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Larkas
2012-01-12, 03:26 PM
Favored Soul
for Pathfinder RPG
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/cd_gallery/81335.jpg
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.

Class Skills
The favored souls's class skills are Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.


{table=head]
Table: Favored Soul

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

1st|
+0|
+2|
+2|
+2|Aura, Orisons, Spellpower of the Soul

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+3|
+3|Exalted/Vile Presence

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+3|
+3|Devotion Power, Domain

4th|
+3|
+4|
+4|
+4|

5th|
+3|
+4|
+4|
+4|Devotion Feat, Devotion Power

6th|
+4|
+5|
+5|
+5|

7th|
+5|
+5|
+5|
+5|Devotion Power, Disciple

8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+6|
+6|

9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+6|
+6|Devotion Power, Domain

10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+7|
+7|

11th|
+8/+3|
+7|
+7|
+7|Devotion Feat, Devotion Power

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

13th|
+9/+4|
+8|
+8|
+8|Devotion Power, Wings

14th|
+10/+5|
+9|
+9|
+9|

15th|
+11/+6/+1|
+9|
+9|
+9|Devotion Power, Domain

16th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+10|
+10|

17th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+10|
+10|Devotion Feat, Devotion Power

18th|
+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+11|
+11|

19th|
+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+11|
+11|Devotion Power, Discourse

20th|
+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+12|
+12|Ascension[/table][/table]

{table=head]
Table: Favored Soul Spells per Day|
Table: Favored Soul Spells Known

{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

2nd|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

3rd|
5|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

4th|
6|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

5th|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

6th|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

7th|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

8th|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

9th|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

10th|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-

11th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-

12th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-

13th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-

14th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-

15th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-

16th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-

17th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-

18th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3

19th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4

20th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6[/table]|{table=head]
.0.|
1st|
2nd|
3rd|
4th|
5th|
6th|
7th|
8th|
9th


4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


5|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


6|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


7|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


7|
6|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


8|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


8|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-


9|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-


9|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-


9|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-


9|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-


9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-


9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-


9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-


9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-


9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3


9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3


9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4
[/table][/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the favored soul.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Favored souls are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields). Favored souls are also proficient with their deity's favored weapon. Although favored souls are not proficient with heavy armor, wearing it does not interfere with their spellcasting.

Spells: A favored soul casts divine spells (the same type of spells available to clerics), which are drawn from the cleric spell list. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time the way a cleric must. Her deity's alignment, however, may restrict her from casting certain spells opposed to her deity's moral or ethical beliefs.
To cast a spell, a favored soul must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a favored soul's spell is 10 + the spell level + the favored soul's Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a favored soul can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Favored Soul Spells per Day. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score.
Unlike a cleric, a favored soul's selection of spells is limited. A favored soul begins play knowing four 0-level spells and three 1st-level spells of her choice. At each new favored soul level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Favored Soul Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a favored soul knows is not affected by her Charisma score; the numbers on Table: Favored Soul Spells Known are fixed.)
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered favored soul level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), a favored soul can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. In effect, the favored soul loses the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. A favored soul may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the level.
Unlike a wizard or a cleric, a favored soul need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level.

Aura (Ex): A favored soul of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity's alignment (see the detect evil spell for details).

Orisons: Favored souls learn a number of orisons, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table: Favored Soul Spells Known under “Spells Known.” These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again.

Spellpower of the Soul (Ex): The favored soul's divine casting comes from a deep spiritual connection with her patron deity. When casting spells that truly represent her deity's will, the favored soul's convictions strengthen them past her normal limits.
When a favored soul casts a spell whose alignment descriptor matches a component of her deity's alignment (such as a favored soul of a Lawful Good deity casting a spell with the [Lawful] or [Good] descriptor), she receives a +1 bonus to her caster level for that spell. This bonus does not apply to range, area, or duration of the spell, just to effects detailed in the spell's descriptive text.
At 5th level, and every 5 levels after that, the bonuses to caster level and save DC for these spells increase by an additional +1, to a maximum of +5 caster level at level 20.

Exalted/Vile Presence (Su): At 2nd level, the favored soul gets more influential when interacting with people of the same faith. The favored soul receives a sacred (if her deity is good or neutral) or profane (if her deity is evil) bonus equal to half her class level to all Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks she makes when interacting with followers of her chosen deity. She also receives half that sacred or profane bonus (so 1/4 of her class level) to Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks made when interacting with non-believers who are within one step of her patron deity's alignment, including divinely created magic items or intelligent magic items whose alignment falls within one step of her patron deity's.

