I'm preparing to fully convert my current Pathfinder First Edition homebrew campaign to the Playtest rules. We ran a hybrid session last time - adding in five of the new rules but keeping the rest the same. Now I'm doing One on One sessions with each player to convert their characters and run them through a short tutorial (which follows up on them getting separated last session after they realized that their Giant hosts were planning to eat them).
I've been running Doomsday Dawn and Rose Street Revenge as official playtests...but I'm going to be much more free here. I'll be adding some houserule content - like double the starting ancestry feats, one hour healing rituals, and some new reactions - and balancing things through GM fiat as we go. For instance, Barbarians seem a bit too weak in my opinion so I'll drop that slightly more powerful magic item earlier than recommended. I'll also be changing rules on the fly as I deem necessary. Not great for playtest surveys but good for converting over a living campaign.
I'd given everyone in the campaign a single free max rank profession or crafting skill of their choice. It's nice that Lore will effectively replace/surpass that hourserule. I also removed Alignment and replaced it with a "Taint" mechanic. I'll keep that in place as well.
Current group is...
--o Half Elf Slayer: Focused on wilderness skills and bowmanship.
--o Half Elf Hunter: Focused on wilderness skills, her animal companion, and a balanced combat style .
--o Dwarf Barbarian: Focused on crafting and general meatshield.
--o Human Investigator: Skill monkey that isn't great in combat.
--o Gnome Oracle: Rotting flesh and powerful time magic.
I'm thinking of the following conversion...
--o Half Elf Slayer -> Half Elf Ranger with Rogue Dedication
--o Half Elf Hunter -> Half Elf Fey Sorcerer with Fighter Dedication
--o Dwarf Barbarian -> Dwarf Barbarian
--o Human Investigator -> Human Alchemist with Rogue Dedication
--o Gnome Oracle -> Gnome Sorcerer...with custom "curse" bloodline casting from the occult spell list
I plan to add a few houserules to make the conversion work but I don't think I need too many.
--o I'm going to give Ranger some more bow options. See what Slayer appropriate archery I can think up.
--o I need to turn a Sorcerer into an Oracle. Sorcerer powers can cover Oracle Revelations but might make the Curse a custom Archetype? Not sure.
--o Investigator loves Inspiration. Might houserule an equivalent - maybe just a cheaper use of Hero Points? Not sure.
If anyone is interested I'll keep this going with updates and would enjoy reading your houserule suggestions.
For the Investigator to Alchemist/Rogue conversion...
--o I'm thinking of giving him Inspiration feats in place of Bombs feats. It would be jarring for him to suddenly start throwing bombs as his primary attack and Inspiration is his favorite mechanic (because he has very bad luck with the dice).
--o Due to the tighter math, I am thinking of making Inspiration a 1d4. Might still be unbalanced but I want it to be a roll.
--o Alchemists don't get spell points (still hate that name - power points please) normally but I could put together feats that feed into using spell points for Inspiration.
--|--o Feat: Inspiration. Spend 1 spell point to add 1d4 as a free action on any skill checks. Increase your Spell Point pool by 2.
--|--o Feat: Combat Inspiration. Spend 2 spell points to add 1d4 as a free action to any strike or saving throw. Increase your Spell Point pool by 2.
--|--o Feat: Heroic Inspiration. You can use Hero Points in place of Spell Points to use Inspiration/Combat Inspiration. Increase your Spell Point pool by 2.
--|--o Feat: Reliable Inspiration. When you use Inspiration/Combat Inspiration, roll 2d4 and select the highest. Increase your Spell Point pool by 2.
Any thoughts?
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I am running Mummy's Mask (which was ongoing in PF 1) and have converted over to PF for my first session with the Beta rules tomorrow.
I also had an investigator, and after several attempts, went with Bard on the conversion.
I also had an investigator, and after several attempts, went with Bard on the conversion.
My first impulse was Bard but he doesn't want to play a caster and he's already done some alchemy - just no bombs to date. He's also in love with Inspiration due to his terrible luck.
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I also had an investigator, and after several attempts, went with Bard on the conversion.My first impulse was Bard but he doesn't want to play a caster and he's already done some alchemy - just no bombs to date. He's also in love with Inspiration due to his terrible luck.
If it were me, I would take the baseline Alchemist chassis, sub Bomb progression for Sneak Attack progression, and give them a spell point pool based on Int at 1st level that gives them "Inspiration" stuff. You could have feats that reduce the spell point cost of certain Inspiration uses, and make Sneak Attack cost inspiration as well to use (Perhaps as a Reaction?). Should be pretty cut and dry from there.
If it were me, I would take the baseline Alchemist chassis, sub Bomb progression for Sneak Attack progression, and give them a spell point pool based on Int at 1st level that gives them "Inspiration" stuff. You could have feats that reduce the spell point cost of certain Inspiration uses, and make Sneak Attack cost inspiration as well to use (Perhaps as a Reaction?). Should be pretty cut and dry from there.
That's a good point. He doesn't really need Rogue dedication at all. Though I'll probably skip Sneak Attack and give him Inspiration the whole way. Not as useful in combat...but that fits with the character.
So, let me think, I could do something like...
Class Features
You gain these abilities as an alchemist. Abilities gained at higher levels list the requisite levels next to the features’
names.
