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Regulator
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,842
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To Smarty with Love
Quote:
Originally Posted by TDK
"Factotum"
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Those guys are really sweet. They get better when combined with Chameleons (the prestige class)! But I thought that factotums cast spells...? Eh, whatevs. Although, I could totally see a near-gestalt factotum-artificer losing all the spells and infusions, but keeping the other benefits equaling out to be a super-science guy.
Now, on to the important things: my (tentative) character sheet. With that out there, I need to discuss a few things with Smarty.
SpellfireSmarty, first I'd like to explain my choice of Spellfire wielder: to be frank, I'm being the cleric (healer). Spellfire is quite powerful, but really we don't have anyone doing anything remotely clerical, and I'm very unfond of egosists (their powers are boring). To that end, I took spell-fire which would, in a pinch, allow me to heal my comrades a bit. This would assist us all and I'm focusing more on my psionics than spellfire (I'm not planning on following the prestige classes unless we suddenly go epic). Further, I wouldn't be able to effectively heal on my own - my allies'd have to cast spells (or if you're using transparancy-rules, manifest powers) at me, let me absorb them, then rechannel them at my friends at the end of the day to really heal us up, so it wouldn't be too off-balance. What's more, though I can't heal much, most of us aren't tanks... at all... so that wouldn't be as much of an issue as normal. To cap the spell-fire thing off, when Red Light was alive originally, Mystra didn't exist, but the Chaotic Neutral goddess Mystryl (who did really crazy crap all the time - this was before she died, and got better as the Lawful Neutral Mystra who ALSO died and was replaced by the current Neutral Good Midnight who took Mystra's name and who pretends to be Lawful Neutral as well as Neutral Good for the sake of the former goddess' clerics) who often granted strange boons and tied anything related to the weave together in unconventional ways. I've also tied a great deal of template-stuff (which I haven't applied yet, pending your approval) to the spell-fire abilities, and wanted you to take a look at them.
PrestigeLast but not least, along the power-gaming track, I'm asking what your reading of Thrallherd is. What kind of creatures can I call as my thralls and believers? Can I choose freely? What's the ultimate in-game effect? What is your reading based off of class level/character level/effective level/thrall called (I'm not planning on calling epic thralls to get that out of the way). The reason I'm asking (as should be obvious) is that I'm thinking of going the route of the thrallherd. That's why I posted my not-yet-taken 3rd level feat: it's the final prerequisite (other than 5th level manifester) for Thrallherd. With the Thrallherd, as written, it's very broken, but I want to understand your reading/understanding of the rules. Further, I don't want to jeopardize the entire party just because I do something rather broken - if there's a penalty, I want to be the only one to suffer (also, I don't actually want to suffer). Even more, although I'll do something broken, I'll voluntarily leave the uber-power running "in the background", so to speak, until it's time to use it for real (see next sentence for explanation). Finally, the build I have planned isn't actually useful by itself. I'll need my fellow psionic user, the wilder, to reach his full potential before I'm able to pull off the Ultimate Broken Effect Of Forever [sic]. Anyway, I'm not interested in harming the gaming experience of my fellow players, but enhancing it. If what I present doesn't do that in your opinion, let me know.
TemplateThird, a more personal, non-power-gamey question: would it be okay with you if I took a template of my own design (a variant average of the Alu Fiend and Half-[nymph/fey] templates)? Please see below the box for a discussion of the various traits and what I did to make it as well as my logic behind the choices. Call it what you like (I kind of like "Alufey"), the basic idea is that fiendish (demonic) and fey influences converge to make a creature of beauty and psionic power.
Red Light would be as follows...
