Okik encourages you to keep your cloaks pulled down over your faces. While it still would be a strange sight, it should draw less attention than a group of humans walking freely. He also asks that you extinguish your lights - his guards will ensure that you stay together and on the right path.
Assuming you all are amenable to that…
Your journey is a bizarre one, in near-total darkness. Only sparse patches of bioluminescent fungi provide relief from the inky black as you shuffle along. The sounds of conversation, footsteps, the occasional argument, and other familiar noises of civilization still reach you, though the language is foreign and the voices distinctly non-human.
Andaris:
You walk through a network of tunnels, turning five or six times into seemingly-identical unmarked openings. You see mostly derro, though you also pass a handful of strange, twisted humanoids. Their appearance is a mixture of racial characteristics, with no two alike - a goblin’s mouth, an elf’s ears, an arm clawed and scaled, another short and muscular.
The townsfolk watch your procession with idle curiosity. Those in your path defer to Okik and his guards, leaving a clear path for your party.
The city itself consists largely of dwellings carved out of the stone, though the occasional larger cavern contains crude stone structures. One of these seems to be a market, where you see many varieties of fungi, bizarre meats, and giant insects available for purchase.
Your arrival at the clan compound is signalled by Okik barking out an order in Undercommon. ”სტუმრები მეტი დამწვრობა!” He follows this with a whisper in the same tongue.
Andaris:
He whispers to one of the guards escorting you, who heads down another passageway.
You are lead through a series of rapid turns, everything still dark. You are told to watch your head a couple times as you pass through doorways.
Andaris:
The “clan home” is a cluster of buildings carved from the walls of a cave that serves as a sort of courtyard. You are lead into the building on your left. As you travel, you feel as though the roundabout route you take could easily have been more direct, as if they are trying to confuse you or keep you away from areas.
”We are safe now. You may be lighting a torch.” Okik intones.
You find yourself in a small study. Derro-sized chairs sit around a table, while surface artifacts (mostly junk) adorn the walls.
One of the derro guards is missing, but soon returns clutching a rag-wrapped object. With a nod from Okik, he unwraps the object and sets it on the table.
The Shard of Darkness is pitch black, save for a faint gleam on its razor-sharp edges. Slim and about the length of your hand, it appears neither natural nor cut - rather, its jagged edges are reminiscent of broken glass.
Think something like these in shape, but more like this in appearance.
Okik lets you examine it as you wish. He assures you it is unbreakable, and cautions you to watch the sharp edges.
Detect Magic:
The shard radiates a strong aura of enchantment.
Roll a spellcraft check if you choose to try and identify it.
DC 15 Spellcraft:
Despite its strong aura, the shard lacks any abilities or powers.
DC 25 Spellcraft:
You are able to catch the faintest hint of something else. By focusing for some time, you can sense an incredibly faint magical “pull”, for lack of a better word, “tugging” the shard vaguely upwards.
In terms of pricing, I feel that 6300 is low. The impact weapon property is a +1 cost equivalent and only increases the damage by one step, while shillelagh increases by two.
That said, if this is a single custom magic item that is unlikely to be recreated, price doesn't matter. The only thing I'd watch for is making a 1-handed weapon deal damage as a 2-handed weapon, but that is unlikely to be a significant problem.
Divine Necromancers are better for your classic "command an army of the dead,"
Is this just because of the lower-level spell slots and ability to channel to heal? Am I missing something? I feel that the wizard is much better at having a large amount of undead under their control, as they have access to an extra bucket independent of HD limits.
Wizards get some nice tricks to make up for getting animate spells late.
The command undead spell is difficult to get on a cleric, and provides a pretty substantial increase to the amount of undead you can control - a high-HD skeleton will only take a single 2nd-level spell every week or two, freeing up space in your animate dead control cap.
If you have a cleric capable of casting desecrate in the party, you are at no disadvantage. If not, spend 2k to pick up a vodstick for the pocket desecrate.
Also, if your GM lets you swing it, blood money will let you bypass the onyx costs, provided you can get some cheap/free ability damage removal from a party member (or are willing to sleep it off between raising undead).
