Bloodline powers at full rate, easier spell exchange, turned full-caster with reduced per-day, access to full-range non-bomb discoveries... Which, sidenote, would include cognatogen...
Good start, but you've basically made a sorcerer who has a few less spells in exchange for higher DC's, fast healing, and so on. Need to cut down on that rate of discovery... maybe move them to 3rd, 6th, 9th, etc? Still allows for that precious +8 alchemical to charisma, though... hm.
Hmm, true, I had forgotten about Cognatogen, which would be pretty broken for a Sorcerer. I am still toying with the idea of making spellcasting directly tied to the mutagen (i.e. in order to cast spells at all, you must be under the effects of the mutagen), but then I would want to greatly increase the length mutagen is active. This would fix the cognatogen problem because mutagens don't stack. Maybe give Persistent Mutagen at level 1? I'm not sure.
Otherwise, I would want to add a stipulation, "due to the delicate balance of an Infused Mage's physiology, mutagens and cognatogens impede an Infused Mage's ability to cast spells."
I'm open to slowing down the rate of Discovery (since the class is not a full alchemist), but I'd also like to point out that since bloodline powers are tied to mutagen, they are not active 24/7 like normal Sorcerers. So I was hoping that and Diminished Casting would help keep the powerlevel in check.
How about an Alc/Sor that uses mutagens to grant various bloodlines temporarily, for the duration of the mutagen?
You beat me to the punch! I began working on this last night :)
Infused Mage:
Sample flavor: Most sorcerers can be considered lucky, owing their powers to forces outside themselves. Some are different. Products of dangerous curiosity or reckless ambition, Infused Mages have discovered the essence of the arcane... and through alchemy applied it to themselves. Infused Mages constantly and tirelessly refine their formulas situations, seeking to master themselves and the world around them.
HD: d6
Base Attack Bonus: poor
Fort Save: poor
Ref Save: poor
Will Save: good
Skills: 2
Weapon Proficiency: Simple
Armor Proficiency: None
Diminished Spellcasting: The Infused Mage casts arcane spells drawn from the sorcerer/wizards spell list, and both gains and knows one fewer spell of each spell level. If this reduces the number to 0 (minimum 1 for spells known), he may cast spells of that level only if his Intelligence allows bonus spells of that level. He otherwise casts spells as a sorcerer of equal level.
Eldritch Mutagen (Su): At 1st level, an Infused Mage discovers how to create a mutagen that he can imbibe in order to grant him strange magical mutations. It takes 1 hour to brew a dose of Eldritch Mutagen, and once brewed, it remains potent until used. An Infused Mage can only maintain one dose of eldritch mutagen at a time—if he brews a second dose, any existing mutagen becomes inert. As with an extract or bomb, a mutagen that is not in an Infused Mage's possession becomes inert until an Infused Mage picks it up again.
When an Infused Mage brews an Eldritch Mutagen, he selects a 1st level Sorcerer bloodline power. It's a standard action to drink an Eldritch Mutagen. Upon being imbibed, the eldritch mutagen causes the Infused Mage to take on traits associated with the Sorcerer bloodline. While the Eldritch Mutagen is in effect, the Infused Mage may use the 1st level Sorcerer bloodline power. An Infused Mage uses his Intelligence in place of Charisma when using bloodline powers.
A non-Infused Mage who drinks an Eldritch Mutagen must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the Infused Mage's level + the Infused Mage's Intelligence modifier) or become nauseated for 1 hour—a non-Infused Mage can never gain the benefit of an Eldritch Mutagen, but an Infused Mage can gain the effects of another Infused Mage's mutagen if he drinks it. (Although if the other Infused Mage creates a different Eldritch Mutagen, the effects of the “stolen” Eldritch Mutagen immediately cease.) The effects of an Eldritch Mutagen do not stack. Whenever an Infused Mage drinks an Eldritch Mutagen, the effects of any previous Eldritch Mutagen immediately end.
Sample Discoveries:
Improved Eldritch Mutagen
Prerequisite: Caster level 3rd, eldritch mutagen
Benefit: The eldritch mutagen now also grants a 3rd level Sorcerer bloodline power.
Greater Eldritch Mutagen
Prerequisite: Caster level 9th, improved eldritch mutagen discovery
Benefit: The eldritch mutagen now also grants a 9th level Sorcerer bloodline power.
Grand Eldritch Mutagen
Prerequisite: Caster level 15th, greater eldritch mutagen discovery
Benefit: The eldritch mutagen now also grants a 15th level Sorcerer bloodline power.
True Eldritch Mutagen
Prerequisite: Grand discovery, grand eldritch mutagen discovery
Benefit: The eldritch mutagen now also grants a 20th level Sorcerer bloodline power.