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Type: Outsider (aberration, fey, native)
Perception: darkvision (60 feet), lowlight vision, scent
Defenses:
* natural AC +1
* Immune: disease, poison
* Damage Reduction: [11 HD or less 5/psionic; 12 HD or more 10/psionic]
* Spell Resistance: 10+HD <max 35>
* Energy Resistance (acid, cold, electricity, fire) 10
Special Attacks: gain a basic soul-knife, but would not gain any other benefits of the class
Additional Powers known by level
HD.............Additional Powers Known.....................................Effectiv e Power Level
1-2.............charm (p.) [A], hypnotism^ (p.) [A]................................1st level powers <cost 1 pp before augment>
3-4.............read (thoughts, aura), sleep (p.) [A]............................2nd level powers <cost 3 pp before augment>
5-6.............protection v. <alignment> (p.), suggestion (p.) [A]...3rd level powers <cost 5 pp before augment>
7-8.............metamorphosis [A], heroism (p.) [A]...........................4th level powers <cost 7 pp before augment>
9-10...........dimension door (p.), geas (p.) [A]...............................5th level powers <cost 9 pp before augment>
11-12.........blasphemy (p.), hold creature (p.) [A].........................6th level powers <cost 11 pp before augment>
13-14.........invisibility <mass> (p.) [A?], unholy aura (p.)............7th level powers <cost 13 pp before augment>
15-16.........eyebite (p.), horrid wilting^^ (p.)...................................8th level powers <cost 15 pp before augment>
17-18.........insanity (p.), summon monster IX* (p.)......................9th level powers <cost 17 pp before augment>
19-20.........destruction (p.), irresistible dance (p.).......................9th level powers <cost 17 pp before augment>
Special Qualities:
Awesome Beauty (Su) - any humanoid within 30' who looks at Red Light is shaken for 1 minute (will [DC 10+ 1/2 lvl + CHA] negates). Continual exposure results in additional saves which reset the duration. This can be suppressed or resumed as a free action. This is a [mind-affecting] [fear] effect.
Ability Scores:
+2 STR, +4 DEX, +4 CON, +2 INT, +2 WIS, +6 CHA
LA: +3
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Discussion about templateDISCUSSION
I think that this might look like power gaming, but, this isn't me attempting to power-game, so much as create an interesting character with unusual, but useful traits, and I thought I'd go over some of the elements of this stuff with you for discussion purposes. To start with, I've eliminated the most powerful ability granted by the two templates, that bane of GMs everywhere, the flight. For Alu fiends its only an average maneuverability, true, (for half-fey it's good and x2 land speed) but in most any form it's insanely useful, and would foil so many GM plans, I figured it was a bit too powerful for this kind of creature. Second, I eliminated several spell-like abilities from the list entirely; I'll talk more on that later, but keeping too many would be both overwhelming and very much so too powerful, plus it wouldn't fit the theme, so I've eliminated many of them. Finally, as discussed below, I've changed the spell-likes per day into powers known. While that does allow me more flexibility to use them more often, if desired, the real cost is the fact that they're no longer 'free' - they actually cost me my own personal energy, instead of being an 'extra' to fall back on when I would otherwise run out. I'll discuss each part as it comes up below.
Creature TypeTYPE: Outsider (aberration, fey, native)
--> having the type be 'outsider' brings many, many benefits... but I would already have the vast majority of them. Being an aberration, means that most of the things that I would no longer be subject to as an outsider, I'd have immunity to anyway (namely those things that affect humanoids). Further, keeping both the aberration and fey subtypes gives me vulnerabilities that I would otherwise not have, as bane weapons, would have not one, but three different elements to choose from (aberration, fey, and outsider). The only beneficial subtype would be 'native', which would be true of all the different templates (none of them apply the extraplanar subtype). It would open my options to using items designed for such creatures, but I don't (and won't) have enough skill points to go to Use Magic Device skill anyway, and exceedingly rare, I'd say, are the psionic items made for either fey or outsiders exclusively, so that's a very limited benefit compared to the downsides of having all those subtypes. I'd also be glad to add the 'human' subtype as well, which would add one more vulnerability and limited benefit, if you like (considering that's what Jhaamdath consisted of), however I refrained, as Elan actually lose that subtype when they become Aberrations (I think, it's a little unclear). Anyway, I leave this up to your discretion.
Perception AbilitiesPERCEPTION: darkvision (60 feet), lowlight vision, scent
--> One template grants be darkvision, the other lowlight vision. I added scent mostly just because I think it opens up some interesting possibilities (and I think Cerebroliths have it, though I could be mistaken). One suggestion I'd have is altering or limiting my scent or shortening my darkvision to 30 feet. Stalkers of Kharesh (or something like that, I don't remember), for example gain detect (evil) by scent. Perhaps she detects law the same way. Alternatively, Runehouds (a kind of aberrant creature) gain the Psychic Scent ability, which allows them to smell sentience. I'd be more than willing to limit her scent ability to something like Psychic Scent (law, sentience), which would be fascinating in its implications and character outlook. Further, in lieu of darkvision, I'd be glad to have a constant Detect (good) or Detect (aberration or devil) or something (range 30'-60', your option) as, again, that would make sense for a character archetype and be really neat. The lowlight vision would be helpful in general to the group so she could see in less-than-optimal conditions, but since she doesn't have (and won't ever be able to afford) ranks in Perception skills (listen, search, spot) this wouldn't be terribly overpowering.
