Author Topic: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)  (Read 27457 times)

Offline sirpercival

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Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« on: December 16, 2011, 09:08:27 PM »
Another base class for my Magipunk setting.  WIP.  I totally stole this idea from Prime32 and ran with it (with permission).

Crystal Mage


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"I have achieved perfection.  What have you achieved?"
-Elsbeth Mirror, crystal mage

Spellcrystals are a naturally-occurring magical phenomenon which grow organically in regions of high residual magic.  They are harvested for their special properties, acting as perfect storage devices for spell energy.  A crystal mage who has acquired a large spellcrystal of exceptional quality and attuned to it in a special ceremony that requires implanting the crystal in her solar plexus.  The ceremony awakens the heartcrystal to sentience, and it enters into a symbiotic relationship with the mage, supplying magical skill and knowledge in exchange for life energy.

Over time, the heartcrystal and the mage integrate more and more closely, becoming one perfect being.

MAKING A CRYSTAL MAGE
A crystal mage is an arcane spellcaster, who can specialize in any number of different party roles.
Abilities: Intelligence and Constitution are equally important for a Crystal Mage.  If the Mage intends to focus on combat, a good Strength and Dexterity can be quite important.
Races: Any non-chaotic.  The orderly nature of a heartcrystal's internal facets means that beings which are too chaotic and random can never fully attune themselves.
Starting Gold: As wizard.
Starting Age: As wizard.

Class Skills
The Crystal Mage's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Arcana (Int), Concentration (Wis), Engineering (Int), Profession (Wis), Scholarship (Int), and Wordsmithing (Int).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int)x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int

Table: The Crystal MageHD: d6


Level
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Base
Attack
Bonus
+0
+1
+2
+3
+3
+4
+5
+6/+1
+6/+1
+7/+2
+8/+3
+9/+4
+9/+4
+10/+5
+11/+6/+1
+12/+7/+2
+12/+7/+2
+13/+8/+3
+14/+9/+4
+15/+10/+5

Fort
Save
+0
+0
+1
+1
+1
+2
+2
+2
+3
+3
+3
+4
+4
+4
+5
+5
+5
+6
+6
+6

Reflex
Save
+0
+0
+1
+1
+1
+2
+2
+2
+3
+3
+3
+4
+4
+4
+5
+5
+5
+6
+6
+6

Will
Save
+2
+3
+3
+4
+4
+5
+5
+6
+6
+7
+7
+8
+8
+9
+9
+10
+10
+11
+11
+12


Special
Heartcrystal, Geodes, shard d6
Grow crystal, lesser crystalline weapon
Crystalline constitution
Geode focus
Share crystal
Crystalline shield, shard d8
Crystalline weapon
Geode focus
Improved crystalline constitution
Storm of shards
Shard d10
Geode focus
Improved crystalline weapon
Improved crystalline shield
Greater crystalline constitution
Geode focus, shard d12
Greater storm of shards
Absorb crystal
Greater crystalline weapon
Crystalline perfection, Geode focus

Geodes
Retrieved
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
8
Spells per Day
 
01st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th
53
64
65
663
664
6653
6664
66653
66664
666653
666664
6666653
6666664
66666653
66666664
666666653
666666664
6666666653
6666666664
6666666666

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A crystal mage is proficient with simple weapons, and with the crystal armor, weapon, and shield produced by her heartcrystal, but not with any other weapons, armor, or shields.

Spells: A crystal mage casts arcane spells which are drawn from her Geodes (see below).  She knows every spell that is recorded in her heartcrystal. A crystal mage need not prepare her spells ahead of time, but instead, retrieves some of the Geodes that her heartcrystal bears (see below) at the beginning of each day.  A crystal mage can only cast spells she knows from her retrieved Geodes; if she does not know all of the spells from one of her Geodes can still retrieve that Geode, but is able to cast only the spells that she knows.

