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View Full Version : [peach] D&D 3.5 epic level PrC, please critique... please?



Tetrasodium
2010-08-12, 12:12 PM
Please provide any feedback or thoughts about this :)
Divided Constructs in the World:Dealing with the fleshbound types can be an awkward and difficult process prone to awe, disaster, joy, misunderstanding, & awe... although some more than others for a warforged making those first few steps. Some choose to stumble through those first steps of life as they are, others expose themselves or retreat in various ways. Divided constructs are a middleground between reforged and juggernaut, shielded from those steps like the juggernaut and yet linked and exposed to a subset of humanity on a level few can claim.

Requirements:
- Construct or living construct subtype
- At least 23 ranks in any craft skill capable of repairing a warforged
- Adamantine Body
- DR6/adamantine or better
- Craft Wondrous Item

1: Create Control Medallion, Heal Immunity, Divided Mentality, Fist of Thunder
2: Bound Spirits, Second Slam
3: Reformation, Weapon Focus (Slam)
4: Adamantine Restructuring I
5: Linked Spirits, Greater Weapon Focus (Slam)
6: Fist of Lightning, Bonus Feat
7: Adamantine Restructuring II, Weapon Specialization (Slam)
8: Entwined Spirits, Sever Link
9: Greater Weapon Specialization (Slam), Awesome Blow
10: Adamantine Restructuring III
Class Skills: Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Survival, and Swim
Skill Points/Level: 2+int modifier
Hit Die: D10

Create Control Medallion: This allows you to infuse a portion of your own soul, animating spirit, or some other form of magical infusion granting you life into a special medallion. You may only have a single active medallion at any given time. It takes six hours to carve this medallion along with a DC40 craft check. Once created, the divided construct is bound to the current bearer and permanently has fast healing 2 as long as the medallion is carried by another living being. The effects of Bound, Linked, and Entwined Spirits override rather than stack with each other & the medallion itself.

The medallion functions as a slotless magical item and grants the bearer limited control over the crafter who forged it. This functionality is similar to the suggestion spell with a permanent duration, the (will) DC to resist is equal to the bearer's HD+15. a new check is given for each order/suggestion from the bearer. Unlike the suggestion spell, dangerous suggestions such as “gain that monster's attention” are possible; however, suicidal commands are ignored. A suggestion can last for a number of hours equal to the bearer's HD.

The suggestion effect ignores any immunities the divided construct may have due to the how the medallion results in part of the construct's very essence mingling with that of the bearer's. The bearer should take care in crafting it's commands and requests, as the divided construct retains its mind and can choose to interpret the letter rather than the intent of a command should it desire to do so.

In exchange for shedding some level of control, the construct is always able to tell the general direction, rough distance, and identify the bearer of their medallion on sight; if the medallion is unattended, they can find the medallion itself in the same manner.

You must stay within a reasonable distance of your medallion or the link will begin to break down and eventually sever. A severed link can not be reestablished, but a new medallion can be crafted as normal. Use the table below to determine how long it takes for the link to sever:

Less than 1 mile: no breakdown
1-5 miles: 1 year
6-50 miles: 8 months
51-100 miles: 2 months
101-500 miles: 2 weeks
501-1,000 miles: 4 days
more than 1,000 miles: 1 day
Alternate planes: 2d6 hours

Heal immunity: This functions identical to the warforged juggernaut's heal immunity.
Divided Mentality: A Divided Construct has difficulties interacting with creatures other than the one holding its control medallion. Due to this change in thought processes, a Divided Construct takes a penalty equal to its Divided Construct class level (–1 at 1st level, –2 at 2nd level, and so on) when using the following skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive

