FYI: Some of you may have encountered issues due to the privacy setting of my Google Doc. I thought I had it set so that anyone could view. Apparently that was not the case. Anyway, I have corrected the access. Anyone should be able to view it now.
Link to my Google Document: The Expanded Warlock Class Ver. 1-2 Well... Here is my take on converting the 3.5 Warlock, from Dungeon & Dragons: Complete Arcane, to Pathfinder: First Edition. I'm going to state up front, that this is not a straight 1:1 conversion, although you will find something akin to that in the very back of the document. Instead, this document was intended not only to convert the 3.5 Warlock, but also update and expand the class to be at the same level of the updated Core Classes as well as the base classes published by Paizo. That wouldn't have been possible, keeping the Warlock as a straight 1:1 conversion. The class, in its original form, was simply too weak. Warlock's in D&D 3.5 were often pigeon holed into either being an okay damage dealer, with Eldritch Blast, or having a few really good "save or suck" invocations. Every melee warlock used Eldritch Glaive or Eldritch Claws. The class really didn't have a whole lot to do, besides, Eldritch Blast. So what's different? 1st: All warlocks have Patrons now with whom they form a pact with. No longer are you railroaded into having your powers granted by chaotic fey creatures or devils. You get to choose from 6 different Patrons: The Celestial, The Fiend, The Archfey, The Great Old Ones, The Shadow and the Undead. All who add their own unique powers to the Warlock class. What makes them different from Sorcerers? Sorcerer's get their magic through inheritance, with magic being in their bloodlines. Warlocks make Pacts with these Patrons to get their abilities. A subtle but meaningful difference. 2nd: The Eldritch Blast has been reworked. Gone is the wonky progression that slowed down after level 11. The Eldritch blast now progresses at every odd level up to 10d6 at level 19. Also, blast shapes and essence invocations have been moved into a new al-carte feature, called Eldritch Secrets, which are very similar to alchemist discoveries, rogue talents, and other "pick and choose" lists that Pathfinder classes are known for. This means you no longer have to choose between being good with the Eldritch Blast vs. having useful invocations. It gives the warlock more options which helps to expand its play-ability. 3rd: Eldritch Secrets gained at every even level. As stated previously these are very similar Alchemist Discoveries, Rogue Talents or any other "pick and choose" list. They are meant to help you customize your warlock with various abilities that don't necessarily fit within the scope of an invocation. 4th: Expanded Invocations. I really tried to expand the Warlock's invocation options, giving them more to choose from. This was a delicate balancing act, since warlocks can use their invocations "at will". That meant I had to be very careful when it came to buffs, or anything that dealt damage. Still I hope the expanded invocations will prove to be useful. You may notice that you get 2 invocations at level 1, and cap out with 13 invocations at level 20. This was done intentionally to expand the warlock's versatility, especially at the early levels, but also because blast shapes and essences where reworked into the Eldritch Secrets, so you don't get access to them until level 2. Finally This is meant to be a comprehensive guide. I did my best to make sure anyone wanting to play with this class has all the materials they will ever need in this document. That means feats that are specific to the Warlock. Warlock specific Magic items. Race specific favored class bonuses. Everything this class needs, should be in this guide. Now I finally feel like this document is ready for presentation. So I've linked the PDF above. Please feel free to download it and play with it. Test it out. See what works and what doesn't. I'm really hoping some of you die hard warlock fans will test out this conversion, because I would really like feedback. PLAY TESTING I'm going to check in on this thread from week to week. If you decide to play test this creation of mine, post your observations and results. Tell me if something is broken or doesn't work. I feel as though the conversion has reached a point where the only way to trouble shoot it, is through play-testing. So lets play test it and post our results. Once I have gathered a enough feed back, I will look at going back into the document to edit and revise it further. Enjoy
I know some people are going to roll their eyes at this question and make comments that its not fitting for sneak attack to work with big weapons, ect. But in all seriousness this was something that was possible in PF 1E. It seems like its no longer possible. Just wondering if I'm missing something.
Revisited an old Rogue Archetype I once came up with. Original Here Went through it, tore it apart, and rebuilt it. Thoughts and comments welcome. Enjoy “There is no problem that cannot be solved through the careful application of high explosives.” The Demolitionist is an expert in explosives. With a bomb he can take out a wall, wreak havoc amongst his enemies, and set deadly traps for the unsuspecting. They are not the kind of Rogue that stabs you in the back, they are the kind that puts a bomb in your room before you go to bed at night, or lobs one in your general direction during the heat of battle. While they lack the variety of infusions that an Alchemist may possess, they are every bit as deadly with the bombs they make, and most are happy with knowing just enough alchemy “to be dangerous”. Skills:
Bomb (Su)
The Demolitionist also gains Throw Anything as a Bonus feat at 1st level. This ability replaces Sneak Attack. Engineering
This ability replaces Trap Finding Explosive Rogue Talents:
Delayed Bomb (Su)
This ability replaces the Rogue Talent normally gained at 2nd level. Explosives Expert (Ex)
This ability replaces Trap Sense Explosive Disarm (Ex)
At 7th level, a demolitionist can disarm magic traps with this ability. This ability replaces Uncanny Dodge Demolitions Expert (Ex)
This ability replaces Improved Uncanny Dodge Bomb Mastery (Ex)
This ability replaces Master Strike.
Pretty much I wanted to streamline and revise the Archetype. I feel as though this one comes closer to actually being able to Demolish buildings, walls and structures while still being deadly proficient with Bombs. I know Paizo has released "The Underground Chemist" as well as the Bomber and Bomber Discovery Rogue Talents. But they don't really mesh well into a unified whole, primarily because the Bomber and Bomber discovery Rogue Talents are so poorly written, with no errata to date. Also the Underground Chemist, while being good with splash weapons, really isn't good at Demolitions. I wanted to make a rogue that uses explosives like other rogues use a set of lock picks. He comes up against a solid lock, can't pick it, blow it up. Trap, why get close, blow it up. Set an ambush with delayed bombs, watch em walk into your trap, blow'em up. Is that wall a problem, BLOW IT UP. And to date I've yet to find any Alchemist or Bomb archetype that does this. So here he is, the Demolitionist. He's not necessarily your sneaky back stabby rogue, he's that rogue who's going to blow up the bridge over the river before the King's Horses run you down, stage a jail break by making you an exit, and smile gleefully with a firing pin between his teeth as he lobs a bomb at his enemies.
I Know the thread asked for Video Game Enemies, but.... I have one enemy that while not from a Video Game, has had such a negative reaction from people, that I've actually had players threaten to quick if I ever unleash them. TWO WORDS: WEEPING. ANGELS.
I think that this goes right along with one of the many problems of the 3.X systems. A FEAT OR RULE IS NEEDED TO DO EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. Standing up, yup there are rules and feats and all sorts of stuff for that. Sleeping, we got feats and rules for that. Sick? What level of sick are we talking about because there are all sorts of different rules for being "sick". Are you sickened, nauseated, or do you have your ass planted on the crapper, while simultaneously projectile vomiting, along with a stream of Hersey's syrup firing our the back end. AND IF SO IF I AIM MY VOMIT AT A SQUARE CAN I MAKE OTHER CREATURES SICKENED ALONG WITH ME. AND BY THE WAY GM, WHAT SHOULD THE SAVE DC BE FOR THEM TO RESIST CATCHING WHATEVER PLAGUE I HAVE? Seriously I'm surprised there hasn't been a rules set made up for using the bathroom. The sad/funny thing about D&D is it didn't always use to be this way. There was a point in time where DMs where actually encouraged to use a bit of (DARE I SAY IT?) COMMON SENSE. Ultimately, while I do agree that if we're going to allow Dragons and Fireballs then we should allow for free weapon drawing and sheathing without a feat, I don't think that's the real issue here. I don't think the issue is about what breaks the realism in the game. No I think what people are really b$*!%ing about is two things:
-Being Feat Taxed to Death: This is the other side of the coin here. Because while I don't think Casters need to be nerfed, I do think the rest of the classes get screwed spending what limited resources they do have just to be 1/10th as cool as a caster. You wind up spending you limited number of feats on stuff just to do your basic job well (never mind being cool at it) or to make up for class weaknesses. Meanwhile the Wizard is just sitting back and breaking reality with his spells. Unfortunately this is the 3.X world we play in. Use some common sense and stop looking for the publishers to make every single option under the sun. Because unless you're playing in some "Official Gaming Society" then the rules should be fluid, and you should be able to decide for yourself what level of "Realism" you want at your table. [END RANT]
I have a question about these talents. It doesn't say so in either Talent specifically, but Does my Rogue Level count as my Alchemist Level for the purpose of determining what Bomb related Discoveries I can take with Bomber's Discovery. Is this a misprint? Also, for things like saving throw DC's do I simply calculate that as would an Alchemist: 10 + 1/2 Rogue level + Intelligence modifier. Can Bomber's Discovery be taken multiple times: so that you can get several different ways to modify your bombs, are are you only able to take this discovery once? I like both discoveries, but their wording is sparse and levels a lot to be assumed. Can we get some clarification please? Links:
I'm going to say what everyone else here is thinking: Why bother? Your DM is gimping you from the start, which in turn is forcing you to focus more on a "build" than a character, just so you can mechanically play the game. Yeah sure you can mitigate it by focusing on SAD classes and builds that work around this limitation, but once again I ask, why bother? I can understand low magic games where treasure is rare and players are forced to rely mostly on PC ability rather than what Item they can pull out of their bag of holding. I can understand games where certain classes are restricted or banned for the sake of campaign flavor. But a 10 point buy. That just sucks, plain and simple.
Run DARK SUN on the world of Athas. No Gods. Gods can't exist because the world of Athas is incapable of supporting divine accession. Clerics get their power from worshiping Elemental powers. Druids are similar. The only beings that can grant divine spells like gods are the Evil Sorcerer Kings. And all their Templars are loyal to them. or Option number 2. Get a copy of D&D Unearthed Arcana. Disallow divine magic period. And play with the "Injury System" that replaces hit points. The gist of the system works like this. -There are no Hit points.
Failed by 1 to 9: Hit suffer a cumulative -1 penalty to Fortitude saves to resist injury.
Dying characters must make a Fortitude Save vs a starting DC of 10 (+1 to the DC per round) in order to remain alive. If they fail a Fortitude save at this point they die. If they succeed by 5 or less they survive but their condition does not improve. If they succeed by 5 or more but less than 10 they become stable, but remain unconscious. If they succeed by 10 or more they become conscious but disabled.
