I've updated the thing! While it took some time, I'm happy to say I'm mostly satisfied with the result. I won't change the thing any further until I receive some necessary feedback.
I have taken it upon myself to produce a variant of the Kineticist playtest. It features some new class features, makes the impulses exceedingly unique in the way they work (at least when compared) and, well, brings back Burn as a prominent class feature.
As the intent, I chose to go with maintaining the standard chassis, but to use an allegory - the playtest kineticist would smoulder like an ember forever, but this Kineticist, while still having the capacity to outlast other "casters", also has the ability to ignite like a star, and burn himself (or herself) out in the process.
It is admittedly kinda janky as I haven't had the opportunity to playtest it yet, but I want to get it out as soon as possible. I want everyone to see it, draw their own conclusions, and I want this 'test' to serve as inspiration for Paizo's designers when they get around to making the real thing.
I have maintained the general flavour and haven't changed the impulse effects that much, so the class still features a general overview that Paizo wrote (albeit with 10 hp per level). The meat of the changes is below.
Go to my Google Document to see the class test. It also features a hyperlink to the feats section (see Kineticist Feats).
I didn't see him finally mentioning how to attack objects without crashing the game. There's still no rules for how to do it, let alone to attack attended items.
I find the lack of RAW guidance a massive issue, especially when it comes to attacking and damaging items, and item attendance. Walls are a part of it, too, but to a lesser extent.
No RAW action for attacking objects means you can't actually damage anyof them by hand, there's no code for it. Well, maybe no. There is code for what happens when you hit, and there is some alluding to what you need to do (as some objects have AC values) but other things are otherwise an enigma.
And yeah, as a GM you can go with whatever makes sense and I'm sure 90% of GMs went with this mindset without thinking too hard about the system, but that's baking rule 0 into core rules and GMs who prefer to run things by the book as written would have a terrible time.
Does a fireball damage a wall? Does it also trash your backpack? That is the question.
Not to mention rules for item attendance. I mean sure, people coming from 1e know what that is, but even then spells like Telekinetic Haul don't even bother specifying you can move an object around, and besides, that's again depending on the GM to understand what developers have been trying to do and homebrew accordingly, which is simply bad design and SHOULD have been more important on the improvement list if not for an abhorrent number of people apparently writing it off as a non-issue.
So I've had a quick looksie through the rules and I've noticed that you can't actually damage items - either that, or it opens up a massive Pandora's box.
1. Strike doesn't work on objects.
Yeah, great way to start, right? Strike basic action specifically calls out targeting creatures which means you can't use it on anything else, and most definitely not on objects.
Strike wrote:
You attack with a weapon you’re wielding or with
an unarmed attack, targeting one creature within your reach
(for a melee attack) or within range (for a ranged attack).
2. No Sunder, no object AC
I may have missed something, but the game doesn't have an object AC or a sunder action. Since Strike cannot designate objects, what can? Is there even a way? I suppose there is, because traps like the spinning blade pillar have a hardness value and listed number of dents, so it's a telltale sign the developers wanted your BSF to be able to play trapper for once. Only, he can't, because Strike only targets creatures (even though hazard entries mirror those of monsters, they are explicitly different by the rules, as bestiary sets a clear divide between them).
3. What if hitting objects is automatic?
Since there are no rules, are we supposed to assume hitting objects is an automatic affair? That would make battle sundering (as a tactic, since - as described above - there is no action tied to damaging objects) extremely powerful, considering most usual objects, armor, weapons and shields can take around 2-5 Dents before being permanently destroyed.
4. What about non-hitting sources of damage?
Let's give spellcasting some credit here and mention Fireball and how it's phrased.
Fireball wrote:
A burst of fire explodes, dealing 6d6 fire damage;
creatures in the area must attempt a Reflex save.
What this implies is that while creatures can make a saving throw to save themselves, all of the objects within Fireball's radius, including the players' gear, takes full damage - not because "well it doesn't say they don't" but because everything else implies that item damage is a thing that exists within the rules, so it goes without saying that items take damage, while the spell needs to explicitly make an exception for creatures. Heck, even if we assume that items in your possession get the benefit of your save and you save for half damage, the Fireball's minimum is usually more than enough to break everything in your possession save for armor and some other items, since I doubt a majority of your gear, trinkets and baubles would exceed Hardness 6. And if the fireball rolls half-decent, moreso if the wizard throws another one your way, say goodbye to all your magic items, all your coinage (unless metal is immune to fire), your entire clothing and probably a blacksmith backstory hammer you bought before it had an in-game item entry (seriously, what was up with that?).
So... I guess instead of DPR, Fireball is now excellent at severely crippling geared up NPCs. Cool.
I've been playing around with a spellpoint-like class, and here's the result. It's somewhat similar to an arcanist in design, but you might say, that he's weaker in some aspects.
While coming up with a concept for this class, I've had a mental image of a mage who anchors himself to the ground to strengthen his spellcasting (hence the name).
What I can't stress enough, is although I've posted him a week ago, he has changed significantly, and I've made sure to do everything in my power to make him accessible, powerful, but fair - and I'm still not sure if I fully succeeded in this goal.
The following are his class features so far.:
He uses a Strain point system, which is somewhat similar in design to original spellpoints - although somewhat more tame, and he needs a Wisdom score instead of Int to increase its max treshold. Exceeding tresholds forces a save, and failing a save causes some nasty effects.
His spellbook is divided into a limited number of spell slots instead of simply pages. However, he makes up for a limited size by being able to select any spell from the sorc/wiz list while rewriting it. I put it in, because this semi-limiting factor won't let him abuse the system, while still getting benefits of having a book.
He can enter a "trance", which grants him variable bonuses, with a catch - the trance uses up Strain points for each round it's active as well, so this candle burns from both sides. Additionally disturbing his concentration while he's in trance might just outright kill him.
Last but not least, he's got a choice of "willpowers", which grant him handy strain-based bonuses and abilities, as well as allow for a degree of specialization.
I'm afraid, that his kit is too specialized to really allow for many playstyles, but if it allows for one or two, I'm happy with it for now - after all, nothing is stopping me from adding some specializing choices and archetypes.
I've been moving in and out of this project for about a month now, and it's simply one character class I'm making for sport, and potentially play it later. I'm doing it mainly for myself, but I'd rather like to consult someone with an actual experience.
His gimmick is that he can anchor himself to the location and cast spells with less limitations at the cost of being forced to hold position, but it blew way out of proportions.
A "potentially broken" because this little spellcaster here is able to prepare any spell from his spellbook at any time, with no upper limit except for a number of spells he can hold in his memory.
There's also a second part to this guy, as he's got a limited pool of points he can spend to cast more spells in one round, bending if not outright breaking action economy.
He has a potential to be a very interesting thing, but as of right now he's a "Suck or be God" kind of thing.
Right at the end of the document there are several alternate options I'm considering for his class features, but unfortunately I'm unwilling to part with most of them.
