Neil Spalter's page

Wow, this thread is dead! I guess no one has any solutions to the questions that have been raised? Oh well.

Any support for this? Or are people generally happy with the various craft skills? I would really like to see guidelines to help determining what can be made through crafting mundane items, including alchemy. I would also like to see scalable alchemy. Currently, alchemy is barely useful at low levels. At high levels, it is practically completely useless.

And you know, now that I think about it, allowing DMs to design their own diseases by picking from lists to create their own custom disease effects could be fun. Honestly, the more customizable these things are, the more interesting they can become. And what about Profession: Apothecary? Any way there can be generic descriptions on the costs for various bonuses to heal checks? I mean, if a society comes up with chewing on a particular bark that happens to have a mineral similar to acetaminophen in it, that should give a nice bonus to heal checks to relieve pain or whatever. But, rather than come up with a list of specific items that can be found, make it generic. For each DC 10 Craft: Apothecary item worth x gp, you get a +1 on Heal checks. The item crafted is for a specific heal check, not for a generic one. It would be used to find a cure for a specific ailment.

The idea would be, an important NPC gets sick. The party tries everything, even complete bed rest, aiding another, and the best apothecary supplies. The best they have accomplished is keeping them alive. So, one of the PCs decides to craft some Apothecary item to help out. They research the disease with Knowledge: Nature, and based on that check, it sets the maximum DC apothecary item they can make to try to aid their heal check. So, the DM decides they need a gizzard from a beast (not in the rules, just something to make the rules work) and x gp to create their apothecary item. They go hunting, get the gizzard and the gold, create their potion, and it works!

Where could I go to find a nice list of craft DC adjustments?

For instance, crafting a suit of armor requires a craft check DC 10+Armor Bonus. What if it is mithral armor? Is it 10 + Armor Bonus for one check and 20 for making it masterwork? It says that it is based on the complexity of the item. Would complexity have anything to do with hardness? So you take the material's hardness, and that becomes the base, then add Armor Bonus? So, for mithral, it would be 15 + Armor Bonus and then 20 to make it masterwork?

It would be nice if there were a base DC and then different factors could be added to increase the DC. I realize that the focus of a game should not be on crafting items, but for players who like crafters, such a system could be a great boon. The idea: I want a very specialized mundane item. Rather than finding the correct item in the correct book, I build the item, then determine how difficult it would be to craft.

Possibilities:

Base DC for crafting is Hardness of primary material.
Typical items are +0
High quality items are +5
Complex or Superior items are +10

Examples:
Wooden spoon (Typical item, hardness 5, craft DC = 5, same as current)
Iron Pot (Typical item, hardness 10, craft DC = 10, same as current)
Bell (High quality, hardness 10, craft DC = 15, same as current)
Lock (Complex or superior item, hardness 10, craft DC = 20, same as current)

In general, this system will not change any DCs, but it will help DMs figure out DCs for things like the DC to craft an adamantine greatsword would be 25 instead of 15 (because adamantine has 10 more hardness than steel).

Next for better Crafting DCs: Alchemy items... Rather than having alchemy items with fixed properties and fixed DCs, an adventurer who knows a ton about it should be able to say, "I want an alchemy item that does ..." and then be able to create it.

Examples:

Base DC = 10

• Grants 1 hour alchemical bonus to:[list]
• Fort save vs. Poison
  
• Will save vs. fear
  
• Fort save vs. disease

+3 x bonus granted (so +5 bonus adds +15 to the craft DC, same as antitoxin)

Deal 1d6 acid, cold, electricity, or fire (or 1d4 sonic) as splash weapon with one damage to all creatures within 5' of splash square (+5 DC)

Damage repeats 2nd round to affected square only (+5 DC)[/list]

All of these DCs are designed to create the same DCs currently present, as well as give formulas for the creation of new alchemical items. Each factor could be given a DC adjustment, like smokesticks and sunrods. Perhaps an alchemist could make a lesser sunrod with a lower craft check. Custom alchemical pricing guidelines would be needed for this system.

I'm really liking the direction afflictions are going. For another interesting idea, there is a D20 Modern supplement which offers a custom poison pricing guide. If something like that could be incorporated into Pathfinder, I would love it! Traps already have custom prices, which is amazing. Scalability is easy to develop, and everything works out nicely. Poisons, unfortunately, have always been rather haphazard. For the Modern enhancement, some changes would need to be made, since instead of a purchase DC, it would be a gp cost. I don't know if a direct correlation between gp and craft DC would be effective, but if it is, great!

