Author Topic: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime  (Read 308755 times)

Offline Garryl

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #60 on: June 11, 2012, 04:18:22 PM »
Just a (not-as-) minor (-as-I-first-thought) modification to monster stat blocks and advancement.

Instead of advancement as gaining hit dice until the creature eventually increases in size, advancement should be gaining hit dice until a creature advances to an advanced base creature that's essentially the same thing, but an older, more powerful, or more experienced version (eg: small elemental -> medium elemental -> etc., or ogre -> skullcrusher ogre, or animal -> dire animal). This would require stat blocks for the advanced size category creatures that already exist, so it's not as small a change as I first though, but on the plus side it would make it easier on DMs, having more premade stat blocks to choose from for various level ranges. Another MAJOR advantage of this is that that silly size advancement stat boost table in the MM can be thrown out (along with the confusion it brings in regards to non-advancement size changing).

Offline Garryl

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #61 on: June 14, 2012, 12:23:45 PM »
Elite template, Diablo style.
Note: I'm going to be using the term "level" here a lot. It's not HD, but probably will be based on CR instead, or used in a variant where all the monsters are rebalanced to have HD ~equal to their CRs.

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« Last Edit: June 14, 2012, 03:46:31 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #62 on: June 14, 2012, 03:43:49 PM »
More senses:

Tremorsight: Tremorsense meets Blindsight. You can "see" everything you'd be able to detect with tremorsense.
Mindsense: What the current Mindsight feat does (except not necessarily based on your telepathy range, though most sources would be).
Mindsight: See Mindsense (above) + Blindsight.
Odorsense: Souped up Scent, possibly with a larger range, that also functions as Blindsense out to the whole distance (instead of only within 5 feet).
Odorsight: Odorsense with Blindsight.
Touchsense: Telekinetic force lets you feel your surroundings, but not very well. Like blindsense, but reaches into the ethereal plane and detects incorporeal creatures and objects just fine. Not sound-based, so silence/deafness does nothing, but Force immunity prevents detection.
Touchsight: Like Touchsense above, but with Blindsight instead of -sense. Not quite the same as the power by the same name.
Magnetism: Like Scent, but with magnetic materials only. Also, you always know magnetic north.
Magnetsense: Magnetism with Odorsense instead of Scent.
Magnetsight: Magnetism with Odorsight instead of Scent.
Spellsense: Like Blindsense, but only detects magical auras or creatures/objects with them. Also lets you determine properties of auras like Detect Magic.
Spellsight: Spellsense + Blindsight. Aura reading is as per Arcane Sight. (Or was it Greater Arcane Sight? I need to check their differences.)

Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #63 on: June 16, 2012, 01:58:51 PM »
Slow Spell Metamagic:

Benefit: The caster may opt to cast a slower version of a spell to give it additional power.  A Swift spell can be cast as a Move action to gain +1 to its caster level, as a Standard to gain +2, and a full round to gain +4.  A Standard action spell may be cast as a full round action to gain +2 to its caster level.  For this purpose, casting a full round spell means it takes effect during the turn it is cast.

Offline Garryl

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #64 on: June 18, 2012, 12:11:52 PM »
Completed: http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?board=112.0

Tomb of Battle: The Book of Dead Warriors
An undeath-focused set of martial adept things. ToB meets Libris Mortis meets a common typo.

Note to self: Read Libris Mortis and reread ToB before going too much further with this.
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« Last Edit: June 10, 2016, 01:29:11 PM by Garryl »

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #65 on: June 18, 2012, 12:19:29 PM »
Tomb of Battle: The Book of Dead Warriors
An undeath-focused set of martial adept things. ToB meets Libris Mortis meets a common typo.
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This sounds hilarious and fun. I want to subscribe to your newsletter.
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Offline Amechra

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #66 on: June 19, 2012, 01:25:44 PM »
If you are looking around for stuff to include in the Tomb of Battle... I'm willing to lend my AXE! MADE OF ZOMBIES!
« Last Edit: June 19, 2012, 01:33:22 PM by Amechra »
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Offline littha

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #67 on: June 19, 2012, 03:05:02 PM »
Tomb of Battle: The Book of Dead Warriors
An undeath-focused set of martial adept things. ToB meets Libris Mortis meets a common typo.
(click to show/hide)
This sounds hilarious and fun. I want to subscribe to your newsletter.

