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I've been taking a look at my homebrew base classes lately, revising them and tweaking them here and there, and I decided that it might be nice to share them with everyone. I've put them out before, one at a time, but this will be the first time I post all of them at once.
Just a note: this is not necessarily a "read and critique" thread. I'm posting 6 classes, and to ask for feedback on all of them would be more than asking too much. This is just me deciding to share what I've put together with everyone.
Love them. Hate them. Use them or don't. Steal shamelessly (lord knows I have).
NOTE 1: I wouldn't consider any of these classes to be "complete." They still need playtesting to varying degrees. The most-playtested would likely be the Engineer, with the least being the Rogue.
NOTE 2: Google Drive appears to mess with the art, removing colors. If you download the file, however, it does not have this same problem.
These are my revised versions of some core classes: The Bard, Fighter, Monk, and Rogue.
Bard (Link)
This one wasn't really designed to fix any perceived flaws in the class (aside from versatile performance) so much as it was an intent to fix the flavor and overall design of the class. I never liked the idea of the bard actually performing during combat with instruments and the like, and always thought their spontaneous casting felt a bit off and un-earned. This version of the bard is more of an inspired artist than a performer, but still fulfills a lot of the bard's traditional role.
Fighter (Link)
The intent of this revision was to add some spice and variety to the traditional fighter, and maybe add a little oomph. I really like the fighter as a concept class, but I've always felt that it was a little dull. Every fighter feels the same, and this class is an attempt to add some much-needed spice to the good-old flavor.
Monk (Link)
This one...well, let's just admit it. This one was HEAVILY influenced by Ashiel's Revised Monk. You could call it a rip-off, and I wouldn't blame you. It's essentially a ground-up psionic rebuild of the class (using Dreamscarred Press's Psionics Unleashed rules). New flurry rules. New Wis-to-AC rules. New superspeed rules. It's all in there, making what I believe to be a must more balanced and interesting class.
Rogue (Link)
Four words. Skill Tricks and Guile. This rogue is extremely similar to the core rulebook rogue, but gains a point system called Guile (similar to grit) which it can spend on Skill Tricks (which are essentially ripped off from Kirth Gersen's own rogue, in Kirthfinder), basically transforming this rogue into a variant spellcaster. People have complained a lot about the rogue's weakness. Like most other "this class is weak" debates, my answer is versatility, which is what I try to bring to this variation of the rogue.
Also included are the alternate stealth rules proposed by the Paizo staff on the blog.
These classes are all my own, and were designed to fill niches that, I felt, weren't covered by the traditional rules. They are: The Engineer and Sentinel.
Engineer (Link)
People are always clamoring for an artificer, or some kind of technology-based class. This was my attempt at assuaging some of that demand. The class is built around a special item the engineer possesses, known as the Omni-Tool, which gains functions as the class increases in level. He also gains a large number of gadgets which he can use, as well as a walking automaton to help him fight his battles.
Sentinel (Link)
When the Magus was announced, and the first playtest hit the internet, one of the first comments was "this should have a full base attack bonus!" Of course, the Magus does not have that full BAB, and Paizo has not come out with an answer to that request (though many third party publishers have). So I decided to take a whack at it, and the result was the Sentinel. Its initial build is a bit of an arcane paladin, but with its own twist. It inflicts penalties on single opponents, and can cast arcane spells in medium (and potentially heavy) armor. Overall, it is designed to take on the big bads of the game, and make them a bit easier to kill.
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I hope you all enjoy! And if you don't, then please, be constructive below. I'm always looking to improve my work, and feedback from viewers like you is a big part of that.
...Catch Phrase,
-Chris
This is really cool. I've only checked out your two original classes thus far, but I really like 'em both. The sentinel has a really neat flavor to it that makes it feel different from a magus, which is something I've found lacking in other 3rd party/homebrew gish base classes.
Just a question...is the reasoning behind the engineer's death ray only adding 1/2 int bonus to damage that this is because it's an infinite resource, unlike the grenades which are limited like an alchemist's bombs? Merely curious, as I'm trying to figure out how to balance my own homebrew stuff.
Great stuff. Will probably try to nag my GM into letting me play an engineer in an upcoming campaign that starts in a few weeks. Cheers!
an interesting step making bards prepared casters, gonna have to mull these over.
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If you are looking for an arcane paladin type of class, you might want to check out the The Expanded Battle Scion from Kobold Press for inspiration!
