Tao Jones
2010-11-29, 05:39 PM
Hey all! I've decided to post up an idea that has been swimming around in my head for a while. In this variant, the players are not only heroes, but demigods, or at least carriers of the divine spark which all deities possess, manifested in one way or another.
Be warned, these abilities are meant to be free upgrades to characters. Please critique their power balance relative to each other rather than existing benchmarks, as most of them are more powerful than Epic Destiny features. This whole thing stemmed from an issue I have regarding 4e, which is that while the PCs are all heroic, it's very hard for anyone to stand out amongst each other, unless they are meticulously optimized for a single niche (DPR novas and stunlocking being primary examples). My problem is that all of this optimizing leads to everyone seeing the same characters again and again under different names. Peruse the Wizards CO boards and you'll see what I mean.
My intent is to give players a niche optimization of their choice right out of the gate that will make them unique, and remain a useful focus throughout their whole career. My hope is that they will allow players more freedom to create the characters they want to roleplay without compromising mechanics. So, without further rambling, here are Divine Sparks. Enjoy, PEACH, and feel free to suggest new ones!
Divine Spark Variant
During character creation, each player may select one Divine Spark for their character. All decisions are subject to DM approval.
You may select your Divine Spark benefit from the following list:
Legendary Ability
Increase one ability score of your choice by 2, and by 2 again at 11th and 21st level. Alternatively, increase each of your ability scores by 2.
Legendary Skill
You become trained in two additional skills from any class list, and you gain a +3 bonus to all skill checks. When you succeed on a skill check during a skill challenge, it counts as two successes.
Legendary Endurance
Increase your maximum hit point total by 30, and you gain two additional healing surges. You can use your second wind as a move action. If you can already use your second wind as a minor action, you can instead use it as a free action.
Legendary Speed
You gain a +2 bonus to your speed, and a +2 bonus to all defenses. Whenever you shift, you may shift an additional square.
Legendary Reflexes
You gain a +10 bonus to initiative checks, and you cannot be surprised. When making opportunity attacks, you can use an At-Will attack power rather than making a basic attack.
Impervious Mettle
You gain resist 2 to all damage. This value increases to 5 at 11th level and 8 at 21st level, and stacks with any resist damage value you gain from other sources. You gain a +2 bonus to all saving throws.
Legendary Power
Choose a utility power of 10th level or lower from your class, or a skill power of 6th level or lower. You gain that power. You must meet all prerequisites for that power in order to select it. At 11th level, you can retrain this to a class utility power of 16th level, or a skill power of 10th level. At 21st level, you can retrain this to a class utility power of 22nd level, or a skill power of 16th level.
Feats of Legend
You gain two additional bonus feats for which you meet the prerequisites. For the purposes of meeting feat prerequisites, treat each of your ability scores as if they were 2 higher than normal. You can retrain an additional feat each level.
Legendary Blaster
You can add 2 to the size of any blast or wall, or 1 to the size of any burst for any power that you use. Increase this to 3 for blasts and walls, and 2 for bursts, at 16th level. Whenever you use a blast, wall, or burst power, you can choose not to target one square within the effect.
Legendary Healer
Whenever you grant healing with one of your powers, the targets also gain temporary hit points equal to the ability modifier of your choice. In addition, allies adjacent to you gain regeneration 2 while bloodied. This value increases to 5 at 11th level and 8 at 21st level, and stacks with any regeneration gained from other sources.
Born Paragon
You gain all of the path features (but none of the powers) of a single paragon path of your choice in addition to your normal paragon path. You must meet all prerequisites for that path in order to select it. You gain the path's 11th-level feature at 1st level, its 12th-level feature at 2nd level, and its 16th-level feature at 6th level.
Be warned, these abilities are meant to be free upgrades to characters. Please critique their power balance relative to each other rather than existing benchmarks, as most of them are more powerful than Epic Destiny features. This whole thing stemmed from an issue I have regarding 4e, which is that while the PCs are all heroic, it's very hard for anyone to stand out amongst each other, unless they are meticulously optimized for a single niche (DPR novas and stunlocking being primary examples). My problem is that all of this optimizing leads to everyone seeing the same characters again and again under different names. Peruse the Wizards CO boards and you'll see what I mean.
My intent is to give players a niche optimization of their choice right out of the gate that will make them unique, and remain a useful focus throughout their whole career. My hope is that they will allow players more freedom to create the characters they want to roleplay without compromising mechanics. So, without further rambling, here are Divine Sparks. Enjoy, PEACH, and feel free to suggest new ones!
Divine Spark Variant
During character creation, each player may select one Divine Spark for their character. All decisions are subject to DM approval.
You may select your Divine Spark benefit from the following list:
Legendary Ability
Increase one ability score of your choice by 2, and by 2 again at 11th and 21st level. Alternatively, increase each of your ability scores by 2.
Legendary Skill
You become trained in two additional skills from any class list, and you gain a +3 bonus to all skill checks. When you succeed on a skill check during a skill challenge, it counts as two successes.
Legendary Endurance
Increase your maximum hit point total by 30, and you gain two additional healing surges. You can use your second wind as a move action. If you can already use your second wind as a minor action, you can instead use it as a free action.
Legendary Speed
You gain a +2 bonus to your speed, and a +2 bonus to all defenses. Whenever you shift, you may shift an additional square.
Legendary Reflexes
You gain a +10 bonus to initiative checks, and you cannot be surprised. When making opportunity attacks, you can use an At-Will attack power rather than making a basic attack.
Impervious Mettle
You gain resist 2 to all damage. This value increases to 5 at 11th level and 8 at 21st level, and stacks with any resist damage value you gain from other sources. You gain a +2 bonus to all saving throws.
Legendary Power
Choose a utility power of 10th level or lower from your class, or a skill power of 6th level or lower. You gain that power. You must meet all prerequisites for that power in order to select it. At 11th level, you can retrain this to a class utility power of 16th level, or a skill power of 10th level. At 21st level, you can retrain this to a class utility power of 22nd level, or a skill power of 16th level.
Feats of Legend
You gain two additional bonus feats for which you meet the prerequisites. For the purposes of meeting feat prerequisites, treat each of your ability scores as if they were 2 higher than normal. You can retrain an additional feat each level.
Legendary Blaster
You can add 2 to the size of any blast or wall, or 1 to the size of any burst for any power that you use. Increase this to 3 for blasts and walls, and 2 for bursts, at 16th level. Whenever you use a blast, wall, or burst power, you can choose not to target one square within the effect.
Legendary Healer
Whenever you grant healing with one of your powers, the targets also gain temporary hit points equal to the ability modifier of your choice. In addition, allies adjacent to you gain regeneration 2 while bloodied. This value increases to 5 at 11th level and 8 at 21st level, and stacks with any regeneration gained from other sources.
Born Paragon
You gain all of the path features (but none of the powers) of a single paragon path of your choice in addition to your normal paragon path. You must meet all prerequisites for that path in order to select it. You gain the path's 11th-level feature at 1st level, its 12th-level feature at 2nd level, and its 16th-level feature at 6th level.