EDIT: I was assuming this was for a PC. For an NPC, you can explain away a huge amount of undead with some massed preparations of command undead, far in excess of his HD limit from animate dead. Very handy if you want the PCs to fight a bunch of skeletal T-rexes or something. The cleric spell list has some nice buffs for undead that are easier to set up for an NPC's base than if you are attacking as a PC (unhallow, or even just desecrate).
Technically, your GM cannot roll on a random percentage table if their d10's are the same colour.
Equipment wrote:
Weapons
All weapons deal hit point damage. This damage is subtracted from the current hit points of any creature struck by the weapon. When the result of the die roll to make an attack is a natural 20 (that is, the die actually shows a 20), this is known as a critical threat (although some weapons can score a critical threat on a roll of less than 20). If a critical threat is scored, another attack roll is made, using the same modifiers as the original attack roll. If this second attack roll is equal or greater than the target's AC, the hit becomes a critical hit, dealing additional damage.
Kineticists are living channels for elemental matter and energy, manipulating the world around them by drawing upon inner reserves from their own bodies. Kineticists often awaken to their kinetic abilities during a violent or traumatic experience, releasing their power involuntarily. As kinetic power is seldom inherited, kineticists are rarely able to find mentors to guide them, so they must delve into these mysteries on their own to learn to control their gifts.
The character's hit points are reduced to a negative amount equal to his Constitution score, his Constitution drops to 0, or he is killed outright by a spell or effect. The character's soul leaves his body. Dead characters cannot benefit from normal or magical healing, but they can be restored to life via magic. A dead body decays normally unless magically preserved, but magic that restores a dead character to life also restores the body either to full health or to its condition at the time of death (depending on the spell or device). Either way, resurrected characters need not worry about rigor mortis, decomposition, and other conditions that affect dead bodies.
Technically, only characters can have the dead condition - it makes no mention of creatures in the entry. Therefore, you cannot actually impose the dead condition on anything other than a PC. Might as well make the most of it!
*TPK*
Combat wrote:
Initiative: At the start of a battle, each combatant makes an initiative check. An initiative check is a Dexterity check. Each character applies his or her Dexterity modifier to the roll, as well as other modifiers from feats, spells, and other effects. Characters act in order, counting down from the highest result to the lowest. In every round that follows, the characters act in the same order (unless a character takes an action that results in his or her initiative changing; see Special Initiative Actions).
If two or more combatants have the same initiative check result, the combatants who are tied act in order of total initiative modifier (highest first). If there is still a tie, the tied characters should roll to determine which one of them goes before the other.
Code of Conduct: A paladin must be of lawful good alignment and loses all class features except proficiencies if she ever willingly commits an evil act.
Additionally, a paladin's code requires that she respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison, and so forth), help those in need (provided they do not use the help for evil or chaotic ends), and punish those who harm or threaten innocents.
Technically, it doesn't say a paladin loses all class features if she breaks her code of conduct, only if she commits an evil act. Therefore, as long as the lying and cheating etc. is purely chaotic, you can do it all you want!
Skills wrote:
Aid Another: You can help someone achieve success on a skill check by making the same kind of skill check in a cooperative effort. If you roll a 10 or higher on your check, the character you're helping gets a +2 bonus on his or her check. (You can't take 10 on a skill check to aid another.) In many cases, a character's help won't be beneficial, or only a limited number of characters can help at once.
In cases where the skill restricts who can achieve certain results, such as trying to open a lock using Disable Device, you can't aid another to grant a bonus to a task that your character couldn't achieve alone. The GM might impose further restrictions to aiding another on a case-by-case basis as well.
Just a couple notes on some minor things I noticed on a quick read-through.
Blinking Form (the defense talent) provides a "+1 enhancement bonus to Will saves". I don't believe saving throws ever gain enhancement bonuses - they generally receive resistance bonuses instead. This would also mimic the other defense talents (water, phyto) that replace items. That said, perhaps an untyped bonus is a better idea to allow stacking with a Cloak of Resistance - because the bonus (usually) only applies to a single save, I don't think I can see most characters forgoing the cloak.
Note: I haven't actually played a kineticist yet, and with their good Fort/Ref saves and dependence on Dex and Con that might not be that much of an issue.
