Yup, definitely too powerful. Here's a comparison to show you how. Take a generic Two Weapon Fighting build and add the following things:
This outclasses anything a TWF build or Magus build can do. The only martial builds that will be able to compete with it are mounted lance users with pounce, and specialized archery builds like inquisitors and arsenal chaplain warpriests. And this ectoplasmatist has better reach, battlefield control, AC, and WBL than those builds.
Looks pretty spiffy =) Normalize the DCs of her abilities and make them scale better. Give Freyja's Embrace, Words of Harbard, Wail of Hel, and Light of Balder a DC of 10 + 1/2 class level + cha mod, and make the grapple from Freyja's Embrace equal to BAB + cha mod. I'm no expert on Norse mythology, but the wikipedia page for Tyr says that he's a god of law and justice, and known for his wisdom. So why does Strength of Tyr count as chaotic and give a wisdom penalty? Also, I think it should be an enhancement bonus rather than an untyped bonus. Does the increased crit threat range stack with things like Keen? If not, mention that. Odin's Cunning is pretty weak. In addition to the current effects, give it a longer lasting bonus like Magic Circle against Evil or a paladin's Aura of Righteousness for 1 round per level. What type of action is Nibelung Valesti? Chosen Weapon would be fine without the -1 attack penalty. Since Warhorn requires a free hand, most valkyries aren't going to use a heavy shield. Either they'll use a buckler and get a -1 penalty when using their weapon twohanded, or they won't use a shield at all. Shield Brace exists, so try to make this class feature as good as that or better.
The spell conjures manacles, the item, on the target. The full rules for manacles are in Path of the Hellknight, page 15. You can also find them on Archives of Nethys.
Instead of human, go with demon-spawn tiefling for a FCB that gives +1 self-healing with LoH, +1 natural armor, a bite attack, and way more interesting flavor. For eldritch heritage go with abyssal bloodline and get a bloodline familiar with an archetype of your choice. Then improved eldritch heritage will give you a bonus to strength. And since it's abyssal, even MORE interesting flavor.
You'll very rarely get responses about 3pp stuff here on the Paizo forums. Try giant in the playground, the devs of Dreamscarred Press are much more active and responsive there. As for your friend's question, your group is already using 3pp stuff, so there's really no issue with simply giving Perform as a class skill to the Virtuoso for free in your home games.
The lore doesn't absolutely preclude tieflings or non-god-worshiping people from the Order of the Pyre, so yes, it would be feasible. The only thing that matters at this point is the finding out the opinions of the people you're going to be playing with, to determine whether or not they'll give you grief and make the game un-fun for you. Some people will think that character is too much of a special snowflake, and some people will think it's a fun and interesting twist.
Pain Psychic VMC Paladin healing by level::
7: 3d6, 5+cha uses per day 8: 4d6, 6+cha uses per day 9: 5d6, 7+cha uses per day 10: 6d6, 8+cha uses per day 11: 7d6, 9+cha uses per day 12: 8d6, 10+cha uses per day 13: 9d6, 11+cha uses per day 14: 10d6, 12+cha uses per day 15: 11d6, 13+cha uses per day 16: 12d6, 14+cha uses per day 17: 13d6, 15+cha uses per day 18: 14d6, 16+cha uses per day 19: 15d6, 17+cha uses per day 20: 16d6, 18+cha uses per day Tiefling Paladin VMC Cavalier (order of the star) healing by level::
7: 5d6+7, 5+cha uses per day 8: 6d6+8, 6+cha uses per day 9: 6d6+9, 6+cha uses per day 10: 7d6+10, 7+cha uses per day 11: 8d6+11, 8+cha uses per day 12: 9d6+12, 9+cha uses per day 13: 9d6+13, 9+cha uses per day 14: 10d6+14, 10+cha uses per day 15: 11d6+15, 11+cha uses per day 16: 12d6+16, 12+cha uses per day 17: 12d6+17, 12+cha uses per day 18: 13d6+18, 13+cha uses per day 19: 14d6+19, 14+cha uses per day 20: 15d6+20, 15+cha uses per day Tiefling Paladin VMC Barbarian (lesser celestial totem) healing by level::
7: 3d6, 3+cha uses per day 8: 4d6, 4+cha uses per day 9: 4d6, 4+cha uses per day 10: 5d6, 5+cha uses per day 11: 5d6+22, 5+cha uses per day 12: 6d6+24, 6+cha uses per day 13: 6d6+26, 6+cha uses per day 14: 7d6+28, 7+cha uses per day 15: 7d6+30, 7+cha uses per day 16: 8d6+32, 8+cha uses per day 17: 8d6+34, 8+cha uses per day 18: 9d6+36, 9+cha uses per day 19: 9d6+38, 9+cha uses per day 20: 10d6+40, 10+cha uses per day Conclusions: Tiefling Paladin VMC Cavalier (order of the star) is the best at self-healing at all levels. If you're not a tiefling, then Pain Psychic VMC Paladin becomes the best self-healer at level 13.
