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Messages - Maat Mons

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21
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
« on: November 01, 2017, 10:52:38 PM »
… doing that version means that you get to have as many channeled spells on your Opportunity attacks as you have regular attacks. Which gets obscene with TWF builds.

I don't understand what you mean.  When you use the 13th-level version of arcane channeling, you take a full-round action, during which you cast one touch spell and make a full attack with melee weapons.  Any creature hit by at least one of the melee attacks is targeted by the touch spell. 

How many attacks you have doesn't matter.  One use of arcane channeling casts one spell, never more.  And no matter how many times you hit someone as part of a single use of arcane channeling, they'll only be effected by that spell once.  So you cast one spell per round, and arcane channeling just fiddles with how that spell is targeted. 



What I'm thinking is the same kind of table entry as the Full Attack one, but for Opportunity Attacks. Literally just being able to use Eldritch Channeling on Opportunity Attacks.

Well, baseline arcane channeling is a standard action, and the higher-level version is a full-round action.  In order for the AoO version to be "like" that, it would need to be an immediate action.  That could definitely work. 

But, it sounds like you want it to be a non-action?  I have to say, I'm very much against any spellcasting that doesn't take place as part of a standard, full-round, swift, or immediate action. 



… a variety of different things …

I'm pretty adamant about all the classes being able to deliver touch spells through their swords in the same way they can with unarmed strikes.  I could, however, maybe be convinced to alter how the ability progresses at higher level.  So instead of everyone getting full-attack channeling, someone could gain the ability to channel in conjunction with a charge/spring attack/decisive strike/ whatever. 

22
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
« on: October 31, 2017, 06:20:46 PM »
Here are a few more swift/immediate invocation ideas.  Hunter's eye would probably only be for infiltrator and reaper. 

Deflect
Least; 2nd
You gain a deflection bonus to AC against one attack.  This bonus is equal to 1/2 your caster level (rounded down).  Using this invocation is an immediate action. 

Hunter's Eye
Lesser; 2nd
You grant yourself the sneak attack ability for one round.  The extra damage you deal is 1d6 per 3 caster levels.  Using this invocation is a swift action. 

Rewrite Luck
Dark; 6th
After finding out the result of a d20 roll you have made, you can cast this invocation to allow yourself a reroll.  You may use the result of this new die roll, or the original result, whichever is better.  Using this invocation is an immediate action. 

23
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
« on: October 31, 2017, 06:07:27 PM »
I'm a very bid fan of arcane channeling as a gish ability.  I feel like most gishes, at any given time, are either swinging a sword or casting a spell.  So, in that moment, they're kind of either a warrior or a mage, not both.  I mean, I know that's a gross oversimplification.  But arcane channeling just feels like it hybridizes the two sides in a way that traditional gishes don't. 

Additionally, I've always been very puzzled that, before duskblade, channeling abilities were so few, and so limited.  The core rulebooks let anyone channel touch spells through unarmed strikes.  You don't even need the improved unarmed strike feat.  So everyone can already deal melee damage in conjunction with delivering a touch spell.  Why were they so stingy with abilities that amounted to nothing but expanding the list of weapons you can use?  Did they want all gishes to be monk-based?  (Actually, that would explain why they bothered to make arcane spell failure chance a thing.) 

So, for channeling on attacks of opportunity, would that just be a modifier to Eldritch Channeling?  For example, when you use Eldritch Channeling, all other attack until the start of your next turn also carry the touch spell? 

24
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Oneiromancer (3.5) - a dream mage
« on: October 30, 2017, 08:06:47 PM »
While I like the idea of casters having some at-will abilities, I think they ought to be more in line with reserve feats than cantrips. 

Likewise, I'm on board with allowing the non-at-will abilities to refresh more than once per day, but wouldn't it be simpler to have focus be a per-encounter resource? 

Instead of having different focus costs for different spell levels, would you consider having each spell scale with class level?  Sort of like how some low-level psionic powers can be on par with higher-level powers when you spend more power points, except without having to spend more points. 

25
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
« on: October 30, 2017, 06:10:58 PM »
Yeah, the class itself doesn't give that much damage, so you'd be mostly reliant on traditional power attack use.  To some extent, eldritch channeling (basically a copy of duskblade's arcane channeling) could help with damage, but I was planning to gear the touch-range invocations more toward inflicting status effects than damage output. 

Eldritch channeling to some extent conflicts with power attack, because it's a standard (or, later, full-round) action.  And some of the best power attack use involves charging.  But I included a wraithstrike invocation, so you can have all your attacks be touch attacks, if you're willing to spend a swift action every round.  That should at least let you power attack for full without shock trooper, though it still doesn't give you increased returns from power attack, like you can get from charging. 