To learn or cast a spell, the crystal mage must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a crystal mage's spell is 10 + the spell level + her Intelligence modifier.  Like other spellcasters, a crystal mage can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given in the table above. In addition, she receives bonus spells for a high Intelligence score.  The crystal mage regains her spells by getting a good night’s sleep and spending 1 hour communing with her heartcrystal (see the heartcrystal entry for more details).

Heartcrystal: A crystal mage unlocks her magical abilities by attuning to a sufficiently-large spellcrystal in a special (and dangerous) ceremony.  This process implants the heartcrystal in the mage's chest (just below the sternum), which awakens the crystal to sentience. It remains awakened by drawing on the crystal mage's lifeforce.   At first, this has no effect on the mage; however, when the mage is able to cast spells of 2nd level or higher, the heartcrystal must draw enough lifeforce that it hinders the crystal mage.  As long as the mage has spells of at least 2nd-level available to cast, her hit point total decreases as shown on the table below.  This damage cannot be healed, reduced, or prevented in any way until she has no more spells of that level available, at which point it can be healed normally.  A crystal mage's heartcrystal begins play containing one 0th level spell of her choice for each Geode she has, plus all spells associated with her Geodes (see below).

A crystal mage must commune with her heartcrystal every day to regain her spells.  She cannot cast any spell that is not recorded in her heartcrystal.  To enable the mage to cast a spell, the heartcrystal expands its own substance so that it can hold the spell energy.   Storing a 1st-level spell causes no change in the crystal.  However, if the mage can cast spells of 2nd level or higher, the crystal grows over the surface of her body, and enough of the mage's body is covered by this hard shell that it provides her an armor bonus (and a penalty to Persuasion checks to disguise her appearance).  In this case the heartcrystal takes up one or more body slots, as shown in the table below; the entries in the table are cumulative, and the total effect is determined by the highest-level spells the mage has available.

The armor granted by the heartcrystal is treated as light armor with no armor check penalty or arcane spell failure.  Casting spells of a given level does not remove the armor bonus, Persuasion penalty, or body slot for that level; however, it does allow the hit point loss to be healed.  Once a crystal mage can cast 2nd-level spells, the heartcrystal armor can be enchanted as a magic item, with the normal +50% cost of adding another effect to an existing item.

The appearance of each crystal is unique, as it reflects both the mage's personality and lifeforce, and the spells stored within it in the orientation of the crystal's internal facets.  The appearance may shift over time as the mage and the crystal evolve and change.  A heartcrystal grants other abilities depending on the crystal mage's level, as detailed below.

Spell
Level   
Body
slot   
HP
loss   
Armor   
bonus
Persuasion   
penalty
2ndTorso1+4-2
3rdArms2+1-2
4thHands3+1-2
5thBody4+0-2
6thFeet5+1-2
7thShoulders6+1-2
8thWaist7+0-2
9thThroat8+1-2

Geodes: A crystal mage learns spells through the use of Geodes, which are small pockets of homogeneous crystal structure within her heartcrystal, representing particular patterns of similar magical knowledge.  At first level, the heartcrystal forms 5 Geodes; the crystal mage acquires another Geode at every level thereafter. These Geodes are gained automatically and at no cost. Each Geode adds 6 spells of various levels to the mage's heartcrystal and spells known. The individual Geodes are described below.

In addition to the spells and Geodes gained automatically at each level, a crystal mage can learn and encode additional Geodes and their spells into her heartcrystal through other spellcrystals and spell Geodes (from other crystal mages' heartcrystals). No matter what the Geode's source, the crystal mage must first decipher the magical patterns (usually requiring either a read magic spell or a Arcana check). Next, she must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, she must make a Arcana check (DC 15 + spell’s level). If the check succeeds, the crystal mage understands the spell and can encode it into her heartcrystal through a magical process that consumes 100 gp per spell level in reagents. The process leaves a spellcrystal that was copied from unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a spellcrystal disappears from the crystal.  Learning spells from a complete spell Geode is a simpler process, requiring a single Arcana check (DC of 20 + the highest level spell in the Geode) and 1 day per stored spell studying the Geode to learn all spells stored within.