Also, the Positive Energy infusion says "If it hits a target that would be healed by positive energy, that target is healed by 1/4 the amount of damage the blast would have normally caused." You probably want to change that line to "... that target is instead healed..." to clarify that the target doesn't gain the healing in addition to the regular damage :)
Shimmering Infusion reads "must make a Will save, and if they fail, become fascinated for 1 round." I believe the typical phrasing is "must make a Will save or become fascinated for 1 round." Additionally, the term is generally "sightless creatures" rather than "creatures that cannot see". I'd suggest tightening up the wording to "This does not affect creatures that take damage from this blast, sightless creatures, or creatures immune to illusion effects."
A couple balance notes:
Imaginary Friends (and Greater) is an interesting idea, but I don't think it's ever worth the burn. The worst use of Shadow Conjuration is for Summon Monster - you get 20% HP, and sometimes 20% damage. (Incidentally: is the Will save Constitution-based? 10 + Con + 1/2 level?)
In the other direction, Lightshaper seems really strong. Forcing a second save is generally worth around +3 to +4 to the save DC. The fact that it's a Will save instead of a Reflex save doesn't really offset that in my opinion - I think that in many cases it will be more advantageous to force a Will save.
For an always-on thing, it seems a little much. Perhaps those better versed in theorycraft will disagree, but that's my gut reaction.
+1 to Mythender. Tons of fun, roll lots of dice, kill gods, try not to become gods.
I also like Star Wars Saga Edition. It's still d20 and largely based on D&D 3.5, so the mechanics will feel familiar. Not sure if that's a plus or not for you.
Full disclosure: I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and running around in the Expanded Universe is a big deal for me :)
Eh: lacking a computer, I'm not around as much as I like, too. We're cool. :D
*yawn*
What does 'Eh:' mean?
Zzz...zzz...zzz
An expression of ambivalence.
Not to be confused with 'eh?', which is a glorious Canadian sentence-finisher meaning "what?", "don't you agree?", or "did you know about the thing I just said?", among other things.
The Swordmaster class is a really solid 3PP product that has a strong connection to your sword, to the point where it becomes an intelligent item. The sword art system has an interesting, fluid combat dynamic. I highly recommend it.
I'd use Taldor. That's what I'm doing with it in my campaign. Petty civil wars between feudal lords. Dragons and monsters around because the lords are too busy keeping eyes on each other to waste valuable resources.
Alternatively, parts of Brevoy might be suitable. Cheliax too. I could see Arthurian legend happening there, but replacing every Christian reference with Asmodeus instead.
You could also run an interesting sort of twist if you play it in Ustalav. Rather than rescuing noble ladies from dragons, you'd be saving them from undead dragons :). Regular undead would work too. Don't forget to throw in the occasional vampire noble to mix things up.
In summary: Any nation with a noble tradition could work. I think Taldor is the best pick, but Cheliax, Brevoy, or Ustalav could also suit.
Curiously, since breath of life doesn't refer to raise dead, an unwilling target is forced to return, since an unattended non-magical object always fails its save.
</aside>
.
Theoretically, they didn't die. You are just healing them.
I think that
Breath of Life wrote:
Unlike other spells that heal damage, breath of life can bring recently slain creatures back to life. If cast upon a creature that has died within 1 round, apply the healing from this spell to the creature. If the healed creature's hit point total is at a negative amount less than its Constitution score, it comes back to life and stabilizes at its new hit point total. If the creature's hit point total is at a negative amount equal to or greater than its Constitution score, the creature remains dead. Creatures brought back to life through breath of life gain a temporary negative level that lasts for 1 day.
<aside>
Curiously, since breath of life doesn't refer to raise dead, an unwilling target is forced to return, since an unattended non-magical object always fails its save.
</aside>
Skylancer4 wrote:
The specific rule of Breath of Life is what allows the bring back of the dead character. If you try to cast it, the requirements are not met, and it would be wasted/fizzle. The spell checks to see if the target died last round. If they did, it works. If they didn't, it would fizzle on the barely decaying corpse you tried to use it on.
I'd agree with this. Similarly, I wouldn't allow gentle repose to extend the duration in which you could be reincarnated.
Reincarnate wrote:
With this spell, you bring back a dead creature in another body, provided that its death occurred no more than 1 week before the casting of the spell and the subject's soul is free and willing to return.
