Hello all, i'm currently in the process of converting some of the classes from the MMO Dark Age of Camelot into Pathfinder. Right now I currently have the Warlock (though i'm gonna usea differnt name)and the Thane in an pre-test phase. Still working out some of the kinks to balence it out with some of the other classes in the games currently.
If you have and suggestions for classes that you would like to see converted just let me know. Also I plan on working on the Thurgist and the Champion classes.
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The Cabalist would make an amazing class, I think, perhaps using the Summoner as a chassis (the same chassis could then be used to make the quite similar Spiritmaster and Enchanter, I suspect).
I've written one up for Mutants & Masterminds, but never really worked out how I would want it to work for D&D.
The Bonedancer and Animist have freaky-awesome potential as well, on the less-castery-side, the Reaver is a very interesting fighter-type, as is the DAoC Paladin, and perhaps even the Friar!
The DAoC Warlock class came out well after I was gone from DAoC, so I'm not familiar with their casting mechanics. It seems like they spend a full-round action to 'prepare' a spell in their 'chamber,' but can then cast it as a Swift action at any later point, giving them an advantage on the first round of any combat, but causing them to fall behind other spellcasters as they spend more time weaving up their spells and gathering power in later rounds. The Scarred Lands Rune Master PrC (from Burok Torn: City Under Seige) might be a good place to look for a similar mechanic under d20, as the Rune Master charges spells into runes that orbit his head, and can release them as fast actions later. (With some risk that those runes can be dispelled, or vanish if he loses consciousness, possibly negating some of his spells before he even gets to unleash them!)
Even back in Beta, the (earth) Theurgist was my favorite, so it will be interesting to see where you go with that class. The Champion, not so much. Having to debuff every single foe, and blow half of your power on those debuffs, leaving you less for combat styles, kinda blew. It was a very power-hungry class, and given a choice between a strong fighter who can hold his own, or a weak fighter who has to land four spells on every monster to essentially duplicate what the strong fighter was doing from round one seemed distinctly un-fun.
Since so many casters have identical mechanics (bladeturns, armor buffs, damage resistance buffs, Str/Dex/Con/Armor debuffs, damage over time spells, lifedrains, etc.), it might be best to start with a 'base' caster class to work from, that hammers out all of these basic abilities, and then work up from there to add stuff like the Theurgists fire-and-forget pets or the Sorcerers charms or the Animists turrets.
Either one could just port over D&D spells, like Mage Armor, Slow, Stoneskin, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Clumsiness, Vampiric Touch, Acid Arrow and Acid Fog and say, 'close enough,' or one could try to completely recapture the casting mechanic of the online play, which would be more like a 3rd edition Warlock, able to cast certain effects pretty much all day long, but only able to buff itself (for the 'cloth casters,' who can't armor buff allies), and perhaps being limited to only debuff a single foe at a time, until they get AoE burst debuffs at higher levels (and perhaps even then having to choose whether they are using their Str/Con debuff or their Dex/Move debuff, to give them some tactical choices to make from fight to fight).
I'd be inclined to do it 'the hard way' and go with a more Warlock-y build, with the various effects being gained as levels accrue (and scaling upwards, so that the armor buffs, DR buff, dex and str debuff, basic blast, etc. gain in effectiveness as levels progress). Almost all of the cloth casters, and almost all of the healers, start out with some pretty basic stuff (self-buff, str/dex debuffs, blast, for the clothies, ally buff, smite and heal, for the healers), only differentiating notably as they gain in levels.
With the Theurgist I came up with this concept: THIS IS STILL IN PLANNING PHASE!!!
You are basically an elemental caster, and your primary function for combat is your pets. Therefore most of your abilities fall into summoning, healing, and augmenting those pets.
Every day when most casters would be preparing their spells you are tuning yourself to a particular element (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind ect...). After you finish you can then summon a certain number of pets a round X/times per day based on your caster level. These pets take the form of the element that you chose and each type of element gives the pet a certain set of abilities. You can only give one command to those pets which they will execute that command until they "despawn" after a certain amount of time based on again your Caster Level. They cannot be commanded to do any other task.
