I have turned over my recommended edits to Jeremy. Given he's at GenCon I'm sure we won't see the PDF released for a week or more.
As with Path of War, now that I've been forced to read this word-for-word, I'm pretty happy. I loved the 3.5 MoI and Sslarn has done it justice. I'd love to see lots more veils, but hopefully that's a thing for a followup book.
P.S. I can totally imagine a soulknife archetype that wraps his mind blade in a couple of these veils for unique effects, or a psychic warrior who substitutes in veils for powers. Yummy.
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Afterthought... I was just imagining an Inquisitor using veils and thought of...
Confession Cloak: you wear it, you gain bonus to Sense Motive, you bind it, then wrap it around a interrogatee and crush a confession out of them. Every time they try to lie within 5ft of you, they make a save or take some damage. You can use Heal to notice this.
Design Manager
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Afterthought... I was just imagining an Inquisitor using veils and thought of...
Confession Cloak: you wear it, you gain bonus to Sense Motive, you bind it, then wrap it around a interrogatee and crush a confession out of them. Every time they try to lie within 5ft of you, they make a save or take some damage. You can use Heal to notice this.
Hah! I love it! Definitely expect more veils in the final product. There are some veils that will be designated to specific classes, but which made more sense to save for the final supplemental release, so we're not even quite done with the current unveiling (see what I did there?).
Anguish, do you mind kicking those edits over my way in case they're associated with duplicated materials in the guru or daevic releases? That way I can pre-clean the docs a bit and make your life easier when I ask you to check out the next one :)
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Hah! I love it! Definitely expect more veils in the final product. There are some veils that will be designated to specific classes, but which made more sense to save for the final supplemental release, so we're not even quite done with the current unveiling (see what I did there?).
You ignore my sonic screwdriver pun from yesterday, I ignore yours. Fair is fair.
I have three more I'll pitch you in a couple days...
Ring of Rot - touch & kill, slowly
Fish Gills - breathe water, swim
Imposter's Facemask - steal a foe's identity, link fates
I may have a few more percolating. I try to come up with stuff that isn't imbalanced but isn't just spell-in-a-box. For instance I have a psionic power that needs badly to squeeze out of my head for the tactician class that allows him to redirect actions throughout his collective. As in, "hey, Thungor, mind if I give your next move action to Squazoo? He could really use a triple-move next round." It's kind of White Raven Tactics from Book of Nine Swords, only... scales through augmentation, costs power points (and the manifester's casting action), and uses the network. But I digress. The point I'm trying to make is that where I'm at, the box is somewhere to my left... I'm clearly outside of it.
Anguish, do you mind kicking those edits over my way in case they're associated with duplicated materials in the guru or daevic releases? That way I can pre-clean the docs a bit and make your life easier when I ask you to check out the next one :)
No problem. I think I sent you a PM last week with my e-mail address. Send me an e-mail and I'll reply with the DOC file late tonight. If I didn't, let me know where you want it sent.
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*pondering*
We've done Psionics Unleashed, Expanded and Augmented.So if we do Psionics Unveiled...
*continues pondering*
I'm hearing "keep jotting notes".
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ANOTHER! *cup smash!*
Keep up the good work guys =D Can't wait til after GenCon so we can get our digital hands on this thing.
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Finally have time to pop in from a very busy GenCon.
Getting this out is definitely on my list of priorities post-convention! There have been people here asking about it, which has been awesome. I'm looking forward to adding it to our offerings and hopefully having a printed release ready for next year's GenCon!
These are some of my thoughts. Sslarn, you're welcome to use them, not use them, or gut them for the value of their entrails, reworking them as you see fit. As with my prior submissions to you, these are but ideas, and you're welcome to use them as inspiration, as written, or as toilet paper without offending me.
Fish Gills to follow once I've worked out fully what I want it to do.
ABLATIVE ANKHEG CARAPACE
Descriptors: force
Class: Daevic, vizier
Slot: Chest
Saving Throw: none
The faint image of angular chitin plates encases the wearer of this veil, giving him the appearance of an insect.
