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View Full Version : My first Homebrew attempt! [Elemental Bender Class]



Podonis
2011-05-01, 02:44 PM
This class was created using Class Construction Engine by Khepri of SHADOWCRAFT STUDIOS. The pdf is here (https://acrobat.com/app.html#d=KWG4EYcgN*LiRBB02srjSg), do you think this is a valid class construction method?:smallredface:

I got the idea from watching Avatar: The Last Air Bender. This class is modeled after the Sorcerer/Wizard stats for the most part, but I gave them better HD and attack bonus because they don't get spells. I also made their class spell like abilities (such as Elemental Bolt and Elemental Shield) a few more times per day because of the lack of spells. Let me know what you think! As the title states, this is my first try at this sort of thing so i'd like to see what everyone thinks!:smalleek:

ELEMENTAL BENDER
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Code Of Elements, Elemental Meditation, Elemental Bolt 1d6

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Bonus Feat

3rd|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+3|Elemental Bolt 2d6, Elemental Shield 3/day

4th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Bonus Feat

5th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Elemental Bolt 3d6

6th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+5|Bonus Feat, Summon Elemental 1/day

7th|
+5|
+2|
+2|
+5|Elemental Bolt 4d6

8th|
+6/+1|
+2|
+2|
+6|Bonus Feat

9th|
+6/+1|
+3|
+3|
+6|Elemental Bolt 5d6

10th|
+7/+2|
+3|
+3|
+7|Bonus Feat

11th|
+8/+3|
+3|
+3|
+7|Elemental Bolt 6d6

12th|
+9/+4|
+4|
+4|
+8|Bonus Feat

13th|
+9/+4|
+4|
+4|
+8|Elemental Shield 6/day

14th|
+10/+5|
+4|
+4|
+9|Bonus Feat, Elemental Bolt 7d6

15th|
+11/+6/+1|
+5|
+5|
+9|Elemental Resistance 25%

16th|
+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+5|
+10|Bonus Feat

17th|
+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+5|
+10|Elemental Resistance 50%, Elemental Bolt 8d6

18th|
+13/+8/+3|
+6|
+6|
+11|Summon Elemental 2/day

19th|
+14/+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|Elemental Resistance 75%

20th|
+15/+10/+5|
+6|
+6|
+12|Elemental Immunity, Elemental Bolt 9d6[/table]

Abilities: A high Wisdom score makes an elemental bender’s attacks do more damage and allows their shield to last longer. High Dexterity is essential because it helps the bender aim the elemental bolt and makes the bender harder to hit. As always, Constitution will help the Elemental Bender survive as long as possible in rough battles.
Alignment: Any lawful or Good
Hit Dice: d10

Class Skills
The Bender's class skills (and the ability for each) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int. modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int. modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the bender.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Benders are proficient with all simple weapons. They are proficient with light and medium armor and shields, except tower shields.

[b]Code Of Elements: A Bender cannot attack any other bender of the same type. A Bender must automatically and immediately attack any bender of the Opposite type. If these rules are broken the Bender loses all Benefits of this class for 72 hours.

Elemental Meditation: A period of meditation no less than nine hours must be undertaken in order for the Elemental Bender to use the following abilities. If this mediation is not performed the Elemental Bender gains none of the following abilities until the nine hours are spent in meditation.

Elemental Bolt: Upon taking the first level of Elemental Bender, the player must choose either air, earth, fire, or water for their one element to bend. This chosen element is what all the bender's abilities are made up of. At First level a bender gains a bolt of pure element that he projects from his hand as a ranged touch attack. This bolt has a range of 60 feet and does 1d6+ Wis modifier damage of the bender’s element type. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 20th level the bender gains an additional 1d6 to the bolt’s damage. This bolt affects a single target and allows no saving throw.

Bonus Feat: At 2nd level and every even level up to 16th the bender gains a bouns feat, but he must still meet all the prerequisites for the feats.

