Balancing high-powered custom abilities (3.5/PF)

[Angry Bob]

In my campaign, my PCs, having failed to stop the awakening of the First Exarch of Dal Quor, a Paragon Inspired Psion 20 carrying a 20 HD Kalaraq Quori, are about to embark on a quest to do something about it.

Unknown to them, they themselves are demigods(custom rules, not divine ranks) on a quest to realize their own natures, and thereby gain the strength to take on the Exarch and her army.

The PCs, all of whom will have 20 class levels by the time they gain their demigod titles:

- A "Lesser" Pixie(Houserule'd away some of the stronger abilities for a low LA) Sorcerer X/Paragnostic Apostle 1 or 2/Initiate of the Seven Veils 7/Archmage X that is very good at defending the party and counterspelling,

- A Githzerai Knife-Thrower Targeteer(Fighter variant)/Master Thrower 5/Swashbuckler(Daring Warrior) 4 that does dex to damage twice and throws around 28 daggers on a full attack,

- And a Large(Homebrewed template based on half-minotaur) Goliath Warblade 12/Spirit Lion Barbarian 1/Fighter 4/Swordsage 1, using a houserule that fighter levels grant 1 IL instead of 1/2 IL.

The Demigod titles are:

- The pixie is the Autochthon of Magic. His planned demigod powers are:
3/day: spend a spell slot to cast any spell from any list of one level lower than that spent slot.
3/day: cast a spell as a supernatural ability, with the caveat that XP and Material costs must still be paid.

- The Githzerai is the Autochthon of Time.
Permanent Extraordinary Quickness; (Ex)Take an additional move or standard action during your turn)
Permanent (Ex)Haste
1/Encounter, take your turn as an immediate action.

- The Goliath, I haven't decided on fully, since his character doesn't lend itself immediately to any particular theme. There was another character that was going to be the Paragon of Strength, who would increase his strength by 20, but I couldn't think of any other abilities for the same title. I could make this character the Paragon of Strength, but as a Warblade, and one wielding a Drow scorpion chain at that, it doesn't work nearly as well as it would have on the other character.

For reference: In this setting, there are three demigod titles: Autochthons are associated with some force of nature. Paragons embody a concept, such as hope or war. Exarchs are empowered representatives of another plane in the prime material. Their exact power level varies greatly, but most are considerably stronger than the same creature that's not a demigod.

tl;dr: Sorry, no tl;dr this time. You'll have to actually read the post. Too complicated to tl;dr.

I'm also looking for lietmotifs to play during each character's ascension. Just in case anyone reads this far.

[Angry Bob]

Should I post this in Homebrew for feedback? Because I'm giving my players permanent abilities that may or may not unbalance them, and I need need need feedback on them.

[SuperFish]

My first impression is that the Autochthon of time is getting by far the biggest bonus. As has been said many times, the most important resource in D&D is actions, and he gets more of them. Always.

For the Goliath, maybe his portfolio could relate specifically to war and battle in some way? Possibly give him things similar in idea but different in execution to the tactics-based White Raven manuevers?

[tyckspoon]

My first impression is that the Autochthon of time is getting by far the biggest bonus. As has been said many times, the most important resource in D&D is actions, and he gets more of them. Always.


I'd say in perspective the Pixie is getting the best deal. The Time dude isn't a caster, which means his move/standard actions are generally much less potent- he needs a Full Attack action to do his best stuff. The Pixie gets to 3/day cast just about any spell it feels like- that kind of spell duplication is already considered a pretty good reason to carry Miracle, and the proposed ability is better (9th-level spell converts to 8th level from any list where Miracle caps at 7th for non-Cleric, and can scale down to lesser spell slots if the effect you want is lower level.)

For ideas.. it looks to me like you're basically adding on some PrC capstones to them. The Magic character is getting something like the Shadowcraft Mage's signature trick (illusion spells converted into a wide variety of spell effects), the Time guy gets the Swiftblade's neatest ability (Ex version of 3.0 Haste).. for the Goliath, maybe look around at some of the nicer combat PrCs and see if any of them have a neat signature ability or capstone you could work with? Just going with SRD stuff, the Warmind's Sweeping Strikes and free-action boosts could be nice for a 'Paragon of Combat' or similar- maybe give him a special Stance that combines the Chain of Personal Superiority and the Chain of Defensive Posture, either stand-alone or with a limited ability to dual-stance it alongside his usual stances. (hmm.. personally, I'd almost be satisfied getting the Warblade's dual-stance ability despite having multiclassed away from straight Warblade 20. It's pretty awesome.) Or, say, whenever he uses a Boost he can also apply the effect of one of the Warmind's Chains.

[Endarire]

Hood (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=9724.0) can do so much damage as to one-round or one-shot any officially published creature. At this level, the problem is reaching the opposition. Consider what makes a Hood great (mobility, reach, damage, and versatility).