A divided construct may choose to remove this penalty for 24 hours by concentrating for 5 minutes, doing so raises the save DC against suggestion from the medallion bearer's suggestions 5. Doing so does not require the divided construct to have access to their medallion.
Fist of thunder: The Divided Construct gains the ability to infuse its slam attack with force similar to that of a Marut's. On any attack with their natural slam attack, they may choose to infuse the attack with a deafening thunderclap. Performing this attack involves channeling forces not normally suitable for it's body however, and costs a number of hit points depending on the effect:
-1 to -3hp, The warforged deals an additional 1d6-3d6 sonic damage with the slam attack. Every 10 levels in divided construct allow one additional d6 at a cost of an additional -1hp, -4hp for 4d6 at 10, -5hp for 5d6 at 20, etc.
-(4+X)hp, unlike the damage component, adding this secondary component is incredibly taxing on the warforged. It costs a number of hitpoints equal to 4 plus the Divided Construct's strength bonus. In addition to the additional 3d6 points of sonic damage, the target must succeed in a fort save or be deafened for 1d6 rounds. The DC to resist this is 17+class level+the Divided Construct's strength bonus. This secondary effect can be used a number of times equal to ˝ the character's con bonus per day.
Second Slam: You can deliver a second slam in any round in which you make a full attack that includes a slam attack. The second slam uses your highest attack bonus with a –5 penalty, and deals your normal slam attack damage.
Bound Spirits: The bearer may choose to direct 1/4 of any damage it suffers to the construct in a manner similar to shield other up to a total of 1/4 the bearer's total HP every minute. In exchange, the construct gains fast healing equal to the bearer's HD/5, any HD beyond its divided construct levels +30 are ignored for this purpose. Once gained, this is ability is a permanent aspect of the divided construct that functions as long as both bearer and construct are 100+5ft/hd of each other. In addition, the effects of having your medallion carried lessen by lowering the resist DC on the suggestion equal to the bearer's HD+10.
Reformation: Your body draws upon the forces sustaining you to conjure enough additional mass sufficient to increase your size by one category and weight by 30%. This brings with it the usual benefits and drawbacks of a size increase.
Adamantine Restructuring I: The animating forces woven through your body's adamantine plating & accumulated over time restructure themselves to further enhance it. Any permanent source of DR/Adamantine not linked to an item or spell is enhanced magically and alters itself to DR/Adamantine,+2 and grant an additional point of damage reduction.
Linked Spirits: The bearer may choose to direct 1/3 of any damage it suffers to the construct in a manner similar to shield other up to a total of 1/3 the bearer's total HP every minute. In exchange, the construct gains fast healing equal to the bearer's HD/4, any HD beyond its divided construct levels +30 are ignored for this purpose. Once gained, this is ability is a permanent aspect of the divided construct that functions as long as both bearer and construct are 100+5ft/hd of each other. In addition. The resist DC to resist suggestions from the bearer is reduced to the bearer's HD+5.
Fist of lightning: The Divided Construct gains the ability to infuse its slam attack with force similar to that of a marut's other attack. On any attack with their natural slam attack, they may choose to infuse the attack with a bright flash of lightning. Performing this attack involves channeling forces not normally suitable for it's body however, and costs a number of hit points depending on the effect:
-1 to -3hp, The warforged deals an additional 1d6-3d6 electricity damage with the slam attack. Every 10 levels in divided construct allow one additional d6 at a cost of an additional -1hp, -4hp for 4d6 at 10, -5hp for 5d6 at 20, etc.
-(6+X)hp, unlike the damage component, adding this secondary component is incredibly taxing on the warforged. It costs a number of hitpoints equal to 6 plus the Divided Construct's strength bonus. In addition to the additional 3d6 points of electricity damage, the target must succeed in a fort save or be blinded for 1d6 rounds. The DC to resist this is 17+class level+the Divided Construct's strength bonus. This secondary effect can be used a number of times equal to ˝ the character's con bonus per day.
Bonus Feat: At 6th level, and every 5 levels after, the divided construct may choose a bonus feat from the list of epic fighter bonus feats provided they qualify for it.
Adamantine Restructuring II: Starting at level 7, the Divided Construct's adamantine plating restructures itself once more. Permanent sources of DR/Adamantine not linked to an item are enhanced to DR/Adamantine,+3 and grant an additional point of damage reduction
Entwined Spirits: The bearer may choose to direct 1/2 of any damage it suffers to the construct in a manner similar to shield other. In exchange, the construct gains fast healing equal to the bearer's HD/3, any HD beyond its divided construct levels +30 are ignored for this purpose. Once gained, this is ability is a permanent aspect of the divided construct that functions as long as both bearer and construct are 100+5ft/hd of each other. In addition, the Divided Construct is completely free willed & no longer able to be influenced by the holder of the medallion.
Sever link: With a successful DC40 Fort save, the Divided Construct may temporarily sever the link with it's medallion for up to 6d4 hours as a full round action. The link can be reestablished simply by touching the medallion and willing a portion of your spirit back into it. A failure to reestablish the link results in the medallion losing its power and starting to rot away regardless of its composition.
Adamantine Restructuring III: Starting at 10th level, the Divided Construct's adamantine plating restructures itself once more. Permanent sources of DR/Adamantine not linked to an item or spell are enhanced to DR/- and grant an additional point of damage reduction . Finally, every 4 additional levels (14, 18, 21, etc) of divided construct grants one additional point of DR.

