| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
For the most part what I'm posting here are house rules that I'm actively using in two games each week. If I decide to post something I just came up with off the top of my head and haven't tested, I'll mark it as such (sort of a swim at your own risk deal).
I've made a lot of tweaks to skills, combat, and a put in a good bit of work on various classes. Explanations of my reasoning on the changes are seperated as quotes from the The Man Behind the Curtain, to make them easier to find.
The majority of this is meant to fix what I see as a few major problems still sticking around in Pathfinder...
Primary Melee classes in general, and Fighters especially need some help.
Pathfinder went a long way to fixing the problems with casters being mechanically too strong, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. To be honest, I'm not entirely concerned with balancing the classes, in the sense of 1 on 1 comparisons. I feel like 4th edition went way too far in that direction, and all the classes feel very homogenous as a result.
Instead, I'm just trying to ensure that every class has at least a few roles it can fill in a party, and as much "flavor" as possible. I want there to be very good mechanical and roleplay reasons for someone to play every class.Combat is slow, very slow at high level.
There are way too many conditions/actions that force you to spend valuable time flipping page to page to find a specific piece of information.
Combat Maneuvers were a brilliant move in the right direction, but there are still some places that Combat is suffering from sprawl. Combat modifiers were the worst, they're a huge hodgepodge of specific bonuses/penalties to AC, attack bonus, stats, stat-checks, saves, skills... pretty much everything in nearly random combinations. Some of them were really elegant examples of turning a description of something into specific game stats, but the constant work to figure out exactly what penalty/bonus someone had to their attack roll slows combat terribly.
If you want an example of just how much time it can take, figure out the bonuses/penalties to a Fatigued Fighter's attack roll after he's been Entangled and poisoned by a giant spider, and is Sickened by the fumes rising from it's castoff prey. (If you're wondering, it's -5 to attack unless he's using a ranged weapon or finesse,in which case it's -7 +1/2 of whatever the dex damage from the venom was, -3 weapon damage, -2 Fortitude and Will, -5 (+1/2 of dex damage from poison) to Reflex saves, -2 to skill and ability checks except those that work off str/dex, those you'll have to recalculate for -2 str/-6 dex.)
And all that is sort of the problem with how combat modifiers work, it took me a good 2 minutes to double check all that and write it out, and it's not exactly an impossible scenario. Trying to double check all that in combat, and keep track of it seperately for 4-6 characters and 2-4 npc's is a nightmare.One of the few things I actually disliked in the Pathfinder changes was the removal of Concentration.
Fixing the way DCs scale in concentration would be great, but rolling it in with spellcraft forces you to remove all the non-spellcaster specific uses of the skill, and removes one more thing casters needed an off-casting stat for. Admittedly, Constitution is a decent off stat even without Concentration, but anything that reduces primary casters need for off stats should be looked at carefully, they already have too much weight on their one casting stat to the exclusion of almost everything else.
So I've made some changes to Skills to bring it back in, and fix some other minor annoyances at the same time.
I'll follow this post up with a couple brief posts giving a general overview of what I was going for with each set of changes, than I'll get into real specifics in a single long post for each section (combat, skills, and so on).
Skills
Concentration is back in. I cleaned up the rules for acting defensively, dropped spellcraft, and split it's effects between Knowledge (Arcana) for arcane spells and Knowledge (Religion) for divine. Knowledge (Arcana) is now much more specifically tied to information relating to magic, it's effects, and it's creations.
While I was at it, I removed Knowledge (Dungeoneering) because it's the silliest skill to ever grace a character sheet, and Knowledge (Local) because it overlaps too much with Geography, History, and Nobility, and because it can either be useless or ridiculous in play, depending on whether or not the person running the game rules that it works only for the "local" you consider your home or every "local" area you happen to be in.
In their place I've added Knowledge (Lore), which covers aberrations, ancient mysteries, dragons, legends, and oozes, and Knowledge (Warfare), which covers giants, humanoids, military history, monstrous humanoids, tactics.
Knowledge Nobility I considered removing, but I'm trying very hard to only make the changes I feel are either needed for balance, or that provide a significant benefit in terms of flavor or ease of use. Knowledge Nobility does overlap a lot with what you would expect from Knowledge History, but unlike Knowledge Local, it's pretty clear exactly what checks it covers and how, and it's not as silly/immersion breaking as knowledge dungeoneering. In the end I decided it wasn't worth removing it.
Knowledge Lore was an easy choice for a new Knowledge. I added it because I needed to move some abilities out of Knowledge Arcana to make up for what it was gaining from Spellcraft, and I needed a skill to allow identification of oozes and aberrations with Dungeoneering gone.
Knowledge Warfare came together for three reasons, I needed a good knowledge skill to allow the identification of Humanoids (I considered history for a while), I wanted to add a skill that could add some flavor to the martial classes, and with the emphasis on Acting Defensively (as opposed to Casting Defensively) I wanted melee types to have access to a knowledge skill that could provide the same synergy bonuses to concentration as arcane casters have with Knowledge Arcana (Of course, that part is assuming you're using Synergy bonuses). Moving Giants and Monstrous Humanoids in felt right, it fit with the same theme as identifying humanoids, and it gives Fighters another useful role in a party.
Part of the reason I added two knowledge skills after taking away two knowledge skills was that it forces Bards, Wizards, and other Knowledge (All) classes to invest the same number of skill ranks to max out knowledges. It's minor, but it's there, eliminating knowledges would effectively free up more skill points for those classes.
Upped the minimum skill points per level to 4.
2 per level is terrible for pretty much everyone but Wizard, and especially for -2 Int races. 4 per keeps low Int from hitting rock bottom so fast, and it's not especially game breaking that Clerics and Fighters can afford to buy a few ranks in some extra skills now.
Combat
Combat Maneuvers use a DC of 10 + your opponents CMB instead of 15+, and you may use either Dex or Str on your CMB.
Reverted mostly to the cover rules from 3.5, but with a few tweaks to handle creatures with reach/size without making things too complicated.
Changed Flat Footed/Touch Attacks to a flat AC penalty/attack bonus, more in line with Prone, Stunned, etc. I can definitely see this one drawing some flack, but work out the math on it first. Most of the time it's not too far off the old values, and when it does make an attack considerably harder, it's not that the new way of doing it is far too difficult, it's that the old Flat Footed/Touch Attack rules would turn certain attack rolls into essentially an automatic hit.
While I was at it I did a lot of work to simplify combat modifiers, most of the math works out the same, but instead of a hodgepodge of AC penalties/bonuses and attack roll bonuses/penalties, it's a very clean simple set of +2/+4's and -2/-4's, all applied to the attack roll.
With the change to Flat Footed/Touch attacks, combat is much faster, since there's much less of a need to cross reference conditions and creature stats and double check the AC, then add all the attack bonuses up and determine which ones stack and which ones don't, etc. etc. etc.
The intent in making the change was to speed up combat a bit and keep certain spells and abilities from being way, way too good against larger creatures. Wizard/Sorc get a boost to touch attacks, to help them keep up with rising ACs (and to provide some interesting room for creative use of multiclassing/racial abilities), while Clerics/Druids do not, which helps bring CoDzillas a little more in line with other classes.
All saves work off a common progression based on total character level. +0 at 1st level, +1 at 3rd, and then another +1 every odd level afterwards. Each class has one or more Trained saves, that work in pretty much the same manner as Class Skills in Pathfinder. That is, if you have a Trained save, you add a +3 bonus to that save. Training doesn't stack from multiple classes, again, just like Class skills in pathfinder. This helps to stop some of the foolishness with multiclassing hurting some saves terribly, and ramping others up far too high.
For example, under the old system, a level 4 Fighter/Barbarian would have a +6 to his Fort save, but a +0 to both Reflex and Willpower saves, putting him nearly double the base fort of a straight Barbarian, but absolutely no progression at all in either of his other saves.
Under the new system, a level 4 Fighter/Barbarian would have a +4 to Fort, and a +1 to Reflex and Will, which is exactly the same set of base saves a straight Barbarian or Fighter would have.
Saving throws tweaks were part of of bringing high level casters more in line with other classes. In standard 3.5 and Pathfinder, spell DCs scaled far too well in comparison to weak saves. Even against good saves, spell DCs kept up, and then some. Even mid level casters could easily get saves on spells like Glitterdust high enough to become game breaking in most situations.
Also, with a common progression on saves, the feats for improving your base save become far more useful. In standard, you were probably either already good enough at a save, if you had a good progression, or if you had a poor progression you were so bad at it there was very little point in even taking the feat.
Classes
Will each follow in their own section, sorry, but the changes would be hard to follow divorced from their context, so I'll just be posting them along with the full class description.
Here's the Combat section, along with bits of commentary on why I made the changes. A PDF is available here. (http://rapidshare.com/files/128242499/Combat.pdf.html)
Combat
The following rules replace some of the standard combat rules to speed up play or improve game balance.
Combat Maneuvers
Combat Maneuvers replace a normal attack in an attack action or full attack. Bull Rush and Overrun may only be made as part of a charge or move, but otherwise work as indicated. Using more than one combat maneuver in a full attack action applies a cumulative -5 penalty to each maneuver. Your combat maneuver bonus is equal to your Base Attack Bonus plus either your Strength or Dexterity modifier, whichever is higher. The base DC of a Combat Maneuver is 10 + the target’s Combat Maneuver Bonus. Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Grapple, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, and Improved Trip add a +3 bonus to the appropriate combat maneuver checks.
Moving Combat Maneuvers from Standard actions to attack actions allows them to be used as part of a full attack. As Standard actions they become less and less useful at later levels, the CMB of opponents scales much better than AC, and giving up multiple damaging attacks for a single disarm/grapple was just bad. Added the -5 penalty to prevent too much abuse from monks and flurry. Upped the Improved feats to a +3 bonus, +2 was just too weak.
Attacks Of Opportunity
Sometimes a combatant in a melee lets her guard down. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defense to attack her for free. These free attacks are called attacks of opportunity.Two kinds of actions provoke attacks of opportunity, moving out of a threatened square and performing a distracting action within a threatened square.
Moving: Moving out of or through, but not into, an opponents threatened area usually provokes an attack of opportunity from any opponent(s) threatening you. However, there are several methods of avoiding such an attack. By using the acrobatics skill or by taking a single 5 ft. step, it is possible to move without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Distracting Actions: Some actions, when performed in a threatened square, provoke attacks of opportunity as you divert your attention from the battle. By acting defensively it is possible to perform a single standard, move, or move-equivalent action without provoking attacks of opportunity.
Acting Defensively
As a full round action, you may perform a distracting action without provoking attacks of opportunity. Make a Concentration check (DC 10 + the Combat Maneuver Bonus of any opponent(s) threatening you), if the check is successful, you may perform any one standard or move equivalent action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the Concentration check fails, the related action also automatically fails, and you provoke attacks of opportunity as if you had performed the action normally.
Acting defensively was always an option, just one that was rarely used and one that didn't have an explicit list of actions that it would work for. Emphasizing it over casting defensively helps to bring some parity to casters and non-casters. I decided to use the opponents CMB in place of melee attack bonus to avoid the DC scaling from magical equipment, and to give CMB a slightly expanded role, which helps Monks slightly. Acrobatics may see a similar change eventually.
Combat Modifiers
The following conditions affect all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks.While attacking a target that is distracted, unable to react, vulnerable or helpless the attacker may add precision based damage (such as sneak attack) to their attack, assuming their opponent has discernible vulnerabilities, and in the case of ranged attacks, is within the first range increment. An attacker that is considered ineffective may not make attacks of opportunity, and never adds precision based damage (such as sneak attack) to their damage.
Grouping up the various combat modifiers and standardizing a bit (+2/+4 or -2/-4) helps to speed up combat a lot. Moving all the bonuses/penalties to the attack roll and changing flat footed/touch to a flat bonus saves huge amounts of time when you don't have the Dex/Armor/Shield bonuses listed out in front of you, just total AC. The fewer places you're adding/subtracting bonuses the fewer chances there are for mistakes too.
Grouping up these modifiers also helps to give DMs an easy way to adjudicate conditions that aren't explicitly listed without it feeling arbitrary.
All through these I've tried to avoid specifically mentioning another class by name, hence the precision based damage lines. Avoiding specific ties to a class or class ability helps keep the whole system working if someone wants to bring in alternate base classes, or new abilities from prestige classes.
Defender is...
Afraid (+2): Cowering, frightened, panicked, or shaken.Distracted (+2): Entangled, flanked, grappled, sickened.
Flat Footed (+4): Blind, surprised, stunned, unaware.
Vulnerable (+4): Climbing, cowering, nauseated, running, swimming, squeezing, touch attacks.
Helpless (Special): Bound, held, paralyzed, pinned, unconscious. helpless characters are effectively vulnerable and unable to react, for a total of +8 to any attacks made against them.
Attacker is...
Hampered (-2):[/b] Entangled, frightened, opponent fighting defensively, partial cover, shaken,.
Ineffective (-4):[/b] Blind, fighting defensively, full cover, improvised weapon, non-proficient, opponent using the total defense action, prone.
For the most part these work out to the same bonus to hit/penalty to hit as you get in standard 3.5, with a few notable exceptions.
Nausea is worse now, but it comes up rarely enough that making it rougher isn't too bad. Troglodytes might deserve a slightly higher CR because of it, that's about all.
Flat footed and Touch attacks are both flat bonuses/penalties now, instead of requiring you to recalculate AC based on loss of armor/Dex.
Most other conditions that caused a loss of Dex (Running, Stunned, etc.) fall under either Flat Footed or Vulnerable.One side effect of this is that stacking of conditions is particularly easy.
Each condition (Afraid, Distracted, Flat Footed, and Vulnerable) stacks with each of the others, and a character either is or is not being affected by each one. For example, a character either is or is not Vulnerable, whether it's from cowering, or squeezing, or both, and attacks against that character get a +4, now matter what combination of factors make the character vulnerable.
Attacks against a character that is Distracted by being Sickened, and is Flat Footed because of Surprise, get a +6 to the attack roll (+4 for flat footed, +2 for distracted).This is a pretty big change to combat modifiers, but since it just sits on top of the standard conditions, and replaces their effects while keeping the old keywords, just about all published material should work with only very minor changes.
Afraid
A character that is afraid takes a -2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Attacks made against opponents that are afraid get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.Shaken: Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked. A character that is shaken is considered hampered, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
Frightened: A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A character that is frightened is considered hampered, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls. A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Panicked: A panicked creature must drop anything it holds and flee at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can’t take any other actions. Panicked is a more severe state of fear than frightened. If cornered, a panicked creature cowers.
Cowering: The character is frozen in fear and can take no actions. Cowering characters are considered vulnerable as well as afraid.
Grouping up the fear effects saves some space, for starters, since they all have exactly the same bonuses/penalties (with the exception of Cowering, which originally added loss of dex, and now adds vulnerable.)
It also helps make the Paladin's immunity to fear feel considerably more powerful. It prevents exactly the same effects it always did, it's just more obvious this way that those effects are about 1/4 to 1/5th of the detrimental combat modifiers.
Distracted
Distracted characters are unable to defend themselves properly. Attacks made against distracted opponents get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.Entangled: The character is ensnared. Being entangled impedes movement, but does not entirely prevent it unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a -2 penalty to Dexterity checks. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a Concentration check (DC 15 + the spell’s level) or lose the spell. An entangled character is also considered hampered, taking a -2 on attack rolls.
Grappled: Engaged in wrestling or some other form of hand-to-hand struggle with one or more attackers. A grappling character can undertake only a limited number of actions.
Flanked: An opponent that is being threatened by one or more creatures unfriendly to it is flanked.
Sickened: The character takes a -2 penalty on all weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
Probably the biggest change here is Flanked. I'm intentionally avoiding using references to a battle mat and miniatures, flanking was very arbitrary unless you were using a mat, the DM essentially just had to either decide you were or were not flanking on a whim, by changing it to a matter of threatened area, it's much easier to adjudicate. Also, I like the combat options this opens up, for instance, a sword and board fighter in front of a character with a reach weapon providing flanking bonuses to one another.
Flat Footed
Flat footed characters are unable to react to incoming attacks. Attacks made against flat footed opponents get a +4 bonus to the attack roll.Blind: The character cannot see, moves at half speed, and takes a -4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character. A blind character is also considered ineffective, taking a -4 on attack rolls.
Surprised: A character who has not yet acted during a combat is surprised, not yet reacting normally to the situation.
Stunned: A stunned creature drops everything held and can’t take actions.
Unaware: The character is unaware of attackers, either because they are invisible or because they are hidden.
