Author Topic: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime  (Read 308732 times)

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #840 on: November 01, 2018, 11:02:49 PM »
Any idea for a decent name for this system? I'm just using spellcastery for now as a placeholder.

Some ideas for schools of spellcastery:

Eternal Pyre
- Basic charges: flame. Advanced charges: plasma.
- Fire-based spellcastery. Direct damage, area denial (fire walls, burning ground, etc.), retributive damage, and phoenix-themed effects (flame-based recovery, flight, etc.).

Glacial Road
- Basic charges: frost. Advanced charges: ice.
- Cold-based spellcastery. Crowd control, area-based combos (created icy ground, use it to enhance later spells), damage mitigation.

Crashing Tempest
- Basic charges: shock. Advanced charges: lightning.
- Electricity-based spellcastery. Multi-target non-area damage, speed and teleportation, stun and paralysis.

Consuming Presence
- Basic charges: corrosion. Advanced charges: consumption.
- Acid-based spellcastery. Debuffing defenses, anti-construct, anti-object, damage over time.

Clarion Tone
- Basic charges: corrosion. Advanced charges: consumption.
- Sonic-based spellcastery. Sound manipulation, morale-based buffs and debuffs, fear, sound-based detection.

Unyielding Reality
- Basic charges: force. Advanced charges: power.
- Force-based spellcastery. Auto-hit effects, bypassing defenses, unbreakable barriers, anti-incorporeal/ethereal.

Boundless Fury
- Basic charges: rage. Advanced charges: frenzy.
- Offensive combat-based spellcastery. Self-buffs, melee attacks, offense at the cost of defense, protection from mental effects, temporary removal of disabling effects.

Guardian's Edge
- Basic charges: protection. Advanced charges: endurance.
- Defensive combat-based spellcastery. Self-buffs, melee attacks, ally buffs, disrupting enemy attacks, prevention of harm.

Certain Will
- Basic charges: aligned . Advanced charges: chaos, evil, good, law.
- Alignment-based spellcastery. Variable-alignment effects, alignment-specific protection and attacks, anti-outsider, mental protection, area wards.

Bloody Tears
- Basic charges: blood. Advanced charges: siphoning.
- Health-based spellcastery. Sacrifice health for effects, stealing health, poison and disease, debilitation.

Bestial Wrath
- Basic charges: shift. Advanced charges: transformation.
- Transformation-based spellcastery. Natural attacks, polymorph, more stuff when I think of it, although polymorph is pretty versatile as-is.



Preliminary ideas for the more spellcastery of the spellcastery classes.

Magician
- 1/2 BAB, full BAB if only using spellcastery as part of a full attack.
- Access to the more magical schools of spellcastery.
- Specializes in a school of spellcastery. Basic charges from the school (flame, frost, etc.) don't count against your maximum charges limit (still limited to 1/2 level of any given charge type), and at higher levels you get to start each encounter with one or more advanced charges from the school (plasma, ice, etc.).
- Also gets to cast a small selection of Sor/Wiz spells on a per-day basis.



On a side note, this idea was conceptually inspired by Sypha Belnades's combat casting style in the recently released season 2 of Castlevania. If you haven't watched it yet, do. It's not just a good adaptation of a video game, it's damn good television, period.

The mechanics also draw inspiration from Path Of Exile's charge system and Slay The Spire's Defect class.

Offline TheGeometer

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 413
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #841 on: November 02, 2018, 03:14:10 PM »
Why do none of the schools share charge types other than Consuming Presence and Clarion Tone? I actually think it would lend a really cool element to the system if a lot of effects resulted in charges that a completely different school could use. That way, you'd benefit from constantly switching up which school you pull your next attack from. For example, you could have some ally-buffing effect that gives you flame charges (somehow - it would take a bit of fluff, calling it "Burning Determination" or whatever), so that you could follow it up with a powerful fire attack that uses up those charges.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #842 on: November 02, 2018, 05:34:46 PM »
Why do none of the schools share charge types other than Consuming Presence and Clarion Tone? I actually think it would lend a really cool element to the system if a lot of effects resulted in charges that a completely different school could use. That way, you'd benefit from constantly switching up which school you pull your next attack from. For example, you could have some ally-buffing effect that gives you flame charges (somehow - it would take a bit of fluff, calling it "Burning Determination" or whatever), so that you could follow it up with a powerful fire attack that uses up those charges.