Shaping this veil grants its wearer a +4 armor bonus to AC. This is a force effect.
Essence: For each point of essence invested in this veil, the bonus to AC increases by 1. Each time the wearer is successfully struck by an attack that targets his full AC or flat-footed AC, one point of essence is immediately released from this veil and the bonus it grants is reduced by 1. If the veil is reduced to have zero invested essentia by such an attack, it immediately becomes completely inert, granting no bonus to AC whatsoever.
Chakra Bind (Chest): When bound to a veilweaver’s Chest chakra, this force armor becomes so hard that it may damage weapons that strike it. Each time the wearer is successfully struck by a melee weapon, the wearer can make a free sunder attempt, using his veilweaver level in place of his base attack bonus, and gaining a bonus to this check equal to his primary veilweaving modifier. If the sunder attempt is successful, the Ablative Ankheg Carapace deals damage to the attack weapon equal to the points of essential currently invested. This veil is treated as if it were made of adamantine, ignoring hardness less than 20.
CONFESSION CLOAK
Descriptors: [mind-affecting]
Class: Guru, vizier
Slot: Shoulders
Saving Throw: Will negates
A series of greenish, scaled concentric rings – reminiscent of a coiled snake – surrounds the wearer of this veil. The rings appear to slowly rotate, suggesting a constriction that never seems to bother its wearer.
When a veilshaper shapes this veil around his body, he partitions off some of his mind, blocking the parts that are sometimes fooled by social convention. The wearer gains a +2 insight bonus to Sense Motive checks while this veil is bound, relying on his reptilian hind-brain to prevent him from being mislead.
Essence: For each point of essence invested into this veil, the bonus to Sense Motive checks is increased by +2.
Chakra Bind (Shoulders): When the veilweaver binds a Confession Cloak to his Shoulders chakra, the akashic cape becomes an extension to his very soul, acting as if it were an extra limb. The wearer may wrap the cloak around an adjacent target (of the same size or smaller as him) as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. In order to wrap the target within the cloak’s embrace, the wearer must make a melee touch attack. The target embraced within the confines of this veil becomes aware that if it knowingly speaks a falsehood, the veil will contract with crushing force. A target may make a Will save with each lie to fool the veil but if the target fails, they take 1d6 points of damage per point of essence invested in this veil. The wearer may make Heal checks as usual to observe the effect their veil is having upon his target. This veil does not prevent an enveloped target from moving outside of its effect, nor does it compel or demand answers; a target creature may opt to remain silent instead of divulging secrets.
IMPOSTER’S FACEMASK
Descriptors: none
Class: Vizier
Slot: Head
Saving Throw: Will negates
Under most circumstances, this veil is nearly invisible, covering its wearer’s face with a barely discernable shimmer. When made active, it snaps into solidity and meshes with the wearer’s skin and scalp, transforming his appearance radically.
This veil grants its wearer a +4 bonus to Disguise checks to imitate specific known individuals the wearer has seen. It can be used to mimic individuals the wearer has a description of but then only offers a +2 bonus.
Essence: For each point of essence invested into this veil, the bonus to Disguise checks is increased by +2 regardless of if the individual is known to the wearer or not.
Chakra Bind (Head): While the veilweaver has this veil bound to his Head chakra, he is granted an extraordinarily powerful form of identity-theft. As a standard action which does not provoke attacks of opportunity, the wearer may link his soul to that of an opponent within 30 feet for one round. The target creature must have an Intelligence score and is granted a Will save to negate this intrusion. If the target fails its saving throw, the Imposter’s Facemask assumes the form of a perfect reproduction of the target, and the wearer automatically succeeds at any visual Disguise checks that rely on his face. Further, the wearer of this veil effectively becomes a spiritual second instance of the target, linking their fates. Any successful attacks made against the wearer of this veil are automatically inflicted upon the target instead. Thus, the wearer’s allies may attack him, striking at his armor class in order to deliver harm against an imitated foe. The wearer of this veil takes half of any hit point damage delivered to his foe (which itself takes full damage) but may not apply mitigating effects such as damage reduction. Attacks that do other forms of harm than hit point damage are effectively duplicated, often requiring both the veilweaver and his foe to make saving throws. For instance, were the veilweaver targeted by a blindness/deafness spell, both he and his imitated target would need to make saving throws or become blind.