“There is no problem that cannot be solved through the careful application of high explosives.” The Demolitionist is an expert in explosives. With a bomb he can take out a wall, wreak havoc amongst his enemies, and set deadly traps for the unsuspecting. They are not the kind of Rogue that stabs you in the back, they are the kind that puts a bomb in your room before you go to bed at night, or lobs one in your general direction during the heat of battle. While they lack the variety of infusions that an Alchemist may possess, they are every bit as deadly with the bombs they make, and most are happy with knowing just enough alchemy “to be dangerous”. Explosives Training. Bomb (Su) Demolitionist are experts at swiftly mixing various volatile chemicals to create powerful bombs that they can hurl at their enemies. A demolitionist can use a number of bombs each day equal to his class level + his Intelligence modifier. Bombs are unstable, and if not used in the round they are created, they degrade and become inert—their method of creation prevents large volumes of explosive material from being created and stored. In order to create a bomb, the demolitionist must use a small vial containing an ounce of liquid catalyst—the demolitionist can create this liquid catalyst from small amounts of chemicals from an alchemy lab, and these supplies can be readily refilled in the same manner as a spellcaster's component pouch. Most demolitionist create a number of catalyst vials at the start of the day equal to the total number of bombs they can create in that day—once created, a catalyst vial remains usable by the alchemist for years. Drawing the components of, creating, and throwing a bomb requires a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Thrown bombs have a range of 20 feet and use the Throw Splash Weapon special attack. Bombs are considered weapons and can be selected using feats such as Point-Blank Shot and Weapon Focus. On a direct hit, a demolitionist's bomb inflicts 1d6 points of fire damage + additional damage equal to the demolitionist's Intelligence modifier. The damage of an demolitionist's bomb increases by 1d6 points at every odd-numbered demolitionist level (this bonus damage is not multiplied on a critical hit or by using feats such as Vital Strike). Splash damage from a demolitionist bomb is always equal to the bomb's minimum damage (so if the bomb would deal 2d6+4 points of fire damage on a direct hit, its splash damage would be 6 points of fire damage). Those caught in the splash damage can attempt a Reflex save for half damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the demolitionist's level + the demolitionist's Intelligence modifier. Demolitionists can learn new types of bombs as discoveries, in place of learning a rogue talent (see the Discovery ability) as they level up. A demolitionist may only select discoveries that are related to bombs, and they treat their demolitionist class level as Alchemist's levels for the purposes of determining which discoveries they qualify for. A demolitionist may not select any rogue talents that use sneak attack, unless the have gained sneak attack from another class. A demolitionist's bomb, becomes inert if used or carried by anyone else. This ability replaces Sneak Attack Throw Anything (Ex)
Precise Bombs (Ex) At 3rd level, a demolitionist gains the precise bombs alchemist discovery as a bonus discovery. This ability replaces Trap Sense +1 Explosive Disarm (Ex) At 5th level, a demolitionist can attempt to disarm a mechanical or magical trap by detonating it rather than disarming it with a Disable Device check. As a full-round action, a demolitionist may expend one of his bombs to make a ranged touch attack against a trap, using the trap's Disable Device DC as its AC. If the attack misses, the bomb's splash damage activates the trap. If the attack hits, the bomb deactivates the trap without setting it off. The demolitionist must both know the location of the trap and be able to reach the trap's trigger with a ranged touch attack in order to use this ability. This ability replaces Uncanny Dodge from 4th Level. Directed Blast (Su) At 6th level, a demolitionist can detonate a bomb so that it splashes in a 20-foot cone rather than affecting a radius. The cone starts at the demolitionist and extends away from him in the direction he chooses. The demolitionist designates one creature in the squares affected by the cone to be the target of the bomb and makes his attack roll against that creature; all other squares in the cone take splash damage. If the demolitionist has the explosive bomb discovery and throws an explosive directed blast, the cone of splash damage is 30 feet long instead of 20 feet. This ability replaces Trap Sense +2. Land Mine (Ex) At 8th level, a demolitionist can turn his bombs into land mines. Setting a land mine is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. The land mine fills a single 5-foot square, and can't be placed in the same space as another trap, land mine, or magic trap. The demolitionist can arm the land mine with any bomb he is eligible to use, and the effects of this bomb are immediately transferred to the land mine. Creating a land mine uses up two of the demolitionist's bombs per day. The DCs for Perception checks to notice the land mine, Disable Device checks to disable it, and saving throws to avoid its effects are equal to 10 + 1/2 the demolitionist's level + his Intelligence modifier. All demolitionist land mines are mechanical traps with the qualities Trigger: location and Reset: none. Land mines last for 1 day per demolitionist level or until they are triggered, whichever comes first. This ability replaces Improved Uncanny Dodge Staggering Blast (Su) At 9th level, a demolitionist's bombs become particularly overwhelming when they explode. Whenever a demolitionist scores a successful critical hit with a bomb, the creature directly struck by that bomb is staggered for 1d4+1 rounds. A successful Fortitude save (DC equals the bomb’s Reflex save DC to avoid splash damage) reduces the duration to 1 round. The effects of this ability stack with a frost bomb’s staggering effect, but not with the effects of the Staggering Critical feat. Additional hits from a staggering blast add to the effect’s overall duration.
Mine Engineering (Ex) At 10th level, a demolitionist's expertise in improving explosives allows him to create land mines with minimal expense. Creating a land mine uses up only one of the demolitionist's bombs per day. This ability replaces the Advanced Rogue Talent for Level 10. Demolition Specialist (Ex) At 12th level a demolitionist becomes a specialist of taking down structures with his explosives. Any time a demolitionist deals damage to an object his bombs automatically ignore half of that object's hardness. This ability replaces Trap Sense +4 Powerful Bombs (Ex) At 15th level a demolitionist's bombs become quite powerful. He treats any 1s that he rolls on his bomb damage dice as 2s. Also a demolitionist's bomb's splash damage increases to half of the bomb damage rolled. This ability replaces Trap Sense +5 Swift Mining (Ex) At 18th level a demolitionist can set land mines with astounding speed. It now only takes the demolitionist a Move Action to set a land mine. Setting the land mine still provokes a attack of opportunity. This ability replaces Trap Sense +6 Explosives Mastery (Ex) Upon reaching 20th Level a demolitionist becomes a Master of Explosives. He treats any 1s and 2s that he rolls on his bomb damage dice as 3s. Also anyone caught in the bomb's splash damage radius takes the full amount of the bomb damage rolled, as if they had been directly hit by the bomb. Finally the demolitionist's bombs are so precise that they completely ignore an objects hardness when dealing damage. This ability replaces Master Strike
I was surprised to find that no one has really thought to do this with the rogue. Especially since we have an Alchemist that traded bombs for Sneak Attack dice. Anyway, my goal here was to create a Rogue Archetype that specialized in bombs rather than sneaking up from behind and dealing damage. Yes this archetype is a hybrid of the alchemist archetypes Grenadier and Trap Breaker. But I wanted to combine them in a way that would be more effective overall. (Also if everyone is going to keep stealing from the Rogue, I thought it was time Rogues had an archetype that stole some stuff back) Anyway, enjoy the archetype, tell me what you think. AK-
1.) I understand that the 3.5 Warlock is not open content and I even stated this in my original post. While the name Warlock, and his flavor text methods of Invocations are copy written the mechanics behind "Spell like Abilities" are not. The only thing Paizo cannot do is replicate the Warlock class word for word as is. They would have to come up with something like they did for the Samurai, Ninja, or Swashbuckler. There is nothing stopping them from creating a caster that uses Spell Like Abilities at will. There is noting stopping them from calling an ability and Arcane or Eldritch Blast. They may even be able to call it a Warlock and have is system be based and a Eldritch "Grit Pool". So as I said earlier, I understand the Warlock is not open source. I am not asking for a direct translation. WHAT I AM ASKING FOR is a caster that uses spell like abilities at will, rather than spells. 2.) Why don't I just use a homebrew option if I like it so much. Fact is that I do, but you know what, its homebrew. And I'm sure there are plenty of people that have translated it on their own as well. You know what the problem is with homebrew? You can't use homebrew if you want to play in PF society. You can't use homebrew in almost any game buy your own unless you have friends or DMs that really trust your mastery of the system in terms of class design. No to mention a trend I have noticed is that people are increasingly using fewer and fewer 3.5 materials period. Some table tops don't want to use or allow 3.5 materials at all. And while the counter argument to that would be "well then just play 3.5" that then forces us to chose between playing an outdated and busted 3.5 system or playing something that is a little more balanced and up to date. The fact is that while I can convert it on my own (and have already done so) there is still nothing OFFICAL that is like the warlock for Pathfinder and there are those of us THAT WANT something like the Warlock officially for Pathfinder. As for marrying the damn thing, maybe I already have, but that's personal and between me and my wife. Thanks :P On a completely different note, yes I would love to see new classes with entirely new ideas for mechanics, like Binders, as well. While I understand that the new classes have new unique abilities and Mechanics a good deal of them seem to be a What if I mix class A with Class B, rather than a completely new concept like a Binder. How about an Engineer style class that could produce different effects based on what he built? Something completely non magical, but focused on imparting devices with Extraordinary abilities. While I'm sure the "new classes" are interesting I'm sure there are those of us who want to see Paizo tackle entirely new concepts and mechanics for classes that the current ones cannot fit into.
Suggestion/Request: Would Paizo be willing to Design a new Class as something akin to the 3.5 Warlock? I know this is play test area, but after examining the PDF I noticed that this particular type of class has not been addressed. Since Paizo is still in the design stages of this book, I felt as though now might be the time for us to ask them if they would be willing to consider this. The Warlock was a very popular class in the 3.5 era. A caster that uses a limited number of spell like abilities rather than spells and has an unlimited number of uses of these abilities per day. Now I understand that the Warlock is no open source material and thus cannot be officially converted but could we not try for something similar in nature to this class. We already have a ton of variations for the arcane and divine casting routes. So far on the arcane side we have the Wizard, the Witch, and the Sorcerer. For the Divine team we have the Cleric, the Druid, and the Oracle. Then we have the 3/4 team of Bard, Inquisitor, Magus, and Alchemist. So far these have all been different variations on the same mechanical themes but we've yet to see something different in the casters. I understand its easier to balance this way as everyone essentially uses the same rules for casting, but its not like spell like abilities are a brand new concept, monsters have been using them since the Monster Manual was printed. So if you're going to create a book of new classes, my suggestion is rather than just meshing together some things we've seen before, why not give us something new. Something different. Currently there is no class that does this in Pathfinder, and I for one, would love to see one. and I have a feeling there are those of us in the community that would like to see this as well. It is merely a suggestion, to the Paizo staff, if they are going to be introducing all these new classes.
precision damage is not very good because a great number of monsters are immune to it and it does not get multiplied when you crit Are you playing with 3.5 or Pathfinder rules. Pathfinder removed the immunity to precision based damage from A LOT OF MONSTERS that had it in 3.5. If your DM is still denying you sneak attack damage vs corporeal undead and constructs then THEY ARE DOING IT WRONG. I will admit that the class needs "work" as most of the Pathfinder changes and classes have given other characters the ability to fill the rogues shoes. Having few skills in Pathfinder, having lower skill point costs, and allowing everyone with ranks in disable device to find and disarm traps hurts. The two poor saves have always hurt. But here's some information that I think everyone forgets when they say "this class can't do x,y,z on its own so its nerfed and doesn't work" D&D/Pathfinder is a game based on TEAM WORK People b#&&& about the rogue's "buddy system". Last time I checked, buddy system falls into TEAM WORK. Personally, and this is my opinion I think the table top gaming community has become contaminated by this MMORPG/World of War Craft/D&D 4E/whatever mentality that if a class can't solo then its sucks. If it can't survive or do its job with minimal to zero support then it sucks. Or that it was designed poorly. I'm not going to deny the problems with the class. The way the RAW handle Stealth makes it really difficult to play the sneak/scout game anymore. The revision to disable device hurts, and multiple avenue's to trap finding hurt, the NINJA hurts because its a better sneak than the rogue. But I am sick of the "ROGUE SUCKS PLAY SOMETHING ELSE" bashing. In case people forgot here's a reminder:
Personally I remember when Pathfinder gave us the "new rogue" most of us were happy with the improvements. Rogue Talents, higher Hit Die, same skill points but less skills, new favored class mechanic, CAPSTONE. It was like the folks at PAIZO made us a Rogue flavored Sundae, decked out with hot fudge and cherry on top. Now all people do is b%@!$ about how much the sundae sucks and needs to be take off the menu. Here is what is right with the class:
Here's what needs work:
(The possibilities are endless for this one) -Need something to balance the luck pool. Here's an idea. Luck pool is gained at 2nd level instead of evasion. So long as you have at least 1 point in your luck pool you have the evasion class feature, and this qualifies as having evasion for the purposes of feats, prerequisites, ect. -Here's an idea to help out Sneak attack some more: How about a bonus (insert type here) to hit equal to half your total number of sneak attack dice rounded down. So a 20th level Rogue with 10d6 Sneak attack dice gets a +5 bonus to hit. Guess what +15BAB with a +5 bonus to hit, I think that would equal a minimum or +20 Right. Mainly the rogue just needs some work. Not a full rebuild. Its not a combat tank. Its a support character. It doesn't need a full BAB and a D10 hit die. What it needs are more tools to do its job. The class is sound. It always has been. The problem is not with the foundation or premise with the class. Its the fact that certain RAW issues have compromised the class and revisions to the base D&D system have compromised the class.
My House rules:
My reasons: I like to run games at lower levels. We tend to do more story based stuff and adventures. Maxing out the Hit dice and starting people at 3rd level gives them some versatility and longevity as opposed to starting at level 1. The problem we have at level one is that mortality rates seem to be high. I like the extra feat at first level as I feel it gives the players some additional options. Now I cut treasure and wealth in half because I like to run with minimal amounts of magical items, and when magical items are awarded they are usually part of some adventure or tied to the characters back ground. I'd, personally, rather be stingy with treasure and provide more options to character creation. That being said, I also give the monsters an extra feat, and they get close to if not maxed out hit dice, plus a few other nasty surprises if I feel like being creative. It works for us, my players enjoy it, and we've had no issues.
This was attempted once in a system call bESM D20. They attempted to assign a point value to all the current 3.0 classes at the time and provided a point buy value. They even illustrated how classes like the fighter in 3.0 were grossly underpowered when compared to full spell casters. That being said, there are inherent flaws with this approach to class building. The biggest problem is that while you can assign values to class features, its really hard to determine how these features will interact over the coarse of 20 levels. Another major problem you run into is min/maxing on an even more grotesque scale than before, especially if you allow players to custom build their class from level to level. Pathfinder has already given us some (albeit shaky) guidelines for designing base classes.
If you have browsed the 3.5 Unearthed Arcana (UA) book (which is OGL) then you can make certain other assumptions about abilities.
