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zerg
2010-11-20, 09:20 PM
Fist of all, hello everyone. If I recall, this will be my first post here. Maybe second. Oh well. On to more important things.

I have an idea for an adventure I want to run. Basically, the characters will find the Black Blade, which seems to be just a normal black longsword. I want it to end up similar to legacy weapons. Unfortunately, I have no experience “homebrewing”. So I would like your input. I’m sure it’s horribly unbalanced (see previous sentence), so I need some help.

They will get the Black Blade at 9th or 10th level, and then I’ll convince them (well, him, I guess. Only one person can wield it.) to take the prestige class (below). Eventually, the “big twist” will be that a lich steals the Black Blade for some take-over-the-world plot, but the Black Blade is actually sentient, and will take over the body of the lich, and then a dragon ends up in the equation, bad stuff happens, etc.

Here is the prestige class:

Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Abilities
1st +1 +2 +0 +0 +3 longsword
2nd +2 +3 +1 +0 Pact
3rd +3 +4 +1 +1 +3 longsword (sword of life stealing)
4th +4 +5 +2 +1 Give in to the darkness 1/day Shadow Step 1/day
5th +5 +6 +3 +2 +4 longsword (sword of life stealing)
6th +6 +7 +3 +2 Give in to the darkness 2/day Shadow Step 2/day
7th +7 +8 +4 +3 Wings
8th +8 +9 +5 +3 Give in to the darkness 3/day Shadow Step 3/day
9th +9 +10 +5 +4 +5 longsword (sword of life stealing)
10th +10 +11 +6 +4 The Black Blade


Pact: If the Black Blade feels that it’s wielder is in danger of dying, it may, if the wielder agrees, use the spell limited wish in an attempt to save it’s wielder. (It usually does this by summoning outsiders, either to defeat the enemy, or to delay them enough so that the wielder can escape.

Sword of life stealing: This black iron +2 longsword bestows a negative level when it deals a critical hit. The sword wielder gains 1d6 temporary hit points each time a negative level is bestowed on another. These temporary hit points last for 24 hours. One day after being struck, subjects must make a DC 16 Fortitude save for each negative level or lose a character level.

Give in to the darkness: Once a day, starting at 5th level, the wielder of the Black Blade becomes under the effect of bull’s strength, and produces a fear aura 40 ft around him. All enemies within range of the fear aura must make a Will save (DC 16) or become panicked. This increases to 2/day at 6th level, and 3/day at 8th.

Shadow Step: At 4th level, the wielder of the Black Blade may teleport up to 50 ft away as a standard action 1/day. If you attack after teleporting, the target loses their dexterity bonus, as though the wielder of the Black Blade was invisible, though he does not gain the +2 bonus to attack rolls. This increases to 2/day at 6th level, and 3/day at 8th.


Wings: At 7th level, the wielder of the Black Blade grows wings, giving him a fly speed equal to his base speed, with average maneuverability.

The Black Blade: At 10th level, the wielder of the black blade can cast Symbol of weakness 2/day, Waves of Exhaustion 2/day, Symbol of Insanity 1/day, and Summon Monster IX 1/day.



The person that this will probably end up going to is a druid, but he’s not really into the spell casting part of it, so I tried to lower the spell casting aspect and raise the martial.

Again, I'm sure this is horribly balanced, but I just wanted you to get the general idea of what I'm trying for.

Also, how do insert tables, like everyone else has?

blackjack217
2010-11-20, 09:22 PM
Here-Guide to Homebrewing (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10313)
what he said
Edit: also Give in to the darkness needs a duration

monkman
2010-11-20, 09:38 PM
{table=head]Level|BaB|Fort|Reflex|Will|Special
1st|+1|+2|+0|+0|+3 longsword
2nd|+2|+3|+0|+0| Pact
3rd|+3 |+3|+1|+1|+3 longsword (sword of life stealing)
4th|+4|+4|+1|+1| Give in to the darkness 1/day Shadow Step 1/day
5th|+5|+4|+1|+1|+4 longsword (sword of life stealing)
6th|+6|+5|+2|+2| Give in to the darkness 2/day Shadow Step 2/day
7th|+7|+5|+2|+2| Wings
8th|+8|+6|+2|+2| Give in to the darkness 3/day Shadow Step 3/day
9th|+9|+6|+3|+3| +5 longsword (sword of life stealing)
10th|+10|+7|+3|+3| The Black Blade[/table]


Pact: If the Black Blade feels that it’s wielder is in danger of dying, it may, if the wielder agrees, use the spell limited wish in an attempt to save it’s wielder. (It usually does this by summoning outsiders, either to defeat the enemy, or to delay them enough so that the wielder can escape.
When would he be consider dying?What are the effect of agreeing?What happens if the item dosent like the person?


