Here are my concluding statements from what I have found in my campaign though play test and observation, while play a straight human barbarian to level 15.
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Feats:
Power attack is nothing compared to over hand chop, and more so compared to backswing. I found myself never using it unless it was an incorporeal or really flipping huge monster with low AC. While it gets you an additional x2 strength damage, it was by no means all that useful, because if used, the chances were you were going to miss.
Combat Expertise, well you probably already have read my comments on this. Useless for the classes that should be using it. Melee types have to concern themselves with other stats first and this feat would at most grant a 2 or 3 bonus to them with an average point by system. This is a rogue and wizard feat only and they really shouldn't be the ones taking it.
Improved Combat Maneuver Feats, They grant too light a bonus and should be a starting feat with maybe differing requirements. It also makes no sense that they require a feat runs off a non strength stat when all the maneuvers run off of strength. This included improved grapple, as if they have a natural weapon this feat works with that, and they should not be forced to take improved unarmed strike. If one tries to use their hand with out improved unarmed strike they should still receive an attack of opportunity.
Two Weapon Fighting, I know you know about my opinion about this.
Weapon Focus and Specialization seem a little underpowered.
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New Rage System:
I used the purposed rage system here.
To start, I love the fluff of a supernatural warrior, it works great as a more druid-like melee type.
I found myself missing the point system for using the rage abilities, but I grew to like this one; however some of the rage powers were severally lacking and were deemed not worth taking over more versatile abilities.
The point system though had one minor flaw. The resting to stop being fatigued was a bit much. The duration needed to rest should be cut in half if they do nothing else but rest.
I found non of the abilities over powered.
Strength Surge is a new key class ability and LOVED it.
Elemental Rage is a nice concept, but, horrifically under powered. You get it too late to make it useful for two weapon fighting. It does very little, and doesn't scale. This should be a starting power, and should progress something like this.
2nd level: additional 1 point elemental damage for the round.
5th level: additional 1D6 points instead of just 1 point.
8th level: 2D6 and additional 1D6 every 3 levels there on.
I tried this ability once on the side, using my current character, outside of the main game against a few proper CR opponents.
From what I say with the intimidating abilities, there were impressive for once.
Liked Knockback, just wish there was some easier way to combine it with strength surge other than with a readied action. A more advanced version would be a nice bonus.
Low-Light Vision and Night Vision abilities were lacking, and need to be part of one ability where you progress from low light to darkvision later on.
Loved Mighty Swing.
I found Moment of Clarity to not be very useful at all, but that maybe due to a lack of imagination on my part.
Quick Reflexes was not play tested, however this seems like an always on ability rather than an immediate action.
Renewed Vigor would have been a life saver if I had remembered to use it. PLEASE keep this.
Powerful Blow and Surprise Accuracy, while they scaled, they were tossed off as useless as it only applied to 1 attack.
Swift Foot was found to be equally useless as it was counted by boots of speed or haste spell, and even boots of springing and striding. This needs to be a straight up bonus, untyped, at the very least.
[Suggestion] Create bloodline like groups for rage powers.
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Favored Class System: Seemed fine. I still think that the bonus HP for having your favored class is inappropriate, it is not over powered.
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Spell: Imprisonment is completely over powered. This may not be entirely the spells fault. But when combined with quicken and a destined sorcerer blood line, I was faced with 2 such spells and the caster having 3 attempts to bypass my Spell resistance from a scarab, and I needing a natural 20 to make the save, which I did once just to fail on the 2nd spell. To top it all off you removed the material component and now can be regally abused.
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Skills:
Spell Craft Should be removed, Concentration should come back and have more of its own uses beyond spell casting.
Concentrate, Spell Craft, and Knowledge should be divided into the proper knowledge skill.
So any spell craft check that concentrate does not handle for an arcane caster, they should use knowledge arcane.
Knowledge Planes and Religion should be one and the same.
Fly Skill should only be needed for casters who don't get Acrobatics. You Should be able to do everything the fly skill does with acrobatics.
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Clerics: Still seem over powered, but are better in the turning abilities for balance, but the domain powers.... they seem to be even worse than what they were before.
