Third Strongest Mole's page

Since COM was released, all the new stuff for the core classes can't help but make the new classes feel a little thin by comparison. I've been brainstorming how the COM treatment would look for the 3 newer classes, specifically the biohacker, and thought I would share what I have so far here for the enjoyment and input of this forum. Just an exercise for me having fun, but I've got new theorems, new fields of study, and even an alternate class feature mapped out. I'll split them up into multiple posts.

Design goals:
Add variety to the class
New abilities on similar power level to existing ones (meaningful choice)
Abilities that interact with creature companions
Abilities that interact with biotech
New abilities consistent with class Identity

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: This Homebrew has not been tested in game. It may be hazardous to the balance of your game. Please consult your GM to see if the following homebrew is right for you.

Let's start with the fields of study. I have 3

Fields of Study:

Performance Enhancement:
You apply your biohacks to augment physical abilities, using the fast-acting nature of biohacks as a means of doping.
Booster: you deliver a steroid to augment your ally's natural strength, giving it + 1 to melee attack and damage rolls.
Inhibitor: you deliver a compound that interferes with a living creatures metabolic processes, imposing the fatigued condition.
Breakthrough: You deliver a fast acting stimulant that enables the target living creature to move and think quickly. The target gains the benefits of the haste spell for a number of turns equal to your Key Ability Score Modifier.

Psychoactivation:
You use biohacks to disrupt and improve mental processes.
Booster: With the assistance of a psychoactive compound, the target living creature acquires heightened awareness, gaining blindsense (life) 60 feet.
Inhibitor: You cause hallucinations within a living target. When making attack rolls, it treats all targets as if they had concealment. This is a mind affecting effect.
Breakthrough: You deliver an antipsychotic biohack to a living target. If it is under the effect of an illusion spell or effect, it immediately disbelieves the illusion. In addition, the next time within 1 minute it is a target of a mind-affecting affect that allows a will save, roll twice and use the higher result.

Mutation:
You use biohacks to cause spontaneous mutations in your targets, for both good and ill.
Booster: The target undergoes a rapid evolutionary response to danger. The next time it takes energy damage, gain energy resistance of the same type as the damage equal to half of its character level/CR.
Inhibitor: Target living creature begins to mutate as foreign dna sequences are introduced into its system. It suffers the effects of a level 1 baleful polymorph spell for the duration of the inhibitor. This is a nonmagical transmutation effect.
Breakthrough: You can administer this biohack as a polymorphic serum of item level equal to or less than your biohacker level. The details of the polymorph form must be determined when you prepare your biohacks.
(polymorph ability may need to be restricted. thoughts?)

Thought I'd list out the spells mystics can increase duration to 24 hours using the lingering spell epiphany by connection to see which connections benefit the most from this ability. hour/level spells don't really make much difference (actually worse than doubling duration after level 12), so they are excluded. I'm including concentration up to 1 minute/level spells, assuming the duration could be expended if concentration could be maintained. Your mileage (and your GM's) may vary.

Crusader: reflecting armor (still ends when dismissed), Death Ward, Resistant Aegis, Resistant Armor, greater

Devastator: Carnivorous

Empath: Detect thoughts, Zone of Truth, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (remote stakeout!), Telepathy, True Seeing

Geneturge: detect augmentation, Spider Climb

Hive Mind: Share language, Status

Melophile: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance

Shadow: Shadow Body

Shaper: grease

Star Shaman: Darkvision

Warmonger: resistant armor, resistant aegis

Xenodruid: Fog Cloud

Empath can do some very interesting things with this epiphany. 24 hour remote stakeouts with clairvoyance, True seeing/telepathy all day. Detect thoughts could be good if concentration spells are allowed, and zone of truth could let you enforce a "no lying on the ship" policy by recasting every day.

The only other one jumping out at me is shadow for shadow body. Cast once and reap the benefits all day. Crusader isn't bad either, but there are other ways to get energy resistance.

