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[Note: While I have lifted a part of the title from a piece of satire by Jonathan Swift this thread is not to be read in a satirical voice. I simply picked the title because it's catchy.]
I am certain that I am not the only one who is going to miss the scores of alternate character classes from 3.5 that we will not see in Pathfinder since doing so would infringe on copyrights. I understand the legal implications full well but I still can't help but feel that fans of Beguilers, Scouts, Warlocks et al are going to feel shafted for this. Yet I believe that with Pathfinder's fresh take on the 3.5 ruleset these classes could be easily emulated through using a feature that is already part of the system. Are you ready for it?
Feats.
Yes, it's as simple as that. Most of the alternate classes outside of the core are really just reimaginings of established classes with different class features, features which I think could easily be converted into feats without losing game balance while at the same time pleasing fans of these classes.
The first class I would like to tackle is the Beguiler (since it's one of my favourites): if there's one thing that differentiates a Beguiler from a Sorcerer or a Wizard (apart from a very limited spell-list consisting mostly of Enchantments and Illusions) it's the Beguiler's signature ability, Cloaked Casting. Now watch as this ability is converted into a feat:
Your spells become more effective when cast against an unwary foe.
Benefit:
You gain a +1 bonus to the spell’s save DC when you cast a spell that targets any foe who would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not).
The Rationale:
Cloaked Casting makes for a perfect feat when you compare it to its closest counterpart, Spell Focus: both feats give a situational bonus to a spell's save DC, the difference being that Spell Focus gives a bonus on all save DCs of a certain school of spells while Cloaked Casting only works in a limited number of situations. While Cloaked Casting works on spells of any school it is of more limited usage unless the character finds an effective way to negate an enemy's Dexterity bonus to AC. For the abovementioned reasons I would consider this feat on par (perhaps even weaker) than Spell Focus.
The next class I will try to tackle is the Scout. The Scout is effectively just a repackaged Rogue with abilities relating to the wilderness and with its Sneak Attack ability replaced with Skirmish. Now, the general consensus (at least in Character Optimization circles, comprising many people who really know how to crunch their numbers) is that Skirmish is a solid ability at lower levels but at higher levels is simply worse than Sneak Attack since it can not be used in conjunction with iterative attacks. With these things in mind, I present you with this:
You rely on mobility to deal extra damage and improve your defense.
Prerequisite:
Sneak Attack +2d6
Benefit:
You can deal half your Sneak Attack damage on any attacks that you make during any round in which you move at least 10 feet. The extra damage applies only during your turn and only applies against living creatures that have a discernible anatomy.
You also gain a competence bonus to Armor Class during any round in which you move at least 10 feet equal to half the number of Sneak Attack dice you have. The bonus applies as soon as you have moved 10 feet and lasts until the start of your next turn.
Special:
The damage from Skirmish and Sneak Attack do not stack. In any situation where you would meet the necessary conditions for both Skirmish and Sneak Attack use the higher damage instead.
The Rationale:
While seemingly powerful at first sight, Skirmish as a feat is balanced by several factors: first of all, you may first acquire it at 3rd level, at which point it effectively offers you a free +1d6 damage and +1 AC in every round in which you move. Note, however, that the requirement to move prevents you from doing certain things: on a turn you use Skirmish you may not, due to the action economy of 3.5, reload a crossbow or a sling (traditional weapons of the Rogue) or draw a thrown weapon. Unless you have invested in Quick Draw or Rapid Reload you may only apply this tactic every turn with melee attacks, leaving you susceptible to Attacks of Opportunity for moving. Elf Rogues will of course get the most mileage out of this ability since they will have free proficiency with bows which oddly enough require no time to reload.
Now, it is at higher levels that this ability becomes much less impressive. While dealing half your Sneak Attack dice in damage every round you move may seem attractive, it is less so at higher levels when iterative attacks set in. Remember, movement in 3.5 prevents you from performing any of the following actions: attacking with two weapons and performing multiple iterative attacks due to high BAB. Furthermore, you are still suscept to the same limitations you were at low levels: no Quick Draw or Rapid Reload means no using this every round and even if you could use Skirmish every round you would be much better off going for multiple Sneak Attacks.
Tune in next time where I consider some more classes that are deserving of a Pathfinder RPG treatment!
Couldn't anyone that wanted them for them game just use the 3.5 versions with a couple tweaks and forget about it? Where's the advantage of an actual remake since the system is virtually identicle?
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Couldn't anyone that wanted them for them game just use the 3.5 versions with a couple tweaks and forget about it? Where's the advantage of an actual remake since the system is virtually identicle?
