Ciaran Barnes's page

I’ve been making Pathfinder homebrew for years, but here is my first go attempt for Starfinder. I think that the racial features are might be a little too much, but I’ll post it anyways. I tried to weigh this orc against the racial write up for the half-orc. Wether or not these two races are balanced against each other really depends on how much weight you give to choosing what ability score gets a +2, and how bad light sensitivity is.

ORC, SPACE
In the time before the gap, many of Golarion’s races of savage humanoids were on the verge of extinction due to extreme measures taken by more technologically advanced races. Only those among them with the ability to adapt to the changing world were able to survive.

Modern orcs typically live on worlds deemed unsuitable by most races: those with extreme temperatures, thin atmospheres, deadly radiation, or severe storms. As a result of living for generations in these conditions, a number of sub-species have emerged with physiological differences and a wide variety of skin tones. Orcs from an icy planet for example are quite pale, while those from a radiated planet could be purple or orange.

While many remain in desolate regions of the Pact Worlds, others have travelled on colony ships to other systems. They instinctually compete with other life forms for even the most meager of resources. Some labor on harsh worlds and do battle with the strange life forms there. Some mine the Diaspora and other meteors, inadvertently carrying on their ancient conflict with dwarves. The most warlike of them live and die as mercenaries serving powerful masters as foot soldiers and continue to travel to even more distant worlds.

The orc that has emerged in the age of space travel is not mentally deficient as those of antiquity, but on the whole the race continues to be manipulated or fooled by those with power. Most are aware of their poor lot in the universe, yet continue to repeat old mistakes and hold grudges against races they considered privileged. Some are content to live in their own communities far away from all other sentient life.

RACIAL TRAITS
Ability Adjustments: +2 Con, +2 Str, -2 Wis
Hit Points: 5

Size and Type: Space orcs are medium humanoids with the orc subtype.
Atmospherically Conditioned: Space orcs gain one of the following abilities, chosen at the time of character creation:
1) Can hold his breath for a number of minutes equal to his Constitution score and suffers damage from slow suffocation only once per hour.
2) Penalties to attack and Perception due to weather are reduced by 4, and any miss chance due to weather are reduced by 10%. This includes magically created weather effects.
3) Resist cold 2 and a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against cold damage.
4) Resist fire 2 and a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fire damage.
5) Treats areas of radiation as one level less in severity, and is unaffected by low radiation.
Darkvision: Space orcs have darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Orc Ferocity: Once per day, a space orc brought to 0 Hit points but not killed can fight for 1 more round. The orc drops to 0 HP and is dying (following the normal rules) but can act normally until the end of his next turn, when he becomes unconscious as normal. If he would lose additional Hit Point before this, he ceases to be able to act and falls unconscious.
Light Blindness: A space orc exposed to bright light is blinded for 1 round, and dazzled as long as he remains in areas of bright light.
Savage Instinct: Space orcs receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate and Survival checks.

DROPBOX LINK TO DPF
Click on "download" and then "direct download".

I've been sitting on this for at leastseveral months, though most of it was written in the beginning. I have some ideas that I want to see applied to all divine classes in one form or another, and some of them are big changes that I feel still keep to the spirit of the class. These ideas exist in 3-4 classes I have not shared yet, but this cleric is kind of the base for them all.

-The class has a scaling pool of points that is used to fuel channel energy, spontaneous casting, and other miscellaneous abilities.
-Channel energy is no longer simply positive or negative. Creatures are healed or harmed depending on their alignment. Why shuldn't evil clerics be able to ingivorate their evil minions? Also, you can pump extra points into it to bolster the effects.
-Domain slots are gone, as are spontaneously casting cure and inflict spells. Instead, the cleric spends points to spontanously cast spells from her deity's domains' lists of domain spells. That was a bit of a mouthful.
-There is a list of selectable features, similar to rogue talents of magus arcana.
-The heavily armed aspect of the cleric is not automatic! You can get is back easily enough, but it must be selected.

Alright, tear into it...

If you are not familiar with Frank Frazetta then I suggest a quick Google image search to see how his art helped shaped shaped the fantasy genre. He is most famous for his illustrations of Conan the Barbarian, but did loads of other stuff too.

I like the barbarian class, and don't actually want to fix it, but in reading the old Robert E Howard "Conan" stories and looking at the most famous depictions of that character, I don't feel that the D&D/Pathdinfer barbarian class does justice to the most famous of all "barbarians".

I have been working on a class that I have named the "frazetta", currently in its second incarnation. I like this one better than the first, but it's still not popping the way I would like it to. If you have any conceptual contributions you would like to make - fuel for the fire as it were - I would love to hear them. I would prefer inspiration from the original Conan stories and Frank Frazetta's art, but other old school fantasy stuff is fine too. For example, I have a selectable option titled "beastmaster". :)

I decided to revisit a class I started last year and made a choice to try an approach I have not used in a long time: no point pools, no spells, no uses per day, etc. I wanted to give another go at making a class who can use any of its abilities at any time, instead of one who can only do the fun stuff a limited number of times per day.

The only current class I can think of that is completely this way is the fighter. The rogue falls in the same category if certain talents are avoided. The ranger comes in right behind, and thats only because of a meager selection of spells beginning at 4th level.

On the rest of the spectrum we have primary spellcasters (wizards, druids), classes with rounds per day (bard, barbarian), uses per day (paladin, alchemist), and point pools (gunslinger, magus, monk). Some of have more than one of these.

Classes with a selection of "always on" abilities were once fairly standard in RPGs but no longer. I'm having a hard time being creative with this class. The player would have fewer options in game and it feels less dynamic. Are classes with no resources except hit points and equipment just an outdated design style?

I already know its a terrible archetype, so lets skip that part of the conversation.

