Suggested Oracle Curse and Mystery (Focus, whatever)


Round 1: Cavalier and Oracle


Ok,
Been thinking it over. If it's going to be called Oracle, let's get an actual Oracle Curse and Focus.

Curse : Precognition - You are gifted and cursed with foresight. This foresight is capricious though, and usually only gives you brief glimpses of the near future, and just enough information about the immediate future to usually cause you more harm than good. When talking with others, you finish their sentences before they can even get them started, when you don't just answer their questions outright before they can get them asked. This is not a conscious choice on your part, and you cannot stop this from happening, making it impossible for you to tell an outright lie. Not all is bad though, you do get some foreknowledge of the immediate future. At 5th level you gain an Insight Bonus to your initiative equal to one-half your class level. At 10th level you gain a +2 Insight Bonus to your AC, and may roll two dice for initiative and take the best roll. At 15th level your Insight Bonus to AC increases to +4, and you are never considered flat footed, you cannot be feinted or bluffed in combat, you cannot be surprised during the first round of combat. Unfortunately this advanced warning is too elusive for you to warn your allies.

Ok, here's the curse, I'm still working on the Focus. Thought I'd post this and get some feedback rolling.

Dark Archive

mdt wrote:

Ok,

Been thinking it over. If it's going to be called Oracle, let's get an actual Oracle Curse and Focus.

Curse : Precognition - You are gifted and cursed with foresight. This foresight is capricious though, and usually only gives you brief glimpses of the near future, and just enough information about the immediate future to usually cause you more harm than good. When talking with others, you finish their sentences before they can even get them started, when you don't just answer their questions outright before they can get them asked. This is not a conscious choice on your part, and you cannot stop this from happening, making it impossible for you to tell an outright lie. Not all is bad though, you do get some foreknowledge of the immediate future. At 5th level you gain an Insight Bonus to your initiative equal to one-half your class level. At 10th level you gain a +2 Insight Bonus to your AC, and may roll two dice for initiative and take the best roll. At 15th level your Insight Bonus to AC increases to +4, and you are never considered flat footed, you cannot be feinted or bluffed in combat, you cannot be surprised during the first round of combat. Unfortunately this advanced warning is too elusive for you to warn your allies.

Ok, here's the curse, I'm still working on the Focus. Thought I'd post this and get some feedback rolling.

Way too powerful. This Could be a revelation if you wait until 5th level to take it. Especially for the relatively minor inconvenience of not being able to lie( which I don't get. If you know what they are asking, you could still not answer truthfully ).

Edit: Adding more

Okay, adding half your level to init checks is a portion of the divination schools ability. Not too bad getting it at 5th level. The not being able to lie might cancel this out.

+2 ac bonus at 10th and rolling twice for initiative? You are giving them the first benefit of the Warsight revelation and giving them an extra bonus to ac that stacks with pretty much everything

Then you are giving them (basically) an improved version of uncanny dodge and some more of the divination wizards ability to be able to act in the surprise round.

If you are ever looking at something ask yourself: Why wouldn't someone want to take this over something else? In this case I can see very little in terms of curses that stacks up to what this offers compared to the cost.

Contributor

Being able to see the future and not being able to lie are two entirely different things. They shouldn't be linked.

Precognition is a good curse, but should come with its own drawbacks.

Being unable to lie is also a good curse, but should come with its own perks. Something like maybe people trusting you more once they realize you cannot deceive them.

The other stuff can be tweaked around with precognition.


Kevin Andrew Murphy wrote:

Being able to see the future and not being able to lie are two entirely different things. They shouldn't be linked.

Precognition is a good curse, but should come with its own drawbacks.

Being unable to lie is also a good curse, but should come with its own perks. Something like maybe people trusting you more once they realize you cannot deceive them.

The other stuff can be tweaked around with precognition.

Don't be so sure about people trusting you because you can't lie. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series does an excellent job of displaying this. You don't have to lie to deceive, infact often the greatest deceptions are made using the truth.


