Min/Max Boards

Thanks! 

A few suggestions (mix and match as you please):

Syrath the Godthief (formerly Syrath Darhvan).

Ivnan Wrathborn (formerly Ivnan of [A City In Your Campaign]).

Uriel Godbane (formerly Uriel Kalaris).

Tharus the Unmaker (formerly Tharus Smithson).

Garad Durresh.

I went for phonetics more than meaning.

This is quite possibly the absolute best game I've ever played. Not because of its gameplay (which is, quite frankly, almost inexistent), and not because it has a grandiosely convoluted story (the plot IS driven by a murder mystery, but it's not an especially complicated one), and it's not because absolutely every last character is wonderfully characterised (only the main character gets rich characterisation).

No, instead, I love it because it's such a breath of fresh air in the industry. The game is, to my amateur eyes, the most feminist game I've ever played. The main character is a woman, who is married to another woman, and everyone important around her (with the exception of her chauffeur) is a woman as well. There are only two male characters in the game. One is the main character's father, who is mentioned in passing a couple of times and never appears in the game. The other is the aforementioned chauffeur, who plays a distinctly secondary part to everyone else.

The game has nothing to do with the areas that the media stereotypically limits women to, instead, the plot is something you could pull from any crime show or suspense movie: the main character is a ruthless, cut-throat businesswoman who, after a car crash, is left with locked-in syndrome (the inability to move voluntary muscles), and she deduces that one of the people she's close to is a murderer. The entire point of the game is to try and find out who the murderer is, and who to trust. Before you can do that, however, the main character has to reminisce about the events that led to the car crash, and in so doing, we find out about her and her relationship with the people around her.

In my experience, it is very difficult to balance on the blade's edge that is "the flawed but sympathetic character". Too many flaws and the character is unlikeable. Too much sympathy and we stray into Mary Sue territory. This game actually manages to make the main character a horribly flawed person while still maintaining audience sympathy (to explain how this is achieved would be getting into spoilers territory).

The writing is adequate-to-good throughout most of the game, but really shines in a couple of scenes. There's one scene that really gave me pause (and I'm the kind of player who blazes through a game without stopping to appreciate anything). I won't spoil it too much, but pay attention to what the memory of our main character sharing a drink with her aged mother tells us about her.

The game has multiple endings, so it offers replayable value (especially by saving smartly), and I think you need to see all the endings to get a clear view of the plot (this may be a plus or a minus, depending on what you think about fragmented plots). The aesthetic style of the game is very minimalistic, and the music choices are clever if a bit simplistic.

For me, this is a firm addition to the "games as art" repertoire and to the "games that don't pander to the straight white male demographic" list.

If this intrigued you, I leave you with the link to the place where you can download it:

http://luckyspecialgames.com/

Oh, yeah, that's true. It was the silly one with Halle Berry the ice palace I'd love to live in.

This sounds awesome.
Remember this guy?

Thanks!

And that's the guy! I had him in mind while I was writing that, where was he from? I kept racking my head trying to remember where I'd seen him. He was a villain in a cheesy action movie, wasn't he? One with Steven Seagal or Val Kilmer?

I was going to go with caster level, but I think spell level is a better alternative for a d6 class.

   
"In times of strife,
In times of war,
Surrendered life,
Our sacred star.
Seal the gate,
Shield the light,
Avert our fate,
And be our might.
Heart of a witch,
Eyes of a sage,
Soul of a lich,
And blade of our rage."
-Old nursery rhyme.

All high liches have one thing in common: they all know a terrible secret that would doom one or several innocents. A high lich is born when an ordinary person discovers a secret that would doom others, and instead of turning her back on it, instead of going back to her daily life and forgetting about it, she does something to prevent it. In so doing, in so meddling, she gains a mark of bravery in her soul, a mark that only high liches (and perhaps other powerful creatures) can see. If the prospective high lich survives the consequences of her meddling, it's not long before a high lich finds her and offers her a place in the High Order.