Eldritch Evolution
Prerequisite: Caster level 4th, eldritch mutagen
Benefit: Once every 7 days, upon imbibing an eldritch mutagen you may choose to learn a new spell in place of one already known. In effect, the you lose the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged.
I was actually thinking of something that completely forgoes bombing for crazy mutations.
Instead of a mutagen that gives them stat bonuses maybe they get a mutagen (Eldritch Mutagen?) that allows them to alter their "bloodline" and casting abilties. E.g. what energy source they have resistance to or what spells they "know" or allow them to borrow a bloodline power from a regular sorcerer bloodline, etc.
Maybe I just missed it in the wiki, but has anyone made a Sorcerer/Alchemist archetype yet? I thought it would be an interesting concept to have a Sorcerer who made themselves magical through mutagen rather than being born that way. It really could just be an Int-based "bloodline" I suppose.
There's also an "Assassin's Dagger" IRC that has +2 Death Attack on it. The 3 rounds you're studying your target is plenty of time to make sure you've got one in your hands.
What doug is saying is that when people say "+2 to all saves when you take a level in Monk!", they aren't taking into consideration the bumps to saves they would've received if they didn't multiclass into Monk.
If you're going by the 3.5 unearthed arcana rules for multiclassing you get +2.5 to all saves when you dip monk. The best you could get by just continuing in your chosen class is +.5 on your good save and +1/3 on your poor saves.
Super Genius Games came out with a guide to multi-class feats. I don't recall what you're asking directly being a feat, but they could give you an idea of where to start on the homebrewing of the feats.
I got the same advice a while back, and to save the OP some time, don't expect these to be on the same power level as the Complete Adventurer (Monk/Sorcerer, Fighter/Rogue, etc) feats from 3.5.
Generally how do Druids (in the Pathfinder world) feel about Resurrection over Reincarnation? I would think that a Druid might have some reservations about breaking the natural cycle. On the other hand I could see a Cleric of a Nature god/goddess having ressurecting people.
Personally I like to just keep it Good/Neutral/Evil. The whole Law/Order v.s. Chaos thing just gets stupid way, way too often and what's it really good for to begin with?
I've been trying to think up a feat similar to the Ascetic Rogue/Mage type feats out of 3.5 Complete Adventurer except for Wizard/Alchemist. Something like 2 Wizard levels count as 1 Alchemist level for purposes of Extracts--or 2 Alchemist levels count as 1 Wizard level for purposes of spellcasting.
What I was going for was a villain that created a parasite would allow her to use "Charm Person" on a person with a bonus to DC. Repurposing a tick or leech would be good enough for what I want to do.
A character concept I'm working on is a Druid who uses his connection with nature for personal gain. He's cares about the natural order (so not a Blighter or anything like that), but wants to prove he's on top of it.
Bonding your Bow (legal or not) may be great flavor, but I'm not sure I would ever do it. Weapons are usually the first thing confiscated whenever you're captured or meeting someone important. A ring or amulet? Not so much, plus it'd be pretty easy to argue against someone taking your "family heirloom" ;)
Your BAB won't be as high with this build, but you'll have 3 attacks and a ton of Sneak Attack damage. You could also go Preferred Spell(True Strike) with your Imbue Arrow if you're missing a lot.
Another build I suggest is Sorcerer(Boreal)/Monk(Zen Archer)/Arcane Archer/Eldritch Knight.
All your spells and everything is based on Wisdom, so your AC and Attack Bonus will be through the roof.
There is no need to study your victim and it works with ranged weapons and you get full BAB + your normal BAB for your death attack.
Started playing in 3.0 and this has always bothered me. When I think of an assassin, an arrow or dart from an unseen location is the first assassination scenario I think of.
Does anyone have a good reason why Death Attack can't work with ranged weapons? Is it just a balance reason? I mean, you can Sneak Attack with a ranged weapon within 30 feet just fine.
*Holding ones shield in front of you to deflect a portion of the blast.
*Pulling your thick cloak over your face to protect your lungs from inhaling the flames.
*Reacting fast enough to whisper a plee to ones god to protect them.
*Turning so that your back and folding your arms around you to limit how much of your surface area is exposed.
These examples are awesome. Totally changes my idea of the reflex save. To me it was almost always just jumping out of the way. Thanks for sharing them!
Seconded. Whether or not that's really how Reflex saves work, it's a really cool way of looking at it!
Batman is extremely intelligent and one of the best martial artists in the DC Universe. He's not magical, so all the magic classes are out. So Rogue is the only thing that's left that makes sense and the Investigator Archetype fits well. Intelligence would be his highest stat.