Elemental Shield: At third level a bender gains a circular shield of pure element that he can use to deflect all energy except the bender's opposite type away from himself three times per day. This shield is 1/3 the size of the bender and has a duration of rounds equal to 1d4+ Wisdom modifier. At 13th level the bender gains three additional uses per day of this shield. The shield is now half the size of the bender and has a duration of 1d8+ Wis Modifier. Using this shield is considered a standard action, but does not allow an attack of opportunity. This ability can be negated with a successful Will check DC 10 +Elemental Bender level.

Summon Elemental: At 6th level the bender gains the ability to summon a copy of himself once per day. This copy is composed completely of the element which the bender uses. At 18th level the bender gains one additional use per day of this ability. The elemental has no mind and no higher function; it merely runs at the opponent, resulting in an explosive collision. This collision deals damage equal to half the benders HP to the target and half that damage to 1d4 surrounding foes.

Elemental Resistance: Starting at level fifteen the bender becomes more resistant to all elements except his opposite. By level twenty he is completely immune to all elements except his opposite which he only takes half damage from.

EDIT: Changes in green!

Loki_42
2011-05-01, 03:43 PM
Well, without really going into the abilities, I can say I'm not a big fan of the Code of Elements, or the Alignment restriction, if you're basing it off of Avatar. If those effects were in place, Zuko could never have done any of his heel face turn stuff.

Podonis
2011-05-01, 03:53 PM
Thank you for taking a look Loki!

I agree about the Code of Elements and Alignment restriction in so far as that I don't like them. But as far as what Zuko would or could do is kinda irrelavent because the show was only my inspiration, not trying to reproduce the actual benders off of the show.

I had to use a code of conduct and an alignment restriction to keep the CP (Character Points) below 240 (which is the top for this construction engine I'm using). Otherwise I'd need to get rid of another class feature such as the bonus feats or elemental immunity.

But I'll definitely keep your advise in mind, thanks!

Mulletmanalive
2011-05-01, 04:18 PM
Well...lessee, the primary abiity is useable 3 times a day, is only as powerful as a crossbow and has no specific advantage aside from being odd energy types and so rarely resisted?

Not great, let's be fair.

You're going to want the bender to be able to make a LOT more attacks with their bending. The Warlock's Eldritch Blast would be a good prototype for this. You'll then want to come up with some kind of parry mechanic for deflecting energy based attacks if they're going to compete with each other.

A utility ability of some sort is also a must, plus, let's face it, Aang and Zuko are both significantly better in melee than Toph and Katara, though i'm not sure how you'd synthesise this.

For a first attempt, not bad. Might be more the guidelines you're using than anything else. Will subscribe to see your further attempts.

EDIT: this (http://rumkin.com/reference/dnd/media/classconstruction.pdf) is written this (http://rumkin.com/reference/dnd/media/classconstruction.pdf)

Silva Stormrage
2011-05-01, 05:18 PM
First off I would suggest fixing the title of the thread. attepmt should be attempt. Also maybe add the class name to the title too just so people know what to expect.

The class... is weak... really really weak. As suggested I would allow them to follow the Warlock's eldritch blast progression maybe even stronger and usable at will or at least a lot more than 3 times a day.

For Elemental meditation I would suggest lowering it to 8-9 hours so the rest of the party isn't waiting on you to finish for an extra 4 hours.

For elemental shield what does "protect" mean? Does it block an attack, a spell, an AOE? An Epic Spell? No limit or clear defined ability here.

Summon Element is a cool ability but I think I would give it to them a bit earlier than 18th. Thats when casters can stop time, being able to summon an exploding clone isn't that strong and I don't see it being overpowered at lower levels.

Podonis
2011-05-01, 06:06 PM
Mulletmanalive and Silva Stormrage,

Thank you for all the advice I'll begin working on a revised version immediately! (Thanks for pointing out the spelling error too! My fingers type faster than my brain thinks sometimes.)