The ritual to become a high lich is complicated and takes several days to fulfil, starting from the creation of the fabled phylactery to the final moment where the prospective high lich commits ritual suicide. The High Order is neither unified nor has any form of official protocols for the initiation of new agents, so the details of the ritual vary greatly from high lich to high lich, and prospective initiates can easily tailor their own rituals to their personal preferences (so long as they respect the two key steps: creation of the phylactery and ritual suicide).

High liches are busy people and always on the look for new recruits. The High Order is tasked with safeguarding the integrity of the multiverse (and all its individual planes and worlds), and so it's naturally spread quite thin. High liches spend their days hunting down secrets that would imperil anything from the fabric of the universe itself to the life of a farmer's child. Then they do what they do best: they meddle. High liches are meddlesome by nature, it is not their goal to gather knowledge dispassionately. To them, knowledge is only useful when it can be applied towards the greater good (or, for some high liches, towards selfish goals). As such, high liches most often adventure to gather lore, uncover secrets or prevent some catastrophe. A high lich is always on the move, and eternity seems like a dreadfully short time for all the things they have to accomplish.

High liches vary greatly in looks, though it's usually an aesthetic choice. A high lich can choose to be as well preserved as a silver wight or warden vampire, or it can choose to look like a dessicated skeleton, rotting zombie or anything in between. They still look much like they did in life. In general, high liches find the burning of books, scrolls or any form of scripture to be abhorrent. They often go out of their way to protect such items from destruction, particularly if they are ancient. Most high liches abhor fire and consider it anathema to them, which goes hand in hand with their penchant for gathering tomes and scrolls. That said, some high liches wield fire magic precisely because they're acutely aware of its destructive nature.

High liches come from all walks of life, from mages and priests to illiterate farmers and street urchins. All it takes to succeed in the High Order is the willingness to develop one's intelligence and apply it towards averting disasters. The rest of the high lich's abilities are taught by other members of the High Order.

MAKING A HIGH LICH

Abilities: The most important ability for a high lich is Intelligence, since it governs its spellcasting, many class skills and some class features. Dexterity is important for AC, since high liches can't wear armour. And finally, Wisdom is important for the high lich's class skills.
Races: Any.
Alignment: Any.
Starting Gold: 10d4x10 (250).
Starting Age: Any.

Class Skills
The High Lich's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration(Cha), Craft(Int), Decipher Script(Int), Knowledge(Any)(Int), Listen(Wis), Profession(Wis), Search(Int), Sense Motive(Wis), Speak Language(Int), Spellcraft(Int) and Spot(Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int)x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int.

Hit Dice: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	High Lich Body, Spells, Sphere of Magic, Innate Magic, Which Can Eternal Lie, Vulnerability to Fire.	3	-	-	-	-
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Scribe Scroll, Sphere Power I, +1 Int.	4	-	-	-	-
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Sphere Ward I, Bonus Feat.	4	0	-	-	-
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Aureate Blessing, Sphere Power II, +1 Int.	5	1	-	-	-
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Aureate Flight, Sphere Ward II.	5	2	0	-	-
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Sphere Power III, Bonus Feat, +1 Int.	6	3	1	-	-
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Sphere Ward III,  Even Death May Die.	6	4	2	0	-
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Aureate Insight, Sphere Power IV, +1 Int.	7	4	3	1	-
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	Sphere Ward IV, Bonus Feat.	7	5	3	2	0
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Master Magus, Sphere Power V.	8	6	4	2	1

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A high lich is proficient with the quarterstaff, the dagger and a single simple weapon of their choice. They are not proficient with any kind of armour or shields.

High Lich Body (Ex): The High Lich loses all racial traits it had previously and gains the following racial traits: Revised Undead Type (see below), Medium size, a base speed of 30 feet, Common as an automatic language and any non-secret languages as bonus languages for high Intelligence.