That's a typo. Clarion Tone was supposed to use different charges. What was intended, however, was a lot of spells like Consume Heat and Thermal Balance that use one school's charges but generate charges from another school exactly as you describe, plus a few like multicolored cards in MtG that use charges from multiple schools at once. Staying purely in one school's effects will build you up to the most powerful individual effects (make basic charges, spend basic for advanced charges, spend advanced charges for super stuff), but using cross-school effects should be more efficient across multiple casts, since you get back a lot of the charges that you put in, just in a different school's form.

Offline Samwise

  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 564
  • I'm new!
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #843 on: January 02, 2019, 09:11:04 PM »
Since I poked my nose back with a comment about high level non-dungeon crawl play, I was inspired to write a rather cheeky alternative high level rulership set of rules. Henceforth:

APPENDIX N KINGDOM RULES

Every month that you rule a kingdom (or otherwise have a leadership position in politics, business, or other circumstance), roll on the following table:

D%      Event
01-50           Nothing happens.
51-90           Something good happens!
91-100           Something awesome happens!!!
101+                   Something horrible happens!!!!!


Nothing happens. Really, nothing of note happens. You are bored overseeing the bureaucracy of your kingdom. Add +10 to next month’s roll. This is cumulative until otherwise noted.

Something good happens! A good harvest, a trade agreement, or some other event that makes your people appreciate what a good ruler you are. Despite their appreciation, you are excessively bored overseeing the bureaucracy of your kingdom. Add +10 to next month’s roll. This is cumulative until otherwise noted.

Something awesome happens!!! You have a new heir, you expand your kingdom significantly, you find a source of new wealth, or some other great event that makes your people love you for being so great. Despite the parties and celebrations, you are overwhelmingly bored overseeing the bureaucracy of your kingdom. Add +10 to next month’s roll. This is cumulative until otherwise noted.

Something horrible happens!!!!! Invasion! Famine! Plague! Bankruptcy! Whatever it is, the fate of the kingdom hangs in the balance. Of course, you are supposed to be retired.
Roll a Will Save DC 10 + character level + the number of children or other heirs you have. You add +1 to your roll for every +10 you added to the random event roll. You also add +1 if you are middle-aged, +2 if you are old, or +3 if you are venerable, to your roll, because why should those miserable kids have all the fun!
If you fail, your spouse and advisors talk you into sending out some adventurers to take care of the problem for you. If you want, you can create 1st level PCs and the DM can run one of those intro adventures he has sitting around that he never ran before because he could never figure out how to fit it into a campaign. If you already have PCs that survived such an adventure, maybe he will let them do a slightly higher level adventure he has gathering dust somewhere. Either way, you are insanely bored overseeing the bureaucracy of your kingdom. Add +10 to next month’s roll. This is cumulative until otherwise noted.
If you succeed, your spouse and advisors fail to talk you out of getting your stuff out of storage and going on a rampage. Or maybe your spouse has been abducted and your advisors slaughtered, so there is no one to stop you from seeking revenge personally. Either way, you get to play a high level adventure. Woot! If you survive, reset all bonuses for the monthly random event roll to zero and go back to being bored overseeing the bureaucracy of your kingdom until you roll well enough to have another adventure.


And there it is.
Now you can have players rule kingdoms, run businesses, supervise guilds and schools, and all those other totally cool sounding but requiring egregiously complicated sub-systems that involve reams of book-keeping and custom spreadsheets to work, and go will full on Appendix N inspired playstyle options instead.
All it needs is someone to set up a couple of flavorful charts to define the specifics of what does or not happen at the various event levels, except the adventure one which requires customized charts for every individual campaign based on what the DM has available to run.

And yes, that is rather flippantly presented, it is also serious in that it reflects how most Appendix N books are. They start with a chapter (a paragraph or two for short stories) about how the hero is thoroughly bored and maybe getting out of shape with being in charge and then BAM! something happens and it is time to get medieval (or similar era) on someone.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #844 on: June 13, 2019, 12:17:07 AM »
Facetaker
PrC for Changelings and the like, although probably also for anyone who can cast Alter Self.

Requires Bluff, Disguise.
Requires ability to physically change form into that of another creature. Can be through a racial ability, spellcasting, etc.