Table 3–1: Alchemist Advancement
Your Level
Class Features
1 Advanced alchemy, alchemist feat, ancestry feat, background, formula book, initial proficiencies, studied resonance, Inspiration, No Bombs Ever
2 Alchemist feat, skill feat
3 Empower bombs (×2) Better Inspiration, general feat, skill increase
4 Alchemist feat, skill feat
5 Ability boosts, ancestry feat, mutagen crafting, skill increase
6 Alchemist feat, skill feat
7 Empower bombs (×3) Even Better Inspiration, general feat, skill increase
8 Alchemist feat, skill feat
9 Ancestry feat, expanded resonance, skill increase
10 Ability boosts, alchemist feat, skill feat
11 Empower bombs (×4) And so on Inspiration, general feat, skill increase
12 Alchemist feat, skill feat
13 Ancestry feat, double elixir, skill increase
14 Alchemist feat, skill feat
15 Ability boosts, empower bombs (×5) And so forth Inspiration, general feat, skill increase
16 Alchemist feat, skill feat
17 Alchemical alacrity, ancestry feat, skill increase
18 Alchemist feat, skill feat
19 Empower bombs (×6) Best Inspiration Ever, general feat, skill increase
20 Ability boosts, alchemist feat, skill feat
Now to figure out what those Inspiration slots hold. And it saves him his feats to devote to other areas. I think that fits his character well. I'll see what he thinks.
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Let's see... I think this might work. It provides some assurance for a player who often rolls terribly...while not unbalancing things too much, I hope. I can always tweak it as we go.
Level 1 - Inspiration: Spend 1 spell point to add 1d4 as a free action on any skill checks. Gain a Spell Point pool equal to Int modifier. This choice is made after the check is rolled and before the results are revealed. Inspiration can only be used once per check or roll.
Level 3 - Battlefield Inspiration: Spend 2 spell points to add 1d4 as a free action on attack rolls and saving throws. This choice is made after the check is rolled and before the results are revealed. Inspiration can only be used once per check or roll. Increase Spell Point pool by 2.
Level 7 - Surefire Inspiration: When you roll for Inspiration, roll 2d4 and use the highest. Increase Spell Point pool by 2.
Level 11 - Greater Inspiration: When using Inspiration, roll 2d6 and use the highest. Increase Spell Point pool by 2.
Level 15 - Failsafe Inspiration: When you use Inspiration to augment a skill check or saving throw, treat any critical failures as failures. Increase Spell Point pool by 2.
Level 19 - Perfect Inspiration: When you use Inspiration to augment a skill check or saving throw, treat any successes as critical successes. Increase Spell Point pool by 2.
Edit: Not sure about the increase to d6 though... The tight math in this system has me concerned.
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I like some of your rules.
We’ve been going through the Darkwood Moon series (Hallows Last Hope, Crown of the Kobold King so far) and something to pay attention to are Skill and Monster DC. These progress at 1.5/level whereas Character proficiency goes at 1/level. It is recognized as a problem that will be addressed in the future.
Since you are running a homebrew, check the forums for suggestions. I don’t know if one is better than another as we haven’t tried them yet.
With the math being so condensed in this one, anything above a d8 would be a bit too far.
Indeed. I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with increasing it even to d6.
I like some of your rules.
Thanks! I like them in theory and am looking forward to seeing how they work in practice.
We’ve been going through the Darkwood Moon series (Hallows Last Hope, Crown of the Kobold King so far) and something to pay attention to are Skill and Monster DC. These progress at 1.5/level whereas Character proficiency goes at 1/level. It is recognized as a problem that will be addressed in the future.
Thanks for the tip! More challenging and dynamic combat is a big reason that I'm switching...but I don't want to cause an accidental TPK because a same level monster was much too strong.
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Once the 12 appear (sounds a bit dramatic), you might consider building Investigator as an Archetype. That way it can bolt onto different classes rather than being restricted to a set mold.
Once the 12 appear (sounds a bit dramatic), you might consider building Investigator as an Archetype. That way it can bolt onto different classes rather than being restricted to a set mold.
Good thought. I had my conversion session with that player over the weekend and he decided to go pure Alchemist for now. I think an Investigator archetype is a nice addition to offer him down the road. It'll be easier to put together after the 12 appear - more archetypes to balance aganist.
I've moved on to the Oracle. The first bit is simple - Sorcerer using the Occult spell list. The challenge is the second bit - convert over the Curse and Mystery. I decided to an attempt to combine the Wasting Curse and Time Mystery into one Sorcerer Bloodline. The player selected Erase from Time so that will serve as their Lesser Bloodline Power. I'll let them select other Revelations for conversion as their Advanced/Greater Bloodline Powers.
Verschränkung
Something twisted...something broke without breaking... The infinite touched you and you wasted away to nothing. Only you are not nothing? And now eternity twists at your command.
Spell List: Occult (see pages 361–368)
Trained Skill: Occultism, Intimidate
Special: You take a –4 penalty on Charisma-based skill checks, except for Intimidate. You gain a +4 circumstance bonus on saving throws against being afflicted by disease.
Granted Spells Cantrip: ghost sound; 1st: fleet step; 2nd: ???; 3rd: ???; 4th: ???; 5th: ???; 6th:
???; 7th: ???; 8th: ???; 9th: ???
Bloodline Powers Initial Power: Erase from Time; Advanced Power: ??? (2); Greater Power: ??? (2)
Power: Erase from Time; Level 1; Uncommon
Traits: Transmutation
Casting: Somatic Casting (Action), Verbal Casting (Action)
Range: touch; Targets: one creature
You can temporarily remove a creature from time altogether, depending on it's Fortitude save. No magic or divination can detect the creature during this time, as it exists outside of time and space—in effect, the creature ceases to exist for the duration of this ability. At the end of the duration, the creature reappears unharmed in the space it last occupied (or the nearest possible space, if the original space is now occupied).
Success: The target vanishes from time for 1 round
Critical Success: No effect.
Failure: The target vanishes from time for 1 round per 1/2 sorcerer level (min 1 round).
Critical Failure: The target vanishes from time for 1 round per sorcerer level.