Spells: The high lich casts spells from special list (see School of Magic below) prepared every day from a spellbook as if it was a wizard. It uses Intelligence to determine bonus spells and save DCs. Upon taking the first level in this class, the high lich must choose if its high lich spells will be arcane or divine. Once made, the decision cannot be changed. Divine spells cast by a high lich suffer from Arcane Casting Failure. When a high lich gains access to a new level of spells, it automatically knows all the spells for that level listed on the high lich’s spell list (and they appear on its spellbook without needing to spend gold to inscribe them). Essentially, its spell list is the same as its spells known list. To cast a spell, a high lich must have an Intelligence score of 10 + the spell’s level.

A high lich may inscribe a spell in its spellbook, following the rules for doing so as though it was a wizard. Doing so allows the high lich access to spells outside the SRD, though for every spell inscribed in this way, the high lich must replace a previously known spell of the same level and school of magic. A high lich cannot inscribe spells from outside its chosen Sphere of Magic (see below). Spells that should be avoided even if they do belong within the high lich's sphere of magic: Conjuration(Calling) spells, Illusion(Shadow) spells Transmutation spells, any spell that appears in another class's list, any spell that duplicates the abilities of another class. Spells inscribed this way require DM approval.

Sphere of Magic(Ex): The High Lich gains knowledge and mastery of only one school of magic, which the high liches term "spheres". At 1st level, the high lich chooses what sphere of magic it will specialise in. Once made, the decision cannot be changed. The high lich's spell list according to each sphere is as follows:







A high lich must also choose an Opposed Sphere. Choosing an opposed sphere has no effect on its own but other class abilities make use of it. A high lich may choose any Sphere it desires, including those high liches lack access to (see below). A high lich cannot choose its own sphere as its Opposed Sphere.

High Liches, although not versed in such magics on their own, refer to druidic magic as the "Verdant Sphere" (regardless of its actual school), to Transmutation magic as the "Iridescent Sphere" and to bardic and Enchantment magic as the "Rose Sphere".

If psionics are included in the game, the DM can choose to assign the different psionic disciplines to the pre-existent spheres (Clairsentience to the Pale Sphere, Metacreativity and Psychoportation to the Auburn Sphere, Psychokinesis to the Vermilion Sphere, Psychometabolism to the Iridescent Sphere, and Telepathy to the Rose Sphere), or consider it a different sphere altogether. If they do the latter, the "Alabaster Sphere" is suggested as its name.

Some suggestions for DMs who wish to incorporate other types of magic to the game: "Sepia Sphere" (Pact Magic), "Ebon Sphere" (Shadow Magic), "Cobalt Sphere" (Incarnum) and "Jade Sphere" (the supernatural aspect of Tome of Battle).

Innate Magic (Sp): High liches may cast the following spell-like abilities once per day per HD each: Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Prestidigitation and Read Magic.

Which Can Eternal Lie (Ex): All high liches must construct a phylactery before becoming undead. The phylactery is a Tiny item with Hardness 20, 40 HP, Resistance 20 to Electricity, Acid, Cold, Force and Sonic, and a break DC of 40. It takes double damage from Fire energy. Its weight can range from negligible to 1 pound (player's choice). Its physical aspect is up to the player (it can range from jewellery to part of another item), but it has no bearing on the mechanical stats of the phylactery itself (for example, making it part of an adamantine sword does not increase its HP or hardness, and it does not provide a bonus to conceal the item from onlookers or a bonus to AC from attacks). A high lich must always wear its phylactery on its person. If the high lich becomes separated from its phylactery, it gains a negative level (no save) that goes away on its own after 24 hours. For every hour that the high lich goes without the phylactery on its person, it must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the high lich's HD + 1 for every previously successful save) or gain another negative level that goes away on its own after 24 hours. If the high lich dies from negative levels, it does not automatically rise as a wight (it may rise as one, or as any kind of undead, if the DM so wills it). These negative levels bypass the high lich's immunity to death effects and energy drain.