Your spell list is extremely limited in that you can only prepare and cast spells that have an elemental descriptor that matches your chosen element of the day. Eg. you chose fire so you gain access to all spells with the fire descriptor (burin hands, fireball, Scorching ray ect..). You cast like a Sorcerer in that you have a certain number of spells per day and a certain number of spells known. But you can only cast the spells that match the element that you chose. Any spell modified by the energy substitution feat cannot be cast in this manner.
This is the concept of what I’ve come up with so far and I’m still working on it, any suggestions would be welcome.
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Every day when most casters would be preparing their spells you are tuning yourself to a particular element (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind ect...). After you finish you can then summon a certain number of pets a round X/times per day based on your caster level. These pets take the form of the element that you chose and each type of element gives the pet a certain set of abilities. You can only give one command to those pets which they will execute that command until they "despawn" after a certain amount of time based on again your Caster Level. They cannot be commanded to do any other task.
It's very different than the mechanics for the DAoC Theurgist, but that's totally okay, because it's a radically different game system.
I'd be inclined to keep certain spells available as 'universal' spells, including Mage Armor, Stoneskin, Slow, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Clumsiness, etc. to represent the basic spells that all DAoC cloth casters seem to end up getting anyway.
The ability to change your 'spec' each day, from Wind to Ice to Earth, is a nice step up from the DAoC standard, where you'll only really be able to master one, and dabble in the others, at most. Even if I went the route of hard-coding one choice at 1st level (earth theurgist, dabble in air, for instance), I'd probably want to introduce the concept of a 'respec' as something the character could purchase via an expensive ritual, or something that could happen with levels, similar to how a Sorcerer can swap out this spell for that at certain levels.
Adding Fire to the list is also a neat idea, since DAoC didn't have Fire Theurgists. Someone throwing a swarm of fire elementals at foes could be neat, visually (although, mechanically, it would probably most effective in D&D to throw a single huge elemental, the biggest you can conjure, instead). You could even use the Summoner rule of only one summons at a time, allowing for only one Elemental from the Spell-Like Ability, perhaps followed up by using Summon Monster spells to call up any additional elementals desired. (And, if you are attuned to one element, even your Summon Monster *spells* will only summon elementals of that type.)
I definitely would try to keep the 'pet spam' nature of the class and stick to summon spells (and / or SLAs), and not have the Theurgist have any sort of longer lasting pet (since that's what the Cabalist, Enchanter, Spiritmaster, etc. do, and the transient nature of Theurgist pets is what makes them distinctive).
Some sort of Ice / Cold elementals might be useful, stolen from Frostburn or wherever, for the Ice Theurgist, unless you just want to go with Water instead.
My take on the theurgist would be a sorcerer with a new bloodline. You bloodline ability gives your summoned creatures +1 to hit for every 4 levels, and your level 1 ability is that you can summon a 1 HD elemental as a move action 3 + charisma + level/2 times per day. The elementals last for your charisma rounds have touch attacks that do different things depending on the type of elemental. These special abilities can be applied once per elemental. Elementals cannot be told to switch targets.
Earth elemental - As a touch attack can lower the DR of a creature by 1.
Water elemental - A ranged touch attack can reduce movement speed by 5.
Air elemental - As a melee touch attack can give a -1 to AC.
Fire elemental - As a ranged touch attack can deal 1d6 fire damage.
The idea is that you can mix your elementals with normal spell casting, it also kind of brings in the DAOC mechanic where having a swarm of elementals attacking something made it easier for everyone else to deal damage.
the idea behind this project of mine is to create a character class that would function differntly then one of the pre existing ones while still keeping the DAoC feel of that class.
the idea behind this project of mine is to create a character class that would function differntly then one of the pre existing ones while still keeping the DAoC feel of that class.
The thing is the theurgist is a pet spam class with decent direct nuking capabilities. I think that best translates to a sorcerer special bloodline. I am trying to figure out the best way to make a pet spam class that doesn't bog down combat with lots of rolls.
the best way I can think is to create a static forumle that can take into account progrssion and level.
THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE
Fire Attunement:
pet You create 1 + CL + INT Mod worth of fire based pets Per Day. At level 2 and every two levels thereafter, you increase this number by 1 eg, a lvl 6 Thurg creates 4 + Cl + INT Mod worth of pets per day.
This is how I plan on working out the pet spamming feature of the class.
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the idea behind this project of mine is to create a character class that would function differntly then one of the pre existing ones while still keeping the DAoC feel of that class.The thing is the theurgist is a pet spam class with decent direct nuking capabilities. I think that best translates to a sorcerer special bloodline. I am trying to figure out the best way to make a pet spam class that doesn't bog down combat with lots of rolls.
The pet-spam, as much as this hurts the visual of the class to define it this way, it essentially just a damage over time effect.
In my experience, the pets almost never died before their duration ended, and DAoC didn't have anything like magic circle of protection vs. X that would flat-out stop them, so it might be easier to just make them damaging effects that only last as long as the target remains within close range, and inflict damage each round for X rounds. Earth ones do 1d6 bludgeoning damage / round for, say, 5 rounds, and you can keep casting them, so that a single foe could be taking 4d6 / round by round four.
While I would aesthetically prefer to summon small elementals that run over and smack one specific target for X rounds before crumbling back to loose earth, it sounds like a bit of a pain in the butt to roll all of those attacks (and, if kept 'pure,' to DAoC, the earth elementals would lack Earth Glide and have to run to their targets, starting at the Theurgists feet and possibly losing a round of offensive power just getting into range). Once summoned, they could not be called back, retargeted or whatever, acting less like actual elemental spirits, but more animated clods of dirt and rock, perhaps with an Int score of 1.
Air Elementals, if 'pure DAoC,' will have Stunning Fist attacks like a Monk, but no Flight, no Air Mastery and no Whirlwind.
It really depends on faithful to the original class one wants to be, in that case, and I could see both versions being interesting (the adapted-for-D&D Theurgist, summoning flying whirlwind-making air elementals or earth gliding earth elementals or the 'purer' straight DAoC conversion, summoning the little stunning dudes).
the idea behind this project of mine is to create a character class that would function differntly then one of the pre existing ones while still keeping the DAoC feel of that class.The thing is the theurgist is a pet spam class with decent direct nuking capabilities. I think that best translates to a sorcerer special bloodline. I am trying to figure out the best way to make a pet spam class that doesn't bog down combat with lots of rolls.The pet-spam, as much as this hurts the visual of the class to define it this way, it essentially just a damage over time effect.
In my experience, the pets almost never died before their duration ended, and DAoC didn't have anything like magic circle of protection vs. X that would flat-out stop them, so it might be easier to just make them damaging effects that only last as long as the target remains within close range, and inflict damage each round for X rounds. Earth ones do 1d6 bludgeoning damage / round for, say, 5 rounds, and you can keep casting them, so that a single foe could be taking 4d6 / round by round four.
While I would aesthetically prefer to summon small elementals that run over and smack one specific target for X rounds before crumbling back to loose earth, it sounds like a bit of a pain in the butt to roll all of those attacks (and, if kept 'pure,' to DAoC, the earth elementals would lack Earth Glide and have to run to their targets, starting at the Theurgists feet and possibly losing a round of offensive power just getting into range). Once summoned, they could not be called back, retargeted or whatever, acting less like actual elemental spirits, but more animated clods of dirt and rock, perhaps with an Int score of 1.
Air Elementals, if 'pure DAoC,' will have Stunning Fist attacks like a Monk, but no Flight, no Air Mastery and no Whirlwind.
It really depends on faithful to the original class one wants to be, in that case, and I could see both versions being interesting (the...
The thing is to be faithful to DAOC, you have to account for DAOC's special game machanics. What made pet spam so powerful in DAOC was the game mechanic where a creature's defenses decreased as you had more attackers.
1. Wizard cast spell at epic monster, spell is resisted, or hits for minimal damage.
2. Theurg puts 50+ pets on epic monster
3. Wizard cast spell at epic monster, spell hits for full damage.
This is where I was going with the debuffs. Having different types of elementals debuff different defenses.