Devotion (Su): When she starts walking her destined path, the favored soul is a beacon of divine will on the mortal realms. After some time, she starts feeling more familiar with some facet of her deity's power. It is not known whether this is just one more blessing bestowed by the divinity or a conscious (or maybe even unconscious) choice made by the favored soul herself. The fact is that the favored soul emulates an aspect of the divine being, and gains further powers by doing so.
At 3rd level, the favored soul must choose which attribute of her patron deity she will devote herself to. Once made, this choice cannot be changed. This will give her access to devotion powers, which will enable the favored soul to reveal her deity's will in greater ways, as well as allow the learning of devotion feats, bonus feats connected to her specialization in some way.
At 3rd level, and every two levels thereafter, a favored soul devotion power gets stronger. The way this gain in strength will materialize itself depends on the specialization chosen, and is expanded upon on each specialization entry.
At 5th level, and every six levels thereafter, a favored soul gains access to devotion feats, bonus feats which must be chosen from the list in each specialization entry.

Domain (Su): At 3rd level, a favored soul chooses a domain from among those belonging to her deity. A favored soul can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good or Law) only if her alignment matches that domain. Each domain grants a number of domain powers, dependent upon the level of the favored soul. Unlike a cleric, the favored soul does not gain access to that domain's bonus spells. At 9th and 15th level, the favored soul chooses another domain from among those belonging to her deity. The favored soul gains the listed powers from all the domains she selected, if she is of a high enough level. Unless otherwise noted, using a domain power is a standard action. A character's favored soul levels stack with any cleric levels she might possess when determining which powers she has access to, as well as those powers' strength, if variable, but only if that character chose the same domains for both her cleric and favored soul classes (check the Cleric's domain list at the end of that class's entry to see the powers available to each domain).

Disciple (Su): At 7th level, a favored soul gets rewarded for her unquestioning faith and dedication to her deity. Once per day, when the favored soul is about to make a saving throw, she may declare that she is using this ability to gain a +2 insight bonus on that saving throw. At every four levels thereafter, the favored soul gets one more use of this ability per day.

Wings (Ex): At 17th level, a favored soul gains wings and can fly at a speed of 60 feet (good maneuverability). The appearance of these wings will depend entirely on the favored soul's deity. If it's a good deity, the favored soul's wings might be feathered; if it's an evil deity, they might be batlike; if it's a fey deity, they might look like those of a butterfly; if it's a draconic deity, they might be draconic wings. These are just a few examples, and the player should ask the Dungeon Master how their wings look like.

Discourse: At 19th level, a favored soul gains the supernatural ability to communicate with any intelligent creature that has a language. If the character's deity is good-aligned, the favored soul gains the Truespeech ability. If the character's deity is evil-aligned, the favored soul gains the Telepathy ability. A favored soul whose deity is neither good nor evil may choose either ability.

Truespeech (Su): The favored soul can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level equal to the character's favored soul level). This ability is always active.

Telepathy (Su): The favored soul can mentally communicate with any creature within 100 feet that has a language. It is possible to address multiple creatures at once telepathically, although maintaining a telepathic conversation with more than one creature at a time is just as difficult as simultaneously speaking and listening to multiple people at the same time. The favored soul may use this ability at will, as a free action.

Ascension (Su): At 20th level, a favored soul gets so attuned to her patron deity that she becomes a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the favored soul's creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the favored soul gains damage reduction. If the character's deity is lawful-aligned, the damage reduction is 10/silver. If the character's deity is chaotic-aligned, the damage reduction is 10/cold iron. A favored soul whose deity is neither lawful nor chaotic may choose either type of damage reduction. Unlike outsiders, the favored soul can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.

Devotions

The following devotions represent only some of the possible aspects of a deity a favored soul can specialize on.

Channeling Expertise

You have the uncanny ability to channel your patron deity's power. By holding up your holy symbol, you can channel energy not unlike a cleric of your faith.

Devotion Power: The favored soul can release a wave of energy by channeling the power of her deity through her holy (or unholy) symbol. This energy can be used to cause or heal damage, depending on the type of energy channeled and the creatures targeted.
A favored soul who worships a good deity channels positive energy and can choose to deal damage to undead creatures or to heal living creatures. A favored soul who worships an evil deity channels negative energy and can choose to deal damage to living creatures or to heal undead creatures. A favored soul who worships a neutral deity must choose whether she channels positive or negative energy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed.
Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the favored soul. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two favored soul levels beyond 3rd (2d6 at 5th, 3d6 at 7th, and so on). Creatures that take damage from channeled energy receive a Will save to halve the damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the favored soul's level + the favored soul's Charisma modifier. Creatures healed by channeled energy cannot exceed their maximum hit point total—all excess healing is lost. A favored soul may channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. This is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A favored soul can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect. A favored soul must be able to present her holy symbol to use this ability.

Devotion Feats: Alignment Channel, Channel Smite, Command Undead, Elemental Channel, Extra Channel, Improved Channel, Selective Channeling, Turn Undead.

