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My current Rise of the Runelords campaign is about to transition from 3.5e to Pathfinder. I've got a Chelaxian Hexblade, a Varisian Scout, and a Shoanti Spirit Shaman in the group. Although I'm aware that some things might be different in the final version of the rules, I went ahead and did a conversion of the classes to the Beta rules.
Scout and Hexblade were pretty easy, but, but I've hit two minor snags with the Spirit Shaman that I'm hoping the smart folks here can give me some advice with.
1. The only rules-based problem I have run into is the "Favored of the Spirits" ability which spirit shamans get at 19th level. It grants a contingency Heal spell if the character is going to be reduced below 0 hit points by an attack. Gaining the protection requires an 8-hour ritual and the expenditure of 1000 XP per the 3.5 rules. Since XP costs are eliminated, I've decided to state that the ritual consumes rare herbs, precious and semi-precious gemstones and other materials costing 24,500 gp. This would place the ability on par with a pearl of power for a 7th-level druid spell, which is what Heal would be for a spirit shaman. Does that seem fair? I think by that level a 24,500-gp ritual wouldn't be excessive, but I'm not sure.
2. Also, the spirit shaman gains the ability to walk through the "spirit world" at 17th level with "Spirit Journey". This functions just like shadow walk, but in Complete Divine, the traveler moves through the Plane of Spirit. Since no such plane exists in the Pathfinder setting, would it be too disruptive for this journey to pass through the First World? It kind of makes sense, since the spirit shaman class assumes that fey are spirits of the natural world and the First World is where Golarion's fey originate.
I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say on this.
Thanks!
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First off I think that a pearl of power is a poor comparison. The pearl allows you to regain a spell you cast once per day, the contingency effect only works once. To me this makes the pearl much more valuable. The actual gp cost to cast contingency is 1500 gp this is probably a better compassion (contingency only works for 6th level spells, so maybe it should be a worth little more). If I were dm I would just give it for free (with an 8 hour ritual, perhaps no more than once a week) The ritual length is enough to ensure it won't come up more than once in a single dungeon, the ability is powerful, but it is also at level 19, some of the other classes get some pretty powerful stuff at that level. All the core classes received a boost in pathfinder, and the spirit shaman wasn't overpowered so... Also I hate class abilities you must pay for with cash/xp they feel like a jip to me. Either way I think 24,500 is way too much.
I think you're right. My first instinct was to just double the XP cost and require 2000gp in materials. Somehow, I failed to find the contingency spell in the rulebook earlier...not sure how, since I found it with no problems just now. Anyway, I agree that contingency is a better example.
That said, at 19th level, spending 2000gp is likely to be more of an annoyance than anything else. My problem was with the figuring out the XP to GP conversion rate. Not charging either makes that problem disappear. Thanks for the advice.
2. Also, the spirit shaman gains the ability to walk through the "spirit world" at 17th level with "Spirit Journey". This functions just like shadow walk, but in Complete Divine, the traveler moves through the Plane of Spirit. Since no such plane exists in the Pathfinder setting, would it be too disruptive for this journey to pass through the First World? It kind of makes sense, since the spirit shaman class assumes that fey are spirits of the natural world and the First World is where Golarion's fey originate.
This seems like a good and flavorful change. I would adopt this.
Out of curiosity, are you willing to post your hexblade and scout adaptations?
The XP -> GP conversion rate used in Pathfinder is generally 1 XP -> 5 GP. So the ceremony would cost 5000 gp (in theory).
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This seems like a good and flavorful change. I would adopt this.
Out of curiosity, are you willing to post your hexblade and scout adaptations?
Thanks, WB. My only real concern was that the First World is supposed to be pretty much unexplored by anyone. Passing through it in a fashion similar to shadow walk might make the place seem less mysterious.
I think I'm saved by the fact that the PCs are supposed to be among very few living people to reach the hoary heights of 17th level...so it's not like many folks are or have ever been traipsing through the First World as a short cut.
As for posting the conversions, I'd be happy to share and perhaps get feedback on things I may have messed up. However, I don't know if I'm allowed to do that...the classes aren't OGL, so I don't know where I'd be authorized to post them.
Hogarth...thanks for the conversion info. I thought I'd seen the number posted somewhere, but I couldn't find it and the math I used in various examples from the 3.5e and Beta rulebook yielded factors ranging from 2 to 12.
Hogarth...thanks for the conversion info. I thought I'd seen the number posted somewhere, but I couldn't find it and the math I used in various examples from the 3.5e and Beta rulebook yielded factors ranging from 2 to 12.
There's a sidebar in the Beta document (page 206?) that says:
"Designer Notes: XP Costs
A number of existing spells require you to expend XP to
cast them. Since we are removing XP expenditure from the
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, multiply all of these costs by 5
and treat them instead as special material component costs.
For example, atonement can require a 500 XP expenditure to
cast the spell. In these cases, the spell requires a 2,500 gp
expenditure instead."