Aziraya's page

I always pictured adamantine as faint light or medium green, kind of like mythril's faint light blue but a little more saturated.

I have no idea where I got this picture from, but it seems others have the same idea so *shrug*.

Aegis should always look towards getting Student of the Astral Suit.

It's the primary reason for the class' value as a multiclassing multitool.

I searched d20pfsrd for that but nothing showed up. What is it?

What does the rest of your party composition look like? How well do you think you could make up for those skills via psionic powers?

This is just a bit of theorycrafting. I actually left my old group behind due to inter-personal conflicts and have only played a couple sessions with this new group (we're actually all pretty green). I don't know about what our party composition might be later down the road in a new campaign.

The Psychic Warrior definitely looks tempting since it means I can conjure that massive armor and get the dex penalty lowered through some of the customizations to make a pretty gnarly defensive character that can also dish out the damage. If I go Ranger though I'm limited to pretty much only the medium armor form since I lose any of those extra Ranger feats if I wear Heavy Armor.

So I was fiddling around with some stuff, and I was wondering how I should go about making a Thunder and Fang character (wielding them in the traditional sense of the feat). I've decided I wanted to start as a human Aegis so I can have Powerful Build to start, since bigger weapons and the summoning of armor onto myself appeals to me. I've made it a point to myself that I will NOT take the Expansion or Extra Arms customizations for the armor as that just seems too cheesy/munchkin-ey. However, I'm not sure how I want to multi-class this to get the best starting stats whether it be Ranger or Psychic Warrior. Assume a 20 point-buy.

If I multiclass into Ranger I get TWF as a free feat at character level 3.

Level 1: Aegis
- Weapon Focus: Earth Breaker
- Weapon Focus: Klar

Level 2: Ranger

Level 3: Ranger
- Two Weapon Fighting
- Thunder and Fang

Pros:
Don't need to pump Dex so high, meaning more Int.
Lovely widening of skills and skill ranks.

Cons:
Doesn't synergize too well with Aegis if staying at that level.
Dead level at 2.

If I multiclass into Psychic Warrior I get some more psionic utility and I get extra combat feats, much like a Warrior would.

Level 1: Aegis
- Weapon Focus: Earth Breaker
- Weapon Focus: Klar

Level 2: Psychic Warrior
- Two Weapon Fighting

Level 3: Psychic Warrior OR Aegis
- Thunder and Fang
- Possibly something else

Pros:
Synergizes with Aegis in regards to PP, and opens up ability to cast low level (but really useful) spells.
Could possibly take 3 levels in Psychic Warrior to get the path bonus.
No dead level.

Cons:
I have to pump Dex as well (although the extra AC might not be bad) and a little Wis, meaning a neglected Int stat.

So this is where I'm stuck at. Should I go Ranger or Psychic Warrior? If Psychic Warrior should I only plunk down one level, three levels or four to get the path bonuses/2nd level spells? If taking 3+ levels in Psychic Warrior, which path should I take?

I would really like to find a GM who will let my character specialize in flamethrowers. I tend to run games more often than play in them though.

I have an elderly fighter in mind. A man who rains fire upon his enemies.

Try looking into an Artificer that makes a gun (or guns) use the Burning Hands spell (or some other flame spell). That might just be your ticket, especially if you want to be a craftsman.

I have two ideas floating around.

1: Aegis sunder machine/tank. Just an all-around nice guy that people get scared of because of his huge sword (powerful build armor customization looks promising).

2: Thunder and Fang TWF ranger. Might as well just be called a barbarian that cares about nature.

We start at level 1. I expect us to clip through a few levels in a few weeks. I am the patient sort. I want to let the destruction rip out of the blue one day.

Take a look at the Monktopus. Put that in the search bar. It may take a little to get there, but at level 12 that thing as a monster.

Well, the problem is that the base race is stronger than anything else so the idea is to take stuff out of the race and add it to the class (with the DR and aura of menace).

And any kind of attack bonus is a HUGE buff, especially considering that a paladin already has smites and what-have-you.

How is it "stronger than anything else" at this point? With the racial feat idea, all it has completely normal Ability Score modifiers, Low-light vision (extremely common among races), gets a bite attack (let's lower that to a 1d6 now that I think about) and Powerful Build. Compare that to half-giant which gets Powerful Build, Low-light vision, +2 saving throws against anything fire-based, free Wild Talent/Psionic Talent feat, can use Stomp once a day, and gets +4 to survival checks.