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This is a genius idea. I was just thinking about the Cabalist in D&D and how it would make such a great addition to Pathfinder.
My vision had them using gemstones to summon an elemental spirit from the earth and binding it to earth and stone, the gem used being the catalyst for the simalcrum's powers.
The class would be primarily pet based, with most of it's offense coming from the pet, with a number of very useful party friendly utility type spells in the mix.
In addition, I would write this class using the full range of their abilities in DAoC, meaning all of their specs. One of the coolest things I loved about playing a Cabalist was the ability to drain energy from a foe and channel it to another player. It's like a cleric, only more time consuming (and arguably more fun).
I have some really good ideas here and I'm going to see what I can come up with.
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This is a genius idea. I was just thinking about the Cabalist in D&D and how it would make such a great addition to Pathfinder.
My vision had them using gemstones to summon an elemental spirit from the earth and binding it to earth and stone, the gem used being the catalyst for the simalcrum's powers.
Get out of my mind!
That's pretty much *exactly* where I was going!
Start with an Amber at 1st level, free. Every level, you have to spent levelx100 gp upgrading that Amber, so that you can use it as the basis for a larger Simulacrum (so, at second level, you have to spend 200 gp, and your amber stone grows in size, and can now be used to call up a 2 HD Sim (you don't need to buy ever larger gems. Your cabalic magic allows you to enhance the quality, value and, to a limited extent, size, of the gemstone focus with the appropriate pricey alchemical reagents and rituals). If you can't afford to upgrade the stone, or just aren't in a place where you can do so, you can still use it, but it only summons up your 1st level 1 HD Sim). The gem doesn't just 'summon' the Simulacrum, you place it (or drop it, doesn't much matter) onto the ground, and earth and dust and sand and gravel assembles around the gem into the vaguely stone-golem-looking form of the simulacrum, taking on the coloration of the gemstone buried within it, which then functions normally. If the Simulacrum is destroyed, the gem is unharmed, but falls in the pile of earth where the Sim fell, and could be lost, stolen or *then* targeted and destroyed! Oh noes!
At higher levels, in addition to upgrading your amber stone, you also learn the techniques to create emerald, sapphire, ruby and jade Simulacra, and need the appropriate gems (with the same level x 100 gp cost) to power these Simulacra. (And you can only have one active at a time, natch.) Losing a gem at mid-level isn't a tenth as cripping as it is for a Wizard to lose his spellbook, since at 10th level Cabalist can replace a lost gem of his rank for a 'mere' 1000 gp. But it does add up, so try not to throw them around willy-nilly!
The Simulacrum remains active only so long as you remain conscious, which means that if you fall, your Sim turns into a lump of dirt with a gem on top, and when you go to bed, Simmy dissolves as well, requiring you to resummon the golem in the morning.
I hadn't decided yet whether calling up the Sim took a full-round action, or a full *minute,* and required some sort of special feat / stunt / cost-to-your-own-health to try and 'quickcast' in emergencies.
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For the other stuff, I was thinking of making the all-day buffs, both to AC (AF), and at higher level, to DR (Abs), cause minor nonlethal damage to the Cabalist to cast, requiring him to spent time recovering. At 1st level, all he has is 'Ward Blows,' that gives him a +2 deflection bonus to AC, and costs him 2 nonlethal damage (but lasts as long as he is conscious, so potentially all day), which, at 1st level, means that he will be weakened for 20 minutes after casting it as he uses his own life-force to power the magic.
To be consistent, the Simulacrum animation should also cost the Cabalist nonlethal damage, as he puts some of his own life-energy into animating the golem, which, again, lifetap to recover. His lifetaps would have to be fairly weak, 'though, as direct damage is hardly his specialty.
He might not be able to rebuff in combat, perhaps the Ward Blows (and later DR buff) take a minute to cast as well, barring some special 'quickcast' use, and he's only got X number of 'Quickcast' uses per day, which he might want to save for when he needs to get a Simulacrum back onto the field is a darn hurry! Then again, maybe not, still thinking about that.