Sword of life stealing: This black iron +2 longsword bestows a negative level when it deals a critical hit. The sword wielder gains 1d6 temporary hit points each time a negative level is bestowed on another. These temporary hit points last for 24 hours. One day after being struck, subjects must make a DC 16 Fortitude save for each negative level or lose a character level.
Is there a save to resist the first negative level, Also a Dc 16 for a level 9-10 isn that hard to beat. Up it a notch.


Give in to the darkness: Once a day, starting at 5th level, the wielder of the Black Blade becomes under the effect of bull’s strength, and produces a fear aura 40 ft around him. All enemies within range of the fear aura must make a Will save (DC 16) or become panicked. This increases to 2/day at 6th level, and 3/day at 8th
A level 14-15 will most likly have an item of str, So bull's str is use less. Also the feats should be
10+1/2hd+Cha modifer(or another one if you wish)
Creatures with less than half Hd, and they fail are panicked, If they succed they are frightented
Creatures with more than half HD(then the guy) If they fail they are frightented, If they succed nothing happens.


Shadow Step: At 4th level, the wielder of the Black Blade may teleport up to 50 ft away as a standard action 1/day. If you attack after teleporting, the target loses their dexterity bonus, as though the wielder of the Black Blade was invisible, though he does not gain the +2 bonus to attack rolls. This increases to 2/day at 6th level, and 3/day at 8th
MAke this a swift or a move action, aslo this aint good, I would give a sneak attck damage instead or something like that.


The Black Blade: At 10th level, the wielder of the black blade can cast Symbol of weakness 2/day, Waves of Exhaustion 2/day, Symbol of Insanity 1/day, and Summon Monster IX 1/day.
personally i think that this campstone sucks, A caster would be able to do much more, maybe give it something that is more comabt oriented

zerg
2010-11-21, 04:16 PM
When would he be consider dying?What are the effect of agreeing?What happens if the item dosent like the person?

You can ignore the 'Pact' ability. I plan to use it to give them a feeling of "Okay guys, I think there might be a little more to this sword than what meets the eye"



Is there a save to resist the first negative level, Also a Dc 16 for a level 9-10 isn that hard to beat. Up it a notch.

I copied that, verbatim, from the DMG. I don't think there's a save against the first negative level. As for the DC, since they'll be using it to kill their enemies, the only people who will live for the next day would be recurring villains, so I doubt a low DC is going to be a problem there.


A level 14-15 will most likly have an item of str, So bull's str is use less. Also the feats should be
10+1/2hd+Cha modifer(or another one if you wish)
Creatures with less than half Hd, and they fail are panicked, If they succed they are frightented
Creatures with more than half HD(then the guy) If they fail they are frightented, If they succed nothing happens.

Oh yeah, I forgot. Bull's Strength won't stack with items. Just an unnamed +4 bonus, then? Also, that's a good idea for the fear aura. He has a decent charisma score, so that should be effective.

@blackjack217: Oh, right, forgot about that. I was thinking just until the combat ended. Although, maybe the fear aura should be on all the time? That seems like it would be too strong though. Thoughts?


MAke this a swift or a move action, aslo this aint good, I would give a sneak attck damage instead or something like that.

Swift action sounds right. How much sneak attack damage would be appropriate? Rogues get about 1/2 HD, but since this isn't a main feature of the class, it probably shouldn't be that much, right? Or should it be more, since he only gets so many uses per day? Or should it be a set value? Maybe 5d6?


personally i think that this campstone sucks, A caster would be able to do much more, maybe give it something that is more comabt oriented

Fair point.

EDIT: Is this better?

The Black Blade: At 10th level, the wielder of the black blade can cast Meteor Swarm 2/day, Summon Monster IX 2/day, Shapechange 1/day and Time Stop 1/day. In addition to this, the any target struck by the Black Blade must make a DC 25 Will save, or be destroyed.

I'm thinking that DC 25 is a little too high, since it's active all the time. In four hits, a Balor would be dead. Or is that normal for level twenty characters?

Noremak
2010-11-23, 11:42 PM
The person that this will probably end up going to is a druid, but he’s not really into the spell casting part of it, so I tried to lower the spell casting aspect and raise the martial.

Just wanted to point out a druid can't use a long sword, the only weapon that is a long blade thats on their class list is the scimitar.