Alright, so I take out the DR/evil possibility and add the Darkvision to the feat list as well. Consider what the Kitsune can do with their racial feats: make themselves look like whoever they want, Charm Person, Suggestion, Invisibility, Confusion (The AoE kind no less) and Dominate Person (plus more, those are just the really interesting ones that jump at me). Looking at that, Darkvision, Aura of Menace (which becomes dispelled as soon as the opponent hits me. Maybe take away the attack penalty to even things out a bit if it's still a problem?), Aid (rather limited castings) and Continual Flame (extremely limited castings) don't seem that overpowered.

That attack bonus is really way too powerful (that is +6 at level 20 which is nuts). Just enhance the divine bond with two-handed weapons (like making it easier to activate) and/or maybe only having smites have their full effect with two-handed weapons.

It's racial abilities are all super powerful too (aura of menace is too good to keep and maybe needs to be built into the class and the same and that DR is too good to get just from a base race).

The purpose of the custom class is to spread these racial benefits over time, right? I still think you might need to drop spellcasting or something else to fit it all in there. Lay-on-hands for that main aura seems like a roughly reasonable trade, though.

Alright, so change the attack bonus. How about... I don't know, start the attack bonus at level 4 and increase it every 8 levels? That will give it +3 at 20, basically half of what I had there. Also what if I put Aid, Continual Flame, Aura of Menace and the DR/evil as feats to buy kind of like a Kitsune's Magical Tail powers? That way it isn't something that I get to have just because and I actually need to invest to get it.

Not sure why you're telling me to drop the spellcasting though since everything relating to the class is already just lifted directly from what Paizo has published, spellcasting and all. Really the only difference between what I've said for class stuff and what's put here (published by Paizo): Empyreal Knight is that I made that aura available earlier but eventually scales up instead of just a massive effect available at level 17, and switched one of the equivalent core -> archetype skills (although the core skill is arguably much, MUCH better). To compensate for the earlier grab (keep in mind it can only be maintained for as many rounds and Paladin levels. Since that makes it useless at first couple levels, I might make it last CL+Cha mod rounds), it doesn't get the resistance to cold it would normally obtain and it can't take any of the healing spells.

Archetype this is based off of: Empyreal Knight, published by Paizo. When I say "base archetype", I mean the Empyreal archetype of Paladin. When I say "core class", I mean the original Paladin class.

Changes from the base:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Proficient with all martial weapons, with medium and light armor, and no shields.

Skills: Knowledge (Planes, Religion), Climb, Sense Motive, Perception, Acrobatics, Intimidate, Craft, Spellcraft, Swim, and Handle Animal.

Level 1:
-You gain the protective aura against evil ability like from Celestial Heart. However, it starts with only a +1 deflection bonus to AC and a +1 bonus to saving throws to allies within 20 feet. It gains another +1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th levels. Also, it will not prevent evil summoned creatures from entering the area until 12th level. (basically making it on par with the base archetype ability at later levels, but not too strong at the beginning considering the low amount of rounds it can be sustained a day at the start).
-In spell descriptors, replace the word "Undead" with "Evil and/or Chaotic Outsider". (This fits with the Hound Archon's lore)
-You start proficient in a single type of 2-handed weapon of your choice, including Bastard Swords. You get a +1 Attack Bonus that increases by +1 every 4 levels when using this weapon.
-You may not cast healing spells or abilities other than those granted by your race.

Level 2:
-Does not get Voices of the Spheres (since an Archon would know Celestial already). Instead, it gets Divine Grace like the core class which Voices of the Spheres would normally replace.

Level 3:
-Celestial Heart as the base archetype except without the cold resistance. Also, the protective aura against evil is available at level one as described above. Note: this replaces the mercies that the core class would have.

Level 5:
-Divine Bond works like the core class instead of the base archetype.

Level 20:
-Gain Holy Champion like the core class instead of Empyreal Champion from the base archetype (since it doesn't make sense for a Hound Archon to grow wings, and Darkvision is already a racial).

Code of Conduct:
No specific Code of Conduct, but players are highly encouraged to keep the race within one step of Lawful Good (Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, or Neutral Good). DMs are free to choose appropriate penalties if this conduct is broken such as some kind of loss of holy power until redeemed in some way.