6+Int skills/level

Level
1 Stolen Faces (touch, 1 hour), Sneak Attack +1d6
2 Stolen Faces (1 day), Becoming the Mask (detection)
3 Bonus Feat
4 Stolen Faces (1 week), Sneak Attack +2d6
5 Stolen Faces (30 feet), Becoming the Mask (thoughts)
6 Stolen Faces (indefinite duration), Remembered Faces (1 face)
7 Bonus Feat, Sneak Attack +3d6
8 Remembered Faces (2 faces)
9 Becoming the Mask (truth)
10 Remembered Faces (3 faces), Forgotten Faces, Sneak Attack +4d6

Stolen Faces
- Can "steal" the face of one individual at a time.
- Using your Change/Alter Self ability/spell, you can transform into a near-perfect copy of an individual whose face you have stolen.
- You can always take 10 on Bluff and Disguise checks to appear and act like the individual you are transformed into.
- Can steal the face of any individual you have access to. Can steal the face of any living creature or animated non-living creature. If you have access to the remains of a dead or destroyed creature, you can also use them to steal its face, as long as the remains are fully intact.
- At 1st level, stealing a face requires contact (touch) and a standard action. At 5th level, can be done at a range of 30 feet with line of sight, but requires 3 rounds of observation and study.
- At 1st level, you can retain a stolen face for up to 1 hour. At 2nd level improves to 1 day, then at 4th level to 1 week, then at 6th level to indefinitely. As long as a face is stolen, you can transform into that individual; you don't need to stay in their form the whole time, and you don't lose the face if you transform away from that individual's form.

Becoming the Mask
- At 2nd level, while transformed into an individual whose face you have stolen, detection spells pick up the individual's alignment, creature type, etc. instead of your own.
- At 5th level, while transformed, even mind reading picks up surface thoughts consistent with the individual you are transformed into. You also become vaguely aware of what the individual's instinctive response to any situation you find yourself in would be. You further gain a +4 bonus on a Knowledge checks pertaining to anything that the individual knows extremely well, and can use Knowledge skills untrained for such purposes regardless of the DC.
- At 9th level, nothing short of a True Seeing spell or similarly powerful magic/effects automatically reveals your true form or identifies you as false. A successful Spot check against a DC equal to your Disguise check or a Sense Motive check opposed by your Bluff check are enough to raise suspicion, but neither alone are enough to convince someone that you aren't the individual whose face you have stolen; unless you act sufficiently suspiciously or out of character, only by succeeding on both skills against you or by corroborating with another character who is likewise made suspicious can a character truly be convinced that you are not the individual whose face you have stolen.

Remembered Faces
- Starting at 6th level, you can "remember" a stolen face. As a standard action, while not transformed into a stolen face, you can store that face.
- Also as a standard action, or as part of the action to store a stolen face, you can steal a remembered face.
- When you get access to this ability, you can remember one face at a time. This improves to 2 faces at 8th level and to 3 faces at 10th level.

Forgotten Faces
- At 10th level, while you are transformed into an individual whose face you have stolen, others become suspicious of them, not you. When a creature observes that individual, they must make a Will save (DC 10 + PrC level + your Cha mod). On a failure, they become suspicious of the individual, believing them to possibly be an impostor. This is a mind-affecting effect.

Sneak Attack
- Gain a Sneak Attack +1d6 at 1st level, and +1d6 every 3 levels thereafter.

Bonus Feats
- At 3rd and 7th levels, gain a bonus feat from the following list: Skill Focus (Bluff or Disguise), Deceitful, Negotiator, Spell Focus (Transmutation), Iron Will, Open Minded.
« Last Edit: April 27, 2020, 01:14:56 AM by Garryl »

Offline Stratovarius

  • Forum Host
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7678
  • Arhosan Emperor
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #845 on: June 13, 2019, 07:51:43 AM »
That's pretty much a complete class there. And a good idea. I'd lean towards the Rogue benefits instead of casting, otherwise it's just really strong.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #846 on: October 01, 2019, 09:13:25 PM »
Ideas for the Necromancy-magic-based race for the magic-based setting I was talking about 20-odd pages ago...