Also, in order to keep wraithstrike from being the obvious choice, I'm trying to come up with other swift-action invocations that can compete with it.  So far, I've got a 1-round, swift-action equivalent of greater mighty wallop, and an "ignore DR/regen" one, but I'm not sure those actually succeed at being in the same league.  I'm also considering a psionic-lion's-charge-style one and something like the cursed blade spell, but again, I'm not sure how to make them competitive. 

If you've got any suggestions for invocations, I'm wide open.  I feel like I need more & better swift-action ones, more touch-range ones to use with eldritch channeling, and more utility ones to let the class be more than a beat-stick.  So more of everything. 

I'm glad you like the full base attack bonus + utility idea, because that's what all the other classes are going to be too.  I was originally making just one class, but whenever I tried to make it general enough to be used for all themes, it wound up feeling too generic.  This is the one that's thematically crossed with barbarian.  The other ones are crosses with paladin (and its non-LG variants), rogue, ranger, and monk.  I gave up on the one that was themed after fighter, because I couldn't find much of a theme in fighter to work with. 

26
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
« on: October 30, 2017, 12:00:55 AM »
Okay, well Untamed is posted.  If anyone wants to comment on that, feel free.  I'll be working on getting the other four up here, but I'm not sure how long that will take. 

27
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
« on: October 30, 2017, 12:00:38 AM »
    Invocations

    Reused Invocations
    [Not all of the classes will use all of these.  But I'm not going to wory about that yet.] 

    Least
    • All-Seeing Eyes: As comprehend languages on written material, bonus on search and spot checks.
    • Beguiling Influence: Gain bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks.
    • Call of the Beast: Speak with animals and influence their behavior.
    • Darkness: Use darkness as the spell.
    • Dark One's Own Luck: Gain a luck bonus on one type of saves.
    • Devil's Sight: See normally in darkness and magical darkness.
    • Entropic Warding: Deflect incoming ranged attacks, leave no trail, and prevent being tracked by scent.
    • Leaps and Bounds: Gain bonus on Balance, Jump, and Tumble checks.
    • Magic Insight: Detect magical auras; identify magic items.
    • Miasmic Cloud: Create a cloud of mist that grants concealment and fatigues those who enter.
    • Otherworldly Whispers: Gain bonus on Knowledge checks.
    • See the Unseen: Gain see invisibility as the spell and darkvision.
    • Serpent's Tongue: Gain the scent ability, +5 bonus on saves against poison.
    • Soulreaving Aura: As reaving aura, plus gain temporary hit points if nearby creatures dies.
    • Spiderwalk: Gain spider climb as the spell and you are immune to webs.
    • Swimming the Styx: Gain swim speed and ability to breathe water.

    Lesser
    • Charm: Cause a single creature to regard you as a friend.
    • Cold Comfort: You and nearby allies protected by endure elements.
    • Crawling Eye: Your eye leaves your head and grows spidery legs, enabling it to scout for you.
    • Curse of Despair: Curse one creature as the bestow curse spell, or hinder their attacks.
    • Disembodied Hand: Detach one of your hands and send it forth to manipulate objects or attack.
    • Dread Seizure: Slow enemy, and hinder ability to attack distant targets.
    • Enthralling Voice: Make nearby creatures fascinated.
    • Fell Flight: Gain a fly speed with good maneuverability.
    • Flee the Scene: Use short-range dimension door as the spell, and leave behind a major image.
    • Frightful Presence: Make nearby creatures shaken.
    • Humanoid Shape: Take the form of any humanoid creature.
    • Ignore the Pyre: Gain resistance to one energy type.
    • Mask of Flesh: Touch attack imposes 1d6 Cha penalty and transforms you to look like target.
    • Relentless Dispelling: As targeted dispel magic, with additional targeted dispel magic the next turn.
    • Spider-shape: You can transform yourself into the form of a Small or Medium fiendish monstrous spider.
    • Thieves' Bane: As Hold Portal, plus the portal explodes for 5d6 damage when forced open.
    • Voidsense: Gain blindsense 30 feet.
    • Voracious Dispelling: Use dispel magic as the spell, causing damage to creatures whose effects are dispelled.
    • Walk Unseen: Use invisibility (self only) as the spell.
    • Weighty Utterance: Force flying creature to the ground. 
    • Witchwood Step: Walk on water and move through some obstacles unimpeded.

    Greater
    • Aura of Flame: Aura deals fire damage to creatures that strike you.
    • Devil's Whispers: As Suggestion, plus subject believes his actions were his own idea.
    • Devour Magic: Use targeted greater dispel magic with a touch and gain temporary hit points based on the level of spells successfully dispelled.
    • Draconic Toughness: Gain temporary hit points equal to your level.
    • Enervating Shadow: Gain total concealment in dark areas and impose a Strength penalty on adjacent living creatures.
    • Warlock's Call: Use sending as the spell, but risk damage from recipient.

