ghost_warlock
2009-06-09, 06:04 AM
An old buddy of mine is putting together a homebrew campaign world, called Xiv, and I'd like to make a character for it in the event he ever actually gets it up and running for a game. :smallwink:
Now, the setting specifics are rather...perculiar. For starters, he's shifted the planes around quite a lot, but it shouldn't have much impact on actual play becuase he's effectively banned all magic except psionics.
The only 'magic' class that's been given the O.K. is the PHBII shapeshifter-variant druid. No clerics, no wizards, no paladins, no rangers, no beguilers, no duskblades, etc.
Additionally, he's banned ardents and divine minds because they're "thinly-veiled knock-offs of the cleric and paladin." He may also be allowing the spirit shaman from Complete Divine, once he's looked it over. He's using the psionic version of the bard on WotC's website.
Allowed classes, then, are pretty much anything that's strictly martial (including the Tome of Battle classes), psionic bard, shapeshifter-druid, psion, wilder, soulknife, psychic warrior, and lurk. He's also allowing the psionic rogue from WotC's website.
For healing, we've developed a couple new psionic powers, balanced with the near-lack of divine healing in mind:
Soothe
Psychometabolism (Healing)
Level: Egoist 1
Display: material
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) or Will half
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 1
When manifested, this power heals 5 hit points of damage to the target. Since the bodies of corporeal undead are composed of the same materials as living creatures, this power can be used on such creatures as well, although it has the opposite effect and injures them instead of repairing damage.
This power may be augmented in any or all of the following ways:
1. For every additional power point you spend, you can cure 5 more points or damage or deal 5 more points of damage to an undead target.
2. For an additional 2 power points, you may affect a creature at a range of Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) instead of Touch.
3. For an additional 6 power points, you may manifest this power as a swift action. Doing so counts against your normal limit of one quickened power per round.
4. For an additional 8 power points, you may affect every creature within 20 feet.
Lifeburst
Psychometabolism (Healing)
Level: Egoist 6
Display: material and visual
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) or Will half
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 11
Lifeburst enables you to cause a rapid surge of growth in a living creature’s natural ectoplasm to wipe away injury and afflictions. It immediately ends any and all of the following adverse conditions affecting the Target: ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned. In addition, this power cures 110 damage. This power deals damage to undead creatures instead of healing them.
This power may be augmented in one or both of the following ways:
1. For every additional power point you spend, you cure an additional 10 points of damage or deal an additional 10 points of damage to an undead creature.
2. For an additional 4 power points, you may augment this power to affect all creatures within 20 feet.
(References to ectoplasm come from the specific means he's using to describe the way the campaign world formed - the physical bodies of creatures are essentially made of a specialized type of ectoplasm, but that's really just fluff :smalltongue:.)
For my character, I'm planning on playing an elan psion, specifically an egoist. The idea is to become a sort of psionic gish/healer with a savage, feral style.
Since the DM's allowing Untapped Potential, I'd like to use the elan paragon class as well as the first two options for elan psion racial substitution. At 11th, I'll be going into Illithid Slayer, both for the boost to BAB as well as setting-specific reasons (in Xiv, an ancient war was fought between illithids and a combined force of gith & elan; the elan were all-but destroyed and the gith races were split but the illithid-conquest of the planet was prevented).
So my build progression will look like this:
Elan Paragon 1
Elan Psion 1
Psion 2
Elan Paragon 2
Elan Psion 3
Elan Paragon 3
Psion 4-7
Illithid Slayer 1-10
So I sacrifice 2 manifester levels, but I feel what I'm getting makes up for it (Darkvision, a couple bonus feats, a freebie power from another power list, +2 Int, and 'free' uses of elan resistance/resilience when I manifest in combat).
Stats after racial mod are: Str 16, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 6.
I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want for powers; snagging those healing powers first of all. Otherwise, I'll probably focus on powers to make the character invulnerable and more effective in melee; using claws of the beast to attack when not manifesting. Not the most optimized way, I know, but I'll leave battlefield control to someone else.
We're using traits and flaws and I've chosen Feral and Suspicious for my traits and Grudge Keeper and Short Temper for my flaws (once again, these would be terrible for a standard 'caster' but I did say 'gish,' above :smalltongue:)
So, now that I've gone through all of that, what I'd like is some help/suggestions on what to do with my feats. This is what I have planned so far:
1st Enhanced Elan Resilience, Track, [B]Psionic Talent, +1 more
2nd [B]
3rd
4th [B] Expanded Knowledge (claws of the beast)
6th
8th [B]
9th
12th
15th
18th
Now, the setting specifics are rather...perculiar. For starters, he's shifted the planes around quite a lot, but it shouldn't have much impact on actual play becuase he's effectively banned all magic except psionics.