Arcane paladin was very much the point of the class - heck, it says so right in the opening product text ;)
Lethal with Blade and Blast!
For years, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game fans have lamented the absence of an 'arcane paladin' type of class—one with full base attack bonus, limited spell access (to arcane spells instead of divine) and a small set of interesting, flavorful special abilities.
Lament no longer! The Expanded Battle Scion is just such a class!
This is really cool. I've only checked out your two original classes thus far, but I really like 'em both. The sentinel has a really neat flavor to it that makes it feel different from a magus, which is something I've found lacking in other 3rd party/homebrew gish base classes.
Just a question...is the reasoning behind the engineer's death ray only adding 1/2 int bonus to damage that this is because it's an infinite resource, unlike the grenades which are limited like an alchemist's bombs? Merely curious, as I'm trying to figure out how to balance my own homebrew stuff.
Great stuff. Will probably try to nag my GM into letting me play an engineer in an upcoming campaign that starts in a few weeks. Cheers!
First, thank you for the feedback!
Next: yes. The reason the engineer's death ray only adds half his Intelligence bonus to the damage is due to its "all day long" factor. Do keep in mind that an engineer can spend an artifice point to add energy damage to his death ray attacks, as he can with any other weapon, if he wants a little more oomph.
IMOP, the Sentinel is overpowered. Full BAB, d12 hit die and spells. It's like a over balanced Paladin.But other than that, it the Stalwart ability, I would change the wording to "If he succeeds a saving throw" instead of "if he makes a saving throw". That's all. It is cool.
Thank you for the feedback!
The sentinel is on the lower end of the "playtested" gauge, so it is one of the ones I worry about more than others. That said, I think it's currently balanced in the right direction as a heavily defensive class, even if it's not spot-on balanced overall.
Re: Stalwart: The wording is exactly the same as the Inquisitor ability of the same name (barring the word "inquisitor"). That said, I do see that the wording, interpreted the wrong way, would imply that if you made a Fort or Will saving throw AT ALL against certain effects, you would take no detrimental effects.
Thank you all for the feedback! I hope you enjoy!
...Catch Phrase,
-Chris
I played the engineer a while ago in a play by post and loved it. It's a very well done class!
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I truly love your work on Engineer and Wardens. (Reposting here as I did on the 3.1 Engineer thread as it's pertinent to that and the latest build)
Gotta say, of all the versions of Engineer, I truly loved 3.1 best. Fast Gadgets and all that are cool, but they are nothing compared to the scope and flexibility of Inventor, Cheap Inventions and Quick-Inventing. That really hits the stride of the build and class objectives (IMHO) far better than some of the iterations.
That being said I LOVE the revisions to constructs (and the gadgets ARE cool to see fleshed out to the further extent you did). The archetypes in 4.0 - 4.3 were unexpected icing on the cake.
Perchance do you have an assembled design journal? I checked your listed website and it just didn't have even as many of the versions as you've posted here, let alone the logic behind it (I've combed all your posts to try and get a handle on the whys and wherefores of some of the choices).
I'm currently promoting this to my GM for a campaign where I was using a technology-obsessed mage. 3.1 far better hits the mark than any of the other work I've seen out there including Eberron's artificer conversions.
Especially with your 4.3 archetypes and powers.
Is there a way you can explain your choice re: Inventor, Cheap Inventions and Quick-Inventing vs. the Gadgets in later versions? They just seem ... awfully limiting and humdrum compared to being able to mechanically justify spell effects as scientific inventions. As an "and" I find them cool, but as an "Or" I gotta say the luster really rubs off a bit.
In any case, thank you very, very much for the quality work! It is most appreciated.
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Had a supplemental thought that may help this a bit when it comes to build modularity / versatility. Perhaps my proposed desires may be addressed by this fix below. Replace instances of these abilities with the phrase "Bonus Gadget Feat" for the corresponding levels. (I believe 6th, 10th, 14th and 18th). Extra Function and Extra Artifice Pool should also have the [Gadget] identifier. I've rewritten Extra Upgrade below. The following feats also encompass the powers left out from 3.1 to more recent builds, as well as to some extent the ones that have replaced them. (You may even wish to have them add an ancillary benefit of +1 Artifice pool point considering many of them now have an activation cost not unlike Gunslinger Deed feats). So for clarity's sake, the old name of these class powers in in parenthesis next to the Feat name.