If the check fails, the crystal mage cannot understand or record the spell. She cannot attempt to learn or record that spell again until she gains another rank in Arcana.  In most cases, crystal mages charge a fee for the privilege of recording spells from their Geodes. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp.  A heartcrystal bears any Geode for which it has recorded at least one spell.

Shard (Ex): A crystal mage can split of a fragment of her heartcrystal (which heals the break instantly) and use it as a projectile weapon.  This extraordinary ability is a ranged touch attack which deals 1d6 piercing and slashing damage + the mage's Intelligence modifier at 1st level.  The damage dealt by the shard increases by 1d6 for every two additional spell levels that the mage gains the ability to cast, and the damage die size increases by one step at 6th level, 11th level, and 16th level, as shown on the table above.  For example, the shard attack of a 13th-level crystal mage deals 4d10 damage + her Intelligence modifier.

Grow crystal: A crystal mage of 2nd level or higher can cause her heartcrystal to bud and split off smaller spellcrystals that can be used by her or other practitioners of magic.  This ability functions exactly like the Scribe Scroll feat, and spellcrystals created in this fashion are otherwise identical to scrolls.

Lesser crystalline weapon (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, whenever a crystal mage has a 1st-level spell or higher available to cast, her heartcrystal can sprout a crystalline melee weapon.  This weapon can take any shape she likes, but whatever the shape it counts as a masterwork one-handed weapon with a base damage of 1d8 and a 20/x2 critical.  The crystal mage can also use it as a spell-storing weapon, but can only store one spell she knows of up to 0th level in it.  The crystalline weapon can be enchanted as a magic item, with the usual +50% cost of adding an additional effect to an existing item (it counts as a +1 weapon for the purposes of adding weapon enhancements).  It retains the enchantment even when it has not been generated, though any spells stored in it are lost after 24 hours.  A crystal mage can take Weapon Focus and similar feats for her crystalline weapon.  Generating or dismissing a crystalline weapon is a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Crystalline constitution (Ex): A crystal mage of 3rd level or higher has bonded more closely with her heartcrystal, aligning her essence in a more orderly fashion to prevent corruption.  She becomes immune to disease and sleep effects.

Geode focus: Upon reaching 4th level, and at every 4 levels after, a crystal mage selects one Geode that she knows.  She casts spells from that Geode at +1 caster level, to a maximum of her Hit Dice +1. She may not choose a single Geode more than once with this ability.

Share crystal (Ex): At 5th level, a crystal mage learns to make small spellcrystals that are useable by anyone.  The casting time of such a spellcrystal remains the same, and it is just as effective as if the crystal mage had cast it herself (in terms of duration, caster level, save DC, and the like).  The spell's level is increased by two, much as if a metamagic feat had been applied to it.  A crystal mage can create a maximum number of spellcrystals this way each day equal to her Intelligence modifier (minimum 1).  Each time this ability is used to make a shareable spellcrystal, that spell takes up one of the crystal mage's available spell castings for that day.  An unused shareable crystal loses its magic after 24 hours.

Crystalline shield (Ex): Starting at 6th level, whenever a crystal mage has a 3rd-level spell or higher available to cast, her heartcrystal can sprout a crystalline shield from the arm slot that it takes up.  This shield is attached to her arm and does not interfere with spellcasting in any way.  It grants a +2 shield bonus to AC and has no armor check penalty or chance of arcane spell failure.  It counts as a masterwork light shield, and can be enchanted as a magic item, with the usual +50% cost of adding an additional effect to an existing item.  The shield retains the enchantment even when it has not been generated. Generating or dismissing the shield is a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity; a crystal mage can generate or dismiss both a crystalline weapon and a crystalline shield in the same action.

Crystalline weapon (Ex): Beginning at 7th level, as long as a crystal mage has a 4th-level spell or higher available to cast, her crystalline weapon can store one spell of up to 2nd level in it.