    Dark
    • Caster's Lament: Your touch can break enchantment, and you can counterspell.
    • Dark Discorporation: Become a swarm of batlike shadows, gaining many benefits of the swarm subtype.
    • Dark Foresight: Use foresight as the spell, and communicate telepathically with a close target of the effect.
    • Energy Immunity: Gain immunity to acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage.
    • Perilous Veil: Use veil as the spell; anyone succeeding on the Will save to negate the illusion takes damage.
    • Retributive Invisibility: Use greater invisibility as the spell (self only) that deals damage in a burst if dispelled.
    • Steal Summoning: Take control of another caster's summoned monster.

    New Invocations
    [Not all of the classes will use all of these.  But I'm not going to wory about that yet.] 

    Least
    • Accuracy: Gain a bonus on attack rolls. 
    • Eldritch Armor: Grant yourself mage armor with scaling AC bonus. 
    • Energy Sheathe: Weapon deals extra energy damage. 
    • Featherweight: Gain improved jumping ability and take less falling damage. 
    • Knockdown Blow: Knock an enemy down with a melee attack. 
    • Quick and sure: Gain speed bonus and don't take penalties on certain skills for moving at full speed. 

    Lesser
    • Blade of Impedance: Enemies you strike may be slowed. 
    • Blazing Trail: Leave a fiery barrier behind you. 
    • Cold Steel: Attacks deal dexterity damage. 
    • Dazing Strike: Next melee attack dazes target. 
    • Deflection: Your armor becomes effective against touch attacks. 
    • Dolorous Aura: Double your critical threat range and automatically confirm critical threats. 
    • Eldritch Dominance: Gain a chance to knock enemies down with your melee attacks. 
    • Eldritch Enlargement: Grow in size. 
    • Eldritch Hustle: Gain an extra move action. 
    • Eldritch Lion's Charge: Gain the pounce ability. 
    • Enchanting Aura: Your weapons and armor gain an enhancement bonus. 
    • Entangling Shadows: Enemies treat the area around you as difficult terrain. 
    • Halting Strike: Stop enemy movement. 
    • Harden Defenses: Gain damage reduction based on armor. 
    • Master Key: As knock, but can permanently remove arcane lock
    • Mighty Shield: Improve your ability to make shield bash attacks. 
    • Penetrating Strikes: Partially bypass immunity to sneak attacks. 
    • Phasing Attacks: Turn weapons into touch attacks. 
    • Ranged Reflection: Redirect an attack aimed at you. 
    • Titan Strike: Increase the damage of your attacks. 
    • Titan's Grip: Gain the ability to wield a larger weapon in your main hand. 
    • Vigorate: Gain fast healing when below 1/2 HP. 

    Greater
    • Back Off: Knock enemies away from you. 
    • Cheat Death: Use delay death on yourself. 
    • Curse Wounds: Damage you deal is difficult to heal. 
    • Cursed Blade: Bestow curse with a weapon attack. 
    • Dispelling Buffer: Your effects become harder to dispel. 
    • Dispelling Strikes: Charge your weapon with a targeted dispel. 
    • Eldritch Celerity: Gain an extra standard action. 
    • Eldritch Vitality: Protect yourself with a death ward
    • Gutshift: Gain immunity to critical hits. 
    • Ignore Resistance: Bypass most types of DR. 
    • Noxious Strikes: Chance to nauseate creatures struck. 
    • Strike True: Ignore miss chance. 
    • Stubborn Pride: Do not auto-fail saves on a 1. 

    Dark
    • Avert Fate: Reroll a single d20 roll. 
    • Draining Blade: Your attacks bestow negative levels. 
    • Eldritch Celerity, Improved: Gain an extra full-round action. 
    • Freezing Strikes: Your melee attacks may transform targets into ice. 
    • Melee Reflection: Redirect an attack aimed at you. 
    • Quickport: Teleport as swift action. 

    Invocation Descriptions

    (click to show/hide)

    28
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
    « on: October 30, 2017, 12:00:08 AM »
    Reserved

    29
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
    « on: October 30, 2017, 12:00:02 AM »
    Reserved

    30
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
    « on: October 29, 2017, 11:59:56 PM »
    Stalwart
    "You shall not pass!"
    Robert Nivelle

    Making a Stalwart
    Abilities: "The best defense is a good offense," so stalwarts benefit from a high Strength score.  Charisma improves the save DCs of stalwart invocations.  Any stalwart looking to acquire the Improved Trip feat will need an Intelligence score of at least 13. 
    Races: Dwarves are predisposed to becoming stalwarts, in spite of their charisma penalty.  Elves sometimes pursue this class due to their love of both magic and swordsmanship, but their penalty to constitution hinders their durability.  Humans, however, make up the majority of stalwarts. 
    Alignment: Overall, stalwarts tend slightly toward lawful alignments. 
    Starting Gold: 6d4x10 (150 gp)
    Starting Age: As fighter. 