Then there are the DoTs, the Str/Dex/Con/Atk Speed/Move Speed debuffs, Roots, Snares, the Focus Damage Shield (which I envision as him Concentrating to cause the earth & stone form of his Simulacrum to form into jagged spikes, damaging anyone attacking them in melee), etc.
Debuff Body Resist I would make into a Fort save debuff, Debuff Energy Resist becomes debuff Reflex Save and Debuff Spirit Resist becomes a debuff to Will saves, making the Cabalist a useful debuffer (and, indeed, I think that his attack spells should be weak enough that he is more dependent on his Simulacrum and his allies, and might be more effective throwing around single-target Slow effects, Str debuffs, Save debuffs, etc. to make his allies attacks more effective and his foes attacks less effective). (Of course, just as Spell Resist debuffs in d20 check Spell Resistance to work, or Mind Fog gets a Will save to resist, the Fort save debuff will require you to beat a Fort save to land it anyway, but from then on, all of your Fort save effects will land easier, as well as those of your allies.)
He might only be able to put one debuff 'Curse' on a single foe, which will encourage him to think tactically. Will a 'root' (reduce movement to one 5 ft. step per round) be more useful than a single-target slow or a dexterity debuff? At higher levels, the Cabalist gets dual debuffs (Str/Con, Dex/Quick, which I'd turn into a Dex/Move Speed debuff), and be able to choose those over the single Str or Dex debuffs, and, if there are a lot of mobs, he'll have AoE versions of both of those that, like the normal Slow spell (which he won't have, only a single target version of), can affect 1 target / level in a certain area, allowing him to Str/Con debuff a group with a single Curse, and then get back to lifedraining or throwing out acid arrow like DoTs.
Hello all, i'm currently in the process of converting some of the classes from the MMO Dark Age of Camelot into Pathfinder. Right now I currently have the Warlock (though i'm gonna usea differnt name)and the Thane in an pre-test phase. Still working out some of the kinks to balance it out with some of the other classes in the games currently.
If you have and suggestions for classes that you would like to see converted just let me know. Also I plan on working on the Theurgist and the Champion classes.
Ah man, this brings back memories. If you're looking for helping hands (there are a TON of classes after all) I wouldn't mind taking a swing at some of the Midgard classes, Shaman, Skald, Thane, Bonedancer, etc.
Might be a good idea to figure out some basic guidelines and common mechanics before everyone gets too far in... just considering the number of classes involved balance is going to be tricky.
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Might be a good idea to figure out some basic guidelines and common mechanics before everyone gets too far in... just considering the number of classes involved balance is going to be tricky.
Very true. Every cloth caster has the same AF (AC) buff, and the same ABS (DR) buff, and the same self-only Bladesturn (with a few getting upgrades), etc. Every healer has the basic buffs, and the basic heals, etc.
Having the basic Roots, buffs, generic Str / Dex debuffs, etc. standardized made it easier for DAoC to balance between Realms, and it makes conversion easier, since something like 15 classes use these generic AF / ABS buffs, Bladeturns, Roots, etc.
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Hmm... glad I checked back so quickly.
You are proposing the spellcasting mechanism for the Cabalist to be non-lethal damage to himself? That's fun and interesting. I definitely want to differentiate this arcane caster from the rest of the lot, so that would be a good step.
100 gp x level gemstone focus is perfectly balanced. Upon destruction of the simalcrum, the gem is still capable of use again. I like that. Also, it could be destroyed as you say, very cool.
I would have the Sim be summoned as a full round action, just like casting certain spells. I also like your ideas about saving throw debuffs. I'd allow them to hit multiple debuffs on a single foe, keeping in mind that a (negative) enhancement bonus only works once, using the greater total.
Let's try to come up with some more class abilities other than spells. Or are these class abilities and not spells? If they were just arcane spells then other wizards would be able to use them and the Cabby would lose flavor.
Maybe it's a class with a whole bunch of spell like abilities, but not a pure spellcaster. I'm still toying with this. Of course, you could make the spells Cabalist only. I dunno.
