Same as wizard would be my default.
If you're going this route, zergtitan, I would make it so that at each level of Mystic Theurge, you choose whether you're improving your arcane class features or your divine class features. Both at once is problematic, as LazarX said. And, as Dasrak said, the real problem is the set of entry requirements. Here's MY fix to the Mystic Theurge:
Simple, sweet, no sitting around waiting before getting to play the character you want. Your class features are: having more spells.
Hi williamoak! This might not be helpful at all at this point in the discussion, but I accomplished a similar feel in a campaign I ran once by having my players start out with low fantasy arrays and one NPC class level. They didn't get their first PC class level until the end of the first session, at which point they were still weaker than the typical level 2 character. Because I was throwing encounters at them with CR as though they were normal PCs of their level, the game was pretty hard (I pulled a couple punches to keep things fun). But with each new level, the % of the PCs' levels which were NPC levels decreased, so their power relative the challenges they faced increased even if only slightly. When we finished the campaign they were at level 5 or 6 and they were really feeling like they'd accomplished something, like they had started in one place and gone to another place—zero to hero as you say. I don't think this approach suits every campaign or even every playgroup but it worked very well for me and I think it produced the kind of dynamic you're looking for.
Hi everyone! Thank you for all the support that got me to Top 8, to this round. And I've said it elsewhere, but huge congrats to those who continued beyond this round: you guys did amazing work. I'm not going to burn too many words defending my entry here, largely because I do think that those who advanced put forward significantly better content than I did. That said, there were a couple points in the judges' criticism that felt off to me. One was Wolfgang's reaction to the 'modern' element, which I've discussed with him in another thread. The other was Clark explaining to me that I had 'outsmarted' myself and I was 'trying to show I was creative and clever.' I may have failed to be creative and clever (?), but I was definitely trying to be more than show! To be honest, I found those remarks to be a bit condescending, for whatever it's worth. :) Moving on, I've got two points to make about my entry. A couple misunderstandings that hurt my entry:
• First of all, the entire complex is underground. Not sure why people had any difficulty with that, though I'm sure it's my fault to a large extent. I could have done better work with my inset. It's true. Then again, if you read even the first sentence of the location description you see that the complex is underground. ;)
• The main 'realism' problem I seem to have in my entry is that it doesn't make sense from a logistical standpoint to cart trees up a spiral staircase. I totally agree, and I think that I may have shot myself in the foot a bit by even having stumps at all (more on this below), but one thing that I meant to get across—and that seems to have been lost—was that this was not a full-scale lumber production operation. This was one of many experiments the Consortium was running to research and develop new avenues of lumber production. It wasn't an ideal setup for producing lumber and it wasn't supposed to be. Again, I could have been clearer; but the word "experimental" is in the encounter title, and the location is a "laboratory." I basically do not think this is "a lumber camp" as some of you derided it. Neither of these misunderstandings makes up for the gap between my entry and the top four, and I hope no one mistakes my comments as coming from a place of bitterness. I just want to elucidate my intentions for those of you who care :) A possible improvement to the 'location':
An underground forest. There's something cool about that, someone pointed out to me after my entry went public, and I thought, yeah, you're right, there is. I think one thing I could have done to vastly improve the location would have been to expand the 'lumberyard' section, possibly getting rid of the upper level entirely, and remove all the stumps and holes. By making the encounter one part of a larger forested cavern-dungeon (possibly with many more captive drakes throughout), I could improve the sense of size/importance of the location. And the unnatural underground forest could have probably carried me a bit further. At least, it seems cool to me. And it was definitely part of what I thought was cool about my entry when I was making it. All the lumber stuff kind of flowed naturally from it, and served to tie it into the world (my mistake, since apparently Andoran isn't sword-and-sorcery enough for many O_o), contrary to beliefs that I tried hard to force a drake encounter. But at the end of the day, I see I could have pared that tie-in down a bit, or possibly removed it entirely. All this said, the "location/not a location" question feels more like a toss-up than anything. Clark got to sound very wise with his "the question is whether THIS complex is a Location" line, but it didn't even approach the bar for constructive criticism, and it didn't mean much (neither to me, nor to many of the people who posted in this thread). Ziv said something pretty nice about my entry, which basically summed up how I myself felt: I'm not really seeing the big issue with is-a-location/isn't-a-location. It would have been nice if you managed to hype up the general location a little more, but the location is also pretty clear to me as-is, and has obvious potential for interest, originality, and playability. You made clear what the location was, you made its relevance clear, and you detailed its central encounter. It might be a small location, or a focused one, which is fine by me. (It might not have been seen as inspiring or interesting or fun to play by some, which is also fine by me.) As far as I'm concerned, you're good. (Emphasis mine.) As Ziv said, if people didn't find my location inspiring or interesting, that's totally fair, legit, and fine by me. I personally agree! I found it less inspiring/interesting than a few of my competitors' entries. No sour grapes there—they earned it, and I didn't. But I do think it's that simple, and wrapping that concept up in the package of mysticism that surrounds RPG Superstar and its judges seems unproductive. I know that the judges have a show to run, and that inscrutable beard-stroking professionals going, "hohhhh, young one, know you the fabled concept of the Location?" adds a lot to that show, and I can respect that. But I want audience members and prospective RPG Superstar contestants alike to see it for what it is, lest they mistake it for the fostering of talent. Which it's not. :P Looking forward, I will continue to make Pathfinder homebrew materials. Assuming anyone watching this contest didn't think my Round 4 performance was bad enough to outweigh my previous three rounds of success, thank you for that generosity. If you have a homebrew or 3pp project, and are looking for partners/content/etc., I'm available! I have worked long and hard as a core member of the Multiclass Archetypes project, and I also have a site full of homebrew stuff if you're interested in what I've made. I am very interested in maintaining my involvement in this sphere, and in the possibility of ramping it up. So yeah, I'll be around!
