4e Channeler Class (Work in Progress!)

[Incomp]

Channeler

Obviously, this is a work in progress, and it may take me quite a while to finish. I always appreciate comments (So long as they are not stupid comments) and criticism, as well as questions.

Role: The Channeler changes significantly depending on the choice of Eldritch pact, varying between the roles of striker, controller, and defender.

Power Source: The Channeler uses magics similar to a Warlock, and so uses the Arcane power source.

Key Abilities: Strength, Charisma, Constitution

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth

Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged

Bonus to Defense: +1 Will, +1 Reflex

HP at 1st Level: 12+Con Score

HP/Level: 5

Surges/Day: 6+Con modifier

Trained Skills: Choose four:
Arcana, Intimidate, Endurance, Streetwise, History, Dungeoneering, Bluff

Channelers are essentially an extreme variant of warlocks. They gain their power via deals with mysterious and often malevolent entities which they rarely fully understand. However, the way that their power manifests is rather different. They lack the ability to cast ranged magic to kill their enemies, and the more subtle abilities of mind control warlocks often show. Instead, They fill their bodies with the power of their patrons, and in extreme cases, allow themselves to be "possessed" by their masters, giving them great power for a short while; this lets them simply rip their foes to shreds. While they are rarely actually trained at the art of combat, and tend to be less skilled than a professional fighter, when they channel their patrons' might, they are filled with unearthly power and toughness which allows them to stand toe to toe with nearly any foe.

Channeler Class Features:
Eldritch Pact: Much like a warlock, your choice of pact determines how you gained your powers and often what forms they take.

Xenophillic Pact: Allowing yourself to be controlled by the capricious and unknowable horrors of the Far Realm, you manifest abilities that bewilder and manipulate your enemies. Though you lack the raw power of the other pacts, your powers allow you to exploit your enemies' weaknesses, so that you can destroy them with ease. You tend to lack durability, but often the gifts granted by your patron will allow you to avoid your enemies' blows. Xenophillic Channelers are controllers, and their most important stat is Charisma.

Cthonic Pact: You are in the thrall of demons or devils, and in battle you become a destructive war machine, wreathed in hellfire and roaring with wrath as you claw your enemies with talons burning with the heat of evil. You emphasize strength and destruction, you aren't exactly subtle in combat. Cthonic Channelers are Strikers, and their most important stat is Strength.

Necromantic Pact: You channel the spirits of death, becoming a wraith whose very touch drains the living of their souls. Alone amongst the channelers, you specialize in the use of weapons, specifically scythes. Because of your pacts, in which you take on varying aspects of undeath, you are exceptionally durable, often gaining great amounts of temporary hit points, special healing powers, or statuses such as insubstantial which increase your ability to last significantly. Necromantic Channelers are Defenders, and their most important stat is Constitution.
Necromantic Channelers specialize in wielding scythes.

[Incomp]

Channeler Class Features
Depending the channeler's choice of pact, it gains the following features:
Curses: The Channeler gains the ability to curse its enemies. These have varying effects, depending on pact. A Channeler may only curse one enemy at a time, unless a power directs otherwise. Curses last until the end of the encounter they were applied in, or 5 minutes.
Xenophillic Pact
Mad Whispers: you gain the Mad Whispers power.
Xenos Curse: Once per turn, as a minor action, you may curse an enemy, twisting fate against it. The cursed enemy takes -1 its next attack roll if you hit the cursed enemy with an attack. This lasts until the end of the cursed enemy's turn; if the target fails to attack before the end of its next turn, the effect is void (pun intended). If you score a critical hit upon a cursed enemy, you may choose to dominate them until the end of their next turn instead. (Large penalties removed. I think this curse should be good.)
Cthonic Pact
Infernal Rage: You gain +1 attack and +1 damage for every quarter of your maximum HP you have lost. (Ridiculously huge bonuses removed. Still too strong?)
Burning Curse: Once per turn, as a minor action, you may curse an enemy. If you hit the cursed enemy, it burns with arcane witchfire, and until the end of your next turn gains vulnerability to fire equal to half your level, with a minimum of 2. If you score a critical hit upon a cursed enemy, the witchfire flares, and the target takes additional damage equal to your level. (No, this is not fire damage. Sorry. I think this curse should be okay.)
Necromantic Pact
Dark Reaper: You gain +1 attack and +1 damage while wielding a scythe. This bonus increases to +2 attack and damage at 11th level, and +3 attack and damage at 21st level. (This is here because scythes suck, comparatively. But now Dark Reaper is much stronger than Infernal Rage at high levels, which is not a good thing. Hmm.)
Carrion Curse: Once per turn, as a minor action, you may curse an enemy, bringing it temporarily to the brink of death. If you hit a cursed enemy, you may make an additional attack against the cursed enemy's fortitude defense, using your scythe as an implement. This means you do not gain its proficiency bonus, though you may apply the Dark Reaper class feature and your scythe's enhancement bonus. If you hit, the target is slowed until the end of its next turn. On a critical hit, the target is also weakened until the end of its next turn. (I don't know about this one. I think it's okay.)