No huge surprises here, the expansion of flat footed to include other effects that keep you from reacting to attacks does make Uncanny dodge more interesting. Also, just to be clear, while Uncanny dodge in this system would make you immune to the penalties from flat footed, you would still suffer the effects of say, being blind, your opponents just wouldn't get the +4 to hit you.
Vulnerable
Vulnerable characters are unable to respond properly to incoming attacks. Attacks made against vulnerable opponents get a +4 bonus to the attack roll.Climbing: A character without a base climb speed is considered vulnerable while swimming.
Cowering: The character is frozen in fear and can take no actions. Cowering characters are considered afraid as well as vulnerable.
Nauseated: Experiencing stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn.
Running: A character using the run action is unable to defend itself properly, and is considered vulnerable.
Swimming: A character without a base swim speed is considered vulnerable while swimming.
Squeezing: A character may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space it normall takes up. A character can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as it’s normal space. Movement while squeezing counts for twice the distance covered.
Touch attacks: Touch attacks require only that the attacker make contact with their opponent. Characters with the Arcane Accuracy class ability receive additional bonuses when making touch attacks for spells and spell-like abilities.
The big one here is Touch attacks. As I said, I'm ditching the modifiers that either change your stats, or prevent you from using them, and replacing them with flat bonuses. This helps even out the effect of some conditions on certain very large or very fast creature types, and it keeps the odds of hitting someone on things like touch attacks semi-sane.
Helpless
A helpless opponent is someone who is bound, sleeping, paralyzed, unconscious, or otherwise at your mercy. helpless defenders are vulnerable and flat footed, so attacks made against them have a +8 bonus to the attack roll. It is also possible to coup de grace helpless defenders. The effects of helpless do not stack with the effects of vulnerable and flat footed.Bound: Held immobile by restraints. Bound characters may attempt to use Escape Artist to free themselves, but may take no other physical action.
Held: Held immobile by magic. Held characters may only take purely mental actions.
Paralyzed: A paralyzed character is frozen in place and unable to move or act. A paralyzed character automaticall fails any check involving Strength or Dexterity, but can take purely mental actions.
Pinned: Held immobile in a grapple. Pinned characters may attempt to escape the grapple, but may take no other physical action.
Unconscious: Knocked out and helpless.
The biggest change here is probably pinned. Too often Grappling seems like it's either too good of an option (for players that want to disable a specific bad guy for long periods of time) or a really bad one (for NPC's, disabling one PC but lowering your AC is probably a quick death sentence).
The changes to CMB already fix parts of the first problem, and making pinned more deadly helps a lot with the second. (instead of grappling being a way to take yourself and a particular target out of a fight, it becomes a way of putting an opponent in a situation in which it is possible to kill them.)
One additional change I forgot to include here, grappling is an attack action, as with all the other combat maneuvers, but Pinning is a full round action more akin to Coup de Grace.
Coup de Grace
As a full-round action, you can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace to a helpless opponent. You can also use a bow or crossbow, provided you are adjacent to the target.You automatically hit and score a critical hit. You may add any precision based damage (such as sneak attack) this attack. If the defender survives the damage, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die.
Delivering a coup de grace provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening opponents.
You can’t deliver a coup de grace against a creature that is immune to critical hits. You can deliver a coup de grace against a creature with total concealment, but doing this requires one round to “find” the creature, and one to deliver the coup de grace.
Hampered
A character that is hampered cannot fight freely, taking a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
Entangled: The character is ensnared. Being entangled impedes movement, but does not entirely prevent it unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a -2 penalty to Dexterity checks. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a Concentration check (DC 15 + the spell’s level) or lose the spell. An entangled character is also considered distracted, attacks against that character get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
Frightened: A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A character that is frightened is also considered afraid, and takes a -2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Attacks made against opponents that are afraid get a +2 bonus to the attack roll. A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Opponent Fighting Defensively: A character attacking an opponent that is Fighting Defensively is considered hampered.
Partial Cover: A character attacking an opponent with partial cover is considered hampered.
Shaken: Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked. A character that is shaken is also considered afraid, and takes a -2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Attacks made against opponents that are afraid get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
Ineffective
A character that is ineffective cannot fight effectively, taking a -4 penalty to attack rolls. A character that is considered ineffective may not make attacks of opportunity, and never adds precision based damage (such as sneak attack) to their damage.
Blind: The character cannot see, moves at half speed, and takes a -4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character.
Fighting Defensively: A character can choose to fight defensively when making an attack or full attack. If they do so, they are considered ineffectual until the end of the round, taking a -4 penalty on all attacks. In exchange, apponents making melee and ranged attacks against them are considered Hampered, taking a -2 on all attacks made against you.
Full Cover: A character attacking an opponent with full cover is considered ineffective.
Improvised Weapon: A character who uses an improvised weapon is ineffective, taking a -4 penalty to their attack rolls.
Non-Proficient: A character who uses a weapon, wears armor, or uses a shield with which he or she is not proficient is ineffective, taking a -4 penalty to their attack rolls.
Prone: The character is on the ground. Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Moving while prone is a full round action that inspires attacks of opportunity. Characters making attacks while prone are typically considered ineffective. Certain weapons, such as crossbows, may allow a character that is prone to attack without being considered ineffective.
A character that is prone has full cover against ranged attacks.
Opponent using Total Defense: As a standard action, a character may give up their attacks for the round in order to defend themselves. Opponents making melee and ranged attacks against that character are considered ineffective, taking a -4 to their attacks and losing any precision based damage (such as sneak attack).
Total Defense can’t be combined with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat (since both of those require an attack or full attack). Characters using the Total Defense action can’t make attacks of opportunity.
Hampered and Ineffective are pretty straight forward, and use the same basic ideas as the other combat conditions. Again, grouping the benefits prevents them from stacking to a point it becomes a problem.
Cover
Cover represents obstacles that stand between you and your target. This might include walls, wagons, and even other creatures. Cover provides a penalty to attacks made against you, and, in some circumstances, a bonus to your Reflex save as well.Partial Cover: You are considered hampered when attacking around an obstacle that is up to half your reach in height or width. Attacking through a space occupied by a creature one size category smaller than you, or a creature your own size that is kneeling or sitting, provides Partial Cover.
Full Cover: You are considered ineffective when attacking around an obstacle that is larger than half your reach in height or width. Attacking through a space occupied by a creature your size or larger provides Full Cover.
Total Cover: If an opponent is entirely hidden behind another object or creature they have total cover from you. You can’t make an attack against a target that has total cover.
Cover and Ranged Attacks: Ranged attacks ignore partial cover if there is more than 30 feet between the target and the intervening cover. For example, an archer firing over a low wall will take no penalty for cover against targets that are at least 30 feet away.
Cover and Reflex Saves: Cover grants you a +2 bonus on Reflex saves against attacks that originate or burst out from a point on the other side of partial cover from you and a +4 bonus on Reflex saves against attacks that originate from a point on the other side of full cover. Note that spread effects can extend around corners and thus negate this cover bonus.
Cover and Hide Checks: If you have full cover or total cover you may attempt to use Stealth, even while being observed.
Cover and Attacks of Opportunity: You can’t execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with cover relative to you.
Concealment
Concealment Miss Chance: Concealment gives the subject of a successful attack a 20% chance that the attacker missed because of the concealment. If the attacker hits, the defender must make a miss chance percentile roll to avoid being struck. Multiple concealment conditions do not stack.
Concealment and Hide Checks: You can use concealment to make a Hide check. Without concealment, you usually need cover to make a Hide check.
Total Concealment: If you have line of effect to a target but not line of sight he is considered to have total concealment from you. You can’t attack an opponent that has total concealment, though you can attack into a square that you think he occupies. A successful attack into a square occupied by an enemy with total concealment has a 50% miss chance (instead of the normal 20% miss chance for an opponent with concealment).
You can’t execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with total concealment, even if you know what square or squares the opponent occupies.
Saving Throws
All characters share a common base saving throw progression, based on total character level.
Level Base Save
1st +0
2nd +0
3rd +1
4th +1
5th +2
6th +2
7th +3
8th +3
9th +4
10th +4
11th +5
12th +5
13th +6
14th +6
15th +7
16th +7
17th +8
18th +8
19th +9
20th +9
Each class has one or more saving throws trained. If a character has training in a saving throw, they add a +3 training bonus to that save. Training from multiple classes does not stack.
The feats Iron Will, Great Fortitude, and Lightning Reflexes each provide an additional +3 competence bonus to the appropriate save. These bonuses stack with the bonuses from Training.
What else have you come up with? If we think that much alike I'm definitely interested in seeing any other ideas you've had.
As far as skills consolidation goes:
The last three were an attempt to expand some otherwise "useless" skills so that people might actually be willing to take them.
New Skills
Skill/Untrained/Attribute
Acrobatics/Yes/Dex
Appraise/Yes/Int
Bluff/Yes/Cha
Climb/Yes/Str
Concentration/Yes/Con
Craft/Yes/Int
Craft/Yes/Int
Craft/Yes/Int
Diplomacy/Yes/Cha
Disable Device/No/Int
Disguise/Yes/Cha
Escape Artist/Yes/Dex
Fly/Yes/Dex
Handle Animal/No/Cha
Heal/Yes/Wis
Intimidate/Yes/Cha
Knowledge (arcana)/No/Int
Knowledge (engineering)/No/Int
Knowledge (geography)/No/Int
Knowledge (history)/No/Int
Knowledge (lore)/No/Int
Knowledge (nature)/No/Int
Knowledge (nobility)/No/Int
Knowledge (planes)/No/Int
Knowledge (religion)/No/Int
Knowledge (warfare)/No/Int
Linguistics/Yes/Int
Perception/Yes/Int
Perform/Yes/Cha
Profession/Yes/Wis
Profession/Yes/Wis
Profession/Yes/Wis
Ride/Yes/Dex
Sense Motive/Yes/Wis
Sleight of Hand/No/Dex
Stealth/Yes/Dex
Survival/Yes/Wis
Swim/Yes/Dex
Use Magic Device/No/Cha
Concentration (con)
You must make a Concentration check whenever you might potentially be distracted (by taking damage, by harsh weather, and so on) while engaged in some action that requires your full attention. Such actions include casting a spell, concentrating on an active spell, directing a spell, using a spell-like ability, or using a skill that would provoke an attack of opportunity. In general, if an action wouldn’t normally provoke an attack of opportunity, you need not make a Concentration check to avoid being distracted.
If the Concentration check succeeds, you may continue with the action as normal. If the check fails, the action automatically fails and is wasted. If you were in the process of casting a spell, the spell is lost. If you were concentrating on an active spell, the spell ends as if you had ceased concentrating on it. If you were directing a spell, the direction fails but the spell remains active. If you were using a spell-like ability, that use of the ability is lost. A skill use also fails, and in some cases a failed skill check may have other ramifications as well.
While being threatened by an opponent, you may make a Concentration check to safely perform an action that would normally provoke an Attack of Opportunity. Acting Defensively is a full round action, and the DC is 10 plus the threatening opponents’s Combat Maneuver Bonus. If the Concentration check succeeds, you may perform a single standard or move equivalent action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the Concentration check fails, the related action also automatically fails (with any appropriate ramifications), and you provoke an immediate Attack of Opportunity as if you had performed the action normally.
The various types of distractions and their difficulty are summarized below.
DC/Distracting Condition
10 Vigorous motion (on a moving mount, taking a bouncy wagon ride, in a small boat in rough water, belowdecks in a stormtossed ship).
15 Violent motion (on a galloping horse, taking a very rough wagon ride, in a small boat in rapids, on the deck of a storm-tossed ship).
20 Extraordinarily violent motion (earthquake).
15 Entangled.
20 Grappling.
5 Weather is high wind carrying rain or sleet.
10 Weather is wind-driven hail, dust, or debris.
+spell level Casting a spell.
If more than one type of distraction is present, make a check for each one; any failed Concentration check indicates that the task is not completed.
If you are damaged while attempting to Concentrate on an action, or you are taking continuous damage, add half the damage taken to the Concentration check’s DC.
Action: None or Full Round. Making a Concentration check is either a free action (when attempted reactively) or a full round action (when attempted act defensively.)
Try Again: Yes, though a success doesn’t cancel the effect of a previous failure, such as the loss of a spell you were casting or the disruption of a spell you were concentrating on.
Special: A character with the Combat Concentration feat gets a +4 bonus on Concentration checks made to Act Defensively.
Knowledge (Int)
Like the Craft and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of unrelated skills. Knowledge represents a study of some body of lore, possibly an academic or even scientific discipline.
Arcana: arcane symbols, arcane traditions, constructs, magical beasts.
Engineering: aqueducts, buildings, bridges, fortifications, mechanical devices.
Geography: lands, terrain, climate, people.
History: customs, colonies, founding of cities, laws, migrations, wars.
Lore: aberrations, ancient mysteries, cryptic phrases, dragons, legends, oozes.
Nature: animals, fey, plants, seasons and cycles, vermin, weather.
Nobility: family trees, heraldry, lineages, mottoes, personalities.
Planes: the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, outsiders, elementals, magic related to the planes.
Religion: ecclesiastic tradition, gods and goddesses, holy symbols, mythic history, outsiders, undead.
Warfare: giants, humanoids, military history, monstrous humanoids, tactics.
Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions).
With a successful Knowledge check (DC 10 + monster CR), you can also identify certain monsters, their abilities, weaknesses, and special powers. Success means that you learn one piece of information. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC you learn another piece of information.
Certain knowledge skills are particularly useful for and against casters. Knowledge (arcana) can be used to identify arcane spells and their effects, and Knowledge (religion) can similarly identify divine spells.
Identify... DC
...a spell using detect magic. 10 + caster level
...a spell effect that is in place 15 + caster level
...a spell as it is being cast 15 + caster level
...materials created by magic 20 + caster level
Certain casters may also use Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (religion) to prepare and learn new spells. Learning a new spell from a spellbook or scroll is DC 10 + spell level. Preparing a spell from a borrowed spellbook is DC 15 + spell level.
Action: Knowledge checks are a free action.
Try Again: No. If you fail, you simply do not know the answer.
Synergy:
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (arcana), you get a +2 bonus on Concentration checks made while casting an Arcane spell.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (engineering), you get a +2 bonus on Perception checks made to find secret doors or hidden compartments.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (geography), you get a +2 bonus on Survival checks made to avoid becoming lost or to avoid natural hazards.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (history), you get a +2 bonus on other Knowledge checks made to identify a creature.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (lore), you get a +2 bonus on Appraise checks made to identify a magic item.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (nature), you get a +2 bonus on Survival checks made in natural environments.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (nobility), you get a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (planes), you get a +2 bonus on Survival checks made while on other planes.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion), you get a +2 bonus on turning checks.
If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (warfare), you get a +2 bonus on Concentration checks while attempting to Act Defensively.
Untrained: Knowledge checks may be made untrained, however the DC of the check is increased by 10.
What else have you come up with? If we think that much alike I'm definitely interested in seeing any other ideas you've had.As far as skills consolidation goes:
We've added an Endurance skill (some of Autohypnosis, plus the Endurance, Diehard, and Run feats with DCs).
Knowledge (nature) was absorbed by Survival.
Knowledge (local) + Gather Information = Streetwise.
Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Stonecunning have been rolled into the Profession (mining) skill.
Disguise is part of Perform (acting), which also encompasses Perform (comedy), Perform (oratory), etc.
Forgery is part of Craft (fine arts). The last three were an attempt to expand some otherwise "useless" skills so that people might actually be willing to take them.
I like the first very much, Endurance sounds very workable.
Knowledge (nature) being absorbed by Survival I can almost see, but it does put you in the awkward position of having to either allow a non-knowledge skill identify the creatures that were associated with Knowledge (nature) or of having to find another Knowledge those creatures fit under.Knowledge Local/Gather Info -> Streetwise I can definitely get onboard with. Very little functional change to Gather info, no need to rewrite adventures, would work quite well. As I've already removed Knowledge Local, I might just use this idea in my own setup, if you don't mind.
On Profession (mining) and Craft (fine arts), meh, I kind of like Profession and Craft as pretty much pure flavor skills. Having any specific craft/profession as particularly useful, where all the others are still the same as before, just turns those specific Profression/Crafts into a de facto standard choice. It also complicates every class having access to those skills. Should a paladin or barbarian really be an expert forger?
Making disguise part of perform works alright with the core classes, since Rogues and Bards can both take perform, but I'm not sure it's worth it really, in the long run.
What I'd rather see, on skills like Craft (Fine Arts) or Perform (Acting) is a synergy bonus to the appropriate skill (Linguistics/Forgery or Disguise).
I kind of like Profession and Craft as pretty much pure flavor skills.