Improved crystalline constitution (Ex): At 9th level, a crystal mage's body has become even more orderly.  Her type changes to outsider, she becomes immune to stunning, paralysis, and poison, and has a 50% chance of negating critical hits (but not precision damage).

Storm of shards (Su): Beginning at 10th level, a crystal mage can release a spell in an explosion of crystal shards, effectively casting it; using a spell in this way costs a spell slot two levels higher than the spell would normally require.  The storm of shards does 1d8 piercing damage per the spell's original level in a 30-foot burst centered on the crystal mage.  Anyone caught in the storm is allowed a Reflex save (DC 10 + spell level + Int modifier) for half damage.  Any creature that fails its Reflex save is also affected by the sacrificed spell with no save (though spell resistance applies), even a creature that only takes half damage from a failed save (such as a character with improved evasion).

Improved crystalline weapon: At 13th level, a crystal mage's crystalline weapon improves.  As long as the mage has a spell of 6th level or higher available the cast, the crystalline weapon's base damage becomes 1d10, its critical threat range improves to 19-20/x2, and she can store a spell of up to 4th level in it.

Improved crystalline shield: A crystal mage of 14th level or higher can generate her crystalline shield as an immediate action; however, if she does so, it only lasts for 1 round before retracting back into her heartcrystal armor.

Greater crystalline constitution: Upon reaching 15th level, a crystal mage is nearing perfection.  She no longer takes ability penalties from aging, and cannot die from old age.  She has a 75% chance of negating critical hits (but not precision damage), and is immune to fatigue, exhaustion, nonlethal damage, ability damage, and ability drain.

Greater storm of shards:  Beginning at 17th level, a crystal mage's storm of shards ability improves.  The storm deals 2d8 piercing damage per the spell's original level, and the radius of the burst increases to 100 feet.

Absorb crystal (Su): When a crystal mage achieves 18th level, she learns how to incorporate smaller crystals into her bonded heartcrystal, activating chakras that she normally wouldn't have access to.  By spending 1 minute concentrating on a spellcrystal, she can destroy the spellcrystal; at any one point in the next 24 hours, she may then activate this ability to make use of a magic item in a body slot which would normally be taken up by her Heartcrystal armor. The body slot she unlocks is the one associated with the highest-level spell stored in the destroyed spellcrystal. Once activated, the body slot remains open for a number of rounds equal to the crystal mage's class level.

Greater crystalline weapon: At 19th level, a crystal mage's crystalline weapon again improves.  As long as the mage has a spell of 8th level or higher available to cast, the weapon's base damage becomes 2d8, its critical multiplier improves to 19-20/x3, and she can store a spell of up to 6th level in it.

Crystalline perfection: At 20th level, a crystal mage has achieved perfection similar to that of her heartcrystal.  She is immune to critical hits, and has a 50% chance to negate precision damage.  She is also immune to necromancy effects, death effects, and energy drain.

PLAYING A CRYSTAL MAGE
Thing.
 Combat: Thing.
 Advancement: Thing.

CRYSTAL MAGES IN THE WORLD
"Thing."
-Guy
A brief description of how your class is persevered in the world and how he interacts with the world.
 Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
 Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
 Organizations: Thing.

NPC Reaction
 This is an in detail description of how NPC's would perceive your class and the immediate generalization that people would give of your class.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2014, 07:51:30 PM by sirpercival »
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Offline sirpercival

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(Continued) Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2011, 09:11:11 PM »
Heartcrystals

A crystal mage's heartcrystal takes on a fragment of the mage's personality during the awakening process.  It is not a creature in the traditional sense, but more a symbiotic being that is a part of the crystal mage's body.  A heartcrystal grants special abilities to its mage, as shown on the Heartcrystal Special Abilities table below. In addition, a heartcrystal has a personality (being a fragment of the mage's personality), which gives its mage a bonus on certain types of checks or saving throws, as given on the Heartcrystal Personalities table below.