Magical Awareness

Your deep connection to your deity lets you access some more of its magical powers. You can learn spells normally reserved to your faith's clerics.

Devotion Power: The favored soul gains access to spells characteristic to her deity. She can learn her chosen domains' spells as if they were part of the favored soul's spell list.
The favored soul can learn progressively stronger domain spells, starting with 1st level domain spells at 3rd favored soul level and going up one spell level for every two favored soul levels thereafter (2nd spell level at 5th favored soul level, 3rd at 7th, and so on). She can learn only one domain spell for each level of favored soul spells she can cast. If a domain spell is on the favored soul spell list, learning that spell does not count against this limit.
Whenever a favored soul could learn a new spell in place of one she already knows, she can, in addition to that, replace a known domain spell with another she has access to but hasn't learned. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and the limit of one domain spell for each level of favored soul spells must be respected.
This ability does not, in any way, increase the favored soul's number of spells per day and spells known. It just adds more spells to choose from when learning new ones.

Devotion Feats: Empower Spell, Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Heighten Spell, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Silent Spell, Still Spell, Widen Spell.

Martial Prowess

You have developed an affinity to your deity's favored weapon not commonly seen among followers of your faith. You can best make the will of your god known in the heat of battle.

Devotion Power: The favored soul holds her deity's favored weapon with the certainty of a divine champion. She gets prodigiously familiar with it, and, with time, can imbue a weapon of the appropriate type with a fragment of her deity's will.
The favored soul gains bonus devotion feats at 3rd, 9th and 15th levels. The weapon selected for all devotion feats, if any, must be the same as her deity's favored weapon. A character's favored soul levels stack with any fighter levels she might possess when determining which devotion feats she has access to. If she doesn't have any fighter levels, just treat her as a fighter of her favored soul level.
Furthermore, starting at 5th level, the favored soul can imbue a weapon with her deity's will. To do so, she must pray for 24 hours over the weapon, witch must match her deity's favored weapon type and be of at least masterwork quality. This prepares the weapon as a recipient for a small part of her deity's power. From then on, the favored soul can enhance her weapon as a standard action by invoking the will of her deity for 1 minute per favored soul level. At 5th level, this spirit grants the weapon a +1 enhancement bonus. At 7th, 11th, 13th, 17th and 19th levels , the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +6 at 19th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add special properties to the weapon. Which special properties can be selected depend on the deity and its domains. A lawful good goddess of the sun could offer the axiomatic, brilliant energy, disruption, flaming, flaming burst, and holy properties, for example, while a chaotic evil god of the undead would offer entirely different properties. The player should check with the Dungeon Master which properties are available to her. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's cost (see Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/magicItems/weapons.html#table-15-9-melee-weapon-special-abilities)). These bonuses are added to any properties the weapon already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. The bonus and properties granted by the deity are determined when the deity's will is invoked and cannot be changed until it is invoked again. The weapon will lose these bonuses if it is held by anyone other than the favored soul but regain them if returned to her. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon. A favored soul can use this ability once per day at 5th level, and one additional time per day for every four levels beyond 5th, to a total of four times per day at 17th level.
Even though she must pray over it if she intends to use it for the purpose of this ability, there is no special bond between the favored soul and her weapon. If she so wishes, she can pray over a new weapon to prepare it for the use of this ability. This can happen for any number of reasons, such as the previous weapon being lost or destroyed or the favored soul wishing to use a different weapon. The previous weapon, if existent, loses its capacity to be used by the favored soul to invoke her deity's will as soon as she starts praying over the new one. For the prayer to have any effect, however, the favored soul must wait for 30 days, after praying over a previous weapon, before trying to imbue a new one. If a lost weapon is found before the favored soul decided to pray over a new one, it will function just as well as it did before being lost for the purposes of this ability.

Devotion Feats: Dazzling Display, Deadly Stroke, Greater Penetrating Strike, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Critical, Penetrating Strike, Shatter Defenses, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization.

Ex-Favored Soul

A favored soul who grossly violates the code of conduct required by her god loses all spells and class features, except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons. She cannot thereafter gain levels as a favored soul of that god until she atones for her deeds (see the atonement spell description).

____________________

Introduction: Hello there! I'm thinking of running a PFRPG campaign, and one of my players really like the Complete Divine's Favored Soul. I read a couple of conversions (namely this one (http://sites.google.com/site/zombiehomepage/Home/zombie-s-d-d-pathfinder-page/favored-soul-pathfinder-conversion) and the one found in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95061)), and while the second one is quite nice, it's not specially easy to adapt to a whole different set of deities (the first one is simply not on par with PFRPG's core classes).

Therefore, I thought I'd try my hand at converting it myself, and came up with what you see here.