RING OF ROT
Descriptors: none
Class: Vizier
Slot: Ring
Saving Throw: Fort negates
This ring appears as a torus of necrotic, diseased flesh around its wearer’s finger.
When this veil is shaped, the wearer becomes able to deliver a horribly debilitating touch attack. The veilweaver may make a melee touch attack against a foe as a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If this touch attack is successful, the veilweaver then leaves his hand in contact with the foe, doing no immediate harm. If his hand is still in contact with his enemy at the start of his next turn, the foe must make a Fortitude save or acquire one temporary negative level. While the wearer is delivering this attack, he is denied his Dexterity bonus to armor class as he is inadequately mobile to dodge incoming attacks.
Essence: For every two points of essence invested in this veil, the Ring of Rot inflicts one additional temporary negative level per round it remains in contact with a target.
Chakra Bind (Ring): If a veilweaver binds this veil to his Ring chakra, for each temporary negative level inflicted, the wearer gains five temporary hit points. These hit points stack with themselves to a maximum of five times the number of points of essence invested.
So how many variations of the color blue are going to be in the final release?
My bookie is telling me the over/under on it is 38. ;)
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So how many variations of the color blue are going to be in the final release?
My bookie is telling me the over/under on it is 38. ;)
From what I've read, the obsession with a particular hue isn't a thing in this book.
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So how many variations of the color blue are going to be in the final release?
My bookie is telling me the over/under on it is 38. ;)
I took blue out back and shot it in the head. I think one reference to "azure" in an aquatic veil may have crept in, but otherwise we tried to shoot for themes that weren't color-based. Many of the veils, though not specifically noted as such, were set up so that you could click them together in thematic and complimentary themes. A character who wanted to play a veilweaver with a draconic theme, for example, might choose a Daevic and pick up Gorget of the Wyrm, Wrathful Claws, Sea Drake's Talons,and Cincture of the Dragon, giving them all of the appropriate natural attacks, breath weapon, natural armor, etc.
Thank you for that. I feel that themes based on things instead of colors is much stronger.
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Nice.
With that and the compiled Path of War, it's a good time to be a DSP fan.
I was looking at the DPS stuff, and thinking pretty much all the basic concepts are covered. When Akashic Mysteries is finished, I might run a DSP Classes only game, no core just Psionics, Initiators and Veilweavers.
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Woo! Thank you for the hard work!
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Just wanted to pop in and tell everyone that Akashic Mysteries is being polished in layout and we hope to have the subscription and first release ready real soon! :D
- Andreas Rönnqvist
Dreamscarred Press
Just finished reading the Paths of War compilation I picked up at GenCon and really liked it! Can't wait to pickup the next book! Thanks guys.
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Guru is also in layout now, though I'm sending over some last minute tweaks and adjustments. I've got some extra time off this week I'll be using to post up the final drafts of the remaining materials, so keep an eye out for those.
Also, keep your eyes open for an upcoming thread regarding another project I'm working on for DSP which should be going into playtest very soon. One word hint: psitech.
....
It may be a made-up word but I think you get the hint. No? How about "Dreamscarred Press explores a futuristic setting with psionic technology including mechanical suits with psicrystal cores"? Just in case you felt like your psionic characters weren't getting the love they deserve during your play-through of Iron Gods :)
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And for your follow up question "Will there be a prestige class that allows me to turn my kineticist into a machine-riding beam blaster fulfilling all of my dreams since Final Fantasy 6?" The answer is "I'm already looking into it and if there's enough material there to justify a PrC, then hell yeah. Otherwise there will at least be a feat."
I'm looking out for you Orthos.