Unfortunately, the D20 Modern enhancement that I saw is not OGL, so I won't link it. In general, the system listed different things that poisons can do. For each die of ability damage, for instance, it increased the craft DC by some amount. If it was Con damage, it was double that amount. That guide had different DC adjustments for initial and secondary damage (with secondary damage costing half the DC adjustment as initial damage). Things like blindness and 1d3 hours of unconsciousness are also available factors. The base DC is based on the type of poison (Injury, Concact, Ingested, and Inhaled, in that order). Then, you add the modifiers, and price is based on the final craft DC.

Would this be a plausible system for Pathfinder? Perhaps add in the factors for frequency and duration?

Kyrinn: Nope! I took it as civil, I was just responding to your point specifically. Cheers!

I like other people's ideas. Have certain DCs for certain tasks, but allow a DM to decide which skill works for it. Oh, you have profession: sailor? Ok, you can roll that versus the DC 25 check. Oh, you have no relevant abilities? You can make a Dex check.

Everyone who has made the suggestion that Use Rope needs indications for DC, and that's it, that's the method that I'll use. Beyond that, some characters will know how to tie ropes, some won't. I don't need a separate skill to tell me which characters may or may not. You don't like that a some checks are Wisdom-based instead of Dex-based, change it for that particular usage. Give players a penalty equal to their wisdom and a bonus equal to their dexterity. Don't tell them how you came up with the overall adjustment. Just tell them that if they want to use that skill for ropes, there is an adjustment for their character. Perhaps they will figure it out, perhaps they won't.

I like the idea that this sort of stuff shouldn't take much time up in a D&D game. You tied someone/thing up? Great. Unless it has a ton of Escape Artist, it is tied up. It won't even bother checking. If it is meant to escape, now it might actually matter how it is tied. The DM can make a check if it matters.

The rules aren't designed to account for use of two shields, which should stack. Obviously, two-armed people can't use two shields and attack, which makes it that much less likely to come up. And the doubled armor check penalties would make activities other than cowering more difficult.

Actually, on the WotC forum, someone had an excellent idea for how to adjudicate this situation: Have one shield turn into a cover bonus while the other shield remains a shield bonus. This means that if you have two shields and are standing behind cover (for partial cover), you get no benefit from the second shield, as you only use the best cover bonus. This would allow the ACs to stack. Probably need a feat to be able to use two shields in that way, though, without giving up some kind of an action (move or standard action each round to concentrate on defense, maybe?)

Wow! I wish I had known about this thread before!

Ok, I had a lot of questions. I organized them rather poorly in the other thread, so I will attempt to organize them better here:

• A 3rd level wizard decides to create a Headband of Intelligence +2. The item's caster level is 8th. Is the fact that the wizard is not 8th level considered him "not meeting a prerequisite"? The base DC for the headband would be 13. Since he is not 8th level, would it be 18 for him? The general advice seems to indicate that in 3.5, the caster level is not a prerequisite, but I am wondering if it should be.
  
• When said wizard creates said Headband of Intelligence +2, what is its caster level? Is it created at caster level 8, or at caster level 3? I know spell completion items are created at whatever caster level their creator happens to be, but this might not make sense for wondrous items.
  
• Crafting magic arms and armor requires a caster level of at least three times the bonus being attempted. Is this a prerequisite? Can a 5th level caster with the relevant feat make an attempt to craft a +5 weapon, likely creating a cursed one instead?
  
• Items like Sovereign Glue seems odd in this new system. A 20th level cleric who only put one rank into spellcraft and has no Intelligence bonus is guaranteed to create cursed sovereign glue, yet he meets all of the prerequisites, including caster level. Does this mean that Sovereign Glue is just that difficult to make?
  
• Can characters take 10 on these checks? Spellcraft has no limitations for taking 10. Craft checks always allow taking 10. If this is allowed, it essentially removes the risk from item creation, which seems to be the whole purpose for these new rules. Probably should add an addendum stating that characters may not take 10 without a feat.
  