I'm not really used to PFRPG yet, and while I know that its base classes are somewhat more powerful than D&D3.5's, I'm not sure if I've overdone it. It fills a nice niche, and seems like a nice alternative to the cleric, while not being strictly better than it. So, what do you think? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, before I forget:

Sources:
Complete Divine
Dead Levels II (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20070227x)
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/)

PS: Keep in mind the comparison between the Sorcerer (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/sorcerer.html) and the Wizard when comparing this Favored Soul to the Cleric (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/cleric.html) :) Oh, and of course, keep in mind that we're talking Pathfinder here, not D&D3.5 =D

EDIT: If the reader is a 3.5 player only and isn't familiar to Pathfinder's cleric domains, he/she won't pay much attention to the Domain Powers ability presented here. Check Pathfinder's domains here (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/cleric.html#domains-list), in case you're interested :)

Curious
2012-01-12, 03:30 PM
Just so you know, there is already a divine spontaneous caster in Pathfinder.
Oracle. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle)

Prime32
2012-01-12, 03:58 PM
Have you looked at the oracle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle)?
EDIT: See also this (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/c-d/divine-scion).


I'm not really used to PFRPG yet, and while I know that its base classes are somewhat more powerful than D&D3.5's, I'm not sure if I've overdone it.More powerful mostly yes, but the gaps in power between guys who warp reality and guys who hit things with sticks are still the same.

Those Dead Level abilities are really really minor though.
Faith Healing - it's rare that you'd want to bandage someone in the middle of combat rather than just cast a healing spell, and it can't even affect your own teammates a lot of the time.
Knowledge Specialty is an unnecessary complication (if you don't want to be skilled in X, just don't put your skill points into it), especially when you can pick up extra class skills from traits anyway. I'd say make it a bonus to checks with one skill, but Favored Souls are presumed to be less studious than clerics so it doesn't really fit.
Exalted/Vile Presence, just say they add half their class level as a bonus.

Since domains grant more abilities as you gain levels in PF, I'd grant one from lv1.

Larkas
2012-01-12, 04:43 PM
Thanks for the input, guys!

I've already shown the Oracle to the player in question, but it's too different from the Favored Soul for her taste, both ability and flavor-wise, so I decided to take this approach. This Divine Scion is nice, though, and I hadn't seen it before. Still, it's a prestige class, and you need to hit level 5 to be able to qualify for it, and I'd rather have a base class if only for the reason of having a level 20 ability :)

About the Dead Level abilities, I've added them mostly as fluff.

Knowledge Specialty is actually a reflex from the fact that the Favored Soul doesn't have much formal training: he knows his faith and magic mostly by practicing. But you might have a point, maybe it's just easier to put Knowledge (religion) and Knowledge (arcana) as class skills and let the player decide for herself, and take away this ability entirely.

Your writing for Exalted/Vile Presence is much clearer and easier to understand =D I'll change to that.

About the domains, I'd thought about giving the first one at level 3, actually, with the same 4-level gap (lvl 7 and lvl 11, in this case). The reason for not going level 1 is to give enough incentives to reach higher levels in the class. I couldn't think about a good enough ability to give out at level 15, even while mantaining the class balance. I could give a fourth domain, but not all gods have four domains available. Besides, I'm not sure if moving Deity's Weapon Focus is such a great idea: though I could give it at level 2, I don't know if that would create balance issues. I could use more ideas about this!

Anyways, do you think changing the energy resistance to domain powers was a good move? I think it makes more sense, since it means a greater attunement to the deity. Besides, if you want energy resistance, all you have to do is choose an elemental domain :)

Larkas
2012-01-19, 02:22 PM
Okay, I've rearranged the abilities a bit so the class experience should be a bit more satisfying now. Check it out:

(PFRPG) Favored Soul 1.1 (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0wxJ-HF7zhJZTNhNDUyYmYtNmZiMi00ZDdiLTk3NjItZDJkYzkwNjAx MTlk)

Changelog:

From 1.0 to 1.1

-Added Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (religion) as class skills, removed the "Knowledge Specialty" ability.

-Changed the wording of the "Exalted or Vile Presence" ability.

-Changed the levels at which "Domain's Powers" are given: it is now given at 3rd, 9th and 15th levels.

-"Deity's Weapon Focus" are "Deity's Weapon Specialization" are given at different levels: 5th and 11th, respectively.

-Changed the "True Believer" ability name to "Disciple", to avoid problems with the feat with the former name from Complete Divine. Also, changed the level at which it is given (7th) and reduced the increase in uses' gap, from every five to every four levels.

-Changed the "Communication" ability name to "Discourse".
Please, tell me what you think :)

NeoSeraphi
2012-01-22, 11:07 AM
Just an aesthetic tidbit of advice here: If you're going to capitalize every word in your abilities in the text, you should do so in the table too. The table is basically like a table of contents, and so each item in the table is like the title of a chapter, so it should be capitalized unless the word is unimportant, like "of" or "is".

