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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

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-06-09, 06:13 AM
Assuming you go Egoist, I'd recommend picking up Sangehirn (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625c) 3 or 5 just prior to Illithid Slayer. The Healing Touch ability is amazing for buffing/healing other characters, but the limited selection of powers known for those levels can really hurt. The loss of a third manifester level is also fairly large, but Practiced Manifester can help make up for that and you'll still get 9th level powers by level 20.

It looks like Warlock and/or Dragonfire Adept could find a place in that setting. Either could easily be re-themed to be psionic instead of magic.

ghost_warlock
2009-06-09, 07:00 AM
Assuming you go Egoist, I'd recommend picking up Sangehirn (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625c) 3 or 5 just prior to Illithid Slayer. The Healing Touch ability is amazing for buffing/healing other characters, but the limited selection of powers known for those levels can really hurt. The loss of a third manifester level is also fairly large, but Practiced Manifester can help make up for that and you'll still get 9th level powers by level 20.
We looked over the sangehirn but collectively decided the restricted power list made it a bit too limited (although my character will probably end up with many of them anyway). I think he had some other issue with it, too, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was...

I did think about going with ghostbreaker from Hyperconscious for a few levels. It sort of cranks up the cheese-factor, though, and I'm not sure that Knowledge (religion) is even a valid skill in the setting, considering the only 'god' in the setting has already been dead for several-thousand-to-million years.

Another thing I consided was the egoist variant (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070314a) on WotC that gives access to the Life mantle, but he decided to remove the mantles along with the ardent and divine mind. No biggie, though, considering the homebrew powers are probably better than anything I'd get from it anyway.


It looks like Warlock and/or Dragonfire Adept could find a place in that setting. Either could easily be re-themed to be psionic instead of magic.
I suggested more-or-less the same thing regarding the warlock, and also the binder but I haven't heard back on a definite ruling for either. For now, I'm assuming they're included in the blanket-ban on magical classes. He wants to avoid the dragon-themed classes for setting reasons, so dragonfire adept is out. I think the only dragons he's including so far are the gem dragons and what he calls the "idea" dragons (not sure what he means by that).

Crazy Scot
2009-06-09, 08:49 AM
For any manifester/caster the largest consideration should always be good management of power points/spells. Since magice is out of your setting, you only have to worry about the first. There are several steps that you can take to help you along this road. Whatever you choose to do, good luck and enjoy. I have always had a good time playing psionic characters.

[Note: these options can be utilized individually, or together for more potency]
Option 1: Earth Power (RoS p. 138)- This feat has two problems with it, but one nice benefit. First, it would require you to get your Con up to 13, and secondly it requires you to take a different feat as a prerequisite (Earth Sense, RoS p.138). [Earth Sense allows you to (with a move action) determine the number of creatures touching the ground within 20' of you, and the direction to each, as long as you are standing on the ground.] Earth Power says that as long as you are psionically focused and standing on unworked earth or stone, you pay 1 less pp / manifestation from the overall cost (minimum 1 pp).
Option 2: Torc of Power Preservation (XPH p.177-8)- This psionic item (treated as an amulet), reduces the cost to manifest powers by 1 pp / manifestation (minimum 1 pp) just like the Earth Power feat. While this does not require the expenditure of feats, it does cost a tidy 36k gold. And if you really want to tweak it (and have loads of gold to spare, or can make it yourself) you can stack this multiple times on the same object for a tidy 54k gold per stacking.

Draz74
2009-06-09, 12:11 PM
Option 2: Torc of Power Preservation (XPH p.177-8)- This psionic item (treated as an amulet), reduces the cost to manifest powers by 1 pp / manifestation (minimum 1 pp) just like the Earth Power feat. While this does not require the expenditure of feats, it does cost a tidy 36k gold. And if you really want to tweak it (and have loads of gold to spare, or can make it yourself) you can stack this multiple times on the same object for a tidy 54k gold per stacking.

Uh, I'm not sure there's ever been a rule printed that lets you stack the same effect onto an item more than once.

More to the point, this item actually gets nerfed in the Magic Item Compendium (even though it was just fine already IMHO). It now costs only about 4k, but only works 5/day.

Eloel
2009-06-09, 12:14 PM
Uh, I'm not sure there's ever been a rule printed that lets you stack the same effect onto an item more than once.

More to the point, this item actually gets nerfed in the Magic Item Compendium (even though it was just fine already IMHO). It now costs only about 4k, but only works 5/day.

Technically, the MIC version is a completely different item. After all it's in 'MAGIC item compendium', and the original one is a PSIONIC item. :smalltongue:

Yora
2009-06-09, 12:18 PM
Uh, I'm not sure there's ever been a rule printed that lets you stack the same effect onto an item more than once.
But the way enchanting works, I don't think there's anything that prevents it.
BUT it would only raise the number of uses per day. I don't know what the item does, but I'm pretty sure you can't have the benefit at double strength. Like how you can't have to bless spells on you at the same time.

NeoVid
2009-06-09, 01:43 PM
No time for a detailed post, but if you're making a psi gish, you should take a look at the Sanctified Mind prestige class from Lords of Madness.

ghost_warlock
2009-06-09, 02:04 PM
No time for a detailed post, but if you're making a psi gish, you should take a look at the Sanctified Mind prestige class from Lords of Madness.
Hm. Thanks for the suggestion, but there's three big problems with that PrC:
1) requires proficiency with all martial weapons (my aching manifester level...)
2) requires Iron Will (:smallyuk:)
3) Cha-based class ability

Now, it'd probaby be a good PrC for another character, but I'd end up sacrificing too much to qualify and Illithid Slayer has similar, but better, features.