To be honest while a set of class building guidelines would be nice, I don't think its either necessary or as useful as you may think. It can cause all sorts of problems with the game. Namely it means Paizo will have to retroactively show the "math" behind all their class designs. While this may sound great in theory, forcing them to proof their designs, think of how it will limit us. No you'll have people saying "This isn't fair, I can't do this because I don't have enough points, and that's dumb, it shouldn't cost that much or that little, blah, blah, blah". Another angle of this argument will be "NO YOU STUPID NOOB, you can't do that because the RAW don't let you do that so you can't build your class that way. And the fact is once you set class building rules in print, they may as well be written in stone. Its a good idea in theory but a bad idea in practice. At least right now we still have the freedom to design a class the way we see fit, free from a set of full on rules telling us how it must be done. Class building is largely something you have to learn to do on your own through trial and error. It does take a certain amount of system understanding and mastery to do correctly. Its also why no matter how good your class designs look on paper, you have to remember these key words: PLAY TEST, PLAY TEST, PLAY TEST. Because you won't see your own designs flaws while you're in the honeymoon phase of building that class. I would say before you ask for official class building rules try this instead. Use the forums. Use the Advice Forum for bouncing small questions and small ideas off people to see what the reaction is. Use the rules Forum if you have any questions about how something is suppose to work. And then use the "Home Brew" forum to acid test your new class ideas. What's the worst that happens. We tell you your class idea is borked and you need to take it back to the drawing board. Yeah that criticism is harsh, but at least you have feed back, and that's something you can't get off a class building chart. These are the rules I follow for class building.
Hope it helps.
I think you have it backwards. Divine Spell casters are NOT as amazingly better than arcane casters as you may think. There are several reasons for this. Here's my explanation. Back in this fantasy time warp the spell casting tables were different for both Divine and arcane magic. Divine Magic worked on a spell casting table of level 1 thru 7, where Arcane Magic worked on a scale of level 1 thru 9. 7th level divine spells were similar in power to 9th level arcane spells. Confused yet? The D&D 3.0 came along and they revised the power scale. At the time game designers felt it made more sense for the two primary casters in the game (clerics and wizards) to have the same spell level scale (1st thru 9th). Now you also have to remember that back then WoTC actually gave a damn about its old school player base, so much so that they actually gave out a nifty conversion manual so that you could "update" your AD&D 2nd edition character to 3.0. This also meant that a lot of the "classic spells" where also re-stated to 3.0 mechanics. The reason why this is important is that if you felt things with magic were broken back in 2nd edition, all 3.0 did was provide a bridge for much of that to carry over (without much play testing) into 3.0. So in short, the first problem you have is 2 different magic power level scales for 2 different classes getting translated thru conversion into a "standardized" format for the 3rd edition of the game. I also believe that back in 2nd edition Clerics had to pray for there spells and while this term remains part of the PF vernacular to this day its meaning has changed over time. Today, that phrase is just another way of saying that a cleric is a "prepared" spell caster. It still mean this back in earlier editions but I believe (and I might be wrong about this) the DM/GM had the option of assigning the cleric what spells he got for the day. You could make a request by praying for specific spells but your deity (aka the DM/GM) had the option of overriding you request and assigning you spells that they felt you needed for that day. This little caveat was lost in the translation from 2nd edition to 3rd edition, and thus the cleric got to be a lot more flexible than he use to be. The wizard didn't have that problem. No praying to a higher power for what he wanted to cast. He just studied what he wanted and got what he wanted for his spells. The wizard doesn't have this luxury. (and notice how I didn't say arcane casters in general because the Sorcerer has it easy compared to the wizard). If you didn't memorize the right spells you my friend are USELESS. If you prepared a bunch of damage spells that day and your group is dealing with social encounters guess who isn't contributing. If you prepared a bunch of divination spells for recon and today is the day the DM/GM has planned for an 8 hour battle royale, guess who's not doing squat. I've seen it happen enough times. Players want to be a wizard because the watch someone with experience play the all powerful god and master of the universe at the table. Then they try to do it and wined up as the most useless member of the party because they don't have the right experience to know what spells they'll need for that day. The wizard has the most extensive set of spells with options in the game, period. Its like having an entire tool department at you disposal. But unless you know what you'll need, when you need it, and how much you'll need, all those tools could be useless. With the wizard its all about preparation. And a player that can't prepare the right spells for that day or set of encounters can make the wizard and his entire spell list look bad. I'm not saying you're doing this. I'm just siting examples of what I've seen over the years. Remember while the wizard can know every spell in the game he still has to prepare the right spells for that day. The sorcerer only knows a few of the spells out of all of them, but he can cast any of the spells he knows, at any time, as long as he hasn't used up all his spell casting slots for that day. A spontaneous caster has that one advantage over a prepared caster. They can adapt to the situation, as long as they know the right spell. The prepared caster may know the right spell, but if they didn't prepare it, and they don't have a way to swap it out on the spot, then its as good as not being there when they need it. I know this was a long explanation. I hope it helps clear up your question.
Author's notes
First some thank yous are in order:
So here is The Physician version 3.0
The Acknowledgments: As stated earlier the Physician came about due to my attempt to fuse several different archetypes together into one whole. Parts of this class are of my own design but other parts were clearly taken from other Paizo/third party sources.
As stated last time the primary goal here was to create an alternate class to the Alchemist. One that focused more on Healing, Support, Buffing, and Debuffing. I feel as though the Physician is clearly an awesome healer and support character. Her buffing skills are comparable to that of the Alchemist if not being slightly better. Where as the Alchemist is the better mass debuffer the physician can excel at one on one debuffs through the use of her surgical strike ability. At this point I feel as though I'm almost done with this class. Still feel free to review it. If you see any glaring issues, please comment and point them out. If you have any criticisms please try to offer them in a constructive manner. I'm interested in the communities feedback with regards to this project. Once again thanks for your time and continued support: Anthony. Alignment: Any
Medicinal Medicinal Extract Level: 6th Same as Alchemist
The following are class features of the Physician. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Physicians are proficient with all simple weapons. They are also proficient with light armor, but not with shields. Brew Potion (Ex): The Physician receives Brew Potion as a bonus feat at first level just like an Alchemist at first level. A physician can brew potions of any formula she knows (up to 3rd level), using her physician level as her caster level. The spell must be one that can made into a potion. The physician does not need to meet the prerequisites for this feat. Infusion replaces Throw Anything (Ex)
Medicinal Alchemy (Su) Replaces Alchemy
When using the Heal skill the Physician gains a competence bonus equal to her class level on the Heal check. She may also craft the following nonmagical special substances and items: Antiplague, Antitoxin, Bloodblock, Smelling Salts and Soothe Syrup using her Heal check in place of the standard Craft (Alchemy) check. In addition the Physician can use the Heal skill to identify potions from the Conjuration (Healing) sub-school as if using detect magic. She must hold the potion for 1 round to make the check. The Physician can create two special types of magical items-Medicinal Extracts and Tonics. Tonics are special performance enhancing elixirs that the physician or her companions can drink to enhance their own physical abilities, while Medicinal Extracts are more varied and behave like spells in potion form. Both of these are detailed in their own sections below. Medicinal Extracts have the greatest variation in terms of their effects. In many ways, they behave like spells in potion form, and as such their effects can be dispelled by effects like dispel magic using the Physician's level as the caster level. Unlike potions though, medicinal extracts can have powerful effects and duplicate spells that a potion could not. A Physician uses the same table as an Alchemist to determine the number of Medicinal Extracts of each level that she can create per day. In addition, she receives bonus medicinal extracts per day if she has a high wisdom score, in the same way that a cleric receives bonus spells per day. When the physician creates a medicinal extract, she infuses the herbs and chemicals in the extract with magic siphoned from her own magical aura. Unlike the Alchemist's Extracts, the Physician's Medicinal Extracts do not become inert if they leave her possession. This difference is due to the fact that at 1st Level the Physician receives the Infusion discovery which replaces the feat Throw Anything normally gained by Alchemist's at 1st Level. Also this means that Medicinal extracts may also be consumed by non-physician's to gain their effects. Mixing a Medicinal Extract takes the same amount of time as mixing a standard Extract, 1 minute per extract created. The Extracts remain potent and continues to occupy one of the Physician's daily medicinal extract slots until it is either used or she prepares another one to take its place in which case the previous medicinal extract becomes a plain inert liquid. Most Physicians prepare many medicinal extracts at the start of the day or just before going on a long adventure, but it is not uncommon for an physician to keep some (or even all) of her daily medicinal extract slots open so that she can prepare extracts in the field as needed. Although the Physician doesn't actually cast spells, she does have a formula list that determines what medicinal extracts she can create. A physician can utilize spell trigger items if the spell appears on the formula list, but not spell-completion items (unless she uses Use Magical Device to do so). A medicinal extract is “cast” by drinking it, as if imbibing a potion – the effects of the medicinal extract exactly duplicate the spell upon which its formula is based, save that the spell always affects only the subject that drinks the medicinal extract. A physician can draw and drink a medicinal extract, or administer a medicinal extract to an adjacent ally, as a standard action. The physician uses her class level as the caster level to determine any effect based on caster level. . Creating medicinal extracts consumes raw materials, but the cost of these materials is insignificant – comparable to the valueless material components of most spells. If a spell normally has a costly material component, that component is expended during the of that particular medicinal extract. Medicinal Extracts cannot be made from spells that have focus requirements (physician medicinal extracts that duplicate divine spells never have a focus requirement). A physician can prepare an extract of any formula she knows. To learn to use a medicinal extract the physician must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the medicinal extract level. The difficulty class for a saving throw against a physician's medicinal extract is 10 + the medicinal extract level + the physician's wisdom modifier. A physician may know any number of formulas. She stores her formulas in a special tome called a Medicinal Textbook. The Medicinal Text book functions in all ways, including cost, as a wizards spell book or alchemist's formula book. She must refer to the medical text book whenever she prepares and extract but not when she consumes it. A Physician begins play with two 1st level formulas of her choice as well as the cure light wounds formula. She also receives a number of additional formulas equal to her wisdom modifier (if any). At each new physician level she gains one new formula of any level she can create. Whenever she gains access to a new formula level, if that level has any formulas of the conjuration [healing] school, such as a cure formula, she automatically learns that formula and adds it to her Medicinal Text book. A physician can also add formulas to her medicinal text book just like a wizard adds spells to her spell book, using the same cost, pages, and time requirements. A medicinal text book costs as must as a spell book. A physician can study a wizards spell book to learn any formula that is equivalent to a spell the spell book contains. A wizard, however, cannot learn spells from a medicinal text book. A physician does not need to decipher arcane writings before copying them. Surgical Strike (Ex): Replaces Bombs
To execute a surgical strike a physician must be in melee combat and her target must be adjacent to her. A surgical strike cannot be performed with a ranged or thrown weapon, or even a thrown melee weapon. Executing a surgical strike this way requires a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The physician then declares that she is going to execute a surgical strike before the attack roll is made, meaning that a failed roll to hit still expends a use of her surgical strike ability (see below). If the attack hits the physician applies 1D6 points of extra damage to her melee attack. This damage is precision based and is not multiplied on a critical hit. This extra damage increases by 1D6 for every two physician levels thereafter. A physician can only attempt a surgical strike a number of times per day equal to her physician class level + her wisdom modifier. With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (like a sap, blackjack, whip, or unarmed strike) a physician can attempt to execute a surgical strike that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage with her surgical strike, not even with the usual -4 penalty. A physician can only execute a surgical strike against living creatures with discernible anatomies. Undead, constructs, oozes, plants and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Creatures that are also immune to critical hits are also immune to the physician's surgical strike. The physician must also be able to see the target well enough be able to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A physician cannot execute a surgical strike against a creature that has any type of concealment. Alternatively the physician can use her surgical skills to heal. Rather than using her surgical strike to cause additional damage a physician can work amazing feats of surgery on the battlefield to restore hit points to her allies. Using surgical strike to heal still requires a standard action, but it does provoke an attack of opportunity when used this way. The target of the physician's surgical strike is healed for 1D6 points of damage plus and additional 1D6 for every other physician class level. This also consumes a use of the physician's surgical strike ability. Note that this healing is not positive energy based, and that a surgical strike used in this fashion cannot be used to harm undead creatures. A physician cannot target herself when using surgical strike in this fashion. Finally, as a physician gains levels she learns new discoveries that can change or alter the effects of her surgical strike. These Discoveries will be marked with an asterisk* and are detailed in the discovery section of the class. Tonics (Su): Replaces Mutagen
When a physician's creates a tonic, she selects two physical ability scores – either Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution to be enhanced. Its a standard action to drink a Tonic (just like a mutagen). Upon drinking the Tonic the physician or drinker immediately feels the tonic's effects as they feel the rush of adrenaline, the sky rocketing of their blood pressure, and the tightening of their muscles. This grants the physician or the drinker a +4 alchemical bonus to the 1st selected physical ability score and a +2 alchemical bonus to the 2nd selected physical ability score for 10 minutes per physician level. Unlike a Mutagen a Tonic confers no natural armor bonus and carries no penalty to a mental ability score, but at the end of the Tonic's duration the physician or the drinker is fatigued until they rest or the condition is removed. The effects of a Tonic do not stack. Whenever anyone drinks a tonic, the effects of any previous tonics end immediately. When this happens the most recently imbued tonic takes affect immediately, and lasts for the tonic's normal duration but the users condition worsens by one step. If the user would be fatigued at the end of the tonic's duration ingesting a 2-nd Tonic would first negate the effects of the previous tonic and replace them with the most recent tonic's effects and once the 2-nd Tonics effects end the subject would now be exhausted. Detect Poison(Sp) replaces Poison use (Ex):
Discovery (Su):
A physician may not select from the alchemist's bomb discoveries as they do not have this as a class feature. They may select the alchemist's mutagen discoveries but only if they have selected the Mutagen discovery (see PF: Ultimate Magic). Any discoveries related to Poison Use are likewise closed to them unless they have selected the use poison discovery. -Fatigued: The physician can remove the fatigued condition or cause the target to become fatigued. -Shaken: The physician can remove the shaken condition or cause the target to become shaken. -Sickened: The physician can remove the sickened condition or cause the target to become sickened. -Dazed: The physician can remove the dazed condition or cause the target to become dazed. -Diseased: The physician can cure someone infected with a disease as if she had cast Remove Disease on them with her caster level being equal to her physician level. Likewise she may also attempt to afflict the target with a disease as if she had cast Contagion with her caster level being equal to her physician level. -Staggered: The physician can remove the staggered condition, unless the target is at exactly zero hit points or cause the target to become staggered for 1 round per two levels of physician. -Exhausted: The physician can remove the exhausted condition or cause the target to become exhausted. -Frightened: The physician can remove the Frightened condition or cause the target to become Frightened for 1 round per two levels of physician. -Nauseated: The physician can remove the nauseated condition or cause the target to become nauseated for 1 rounder per 3 levels of physician. -Poisoned: The physician can attempt to remove the poisoned condition as if she had cast Remove Poison or cause the target to become poisoned as if she had cast the spell Poison. In both cases her caster level is equal to her physician level. -Blinded: The physician can remove the blinded condition or cause the target to become blinded for 1 round per level of physician. -Deafened: The physician can remove the deafened condition or cause the target to become deafened for 1 round per level of physician. -Paralyzed: The physician can remove the paralyzed condition or cause the target to become paralyzed for 1 round. -Stunned: The physician can remove the stunned condition or cause the target to become stunned for 1 round per four levels of physician. Discoveries that can be taken as they are (listed by book). Please note that for any discovery effect or number of uses per day related to intelligence, that discovery is modified for the physician by having its key ability reassigned to wisdom.