You have some abilities marked as (Ex) and (Su), but not all of them. If you're going to label which class features are extraordinary and which are supernatural, you should label all of them that way. Here, I'll make a list for you of the ones you haven't labeled:

Eschew Materials (Ex)
Domain Powers (Su)
Deity's Weapon Focus (Ex)
Deity's Weapon Specialization (Ex)
Greater Deity's Weapon Focus (Ex)
Ascension (Su)

The ones I didn't label (Spells, Orisons) are natural abilities, so they don't need to be marked. And Discourse labels itself in the description so it's fine.

Eschew Materials isn't necessary. Unless it's changed from 3.5 to Pathfinder, divine spells don't have material components, unless they are expensive material components (and thus, not covered by Eschew Materials)

Exalted/Vile Presence: Very nice ability, could use some cleaned up wording. Try this:

A favored soul receives a sacred (if his deity is good or neutral) or profane (if his deity is evil) bonus equal to half his class level to all Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks he makes when interacting with followers of his chosen deity. He receives half the sacred or profane bonus (so 1/4 of his class level) to Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks made when interacting with non-believers who are within one step of his patron deity's alignment, including divinely created magic items or intelligent magic items whose alignment falls within one step of his patron deity's.

Domain's Powers: Also a very nice ability. I would rename it to just Domain Powers though.

Deity's Weapon Focus: Again, I'd like to suggest some different wording here:

At 5th level, the favored soul receives the Weapon Focus feat for her deity's favored weapon as a bonus feat. If she already possesses this feat, she may instead choose a different feat that she qualifies for and gain that feat as a bonus feat.

This suggested wording would apply just as easily to Deity's Weapon Specialization and Greater Deity's Weapon Focus as well.

Discourse: This ability is flavorful and interesting. I really like it. The Truespeech ability comes from the Tongues supernatural quality of angels, right? And the Telepathy comes from demons...very nice. However, I would like to point out that generally, Telepathy has a range of 100 feet, not 30. You don't need to worry about the ability being too strong, it's 19th level. I would suggest expanding it to 100 feet, it will see more play that way. Also, you don't need to make it like telepathic bond, or require a standard action to use it. Really, just let them have telepathy. Talking is a free action.

This is a great conversion! You covered up plenty of dead levels, for a full caster. And hey, it even has a capstone! A great alternative to a cleric or oracle. I'm sure your player will enjoy it.

Larkas
2012-01-22, 01:50 PM
Thank you very much for the invaluable advices, Neo! I've incorporated them into the 1.2 version of the class:

(PFRPG) Favored Soul 1.2 (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0wxJ-HF7zhJOTBiZDljZDctNTI4ZC00N2M2LWJiMDYtYWNhODFkNzJi OWQ2)

Changelog:

From 1.1 to 1.2

-Rewording of the Table: Favored Soul so the abilities can be more swiftly found.

-Marked all the abilities as either Extraordinary or Supernatural.

-Dropped "Eschew Materials", as divine spells already don't need material components.

-Cleaned up the wording of the "Exalted/Vile Presence" ability.

-Renamed "Domain's Power" to "Domain Power".

-Cleaned up the wording of the "Deity's Weapon Focus", "Deity's Weapon Specialization" and "Greater Deity's Weapon Focus" abilities.

-Changed the wording of the "Telepathy" ability, increased its range to 100ft.
Again, thank you very much for the evaluation! Specially the part about divine magic not needing material components, I couldn't believe I could have forgotten that!

I'll add the changelog (even though it is pretty much Neo's post XD) and edit the first post as soon as I have the time.

Meanwhile, I've been thinking of dropping Faith Healing, maybe exchange it for something different. I added it mostly for flavor, but it only makes sense if the Favored Soul worships a good or neutral deity. Do you have any suggestions?

Also, I've been thinking if giving Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Focus at consecutive levels (well, with one level step, actually, but you got what I mean) is a good idea. What do you think?

NeoSeraphi
2012-01-22, 02:05 PM
You want some flavor, huh? Okay then. How about this?

Spellpower of the Soul (Ex): A favored soul's divine casting comes from a deep spiritual connection with his god. When casting spells that truly represent his deity's will, a favored soul's convictions strengthen them past his normal limits.

When a favored soul casts a spell whose alignment descriptor matches a component of his deity's alignment (such as a favored soul of Heironeous casting a spell with the [Lawful] or [Good] descriptor) he receives a +1 bonus to his caster level for that spell, as well as to the DC of the saving throw allowed by that spell (if any).

At 5th level, and every 5 levels after that, the bonuses to caster level and save DC for these spells increase by an additional +1, to a maximum of +5 caster level and +5 DC at level 20.


