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If it was a game that I was running I would probably have the power of your new evil god corrupt the armor. Have the PC perform a ritual or something maybe. I'm a more story-focused GM though and am fine with not having RAW to make a game mechanic decision. "Blah blah, so long as your having fun, blah blah blah."
Alright, here's my final rough draft. Nezregahl’s Choker of the Apex Predator: This necklace has five Fangs of mysterious origin that are affixed to a leather cord that purposely fits snugly around the neck. Each fang lies dormant until imbued. Imbuing: To imbue a fang the wearer must complete a ritual that takes 10 minutes in which he names and focuses his thoughts on an appropriate target (up to the GM’s discretion). The target must be known to the wearer and have a CR equal to or greater than the wearer. Once the target is designated, the wearer must hunt (find with the sole intent to kill) and slay the target. The wearer is free to pursue other goals until then, but should the wearer’s level become greater than the target’s CR a new target must be designated. The wearer must deal the killing blow, dropping the target to a negative amount of Hit Points equal to its Constitution Score or below. Within a minute of slaying the target, the wearer must complete a ritual that takes a full-round action to taste the target’s blood and revel in the kill. Upon completing the ritual, the wearer may imbue one fang. The wearer may only have one fang imbued at level 5 and an additional fang every 2 levels thereafter. (5 fangs at level 13) Fang of Resilience: Constant: The wearer gains a +1 profane bonus per imbued fang to one saving throw. The bonus to a Save is chosen daily by the wearer, and once chosen, cannot be changed until the following day when the wearer wakes after 8 hours of sleep. Activated: As an free action you may treat a failure on any one Saving Throw as though it were a success. Fang of Pursuit: Constant: The wearer can use Scent as an extraordinary ability. In addition, the wearer gets a +1 profane bonus per imbued fang to Survival checks when made to track a target by scent. Activated: As an immediate action the wearer gains the Blindsight special ability for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the number of fangs imbued when the ability was activated. Fang of Preparation: Constant: The wearer gains a +1 profane bonus per imbued fang to initiative rolls. Activated: As a free action the wearer may act during a surprise round they would normally not be able to act in. The wearer also gains Uncanny Dodge as the Rogue class feature for one minute. Fang of Hardiness: Constant: The wearer gains 4 Temporary HP per imbued fang when imbued and after sleeping for 8 hours. If anything would cause them to not receive 8 hours of sleep, these HP do not replenish. Temporary HP gained from this ability do not stack and start over each day. These Hit Points, once gained, remain until spent, regardless of whether the fang is imbued. Activated: As a free action the wearer gains the benefits of the Diehard feat and Fast Healing 1 for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the number of fangs imbued when the ability was activated. If your Hit Points are below 0 when the effect ends, you immediately fall unconscious but are stable. If the wearer already has the Diehard feat, they still gain the benefit of Fast Healing. Fang of Lethality: Constant: The wearer increases the critical threat range of a single weapon type of their choice (longswords, shortbows, etc) as per the Improved Critical feat. The weapon type this ability applies to is chosen daily by the wearer and cannot be changed until after 8 hours of rest. This effect otherwise functions as the Improved Critical feat. If the wearer already has the Improved Critical feat for the weapon wielded or holds a Keen weapon, they instead get a +1 profane bonus to confirm critical hits equal the number of imbued fangs. Activated: As a swift action, the wearer can cast True Strike as a Spell-Like Ability Special Abilities:
The wearer may activate three fangs at once to cast Minor Miracle as a spell-like ability. This spell functions as Limited Wish where each instance of “sorcerer/wizard” is replaced by “cleric” and the phrase “provided the spell does not belong to one of your opposition schools” is removed. The spell Minor Miracle does not appear on any class spell list and is unique to this item. The wearer may activate all five fangs at once to cast Miracle as a spell-like ability. It has an AC: 13, Hardness: 10, and HP: 10. The Hardness is increased by 1 for every Progression bonus (Max Hardness: 15 at level 20) and HP becomes multiplied by the Progression Bonus (Max HP: 50 at level 20). It is immune to the effects of Dispel Magic, but an Anti-magic Field, Wish, Miracle, Mage's Disjunction or other similarly powerful magic can affect it normally.