• How would bypassing a prerequisite work? According to the guide, a character must have a caster level high enough to cast all of the prerequisite spells. If they are bypassing a prerequisite spell, could they have a lower caster level? For instance, the 3rd level wizard decides he wants to create a Necklace of Fireballs. Fireball has a minimum caster level of 5. If the wizard decides to bypass that prerequisite, would he be able to attempt its creation at a DC 25 (Base 5, CL 10, bypass prereq 10)? I doubt the wizard would be capable of creating it, but would he be allowed to attempt it?
  
• If a 5th level wizard didn't have fireball prepared, and decided to bypass the fireball prerequisite for a necklace of fireballs, would he still need to expend the appropriate spell slot? Perhaps it is a +5 to DC for not meeting the prerequisite, but the spell must still be provided by another caster. It is an additional +5 to DC if the spell is not being provided at all, but a spell slot of the appropriate level must be provided (along with the material components in the case of spell completion or spell trigger items). And finally, it is an additional +5 to DC again if the spell slot is not provided?
  
• Does the Use Magic Device skill have any use in item creation? The guide doesn't mention it, but can the normal Use Magic Device abilities be used to bypass prerequisites? For instance, it is a DC 30 UMD check to emulate alignment, a DC 20 to emulate a class ability, or a DC 25 to emulate a race. These would be useful if a human cleric with low spellcraft wanted to create a Cloak of Elvenkind, and for some reason, they have maximum ranks in Use Magic Device, it may be easier for them to emulate the elven race rather than increase their Spellcraft DC by +5. Would that be acceptable? Are there any additional uses of the skill for item creation (Perhaps like the aforementioned base class in another setting)?

That's all I have for right now. I'll ask more questions if I come up with any.

Per the Stacking Rules:

In most cases, modifiers to a given check or roll stack (combine for a cumulative effect) if they come from different sources and have different types (or no type at all), but do not stack if they have the same type or come from the same source (such as the same spell cast twice in succession). If the modifiers to a particular roll do not stack, only the best bonus and worst penalty applies. Dodge bonuses and circumstance bonuses however, do stack with one another unless otherwise specified.

Specifically, in regards to a Shield Bonus:

A shield bonus improves Armor Class and is granted by a shield or by a spell or magic effect that mimics a shield. Shield bonuses stack with all other bonuses to AC except other shield bonuses. A magic shield typically grants an enhancement bonus to the shield's shield bonus, which has the effect of increasing the shield's overall bonus to AC. A shield bonus granted by a spell or magic item typically takes the form of an invisible, tangible field of force that protects the recipient. A shield bonus doesn't apply against touch attacks.

Yes, I was aware that I only got the shield bonus from one shield. My DM granted the partial cover versus all enemies, so it is too late to retroactively undo that, but my question was mostly about the Armor Check Penalty, which seems to be a point of contention still. No matter, really.

Looking at it again, I think that might be too complicated. Fortunately, the item crafter has only made things for which he meets all of the prerequisites. But, I have no clue what I am going to do if and when he asks to create something for which he doesn't...

Trying to keep this thread alive single-handedly, hoping someone will have some advice!

Neil Spalter wrote:

I quickly grabbed two tower shields. Reading the description, they grant partial cover against three sides, but not all four. So, I grabbed two, placing them at opposite squares. I figured, that grants me four-way protection. Since attacks of opportunity cannot be made against a target who has cover, I figured I could move indiscriminately.

The SRD doesn't describe tower shield cover as "three sides, but not all four." It might, however, grant cover against three of eight neighboring tiles. A palise could grant cover on 3/4 of your facings, but they are either free-standing or strapped to the crossbowman's back.

Yes, the Armor Check of two shields would stack.

Actually, the description I was referring to was in the FAQ. While it is true that facing was removed, a shield must still be placed on an "side" of your square. it grants AC from that side only, regardless of which way you are facing. According to the FAQ (and maybe i am misreading this), when used for total cover, it grants total cover from one side and from the two corners adjacent to that side. the adjacent sides, however, grant partial cover (+4 to AC and +2 to reflex saves). My character has a 22 strength, so he was definitely in his light load, even carrying two tower shields and wearing a magical chain shirt. Anyway, the FAQ claims that it takes a standard action to activate the total cover portion of the shield, but he can still move, and with his expeditious retreat active, that is still 60' per round where no one will take attacks of opportunity against him. With the +12 to Acrobatics for the purposes of jumping (from Expeditious Retreat), my 5th level fighter was sporting a +1 to Acrobatics for jumping (after bonuses and penalties). So, the DC was only a 10 to jump the 5 feet. I could have taken 10 and made it, but I thought I was going to succeed on a natural one, so I rolled it jokingly. When I rolled a 4 on the die, it was a failure.