This is a flavorful ability that really represents how a favored soul is more in touch with his god than a cleric. The boost to caster level will be noticeable, but it only applies to a handful of spells anyway, but it rewards a favored soul who sticks close to his fluff and chooses many aligned spells as spells known. The boost to DC might seem unfair, but all it really does is help offset the fact that your DC is already based on Wisdom instead of Charisma. In the end, I think it's a perfectly balanced, helpful ability and can fill in your dead levels quite nicely.

Larkas
2012-01-23, 10:38 AM
Hey, GREAT ability, Neo! I've put it in the place of Faith Healing:

(PFRPG) Favored Soul 1.3 (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0wxJ-HF7zhJMWYwOTI0ZTMtMjQyOS00YjY5LThkOGYtNmQyOGUwZmFh ODg3)


Changelog:

From 1.2 to 1.3

-Dropped the "Faith Healing" ability, added the "Soul Potency" ability at 1st level.
I've just renamed it because of repetitive wording, too much power in this class =D I tried changing "Soul" too, but "Spirit" sounds a little weird.

Aesthetic decisions aside, this is indeed very flavorful! And I don't think the power increase would be that problematic. Not many spells from the raw cleric list have alignment descriptors, anyways. The favored soul doesn't have access to domain spells, and while the ability is very nice, it isn't worth a 1-level dip. This also counterbalances the fact that favored souls from a true neutral deity actually have an advantage when the Exalted/Vile Presence comes into use: they have a bonus against 5 alignments, versus 4 from a deity with a single neutral alignment and 3 from deities with extreme alignments. Very nice :)

Oh, by the way, I thought about what you said on the Telepathy ability, and indeed you are right. Heck, it's 19th level, a bump to 100ft. will make no difference. I changed the wording to accommodate using it as a free action. Also, glad you noticed and liked that I based that on angels' and demons' abilities :)

EDIT: If the reader is a 3.5 player only and isn't familiar to Pathfinder's cleric domains, he/she won't pay much attention to the Domain Powers ability presented here. Check Pathfinder's domains here (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/cleric.html#domains-list), in case you're interested :)

NeoSeraphi
2012-01-23, 11:31 AM
Glad I could help.

Dragon Star
2012-01-23, 07:12 PM
This is awesome. I always loved favored souls. They're like paladins, except actually usefull, and without a stick up the ass. Anyway, I do have a small amount of PEACH for you...

1. Exalted/Vile presence
Why is it so low? A bonus to social skills isn't that good. I think it should be class level and half class level , rather then what you have now.

2. It is never actually stated that you can't cast spells opposed to you alignment, just that it may be restricted. You might want to make it a little more concrete then that.

3. The disciple bonus should scale with level. A +2 bonus to one saving throw 4/day isn't that great, or even good at 20th level.

4. Discourse is cool, but it makes being evil clearly better then being good. Both can talk any language, but evil gets telepathy? I would suggest some balancing factor for good. Maybe another bonus on social skills, or the ability to talk to thin without language like animals. Also, this is not a very powerful ability. It might be better earlier.

Larkas
2012-01-24, 12:31 AM
Thank you very much for the input, Dragon! Glad you liked it. Anyways, let's address one thing at a time, shall we? :)


1. Exalted/Vile presence
Why is it so low? A bonus to social skills isn't that good. I think it should be class level and half class level , rather then what you have now.

This is actually more of a flavorful ability than anything else. You are a paragon to your faith, but you must still prove your worth. While a +5 bonus at 5th is nothing absurd, +10 at 10th and +20 at 20th is quite high and, while you represent the will of your god, so do your faith's clerics. People should respect you for your connection with the deity, but not worship you any more than a cleric. A +10 bonus at 20th is nothing to scoff at, anyways, and represents the level of attunement to the patron deity has spilled of to the "mortal realm". I'll consider this for a while, though. It might warrant a revision if it is indeed too weak :)


2. It is never actually stated that you can't cast spells opposed to you alignment, just that it may be restricted. You might want to make it a little more concrete then that.

Hmmmm, indeed. Do clerics have anything concrete on that department so I can reference it? I have to take a look at how that would impact the spell pool too, so it doesn't have an unexpected result of too few spells to choose from.


3. The disciple bonus should scale with level. A +2 bonus to one saving throw 4/day isn't that great, or even good at 20th level.

Again, this one is mostly for flavor purposes. Let's not forget also that the Favored Soul has all good saves. Maybe it is feasible for it to scale to +4 or something at level 20... I'll think a little about this.


4. Discourse is cool, but it makes being evil clearly better then being good. Both can talk any language, but evil gets telepathy? I would suggest some balancing factor for good. Maybe another bonus on social skills, or the ability to talk to thin without language like animals. Also, this is not a very powerful ability. It might be better earlier.

