I'm working on revamping the Medium a little, focusing on the spirit powers. By which I mean I am trying to make the not-Champion spirits more interesting and closer to the Champion power-wise (and maybe fix some minor issues I have with the Champion spirit, if I can find a way to do so without it getting too powerful).
Thing is, I'm kind of stuck and I was hoping this friendly forum might be willing and able to offer some suggestions?
The main goal is basically to make each spirit functional at its role. Something viable as daily spirit and able to fill the appropriate gap in a party during emergencies or as supplement to another chr, but obviously not on par with a dedicated build.
A side-goal, for extra points, is to have all Lesser powers be scaling (all but Champion + Guardian already are, even if the Marshall and Trickster don't get as much as Archmage/Hierophant) and also promote some kind of action (most do aside from Champion + Guardian... again. Trickster's a bit iffy, depending on player choices). One relevant to the spirit's "style", of course.
I'd like to change as few things as possible, and where possible I'd prefer to steal abilities from elsewhere rather than reinvent the wheel.
Looking at the spirits, I see the following issues:
For the Archmage,
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it feels like a combination of endurance and limited spell selection. Slower progression + fewer spells per day relative the wiz/sor it's supposed to emulate.
Something like switching out the Intermediate "free spell" ability for something like Kinetic Blast might alleviate both? It provides a scaling damage ability, thus freeing up spells known + per day for utility & defensive stuff.
The Supreme power has a bit of an issue in that it's a one-and-done. So there's room for some buffing here, too. Possibly like the Marshall, by having a lower power get a buff if you have the Supreme one. Or maybe grant bonus mm feat with cost reduction or something?
Champion's
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only real issue is the Lesser ability does effectively nothing. Who is going to run around with a weapon they can only use 1/6 days? I also feel like martial builds are pretty feat-dependent, and it only gets bonus feats at lvl 17... Tricky part is that overall it has about the right level of balance, at least as far as I can tell. So I don't know if there's really anything that can be done about this, while still leaving the 2 "core" powers (bonus atk + pounce) alone... Anyone have any thoughts?
When it comes to the Guardian
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I feel like re-doing the whole thing is just plain easiest. Lesser has the same problem as Champion's; who carries around a spare armor for some days? Shield I can imagine. Those are easy enough to get no penalty without proficiency. Intermadiate (DR) is about the only power that feels worthwhile, to be honest. Maybe Greater (Sudden Block) works okay if the others can be buffed enough? Supreme is... cute? But compared to "cast Miracle/Wish 1/day" ignoring a single attack feels lackluster.
Tentatively I'm thinking something like [some kind of active power] + "spirit bonus? vs enemies that have attacked allies since last turn" (like the Spire Totem Rage Power) for Lesser...
Keep Intermediate. Not sure what to do about Greater... Keep? Buff? Replace?
And maybe either Mind Blank or Ymeri's Pyre for the Supreme ability, possibly with some restrictions like "spend 1 Influence to halve duration of effect"
The Hierophant
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is pretty straightforward. It's too "heal-centric" (owing to the legacy of Clerics past), but otherwise the main issues are lack of usefulness and the Greater power being useless. So buffing the Greater by replacing it with something better would probably go a long way. Supreme power has the same issue as the Archmage's, with being one-and-done, though. I just have no idea what to replace the Greater with that feels cleric-y but is interesting/fun and balanced... This is one I really hope the forums can help me out with... Please?
Now, the Marshall
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looks pretty okay aside from the action economy of the Intermediate and the very limited uses/day for the Lesser (until you hit lvl 17 and get Supreme). Greater is a bit dull ("here, have my turn") but the ability to use it as a Swift action makes it not entirely boring. I feel like some kind of teamwork thing or perhaps "create & take advantage of difficult terrain/obstacles" would possibly be more interesting... The goal is tactical fighter with team buffs & face abilities (because Charisma based spirit bonus).
But I can't really think of where to fit any of that in, because nothing really strikes me as chaff that can be cut. Anyone else have any thoughts?
Finally, the Trickster
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mostly lacks damage, I feel. Lesser is pretty decent, if a bit uninspired (and requires either knowing what the day will hold, choosing generically useful skills, or lucky picks). Intermediate... I assume they didn't give regular sneak atk because Supreme would then give you lots of natural atk to go with it, but it feels outright insufficient. The free flat-footed is nice, though. Greater is very situational - can be great, can be "yay, I got Haste, which I already cast on myself so..." (I can see interpreting it to extending your own duration, at least). Supreme... Yeah, picking d20 1/day is nice, but at will Greater Polymorph is pretty darn useful.
So really, I'm thinking replace the Intermediate with something like a sensible Vital Strike that adds +2d8 dmg instead of being based off weapon dmg. Maybe scaling with additional powers, for +4d8/+6d8 with Grt/Sup, or just with level. And add spirit bonus to atk roll, for much needed accuracy with that kind of atk. Or is that too little damage? The build isn't really about damage, but it really needs something it can do in combat until it gets Supreme at lvl 17...
One thing I've pondered for both the Archmage and Hierophant is restricting their Lessers to picking a Domain/Bloodline and getting their spells. This is a serious nerf, but would greatly reduce bookkeeping... So I'm torn. They need more power, but also the whole class needs less bookkeeping :/
So, yeah, those are my thoughts. I'm mostly looking for ideas for the Guardian and Hierophant, but I welcome any and all suggestions to help me fix at least this corner of the class. There's plenty people here with better ideas about balance, so feel free to offer insights into things I got wrong :p
I'm trying to keep things as compatible as possible with existing stuff, which is why I'm just swapping out spirit powers instead of like re-making the spirits to have 5 spirit powers or something.
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(I feel the class should have either been built around picking one spirit, or offered better support for chrs switching between spirits. Like the Legendary Influence feats are pretty necessary because you don't get any flex feats or anything... Not to mention the near complete lack of flexibility during a given day until the very highest levels... But that stuff is a whole other mess for another day :p )
I think something along the lines of the spirit dancer archetype is the easiest way to rebalance the medium. With a little allowance for out of combat use - a few rounds may not be enough time to use many skills or some spells.
One note on the meta created by the current setup - the champion is solid enough in combat that players may spend 5/6 days with that spirit rather than 1/6. Carrying a weapon for that spirit alone isn't a problem. There's even one archetype which only gets access to the champion spirit.
As I understand it original intent was for there to be a whole lot of spirits to choose from rather than a handful - more like binders in D&D 3.5's Tome of Magic.
Going with your changing up powers plan you might steal from divine obediences for the heirophant. The guardian might use a perception power - a guard you can sneak by isn't that useful.