Yes and no. While I think this is fully acceptable within the scope of home games it becomes a problem within Pathfinder Society where (at least to my understanding) the material will be derived fully from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Because of this I would very much appreciate it if Paizo were to provide some conversion mechanics (such as the feats I have proposed) for emulating the more esoteric classes of 3.5, since some of them do fit very well into the feel of Pathfinder Society. The Hexblade and Warlock would be perfect fits for certain Chelish characters and I could easily imagine Beguilers working for almost any of the factions within Pathfinder Society, to say nothing of Andoren Scouts.
With that in mind, I present to you two feats that can be used to emulate the Spellthief (who might be found within the courts of Cheliax, Taldor or Qadira) and the Shugenja (the elementalists native to Tian Xia).
You can siphon spell energy away from your target and use it yourself.
Prerequisite:
Sneak Attack +1d6
Benefit:
When you hit an opponent with a successful sneak attack you can choose to forgo dealing 1d6 points of sneak attack damage and instead steal a spell, or the potential to cast a specific known spell, from your target. If the target is willing, you can steal a spell with a touch as a standard action.
The target of a steal spell attack loses one 0-level or 1st-level spell from memory if she prepares spells ahead of time, or one 0-level or 1st-level spell slot if she is a spontaneous caster. A spontaneous caster also loses the ability to cast the stolen spell for 1 minute. If the target has no spells prepared (or has no remaining spell slots, if she is a spontaneous caster), this ability has no effect. A spellthief can choose which spell to steal; otherwise, the DM determines the stolen spell randomly. If a spellthief tries to steal a spell that isn’t available, the stolen spell (or spell slot) is determined randomly from among those the target has available.
After stealing a spell, you can cast the spell yourself on a subsequent turn. Treat the spell as if it were cast by the original owner of the spell for the purpose of determining caster level, save DC, and so forth. You can cast this spell even if he doesn’t have the minimum ability score normally required to cast a spell of that level. You must supply the same components (including verbal, somatic, material, XP, and any focus) required for the stolen spell. You must cast a stolen spell within 1 hour of stealing it; otherwise, the extra spell energy fades harmlessly away.
The Rationale:
The Steal Spell ability is the only thing that differentiates a 1st-level Spellthief from a 1st-level Rogue apart from a reduced number of skill points on the Spellthief's part. The Spellthief is generally considered weaker than the Rogue and this feat may seem overpowered since it allows a Rogue, with its better Sneak Attack progression, to gain another class's ability. Note, however, that with this feat the Spellthief's ability to steal higher level spells does not increase. Another set of feats may be required to allow the character to steal higher level spells, spell effects, spell-like abilities, energy resistances and spell resistance. Besides, Steal Spell as an ability is of very limited usage and even at lower levels a character would usually be better off dealing the extra sneak attack damage rather than stealing one of the enemy's spells.
Choose an element, such as air, earth, fire, or water. Your spells of that element are more potent than normal.
Benefit:
Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells with the elemental descriptor you select.
Special:
You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new element.
The Rationale:
Like Cloaked Casting, Element Focus is a poor man's Spell Focus. While Element Focus works across the board with all schools of magic it is tied to a certain element. The problem with the feat is that it is extremely weak: of the available elements fire has the largest amount of effects that actually have to be saved against and fire is traditionally the most resisted element in the D&D universe. Because of this I'd be almost willing to thrown in an increase of +1 caster level whenever using a certain element, but that may be too much. I must admit, Element Focus is a problematic case mostly because fire is the only one of the classic elements to get a significant amount of love in 3.5. For the sake of being fair I'd allow any spells from the elemental domains to count as having the elemental descriptor required for the feat.
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I like Steal Spell and Cloaked Casting as feats, both seem to 'fit' into the feat power level pretty well.
Elemental Focus, as you say, isn't quite as good. The increased caster level would only exacerbate the issue, that Air, Earth and Water have crap all for DC-relevant spells, while Fire is chock-full of them (and often has level-based damage dice!).
Perhaps if the Elemental Focus were mixed with an Energy Focus, to allow the Earth Focussed caster to get a +1 DC to Acid based spells, an Air Focussed caster to get a +1 DC to Electricity based spells and a Water Focussed caster to get a +1 DC to Cold based spells? In this case, the +1 DC would be a boon to all four elements *and* you could add a sentence that for spells that have no DC, but count as 'Air' or 'Electricity' (for example) the spell is treated as being cast at +1 caster level, so that non-attack spells may gain some benefit as well (Obscuring Mist lasting longer, etc). So a Lightning Bolt cast by an Air Focussed caster would have +1 DC, while a Shocking Grasp (which has no save DC) would be cast at +1 caster level.
[Note; I kinda hate that entire concept, of Earth = Acid, Air = Electricity, etc. but it is a precedent in the game and would really help this feat!]