@ryze Wow that's awesome! I know it's powerful which is why I hesitated making everything available from the get go but I REALLY like the progression bonus thing. The power of the item, in my mind, was mitigated by the fact that the activated abilities WEREN'T once per day. There was a serious cost to activating one in that you lost the passive until you recharged it. I'm definitely going to use some of this though! Thanks so much!
On Focus: Change the activated effect to "immune to 1 condition for 1 minute, activated as a free action". Expect this one to get used the most. I had looked at a lot of options like this. Remove Fear, Calm Emotions, Break Enchantment. None of them quite got to what I was looking for. I also thought about specifying conditions. Choosing a condition to be immune to is an interesting take though.
I do like the constant DR (was my initial idea before the boost to Con) and think treating a failed save as a successful one is a pretty good activated ability.
Hadn't considered Bane.. Hm.. Personally, I hate + vs Fear (or whatever) type effects. As a player they are hard to remember, as a GM they mess things up if I forget to say 'fear effect will save' instead of 'will save.' I would rather see a +2 will than a +4 vs x/y/z. It is a pain to remember, but it's a pain to remember almost everything in Pathfinder. :P I don't hate the bonus to will, just thought it wouldn't be as tied to the hunting aspect. Disbelieving an illusion, for example, isn't quite the same as shrugging off fear or a suggestion that's trying to steer you off course. Focus, in my mind, meant dedication to the task. For all of you expended powers I think they need to be a bit more spectacular I don't disagree.. Preparedness: (not loving this particular theme) I'm not married to anything if you have any suggestions Hardiness: I can see a fast healing or regeneration effect here. Hey, that's an idea! Think it would need to be Fast Healing and spin it as an intense ability to shrug off damage. Regeneration might work if I make him increasingly more infernal. I have two cautions regarding though. Don't worry, my entire campaign is character focused. This initial part is getting them together, and each stage of the campaign going forward will focus on a different character in a different way. They'll all be getting great items and what-not. I'm aware of the pitfalls. Thanks for the warning though!
Thematically, I would switch level 5 and 7; he becomes a better hunter of prey, then becomes better at killing his hunt. I'm really excited about giving him Scent, so I may just do that. I wonder then if a one-and-done True Strike (until imbued again) is too low level for something he gets at lvl 7. I would also say improved critical at level 13 would be a possible letdown, since the feat would be available for the PC 5 levels earlier and could take it then (at 9, actually). Agreed, which was part of my dilemma. I could always move Lethality down? Also thematically, keep the miracle, but make it have consequences. I'm into it. Every use of Miracle further corrupts him. I'm sure I can find some old Ravenloft stuff! For other higher power, you could always copy assassinate. Well he's already a Slayer and I hesitate to give him something through a magic item that he can get himself. But I suppose this would free up an Advanced Talent for something else. You mean instead of Improved Critical? Or as a temporary activated effect?
Obligatory "stop reading if you're my PCs." Especially Rion Non-essential Details:
PCs are currently level 5, world and adventure is homebrew with PF1 rules, and the PC is a half-orc slayer with stats Str 18 Dex 10 Con 18 Int 16 Wis 11 Cha 9.