Maybe its the power of facial hair in your avatar, but when Ziv comments, I always pay attention. It's funny - when I see someone without an avatar, or with one that's obviously fantastical, I make no inferences as to that person's appearance. But when someone has such a down-to-earth avatar as Ziv's, I find myself assuming that that avatar actually approximate's the person's face.
Well personally I'm waiting to see the results before I post in my thread. But I'm always excited to see the thoughts of the other contestants on their own work, and I guess if people want to ask questions or discuss things it previously would have been bad form to discuss (such as alternative ideas for this round), they now can. But maybe everyone's busy working on their round 5 entries :) Oh! Though while I have your attention, Wolfgang, and since this isn't particular to a single entry of mine, I was wondering what your thoughts are on terms/concepts that are "too modern." Two rounds in a row you got on my case for it -- "cocktail," "board of directors" -- yet in both cases I was using terminology employed in Pathfinder's rules and setting materials. The board of directors in particular was just a reference to established Golarion canon. So I understand that there are simply elements of the rules/setting that you don't like, is that correct? And if so, is there some rubric that we should use to guess which parts of Pathfinder you judges don't like such that we might avoid them?
Hey Cheapy! Elghinn suggested we speak for ourselves, so I'll just say, as far as I can tell MCAs are just archetypes. They're just more detailed than many, and thus we provide fine-grained explanations of what is changed, along with a progression chart (normally only presented alongside full classes or alternate classes). Calling our work something different - multiclass archetypes - is both a way to explain our mission and to brand our content, but I think that's about it. The name doesn't mean much else. So yeah. They're just archetypes.
Submitted! Happy birthday Clark :)
Recently, the Consortium has found a new purpose for the complex. After watching the supply of lumber decline in Darkmoon Vale and Arthell Forest, the Lumber Consortium has decided that it needs to investigate new avenues of production, lest the Verduran grow sparse someday as well. Under secret orders from the board of directors in Oregent, the Consortium's gavel in the Verduran Forest has begun a series of experiments in the old safe house. One of these experiments is particularly inhumane, violating Andoran's founding principle of liberty: the foreman's thugs have stolen blackwood drake hatchlings from their nests, enslaved them, and raised them as subservient wood-producing machines—machines fueled by animals and living kidnappees. To the Consortium, lumber is gold and life is cheap. In order to not raise eyebrows at home, the "loggers" involved in this experiment tend to pick their prey on the Taldan side of the border. A few Wildwood Lodge druids clandestinely cooperate with the Consortium on this front, helping to cover the kidnappers' tracks; they view this as a necessary evil to advance conservation. Though word of the complex has yet to reach the Andoran government, Bellis locals and Taldan frontiersmen alike have begun asking questions about the slew of disappearances. Investigation is in order. A camouflaged and locked trapdoor in the woods opens onto a tunnel leading into the complex. The first level of the safe house (B1) is comprised of seven rooms: a guardhouse, quarters for guards and loggers, a kitchen, a storeroom, and three rooms for housing Consortium directors, two of which have been repurposed as laboratories. One is an artificially lit greenhouse in which a young Wildwood druid runs experiments with plant growth and similar magics; the other is an alchemist's lab dedicated to uncovering the secrets of the blackwood drakes' supernatural poison. Assuming the PCs sneak or fight their way through the first level, they eventually find a spiral staircase down behind a hidden door at the end of the hall. The lower level (B2), more natural cavern than manmade grotto, once served as a backup bunker in case the complex was found. Now it houses blackwood drakes and the stumps of blackwood trees.