Take a peek at Pain Psychic with VMC Paladin. A Pain Psychic gets Live On, which is Lay on Hands at your psychic level -3. It explicitly stacks with lay on hands abilities gained from other sources. A VMC Paladin gains the ability to lay on hands a number of times per day equal to 1/2 her character level, healing as much as a paladin of her character level – 4. A level 20 pain psychic with VMC paladin has 18+cha uses of lay on hands that heal 16d6. That's even more healing than the typical Paladin + VMC Cavalier of the Star build. And you're a full caster.
Good second draft, I see you took my suggestions! But there is still some more paring to be done. Remember, solarian even in vanilla is the highest damage class in the game. By all means give it abilities that improve its utility, defense, crowd control, and more incentive to have high charisma, but don't give it more damage. For weapon solarians, Mass Ejection is just a pure damage evolution. If they use an advanced melee weapon, they suffer no real consequence before their manifestation returns at the start of their next turn. It's more risky and interesting for armor solarians, though. Maybe make this evolution armor-only. Or give it functionality that isn't related to purely increasing damage. Rework Star Cluster a bit. Instead of just slapping +5 cold/fire damage on allies, maybe you could enable allies to convert half their damage to cold/fire, and also ignore 5 cold/fire resistance. That would allow allies to deal more damage against resistant targets without simply dealing more damage 100% of the time. Guardian Constellation is very weak. Look at the Force Field armor addon for comparison. Even a purple force field will provide more temporary HP over the course of the day than a level 20 solarian's Guardian Constellation. Looking forward to what you have in mind for modifications to revelations!
Solarians are already the highest damage class in the game, even beating out operatives and soldiers, due to Proton Attunement and Plasma Sheathe. There's no need to increase the damage of their solar weapon or give them free weapon focus. That's not where the solarian's shortcomings lie. Don't have Stellar Mode give a scaling increase to attack or AC. That throws off the math of the game at higher levels. Either make them static bonuses, or change the scaling bonus to something else, like certain skills. Stat replacement with cha looks like a good idea. Charisma does so tragically little in SF, only improving social skills, resolve, and revelation DCs for solarians at the moment. It'll be nice to have an incentive to start with 18 cha as a solarian and still be good at combat. Your black hole changes look good for the most part, but having it provoke AoOs might be excessive. The event horizon addition is especially nice, but I think that at least that portion should allow a save, even if the initial pull doesn't. Having it allow a save allows for counterplay, and gives the solarian more incentive to increase charisma. Yay for no Disproportionate Revelations! Your supernova change is interesting, but I'm not sure how it would play out in an actual game. The damage almost seems excessive, but you'll have to really count on your GM not to screw you over and hope the stars align (pun intended) for the perfect environment to use it in. Really, it seems so dangerous to use that it encourages one particular playstyle: Start combat in graviton, use your extremely reliable black hole right off the bat, then switch to proton and start dealing damage. I don't have a suggestion for this, maybe it's not even a problem to you. About your Solar Evolutions. The ones that bring additional utility like Prominence Strike are really cool. But the ones that pile on raw numbers like Solar EMP might cause math problems. Remember that bonuses and penalties are very rare in Starfinder. Overall, I like your changes, but what I really want to see are improvements to the revelations that use standard/full actions or allow saves, like Gravity Hold, Flare, Crush, and Gravity Surge. It'll be cool to have some more effective combat options that aren't attacks or zenith revelations.
tynansdtm wrote: How did you determine that the maenad's proficiency with flails applied to the whole weapon group? Reading the wording again, it’s unclear if it means they are proficient with all weapons in the flail weapon group, or if they’re only proficient with the one-handed martial weapon called flail. I've put a note about this in the race section. Thanks for the heads up =) tynansdtm wrote: You should strongly consider the Swift Aid feat. I strongly considered it, so strongly that I added it to the guide! With a red rating. Swift Aid*: You can use Aid Another as a swift action, but your base bonus is reduced to +1. Zealots only recover maneuvers if they use Aid Another as a move action, not with any other type of action. You also want to use your swift/immediate actions for boosts and counters, not this piddly bonus. Don’t be fooled into taking this.