    Hit Die: d10
    LevelAttackFortRefWillSpecialInvocation LevelInvocations Known
    11202Second skinLeast1
    22303Bonus featLeast2
    33313Dauntless (fear)Least2
    44414Least3
    55414Bonus featLeast3
    66525Tenacity (fatigue)Lesser4
    77525Ignore encumbrance (medium)Lesser4
    88626Bonus featLesser5
    99636Dauntless (charms and compulsions)Lesser5
    1010737MettleLesser6
    1111737Bonus featGreater7
    1212848Tenacity (nonlethal damage)Greater7
    1313848Ignore encumbrance (heavy)Greater8
    1414949Bonus featGreater8
    1515959Dauntless (all mind-affecting)Greater9
    161610510Dark10
    171710510Bonus featDark10
    181811611Tenacity (stunning)Dark11
    191911611Dark11
    202012612Bonus feat, improved mettleDark12
    Class Skills (4 + int per level x4 at 1st level): Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (architecture and engineering), Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Profession, Ride, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim

    Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
    You are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).
    Your stalwart invocations do not suffer a spell failure chance from any armor or shields. 

    Invocations:
    You use invocations, like a warlock or dragonfire adept, except that your invocations are drawn from the stalwart class list. 

    Second Skin (Ex):
    You can sleep in medium or heavy armor without becoming fatigued. 

    Bonus Feat (Ex):
    At 2nd level, and every three levels thereafter, you gain a bonus feat.  These feats must be drawn from the fighter bonus feat list, and you must meet all prerequisites. 

    Dauntless (Ex):
    At 3rd level, you gain immunity to fear effects.  At 9th level, you gain immunity to charms and compulsions.  Finally, at 15th level, you gain immunity to all mind-affecting effects (but you may still choose to benefit from helpful mind-affecting effects). 

    Tenacity (Ex):
    At 6th level, you gain immunity to fatigue and exhaustion.  At 12th level, you gain immunity to nonlethal damage.  Finally, at 18th level, you gain immunity to stunning. 

    Ignore Encumbrance (Ex):
    Beginning at 7th level, wearing medium armor or carrying a medium load does not reduce your speed.  Beginning at 13th level, wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load does not reduce your speed, nor does it limit you to moving only 3x your speed when running or charging. 

    Mettle (Ex):
    Beginning at 10th level, if you are subjected to an effect that normally allows a fortitude or will save for partial effect, you suffer no effect on a successful saving throw. 

    Improved Mettle (Ex):
    Beginning at 20th level, if subjected to an effect that allows a fortitude or will save for partial effect, you take only the partial effect on a failed save (and no effect on a successful save, just as with Mettle). 

    31
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: 5 Melee Warlocks
    « on: October 29, 2017, 11:59:50 PM »
    Sawbones
    quote

    Making a Sawbones
    Abilities:
    Races:
    Alignment: Evil sawbones are somewhat uncommon, but by no means unheard of. 
    Starting Gold: 5d4x10 (125 gp)
    Starting Age: As cleric. 

    Hit Die: d8
    LevelAttackFortRefWillSpecialInvocation LevelInvocations Known
    10202Weapon focusLeast1
    21303Immunity to diseaseLeast2
    32313Healing touchLeast2
    43414Least3
    53414Least3
    64525Weapon specializationLesser4
    75525Lesser4
    86626Lesser restorationLesser5
    96636Lesser5
    107737PanaceaLesser6
    118737Greater weapon focusGreater7
    129848Break enchantmentGreater7
    139848Greater8
    1410949RestorationGreater8
    1511959Greater9
    161210510Greater weapon specializationDark10
    171210510Dark10
    181311611Dark11
    191411611Dark11
    201512612Greater restorationDark12
    Class Skills (4 + int per level x4 at 1st level): Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (the planes), Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim

    Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
    You are proficient with all simple weapons, plus one martial weapon of your choice. 
    You are proficient with light armor and medium armor, and with shields (except tower shields). 
    Your infiltrator invocations do not suffer a spell failure chance from light or medium armor, or for shields (except tower shields).  You suffer the normal spell failure chance for heavy armor, or tower shields, however. 

    Invocations:
    You use invocations, like a warlock or dragonfire adept, except that your invocations are drawn from the sawbones class list. 

    Weapon Focus:
    You gain weapon focus as a bonus feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites. 

    Immunity to Disease (Ex):
    At 2nd level, you gain immunity to diseases of all types, including supernatural diseases. 