If the players have appropriate lighting or darkvision, read the following:
Squares occupied by stumps count as difficult terrain. Treat the gaps left by removed stumps as holes with width, length, and depth of five feet. Where these holes are contiguous, they form a continuous trench. The carpet of vegetation provides no obstacle to the PCs until affected by the blackwood drakes' pollen. The hill in the center of the cavern is steep, and PCs must make Climb checks to ascend. From the north, this check has a DC of 5. From any other direction, the approach is much steeper, and the DC increases to 15. To the west is a strong wooden door with a superior lock leading to what was once a secure vault for the Lumber Consortium's hoarded assets. Now the candlelit room is used as a staging area by loggers who work with the blackwood drakes. A coordinator (N male human expert 3) is doing inventory in this room and jotting down observations in a journal. Two blackwood drake siblings live in this cavern. In the southeast is a small grove of withered blackwood trees, none the healthier for their lack of sunlight and water. It is in this grove that the drakes make their nests. Beyond the nests are the semi-buried remains of another drake, presumably the third of their clutch. The cause of its death cannot be ascertained by mundane means, but the emaciated appearance of its living siblings signals the meanness of the brood's existence. Creatures: Due to the manner in which they were 'raised' by their captors, the blackwood drakes are more domesticated than enslaved. Trained to be heartless tree producers, these drakes are subservient to their masters and cruel to any other creatures. They possess only a poor grasp of Common and none of any other languages. As the cavern is ordinarily kept dark, approaching torchlight alerts the drakes of intruders. They investigate as a curious predator might, using hit-and-run tactics to harry their opposition, taking advantage of the darkness and terrain. Should the drakes' chances in a direct confrontation look grim, they retreat to the top of the hill in the center of the cave and activate the refuse avalanche trap they've created. If more than moderately wounded, they remain on top of the hill, kicking rubble down at approaching foes (treat as an improvised thrown weapon; +5 to hit, 1d4+2 damage). Because the drakes don't know life outside this cavern, they are more apt to surrender than to attempt to flee if cornered. If they learn or sense that the PCs have injured their masters, however, they fight to the death. The drakes are suspicious and respond poorly to diplomacy attempts, but if the PCs maintain a genuinely friendly approach (despite sustaining the drakes' initial hostilities), the drakes will eventually consider a parley. The logging coordinator locks the door and cowers in his room while the battle rages immediately outside it. He never fights. If he finds a good moment, he attempts to sneak past the PCs in the dark and escape up the spiral staircase. Should the PCs intercept him, capture him, and leave before defeating the blackwood drakes, the drakes pursue and fight to free the coordinator. Blackwood Drakes (2) CR 6
Blackwood Logging Coordinator CR —
Trap: At the top of the hill in the cavern's center is a Large ball of accumulated wood chips, rocks, and drake dung, supported by a few sticks. It is easy to spot; that it is a trap is less obvious. Should the PCs notice the trap and avoid it, or somehow prevent the drakes from activating it, disarming the trap by dispersing the debris is a simple task. The trap is triggered by the drakes whenever they deem it will affect a sufficient number of foes. By knocking out the supporting sticks, they send the ball rolling downhill (north) at alarming speed. It breaks apart as it travels, spraying all in its path with refuse. Refuse Avalanche Trap CR 3
Development: If the PCs manage to reach an understanding with the drakes, the drakes can provide them with information about who is behind the experiments, and might even be willing to testify about what they'd lived through in an Andoran or Taldan court. The logging coordinator, if apprehended, quickly reveals for whom he was working and that the alchemy lab upstairs has an experimental antidote for the blackwood drakes' poison (it returns tree-transmuted creatures to an unpoisoned living state with Dexterity damage equal to their Dexterity minus 1). Should the PCs fail to take either the coordinator or the drakes alive, documents found in the old vault to the west provide ample evidence of the Consortium's agenda.
Thanks all for the various criticisms and kudos. Special thanks to those of you (the majority hehe) who were turned off by the name, yet fought through that and took a closer look regardless. I'll respond to individual topics in spoiler tags below.
Fluid Drain:
(This is mostly @Sean)
You could just use the blood drain UMR instead of making an "all fluids" version of it. I know that technically blood drain doesn't require that the victim have blood. Honestly this seems like overly vague design of the universal monster rule. I see GMs needing to make decisions every time they deploy a creature with blood drain: does this work against creatures without blood? -- to give a low-level example that's not too niche, a player summons a lantern archon. Does blood drain hurt the lantern archon? Technically, yes, but that's counterintuitive, and I would go so far as to say that it's against RAI. I added 'fluid drain' to my monster because A) it seemed like an easy way to add in a sentence that strengthened the monster's flavor, and B) because I didn't want a GM to look at the monster and say, 'oh, it only sucks blood.' So I think my choice is defensible, but I'm curious as to what you think of the issue, Sean! Is it a flaw to edit the UMR as I did? Or would you say it's a matter of word count—if I have the words, it's fine; if I don't, then fluid drain is extraneous and should be cut? I admit that if I'd had a bit more room to work with, I could have further clarified glob... Glob:
Glad you guys liked this ability. Up until the day I submitted the monster, all it had to distinguish itself from other extant monsters was the addiction mechanic. Sure, it had stench, and the cute stench+addiction interaction, but that was all there was to it. I wanted something else unique or new, and I'd been wondering about what the ooze should be able to do against PCs with ranged attacks who merely kept 30 feet of distance, 'zoning' the poor critter as it were. Finally glob came to me.