That being said, there are some other options. There could be interesting uses for a day-long fog or grease puddle. Though the fog could still be blown away.

In many combats, I've found that after the first round most players and npcs tend to stay put behind cover and shoot their ranged weapons. For most classes, this frees up their move action and lets them full attack. Spellcasters, however, have very few spells that have full actions to cast. Assuming we want to cast a spell as a standard action, what are we to do with our move action if we are already in a good position? COM and Alien archive 3 have added some new options. Most will need to be thought of in building and leveling a character, however, as they require feats or skills.

As a move action, our spellcaster could

-Align a shield (requires shield proficiency)
-Demoralize (requires improved demoralize feat and good intimidate skill)
-Spell feint ( requires improved feint and spell feint feats and good bluff)
-Grant an action to a creature companion (requires creature companion feats and ranks in survival)
-use the focused sense feat to locate an enemy (requires blindsense and the feat)

There are some class-specific abilities that can be performed as a move action, too, but what else did I miss?

So, the esotericist 9th level ability spell shaping seems like a very powerful ability, well worth the trade of a single feat (or healing touch) for a 9th level mystic. The ability to make a single target spell hit two creatures within 15 feet of one another in particular is very strong in terms of getting 2 spells for one action and using only one spell slot. The range condition is particularly easy to meet for harmless spells (just tell your allies to group up before casting). It does, however, restrict its usage to a single spell school of the player's choice. Let's compare the school choices for a mystic based on the most appealing spells to use the ability with:

Divination: it's not just mind thrust, but mostly for mind thrust

Mind Thrust (extra target): an obvious choice at any level for the double targeting option. Realizing mind thrust is actually a divination spell made me want to see what other options the school provides, though, given that most of the other immediately appealing options are enchantment spells.
Battlemind Link (extra target, duration could be helpful)
Clairvoyance (increased range, duration)
Predict foe (2 targets): if nothing else, helpful at low levels if you want to stretch a spell slot to not run out but still get to do something magical every turn.
Mind Probe? (target, duration could be useful)

Transmutation:
Baleful Polymorph (extra target)
Polymorph (extra target)
Psychokinetic strangulation? (extra target) : see predict foe.
Flesh to stone (extra target)
Control Gravity: area

Conjuration:don't overlook this one
Mystic cure (extra target): Double heal! And only the first target needs to be at touch range!
Remove condition (extra target)
Miasma (expand radius) : 40 ft radius means many creatures will not be able to move out in a single turn, if centered on them.

Enchantment:Probably the most versatile options
Hold Person/Monster (extra target)
Charm Person/Monster (extra target)
Inflict Pain (extra target)
Mental block (extra target)
Synaptic pulse (increased radius, duration) : potential for 8 round stun to multiple targets? actually makes one reconsider divination. Dream big.
Dominate Person (extra target)
Suggestion (extra target)
Confusion (range, radius)

Necromancy:Not a ton of spells, but the options here are fairly solid
Ray of Exhaustion (extra target)
Crush skull (extra target): not mind thrust, but I guess it'll do.
Bestow Curse (extra target): again, only first target needs to be in touch range.
Command Undead (extra target) : reminder that mindless undead get no save
Enervation (extra target)

Abjuration:not the best pick of the lot, but if you like buffs, it's okay.
Dispel magic: the archetype can provide other ways to do this
Resistant armor(extra target)

Illusion:I guess if you are already shadow connection, you might pick this
Paranoia (extra target)
Umbral Tendrils (area increase)

Evocation: Not a mystics strong suit, but could be good at low levels for connection spells in particular.
Call cosmos (range, area)
Star storm (range, area)
Wall of fire (area)
Caustic conversion (duration)

So it's not just a toss up between divination and enchantment. Transmutation and Necromancy, even conjuration have some appealing possibilities.

Did I miss any cool spells to shape? What are the best schools for Technomancer and witchwarper? Gut says transmutation for disintegrating 2 targets.