Disease Resistance (Ex) replaces Poison Resistance (Ex):
Swift Healing (Ex) replaces Swift Alchemy (Ex):
Anesthetic (Ex) replaces Swift Poisoning (Ex):
Enduring Tonic (Su) replaces Persistent Mutagen:
Instant Healing (Ex) replaces Instant Alchemy:
Grand Discovery (Su):
The Physician can select from almost any of the Alchemist's discoveries that are not related to bombs as they are not a class feature. The following are additional Grand Discoveries that the Physician has access to. -True Wisdom: The Physician constant research of medicinal techniques have given her an almost supernatural understanding of the body and its internal workings. Selecting this discovery permanently increases her wisdom score by 2 points.
The following Grand Discoveries are appropriate for the Physician to take as well:
Alchemist Alternate class: The Physician (formerly The Doctor)
-I went back to the drawing board with this archetype/alternate class. One obvious problem was the issue with the Tonics needing some reworking. I also came to the conclusion that I was changing so much of the Alchemist's base class features that it was no longer archetype but an Alternate class. Now this Alternate Class is not entirely of my own design. Several Archetypes were essentially meshed together to form this. Here are the archetypes from which this prototype was drawn from:
Now the goal of this Alternate class was to use the Alchemist class to create a support character/healer alternate class. The Physician is not designed to compete with the Alchemist on a Damage Per round/bomb for bomb basis. If you wind up coming to the conclusion that the Physician is ”sub optimal” in terms of combat or damage when compared to the Alchemist then you'll be right, it is. That's not what the Alternate class is focused on. What the physician is suppose to be is a viable buffer/support/healer character. So lets start with the basics. Base Attack Bonus: (unchanged) Medium.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Physicians are proficient with all simple weapons. They are also proficient with light armor, but not with shields. Medicinal Alchemy (Su) Replaces Alchemy
When using the Heal skill the Physician gains a competence bonus equal to her class level on the Heal check. In addition the Physician can use the Heal skill to identify potions from the Conjuration (Healing) sub-school as if using detect magic. She must hold the potion for 1 round to make the check. The Physician can create two special types of magical items-Medicinal Extracts and Tonics. Tonics are special performance enhancing elixirs that the physician or her companions can drink to enhance their own physical abilities, while Medicinal Extracts are more varied and behave like spells in potion form. Both of these are detailed in their own sections below. Medicinal Extracts have the greatest variation in terms of their effects. They behave like spells in potion form, and as such their effects can be dispelled by effects like dispel magic using the Physician's level as the caster level. Unlike potions though, medicinal extracts can have powerful effects and duplicate spells that a potion could not. A Physician uses the same table as an Alchemist to determine the number of Medicinal Extracts of each level that she can create per day. In addition, she receives bonus medicinal extracts per day if she has a high wisdom score, in the same way that a cleric receives bonus spells per day. Unlike the Alchemist's Extracts, the Physician's Medicinal Extracts do not become inert if they leave her possession. This difference is due to the fact that at 1-st Level the Physician receives the infusion discovery which replaces the feat Throw Anything normally gained by Alchemist's at 1st Level. Also this means that Medicinal extracts may also be consumed by non-physician's to gain their effects. Mixing Medicinal Extracts takes the same amount of time as mixing a standard Extract, 1 minute per extract created. The Medicinal Extracts remain potent and continue to occupy one of the Physician's daily medicinal extract slots until it is either used or she prepares another one to take its place in which case the previous medicinal extract becomes a plain inert liquid. Although the Physician doesn't actually cast spells, she does have a formula list that determines what medicinal extracts she can create. A physician can utilize spell trigger items if the spell appears on the formula list, but not spell-completion items (unless she uses Use Magical Device to do so). A physician uses the same rules for imbuing a Medicinal Extract as an Alchemist does for a standard Extract. Physician's follow the same rules for creating a Medicinal Extract as an Alchemist does for creating a standard Extract. A physician can prepare an extract of any formula she knows. To learn to use a medicinal extract the physician must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the medicinal extract level. The difficulty class for a saving throw against a physician's medicinal extract is 10 + the medicinal extract level + the physician's wisdom modifier. A physician may know any number of formulas. She stores her formulas in a special tome called a Medicinal Textbook. The Medicinal Text book functions in all ways, including cost, as a wizards spell book or alchemist's formula book. The only difference is that at 1st level the physician begins play with two 1st level formulas, one of which must be cure light wounds and the other of her choice. She also receives a number of additional formulas equal to her wisdom modifier (if any). At each new physician level she gains one new formula of any level she can create. Whenever she gains access to a new formula level, if that level has any formulas of the conjuration [healing] school, such as a cure formula, then she must learn at least one of those formulas first before learning any other formulas of that formula level. Once that requirement has been full filled then she may learn formulas of that formula level as she sees fit.
Sneak Attack Replaces Bomb -Due to their extensive knowledge of anatomy, physician's are able to strike the body's critical areas with deadly precision. As such they replace the Alchemist's Bomb class feature and Throw Anything bonus feat with the Rogue's sneak attack ability. Just like a Rogue the physician's sneak attack damage starts off at 1D6 at 1st level and increases by 1D6 at every odd class level of physician.At levels where discoveries are gained the Physician may select Rogue talents in place of the normal alchemist's discoveries but the physician may only select from those rogue talents that are marked with an asterisk that effect sneak attack damage. The Physician may also select feats that grant additional Rogue Talents but once again may only chose from those talents marked with an asterisk that effect sneak attack damage. At 10th level the Physician may even select from Advanced Rogue Talents whenever she would learn a new discovery but once again is restricted to only being able to select from those advanced rogue talents marked with an asterisk that affect the sneak attack class feature.
Brew Potion (Ex): The Physician receives Brew Potion as a bonus feat at first level just like an Alchemist at first level. Tonics (Su): At 1st level, a physician knows how to create performance enhancing mixtures that can be ingested by either herself or her companions to heighten their physical prowess, called Tonics. It takes 1 hour to brew a Tonic, and once brewed, it remains potent until used. A physician can only maintain one Tonic mixture at a time, if she brews a second dose, any existing Tonic mixture becomes inert. Unlike the Alchemist's mutagen though a Tonic can be used by not only the physician but anyone else as well. When a physician's creates a tonic, she selects one physical ability score – either Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution to be enhanced. Its a standard action to drink a Tonic (just like a mutagen). Upon drinking the Tonic the physician or drinker immediately feels the tonic's effects as they feel the rush of adrenaline, the sky rocketing of their blood pressure, and the tightening of their muscles. This grants the physician or the drinker a +4 alchemical bonus to the selected ability score for 10 minutes per physician level. Unlike a Mutagen a Tonic confers no natural armor bonus and carries no penalty to a mental ability score, but at the end of the Tonic's duration the physician or the drinker is fatigued until they rest or the condition is removed. The effects of a Tonic do not stack. Whenever anyone drinks a tonic, the effects of any previous tonics end immediately. When this happens the most recently imbued tonic takes affect immediately, and lasts for the tonic's normal duration but the users condition worsens by one step. If the user would be fatigued at the end of the tonic's duration ingesting a 2nd Tonic would first negate the effects of the previous tonic and replace them with the most recent tonic's effects and once the 2nd Tonics effects end the subject would now be exhausted.
Infusion replaces Throw Anything (Ex) As the physician does not throw bombs like the standard alchemist the Throw Anything bonus feat has been replaced by the infusion discovery at 1st level. This allows the physician to administer her medicinal extracts to the rest of the party.Discovery (Su): A physician gains discoveries just the same as an alchemist. The only difference is that the physician cannot select from bomb related discoveries as they do not have bombs as a class feature. All other discoveries are still open to them as well as some additional ones listed below. Infuse Tonic When the Physician creates a tonic, she can infuse it with an extra bit of her own magical power. This inflicts 2 points of Wisdom damage to the physician and costs 1,000gp in rare reagents, but the dosage of tonic created remains active on its own and is not rendered inert if the physician creates another dosage of tonic. This allows the physician to create different types of tonics and keep them handy for emergencies. This does not allow anyone that imbues the tonic to gain the effect of multiple tonics at once, only the most recently imbued tonic has any effect. Greater Tonic: The Physician's tonic now grants a +6 Alchemical bonus to one physical ability score and a +4 alchemical bonus to a second physical ability score of the physician's choosing at the time the tonic is created. A physician must be at least 12th Level before selecting this discovery. Grand Tonic: The Physician's tonic now grants a +8 Alchemical bonus to one physical ability score, a +6 alchemical bonus to a second physical ability score, and a +4 Alchemical bonus to a third physical ability score of the physician's choosing at the time the tonic is created. A physician must be at least 16th level and must possess the greater tonic discovery before selecting this discovery. Bleed out: Because of their anatomical training the physician knows how to strike the body so that the bleeding from the wound is not so easily stopped. Whenever the physician causes anyone to take bleed damage, the subject continues to take the bleed damage until stopped by a successful Heal skill check but the DC is equal to 10 + half the physician level + wisdom modifier instead of the standard DC 15 Heal check. Expert Healer: When the physician's selects this discovery their medicinal extracts from the conjuration [healing] school become more potent. Those medicinal extracts now heal and additional 2hp per formula level when imbued. Minor Conditional Treatments (Su): With this discovery the physician has learned to alleviate or cause the following minor conditions. Good Physicians may only choose to remove the conditions, while evil physicians can only choose to inflict these conditions upon their targets. Neutral physicians can choose either to remove or cause the conditions but once the choice has been made it cannot be changed later. In any case where the physician is attempting to cause or inflict the condition the subject is allowed a Fortitude saving throw to resist and the physician must make physical contact with the subject using a melee touch attack. The DC for this save is equal to 10 + half the physician's level + the physician's wisdom modifier. The physician can only use these techniques a limited number of times per day equal to half her physician level (minimum of 1) + Wisdom modifier.
