First of all, awesome class.
Questions and clarifications below.
Paragon Block: While wielding a shield, you gain a chance to “Block” any attack against you depending on the type (10% for a buckler, 20% for a light shield, 40% for a heavy shield, 60% for a tower shield). Your shield can even protect you from area attacks with the Block chance, altough it doesn't stop it from affecting others. By spending one Potential point as a free action, you can extend this Block chance to adjacent allies for 1 round as you cover them with your shield. This doesn't stack with other sources of Block and/or miss chances, and you must actually wield the shield to gain it (animated doesn't work). You need proficiency with the relevant shield to use this ability.
1) By block an "attack", I assume this means melee/ranged? But not, for example, a fireball? Or disintegrate?
Also, mis-spelling bolded above.
Paragon Stealth:[/u]You need 8 ranks in Hide and Move Silently to pick this Excellence. You can take 10 in Hide and Move Silently checks even if threatened or rushed. In addition you can atempt to hide whitout actually having anything to hide behind! If you already had a similar ability (invisibility magic won't do, but a Ranger's Camouphlage or a Shadowdancer's Hide In Plain Sight would), you may atempt a Hide and Move Silently check as an immediate action while observed. Double the bonus you gain from using Potential points for Hide and Move Silently checks.
Just to be clear - hiding while observed or as an immediate action has no extra penalties, correct? I'm pretty sure that's the case.
And, this improved hide ability is not dependent on any other constraints (Example: If you can "Hide in Plain Sight" in shadows without this ability, with this ability you can hide regardless of environment).
Mis-spellings bolded.
Paragon Break: You need Improved Sunder to pick this Excellence. Whenever you attack an enemy in melee, you may make a Sunder atempt on that same enemy as a free action. You can also sunder stationary magic effects (aka any area non-instantaneous magic effect not on a specific creature) as long as you're wielding a magic weapon. Force effects count as having 6 HP per CL and all other magic effects count as having 3 HP per CL. Double the bonus you gain from using Potential points for Sunder atempts and damage.
No "to-hit" roll to attack stationary magic effects?
Paragon Proficiency: You need proficiency with all martial weapons, heavy armor and at least 1 Exotic weapon to pick this Excellence. You gain proficiency with all Exotic weapons, and the saving DC of any effect created by magic weapons wielded by the Paragon becomes (10 + ½ HD + Highest Mental Stat mod) if it is higher than the standard DC. Effects which duplicate spells have a caster level equal to his HD if that is higher than normal (recalculate damage, duration, etc. as appropriate). Increase the enhancement bonus of any weapon wielded by the Paragon by 1; he may treat nonmagical weapons as +1 weapons. Plus armor no longer slows down your movement speed or limits your max Dex bonus to AC. Whenever you spend Paragon Points for anything, you gain DR X/- for 1 round, where X is the amount of Paragon points spent. This stacks with itself, or can be used to boost already existing DR, in which case it becomes DR of that type. So for example if you had DR 3/adamantine and spent 5 Paragon Points, you could either gain DR 5/-, or improve to DR 8/adamantine.
Do these bonuses also apply to non-weapons? For example, a ring of freedom of movement normally has a CL of 7. Does this set the CL = HD?
You Owe Me: [/u]You need 8 ranks in Gather Information and Diplomacy to learn this Excellence. You've acumulated quite a number of favors during your life, and you now know somebody in every place that knows somebody else that can get things done. As long as you're in a relatively populated area, you can always sell gear at full price instead of half, and commission any single item worth up to 500 GP per rank you have in Gather Information and Diplomacy to be delivered to your person in 24 hours (you still must pay the item's full cost). In addition while in a populated area you can requistion the services of an NPC of your choice of an alignment equal to yours of a level up to (the lowest number of ranks you have in Diplomacy or Gather Information)-5. It obeys you to the best of its ability, but you must spend Potential Points every hour equal to its HD to keep it under your control, otherwise it leaves. If you take or lose the NPC's gear, you lose all benefits of this Excellence for 1 year and 1 day as you rebuild your web of favors. You can always take 10 in gather Information and Diplomacy checks even if rushed or threatened. Double the bonus you gain from using Potential points for Gather Information and Diplomacy checks.
The NPC - is this like a cohort, and can have actual class levels, unusual races, etc.? Or is this an NPC in the sense of "Commoner/Expert/Adept/Warrior"?
If the NPC dies, and you return the NPC's gear to next of Kin, does the ability continue to function without penalty?
Paragon Infiltration: You need Paragon Stealth or Paragon Manipulation to pick this Greater Excellence. When traveling, you don't need to specify where your character is as long as you don't take any specific actions. At any moment during an ally's turn, you may show up in any position in that ally's field of view and act on his iniative before rolling your own. You were there all along! Whenever you sucesfully hide again, you may “disapear” once more in your own turn as a move action, but cannot “appear” again until the next round. In addition 1/round you may use a Sleight of Hand check instead of an attack roll or Physical Ability score check, and 1/round you may atempt to Feint an enemy as a free action.
My favorite excellence. So very cool.
Lots of Questions:
1) When you "act on his initiative before rolling your own". Does this mean you act on his initiative, then again on your own?
2) When you "disappear" after a successful hide attempt ... does this mean you have to beat all observers? (Example: 3 groups watch you - orcs attacking you, a neutral wizard via scrying, and your party). Do you have to hide from all 3 groups to use this ability?
3) Does this mean you can go anywhere without detection? You are traveling through a dungeon, and as long as you don't interact with the environment too much, nothing happens to you? If your party is caught in a big trap, can you specify "I was ahead or behind them", and thus were not caught?
Forged by Experience: You need one of Paragon Proficiency, Paragon Dual Wield, Paragon Fencing, Paragon Block or Paragon Shot to pick this greater excellence. The Paragon can enchant parts of his body as magic items, as if he had the relevant item creation feat and a caster level equal to his HD. The Paragon cannot emulate an item creation feat with a caster level requirement higher than his class HD, or create an item with a limited number of uses. These items take up body slots as normal (but see below). The Paragon may dismantle an "item" created in this manner in 8 hours, regaining the expended gp and freeing up the slot once more. If the Paragon doesn't know any spells himself, he may use scrolls or have a caster assist them. On the DM's judgement, parts of monsters or specially exotic substances may also work.
Does this take normal item crafting time? Does this cost as normal?
Example: I craft a ring of freedom of movement with CL 7 and it costs me 40K. I use it with CL 20 with Paragon Proficiency.
However, if I use this, and craft the same ring, do I need to craft it with CL 20 (costing much more gold) to get the same effect? Can I use the benefits of Paragon Proficiency with these enchantments?
Tactical Genius-[/u]When your enemy thinks they've ambushed you, your allies are suddenly standing on the perfect positions to counter them. You need Forged by Experience or Paragon Infiltration to pick this Perfect Excellence. At the start of each combat, as soon as you roll iniative, you and your allies can take a free move or non-offensive swift action that can't be reacted to in any way.
This can be any move action?
That Was Left Handed: [/i]You're so good you can perform incredible tasks even with your off-hand while holding something else with it! At 12th once per round as a free action even if it isn't your turn, you may perform either a physical attack, basic move action or one of your Know The Trick SLAs.
What is a "basic move action"? Does initiating a manuever that is an attack count as a "physical attack"?
Thanks again! Very cool Class
Best,
David
P.S. I may post a couple of builds in this thread (unless you object).