Budget Construction (Cheap Inventions) [Gadget]:
Prerequisite: Artifice Pool, one other Gadget Feat
The engineers understanding of real-world application through expands extensive work and jury rigging with his constructs. Thus he only needs to pay 1⁄2 as much to create items with their inventor special ability (1⁄4 the price of mundane items or potions, and 1/8 the price of wondrous items). Whenever he does this, he must spend 1 point from his artifice pool
Inventor Extraordinaire (Inventor) [Gadget]
Prerequisite: Artifice Pool, 4th Level
An engineer brings a new meaning to “jury-rigging” by throwing together some spare parts. As a full-round action, the engineer can create any non-magical item worth 10 gp per class level or less by piecing together spare parts and chemicals. To do this, he must immediately spend gp equal to 1⁄2 the price of the item created to represent the materials needed. He must also make a disable device check with a DC equal to the crafting DC required to make the item. If he fails the check, the item is destroyed and he does not gain its use.
Items invented this way are unstable and do not last long. After a number of rounds equal to the engineer’s level, the item crumbles and is destroyed. Weapons created in this way (including alchemical thrown items) are weak and poorly-made and are immediately destroyed if the user rolls a 1 on an attack roll with the weapon.
There is no price limit on wondrous items, but he cannot create a wondrous item with a caster level higher than his class level. In addition, an invented wondrous item cannot have a spell level higher than his intelligence score -10. He still pays 1 ⁄ 4 the price of a wondrous item upon inventing it. He must also spend 1 artifice point per spell level of the item when creating the item, and the disable device DC is equivalent to the spellcraft DC required to create the item (including the +5 to the DC for not possessing the required spell).
Homebrewer Extraordinaire (Inventor - Potion Creation) [Gadget]
Prerequisite: Artifice Pool, 4th Level
The engineer has dabbled in enough chemistry to pick up potion-craft. Perhaps this is enhanced by his love of a cool pint after a hard day in the lab. As a full-round action, he brews potions by imparting some of his quasi-magical energy into the scrap and chemicals as he concocts and ferments them (this is instead a supernatural ability). To do this, he must immediately spend gp equal to 1⁄2 the price of the item created to represent the materials needed. He must also make a disable device check with a DC equal to the crafting DC required to make the potion. If he fails the check, the brew is destroyed and he does not gain its use. There is no price limit on invented 'brews but he cannot create a potion with a caster level higher than his class level. In addition, an invented potion cannot have a spell level higher than his intelligence score -10. He pays 1⁄2 the price of the potion in materials before brewing it. He must also spend 1 artifice point per spell level of the potion when creating it, and roll a disable device check equivalent to the spellcraft DC required to brew it (including the +5 to the DC for not possessing the required spell). Potions invented this way are unstable and do not last long. After a number of rounds equal to the engineer’s level, the draft goes unstable and may become unpredictably explosive of toxic.
Speedy Construction (Quick Inventing) [Gadget]
Prerequisite: Artifice Pool, Gadgeteer/Magical Talent
Engineer may create an item with the Inventor ability as a standard action instead of a full-round action. If making Gadgets on the pre-existing list, it only takes a half hour. This requires two Artifice Pool Points
Modify Automaton [Gadget]
Prerequisite: Artifice Pool, Automaton Class Feature
Benefit: The engineer can modify his automaton’s upgrades. By taking a full day to work on the automaton, he can re-assign a number of upgrades equal to half his intelligence modifier. This requires spending an equal number of Artifice Pool Points.
Additional Clockwork Companion [Gadget] (per the Druid feat Additional Animal Companion)
Prerequisite: Cha 13, Automaton class feature
Benefit: You gain an additional clockwork companion. Your effective engineer level for the purposes of the second companion is your normal level -3.
Möbius Tool [Gadget]
Prerequisite: Artifice Pool, Omnitool
Benefit: You may add ONE power from the Tek-Warrior's Möbius Weapon list to your OmniTool. This feat may not be taken more than once. Conversely, Tek-Warriors who take this may add ONE Function from the list for use with (and through) their Möbius Weapon.
Extra Upgrade [Gadget]
Prerequisite: Artifice Pool, Automaton/Singularity class feature
Benefit: You may add ONE additional upgrade to your Automaton, or yourself. If you are applying this to yourself, this requires you to permanently dedicate 2 Artifice Pool points. You may reclaim them if you wish to destroy/undo said upgrade. It will take one week until they are fully recovered.
Uses for your Automaton stack. Uses for yourself do not.