The Armor check penulties, do not stack, because they are from the same specific source. Armor, shield, and encumbrence are different sources, so would stack, but two shields would not.

Additionally, depending on what you mean by "I needed to make a jump check", you could always opt to drop the shield(s) before hand.

While this is true for many things, most penalties do stack, even from the same source. I have always been confused by D&D penalties, because effects like Ray of Enfeeblement do not stack, yet other penalties do stack, even when from the same source, then other things like armor check penalties from the same sources then do/don't in different situations until I am thoroughly confused :P.

Anyway, about dropping the shields, that is entirely true, but I was not done using them for avoiding attacks of opportunity. I hadn't even though about how much ACP they added. I had maxed my Acrobatics skill, and I was wearing a Ring of Improved Jumping. Ordinarily, I'd have made the 5' leap no problem. So the DM told me to make the roll, and I laughed. He said, no, really! So I made the roll, and he subtracted 18 from that! I laughed and said what?!? He said, you forgot you are now holding two incredibly ungainly pieces of wood against your body! So, I stumbled and fell on my butt. Then, I got back up and continued as I had planned :D. It all worked out in the end. I was still curious.

Anyway, seems that this is a contended issue, as the poster above indicates that the penalties would indeed stack! Lol. Oh well. Probably best just to let the DMs rule it as they see it :D

Ok, I had an interesting happening the other day. My light armor fighter found himself facing a phalanx-fighting group, all wielding heavy shields. After the mage provided some well-place fireballs and other area of effect spells, the archers eventually took him down. The healer was being grappled by their commander's wartiger. The next phalanx was approaching, and would require some cunning on the part of myself and the rogue. So, I grabbed a random potion, and hoped it was a potion of some cure spell. Downing it, however, I discovered it was a potion of Girallon's Blessing (Spell Compendium spell granting an additional two arms; the DM does not use the restriction for potions that they cannot be personal range spells). With my new two arms, I had an idea. I quickly grabbed two tower shields. Reading the description, they grant partial cover against three sides, but not all four. So, I grabbed two, placing them at opposite squares. I figured, that grants me four-way protection. Since attacks of opportunity cannot be made against a target who has cover, I figured I could move indiscriminately.

So now, to move! I quickly downed one more potion: Expeditious Retreat (I have two more arms, so it wasn't a problem). Then, I rushed around the enemy phalanx while the rogue held action for me to get into position. Once I was there, I attacked from behind. Since I was attacking with two tower shields, I had a -4 to hit (penalties stack). The rogue had done something clever. He held his action for the phalanx-fighter to move his shield. Being attacked from behind, the fighter did just that, positioning his shield towards me, instead. This activated the rogue's held action. The rogue had held his action to charge (this is a contended rule in 3.5, and my DM has decided that it is perfectly acceptable to hold an action to charge, but you can only make a single move action). The rogue slashed and killed the target. Anyway, as we began picking apart the phalanx, it came to bear that I needed to make a jump check. This is where the trouble started... what was my armor check penalty? -10 or -19? (-1 from magical chain shirt, -9 from each MW tower shield, or is it -1 from magical chain shirt, -9 from one MW tower shield?)

The DM rules -19, which was just funny. Still, I am curious.

Looking at it again, I think that might be too complicated. Fortunately, the item crafter has only made things for which he meets all of the prerequisites. But, I have no clue what I am going to do if and when he asks to create something for which he doesn't...

Well, in response to my own questions, here are the answers that I am considering as house rules to try out. If anyone has any suggestions, please voice them:

Is a 3rd level character capable of creating one of the belts or headbands which increases stats (it lists the item caster level at 8)? If he is able to, would he create the item at CL 8? Or would he create the item at his caster level of 3? Which caster level should he use for Spellcraft DCs to successfully create the item? His own caster level, or the suggested item caster level?

I think that a 3rd level character should be capable of attempting to create such items. He would create the item at his caster level of 3. He would be required to add a +5 to the DC for being lower than the "recommended" caster level for the item. Additionally, he would use the item's recommended caster level when determining the DC. So, his DC would be 5+8+5 = 18 (or 23 if you read below). If he succeeded, he would have an item with a caster level of 3, but with the effects he wanted.