Racial stuff:
+2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int
-Darkvision (60 ft)
-DR 1/Evil that increases every 3 character levels, to a maximum of 5. This does not stack with other DR/Evil effects. (As a Hound Archon, most things that you're fighting should be evil anyway. Also, the base archetype gives a DR 10/evil at 20. Scaling wise, this is less effective than the base archetype class. This just lets you get a small bonus from it early and fits the Hound Archon's lore)
-Low-light Vision
-Powerful Build
-Gets a Bite attack 1d8)
-Aid (One time a day + Cha mod. Must have at least 12 in Cha to cast)
-Continual Flame (Once a day)
-Aura of Menace (Same reqs as Aid. Will save is equivalent to 10 + 1/2 player level + CHA modifier)
-Must clean/oil any weapons and spiffy up any armor it personally used at least every other day if still in their possession. If not, any Aura effects are reduced from +4 to +2 when having that item equipped. This should take roughly 15-30 minutes. (Fits with the groomed appearance of Hound Archons. If the person giving you battle morale looked anything less than exemplary, wouldn't you feel a lesser effect?)

Basically, I made it so that the resistances it would normally get from being an Archon is gained through class abilities. While not technically a racial at that point, it still functions just the same so it feels like a Hound Archon still. Gave Aura of Menace an average Will save. You get Aid as a racial, but you can't use any healing spells or channel because of the base archetype and you can't use it very many times. Everything either has a precedent, any "exploits" can be done better with another class, or it has some other balancing feature in place to keep it on-par with what's already in existence.

Well, that could work. Just limit their divine bond to two-handed melee weapons. Maybe let them activate divine bond as a swift too (or alternately as part of a charge or standard action attack if you anyone is worried about them full attacking on the first round when surprised). Why don't you write down the class archetype (like what replaces what and when) and then I--as well as others--can help you tweak it (either just a little or a bunch).

Alright, will do. Give me a sec to get everything together.

In pathfinder, BAB is usually tied to hit die. I tend to not like to pull that leaver. Just leave the hit die at a D10. If you are going to make a class out of the archon anyways, why not hold off on giving her those racial abilities for later into the class? They are rather strong at level 1.

I would take out the regular paladin spells entirely and just give her more spell-like abilities uses as she levels up. That would probably do more to offset the might that is powerful build (+lead blades or +enlarge person).

I dunno, though. The things that are in the race and the things that are in the class are a little confusing to me here.

I am not feeling the "all two handed weapons" proficiencies, either. That is sort of nuts. Maybe just give her bastard swords?

The two handed weapon proficiency is due the fact that lore-wise, Hound Archons really only use 2-handed weapons. Would you suggest only giving it Martial Weapons but giving a bonus that scales with level when using 2-handed weapons? And although I admit that it's 3PP, the Aegis class is able to give itself Powerful Build and a double expansion all on its own without multi-classing. That makes me think that only having Powerful Build (which is already possible with the half-giant race released with Psionics Unleashed) makes it seems that Powerful Build isn't too over the top by itself. I can see how the other things combined with it though might be a little unsettling with the other racial bonuses and resistances. I'll see what I can do about the balancing. What kind of spell-like abilities are you thinking though if Paladin spells are off the table that won't restrict the class to being a one-trick pony?

I can't really tell if this should go here in the "Homebrew" or the "Conversion" section (as I see both sections having threads very similar to these) so I'm sticking this in both and seeing which bites.

So I decided to take it upon myself to make the Hound Archon into a kind of playable race/class. Here's the really rough ideas that I have right now. Let me know if there's anything that should be added/removed on account of balance and sticking to the creature's lore. The idea is to make it a mix of holy support and melee, much like a Paladin except not able to use shields or healing.

Racial Traits:
+2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int
Darkvision (60 ft)
Low-light Vision
Powerful Build
Bite (1d8)
Detect Evil (at will)
Some kind of natural armor bonus
Small resistance to electricity (covered in Empyreal Heart)
+4 to saving throws against poison (covered in Empyreal Heart)
Small DR/evil
Replace the word "Undead" with "Evil or Chaotic Outsider" in spell and feat descriptions.
Truespeech

Spell-Like abilities:
Aid (One time a day + Cha mod. Must have at least 12 in Cha to cast)
Teleport (Two times a day)
Continual Flame (Once a day)
Aura of Menace (Same reqs as Aid)
It gets Celestial Heart much like an Empyreal Knight except the Aura is available at level 1 and scales up every 6 levels.

To prevent this from being too powerful the natural armor bonus, resistance to electricity and poison, and DR/Evil would either just outright be small or scale with character level. Now, for the class stuff.

For the most part, it acts like a Paladin except with some changes:
Hit Die: d8
Has to remain within one step of Lawful Good.
Doesn't need to follow a specific conduct, but has to stay within the alignment range. If not, loses any divine spells until redeemed.
Proficient with all 2-handed weapons (Bastard Sword counts for this) and all Martial weapons, but not shields.
Proficient with light and medium armor.
Can't use any healing spells/abilities.
No Mercies or Lay on Hands to stay on guidelines of existing class.
Has an inexplicable compulsion to clean/oil their weapon at least every other day. Failure means taking an attack penalty until cleaned.
Not sure if I should go 3/4 or full BAB
Starts with +2 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will save and scales accordingly.

