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wayfare
2011-06-13, 01:00 PM
After talking with some party members, I have decided to let the tier 3-4 spellcasters into my 10 level game. This is an attempt to re-work my homebrewed tier 3 abjurer for this particular game:

Sigil Knight

Hit Die: d8
Skill Points: (2+Int)

Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana, History, Nobility) (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int).

Armor: The Sigil Knight is Proficient with Light Armor and Up to Heavy Shields

Weapons: The Sigil Knight is Proficient with Simple Weapons and all Shields as weapons.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Ref Save|Fort Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th
1st|
+0|
+0|
+2|
+2|Shield Ward; Armored Mage 1|3|3

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+3|
+3|Brilliant Blade, Improvised Counterspell|3|4|-

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+3|
+3|Mage Hunter|3|5|-|-

4th|
+2|
+1|
+4|
+4|Brand of Weakness|4|6|3|-|-|-

5th|
+2|
+1|
+4|
+4|Armored Mage 2|4|6|4|-|-|-

6th|
+3|
+2|
+5|
+5|Improved Dispel|4|6|5|3|-|-|-

7th|
+3|
+2|
+5|
+5|Shield Smite|4|6|6|4|-|-|-|-

8th|
+4|
+2|
+6|
+6|Mark of Blasting|4|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-

9th|
+4|
+2|
+6|
+6|Armored Mage 3|4|6|6|6|4|-|-|-|-|-

10th|
+5|
+3|
+7|
+7|Master Counterspell|4|6|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-[/table]

Arcane Caster: The Sigil Knight can cast arcane spells from the Sigil Knight spell list without preparation. The Sigil Knight knows all spells on this list without need for research -- they are simply part of its training.

To learn or cast a spell, the Sigil Knight must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Sigil Knight’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the Knight’s Intelligence modifier.

Armored Mage 1 (Ex): A 1st level Sigil Knight has learned how to use certain armor without restricting his casting ability. The Sigil Knight may equip Light Armor and up to Heavy Shields without suffering spell failure chance.

Shield Warding (Su): While using a shield in combat, a 1st level Sigil Knight gains a +1 bonus to Spell Resistance per Sigil Knight level possessed. This bonus stacks with any Spell Resistance already possessed by the Sigil Knight, though the Sigil Knight can lower this spell resistance at any point.

Brilliant Blade (Ex): The Sigil Knight fights with strategy and cunning, rather than main force. When making melee attacks, the Sigil Knight of 2nd level uses his Intelligence instead of Strength when determining his bonus to attack or damage.

Improvised Counterspell: A Sigil Knight of 2nd level or has learned how to use raw arcane energy to counter even the most elegantly crafted spells. When countering a spell, the Sigil Knight may expend any spell of equivalent level in the effort.

Mage Hunter: A Sigil Knight of 3rd level is particularly adept at using his attacks to interrupt spellcasting. A spellcaster cannot cast defensively while the Sigil Knight attacks him.

Brand of Weakness: At 4th level, the Sigil Knight gains the ability to mark his opponent with a baleful brand. An opponent marked by the Brand of Weakness finds spellcasting more difficult as the mark is writ upon his flesh, an agony that is renewed whenever the Sigil Knight attacks his foe.
As a standard action, the Sigil Knight must sacrifice a spell slot of 1st level or higher to mark his foe. The target so marked gains a spell failure chance equal to (5 x Spell Level Sacrificed). Additionally, whenever the Sigil Knight attacks an opponent marked in this way, the Sigil Knight gains +1 to attack and damage hit per level of the spell sacrificed. The effect lasts for 1 minute/2 levels in the Sigil Knight class.

Armored Mage 2 A Sigil Knight of 5th level or higher can use Tower Shields without a chance of spell casting failure.

Improved Dispel At 6th level, a Sigil Knight has learned how to dispel ongoing magical effects with the greatest of ease. When making a Dispel Magic attempt, the Sigil Knight gains a +2 bonus to his attempt.

Shield Smite: The Sigil Knight is no stranger to battle -- though his talents are more suited to evading damage, a knight with shield in hand can be just as deadly as a trained warrior. At 7th level, whenever the Sigil Knight strikes an opponent in melee combat, he may attempt to shield bash his opponent as a free action at his full attack bonus.
Shield smite cannot be used during an attack of opportunity.