  • Aberration (unliving)
  • Unliving subtype: While alive, counts as both living and undead, whichever is more beneficial against any given effect. This does not grant undead traits.
  • Healed by both positive and negative energy, but at 50% (like Living Constructs).
  • Touch of Necromancy (Su): Once per day, touch a creature to flood it with you choice of positive or negative energy. Like a touch spell, you must make a successful melee touch attack to affect an unwilling creature. When you touch, roll 1d6 per character level. If the creature is harmed by the type of energy you choose, this is a Necromancy Death effect, and if the total at least equals the creature’s current hit points, it dies or is destroyed (no save). Alternatively, if the creature is healed by the type of energy you choose, this is a Necromancy(healing) effect and the total plus the creature's current hit points at least equals its maximum hit points, it is healed an amount equal to the difference between its current and maximum hit points. If the creature is both healed and harmed by the chosen energy type, neither healed nor harmed by it, or if you fail to touch the creature, this ability has no effect and you do not expend your daily use of it.
  • Cannot be animated as undead by any means short of direct divine intervention or artifact level effects.
  • Necromancy spells that would animate their corpse as an Undead creature have a different effect. Animate dead and spells of 4th or 5th level instead return them to life as per the raise dead spell. Create undead and spells of 6th and 7th level instead return them to life as per the resurrection spell. Create greater undead and spells of 8th level or higher instead return them to life as per the true resurrection spell. Lower-level spells have no effect. The specifically named spells (animate dead, create undead, and create greater undead) produce the listed effect even if they are cast at lower than the indicated level range (such as the 3rd-level Cleric version of animate dead), but can produce the more powerful effects if cast as higher-level spells (for example, create undead with Heighten Spell to raise it to 8th level would produce a true resurrection effect).
  • Probably some more minor things. Maybe some stat adjustments.

Feat ideas:
  • A bunch of feats to boost Touch of Necromancy. Each of them gives +1 use per day and improves the ability in some way.
  • +1 use. If the amount rolled for healing is in excess of the amount needed to trigger the heal, the subject gains the excess as temporary hit points. If the amount rolled for death is in excess of the subject's remaining hit points, you gain the excess as temporary hit points. Temporary hit points last for 1 minute.
  • +1 use. Can be used as a ray (ranged touch attack) with a range of 30 ft, although you don't retain the use if the ability fails when used this way.
  • +1 use. If you don't roll high enough, still deals damage or heals hit points equal to half the amount rolled.
  • +1 use. If you have two hands free, you can make up to two touch (or ray) attacks as part of the same action (one with each hand), one using positive energy, the other using negative energy. You can't target yourself when you use Touch of Necromancy this way. This only consumes one use of this ability, although you don't retain the use if the ability fails when used this way.

Also, more generally for the magic races, a school of magic ascendant feat for each (Necromancy Ascendant, Evocation Ascendant, etc.). Requires being a member of the associated magic race (these guys for Necromancy, Ergs for Evocation, etc.), a couple of the associated racial feats, Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, and the ability to cast 5+ spells of the schools of 7th-level or higher. Grants knowledge of all spells of the school on your spell lists and on the Sor/Wiz list and the ability to cast them all spontaneously.

Edit: Forgot I already did a race for this Necromancy. Eh, more ideas never hurts.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2019, 11:42:05 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #847 on: April 27, 2020, 01:12:05 AM »
Favored Maneuver [General]
Prerequisite: Three martial maneuvers known.
Benefit: When you select this feat, choose a martial maneuver you know. You can initiate it once per encounter, in addition to your normal ability to initiate maneuvers. This extra usage allows you to initiate the maneuver if you have already expended it, if the maneuver is not granted to you, or even if you haven't readied it at all. This extra usage does not count against your normal limit of readied maneuvers, nor does it cause you to expend the maneuver if you have it readied and available normally, but neither can you recover it through normal means.
Special: When you learn a new maneuver as part of gaining a new level, you can change your previous selection of favored maneuver to the newly learned maneuver.
Special: If you lose knowledge of the chosen maneuver, you lose the benefit of this feat until you regain knowledge of the maneuver or you change your favored maneuver to one you know.

Note: Some balance comparisons for Favored Maneuver:
(click to show/hide)



Master of One PrC
- "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times", Bruce Lee
- Focuses on using one favored maneuver above all others.
- Requires Favored Maneuver, Martial Lore 10 ranks, 10 ranks in the skill for the Favored Maneuver's discipline's key skill.
- 5 levels. Full BaB. I haven't thought about saves, skills, HD, etc.
- Unlike other martial adepts, gain no additional maneuvers or stances known or maneuvers readied over the course of the PrC's levels. Still adds full IL.
- Additional extra uses of Favored Maneuver. Adds 1 use/encounter/level.
- Bonuses to effectiveness of your favored maneuver. Plus to attack rolls, damage rolls, save DCs, skill checks, etc.
- Spend extra uses of Favored Maneuver to do special things with it, like empowering bonus damage dice and variable numeric effects, initiating it in place of an attack of opportunity (for standard action strikes that involve making a single attack), repeating it against subsequent attacks/effects in the same round (for counters), applying it to nearby allies (for self-only boosts), etc.
- Take 10 on skills checks and/or automatically confirm crits with the Favored Maneuver.