Skills: Knowledge (Planes, Religion), Climb, Sense Motive, Perception, Acrobatics, Intimidate, Craft, Spellcraft, Swim, Handle Animal.

I figured that not having Mercies or access to the healing spells and the slightly smaller Hit Die balances well with having Powerful Build (Half-giant is able to get it as a racial anyway), the small damage resistances and the Magic Circle. I actually got the idea of Powerful Build from "Some hound archons can grow to a great size, and these creatures are a much more powerful foe" and "This powerfully built, dog-headed humanoid is a hound archon". While this Archon is Medium sized, Powerful Build seems to fit. Cleaning the weapon is a reference to the description saying "This canine-headed humanoid's well-groomed appearance and polished greatsword show it to be more than a common beast".

Story-wise, this could work. Imagine you're in some kind of holy city. It wouldn't be too big of a stretch (although maybe a little surprising) to see one of these guys acting as some kind of emissary from Heaven or acting as a holy guard of some leader there. The Archon gets sent along with the party for some reason or another. Maybe the leader sent the Archon along to help with some task he/she set forth, or maybe the Archon is meant to watch the other players to make sure they don't royally screw up. Hell, maybe he just simply got bound to the plane by some summoner but was able to retain his free will.

Any ideas or suggestions? I like the idea of splitting it into race and class separately, meaning someone could still use this as a character even if they don't want to play some kind of Paladin variant. Honestly, the thing I really need are some good numbers for the resistances and other things I purposefully left vague since I wouldn't really know where to draw the line would for too good or too useless.

So I decided to take it upon myself to make the Hound Archon into a kind of playable race/class. Here's the really rough ideas that I have right now. Let me know if there's anything that should be added/removed on account of balance and sticking to the creature's lore. The idea is to make it a mix of holy support and melee, much like a Paladin except not able to use shields or healing.

Racial Traits:
+2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int
Darkvision (60 ft)
Low-light Vision
Powerful Build
Bite (1d8)
Detect Evil (at will)
Some kind of natural armor bonus
Small resistance to electricity
+4 to saving throws against poison
Small DR/evil
Replace the word "Undead" with "Evil Outsider" in spell and feat descriptions.
Truespeech

Spell-Like abilities:
Aid (One time a day + Cha mod. Must have at least 12 in Cha to cast)
Teleport (Two times a day)
Continual Flame (Once a day)
Aura of Menace (Same reqs as Aid)

To prevent this from being too powerful the natural armor bonus, resistance to electricity and poison, and DR/Evil would either just outright be small or scale with character level. Now, for the class stuff.

For the most part, it acts like a Paladin except with some changes:
Hit Die: d8
Has to remain within one step of Lawful Good.
Doesn't need to follow a specific conduct, but has to stay within the alignment range. If not, loses any divine spells until redeemed.
Proficient with all 2-handed weapons (Bastard Sword counts for this) and all Martial weapons, but not shields.
Proficient with light and medium armor.
Can't use any healing spells/abilities.
No Mercies or Lay on Hands. Instead, it gets Celestial Heart much like an Empyreal Knight.
Has an inexplicable compulsion to clean/oil their weapon at least every other day. Failure means taking an attack penalty until cleaned.
Not sure if I should go 3/4 or full BAB
Starts with +2 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will save and scales accordingly.

Skills: Knowledge (Planes, Religion), Climb, Sense Motive, Perception, Acrobatics, Intimidate, Craft, Spellcraft, Swim, Handle Animal.

I figured that not having Mercies or access to the healing spells and the slightly smaller Hit Die balances well with having Powerful Build (Half-giant is able to get it as a racial anyway), the small damage resistances and the Magic Circle. I actually got the idea of Powerful Build from "Some hound archons can grow to a great size, and these creatures are a much more powerful foe" and "This powerfully built, dog-headed humanoid is a hound archon". While this Archon is Medium sized, Powerful Build seems to fit. Cleaning the weapon is a reference to the description saying "This canine-headed humanoid's well-groomed appearance and polished greatsword show it to be more than a common beast".

Story-wise, this could work. Imagine you're in some kind of holy city. It wouldn't be too big of a stretch (although maybe a little surprising) to see one of these guys acting as some kind of emissary from Heaven or acting as a holy guard of some leader there. The Archon gets sent along with the party for some reason or another. Maybe the leader sent the Archon along to help with some task he/she set forth, or maybe the Archon is meant to watch the other players to make sure they don't royally screw up. Hell, maybe he just simply got bound to the plane by some summoner but was able to retain his free will.

