Two of the players in my group are playing sorcerers. One of the sorcerers plans on choosing the Draconic bloodline and taking the Dragon Disciple prestige class. The other player wants to take the Destined bloodline. Now, originally, we were going to play 3.5, but we just recently made the transition to Pathfinder. The second sorcerer was going to take the Fatespinner prestige class from Complete Arcane, but I offered to redesign the class so that it aligned better with the Destined bloodline, just like Dragon Disciple is aligned with the Draconic bloodline.
So here is my redesigned prestige class: Destiny Weaver. Please give me some constructive feedback; I'm doing my best not to make this class overpowered, but I'm relatively new at designing custom content, so I'm open to criticism.
Destiny Weaver
Hit Die: d6
Base Attack Bonus: +1/2
Good Saving Throws: All
Requirements: Knowledge (arcana) 7 ranks, ability to cast 4th-level arcane spells. If the character has sorcerer levels, he must have the Destined bloodline. If the character gains levels of sorcerer after taking this class, he must take the Destined bloodline.
Class Skills: The destiny weaver's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Perception (Cha), Spellcraft (Int), and Survival (Wis).
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Destiny weavers gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
1st level: Spirit of destiny:
Spirit of Destiny: A destiny weaver adds his level to his sorcerer levels when determining the powers gained from his bloodline. If the destiny weaver does not have levels of sorcerer, he instead gains the bloodline powers of the Destined bloodline, using his destiny weaver level as his sorcerer level to determine the bonuses gained. This ability does not grant bonus spells to a sorcerer unless he possess spell slots of an appropriate level. Such bonus spells are automatically granted if the sorcerer gains spell slots of the spell's level.
Spells per Day: At each level except for 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th, a destiny weaver gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a destiny weaver, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.
Weave Destiny: Starting at 2nd level, a destiny weaver gains a pool of destiny points. The number of points in a destiny weaver's destiny pool is equal to 1/2 his destiny weaver level + his Charisma modifier. As an immediate action, a destiny weaver may spend one destiny point to reroll any one attack roll, critical hit confirmation roll, or level check made to overcome spell resistance. The player must decide to use this ability after the first roll is made but before the results are revealed by the GM. The second roll must be accepted, even if the results are worse. Once the destiny weaver's level is high enough to grant the It Was Meant To Be ability through his Destined bloodline, he loses the ability and instead gains one bonus point to his destined pool for each daily use of It Was Meant To Be he would have. (+1 point at 9th level, and +2 points at 17th level)
Bloodline Feat: Upon reaching 2nd level, and every three levels thereafter, a destiny weaver receives one bonus feat, chosen from the Destined bloodline's bonus feat list.
3rd level: Blessed destiny, guided, +1 spells:
Blessed Destiny: At 3rd level, a destiny weaver gains a bonus equal to his Charisma bonus (if any) to all saving throws. This bonus does not stack with the luck bonus granted by the Aura of Destiny from another destiny weaver (see Aura of Destiny below). A destiny weaver loses this bonus if he has no points remaining in his destiny pool.
Guided: Starting at 3rd level, a destiny weaver applies the luck bonus from his Destined bloodline Fated ability to his AC against attacks of opportunity from casting a spell.
4th level: Evasion:
Evasion: Starting at 4th level, if a destiny weaver makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the destiny weaver is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless destiny weaver does not gain the benefit of Evasion.
5th level: Within reach, bloodline feat, +1 spells:
Within Reach: At 5th level, a destiny weaver gains the Within Reach power of the Destined bloodline, even if his level does not yet grant that power. (Once per day, when an attack or spell that causes damage would result in his death, he may attempt a DC 20 Will save. If successful, the destiny weaver is instead reduced to -1 hit points and is automatically stabilized. The bonus from his Fated ability applies to this save.) Once his level is high enough to grant this ability through the bloodline, the destiny weaver gains an additional use of Within Reach each day.
6th level: Join destiny, +1 spells:
Join Destiny: Upon reaching 6th level, as an immediate action, a destiny weaver may spend two points from his destiny pool to allow an ally he can see within 30 feet to reroll any one attack roll, critical hit confirmation roll, or level check made to overcome spell resistance. This ability otherwise functions like the Weave Destiny ability.
7th level: Mettle:
Mettle: Beginning at 7th level, if a destiny weaver makes a successful Will or Fortitude saving throw against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Will half or Fortitude partial), he instead completely negates the effect. An unconscious or sleeping destiny weaver does not gain the benefit of Mettle.
Bind Destiny: Upon reaching 8th level, as an immediate action, a destiny weaver may spend three points from his destiny pool to allow an enemy he can see within 30 feet to reroll any one attack roll, critical hit confirmation roll, or level check made to overcome spell resistance. This ability otherwise functions like the Weave Destiny ability.