Fighter seems better. Needs a sword and board weapon focus.
Saving Throws: Should include intermediate types so that almost all classes should have 1 good, 1 intermediate, and 1 poor.
Barbarian: Intermediate Reflex
Bard: Reflex and Fort
Cleric: Fort
Fighter: I don't know what, probably reflex.
Druid: Fort
Monk: No change
Paladin: Will
Rogue: Will probably
Sorcerer and Wizard: Reflex
This would be a poor save but with a +1 at 1st, 9th, and 18th.
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This is all for now. Will com back with more later.
Interesting comments. But Imprisonment didn't have a material component in 3.5, either.
Interesting comments. But Imprisonment didn't have a material component in 3.5, either.
Quite correct, both in the SRD and in the hard copy and of course in PF Beta Imprisonment does not have a Material component at all. The nominally comparable spell Temporal Stasis is more of a "time capsule/plot device" than anything else.
OK, thanks for the correction.
P.S. I was led to believe that it did have a material component.
OK, thanks for the correction.
P.S. I was led to believe that it did have a material component, and it didn't feel like a story line spell at the moment.
Temporal Stasis is more of the "sleeping beauty" type of spell, whereas Imprisonment is "go away until your buddies dig you out".
Temporal Stasis is more of the "sleeping beauty" type of spell, whereas Imprisonment is "go away until your buddies dig you out".OK, thanks for the correction.
P.S. I was led to believe that it did have a material component, and it didn't feel like a story line spell at the moment.
OK
Cleave and Great Cleave.
I just could not bring my self to try these feats.
I kept track of when I would have been able to use both.
To be honest I just don't thin cleave needed any change at all. It is a tactile feat requiring good positioning but you could do so much more with it than with the original cleave. The new one takes out all the thought. I also found that the requirement feat, power attack, was useless when I would have attempted to use the new cleave as the huge minus to hit was completely incompatible with the many attempts to hit.
The new cleave can not be performed at the end of a charge ether, and you have soooo many swift action abilities, such as with the barbarian rage abilities, and considering the barbarain is the intended class, it needs to be a free/automatic action. PLEASE! Give us back our old cleave. If it NEEDS to be better, try a slight up in ability, such as able to use your one 5ft step between the two on a full round attack.
Great Cleave, still is hardly useful at all, and in the entire 1-15 level campaign I found only 1 situation in which it would have been useful but attempting it would have been a death sentience, unless I could have done it at the end of a charge. So PLEASE oh PLEASE take this in a DIFFERENT direction than whirlwind attack. If you allow a 5ft step with cleave, make this have a 2nd 5ft step, but one that can provoke as you would make a 10ft move action. Another idea would be a 5ft step at the end of a charge. All this in addition to the original great cleave abilities.
So in short, try small fixes for these rather than these huge game remaking feats.
Dragon Deciple: I am glad it finally works; you did a good job at that. However you betrayed the original use entirely. It original was a melee class that allowed you to become a super half dragon, more half dragon.
I understand why you wanted to make such a class as it is now, as it does seem to fit the NAME better due to the new sorcerer class write up.
I just wish I could have gotten a better melee class.
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Cleave and Great Cleave.
I just could not bring my self to try these feats.
I kept track of when I would have been able to use both.
To be honest I just don't thin cleave needed any change at all. It is a tactile feat requiring good positioning but you could do so much more with it than with the original cleave. The new one takes out all the thought. I also found that the requirement feat, power attack, was useless when I would have attempted to use the new cleave as the huge minus to hit was completely incompatible with the many attempts to hit.
The new cleave can not be performed at the end of a charge ether, and you have soooo many swift action abilities, such as with the barbarian rage abilities, and considering the barbarain is the intended class, it needs to be a free/automatic action. PLEASE! Give us back our old cleave. If it NEEDS to be better, try a slight up in ability, such as able to use your one 5ft step between the two on a full round attack.
Great Cleave, still is hardly useful at all, and in the entire 1-15 level campaign I found only 1 situation in which it would have been useful but attempting it would have been a death sentience, unless I could have done it at the end of a charge. So PLEASE oh PLEASE take this in a DIFFERENT direction than whirlwind attack. If you allow a 5ft step with cleave, make this have a 2nd 5ft step, but one that can provoke as you would make a 10ft move action. Another idea would be a 5ft step at the end of a charge. All this in addition to the original great cleave abilities.