Advanced Conditional Treatments: With this discovery the physician adds the following conditions to her list of Conditional Treatments that she can remove or cause. The physician must possess the minor conditional treatments discovery and be at least 6th level before they can select this one.
Greater Conditional Treatments: With this discovery the physician adds the following conditions to her list of Conditional Treatments that she can remove or cause. The physician must possess the advanced conditional treatments discovery and be at least 10th level before she can select this one.
Grand Conditional Treatments: With this discovery the physician adds the following conditions to her list of Conditional Treatments that she can remove or cause. The physician's must possess the greater conditional treatments discovery and be at least 12th level before she can select this one.
Disease Resistance (Ex) replaces Poison Resistance (Ex):
Detect Poison(Sp) replaces Poison use (Ex): -At 2nd level, a physician can use the spell detect poison as a spell like ability at will. Doing so only requires a move action, and for the physician to be able to touch the target.
Swift Healing (Ex) replaces Swift Alchemy (Ex): -At 3rd level a Physician can execute skills of healing with amazing speed. The times required to perform all non combat related actions with the Heal skill (such as treating disease and treating wounds from caltrops...) is reduced by half. Thus where it would normal take 10 minutes to treat disease with the heal skill the Physician can do so in 5 minutes. Where it would take a character 1 hour to treat deadly wounds, the Physician can perform the same amount of healing in half an hour. Long term care only requires 4 hours of full rest or half a day of complete rest. This also means that character heal twice as fast if they take a full 8 hours of full rest or a full days worth of complete rest.-Finally providing first aid, treating a wound or treating poison is reduced from a standard action to a move action for the Physician.
Anesthetic (Ex) replaces Swift Poisoning (Ex): At 6th level, a physician learns how to supplement uses of the Heal skill with pain-killing drugs. He gains Skill Focus (Heal) as a bonus feat. Any use of the Heal skill that has a risk of harming the patient (such as extracting a barb) only deals the minimum damage when performed by a physician.Power over Death: At 10th level, the Physician adds the spell Breath of Life to her formula book as a 4th level extract. Enduring Tonic (Su) replaces Persistent Mutagen:
Instant Healing (Ex) replaces Instant Alchemy:
Grand Discovery (Su): The Physician can select from almost any of the Alchemist's discoveries that are not related to bombs as they are not a class feature. The following are additional Grand Discoveries that the Physician has access to. -True Wisdom: The Physician constant research of medicinal techniques have given her an almost supernatural understanding of the body and its internal workings. Selecting this discovery permanently increases her wisdom score by 2 points.-Ultimate Tonic: The Physician's tonic now grants a +8 Alchemical bonus to all three physical ability scores, Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. Also use of the tonic no longer causes the user to become fatigued or exhausted after its duration ends. A physician must must possess the grand tonic discovery before selecting this discovery. -Healing Touch: The physician gains a healing touch that replicates the effects of a Heal spell. The physician can only use this ability once per day + a number of additional times equal to his Wisdom modifier. Questions and comments are welcome. Please let me know what you think and try to make your comments constructive and insightful. Feel free to steal it if you want to play test it. I have someone who is going to try out this version here shortly. Thanks for your time: Anthony.
This is an archetype that I've been working on for a while now. Now I will freely admit this is not something of my own design. The Doctor Archetype is a splicing of several other archetypes into one whole. Here are the archetypes from which this prototype was drawn from:
The purpose of this archetype was to design a healer based around the Alchemist class. With their extracts representing medical curative potions and medicines used to enhance or retard physical and mental abilities which the Alchemist extract list does naturally. This posts lists the class features that have been changed to make the Doctor archetype.
Medicinal Alchemy: As Alchemy with the following exceptions. -To Learn or use an Medicinal Extract the user must have a wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the medicinal extract level.
-When using the Heal skill the doctor gains a competence bonus equal to his class level on Heal skill checks. In addition doctor modifies several of the abilities listed under the Heal skill description.
Sneak Attack: Replaces Bombs
-Sneak Attack as Rogue ability. At any level where discoveries are gained the doctor may select Rogue talents that are marked with an asterisk that modify or change the effects of sneak attack damage. The doctor may also select the Extra Rogue Talent feat but may only chose from talents marked with an asterisk that modify or change the effect of sneak attack damage. Why sneak attack instead of bombs. The reason for this change was due to the fact that bombs didn't quite fit. It seems more logical to allow the doctor to be able to strike precisely, and the sneak attack rogue talents could be used to represent a knowledge of anatomy and how that knowledge can be used to cause all sorts of disabling effects with Sneak attack dice. Tonics: Replaces Mutagens Tonics: Grant a +4 Alchemical Bonus to a selected ability score (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution). Lasts for a number of rounds equal to 4 + the users Constitution modifier + 2 additional rounds for every character level the user has. After the effect ends the user is fatigued for a number of rounds equal to 2 times the number of rounds the Tonic was active The Doctor may prepare a number of tonics equal to 1 + wisdom modifier (minimum of 1 at 1st level). Tonics take 1 hour each to prepare. She can prepare an additional tonic for every 4 class levels gained beyond 1st. Unlike Mutagens, Tonics may be used by anyone. Using a Tonic is a standard action just like using a Mutagen. Using Multiple Tonics at once
-First: If a character imbues a tonic that is already active, already active being defined as applying an alchemical bonus to an ability, it resets the number of rounds that the tonic would be in effect but the character will still be fatigued for a number of rounds equal to 2 times the combined total number of rounds that the tonic was active. (example: If you character is already under the effects of a tonic that provides a +4 alchemical bonus to Strength, then drinking another tonic that grants a bonus to strength does not double to bonus or have any other effect other than increasing the number of rounds that the tonic will remain in effect). -Second Combining 2 different Tonics can have amazing or deadly results depending on how they interact. After each tonic beyond the first is consumed roll a D100 and Consult the following table:
Tonic Discoveries: -Tonic of Quickening: Increases the users base land speed by 10ft and receives a +2 bonus on initiative.-Greater Tonic: Grants a +6 Alchemical bonus to either Strength, Dexterity or Constitution and a +4 bonus to a 2nd ability score, both of which are chosen when the Alchemist prepares the tonic. The Alchemist must be at least 12th level before selecting this discovery. -Grand Tonic: Grants a +8 Alchemical bonus to either Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution, a +6 bonus to a second ability score, and a + 4 bonus to a third ability score. The Alchemist decides what ability scores receive these bonuses when the tonic is prepared. The Alchemist must be at least 16th level and possess the Greater Tonic discovery before this discovery can be selected. -(Grand discovery) True Tonic: Grants a +8 Alchemical Bonus to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. The Alchemist must already have selected the Greater Tonic and Grand Tonic discoveries. Behind the design: Why Tonics Initially I wanted to give this idea a name like drugs, or medicines or something that would clearly illustrate the use of performance enhancers. I did not want to use that type of terminology because ultimately I understand children play this game and the game has enough problems without someone getting the idea that it endorses drug use. So I settles on an old name for medicine, Tonics. It was a term not already in use like potion or elixir. At your table feel free to call this whatever you want. Self Sufficient: Replaces Throw Anything at 1st level. Changes at 2nd level
Changes at 3rd level
-Finally providing first aid, treating a wound or treating poison is reduced from a standard action to a move action for the doctor. Changes at 6th level
Swift Healing: Adds to class features/replaces nothing.
Changes at 10th level
Changes at 14th level
Changes at 18th level
So there you have it, my changes to the Alchemist class to combine all these archetypes into one. Is it still an archetype, or is it now an alternate class? Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.
Here is an Idea I've been working on for a skill based Healing system. Let me make a few statement right off:
The basis of my Idea stems from casting spells off a scroll and the mechanics presented under "use magical device". here is the work I've done so far. Skill Based Healing:
This would be added to the Heal skill description. Recreating a Conjuration (Healing) spell.
Conjuration (Healing) spells that can be recreated through use of this skill.
-A failed check still consumes the listed number of uses from the Healers kit. Possible Feat:
-Benefit: You may use the Heal skill to recreate the following spells from the Conjuration (Healing) list: (see heal skill aka insert above table here). The DC to recreate these Conjuration (Healing) spells is equal to 20 + the minimum caster level of the spell you are trying to recreate. Your caster level for the purposes of any caster level based variables of these conjuration (healing) spells is equal to the number of ranks in the Heal skill you possess. Each use of the heal skill that you use to recreate the spells listed above also consumes an number of uses from your healer's kit. You may still attempt to use the Heal skill to recreate the effect of a conjuration (healing) spell but you suffer a -2 penalty to your Heal skill check for each use of the Healers kit that you lack. Unlike casting a spell, using your Healing skill in this fashion is classified as an extraordinary ability. Feed back will be appreciated.
The Engineer (Alternate Class)(Alchemist Archetype)
Not all alchemists are masters of chemistry and biology. Some prefer to focus their mad talents on the mysteries of mechanical engineering—the creation of lethal machines. These individuals call themselves Engineers, seeing themselves as masters of wondrous mechanical creations that they build to perform amazing spell like tasks. Where as the Alchemist captures his own magical potential within liquids, the Engineer infuses his magical potential into mechanical devices through his knowledge of Engineering.
Class Skills: The Engineer's class skills are: Appraise (Int), Craft (any), (Int), Disable Device(Dex), Fly(Dex), Heal(Wis), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Engineering)(Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft(Int) , Survival (Wis), Use Magical Device (Cha).Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Engineer's are proficient with all simple weapons and their death ray. They are also proficient with light armor, but not with shields. Engineering (Su): Engineers are not only masters of building mundane machines such as mechanical traps and clockwork toys, but also of fashioning pseudo-magical devices which allow them to produce spell effects. In effect, an engineer prepares his spells by building small, expendable devices, and then “casts” his spells by using the device. When an engineer creates a device, he infuses the object with a tiny fraction of his own magical power—this enables the creation of powerful effects, but also binds the effects to the creator.
An engineer’s primary means of delivering his magical potential is through devices, including a permanent destructive device called a death ray (see below), though he also gains the ability to physically improve himself by crafting either a customized suit of powerful armor or a battlefist (see below). Devices are significantly more varied. In many ways, they behave like spells in scroll form, and as such their effects can be dispelled by effects like dispel magic using the engineer’s class level as the caster level. An engineer can only create a certain number of devices each level per day. His base daily allotment of devices is the same as an alchemist’s daily extracts, and he likewise gains bonus devices from a high Intelligence score.
A device remains intact so long as the engineer spends time maintaining it each day. Creating a device requires 1 minute per spell level of work initially, but daily maintenance only takes 1 minute (and the device slot, of course)—devices are extremely simple mechanically, and most of their substance comes from the engineer’s genius. Most engineers prepare many devices at the start of the day or just before going on an adventure, but it’s not uncommon for an engineer to keep some of his daily device slots open so that he can build devices in the field as needed. An engineer can only “break down” a device and build a new one in its place after resting (as with a wizard preparing spells). Although the engineer doesn’t actually cast spells, he does have a blueprints list that determines what devices he can create (see below). An engineer can utilize spell-trigger items if the spell appears on his blueprints list, but not spell-completion items (unless he uses Use Magic Device to do so). A device is “cast” by wielding it, as if casting off a scroll—the effects of a device exactly duplicate the spell upon which its blueprint is based. Wielding a device is a standard action; it is assumed that “drawing” the device is a part of using it, and does not comprise a separate action. The engineer uses his class level as the caster level to determine any effect based on caster level. Creating devices consumes raw materials, but the cost of these materials is insignificant—comparable to the valueless material components of most spells. An engineer can easily replenish his materials through scavenging and by cannibalizing his previously-used devices. If a spell normally has a costly material component, that component is expended during the use of that particular device, not during its initial creation. Devices cannot be made from spells that have focus requirements (engineer devices that duplicate divine spells never have a divine focus requirement). An engineer can prepare a device of any blueprint he knows. To learn or use a device, an engineer must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the device’s level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an engineer’s device is 10 + the device level + the engineer’s Intelligence modifier.
An engineer can study a wizard’s spellbook to learn any blueprint that is equivalent to a spell the spellbook contains. A wizard, however, cannot learn spells from a laboratory book. An engineer must decipher arcane writings normally before copying them, using either Spellcraft or read magic.