Glob is a neat ability but as written it's not clear if this ability always damages the creature, or only if it misses. I did intend for glob to injure the ooze on both a hit and a miss; this damage represents it losing part of itself. I could have used clearer language. Reproduction:
The ecology of it creating a new ooze EVERY TIME IT FEEDS is a bit of a setting problem (these things would be everywhere), but easy enough to fix. I never wrote that it pops out a new one every time it eats, just that once it has eaten enough it makes another. I could have used a few words to specify how many gallons of fluid the thing needs, I suppose. Did anyone else assume that this duplicates itself every time it slurps a drop of fluid? That seems to me a pretty extreme assumption, but I don't know how it looks to other folks. I could have easily not mentioned this detail at all, I guess, to avoid the potential problem altogether, but I was certain someone would come in and ding me for not explaining how they reproduce, since almost every other ooze has an explicit mechanic for its reproduction (splitting, etc.). Unexplored Possibilities:
given your initial description, I would have also loved if it had some sort of hide bonus while in water. I mean, it makes total sense for a translucent ooze that lives in a river. I considered it. But honestly I was running out of space and the thing's a mindless rainbow blob, how stealthy should it be? I did consider giving it some kind of bonus-to-stealth-when-stationary-in-water ability, but when you add that kind of specificity you end up using a lot of words. Fluid drain seemed a better use of space to me. It's entirely possible I'm wrong, here. Monster design is far from my forte... I basically went into this challenge with no experience on that front. Eating the Ooze:
I also found myself wondering what happens to people who try to eat the ooze or the bits it throws... Yeah, I considered writing rules for that. I considered it long and hard. And ultimately I decided against it. I've seen people go down in flames for making things too gross, and I thought that getting too into detail on mechanics of consuming and passing this thing would enter that territory. So I left it blank, to the GM's/players' imaginations. Ultimately, you're just drinking a bunch of nasty polluted river water when you eat this thing, so the way I would run it is without any mechanical effect other than renewed exposure to addiction. I could see people getting inventive with it though. And hey, if anyone's using my monster in their Round 4 entry, maybe we'll see some of that. Addiction:
I was happy to see Sean and Clark respond fairly positively to the addiction. I was fully aware that I was entering kind of dicey territory, and I tried to navigate through it by divorcing the monster's mechanics from whatever roleplay/character implications addiction might have. I didn't want this monster to turn into a statement on substance abuse, or to be 'that funny stoner ooze.' Given that I didn't want those things, maybe I shouldn't have made this particular monster at all—but I thought the mechanics of the addiction attack merited submission. And while I don't have any decrees on roleplay implications in the monster's rules, I see it providing many opportunities for interesting interactions. Many of you agreed with this, which was validating.
But then a few reviewers took some assumptions about the addiction mechanic to an extreme... So, someone gets hit and addicted, and then says "hmm, there's a Small sized stash of my addiction right here, and I feel great when it attacks me and drains my fluids - so I'm just going to enjoy the high while it kills me. End of addiciton with death. The ooze hits you, you really like the feeling of it hitting you/draining your fluids, so you what, lie down and let it have lunch? I understand that addiction is a kind of loaded concept, but I'm going to take it to its roots in an effort to simplify what I see happening with the ooze. addicted, adj. -- physically or mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects. There's nothing inherently enjoyable about addiction. You can be addicted to unpleasant things. I imagine having an ooze beat you around is unpleasant. You don't have to like it in the moment and I purposefully did not write in anything that would force players to roleplay enjoying the ooze's assault. All the addiction mechanic does, besides making the ooze smell good, is an hour after you've last been hit by the thing you go into withdrawal. It's not that you want to let the ooze eat you; it's that your body is unhappy when deprived of the ooze's funky fluids. I don't know what kind of adventurer would just "lie down and let it have lunch." So yeah, I see it as a long-term thing. You might choose to roleplay some attraction to the ooze's attacks as its stench turns sweet, but there's nothing that demands your character sit down and let it kill you. Rather, you defeat the ooze (fairly handily, if you're of appropriate level and have friends) and down the road you're like, "hey, what gives, I need more of that ooze." I'd maybe make it work as a poison, to more clearly define what's immune to it, how to cure it, and not worry about the addiction sub-rules. In case you didn't know: A brief glance at the addiction rules reveals that addiction works exactly like disease. So, if you're immune to disease, you're immune. You can cure it the same way you cure disease. Addiction is less a set of sub-rules and more a skin on top of the disease rules. I think using disease makes more sense than poison—that's probably why Paizo's addiction rules are based on disease and not poison. I don't think you need to delve too deep into alternate rules to run this monster. It slams/globs at you, you get addicted, and then let it attach to you, slowly feeding for days or weeks, all while you go about your business, smelling weird, having a strange shimmying bulge underneath your shirt, and hey, potentially spawning more oozes and infecting more people. I admit that's a cute image. (Also a gross one.) I could have done something like that. I don't think it's necessarily at odds with what we have right now. I do think parasitic interactions could be a very cool way to go with mechanics for what happens when you try to eat it... food for thought. Okay, fine, I guess I should say