What does it mean to ignore prerequisites by increasing the DC by +5? If the prerequisite includes a spell, does that mean that you don't need the spell prepared if you increase the DC by +5? What about spells with costly material components?

For this one, I am thinking of experimenting. My first reaction is to err on the side of flexibility, allowing spells to be ignored. Now, the rules say that if there is a spell, the spellcaster must be of a sufficiently high level to be able to cast the spell. If someone ignores the spell by increasing the DC by 5, I think that in addition to that +5, they would need to increase the DC by an additional +5 if they don't meet the caster level required. So, the 3rd level wizard could attempt to create the Tome of Clear Thought +5, but the DC would be insanely difficult. Now, failing to meet the caster level required, I'm thinking, should actually pose a variable penalty rather than a flat +5. Perhaps a +1 to the DC for each caster level lacking? So, the 3rd level wizard trying to create a 17th level item would need to increase the DC by +14, in addition to the +5 for not meeting the item caster level, and another +5 for not meeting the Wish prerequisite. Now, with all of those penalties, the DC would be 46, making it solidly out of reach for a 3rd level caster (although very easy to create a VERY expensive cursed item that with a single detect magic should be incredibly apparent that it is indeed less than a true version of the tome). A 16th level caster, however, might have an easier time with this. The DC for the 16th level caster would be 5+17+5+5+1 = 33. And the DC for the 17th level caster who opts not to prepare wish would be 5+17+5 = 27. And the 17th level caster who does prepare it would be 22.

I still don't know what to do about costly material components, as the tome itself doesn't seem to gain that cost. I'm thinking it should be handled on an individual basis. If the item's cost seems to take into account a costly material component, I would think that it still must be provided, even if the spell is being ignored.

Do the rules make it so that a sorcerer can make magic items of any sorcerer/wizard spell, even without it as a spell known, provided that they increase the spellcraft DC by 5? If that is the case, do they still need spell slots of the appropriate level as though they were casting the spell? Are those spell slots still considered "expended" from magic item creation?

I'm going to say yes to all of them. Example: A sorcerer wants to make a wand of fireballs, but he didn't take Fireball as a spell known. He is a 6th level sorcerer. He must expend a 3rd level spell slot each day. He must increase his spellcraft DC by +5 since he is not using the spell.

Now, let's say that he is a 5th level sorcerer. Instead, he must increase the DC by 5 (because he doesn't know Fireball), but he must increase the DC by another 5 (because he is not expending the 3rd level spell slot), and then increase the DC by another 1 (because he is one caster level too low to create the item). In addition, the sorcerer must expend a number of spell slots equal to the spell slot that was required (so he must expect three levels of spell slots). This provides a decent minimum. Now, the 3rd level wizard won't be capable of attempting to create the Tome of Clear Thought +5 (as he won't have enough levels of spells to fulfill the 9th level spell requirement). By the time he is of high enough level to attempt it, the spellcraft DC will still likely be out of reach.

Could sorcerers and wizards make items that ordinarily require cleric spells? Or clerics make items requiring sorcerer/wizard spells? How many prerequisites would that be overcoming? One (because they don't have the spell), two (because no spell and wrong class), three (no spell, wrong class, wrong type of spell slot)? Is that simply something for the DM to decide?

I'm going to say, sure, why not. It would be 3 prereqs bypassed (making the DC a minimum of +15). They would still be required to give up spell slots, although the fact that it is of the wrong type of magic would not mitigate any of the +15 factors. If they were not high enough caster level to be capable of creating the item, the DC would increase by an additional +5, then an additional +5 for failing to have the correct level spell slot, and would still require the spell slots to be expended for the day.

Does the Use Magic Device skill have any use in item creation? The guide doesn't mention it, but can the normal Use Magic Device abilities be used to bypass prerequisites? For instance, it is a DC 30 UMD check to emulate alignment, a DC 20 to emulate a class ability, or...

I would say yes, normal rules for spellcraft can be used to mitigate specific prerequisites. One cannot use Use Magic Device to emulate caster level unless you are a special class that overrules this general rule (see the Artificer class from Eberron).