Luke Spencer wrote: I don't think a player who wanted their character to be a Solarian would want to start off anything but a Solarian, it doesn't make much thematic sense to just be good at hitting stuff and then randomly get weird space powers at level 2. What's wrong with starting out as a mundane soldier who discovers incredible latent space powers and decides to pursue them?
Sir Thugsalot wrote: It frankly bothers me that the game rules might actually permit this without magic while in the presence of a guard who really does give a crap about doing his job (and that job is keeping bows out). Guy at the Gym fallacy spotted. It's fantasy and a game. Why does it bother you so much that a fantasy character who's specialized in skullduggery and takes a specific trait is able to do something cool without magic?
Book 3 is all about assaulting the holiest place in Talingarde and genociding Mitra's most important and powerful followers. Doesn't sound like that's of interest to you, though. Book 4 is where you start to break free of Thorn's rule and chart your own path. What happens next:
At the end of book 5, you get to kill Thorn himself. As for what character you should play, the only way to answer that is to learn more about the system and know what you personally find fun, since that question is unrelated to WotW. I think your scholar idea is much more interesting than your salt mine escapee. When I played WotW, I did exactly as you did with your 3rd concept, a life oracle ex-Mitran priest who decided to follow Asmodeus instead.
Power of Suggestion trait "You wouldn't deprive a young man of his dapper cane, would you?"
Humongous update! Guide Update Notes:
And there's probably a lot of other stuff I forgot! As always, please give me suggestions on what else I should put in the guide! Dreikaiserbund wrote: An extremely useful and interesting guide. A small question - where is the Banner of the Scarlet Rose from? From the Adventurer's Guide.
Night Terror Vigilante. It's from the Divergent Paths: Fool's Errand book from Dreamscarred Press. Stealth-based character, check. Charisma-based initiator, check. Has Veiled Moon, check. Specializes in improvised weapons, check. Gets bonuses to disguise, check. You can read the playtest documents here. An Amulet of Mighty Fists will apply its effects to your improvised weapons. At level 8, you can use anything in the environment as an improvised weapon. You don't even need to pick it up first. Smash your enemy's face into a teapot sitting on a nearby table! And your maneuver recovery lets you move and stealth even while being observed as a full round action.
Just because monks use unarmed strikes and don't wear armor doesn't mean they're not gear dependent. They need The Big Six™ number-stacking items in order to keep up with the math of the game, just like other martials. Casters don't, in comparison. Casters benefit much more from this system than martials do. The power a caster gets from accessing their next level of spells is exponentially greater than the power they get from bumping a stat up by 2.
1: Technically no, because the trigger is reducing an enemy to 0 or fewer hp. Nonlethal damage doesn't actually reduce an enemy's HP. "Do not deduct the nonlethal damage number from your current hit points. It is not “real” damage." Ask your GM if they'll allow it to work. If they're already allowing 3pp stuff, they should reasonably allow that. 2: Yes. The prerequisite for higher level maneuvers is to simply know a certain number of that discipline's maneuvers. It doesn't say anything about them having to be known as the same class. 3: Discipline Blade Shapes wouldn't form Empowered Strikes. It shapes an actual weapon. Empowered Strikes is a class feature from a specific class that's used as a weapon, not an actual weapon. If you get Fool's Errand, then yes, you can make any weapon. You can even make firearms!
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Mako Senako wrote: So as I understand it, the amount of healing I can give is based more on my initiator level than my actual medic level correct? So I could take a prestige class that increases initiator level 1 for 1 and keep my healing optimal in terms of how much i restore with each use? Correct, and correct.