So in short, try small fixes for these rather than these huge game remaking feats.
I'm not sure how the new Cleave is worse than the old Cleave. With the old cleave, if you dropped an opponent (reducing it to negatives or whatnot) then you got a single extra attack. With the new cleave, all you need to do is hit an opponent to get an extra attack against an adjacent enemy.
The key here is that hit is also at your highest to hit. So at levels 1-5 with a pure melee class, there's no reason never to do this. At worst, you have your normal one attack per round. At best, you get a second attack you wouldn't normally have. Even at levels 6-10 when you have two attacks normally, this is still a great thing to use. If you're relatively certain you'll hit with your first attack, then declare a Cleave and your second attack now is at your highest to hit, instead of 5 less (assuming you hit with your first attack).
Great Cleave is even better, in my opinion. Again, in 3.5, you had to keep dropping opponents to make use of it, here all you need to do is hit.
I am not sure how you can claim that the old ones were more useful at all, since they only 'activated' when you brought an opponent to negatives, whereas you only need to hit with the new ones. Whether or not you found many places to use them varies with the campaign. I can't imagine you only finding ONE spot to use Great Cleave going from 1-15 though, my players are only 11 in CotCT and there's been COUNTLESS times that the tanks have had more than 3-4 creatures surrounding them. Red Mantis drops, random orc encounters, priests of Urgathoa, doctors, grey maidens...plenty.
Whatever your use, I don't think there can be any argument that the old Cleaves were better than the new ones. Sure, the old ones procced 'automatically' when you dropped someone, so you could still get your full attacks if you didn't drop them...but since all you have to do is hit with the new ones to activate (granted, you must use the full round action) its use is much higher. There is absolutely no downside when using them at level 1-5, and only a minor risk at 6-10.
Try looking at it this way. Are smartly run opponents going to flank you or are they going to stand in a row surrounding you?
Unless your using a spiked chain, the new cleave and great cleave, is not going to happen that often if you are running an enemy of 9 int, and played as having such the second they see you using the feat.
The old cleave has a NUMBER of advantages over the new one.
1. Its automatic.
2. They don't have to be next to each other AND in reach.
3. You can perform it with a charge.
4. You can perform it at the end of a movement.
5. You can perform it as part of an attack of opportunity.
6. You can perform it will a full attack action, making it always useful no matter the level.
The perfect use for the original feat was this tactic.
Charge, power attack. Just chose a target that allows for a cleave, maybe take the attack of opportunity to pull it off, and bam, I probably drop them if I hit and get an additional attack out of it.
7. Being automatic, it allows for combination with every feat, class ability, etc. imaginable.
Surprise Accuracy and Powerful Blow suggestions.
I am sorry, I like that they are scaling, but only applying to a single attack, instead of a round, just made them seem not worth taking. I ended up begging the DM to trade this for DR ability.
Make these last a full round, or just for your actions, so that they don't effect attacks of opportunities or readied actions. Otherwise you might want to just drop the ability as it steps on the toes of the fighter weapon focus and specialization abilities.
I am not too sure about Perception taking search away from the rogue. Search was an Int based skill which had good synergy with a rogue who got a lot of skills. Now it runs off of wisdom which is like their 4th stat in at least my rogue's choice.
I really liked how a very skilled rogue would not have to worry about not being good a finding and disabling a trap.
Something probably should be done, like a class ability, to have perception run off of Int for a rogue. I don't think it is fair for this key skill to be changed as it is.
Temporal Stasis is more of the "sleeping beauty" type of spell, whereas Imprisonment is "go away until your buddies dig you out".OK, thanks for the correction.
P.S. I was led to believe that it did have a material component, and it didn't feel like a story line spell at the moment.
I'm sorry but in a combat situation it is almost identical to an instant kill. It is even more devastating as the item's on the character are USUALLY supposed to be locked in with them. In CoCT it may have been a TPK if our GM didn't house rule things a little with the artifact sword.