Defenses, type by type.DEFENSES: This is the place I'm ready to give the most, as these are the most irrelevant to the character archetype.
natural AC* natural AC +1
-->The natural AC would help immensely, especially as she can't wear armor, though I'd be more than willing to trade it for something like a githzerai's (as of the Manual of the Planes, not the Expanded Psionics Handbook) constant Inertial Armor power (always running while they're conscious) as this is in keeping with the character, though there are several things to consider; first, this change would be more powerful (inertial armor grants a +4); second, she's not actually any kind of Gith (although in FR, they're considered descended from altered humans).
Immunities* Immune: disease, poison
-->The immunities are tricky. I actually really want them both, though I think I want the immunity to disease a bit more. Primarily, this is a story-reason. If she's immune to disease, she can be a good worshiper of Sharess (hedonism and sensual fulfillment) without worrying about the consequences for either herself or her current 'companion'. The poison would be lots of fun to run with in terms of drinking people under the table (the skinny, weak waif drinking huge, muscly warriors down is humorous to me), but could also be used in tactical situations (coat self in poison, seduce enemy, enjoy, let poison take its course on them, just to name one), but I could give that one up (her constitution rolled up surprisingly good, and it'd get better with this template). So, if I had to pick, I'd go for the immunity to disease, though I'd like both.
Damage Reduction* Damage Reduction: [11 HD or less 5/(cold iron, good, or psionic); 12 HD or more 10/(cold iron, good, or psionic)]
-->As far as the damage reduction goes, I've never been satisfied with the two-step increase in DR, or the fact that magic just kind of overcomes it by itself. Instead of the latter, I've given three options: cold iron (ala fey and demon), good (ala demon), and psionic (instead of magic). This means that if the attack comes from any of these sources the DR is overcome, instead of only magical weapons - it's a weaker DR. Further, instead of making it DR 5 to DR 10, I'd suggest making it 1 DR/two levels (minimum 1), which grants the same end benefit (DR 10 at level 20), but slows the progression down and makes it much more understandable with character growth. Anyway, I'm submitting this for your purview and approval. If I had to choose, I'd prefer the DR to the AC above, but I understand if you'd prefer the other way too, so let me know.
Power/Spell Resistance* Power/Spell Resistance: 10+HD <max 35>
-->This one is tricky, because it makes sense (powerful psionic energies and otherworldly presence creates a disruption field for similar energies trying to overcome her), but it's kind of powerful. If you'd rather 5+HD or use the Psionics Are Different variant (meaning it only works on either spells or powers, not both), I'd understand and that'd make sense. Instead of making it apply to only one or the other or weakening it, one possibility is to instead tie this to my spell-fire effect and say that those effects that fail to overcome my PR/SR are absorbed, but if I'm at full charge I lose the PR/SR, encouraging me not to keep reserves. Anyway, this is here for you to think over and let me know what you think.
Energy Resistance* Energy Resistance (acid, cold, electricity, fire) 10
-->This is the most generic, least interesting, yet most useful of the abilities listed so far. I'd want acid resistance to avoid scars (and maintain her eternal beauty), cold and fire resistance for the ability to exist comfortably in any environment (naked in the tundras or deserts, for instance; fire would also make sense in terms of spell-fire) and electricity resistance because brains produce it and it makes a kind of thematic sense (also both fey and demons have tendencies to be immune to it, I think). In short, do what you want with it, and, I might cry if I lose something, but I'll live (unless you kill me).
Special AttacksSPECIAL ATTACKS: gain a basic soul-knife, but would not gain any other benefits of the class
-->I created this in lieu of the normal Alu's ability to have a negative energy touch attack that does more damage than a soul knife (especially with my character's strength) and increases as she gains in level, and grants the Alu temporary hit points; I figured this made better sense, character wise, loosened the 'demonic' aspect somewhat, and payed homage to the "Bladelords" ideal that Jhaamdath espoused while still giving a viable personal attack. Also, this is a weakening of over-all character power, but ensures she'll still be (moderately) viable in a battle situation.