Might be a good idea to figure out some basic guidelines and common mechanics before everyone gets too far in... just considering the number of classes involved balance is going to be tricky.Very true. Every cloth caster has the same AF (AC) buff, and the same ABS (DR) buff, and the same self-only Bladesturn (with a few getting upgrades), etc. Every healer has the basic buffs, and the basic heals, etc.
Having the basic Roots, buffs, generic Str / Dex debuffs, etc. standardized made it easier for DAoC to balance between Realms, and it makes conversion easier, since something like 15 classes use these generic AF / ABS buffs, Bladeturns, Roots, etc.
Good idea. Blade turn would be a great spell to pull in from DAOC. The next hit against you is ignored, and you avoid having to make a concentration check.
I am reading this with interest, as a big fan of Dark Age of Camelot.
I did some conversions of some DAoC races and classes years ago, but they would not be balanced with Pathfinder, as i made them to match my campaign setting.
Do you also plan to work on the races?
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Let's try to come up with some more class abilities other than spells. Or are these class abilities and not spells? If they were just arcane spells then other wizards would be able to use them and the Cabby would lose flavor.
I really want the spells to work like Warlock invocations, with some other limiting factor than 'mana' or 'slots per day,' which is why I came up with the only one Curse / target idea (plus, unless the curses are castable instantly, like DAoC debuffs, a Cabalist is rarely ever going to have time to stack them all up anyway, since he's got Str, Dex, Str + Con, Dex + Quick, Movement Speed, Attack Speed, three different Saving throws, etc. that he can debuff, that's like nine rounds of 'pre-debuffing' before he even gets to launch an attack! (And he might have to Transfer Health to his Simulacrum at some point, which means he'll need to Lifedrain to try and recoup that loss, and it only makes sense to get his acid DoT or his necromancy / negative energy DoT ticking, as well as perhaps setting up to Concentrate on his focus Damage Shield! He's just got a crap-load he has to do already, without worry about stacking debuffs.)
So limiting it to one Curse / target, while it is a step away from the DAoC mechanic, just kinda makes sense in the terms of the 'Action Economy,' in that he's never going to have time to use all that crap anyway, and gives him some tactical choices to make (what Curse will *best* end this fight quicker?). I'd allow him to cast a second Curse and overwrite the first, if he finds out that Curse A isn't 'getting it done,' 'though.
If the various spells (acid DoT, necro DoT, lifedrain) are usable 'at will,' they need to be pretty weak (and not stack with themselves, although the Cabalist could put both DoTs on a single target).
Because of the standardization, while it makes the *most* sense for Cabalists, with their life-force transferring magical nature, I was thinking that *all* of the cloth casters would spend nonlethal damage to put up their DR or AC buffs at the beginning of the day, and, since many lack a lifedrain, they would spend X amount of time recovering that loss. While a standard Wizard is spending time in the morning preparing spells, the DAoC caster wakes up, casts his daily defensive buffs, and then spends 10 or 20 minutes healing up that nonlethal damage. It ends up taking the same amount of their day, ultimately, but is different from the process a Wizard, Cleric or Druid has to undergo to start out their day.
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Good idea. Blade turn would be a great spell to pull in from DAOC. The next hit against you is ignored, and you avoid having to make a concentration check.
To go with the DAoC change many years ago to allow criticals to punch through it, at reduced effect, I'd put in the caveat that a Critical Hit punches through a bladeturn (and knocks it down), but does not get it's critical multiplier. So a normal hit is just flat-out blocked, and what would have been a critical hit drops the bladeturn, but only does normal damage.
Like all of the DAoC buffs, it should pretty much just last until it is taken down (by being struck, or by dispel magic / buff shear), or until the caster sleeps / loses consciousness. It should take long enough to cast (full-attack action?) that it won't be easy to throw back up during combat if you are being hit.
Sorry about not being able to post back sooner....
I would like some help in converting some of the other realms classes since i didn;t get much experiance with them as I did with Albion. And, yes we do need to come up with a standardized method of conversion for some ofthe basic DAoC mechanics. Also, Some abilites will need to be tweaked and some even re written from scratch to fit within the pathfinder system.
So if you guys are willing I say we give this a go. Never knew ther was so much demand for DAoC PNP cpnversions b4 now, makes me want to go all out on this project.