The 4th level ability Explosive Torch deals some extra damage, but its also "sets the target on fire". Pathfinder's environmental rules have a section titled "catching on fire" so I think that governs what happens. By the CoF wording, the enemy would get a saving throw when at risk of catching on fire, but the wording of ET says that it sets the target on fire. The way I interpret this is that there is no initial save and it takes 2d6 instead of 1d6, but on each turn thereafter it takes 1d6 if it fails the save. Thoughts? Also, is rolling on the ground or smothering the fire a standard action?

Explosive Torch (Ex)

At 4th level, as a standard action, a blazing torchbearer can drop a special blend of explosive powders onto his torch before using it as a weapon. His next successful melee attack with the torch deals an additional 2d6 points of fire damage and sets the target on fire. This attack must be made within 1d4 rounds or the torch prematurely explodes at the end of the blazing torchbearer's turn, dealing damage to the blazing torchbearer and setting him on fire.

Catching on Fire

Characters exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and non-instantaneous magic fires might find their clothes, hair, or equipment on fire. Spells with an instantaneous duration don't normally set a character on fire, since the heat and flame from these come and go in a flash.

Characters at risk of catching fire are allowed a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid this fate. If a character's clothes or hair catch fire, he takes 1d6 points of damage immediately. In each subsequent round, the burning character must make another Reflex saving throw. Failure means he takes another 1d6 points of damage that round. Success means that the fire has gone out—that is, once he succeeds on his saving throw, he's no longer on fire.

A character on fire may automatically extinguish the flames by jumping into enough water to douse himself. If no body of water is at hand, rolling on the ground or smothering the fire with cloaks or the like permits the character another save with a +4 bonus.

Those whose clothes or equipment catch fire must make DC 15 Reflex saves for each item. Flammable items that fail take the same amount of damage as the character.

So there were some questions I thought of this morning, and when I got home I did a quick search before posting. I will confess to skimming instead of reading every post. Here is what I think I know. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to creatures with scent as animals.

1. Given the presence of a creature with an odor within the appropriate range, an animal will always act in a surprise round without rolling Perception. The animal can still be surprised by the rare odorless monster and by those that make an attack from outside of scent's range.

2. An animal - most likely an animal companion - does not automatically confer the presense of danger to allies. When seconds matter, even the AC's master will still have to roll Perception. Given some extra time, the presence of danger could be communicated by the animal, or its allies could pick up on its behavior.

3. The animal smells something and gets to act in the surprise round, but since scent does not automatically pinpoint a creature's location this means that a hidden enemy could still have total concealment against the animal. The animal can thereafter use a move action to locate the enemy.

So here are some questions.

1. Sometimes an animal companion and its master develop an empathic link. When the animal companion smells something and feels threatened, could that automatically alert the master and negate surprise?

2. Does having scent and the Lookout teamwork feat end up being as good as it sounds? Judging by the wording, it sounds like your chances of getting a full-round action in a surprise round improve.

Here is something I have been thinking about for a long time, and only started to work on more recently. The premise is this: the alchemist has poisons per day instead of bombs per day. Both deal hit point damage and can have extra effects through discoveries. On the one hand its a very simple change, but on the other hand its hard to know how will the changes will work out in play. Many creatures are resistant to fire, but quite a few are immune to poison.

I decided that the poison could be ingested, inhaled, or injected. This allows for a variety of uses. Ingested would be used out of combat for sinister purposes. Inhaled work like a bomb, but the range is crap and things that don't breathe are immune. Injected breathes new life into the alchemist's poison-related class features. Overall, I feel that "toxins" are less powerful than bombs, but could excel in the right circumstances. I could be way off though. Let me know what you think.

Poisoner (alchemist)

Skills: A poisoner adds Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), and Stealth (Dex) to his list of class skills.

Toxin (Ex): A poisoner mixes seemingly innocuous ingredients with his inherent magic to create deadly toxins. He can use a number of doses of toxin each day equal to his class level + his Intelligence modifier. They cannot be saved for future use. A poisoner creates toxins from small quantities of the chemicals found in an alchemy lab, which can be refilled in the same manner as a spellcaster's component pouch. Each dose of toxin is typically kept in a small vial. Most poisoners prepare a number of vials at the start of the day equal to the total number of doses they can use each day. Toxins have no effect if used by anyone except the poisoner who created it.

A dose of toxin inflicts 1d6 points of damage + the poisoner's Intelligence modifier damage, regardless of the number of doses used. The damage increase by +1d6 points at every odd-numbered poisoner level. This damage is never multiplied (such as on a critical hit or by using the Vital Strike feat). A toxin is treated as poison for the purposes of immunity, saving throws, and applying it to a weapon. The Fortitude DC of any saving throw allowed by a poisoner's toxin is 10 + 1/2 the poisoner's level + his Intelligence modifier. A poisoner can always make a saving throw to negate damage from his own toxins. A dose of toxin can be used in conjunction with a normal poison.

Using a dose of toxin provokes attacks of opportunity. The poisoner chooses one of the following methods of delivery at the time a dose is used:

Ingested: The poisoner can put a dose of toxin in food or drink as though he were applying a poison to a weapon. The damage is dealt to the first creature to ingest it, about 1 minute later. Anyone else who ingests it suffers the minimum amount of damage, but can negate it with a successful save. The toxin becomes inert after 1 hour.

Inhaled: The poisoner can throw a vial of toxin at a target as a standard action, causing it to shatter on impact. It has a range of 10 feet and functions as a thrown splash weapon. A creature struck by the vial takes the damage. Creatures caught in the splash radius take the minimum amount of damage, but can negate it with a successful save. An inhaled toxin has no effect on creatures that do not breathe.