This would work fine at low levels, but falls apart at higher levels when the minimum damage of critical hits easily exceeds a typical character's body points. It seems body points don't scale with level or constitution bonus unless allowed, so a typical adventurer will stay at ~22 body points from levels 1 to 20, assuming they're medium with 14 constitution. They only need to take 14 body damage to become disabled. As levels increase, it's very easy to get more attacks per round and higher static damage numbers, meaning you'll be subject to more critical hits per round for higher body damage. I don't think the miscellaneous additions would be able to keep up with the ever scaling offense.
No need for bard levels. Just go straight paladin with Oath of the People's Council and Warrior of the Holy Light. Now you have full progression bardic performance, a buffing aura instead of spells, all paladin auras minus Aura of Faith, and can wear full plate.
Use Enter the Vortex (Elemental Flux 5) as your stance. It lets you use ranged touch attacks which count as ranged weapons from the thrown weapon group, so you can use strike maneuvers with them. The range increment is 30 feet, but you can throw the blasts further than that, just like a regular ranged weapon.
I notice you're intending to get Stand Still. Read it closely. It only works against foes who provoke while adjacent to you. It doesn't work with all AoOs in your reach. It's a really bad feat. Get Shield Focus + Shield Brace instead. It lets you use a polearm/spear and a heavy shield at the same time. That means a lot more damage and reach with no cost to defense. Use a lucerne hammer if you want a reach weapon, and a nodachi if you don't. It doesn't look like you're using PoW:E. If you do, you get to add Eternal Guardian or Piercing Thunder to your available disciplines for free. Think about getting Bruising Intellect to use your intelligence in place of your charisma for intimidation, and use Fear the Reaper (Eternal Guardian 2).
Air0r, nothing prevents you from learning the same discipline in two different classes. Just remember you can't ready the same particular maneuver more than once at a time regardless of anything. David knott 242, you have an IL for each initiator class you have, just like you have a CL for each caster class you have.
Wracking Rod if you're allowed to use stuff Paizo made in 3.5e.
A Pain Psychic gets Live On, which is Lay on Hands at your psychic level -3. It explicitly stacks with lay on hands abilities gained from other sources. A VMC Paladin gains the ability to lay on hands a number of times per day equal to 1/2 her character level, healing as much as a paladin of her character level – 4. Since they explicitly stack, does that mean you add them together into one big pool of lay on hands? Would a level 20 pain psychic with VMC paladin have 18+cha uses of lay on hands that heal 16d6?
Saint Caleth wrote: This is what I love to hear! Do you have any suggestions after playing for how I can revise the adventure. If anyone else uses what I've written in this thread, let me know after you run it what worked, what could work better and any suggestions you have. My only complaint about Tomb of the Pharaohs is that the room with the fire elemental didn't really have much of a point. It had no loot, the single small fire elemental isn't any sort of threat, there's no fun twist like with the Raktavarna, and it doesn't provide any development or advantage later in the dungeon for exploring it. I made it into a medium fire elemental and had it be receptive to diplomacy, which the players could do because they learned Ignan from the magic crystal upstairs. They fed it the wood from the broken chariot and tipped over its brazier to send it home, and it gave them an Elemental Gem to summon it later as a reward. I liked the special glassy lamellar armor with no ASF, and so did my arcanist/warder player. It gave him a meaningful choice to decide between wearing that armor and a mithril chain shirt.
Saint Caleth, you are awesome ♥ Your maps are wonderfully detailed and come with a grid, your text layout is easy to read and flows sensibly, you have varied types of encounters, and the loot is unique and interesting! I just GMed Tomb of the Pharaohs for my players, and they loved it. I added a dented genie lamp hidden in the sarcophagus on the 1st floor for the players to use to trap and defeat the edimmu, because they didn't have magic weapons to damage it. I also added a Spirit Oni to the Raktavarna encounter and had it pretend to be a mask. Thanks for your awesome stuff, I can't wait to see moar!
Guide Update Notes:
avr wrote:
I always consider this item because of the name alone! =D And because I play with Path of War which uses a lot of swift actions.
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If you're fine with universally acclaimed 3pp, try the Medic from Dreamscarred Press. It's a nonmagical Path of War initiator that can do everything an in-combat healer needs to do, quickly and efficiently. Here are the playtest documents if you want to read it before you buy the pdf.
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Collective Recollection lets you use Aid Another for knowledge checks at range as a free action. The flavor text is "You and your allies can quickly jog each other's memories to remember essential facts." Talking is a free action, too.
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