    Healing Touch (Su):
    Beginning at 3rd level, you can touch a creature and heal it of an amount of damage equal to 1d8 per 3 sawbones levels.  As a special restriction, healing from this ability cannot bring a creature's hit points above half its maximum.  This ability is usable at will. 

    Weapon Specialization:
    At 6th level, you gain weapon focus as a bonus feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites.  You must select the same type of weapon for this feat as you chose for weapon focus at 1st level. 

    Lesser Restoration (Sp):
    At 8th level, you gain lesser restoration as a spell-like ability, usable at will. 

    Panacea (Sp):
    At 10th level, you gain greater panacea as a spell-like ability, usable at will.  Unlike a normal casting of panacea, however, this does not restore any hit points. 

    Greater Weapon Focus:
    At 11th level, you gain greater weapon focus as a bonus feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites.  You must select the same type of weapon for this feat as you chose for weapon focus at 1st level. 

    Break Enchantment (Sp):
    At 12th level, you gain break enchantment as a spell-like ability, usable at will. 

    Restoration (Sp):
    At 14th level, you gain restoration as a spell-like ability, usable at will.  You do not need to provide the material component. 

    Greater Weapon Specialization:
    At 16th level, you gain greater weapon specialization as a bonus feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites.  You must select the same type of weapon for this feat as you chose for weapon focus at 1st level. 

    Greater Restoration (Sp):
    At 20th level, you gain greater restoration as a spell-like ability, usable at will.  You do not pay the xp cost. 

    32
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / 3 Melee Warlocks
    « on: October 29, 2017, 11:59:43 PM »
    Infiltrator
    "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
    Unknown

    Making an Infiltrator
    Abilities: The sneak attack ability tends to encourage two-weapon fighting.  Any infiltrators wishing to pursue that line of feats will need a good dexterity score.  Charisma aids those invocations that force a saving throw. 
    Races: Most infiltrators are human, but gnomes and halflings also make good infiltrators. 
    Alignment: Infiltrators are almost never lawful. 
    Starting Gold: 5d4x10 (125 gp)
    Starting Age: As rogue. 

    Hit Die: d6
    LevelAttackFortRefWillSpecialInvocation LevelInvocations Known
    10022TrapfindingLeast1
    21033EvasionLeast2
    32133Sneak attack +1d6Least2
    43144Uncanny dodgeLeast3
    53144Least3
    64255Sneak attack +2d6Lesser4
    75255Poison useLesser4
    86266Improved uncanny dodgeLesser5
    96366Sneak attack +3d6Lesser5
    107377Eldritch treachery (spell resistance)Lesser6
    118377Improved evasionGreater7
    129488Sneak attack +4d6Greater7
    139488Poison immunityGreater8
    1410499Hide in plain sightGreater8
    1511599Eldritch alacrity, sneak attack +5d6Greater9
    161251010Dark10
    171251010Dark10
    181361111Sneak attack +6d6Dark11
    191461111Dark11
    201561212Eldritch treachery (saves)Dark12
    Class Skills (6 + int per level x4 at 1st level): Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Perform, Profession, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope

    Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
    You are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the hand crossbow, kukri, rapier, sap, scimitar, shortbow, and short sword.
    You are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.
    Your infiltrator invocations do not suffer a spell failure chance from light armor.  You suffer the normal spell failure chance for medium or heavy armor, or shields, however.

    Invocations:
    You use invocations, like a warlock or dragonfire adept, except that your invocations are drawn from the infiltrator class list. 

    Trapfinding (Ex):
    You can use the Search skill to locate traps with a DC higher than 20.  You can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magic traps.  This functions identically to the rogue class feature. 

    Evasion (Ex):
    Beginning at 2nd level, if you make a successful Reflex save against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, you instead take no damage.  Evasion can be used only if you are wearing light armor or no armor.  You do not gain the benefit of evasion while helpless. 

    Sneak Attack (Ex):
    You gain sneak attack (as the rogue ability) equal to +1d6 per 3 class levels. 

    Uncanny Dodge (Ex):
    Starting at 4th level, you retain your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.
    If you already have uncanny dodge from a different class you automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.

    Poison Use (Ex):
    You do not risk accidentally poisoning yourself when you apply poison to a weapon. 

    Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex):
    You gain improved uncanny dodge, as the rogue ability. 

    Eldritch Treachery (Ex):
    Your invocations are more effective against targets who are denied their Dexterity bonus to AC against your attacks, and enemies that you flank.  Beginning at 10th level, your invocations ignore any spell resistnace (or spell immunity) possessed by such creatures.  Beginning at 20th level, these creatures must roll twice and take the worse result on any saving throws allowed by your invocations. 