Curse : Precognition - You are gifted and cursed with foresight. This foresight is capricious though, and usually only gives you brief glimpses of the near future, and just enough information about the immediate future to usually cause you more harm than good. When talking with others, you finish their sentences before they can even get them started, when you don't just answer their questions outright before they can get them asked. This is not a conscious choice on your part, and you cannot stop this from happening, making it impossible for you to tell an outright lie. This also gives you a +2 penalty to all charisma checks to interact with other sentient species, as you 'creep them out'. Not all is bad though, you do get some foreknowledge of the immediate future. At 5th level you gain an Insight Bonus to your initiative equal to one-half your class level. At 10th level you may roll two dice for initiative and take the best roll. At 15th level you are never considered flat footed, you cannot be feinted or bluffed in combat, you cannot be surprised during the first round of combat. Unfortunately this advanced warning is too elusive for you to warn your allies.

Ok, how about that?

EDIT: Oh, and I kept the 'can't lie' in to simulate the curse basically having you answer the question not only before it is completely asked, but before you can catch yourself and stop yourself.


Mystery : Precognition

Class Skills: An oracle with the precognition mystery adds Appraise and Perception to their list of class skills.

Bonus Spells: comprehend languages (3rd), augury (5th), locate object (7th), divination (9th), scrying (11th), find the path (13th), scrying, greater (15th), discern location (17th), miracle (19th).

Revelations: An oracle with a precognition focus can choose from any of the following revelations.

Foresight (Su): As a standard action, you can harness your ability to see the future and focus it into the immediate future, under greater control. You gain an Insight bonus to all attack rolls equal to your Wisdom bonus. This bonus lasts a number of rounds equal to one-half your class level (minimum 1). You may use this ability once per day. At 7th and 15th levels you may use this ability one additional time per day.

Combat Insight (Su): Your precognitive abilities help you avoid dangerous situations. You gain a +2 Insight bonus to AC and Reflex saves to avoid damage. At 10th level your bonus increases to +4, and +6 at 18th level. You must be 5th level to take this revelation.

Intuition (Su): Your precognitive abilities help you to accomplish your tasks, provided those tasks don't involve interacting with people. You gain a +2 Insight bonus to any non-charisma based skill check. At 10th level, this bonus increases to +4 and to +6 at 18th level.

Guarding Insight (Su): You gain the spell stabalize, which you can cast as an immediate action. You may do so a number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier. At 5th level, and each additional levle, you gain another immediate casting of this spell per day. At 10th level you gain the benefits of the spell Deathwatch at all times.

Scrying Insight (Su): You do not require any material components to cast scrying, you are however considered blind while you are scrying if you do not use a focus. You gain an Insight bonus to your scrying attempts equal to one-half your class level plus your wisdom modifier. You must be at least 13th level to take this revelation.

Divination Insight (Su): You treat any divination spell you know as if your caster level were one level higher when you cast it. This bonus increases by one level at 15th level. You must be at least 8th level to take this revelation.

Defensive Foresight (Ex): Your precognitive abilities make you a difficult opponent to combat with manuevers. You treat your BAB as your class level for purposes of determining your CMD. Your precognitive abilities allow you to see your opponents moves before he makes them.

Offensive Foresight (Ex): You may concentrate on one subject and acquire insights about their future. Once you take a standard action to concentrate on your opponent, you gain an Insight bonus equal to your wisdom modifier on attacks and damage checks against this subject for a number of rounds equal to your class level. You may do this once per day. You may use this ability once more per day at 10th, 15th, and 20th levels. You must be at least 5th level to take this revelation.

Final Revelation : You have become one with time, and foresee much that others do not. You are always considered to have rolled 20 for initiative. Once per day you may negate any one action taken by any one subject within 30 feet of you, distracting them before they can actually take the action, upsetting fate and sending the universe off on a new tangent. The subject simply loses that action, but they can take the same action on a subsequent round.

I know, they need work, but it's a good first stab. Open to ideas. And yes, I know Foresight and Offensive Insight are similar, but they don't stack. One is a bonus to all attack rolls, the other is a bonus to attack and damage against a specific target. Sort of a open focus vs a tight focus. And, I'm not too sure about the final revelation, but it's all I could think of.

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