ADDITIONAL POWERS KNOWN BY LEVEL
Additional Powers known by level
HD.............Additional Powers Known.....................................Effectiv e Power Level
1-2.............charm (p.) [A], hypnotism^ (p.) [A]................................1st level powers <cost 1 pp before augment>
3-4.............read (thoughts, aura), sleep (p.) [A]............................2nd level powers <cost 3 pp before augment>
5-6.............protection v. <alignment> (p.), suggestion (p.) [A]...3rd level powers <cost 5 pp before augment>
7-8.............metamorphosis [A], heroism (p.) [A]...........................4th level powers <cost 7 pp before augment>
9-10...........dimension door (p.), geas^ (p.) [A]..............................5th level powers <cost 9 pp before augment>
11-12.........blasphemy (p.), hold creature (p.) [A].........................6th level powers <cost 11 pp before augment>
13-14.........invisibility <mass> (p.) [A?], unholy aura (p.)............7th level powers <cost 13 pp before augment>
15-16.........eyebite (p.), horrid wilting^ (p.).....................................8th level powers <cost 15 pp before augment>
17-18.........insanity (p.), summon monster IX* (p.)......................9th level powers <cost 17 pp before augment>
19-20.........destruction (p.), irresistible dance (p.).......................9th level powers <cost 17 pp before augment>
--> I set this up by carefully comparing the Alu's and half-fey's spell-like abilities. Getting extra "free" spell-likes has always been a messy business, and one I don't like as much as streamlining and folding elements together, when possible. While making these into powers allows me more uses than I might otherwise have, it also means that I don't get extra spells per day (or in this case effective power points) above my usual number and represents yet another sink for my already limited number of power points, over all slightly weakening the benefit, to my view (though you might thing the increased flexibility is worth it or more, I don't know). Also, I didn't take all the spells from both, as you can see: I tried to pick things that were thematically appropriate, yet still managed to grant unusual effects (rather than common ones), although if something agreed with written rules I generally favored that one. In addition to getting this basic premise approved, some of the spell-to-power conversion require some discussion (those marked with ^), so here we go. Some of these actually have equivalencies for both spells and powers, however things like hypnotism, sleep, protection from <alignment>, geas, heroism, blasphemy, hold creature, invisibility (mass or not), unholy aura, eyebite, horrid wilting, destruction, and irresistible dance do not. That said, for protection from alignment, blasphemy, unholy aura, eyebite, destruction, and even irresistible dance are rather straightforward - convert them to power point costs, and you're good to go. Some things, however, like hypnotism, sleep, geas, herosim, hold creature, and invisibility need clarifying on whether or not they are augmentable, whether they work like they do in-game, or what. Hypnotism, Sleep, and Lesser Geas has a strict HD limit as a spell, while most psionic powers don't work that way (though a few do), instead making them augmentable to affect higher HD of creatures than a spell of similar rank could do, but making it cost more. My solution is this: allow them to be augmentable to affect higher HD and thus imitate the higher-level variants of their spells (as I've marked above); Sleep, then, can imitate Deep Slumber by spending 4 additional power points, changing it from a 2nd level power to a 4th level power (being more expensive than its spell counterpart anyway). Hypnotism might affect 1d4 HD per power point spent, similar to (but different in effect from) Hypnotism v. Hypnotic Pattern. Geas could affect, at most 7 HD, but by spending extra pp you increase the HD limit (by 3 HD per additional pp spent, as an example) and you could change the duration from days (base) to months (2 pp extra) to years (4 pp extra). As for Heroism and Hold Creature, I'd recommend they work like Charm (psionic), in that each represent the lowest effect, but for the appropriate amount of PP it increases in power (Heroism to Greater Heroism and Hold Person to Hold Monster). On another note, I chose Horrid Wilting because, while it doesn't have a similar ability in psionics (that comes to mind, anyway), the most powerful non-ruby gem dragon (gem dragons are psionic), topaz, basically has a horrid wilting as a breath-weapon, and I figured it'd be appropriate. If you don't think so, let me know - Horrid Wilting is a very powerful ability (though I've relegated it to a ninth-level effect and ignored any possible augmentation). So let me know what you think, in the end. Finally, with the summoning, I limited to succubi and cerebroliths because that's the kind of evil outsiders whose essence was used (by me) in the making of Red Light (Alu fiends and psionic fiends, respectively) and the original limits it to 'evil outsiders only', so I limited that further into thematic sense, though I'd also like to summon fey creatures (specifically nymphs and pixies) if that's possible, as they also provided for the idea. Let me know what you think. Remember, my goal here isn't to powergame, but to make things better for the group as a whole, and most of these abilities won't be gained until many levels later, so let me know what you think. Other limits we could add would be to either place a limit on how many times I could use these special abilities (like, say, three times each) while still using my power points to do so, or instead of gaining both powers I gain only one (probably GM's choice or 50/50 random, though I have my preferences), or possibly even both, though changing either in such a way already limits the benefit of this and might result in an LA reduction, much less applying both. If you wanted to tie this to my spell-fire, perhaps I'd have to (as a free action) expend a spell-fire level to access it once starting that round (allowing me to expend PP to use it) or spell-fire levels to create the effect instead, presenting yet another drain on an already limited ability. As an extreme option, for a definite reduction in LA, we could combine most of the above (use spellfire to access it, use pp to activate it, maximum use a limited number of times per day).