As for BT and ABS and AF buffs, I looked at the spell list on the camelot herald and was tring to think of how to convert some of the abilites. Still working on it though, when I get a free moment i'm gonna work on this.
Sorry about not being able to post back sooner....
I would like some help in converting some of the other realms classes since i didn;t get much experiance with them as I did with Albion. And, yes we do need to come up with a standardized method of conversion for some ofthe basic DAoC mechanics. Also, Some abilites will need to be tweaked and some even re written from scratch to fit within the pathfinder system.
So if you guys are willing I say we give this a go. Never knew ther was so much demand for DAoC PNP cpnversions b4 now, makes me want to go all out on this project.
As for BT and ABS and AF buffs, I looked at the spell list on the camelot herald and was tring to think of how to convert some of the abilites. Still working on it though, when I get a free moment i'm gonna work on this.
The AF buff -> mage armor basically a +4 AC bonus
The ABS buff -> A scaling version of Stoneskin, a DR of 1 per 2 levels/-|
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The AF buff -> mage armor basically a +4 AC bonus
The ABS buff -> A scaling version of Stoneskin, a DR of 1 per 2 levels/-
I was thinking for the AF buff, +2 deflection bonus to AC, +1 / four to six levels or so. Last all day (or until the caster goes unconscious). It will start out weaker than mage armor / a chain shirt, about as good as wearing leather, which seems to work pretty well with the numbers on the Herald, but eventually gets better, which, again, fits the current progression (never catching up to level-appropriate gear for someone who wears real armor).
The ABS buff doesn't show up until 10th, and never gets over DR 5 ish. Similarly lasts all day.
The one thing that I would absolutely *not* import from DAoC is the concept of learning 10 ranks of the same spell, making them auto-scale. No Ward Blow +1 deflection bonus to AC, Fend Blow +2 deflection bonus to AC, Dampen Blow +3 deflection bonus to AC...
Special 'Spec-only' spells would become available through some feat chains or something that only the member of that class can take, and designed so that he can't 'tri-spec,' by making them more like Rogue Talents, and only available via levels in the appropriate class. He wants the big AoE DoT in Spec Matter, or the higher-ranking Lifedrain from the Spec Body list, he'll have to spent his 'Cabalist Talents' to enhance those abilities (or buy any prerequisite abilities lower down the Body / Matter trees to pre-qualify).
Because every class in DAoC has these 'Spec lines,' every class would have these Specialization Talents showing up as they gain class levels, and be able to assign them into improving an ability from one of the Spec lines available to them. As the Wizard spends them in Fire, he guarantees that he now can never reach the very top-tier powers in Earth or Ice, since he'll only have enough of these 'Talents' at 20th level to have taken every Fire Spec talent, plus a few of the lower-ranking ones from Earth or Ice.
Sample idea, for the Cabalist;
2nd level – Essence Consumption (Su): As a full-attack action, you can attempt to steal life-energy from another. 30 ft. range, Will save for half damage, inflicting 1d4 damage. At 4th level, and each even level thereafter, you inflict an additional 1d4 damage. 25% of the damage you inflict with this attack is restored to you as healing. You can only use this effect a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Int modifier.
Spec Talent: Greater Essence Consumption – 50% of the damage you do with Essence Consumption is returned to you as healing, and excess becomes temporary hit points that last 10 minutes. Your essence consumption attacks can now draw upon the arcane, elemental or negative energies that animate a construct or undead creature as well.
1st level – Ward Blow (Su): You can spend one minute weaving a protective shield out of your own life-force. This shield can only be formed around yourself and provides a +2 deflection bonus to AC and lasts as long as you remain conscious, unless dispelled. Creating this shield causes you to suffer 2 hit points of nonlethal damage, which recovers at the normal rate. Until you restore any nonlethal damage from this effect, you are fatigued, but the condition ends immediately when you recover from the nonlethal damage. At 6th level, this bonus increases to +3, and costs 3 nonlethal damage to enact. At 12th level, the bonus becomes +4 (and costs 4 points of nonlethal damage). At 18th level, the protective shield affords a +5 deflection bonus to AC and you suffer 5 hit points of nonlethal damage in its formation. [Full-round action to create? +1 / 4 levels?]