I guess my opinion differs from most people, but I enjoy Ranger/Rogue. They're both skill-monkey classes with different skill sets, so taking both gives you a very large range of things to be good at.
The thing that really eggs me on is that any time anyone suggests making a Rogue/Wizard multi-class character the "Bard Squad" rolls in and starts going on and on about how playing a Rogue/Wizard is pointless and how everyone should just play Bards.
Some people want to be able to disarm traps and not have a god awful spell list darn it!
Any chance of seeing a Ranger/Rogue multiclass archetype? I was thinking "Stalker" (or something) might exchange Favored Enemy for Sneak Attack and some increased Stealth abilities.
Too late to edit, but I meant those mutations as "or" options (Scent OR Low-Light Vision, not both) and just as some examples of potential mutations. I tried to base the lists off Summoner Evolutions list.
Today I was thinking about how cool it would be to have some Int-based feats for gaining minor mutations in the same style as Eldritch Heritage. Then I immediately figured someone had probably thought of this a long time ago. Am I right?
Otherwise I was thinking of something like this:
Quote:
Minor Mutation
Through careful consumption of minor alchemic mixtures you have gained a slight mutation.
Prerequisites: Int 13, Skill Focus Craft(alchemy), character level 3rd.
I know you've already discussed Stealth Mage a few pages back, but how is Stealth Mage not just plain better than Wizard? I don't see anything a Wizard has that a Stealth Mage does not, unless I'm missing something...
P.S. Rogue/Wizard is my favorite class combo too ;)
So one character in our campaign stole a very powerful book from a very powerful NPC.
That's that only information you need to think about. If players piss off a powerful NPC, there should be hell to pay. If there isn't, then the NPC wasn't really powerful were they?
My personal wish-list for Rangers is seeing an Arcane-casting Ranger variant, which would be perfect for a Nex/Garundi wizardry-influenced Ranger roaming the expanses of Southern Garund and the Mwangi Expanse... Probably with a Familiar instead of an Animal Companion. And a spell list more in line with the normal Ranger one in terms of approach/role (as opposed to the very blast-y Magus), although with very different actual spells, i.e. more Wizard-lite than Druid-lite. Ideally, it would be flexible enough to allow at least some Ranger Archetypes to be comptable with it.
I would love this. It would work perfectly for a Witcher-ish character.
Frankly, I've played in a few campaigns as an Arcane Trickster and never felt "underpowered." You won't Sneak Attack as hard as a Rogue and you won't cast as well as a Wizard/Sorcerer and frankly you shouldn't. You should have to give up power to gain versatility.
That said, I could see bringing up the HD, BAB, or skill ranks per level a step since they raised the sister class, Eldritch Knight, to a d10 per level from a d6.
And while each ray does require its own hitroll it is NOT the same as a full attack action, but rather all are fired at once. That is a huge distinction.
-James
So what happens when the Arcane Trickster chooses 3 different flat-footed targets for his Scorching Ray? Do you get to pick which one is subject to sneak attack? Is it rolled randomly?
I can see your point on the whole full attack vs. standard action thing, but am wondering how to deal with this.
Still, the fact that each ray gets an attack roll should be enough to get each ray Sneak attack damage. I was originally tempted to view it like Many Shot, except that the two arrows of Many Shot have the same attack roll. Scorching Ray doesn't work like this, therefore Precision Damage should be applied to each ray.
This is how I would rule. Getting a chance to sneak attack for every roll you make seems intuitive to me since that's how it works for everything else.
LazarX wrote:
With that intepretation Scorching Ray becomes insanely overpowered compared to Polar Ray.
It requires a lot of specialization and lost caster levels to pull off, so I don't see a problem with it.
Ultimate Magic has some guidelines on creating new spells.
Is there a section on how long it should take a Wizard to come up with a new spell of their own (researching it themselves)?
I would think that it should be based on the level of the spell and the caster level of the person researching it. I.e. a 9th level caster could come up with a new 2nd level spell faster than they could come up with a new 4th level spell.
Martial weapons are typically designed for hitting a human being--even an armored human being--so they should ignore at least a little damage or you may as well be attacking with glass.
If it was a normal attack against a hard object, sure. But as the OP said, this was a fumble. Therefore, I'd rule full damage. If it was a masterwork weapon, then I'd apply hardness.
Martial weapons are typically designed for hitting a human being--even an armored human being--so they should ignore at least a little damage or you may as well be attacking with glass.
Depending on the weapon I might give it Hardness 1 to Hardness 5 and 15 to 25 hit points. Then just apply the damage dealt to the door to the weapon as well.