    Eldritch Alacrity:
    You gain an extra swift (or immediate) action each round.  This action can only be used to cast an invocation. 

    Eldritch Treachery:
    Beginning at 10th level, you can ignore the spell resistance (or spell immunity) of any enemy who is denied his dexterity bonus against your attacks.  Beginning at 20th level, enemies who are denied their dexterity bonus against your attacks also have more difficulty when making saving throws against your invocations.  They must roll twice, and take the worse result. 

    Improved Evasion (Ex):
    Beginning at 11th level, when using the evasion ability, you take only half damage even on a failed save. 

    Poison Immunity (Ex):
    At 13th level, you gain immunity to poison. 

    Hide in Plain Sight (Ex):
    Beginning at 14th level, you can use the Hide skill even while being observed.  As long as you are within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, you can hide yourself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind.  You cannot, however, hide in your own shadow. 

    33
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Combat Focus
    « on: October 23, 2017, 07:48:20 PM »
    Well, I guess the problem with expending your combat focus to fuel an effect is, you can only gain combat focus once per encounter.  That makes Combat Strike a 1/encounter ability and, if someone homebrews more feats that expend combat focus, they'll all share a 1/encounter limit. 

    Maybe something a little more like psionic focus?  Something you can gain and expend multiple times in an encounter? 

    I feel like making expending combat focus a more tempting option will help differentiate the "while you have combat focus" effects from always-on effects. 

    34
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Initiative
    « on: October 05, 2017, 01:47:32 AM »
    instead of it being a problem to fix, this could be an opportunity for innovation

    If you do want to design a system where guessing wrong about future events makes you waste your time, I suggest you start by playing InuYasha: Demon Tournament.  It's the only game I can think of that works like that. 

    35
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Initiative
    « on: September 16, 2017, 07:50:25 PM »
    Not exactly. If guy A uses an action that costs 5, and guy B uses an action that costs 20, then A would act 4 times in the same time B would act only once - assuming they both start at the same number.

    Okay, I see.  You forgot to mention that you're getting rid of rounds and the limitation of only acting once per round. 

    Anyway, the suggestion I was making still holds, but the "instead of" in my phrasing needs to be updated. 

    Instead of letting tick counts go above 20, and then subtracting from them later, why not use rounds of 20 ticks each?  So, instead of, for example, tick 20 being followed by tick 21, it would be round 1, tick 20, followed by round 2, tick 1. 

    That accomplishes the same thing, but it's a far less confusing nomenclature. 



    How so?

    Well, you declare what you're doing, then other stuff happens, then what you declared actually takes place.  What happens is that "other stuff" has made the action you're now supposed to take impossible?  Which details of your action do you have to decide when you declare it, and which can you decide when it resolves?  If the situation changes between when you declare an action and when it resolves, can you abort the action partway through?  All those are non-trivial scenarios you'll have to account for. 

    More specifically though, you'll have to look at the interaction between attack range and movement.  So, you move into range, then you declare your attack.  What if your intended target moves out of range before the attack resolves?  This is especially important if there are attacks that take more ticks than the smallest form of movement. 

    Imagine I'm trying to land a big attack, one that takes 20 ticks.  Now imagine my target can move his speed as a 10-tick action.  So, after I declare my attack, my target will move out of range, and I will have wasted my time.  He'd be stupid to stay put and take my super-powerful attack.  And he has plenty of time to get out of the way. 

    So, it only makes sense for me to declare a long action if my target has first locked himself into an action so long that he won't have been able to react until after I've already finished.  But why will he declare a long action?  He's in the same situation as I am.  I doesn't make any sense for him to declare a long action until I've already locked myself into a long action.  The first long attack won't be declared until after the first long attack has been declared.  A paradox. 

    So, everyone only ever uses the fastest attack, because anything else can be easily countered.  If the long attacks are never used, why are they even there? 

    And let's imagine if a 5-foot step only takes 3 ticks.  That makes sense, that lets you move 30 feet in 21 ticks, a little slower than 30 feet per round.  But let's say the fastest melee attack takes 5 ticks.  That also makes sense, that's 4 attacks per round.  How does a melee character hit a target who's 5 feet out of attack range? 

    Okay, I declare a 5-foot step.  Now I'm close enough, so I declare my melee attack.  % ticks later I hit.  Except, no I don't.  Because in the 7 ticks it's take for me to get into range and hit him, he's had plenty of time to take his own 5-foot step.  That means he's not in range to attack. 

    How does a melee character get any attacks in if his enemy isn't polite enough to stand still and allow himself to be hit? 



    Combat start - all characters roll d20 - that is your place.

    Okay, but shouldn't a character with high dexterity and such tend to go before a character with low dex and such?  How about, instead, you roll initiative as normal.  Whoever rolled highest is assignes to tick 1.  Everyone else is assigned a later tick based on how much he beat them by.  You rolled 6 lower than the guy who goes first?  You go 6 ticks after he does. 