Corrosive Mist (Su): As a full-attack action, you can cause a cloud of corrosive vapors to surround a single foe, inflicting 1d4 Acid damage per round for rounds equal to your Intelligence modifier. A creature cannot be affected by more than one cloud of corrosive mist at a time. At 5th level, the acid inflicts 1d6 damage per round, at 9th level, 1d8 damage per round, at 13th level 2d6 damage per round and at 19th level, 3d6 damage per round.
Spec Body Talent
Necrotic Wasting (Su): As a full-attack action, you can afflict another with life-eroding forces that inflict 1d4 damage per round for rounds equal to your Intelligence modifier. Against a living target, this attack uses negative energy. Against an undead creature, it uses instead positive energy. Constructs are unaffected. A creature cannot be affected by more than one cloud of corrosive mist at a time. At 5th level, the acid inflicts 1d6 damage per round, at 9th level, 1d8 damage per round, at 13th level 2d6 damage per round and at 19th level, 3d6 damage per round.
Spec Matter Talent
Clouds of Corrosion (Su): As a full-attack action, you can cause everyone in a 20 ft. burst to be affected by the effects of Corrosive Mist at your level. Once affected, a target continues to be affected even if it leaves the original target area, and newcomers to that area are not affected.
2nd – Weakening Curse (Su): As a standard action, you can cause a single foe within 30 ft. to suffer a -4 penalty to its strength score (to minimum of 1 through this effect). A single foe can only suffer from one Curse at a time. At 6th level, this increases to -6. At 10th level, to -8, at 14th level to -10 and at 18th level to -12.
4th – Ensnaring Curse (Su): As a standard action, you can cause a single foe within 30 ft. to suffer a -4 penalty to its dexterity score (to a minim of 1 through this effect). A single foe can only suffer from one Curse at a time. At 8th level this increases to -6, at 12th level, -8, at 16th level, -10 and at 20th level, -12.
Feat: Greater Weakening Curse – Your curse can now affect up to your Int mod in targets within a 20 ft. radius burst.
Feat: Greater Ensnaring Curse – Your curse can now affect up to your Int mod in targets within a 20 ft. radius burst.
Cripple Limb (Su): As a standard action, you can afflict another so that he can only take a 5 ft. step each round, attacks are unimpeded. Fort save each round to break resist, lasts Int mod + ½ caster level rounds.
Slow (Su): Staggers foe. Fort save each round to end, lasts caster level rounds.
Contagion (Su): Weak disease causes 1 Str and 1 Con damage and reduced movement rate of those afflicted by causing 1st step they take each round to cost double movement. Lasts Int + class level rounds, and Fort save to resist becomes harder to beat as levels accrue (10 + Int mod + ½ caster level?) Cures only prevent that rounds’ damage, two consecutive cures ends it. Alternately, just makes foe fatigued until they save to break it.
Shift Vigor (Su): Grant a target within 30 ft. some of your own life-force, up to your class level + Int mod in hit points in a single use. You can use this ability up to 3 + Int mod times per day, but cannot reduce your hit points below zero via this effect.
I was thinking for the AF buff, +2 deflection bonus to AC, +1 / four to six levels or so. Last all day (or until the caster goes unconscious). It will start out weaker than mage armor / a chain shirt, about as good as wearing leather, which seems to work pretty well with the numbers on the Herald, but eventually gets better, which, again, fits the current progression (never catching up to level-appropriate gear for someone who wears real armor).
I would still make it an armor bonus. That way is doesn't protect against spells, and it won't stack with armor.
The ABS buff doesn't show up until 10th, and never gets over DR 5 ish. Similarly lasts all day.
Those are probably better numbers.
The one thing that I would absolutely *not* import from DAoC is the concept of learning 10 ranks of the same spell, making them auto-scale. No Ward Blow +1 deflection bonus to AC, Fend Blow +2 deflection bonus to AC, Dampen Blow +3 deflection bonus to AC...
Agreed.