How do these house rules look? Any comments or suggestions? Am I describing the way I am thinking clearly?

So, does no one else understand the rules? Is anyone else interested in how they are supposed to work, or are people pretty much just houseruling whatever they want? Do most people think it is simple enough that it doesn't need clarification? I'm still really confused.

I guess my main questions are for wondrous items, as most other items are rather easy to figure out.

Is a 3rd level character capable of creating one of the belts or headbands which increases stats (it lists the item caster level at 8)? If he is able to, would he create the item at CL 8? Or would he create the item at his caster level of 3? Which caster level should he use for Spellcraft DCs to successfully create the item? His own caster level, or the suggested item caster level?

What does it mean to ignore prerequisites by increasing the DC by +5? If the prerequisite includes a spell, does that mean that you don't need the spell prepared if you increase the DC by +5? What about spells with costly material components?

Do the rules make it so that a sorcerer can make magic items of any sorcerer/wizard spell, even without it as a spell known, provided that they increase the spellcraft DC by 5? If that is the case, do they still need spell slots of the appropriate level as though they were casting the spell? Are those spell slots still considered "expended" from magic item creation?

Could sorcerers and wizards make items that ordinarily require cleric spells? Or clerics make items requiring sorcerer/wizard spells? How many prerequisites would that be overcoming? One (because they don't have the spell), two (because no spell and wrong class), three (no spell, wrong class, wrong type of spell slot)? Is that simply something for the DM to decide?

Does the Use Magic Device skill have any use in item creation? The guide doesn't mention it, but can the normal Use Magic Device abilities be used to bypass prerequisites? For instance, it is a DC 30 UMD check to emulate alignment, a DC 20 to emulate a class ability, or a DC 25 to emulate a race. These would be useful if a human cleric with low spellcraft wanted to create a Cloak of Elvenkind, and for some reason, they have maximum ranks in Use Magic Device, it may be easier for them to emulate the elven race rather than increase their Spellcraft DC by +5. Would that be acceptable? Are there any additional uses of the skill for item creation?

I haven't read some of the posts, but in regard to the posts suggesting that fighter attack bonuses be capped, all I can think is... Why? Why should the mage's spell deal 20d6 damage to the enemy, half on a successful save, and the fighter's attack should miss for it to be a challenge? The mage has versatility that the fighter will never have. The mage can find spells that will not allow saves or spell resistance, targeting the creature's touch AC. The mage can do all sorts of neat little tricks. Who really cares if the fighter hits four times in a round? Let him! That's his job! Scale the challenges for the rogue, and if the fighter is killing everything single-handedly, then you have a great fighter. To challenge him, give him something that doesn't care about his high damage output. At high level, you can face the unknown beast. At this point, the rogue will have a challenge hitting, but when he does, he is dealing significantly more damage with an attack than the fighter.

If you are in a high damage output game, multiply monster HP. Monsters have double HP. Monsters have triple HP. Monsters have 10x HP. Give them as much hp as they need to be around long enough for the party to feel a challenge. Now, the fighter is hitting every attack, dealing gobs of damage. The rogue must still position himself, but once he does, he deals gobs of damage, and the monster has tons of HP so that he doesn't care how much damage he takes. He's gonna get in his few rounds of smashy-smashy before he is taken down.

Perhaps this is too much like a WoW final boss, but I have increased monster hp plenty of times without increasing anything else about the monster. Damage and hp is supposed to be an abstract concept. The idea of a good fighter having a good challenge inherently leaves the rogue out of the mix. Why would a rogue be really good at a good fighter challenge? He shouldn't be. Now, how would you challenge the fighter? It is his job to keep the monster's attention while the mage is casting spells. The fact that he is doing consistent damage should help with that, but the rogue is dealing large amounts of damage. Eventually, the rogue is going to get noticed. And the wizard? He is full of magical energy that the monster thinks is ever so tasty.

The challenge is for the fighter to keep the monster's attention long enough for the group as a whole to destroy it. Seem more like WoW? It always has to me. I've been playing with these rules for years now, well before WoW came about. Modern gaming groups call it keeping aggro, because they use the WoW terminology. I call it being a good fighter. And the whole time that the fighter is hitting the monster for tons of damage, it should be hitting him back for tons of damage. His AC should protect him some, but eventually, it is going to land some nasty strikes, and now the cleric is needed.

