 if I can help it, since I think Immortal Hero might not protect me once that happens.
Instead, I picked up Stalwart & Improved Stalwart for more stacking DR/- whenever I fight defensively. I also picked up a few feats to help with Radiant Dawn maneuvers, reallocating essence whenever I initiate a boost/counter/enter a stance.
2. Something for hiding from divinations, or something for silent takedowns, but I'm open to other kinds of spy/assassin-themed artifacts
Might I suggest Third Eye: Conceal, a non-mythic Psionic item that grants you constant Mind Blank?
Alternatively, Legendary Items can grant you the Undetecable ability, which makes you immune to detection & scrying whenever you become invisible. Granted, that's not entirely the same thing as immunity to divination.
Also, I'm surprised it doesn't have a Mythic Fix or something applied to it, given how powerful it is.
Here's the profile for the character I am building: Duskashae, Warden of the Broken Circle, Thrice-Masked Master of Vagaries, and Apostatic Rector-Extracessionary. It's still a work in progress, as I haven't really dived into the character's background yet beyond initial ideas, but here's the basics.
* Alignment: N
* Race: Judow (initially, since they can sculpt their identity)
* Classes: Legendary Fighter 20 // Shadow Weaver 20, Master of Vagueries 10
* Mythic: Archmage // Path of the Bound
Dr. Vulpiano Aravnxi, MD.
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Race: Yaksha
Classes: L. Investigator/Scholar
Mythic: Genius/Bound
Looking for some clarification with Spheres of Might. Some spheres give you free ranks in an associated skill. Can you use skill points to buy more ranks on top of those free ranks (up to your max ranks based on lvl/HD)?
A PC has scout sphere, and 2 talents (Find the Gap, Deadly Strike), which would gives you 15 ranks in stealth. Can you spend 5 skill points to take that to 20 ranks (your limit at level 20)?
Yes.
Here's Ouachitonian's submission. Took me some time to work out all the kinks, write out some background, etc. Drystan is, mechanically, a Jotun Paragon 10/Soulknife 20/Pyrokineticist 10 Mythic Champion 1/Overmind 1 with the Boons Evolution's Chosen (Half-Celestial and Paladin Templates) and Well-Traveled Wanderer (Crimson Templar prestige class). Mechanically he's a Jotun, but in-character he's a (half-celestial) fire giant; the offspring of the Empyreal Lord Ragathiel and his wife, a fire giantess. He has a surprising number of skill points, but is still mostly here to hit things with his Sacred Avenger and mindblade-whip. Especially if they're evil. He's always ready to smite evil. Though he does understand that there are gradations and sometimes you have to work with lesser eveil (while trying to redeem them, of course) to fight greater evil (ie, he's not going to pick fights with any evil party members). There are probably still things in my sheet that need to be tweaked, due to how I had to kludge stuff in because HeroLab was *not* designed for builds this crazy. lol. I'll look back over it again, but if someone else notices something, let me know.
Questions/comments/bomb threats?
@Sir Drystan Goldenflame: Hey Ouachitonian, if you do not mind some constructive criticism, but I believe your "to hit" numbers are way too low.
Take a look on the Benchmark Numbers.
It says a lvl 20th character focused on attacks should have a to hit of +34 at least, and that is for regular Pathfinder (non-mythic, non-gestalt, non-3rd party). The GM has said quite many times how "crazy" the encounters will be.
Just based on the benchmarks, at +29, your highest attack bonus will probably miss 30% or more of the time. Your lower attacks will be even worse (55% or more, 80% or more and, 95% miss). Not only that, you seem to still be using TWF, which makes it lower (10% lower all across). Mythic Power Attack will make it even lower (30% lower all across).
When you are able to use smite evil, you might hit something, but at 2/day, that is far from reliable and only limited to evil foes.
So, unless you have a hidden ability that lets you pump those numbers frequently, or is able to hit touch AC, or whatever, if you do intend for Drystan to whack foes with sword and whip, I really think you need to bump these numbers to at least +34 after you apply all the attack penalties you intend to use (-2/-4 for TWF and -6 for Mythic PA).
Just my two cents, because I know it will suck to find this out during gameplay.
He has the same sword that Godwyn is using. Sacred Avenger
This +3 cold iron longsword becomes a +5 holy defiantUE cold iron longsword in the hands of a paladin or a lawful good mythic creature. If the creature wielding this weapon is a paladin with mythic tiers, she can also grant the weapon the brilliant energy special ability on command. Dismissing the brilliant energy ability is a free action.
When wielded by a paladin or a lawful good mythic creature, this weapon provides spell resistance equal to 5 + the character’s paladin class level (if any) + the character’s mythic tier (if any) to the wielder and anyone within 10 feet of her. It also enables the wielder to use mythic greater dispel magic once per round as a standard action, with a caster level equal to either the wielder’s paladin class level or double her mythic tier, whichever is higher. Mythic greater dispel magic functions as greater dispel magic including the benefits of the mythic dispel magic spell, but when the wielder dispels a spell, she heals 1d6 points of damage for every spell level of the dispelled spell instead of healing 1d4 points of damage.