All Channelers have the following class features:
Death from Death: when a Channeler kills a target it has cursed, it gains +1 to attack rolls and damage rolls until the end of the encounter. (This is here because I liked the idea of it, and it seemed appropriate.)
Clawfighter: When a Channeler is under the Channeled condition, it counts as having a +2 proficiency bonus if unarmed. (This is here because not having a proficiency bonus with an unarmed fighter would just be stupid.)

[Incomp]

Mad Whispers

Mad Whispers
Daily (special)
You may use Mad Whispers a number of times per extended rest equal to your charisma modifier.
Arcane, Fear
Minor Action
Close Burst 1

Muttering under your breath, you unconsciously exude secrets men were not meant to know, horrifying those close by, but the madness you unleash comes at a steep cost.
Attack: Charisma vs. Will
Hit: Targets are Horrified until the end of your next turn. A Horrified creature grants combat advantage, and cannot make opportunity attacks.
Effect: When you use this power, you take damage equal to your charisma modifier plus one half of your level. Each additional time per day you use this power, increase the damage you take by your charisma modifier.
(This seems quite strong to me. I don't know how to increase the self-inflicted damage over repeated use without making it either cripplingly painful or pathetically weak at high levels. Right now, I think it leans towards pathetically weak at high levels. The damage that is.)

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

Smegol likes it! *golem*. :smallwink:

[demidracolich]

I escpecially like the necromantic pact idea because I like undead and there aren't enough 4e stuff about them. Also, how will they be a true defender with average health? I guess I would have to wait and see the powers. By its abilities it currently seems a lot more of a striker because it lacks a mark ability.

[Incomp]

Here was my idea with the Necromantic Channeling: Though they have average health, when they channel their undeadness, they gain some of the following:

Temporary Hit Points. Lots of them, usually.
A special quality, (insubstantial in particular) that makes them difficult to damage.
A special method of healing, such as "vampirism," i.e. gaining health when you deal damage.


While it is true they lack a mark class feature, (I've not decided whether to give them powers that mark or not) I was intending to limit the ability an enemy to move around them via their Carrion Curse. So they don't control enemies on par with Wardens, but I didn't intend for them to be a copy of the play style of a class that already exists. Bear in mind this is my first attempt at homebrew.

[Incomp]

Channeler Shared At-Will Powers

Most Channeler powers have the Channeled keyword. This means they can only be used when a power grants the Channeled condition to the user. You'll see powers like those in the Daily and Encounter power sections.

All Chanellers have the Lilliputian Release At-Will power.
Lilliputian Release
At-Will (All Pacts)
Arcane, Weapon
Standard Action
Target: One creature

You allow yourself to access to a fragment of your master's power, just enough to put weight behind your swing.
Attack: Charisma, Constitution, or Strength vs. AC. You gain a +2 proficiency bonus if unarmed.
Hit: 1[W]+(Same modifier as above) damage, or 1d6+(modifier) damage if you are unarmed. At 21st level, increase damage to 2[W]+(modifier) or 2d6+(modifier).
This power may be used as a melee basic attack.
(This is intended to be weak, obviously.)