It's like you're in my head! (Srsly, I need that rent money.) ;)
Guru is also in layout now, though I'm sending over some last minute tweaks and adjustments. I've got some extra time off this week I'll be using to post up the final drafts of the remaining materials, so keep an eye out for those.
Don't forget to shove that at me once finalized if you want me to give it a readthrough.
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Guru is also in layout now, though I'm sending over some last minute tweaks and adjustments. I've got some extra time off this week I'll be using to post up the final drafts of the remaining materials, so keep an eye out for those.Don't forget to shove that at me once finalized if you want me to give it a readthrough.
They got it into layout way faster than I thought they would, which is depressing because I went through and addressed all of the formatting issues we talked about with the Vizier only to discover that I was going to create a lot of extra work since the layout was farther along than I expected :P
Michael - I may have confused which was in layout and which wasn't. Looks like the Vizier is the one that has layout complete. Guru I hadn't started yet because we need more art, so feel free to send it off to Anguish.
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Michael - I may have confused which was in layout and which wasn't. Looks like the Vizier is the one that has layout complete. Guru I hadn't started yet because we need more art, so feel free to send it off to Anguish.
Well hot damn, we're back and tracking! Jeremy, just ignore the Guru docs I sent you two days ago, I'll send the updated Guru over to Anguish and let him edit before sending it back to you for layout.
It's nice when we're where I think we are, drastically lowers my stress levels :)
So, Vizier is in the late stages of layout, Guru will be going to Anguish for editing, final playtest docs for everything else throughout the week. I'll be at PAX Prime this weekend, but assuming I skip day 4 I'll try and use that time to get the Pharaoh with a complete Empty Pyramid discipline into everyone's hot little hands, and then I'm going to be focused on our psitech project for probably the next two weeks, which will include posting up a new thread with playtest docs for those materials.
This is me, laughing.
Vizier laid out, edited, in Jeremy's hands to apply edits.
Guru still to come to me, then layout.
Got it. Well, no, I don't have it, but I understand it.
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This is me, laughing.
Vizier laid out, edited, in Jeremy's hands to apply edits.
Guru still to come to me, then layout.Got it. Well, no, I don't have it, but I understand it.
I spent like two hours highlighting things in the Guru doc because I thought someone had gone on a layout spree and gotten way ahead of me :P
I'll be sending you the Guru docs this evening or tomorrow at the latest Anguish. When you review them is of course up to you, just wanted to let you know what I'd be doing.
You know, it's kind of sad mining my home campaigns for materials that I will inevitably brutalize and divorce from their native homes so they can be packaged for commercial use. Of course, for that little bit of sadness there's all the fun that comes from seeing hoomebrewed materials evolve into well polished products that other people get to play and enjoy. Psimechs, many of the custom veils, the Vizier, the Daevic, and some things yet unseen all have their roots in one of my 3 homebrew settings. Oceaq was my aquatic setting in 3.5 which eventually borrowed a lot of the underwater mechanics from Cerulean Seas when I converted it to Pathfinder, and that's what got me started on revamping the Incarnum system (Whirlpool Lash was my first original veil, used to cause the disoriented condition to aquatic enemies. The mechs were drawn up for use in my homebrew 300X, a world that's kind of like Golarion in a more advanced era; the first adventure I ran in 300X involved the party working as high-tech security for a mech-hockey game between the Orsaw Orcs and the Milltown Smiths while goblin businessmen attending the event were targeted for assassination and replacement by alien shapeshifters and anti-goblin gnomish terrorists tried to disrupt the event by programming the zamboni to go on a killing spree.
Good times.... The psimechs we'll be premiering soon are going to be a little more metal and a little less goofy than 300X, but I'll be damned if I can think of a night where my group had more fun than in that adventure.
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You know, it's kind of sad mining my home campaigns for materials that I will inevitably brutalize and divorce from their native homes so they can be packaged for commercial use. Of course, for that little bit of sadness there's all the fun that comes from seeing hoomebrewed materials evolve into well polished products that other people get to play and enjoy.
I dunno. There's been a bunch of "brilliant idea" stuff happen at my table that never quite made it to formal rules that might have been worthwhile.