[...]
The condition of the remains is not a factor.
Gentle repose's maintenance of the body is relevant only for raise dead, as that is the only spell that requires intact remains.
Point taken. I think I'll still run it with accurate math at my table :)
Torbyne wrote:
Based on that there could be an arguement made about running perhaps?
The point is moot in this case - you can't run in difficult terrain.
PRD: Run wrote:
You can run as a full-round action. If you do, you do not also get a 5-foot step. When you run, you can move up to four times your speed in a straight line (or three times your speed if you're in heavy armor). You lose any Dexterity bonus to AC unless you have the Run feat.
You can run for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score, but after that you must make a DC 10 Constitution check to continue running. You must check again each round in which you continue to run, and the DC of this check increases by 1 for each check you have made. When you fail this check, you must stop running. A character who has run to his limit must rest for 1 minute (10 rounds) before running again. During a rest period, a character can move no faster than a normal move action.
You can't run across difficult terrain or if you can't see where you're going.
A run represents a speed of about 13 miles per hour for an unencumbered human.
(link)
I wonder if you can run while entangled, if you were entangled but not in difficult terrain (eg. a tanglefoot bag?)
Does the half speed for rough terrain on deadly earth stack with half speed from being entangled? Would it be 30 movement -> 15 -> 5 from rounding down?
I believe the answer is yes - penalties to movement stack. I don't apply them as reductions to base movement speed though, instead dividing their total movement for that round (ie. if they double move for 60 feet, divide by 4 for 15 feet of movement). Not sure if that's how it's supposed to be done.
If you can stack a darkness/blindness effect on there too, it will reduce their speed by another half.
This is my favourite cover of Simon and Garfunkel because they take the song and make it something unique. You can't out-Simon-and-Garfunkel Simon and Garfunkel, yet so many bands try.
Usually, a spell-like ability works just like the spell of that name. A spell-like ability has no verbal, somatic, or material component, nor does it require a focus. The user activates it mentally. Armor never affects a spell-like ability's use, even if the ability resembles an arcane spell with a somatic component.
A spell-like ability has a casting time of 1 standard action unless noted otherwise in the ability or spell description. In all other ways, a spell-like ability functions just like a spell.
(Link)
Emphasis mine. I'm pretty sure it's this line that lets you cast them defensively - it acts as a regular spell. Spells can be cast defensively.
They make sure that all spell-like abilities have spell levels with a clause shortly after:
PRD wrote:
If a character class grants a spell-like ability that is not based on an actual spell, the ability's effective spell level is equal to the highest-level class spell the character can cast, and is cast at the class level the ability is granted.
Otherwise, it has the same spell level as the normal spell does - an aasimar with daylight casts it as a level 3 spell.
I don't care that the storm strooper isn't white what there better be an explanation for is why he's not Temuera Morrison colored.
Because the Empire stopped using clones because it was cheaper to get them the old fashioned way.
I wonder if there will ever be non-human storm troopers.
In the universe now known as Legends, The Empire of the Hand had non-human stormtroopers. (Source: Survivor's Quest)
In Canon, we'll just have to wait and see. Since they aren't using clones, I'd consider it possible. Real-life budget limitations are probably not as significant either, which makes me think it's even more plausible.
In any case, I have a feeling that this becomes more than a 'minor houserule'.
On topic, I rule that 0HD outsider(native) races (eg. aasimar, tiefling) count as humanoids for purposes of what spells affect them. It keeps the assumptions the same for all PCs, and you don't get a member of the party subject to planar binding.
I'd suggest taking a look at the Strain-Injury HP Variant that Evil Lincoln cooked up. It addresses your issues with healing in a pretty elegant way. Works great for low-magic campaigns/games without a divine caster.
New fun wrinkle, if it doesn't grant an extra attack the penalty will only apply to attacks of opportunity.
Carl resolves his full attack, then swiftly activates his +4 AC, -2 to hit. He gains the advantage of the +4 AC while his enemy's take their turns and the -2 to hit goes away at the start of his next turn. That seems off.
The only difference is on one attack: Carl could still full attack first, then gain the +4 AC AND make another attack at -2. Is that more off, or less?
