A player is considering taking the Expulsionist archetype but is worried it will trivialize haunts too much. At fifth level we are talking probably a +14 or 15 bonus vs dc20 plus CR to know exactly how to disable a haunt.
Is this too powerful?
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Absolutely not. The player will shine against haunts and have some undead turning abilities, which is fine. There's plenty of other threats in the AP to challenge her and your party, and the inquisitor is giving up some great stuff--monster lore, a domain, and discern lies--in order to gain those powers.
In fact, I would go out of your way to stress just how deadly the haunts your party runs into are, so that she can feel proud of her build.
If anything I'm not sure it will be that useful as written. They don't hit level 5 until the end of the Haunting of Harrowstone, and I don't recall any Haunts in book 2. Also, my players did a fine job of figuring out how to purge haunts using the spirit planchet, though I may have been a little generous there. I haven't read the last four books yet though, so hopefully some more haunts show up in them.
Also, my players did a fine job of figuring out how to purge haunts using the spirit planchet, though I may have been a little generous there. I haven't read the last four books yet though, so hopefully some more haunts show up in them.
Yeah, the planchet as written is a terrible item. Assuming it doesn't lie, it gives one one-word answer every 24 hours. If your players found that useful in disposing of haunts, I'd love to know what their questions were exactly and what the one-word responses were exactly.
There are some haunts in the second half of Book 3, and in Book 6 they become a major threat.
Also, my players did a fine job of figuring out how to purge haunts using the spirit planchet, though I may have been a little generous there. I haven't read the last four books yet though, so hopefully some more haunts show up in them.Yeah, the planchet as written is a terrible item. Assuming it doesn't lie, it gives one one-word answer every 24 hours. If your players found that useful in disposing of haunts, I'd love to know what their questions were exactly and what the one-word responses were exactly.
There are some haunts in the second half of Book 3, and in Book 6 they become a major threat.
I totally missed that 24 clause. Whoops. (Wait, checking, where is that specified?) My players used the planchette as described on page 65 of book 1 though, to facilitate communications with Rapping Spirits. They really enjoyed letting ghosts pass onto the next world, so I'm pretty happy with how it worked.
Outside of haunts though, spirits were a lot less helpful.
The GM may elect to treat all neutralized haunts (those
reduced to 0 hp) as CR 1 rapping spirits while they reset.
Using this option, haunts retain enough ectoplasmic
fortitude to linger in the area, where they attempt to convey
their needs to the living. While these knockings are still
potentially frightening, communication with these feeble
spirits can be established by working out a series of codes
(such as one rap for “yes” and two for “no”) or by calling
out words, numbers, and letters for selection by the spirits.
Such messages can be formed at the rate of 1d10 words
for each minute a character makes a successful Linguistics
check, with a DC equal to 15 + the original haunt’s CR.
Such communications are typically unreliable and
cryptic, never conveying knowledge beyond what the
spirit knew in life. While the spectre always behaves
according to the original haunt’s alignment, only the
most malevolent spirits would deny themselves a
chance at final rest. Some mediums carry flat, lettered
boards known as “talking boards,” or planchettes—
small, wheeled boards with chalk or charcoal extending
below—to better facilitate communication with spirits.
Such tools increase the efficiency of messages received
to 3d6 words per minute of communication, and grant
the user a +4 bonus on Linguistics checks to decipher the
cryptic messages of haunts.
Ah, gotcha. I thought we were talking about using the Brass Spirit Planchette's ability to answer questions.
Ah, gotcha. I thought we were talking about using the Brass Spirit Planchette's ability to answer questions.
To be fair, I definitely got them conflated at some point. It doesn't help that the two functions are both super wordy and in completely different sections of the book.