I mean... imagine if stuff like this was being published:
zombie soother
This single-use alchemical item causes zombies to cease aggression as they enjoy the brain-flavored juices coating its surface. Shaped as a baby pacifier, this cheap item has been known to give many a villager just enough time to get away and summon adventurers. Inserting a zombie soother into the mouth of a rampaging undead is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity but at a -4 penalty due to the distraction its scent causes. A zombie stands in place and sucks for one minute, then this item becomes worthless.
*SNERK!*
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I guess the hype train has no brakes. I gotta convince my DM to let me playtest that stuff in our upcoming Numeria campaign.
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Yo dawg.
Where's mah subscription? :D
Since the last announcement of a date we got was "goes through Layout after Gencon", I presume it's still in that process. Coupled with Sslarn being super sick after the con, I imagine there's a slight delay.
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Update:
I went to PAX and caught some kind of respiratory bug that turned into pneumonia and am only now crawling out of the kolto vat (bacta tank?).
Anyways, with Path of War wrapped Vizier should be available any time (I've been saying that for a while, Vizier has been tee'd up and ready but the release schedule is what is and Kickstarter customers had first priority, existing subscribers with Path of War had second, and then AkMy gets its turn).
Guru should be ready shortly thereafter followed by Daevic with supplementals as the final partial release before we go to the compilation. We're looking at about 128 pages for the final release.
Pharaoh is queued up and just needs about 2 dedicated hours of time where I'm not loopy from drugs or fever before I send it over to Chris for a final review before going into open playtest. Seriously though, I should not write when ill, it just creates more work for me later when I have to sift through the addled ravings of the lunatic who was occupying my head and try to turn it back into solid mechanics.
The earlier mentioned psitech project is under way, hopefully with a playtest going up within the next couple weeks. Originally I was going to do 3 new classes for that as well, but after some discussion and careful thought we've decided to do one class, two major feat trees, numerous archetypes, and as many cool items as we can cram in.
Thanks everyone!
Damn, didn't know it'd turned into pneumonia. Been there, done that. You have my greatest sympathies, man. Take all the time you need.
Thanks for the update, Ssalarn. Hope you feel better!
-Kcinlive
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So here's where things are:
I've got to get the work-in-progress and individual product cover done and all the little things that come with getting a subscription model set up.
Last week my time was spent working on getting Path of War to the printer, getting one of the Ultimate Psionics kickstarter-exclusive books to the printer, and trying to get another of the Ultimate Psionics books finished (Psionics Embodied), along with coordinating with our freelancers, particularly on ANOTHER of our Ultimate Psionics books (the adventure). As you can see, that Kickstarter fulfillment is still eating up most of my time. Plus shipping out miniatures from our Psionic Miniatures Kickstarter (thankfully that one is nearly finished).
This week, my time will be spent on: more mini shipments, reviewing proof books from the printer, getting Akashic Mysteries set up for subscription / preorder, and hopefully getting another book sent off to the printer.
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This is to bring up a past subject, but I also enjoy the idea of the cobra for the Pharaoh instead of a scarab, mainly because of Wadjet, which was a cobra being who was the protector of Country, Pharaohs and other deities. Which having the cobra would make better sense of a protector and helper, and still become a shield by wrapping around your arm and covering itself with the energy of a veil to become a buckler still...More pleasing aesthetic that way as well.
The Pharaoh's Scarab is going to change to a "Pharoah's Bond" type of deal where he has a few different options to choose from. The odds of a cobra ending up in that mix are very, very high.
Now I have a new vision for a warlock-like class that uses essence (or similar system of investing points into abilities) to modify its blast according to investments made...
Elements? Virtues/vices? Hmmm...
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So... Subscription ETA?
Jeremy is working on getting all the subscription stuff set up this week. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will be available this week, but we're in the "any time now" window.
Now I have a new vision for a warlock-like class that uses essence (or similar system of investing points into abilities) to modify its blast according to investments made...Elements? Virtues/vices? Hmmm...