something about that dang name... A few of you kind of got into my face about the name. On the one hand I deserve that. On the other, it was intentional, and I can defend that intention. I won't waste words doing it here, though, because I think the point is moot. Ultimately it's apparent that the name was a misstep. First impressions matter a lot and the name of the monster is the very first of first impressions. So yeah, I've been kicking myself for that for almost a week now. Yeah. Oops. As the name was the main complaint I received—the only consistent complaint, in fact—I do hope that that one mistake won't cost me the round. That said, the competition is tight, and everyone else put forward very strong entries. No matter how the poll turns out, I'm pretty happy with this little guy, and very honored to receive the approval and votes I did. I will say that none of the alternate names suggested thus far come close to capturing the meaning of the name I gave the monster. ;)
A shimmer of hues on the riverbed suddenly bunches up and slithers onto the bank. This slick, multicolored ooze exudes a sickly sweet aroma and leaves a trail of silvery fluids. Egelsee Cocktail CR 5
----- Defense -----
----- Offense -----
----- Statistics -----
----- Ecology -----
----- Special Abilities -----
Alien oils have leaked from Numeria's Silver Mount for millennia, seeping into the water table. Perhaps some of these fluids crawled already hungry from the Silver Mount; perhaps they settled into the bed of the Egelsee River, waiting for a mischievous god or wizard to animate them. As with many oozes, the origins of the Egelsee cocktail are largely a matter of speculation. Its name derives from its physical makeup: a vile heterogenous brew of alien liquids and the bodily fluids of its victims. The mindless cocktail lurks in the Egelsee River. It is best disposed to prey on aquatic creatures but will attempt to attack any potential food. Once it has gorged sufficiently, the ooze will discharge a portion of itself. This excretion is a young cocktail in its own right. The cocktails can feed on any fluid, and there are reports of specimens that have assimilated alchemical substances and deadly toxins. Egelsee cocktails of all varieties frequently expel excess river water, preserving the potency of the foul but addictive Silver Mount oils.
the alchemist game The title of my debut album
Go Team Alchemist!
I cannot fathom why people were voting for the Green Knight over the River Warden. All actual comparison of the archetypes aside, the judges unanimously chose not to recommend the river warden.
You also didn't count Ironskull's ;) I'm going to have to go with the Pathfinder Community because honestly at the upper rungs of the submissions I don't think there is one best one. Once you get into Green Knight/Huckster territory they're all just good, and any differentiation will be based on personal playstyle preferences.
Yeah, I'm going to have to say I'm with Sean and Jacob on this one. Some of the archetypes may have joined together in a blur due to similar themes and abilities, but that's not a necessary outcome of the assignment. I'll echo Jacob's invocation of the alchemists -- they all fit the River Kingdoms, and there were FIVE of them, and they had basically zero overlap.
Now that voting's closed, I can say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for the kind words! Having observed RPG Superstar in the past, I was bracing myself for a deluge of criticism, but it basically boiled down to two things: first, that master swimmer is 'odd design', and second, that deep sea delver is weaker than instant alchemy. Having never played to 18th level with an alchemist, I don't have the knowledge to agree or disagree with this second point, but 18th level seemed the place to put deep sea delver. Maybe in a revision I could have it replace persistent mutagen? Persistent mutagen seems better than instant alchemy to me, though... Anyway, I'll respond to a few other points here. Salt Bombs: "slashing damage one die step lower than normal" is awkward, but I think I know what you mean. I think you do too ;) If I'd had more words to work with, I would have expounded on this, following the format used for bomb discoveries in the Advanced Player's Guide. Instead, I found myself constrained, and tried to use wording similar to that in Ultimate Magic's alchemist archetypes (e.g. the reanimator).I didn't really understand the inclusion of Knowledge (dungeoneering) Knowledge (dungeoneering) includes aberration lore, which I think, was the primary reason why it was added. This is precisely why it was included. I feel like there's a connection through Outsea to the ancient aberrations of the deep, and thusly that the Outsea delver should be predisposed to studying them. I would probably prefer replacing Master Swimmer with discovery or two and tweaked a bit with other abilities i feel like master swimmer has an odd design- granting you a competence bonus that you lose once you pick up a racial bonus instead. Fair points. I'd considered tying swim speed into the mutagen, like the grippli racial archetype does, but decided against that (in part because my round 1 submission was grippli-themed and I didn't want to seem conspicuously grippli-oriented, and in part because that ability change seems a bit frontloaded to me). Ultimately I chose to implement it the way I did because the bonuses, and eventual swim speed, kind of mirrored the progression of the ability it replaces, and that pleased me aesthetically. As for the two different kinds of bonuses—competence vs. racial—I see the weirdness, but would it not be equally weird to grant a racial bonus prior to granting the swim speed? My personal design jury is out on this one. I'm interested to hear what you guys think. To GM_Solspiral and Andrew Marlowe, who thought this was well put-together but not wowing, I am very appreciative of you coming in here and basically complimenting me despite not liking my archetype that much. It's very nice to know that even those who didn't love this archetype saw its good points. And honestly, I kind of agree with you ... I'm not waiting to throw salt bombs with bated breath. A few of the other alchemist archetypes really shook things up and introduced new abilities, and I voted for them before myself. ;) And to everyone else—thanks thanks thanks!