His story in brief: He's a LN slayer who had dreams of joining a church dedicated to a goddess of protection and justice. After being rejected, decided to do his own thing but still uphold the law. What he doesn't know is that he's been marked from birth by a devil prince of the hunt. This devil has put situations and items in his path in an attempt to corrupt him. What better way than with a strong magic item? It's a necklace of 5 large fangs. Each tooth gives a constant effect and can be activated as a standard action to give a temporary effect. Activating a tooth drains that tooth of its power until imbued again. It started inert and to imbue a tooth with magical energy he has to hunt and kill someone of some significance to him. He has to focus on this person, name them, and hunt them down. It can't just be some schmo goblin. For instance, the first one on his list is a corrupt Captain of the Guard that threw him in prison when he found out the Captain's secret. He's been hell-bent on killing him for many sessions now. What I need help with:
Effects. I listed what I've come up with, but I'm sure there are lots of effects I didn't think of if you have an idea for a replacement. The higher level effects, for instance, don't seem quite powerful enough. But maybe if you take the item as a whole, fully imbued, it makes sense. Level Requirement. I'm not sure if these minimum levels make sense. Since the effects are dependent on killing targets, I figure the Scaling comes from the required level of the target. So the first one requires a CR 5 kill, for instance. Duration. For the activated abilities. Rounds per level? One minute? I'm not good with this kind of stuff. I figure one minute is good because that's pretty much for the duration of an encounter only. Balance. I know this is a pretty crazy item, but I'm a DM who is ok with allowing strong magic items. I can always buff the encounters. Mechanically I'm thinking all of the +# bonuses are Profane bonuses but maybe that's too overpowered due to stacking? This was created by a devil who relishes in hunting and killing, so I tried to stick to that theme. The five qualities of an effective hunter I could think of, in roughly the order of level required: Effects: (Lvl 5) Focus: (Lvl 7) Perception: (Lvl 9) Preparedness: (Lvl 11) Hardiness: (Lvl 13) Lethality: Last but not least is the ability to use up the whole necklace at once to cast Miracle. I figure he's getting it a little early (if you consider the necklace full at lvl 13 compared to a Cleric needing to be lvl 17 to cast the spell), but he also has to work really hard for the spell and can't just cast it once a day. Maybe I can make up a Limited Miracle since this is just a Devil and not a Deity. Or I could space the abilities out every 3 levels? That would make it start at 5 and end at 17. But 17 seems so high for just having Improved Critical. Maybe Improved Critical on all weapons with which he's proficient?
So to be clear, what you want is for casters to DPS as well as a martial for free, while also having high burst and utility. I was also pretty upset about spell slot limits until coming to this thread. Then I saw your comment and now I feel bad for being upset in the first place. Kudos.
Now it just feels like I'm picking a flavor. The fact that they have tailored spell lists strips them of their versatility and customizability. I love the sorcerer because they're a Swiss Army Knife whereas the wizard is a specialized tool (though one that can change every day). Picking a demonic sorcerer sounds like it will probably be just limiting yourself to damaging fire spells and scary stuff. Whatever fits the theme of spooky demon guy.A demonic sorcerer is working from the entire divine list, just like a draconic sorcerer is working from the entire arcane list (or a PF1 sorcerer is working from the sorcerer/wizard list). You just get bonus spells from your bloodline, as in PF1. That does change things a bit. I was reading it a different way. If that's the case, then I'm slightly less put off by the class. Thanks for the comment.
I'll be the dissenting opinion. Sorcerers have been my favorite class for a long time, but I'm not a fan of this. I came to PF from D&D 3E. The appeal of the sorcerer to me used to be their mystery. They were special, touched at some point in their family line to grant them a crazy gift that other people didn't have. PF introduced the bloodlines, but even still they were simply bonuses on top of the sorcerer's usual spellcasting, and you didn't really have to have it (arcane bloodline). Now it just feels like I'm picking a flavor. The fact that they have tailored spell lists strips them of their versatility and customizability. I love the sorcerer because they're a Swiss Army Knife whereas the wizard is a specialized tool (though one that can change every day). Picking a demonic sorcerer sounds like it will probably be just limiting yourself to damaging fire spells and scary stuff. Whatever fits the theme of spooky demon guy. I get that this isn't final, and this is only a glimpse of what they're working on, but the sorcerer was the one class I was looking forward to reading about and I just feel let down. I like some stuff about PF2E and don't like some stuff. But I think I'm beginning to hit my tipping point. Doesn't seem like the kind of game I want to play. I'm trying to reserve judgement for the finished product though. |
