Dreamscarred Press Announces: Steelforge Playtest!

[PsyBomb]

Cross-posting this from over in GitP-land. I am the Jacob he's talking about, and the more the merrier!

Those of you who have been following our Path of War playtest might know that we had a planned item section that never made it in. We've been trying to get it in for two books now, in fact, and it didn't work out. In the team chat, a few weeks back, Anthony jokingly proposed that we just write an entire item book and stick 'em in there.

Introducing Steelforge, the second in Dreamscarred Press's 'forge line (which began with Bloodforge)!

Steelforge deals in another theme that all adventurers, regardless of class, handle - items. Alchemical, magical, or mundane, adventurers rely on their gear to help them solve problems, face down lethal enemies, and learn more about the world around them. The lure of powerful magical items can motivate a party or even provide the crux of a world-shaking plot. We at DSP haven't been strangers to the idea in the past - Ultimate Psionics is chock full of new items - but in addition to adding to the roster of exciting adventuring and worldbuilding tools available to you, Steelforge talks about the role of items in the game world, how emphasizing or banning certain items can help shape the game you want to portray, and provides new archetypes and prestige classes that alter how adventurers interact with items.

Our initial playtest document - about thirty pages long - can be found here. As always, this is as live document that is subject to change and additions without warning. We're looking forward to playtesting with you fine folks, as well as with our fans on other communities, and hope you have fun with it.

My co-authors will be along to introduce themselves shortly, but you're familiar with all of them: Anthony (Path of War: Expanded), Matt (Bloodforge), Alex (Lords of the Night), and our newest addition to the freelancer pool, Jacob (who has currently written guides to the Akashic Mysteries classes, as well as for the Dread).

Ready?

Go!

Playtest Document
GitP Thread

[Power]

Firesight Goggles seem way too good for that price. You pretty much make it impossible for anyone to sneak up on you (along with negating blur and displacement). It's as if you got half of a seeking property on your weapon along with a see invis and darkvision. I guess dense foliage and fog/smoke are the only remaining ways to get snuck up on.

Headless Helm seems like a Necklace of Adaptation, Everwake Amulet, and more rolled into a single item for a low price.

Brave weapon property is a mixed bag. On your average greatsword this only does +2d6 damage. But an Aegis with an Enlarge Person can easily go up 3-5 sizes for his weapon and do +6d6 to +12d6 for a +2 property. For your average greatsword or lance, I would sooner spend that +2 on the Holy property which can crit, do double/triple damage on a Spirited Charge, and also do damage on non-charging attacks.

Forgelord PrC advances your entire class on the first level (except BAB/HD/saves). This means virtually everyone will dip a level of Forgelord because it costs them absolutely nothing. At most it will cost a point of BAB, but odds are if you advance any partial BAB class you can dip Forgelord on a level where it wouldn't get BAB anyway.

[PsyBomb]

Thanks for the feedback. Firesight Helm has already been changed, Headless Helm is being worked on, and Brave and Forgelord are being discussed.

More stuff has been added to the document in the last few days, with a couple of special materials scheduled for tomorrow. Gravity Slime Master PrC just went up, as well as quite a bit of editing based on feedback received.

[PsyBomb]

So, I have something exciting to announce.

We have messaged Adam Meyers, the creator of Spheres of Power, to ask for permission to create some items for this project featuring his classes and mechanics. Perhaps would even be working on possible synergies between the classes of Drop Dead Studios and Dreamscarred Press. We had a few of these items sketched out, just ideas really...

And he said yes.

None of them are on the doc just yet, they are undergoing polishing and getting brought up to the standards we expect out of ourselves. Over the course of the next week, though, a few are going to start showing up. You read that right. I am happy to announce that Steelforge will include content featuring Spheres of Power.

Happy hunting!