I was just a bit surprised by how few comments there were in the other threads today, is all. But yeah, Tuesday will be a huge relief, no matter how the polls go.
Outsea Delver (Alchemist)
Paizo is better than most and has a lower percentage of sexist depictions. I won't say it has none, because that's not true. I wonder how much Paizo would lose by actually 'getting there' in that department. Like, why hasn't it yet? Can we work on that? That would be cool. (Great post, by the way, thanks for sharing.)
Yes, Glove Bros! This item is awesome. Seems a unanimous sentiment :)
Gloves, Tree Frog's
Favored by woodland spies and scouts, these gloves grant their wearer exceptional agility while navigating forested regions. She benefits from a constant spider climb effect while in contact with trees, and always counts as having a running start when making Acrobatics checks to jump between tree branches and trunks. Once per day, while in contact with a tree, the gloves can camouflage their wearer, allowing her to hide in plain sight for up to five minutes, as the ranger class feature by the same name. The wearer gains a +20 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks while this effect lasts if she remains stationary. The effect ends prematurely if she breaks contact with the tree. Construction
Yay we're back!!
This problem is clearly already resolved, but I wanted to chime in and tip my hat to the man with the 140-word sentence. Classy, mate!! (No sarcasm)
Doesn't seem broken at all to me. I have no problem with it. Now if you don't mind a little snarkiness... Spoiler:
Don't be MAD (Combat)
You're a monk, so metaphysics works differently for you from how it works for less beings. Prerequisites: Monk level 1. Benefit: Divide all ability score-dependent effects, attributes, and powers (such as Con modifier to HP, Int modifier to skill ranks, Str modifier to melee attack rolls, etc.) into two categories. All variables in one of these categories are reliant upon your Wisdom score (your choice). All variables in the other category are reliant upon a physical ability score of your choosing. ;)
Huh, I never saw that. Is there an official rules change summary somewhere? And how does this affect monk archetypes like zen archers who used to flurry with a single bow?
+1 for Profession (burglar)
.
There's no set guideline. I mean... use your judgment. Make something awesome. Try not to break it. :)
Spirit Warrior (Bbn/Drd) = Done
Divine Blade (Ftr/Clr) = cartmanbeck
Spellrager (Bbn/Sor) = Free
White Witch (Witch/Pal) = Flak (Redo)
If possible, we don't we don't want... Ugh. /wrists over grammar === Okay, here's the deal then, guys, based on your responses. I'm reposting an MCA Raider and I did together. It's already polished and sexy and we just need 2 more assenting voices on it to take it off the table. While you guys think about it, I'm going to begin polishing: ° Witchfinder
The next in-thread "workshop" on an MCA will be Bardess's Hand of God, I suppose, though I would still prefer we finish up those Core MCAs first. Anyway, here's the Esoteric Chemist.
