Kineticist (first impressions)

[Ventnor]

Just have you Telekineticist carry some daggers around. They're light objects, after all.

[Kolokotroni]

Matthias wrote:

I would highly recommend against making it something as bland as a basic blast of force. Yes there should be clearer rules on the limits of the blast, but something as easy as a handful of pebbles would allow you to use the character just fine. Free action drop a stone, standard fling it at an opponent. From the blast:

The
object must weight 5 lbs. per kineticist level you possess
or less. (Bolded mine)

Wow, I totally blanked on that when I read it, thought that was a period ended the sentance >.< . And I read it multiple times. Thanks.

That said, again the kineticist having things in his possession isnt a solution unless he can somehow retrieve them as part of making the blast attack. Otherwise again, there is going to be arguments. Drop stone, throw stone, great. What about next round, or the next? What if you are surprised. Does the kineticist need to spend actions every encounter to pull out a bunch of stones from his bag in order to be able to use his basic function?

The intent here is obviously that there will always be SOMETHING lying around. But unless the rules actually state something along those lines (think of the line in the rules for a spell component pouch about not needing to track the contents for an example on official handwaves), there will be problems. The rules need to state explicitly that something is always available, or the kineticist needs to be given the means to make sure there is always something available.

Quote:

This also allows for clever play such as kinetically smashing items like alchemists fire against a foe for bonus effects like splash damage or lighting your foe on fire.

Seems to me, the rules imply the alchemist fire thing shouldnt work. It says that no matter the object the damage is that of your blast, not the item. So if throwing grenade like weapons is supposed to work (and that would be awesome, and a great concept for the aether kineticist), there needs to be some kind of clarification.

[Artanthos]

Kolokotroni wrote:

That said, again the kineticist having things in his possession isnt a solution unless he can somehow retrieve them as part of making the blast attack. Otherwise again, there is going to be arguments. Drop stone, throw stone, great. What about next round, or the next? What if you are surprised. Does the kineticist need to spend actions every encounter to pull out a bunch of stones from his bag in order to be able to use his basic function?

I don't think there is a requirement to use a different object for each attack. Nothing seems to stop the kineticist from hitting a target with the same rock or dagger each round.

Since object type seems to be irrelevant, I keep picturing a halfling, disguised as a little girl, hitting opponents with a stuffed animal. Uhoh, now you've made Mr. Fluffy mad.

[Azten]

Or a pet rock.

[Zwordsman]

I think there really should be a wyld talent or something at later levels for Aether. It should allow you to use properties of any items you throw. I.e. instead of full telekinetic envelop the TK blast does-which prevents the item from breaking or using the material for DR.. You can add the effects of the times.

I.e. I'd love if you could use TK blast to smash alchemical items on a target, or to bypass the materials. It shouldn't change the direct damage, but should allow you to bypass material effects; and add some splash damage I guess in the case of splash weapons.

I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to be alchemist (the profession not class) Aetherist. making splash wepaons, smoke sticks, grenades and the like. instead of normal throwing them launching them with my TK for TK damage then the special effects. Though it would need wording that it only works when used via tk blast.

I think either allowing for the material bypass, or even allowing the "use item properties (i.e. the alchemical weapons) to activage on TK blast impact would go along way to making the Telekinetic to do decent damage. Cause so far as near as I can tell; all things being equal, they have the least damage potential in exchange for some TK-the spell- tricks.

I do wonder how that would work though..

As it stands right now, I could still use the TK movement power (100lbs per lv.. i think?) to dump a bag full of alcheimcal weapons (splash weapons and bombs haha). So I don't think it'd work too much different..

As for having a supply of things to throw.
I'm going to carry an efficient quiver and a crossbow, or shuriken [I'll generally not ever to ch said crossbow (well unless I have trouble hitting then i'll magic it and conductive to combo with tkblast). ] I can pull ammo out as a free action, and because they aren't being used as ammo but via the TK blast they won't break and I can just pick them up after the fight. Or leave them if I need to GTFO. Either way not much money lost. This works even better if they make a wild talen that allows you to use the properties of the thrown item. Then I'll carry sloig rocks or bolt/arrow/shuriken of various properties to do the same.

[Drake Brimstone]

Zwordsman wrote:

I'll generally not ever to ch said crossbow (well unless I have trouble hitting then i'll magic it and conductive to combo with tkblast)

Telekinetic blast won't work with Conductive as it requires a Ranged Attack, not a Ranged Touch Attack.