Well, Truespeech has the benefit of quite literally appealing to the masses, while Telepathy has the benefit of being stealthy. I guess that somewhat reflects the means of good and evil religions: one wants to win the hearts of the crowd (who certainly could occupy far more than 100ft radius!), the other mostly wants to operate in the shadows. As Neo pointed out, I based that off in angels (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/creatureTypes.html#_angel-subtype)' and demons (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/creatureTypes.html#_demon-subtype)' abilities, and those fit in equally well in a religious background. I'll consider the level placement, though I'm thinking if moving that far back to the 13th level would be a good idea: you could be getting an at will telepathic bond with far less restrictions, after all. Also, Greater Deity's Weapon Focus wouldn't be any good at all at level 19. I'm thinking of something like conjuring up some sort of magical deity's weapon, depending on the strength, it could go up to that level, I guess. I'll brainstorm this a little and take care to not go too way over the top =D

Again, thanks for the input, Dragon :)

Neoxenok
2012-03-24, 01:21 AM
Hello there! I'm thinking of running a PFRPG campaign, and one of my players really like the Complete Divine's Favored Soul. I read a couple of conversions (namely this one (http://sites.google.com/site/zombiehomepage/Home/zombie-s-d-d-pathfinder-page/favored-soul-pathfinder-conversion) and the one found in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95061)), and while the second one is quite nice, it's not specially easy to adapt to a whole different set of deities (the first one is simply not on par with PFRPG's core classes).

Okay, I"ve looked through your translation and here's my insights and advice, but first a bit of a disclaimer.
I love the favored soul from 3.5 edition and it was one of my favorite classes and certainly my favorite divine caster although even then I had my gripes against it.

The bottom line with your version is that it doesn't go nearly far enough and it isn't different enough from the oracle to warrent accepting. Outside of the fact that the favored soul gets more spells known at each level, the oracle is out-and-out superior to the favored soul.

There's a lot to that so I'll attempt to explain in detail.

In 3.5 edition, it has a wonky balance - it gets the most spells known per level of all the spontaneous casters (sorcerer, warlock, shujenja, spirit shaman, etc) with the exception of the focused spontaneous casters (warmage, dread necronancer, and beguiler) but its split casting stat (wisdom for DCs, charisma for max spell level & bonus spells/day) means you either have to focus on casting and forget your melee ability (dumping str and maybe dex to focus on wisdom AND charisma) and still be sub-par compared to the one-stat casters or you can be a divine gish and focus on buffs and recovery magic and the odd no-save spell.

This is an odd dichonomy for a primary divine spellcaster because it means it can be good at anything except being a primary spellcaster.
At best, it's a wierd compromise by being essentially a class that's halfway between the paladin and cleric without being particularly unique from either one.

This REALLY needs to be fixed and this is one of the hardest things TO fix.
For starters, its spells known and per day lists need to be brought in-line with hte other pathfinder spontaneous casters - particularly the oracle and sorcerer and it should have ONE primary casting stat - probably charisma so it can be a primary caster like the cleric or oracle if it chose to be and eliminate the MAD that would naturally come from trying to be a spontaneous cleric.

If you're going to have another spontaneous divine caster, it needs to be more unique from both the cleric and the oracle (and the paladin).
Like the witch, it should probably get this from class abilities, primarily but there are a number of ways to attack this.

For example, if this were me, I would base the new favored soul more closely to PF's magus on hit dice FX but with the spell progression of the bard, allowing the FS to cast spells spontaneously and use CHA for spellcasting. It would get abilities that would allow it to combine its divine magic with its other divine abilities and mundane attacks. It would gain domain powers from two domains like the cleric but at 3rd level and every two levels after, it would gain a bonus domain spell as a spell-like ability usable once/day of 1st level +1 spell level every two levels thereafter selectable from its two selected domains. So a FS with the war and strength domains would have powers from both and at 3rd level would gain a spell like ability usable once/day - either magic weapon (from war) or enlarge person (from strength). At 5th level, he could select bull's strength (from strength) or spiritual weapon (from war) or one of the two lower level spells.
The FS would also have channel energy like a cleric and divine bond like a paladin or antipaladin (except you must select your deity's favored weapon) depending on your alignment.

This might also allow for other FS abilities - notably wings and energy resistance but my suggestion above does two things:
1) The flavor of the favored soul is intact.
2) The favored soul is now a very different and overall better class to take from its predecessor that is now much more different from the other divine classes.

However, if you insist on simply translating the FS from the complete divine and keep it as-is, then here's my minimalist suggestions:

1) Make charisma the primary casting stat alone.
2) Change the spells known and spells/day table to match that of the oracle and sorcerer, this will also allow you to add a domain's spells known to the spells known list (like the oracle mysteries or sorcerer bloodline spells).