Esoteric Chemist, courtesy Raider&Flak:
Primary Class: Wizard. Secondary Class: Alchemist. Hit Dice: d6. Saves: good Reflex and Will, poor Fortitude. Bonus Skills and Ranks: An esoteric chemist selects three alchemist skills to add to her class skills in addition to the normal wizard class skills. The esoteric chemist gains a number of ranks at each level equal to 2 + Int. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Esoteric chemists are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with an esoteric chemist's movements, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail. The Esoteric Chemist
Arcane Bond: At 1st level, an esoteric chemist may select an alchemist discovery from the following list in place of forming an arcane bond: cognatogen, infusion, mutagen, tumor familiar. An esoteric chemist may not bond with an object. This otherwise functions as and replaces arcane bond. Formulae: At 1st level, the esoteric chemist may add one 1st-level alchemist formula to her spellbook. At each subsequent level, the esoteric chemist may add another formula to her spellbook. This formula must be of a level an alchemist of her level could learn, and can only be used to prepare extracts in the bonus spell slots provided by the chemistry school ability (see below). These formulae represent the specialized research of the esoteric chemist. She cannot add formulae to her spellbook in any other way. Alchemists, but not wizards, can learn formulae from an esoteric chemist's spellbook. These formulae are gained in addition to the spells a wizard normally receives in her spellbook from leveling up. Brew Potion: At 1st level, the esoteric chemist receives Brew Potion as a bonus feat. She can use it to create potions of wizard spells as normal, but she can also brew potions of any formulae she knows (up to 3rd level), using her esoteric chemist level as her caster level. The formula must be of a spell that can be made into a potion. Chemistry School (Su): When using Craft (alchemy) to create an alchemical item, an esoteric chemist gains a competence bonus equal to 1/2 her class level on the check. In addition, an esoteric chemist can use Craft (alchemy) to identify potions as if using detect magic. She must hold the potion for 1 round to make such a check. She also counts as an alchemist for the purpose of imbibing mutagenic and cognatogenic elixirs. Additionally, she receives a bonus spell slot at each spell level she can cast, as from an arcane school, except that she must use it to prepare an extract (as an alchemist). An esoteric chemist may prepare an extract of any spell she knows if it could be made into a potion (regardless of spell level), or of any alchemist formulae she knows (see spellbook, above). An esoteric chemist may not cast formulae as spells, and may not prepare extracts using her normal spell slots. The esoteric chemist's specialized research in alchemy detracts from her mastery of magic. At 1st level, the esoteric chemist forsakes four schools of magic, which cannot include transmutation. Once chosen, these opposition schools cannot be changed. An esoteric chemist who prepares spells from her opposition school must use two spell slots of that level to prepare the spell. In addition, the esoteric chemist takes a –4 penalty on any skill checks made when crafting a magic item that has a spell from one of her opposition schools. These penalties do not apply to extracts prepared using formulae from her opposition schools, nor potions brewed. This ability, along with potion for everything, metamixture, replaces arcane school. Potion for Everything (Su): At 1st level, the esoteric chemist can produce any potion or alchemical item weighing up to 1 lb. from a pouch on her belt as a standard action. Items produced in this manner cannot have a total value of more than 25 gp per esoteric chemist level per day. They can be quaffed or otherwise used as part of the standard action it takes to produce hem; otherwise, they remain on hand for a number of rounds equal to the esoteric chemist's level. These potions and items are makeshift and improvisational in nature and cannot be sold. All potions created via this ability function at the esoteric chemist's caster level. An esoteric chemist can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Intelligence bonus. Swift Alchemy (Ex): At 3rd level, an esoteric chemist can create alchemical items with astounding speed. It takes an esoteric chemist half the normal amount of time to create alchemical items. Bonus Feats: An esoteric chemist receives bonus feats as normal for a wizard, but she cannot select item creation feats or arcane discoveries. Instead, she may select alchemist discoveries as an alchemist of her level - 3. The effects and save DCs of all her discoveries are calculated as though her alchemist level were equal to her level. An esoteric chemist cannot select discoveries which modify bombs. Metamixture: At 8th level, the esoteric chemist receives an extract- or potion-enhancing discovery from the following list: combine extracts, dilution, elixir of life, enhance potion, eternal potion, extend potion, infuse mutagen, infusion. At 12th level, and every four levels thereafter, the esoteric receives an additional discovery from the list. She must meet any prerequisites for these discoveries, using her esoteric chemist level − 3 as her alchemist level. Instant Alchemy (Ex): At 18th level, an esoteric chemist can create alchemical items with almost supernatural speed. She can create any alchemical item as a full-round action if she succeeds at the Craft (alchemy) check and has the appropriate resources at hand to fund the creation. === While that's being looked over, again, I'm going to be trying to finally get in some polishing work. I continue to be sorry for my absence and limited involvement. I'll continue to have only sparse time & energy for a while. === On the topic of the sorc/alch bomber, which yeah really shouldn't be on the table anytime soon IMHO -- just wanted to say ++ to it being a bomb-focused alch. The wizard alch (which you see here) is a very heavily non-bomb-y alchemist/arcanist, and doing the opposite with sorcerer alch is a good idea. But yeah. Enough on that for now. Raider you are such a devious little content producer :D
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So here's the list of stuff.
Spirit Warrior (Bbn/Drd) = Done
Divine Blade (Ftr/Clr) = cartmanbeck
Spellrager (Bbn/Sor) = Free
White Witch (Witch/Pal) = Flak
Random other notes As you might be able to tell from the above list, I'm coopting the Living Refrain. I think it'll stay much the same as it is -- I like it this way, and changing to Bard/Sorc seems like a big leap -- but it needs editing (lots of errors), and diminished casting, because some of its trades are one spell known for one ability, which is crazy. @Raiderrpg: we should bust out Esoteric Chemist & Absolute Arcanist soonish just to get them off the table again. I think they're essentially done but they need to be approved by the others. "Soonish" I guess means after we've cleared the Witchfinder and Battle Caster from the table. I'd just like to get them out of the way and onto the "Done" list. @Raiderrpg: Stealth Mage still isn't on the wiki? - What's the deal with the Raider's Ranger/Magus?
NOT INCLUDED IN THE LIST ABOVE are non-core MCAs which don't need redos or are already completed.