Mulletmanalive: With the construction engine I was using I was worried about creating an overpowered class. I'm not familiar with the Warlock's Eldritch Blast ability, I'll have to go look that up. The Elemental Shield is the parry mechanic that I was hoping to use to deflect the opposing benders bolts. I just didn't describe it as well as I thought I did. I'll work on that as well! You are definitely right that Aang and Zuko are better in melee than Toph and Katara, but I don't have a clue as to how I would represent that in the class overall. I'll think about it. Thanks for showing me how to link the pdf!

Silva Stormrage: I didn't even think of the rest/meditation time of the other classes. I will definitely shorten the time. You are also right about the shield, I didn't specify enough to make it a valid ability. It's mainly meant to block other bender's bolts, but presumably could block/deflect any energy type. It does have a duration, although now that I've re-read that part I think I'll change it to be a little more clear. I wasn't sure where to put the Summon Elemental so I just stuck it in somewhere. Earlier wouldn't be bad, maybe 6th lvl or so? That's usually where players start getting a firm grasp of their character's abilities and how they are meant to be used.

EDIT: I have made the above changes and a few others I thought would be beneficial. What do you all think now? Thanks!:smallsmile:

Demidos
2011-05-01, 07:37 PM
As to the engine question, it seems....to underestimate casting?
It has wizard down for 235 points and Monks for 287, which doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me:smallconfused:

Silva Stormrage
2011-05-01, 08:30 PM
As to the engine question, it seems....to underestimate casting?
It has wizard down for 235 points and Monks for 287, which doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me:smallconfused:

Ya I am going to have to agree here with Demidos. Any particular reason you are using this as a balance point? Most people use the tier system to determine balance and that system seems to HEAVILY underestimate casting and overestimate melee. Monk is generally considered a really underpowered class while wizard is considered really powerful and overpower if optimized.

The Tier system is here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1002.0)

Another thing to note about the Summon Elemental is that it has no listed range for it's explosion. Does it only target one creature? Also for elemental shield any reason you list it's size? I don't see that coming up in combat at all.

Podonis
2011-05-01, 08:54 PM
Demidos and Silva, Thank you both for your input!

Demidos: I agree that I thought the same thing about the construction wizard. But I am new to this and didn't know anything else existed. I'll try the other system mentioned.

Silva: I'll give the Tier system a look and see what I can do. Unfortunately, I'm not great at formulas so I get confused easily lol. As for the shield's size it actually did come up in the game I used the class for. I wanted to use my shield to block lightning strikes from an attacking druids spell. The DM determined that I couldn't possibly block all of the strikes with my shield and so I took half damage. Which was fine with me, but it prompted me to put the size in there.

EDIT: I hate to say it, but the whole tier thing totally confused me. I can see how it would be useful for DMs that want to keep balance in their game and things like that...but am totally lost on how to use it to make a basic class...:smallfrown:

Bhu
2011-05-02, 01:58 AM
I'll skip over what others have covered and ask about Bonus Feats: Do you have any Feats you wish to make for this class? Usually that's the point of allowing a lot of Bonus Feats. Plus it would make benders more customizable

:smallbiggrin:

Gandariel
2011-05-02, 08:10 AM
just a couple of things i'd like to point out...
first, from which elements do Benders get to choose? cause everyone would just pick force or sonic or something (because fire, ice and cold are very easy to resist). you should just say which elements you can choose.
Then, as others have suggested, the elemental bolt, make it usable more time (may i suggest having it deal xd6+Wis modifier?)

you should also clarify the shield ability: does it istantaneously pop as soon as you're hit by an energy attack, or do you have to activate it manually? is it a free action? does it protect from all energy types? does it give concealement? how do you decide if it blocks an attack?

and the explosive clone thing, can it fly, swim, dig if the original charachter can? does it have any equipment? same ac of the charachter?
(and i think it should deal AoE damage to everyone in a radius, not just one guy)
you should improve the clone thing: if you gave it the ability to infiltrate it would be nice for spying..