Note that given that he's a swashbuckler, that -2 will also apply to any parry (and riposte) attempts.
I'd rule it more conservatively myself, as a +5 AC with -2 penalties only on attacks of opportunity (and parry and riposte) seems like a decent use of panache. I'm going to assume a swashbuckler has 3 ranks in acrobatics by level 15.
From my reading (and how I've always run it), fighting defensively is a modification to the 'Attack' action. The 'when attacking' part is in reference to this, as it is listed under the attack action (which is a standard action to perform).
For your example 1, he makes an attack as a standard action, but with modifiers from fighting defensively. It still is the attack action, so he gets his one attack. I feel that calling out fighting defensively as 'the fighting defensively action is problematic, and shouldn't happen. It's not listed as an action on the table, but rather as a modification to the attack action.
You are correct on your guess for point B - the penalty applies to all attacks that round, including attacks of opportunity or mythic abilities that allow attacks as swift actions.
Symmetrically, there is another entry under 'Full Attack' that permits you to do the same, but when full attacking. (Handles your example 2: You can fight defensively and full attack at the same time.)
Now as for the swashbuckler case... the part where they call out the 'fighting defensively action' leaves me somewhat confused. Perhaps the intention is to allow you to activate it after a full attack, double movement, or anything else that takes both your actions. I somehow doubt it's intended to provide an extra attack, since I feel that would be explicitly stated. The 'fighting defensively action' doesn't exist on the table of Actions in Combat, and I'm really not sure what to make of it.
In my games, you wouldn't get the extra attack. I'd let you activate it after your full attack to avoid the penalties during your turn, but it wouldn't give another attack at highest attack bonus.
Hope that helps.
Two-Handed Power Attack: A melee-ranged, AC-targeting cantrip, requiring a greatsword as a focus component, that may be cast only by barbarians (and lesser barbarians, cf. fighter). Martials claim the sole purpose of casters is to increase the amount and effectiveness of these. Primarily used to kill everything after the casters have won the fight (see conditions).
Discription
This wreath of white lilies smells of the sea and never wilts. Each flower has a deep red center in the shape of a star. Once per day, a character may use a standard action to pluck a flower from the Lei of Lost Souls and blow it into the air. The flower then multiplies, forming a 15 foot cyclone of flowers around the wearer. Within the cyclone invisible but tangible humanoid shapes are able to be discerned from where the flowers are hitting them. These figures are an extention of the wearer's memories and will often remind the wearer of people they have lost.
Any time a creature performs an action that would provoke an attack of opportunity within the 15 foot radius of whirling flowers, the wearer of the Lei of Lost Souls may make an attack of opportunity as if the creature was within the wearer's reach. The humanoid shapes allow the wearer to attack twice when making an attack of opportunity. This effect lasts 10 minutes.
Construction Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, unseen servant, thirty lilies; Cost 1000 gp
I want to like this item, but probably would not have voted for it had I seen it.
The name is evocative and intrigued me. Despite following <noun> of <adjective> <noun>, I think it worked well. (Was the homophone lei/lay intentional? I liked it, but it might have cost you votes with others.)
A couple template nit-picks: your weight is missing a space, and should be "1 lb." (only pluralized if it's more than one). You also don't need to include mundane items in your construction requirements. Also, you misspelled Description.
Should it have a CL of 1st? It only has a 1st-level spell in the requirements, and the effect has a duration of 10 minutes.
I wondered why the lilies smelled like the sea. Is it just to emphasize the Lei -> Pacific Ocean connection? This item doesn't specifically deal with deaths at sea, so this mention created a thematic disconnect for me.
I presume you mean "forming a 15-ft [radius]", and later rules do mention this. "Invisible but tangible" confused me until I finished the sentence. Once I did, I could immediately visualize what you meant.
Don't take the above criticism the wrong way - the description really worked for me. The imagery was fantastic, and this is an item I'd love to see in play. I find myself to be much better at finding things to improve than explaining what I like - but I really like your description.
...Then I got to the mechanics. My key issue with the item is two-fold: the mechanics are far too strong for this price, and the mechanics don't really match up with the theme.
It's an item that allows the user to threaten all squares within 15 feet, and make double the attacks of opportunity.