Tastes differ, of course. There's an important PC in our campaign who is a famous painter; she adventures when she's not painting. We like for skills to be a major part of character development, as much as class. Accordingly, we've tried to limit "fluff" skills and make every skill useful. (Thus the elimination of a lot of minor "knowledge" skills, rolling them into other ones; the addition of appropriate talents to Craft and Profession skills, etc.)
One of the things we loved the most about Pathfinder combined skills is that Synergy bonuses became obsolete; we really disliked them in 3.5e, and were glad to see them go.
Luckily, the Pathfinder rules are robust enough that we can all play around with different skills consolidations for our homebrew campaigns and still play published adventures pretty much as-written. Some people prefer more consolidation, some less, and some just want different combinations -- every group has their own preferences -- but it all works out pretty well in the end.
I kind of like Profession and Craft as pretty much pure flavor skills.Tastes differ, of course. There's an important PC in our campaign who is a famous painter; she adventures when she's not painting. We like for skills to be a major part of character development, as much as class. Accordingly, we've tried to limit "fluff" skills and make every skill useful. (Thus the elimination of a lot of minor "knowledge" skills, rolling them into other ones; the addition of appropriate talents to Craft and Profession skills, etc.)
One of the things we loved the most about Pathfinder combined skills is that Synergy bonuses became obsolete; we really disliked them in 3.5e, and were glad to see them go.
Luckily, the Pathfinder rules are robust enough that we can all play around with different skills consolidations for our homebrew campaigns and still play published adventures pretty much as-written. Some people prefer more consolidation, some less, and some just want different combinations -- every group has their own preferences -- but it all works out pretty well in the end.
Indeed, and that's why I love it so much. ::grin::
Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.
Ok, so Barbarian changes...
Dropped rage points, it was a good idea, and ki points work very well for Monk, but it's not so great for Barbarian, the large number of Rage points at high level, and the fact that you'll be spending varying amounts of Rage every round, sometimes two or three times a round, depending on what abilities you use, make it a nightmare to keep track of properly. I've also worn a hole right through a character sheet in just two weeks because of all the erasing, writing, erasing, writing, etc.
Rage powers are a wonderful idea, I absolutely love this and the Rogue tricks. Dropped the point costs, removed some of the abilities that seemed a little off for Barbarian. (Elemental attacks? You're so mad you're on fire? While awesome, that it still a little odd.) To keep the Rage powers from becoming too crazy, they're mostly limited to being used one at a time.
D10 hd, and yeah, I definitely know that one is going to attract some hatred, to make up for it, 2 bonus HP per level of barbarian. This keeps the HD in line with the standard set by other classes, and actually considerably ups the total HP of most barbarians. It also gives Barbarians more of a HP boost in games where average HP per level is used. The intent here was to standardize, and to give barbs a big enough bump in survival to make up for the loss of heavy armor and -2 AC from raging. (As I don't let Mithril plate to count as Medium armor for the purposes of class abilities, the loss of Heavy armor really is quite significant in my game.)
Intimidating Presence, Frightful Presence, added a few new abilities that tie into the barbarians skills, give them a nice boost at some otherwise dead levels, and help give the class something really unique to look forward to at later levels.
Barbarian (http://rapidshare.com/files/128254058/Barbarian.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any nonlawful.
Hit Die: d10.
Trained Saves: Fortitude.
Level/BAB/Special Abilities
1st/+1/Fast movement, Rage
2nd/+2/Uncanny dodge
3rd/+3/Rage power
4th/+4/Rugged
5th/+5/Improved uncanny dodge
6th/+6/Rage power
7th/+7/Damage reduction 1/—
8th/+8/Rage power
9th/+9/Intimidating Presence
10th/+10/Rage power, Damage reduction 2/—
11th/+11/Greater rage
12th/+12/Rage power
13th/+13/Damage reduction 3/—
14th/+14/Rage power
15th/+15/Frightening Presence
16th/+16/Rage power, Damage reduction 4/—
17th/+17/Tireless rage
18th/+18/Rage power
19th/+19/Damage reduction 5/—
20th/+20/Mighty rage
Class Skills
The barbarian’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Profession (Wis), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the barbarian.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A barbarian is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Fast Movement (Ex): A barbarian’s land speed is faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor, and not carrying a heavy load. Apply this bonus before modifying the barbarian’s speed because of any load carried or armor worn.
Changed Rage back to a per day ability, and made Greater rage and Mighty Rage always on abilities. Tracking rage points was too time consuming, and with several changes per round if you were using abilities, would eat a hole through a character sheet from all the erasing.
Rage (Ex): A barbarian can call upon inner reserves of strength and ferocity, granting her additional combat prowess. Once per day, a barbarian can fly into a rage, temporarily gaining a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but a -2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when her Constitution score drops back to normal. While raging, a barbarian cannot use the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration such as spell casting. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A barbarian may prematurely end her rage. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (-2 penalty to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for one minute per round they spent raging (unless she is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies).
I liked the idea of rage powers, but with rage points gone I had to make some changes to keep it workable. With a few exceptions the Rage Powers all last a full round, and only one may be used at a time. Any time the barbarian is raging though, they may freely use any of the powers they have selected.
To help keep this in line, and to make Rage a more precious resource, I've moved the additional rages per day here as a selectable Rage power. This gives players some freedom to fit their character to the campaign, if their DM runs very encounter heavy games that are stretching their ability to keep up, they can take additional rages per day, if not they can enhance the rage they do have.
Rage Powers: As a barbarian gains experience, she learns to harness her rage in new ways. Starting at 3rd level, a barbarian gains one rage power. She gains an additional rage power at 6th level and every two levels after that, until 18th level (8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th level). With the exception of Extra Raging and Swift, a barbarian cannot select an individual power more than once. Unless otherwise noted, these abilities are swift actions and only one may be used per round.
Animal Fury (Ex): The barbarian may make a bite attack at her highest attack bonus. If the bite hits, it deals 1d6 points of damage (assuming the barbarian is Medium; 1d4 points of damage if Small) plus the barbarian’s Strength modifier. A barbarian can use this power while grappled or pinned. If the bite attack hits, any grapple checks made against the target this round are at a +2 bonus.Extra Rage (Ex): The Barbarian may rage twice more per day. This ability may be taken more than once, adding two additional uses of rage per day each time.
Indomitable Will (Ex): For one round, the barbarian gains a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist enchantment spells. This bonus stacks with all other modifiers, including the morale bonus on Will saves she also receives during her rage.
Increased Damage Reduction (Ex): For one round, the barbarian gains damage reduction 1/—. This damage reduction stacks with that granted by the barbarian class feature. This ability may be taken more than once, improving the damage reduction by 1/— each time it is taken.
Knockback (Ex): For one round, anyone hit by the barbarian’s melee attacks must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the barbarians level + her Str modifier) or be pushed back 5 feet, if possible.
Renewed Vigor in standard Pathfinder was nearly useless. I'm sorry, but what was essentially a cure light wounds as a standard action is always, always going to be a terrible move for a barbarian if they have to waste a round of rage to use it.
Renewed Vigor (Su): As a swift action, the barbarian heals 1 points of damage per barbarian level, and gains fast healing 1 for a number of rounds equal to her Con modifier.
Roused Anger (Ex): The barbarian may enter rage even if fatigued, after her rage ends the barbarian becomes exhausted for one minute per round they spent raging.Sharpened Senses (Ex): For one round, the barbarian’s senses sharpen and she gain Low Light Vision, Scent, and a +2 on all Perception checks. If the barbarian already has Low Light Vision, this ability grants Darkvision instead.
Swift (Ex): While raging, the barbarian gains a +10 ft. of movement speed. This ability may be taken more than once, adding an additional +10 ft. of movement speed each time.
Unexpected Strike (Ex): As part of a full attack action, the barbarian may make one additional attack at her highest attack bonus. This additional attack does not stack with haste or other similar effects.
Whirling Frenzy (Ex): For one round, the barbarian gains a +3 morale bonus to all reflex saves, and anyone attacking her is considered ineffective, taking a -4 to their attack roll.
Uncanny dodge and Imp. Uncanny Dodge saw some changes to tie it in with the new Combat mechanics.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, a barbarian can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so and is never considered flat footed. If a barbarian already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge
(see below) instead.Rugged combined with d10 base HD gives barbarians slightly more HP than before (especially in average hp/level games) and keeps the flavor, while standardizing the HD between classes.
Rugged (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a barbarian gains a bonus of 2 hp per level of barbarian.
Uncanny dodge and Imp. Uncanny Dodge saw some changes to tie it in with the new Combat mechanics.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level and higher, a barbarian has greatly heightened senses and focus, and is never considered distracted.
Damage Reduction (Ex): At 7th level, a barbarian gains damage reduction. Subtract 1 from the damage the barbarian takes each time he is dealt damage from a weapon or a natural attack. At 10th level, and every three barbarian levels thereafter (13th, 16th, and 19th level), this damage reduction rises by 1 point. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0.I moved Intimidating Presence here as an always on ability, and added Frightful Presence later, to give barbarians some unique higher level flavor abilities that tied into their skills.
Intimidating Presence (Ex): At 9th level, while raging, a barbarian can unsettle their foes in combat. Any time they score a critical hit or deal lethal damage to a foe they may make an Intimidate check against one adjacent foe as a free action. If the barbarian successfully demoralizes her opponent, the foe is shaken for 2d6 rounds.
As mentioned earlier, with the loss of rage points Greater rage became an always on ability. Honestly, I don't think this was that broken to begin with, and it means less bookkeeping.
Greater Rage (Ex): At 11th level, when a barbarian enters rage, the bonus to her Strength and Constitution increases to +6 and the morale bonus on her Will saves increases to +3.
Frightful Presence is the sort of end game flavor ability that I want to have to keep people interested in a class. It's powerful, without being game breaking, and gives them an ability that can't easily be replicated by any other class.
Frightful Presence (Ex): At 15th level, any foe witnessing a barbarian raging may become frightened. Any time the barbarian enters a rage or attacks, opponents within 30 ft. must make a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 the barbarians level + her Cha modifier). Those that fail are frightened for 5d6 rounds. An opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to the barbarian’s frightful presence for 24 hours.
Tireless Rage (Ex): Starting at 17th level, a barbarian no longer becomes fatigued at the end of her rage.As mentioned earlier, with the loss of rage points Mighty rage became an always on ability.
Mighty Rage (Ex): At 20th level, when a barbarian enters rage, the bonus to her Strength and Constitution increases to +8. The penalty to AC remains at -2.
Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.
The only huge departure from the Pathfinder standard Bard is a change to deadly performance. Most other changes are just tweaks of the wording.
I did standardize the format of Bardic Performances though, makes them much easier to quickly read and evaluate if you need to look something up in combat.
All the performances should be basically...
A bard with X can do X as a bardic performance. Target requirements, range, etc.
If the performance allows a save, then the DC formula will be listed, followed by effects if saves are successful, then effects if saves fail.
Bardic performances duration/limits.
For buff type performances the last section is an explanation of what benefits it offers.
Obviously, some performances may or may not have one of the above sections, but overall they should be much easier to read.
Bard (http://rapidshare.com/files/128257193/Bard.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any nonlawful.
Hit Die: d8.
Trained Saves: Reflex and Willpower.
Level/BAB/Special Abilities
1st +0 Bardic knowledge, bardic performance, countersong, distraction, fascinate, inspire courage
2nd +1 Well-versed
3rd +2 Inspire competence
4th +3
5th +3 Lore master 1/day
6th +4 Suggestion
7th +5
8th +6 Dirge of doom, discordant performance
9th +6 Inspire greatness
10th +7
11th +8 Lore master 2/day
12th +9 Song of freedom, soothing performance
13th +9
14th +10 Frightening tune, paralyzing show
15th +11 Inspire heroics
16th +12
17th +12 Lore master 3/day
18th +13 Mass suggestion
19th +14 Jack of all trades
20th +15 Deadly performance
Class Skills
The bard’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Int modifier
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A bard is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, short sword, shortbow, and whip. Bards are also proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).
A bard can cast bard spells while wearing light armor and using a shield without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster though, a bard wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass bard still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Spells: A bard casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the bard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. Every bard spell has a verbal component (singing, reciting, or music). To learn or cast a spell, a bard must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a bard’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the bard’s Charisma modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a bard can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given below. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score.
Bard Spells Per Day
LVL 1 2 3 4 5 6
1st 1 — — — — —
2nd 2 — — — — —
3rd 3 — — — — —
4th 3 1 — — — —
5th 4 2 — — — —
6th 4 3 — — — —
7th 4 3 1 — — —
8th 4 4 2 — — —
9th 5 4 3 — — —
10th 5 4 3 1 — —
11th 5 4 4 2 — —
12th 5 5 4 3 — —
13th 5 5 4 3 1 —
14th 5 5 4 4 2 —
15th 5 5 5 4 3 —
16th 5 5 5 4 3 1
17th 5 5 5 4 4 2
18th 5 5 5 5 4 3
19th 5 5 5 5 5 4
20th 5 5 5 5 5 5
The bard’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A bard begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of the bard’s choice. At each new bard level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated below. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a bard knows is not affected by his Charisma score. The numbers given below are fixed.) These new spells can be common spells chosen from the bard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the bard has gained some understanding of through study.
I've always liked the openess of interpretation of the line about learning unusual spells. The official line is that it just allows learning new bard spells from non-core books, but the idea of bards and sorcs having access to other classes spell list is interesting as long as you keep it under control. I've kept the same vagueness here, so that a DM can run the official line if they wish, and if they are more open to allowing Bards options, they can go that route.
Bard Spells Known
LVL 0 1 2 3 4 5 61st 4 2 — — — — —
2nd 5 3 — — — — —
3rd 6 4 — — — — —
4th 6 4 2 — — — —
5th 6 4 3 — — — —
6th 6 4 4 — — — —
7th 6 5 4 2 — — —
8th 6 5 4 3 — — —
9th 6 5 4 4 — — —
10th 6 5 5 4 2 — —
11th 6 6 5 4 3 — —
12th 6 6 5 4 4 — —
13th 6 6 5 5 4 2 —
14th 6 6 6 5 4 3 —
15th 6 6 6 5 4 4 —
16th 6 6 6 5 5 4 2
17th 6 6 6 6 5 4 3
18th 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
19th 6 6 6 6 5 5 4
20th 6 6 6 6 6 5 5
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third bard level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a bard can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the bard “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level bard spell the bard can cast. A bard may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
As noted above, a bard need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.
Bardic Knowledge: At 1st level, a bard selects one Knowledge skill. He gains 1 bonus skill rank to place in that Knowledge skill and an additional skill rank every time he gains a level. In addition, a bard adds 1/2 his level (minimum 1) to all Knowledge skill checks and may make such checks untrained.
Bardic Performance: Once per day per bard level, a bard can use his Perform skill to produce magical effects on those around him (usually including himself, if desired). Each ability requires both a minimum bard level and a minimum number of ranks in the Perform skill. If a bard does not have the required number of ranks in at least one Perform skill, he does not gain the bardic performance ability until he acquires the needed ranks. Bardic performances require no specific instrument or type of Performance.
The specific instrument requirements always annoyed me, hard to track, and if you did enforce them, then in the end they just made every bard choose from a few specific perform types.
Starting a bardic performance effect is a standard action. Spell-like (Sp) bardic performance abilities require concentration; the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain such abilities. Even while using a bardic performance ability that doesn’t require concentration, a bard cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), or activate magic items by magic word (such as wands).
Explicitly stated which bardic performances require concentration to avoid confusion.
Countersong (Su): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or song to counter magical effects that depend on sound. Each round of the countersong, he makes a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself ) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the countersong, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Countersong does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. The bard may keep up the countersong for 10 rounds.
Distraction (Su): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to counter magical effects that depend on sight. Each round of the distraction, he makes a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by an illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the distraction is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it sees the distraction, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Distraction does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. The bard may keep up the distraction for 10 rounds.Fascinate (Sp): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to cause one creature to become fascinated with him. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can fascinate one additional creature. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use fascinate on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song, taking no other actions, for as long as the bard continues to play. While fascinated, a target takes a –4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Courage (Su): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself ), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The effect lasts for as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 8th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th, and +4 at 20th). Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Competence (Su): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to help an ally succeed at a task. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance. Certain uses of this ability are infeasible, such as Sneak attempts. A bard can’t inspire competence in himself. Inspire competence is a mind-affecting ability.
Suggestion (Sp): A bard of 6th level or higher with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make a suggestion (as the spell) to a creature that he has already fascinated (see above). Using this ability does not break the bard’s concentration on the fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect. Making a suggestion doesn’t count against a bard’s daily limit on bardic performances. A Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 bard’s level + bard’s Cha modifier) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single creature (but see mass suggestion, below). Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind affecting, language-dependent ability.