This class feature replaces the alchemy class feature. Death Ray (Su): Every engineer starts with a basic creative impulse—the urge to destroy those that mock or deride him. To this end, engineers start their career with the construction of a death ray, a personal weapon that can inflict lethal harm against their foes. The “death ray” is a two-handed ranged weapon with a range increment of 30 feet. It makes attacks as a ranged touch attack and deals electricity damage equal to 1d6 + the engineer’s Intelligence bonus. Firing the death ray is a standard action. The death ray can be used a number of times each day equal to twice the engineer’s class level + the engineer’s Intelligence bonus. Each day, the alchemist must spend one minute per daily use recharging the device with his own magical aura (generally by sitting quietly and tinkering with the device for that time). The engineer is considered to be proficient in his own death ray, though he cannot use another engineer’s death ray any more than anyone else. The death ray only works for the alchemist, and he can only have one in existence at a time; if his death ray is stolen or destroyed, it takes one day of work and appropriate tools to build a new one. The death ray is a physical device; it must be stored and drawn like any other weapon, it can be stolen, and it is vulnerable to being destroyed. The death ray has a hardness of 5 + the engineer’s class level, and hit points equal to 20 + the engineer’s class level. The damage of an engineer’s death ray increases by 1d6 points at every odd-numbered class level (this bonus damage is not multiplied on a critical hit or by using feats such as Vital Strike).
Craft Wondrous Item (Ex): At 1st level Engineers receive Craft Wondrous Item as a bonus feat. An Engineer can use this feat to create wondrous items out of any blueprints that he knows (up to 3rd level) using his Engineer level as his caster level. The spell must be one that can be made into a wondrous item. The Engineer does not need to meet the prerequisites for this feat. (This replaces the Brew potion feat normally granted to standard Alchemists). Technological Bond (Su): At 1st level, Engineers can forge for themselves a powerful device that can dramatically enhance and change their rather physically weak stature. This device can take one of two forms: an exoskeleton suit of powerful armor that only the engineer can use or a battlefist (see individual descriptions below). This ability replaces the Mutagen ability granted to standard Alchemists. Clock-Work Armor (Su): At 1st level the Engineer can create a suit of clock-work armor out of gears and mechanisms that can enhance his physical stature. Creating this suit of clock-work armor takes the Engineer 24 hours but once created it can be used repeatedly until broken or destroyed. This suit of clock-work armor is considered to be a Light Armor that only characters with levels in Engineer would be proficient with. Starting at 1st level, an Engineer can use his clock-work armor for a number of rounds equal to 4 + Constitution Modifier. At each level after 1st the Engineer can continue to use his clock-work armor for 2 additional rounds. Temporary increases to Constitution, such as those gained from spells like "bears endurance", do not increase the total number of rounds that the Engineer can use his clock-work armor that day. An Engineer can activate his clock-work armor as a free action. The total number of rounds that the Engineer can use the clock-work armor is renewed after the Engineer has rested for 8 hours, although these hours do not need to be consecutive. While using the clock-work armor, an Engineer gains a total +4 equipment bonus to either Strength or Dexterity or a +2 Equipment bonus to both Strength and Dexterity. The decision as to what stat or stats receive the equipment bonus from the suit of clock-work armor is made when the Engineer activates his clock-work armor and cannot be changed while its in use, but the bonuses can be changed upon each activation of the suit of clock-work armor. In addition the clock work armor also provides a +4 Armor bonus, a +4 maximum dexterity bonus, a -2 armor check penalty and a speed of 30ft while in use. It has a Hardness of 10 and 40 hit points + the Engineer's class level. If damaged the Engineer can repair it with a craft: armor or shield skill check or if its destroyed then the Engineer can rebuild it within 24 hours. An Engineer can activate his clock-work armor as a free action and becomes fatigued after using his clock-work armor for a number of rounds to 2 x the number of rounds spent using the clock-work armor. An Engineer cannot activate his clock-work armor again while fatigued or exhausted but can otherwise activate his clock-work armor multiple times during a single encounter or combat. The Battle Fist (Su): At 1st level the Engineer can create a Battlefist that he can equip and activate in battle to greatly enhance his melee combat ability. The battle fist resembles a mechanical gauntlet with articulated fingers. It takes 24 hours for the Engineer to construct a battle fist but once created it can be reused until destroyed. Due to the superior construction of this device an Engineer may wear his battle fist indefinitely, even when its abilities are deactivated, and it functions just like his regular hand. It does not impose an armor check penalty or hinder him in the least. Starting at 1st level, an Engineer can use his battle fist to augment his physical stature for a number of rounds equal to 4 + Constitution Modifier. At each level after 1st the Engineer can continue to use his battlefist for 2 additional rounds. Temporary increases to Constitution, such as those gained from spells like "bears endurance", do not increase the total number of rounds that the Engineer can use his battlefist that day. An Engineer can activate his battlefist as a free action. The total number of rounds that the Engineer can use the battlefist is renewed after the Engineer has rested for 8 hours, although these hours do not need to be consecutive. While using the battlefist, an Engineer gains a total +4 equipment bonus to either Strength or Dexterity or a +2 Equipment bonus to both Strength and Dexterity. The decision as to what stat or stats receive the equipment bonus from the battlefist is made when the Engineer activates his battlefist and cannot be changed while its in use, but the bonuses can be changed upon each activation of the suit of battlefist. The Engineer is automatically considered proficient with his battlefist, and can use his battlefist to make a natural slam attack that deals 1D6 points of Bludgeon damage + the Engineer's strength modifier. The battlefist has a critical threat range of 20 with a damage multiplier of x2. While wearing his battle fist the Engineer is consider to be armed and threatens any adjacent squares in combat as such. If the Engineer has a base attack bonus of +6 or higher, he can make additional attacks in a round with his battlefist just as if he were wielding a melee weapon. The Engineer's Battle fist is considered a weapon for the purposes of feats and prerequisites. Therefore it qualifies as a weapon and the Engineer can apply feats such as Weapon Focus. Furthermore an Engineer may also apply blue prints to his battlefist as if it were both a natural and manufactured weapon. The battlefist has a hardness of 5 + the engineer’s class level, and hit points equal to 20 + the engineer’s class level. If damaged the Engineer can repair it with a craft: weapon skill check or if its destroyed then the Engineer can rebuild it within 24 hours. An Engineer can activate his battlefist as a free action and becomes fatigued after using his battlefist for a number of rounds equal to 2 x the number of rounds spent using the battlefist. An Engineer cannot activate his battlefist again while fatigued or exhausted but can otherwise activate his battlefist multiple times during a single encounter or combat. At 3rd level the Engineer's battle fist is treated as having a +1 Enhancement bonus. The Engineer may add from the list of magic weapon properties to augment his Battle Fist. This Enhancement bonuses increases by +1 at every 3rd level to a Maximum of +6 at 18th level. Precise Shot (Ex): All Engineer's gain the Precise Shot feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. An Engineer adds his Intelligence modifier to damage done with any ranged weapon. The bonus damage is already included in the Death Ray class feature. An Engineer does not need to meed the prerequisites for this feat. Discovery (Su): At 2nd level, and then again for every 2 levels thereafter (up to 18th level) an Engineer makes an incredible Engineering Discovery. Unless otherwise noted, an Engineer cannot select an individual discovery more than once. Some Discoveries can only be made if the Engineer meets certain prerequisites first, such as uncovering other discoveries. Discoveries that modify the Engineer's Death Ray are marked with an asterisk (*) do not stack. Only one such discovery can be applied to an individual blast from the Engineer's Death Ray. The DC for any saving throw called for by a discovery is equal to 10 + ½ the Engineer's class level + the Engineer's Intelligence modifier. Due to changes of class features from Alchemist to Engineer the Engineer may not select any bomb discoveries, discoveries that effect extracts, or discoveries that affect Mutagens. The following are the Discoveries that the Engineer may select from. Blinding blast*: When the Engineer fires his death ray, he can choose for it to detonate very brightly. Creatures that take a direct hit from a blinding ray are blinded for 1 minute unless they succeed at a Fortitude save. This is a light effect. An alchemist must be at least 8th level before selecting this discovery. Caustic blast*: When the engineer makes an attack with his death ray, he can choose to have it inflict acid damage, but the death ray’s range increment is halved. Creatures struck by a caustic blast take an additional 1d6 points of acid damage 1 round later. Concussive blast*: When the engineer makes an attack with his death ray, he can choose to have it inflict sonic damage. A concussive blast deals only 1d4 points of damage + engineer’s Int modifier, plus 1d4 points of bonus damage per odd-numbered level. Creatures struck by a concussive blast are deafened for 1 minute unless they succeed at a Fortitude save. Confusion blast*: The Engineer’s death ray can twist the target’s perception of friend and foe. A creature that takes a direct hit from a confusion ray takes damage from the ray and is under the effect of a confusion spell for 1 round per caster level of the Engineer. Reduce the amount of normal damage dealt by the bomb by 2d6 (so a bomb that would normally deal 6d6+4 points of damage deals 4d6+4 points of damage instead). An Engineer must be at least 8th level before selecting this discovery. Delicate death ray*: The engineer’s death ray is particularly compact. It is a one-handed weapon rather than a two-handed weapon. Disintegration beam*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can spend 2 of its daily uses to produce a disintegration beam, inflicting untyped damage. Any creature brought below 0 hit points by the beam is reduced to fine dust, as per the disintegrate spell. Additionally, the engineer can use the beam to disintegrate inanimate matter as per the disintegrate spell. The engineer must be at least 10th level before selecting this discovery. Dispelling beam*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can choose to have it dispel magic effects. A creature hit by a dispelling beam is subject to a targeted dispel magic, using the engineer’s class level as the caster level. This cannot be used to target a specific spell effect. If a spell is successfully dispelled, the target suffers damage equal to the caster level + the engineer’s Intelligence bonus. The engineer must be at least 6th level before selecting this discovery. Force beam*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can choose to have it inflict force damage. Force beams inflict 1d4 + engineer’s Int modifier points of force damage, plus 1d4 points of force damage for every odd-numbered level. A creature that is struck by a force beam is knocked prone unless it succeeds on a Reflex save. The engineer can fine-tune this output as well, sacrificing 1d4 points of bonus damage to instead push the creature back 5 feet on a failed save. The engineer must make this choice before firing the death ray, and if the creature cannot be pushed back the whole distance, it simply falls prone in the last square into which it moved with no additional effect; this movement does no provoke attacks of opportunity. An engineer must be at least 8th level before selecting this discovery. Frost beam*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can choose to have it inflict cold damage. A creature struck by a frost beam is staggered on its next turn unless it succeeds on a Fortitude save.