Injected: The poisoner can apply a dose of toxin to one of his manufactured weapons. The damage is dealt to the first creature the poisoner deals damage to with the weapon. The toxin becomes inert after 1 minute.

This replaces bomb.

Hidden Agenda (Ex): When a poisoner uses a poison or toxin, he can make a Slight of Hand check as part of the same action to do so unnoticed (this does not hide attacks). He also receives a +4 bonus on skill checks made to hide poisons and toxins, or to conceal their true nature.

This replaces thrown anything.

Additionally, I wrote way too many discoveries catered to the poisoner alchemist. The basic style is currently in its second incarnation, and I'm still not sold on them, so they might get another rewrite. We'll see how things go before I decide to post them or not.

If I were to homebrew a rogue archetype, just how much would a rogue have to give up in order to gain an animal companion?

Since each class with a companion has their own things, I was thinking that the rogue couldn't have a companion that was larger than him. I was think he could lose Uncanny Dodge and Imp Uncanny Dodge, since he's less reliant on being able to act alone. Also, the Trap Sense and Danger Sense could go. Maybe replace those with Wild Empathy, and then at every 3rd level the companion gets a free skill point. Worse case, you could lower Sneak Attack down to d4s. This is just a new idea. Looking for your thoughts.

Earlier in 2016 we were preparing to begin a new campaign and I decided to change things up from my typical types of PC. I rarely play ranged-combat characters, and have never had an animal companion for more than a session or two. Since I wanted a character class I had never played before, I decided on the hunter. I usually don't use guides, but I went on a search this time around and didn't find very much. So I decided I would work on my very first class guide based on my opinions and experiences playing one.

You can find my hunter guide HERE. I use DropBox.

I am playing a vanaran hunter with a longbow. My animal companion is an elephant, but later on I will switch to a tyrannosaurus due to the GM letting certain setting info slip out. He approves of this choice. For those familiar with obscure comic book references, it was inspired by Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur. The campaign is the GM's homebrew hybridization of the Serpent's Skull and Savage Tide adventure paths so I think we will be island hopping and treasure hunting. he is concurrently running two groups through it. We are several sessions in as of 11/16. I will continue to update the guide based on community input and my own findings as the campaign continues. Please take a look and let me know what you think. Thank you for your time.

Note: The section on animal companions was looking to be pretty time consuming and I didn't have personal experience with them, so I used the animal companion guide at RPG Bot as a reference/starting point. My own version shares many (but not all) of this guide's opinions, but is much shorter because so many companions are simply bad choices.

The cleric's Channel Energy ability works pretty well in that a cleric can heal up the entire party with a supernatural ability instead of spells. It draws from a resource that is separate from spells, which allows the cleric to use spells to actually doing something aside from heal. There are some moments where a cleric is forced to heal enemies in order to save an ally, but these are the kind of tactical choices I enjoy. Plus, being able to damage groups of undead but not your allies is a nice nod to the legacy of the cleric I think

But it creates a strange thing for evil clerics. Why can they only heal the undead? A minority of evil clerics are necromancers. Most of them could would hate or fear the undead as much as good clerics. Why can these clerics not heal their evil allies? Surely their faith is strong enough, but why is their god not willing?

I have been toying with a variant to the Channel Energy that has been used in Pathfinder RPG since the beginning. The basic idea is this: it heals or harms based on how close the alignment of the creature is to the alignment of the deity being channeled. For example, a cleric of a neutral good deity decides to use Channel Energy to heal. All creatures in the ability's radius within one step of this alignment (CG, LG, N, and NG) are healed. If the same cleric used it to harm, then all creatures two or more steps away from the deity's alignment (CE, CN, LE, LN, and NE) would be harmed. A cleric of a neutral deity would be able to heal the five neutral alignments, and harm the four extreme alignments.

This could still create some tricky situations, such as "why can't my cleric of Cayden Chilean heal the paladin?" My idea for that would be some domain-themed options that are tacked on. The "good" domain would allow you to heal any goood creature regardless of alignment, the "evil" domains does the same for evil creatures, the "animal" domain the same for animals, etc. Some domains don't have a creature theme, and those would have some other effect.

Anyways, I'd love to hear your input on possible strengths or pitfalls of such a system. Let me know.

I'll be in Belfast, Ballycastle, Bunmahon, and Dublin Aug 1st - 15th visiting family. Are there any cool gaming shops in Belfast?

I am working on a hunter for a game that will start in a few weeks. At 4th level, a hunter gains Improved Emapthic Link with its animal companion, which functions the Empathic Link between a familiar and its master plus an additional visual component. When reading Empthic Link, I noticed the last sentence and realized that it was one I had glossed over before and never thought about. It's the one regarding an item or place. What does it mean exactly?

Improved Empathic Link: At 4th level, the hunter gains an empathic link with her animal companion. This functions like an empathic link with a familiar, except the hunter can also see through a companion's eyes as a swift action, maintaining this connection as long as she likes (as long as the companion is within 1 mile) and ending it as a free action. The hunter is blinded while maintaining this connection.

Empathic Link (Su): The master has an empathic link with his familiar to a 1 mile distance. The master can communicate empathically with the familiar, but cannot see through its eyes. Because of the link's limited nature, only general emotions can be shared. The master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does.

Alright. It has bugged me forever that every class that gets Wild Empathy and a lot of the classes that Handle Animal are Wisdom-based and have little reason to pump their Charisma. Their Cha could very well be less than 10. Wild Empathy is already fairly weak as your bonus is low compared to the DCs.

Animal Empathy
You understand the minds of beasts.
Prerequisite: Handle Animal 1 rank or Wild Empathy class feature
Benefit: You can use your Wisdom modifier on Handle Animal skills checks and Wild Empathy checks you make, instead of your Charisma modifier. If you have the Wild Empthy class feature, you can also use all of your class level to determine the result of a Wild Empathy check, not just those of those that have the Wild Empathy class feature. Finally, If you are trained in Handle Animal, you gain a +3 bonus to your Wild Empathy checks as though you were "trained" in it.