    You're also going to need some method for determining the order in which people act when they both land on the same tick. 

    36
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Initiative
    « on: September 11, 2017, 04:00:05 PM »
    Okay, so, the purpose of this seems to be that the time between a person's previous term and his next turn is <i>not</i> one round.  That seems to complicate the timing of effects that last a certain number of rounds.  Normally, you could just time those relative to turn of the effect's originator.  Bit with a system like this, that would mean an effect might last more or less time depending on what the originator was doing.  Alternately, you could give the effect its own place in the initiative, but that's even <i>more</i> complexity. 

    I'm not sure if you've considered this, but even with the provision for subtracting 20 from all initiative counts, you're still going to hit some very high numbers.  Suppose one guy keeps doing initiative+5 actions, and another keep doing initiative+20 actions.  After five rounds of that, one's up to 25, and the other's up to 100.  Subtract 20, and you've got 5 and 80.  Four more rounds, and you're up to 25 and 160.  Subtract 20 again, and you're down to "only" 5 and 140. 

    Bear in mind, whether the initiatives are 5 & 20, 5 & 80, or 5 & 140, nothing is actually different,  Guy A goes, then guy B goes.  In <i>every</i> case.  There's honestly no reason to keep adding onto those initiative figures unless, eventually, someone gets knocked into the next round.  Time works like a clock.  (<- one of the dumber phrases I've ever written)  If it's 11 pm, and you start something that takes 2 hours, you'll be done at 1 am.  We don't need a "13 pm." 

    Also, I have a feeling that any system like this will devolve into a nightmare of "My 5-foot step resolved before your attack resolved.  Now when your attack resolves, it will be targeting an empty square."-style interactions. 

    37
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Blaze Domain
    « on: May 10, 2017, 12:55:57 AM »
    You're making a thing for yourself, but you want it to be usable by others too.

    I probably won't actually get a chance to use it myself.  But this idea has its origins in a Frostburn campaign where I couldn't find material to make a character to my satisfaction.  He was a priest of Pelor who journeyed to the lands least touched by the sun's warmth to minister to the heathens therein and apply Pelor's loving flames to their flesh until their hearts were warmed by his grace. 



    TONS of room -- but again, the specifics would depend on your campaign world a lot.

    Okay then, here are some things I was thinking of for class features. 

    Blazing Metamagic: I was thinking some form of metamagic cost reduction that only applies to Fire spells would be good.  I've heard it said that metamagic cost reduction is a must for dealing damage with spells at high levels.  I'm not sure if I should go with Incantatrix-style cost reduction or Halruuan Elder-style cost reduction.  Any thoughts? 

    Consuming Flames: I think it would be neat to have a class feature that adds a "reduced to ashes at 0 hp" clause to Fire spells, a la Disintegrate. 

    Dancing Flames: If there are going to be metamagic-focused class features, should there also be a class feature to help out spontaneous casters with metamagic?  I know there's already a feat to eliminate the increased casting time.  Should the class grant that feat (or a more limited, fire-only version), or should I just leave the Favored Souls to fend for themselves? 

    Errant Ember: Given that Clerics, at least, don't have a very good selection of Fire spells, I want to add some sort of Expanded Knowledge/Eclectic Learning-style feature.  Limited to Fire spells, of course.  Maybe from the Druid and Sorcerer/Wizard lists?  I'm not sure.  How many new spells do you think would be acceptable for a 10-level class? 

    Searing Mastery: I think the Searing Spell feat is going to be important to anyone who wants to stick to Fire as his damage type.  If I make Searing Spell a prerequisite for the class, will it be all right to remove the level modifier and casting time adjustment as a 1st-level ability?  Sanctified One gives a better version of the same effect at 1st level without having Searing Spell as a prerequisite, but if I recall, Sanctified One loses a caster level there too. 

    Spontaneous Combustion: I feel like the ability to spontaneously convert prepared spells to Fire spells is a very fitting ability.  Should the player have to pick individual spells that he can thereafter convert other spells to, or could the feature just work on all Fire spells.  Initiate of Lathander already does this for all Fire spells on the Cleric list, but this class would also be available to casters with far more Fire spells on their lists.  Also, if I give the ability one spell at a time, it's easy to design a counterpart for spontaneous casters, they just get extra Fire spells known. 

    True Flame: I think it's a shame that most of the Fire spells have to deal with spell resistance just because they were stuck in Evocation instead of Conjuration.  (Don't both words literally mean "bringing forth?")  This would be a class feature that eliminates Spell Resistance on Fire spells.  And really, just because the fire is magical, why can't the heat it produces be non-magical.  What, is the light from the fire magical too?  If I stand next to an Antimagic Field with a Continual Flame are people in the field unable to see the light? 