Dirge of Doom (Su): A bard with 8 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to foster a sense of growing dread in his enemies, causing them to take a number of penalties. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. Affected enemies are shaken and take a –2 penalty on ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks so long as the bard continues performing and for 3 rounds thereafter. At 14th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this penalty increases by 1 (-3 at 14th, and -4 at 20th).
Discordant Performance (Su):[/i] A bard with 8 or more ranks in a Perform skill can can use his performance to cause his enemies to become confused. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use discordant performance on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature becomes confused so long as the bard continues performing. Each round at the end of its turn, each subject of a discordant performance may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect, if the save is successful, the bard cannot use discordant performance on that creature again for 24 hours
Inspire Greatness (Su): A bard with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to inspire greatness in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, granting her extra fighting capability. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 9th, he can inspire one additional ally. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The effect lasts for as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally gains 2 bonus Hit Dice (d10s), the commensurate number of temporary hit points (apply the target’s Constitution modifier, if any, to these bonus Hit Dice), a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves. The bonus Hit Dice count as regular Hit Dice for determining the effect of spells that are Hit Dice dependant. Inspire greatness is a mind-affecting ability.
Song of Freedom (Sp): A bard with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to create an effect equivalent to the break enchantment spell, with a caster level equal to the bard’s class level. Using this ability requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration and music, and it functions on a single target within 30 feet. A bard can’t use song of freedom on himself.
Soothing Performance (Sp): A bard with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to create an effect equivalent to the mass cure light wounds spell, with a caster level equal to the bard’s class level. In addition, this performance removes the fatigued, sickened, and shakened condition from all those affected. Using this ability requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration and performance, and it functions on all targets within 30 feet.
Frightening Tune (Sp): A bard with 14 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to cause fear in his enemies. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use frightening tune on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature becomes frightened for 1d4 rounds plus the bard’s Charisma modifier.
Paralyzing Show (Sp): A bard with 14 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to paralyze his enemies. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use paralyzing show on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature becomes paralyzed so long as the bard continues performing. Each round at the end of its turn, each subject of a paralyzing show may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect, if the save is successful, the bard cannot use paralyzing show on that creature again for 24 hours.
Inspire Heroics (Su): A bard with 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to inspire tremendous heroism in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet. For every three bard levels the character attains beyond 15th, he can inspire one additional ally. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The effect lasts for as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws and a +4 dodge bonus to AC. Inspire heroics is a mind-affecting ability.
Mass Suggestion (Sp): This ability functions like suggestion, above, except that a bard of 18th level or higher with 18 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make the suggestion simultaneously to any number of creatures that he has already fascinated (see above). Mass suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language dependent ability.
Deadly Performance (Su): A bard with 20 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to cause one enemy to die from joy or sorrow. To be affected, the enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for the affected enemy’s Will save against the effect. If the enemy’s saving throw succeeds, the enemy is stunned for 1d4 rounds and the bard cannot use deadly performance on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the deadly performance succeeds.
Thereafter, the bard may attempt to slay the victim at any time. To make such an attempt, the bard merely speaks a single word or sings a single note in the subject’s presence (a free action), and unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the bard’s level + the bard’s Cha modifier), it dies. If the saving throw is successful, the target is no longer in danger from that particular deadly performance, but it may still be affected by another one at a later time.
Deadly performance definitely needed some work. The DC for the save was far, far too high, but I do like the perform as a save mechanic for several other bard abilities and hated to break it. For Fascinate and the like the abnormally high saves from perform are alright, they just add a quirk to the class and support their role as semi-controllers/buffers specializing in mind affecting abilities. For Deadly Performance though it was far too powerful.
To balance things out a bit I've reworked Deadly performance to function in the same manner as Quivering Palm, an initial attack/performance that is very likely to succeed, followed by a standard save when the Bard/Monk chooses to activate the actual save vs. death magic ( *cough* Sorry, old school leaking through there a bit)
Cantrips (Sp): A bard knows a number of cantrips. He can cast these spells at will as a spell-like ability. The number of cantrips a bard knows is noted on the table above under 0 level spells known. Cantrips are treated like any other spell cast by the bard in terms of duration and other variables based on level.
Well-Versed (Ex): At 2nd level, the bard becomes resistant to the bardic performance of others. The bard gains a +4 bonus on saving throws made against bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects.Lore Master (Ex): At 5th level, the bard becomes a master of lore and can take 10 on any Knowledge skill check that he has ranks in. A bard can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the bard can take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a standard action. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.
Jack of All Trades (Ex): At 19th level, the bard can use any skill, even if the skill requires him to be trained. In addition, all skills are now considered class skills. If the bard has 5 or more ranks in a skill, he can take 10 on the skill, even if it is not normally allowed.
Here’s the Cleric (http://rapidshare.com/files/128287832/Cleric.pdf.html)
No major changes to clerics, just the needed stuff to skills/trained saves to make it all work with the new system.
Here’s the Druid (http://rapidshare.com/files/128288439/Druid.pdf.html)
Again, no major changes outside of skills/trained saves. Just including these for completeness.
Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.
Armor Training was change to Defensive Training. Defensive training still eases the armor check penalty and max dex of worn armor, but instead of a +to the armor bonus, it gives a +dodge bonus to AC. This leaves a little more room for multiclassing, or for theme fighters that want to go armorless. I also feel like it just fits the idea of a master of armed combat more. The bonus Max Dex still makes armor a very, very good option, but the bonus to AC isn't entirely lost if a Fighter doesn't have access to armor for some reason.
Combat Training is new, Fighters needed some unique abilities, beyond Armor/Weapon training to really give them some flavor and interesting class abilities to look forward to other than more feats. At 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th Fighters get to choose one of several fairly powerful abilities.
Weapon Training is pretty much unchanged, but has been renamed Offensive Training. (After all, at least one group did not actually involve any weapons) I've also added a few extra groups for exotic fighters, Natural includes Bite, Claw, Gore, etc. for non standard race or shapechanging fighters, and Supernatural, which allows specialization in weapon like spells and spell like abilities, useful for cross class Fighter/Casters and for non standard races with spell like abilities.
Fighter (http://rapidshare.com/files/128289599/Fighter.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10.
Trained Saves: Fortitude.
Level BAB Special
1st +1 Bonus feat
2nd +2 Bonus feat
3rd +3 Defensive Training
4th +4 Bonus feat, Combat Training
5th +5 Offensive Training
6th +6 Bonus feat
7th +7 Defensive Training
8th +8 Bonus feat, Combat Training
9th +9 Offensive Training
10th +10 Bonus feat
11th +11 Defensive Training
12th +12 Bonus feat, Combat Training
13th +13 Offensive Training
14th +14 Bonus feat
15th +15 Defensive Training
16th +16 Bonus feat , Combat Training
17th +17 Offensive Training
18th +18 Bonus feat
19th +19 Armor mastery
20th +20 Bonus feat,Weapon mastery
Class Skills
The fighter’s class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Knowledge (warfare) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the fighter.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).
Bonus Feats: At 1st level, and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement (meaning that the fighter gains a feat at every level). These bonus feats must be selected from either fighter bonus feats or combat feats (see the Feats chapter).
I made the change to Defensive training to give Fighters a little more adaptability, and some ability to function if they are without equipment.
Defensive Training (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a fighter gains additional defense against attacks and added ease in the use of armor. The fighter gains an additional +1 dodge bonus to his armor class, reduces the armor check penalty of any armor worn by 1 (to a minimum of 0), and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by his armor by 1. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), a fighter gains even more protection, increasing these bonuses by +1 each time, for a total of +4 dodge to armor class at 15th level, with a –4 reduction to the armor check penalty and a +4 increase to the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed.
Here are the real meat of the changes, bonus feats and Armor/Weapon mastery are fine, but they lack much in terms of flavor for the class. I tried very, very hard to make sure these abilities would be useful for absolutely any type of Fighter, and that each of them could significantly affect how a fighter fought in some way.
Combat Training (Ex): Self discipline and training give the Fighter a surprising adaptability. Starting at 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter until 16th level (8th, 12th, 16th) a fighter can one of the following Combat Training options.
Focus and Awareness give fighters the option of making a low save trained, which helps cover one of their biggest weak points traditionally, low saves. Considering a multiclass fighter could easily cover the same saves with a level or two in other classes, I don't see this as a huge issue. Really these are intended as a possible perk for Fighters that really, really want to stick to Fighter.
Focus (Ex): The fighter adds Willpower to their list of Trained saves and adds Concentration to their list of Class skills. (Class skills with at least one Rank and Trained saves receive a +3 bonus. Multiple training bonuses from multiclassing do not stack.)
Awareness (Ex): The fighter adds Reflex to their list of Trained saves and adds Perception to their list of Class skills. (Class skills with at least one Rank and Trained saves receive a +3 bonus. Multiple training bonuses from multiclassing do not stack.)With full BAB, high Str (probably), and Acumen, Fighters can be just slightly better at Combat Maneuvers than any other class, and very, very resistant to having Combat Maneuvers used against them. To me that really "feels" Fighterish and adds a sort of point of pride, "Fighters are the best at X", ability.
Acumen (Ex): The fighter adds a +3 competence bonus to their Combat Maneuvers Bonus and on Bluff checks made to Feint.
The 10 ft. move as a 5 ft. step is probably the more game changing part of this one, allowing cleave/great cleave fighters to put their feats to good use, and making full attacks much more likely round to round. The +10 base speed is just a nice perk that comes along for the ride.
Hustle (Ex): The fighter’s base speed increaseses by 10 ft. and they may make a 10 ft. move in place of a 5 ft. step.
This is another flavor ability, the idea of a grim warrior focused on combat to the exclusion of all else, Fatigue, Sickness, Fear, everything is veeerrry Fighter. The mechanical bonuses are nice as well, and the ability to continue acting while Dazed, Nauseated, or Stunned give fighters some unique options versus certain opponents.
Resilience (Ex): The fighter ignores the effects of Fatigued, Shaken, and Sickened. This ability does not remove these conditions, it merely allows the fighter to ignore the penalties they normally impart. In addition, while Dazed, Nauseated, or Stunned the Fighter may make a single Standard action each round (this action replaces the single move action a nauseated character would normally make.)
Probably one of the mechanically strongest abilities, Celerity is all about giving fighters some presence. A fighter with Celerity is _always_ dangerous, and ready to kill at the drop of a hat, and foes facing any fighter have to keep that possibility in mind. Celerity is more than a little inspired by old Samurai movies like Zatoichi.
Celerity (Ex): The fighter may take a full round action during surprise rounds. In addition, the fighter is always considered armed for the purposes of determining threatened area, and may draw a weapon as part of an attack of opportunity.
Sort of the flipside of Celerity, Forethought allows a fighter to act with full effect at exactly they moment they choose, and was added for a lot of the same reasons and from the same inspirations.
Forethought (Ex): The Fighter is no longer limited to readying standard, move equivalent, and free actions. They may now ready a full round action as well. They may take a five foot step immediately, or as part of the full round action they ready, but no other action is possible on a turn in which they ready a full round action.
Offensive Training (Ex): Starting at 5th level, a fighter can select one group of weapons, as noted below. Whenever he attacks with a weapon from this group, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls.Every four levels thereafter (9th, 13th, and 17th), a fighter becomes further trained in another group of weapons. He gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls when using a weapon from this group. In addition, the bonuses granted by previous weapon groups increase by +1 each. For example, when a fighter reaches 9th level, he receives a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with one weapon group and a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls with the weapon group selected at 5th level. Bonuses granted from overlapping groups do not stack. Take the highest bonus granted for a weapon if it resides in two or more groups.
Weapon groups are defined as follows (GMs may add other weapons to these groups, or add entirely new groups):
Axes: battleaxe, dwarven waraxe, greataxe, handaxe, heavy pick, light pick, orc double axe, and throwing axe.
Blades, Heavy: bastard sword, falchion, greatsword, longsword, scimitar, scythe, and two-bladed sword.
Blades, Light: dagger, kama, kukri, rapier, sickle, and short sword.
Bows: composite longbow, composite shortbow, longbow, and shortbow.
Close: gauntlet, heavy shield, light shield, punching dagger, sap, spiked armor, spiked gauntlet, spiked shield, and unarmed strike.
Crossbows: hand crossbow, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, heavy repeating crossbow, and light repeating crossbow.
Double: dire flail, dwarven urgosh, gnome hooked hammer, orc double axe, and two-bladed sword.
Flails: dire flail, flail, heavy flail, morningstar, nunchaku, spiked chain, and whip.
Hammers: club, light hammer, light mace, greatclub, heavy mace, and warhammer.
Monk: kama, nunchaku, sai, shuriken, siangham, and unarmed strike.
Natural: Bite, Claw, Talon, Gore, Slap, Slam, Sting, and Tentacle.
Pole Arms: glaive, guisarme, halberd, ranseur, and quarterstaff.
Spears: javelin, lance, longspear, shortspear, spear, and trident.
Supernatural: All weaponlike spells and spell-like abilities.
Thrown: bolas, club, dart, dagger, handaxe, javelin, light hammer, net, shortspear, shuriken, sling, spear, and trident.
Armor Mastery (Ex): At 19th level, a fighter gains DR 5/— whenever he is wearing armor or using a shield and armor counts as one category lighter for determining movement speed. If a fighter also has the Hustle combat training, movement speed is never reduced by armor.
Weapon Mastery (Ex): At 20th level, a fighter chooses one weapon, such as the longsword, greataxe, or longbow. Any attacks made with that weapon automatically confirm all critical threats and have their damage multiplier increased by 1 (a ×2 becomes a ×3, for example). In addition, he cannot be disarmed while wielding a weapon of this type.
I know it takes some reading, and with my post appearing at the bottom of the thread it won't show up well, but this post is exactly the kind of introspection into the PRPG and the 3.5e rules issues that is needed.
Hope that makes sense.
I know it takes some reading, and with my post appearing at the bottom of the thread it won't show up well, but this post is exactly the kind of introspection into the PRPG and the 3.5e rules issues that is needed.
Hope that makes sense.
::grin:: Thank you, that seriously means a lot. There's more to come too, work and sleep have just been getting in the way lately.
Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.
Monk damage scales pretty badly, the 2d10 base damage at 20 looks impressive on paper, but is really a very minor bump in terms of average damage. Weapon enchantments and feats add far, far more damage for the armed melee classes. Flurry and bonus attacks from spending ki help to an extent, but monks still really needed a small boost to damage, especially considering their need for so many stats. Which brings us to the first change..
the monks AC bonus is replaced by a Combat Bonus, which is added to both their AC and to the damage they deal with unarmed attacks and monk weapons. (to be clear, a monk still adds their wisdom to AC only, the Combat bonus uses only the +1 to +5 miscellaneous bonus a monk normally gets to add to their AC)
Wholeness of Body- Again, healing 1 hp per level as a standard action is absolutely useless. There will almost always be better options in combat, and out of combat it would be a waste of Ki.
As a replacement, monks receive Wholeness of Body (Su): At 7th level or higher, a monk can temporarily increase their ability to withstand wounds. A monk may add a +2 ki bonus to his Constitution for a number of rounds equal to his wisdom mod as a free action. At 11th level this bonus improves to +4, and at 15th level it improves to +6. Activating this ability uses 2 points from the monk’s ki pool.
This gives monks an ability that fills the same role of mitigating damage, and as a free action it will actually see use. This is considerably more powerful than the old Wholeness of body, but Monks also had a lot of so so abilities at high level, and this gives them a very good reason to continue taking levels of Monk.
Ki also seems to run out very, very fast, considering you only get 1/2 your monk level + your Wis mod. With multiple abilities that depend on it for use, it seemed like Monks could use a few more points per day.
Restful Meditation (Ex): Starting at 8th level, a monk may refill their ki pool once per day by spending an hour in restful meditation.
This gives monks a way of getting back in the game after a hard fight, but still keeps them limited to an appropriate amount of ki in any single fight.
Lastly, I changed Quivering palm to once per day, instead of once per week. Nothing game breaking here, it's no worse than a wizard with Symbol of Death (to be honest, it's actually considerably less deadly) and considering this is supposed to be a sort of capstone big end game ability, it needed a bit of a bump.
Monk (http://rapidshare.com/files/128958263/Monk.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any Lawful
Hit Die: d8
Trained Saves: All.
Level / BAB / Special
1st / +0/ Bonus feat, flurry of blows, unarmed strike
2nd / +1 / Bonus feat, evasion
3rd / +2 / Maneuver training, still mind
4th / +3 / Ki pool (magic), slow fall 20 ft., Twofold Gaze
5th / +3 / High jump, purity of body
6th / +4/ Bonus feat, slow fall 30 ft.