Crystal
Mage
Level


Int   

Ability   
Bonus


Special
1st-2nd6+0Skill Focus (Perception), perfect recall, personality
3rd-4th7+2--
5th-6th8+2Perfect will
7th-8th9+2Crystalline concentration
9th-10th10+4--
11th-12th11+4Perfect spell
13th-14th12+4Crystalline spell (3rd)
15th-16th13+6--
17th-18th14+6Crystalline spell (6th)
19th-20th   15+6--

Ability Bonus (Ex): The crystal mage gains a bonus to her Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score, choosing which ability score is affected when she prepares spells for the day.

Intelligence: The heartcrystal's Intelligence score.

Skill Focus (Perception): The crystal mage's heartcrystal grants her Skill Focus (Perception) as a bonus feat.

Perfect recall (Ex): A heartcrystal is essentially an information recording engine.  It remembers everything that happens within sensing distance of its crystal mage.  The crystal has ranks in Arcana, Engineering, Natural Lore, and Scholarship equal to the mage's class level, and the mage can learn the results of her crystal's skill checks by taking a full-round action to commune with it.

Personality: Each heartcrystal has a distinct personality, chosen by the mage at the time of its creation from among those given on the following table. At 1st level, the mage typically gets a feel for a heartcrystal's personality only through occasional impulses, but as the mage increases in level the heartcrystal's personality becomes more pronounced. At higher levels, it is not uncommon for a heartcrystal to constantly ply its mage with observations and advice, often severely slanted toward the heartcrystal's particular worldview. The mage always sees a bit of herself in her heartcrystal, even if magnified and therefore distorted.

PersonalityBenefit to Crystal Mage
Artiste+3 bonus on Engineering checks
Bully+3 bonus on Persuasion checks
Coward+3 bonus on Stealth checks
Friendly+3 bonus on Negotiation checks
Hero+2 bonus on Fortitude saves
Liar+3 bonus on Persuasion checks
Meticulous+3 bonus on Perception checks
Nimble+2 bonus on Initiative checks
Observant+3 bonus on Perception checks
Poised+3 bonus on Acrobatics checks
Resolved+2 bonus on Will saves
Sage+3 bonus on Scholarship checks
Single-minded+3 bonus on Meditation checks
Sneaky+3 bonus on Stealth checks
Sympathetic+3 bonus on Negotiation checks

Perfect Will (Su): A crystal mage's heartcrystal helps her maintain control of her mind.  Starting at 5th level, if she fails her normal saving throw against an enchantment spell or effect, she can attempt an additional save 1 round later at the same DC.

Crystalline Concentration (Ex): At 7th level, once per day a heartcrystal can maintain concentration on a spell cast by its crystal mage.

Perfect Spell (Su): Beginning at 11th level, once per day a heartcrystal can smooth out any inaccuracies in a spell cast by its crystal mage.  The affected spell is maximized (as per the Maximize Spell metamagic feat) without changing the casting time or level of the spell.

Crystalline Spell (Su): At 13th level, a crystal mage may cast a spell of 3rd level or lower that has a range of personal one additional time per day.  At 17th level, the additional spell may be of 6th level or lower.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2017, 12:40:48 PM by sirpercival »
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Offline Garryl

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2011, 11:40:13 PM »
I see significantly fewer spells per day, but a boatload of potentially interesting class features.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Offline Ziegander

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2011, 12:05:09 AM »
If nothing else, that picture is fucking awesome.

Offline skellyhands

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2011, 12:40:28 AM »
I love this idea! Once you fill it all in, I'd love to use it as a hero or villain, whatever you think would work best. Let us know when it's all done, man! :D
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Offline Nanshork

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2011, 07:33:13 AM »
I like the way your magipunk setting is turning out so far class wise, this looks like it could be very interesting.

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2011, 08:27:44 AM »
I see significantly fewer spells per day, but a boatload of potentially interesting class features.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

I hope so!  This one may need major balancing help to not be significantly better or worse than a wizard/sorcerer.  I'm aiming for tier 1-4 with focus on 2-3 for these classes.