I have a campaign starting in under two weeks, and I decided to build a ranged character because it's been several years at least since I last did so. On a whim yesterday I took my first look at the classes from Occult Adventures and decided the mesmerist looked interesting because of a theme the group decided on (we're a travelling theater group - don't ask).

So I can see plainly that a mesmerist is not well suited for combat with ranged weapons. I will be using mesmerist spells and class features of course, but I'd like to be able to make some weapon attacks as well. Any advice is welcome.

This is one of my recent homebrew classes, which is essentially a divine variant of the arcane alchemist. The basic form will look familiar to anyone familiar with the alchemist class, but there are some new additions as well.

The ritualist has a ritual book, which is used to create spells in a bottle. Very much like the alchemist. I have never been 100% thrilled about that class's spell list, so I want to spend time working on this one. It's been rough.

With a blending of the bomb and lay on hands class features, the ritualist has vessels. These heal damage to creatures of a similar alignment and harm those of opposing alignments.

A ritualist learns devotions as she gains levels. She can grant her new abilities or alter the ways her other class features work. Some take cues from the alchemist's discoveries, but others can be selected only if deity has the appropriate domain.

THE RITUALIST. Take a gander.

The first was lost years ago, the second I remember nothing about, and the next two are on my profile page. But this time around, I went in with some new ideas.

-Each fighter chooses a mental ability score that he favors, as part of the combat style feature. This plays part in many class features and also fuels a point pool.

-Armor training and weapon training are gone, and has been replaced with a feature called master-at-arms. No attack bonuses to be found here though. Some of the bonuses will be familiar, but there is another part that is inspired by the brawler's close weapon mastery.

-A new ability called size up gives him his bonuses to attack and defense against an opponent whose capabilities he has determined.

-Half of the bonus feats have been replaced with martial versatility (with small changes).

The next two abilities come from the "role" section of the fighter's description. Most of you will recognize it:
Fighters excel at combat—defeating their enemies, controlling the flow of battle, and surviving such sorties themselves. While their specific weapons and methods grant them a wide variety of tactics, few can match fighters for sheer battle prowess.

Surviving such sorties themselves: I have a new feature called survivor! A concept I have wanted to implement for a long time. Fighter should stubbornly drag themselves out of bad situations. As they gain levels, these defensive abilities get better.

Controlling the flow of battle: I have a new feature called flow of battle! Using the point pool, he creates areas (radius, cone, line) on the battle field that target enemy's CMD instead of saving throws.

Finally, a late addition to the mix, a feature called warlord. Not thrilled about it, but I wanted a 10th and 20th level capstone.

Anyhow, it's completely untested and a few of the features are are further out there. So... Critique away.

I am working on a semi-hybrid class this will be a mixture of the alchemist and cleric class, and am looking for ideas or input on my concepts thus far. It's sort of a divine alchemist, but the idea is that she focuses more on the ritual aspect of spell casting instead of mixing chemicals. Her magic would be full of material, somatic, and verbal components. She would use blessed water, sacred oils, sanctified smoke. Of course, there would also be unholy versions of these. There would be less ability to raise a holy symbol, invoke the deity's name, and produce magical results. I'm not saying there are no standard action abilities, nor am I saying that their magic is all out of combat, but rather that she just isn''t as good at it as a cleric.

This idea started churning in my head after reading shiroi's akashic knight thread, erisacolyte-chaos jester''s gourmancer thread, and hector212121's bless water thread. Not neccessarily using their mechanics, but rather the concepts got me thinking.

My working title is Ritualist. The write-up is rough enough that I won't post it yet. Below are my ideas so far. Any input is appreciated.

Basic Alchemy
She is familiar with mundane alchemy, which grants a bonus to Craft (alchemy) checks to create alchemical items and the ability to identify potions using alchemy.

Bombs (with a different name)
These won't be alchemist fire bombs, but rather vials of holy (or unholy) water with scaling damage. Similar to the channel energy, it will infused with either positive or negative energy. They will be thrown weapons with splash damage. They deal damage to undead and evil outsider if holy, and to good outsiders if unholy. In addition, the water can be administered to a creature like a potion to heal damage - living creatures if holy, undead if unholy. You get the idea. Sort of like lay on hands except probably a full-round action. Since the alchemist gets twice as many bombs as the paladin has uses of LOH, a mitigating factor may need to be considered.

Discoveries (with a different name)
I might use some of the alchemist abilities, but I assume I will have to make a bunch of new ones. Some with empower the bombs. Just as the alchemist can change the damage type, the ritualist will be able to invest and be able to deal damage to more than just undead creatures. For example, maybe evil creatures would catch fire. Perhaps others can remove conditions like the paladin's mercies. Also, I'd like to extend the "ritual" aspect beyond just holy water, such as burning blessed herbs to create some kind of area effect.

Spells / Extracts
I'm on the fence about keeping with the potion theme, or just allowing regular 6-level spell casting. There would be a custom spell list of course. Just as a bard's spells always have a verbal component, so would the ritualist always have extra components. Access to spells could either be the entire spell list (like a cleric) or via a "spell book". These kinds of things will depend on just how good the spell list actually is.

Mutagen
I was never a big fan of this being an automatic ability of the alchemist, but if I keep it it will be a mutagen variant, granting minor abilities like those of the deity's outsider servants. Once the blessed water is drank or the herbs burned (the blood drawn), the ritualist takes aspects that make her more angelic or fiendish. The exact mechanical benefits would vary.