7th / +5 / Wholeness of body
8th / +6 / Restful Meditation, Slow fall 40 ft.
9th / +6 / Improved evasion
10th / +7/ Bonus feat, ki pool (lawful), slow fall 50 ft.
11th / +8 / Diamond body
12th / +9/ Abundant step, slow fall 60 ft.
13th / +9 / Diamond soul
14th / +10 / Bonus feat, slow fall 70 ft.
15th / +11 / Quivering palm
16th / +12 / Ki pool (adamantine), slow fall 80 ft.
17th / +12 / Timeless body, tongue of the sun and moon
18th / +13 / Bonus feat, slow fall 90 ft.
19th / +14 / Empty body
20th / +15 / Perfect self, slow fall any distance
Class Skills
The monk’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (warfare) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Int modifier
Class Features
The following are class features of the monk.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Monks are proficient with the club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling. Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields.
When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses his AC bonus, as well as his fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.
Monk damage didn’t scale quite well enough, the 2d6/8/10 looks impressive, but on average it’s only a point or two above what an armed fighter could have, and with a lot of drawbacks (for instance, it’s pretty hard to get flaming/shocking/keen fists, and feats like Power attack favor big two handers, not many feats help unarmed attacks to the same extent.)
To help monks keep up at later levels, I changed the AC bonus to a Combat bonus, that adds to both damage and AC.
Combat Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC and melee damage at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four monk levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.
The bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat footed. A monk loses these bonuses and the bonus damage when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load.Monk Unarmed Combat Bonuses
Level/Combat Bonus/Small Damage/Medium Damage/Large damage/Flurry/Speed
1st / +0/ 1d4 / 1d6 / 1d8 / x1 (-2)/ +0 ft.
2nd / +0/ 1d4/ 1d6 / 1d8/ x1 (-2)/ +0 ft.
3rd / +0/ 1d4/ 1d6 / 1d8/ x1 (-2)/ +10 ft.
4th / +1/ 1d6 / 1d8 / 2d6 / x1 (-2)/ +10 ft.
5th / +1/ 1d6/ 1d8 / 2d6/ x1 (-1)/ +10 ft.
6th / +1/ 1d6/ 1d8 / 2d6/ x1 (-1)/ +20 ft.
7th / +1/ 1d6/ 1d8 / 2d6/ x1 (-1)/ +20 ft.
8th / +2/ 1d8 / 1d10 / 2d8 / x1 (-1)/ +20 ft.
9th / +2/ 1d8/ 1d10 / 2d8/ x1/ +30 ft.
10th / +2/ 1d8/ 1d10 / 2d8/ x1/ +30 ft.
11th / +2/ 1d8/ 1d10 / 2d8/ x2/ +30 ft.
12th / +3/ 1d10 / 2d6 / 3d6 / x2/ +40 ft.
13th / +3/ 1d10/ 2d6 / 3d6/ x2/ +40 ft.
14th / +3/ 1d10/ 2d6 / 3d6 / x2/ +40 ft.
15th / +3/ 1d10/ 2d6 / 3d6/ x2/ +50 ft.
16th / +4/ 2d6 / 2d8 / 3d8/ x2/ +50 ft.
17th / +4/ 2d6/ 2d8 / 3d8/ x2/ +50 ft.
18th / +4/ 2d6/ 2d8 / 3d8/ x3/ +60 ft.
19th / +4/ 2d6/ 2d8 / 3d8/ x3/ +60 ft.
20th / +5/ 2d8 / 2d10 / 4d8/ x3/ +60 ft.
Flurry of Blows (Ex): When unarmored, a monk may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, he may make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a –2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the monk might make before his next action. When a monk reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to –1, and at 9th level it disappears. A monk must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blows.
When using flurry of blows, a monk may attack only with unarmed strikes or with special monk weapons (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham).
He may attack with unarmed strikes and special monk weapons interchangeably as desired. When using weapons as part of a flurry of blows, a monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether he wields a weapon in one or both hands. The monk can’t use any weapon other than a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows.
In the case of the quarterstaff, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though the quarterstaff requires two hands to use, a monk may still intersperse unarmed strikes with quarterstaff strikes, assuming that he has enough attacks in his flurry of blows routine to do so.
One change, here a the end of Flurry. At 18th level I added one more attack, to better parallel the two weapon fighting series of feats. Considering it doesn’t kick in until 18th level, I don’t feel this is really going to be unbalancing, a cross class monk could easily have the same number of attacks per round at that point by taking levels in a full BAB class starting at 13th level.
When a monk reaches 11th level, his flurry of blows ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack he gets from flurry of blows, he gets a second extra attack at his full base attack bonus. When a monk reaches 18th level, his flurry of blows ability improves. He gets a third extra attack at his full base attack bonus.
Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with either fist or with elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
Bonus Feat: At 1st level, 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a monk may select a bonus feat. These feats must be taken from the following list: Caught Off-Guard, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Scorpion Style, Stunning Fist, and Throw Anything. At 6th level, the following feats are added to the list: Gorgon’s Fist, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, and Mobility. At 10th level, the following feats are added to the list: Improved Critical, Medusa’s Wrath, Snatch Arrows, and Spring Attack. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.
Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher, if a monk makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a monk is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk gains an enhancement bonus to his speed. A monk in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.
Maneuver Training (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk uses his monk level in place of his base attack bonus when calculating his combat maneuver bonus. Base attack bonuses granted from other classes are unaffected and are added normally.
Still Mind (Ex): A monk of 3rd level or higher gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the school of enchantment.
Ki Pool (Su): At 4th level, a monk’s gains a pool of ki, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. A monk’s ki pool is equal to one half his monk level plus his Wisdom modifier. As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike. At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Ki strike improves with the character’s monk level. At 10th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as lawful weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. At 16th level, his unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness.
By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a monk can make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack. In addition, he can spend 1 point to increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round. Finally, a monk can spend 1 point from his ki pool to give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round. Each of these powers is activated as a swift action. A monk gains additional powers that consume points from his ki pool as he gains levels. The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation.
Slow Fall (Ex): At 4th level or higher, a monk within arm’s reach of a wall can use it to slow his descent. When first using this ability, he takes damage as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is. The monk’s ability to slow his fall (that is, to reduce the effective distance of the fall when next to a wall) improves with his monk level until at 20th level he can use a nearby wall to slow his descent and fall any distance without harm.
With the change to Touch Attacks monks were losing 4 ac vs. casters, compared to standard Pathfinder. Considering monks are sort of supposed to be a rock to casters scissors, I wasn’t too happy about this. I added Twofold Gaze to get Monks back up to speed vs. touch spells, and to add some interesting strategy to the combat conditions changes I’m using.
The name of the ability, if anyone is curious, is from a Miyamoto Musashi quote, “The gaze should be large and broad. This is the twofold gaze ‘Perception and Sight’. Perception is strong and sight weak.”
Twofold Gaze (Ex): At 4th level, a monk is instinctively aware of any opening in his defense, and is never considered vulnerable. Touch attacks against the monk are made against their full AC, with no additional bonuses from vulnerability.
High Jump (Ex): At 5th level, a monk adds his level to all Acrobatics checks made to jump, both for vertical jumps and horizontal jumps. In addition, he always counts as having a running start when making jump checks using Acrobatics. By spending 1 point from his ki pool as a swift action, a monk gains a +20 bonus on Acrobatics checks made to jump for 1 round.Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, a monk gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
1 hp per monk level felt far too weak as a standard action, much like the barbarian self heal, it would almost always be more advantageous to simply attack, or to use an ability (such as stunning fist) to prevent an attacker from damaging you instead.
I needed to change it to a free action to make it usable in combat without sacrificing a round, but that brings up it’s own problems, if a monk is willing to blow enough ki, the additional healing availble might be a bit too nice. To keep it in line I’ve changed the effect to a Con buff, this effectively heals the monk, because of the added hp, but it won’t stack with itself, preventing abuse. I’ve also made it a bit more effective at higher levels, as damage taken tends to scale much faster than level. I also wanted to differentiate the monks ability slightly, give it something a bit more interesting that might have useful benefits to multiclass characters. and for races or classes with Con dependent abilities, this might open up some interesting options.
Wholeness of Body (Su): At 7th level or higher, a monk can temporarily increase their ability to withstand wounds. A monk may add a +2 ki bonus to his Constitution for a number of rounds equal to his wisdom mod as a free action. At 11th level this bonus improves to +4, and at 15th level it improves to +6. Activating this ability is a free action that uses 2 points from the monk’s ki pool.
The number of ki points available to high level monks felt far too low, especially with multiple abilities to use that cost 2 ki per. Just upping the amount of ki monks have would be a mistake though, it would unbalance 3.5 classes like Ninja, that also have a ki pool (that presumably stacks). So I added the ability to refill their ki pool once per day, with appropriate rest.
Restful Meditation (Ex): Starting at 8th level, a monk may refill their ki pool once per day by spending an hour in restful meditation.
Improved Evasion (Ex): At 9th level, a monk’s evasion ability improves. He still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.Diamond Body (Su): At 11th level, a monk gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.
Abundant Step (Su): At 12th level or higher, a monk can slip magically between spaces, as if using the spell dimension door. Using this ability is a move-equivalent action that consumes 2 points from his ki pool. His caster level for this effect is 1/2 his monk level.
Diamond Soul (Ex): At 13th level, a monk gains spell resistance equal to his current monk level + 10. In order to affect the monk with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the monk’s spell resistance.
I changed quivering palm from once per week to once per day to standardize it a bit (there are very, very few other abilities that aren’t either once per day, at will, or some number of times per day. Otherwise, the ability is essentially unchanged.
Quivering Palm (Su): Starting at 15th level, a monk can set up vibrations within the body of another creature that can thereafter be fatal if the monk so desires. He can use this quivering palm attack once per day, and he must announce his intent before making his attack roll. Creatures immune to critical hits cannot be affected.
If the monk strikes successfully and the target takes damage from the blow, the quivering palm attack succeeds. Thereafter, the monk can attempt to slay the victim at any time, as long as the attempt is made within a number of days equal to his monk level. To make such an attempt, the monk merely wills the target to die (a free action), and unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the monk’s level + the monk’s Wis modifier), it dies. If the saving throw is successful, the target is no longer in danger from that particular quivering palm attack, but it may still be affected by another one at a later time.Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 17th level, a monk no longer takes penalties to his ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that he has already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the monk still dies of old age when his time is up.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon (Ex): A monk of 17th level or higher can speak with any living creature.
Empty Body (Su): At 19th level, a monk gains the ability to assume an ethereal state for 1 minute as though using the spell etherealness. Using this ability is a move action that consumes 3 points from his ki pool.
Perfect Self: At 20th level, a monk becomes a magical creature. He is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the monk’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the monk gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows him to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if he were a member of his previous creature type.
Ex-Monks
A monk who becomes nonlawful cannot gain new levels as a monk but retains all monk abilities.
|
I know it takes some reading, and with my post appearing at the bottom of the thread it won't show up well, but this post is exactly the kind of introspection into the PRPG and the 3.5e rules issues that is needed.
Hope that makes sense.
Absolutely! I really like a lot of what you've put here Broddigan and I'm only about a third of the way through it.
I would like to borrow a bunch of it - especially the consolidation of many of the conditions.
Not everything is to my liking and would choose to ignore a few things, but for the most part, it is really really good.
I have an important question: I have not read or know anything about 4th Edition. Are these rules adapted from there?
I'm not asking because I refuse to utilize a 4E concept; that is not the case. The reason for my question is if/when I present a bunch of these as new 'house rules' and explain that I got the crux of them from someone on the paizo board I dont want others jumping down my throat saying - "these are just 4E rules!" since some of the players in my area are big-time pro 4E.
Thats the only reason for my question.
Thanks and keep up the great work.
Robert
Absolutely! I really like a lot of what you've put here Broddigan and I'm only about a third of the way through it.
I would like to borrow a bunch of it - especially the consolidation of many of the conditions.
Thanks, and absolutely feel free to use or not use anything you want out of this. I've had a busy week or two, but I'm going to be posting a few more of the revamped classes later as well.
Not everything is to my liking and would choose to ignore a few things, but for the most part, it is really really good.
Anything specific? I'm always looking for constructive criticism.
I have an important question: I have not read or know anything about 4th Edition. Are these rules adapted from there?
I'm not asking because I refuse to utilize a 4E concept; that is not the case. The reason for my question is if/when I present a bunch of these as new 'house rules' and explain that I got the crux of them from someone on the paizo board I dont want others jumping down my throat saying - "these are just 4E rules!" since some of the players in my area are big-time pro 4E.
Nope, everything here is based strictly on my own experiences with 3.5 and third edition.
As far as I know the only thing I've done that is similar to something from 4th edition is the common progression on saving throws. Even that was something I arrived at just from looking at the basic math of saves vs. DCs though, so it's not something anyone can hold over your head as a sign 4e is better. There may be other bits that are similar, I'm not entirely sure, I've really just skimmed 4e, but if they are it's unintentional.
|
|
Not everything is to my liking and would choose to ignore a few things, but for the most part, it is really really good.Anything specific? I'm always looking for constructive criticism.
Thanks for the response.
specifically - I like the Flat-Footed simply adding 4 to attack roll. I especially like that all the changes in conditions ultimately just adjuststs the person rolling the dice. (usually the attack) theres no "THIS changes the AC, and THAT changes the attack roll" which winds up with sometimes the player adjusting his attack roll since the creature was suppose to adjust his AC; and then you wind up with a double-bonus/penalty - and it brings everything to a grinding halt while the player and DM discuss what modifiers were used.....
However, the touch AC is something that I do not agree with at all. It makes wizards touch attacks nigh-impossible. A 10th level wizard with a BAB of +5 and a measly 12 str (+1) is essentially getting a +10 to hit with his spells. Most warriors can top 30AC pretty regularly by 10th level. (Full plate +2 hvy shield +2, Dex 12, ring of prot +2 and necklace of nat armor +2) is 29 before any buffs, or feats are added!
That means the wizard is going to regularly need to roll a 17-20 most of the time to hit anything.
I can agree that wizards still outclass the warriors - but I don't think this makes it fair - it brings it too far in the other direction.
I like that you've added back Concentration, and iterated the number of things that can done 'defenisvely' with a CON check.
I think Jump still needs to be removed from Acrobatics.
I think DC 10 + for CMB is too low. I agree 15 is too high. I've been playtesting 12 and it seems just about right. Regardless, I LOVE the CMB system. Its being used and well-received and loved by the players. Furthmore combining the 5 less on the DC with increasing the feats from +2 to +3 make the CMB way too easy to succeed.
I've kept them at +2, I've increased the creatures size to +2 increments (+2 for large, +4 for huge), and lowered the DC to 12
But those are just minor adjustments. The touch AC above was a major issue.
Since I use minis and a grid - i have different opinion of "flanking" - so i think what you did is easier, but its not something I would use.
I see the point with the saves change - and can see where it makes sense, but I'm not sure if I would like the change.
As for skills: I really like the Knowledge checks that you changed. I have a couple of questions about that, though:
You have "outsiders" listed in religion and planes - was this intentional? I think magical beasts should be included in Lore - if dragons and aberrations are there.....????
As for the Barbarian - I like your changes. I'm not sure if it's better for the game - but I can see why the rage points system can get tedious to track. One of the changes I made was make the greater rages cost the same as the earlier rages; it never made sense to me that something you took all those level in to acheive should cost you more to use it - especially if you add up the number of rounds you can greater rage - its' no where near as many rounds using the "rage per day" of 3.5
Thats all that I've inpected so far.
Keep up the good work. I think you've done an amazing job. Like I said the only thing I'm really against is the touch attack - everything else seems to make sense.
Robert
However, the touch AC is something that I do not agree with at all. It makes wizards touch attacks nigh-impossible. A 10th level wizard with a BAB of +5 and a measly 12 str (+1) is essentially getting a +10 to hit with his spells. Most warriors can top 30AC pretty regularly by 10th level. (Full plate +2 hvy shield +2, Dex 12, ring of prot +2 and necklace of nat armor +2) is 29 before any buffs, or feats are added!
That means the wizard is going to regularly need to roll a 17-20 most of the time to hit anything.
I can agree that wizards still outclass the warriors - but I don't think this makes it fair - it brings it too far in the other direction.
I agree with you here, if the change to touch attacks and flat footed were all I'd done it would definitely make touch attack spells way too hard to connect with for Arcane casters.