Oh god I would want to play this so much... bonus points if it uses the Crusaders recovery mechanism. (I could also see one along the lines of refreshing whenever anything dies but that has issues against boss type encounters)

Offline sirpercival

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #68 on: June 19, 2012, 03:44:14 PM »
How about a recovery mechanism based on taking damage?  Basically deal damage to self to recover a maneuver based on the maneuver's level... and then a feat to allow others to take the damage for you, but has to be willing.  Then you can perform neg energy maneuvers on yourself to heal.
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Offline Garryl

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #69 on: June 20, 2012, 09:34:03 AM »
I have Diablo 3 on my mind (mostly because I've been playing it a lot lately. Could the various classes' abilities be made into martial disciplines? Many of the ability names and rune names are fitting as maneuver names and sufficiently coherent to hit as part of the same martial discipline.

You can probably guess which class I play the most. Hoping to do Monk later, followed by Barbarian. I think Wizard and Witch Doctor are too magical for my tastes, and cover too broad themes for just one discipline anyways.

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« Last Edit: June 13, 2020, 12:39:39 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #70 on: June 21, 2012, 09:33:25 AM »
I'm interested in the concept of healing surges. It's a nice idea, to free hit point recovery from the shackles of magic and seems to promote a more heroic play style (instead of taking days of bed rest or chewing on the CLW stick). 4E did and gave it the name (subsequently back-ported to 3.5 here, although I have a few problems with Azernak0's implementation), and 3.5 itself was no slouch and tried something similar with UA's reserve points. Here's my shot at it.

Healing Surges and Second Winds
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Healing Surge Feats
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Flaws and Traits
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Skills
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New and Modified Class Features
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In the end, what does this all mean?
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« Last Edit: July 18, 2012, 11:36:49 PM by Garryl »

Offline Amechra

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #71 on: June 21, 2012, 12:47:08 PM »
You know, I like your implementation of Healing Surges...

And the following feat has to exist.

Surge of Power [Surge][Psionic]
You may spend a Healing Surge in the place of your Psionic Focus.
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Offline Garryl

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #72 on: June 21, 2012, 01:33:12 PM »
Ask, and it shall be done.

Edit: It was asked, and it has been received.

Okay, I think I'm actually done with healing surges for now. Maybe a few more feats and ACFs if I think about it. I could set up the further variant where even healing spells are based on healing surges, but everyone else seems to have done that and I don't feel like it. Besides, with the limited surge recovery in my system, magical healing is still actually needed for prolonged adventures with little rest time, and I do actually like the idea of magical healing being this sort of semi-unlimited font of hit points (I just don't want it to be the only practical source of hit points).
« Last Edit: June 21, 2012, 06:34:25 PM by Garryl »

Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #73 on: June 25, 2012, 07:18:19 PM »
Additions to http://dndtools.eu/feats/monster-manual-v--78/]awesome-blow--157/
An Awesome Blow counts as a Bull Rush even though you do not use the standard initiation of moving into an opponent's square or making an opposed Strength check.  Because it is not an opposed Strength check, Improved Bull Rush's effects do not apply.  A creature with Powerful Build is treated as one size category larger than it actually is for purposes of qualifying for and using this feat.

Adding onto it via another feat: Incredible Blow (or some other equally impressive name that goes a step beyond Awesome)
Prereqs: Awesome Blow, BAB +10, STR 30

When using an Awesome Blow, you may throw the defender an additional 5 feet for every 5 points by which your attack result is greater than the defender's AC.  If an obstacle prevents the completion of the defender's move both the defender and the obstacle take 1d6 (2d6 maybe?) points of damage for every 5 feet the defender would have moved if the obstacle had not prevented the move's completion.  A confirmed critical increases the distance the defender is thrown as shown on the table, and the defender and obstacle take increased damage as such.  If the damage done to the obstacle is enough to destroy it, the defender continues moving through it but the distance thrown is reduced by 5 feet.  In addition, the creature can make an Awesome Blow at the end of a charge and making an Awesome Blow no longer imposes a -4 penalty to the attack roll.

Table for crit modifiers: (subject to adjustment, but you get the idea)
x2: 10 feet
x3: 20 feet
x4: 30 feet

Special: A fighter can select Incredible Blow as one of his fighter bonus feats.