I'm working on something, and have a first draft more than halfway complete. The idea is that - similar to the magus bladebound archetype - a character has a sentient weapon in place of a familiar. I might expand it to allow swapping out a companion or cohort but that can be down the road. I have been referencing material from the wizard familiar feature, the bladebound magus, and intelligent items. Generally, I write out what I think will be cool, and then the next day I tone it down.

Before I post what I have, what would you caution me to not do, and what possible pitfalls could be encountered? Additionally, I still haven't decided if this will a simple swap out or if it requires a feat. If a character has already spent feats or or done some non-optimal multiclassing, another feat could be a big price to pay.

I had the dragon slayer concept on my mind, and didn't think it right someone would have to choose paladin or ranger. Not exactly how I'd want to execute it if it were a full class, but the fighter has a limited number of tools.

Monster Hunter (fighter)

Favored Enemy (Ex): At 1st level, a monster hunter selects a creature type from the ranger favored enemies table. He gains a +2 bonus on Intimidate, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against creatures of his selected type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A monster hunter may make Knowledge skill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures.

At 5th level and every four levels thereafter (9th, 13th, and 17th level), the monster hunter may select an additional favored enemy. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by +2.

If the monster hunter chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, he must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on the ranger's favored enemies table. Note that there are other types of humanoid to choose from - those called out specifically are merely the most common. If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favored enemy, the monster hunter's bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher.

This replaces the fighter's 1st level bonus feat and weapon training 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Study Monster (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, a monster hunter can quickly study a creature he can see as a swift action. This ability functions just like a Knowledge check to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities, except he does not need be trained in the relevant Knowledge skill. The monster hunter rolls 1d20 + his monster hunter level + his Intelligence bonus to determine the result. He can also add his favored enemy bonus, if relevant.

This replaces bravery.

Hunter's Defense (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, the monster hunter gains a +1 dodge bonus to his AC and a +1 insight bonus on saving throws against a favored enemy. At 7th level and every four levels thereafter, the bonuses increase by +1. These bonuses do not stack with those granted by the Favored Defense feat.

This replaces armor training 1, 2, 3, 4, and armor mastery.

Master Monster Hunter (Ex): A monster hunter of 20th level becomes a master of his trade. He gains a +5 bonus on checks made to identify a monster. He can, as a standard action, make a single attack against a favored enemy at his full attack bonus. If the attack hits, the target takes damage normally and must make a Fortitude save or die. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the ranger's level + the ranger's Wisdom modifier. A monster can choose instead to deal an amount of nonlethal damage equal to the creature's current hit points. A successful save negates this damage. A monster hunter can use this ability once per day against each favored enemy type he possesses, but not against the same creature more than once in a 24-hour period.

This replaces weapon mastery.

I was revisiting a class I worked on last year and made some revisions. I believe the time away gave me a smidgeon of objectivity, but feedback is always helpful.

HERE is a link to the Hero PDF in Drop Box.

HERE is a link to the original thread.

I'm looking for some help generating ideas to serve as inspiration for homebrew class features. The theme is "things that clergy do", but ignoring existing features like casting spells and channeling energy.

Some examples:

Preaching, spreading teachings of deity

Preserving/recording knowledge, sage, theologian

Speaking in tongues

Praying for guidance, intercession, power, etc.

This is an idea I have been mulling over for the past couple of months, but yesterday I committed it to writing. It's the first draft so there is a lot of copy & paste, and the mechanics are very unrevised. :)

The basic idea is that the cleric has her normal allotment of spells, but does not gain the extra spell per spell level for a domain spell. Instead, she gains a pool of points that allows her to spontaneously cast spells from any of the domains in her deity's portfolio. She also uses this same pool of points to Channel Energy. Finally, she gains the domain powers of only one domain at a time.

Here is a LINK to the DropBox PDF.

Is anyone out there playing a holiday themed session? Have you done so before? Post a story, or post an idea you have.

This is the final installment of a trilogy of classes I have been working on for some time. The first was the BRUTE, the next was the KNAVE, and how I present to you the MERCENARY. The concept of this trilogy was that each class was based on bringing to life a host of negative personality traits. We don't have to role-play any character as an a%+$&*@, but being that was is what inspired each of these.

So the MERCENARY is a full-BAB class with a Grit-style point pool and group of deeds. He also has what I consider a unique AC bonus and a serious focus on Intelligence-based skills and abilities, even to the detriment of normal martial abilities like climbing, riding, and sneaking around. Having no patience for the niceties associated with a good Charisma score, he has his own way of hitting the streets and talking to people. Being a heartless bastard, he develops more efficient ways to kill those who cannot defend themselves. Maybe the mercenary has an adversary of his own to overcome, but he also learns to become the adversary himself.

I'll admit that of the three classes, the mercenary was the least inspiring for me. It was mostly written to finally put this trilogy project to rest. Still, let me know what you think.

So here is the first draft of a class I have been considering for some time. Here are the design goals:

1) Make a martial class that is simple for beginners.
2) Eliminate all "permanent" choices that are normally a part of leveling up. Nodoby wants to make a bad choice and regret it for the rest of their career. Feats that all characters gain are still present, but I can't change that.
3) Provide a variety of options at all levels.
4) Make all class features occur at intervals of 3 levels. Intervals of 2 and 4 levels has been done enough.
5) Attempt to get rid of the glaring weaknesses inherant to many martial classes.

The uninspired name of the class is HERO. Terrible, I know. It is yet another class with a point pool, because I like them (and I think thwy are easy for beginners). I'm not sure how well the number of points each "exploit" costs weights against the total number of points available, and wether the level the exploit is gained is appropriate or not.

Anyhow, have at it.

This one has some things new, some things old, and some things borrowed. And... a few things not filled in yet.

Mostly looking for criticism of and suggestion for the Discipline and Training class features, but feel free to repond to any portion of it.