Once per day per HD, when the high lich is reduced to 0 HP or otherwise destroyed, it can return to life 1d10 minutes after its destruction. The high lich may delay this effect for up to 1 hour per HD. The reconstruction takes 10d2 rounds, during which the high lich is considered to be Dazed. This effect only takes place if the phylactery has not been destroyed and if it is within the high lich's possession when it begins its reconstruction. If this effect triggers more than once per day, the second and subsequent times the high lich is reconstructed, it must make a Fortitude save (DC 20 + the high lich's HD) or gain a negative level that goes away on its own after 24 hours. These negative levels bypass the high lich's immunity to death effects and energy drain.

If the phylactery is destroyed but the high lich is not, the high lich may replace its phylactery by undertaking an elaborate ritual that lasts 24 hours and consumes an amount of XP and gold equal to (1000*HD). While the phylactery is destroyed, the high lich must make Fortitude saves to avoid gaining negative levels every day, instead of every hour.

Vulnerability to Fire (Ex): High liches are scholars, priests and mages, bonded to scrolls and ancient tomes. As they derive their power from arcane scriptures, they also share the weakness of their source of power. High liches take half as much (+50%) damage from fire energy and [Fire] effects. They also gain a penalty to saves against [Fire] effects equal to half their HD. Whenever the high lich gains Resistance to Fire, the amount gained is halved regardless of the source. A high lich can never gain Immunity to Fire. Effects that grant Immunity to Fire instead give the high lich Resistance to Fire 50 (this Resistance to Fire is not halved).

The spellbooks of a high lich gain +10 Hardness and Resistance 20 to Electricity, Acid, Cold, Force and Sonic, but take Fire damage normally. Any fire damage done to a high lich's spellbooks is done to the high lich as well (and counts as Fire damage for the purposes of this vulnerability). A high lich's spellbooks cannot gain Immunity or Resistance to Fire.

Scribe Scroll (Ex): The high lich gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.

Ability Score Increase (Ex): At levels 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th, the high lich gains a +1 to Intelligence, for a total of +4 at level 8th.

Sphere Power (Su): The high lich swiftly grows adept at mastering the spells of its chosen sphere.






Sphere Ward (Su): The high lich can inscribe sigils and glyphs on itself, wielded parchments or clothes to permanently protect itself from effects related to its chosen and opposed Spheres.





Bonus Feat (Ex): At levels 3rd, 6th and 9th, a high lich gains a bonus feat chosen from the wizard bonus feat list.

Aureate Blessing (Su): Once per day per HD, the high lich may touch a number of willing creatures equal to half its HD and pass on all its Sphere Ward abilities for a number of rounds equal to its HD. The high lich cannot pass Sphere Ward abilities it does not yet possess. For as long as the high lich has transferred its Sphere Ward abilities, the high lich ceases to benefit from them.

Aureate Flight (Su): At 5th level, the high lich gains a Fly speed of 30 feet with perfect manoeuvrability.

Even Death May Die (Ex): Once per day per HD, the high lich may touch a willing creature and transmit to them the benefit of its Which Can Eternal Lie ability for a number of minutes equal to the high lich's HD. The high lich must hand over its phylactery to the recipient of this ability. For all intents and purposes, the high lich loses its Which Can Eternal Lie ability for the duration of Even Death May Die, and the willing target gains it. Any negative levels incurred while under the effects of this ability remain do not disappear after the duration of this ability elapses.

Aureate Insight (Su): The high lich may add its Intelligence modifier to its Fortitude, its Will or its Reflex saves (player's choice) as an insight bonus.

Master Magus (Ex): As the high lich reaches the pinnacle of its ascension, they gain a +2 to its caster level for its chosen Sphere.