    Unearthly Heat: Well, since Sanctified One is already completely ignoring fire immunity, how about a class feature that removes that 1/2-damage-against-creatures-immune-to-fire thing from Searing Spell?  Heck, Hellfire also gets to completely ignore immunity to fire, so I don't know why this class should be left out of all the fun.  Maybe I should even throw in Hellfire's full damage to objects? 

    38
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Blaze Domain
    « on: May 09, 2017, 05:40:36 PM »
    Okay. Now I wonder why you want to exclude the spells in the Fire domain, since the two won't exist in the same world.

    I debated it with myself quite a bit, but ultimately decided that I wanted the domain to be equally valid whether a DM decided to use it instead of the Fire domain, or alongside it.  You can actually see me waffling on that point over the course of this thread.  Trying to interpret all my comments on the matter as a single, resolved position will likely only yield confusion. 



    Can you expand on how "whirling flame" and "fire whipped by wind" are different from plain Fire?

    Basically, they exert force on their subjects on top of the heat. 



    Now, I don't want you to think I'm, you know, listening to your advice or anything, but I'm feeling less enthused with the prospect of making a bunch of different fire-themed domain than I was a little bit ago.  I might just call it quits on the domains other than Blaze for the time being. 



    Speaking of the Blaze domain, in my write-up of the spells, I changed Fire Wings to be dismissible.  It explicitly forbids casting spells with somatic components while it's active.  The "You cannot hold items" part would generally rule our casting spells with material components too.  So I said to myself, "Gee, being stuck like that in combat would kind of suck." 

    So, anyway, if Fire Wings were used as written instead of with my change, how much use do you think the spell would get? 



    Also, how much room would you say there is for a new fire-themed divine casting class?  Looking at the state of things, I see:
    • Black Flame Zealot: just so bad
    • Elemental Archon: turns you into an elemental, friggin mephits, underwhelming
    • Elemental Savant: have to give up other elements, turns you into elemental, underwhelming
    • Sanctified One (of Kord): only one fire ability

    39
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Blaze Domain
    « on: May 08, 2017, 05:53:56 PM »
    I'm curious why you're making new domains, and not modifying Fire and Sun to have more up-to-date spell lists.

    The Blaze domain is meant to be a rewrite of the Fire domain in all but name.  As for why I didn't call it the Fire domain?  After some debate, I decided I shouldn't force people to abandon the content they're familiar with in order to adopt new content I write. 



    IMHO the Sun domain shows the strength of a thematic central idea: sure, it's Fire, but it's also Light and Anti-Undead. In that vein, I'd drop stuff like Steam ("it's fire and also dry-cleaning!"), and replace it with stuff that has a strong central thematic:

    Well, here's what I was thinking of for the themes of the domains I listed:
    Ash = fire + desolation + ruin + disintegration (leaving only ashes)
    Lava = fire + volcanoes + newly-formed rock
    Smoke = fire + concealment + suffocation + illusion (smoke and mirrors) + teleportation (there/not there)
    Steam = hot springs + thermal vents + geysers + toxicity + acid + bizarre life forms
    Flame = fire + explosions + whirling flame + fire whipped by wind

    While I agree that Steam isn't a very evocative name, I'm having trouble coming up with a better one for the concept.  Hot Springs reminds me too much of anime hijinks.  Toxic Springs doesn't really convey the heat aspect.  Hydrothermal sounds too technical.  Geyser seems a little too limited in scope. 

    I'm considering changing the name of Flame to Firestorm. 



    Forge, Summer, Volcano, Phoenix, Celestial Objects, The Silver Flame, Oracle of the Pit

    I'm familiar with the Forge and Summer domains.  I found the Volcano domain in Pathfinder.  I couldn't find any domain named Phoenix, Celestial Objects, or Silver Flame.  As far as I can find, the only domains associated with The Silver Flame are Exorcism, Good, Inquisition, Law, Protection, and Purification. 

    Or were some of those meant to be suggestions for new domains, instead of existing domains I should look at for inspiration? 

    I like the idea of generalizing Lava into Volcano.  I'll probably change that. 

    40
    Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Blaze Domain
    « on: May 06, 2017, 03:56:51 AM »
    Okay, so here's a little brainstorming on the other domain.  For these ones, I'm willing to write new spells.  In fact, much of my brainstorming is new spells.  (For these, I've included parenthetical notes to describe how the spells would likely function.) 



    Ash Domain
    (click to show/hide)



    Lava Domain
    (click to show/hide)



    Smoke Domain
    (click to show/hide)



    Steam Domain
    (click to show/hide)



    Flame Domain
    (click to show/hide)



    Any suggestions? 

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