Lots of text, but I would hope it's an awesome ability even if it's a bit of a pain to get it all right.  The reason I added extras for the distance and damage is so the feat scales, unlike many others.  TL:DR on it is the creature is such a badass it can fling its opponent not only into, but through obstacles and do some pretty decent damage.  The note about Awesome Blow counting as a Bull Rush is mostly for Dungeoncrasher and Combat Brute.  I'll make a build based on this later.  I might have to add something about not being able to do Touch attacks with this, but Rule of Cool says otherwise.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2012, 07:54:55 PM by Jackinthegreen »

Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #74 on: June 26, 2012, 06:53:58 PM »
Mounted Skirmisher:
You are adept at making deadly strikes while mounted.

Prereq: Mounted Combat, Ride 5 ranks, Skirmish (+1d6, +1 AC)

Benefits: Your training with steeds enables you to coax more out of them.  Any mount you ride gains your AC bonus from Skirmish (but not the extra damage).  Your mount also gains the enhancement bonus to speed that you do from your scout levels.  Finally, you may benefit from your Skirmish ability while mounted by using your mount's movement in place of your own, which may enable you to make a full attack.

Special: A scout can select Mounted Skirmisher as one of her scout bonus feats (Complete Adventurer 13).


Additional notes on Mounted Combat, Mounted Archery, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge and Trample: A scout can select any of these feats as one of her scout bonus feats.

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #75 on: June 26, 2012, 07:27:03 PM »
Off topic but... thematically Skirmish is a stupid ability, anyway. How does moving around let you stab someone in a vital area more easily? Much less if you do so from horseback? Sneak Attack at least makes sense, although of course it can be more difficult to pull off on a ranged attack. So mechanically I understand why Skirmish is popular, but thematically? WTF...
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Offline Amechra

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #76 on: June 26, 2012, 08:09:04 PM »
Skirmish is supposed to be you hitting them with extra force due to your momentum, or something along those lines.

It also encourages a hit-and-run type of fighter, so it helps with the thematic niche, as it were; and that is a nice feat you got there.
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Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #77 on: June 26, 2012, 09:05:18 PM »
Skirmish is supposed to be you hitting them with extra force due to your momentum, or something along those lines.
Then why is it precision-based damage? It should be like Power Attack, a flat additive, and not precision-based. So it would be multiplied in crits, etc.
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Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #78 on: June 27, 2012, 04:10:10 AM »
Skirmish is supposed to be you hitting them with extra force due to your momentum, or something along those lines.
Then why is it precision-based damage? It should be like Power Attack, a flat additive, and not precision-based. So it would be multiplied in crits, etc.

I think of it more like going by a chain link fence.  Standing still it is definitely there and can obscure things, but start moving and the chains essentially aren't there.  To turn this into combat terms, it's possible to train oneself to take advantage of the extra perception moving can offer to spot a weak point that might not otherwise be noticed.  That's why it's precision damage.  Such training can also result in perceiving threats and reacting to them better, hence the AC bonus.

Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: 1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime
« Reply #79 on: June 30, 2012, 04:50:14 PM »
Mongrelfolk Paragon class

3 levels
BAB: 3/4
HD: d6
Proficiencies: All simple weapons, light armor.
Saves: Poor Fort, Good Ref, Poor Will
Skill Points: 6 + Int
Class skills: Appraise, Climb, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Search, and Spot
Features:
Greater Emulation:  At first level, choose a race from your general ancestry (human, halfling, dwarf, elf, gnome, goblin, or orc) or a mixed race such as half-elf or half-orc.   You may count as that race for the purposes of qualifying for and using one class (standard or prestige), one alternate class feature, and one feat.  You may use this feature to qualify for and take a feat at the level you gain this class feature.  (Shouldn't really need to note that, but it might prove a useful reminder.)  At third level, you may choose another race to emulate with this ability, or the same one as before.  If you choose the same race, you may count as that race for another  Special: You must have lived in a community where a large minority (greater than 15%) of the population is the chosen race, and you must learn that race's associated racial language before gaining this class feature.  To maintain this class feature you need to come into peaceful contact with a member of that race at least once a month.

Bonus Feat: At second level, a mongrelfolk paragon gains a bonus feat.  Due to the his varied ancestry and talents, this feat can be any the mongrelfolk has the prerequisites for.


I'm kinda iffy on it, but the flavor is nice.  It might require lowering the racial bonuses for certain things not related to the race(s) chosen for Greater Emulation, since the mongrelfolk is closer to those than others and thus loses some benefits regarding other races.