It seems to me that HP is the real balancing factor in 3.5. Let monsters have HP! No one-shot kills for every monster you face! Fast actions where the fighter rolls four dice of different colors representing his four attacks. While he is calculating the bonuses, you move on to the next player. You can keep going around the table, and the damage dealt by the fighter can be tracked last for the round.

Anyway, this has worked for me at high levels. Everyone seems to have a good time, as the niche roles really come into play. When things are scaled appropriately for the rogue, the fighter will always hit and the mage will only hit when going for touch attacks. I like the PF system better for monks, at least, as it gives them utility over the martial classes through recommending CMB-based attacks. The monk rushes past the monster, blowing by the entire party. The party knows what is coming, but the monster is completely baffled. Next thing the monster knows, he is bull rushed right through the melee core of the party, taking attacks of opportunity as he goes! Give the monk a kama, and he becomes a tripping machine! Trip with the kama, extra free attack unarmed strike. Trip with the kama, extra free attack unarmed strike. And this works for all classes. PF has done a great job of improving the niche roles. Now, you just need to scale monster hp with party capability. It should be trial and error. If monsters start dying too quickly, increase their hp. If the monsters are lasting too long, and combats are becoming either too deadly or not fun, lower their hp.

Seems simple enough to me.

It looks okay, although I'm not sure why you single out chaos/chaotic natures in your introduction to the class. The alignment is still "any" (as I think it should be for any class that has straight combat abilities), and they get no special powers based on their alignment.

Lol, actually, I got that part from the Expanded Psionics Handbook (which is where I am developing my flavor for the classes from). I was not trying to indicate that they get any alignment-based power, but their tendency is listed as being towards chaos over law, so I figured the feel of the class should be versitile as opposed to structured. The specific text from the XPH:

"A psychic warrior's training requires the ability to give equal shrift to what others consider polar opposites of physical and mental ability. Phychic warriors tend toward chaotic alignments, but a chaotic outlook is not a requirement."

Additionally:

"A psychic warrior typically grows up among a society or small community of "the like-minded," founded by psions who wished to develop their powers in seclusion. Such communes are rare, but their existence provides some protection in a world often hostile to those with powerful mental abilities. Psychic warriors are often the children of psions, and just as often grow up dissatisfied with the regimen of commune life.

Although many adopt the class out of this sense of rebellion, most psychic warriors still feel a deep connection to the commune or society in which they were raised and trained. A few have no such connection, their only ties being to their own paths of personal development."

From those two blocks, I decided to focus on versatility.

As far as the saves, that was a big oops! I copied the psion stats and made adjustments. I was trying to set it up where only their fort save was good. I completely forgot to remove the good will save :P.

I do like the additional methods of activating feats. However, as it stands, this psychic warrior is actually weaker than your version, although possesses a great deal more versatility of feats. I already limited the number of bonus feats that can be active to the psychic warrior level. If the psychic warrior chooses the fighter armor and weapon trainings and masteries, he is going to be getting the exact same benefits as your psychic warrior, only he must expend power points to activate his feats whereas your psychic warrior has them constantly active with their full power point pool. A first level psychic warrior from my build is going to have to use one of his power points (he starts with zero) to activate a bonus feat each day. He cannot activate more than one feat until second level when he may activate up to two. This means that the psychic warrior must have more than one power point to be capable of using any powers for the day at first level. This may be too large of an impediment for a low-level character, so the idea of activating the bonus feat by expending the psionic focus may be a possibility (although feats that require a psionic focus, or its expenditure, may be useless for these purposes).

I'll play around with your other ideas, though, as they seem really interesting. But still, I think that this version of the psychic warrior is going to be fighting to try to match your psychic warrior in power. I'll see if I can play test it sometime soon.

Ok, here is my initial investment into the Psychic Warrior class. The class favors chaos to law, so I figure, they don't like to follow all of the rules. They probably like adaptability over steadfast abilities. Rather than knowing exactly what their capabilities are, I decided they should be selectable on a day-to-day, or even round-to-round basis. This makes the psychic warrior very much like the one proposed by tallforadwarf, except with a great deal more versatility at the expense of power point usage.