Improved Favored Maneuver (Ex): You gain an additional use of your Favored Maneuver per encounter for each master of one level.

Focused Maneuver (Ex): You gain bonuses when performing your favored maneuver. The bonus is equal to your master of one level on all damage rolls and skill checks you make as part of your favored maneuver, and equal to half your master of one level, rounded up, on all attack rolls, saving throws, level checks you make and to the save DC of your favored maneuver.

Favored Metamanuver: At 2nd level, 4th level, and again at 5th level, choose a favored metamanuver to learn. When you initiate your favored maneuver, you can spend extra uses of Favored Maneuver to modify it with up to one favored metamaneuver you know.
  • All maneuvers
  • Empower Favored Maneuver (Ex): All variable, numeric effects of your maneuver are increased by one-half. Saving throws, skill checks, attack rolls, opposed rolls, and other such checks and rolls are not affected. This does not affect the normal results of normal actions you perform as part of the maneuver, such as the damage your weapon deals with an attack you make, but it does affect variable numeric effects that modify those actions, such as bonus damage dice. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.
  • Enlarge Favored Maneuver (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a maneuver with a range or an area expressed as a distance. If the maneuver's range is expressed as a distance, it is doubled. if the maneuver's area is expressed as a distance, any numeric measurements of the maneuver's area are doubled. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.
  • Extend Favored Maneuver (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a maneuver with a timed duration of 1 round or longer. The maneuver's duration is doubled. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.
  • Heighten Favored Maneuver (Ex): The maneuver has a higher maneuver level than normal. The maneuver's level is equal to 1/2 your initiator level, rounded up, to a maximum of 9th level. If the maneuver allows a saving throw with a save DC normally defined by a fixed number equal to 10 + the maneuver's normal level plus an ability score modifier, the maneuver's base save DC is instead 10 + 1/2 your initiator level (rounded up, maximum 9) + the ability score modifier. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.

  • Boosts only
  • Boosted Response (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a boost. You can spend the swift action initiate this maneuver as though you had not spent an immediate action since the end of your previous turn. This allows you, for example, to initiate a counter, then to initiate the boost during your following turn. This does not allow you to bypass other limitations that would prevent your from spending a swift action, such as having already spent your swift action to initiate another boost or change your stance earlier in your turn. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.
  • Shared Boost(Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a boost with personal range and that targets yourself. As a free action, you can expend the maneuver as though you had initiated it. Until the beginning of your next turn, you an each ally within 30 feet can initiate it once using your initiator level as though they knew it and had readied it and without needing to expend it. These additional initiations of the maneuver have the same favored metamaneuvers applied, and cannot be further modified by favored metamaneuvers. This favored metamaneuver costs two additional uses of Favored Maneuver.
  • Opportunity Boost (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a boost with an initiation action of 1 swift action or less. You can initiate an opportunity boost as an immediate action immediately prior to making an attack of opportunity. If the boost's duration is until end of turn, it lasts until the end of the current creature's turn. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.

  • Counters only
  • Repeated Counter (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a counter that you can initiate in response to some event. Until the beginning of your next turn, you can initiate it once each time in response to appropriate events without spending additional uses of Favored Maneuver or additional actions. These additional initiations of the maneuver have the same favored metamaneuvers applied, and cannot be further modified by favored metamaneuvers. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.
  • Shared Counter (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a counter with personal range and that targets yourself or a counter that targets a single creature and can be used only in response to an action that they take against you personally. As a free action at any time, you can expend the maneuver as though you had initiated it. Until the beginning of your next turn, you an each ally within 30 feet can initiate it once using your initiator level as though they knew it and had readied it and without needing to expend it. These additional initiations of the maneuver have the same favored metamaneuvers applied, and cannot be further modified by favored metamaneuvers. This favored metamaneuver costs two additional uses of Favored Maneuver.