And yes, you may subscribe to the newsletter.  :D  This setting is kind of turn into a collaborative homebrew experiment.
If nothing else, that picture is fucking awesome.

Yes.  Yes it is.  I love Google Image Search.

I love this idea! Once you fill it all in, I'd love to use it as a hero or villain, whatever you think would work best. Let us know when it's all done, man! :D

No problem!  Just letting you know, you might have to adapt it a bit since it's going in my Magipunk setting, so there are changes from normal D&D (like the list of class skills, for example).

I like the way your magipunk setting is turning out so far class wise, this looks like it could be very interesting.

Awesome!  Once I have it more developed, I'll run a PbP.
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Offline Nanshork

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2011, 10:00:41 AM »
I like the way your magipunk setting is turning out so far class wise, this looks like it could be very interesting.

Awesome!  Once I have it more developed, I'll run a PbP.

I'm calling dibs on playing this right now.   :love

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2011, 02:40:36 PM »
OK, mechanics are just about done, just have to finish the spellcrystal stuff.

PLEASE give critiques about balance and power level (and coolness!).
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Offline Nanshork

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2011, 02:59:16 PM »
Are the HP Loss, Armor Bonus, and Persuasion Penalty all cumulative?  If the spellcrystal is taking up a body slot does that mean that you can't wear a magic item in said body slot?

I'm not sure how I feel about having a weapon that can only hold 1st level spells no matter what level you are.

Storm of Shards is awesome!

I like the Spellcrystal abilities so far.

Needs a gishy spell-list, but I'm sure you knew that.   :p

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2011, 03:03:35 PM »
Are the HP Loss, Armor Bonus, and Persuasion Penalty all cumulative?  If the spellcrystal is taking up a body slot does that mean that you can't wear a magic item in said body slot?

Yes to all.  However, there will be a feat similar to Split Chakra to open up slots.

Quote
I'm not sure how I feel about having a weapon that can only hold 1st level spells no matter what level you are.

Storm of Shards is awesome!

I like the Spellcrystal abilities so far.

Needs a gishy spell-list, but I'm sure you knew that.   :p

Glad you like SoS!  And... I suppose I could change the spell storage to 3rd/4th/5th. Would that be better?
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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2011, 03:14:34 PM »
Are the HP Loss, Armor Bonus, and Persuasion Penalty all cumulative?  If the spellcrystal is taking up a body slot does that mean that you can't wear a magic item in said body slot?

Yes to all.  However, there will be a feat similar to Split Chakra to open up slots.

So, if I have a spellcrystal in my torso, body, and waist I lose 26hp but gain +4 AC? Hmm. That's close to -2hp per level. Oh, and I can't actually wear magic items in those slots unless I take feats. Incredibly harsh penalties here.

Quote from: sirpercival
Quote
I'm not sure how I feel about having a weapon that can only hold 1st level spells no matter what level you are.

Glad you like SoS!  And... I suppose I could change the spell storage to 3rd/4th/5th. Would that be better?

I'd go with 2nd/4th/6th myself.

Offline sirpercival

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2011, 04:38:20 PM »
Are the HP Loss, Armor Bonus, and Persuasion Penalty all cumulative?  If the spellcrystal is taking up a body slot does that mean that you can't wear a magic item in said body slot?

Yes to all.  However, there will be a feat similar to Split Chakra to open up slots.

So, if I have a spellcrystal in my torso, body, and waist I lose 26hp but gain +4 AC? Hmm. That's close to -2hp per level. Oh, and I can't actually wear magic items in those slots unless I take feats. Incredibly harsh penalties here.

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I'm not sure how I feel about having a weapon that can only hold 1st level spells no matter what level you are.

Glad you like SoS!  And... I suppose I could change the spell storage to 3rd/4th/5th. Would that be better?

I'd go with 2nd/4th/6th myself.