LINK TO DROPBOX PDF

BACKGROUND
I have a low-level cleric of Pharasma whose backstory is that he has been sent by his superiors half-way across the inner sea region to track down a low-level necromancer and deal with the problem before he gains power and becomes a larger concern. I don't know that this back story will ever play out in game, but I like to have characters with a little more depth than "murder hobo".

THE PROBLEM
Clerics do not have many skill points, and have a skill list not well suited to this type of character. Yes, he has access to his entire spell list, but the character in my head has more tools at his disposal that magic. He is supposed to be highly educated and capable of looking at challenges in a "big picture" manner.

WHAT I DID
The character will not progress beyond what a cleric can do, and thats fine. However, it gave me an idea for a new class or archetype. It was tentatively named Inquisition Cleric, because his purpose was to track down heretics and enemies of the faith. Sounds awfully close to an inquisitor huh? What I have worked on begins with cleric and then adds skill points, class skills, and a modified form of the investigator's inspiration class feature. So far I have tossed out one domain, channel energy, and medium armor. Still a work in progress.

WHAT I WANT
Before trying to finish this or posting what I have, I am seeking ideas on how some of you fine people would build such a class or archetype. The general schtick is to mix the investigator and the cleric. And I want to open up the concept - broaden it beyond tracking down enemies of the faith. Thoughts?

This is a class I worked on several years ago. Its a blessing actually that all of my work on it was lost and I was able to start from scratch, aside from a couple of ideas I remembered. Even since I began the write-up a few days ago, it has changed a great deal. For example, I began with bardic performance but removed it entirely. However, I might re-introduce some aspects of it in my Maestro Arcana.

So wwhat I have now is "What would happen if a magus was more like a bard?" Level 1 feels a little crowded, but I wanted to begin with the concept more or less intact, such as is the case with the alchemist, magus, and monk. I still need some high level abilities, and I only began Maestro Arcana yesterday. I was having trouble finding inspiration so some of the ideas are kind of -eh-, but I'm working on some better ones now.

The concept is that like a bard the songblade finds her magic in music (and by extension the frequencies and vibrations that comprise it), but has a more distinct focus on melee combat. She atunes herself to a specific weapon (a singing sword), with which she can cast spells and even create music. While she is a 6-level caster, her spell DCs with [sonic] spells will be as good as or better than those with 9-level casting. Ethereal sounds fill the air as she gestures with her sword and incants or sings the words of her spells. You'll recognize the general magus chassis, but I'm using the bard spell list for the time being. That may or may not change.

Link to SONGBLADE

Below are links to most of my homebrew material, hosted in DropBox. Feel free to use them or to comment on them. Some of them are incomplete.

BARBARIAN
A rewrite of Rage and Trap Sense. (Reminiscent of the unchained barbarian, but written in 2014!)

BOMBER
What if the alchemist had better armor and weapons, better combat abilities, and was of course better with bombs? He looses some of the usual alchemist abilities, and his extracts are on the 4-level casting progression.

BRUTE
A bar room brawler with great might and resilience who specializes in unarmed combat and improvised weapons. Thrill Of A Fight grants a "grit" style point pool to fuel special abilities.

CATHBADI
A spontaneous-casting version of the druid, who looses Wild Shape and instead invokes the powers of the natural world.

DYNAMO
Unfinished warrior-type focusing on speed in combat.

FAMILIAR MASTER
Unfinished prestige class that advances the abilities of a spellcaster's familiar.

FIGHTER-ACROBAT
Take a guess. A quick, lightly-armored warrior with weapon ability like the fighter, who gains acrobatic tricks similar to a rogue's talents.

FIGHTER
A rewrite of the CRB class. Gains a Combat Repertoire in place of bonus feats that allows him some customization each day, and the ability to involve party members in his daily Training Routine.

HEDGE MAGE
Like a wizard, but with a focus on subtle and practical magic, as well as crafting granting magical ability to all equipment of all kinds.

HEROES & MONSTERS
This is not for Pathfinder. My kid wanted to play D&D because of Big Bang Theory, so I wrote a simplified game! Its less of a rule book, and more of a reference document.

HEXBLADE
Someone on the boards wanted to play a 3.5 Hexblade, so I whipped this up. Unfinished.

KNAVE
A reimagining of the rogue who possesses a supernatural talent for deceit and minor spellcasting ability.

LUMBERJACK
He chops down trees. He skips and jumps. He likes to press wild flowers.

TRAITS
A list of traits.

PRAIRIE DWARF
A variant on the traditional dwarf race whose descendants left their underground kingdoms to live under the sun.

PRIEST
Very close to the cleric but with spontaneous casting, and the addition of performing prayers that provide supernatural effects.

ROGUE
Minor changes to original class.

SAVAGE LORD
A warrior from the wilds, born to be a leader. A thematic infusion of the bard and ranger. Collects heirlooms that thereafter gain magical abilities.

OK, so I 'm trying my first prestige class in alot of years, and am uncertain in how well it is progressing. It is a 5-level class made for any spellcaster that has a familiar. Spellcasting progresses each level, but all class features outside of that actually only improve the familiar.

Here is the LINK to my standard setup PDF, but below is the breakdown of what I've got.

Spellcasting Improves at each level, pretty basic for a prestige class.

Skilled Familiar
At each level the familiar adds one skill to it's list of class skills. Mostly for fun. I wouldn't call it much of a boost. My current S&S character is gaining a parrot familiar soon, and I thought it would be funny if the parrot was somehow a better sailor than he (I won't actually be using this class. Only Paizo material allowed) Would it be best to ban certain skills, like UMD?

Augmented Familiar
This gradually boosts a familiar's ability scores, but never beyond 10.