Inferno beam*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can choose to have it inflict fire damage. A creature struck by an inferno beam is sickened for 1d4 rounds. Mind control beam*: Some engineers prefer to handle things in a more subtle way than usual. When the engineer fires his death ray, he can choose to inflict no damage to instead fire an invisible beam of energy that scrambles the target’s mind, leaving them vulnerable to outside influence. Using the mind control beam is a full-round action, since the controls must be carefully calibrated. On a successful attack, the target is entitled to a Will save to avoid the effect. If the target fails the save, it is subject to the suggestion spell, except that the target does not need to know the engineer’s language; the command is input directly into his mind. The engineer uses his class level as the caster level for this effect. An engineer must be at least 8th level to select this discovery. If the engineer is at least 14th level, the target can instead be subjected to a dominate person spell. Multi-tasker: When the engineer creates a device, he can use two blueprints for a single device. When the device is used, the effects of both blueprints occur. This device has a level two levels higher than the highest-level blueprint used for the device. An engineer must be at least 8th level before selecting this discovery. Overcharge*: A mad enough engineer finds ways to overcome the raw limitations on his death ray’s output. By spending a full round charging his death ray, the engineer can expends 2 of the death ray’s daily uses on any shot made the following round to increase the bonus damage from 1d6 per odd-numbered class level to 1d8 per odd-numbered class level, and double the engineer’s Intelligence bonus on damage. If the overcharge is not used during the following round, a daily use of the death ray is expended with no effect. Quick rays*: An engineer with this discovery can toggle the energy output on his death ray fast enough to produce multiple rays in a single round. The engineer can fire additional rays as a full-round action if his base attack bonus is high enough to grant him additional attacks. This functions just like a full-attack with a ranged weapon, and cannot be combined with any other discovery that turns the death ray into a full-round action to use. An engineer must be at least 8th level before selecting this discovery. Shock blast*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can choose to have it inflict electricity damage, and gain a +2 bonus to hit creatures wearing metal armor or composed primarily of metal (such as an iron golem). A creature struck by a shock beam is dazzled for 1d4 rounds. Sunlight blast*: The Engineer can fire his death ray so that it explodes with a searing radiance equivalent to that of sunlight. Undead, fungi,molds, oozes, slimes, and creatures to which sunlight is harmful or unnatural take +2 damage per die from the death ray. Undead that are harmed by sunlight and that fail their saves against the the death ray are staggered for 1 round. An Engineer must be at least 10th level and must have the blinding ray discovery before he can select this discovery. Stable device: When an engineer builds a device, he can infuse it with an extra bit of his own magical power. The device created now persists even after the engineer sets it down. As long as the device exists, it continues to occupy one of the engineer’s daily device slots. A stable device may be used by a non-engineer, but the device acts as a spell-trigger item, meaning that the character must have the appropriate spell on his list or make a successful Use Magic Device check. Strafing beam*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can expend 2 of its daily uses to change the ray to a 30-foot line, or 3 daily uses to create a 60-foot line. The ray no longer has a range increment and does not require a touch attack, but any creature in the line can attempt a Reflex save for reduced damage. On a successful save, any affected creature suffers the ray’s minimum normal damage and none of its additional effects. (So, a death ray that dealt 1d8+5d6+5 damage normally would inflict 11 points of damage.) This damage is negated as usual for a creature with evasion; a creature with improved evasion takes the minimum damage on a failed save. The engineer must be at least 8th level to select this discovery. Widen beam*: When the engineer fires his death ray, he can expend 2 of its daily uses to widen the beam, potentially catching multiple creatures in the area. The targeted creature now receives a Reflex save to become a splash target instead of a primary target. All other creatures within 5 feet of the original target are now splash targets. Any creature hit as a splash target suffers none of the beam’s primary effects (including any additional effects, such as the extra damage from a caustic blast), but suffer damage equal to the minimum damage of the ray. So, a death ray that dealt 1d8+5d6+5 damage normally would inflict 11 points of damage (of the same energy type) to all creatures within 5 feet of the main target. The engineer must be at least 4th level to select this discovery. Resurrection Device: Once per day the Engineer can create a device that can bring the dead back to life. This device costs 25,000gp to create an takes 1 hour of work to assemble. Only the Engineer can activate the device, which is a free action, but once activated the device restores life to a dead creature as per the true resurrection spell. Once activated the device is completely destroyed but the Engineer can construct a new one (see above). Alternatively the Engineer may use the device on himself, after which point he is immediately targeted with a resurrection spell the next time he is killed. Used in this way the effects of the resurrection device persist only for a number of days equal to the Engineer's Intelligence Modifier. If he does not die before that time expires the effects of the Resurrection Device end. An Engineer can only have one use of the Resurrection Device upon himself at any given time, they do not stack. An Engineer must be at least 16 level before selecting this discovery. Slam Attacks: Whenever the Engineer activates his clock-work armor he gains up to two slam attacks that he can use each round. The Engineer is considered to be proficient with these slam attacks. Since these are primary attacks they are made using the Engineer's full base attack bonus. The Slam attack deals 1D6 points of damage (1d4 if the Engineer is small or 1D8 if the Engineer is large). Enhanced Clock-Work Armor: The Engineer's clock-work armor may also be augmented with up to a +2 enhancement bonus. If the Engineer posses the Slam Attacks Discovery he may also select from the weapon enhancements in addition to armor enhancements although the total enhancement bonus may still not exceed +2. The Engineer must pay for any additional properties to be added to his clock-work armor but doing so only costs the Engineer half as much in terms of gold and materials. If the Engineer does the work himself then the cost is halved again. The Engineer may also "deconstruct" his enhancements bonuses to his armor and build in new ones but doing so takes at least 24 hours and the Engineer must pay for the new enhancement bonus again, as described above. An Engineer must be at least 3rd level before selecting this discovery. Improved Clock-Work Armor: The Engineer's clock-work armor may now be augmented with up to a +4 enhancement bonus. If the Engineer posses the Slam Attacks Discovery he may also select from the weapon enhancements in addition to armor enhancements although the total enhancement bonus may still not exceed +4. An Engineer must be at least 6th level before selecting this discovery and must posses the Enhanced Clock-work Armor Discovery. Greater Clock-Work Armor: The Engineer's Clock-Work Armor now grants a +6 Armor Bonus, +3 Maximum Dexterity bonus, a -4 armor check penalty and a maximum speed of 20ft while in use. The clock-work armor now grants a +4 equipment bonus to both Strength and Dexterity. The armor type improves to Medium, which the Engineer remains proficient with, but this does not grant him the feat Medium Armor Proficiency. Its hardness remains 10 but it now has at least 60 hit points + the Engineer's class level. The clock-work armor may also be augmented with up to a +6 enhancement bonus. If the Engineer posses the Slam Attacks Discovery he may also select from the weapon enhancements in addition to armor enhancements although the total enhancement bonus may still not exceed +6. The Engineer must pay for any additional properties to be added to his clock-work armor but doing so only costs the Engineer half as much in terms of gold and materials. If the Engineer does the work himself then the cost is halved again. The Engineer may also "deconstruct" his enhancements bonuses to his armor and build in new ones but doing so takes at least 24 hours and the Engineer must pay for the new enhancement bonus again, as described above. An Engineer must be at least 12th level before selecting this discovery and possess the Improved Clock-Work Armor Discovery. Grand Clock-Work Armor: The Engineer's Clock-Work Armor now grants a +8 Armor Bonus, +1 Maximum Dexterity bonus, a -6 armor check penalty and a maximum speed of 20ft while in use. The clock-work armor now grants a +6 equipment bonus to both Strength and Dexterity. The armor type improves to Heavy, which the Engineer remains proficient with, but this does not grant him the feat Heavy Armor Proficiency. Its hardness remains 10 but it now has at least 80 hit points + the Engineer's class level. The clock-work armor may also be augmented with up to a +8 enhancement bonus. If the Engineer posses the Slam Attacks Discovery he may also select from the weapon enhancements in addition to armor enhancements although the total enhancement bonus may still not exceed +8. An Engineer must be at least 16th level and posses the Greater Clock-Work Armor discovery before selecting this discovery. Clawed Battle Fist. The Battle fist now has the option of dealing slashing damage. Its critical range is now 19-20/x2. It is also considered a natural claw attack for the engineer with which he is automatically proficient with. The Engineer can spend a move action to change his battle fist back and forth from this form to its original configuration. Burrowing Battle Fist: The Battle fist now has the option of attaching a tunneling drill bit to the end of itself in place of your regular fingers. In this form the Engineer gains a burrowing speed of 30ft per round and can tunnel through dirt and rock. Also the Engineer can choose to have his battle fist deal piercing damage. Greater Battle Fist: The Engineer's battle fist now deals 1D8 Damage and provides a +6 Enhancement bonus to Strength. The Engineer must be at least 12th level before selecting this discovery. Grand Battle Fist: The Engineer's battle fist now deals 1D10 Damage and provides a +8 Enhancement bonus to Strength. The Engineer must be at least 16th level before selecting this discovery. Organ Replacement: Through excruciating surgery the Engineer replaces his own bodily organs with mechanical devices making him progressively more machine than man. Each time the Engineer takes this discovery he gains 25% Fortification. When first selected this ability grants a 25% to negated a Critical Hit or Sneak attack thus forcing the damage to be dealt normally. The discovery can be selected a 2nd time improving the fortification to 50% and a third time improving the fortification to 75% maximum. This fortification does not stack with any other sources of fortification that the Engineer may possess. The Engineer must have selected the “Battle Fist” as his technological bond to select this discovery. Spontaneous Healing: Same as the Alchemist discovery. (Ultimate Magic) Healing Touch: Same as the Alchemist discovery. (Ultimate Magic) Living Construct: Through constant replacement of his own flesh and organs the Engineer has incorporated so many mechanical components that he becomes a construct that is still partially alive. It takes the Engineer 30 days of work on himself after which he must complete a complex surgical process taking 24 hours. At the end of this time he becomes immune to cold, nonlethal damage, paralysis and sleep. And Engineer must be at least 10th level and have selected the Organ replacement discovery at least once in order to select this discovery. Alchemical Zombie: Same as the Alchemist discovery. (Ultimate Magic) Alchemical Simulacrum: Same as the Alchemist discovery. (Ultimate Magic) Greater Alchemical Simulacrum: Same as the Alchemist discovery. (Ultimate Magic) Doppelganger Simulacrum: Same as the Alchemist discovery. (Ultimate Magic) Wings: Same as the Alchemist discovery except the wings are mechanical. (Ultimate Magic) Trapfinding (Ex): An engineer is a master of clockwork machines and infernal devices. Starting at 2nd level, an engineer adds 1/2 his class level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device skill checks (minimum +1). An engineer can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps. If the Engineer takes levels in a class that also grants the Trapfinding class feature then his class levels stack to determine the total bonus applied to his perception and disable device skill checks. This replaces the alchemist’s poison use. Swift Engineering (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, when an alchemist creates alchemical items or clockwork devices of any sort, it takes him only half the normal amount of time. This replaces the swift alchemy class ability. Trap Sense (Ex): At 4th level, an Engineer gains an intuitive sense that alerts him to dangers from traps, granting him a +1 bonus on Reflex saves to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps. These bonuses rise to +2 when the Engineer reaches 8th level, to +3 when he reaches 12th level, to +4 when he reaches 16th level, and to +5 when he reaches 20th level. This replaces the poison resistance gained at 2nd, 5th, and 8th level and the poison immunity ability gained at 10th level. Quick Disable (Ex): At 6th level, an Engineer gains the quick disable rogue talent. It takes an Engineer with this ability ½ the normal amount of time to disable traps using the disable device skill (minimum of 1 round). This ability replaces swift poisoning normally gained at 6th level by the Standard Alchemist. Technological Endurance (Ex): At 14th level the Engineer's Constitution score is considered to be 4 points higher for the purposes of determining how long he can continue to use his clock-work armor or battlefist. This does not actually increase his constitution score. Example (Engineer with constitution of 12 is treated as having a constitution of 16 for the purposes of determining how long he can continue to use his Clock-Work Armor or Battlefist). This ability replaces Persistent Mutagen. Instant Engineering (Ex): At 18th level, the engineer can create alchemical items with almost supernatural speed, and none can match his proficiency at fixing or breaking machines. He can create any alchemical item as a full-round action if he succeeds at the Craft (alchemy) check and has the appropriate resources at hand to fund the creation. Additionally, he can perform any Disable Device check that would normally take up to a minute as a swift action. This feature replaces the instant alchemy class feature. Grand Discovery (Su): The engineer does not gain access to the poison touch grand discovery or True Mutagen, though he can still utilize the others normally. The following abilities are available to an engineer: Awaken Intellect: As per the Alchemist's Grand discovery except that the increase in intelligence is due to the implantation of a technological device which permanently raises the Engineer's intelligence score by 2 points. Eternal Youth: As per the Alchemist's Grand discovery. Fast Healing: As per the Alchemist's Grand discovery. Philosophers Stone: As per the Alchemists Grand discovery. Clockwork Heart: The engineer performs the most delicate procedure of his career when he removes his own still-beating heart and replaces it with a construct of brass, tubes, and wires. The engineer’s Constitution is increased by 4 points and his age limits at each age category are doubled. He becomes immune to critical hits and sneak attacks, but he gains vulnerability to electricity. Steel Limbs: The engineer must spend a month performing grotesque acts of surgery on himself, gradually whittling away his own weak flesh and replacing it with sterner stuff. When he is finished, all four of his limbs (and a good portion of his skeleton) are made of gleaming steel. The engineer’s Strength is increased by 2 points, Dexterity increases by 2 points, he gains +2 natural armor, and his base land speed is increased by 10 feet. Due to his new frame’s conductivity, he gains vulnerability to electricity. Ultimate Clock-Work Armor: The Engineer's Clock-Work Armor now grants a +8 Armor Bonus, +1 Maximum Dexterity bonus, a -6 armor check penalty and a maximum speed of 30ft while in use. The clock-work armor now grants a +8 equipment bonus to both Strength and Dexterity. The armor type improves to Heavy, which the Engineer remains proficient with, but this does not grant him the feat Heavy Armor Proficiency. Its hardness remains 10 but it now has at least 80 hit points + the Engineer's class level. The clock-work armor may also be augmented with up to a +10 enhancement bonus. If the Engineer posses the Slam Attacks Discovery he may also select from the weapon enhancements in addition to armor enhancements although the total enhancement bonus may still not exceed +10. An Engineer must be at least 20th level and posses the Grand Clock-Work Armor discovery before selecting this discovery. Ultimate Battle Fist: At 20th level the Engineer fully understands how to use his battle fist. Whenever he wields it he is considered to have a full Base Attack Bonus, The Critical Damage multiplier is increased to X3 and all Critical hits are automatically confirmed. An Engineer must be at least 20th level and posses the Grand Battle Fist discovery before selecting this discovery.
Hey no worries. I can see how "Medieval Ironman" might not be something everyone can agree with. Here's an alternate idea. The Battle Fist
-The Engineer is automatically considered proficient with his battle fist. Only he can use it. Any non-engineer attempting to wield the battle fist is considered to be using a metal gauntlet.