Mark of Blasting: At the height of his power, the Sigil Knight learns how to deprive his opponent of the very power that separates them from mortal men. As a standard action, the Sigil Knight may sacrifice a spell slot to directly attack an opponents memorized spells. The opponent loses a spell (or spell slot) with a level equivalent to the one sacrificed by the Sigil Knight. Alternately, the Sigil Knight can cause his opponent to lose a number of lower level spells (or spell slots) with a total spell level no greater than that which the Sigil Knight sacrificed.
Additionally, the opponent must make a Fortitude Save or take 1d8 points of force damage per spell level lost. A successful save negates the damage.
Mark of Blasting is a full action that provokes Attacks of Opportunity.


Armored Mage 3: A Sigil Knight of 9th level can wear medium armor without a chance of spell failure.

Master Counterspell: A sigil knight of 10th level never needs to identify a spell to counter it.
Additionally, whenever a Sigil Knight successfully counters a spell the caster must make a Fortitude Save (DC 10 + 1/2 Sigil Knight Level + Intelligence modifier) or be Stunned for 1 round. A successful save negates the stun effect.

Spell List

Level 1 Spells

Alarm: Wards an area for 2 hours/level.
Endure Elements: Exist comfortably in hot or cold environments.
Hold Portal: Holds door shut.
Protection from Chaos/Evil/Good/Law: +2 to AC and saves, counter mind control, hedge out elementals and outsiders.
Shield: Invisible disc gives +4 to AC, blocks magic missiles.
Mage Armor: Gives subject +4 armor bonus
Obscuring Mist: Fog surrounds you.
Enlarge Person: Humanoid creature doubles in size.
Expeditious Retreat: Your speed increases by 30 ft.
Feather Fall: Objects or creatures fall slowly.

Level 2 Spells

Arcane Lock M: Magically locks a portal or chest.
Obscure Object: Masks object against scrying.
Protection from Arrows: Subject immune to most ranged attacks.
Resist Energy: Ignores first 10 (or more) points of damage/attack from specified energy type.
Fog Cloud: Fog obscures vision.
Glitterdust: Blinds creatures, outlines invisible creatures.
Web: Fills 20-ft.-radius spread with sticky spiderwebs.
Darkness: 20-ft. radius of supernatural shadow.
Blur: Attacks miss subject 20% of the time.
Mirror Image: Creates decoy duplicates of you (1d4 +1 per three levels, max 8).
Misdirection: Misleads divinations for one creature or object.
False Life: Gain 1d10 temporary hp +1/level (max +10).
Bear’s Endurance: Subject gains +4 to Con for 1 min./level.

Level 3 Spells

Dispel Magic: Cancels magical spells and effects.
Explosive Runes: Deals 6d6 damage when read.
Magic Circle against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law: As protection spells, but 10-ft. radius and 10 min./level.
Nondetection M: Hides subject from divination, scrying.
Protection from Energy: Absorb 12 points/level of damage from one kind of energy.
Sleet Storm: Hampers vision and movement.
Stinking Cloud: Nauseating vapors, 1 round/level.
Heroism: Gives +2 bonus on attack rolls, saves, skill checks.
Hold Person: Paralyzes one humanoid for 1 round/level.
Tiny Hut: Creates shelter for ten creatures.
Wind Wall: Deflects arrows, smaller creatures, and gases.
Displacement: Attacks miss subject 50%.
Blink: You randomly vanish and reappear for 1 round/level.
Gaseous Form: Subject becomes insubstantial and can fly slowly

Level 4 Spells

Dimensional Anchor: Bars extradimensional movement.
Fire Trap M: Opened object deals 1d4 damage +1/level.
Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser: Stops 1st- through 3rd-level spell effects.
Remove Curse: Frees object or person from curse.
Stoneskin M: Ignore 10 points of damage per attack.
Black Tentacles: Tentacles grapple all within 20 ft. spread.
Secure Shelter: Creates sturdy cottage.
Solid Fog: Blocks vision and slows movement
Crushing Despair: Subjects take –2 on attack rolls, damage rolls, saves, and checks.
Shout: Deafens all within cone and deals 5d6 sonic damage.
Wall of Fire: Deals 2d4 fire damage out to 10 ft. and 1d4 out to 20 ft. Passing through wall deals 2d6 damage +1/level.
Wall of Ice: Ice plane creates wall with 15 hp +1/level, or hemisphere can trap creatures inside.
Illusory Wall: Wall, floor, or ceiling looks real, but anything can pass through.

Level 5 Spells

Break Enchantment: Frees subjects from enchantments, alterations, curses, and petrification.
Dismissal: Forces a creature to return to native plane.
Mage’s Private Sanctum: Prevents anyone from viewing or scrying an area for 24 hours.
Wall of Stone: Creates a stone wall that can be shaped.
Hold Monster: As hold person, but any creature.
Mind Fog: Subjects in fog get –10 to Wis and Will checks.
Wall of Force: Wall is immune to damage.
Symbol of Pain: Triggered rune wracks nearby creatures with pain.
Waves of Fatigue: Several targets become fatigued
Permanency: Makes certain spells permanent.