To fix that, the reworked Sorc and Wizard I'm using get an Arcane Accuracy bonus whenever they're using a spell or spell-like ability, I'm going back and forth between +1 every other level and +1 every three levels. Every level would essentially give them fighter BAB with touch spells, which might be a bit much, +1 every three levels means some high level NPCs are going to be very hard to hit though. (Just as a side note, since the Arcane Accuracy is specific to arcane casters, it makes spells like Harm a little less ridiculously nice for Clerics.)
When I post the rest of the classes, I'll include both variants.
I like that you've added back Concentration, and iterated the number of things that can done 'defenisvely' with a CON check.
I think Jump still needs to be removed from Acrobatics.
My only issue with removing Jump from acrobatics is that it becomes a particularly bad use of skill points. Jump as a skill on it's own is an absolutely terrible skill compared to, say, Knowledge(Arcana), Concentration, or Stealth.
I've been thinking about making some more changes to skills, but for now I'll wait until I see what the Beta brings.
I think DC 10 + for CMB is too low. I agree 15 is too high. I've been playtesting 12 and it seems just about right. Regardless, I LOVE the CMB system. Its being used and well-received and loved by the players. Furthmore combining the 5 less on the DC with increasing the feats from +2 to +3 make the CMB way too easy to succeed.
I've kept them at +2, I've increased the creatures size to +2 increments (+2 for large, +4 for huge)
I think we both may be one off on the base number. My complaint with 15+ was that it led to some very silly math at times, for instance, two perfect clones of one another grappling, both will fail at everything they try 75% of the time. With three quarters of your actions being wasted, combat maneuvers were nearly useless. I changed it to 10 thinking that, in the former example, the two perfectly matched warriors should each have roughly 50/50 odds of pulling off whatever they tried. In my haste, I just used 10+, because so many other things in D&D are 10+, but it should be 11+ if I really wanted it to be even.
The +3 instead of +2 might be a bit much, I haven't had a chance to test that extensively. +2 just didn't feel like enough of a bump, at +2 no one seemed all that interested in the feats.
I actually like the size bonuses being fairly low, larger creatures already have higher strength built in, doubling up their bonuses from size can give them an unbeatable advantage.
As for skills: I really like the Knowledge checks that you changed. I have a couple of questions about that, though:You have "outsiders" listed in religion and planes - was this intentional? I think magical beasts should be included in Lore - if dragons and aberrations are there.....????
I actually meant to go back and add a note to that, outsiders being under Knowledge (religion) was meant to allow the identification of entities that are tied either to a specific deity or that are involved in the religious mythos of the setting (Angels, Archons, Demons, Devils, etc.) while Knowledge(the planes) was meant to allow the identification of entities native to the inner-, outer-, and demiplanes (Ethereal filcher, for instance).
With Knowledge(Lore) already getting Aberrations, Dragons, and Oozes I didn't want to add too much to it, but I can see how Magical Beasts could fit. Mostly I wanted Knowledge (lore) to cover the really rare and otherworldly creatures that, even in a mid to high fantasy setting, might be considered mythical by the populace at large.
One reason for leaving Magical Beasts under Knowledge(Arcana) is that a great many magical beasts are described as being the products of magic (lookup the descriptive fluff on an Owlbear for instance).
Thank you very much for the feedback, every bit of it helps.
|
|
I can agree that wizards still outclass the warriors - but I don't think this makes it fair - it brings it too far in the other direction.
I agree with you here, if the change to touch attacks and flat footed were all I'd done it would definitely make touch attack spells way too hard to connect with for Arcane casters.
To fix that, the reworked Sorc and Wizard I'm using get an Arcane Accuracy bonus whenever they're using a spell or spell-like ability, I'm going back and forth between +1 every other level and +1 every three levels. Every level would essentially give them fighter BAB with touch spells, which might be a bit much, +1 every three levels means some high level NPCs are going to be very hard to hit though. (Just as a side note, since the Arcane Accuracy is specific to arcane casters, it makes spells like Harm a little less ridiculously nice for Clerics.)
I fail to see the logic here. Just so that I'm sure I understand: you're changing the Touch Attack mechanic to the point that it significantly more difficult for it to work - then you're changing the spellcasting classes to allow them better chances to hit to counter-act this? To me this seems counter-productive, and actually confuses or complicates the issue in comparison to the way it is.
To further convolute things: How will creatures in the MM that attack via touch attacks be addressed?
Like I said before, I really like the way it works for flat-footed, and I understand the reasoning behind the concept of changing the touch-attack too - for purposes of keeping things simple math and people not having to keep track of two different ACs and what does and does not go in to that calculation - but it just seems on this front, you're changing something minor, but having to them make major changes throughout the system on several other areas to compensate.
I'm sure you have a method and a plan and it might make sense for where you're taking it - but for now, I don't see it and wanted to call your attention to it in case you hadn't seen it from that perspective yet.
My only issue with removing Jump from acrobatics is that it becomes a particularly bad use of skill points. Jump as a skill on it's own is an absolutely terrible skill compared to, say, Knowledge(Arcana), Concentration, or Stealth.I've been thinking about making some more changes to skills, but for now I'll wait until I see what the Beta brings.
I once thought that way too - but during playtesting for Alpha rules, I have seen where Jump is really important to warrior-types. using the Jump skill to jump over difficult terrain squares and occupied squares by creatures and obstacles IS allowed during a charge. "Straight-Line" for a charge applies to left/right - not up/down and so Jump Skill is highly useful and needed in a battle. Now, I think you've said that you don't use minis and grids - so that may make a difference in your gaming experience - but from someone who does use them, Jump is is one of THE most desired skills by anyone wanting to get into melee and certainly worth its own skill - and never a waste of skill points.
I think we both may be one off on the base number. My complaint with 15+ was that it led to some very silly math at times, for instance, two perfect clones of one another grappling, both will fail at everything they try 75% of the time. With three quarters of your actions being wasted, combat maneuvers were nearly useless. I changed it to 10 thinking that, in the former example, the two perfectly matched warriors should each have roughly 50/50 odds of pulling off whatever they tried. In my haste, I just used 10+, because so many other things in D&D are 10+, but it should be 11+ if I really wanted it to be even.The +3 instead of +2 might be a bit much, I haven't had a chance to test that extensively. +2 just didn't feel like enough of a bump, at +2 no one seemed all that interested in the feats.
I actually like the size bonuses being fairly low, larger creatures already have higher strength built in, doubling up their bonuses from size can give them an unbeatable advantage.
Remember that the feats aren't only granting a +2 - but it also eliminates the AoO. If someone performs one of those maneuvers without the feat, and AoO hits, that damage is applied to the CMB check! So the Improved feats are very useful for someone wanting to be good at one of those maneuvers. So I think +2 is appropriate.
Furthermore, you're right that most creatures that are large have higher strength - but usually many characters can have signifant strengths too. Take a 10th level half-orc barbarian - 20 STR to start, +2 to it by 8th level, and a +4 Str item, making it a 26 before raging (30 while raging).
So i think that it's 1) easy math to use increments of 2 for each size difference, 2) not unbalancing at all. 3) with only a +1 size mod for large makes it still too hard for large sized creatures to be effective with their CMB checks, and 4) it totally nerfs Enlarge Person spell to only gain a +1 to CMB checks now when they become large - it use to provide a +4 size mod.
I actually meant to go back and add a note to that, outsiders being under Knowledge (religion) was meant to allow the identification of entities that are tied either to a specific deity or that are involved in the religious mythos of the setting (Angels, Archons, Demons, Devils, etc.) while Knowledge(the planes) was meant to allow the identification of entities native to the inner-, outer-, and demiplanes (Ethereal filcher, for instance).
Okay - that clears it up and makes sense. a little complicated - but makes sense; anytime one tries to add "realism"m to a concept in D&D does make things more complicated. The question is: whether or not the realism on each point is worth the complication. This one seems worth it.
One reason for leaving Magical Beasts under Knowledge(Arcana) is that a great many magical beasts are described as being the products of magic (lookup the descriptive fluff on an Owlbear for instance).
good point! I can see that. I'll have to look at the list of creatures that are "magical beasts" vs "aberrations" to get a better picture of this.
Regardless, I really like the breakdown that you've done for the knowledges - especially the knowledge "warfare"
I will definitely be including these skill breakdowns with knowledges; warfare will be available to fighters, and my campaign's dwarves will get a +2 bonus vs them. They already have bonuses when fighting orcs, goblins and giants - so it just seems to make sense that they have a little insight to their tactics.
I went through and took a second look at your barabarian - i am liking it more and more. You did a great job with keeping it close to the way it was - while eliminating the bookkeeping of the Rage Points. I am considering adopting that pretty close to as written for my game.
I am currently writing my own PF and 3.5 derivation of the D&D system - especially rewriting the COMBAT chapter which has been completely revamped to enhance combat movement, and action within combat. Also I'm changing many of the spell effects to fit our gaming style; especially removing the instant death effects of the Save or Die spells, and adding levels of debilitation instead that can be shrugged off with consecutive rounds of successful saving throws. The changes also remove most of the stagnant buffing magic items (Cloaks of resist, rings of protection, and amulet of nat armor). To replace these, the PCs are given abilities and options that replace these bonuses when working together as a unit. Our table has always been fond of the utopian adventuring group of heroes type mentality. I wanted characters to rely less on magic to be good, and more on abilities from the character classes and party cohesion. That's what we've been playtesting and its looking really good.
We've been playtesting the changes I've been making for the past 2 months - ever since Alpha-3 was released. I'm waiting to BETA before I make changes to Bard, Wizard, and Sorcerer - which if they are as written in Alpha-3 I will be making changes. I'll wait till BETA before opting to change with your version of the barbarian, too. I've already redone the paladin and the fighter, and we all like them alot.
I havent read your bard variation yet - but i'm not 100% happy with the alpha bard, and never liked the PHB bard - so I will be changing it. I'm going to go and read over your bard carefully and see what changes I like to see about farming any from you.
keep up the good work!
Robert
I fail to see the logic here. Just so that I'm sure I understand: you're changing the Touch Attack mechanic to the point that it significantly more difficult for it to work - then you're changing the spellcasting classes to allow them better chances to hit to counter-act this? To me this seems counter-productive, and actually confuses or complicates the issue in comparison to the way it is.
To further convolute things: How will creatures in the MM that attack via touch attacks be addressed?
Like I said before, I really like the way it works for flat-footed, and I understand the reasoning behind the concept of changing the touch-attack too - for purposes of keeping things simple math and people not having to keep track of two different ACs and what does and does not go in to that calculation - but it just seems on this front, you're changing something minor, but having to them make major changes throughout the system on several other areas to compensate.
I know the touch attacks change seems counter intuitive, but I think in the end it's worth it.
I started out by trying to figure out why touch attacks might have been written the way they were in the first place. It's very elegant, yes, but it also really trivializes a lot of high level encounters, and can kind of hurt game balance, so it seemed like they must have felt like they had a real need. The one place I could find where there was a legitimate need to increase the odds of an attack landing were Sorc/Wiz attacks, because of their extremely low BAB.
A lot of the problems with unbalanced abilities seemed to come in when you mixed the touch attack mechanic meant to help balance out Sorc/Wiz spells, with either higher BAB classes/creature types, or with large high level targets that depended entirely upon their natural armor to defend them. So I started with the goal of making touch attacks much less powerful generally, changing them to a flat bonus on the same scale as flat footed, then for the specific groups that had actually had a good design reason to receive a larger bonus, giving them a separate bonus to keep things balanced. Also, just to point out how really uncommon a low BAB is, the only core classes that have one are sorc/wiz obviously, and among creature types the only types that are low BAB are Fey and Undead, both of which I see as pretty reasonable candidates for the same Arcane Accuracy bonus.
Of course, all of this is still something I'm looking at, if it hurts things too much I might still change it, but really, I think I'd rather increase the flat bonus for touch attacks than go back to the AC altering version.
We've been playtesting the changes I've been making for the past 2 months - ever since Alpha-3 was released. I'm waiting to BETA before I make changes to Bard, Wizard, and Sorcerer - which if they are as written in Alpha-3 I will be making changes. I'll wait till BETA before opting to change with your version of the barbarian, too. I've already redone the paladin and the fighter, and we all like them alot.
I havent read your bard variation yet - but i'm not 100% happy with the alpha bard, and never liked the PHB bard - so I will be changing it. I'm going to go and read over your bard carefully and see what changes I like to see about farming any from you.
Could I get you to post your version of the Paladin? Other than some minor tweaks to Lay on hands I really didn't do much to mine, and I'm curious to see what changes you made.
The bard is also full of minor tweaks, I really just cleaned up the wording on a lot of the bardic music abilities, and toned down the save or die bardic song.
Very nice! I like! A few suggestions, though:
1) This thing about hit dice consolidation strikes me as not really very advantageous. It's not like remembering your hit die comes up for often, or is very difficult, and one of the flavor points of the Barbarian is that his hit die is bigger, using the rare d12. Your guy effectively has a d14 hit die, but I know my players at least would rather roll a dodecahedron than that boring ol' ten-sider that the Fighter's rolling. In brief: d12s are more fun for little cost, so keep it.
2) Great change to the Bard's Deadly Performance! The DC to kill was definitely much too high before. Only, I don't know how good an idea it is to make the Deadly part of the Deadly Performance come "at some point thereafter." I mean, it's fine for Quivering Palm, but that is it supposed to represent here? Is that word the Bard speaks like a glance to a friend who recognizes it as an in-joke situation and bursts out laughing? If so, though, wouldn't it make more sense for the initial performance to be funny enough to kill, so to speak?
A better idea, I think would be have the Bard make a perform check against a set DC (like 40 or something, cuz it should be a darn good performance, but 40 should still be pretty easy for a 20th level bard) which forces the 10+1/2lvl+Cha save if it succeeds. As is, the mechanic just looks like a fish out of water.
3) Amazing job with the Fighter! No suggestions, just awe!
4) A few Monk tweaks: first, I think it'd be ok for the Monk to get the level-based bonus to both AC and Attack/Damage. As a matter of fact, there should probably be some way for the Monk to add his Wisdom to attack and damage as well, possibly with a feat or two, something to help them with MAD.
Second, Slow Fall strikes me as pretty bland when it could be so cool. I'd let them fall any distance if they're within arms reach of a wall or other object from the get-go and key the distance they can fall now to all other falls (so at 20th level, a monk could jump off a mountain and land in the adjacent valley without a scratch). This way, it's cool enough that the player won't forget they have it.
Third, big big problem with Wholeness of Body: additions to Constitution can keep the monk up and fighting, but then they die when they run out of rounds, which probably won't be all that much time given how small their ki pool is. It's the same criticism of the Con buff that Barbarians get: you get more hit points, but they're barely worth anything. If you want to make it worth using while keeping it from being too powerful, change the use time to a minute and let it heal a more significant portion of the Monk's HP, perhaps 5 or 10x level or Wisdom bonus. This takes it out of combat entirely but allows a Monk with some time to meditate to muscle through a really tough day, especially considering you have them ki recovery.
Fourth, I actually kinda liked that Quivering Palm was once per week. It's not standardized and it's trickier to keep track of, but it makes it mean something when the Monk pulls it out. That said, I can see why you might want to change it. With that in mind, though, if it's once per day, it should definitely carry a ki cost, and probably a hefty one at that, like 4 or 5. Also, can a single target be under the effects of more than one of a given monk's Quivering Palm strikes at a time? Currently, a monk could Quivering Palm a prisoner for five days straight and then send them out to do his bidding threatening to activate the uses one at a time until they died (thus increasing the power of the threat exponentially over just the one use, since you're far less likely to make 5 DC~30+ saves than just one) if they failed them.
Fifth, a thought about Timeless Body: perhaps it might be fun if it restored ability points lost as well as preventing loss. The monk wouldn't look or be any younger, they would just be as strong and wiry as a youn'un. Because of BaB and all that, I'm not sure it's strictly speaking necessary for them to have undepleted physical scores, but it kinda feeds into that whole "an old man with a stick just layed the beat-down on an entire battalion of uppity soldiers!" Plus it means there isn't a difference between reaching 17th level quickly and then waiting twenty years for the mental bonuses and reaching 17th level after many years of traveling (which should be more of a flavor thing, IMO).
Anyway, just some thoughts.
|
...
Second, Slow Fall strikes me as pretty bland when it could be so cool. I'd let them fall any distance if they're within arms reach of a wall or other object from the get-go and key the distance they can fall now to all other falls (so at 20th level, a monk could jump off a mountain and land in the adjacent valley without a scratch). This way, it's cool enough that the player won't forget they have it.
...
