Stack's page

The option to deliver stored spells via trip/disarm/grapple/shove could open up a different playstyle for the magus. Keying striking spell off the attack trait rather then Strike would do this, but may have unintended consequences.

Obviously the class has more important issues to be sorted out, but it occurred to me that a shield based path would be nice. You can fake it now (shields with a boss or spikes are 1-handed weapons, archetyping into everstand stance would make a shield 2-handed), but a path to work raising shield into your action economy and allowing you to deliver a spell when you shield block would be cool.

In my reading of standby spell, it is unclear if you can freely heighten the standby spell to cast it from any slot you have available. Nothing prohibits it, but a few words to clarify would probably save questions later.

My first impression of the eldritch archer is quite negative.

I dislike the late entry - level 6 at the earliest, so you aren't getting your core concept-enabling feature until late. If you get in at level 6, you aren't actually a spell-casting class, since you need to be expert in bows. Classes that can get in at 6 will have very limited casting (cantrips from feats or some focus spells from class).

So non-casters getting in have casting ranging from 'limited' to 'garbage' depending on entry. You can get more casting in-archetype, but basic casting at level 8 is 4 levels past just grabbing casting from another archetype. You can't get another dedication in before 6th either, not enough feats, so you are stuck with whatever you can get in-class or from ancestry for a long time.

Most casters don't get expert in any weapons until late (11th level, mostly), so you don't start Eldritch Archer until 12th. You have lost more than half the game at this point and despite the increased max level of APGs, a lot of games still aren't going to hit this point.

Warpriest with a deity that favors bows is probably your best bet, getting you started at 8th, though I am not sure how many cleric spells are really good with it without digging a bit.

Magic arrow at 8th is nice, but is competing with getting actual spells on a martial entry and the limit to 4th level items means you mostly use it for utility stuff since the DCs of anything with a save will be worthless.

I fear the design of this archetype creates a very undesirable bench-mark for future magus/gish/spellblade type materials. Anything that gives a similar spell-strike type mechanic will be compared to this one, so designers will be inclined to force late entry. This makes playing such a character far more difficult that I would like, turning a popular archetype into a mid/late-game only option. Any material that grants a similar option earlier will be seen as power creep and elicit complaints of not being balanced against previous material (which would be true).

Note that I am not speaking against the limits to proficiency inherent in each class. I am fine with a fighter/eldritch archer never getting legendary spellcasting or a wizard eldritch archer not getting master in bows. That is inherent in the system. I just want concepts to be somewhat functional before mid-levels.

Am I missing something about this archetype?

Hello, this is stack. You may remember be from such playtests as "the Convoker's Handbook", "the Destroyer's Handbook," "the Shapeshifter's Handbook," and "Spheres of Might." I come to you today to invite your feedback on a new Spheres of Power based base class, the Wraith.

I want to state right up front: the class is a bit odd and uses mechanics that are not usually seen at low levels nor as major focuses of PCs. Incorporeality and possession are tricky to balance. I believe the basis of the class is reasonably sound, but it definitely needs table time.

Further material may be added later.

Hold nothing (pertinent) back. Thanks for all your help.

Looking at the fighter preview, I see that arbitrary level prerequisites, a constant headache in PF1, are alive and well.

From the preview: "At 6th level, fighters can take the feat Shield Warden, which allows them to use their shield to block the damage taken by an adjacent ally. At 8th, they can even get an extra reaction each turn, just to use shield block one additional time. (And yes, they can spend this extra reaction on another use of Shield Warden.) At 14th level, a fighter can use their shield to protect themself from dragon's breath and fireballs, gaining their shield's bonus to Reflex saves."

Why does a fighter have to be level 6 to be able to cover an ally and 14 to use a shield against dragon's breath (an iconic fantasy image). You are paying a feat for the ability (explicitly in the first case, second isn't clear), how is that an insufficient cost? Why continue loading on unneeded prerequisites that delay concepts from coming online or push options outside of the band of normal play?

Hello, this is stack. You may remember be from such playtests as 'the Destroyer's Handbook," "the Shapeshifter's Handbook," and "Spheres of Might." I come to you today to invite your feedback on the Conjuration sphere expansion, the Convoker's Handbook.

For those to whom that makes little sense, Drop Dead Studios is producing a series of expansions for the Spheres of Power alternate magic system, each expanding upon a single sphere.

Hold nothing (pertinent) back. Thanks for all your help.

Hello again!

In addition to the series of releases specific to each sphere in Spheres of Power by Drop Dead Studios, the handbook authors have been assembling various ideas for equipment that either didn't fit in others books, as thought of too late, or just seemed to work better in a dedicated release. Therefore, I present to you for your playtesting pleasure:

Gear of Power (working title)

You will notice both that it has plenty of placeholders for stuff we haven't thought of yet and that it includes feats and class options that we felt thematic to the topic. Concerns, corrections, and suggestions are very welcome. We expect to leave this playtest open for a fair bit, so drop in whenever you want. Comments may be left in this thread or on the doc.

Some of you may know me from such playtests as 'the Destroyer's Handbook' and 'the Shapeshifter's Handbook', or from about a thousand PBP games around here. In addition to the series of releases specific to each sphere in Spheres of Power by Drop Dead Studios, I have put together a book expanding on wild magic. While the base book suggests using the rod of wonder table when using the wild magic drawback, I wanted something more appropriate to the effect being cast. Therefore, I began a project with the goal of creating full 100 entry tables for each individual sphere, along with feats, archetypes, etc.

[SIZE=4][CENTER]Wild Magic Handbook
Wild Magic Tables[/CENTER][/SIZE]

You will notice that the tables are not full. Based on my previous experience, I expect there will be many creative suggestions and I wanted to leave plenty of room for them. In the meantime, just divide your percentile roll by 2 and round up for the tables with 50 entries. I know that entries are somewhat clumped together right now; they will be randomized for the final release.

Thanks for reading, your help is appreciated.

As some of you know, Drop Dead Studios is producing a series of expansions for the Spheres of Power alternate magic system, each expanding upon a single sphere. Having gotten much feedback on the Destruction sphere expansion, I return to humbly present the alteration sphere expansion for you to tear to bloody shreds that it may be improved.
Shapeshifter's Handbook

Hold nothing (pertinent) back. Thanks for all your help.

(If this is on the wrong board, please let me know; I am not overly acquainted with the structure here.)

As some of you know, Drop Dead Studios is producing a series of expansions for the Spheres of Power alternate magic system, each expanding upon a single sphere. I am the author of the release focused on the very fun but often misunderstood Destruction sphere. I would like to borrow some processing cycles from the mighty groupmind here to find issues, solicit suggestions, and generally improve the product to make my first release as good as it can be.
Destruction Handbook

Hold nothing (pertinent) back. Thanks for all your help.

Schedule: Original manuscript was to be due in March, but things have shifted a bit,m as expected given the number of people involved. As we want to release the best possible project, this will remain open for as long as it is needed.