9th level: Aura of destiny, +1 spells:
Aura of Destiny: At 9th level, a destiny weaver grants a luck bonus to the saving throws of all allies within 10 feet equal to the bonus granted to himself by the Blessed Destiny ability. They lose this bonus if the destiny weaver has no points remaining in his destiny pool.
10th level: Seal destiny:
Seal Destiny: At 10th level, a destiny weaver can seal the fate of a friend or foe. Once per day as a free action, the destiny weaver selects a target creature he can see within 30 feet. The creature receives either a -10 penalty or a +10 bonus on its next saving throw for 1 round. A destiny weaver cannot target himself with this ability.
Ok, at a cursory glance I don't like it. I get what you're trying to do, but it needs some work.
For starters, the destiny bloodline is probably the lamest of all the sorcerer bloodlines. That's not really your fault, and since your player chose it I'm gonna assume that it's not really up for debate. I'm just stating this to really put it out there.
So, what do sorcerers do? They cast spells. That's pretty much their gig. Bloodlines are a great way to flavor them and give them extra goodies for staying pure, but in the end they're casting spells. The first problem I'm seeing with your prestige class is that is takes away 4 spellcasting levels from the sorcerer. Holy effin' god.
Now, I realize that you're probably basing this on the dragon disciple prestige class, and I'm with you on that one. The DD takes away 4 levels of spellcasting to offer the sorcerer/bard a new focus: melee combat. It gives a great hit die, decent BAB, bonuses to combat abilities like strength & a breath weapon, etc. It takes the sorcerer from a spellcaster with bizarrely useless claws a couple rounds a day to a clawed melee combatant who's pretty good with a spell.
Now your prestige class here seems to be focusing on keeping the sorcerer alive. And that's pretty much it, yeah. You give up 4 levels of spellcasting (which means 9th level spells) to be better at living.
Right then. I really like that you're trying to buff up this underpowered bloodline, but it needs to be combat viable. Good start, but let's work forward.
1. Give back some of the spellcasting. I'd say no more than 2 levels lost, probably just 1.
2. Give the sorcerer the ability to inflict "unluck" on her enemies. Penalties to saves, initiative, etc. Make her a debuffer as well as a party boon.
3. Reactive abilities would be cool- stuff that activates when you succeed on saving throws. Spell turning, damage reflection, ect. Basically turning your destiny against your enemies.
For starters, the destiny bloodline is probably the lamest of all the sorcerer bloodlines.
I honestly got the same impression when I first read about the Destined bloodline, but I just assumed that I wasn't appreciating the Destined powers.
Sean FitzSimon wrote:
Now your prestige class here seems to be focusing on keeping the sorcerer alive. And that's pretty much it, yeah. You give up 4 levels of spellcasting (which means 9th level spells) to be better at living.
Hm. Never thought about looking at it that way. As I mentioned, I started with the Fatespinner class from Complete Arcane, but I think most of it went out the window when I actually started writing down the design. In fact, it wasn't until you mentioned it that I realized how much I ended up making the abilities about, as you put it, being "better at living".
Sean FitzSimon wrote:
1. Give back some of the spellcasting. I'd say no more than 2 levels lost, probably just 1.
Done. I didn't know if my class was underpowered or overpowered, so I elected to err on the side of underpowered by taking away a spellcasting level. (DD actually gives 7/10, so my class is even more conservative than that.) When I chose to make Destiny Weaver 6/10, I didn't even think about the implications of max spell level.
Sean FitzSimon wrote:
2. Give the sorcerer the ability to inflict "unluck" on her enemies. Penalties to saves, initiative, etc. Make her a debuffer as well as a party boon.
I like that idea. This is probably closer to what the Fatespinner class was, and it's a cool direction for the Destiny Weaver class to go. Perhaps something similar to the Hexblade's curse? There are definitely a lot of ways I can go here. I'll probably collapse Weave Destiny, Join Destiny, and Bind Destiny into one ability all learned at the same level, and I'll add some debuff abilities that are also tied to the destiny point pool.
Sean FitzSimon wrote:
3. Reactive abilities would be cool- stuff that activates when you succeed on saving throws. Spell turning, damage reflection, ect. Basically turning your destiny against your enemies.
The spell turning idea sounds most interesting. Perhaps something similar to spell resistance, except instead of shrugging off the spell, it gets reflected back to the caster? Seems more like it should be tied to saving throws like you first suggested, though. Hm...
Thanks for all the suggestions! I appreciate your helpful analysis. It helped me think about things from a better perspective. I'll post an update when I give the class a makeover.
Not sure if this will help at all but the Occult Slayer has some ability that allows it to reflect spells back at it's enemies, I think it's a certain number of times/day though.
