Help with Blazblue Vestiges? (3.5e, PEACH)

[Velvet Pillow]

Okay, so I'm trying to make Vestiges based on the fighting game of Blazblue, and I'll probably move on to some Personas as well. However, I have the major problem of never actually doing ANYTHING homebrew before, let alone Vestiges. I know nothing of balance or power, I'm just going off what seems fair. I'm currently working on a Vestige version of Arakune:

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq234/IAMETALMAN/2252253.jpg

But I need help, and bad. At the moment, I don't currently have my copy of Tome of Magic on me, so I can't check the requirements of Vestige making. I do have the fluff planned out, but not yet written down. For the moment, I'd like to supply what I have so far for his granted abilities and go from there.

Arakune grants upon his Binder's his accursed minions and the benefits - and drawbacks - of his torturous, pseudonatural form.

I Have No Mouth...: The Binder's type now changes to "Ooze" as his body becomes viscously amorphous like Arakune himself. He retains his previous form, however. The Binder can now compress their body into small areas and ignore difficult terrain. The Binder's Reach is now increased by five feet. Anything the Binder is wearing upon forming the pact is now incorperated onto his body. He cannot equip additional armour or remove the armour he is currently wearing, and armour check penalties still apply.

...And I Must Scream: As a drawback of a bad pact, the Binder now communicates like its vestige, and he can no longer form full sentances, and in some cases, even his words are now shattered and unmanagable. The Binder must make a fortitude save with a DC of 10 + the Binder's Int mod + 1 for every three EBLs in order to communicate. However, becoming a gibbering lunatic in the eyes of others has its own unspoken advantages. Sense Motive checks against you now have a DC that is heightened by your Int mod and by one for every three EBLS, and you may now use Intimidate with a +1 times every three EBL circumstance mod on others regardless of what their spoken language is.

Azure! GIVE ME THE AZURE!: Arakune's addiction to magic power grants his Binder methods of combating it. When Binded, the Binder gains +1 to AC times every three EBLs against spells and attacks made by magic weapons targeting him. Additionally, a Binder may announce an anti-mage strike againt any spellcaster or character weilding a magic weapon once every five rounds. This strike does normal damage with an additional 1d4 Wis, Int, and Cha damage.

Chokehold of Cosmic Knowledge: At any time, the Binder may tap into Arakune's massive cache of information, allowing the Binder to take 20 on any Int based skill check. However, the Binder has difficulty controling how much information they gather, and must make a Will Save with a DC of 25, or else suffer 1d6 Wis damage due to a pure, crippling information overload.

That's all I have so far, I'm afraid. I do not have anything for his ability to Curse or summon THE TIER SHATTERING BEES!!! yet. I'm thinking of just giving the Binder the Hexblade's ability to curse, or I may do nothing if what I have is too much. Constructive criticism would be very much appreciated.

[deuxhero]

I think WoTC did an article on how to make custom vistiges.

[Velvet Pillow]

Erm, with all due respect, that doesn't really help me all that much. Could you at the very least offer a link?

[deuxhero]

I would, but BG and it's handy list of links to things like this is down.

[Velvet Pillow]

*sigh* Would you be at all able to offer some feedback on what I have so far in the meantime?

[deuxhero]

BG is back up, so I can link to these
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060324a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060407a

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

First off, I'd like to know his Vestige Level, so that I can properly judge the power.

I Have No Mouth...: I'm confused as to why you count as both size categories...something neither being an ooze or amorphous really does. I'd instead go with the typical "can compress their body into small areas and ignore difficult terrain," and maybe allow them to gain a +5 foot increase in Reach. Calculating all the bonuses/penalties for the three size thing is just difficult.

...And I Must Scream: Drawbacks are if you make a Bad Pact. Just add that clause in there. As for the rest, adding your EBL to checks and other things is something that just isn't done...it's to large a number.

Azure! GIVE ME THE AZURE!: Again, +EBL is to much. Perhaps +1 per 3 effective Binder levels. Also, the attack should be usable once every 5 rounds, as is typical for Binder abilities.

Chokehold of Cosmic Knowledge: Interesting. I rather enjoy it, although it is a pretty potent power. The downside, however, means that it's probably fairly balanced.

[Velvet Pillow]

Thank you for the links, deuxhero, and thank you Djinn for the advice. I'm not entirely sure what level the Vestige should be, which is one of the reasons why I'm here right now asking for help. I've taken your ideas to heart and have applied them to what I have. Like I've said, I'm not really sure how this is all supposed to pan out in terms of power, so it's very good to know that Effective Binder Level is too high a modifier. I'll keep hammering away at the details of the other two abilities... Would the ability to use a Hexblade's Curse ability be an appropriate Vestige ability?

[Realms of Chaos]

The vestige level seems to be somewhere between 4 and 6, though I can`t really slim it down much further until it is finished.

Let`s see what you have so far...

I have no mouth: Most abilities that state your worn items meld into your form also make those items nonfunctional. If you want armor to grant its AC bonus (rather than just its armor check penalty), you may want to say as much. Also, what of the fate of other worn items? Does your cape of resistance +1 keep working? Does your sheathed weapon at your side fuse into your body?
these are some important questions to answer.
Here`s my suggestion on how the ability would be written.

The binder`s type changes to ooze, providing all benefits of that creature type. The binder remains sentient and vulnerable to mind-affecting effects, however, and retains their basic bodily form.The Binder can now compress their body into small areas and ignore difficult terrain. The Binder's Reach is now increased by five feet.
The binder`s equipment is subsumed into their form for the duration of the pact. any armor bonus they possess is replaced with an equal natural armor bonus. You do not benefit from special qualities of magic armor subsumed in this fashion but suffer no armor check penalty. All other items occupying an item slot on your body fuse into your wild form and cannot be targetted or sundered (though they continue functioning).

And I Must Scream: Change this to the vestige`s influence or, even better, sign. How about the following.

Sign: The binder cannot speak in a straightforward way, speaking in random words and phrases that require a DC 15 Sense Motive check to decipher. Even your writng is horribly garbled, requiring a DC 15 Decipher Script check to make sense of.

Azure. GIVE ME THE AZURE: Why not provide the bonus to saving throws against spells at well? Also, why not have the ability damage of the anti-mage strike increase with your binder level?

Chokehold of Cosmic Knowledge: Well-made as is. One suggestion is that the DC of the saving throw you make be equal to the DC of saving throws enemies make (10 + 1/2 binder level + Cha modifier). Also, this may be the type of ability to consider putting a limit of once per day per binder level (like Dantalion`s teleportation).

Additional Possibilities: Although I am not familiar with the game from which this character is from, perhaps use that curse ability mentioned. I`d suggest a bestow curse ability with a 24 hour duration that resists attempts to remove it unless the target makes a successful Will save. Alternately, use the beneficial parts of "and I must Scream" in anoher ability called "Unnerving Demeanor".

One Last Note: Although it is tempting to do so, It may be best to avoid making the names of abilities quotes. Their significance may be lost on some people.

For the record, there are at least 2 vestiges that add your full binder level to skill checks. Arshadalon from Dragon Magic adds it to appraise and search checks while One of the three Fiendish Vestiges from that Dragon Magazine issue grants a similar bonus to Disguise and Bluff checks.