According to what I've researched on this subject, and applying it to psionics, Bend Reality (or Reality Revision) can duplicate the effects of an Ego Whip while retaining its Clairsentience school, thereby bypassing immunity to Telepathy/Enchantment or [Mind-Affecting] effects.

There's also a PF feat which might be usable at your table with some modifications: Threnodic Spell.

As a last resort, as your DM to homebrew a feat based on Requiem (from Libris Mortis) to achieve a similar effect. After all, there's not that much of a difference between bardic music and Telepathy powers when they're both very close to Enchantment spells anyway.

Actually, CPR is often used to keep blood flowing through your body by oxygenating it and then manually forcing the heart to pump blood through your body. There is still oxygen in an exhalation, which is why you sometimes see in movies that a character exhales into another's mouth while they're underwater. This is basic biophysics, as the means by which alveoli "take in" oxygen is by simple diffusion. They don't absorb oxygen from the pulmonary air, they merely allow blood oxygen levels to equalise with aerial oxygen levels. Logically, every mouthful of air exhaled will contain some amount of oxygen. And for a person who has ceased breathing, that amount may be enough to keep them alive.

The carbon dioxide doesn't really do anything (unless the patient is suffering from respiratory alkalosis, which is most often caused by hyperventilation, or metabolic alkalosis, which is often also accompanied by hyperventilation as a compensatory mechanism, so it's unlikely that they would be administered CPR), it's the oxygen present in the exhalation that helps the patient regain consciousness.

With regards to the dangers of oxygen, hyperoxia is a concern, yes, but it only happens when the patient is administered very high partial pressures of oxygen, and it only seems to cause serious damage on neonatology and long-term hyperbaric medicine. On a case of life or death, initiating treatment with oxygen at a high partial pressure vastly outweighs any risks of hyperoxia.



EDIT: Regarding the story of the child, I wager it went something like this: Child is the victim of some accident that causes unconsciousness and is almost always fatal (strangulation, drowning, suffocation, blood loss). An overworked, underpaid, uncaring paramedic gets called in, sees the child and presumes him dead (due to a very obvious sign, such as cyanosis, deathly pallor, great amounts of blood lost, lowered body temperature, imperceptible respiration, ligature marks around the neck, etc). Not to earn the ire of the family, the paramedic does a token and half-hearted attempt at resuscitation (which fails because it's half-hearted). The paramedic doesn't take the time and effort to take the child's pulse properly (which is notoriously hard to do correctly, even by professionals) and feels up a tendon instead of an artery. The child is pronounced dead and a death certificate is emitted immediately, most likely in situ. The child is quickly taken to the mortuary and prepared for the wake, as it's customary on tropical and sub-tropical countries. The child wakes up on his own after a few hours, asks for water, but quickly succumbs to (making a wild guess here) metabolic acidosis. Asking for water could be a sign of hypovolaemic shock (most often caused by blood loss), which would fit the above situation well.

Now this is quite interesting.

Quite a lot of abilities, but most of them are quite minor as well. An interesting subtheme where you have to switch between corporeal and incorporeal to use several of your abilities.

Yeah, my tentative policy is "if it's a spellcaster, 2-3 abilities per level. If it's not a spellcaster, 3-4 abilities per level" so in this case, I needed a lot of stuff to fill up the otherwise bland rogue chassis.

Thanks! I figured that the rogue is a mundane character who physically interacts a lot with the environment (and other people), so it was impossible to preserve that and the "incorporeal shadow" thing at the same time. The switching back and forth is the best way to have your cake and eat it too, since it lets you become corporeal to interact with things, and then become incorporeal if you need to scout, infiltrate or skedaddle.

At first glance, the only thing I spot wrong is Stygian Grace not being very clear on what "speeds" it boosts. Didn't you meant movement speeds?

Fixed! I left it vague on purpose in case a player acquires a Swim, Burrow, Climb speed or anything of the sort, to keep Stygian Grace viable in diverse builds.