Many thanks

--Wayfare

deuxhero
2011-06-13, 06:55 PM
Spell list? Casting stat/method (prepared/spontaneous)?

wayfare
2011-06-13, 09:01 PM
Ok, filled in most (i hope) of the basics. PEACH away.

The goal is to make a class that is competitive with the other Tier 3 wizardly classes.

wayfare
2011-06-14, 02:32 PM
One bump, begging advice.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-06-14, 06:30 PM
It looks solid to me, though I do have a couple suggestions and questions. I have a bit of a thematic disconnect with a class called a "Knight" having the weakest BAB, and a lot of its features seem geared towards melee combat, but I suppose Brand of Weakness basically makes up for the lost attack bonus. I don't see an activation action there though. I assume it defaults to standard...although honestly, given that this class doesn't get a bonus attack over the ten level game, and this is the main feature that will keep its melee ability up, it might work well as a move action.

I don't think Mark of Blasting needs to be a full-round action. You're giving up a spell slot of your own for it, so the lost spell slots aren't really a net gain for your team. It's basically the equivalent of (up to) 1d8/2 levels Fort negates. I definitely can't justify it being more than standard...it might not even be too powerful as swift.

Shield Warding is cool...but how does the class get spell resistance in the first place, especially at level 1?

Hmm, actually, I suppose Shield Smite makes up for the lost iterative attack, doesn't it? That's cool.

Master Counterspell confuses me some. Does it mean it can ready the action to counterspell as a swift action? Or do you counterspell as immediate? And if the latter...why would you still need to ready? Does it just let you counterspell twice rather than once? Not sure on this one.

Spells look fine. Kind of wondering if it would be worth it to dip into the cleric list for some of its nice protection spells. I'd think you could get away with it without overpowering the class, but it probably isn't strictly necessary. Maybe add Cat's Grace and Owl's Wisdom though? Cat's Grace boosts AC, and both boost a saving throw, pretty useful for a class that seems heavily focused on counter-magic tactics.

wayfare
2011-06-14, 08:06 PM
It looks solid to me, though I do have a couple suggestions and questions. I have a bit of a thematic disconnect with a class called a "Knight" having the weakest BAB, and a lot of its features seem geared towards melee combat, but I suppose Brand of Weakness basically makes up for the lost attack bonus. I don't see an activation action there though. I assume it defaults to standard...although honestly, given that this class doesn't get a bonus attack over the ten level game, and this is the main feature that will keep its melee ability up, it might work well as a move action.

I don't think Mark of Blasting needs to be a full-round action. You're giving up a spell slot of your own for it, so the lost spell slots aren't really a net gain for your team. It's basically the equivalent of (up to) 1d8/2 levels Fort negates. I definitely can't justify it being more than standard...it might not even be too powerful as swift.

Shield Warding is cool...but how does the class get spell resistance in the first place, especially at level 1?

Hmm, actually, I suppose Shield Smite makes up for the lost iterative attack, doesn't it? That's cool.

Master Counterspell confuses me some. Does it mean it can ready the action to counterspell as a swift action? Or do you counterspell as immediate? And if the latter...why would you still need to ready? Does it just let you counterspell twice rather than once? Not sure on this one.

Spells look fine. Kind of wondering if it would be worth it to dip into the cleric list for some of its nice protection spells. I'd think you could get away with it without overpowering the class, but it probably isn't strictly necessary. Maybe add Cat's Grace and Owl's Wisdom though? Cat's Grace boosts AC, and both boost a saving throw, pretty useful for a class that seems heavily focused on counter-magic tactics.

Ok, I added an action clause as you pointed out.

As for Mark of Blasting, I was kinda worried that it was a bit over-powered. The idea that it can deny an opponent spells is a bit...intimidating.

As for Brand of Weakness, should it require a saving throw to Negate?

Master Counterspell is poorly worded. I'm working on a new effect.

Thanks for the input!

--Wayfare

Also: I agree that the class needs a name change. I was thinking Wardmaster.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-06-14, 08:26 PM
My rule of thumb is that D&D needs fewer no-save effects, not more, so a save wouldn't be a bad idea. That being said, I'd probably reduce it to a move or swift action if you allow one, although that may be because I'm looking at this ability as the "this is what lets me actually fight" ability more than as a caster-stopper. I imagine this class going up to the mage, hitting it with this feature so it can cause some good melee harm while making it harder for the mage to defend itself, maybe trapping any of the caster's minions in a Solid Fog or something, and then beating the enemy caster down.