All Chanellers have the Reaving At-Will power.
Reaving
At-Will (All Pacts)
Arcane, Weapon, Channeled
Standard Action
Target: One creature

Tapping into the powers of darkness within you, you strike out at your foes with an unearthly force granted by your pact.
Attack: Charisma, Constitution, or Strength vs. AC.
Hit: 1[W]+(modifier chosen above), or 1d8+(modifier) if unarmed. At 21st level, increase damage to 2[W]+(modifier) or 2d8+(modifier).
Special: If you hit with this power, the target suffers an additional effect, depending on your Pact.
Cthonic Pact: Your talons burn with unholy vigor, dealing great damage and searing flesh and armor alike. Unarmed damage increases to 1d10, and the target's defenses are reduced by 1 until the end of his next turn. (I like this version. Might be too good.)
Xenophillic Pact: You bore into your enemy's mind, trying to force it to not defend itself. Your opponent uses his will defense for all attacks until the end of his next turn. (Now still too strong? Too weak now? Dunno)
Necromantic Pact: You feed off your enemy's pain and suffering, bolstering your own strength. Increase one defense by one until the end of your next turn. If you bloody the target with this attack, increase the bonus to two. If you kill the target with this attack, the bonus becomes three. (I like this power, and I don't think it's underpowered, but I don't know if it's too strong.)

[Incomp]

Pact-Specific At-Will Powers
Channelers gain one of the following powers, depending on their pact.

Hellfire Talons
At-Will (Cthonic)
Arcane, Fire, Channeled
Standard Action
Target: One creature

Your talons glow red-hot with the fires of your master's hatred, and you vent this anger upon a nearby creature, charring its flesh and searing its soul.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1d8+strength modifier fire damage. At 21st level, increase damage to 2d8+strength modifier fire damage.
(This is weak as hell at low levels, and seems like it'd be really strong at high levels. )
Cruel Escape
At-Will (Xenophillic)
Arcane, Teleportation, Psychic, Channeled
Standard Action
Burst 1

[I]Sensing the situation around you is becoming dire, you release a pulse of psychic energy and teleport a short distance away.
Attack: Charisma vs. Will
Hit: 1d6+charisma modifier psychic damage. If the target is horrified, it becomes dazed until the end of its next turn. At 21st level, increase damage to 2d6+charisma modifier damage.
Effect: You teleport 2 squares. At 21st level, increase this to 4 squares.
(Reduced dazed duration. Still too good?)
The Culling
At-Will (Necromantic)
Arcane, Weapon, Channeled
Standard Action
Target: One creature

With swings of your scythe as artful as a painter's strokes, you guide your enemies to their doom. If they flee from you, they earn a stern reprisal.
Attack: Constitution vs. AC
Hit: 1[W]+constitution modifier damage. If the target moves before the start of your next turn for any reason, you may curse them and make a basic melee attack. (I don't know how to fix this power without making it super-generic, which is exactly what I want to avoid.)

[Ashtagon]

When I saw this thread title, my first thought was what on earth could a 4channer class be?

[Incomp]

Nice. A 4channer would be... I don't even know.

[Incomp]

Reserved for level one encounter powers.

[Incomp]

Reserved for level one daily powers.

[Lateral]

Hmm. Not bad. Does need work tho.

[Incomp]

Agreed. I'd like to hears suggestions on improving the class though, rather than just "it's good," or, "I don't like it much."

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

You grant far to many bonuses to attack rolls. The Fighter's Weapon Superiority is a strong class feature, and that's a +1. Weapon Expertise is a really solid feat, and that's a +1 to +3 bonus. For a class feature, don't go about a +1 bonus except in really specific circumstances.

Some of your paths allow between a +3 and a +9 bonus, on TOP of the default +1 bonus for killing someone.

Also, an at-will that has the potential to bestow the Dazed condition is to strong, even with the requirement of them being horrified. Nor should At-Wills have Save Ends effects (Reaving, I'm looking at you). The Culling is also to strong, as it's effectively a curse, a mark, AND a second attack with the full bonuses.

[Incomp]

You grant far to many bonuses to attack rolls. The Fighter's Weapon Superiority is a strong class feature, and that's a +1. Weapon Expertise is a really solid feat, and that's a +1 to +3 bonus. For a class feature, don't go about a +1 bonus except in really specific circumstances.

Some of your paths allow between a +3 and a +9 bonus, on TOP of the default +1 bonus for killing someone.

Also, an at-will that has the potential to bestow the Dazed condition is to strong, even with the requirement of them being horrified. Nor should At-Wills have Save Ends effects (Reaving, I'm looking at you). The Culling is also to strong, as it's effectively a curse, a mark, AND a second attack with the full bonuses.

First: Thank you. You bring up a lot of good points.

Second: You are absolutely right. I do grant too many +1 bonuses. I did this because two of the paths do not use weapons, and I was trying to compensate. Looking at the Infernal rage section, I really don't know what I was thinking. +9 plus whatever else IS ridiculous. I'll edit these.