  • Strikes only
  • Favored Cleave (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a strike that involves making a single attack against a single target. If you drop an opponent with the strike, you can immediately initiate it again to attack another opponent without spending additional uses of Favored Maneuver or additional actions. These additional initiations of the maneuver have the same favored metamaneuvers applied, and cannot be further modified by favored metamaneuvers. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.
  • Opportune Strike (Ex): You can use this favored metamaneuver to modify a strike that involves making a single attack against a single target with an initiation action of 1 standard action or less. You can initiate an opportune strike in place of the normal attack you would otherwise make as part of an attack of opportunity. This favored metamaneuver costs one additional use of Favored Maneuver.
Favored Mastery (Ex): Beginning at 5th level, you attain true mastery of your favored maneuver. You can take 10 on skill checks you make as part of the maneuver and you automatically confirm all crits you threaten with it.

Notes
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: May 01, 2020, 06:12:55 PM by Garryl »

Offline Stratovarius

  • Forum Host
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7678
  • Arhosan Emperor
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #848 on: April 27, 2020, 06:11:20 AM »
I like these. Should flesh them out!

For favoured maneuver do you just never recover it and always get one use per encounter?

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #849 on: April 27, 2020, 09:40:31 AM »
I like these. Should flesh them out!

For favoured maneuver do you just never recover it and always get one use per encounter?

The extra use from the feat is once per encounter, but you can still ready the maneuver normally to use and recover it through your normal means. The two are separate, though, so you could, for example, initiate the maneuver normally, expending it, then initiate it the following round using Favored Maneuver, recover your maneuvers the third round, and then initiate the maneuver normally again the fourth round. Your extra use from Favored Maneuver would still be used, so you'd have to recover the maneuver again normally before using it a fourth time.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #850 on: April 27, 2020, 04:28:41 PM »
Some sort of reverse warlock class.
- Divine-themed invocations.
- Blessed touch. At will touch-range healing (up to 1/2 max hp). Also deals nonlethal damage to enemies or straight up damages undead.
- Fortnate blessing invocations modify blessed touch with various effects, such as buffs, healing to full instead of 1/2, debuffs against enemies, etc.
- Blessed hand invocations modify blessed touch with range and area and other targeting options, including on that just channels it through each of your unarmed strikes as part of a full attack.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #851 on: April 29, 2020, 12:48:04 PM »
Psionic Martial Adept class
- Recovery based around the Psychic Renewal feat (swift action + psi focus + 1PP/maneuver level to recover one maneuver).
- d8 HD, 3/4 BaB, good Will, 4 skills/level.
- Attempt to recover psionic focus after initiating a maneuver, 1/round. (See also Instant Clarity feat?)
- Diamond Mind, Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, White Raven, Stone Dragon
- Maybe add some Psychic Warrior powers up to 4th level, make it a gish in a can type of thing? Progression would be Paladin/Ranger-like (ML = 1/2 level, 1st level power at level 4, etc.).
- As level increase, gain temporary PP in combat usable only for Psychic Renewal. Maybe whenever you initiate a second maneuver since the start of your turn (ex: Boost + Strike, or Strike + Counter), gain PP equal to IL/4?
- Dominant Will: When you initiate or participate in a duel of wills, you can manifest a personal range power targeting only yourself with a manifesting time of 1 standard action or less. If both parties participated and you won, +2 ML and 2 free PP for the power.
- Improved Psychic Renewal: When you use Psychic Renewal, you can recover any number of expended maneuvers. You must spend PP equal to the total sum of their levels.

This would arguably have the best recovery of all martial adept classes, hopefully balanced by the fact that recovery is limited per day due to spending PP.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2020, 02:02:54 PM by Garryl »

Offline Skyrock

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1789
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #852 on: April 29, 2020, 01:11:11 PM »
Some sort of reverse warlock class.
- Divine-themed invocations.
- Blessed touch. At will touch-range healing (up to 1/2 max hp). Also deals nonlethal damage to enemies or straight up damages undead.
- Fortnate blessing invocations modify blessed touch with various effects, such as buffs, healing to full instead of 1/2, debuffs against enemies, etc.
- Blessed hand invocations modify blessed touch with range and area and other targeting options, including on that just channels it through each of your unarmed strikes as part of a full attack.
Here is an invoker class like that on OSR basis based on Japanese shrine maidens: https://schwarzwaldschrat.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/ganshu-miko-bringing-divine-invokers-to-chanbara/

It uses temp HP instead of actual healing, but it might provide some ideas to mine if you want to flesh that idea out.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #853 on: May 10, 2020, 11:36:13 AM »
Combat Maneuver Focus
Benefits: You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls, grapple checks, and ability checks made as part of the following: aid another to grant a bonus to an attack roll or to AC, bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, sunder, and trip.
Special: Combat Maneuver Focus can be used in place of Weapon Focus to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability. If this substitution allows you to gain a benefit that normally applies to any weapon for which you have the Weapon Focus feat, it instead applies to attacks made to aid another to grant a bonus to an attack roll or to AC, bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, sunder, and trip.