Doubled attacks of opportunity is interesting, but pricing would be difficult to determine. It certainly costs more than 3000 gp, though. The speed property gives the user another attack while full-attacking (something that can only happen once per round), and that is priced as a +3 bonus.
The description leads to another question: if the humanoid shapes are "extension[s] of the wearer's memories", why do they still attack as the user? The invisible force they attack with functions the same as my +3 flaming greatsword?
Really, that's the biggest issue I have: I have a wreath made of death-associated flowers that creates a swirling vortex filled with tangible memories of my lost ones...
... who will smack people who let their guard down near me. Huh?
The flavour is wonderful, but the mechanics don't support the theme. I would have loved to see something else done with the swirling flowers and memory ghosts - I feel like a terrible person for not having a good suggestion as to what that could be.
Braingamer Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
I wish I had seen this in voting. I really like it, and would have been proud to give it a vote.
Jacob W. Michaels wrote:
I liked this; that said, I kept thinking that once someone's experienced it, they're going to just start following the one direction WITHOUT tracks.
The direction without the unseen servant tracks would be the direction the user travelled in - it has the user's tracks, resulting in tracks in all directions.
If there's a way I can tell ya without spoilers...
If you don't want your players reading it, you can send a private message. Or, if you trust your players (who does?) you could post things in a spoiler tag.
Disclaimer: I'm trying to help. Apologies if anything sounds harsh - it's probably poor word choice on my part.
The idea is interesting, but I don't think it would get much use. The ordinary headman's blade is nice for a slayer, but the extra bit you added on (the animating head thing) won't really have much of an effect in-game.
By the time you can afford this kind of weapon (going by your estimated price range), a CR 1/3 monster isn't going to be even close to effective.
Pricing:
It would need to cost at least 72 350 gp if you want vorpal on there - a +1 vorpal greatsword is a +6 equivalent weapon (the enhancement bonus is added to the equivalent cost of the special properties).
From the Headman's Blade, it looks like they priced the extra ability at 5500 gp. You've increased the save DC by 5, and also added on a limited animate dead ability. Given the cost of the original ability, I'd probably price the DC increase at around 1k-2k. The animate ability, though... I'd rework it.
Suggestions:
I'd probably drop the vorpal - it already has a decapitation ability. Instead, step it up to at least 3/day, or even unlimited uses.
Assuming you're going for something in the 70k range, a +4 keen greatsword might make a good base (+5 equivalent, or 50 350 gp). Add on a 3/day assassinate with increased DC for around 20k (quick-and dirty 3x to 5500, add some bonus for increased DC to bring it up to a nice round number), and you're at 70 350 gp. Now if you want to add your undead animation ability, you'll want to add a little more oomph.
If you want to stick to creating undead, I'd pick a different monster or give them some serious bonuses. Maybe you can create headless zombies instead?
Side note: you refer to the number of beheaded, not the HD, which is unusual. For consistency's sake, I'd change that.
Also, can you create variant beheaded with this? They count as having higher HD for purposes of control, another reason to list the control cap as HD rather than number. Also, since the sword will have a fixed CL, maybe you should refer to that as the cap. (Side-side note: In your draft, vorpal has a CL of 18th, which would make the weapon's CL 18th as well. A +4 keen weapon would have CL 12th)
When I first read the thread title, I was wondering if this was a Balor crossed with a Shadow, like a superpowered Shadow Demon. Looks interesting. I don't tend to see much high-level play at my table, but might keep this in mind.
One question: "assonate" = assassinate? You also refer to "assignations" rather than assassinations in the last line.
Here's an early preview of Vengence Best Served. Working on it between prepping for my game and my work schedules.
I'd just like to say that this is pretty fantastic. As a fairly new GM, I find the tactical advice and additional explanation you add very helpful. I wish published adventures contained that kind of stuff.
26. As combat with the BBEG begins, reach into your bag and pull out another d20, placing it on the table with an air of finality. "Time to use this one."
20. "Sorry, just a minute: which hand did you use to open the door?"
Got a rogue's player panicking once, trying to justify why he'd be using his (right-handed character's) left hand to open the door...
21. "Hmm. That's an interesting plan."
22. "How far away are the rest of you standing? Right beside each other, or..."