Familiar Ward
A boost to AC and saves when the familiar is next to it's master. The bonus began as "add level to AC and saves" but changed to a flat +2, that increases to +4. Not sure which I prefer.

Mettle
They already get Evasion so this didn't seem like a stretch.

Familiar Spellcasting
This is what I'm really struggling with and requesting input on. Basically, the familiar gains the ability to use the master's prepared spells/spells per day. I'm very unsure how much is too little or too much, and getting the wording right has been tough. Here's what I have so far:

Familiar Spellcasting (Sp): At 2nd level, a familiar master's familiar gains limited ability to cast spells. The familiar uses it's master's spells prepared for the day or spells known and it's master's caster level, but uses it's own ability scores for attack rolls, concentration checks, saving throws DCs, highest spell level it is capable of casting, and the like. The familiar can only cast spells if it present when it's master prepares his spells for the day. It can complete the verbal and somatic components of spells even if it's form is not like that of it's master, but if a spell requires a material or focus component, the familiar must carry the components or be in the same square as them. The familiar cannot cast a spell in the same round as it's master, and vice versa.

Beginning at 2nd level, the familiar can cast any of it's master's 0-level spells. It can do so a number of times per day equal to the familiar master's level.

Beginning at 3rd level, the familiar can cast a higher level spell once per day. It cannot cast a spell of the highest spell level it's master knows. Once cast, the spell is removed from it's masters's list of spells prepared for the day or spells per day. At 4th and 5th level, the familiar can cast a higher level spell one additional time per day.

LINK TO PRIEST

BACK-UP LINK in case that doesn't work. :)

This is essentially a cleric who casts spells spontaneously, without changing a great deal.

SKILLS
4 skill points per level, and added Perform to the list

SPELLS
Spontaneous casting, using the number of spells per day and number of spells known of the oracle. Unlike most spontaneous casters, uses Wisdom instead of Charisma.

DOMAIN
This changed a bit. The priest has only one domain, but can change his domain once per day to a domain in his deity's portfolio. Doing so gains him the granted powers, and he adds the domain spells to his spells known. Changing domains reduces the number of spells per day for one day. This is like the oracle's bonus spells from his mystery, but with a little more flexibility.

I think the rest of it is unchanged. Thoughts?

This isn't quite ready, but the homebrew forum has been a bit slow lately so I'm throwing it out for input. There are several holes in this still that even I know are there. Feel free to point them all out!

BOMBER BASE CLASS

Silly me, thinking I could just show up and find parking within an hour. At least the pedestrians are more interesting than normal.

So I'm working on two classes and I'm having a lot of trouble. I write, delete, and rewrite. I'm not posting the two because I'm stuck and not happy with them. Last year I wasn't in an active group and did not have this problem. Now that I've been playing again for the last three months it has been harder. Anyhow, I'm going to post the general ideas of each class and would like suggestions on what such a class should be capable of how you would go about it.

A note: A began both of these classes at a rather slow pace some time ago, but a few weeks ago started playing the lego marvel superheroes game, and that has been an inspiration - originally subconsciously but later consciously.

DYNAMO
A martial combatant that moves at superhuman speed. Not quite like The Flash, but perhaps like one of the Shield agents who has drawn a gun and fired off a half dozen aimed rounds before you're had a chance to inhale. When others are just realizing that combat has begun, a dynamo is already in action.

Obviously, I want to include bonuses to initiative, base speed, attack, AC, etc. (much like a haste spell). I also have an ability called Flurry, which is like Rapid Shot, but for any weapon and whose penalties stack with other abilities that grant extra attacks. He will also get an "uncanny ability" every other level reflecting specific talents.

Two mechanics I am toying with. The first is a rounds based and represents how much time per day can be spent in a heightened state. The other is a point pool wherein of superhuman speed can be can be performed X many times per day.

ENERGY BASED CLASS
Strangely this began as an arcane archer base class. The more I worked, the more it became an energy based class. Not just elemental energy, but all of them. Fire, cold, acid, electricity, sonic, positive, negative, force. All of it. Obviously, some of these would have limitations. :)

At lower levels, he can wreath a weapon in fire or shoot arrows of lightning (D&D cartoon?) or make his attacks particularly deadly to undead. Later he can launch rays or blasts like a fireball or wreath his body in energy. Along the way he might pick up talents like flight, regeneration, and other abilities. He can spread out into many energies or specialize in one or two.

The character might end up looking like Iceman, the Human Torch, or Storm, but could also resemble a spell caster who wields various energies.

I'm working on a homebrewed class that features spellcasting that begins at class level 4 and eventually gains 4th level spells. Useing traditional 4-level casters (paladin and ranger) and a spontaneous caster (bard) has helped trying to figure out spells per day and spells known, but each incarnation so far feels off. My Google search has yielded unsatisfactory results.

Does anyone know of a good existing 4-level spontaneous caster, or have advice on what the chart should look like?

Halloween is behind us. I myself have run two Christmas themed game sessions in years gone by. One was heroic, the other was an absolute mess that ended in two party mebers trying to kill my santa stand-in. All of my best unrealised game ideas are Halloween-based. Some day...

Please share a memorable/unique/funny gaming session story you have (that involves you) that is centered around a holiday theme.

This has some class featured inspired by some cherry-picked ideas generated in this thread and this one.

LINK TO PDF

Below are links to PDFs of several of my home-brew creations. I have worked hard to get them into their current state but feel free to critique them, or to use them in your own games.

Brute
A tough-as-nails bar room brawler who frightens his opponents and fights dirty. An alternate to the barbarian.

Fighter-Acrobat
This warrior trains relentlessly with weapons, but foregoes armor in favor of heightened agility. In place of a fighter's feats, she gains acrobatic talents, similar to a rogue's.