Fifth, a thought about Timeless Body: perhaps it might be fun if it restored ability points lost as well as preventing loss. The monk wouldn't look or be any younger, they would just be as strong and wiry as a youn'un. Because of BaB and all that, I'm not sure it's strictly speaking necessary for them to have undepleted physical scores, but it kinda feeds into that whole "an old man with a stick just layed the beat-down on an entire battalion of uppity soldiers!" Plus it means there isn't a difference between reaching 17th level quickly and then waiting twenty years for the mental bonuses and reaching 17th level after many years of traveling (which should be more of a flavor thing, IMO).
I really like these, flavour-wise, i feel this makes Timeless body a bit more "cinematic", which my players will love, and I've never been happy with slow fall. Consider them added to my game.
|
|
Could I get you to post your version of the Paladin? Other than some minor tweaks to Lay on hands I really didn't do much to mine, and I'm curious to see what changes you made.
Ive posted this before during a conversation thread about paladins being retooled.
PALADIN
Hit Die: d10
Alignment: Lawful Good
Class Skills
The paladin’s class skills are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha),
Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nobility)
(Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride
(Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4
Paladins of Mydian are elite warriors of pure righteousness. They are idealistic and serve a cause greater than themselves. They are holy warriors who belong to a particular faith, and serve to protect that faith, but also serve to protect a community, a nation, and/or its government. Paladins are the paragon example of staunch heroism; they are patriots, leaders, field marshals in battle, and are the very essence of the knight in shining armor. They live their lives under a strict code of conduct of law, order, honor, duty and chivalry. One can always expect to see a paladin leading a holy crusade, leading a band of heroes against insurmountable odds, or taking the initiative to stamp out evil from a community. They are the first to step foot on a battlefield, and are the last to leave. They protect the weak, defend the innocent, and right the wrongs committed by evil.
Paladins receive holy blessings from their gods to allow them to channel positive energy to use for many various divine uses, but it is their strict adherence to their code, and their unwavering loyalty to goodness, purity, and righteousness that allows them channel powers from within themselves. It is this purity within their spirit and their hearts that make them iconic adversaries in the battle against evil. It is their very essence of righteous might that makes them fearless in combat, and staunch heroes who seem to be able fight on, even long after most would have perished.
Their faith, along with their duty and loyalty to their god and religion, gives them certain tenants and edicts to follow along their path of enlightenment; however, it is their own moral code, which even exceeds that of most clergy within their faith that grants the paladin his inner strength and power to combat evil.
Paladins also fight for truth and justice, correcting injustices that they see, upholding the laws of good communities, and punishing evil transgressors. They enact justice and punish the wicked when those who have been wronged cannot. Paladins see good and evil as black and white with few shades of grey – often times this grey area is more defined based on what faith he belongs to.
Paladins may fill the role of a field general directing troops, a mounted cavalry knight, a stalwart hero standing at the middle of a battle rallying his comrades, or a spiritual leader of wisdom and grace. In the World of Mydian, where the presence and influence of demonic and devilish fiends and lords are felt throughout the lands, the paladin and his abilities serves as the mighty holy warrior that many turn to lead the fight against them and rid the world of their vile nature.
Code of Conduct: A paladin must be of lawful good alignment and loses all class abilities if she ever willingly commits an evil act. Additionally, a paladin’s code requires that she respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison, and so forth), help those in need (provided they do not use the help for evil or chaotic ends), and punish those who harm or threaten innocents.
Associates: While she may adventure with characters of any good or neutral alignment, a paladin will never knowingly associate with evil characters, nor will she continue an association with someone who consistently offends her moral code. A paladin may accept only henchmen, followers, or cohorts who are lawful good.
Role: Paladins can be found among all races – most rarely among elves and half-orcs that are typically more chaotic in nature; but there are of course exceptions. Dwarven paladins are quite common, most worship Moradin. Gnomish paladins are less common, but do exist; most of whom worship Divinicus. Hobbit paladins are not very common, but those who are paladins are bold indeed, and usually worship Bheahbheaux the Bold. Humans and Half-elves are the most common paladins. Of the human races, Astorians make up most common paladins; Tordish and Vistani are much less common due to their general chaotic nature. Fylurians tend to be more secluded and nature-oriented to bother with such ideals of a paladin, and Shalosian, despite their lawful nature, are often times too wrapped up in their own society to truly find the noble path of a paladin congruent to their lifestyle – though those who do take that path make excellent mounted paladins.
Ex-Paladins
A paladin who ceases to be lawful good, who willfully commits an evil act, or who grossly violates the code ofconduct loses all paladin spells and abilities (including the service of the paladin’s mount, but not weapon, armor, and shield prof iciencies). She may not progress any farther in levels as a paladin. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she atones for her violations (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate. Like a member of any other class, a paladin may be a multiclass character, but multiclass paladins face a special restriction. Due to their single-minded devotion to duty, a paladin who gains a level in any class other than paladin may never again raise her paladin level, though she retains all her paladin abilities. The only exception to this rule are, paladins who worship Sir Kicley, who can freely multi-class with cleric levels.
LEVEL BAB FORT REF WILL Class Ability
1 1 2 0 0 Detect Evil; Aura of Good; Smite Evil 1 + Cha mod
2 2 3 0 0 Divine Grace +2; Lay on Hands (Cha Mod + ½ Paladin Level)
3 3 3 1 1 Divine Health; Aura of Courage
4 4 4 1 1 Smite Evil 2 + Cha mod; Channel Positive Energy; Aura of Inspiration
5 5 4 1 1 Divine Bond
6 6 5 2 2 Divine Grace +3
7 7 5 2 2 Smith Evil 3 + Cha Mod; Aura of Protection
8 8 6 2 2 Bless Weapon
9 9 6 3 3 Righteous Challenge
10 10 7 3 3 Divine Grace +4 ; Smite Evil 4 + Cha Mod; Aura of Righteousness
11 11 7 3 3 Divine Favor
12 12 8 4 4 Mettle
13 13 8 4 4 Smite Evil 5 + Cha Mod; Aura of Resistance
14 14 9 4 4 Divine Grace +5; Ability Boost
15 15 9 5 5 Paladin’s Ward
16 16 10 5 5 Smite Evil 6 + Cha Mod; Aura of Invulnerability
17 17 10 5 5 Dispel Evil
18 18 11 6 6 Divine Grace +6
19 19 11 6 6 Smite Evil 7 + Cha Mod; Aura of Vitality
20 20 12 6 6 Holy Champion
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the paladin.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Paladins are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).
Aura: Due to their loyalty and oath of righteousness, their goodly purity can be felt by others just by being around them. Good aligned comrades of the paladin can benefit from these auras. Some of these auras must be turned on or off as the paladin wishes, while others are always in effect. In addition to those auras that are described as always in effect, one aura can be active at any given time; but the paladin may switch between them each round as a swift action on his turn as he sees fit. The benefit of these aura only affects himself and good-aligned comrades who are within 10 feet of the paladin. The benefits of the aura stay in effect only while the paladin is conscious. The various auras are listed below.
Aura of Good (Ex): The power of a paladin’s aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her
paladin level. This aura begins at 1st level and is always in effect.
Aura of Courage (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a paladin is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability is always in effect, but only functions while the paladin is conscious. It does not function if he is unconscious or dead.
Aura of Inspiration (Su): Beginning at 4th level, the paladin can activate an aura that inspires his comrades to better efficiency in combat against their enemies. The aura provides a +1 Luck Bonus to attack and damage rolls for every 4 levels of the paladin to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.
Aura of Protection (Su): Beginning at 7th level, the paladin can activate an aura that offers increased protection from his enemies. The aura provides a +1 Luck Bonus to AC and Saving Throws. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level, +3 at 15th level, and +4 at 19th level.
Aura of Righteousness (Su): Beginning at 10th level, the paladin can activate an aura that draws upon his very pure and good nature of his soul. All attacks made by the paladin’s comrades are treated as if they were done by a ‘good-aligned’ weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Aura of Resistance (Su): Beginning at 13th level, the paladin can activate an aura that provides energy resistance 10. The paladin must indicate the type of energy resistance at the time he activates the aura, but may change between the types each round on his turn.
Aura of Invulnerability (Su): Beginning at 16th level, the paladin can activate an aura that provides damage reduction 5/Evil.
Aura of Vitality (Su): Beginning at 19th level, the paladin can channel his altruistic nature to evoke an aura that bestows a benefit of fast healing 5. Apply the healing at the end of the paladin’s turn; comrades must be within the aura at the end of his turn to be healed.
Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell.
Smite Evil (Su): Starting at 1st level, the paladin receives the ability to smite evil with one of his normal melee attacks. At later levels, he may expend daily uses of his smite evil to perform other abilities. At first level the paladin has a number of Smite Evil attempts equal to 1 plus his charisma modifier. He adds another Smite Evil attempt to his daily allotment at every 3 levels after 1st (4th, 7th, 10, etc). Temporary boosts to charisma, such as Eagles Splendor spell does not allow another use of Smite Evil; though a magical item with an enhancement bonus on it worn for at least 24 hours will provide additional attempts.
Lay on Hands (Sp): Beginning at 2nd level, a paladin can begin performing various types of curing and removing certain maladies. The paladin receives a number of Curing Points each day, and each type of curing he performs costs points from his daily allotment. A paladin has a number of daily curing points equal to one-half his paladin level plus charisma modifier. Temporary boosts to charisma, such as Eagles Splendor spell does not provide more curing points; though a magical item with an enhancement bonus on it worn for at least 24 hours will increase the amount. The various abilities and the cost to activate each are listed below.
Divine Grace (Su): Upon reaching 2nd level, a paladin with a positive Charisma modifier gains up to a +2 bonus to all saving throws. At 6th level this bonus increases to +3. At 10th it increases to +4. At 14th level, it increases to +5, and at 18th level, it increases to +6. The bonus to saving throws may never be more than his Charisma Modifier.
Divine Health (Ex): At 3rd level, a paladin gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and
magical diseases.
Channel Positive Energy (Su): When a paladin reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to channel positive energy. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. She channels positive energy as a cleric of three levels lower would.
Divine Bond (Sp): Upon reaching 5th level, a paladin forms a divine bond with her god. This bond can take one of two forms. The first is a bond with a celestial spirit that she can call on once per day, as a standard action, to enhance her deity’s chosen weapon. When called, the spirit enhances the power of the weapon, causing it to shed light like a torch for 1 minute per paladin level. At 5th level, this spirit gives the weapon a +1 bonus. For every three levels beyond 5th, the weapon gains another +1 bonus, to a maximum of +6 at 20th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon or they can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: axiomatic, brilliant energy, defending, disruption, f laming, f laming burst, holy, keen, merciful, and speed. These bonuses do not stack with any properties the weapon already has. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 bonus must be added before any other abilities can be added. The celestial spirit immediately departs if the weapon leaves the paladin’s possession and does not return until summoned again. If a weapon bearing a celestial spirit is destroyed, the paladin loses the use of this ability for 30 days, or until she gains a level. During this 30-day period, the paladin takes
a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls. The second bond allows a paladin to gain the service of
an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her in her crusade against evil. This mount is usually a heavy warhorse (for a Medium paladin) or a warpony (for a Small paladin). Once per day, as a full-round action, a paladin may magically call her mount from the celestial realms in which it resides. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to one-third the paladin’s level. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the paladin and remains for 2 hours per paladin level; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action. The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though the paladin may release a particular mount from service. Each time the mount is called, it appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed. Calling a mount is a conjuration (calling) effect. Should the paladin’s mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying.
The paladin may not summon another mount for 30 days or until she gains a paladin level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this 30-day period, the paladin takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Bless Weapon (Sp): Beginning at 8th level, the paladin can use one of his daily uses of Smite Evil to cast Bless Weapon at a caster level equal to his paladin level.
Righteous Challenge (Su): Beginning at 9th level, the paladin can selflessly call out to his enemies and issue a challenge to draw their ire at the paladin and the paladin alone to save his comrades from being a target. This is a standard action in which the paladin expends one of his daily uses of channeling positive energy. All enemies within 30 feet of the paladin must make a Will Save DC equal to 10 + one-half paladin level + paladin’s charisma modifier. Treat this as a mind affecting / compulsion affect. Those failing the saving throw cannot attack any other creature on its next turn other than the paladin. Such a creature under this affect does not become mindless or charmed into acting stupidly. It does not have to attack; it can choose to flee, cast a spell, or do any other normal activity, including taking its allotted Attacks of Opportunity; it just cannot attack any other creature on its next turn except the paladin. If the creature casts an area effect spell, such as fireball, the paladin must be a target within the spell. A Chain Lighting spell must be cast at the paladin as the primary target. If the creature can make an attack that affects multiple targets, such as Whirlwind Attack or Cleave, the paladin must be the primary target. If the creature is attacked by one of the paladin’s comrades before its turn, the compulsion ends, and the creature can choose to attack anyone. If on the creature’s turn the paladin can no longer be seen, detected, or line of sight is blocked by full cover, then the compulsion is broken.
Divine Favor (Sp): Beginning at 11th level, a paladin can cast Divine Favor by expending one of his daily uses of Smite Evil. His caster level is equal to his paladin level.
Mettle (Ex): Beginning at 12th level, the paladin has the ability to shrug off the effects of certain spells. If the paladin makes a successful Fort or Will save against a spell that would normally reduce the spell’s effects, he instead would suffer no effects at all from the spell. Only spells listed as Save Will - Partial or Fort - Half (or similar entries) are affected by this ability.
Ability Boost (Sp): Beginning at 13th level, the paladin can use one of his daily uses of Smite Evil to cast one of the spells that increase a creatures ability scores. At the time of the casting, he can choose to cast either Bulls Strength, Bears Endurace, Cats Grace, Fox’s Cunning, Owls Wisdom, or Eagles Splendor.
Paladin’s Ward (Su): Beginning at 15th level, a paladin may choose to expend one of his daily uses to channel positive energy, and dub a good-aligned comrade within 30’ of him as his protected ward. To do this the paladin exudes his altruistic nature and makes a supernatural spiritual connection to his ward. Doing so requires a standard action. Until the paladin’s next turn, all damage sustained by his ward is instantly absorbed by the paladin instead. Death can occur from this noblest of action. After the paladin has dubbed someone his ward, the shielded creature can move outside the 30’ feet of the paladin; so long as they both remain on the same plane, the bond is still active for that one round. Calculate the damage taken as if the warded creature actually took the damage using the ward’s saving throws, and any resistances he has in effect. (For example, a warded wizard with Stoneskin would remove 10 points of damage before the paladin absorbs damage. In contrast if the paladin had fire resistance in effect, the warded creature did not, the paladin would receive the full amount of damage that the warded creature would have taken from a Fireball spell.)
Dispel Evil (Sp): Beginning at 17th level, a paladin can expend one of his daily uses of his Smite Evil ability to cast Dispel Evil at a caster level equal to his paladin level.
Holy Champion (Su): At 20th level, a paladin becomes a conduit for the power of her god. She gains Damage Reduction 10/evil. Whenever she uses Smite Evil against an evil outsider, the outsider is also subject to a banishment, using her paladin level as the caster level (her weapon and holy symbol automatically count as objects that the subject hates). In addition, whenever she channels positive energy, she channels the maximum possible amount.
The Paladin’s Mount
The paladin’s mount is superior to a normal mount of its kind and has special powers, as described below. The standard mount for a Medium paladin is a heavy warhorse, and the standard mount for a Small paladin is a warpony. Another kind of mount, such as a riding dog (for a halfling paladin) or a Large shark (for a paladin in an aquatic campaign) may be allowed as well. A paladin’s mount is treated as a magical beast, not an animal, for the purpose of all effects that depend on its type (though it retains an animal’s HD, base attack bonus, saves, skill points, and feats).
Paladin’s Mount Basics: Use the base statistics for a creature of the mount’s kind, but make changes to take into account the attributes and characteristics summarized on the table and described below.
Paladin
Level Bonus
HD Nat. Armor
Adjustment Strength
Adjustment INT Special
5th – 7th +2 +4 +1 6 Empathic link, Imp.Evasion, Share spells, Share saving throws
8th – 10th +4 +6 +2 7 Improved Speed
11th – 14th +6 +8 +3 8 Command creatures of its kind
15th – 20th +8 +10 +4 9 Spell Resistance
Bonus HD: Extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Extra Hit Dice improve the mount’s base attack and base save bonuses. A special mount’s base attack bonus is equal to that of a cleric of a level equal to the mount’s HD. A mount has good Fortitude and Ref lex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD). The mount gains additional skill points or feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice.
Natural Armor Adj.: The number on the table is an improvement to the mount’s existing natural armor bonus.
Str Adj.: Add this figure to the mount’s Strength score.
Int: This is the mount’s Intelligence score.