-At 3rd level the Engineer's battle fist is treated as having a +1 Enhancement bonus. The Engineer may add from the list of magic weapon properties to augment his Battle Fist. This Enhancement bonuses increases by +1 at every 3rd level to a Maximum of +6 at 18th level. -Battle fist fusion: At 17th level the Engineer is so use to his battle fist it acts as if it is almost a natural extension of his body. He is no longer fatigued after using it. -Battle Fist Discoveries.
-Burrowing battle fist: The Battle fist now has the option of attaching a tunneling drill bit to the end of itself in place of your regular fingers. In this form the Engineer gains a burrowing speed of 30ft per round and can tunnel through dirt and rock. Also the Engineer can choose to have his battle fist deal piercing damage. -Greater Battle Fist: The Engineer's battle fist now deals 1D8 Damage and provides a +6 Enhancement bonus to Strength. The Engineer must be at least 12th level before selecting this discovery. -Grand Battle Fist: The Engineer's battle fist now deals 1D10 Damage and provides a +8 Enhancement bonus to Strength. The Engineer must be at least 16th level before selecting this discovery. Grand discovery
I know I'm a bit late to this discussion here but I just felt like adding my "2 cents" to the re-skinned Mutagen discussion. As the Mutagen would no longer be a imbued potion that turns the Alchemist/Engineer into a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but instead a suit of "power armor" aka (Medieval Ironman) maybe the hit to a mental stat no longer works. So this is what I came up with. Make it more like the Barbarian's rage and leave the Engineer in a fatigued condition after using it. Here's what I came up with:
Let me know what you think.
Alternate Hexblade: Invocations rather than spells Credit to: SmiloDan for the rebuild of the Warlock found in the thread Pathfinder Truenamer.
Reasons for attempting said experiment:
Some things I did change:
edit: after some discussion with some friends we found that the hex pool system needed some reworking. Both in terms of the overall points in the Hex Pool and some of the costs. They have been reworked (see below). So here is the first draft. Let me know what you think. Thanks
Class Features: The following are class features for the Hexblade. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Hexblades are proficient in all Simple and Martial Weapons, Light Armor, but not with shields. Because the somatic components required for invocations are relatively simple, a hexblade can use any of his invocations while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However like arcane spell casters a hexblade wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a normal chance for arcane spell failure. Hex Pool (Su): A Hexblade has a Hex Pool equal to his Charisma bonus (if any) + 1/2 class level (minimum of 1 hex point at 1st level). His Hex Pool is replenished each day. The Hexblade spends points from his Hex Pool to power his Hexblade's Curse and Hex Power abilities. Hexblade's Curse (Su): As a swift action, the Hexblade can target an opponent within 60 feet with his Hexblade's Curse. The Hexblade must spend at least 1 point from his Hex Pool to activate this power; the duration of the Hexblade's Curse is equal to a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the Hexblade's Class level + Charisma Modifier. The opponent is allowed a Will save with a DC of 10 + 1/2 the Hexblade's class level + his Charisma modifier to avoid the Hexblade's Curse. If the opponent fails the Will Save, the opponent takes a -2 luck penalty to its Ability Checks, AC, Attack Rolls, Damage Rolls, Caster Level Checks, Saving Throws, and Skill Checks for the duration of the Hexblade's Curse.
Eldritch Resistance (Su): At 2nd level, so long as a hexblade has 1 hex point remaining in their hex pool (see above), the hexblade gains a bonus equal to his charisma modifier on all saving throws vs. spells and spell like affects. Hex Power (Su): The Hexblade is adept at using power of luck to hinder his enemies and aid himself. At 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the Hexblade selects one of the following abilities. Using a Hex Power is an immediate action unless otherwise stated. The Hexblade must accept the results of the reroll even if the result was worse than the initial roll. Since hex points spent to force rerolls using Hex powers are immediate actions the hexblade can only force one reroll per round.
Mettle (Ex): If the Hexblade makes a successful Fortitude or Will save that normally results in a partial effect, the Hexblade instead avoids all harmful effects. Bonus Feat: At levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20, the Hexblade gains a bonus feat from the following list. He must meet all requirements of the selected feat.Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Empower Spell-Like Ability, Extra Invocation, Great Fortitude, Greater Spell Penetration, Heighten Spell-Like Ability, Maximize Spell-Like Ability, Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus. Invocations (Sp): A hexblade does not prepare or cast spells as other wielders of arcane magic do. Instead, starting at 4th level, hexblades start to possess a repertoire of attacks, defenses, and abilities, known as invocations that require them to focus the wild energies that suffuses his soul. A hexblade can use any invocation he knows at will, unless stated otherwise in an invocations description, with the following qualifications.
Baleful Strike (melee attack) (Sp): At 5th level a Hexblade can, as part of a standard action, imbue his weapon with the power of his Hexblade's Curse (see above entry). He spends 3 hex points, and the next creature that the hexblade strikes in melee must make a Will Power saving throw equal to the hexblade's attack roll + Charisma Modifier or be affected by the Hexblade's Curse ability that was imbued into the weapon. If a full round elapses and the Hexblade has still not made an attack, the hex points are returned to the hexblade's hex pool (see above). Aura of Unluck (Su): At 9th level, by spending 1 point from his Hex Pool as an immediate action, all attack rolls against the Hexblade have a 25% miss chance for 1 round. At 17th level, the miss chance increases to 50%. Baleful Luck (Su): At 11th level, when using his Hex Power against an opponent, the Hexblade applies a luck penalty equal to his Charisma bonus (if any) to his opponent's reroll. When using his Hex Power to benefit from a re-roll himself, the Hexblade adds his Charisma bonus (if any) as a luck bonus to the results of the reroll. Baleful Strike (full attack) (Sp): At 15th level a Hexblade's baleful strike class feature improves. He can now spend 3 hex points as part of a swift action, and every creature that is struck in melee that round is subject the effect of the Hexblade's Curse ability and must make a Will Power saving throw vs a DC equal to the attack roll made against the subject + the hexblade's charisma modifier. If a full round elapses and the Hexblade has still not made an attack, the hex points are returned to the hexblade's hex pool (see above). Reversal of Fortune (Su): At 20th level, by spending 10 points from his Hex Pool as an immediate action, he can treat any failure as a success, or treat a Natural 1 as a Natural 20. Furthermore, by spending 10 points from his Hex Pool as an immediate action, he can also force any opponent he has line of effect to to treat any success as a failure, or a Natural 20 as a Natural 1.
Well then here's a slight revision based on some suggestions:
Enjoy: -AK Devoted Defender The Devoted Defender is a professional Body Guard. He is an individual who is skilled at protecting his designated client from harm, often by taking his charges place as the target of threats and attacks. Some Devoted Defenders are mercenaries for hire, who receive special compensation for their services, usually in the form of money, room and board, magical healing or otherwise, though it is not uncommon for a devoted defender to not be driven by such material needs. Often nobles or spell casters will hire one of these elite bodyguards for their own personal protection. Requirements
Class Features: Weapons and Armor Proficiencies: The Devoted Defender gains no weapon or armor proficiency. Defender Bonus: When fighting defensively or protecting their “Charge” (see below: Harm's Way), the Devoted Defender can add the listed bonus to their AC. These bonuses apply even against touch attacks or when he is caught flat-footed. The Devoted defender loses these bonuses when immobilized or helpless.
Harms Way (Ex): Beginning at 1st level, the Devoted Defender may elect to place himself in the path of danger in order to protect a single creature or object (here after referred to as his “Charge”). Any time you are withing 5 feet of your charge, and your charge suffers an attack, you may elect to switch places with you charge as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, and receive the attack intended for your charge in its place. You must declare this before the attack roll is made. You select your charge when you roll initiative, and it is a free action to do so. You may not change your charge for the duration of that combat. Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 1st level a Devoted Defender gains the ability to react to danger before his sense would normally allow him to do so. He retains his dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If The Devoted Defender already has Uncanny Dodge from a different class, he automatically gains Improved Uncanny Dodge instead. Defensive Strike (Ex): At 2nd level, you can make an attack of opportunity against any adjacent opponent who attacks your charge in melee and misses. You may do this a number of times equal to you Dexterity Modifier as if you had the Combat Reflexes Feat. In addition, when using this ability to defend your charge, the Devoted Defender may make one additional attack of opportunity for every other level he gains beyond 2nd. You also receive a +1 bonus to this attack for every 2 levels after 2nd. Deflect Attack (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, the Devoted Defender can attempt to deflect a melee attack made against his charge. He can do this a number of times per round equal to his competence bonus (see below). He must be within 5 feet of his charge to attempt this and using a melee weapon or shield to deflect the attack, (an unarmed strike is considered a melee weapon). When the attacker declared an attack against your charge, they are actually rolling to hit with their BAB against your Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD), not the targets AC. You gain a competence bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense starting at +1 at 3rd level and increasing by +1 for every 2 levels after 3rd. If the attacker cannot overcome your Combat Maneuver Defense, you deflect the blow and neither you nor your charge suffer damage from the attack. You must be aware of the attack before hand and not flat-footed. Sudden Action (Ex): At 4th level, as a free action, the Devoted Defender can change his place in the initiative order, moving higher or lower in the count by a number equal to or less than half his class level rounded down, as he sees fit, even after the initiative order has been established, before anyone else takes an action. Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level a Devoted Defender can no longer be flanked; he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the Devoted Defender by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more levels in the sneak attacking class than the target has Devoted Defender levels. Diehard (Ex): At 7th Level, when a Devoted Defender is within 5 feet of his charge he gains the benefits of the Diehard feat even is he does not meet the prerequisites. Improved Charge (Ex): At 9th level a Devoted Defender can make a charge without having to move in a straight line, so long as the charge will put him within 5 feet of his “Charge” at the end of his movement. All other charge rules apply, but the Devoted Defender can alter his direction when making a charge to avoid opponents or obstacles. Unbreakable Defender (Ex): At 10th level a Devoted Defender can temporarily ignore the effects of death while protecting his charge. So long as he is within 5 feet of his charge, he is not treated as disabled with reduced to 0 hit points, nor his he treated as dying. Even if reduced to the point where he would be considered dead, a negative hit point total equal to his constitution score or below, he can continue to defend his charge until the end of the round. After that point the affects of his wounds apply normally if they have not been healed. This ability does not prevent death from massive damage or from spell effects such as slay living or disintegrate.
This here is merely a suggestion for anyone who is looking to convert the Warlock from Complete Arcane to Pathfinder. While I will agree that WoTC hit a home run with the addition of this base class, as it is one of the best one's conceived and printed in a splat book, towards the end I always felt as though it needed a little shoring up. Pretty much I have no issues with levels 1-10. It was levels 11-20 where I noticed things started to break down, and while the Warlock started off strong, he finishes in that quasi-"we were too scared to go any further"-middle. So here is my suggestion for levels 11-20, feel free to steal it if you want, or leave comments/suggestions:
Class Features: The Following Class Features of the Warlock have been changed. -Eldritch Blast: Now Improves at the same rate as it did during the 1st 10 class levels. Caps off at 10D6 at 19th level. -Energy Resistance: Now you gain Energy Resistance 10 at 15th, rather than 20th level. New Features:
-Eldritch Perfection: At 20th level a Warlock's body is so infused with Eldritch power that he is, from this point forward, treated as a magical creature. His type changes Outsider Chaotic (if good or neutral) or Evil (if the he is evil)/with the native sub type. Unlike other outsiders the warlock can still be raised or resurrected as normal. In addition if he is good or neutral his DR increases to 10/Lawful. If he is evil it becomes 10/holy. His resistances become immunities of the chosen type. Also he may now apply two Eldritch essence invocations at the same time to his Eldritch blast, but the 2nd essence invocation must be at least 1 grade lower than the highest grade essence invocation used. -AK
I was feeling silly and decided to adapt this from Star Trek. While the Tribble may have some amazing stats please be aware that its only an animal, but it a hearty little animal that is super-humanly cute. And while its not intelligent enough to give a speech, despite its amazing charisma score, it can charm just about anyone foolish enough to not see the tribble for the parasite that it really is. Enjoy. Monster: Tribble
Special Attack/Ability: Cuteness. Tribbles are masters of cuteness, and their warm bodies and soft purring noises are found to be relaxing to most humanoid races, except half orcs (see below). Any time a tribble is held by a humanoid, it may attempt to use its cuteness ability. The creature in question must make a saving throw: DC 18 or be seduced by the creatures inherent cuteness. A creature so influenced, has its attitude toward the tribble improved by one category, and if this makes the humanoid is at least friendly towards the tribble, it will not allow harm to come to the creature believing it to be an adorable pet. The effects last for 24 hours.
Special Qualities: Rapid Repoduction
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