Which makes me realize, the spell list doesn't include either Flight or See Invisibility, which would kind of hinder engaging casters (I guess you could dispel their flight, though).

Denying spell slots isn't that strong, I don't think. It situationally can be; if you take out the enemy wizard's only Teleport spell, it can't escape, for example. In a more general sense, you're at the level where most characters have enough spells that they can afford to lose one, especially when it means the enemy loses both an equal-level spell and an action. This is doubly true for NPCs, who are typically only going to be around for one encounter, and will almost never have to worry about multiple encounters per day. Spontaneous spellcasters, in particular, would only be slightly inconvenienced.

Seharvepernfan
2011-06-17, 12:38 PM
First thing, I love this class! I think Sigil Knight is a great name (wardmaster, not so much...)

Where does SR come from? Is that only when he gets it from another source?

What are the 0 level spells?

In arcane caster you say sorcerer a couple times when you mean sigil knight.

Perhaps brilliant blade should be in addition to strength? I don't see members of this class as being high strength anyways, and this way they can benefit from bulls strength from an ally. They aren't power attacking anybody anyways.

I would make the brand/mark abilities a move action spell like ability that functions as a power word spell.

I would have brank of weakness allow a save (DC 10 + spell level sacrificed +Int).

Perhaps mark of blasting does the damage, then allows a save for the spell drain? That would be a good readied action ability.

I like the master counterspell ability. Perhaps, instead of not having to identify, make it an ability that allows him to cast dispel magic as a sudden or immediate action (his choice)? In addition to the stun effect whenever he counterspells. This is a good capstone ability.

EDIT: In regards to shield smite, is it a free action ANY time he makes an attack? such as during an attack of opportunity? Is it off hand? How does that work with disrupting a caster? do they have to check twice with concentration?

wayfare
2011-06-17, 03:32 PM
First thing, I love this class! I think Sigil Knight is a great name (wardmaster, not so much...)

Where does SR come from? Is that only when he gets it from another source?

What are the 0 level spells?

In arcane caster you say sorcerer a couple times when you mean sigil knight.

Perhaps brilliant blade should be in addition to strength? I don't see members of this class as being high strength anyways, and this way they can benefit from bulls strength from an ally. They aren't power attacking anybody anyways.

I would make the brand/mark abilities a move action spell like ability that functions as a power word spell.

I would have brank of weakness allow a save (DC 10 + spell level sacrificed +Int).

Perhaps mark of blasting does the damage, then allows a save for the spell drain? That would be a good readied action ability.

I like the master counterspell ability. Perhaps, instead of not having to identify, make it an ability that allows him to cast dispel magic as a sudden or immediate action (his choice)? In addition to the stun effect whenever he counterspells. This is a good capstone ability.

EDIT: In regards to shield smite, is it a free action ANY time he makes an attack? such as during an attack of opportunity? Is it off hand? How does that work with disrupting a caster? do they have to check twice with concentration?

Thanks for the input! I'll respond to your points in order;

1) The spell resistance is a class feature derived from using a shield. A Sigil Knight who doesn't use a shield in combat doesn't gain the benefits of this feature.
I imagine that a Sigil Knight might paint warding runes on his shield, or that they may simply flicker into being when the knight is targeted by a spell.
In terms of story fluff, I figure that the shield serves as a channel for passive magical energy, an object of physical protection that serves as a focus for the spell resistance.

2) I figure they get the default list of 0 level spells from the srd.

3) Thanks for the tip, I'll make those changes.

4) I had considered +Int, but I wanted to a void making this class a genuine melee class. The Sigil Knight is good at fighting mages and only decent at fighting other opponents. While it would make the class more powerful, more power is not what I am looking for in this setting.

5) As for the move action on the brand effects, I'm not certain of the gameplay effects. Anybody have any input as to how this might change things?

6) I'll add that

8) Its a great capstone, but I feel that it might be too powerful for a 10 level game. I did include this as an ability in by 20 level version of the class, though.

Seharvepernfan
2011-06-17, 03:52 PM
I did include this as an ability in by 20 level version of the class, though.

Can I see the 20 level version?

wayfare
2011-06-17, 03:55 PM
Can I see the 20 level version?

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10091576

Its there, but it's pretty bad. I think the 10 level version is much more solid.

wayfare
2011-06-20, 08:23 AM
Ok, I think the class might nearly be done. Any suggestion on the spell list. Also, could someone eye-ball its tier?

Many Thanks

--Wayfare