[Zwordsman]

Drake Brimstone wrote:

Zwordsman wrote:

I'll generally not ever to ch said crossbow (well unless I have trouble hitting then i'll magic it and conductive to combo with tkblast)

Telekinetic blast won't work with Conductive as it requires a Ranged Attack, not a Ranged Touch Attack.

Ah good catch..

Well other elements can use it I guess

[blackbloodtroll]

Well, Telekinetic Blast is a great way to move delicate item.

Just fling it, and it's unharmed!

Also, all the Kineticist needs is a bag full of feathers.

Tickle monster of death!

[santherus]

I don't like the clause:

>> the target and the thrown object each suffer an amount of bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage

Feels like (unlike the other blasts) that you could run out of stuff to throw as it gets smashed to little bits. There's no clause allowing for damage to the thrown item to be reduced by hardness either.

BUT there's also no minimum size limit, you could alternatively carry around a bag of sand, using 1 grain of sand at a time for an aetheric blast, which likewise feels wrong.

From a fluff point of view, I say just cut through it all and make it a force blast.

["Kitten"]

Azten wrote:

Drake Brimstone wrote:

From first Read-Through, I see the Kineticist's biggest flaw is an inability to deal with DR or Energy Resistance or worse, Immunity.

GM: You see a small Fire Elemental
Pyrokineticist: Well, I'm useless, I run away.

Some of this can be mitigated with Expanded Element ta level 7, and I honestly do see too many people not taking it at level 7 which makes me wonder why bothering making it a selection and not just give it at level 7?

Also, I am seeing a glaring hole in their abilities. Shouldn't they be receiving resistance versus their own element?

These are all very good questions I'd like to see answered.

I thought in reading the material that a blast counts as magic for the purposes of overcoming DR

?

One question I have though, is: What about inanimate objects? Can I air blast a door to pieces? A blast has damage,but the book says "You batter a single foe with a gust of air as a ranged attack. If you hit, the target suffers...[x damgage]". So- does that mean I can or can't damage a door, or just only a 'living' foe? Does that mean no hurting constructs, etc. also? Undead?
Thanks!
(and why Kitten is wearing a football mouthpiece, I have no clue...)

[Shiroi]

The problem with making an Aetherist use a general force blast is that force is an element with no applicable resistance or DR. By forcing you to use an item, you make the attack deal a physical damage type. I agree with this need. However, the fluff answers for this are perhaps best exampled by the Pixar film The Incredibles. Remember Zero Point energy? The villain flung objects and heroes around with abandon, but he could just as easily smash and lift in the same motion as to "throw" and release the object. In this meta, with that image in mind, if you only have one item to beat people with you can picture it as a giant invisible string whirling the object repeatedly into your opponents head. AND since Aetherists don't get many wild talents, (and NO substance infusions, which I find to be a problem when I exceed 4 burn immunity on form infusions and can't find any reason to bother getting the next infusion mastery level) you will almost always have one of : alternate elemental blast / disarm maneuver to pick up and toss around their own weapon / composite blast Force which is straight force damage (see above) / kinetic blade, fist, or whips. With any of these you have a simple solution to no good thrown items available.
Another way to look at the power in regards to not setting off bombs and flasks is Warp Drive physics. You use the object to focus your attention only. The damage comes from the wave of kinetic energy enveloping said object, which contracts in front of it to move it forwards, but also protects it and is the source of the impact.

[Insain Dragoon]

santherus wrote:

I don't like the clause:

>> the target and the thrown object each suffer an amount of bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage

Feels like (unlike the other blasts) that you could run out of stuff to throw as it gets smashed to little bits. There's no clause allowing for damage to the thrown item to be reduced by hardness either.

BUT there's also no minimum size limit, you could alternatively carry around a bag of sand, using 1 grain of sand at a time for an aetheric blast, which likewise feels wrong.

From a fluff point of view, I say just cut through it all and make it a force blast.

That line alone messed up my idea of a character with a bag of cool stuff he finds that he smacks people with.

[EMR]

Problem with the phrasing of the acceptance of Burn. Since it's listed as simply being non-lethal damage is temporary hp, it's going to deal damage, that isn't reduced or mitigated by anything, to Temp HP first.

Temp HP, doesn't reduce, it doesn't redirect, it doesn't share, it's just another HP pool that you have that functions exactly like real hp except it doesn't stack with itself.

So what this means is that the Force Ward can be stacked patiently to insane levels because the temporary HP it grants will continue to soak the burn, allowing you to burn your ward to close to collapse, let it regenerate and then repeat resulting in a pool of temp hp that blocks out the sun.