The only 'magic' class that's been given the O.K. is the PHBII shapeshifter-variant druid. No clerics, no wizards, no paladins, no rangers, no beguilers, no duskblades, etc.
Additionally, he's banned ardents and divine minds because they're "thinly-veiled knock-offs of the cleric and paladin." He may also be allowing the spirit shaman from Complete Divine, once he's looked it over. He's using the psionic version of the bard on WotC's website.
Allowed classes, then, are pretty much anything that's strictly martial (including the Tome of Battle classes), psionic bard, shapeshifter-druid, psion, wilder, soulknife, psychic warrior, and lurk. He's also allowing the psionic rogue from WotC's website.
For healing, we've developed a couple new psionic powers, balanced with the near-lack of divine healing in mind:
Soothe
Psychometabolism (Healing)
Level: Egoist 1
Display: material
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) or Will half
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 1
When manifested, this power heals 5 hit points of damage to the target. Since the bodies of corporeal undead are composed of the same materials as living creatures, this power can be used on such creatures as well, although it has the opposite effect and injures them instead of repairing damage.
This power may be augmented in any or all of the following ways:
1. For every additional power point you spend, you can cure 5 more points or damage or deal 5 more points of damage to an undead target.
2. For an additional 2 power points, you may affect a creature at a range of Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) instead of Touch.
3. For an additional 6 power points, you may manifest this power as a swift action. Doing so counts against your normal limit of one quickened power per round.
4. For an additional 8 power points, you may affect every creature within 20 feet.
Lifeburst
Psychometabolism (Healing)
Level: Egoist 6
Display: material and visual
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) or Will half
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 11
Lifeburst enables you to cause a rapid surge of growth in a living creature’s natural ectoplasm to wipe away injury and afflictions. It immediately ends any and all of the following adverse conditions affecting the Target: ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned. In addition, this power cures 110 damage. This power deals damage to undead creatures instead of healing them.
This power may be augmented in one or both of the following ways:
1. For every additional power point you spend, you cure an additional 10 points of damage or deal an additional 10 points of damage to an undead creature.
2. For an additional 4 power points, you may augment this power to affect all creatures within 20 feet.
(References to ectoplasm come from the specific means he's using to describe the way the campaign world formed - the physical bodies of creatures are essentially made of a specialized type of ectoplasm, but that's really just fluff :smalltongue:.)
For my character, I'm planning on playing an elan psion, specifically an egoist. The idea is to become a sort of psionic gish/healer with a savage, feral style.
Since the DM's allowing Untapped Potential, I'd like to use the elan paragon class as well as the first two options for elan psion racial substitution. At 11th, I'll be going into Illithid Slayer, both for the boost to BAB as well as setting-specific reasons (in Xiv, an ancient war was fought between illithids and a combined force of gith & elan; the elan were all-but destroyed and the gith races were split but the illithid-conquest of the planet was prevented).
So my build progression will look like this:
Elan Paragon 1
Elan Psion 1
Psion 2
Elan Paragon 2
Elan Psion 3
Elan Paragon 3
Psion 4-7
Illithid Slayer 1-10
So I sacrifice 2 manifester levels, but I feel what I'm getting makes up for it (Darkvision, a couple bonus feats, a freebie power from another power list, +2 Int, and 'free' uses of elan resistance/resilience when I manifest in combat).
Stats after racial mod are: Str 16, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 6.
I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want for powers; snagging those healing powers first of all. Otherwise, I'll probably focus on powers to make the character invulnerable and more effective in melee; using claws of the beast to attack when not manifesting. Not the most optimized way, I know, but I'll leave battlefield control to someone else.
We're using traits and flaws and I've chosen Feral and Suspicious for my traits and Grudge Keeper and Short Temper for my flaws (once again, these would be terrible for a standard 'caster' but I did say 'gish,' above :smalltongue:)
So, now that I've gone through all of that, what I'd like is some help/suggestions on what to do with my feats. This is what I have planned so far:
1st Enhanced Elan Resilience, Track, [B]Psionic Talent, +1 more
2nd [B]
3rd
4th [B] Expanded Knowledge (claws of the beast)
6th
8th [B]
9th
12th
15th
18th