The Skirmish feat didn't click with me at first, but I think I get it now. Against creatures the Rogue can't bluff or flank for a Sneak Attack (such as those with some sort of damaging aura, or behind an anti-life shell), it's at least a form of bonus damage that he can attempt.
Back when 3.5 was announced, I kind of wanted to see the Barbarian Rage, Paladin Smite, Ranger Favored Enemy, etc. made available as Feat chains that a Fighter (or other character) could pick up. Heck, I'd be thrilled to see Spontaneous and Prepared Casting turned into a binary choice that *every* spellcaster picks from at 1st level (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger and Wizard). Prayer book o' spells and rituals, potentially unlimited spells known, fixed prepared spells. Spontaneous casting, very few spells known, flexible casting.
Element Focus:
Choose an element, such as air, earth, fire, or water. Your spells of that element are more potent than normal.
Benefit:
Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells with the elemental descriptor you select.
Special:
You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new element.The Rationale:
Like Cloaked Casting, Element Focus is a poor man's Spell Focus. While Element Focus works across the board with all schools of magic it is tied to a certain element. The problem with the feat is that it is extremely weak: of the available elements fire has the largest amount of effects that actually have to be saved against and fire is traditionally the most resisted element in the D&D universe. Because of this I'd be almost willing to thrown in an increase of +1 caster level whenever using a certain element, but that may be too much. I must admit, Element Focus is a problematic case mostly because fire is the only one of the classic elements to get a significant amount of love in 3.5. For the sake of being fair I'd allow any spells from the elemental domains to count as having the elemental descriptor required for the feat.
I think that, if paired with this houserule I came up with, this could prove a bit better.
Elemental Recreation: To give players, and NPCs, a wider range of spells to define themselves with, any spell with the acid, cold, electricity, or fire descriptor can be “recreated” as a spell of the same level and type, but with a different listed elemental descriptor.
In example; If Sturgard, Ice Wizard of the Wastes, wanted to keep his “all things frozen”-theme, he could recreate burning hands as freezing hands. The spell would be still 1st level, it would have an area of a 15 ft cone, but it would instead deal 1d4 points of cold damage per caster level (maximum 5d4).
These spells are not considered the same spells for the purpose of counterspelling. In addition, you may have multiple type of the same spell in your repertoire. If you wanted to have a copy of burning hands and caustic hands (the acid version), there is nothing wrong with that.
I've been thinking along the same lines. I think the spelltheif feat should have ability to cast 1st level arcane spell tacked onto it. The hardest is the warlock. I don't think a feat would do it. Also though I wonder if the warlock is still on par with all the new classes. A warlock gets detect magic at second level. Whoopi do! a first level wizard gets to cast that and a whole lot of other 0 level spells at will as a spell-like ability. Perhaps for the warlock, making it into a prestige class is the answer.
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The hardest is the warlock. I don't think a feat would do it.
The Reserve Feats pretty much turn a Wizard into a Warlock anyway (as will some Domain powers and Specialty School powers, in Pathfinder), since the big distinction for a Warlock is At Will Blastage.
Granted, Reserve Feats aren't OGL, but Locus Feats, from the Scarred Lands setting (Vigil Watch: Asaatthi), were created under the OGL and do the same basic thing, only slightly differently and a year or so earlier.
The premise of a Locus Feat was that certain conjunctions of spells could be memorized, and the interaction of them within the caster would set up a 'locus' of magical energy that the Feat user could tap to power a specific effect.
By having a few Light spells and a Shocking Grasp prepared (or just the slots available and the spells known, for a spontaneous caster), someone might be able to charge held items with an electrical charge, for instance. [Rough description, I'm away from book.]
Using this concept, Feats could be designed to allow one to make a Warlock wanna-be by having someone prepare a few Magic Missiles to allow use of an At Will 'eldritch blast.' At higher level, he might be able to prepare Heightened Magic Missiles in higher level slots, and be able to generate more potent 'blasts.'
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I'd actually agree that the Warlock is pretty easy to do within Pathfinder Roleplaying Game as either a Wizard or a Sorcerer due to the ready availability of spell-like abilities through bloodlines and school specialization. While reserve feats are not OGL they or something similar would, in my opinion, be the way to go for the Warlock.
Then again, most Wizards and Sorcerers have Ray of Frost and Acid Splash as at-will spell-like abilities under PFRPG, so sacrificing a feat to gain an effect that is slightly more impressive than either of those two spells wouldn't be exactly game-breaking in my opinion. When you consider the fact that most martial characters can shoot 1d8/1d10 arrows with reload being a free action every round letting Wizards and Sorcerers blast 1d6 bolts of eldritch energy with the investment of a feat wouldn't destroy game balance.