OK, I changed some things.  I restructured the armor bonus to make it actually useful; I reduced the hit point loss by half; and I changed the spell-storing to 2/4/6.  However, I also clarified something -- the total effect of the crystal armor depends on the highest-level spells you prepare, so if you only prepare 1st, 4th, and 8th level spells you get the full effect of the 8th-level armor.  However, if you really don't prep an 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, or 7th-level spells, you can heal the damage from those body slots right away.

The body slot thing is pretty brutal, though... anyone have any suggestions on how to mitigate it somewhat? 
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Offline Garryl

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2011, 05:14:40 PM »
You could always remove the body slot limitations, or at least reduce them significantly. Incarnum uses about 5 slots maximum for Incarnates, and even Totemists only use 3-4 (since of their 5 binds, 1-2 will be used for Totem binds). If you still want to have the spellcrystal grow all over the user's body and impede item use, try something like what I did with MaI's power suits. When you prepare your spells each day, you can integrate your items directly into the spellcrystals as they grow over what you're wearing. The items are considered part of the crystals, so you can't remove them or add new items until the spellcrystal recedes because you spent the spell slots. A sufficient skill check might let you remove some items while the crystals are still there (probably engineering or arcana), but it will do lots of Con damage to you and maybe make you lose a prepared spell if you're not already dead.

I'd like to see more spell slots, at least at lower levels. Being a spellcaster with only 1 or 2 real spells before you have to pull out your crossbow or drop to cantrips is a bad thing. Alternatively, more low-level abilities (starting at 1st) that can be used when you don't want to cast your oh-so-limited spells. Maybe an Eldritch Blast-like ability to shoot crystal shards? Or maybe improve the crystal armor and weapon at low levels so the mage can gish it up a little (which would probably demand an increased hit die and at least 3/4 BaB, though).

The colors of the rows in Spellcrsyatal abilities by level are messed up. It doesn't alternate across 9-10 to 11-12.

Not entirely sure how I feel about the xp costs for Embed Crystal, especially since those generally are the only additional "spell slots" you get at even levels.

Still waiting on the crystal mage spell list.

Storm of Shards should be more clear about what spell failing creatures are affected by, and whether or not non-failing creatures are affected at all. I assume it's the sacrificed spell? I didn't even notice that Storm of Shards did anything other than damage until my 3rd reading of the ability, actually.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2011, 05:17:26 PM by Garryl »

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2011, 05:54:09 PM »
Needs some feat/PrC for multiclassing with incarnum.

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2011, 10:18:50 PM »
You could always remove the body slot limitations, or at least reduce them significantly. Incarnum uses about 5 slots maximum for Incarnates, and even Totemists only use 3-4 (since of their 5 binds, 1-2 will be used for Totem binds). If you still want to have the spellcrystal grow all over the user's body and impede item use, try something like what I did with MaI's power suits. When you prepare your spells each day, you can integrate your items directly into the spellcrystals as they grow over what you're wearing. The items are considered part of the crystals, so you can't remove them or add new items until the spellcrystal recedes because you spent the spell slots. A sufficient skill check might let you remove some items while the crystals are still there (probably engineering or arcana), but it will do lots of Con damage to you and maybe make you lose a prepared spell if you're not already dead.

Another couple ideas I have: (a) group together the slots for unlocking feat purposes (like one feat splits arms, hands, & torso, etc.) to reduce the feat tax; (b) allow each body slot to be enchanted as its own item, which would make it a $$ tax and not a feat tax.  Thoughts?

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I'd like to see more spell slots, at least at lower levels. Being a spellcaster with only 1 or 2 real spells before you have to pull out your crossbow or drop to cantrips is a bad thing. Alternatively, more low-level abilities (starting at 1st) that can be used when you don't want to cast your oh-so-limited spells. Maybe an Eldritch Blast-like ability to shoot crystal shards? Or maybe improve the crystal armor and weapon at low levels so the mage can gish it up a little (which would probably demand an increased hit die and at least 3/4 BaB, though).