Third: Hmm. I was looking for a status effect that mattered, wasn't nudging in on the Necro's turf (it likes to slow), and wasn't extremely powerful. I settled on dazed, but maybe I need to invent one a la horrified? (Also I was intending to build the Xeno pact so that many of the powers were way, way cooler if the targets were horrified. Mistake?)

Fourth: This is basically arguing semantics, and I see your point, but just to be clear, The Culling doesn't mark anything. That is, if the bonus attack misses, the target suffers no penalty whatsoever for moving.


What do you suggest I do instead?
EDIT: I went over most of the class, changed some things, and added my thoughts as a self-evaluation at the end of the powers. I'd like it if you took a look at the changes, and let me know what you think.

[Kamai]

First off, a character should not get scaling bonuses to hit as a class feature, especially ones that work all of the time.

Secondly, by requiring that people use an encounter attack before they can use any at-will that is not a MBA with Melee training, you might find that you cut down significantly on the concepts you can cover (since you can have very few situational encounters/dailies), and also, I hope you don't intend to have the channeled condition fade, because I suspect that could go quickly into not-fun territory.

On the Cthonic pact, I at least don't think that the damage bonuses were over the top, but it was the attack bonuses. I think you can avoid all of the mass scaling by adding an implement that would enhance your unarmed strikes (like the ki focus for the monk)

Also, list your implements in the class description. As is, although you intend for people to use weapons as implements, they cannot, except for powers that list specifically what can be used as an implement. Also, is there any way to enhance your unarmed strike?

What are the rules on your curse? Does the enemy need to be in a certain range? Do you even need to see your enemy? Can the enemy ever get rid of the curse?

Get the implement keyword on Mad Whispers, or it will be useful to nobody at higher levels. Also, this is a very powerful effect to place on more than 1 target more often than 1/day, that I don't think the self-damage makes up for.

Again, on your at-wills, they really need the implement keyword (the ones that don't have the weapon keyword already).

Reaving (Cthonic) is rather powerful, even if you drop it to the beginning of your next turn. Against AC, this can act as a -6 to -8 to defenses against all AC attacks, which is very unreasonable at low levels. Maybe leave a +3 if the attack would otherwise go vs AC, downscaling in the tiers (+1 at 11th, -1 at 21st), giving pretty equivalent scaling as compared to others that work off of secondary stats, although making this thing detrimental to use on enemy casters.

If you don't intend to put the close keyword onto this power, it might work well as is. If you do, downgrade it to can't take opportunity actions and grants CA if horrified. This might put it into line, while keeping it's flavor.

This is scarier than the fighter right now (other than the worse MBA due to not focusing on strength). Maybe you should try Con mod for damage (upgrading to 2x Con mod for damage at 21st), and slowing the enemy until the end of your next turn as an immediate interrupt if the enemy moves at all (including shifts). Still rather powerful, but it might make up for not having a proper enforceable mark.

These are the things that I noticed that you should at least look at. Good luck in finishing this up.

Edit: It seems to have changed as I was writing up my post.

[Incomp]

Yes, it did change a bit. I was looking over what Djinn said, and siad to myself "wow, this (whatever) is ridiculous, isn't it?" And so I changed many of the worst blunders.

Also, what does MBA stand for? Nevermind, figured it out. You still say a lot of things that I do not understand.

EDIT: If, by "channeled condition fading" you mean not lasting the whole encounter, no. I was intending that when powers granted the channeled condition it would last (usually) the whole encounter, and maybe longer on some powers.
EDIT: I went and added a section in the Class Features which I hope will clarify curses.
EDIT: Dark Reaper (the sole remaining class feature which scales) is taking plenty of flak. But the thing is, scythes are terrible. But I like them as flavor (They are terrible, but awesome) and I think they fit the class. So I was trying to give something that made Necros not suck in melee.
EDIT: Finally, for now, here's the deal with implements: I had a good look through the AV, and I didn't see a class of implements that I thought would work for this class. At first, I thought I'd go with rods, to go along with the warlock-y theme, but they don't work for this class. Then I looked at orbs. And so on. As far as I know, there are no implements that work with melee classes. So I decided, hell, I'd just give the players bonuses to attack and damage rolls to make up for the lack of enchanted gear. This seems to be the root of all the evil in this class.