Special QualitiesSpecial Qualities:
Awesome Beauty (Su) - any humanoid within 30' who looks at Red Light is shaken for 1 minute (will [DC 10+ 1/2 lvl + CHA] negates). Continual exposure results in additional saves which reset the duration. This can be suppressed or resumed as a free action. This is a [mind-affecting] [fear] effect.
--> This special ability comes from a half-nymph, and I really like it in theory, though the practice is kind of wierd. Instead, what I might recommend is to be Fascinated (like the bardic music) and/or both Fascinated and Shaken for the duration (literally making the beauty "awesome"). One variant that I thought of would be to make the DC dependent upon my spell-fire as well as level - the DC would be (at maximum) equal to the [10+spell fire levels currently held+CHA] or [10+1/2 lvl+CHA], whichever is higher. This, especially when tied to such things as expending spell-fire for the bonus abilities, needing to keep spell-fire down for the purpose of power/spell-resistance, and using it for healing creates a fascinating (to me, at least) dynamic that works very well for the character archetype and fundamentally explains why she has spell-fire in the first place.
Ability ScoresAbility Scores:
+2 STR, +4 DEX, +4 CON, +2 INT, +2 WIS, +6 CHA
--> These are the ability scores from both templates, though they are gestalted (taking the best of both), not added together. The only real difference gain is a +2 bonus to wisdom for an Alu.
Level AdjustmentLA: +3
--> I ended up giving this a slightly-lower-than Alu level adjustment (Alu's are +4, half-nymphs and half-feys +2) because, while it gains some extra abilities, it also has several of it's most powerful (damage reduction becomes more vulnerable and touch-attack changes to a less-useful, but thematically appropriate psionic weapon) reduced and loses the most powerful mobility (flight) in the game, and eliminated several of the spell-likes entirely from the half-fey (which normally has a +2). You might disagree, but that's my thought process. Please let me know what you think! I also really like the idea of tying the abilities to spell-fire, both as a limiting factor and as a way to make thematic sense from the various abilities and her (metagame) choice of spellfire as a first level feat to make up for the healer-deficiency. Talk to me about what you think.
As you can tell, I've set her up as a first level non-modified character (I have not applied the template, yet, pending your perusal and approval). Again, let me reiterate, I'm going after a power-gaming experience, but rather a group-helping experience, so keep that in mind when looking this stuff over and making suggestions for refinement. Also, if possible, I'd like to use the LA level-purchase found in the Complete Arcane to reduce my LA at 3rd level (instead of taking my fourth class level, losing that XP and reducing my LA by one), 6th level (instead of taking my seventh class level, losing that XP and reducing my LA by one) and 9th level (as the other two) in order to have a +0 LA by that point. Again, it's up to you and your interpretation - I'm not trying to get anything past you, but this is a character concept I've liked for a while, just not had time to do anything with. I'm also willing to work on her origin, backstory, or anything else you'd like to look at in a campaign. Send me a PM or, if you'd like PM me your WLM and we can talk that way. At any rate, let me know, please!
PEOPLE INTERESTED SO FAR:
Sifright (obviously): engineer who brings SCIENCE to the world (probably rogue, possibly altered artificer, or factotum)
TDK: Spellthief (sneaky magical buddy)
Magic Marker: sorcerer con-man
DarkDrgon: bard ('cause they're awesome)
Overcast: wilder and metamind
Me: psion and thrallherd (who wields spellfire to provide healing for group while still using our current resources)
Mr. Bookworm: undecided (c'mon, be psionic! one of us! one of us!)* (an erudite or divine mind would complete the 'image' of the all-arcane/psionic party, specifically, especially a kalashtar one for lots of power points! Also possible is a wizard/erudite who eventually becomes a cerebromancer prestige and who focuses on SCIENCE... er, yeah; y'know, instead, be whatever you want!  ) who's joined team psionic with a monk/psychic warrior/"Tashalatora"
BitVyper: who knows or cares? He should be a time lord to make sure it works, regardless!
Solid Snake: sucks to be him, he can't (yet)(sorry, Snake, wish you were here)
Last edited by tacticslion; 04-03-2011 at 06:26 PM.
Reason: PEOPLE INTERESTED SO FAR, also BitVyper
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04-02-2011, 05:30 PM
Linear Mode