I hadn't necessarily intended this as a gish class, though I can see how it would translate to one very easily; I think what I'll do is make the spell slots cap at 3 and not 2 (I had this originally), and then make a gishy ACF that drops the extra spell slots, increases BAB and HD, and shifts the weapon and shield abilities earlier.

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The colors of the rows in Spellcrsyatal abilities by level are messed up. It doesn't alternate across 9-10 to 11-12.
Yeah, I noticed that and didn't have a chance to change it.  Will be fixed in a few minutes.

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Not entirely sure how I feel about the xp costs for Embed Crystal, especially since those generally are the only additional "spell slots" you get at even levels.

With the increased spell slots, this will no longer be true.  Is the xp cost still bad?  The big thing is that I'm expecting people to take spells with expensive components or spells that are killed by SR, since the embedded crystals are nice happy supernaturals.

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Still waiting on the crystal mage spell list.

It's basically going to be the Wiz/Sorc list, I just will need to go through and update to the setting.  But run with the Wiz/Sorc assumption (since this is intended to be the Magipunk replacement for wizard).

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Storm of Shards should be more clear about what spell failing creatures are affected by, and whether or not non-failing creatures are affected at all. I assume it's the sacrificed spell? I didn't even notice that Storm of Shards did anything other than damage until my 3rd reading of the ability, actually.

Yes, it's the sacrificed spell.  And creatures that successfully save take half damage and are not affected.  Improved evasion does not prevent you from being affected by the spell.  I'll clear up the wording.

Needs some feat/PrC for multiclassing with incarnum.

Definitely.  :)
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2011, 10:57:10 AM »
OK I made the changes.  How's that?

Incarnum stuff will definitely be added, when I'm doing PrCs.
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Offline Garryl

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #17 on: December 18, 2011, 01:50:53 PM »
For Storm of Shards, please change "... is automatically affected by the sacrificed spell..." to "... is also affected by the sacrificed spell..." "Automatically", to my mind, implies that the subject would be affected either way, but is specifically referring to not gaining a save if the Ref save is failed. "Also", to my mind, only implies an additional effect on a failed save (that is, being affected by the spell and not getting a save).

Interesting, you can share single target and personal buffs with Storm of Shards.

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #18 on: December 18, 2011, 02:17:49 PM »
For Storm of Shards, please change "... is automatically affected by the sacrificed spell..." to "... is also affected by the sacrificed spell..." "Automatically", to my mind, implies that the subject would be affected either way, but is specifically referring to not gaining a save if the Ref save is failed. "Also", to my mind, only implies an additional effect on a failed save (that is, being affected by the spell and not getting a save).

Interesting, you can share single target and personal buffs with Storm of Shards.

Yes, I see what you mean.  I'll change the wording.

And yeah, you can... if you want your teammates to take damage.  Lol.  But single target spells work awesomely... How about an SoS Energy Drain?  :D
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Offline Garryl

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Re: Crystal Mage [base] (Magipunk)
« Reply #19 on: December 18, 2011, 02:29:00 PM »
For Storm of Shards, please change "... is automatically affected by the sacrificed spell..." to "... is also affected by the sacrificed spell..." "Automatically", to my mind, implies that the subject would be affected either way, but is specifically referring to not gaining a save if the Ref save is failed. "Also", to my mind, only implies an additional effect on a failed save (that is, being affected by the spell and not getting a save).

Interesting, you can share single target and personal buffs with Storm of Shards.

Yes, I see what you mean.  I'll change the wording.

And yeah, you can... if you want your teammates to take damage.  Lol.  But single target spells work awesomely... How about an SoS Energy Drain?  :D

As long as your allies don't mind taking 1-9d8 damage, every buff out of combat has a free Chain Spell applied to it. This is probably a good thing, actually.

How does Storm of Shards interact with effects that don't specifically affect a creature, like summoning spells and fog cloud?

Edit: Damn, I keep forgetting to ask something about Share Spellcrystal, but I can't remember what I wanted to ask.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2011, 02:30:47 PM by Garryl »