Brilliant Energy makes his to-hit much more reliable. Well, against anything that isn't undead or a construct.
Background
Godwyn. That, of course, was not his true name. Even saying "his" would be a mistake, for it was not as if though angels truly had a gender. But Godwyn Blaecwulf was the name he went by, because it was the first name that was given to him outside of his true name, and he had gained it when he had chosen his mortal form. It had happened many centuries ago, on a battlefield, which in the grand scheme of things was of no great importance. A liche had risen to power, and a crusade had been called to oppose the hordes of walking dead. A crusade that had been slowly losing. Amongst the multitudes of fallen knights, one had been named Godwyn Blaecwulf. A landed knight in his mid-thirties, he left behind wife and heirs. He had lived a good life, where he had done the duties expected of his station. But he had died, and it seemed as if though it would be in vain, for while battles were being won, the war was slowly being lost.
That was when the angel came down and took his form. Adopting the fallen knight's face and his name, Godwyn rejoined the crusade. For years he fought in the battles, holding back his strength, acting as best he could as a regular knight. That was until the liche took to the field. It was only then that the angel shed his mortal guise. Revealing itself, it flew across the battlefield to engage the liche. The physical body of the undead sorcerer was shattered, and from there the phylactery was hunted down and destroyed. The crusade had been won, and the angel departed, its mission completed. However, while the mission had been completed, it's mortal form had been chosen. And with its mortal form set, the angel adopted the name, as a way of honoring the fallen warrior's sacrifice.
Godwyn, as 'he' was now known, had been created for a singular purpose. To hunt down and destroy threats to both heaven and creation as a whole. Time and time again, the angel was sent down. Be it Kyton infiltrations, demonic incursions, migrations of powerful aberrations, Godwyn was sent out. Never to break the hordes, but rather to cast down the champions and the lords. And whenever it was required to move without being seen, the angel would walk as a man.
This continued until the City of Seven Seraphs required assistance, and Godwyn was dispatched by his patron in the heavens to defend the city. Given its location among the planes, it became clear how important it was as a bastion of order. For should the city fall into the wrong hands, then the cascading effect would be disastrous for not just a multitude of worlds, but of entire planes of existence. Recognizing this, Godwyn petitioned his lord to be posted within the city, so that he might respond quickly and efficiently to the horrific dangers that it faced. It was approved, and Godwyn took his oath to join the Circle of Wardens. Now belonging to the (in)famous Broken Circle, Godwyn is one of the defenders of the City. While it is galling to be forced to stand alongside those who are certainly not pure of heart, the angel takes his duty seriously. For it is better to stand alongside one who is impure if it means defending against the fall of entire planes. It is a sacrifice that Godwyn is oathbound to make and one in which he has adhered to.
Appearance
In his mortal form, Godwyn appears as a middle aged knight. His face serious, with lines worn upon it by hardship rather than age, he looks to be naught but a man.
However, in his true form, Godwyn appears as a large, armored and cloaked figure. Within his hood lies naught but darkness, illuminated by a pair of glowing eyes when his powers are used. Wings of light emanate from his back, and with them he soars over battlefields, hunting his targets. In doing so, he has his blessed sword in hand, forged within heaven to be the bane of all that are unholy and impure.
Personality
Be it in the form of angel or man, Godwyn is both serious and stern. What matters most to him is fulfilling his duty, which preferably comes from permanently removing the worst threats that the universe faces. While he will naturally heal the wounded and cure the sick, he was created for war, and it is there that he is most in his element. For Godwyn is an angel. An angel of vengeance. And unfortunately, his is a duty that will never end.
He has the same sword that Godwyn is using. Sacred Avenger
This +3 cold iron longsword becomes a +5 holy defiantUE cold iron longsword in the hands of a paladin or a lawful good mythic creature. If the creature wielding this weapon is a paladin with mythic tiers, she can also grant the weapon the brilliant energy special ability on command. Dismissing the brilliant energy ability is a free action.
When wielded by a paladin or a lawful good mythic creature, this weapon provides spell resistance equal to 5 + the character’s paladin class level (if any) + the character’s mythic tier (if any) to the wielder and anyone within 10 feet of her. It also enables the wielder to use mythic greater dispel magic once per round as a standard action, with a caster level equal to either the wielder’s paladin class level or double her mythic tier, whichever is higher. Mythic greater dispel magic functions as greater dispel magic including the benefits of the mythic dispel magic spell, but when the wielder dispels a spell, she heals 1d6 points of damage for every spell level of the dispelled spell instead of healing 1d4 points of damage.
Brilliant Energy makes his to-hit much more reliable. Well, against anything that isn't undead or a construct.
The Pyrokineticist’s whip also hits against touch (and I have the Ice Blade blade skill so that it can do cold damage if something is immune to fire). Add in +10 from smite a couple of times a day, and the fact that my stats include the minus from Power Attack (since I tend to use it most of the time if I have it), and my to-hit will be better than it looks. But I will see if I can tweak it upwards somehow.