Empathic Link (Su): The paladin has an empathic link with her mount to a distance of 1 mile. The paladin cannot see through the mount’s eyes, but the two can communicate empathically. Note that even intelligent mounts see the world differently from humans, so misunderstandings are always possible.
Because of this empathic link, the paladin has the same connection to an item or place that her mount does, just as with a wizard and his familiar (see Familiars).
Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Ref lex saving throw for half damage, a mount takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage if the saving throw fails.
Share Spells: The paladin may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her mount (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A paladin may cast spells on her mount even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the mount’s type (magical beast).
Share Saving Throws: For each of its saving throws, the mount uses its own base save bonus or the paladin’s, whichever is higher. The mount applies its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn’t share any other bonuses on saves that the master might have.
Improved Speed (Ex): The mount’s speed increases by 10 feet.
Command (Sp): Once per day per two paladin levels of its master, a mount can use this ability to command other any normal animal of approximately the same kind as itself (for warhorses and warponies, this category includes donkeys, mules, and ponies), as long as the target creature has fewer Hit Dice than the mount. This ability functions like the command spell, but the mount must make a DC 21
Concentration check to succeed if it’s being ridden at the time. If the check fails, the ability does not work that time, but it still counts against the mount’s daily uses. Each target may attempt a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 paladin’s level + paladin’s Cha modifier) to negate the effect.
Spell Resistance (Ex): A mount’s spell resistance equals its master’s paladin level + 5. To affect the mount with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the mount’s spell resistance.
Lay On Hands Abilities
The paladin’s connection with his god creates a divine link that allows him to heal others and remove certain maladies that affect them. Although many of the abilities that a paladin has access to comes from his inner strength of character, charisma, and his own spirit of purity, the ability to heal others and lend divine aid comes from his faith and loyalty to his god. The paladin has a number of abilities he can perform using his lay on hands as a spell like ability at a caster level equal to his paladin level. Each day, the paladin receives a set number of “healing points” that he can distribute among a number of abilities. Each of these abilities costs a certain amount of points to use. The paladin has a number of “healing points” equal to half his paladin level plus his charisma modifier. The paladin must have a paladin-level equal to twice the listed points it costs to activate an ability in order to be able to use it. The following abilities and points they cost to use is listed below: (Note: these abilities work similar to the spells of the same name with the following exception: they affect only one target per activation, and they remove only the malady that is in place and do not provide a long-lasting protection; such as Neutralize Poison provides.)
Cure light Wounds 1
Remove Fear 1
Delay Poison 2
Lesser Restoration 2
Remove Fatigued Condition 2
Remove Paralysis 2
Remove Sickened Condition 2
Remove Stunned Condition 2
Cure Moderate Wounds 3
Remove Blindness / Deafness 3
Remove Curse 3
Remove Disease 3
Neutralize Poison 4
Remove Nauseated Condition 4
Restoration 4
Break Enchantment 5
Cure Serious Wounds 5
Ive posted this before during a conversation thread about paladins being retooled.
Thanks, looking it over now.
Aura of Inspiration (Su): Beginning at 4th level, the paladin can activate an aura that inspires his comrades to better efficiency in combat against their enemies. The aura provides a +1 Luck Bonus to attack and damage rolls for every 4 levels of the paladin to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.
Aura of Protection (Su): Beginning at 7th level, the paladin can activate an aura that offers increased protection from his enemies. The aura provides a +1 Luck Bonus to AC and Saving Throws. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level, +3 at 15th level, and +4 at 19th level.
I like these a lot, I do worry about them being luck bonuses though. I can see some definite potential for abuse in stacking these with other bonuses. Do these auras also affect the Paladin? If so the combination of luck to saves from Aura of Protection and an unnamed bonus from Divine Grace seems very hefty.
Divine Grace (Su): Upon reaching 2nd level, a paladin with a positive Charisma modifier gains up to a +2 bonus to all saving throws. At 6th level this bonus increases to +3. At 10th it increases to +4. At 14th level, it increases to +5, and at 18th level, it increases to +6. The bonus to saving throws may never be more than his Charisma Modifier.
I really like this change, a lot. Anything to make level dipping less of a bonus is a big improvement in my book.
Righteous Challenge (Su): Beginning at 9th level, the paladin can selflessly call out to his enemies and issue a challenge to draw their ire at the paladin and the paladin alone to save his comrades from being a target. This is a standard action in which the paladin expends one of his daily uses of channeling positive energy. All enemies within 30 feet of the paladin must make a Will Save DC equal to 10 + one-half paladin level + paladin’s charisma modifier. Treat this as a mind affecting / compulsion affect. Those failing the saving throw cannot attack any other creature on its next turn other than the paladin. Such a creature under this affect does not become mindless or charmed into acting stupidly. It does not have to attack; it can choose to flee, cast a spell, or do any other normal activity, including taking its allotted Attacks of Opportunity; it just cannot attack any other creature on its next turn except the paladin. If the creature casts an area effect spell, such as fireball, the paladin must be a target within the spell. A Chain Lighting spell must be cast at the paladin as the primary target. If the creature can make an attack that affects multiple targets, such as Whirlwind Attack or Cleave, the paladin must be the primary target. If the creature is attacked by one of the paladin’s comrades before its turn, the compulsion ends, and the creature can choose to attack anyone. If on the creature’s turn the paladin can no longer be seen, detected, or line of sight is blocked by full cover, then the compulsion is broken.
Not to sure about this one, I like the idea, just not the mechanic. I'd rather see something along the lines of allowing the paladin to take some portion of all damage inflicted on allies within 30 ft, instead of using a mind affecting compulsion. (More along the lines of Protective Ward). Compulsions are always a pain, and so many creatures are immune to them anyways. Plus, they're sort of a bard thing, and with so many of the auras already crossing over into bard territory I worry a bit about the paladin completely eclipsing the bard.
I really like the channeled spells, I worry a bit that it's expanding the number of spells per day a paladin receives a bit much. Some of these (such as Divine Favor) seem as if they should be limited to once per day perhaps.
I'm also liking the various uses of Lay on Hands for removing conditions. I think it might be a bit easier to read if they were grouped the same way most other class abilities are though, something along the lines of...
Improved Healing (Su): Beginning at 4th level, a paladin may heal ability damage (as lesser restoration), remove paralysis, and remove the fatigued, sickened, and stunned conditions using her lay on hands ability. Curing any of these conditions costs the paladin two uses of her Lay on Hands. (or whatever point value you're using to decide the daily uses)
1) This thing about hit dice consolidation strikes me as not really very advantageous. It's not like remembering your hit die comes up for often, or is very difficult, and one of the flavor points of the Barbarian is that his hit die is bigger, using the rare d12. Your guy effectively has a d14 hit die, but I know my players at least would rather roll a dodecahedron than that boring ol' ten-sider that the Fighter's rolling. In brief: d12s are more fun for little cost, so keep it.
I can see that, and I had some questions about that from my players as well. The main reason I made the change is that we're using average HD per level instead of rolling, and the d12 didn't feel like that much of an upgrade when half the time the fighter, ranger, and paladin were getting just as many HP. Changing it to +2 hp per barbarian level makes it much more noticeable when using average HD.
I can definitely see this being a change I decide to drop though, if I ever get the urge to cut this down to the minimum number of changes.
2) Great change to the Bard's Deadly Performance! The DC to kill was definitely much too high before. Only, I don't know how good an idea it is to make the Deadly part of the Deadly Performance come "at some point thereafter." I mean, it's fine for Quivering Palm, but that is it supposed to represent here? Is that word the Bard speaks like a glance to a friend who recognizes it as an in-joke situation and bursts out laughing? If so, though, wouldn't it make more sense for the initial performance to be funny enough to kill, so to speak?
I really just like the roleplay potential in delaying the death effect, both for the monk and for the bard. As for what it represents, I picture it as the same sort of deal as quivering palm, but mental. Where a monks quivering palm is about using ki and a stunning knowledge of how his own and other's bodies work to set up vibrations that can kill at any time afterwards, the bardic song is setting up mental patterns, using the bards in depth knowledge of manipulation and compulsion, keyed to a single note or phrase, that at any point thereafter can be used to destroy the targets mind, killing it.
3) Amazing job with the Fighter! No suggestions, just awe!
Thanks!
4) A few Monk tweaks: first, I think it'd be ok for the Monk to get the level-based bonus to both AC and Attack/Damage. As a matter of fact, there should probably be some way for the Monk to add his Wisdom to attack and damage as well, possibly with a feat or two, something to help them with MAD.
Second, Slow Fall strikes me as pretty bland when it could be so cool. I'd let them fall any distance if they're within arms reach of a wall or other object from the get-go and key the distance they can fall now to all other falls (so at 20th level, a monk could jump off a mountain and land in the adjacent valley without a scratch). This way, it's cool enough that the player won't forget they have it.
Third, big big problem with Wholeness of Body: additions to Constitution can keep the monk up and fighting, but then they die when they run out of rounds, which probably won't be all that much time given how small their ki pool is. It's the same criticism of the Con buff that Barbarians get: you get more hit points, but they're barely worth anything. If you want to make it worth using while keeping it from being too powerful, change the use time to a minute and let it heal a more significant portion of the Monk's HP, perhaps 5 or 10x level or Wisdom bonus. This takes it out of combat entirely but allows a Monk with some time to meditate to muscle through a really tough day, especially considering you have them ki recovery.
Fourth, I actually kinda liked that Quivering Palm was once per week. It's not standardized and it's trickier to keep track of, but it makes it mean something when the Monk pulls it out. That said, I can see why you might want to change it. With that in mind, though, if it's once per day, it should definitely carry a ki cost, and probably a hefty one at that, like 4 or 5. Also, can a single target be under the effects of more than one of a given monk's Quivering Palm strikes at a time? Currently, a monk could Quivering Palm a prisoner for five days straight and then send them out to do his bidding threatening to activate the uses one at a time until they died (thus increasing the power of the threat exponentially over just the one use, since you're far less likely to make 5 DC~30+ saves than just one) if they failed them.
Slight problem with adding wis to attack/damage, with the improved flurry, and some of the pathfinder feats, it would be possible at high levels to get as many as 10 attacks (3 from flurry, 2 from medusa strike, 1 from haste, and 4 base). An extra +5 damage on each attack isn't game breaking, 50 total additional damage at 20 is still nice, but it won't wreck any encounters, however, it's entirely possible a high level monk could have as much as +12 to +15 on their wisdom modifier, and an extra 170 to 200 damage (+12/+15 +5 for the unarmed combat mod) would be way too much. This is the same reason on my barbarian revamp I left out the abilities that allowed a barbarian to add their level to damage. If you meant it should be possible for a monk to add their wisdom to the attack and damage in place of their str mod, I could go for the idea.
Slow fall is a little bland, but that's ok with me, monks already get something every level that's interesting, slow fall is just a nice perk.
I did actually consider making the healing a downtime ability, but honestly, if you have downtime you probably have an easier way to heal (say, via a cleric). Making it much more powerful, in terms of total healing, would force me to make it a standard action again, destroying it's usefulness in combat. As it is, it eventually effectively adds +3 hp per HD, which is a pretty significant boost for it being a free action.
I'm fairly certain a single target cannot be under the effect of more than one quivering palm simultaneously. I suppose it never says so explicitly, but I'd certainly rule that way as a DM. Once per week or once per day, it's up to you, I prefer once per day because it puts it more on par with caster abilities of the same level (such as finger of death).
I do like the idea of changing timeless body to remove stat penalties from aging. I generally dislike anything that forces me to know the details of when someone reached a level, or what condition they were in when they did it.
|
|
I like these a lot, I do worry about them being luck bonuses though. I can see some definite potential for abuse in stacking these with other bonuses. Do these auras also affect the Paladin? If so the combination of luck to saves from Aura of Protection and an unnamed bonus from Divine Grace seems very hefty.
They do affect the paladin. The luck bonus wont stack with Divine Favor. Furthermore since Divine Grace goes up so much slower now, stacking it with that isn't that big of a deal - considering you don't even get a +2 from the aura until level 11 paladin. And only one aura can be active at any given time.
I really like this change, a lot. Anything to make level dipping less of a bonus is a big improvement in my book.
That was the idea! I've seen too many paladin level dippings in my day by bards, clerics and sorcerers to get the saves of +6 to all simply by having a 22 CHA.
I went back for starting it at +2 or +1 at 2nd level. I settled with +2. Still not convinced that was the right thing - since you can still get +3 to all at 6th level.
Not to sure about this one, I like the idea, just not the mechanic. I'd rather see something along the lines of allowing the paladin to take some portion of all damage inflicted on allies within 30 ft, instead of using a mind affecting compulsion. (More along the lines of Protective Ward). Compulsions are always a pain, and so many creatures are immune to them anyways. Plus, they're sort of a bard thing, and with so many of the auras already crossing over into bard territory I worry a bit about the paladin completely eclipsing the bard.
[\quote]The auras wont eliminate the bard - as the paladins are luck bonuses and bards are morale or competence.
I got this idea from the goad feat. I think its perfect way to taunt others into attacking only the staunch paladin thus sparing his friends the attacks.
Paladin's Ward is the ability to absorbs damage.
I really like the channeled spells, I worry a bit that it's expanding the number of spells per day a paladin receives a bit much. Some of these (such as Divine Favor) seem as if they should be limited to once per day perhaps.I'm also liking the various uses of Lay on Hands for removing conditions. I think it might be a bit easier to read if they were grouped the same way most other class abilities are though, something along the lines of...
Improved Healing (Su): Beginning at 4th level, a paladin may heal ability damage (as lesser restoration), remove paralysis, and remove the fatigued, sickened, and stunned conditions using her lay on hands ability. Curing any of these conditions costs the paladin two uses of her Lay on Hands. (or whatever point value you're using to decide the daily uses)
I agree that wording of the lay on hands is a bit clunky; i think you map it out pretty well.
As for channeled spells - it doesnt' really - because you only have so many Smite Evils a day - each one you use for actually smiting, eliminates a potential spell use for that day. Divine Favor doesn't stack with the auras, so a paladin can use his aura for saves to the party, and then use divine favor on himself - so long as he uses a smite attempt to do so.
Anyways, thanks for the feedback - hopefully you'll get something out of what I shared.
Robert
I really just like the roleplay potential in delaying the death effect, both for the monk and for the bard. As for what it represents, I picture it as the same sort of deal as quivering palm, but mental. Where a monks quivering palm is about using ki and a stunning knowledge of how his own and other's bodies work to set up vibrations that can kill at any time afterwards, the bardic song is setting up mental patterns, using the bards in depth knowledge of manipulation and compulsion, keyed to a single note or phrase, that at any point thereafter can be used to destroy the targets mind, killing it.
I think that that requires too much discipline on the part of the bard, more than the archytype typifies. The mechanic is also a strong break from its other bardic music uses, all of which have a direct relationship between the music and the effect (ie the bard plays, and things happen immediatelly, not at some point in the future). Call it a difference of opinion, but it just sounds off to me for the Bard to have an ability so clearly modeled off a Monk ability.
If you meant it should be possible for a monk to add their wisdom to the attack and damage in place of their str mod, I could go for the idea.
Yeah, this is what I meant, though perhaps str penalties still take away from damage (so we at least don't give them a dump stat).
Slow fall is a little bland, but that's ok with me, monks already get something every level that's interesting, slow fall is just a nice perk.
I know, I know. It's just that it's sooo close to being "wow! awesome!", and there's no such thing as too much badass.
I did actually consider making the healing a downtime ability, but honestly, if you have downtime you probably have an easier way to heal (say, via a cleric). Making it much more powerful, in terms of total healing, would force me to make it a standard action again, destroying it's usefulness in combat. As it is, it eventually effectively adds +3 hp per HD, which is a pretty significant boost for it being a free action.
But that's just my point: it doesn't add hit points, because they go away at the end of the duration. It's not even necessarily better to have it than not, because without it, the monk might have just gone unconscious instead of staying a target. It's only 60 HP at most, after all, which is less than a single Harm spell (which, granted, the monk will probably be OK against), and it's certainly not outside the critical hit range. Perhaps if the monk could activate it as an immediate action even after the enemy rolls damage...
I'm fairly certain a single target cannot be under the effect of more than one quivering palm simultaneously. I suppose it never says so explicitly, but I'd certainly rule that way as a DM.
I think it's worth tossing in an extra line about this, just to be safe.
I do like the idea of changing timeless body to remove stat penalties from aging. I generally dislike anything that forces me to know the details of when someone reached a level, or what condition they were in when they did it.
Yeah. It's especially annoying for creating high-level characters, as it essentially means you're punished for not saying your character reached level 17 thirty years ago and then went off into the mountains to waste time until right before the campaign started.