Guardian's Resolve
Prerequisites: Steely resolve.
Benefits: Whenever an adjacent ally is attacked and takes damage, you can elect to protect that ally as a free action (even if it isn't your turn). Damage taken by your ally is added to your delayed damage pool, up to the pool's limit, with the remainder causing the ally to lose hit points as normal. This works just like adding damage to your delayed damage pool from an attack against you. Damage added to your delayed damage pool this way causes damage to you when your pool empties, as normal, not the ally to whom it was dealt.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2020, 06:13:18 PM by Garryl »

Offline Stratovarius

  • Forum Host
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7678
  • Arhosan Emperor
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #854 on: May 10, 2020, 03:33:28 PM »
For Guardian's Resolve, whose resistances, saving throws, etc, apply? Is it a free action, immediate?

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #855 on: May 10, 2020, 06:11:00 PM »
For Guardian's Resolve, whose resistances, saving throws, etc, apply? Is it a free action, immediate?

The attack is fully resolved against the original target (AC, saves, DR, resistances, immunities, etc.), it's just that some of the hit point loss is diverted to the Crusader's delayed damage pool instead of the target's hit points.

No action to use, although I should add some clauses about consciousness and ability to act in there so you don't try to use it while unconscious or dead or something. Making it a free action (usable outside your turn) should do that, I think, without having to worry about a multitude of clauses.

Offline Stratovarius

  • Forum Host
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7678
  • Arhosan Emperor
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #856 on: May 10, 2020, 06:41:06 PM »
Not that it's necessary, but the WotC abilities of the same type have a Reflex save attached. Maquar Crusader and Warchief as examples.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #857 on: May 10, 2020, 11:29:17 PM »
I wasn't familiar with those, but I looked them up. Warchief's ability is to deflect from the Warchief to an allied mook with a successful fixed DC save, so it's more like negating the attack, assuming the mooks are replaceable. Maquar Crusader has two similar abilities, one of which redirects the whole attack 100% of the time (no save or equivalent), and the other that negates the attack entirely with a save (like Wall of Blades, Baffling Defense, and Shield Counter) rather than redirecting it.

Now my interest is piqued. Are you familiar with any more examples of this sort of ability?

This feat has a different limitation, though, as the amount of damage diverted is limited by your delayed damage pool (which isn't that large and can be filled by attacks against you as well) instead of redirecting or negating it entirely. It's a bit more like the shield other spell in that regard, splitting damage between two characters instead of trying to focus it all onto the tankier of the two. I'm more worried that it might be too weak than too strong. At 1st level, it can redirect up to 5 damage per round, which is decent bodyguarding when players have 5-12 hp, but the scaling is very slow, adding only 1.25 more damage/level (5 points per 4 levels) for a single-classed Crusader. After the first few levels, I estimate it'll let you bodyguard for about 30% to 50% of what a level-appropriate foe can be expected to deal in one round to a single target. It's a little more interesting as a way to more reliably trigger Furious Counterstrike, though, if you're playing defensively enough that your enemies aren't reliably attacking you.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2020, 11:30:57 PM by Garryl »

Offline Stratovarius

  • Forum Host
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7678
  • Arhosan Emperor
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #858 on: May 11, 2020, 09:32:56 AM »
Knight (base class) has Shield Ally. There might be more, but I can't remember them off the top of my head.

If you're worried about the feat being too weak, perhaps consider something like a free immediate action to burn a counter against the foe who attacked your ally? Obviously, a lot of the time this is actually dead (the foe isn't in melee range of the Crusader) so it's weaker than it looks.

Offline Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #859 on: May 11, 2020, 10:38:42 AM »
It's a little hard to evaluate. Defensively, it's less powerful than it looks at first glance. Offensively, it can give you quite a few plusses to attack and damage rolls with a Furious Counterstrike you might not otherwise get. On the other hand, if you're being attacked such that your delayed damage pool fills up before your allies get hit, it does nothing at all.