Mulletmanalive
2011-05-02, 11:02 AM
Ok, the first thing to point out is that that calculator is awful. At least the D&D 3.0 design crew have the excuse of not being able to playtest it properly. This guy's work seems outright deluded...

Anyway, base class design is mostly by the seat of your pants and the itch of your nose. You want to make a class that doesn't rely on spells or manoeuvres, so that limits you to tier 4 or worse. The best comparison points in there are the Rogue and the Warlock from Complete Warrior. The latter is modular but doesn't rely on spells so its easier to judge [the Barbarian really only makes it up there thanks to the horrendously poorly written Complete Champion]

This is Kellus' Guide to making a Base Class (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4935759). It goes through all the stages that he thought through in making the Viper class. It's an excellent guide. Also, we have Fax Celestis' Guide to Equivalent Abilities (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58667) which is basically a table comparing what Wizards of the Coast thought were reasonable tradeouts for class features, gathered from their various publications.

Don't try to do things blind and don't expect there to be a magical formula. With the messy inconsistency of spells and the fact that certain things were intentionally designed to suck in 3.5, there can't be.

Gather your information, look for other attempts at the concept you're going for: look at their mechanics, their strengths and their weaknesses; analyse, adapt and do-over until it works the way you want it to and then post it here and we'll have a look.

Wall of text ends...

Podonis
2011-05-02, 08:51 PM
Bhu, Gandariel, and Mulletmanalive: Thank you for posting on my first class attempt!

Bhu: The Bonus Feats are basically there to make up for the bender's lack of spell casting and having only moderate base attack bonuses. I figure if the player can choose a few feats that would make the bending a bit more powerful the player wouldn't feel wronged. I was planning on making feats back when I first made the class that went with the Elemental Bolt ability and Elemental Shield ability. But now I can't remember what they were for and I wanted to see what other people thought of my class. This has been great! I've learned a lot about class making and just DnD in general!

Gandariel: The player chooses one of the four base elements when taking their first level of Elemental Bender, either air, earth, fire, or water. I've already fixed the elemental bolt ability to resemble the Warlock's Eldritch Blast, but if you think I could do more please give me an idea as to what you think should be changed. I will edit my first post and give more detail on the shield and summoned elemental as well.

Mulletmanalive: The two links you provided are awesome! As I said before the construction engine was all I've ever had to compare to so thats what I used. I will use these new references to work on future classes for sure! I'm going to go ahead and leave this class as it is and just continually edit it to make better sense and what not from advice (at least as long as people are willing to tell me what I'm doing wrong lol). Thanks for all the advice on class making. I'm going to be following the advice you provided to make my next set of classes. It may be a while though, I want to research as much as possible before blindly posting them like I did this one. One sure thing I've noticed though is that I'm getting called on the technical stuff quite a bit, which is great because the DnD games that I play are very much just an informal gathering of friends that totally ignore the more specific rules so that the game is more smooth and "computer" game like.:smalleek:

Gandariel
2011-05-05, 06:59 AM
i see you removed the number of elemental bolts/day.. does it mean you can use it at will?

and, if i'm not mistaken, there's no such thing as "air" or "earth" damage in D&D.. the energy types are fire, cold, electricity, sonic, force...

anyway i was just suggesting that you focused a bit more on the clone ability: it sounds nice and could be improved.. if you remove the "bonus feat every other level" you can create gaps you can fill with more abilities:
i was thinking mainly of the clone:
clone 1) only runs and explodes
clone 2) can infiltrate, you see through his eyes, can deliver a touch spell or explode
clone 3) can go to other planes

and, you could give 3-4 element-specific abilities:
ELEment specific 1) if you chose FIRE then x, if you chose cold then y, etc
element specific 2) if you chose fire
etc

just find abilities with roughly the same power (i can think of the Fire ability to give FLAMING enhancement to your weapon, or the Air ability to give you a fly speed...)

just a couple of things that popped to mind ^^