Any ideas or suggestions? I like the idea of splitting it into race and class separately, meaning someone could still use this as a character even if they don't want to play some kind of Paladin variant. Honestly, the thing I really need are some good numbers for the resistances and other things I purposefully left vague since I wouldn't really know where to draw the line would for too good or too useless.

I want to attack at least twice a turn with both sai's, are these the feat's I need to take?

Two-Weapon Fighting (Combat)
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (Combat)

By the way, you won't be able to take Improved Two-Weapon fighting until level 8. It requires a BAB of +6 which you don't get as a monk until that level. Improved Two-Weapon fighting will actually get you 3 attacks. One from your main hand, one from your off hand, and a second from your off-hand at a -5 bonus.

I'm not really familiar with psionics, is this size increase a permanent thing, or something you have to activate?

EDIT The reason I ask is because people tend to forget that weapons get longer and heavier as they get bigger and arn't simply "tagged" (L), (H), (G).
A Greatsword in the book weighs 8 lbs (which is a little on the heavy side).
(M) Greatsword 8 lbs. and roughly 3.25' long
(L) Greatsword 64 lbs. and roughly 6.5' long
(H) Greatsword 512 lbs. and roughly 13' long
(G) Greatsword 4,096 lbs. and roughly 26' long
(C) Greatsword 32,768 lbs. and roughly 52' long (I know (C) wasn't mentioned, I just wanted to see how big it was.)
This is assuming the size is twice that of the previous category. Correct me if I'm wrong.
If your size "activates"... how do you intend on lugging this thing around?

The sword starts off as Large before anything happens, which can be carried with a back-sheath going at a diagonal angle instead of straight down so that it doesn't scrape the ground while walking. When I activate my armor it's as if I was effected by an Expansion spell but stacked twice, meaning I get the size bonus as well. Basically, it's only really big in combat and while in combat I'm big enough to wield it as well. Activating the armor is a full-round action meaning I won't have to be giant-sized in any scenario other than combat.

But being huge would prevent you from entering most buildings including dungeons. So you could end up having to wait outside while your party has fun.

The nice thing is that there's an ability that allows me to turn various customizations off on the fly by using a couple PP so if an issue due to size comes up I can either turn the armor completely off if not in combat or turn off the size changes.

Thanks for your input guys!

The thing is though, the effect of the armor says I can use a weapon one size larger than myself like normal. If I had the armor on, wouldn't that allow me to use the weapon?

The wording of the effect is "The aegis can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty" which sounds like it would allow me to. I fully agree that without that customization to the armor the rules are clear that I wouldn't be able to use it, meaning I would need some kind of backup weapon.

Hello, new player here. I was just kind of messing around, looking at different classes and such and I came across an interesting idea. I'm worried I might have some ideas mixed up though, and if not I'm worried my DM might not like the idea too much since it seems extremely strong, at least to me. She tends to be pretty RP focused which is why I'm worried.

The class and various links to everything can be accessed through here:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/aegis

The idea revolves around the Aegis and various enlarging qualities its Astral Armor can give it. At the very first level his suit can give him Powerful Build, meaning he can wield a weapon one size category larger than intended with no penalty. That means that at level 1 my character can whip out a 3d6 weapon in the form of a Large Greatsword with no penalties.

This stays relatively the same until level 6 when it gets Augmented Weapon which increases the size category of the weapon, making it a Huge Greatsword with a damage of 4d6. In not too long (level 9) it gets replaced by Increased Size which basically does the same but increasing my size to Large. A 4d6 weapon (plus whatever feats) seems crazy for that level.

But wait, it gets better. At level 10 I give myself an extra attack. At the ripe age of 15 I get Increase Size, Improved bumping everything up another size category thus making me a Huge creature (meaning tons of extra strength) swinging a Gargantuan Greatsword of 6d6. This seems hilarious. Considering how tanky this class is to begin with (with the damage resistance, masterwork full-plate defenses, d10 hit die and being able to add on a shield after I get Extra Arms, Greater) and the ability to dish out that much damage I'm worried this class is... well, just a little over the top. The icing on the cake is that if I use 1.5x size modifier for each stage, I'm about 15 feet tall swinging a weapon that's about 17 feet long.

To make it short and sweet:
lvl 1 - 3d6 with no penalty
lvl 6 - becomes 4d6
lvl 9 - I become Large
lvl 10 - I get an extra attack
lvl 15 - I become Huge and I get a 6d6 weapon.

Does this work how I think it will? And will this royally piss off other players?