Cathbadi
A spontaneously casting variant of the druid. Incomplete.

Hedge Mage
Much like a wizard, but with less formal training and more intuitive magical ability.

Knave
An alternative to the rogue who develops a supernatural master of deceit. Also incomplete.

Lumberjack
An axe wielding warrior who cuts down trees, skips and jumps, and likes to press wild flowers. Very Monty Python.

Savage Lord
An thematic infusion of the ranger and the bard, without borrowing any of their mechanics. As capable in the wilds as he is amongst nobles.

Prairie Dwarf
A cousin to the traditional dwarf that have been featured as background character in many of my games throughout the years.

I have been revisiting my Fighter-Acrobat base class and decided that since it is already rooted in fighter, I could whirl out a fighter archetype that is much shorter and accomplishes possibly the same niche.

***

AGILE FIGHTER

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An agile fighter is not proficient with medium and heavy armor or with tower shields.

Skills: Acrobatics (Dex) and Escape Artist (Dex) are class skills for an agile fighter.

Deft Movement (Ex): An agile fighter gains Dodge and Mobility as bonus feats, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. He does not gain the benefits of these feats when his speed is reduced due to armor or encumbrance.

This replaces his bonus feat at 1st level.

Burst of Speed (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, an agile fighter can move his speed as a swift action. He can use this ability once per day. At 6th level and every four levels thereafter, the an agile fighter can use this ability one additional time per day.

This replaces Bravery

Nimble (Ex): An agile fighter's quick reactions make him a difficult target. At 3rd level and every four levels thereafter, he gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC when his speed is not reduced due to armor or encumbrance.

This replaces armor training 1, 2, 3 and 4, and armor mastery

LINK TO THE HEDGE MAGE

This a wizard-like class that has more intuition, and less study. He is light on actual spell casting, and heavier on supernatural abilities. He possesses a knack for crafting and enhancing equipment, can develop some druid-like aspects, and learns special uses for regular skills.

This is a class building experiment. Its a little weird, I know. I have the little experience homebrewing spell casters, and I wanted to try a 4-level caster that did not focus on melee. I am prepared to rebuild into a 6-level caster if that seems to be the only way to salvage it.

I present to you THE KNAVE, the second of my homebrewed classes that follow the same design concept. The first one, The brute, is to the barbarian as the knave is to the rogue. Perhaps the knight will follow. Time will tell.

This is a work in progress that I began a few days ago. Hopefully my intent will be obvious, and some suggestions can be made. I am eager to hear both mechanical criticism and thematic brainstorming.

I couldn't decide on appropriate prerequisites, as there are multiple ways to look at it. Also, is -4 just too good, or it is fitting for a generally underwhelming combat ability?

Improved Demoralize (Combat)
Your opponents find you particularly terrifying.

Prerequisites: [ability score] 13, [feat].

Benefit: You can make an Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent as a move action.

Normal: Demoralizing an opponent is a standard action.

Greater Demoralize (Combat)
You are skilled at making foes frightened of you.

Prerequisites: [feat], Improved Demoralize, BAB +6, [ability score] 13.

Benefit: Creatures that you cause to become shaken, frightened, or panicked suffer a -4 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.

Normal: Creatures that are shaken, frightened, or panicked suffer a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.

I'm working on a home brewed class that (as-written) gains certain combat bonuses when he has temporary hit points. He has one method of generating them himself, but I am interesting in finding out the various methods for getting temps. I need to decide if he gets the bonuses only from the temps he gives himself, or if he also gets bonuses when he has them from other sources.

I have done a search of the PFSRD site and the useful results were fewer in number than I anticipated. Can anyone point me at some sources for temporary hit points at various levels.

Upon seeing Ravingdork's thread about old content on the WOTC site, I looked for some of my terrible homebrew from years gone by. One of the first classes I attempted was titled the Brute and was posted in March 2008.

What follows is a revamp of that. I dropped several class features (there were way too many), added a couple of new ones, and rewrote them all for PF, while retaining the spirit and names of the originals.

What I decided to keep in it's original form for now is all of the fluff.

And here is the LINK TO THE BRUTE

This conversion is less ambitious than originally planned. I decided to leave as many of the class features as originally written as I could. The changes include:

-Sneak Attack now includes a level based attack bonus. I devised this as a feat a couple of years ago, then saw it included in someone else's conversion and thought that was an even better idea.
-Trapfinding and Trap Sense have been rolled together and expanded to include ambushes and surprise rounds.
-Cunning is a limited use feature to avoid failure due to a crappy roll.
-Ambush is a feature that to improve performance in surprise rounds.

***Here it is!***

The savage lord possesses thematic traits of both the ranger and the bard. I have been continuing to work on this since March, when I have been able to spare some time anyways.

Of course, all responses are welcome, but mostly I am looking for input on:
-How will the power level of this class hold up at low, medium, and high levels compared to other non-caster classes? This kind of analysis does not come easily to me.
-Are there places where the language leave holes in how an ability works, or have I left something open for abuse?

***The Savage Lord***

As a final note, at the bottom of the document is my very first attempt at an archetype.

What class feature or features would a fighter have to surrender in order to gain an animal companion? Would the armor training class features do it?

There are not many of these called out by name in the rules. Here are all I have found or remembered. What have I missed?

-Strength: breaking items, resisting great winds, breaking certain forms of entanglement
-Dexterity: initiative, untrained slight of hand?
-Constitution: heal when disabled, stabilize when dying, holding breath, forced movement, chases, starvation, thirst, suffocation, drowning
-Intelligence: contact other plane spell
-Wisdom: animal using hunt trick if untrained in survival, detect poison spell, sailing checks
-Charisma: implanting ioun stones, dealing with called creatures, certain enchantment spells, controlling a berserk flesh golem