Ideal and goal for this class:
I wanted this as a class to be something that allows a warforged to continue a path towards construct "perfection" differently than a juggernaut. The Marut, & Shield guardian were used as inspiration along with a number of other constructs I was able to find. The entry and some of the save requirements were set intentionally high since this is intended as an epic level class. This could probably be modified for non-epic levels by tweaking some of the values and giving it fighter bab/save progression instead of the default epic bab/save progression.

I like the warforged/juggernaut flavor of having some negative trade offs that go with lacking outright or shedding various aspects of humanity & wanted to keep something along those lines woven into the class. I also wanted to have those trade offs as a tradeoff that was both construct in nature and not something that could simply be ignored by a character who was already or planned to be a juggernaut (heal immunity, bad with diplomacy/sense motive/etc). The medallion meets those goals and gives ample reason to avoid simply taking a quick dip for fast healing (fast healing 3 is an epic feat and lacks a control component). The hitpoint cost to use some of the abilities is similar to the shocking fist feat that lets a warforge add damage dice to it's slam at the cost of HP, I didn't want them to be free but wanted them to be interesting and capable of being used frequently.


Suggestion for altering this into a non-epic version:
Remove epic level requirement.
Reduce Craft requirement for entry to 13.
Reduce Craft Medallion DC to 20.
Reduce the cap on Bound, Linked, and Entwined Spirits from Divided Construct level +30 to Divided Construct level +10.
Reduce Bound Spirits and Linked Spirits to granting fast healing equal to HD/6.
Reduce Entwined Spirits to grant fast healing equal to HD/5.
Reduce Fort save on Sever link to DC20.
Reduce the save DC on the secondary effect of fist of thunder & lightning by 10.
Reduce the number of d6 usable with fist of thunder & lightning from 1d6-3d6 to 1d6-2d6.
Change Epic Save and Attack bonus progression to match fighter save & BaB progression.

Tetrasodium
2010-08-12, 09:39 PM
anyone? :)

Tetrasodium
2010-08-13, 09:32 AM
*sets out a box of crickets to make some noise and a plate of cookies to attract life*

Anything at all? :(

Scarey Nerd
2010-08-14, 11:00 AM
I'm not a huge fan of Warforged, but this PrC looks pretty sound. The "Reserved" class feature confused me, but then again I suppose it help to balance the other abilities.

137beth
2010-08-14, 11:24 AM
"to these effects of having your medallion carried lessen from dominate to charm with a resist DC equal to the bearer's HD.'

But for the level 1 craft control medallion you said it was already at charm. Did you possibly mean that it starts as dominated at level 1 divided construct, and then changes to charm at level 2?

Also, I would like to see how you could continue this past 10 levels. After all it is an epic prestige class, so it would be nice if it were not limited to 10 levels.

Other than that this is a great class! The medallion could allow for roleplaying opportunities that most fighters miss out on.

Tetrasodium
2010-08-14, 12:52 PM
"to these effects of having your medallion carried lessen from dominate to charm with a resist DC equal to the bearer's HD.'

But for the level 1 craft control medallion you said it was already at charm. Did you possibly mean that it starts as dominated at level 1 divided construct, and then changes to charm at level 2?

Also, I would like to see how you could continue this past 10 levels. After all it is an epic prestige class, so it would be nice if it were not limited to 10 levels.

Other than that this is a great class! The medallion could allow for roleplaying opportunities that most fighters miss out on.

Originally I had it planned to where the first level with the craft control medallion was dominate (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Dominate_Person), then I looked up the spell and realized that the character would essentially turn into a familliar or cohort type of thing and strip away the possibility for the interesting sort of interaction that the lesser effects allowed. I'm not aware of anything between charm and dominate so with with charm with a higher resist DC. I missed that mention of dominate after changing it and fixed it now :).

You are right about the continuing past ten bit, I went back to the epic handbook and basically all the PrC's there keep advancing various abilities past the 10 levels mentioned. Technically the control medallion line keeps advancing since it's based of the HD of the person holding it, presumably you'd give it to a party member rather than a random villager or something. I tweaked Adamantine structuring 3 to add an extra point of DR every 4 levels past 10. Fist of Thunder & Lightning abilities already include the class level in the resist DC, Adding an extra d6 to the damage every 10 levels (so 4d6 at 10, 5d6 at 20, etc) seems like it would fit well, getting 4d6 damage on a weapon at 30 seems fairly trivial considering it's not that tough at 20.

Going past 10 also made me realize that the character would essentially believe a level 1 commoner with 10 charisma on anything higher than a 1 when it came to sense motive and such at a certain point. I slightly modified Linked & Entwined Spirits by letting the character negate the penalty by setting the charm/suggestion effect back to how it was in bound/linked spirits and making it last for 24 hours so it wasn't something you simply turn on when talking to people then turn back off before it can matter.