If you think you would be better off on your own, work on your own. Which of our "chefs" are "too many" ? Who's "we" and what are "our costs" ? I feel like there's a vast philosophical gap here. Professional 'art,' 'layout,' and 'organized effort' won't make homebrew material good. Maybe it'll trick some people into thinking it's good. Like Super Genius Games chaff that gets churned out by the bucketload with borderline decent production values. But cruft is cruft. Your suggestions have nothing to do with making good content. You just want to make money by taking Elghinn's efforts and monetizing them. I personally haven't reviewed your MCAs because they don't interest me and are, in my mind, lame. Reducing the number of chefs won't improve the quality of your homebrewing. I apologize if my comments are harsh, but seriously. What's your plan? Who's your team? Who's your artist? Who's your layout designer? Who's your market person? Whence comes your business strategy? And who—who, purplefixer—who are your chefs?
Does purplefixer not want to meet more cool people? :P Sorry, that came across sounding more like an impish joke than anything. But what I meant was. One of the great things about this thread and its contents, at least as far as I can tell, is that anyone and everyone was invited to participate, and the process evolved, and we all worked together to make stuff good/better/best. We're nowhere near the end and there's no telling who else might join.
It can still be completely OGL and still be publishable. It just means we get to take the time to make the content much more usable and well-written, and we get a little bit of money for our time and effort in doing so. I would be more than happy just making it completely free to download, for that matter, but to put it on the Paizo download page you have to have a publishing company and an OGL license written up. Oh for sure, but it's not like we don't have time if we keep the forum thread! I just don't see why there's this sudden push toward secretive dev...? Doing stuff in the open is how we all met each other through the project, after all. Does purplefixer not want to meet more cool people? :P
A few thoughts... - Anything I make and share on these forums is OGL as necessary with no copyright attached to my original contributions.
"Elghinn's call" - yes... Hm.
Aegis Lancer. It's not a multiclass archetype. It's a very cool cavalier archetype, and two very cool orders. But it has very little to do with playing a multiclassed cavalierwizard. That's my thoughts at this moment.
Cha
I like ideas involving more classes, more prestige classes, more archetypes, partial gestalt, etc., etc., but I also like simple things. I'd be interested in feedback on this, which is a system to give small bonuses to players for multiclassing. What's below actually involves a lot of bonuses: am I giving too much? Should it be decreased? Any thoughts welcome. To be clear the issue I see (and am trying to counteract) is that single-classed characters are simply more competent than multiclassed characters, with a widening power gap especially at higher levels.
Upon gaining the indicated level in a class, if you have already attained that level in another class, you gain the listed benefit. Prestige classes do not count for any of these calculations. 1. +1 to the leveling class' ability score
+1 to the leveling class's ability score: Each class has an associated ability score. When you attain the indicated level in that class, if you already have that many or more levels in another class, you receive a +1 bonus to that ability score. These increases stack and are gained as if through level advancement. The list of classes by class ability score is as follows: STR - barbarian, fighter
+1 to effective level in any one class: When you attain the indicated level in a class, if you already have that many or more levels in another class, you add 1 to the effective level of one of your classes for the purposes of determining level-dependent uses per day and effects of class features. This does not grant accelerated access to higher-level features, and it does not improve spellcasting. Bonus feat: When you attain the indicated level in a class, if you already have that many or more levels in another class, you gain any one feat for which you qualify as a bonus feat. Dual Focus: When you attain 10th level in a class, if you already have 10 levels in another class, you count your effective class level as 20 for both classes for the purposes of determining level-dependent uses per day and effects of class features. This does not grant accelerated access to higher-level features, and it does not improve spellcasting.
I'd say the caster level increase isn't a problem. Doesn't grant new spell access, just beefs up some stats on spells and grants access to some feats. Maybe give them some orisons, though, in the case that they're not multiclassing? Kind of lame (gameplay-wise), imho, for a class feature to only do anything if you multiclass. I love the flavor, though.
Cool, cool--I see how you're doing it. I'm using a finer break-down of abilities, based on the relative strengths of the abilities, rather than the level at which they're attained. (here's a link to a screenshot of my tables) So a fighter bonus feat would be +5; druidic nature sense would be +2; one level of druidic spellcasting would be +7; the barbarian's indomitable will would be +4; etc. The costs of everything except proficiencies are incurred at every level of the class, so you'd be paying +7 for spells alone for every level of druid, then +1 for medium BAB, +1 for medium HD, +1 for 4 skills, etc... on top of whatever class features the druid gets at a particular level. As I said, the system I'm working with so far has the classes all getting roughly the same average points/level (in the 15-16 range). I'll keep playing with it.
That's a pretty strong reaction. What can it do, exactly, that's so broken? How is it 'way beyond' your weapon—a weapon, by the way, which has the exact same stats as a whip, except it deals 1d6 lethal damage instead of 1d3 nonlethal? I'm curious... |
