Quick question on the spirit, Lady Jarah, Mistress of Many Faces minor ability "Beauty Without Peer". Is it static and always on? Or do you have to activate it?
Thanks in advance.
Good point on the rewrite self.
I'm sort of hoping that Beauty without Peer stays on the duration of the pact. That'd be amazing and fun, but I can definitely see the argument for it being just the spell, even if it's less fun.
I'll check my notes when I come home from work. This might even be one of the spirits whose granted abilities got updated for clarity in the Kickstarter. A LOT of Volume 1 spirits had their abilities updated for clarity and ease of use in the Grimoire of Lost Souls.
Since you may be looking at it at some point, when I was looking over Rewrite Self, it says if you choose a large humanoid, it gets the +2 strength. So is that changing it from the alter self spell, where normally you would get the +2 strength from the medium size? If so, does that mean staying a medium humanoid doesn't give you any attribute bonus?
Thanks for the replies by the way Alexander!
In volume 1, I originally intended Lady Jarah's rewrite self to last for the entire pact. It has no duration. You could just pick an ability score and give yourself a +2 enhancement bonus to it. Beauty without Peer needed to be activated in the same manner as sanctuary, however.
In the Grimoire, both abilities were changed and clarified in order to make the spirit more balanced. They look like this:
Beauty Without Peer: you can cast sanctuary as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.
Rewrite Self: While you are bound to Lady Jarah, you can transform into another humanoid creature, functioning as alter self, a number of times per day equal to 3 + your binder level. At 5th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, you can transform into additional creatures, functioning as the following spells: monstrous physique I (5th), monstrous physique II (8th), monstrous physique III (11th), monstrous physique IV (14th), giant form I (17th), giant form II (20th)
According to my notes, the reason that I changed rewrite self was that it was basically a better version of muse istago's perfect attributes ability, which is getting a duration put on it in the Grimoire. Both spirits were unchanged originally, but they (along with many other Vol 1 spirits) were almost always chosen before other spirits because their powers were considered unquestionably good by the playtesters. In their new states, they're more of a choice involved.
Of course, after the Kickstarter ends all of my backers gain the playtest document and can become playtesters if they so choose. Until the Kickstarter ends, however, I won't be making any changes to my current iteration of the document. (Its still being playtested, for one.)
I see. I'll admit I am slightly bummed, as the pact long abilities was a big reason I loved the idea of the class and is largely what actually pushed me to consider it over just building a wizard. I do understand the want to bring choice between the other spirits into it, but if all the cool stuff is reigned back to durations just to make me (possibly) consider other things and themes I may not be into, I can't help but think the class could be weaker for it. For me personally at least.
However, this is merely speculation. I'll wait and see once I get my hands on the play test from the kickstarter. No offense meant however, the product is cool and the overall concept of it is cool, it's just a little disappointing to hear is all.
Might there be a feat to at least quicken the use of the minor abilities to swift actions?
Thanks for the info though Alexander!
EDIT: I do also agree that not all abilities should be pact long. Sanctuary (i.e.beauty without peer) for example could, theoretically be abused if one got their DC high enough. Things like Istago's plus to attributes and Jarah's alter self didn't seem like they were that game breaking though. Just really good. Anyways, I digress... a lot. Thanks again.
I see. I'll admit I am slightly bummed, as the pact long abilities was a big reason I loved the idea of the class and is largely what actually pushed me to consider it over just building a wizard. I do understand the want to bring choice between the other spirits into it, but if all the cool stuff is reigned back to durations just to make me (possibly) consider other things and themes I may not be into, I can't help but think the class could be weaker for it. For me personally at least.
However, this is merely speculation. I'll wait and see once I get my hands on the play test from the kickstarter. No offense meant however, the product is cool and the overall concept of it is cool, it's just a little disappointing to hear is all.
Well, luckily for you that's one of the reasons that I'm giving the Kickstarter document over to the backers when the Kickstarter ends. When I wrote the Grimoire of Lost Souls, I literally took EVERYTHING back to ground zero and built it back up using my current designer skills. (Remember that Volume 1 was the FIRST thing that I had ever published.) When I had Amora Game playtest the Grimoire, I specifically asked for folks who had never seen any of the original material, because I wanted to be sure that what I had was balanced without worrying about subjective preferences. Now that the playtest results are slowly coming in, I'm at that point where I can start looking at similarities and differences between the original content and the revamped content to see what works and what doesn't. Maybe rewrite self misses the marks as a general shapeshifting ability. Maybe it ultimately seems pointless next to Fey Baraddu's major granted ability. That's what Round 2 of the playtesting is for (the Backer round).
Might there be a feat to at least quicken the use of the minor abilities to swift actions?
Definitely not. Managing the action economy is one of the most important aspects of any class in the game.
EDIT: I do also agree that not all abilities should be pact long. Sanctuary (i.e.beauty without peer) for example could, theoretically be abused if one got their DC high enough. Things like Istago's plus to attributes and Jarah's alter self didn't seem like they were that game breaking though. Just really good. Anyways, I digress... a lot. Thanks again.
Bring it back up on March 28th. ;-)
Maybe it ultimately seems pointless next to Fey Baraddu's major granted ability.
And I do hope Fey's major at least stays the same. He's one I'm very excited to try out when I reach a level high enough. :)
Definitely not. Managing the action economy is one of the most important aspects of any class in the game.
Understandable. I guess I just don't see myself ever using Rewrite Self if it becomes a standard action, 1 min/ duration. Since I'd rather be attacking with the standard action or controlling the field in some way instead. That's why Tyrant Cromwell is one of my favorite melee spirits. His major is swift, so I can use it and attack in the same turn. Even if the duration is short, it's still solid enough to use effectively. I like the idea of the monstrous physique build up however, so I'm willing to give it a shot in testing and find out.
Bring it back up on March 28th. ;-)
Will do. Will we be told then, how best to show our own personal play test results?
In any case, thank you again for being responsive / willing to give input. I truly do appreciate it.
Will do. Will we be told then, how best to show our own personal play test results?
Hold onto it until the Kickstarter ends. I hate to say it, but my attention is divided into a billion directions at the moment.
No problem.