Psychic Warrior

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d8
Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Psychic warriors are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).
Power Points/Day
A psychic warrior’s ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. His base daily allotment of power points is given on the previous table. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Wisdom score. His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items. A 1st-level psychic warrior gains no power points for his class level, but he gains bonus power points (if he is entitled to any), and can manifest the single power or activate any feat he knows with those power points.
Powers Known
A psychic warrior begins play knowing one psychic warrior power of your choice. Each time he achieves a new level, he unlocks the knowledge of a new power.
Choose the powers known from the psychic warrior power list. (Exception: The feats Expanded Knowledge and Epic Expanded Knowledge do allow a psychic warrior to learn powers from the lists of other classes.) A psychic warrior can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his manifester level.
The total number of powers a psychic warrior can manifest in a day is limited only by his daily power points.
A psychic warrior simply knows his powers; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his spent power points.
The Difficulty Class for saving throws against psychic warrior powers is 10 + the power’s level + the psychic warrior’s Wisdom modifier.
Maximum Power Level Known
A psychic warrior begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level powers. As he attains higher levels, he may gain the ability to master more complex powers.
To learn or manifest a power, a psychic warrior must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the power’s level.
Feat Options
At 1st level, a psychic warrior gets two bonus combat-oriented feats in addition to the feat that any 1st level character gets and the bonus feat granted to a human character. The psychic warrior gains an additional two bonus feats every level thereafter. These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats or psionic feats. The psychic warrior must still meet all prerequisites for the bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums as well as class requirements. A psychic warrior cannot choose feats that specifically require levels in the fighter class unless he is a multiclass character with the requisite levels in the fighter class.

These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every three levels. A psychic warrior is not limited to fighter bonus feats and psionic feats when choosing these other feats.

Unlike most feats, however, the selected bonus feats are not active for the psychic warrior. Each day at the time that the psychic warrior would be regaining power points (whether he is regaining them or not), the psychic warrior may choose to activate a number of feats up to his psychic warrior level. Each feat so activated expends one power point and lasts for 24 hours. Some feat slots may be left open, however. If they are not activated at the beginning of the day, they may only be activated for one round per level at the expense of a power point, and never can the psychic warrior have more bonus feats active than he has levels in this class. Activating the feat any time other than during power point regeneration is an immediate action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Example: Taryn takes his first level of psychic warrior and chooses the feats Speed of Thought and Dodge as his bonus feats. At the beginning of the day, he may make a choice to activate one feat or the other. Should he choose not to activate either feat, later during the day, he may spend an immediate action to activate one of the feats for a duration of one round (because he is first level). So, if an enemy is targeting him with an attack, before the attack is rolled, Taryn may opt to expend a power point to gain the benefits of the Dodge feat. Alternatively, if a comrade has fallen a bit out of his movement range, he may rush to the comrade’s aid with Speed of Thought.

Additionally, in place of the two feat selections for a level, a psychic warrior may select to gain a fighter’s armor training, weapon training, armor mastery, or weapon mastery. The prerequisites for this are that the psychic warrior must be at a level equal to or greater than the fighter in order to gain one of these abilities, and for the masteries, he must have all of the previous trainings. For instance, a 3rd level psychic warrior could gain Armor Training, but not Weapon Training. An 11th level psychic warrior could have gained Armor Training a maximum of three times and Weapon Training a maximum of twice. And a 20th level psychic warrior could only have Armor Mastery or Weapon Mastery if he had all four of the preceding Training abilities first.

Choosing one of these abilities counts as both feat choices for the level. If chosen, these abilities are always active and do not require any power point expenditure. They do, however, limit the number of feats that can be active for the psychic warrior. A psychic warrior may spend a power point to deactivate one of these abilities and another to activate a different feat in its stead. He may opt to do this at the beginning of the day, as per usual, or as a free action as part of the immediate action used to gain the benefit of the new feat. If the ability is dropped during the day, it remains suppressed for a number of rounds equal to the character's psychic warrior level.

Hogarth, as RiTz has said, your formula works great for the medium progression, but would you help in coming up with formulas for the fast and slow ones? The values are rather off when multiplied by 1.5 or divided by 1.5, even after rounding.

The rounding does, indeed, seem to be the issue. Sometimes they allow three significant figures, sometimes only two. I guess that is where consistency should be important.

I noticed this also. The first several levels follow a pattern with the XP progression, but then by level 6, the pattern just ends abruptly.

A neat mathematical progression would be beneficial if a DM decides to allow epic levels, he can simply continue the progression.