I've been working on an elementalist class (tentatively called the Tatvayizt but guaranteed to get a name change) that chooses an attack mode (strikes, blasts, etc) and then gains "attunements" that it can invest in which modify its attack mode. For example, a 7th level Tatvayist may be attuned to fire with the elemental blast attack mode and 2 points invested in Lingering Caress and 2 points in Amplified Damage woud be able to fire a 30 foot line of flame that deals 3d6 fire damage plus 2d4 additional fire damage on the following round. Something like that what you're picturing?
Yes... :(
I guess I came to the party a little late :/
I'd just like to say:
YUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
I'm such a huge fanboy for this subsystem it's not even funny. Excited to see what y'all at DSP do with it.
(Also a fan of psionics and Bo9S and haven't been overly disappointed yet :3)
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Yes... :(
I can't remember if I talked about them in this thread (I know we had some discussions on the GitP site), but in my line up for future classes using the system I've got the Pharaoh, Tatvayist, and Vedist. The Tatvayist is the elementalist class with customizable elemental combat modes, and the Vedist is a true dedicated healing class whose mechanics are still in process but the current idea is that he can invest Essence in his allies for bolstering effects, and then reclaim the Essence drawing out status effects and applying them to himself but gaining a boosted save against the ability. So, the basic idea there is that a Vedist could invest 2 Essence into an ally to give them a +2 to Fortitude saves, and then if they fail their save (say against a disease), the Vedist could reclaim that Essence, drawing the disease out with it, and then make his own save with a bonus equal 2 + reclaimed Essence. It's still really fiddly, but I'll get it hammered out after I"m happy with the other materials that are ahead of it on the release schedule.
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I have a question about the most recent update to the Deavic. Why did it go from 4+Int to 2+Int skill points? This seems an odd change to me. Was it because of the ability to occasionally get a competence bonus on cha, dex, or str skills at odd numbered levels?
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I have a question about the most recent update to the Deavic. Why did it go from 4+Int to 2+Int skill points? This seems an odd change to me. Was it because of the ability to occasionally get a competence bonus on cha, dex, or str skills at odd numbered levels?
The Daevic, amongst all the Akashic classes, has been a constant delicate balancing act. It's a powerful martial class with built-in skill boosters and the ability to drastically change its combat style overnight, and a nice selection of "caster-y" abilities to round it out and keep it relevant. Basically, as we get closer and closer to the final version of the class, it becomes more and more important that the classes define their own niche better while separating themselves from other class' territory. I think that between his veils, his class based skill boosts, and his high level of combat competence, 2+Int skills is probably appropriate for the Daevic. This will make him competent enough in skill land to be a regular contributor (still head and shoulders above the Fighter with some good options that can boost him past the Cavalier and Soulknife), while shifting away a bit from the "dress to impress" builds that made some previous Daevics skill masters in the city and combat kings on the road.
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I have a question about the most recent update to the Deavic. Why did it go from 4+Int to 2+Int skill points? This seems an odd change to me. Was it because of the ability to occasionally get a competence bonus on cha, dex, or str skills at odd numbered levels?The Daevic, amongst all the Akashic classes, has been a constant delicate balancing act. It's a powerful martial class with built-in skill boosters and the ability to drastically change its combat style overnight, and a nice selection of "caster-y" abilities to round it out and keep it relevant. Basically, as we get closer and closer to the final version of the class, it becomes more and more important that the classes define their own niche better while separating themselves from other class' territory. I think that between his veils, his class based skill boosts, and his high level of combat competence, 2+Int skills is probably appropriate for the Daevic. This will make him competent enough in skill land to be a regular contributor (still head and shoulders above the Fighter with some good options that can boost him past the Cavalier and Soulknife), while shifting away a bit from the "dress to impress" builds that made some previous Daevics skill masters in the city and combat kings on the road.
Well that does make some since, even if I personally felt only classes focused almost exclusively on Int like wizards and witches should get the 2+Int skill points per level, and other classes should have 4+Int at the minimum. Thanks for the explanation it is appreciated.