Soul Potency (Ex): The favored soul's divine casting comes from a deep spiritual connection with her patron deity. When casting spells that truly represent her deity's will, the favored soul's convictions strengthen them past her normal limits.
When a favored soul casts a spell whose alignment descriptor matches a component of her deity's alignment (such as a favored soul of a Lawful Good deity casting a spell with the [Lawful] or [Good] descriptor), she receives a +1 bonus to her caster level for that spell, as well as to the DC of the saving throw allowed by that spell (if any).
At 5th level, and every 5 levels after that, the bonuses to caster level and save DC for these spells increase by an additional +1, to a maximum of +5 caster level and +5 DC at level 20.
This is a major no-no.
Despite Pathfinder's relaxation of the +1 saving throw DC taboo from 3.5 edition, it's still difficult to gain bonuses to saving throw DCs - especially up to +5 to the saving throw DC of any set of spells. Increases to caster level are likewise restricted.
I would eliminate this ability entirely - you're already reflecting your 'deity's will" both by being a favored soul and gaining your deity's domains.


Exalted or Vile Presence (Su): At 2nd level, the favored soul gets more influential when interacting with people of the same faith. The favored soul receives a sacred (if her deity is good or neutral) or profane (if her deity is evil) bonus equal to half her class level to all Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks she makes when interacting with followers of her chosen deity. She also receives half that sacred or profane bonus (so 1/4 of her class level) to Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks made when interacting with non-believers who are within one step of her patron deity's alignment, including divinely created magic items or intelligent magic items whose alignment falls within one step of her patron deity's.
This seems... okay. I guess.


Domain Powers (Su): At 3rd level, a favored soul chooses a domain from among those belonging to her deity. A favored soul can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good or Law) only if her alignment matches that domain. Each domain grants a number of domain powers, dependent upon the level of the favored soul. Unlike a cleric, the favored soul does not gain access to that domain's bonus spells. At 9th and 15th level, the favored soul chooses another domain from among those belonging to her deity. The favored soul gains the listed powers from all the domains she selected, if she is of a high enough level. Unless otherwise noted, using a domain power is a standard action. A character's favored soul levels stack with any cleric levels she might possess when determining which powers she has access to, as well as those powers' strength, if variable, but only if that character chose the same domains for both her cleric and favored soul classes (check the Cleric's domain list at the end of that class's entry to see the powers available to each domain).
Why can't the favored soul just select one or two domains at level one and gain the powers normally like a cleric?
That is to say it is either gaining the spells known as additional spells known on the spell list (which can be selected like normal spells known) OR gaining them as bonus spells like the bloodline spells known of hte sorcerer or mystery bonus spells of the oracle.
The favored soul should really gain channel energy (or perhaps a lesser version of it) so it can take advantage of certain domain powers - such as the sun domain's "Sun's Blessing" ability for those favoured souls of lathander or Horus-Re.


Ex-Favored Soul
A favored soul who grossly violates the code of conduct required by her god loses all spells and class features, except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons. She cannot thereafter gain levels as a favored soul of that god until she atones for her deeds (see the atonement spell description).

I would specify that if the favored soul grossly violate's his or her diety's dogma as few deities have a "code of conduct" or just copy-paste the similar thing from the cleric description.

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions.

Larkas
2012-04-02, 08:43 AM
Thank you very much for the input, Xenok! It has certainly put the conversion as is in perspective. I've read it all and thought some time about it. Let me comment on each point separately.

WARNING! WALL OF TEXT INCOMING!


The bottom line with your version is that it doesn't go nearly far enough and it isn't different enough from the oracle to warrent accepting. Outside of the fact that the favored soul gets more spells known at each level, the oracle is out-and-out superior to the favored soul.

The point of this conversion, as you already noticed, is to let a player have a character with a 3.5 class she liked a lot in a PFRPG environment. And even though the 3.5 Favored Soul is inferior to the 3.5 Cleric and slightly inferior to the 3.5 Sorcerer, mainly because of spell list issues, the comparison gets much more disfavorable when you try to compare the 3.5 FS to PFRPG material. The PFRPG Cleric is even better when compared to it, and the difference between it and the PFRPG Sorcerer gets decidedly noticeable, even though arguably it still qualifies for Tier 2 material. This conversion is aimed to address mainly that: make the class marginally better, bringing it closer to the PFRPG Sorcerer in terms of power, all the while maintaining the same flavor as the original (something the Oracle fails to do) and keeping it mostly the same mechanics-wise. That's pretty much it. This is not meant for a min/max environment (even though it CAN be optimized and be great, I guess), it is meant for a roleplaying-heavy environment.


In 3.5 edition, it has a wonky balance - it gets the most spells known per level of all the spontaneous casters (sorcerer, warlock, shujenja, spirit shaman, etc) with the exception of the focused spontaneous casters (warmage, dread necronancer, and beguiler) but its split casting stat (wisdom for DCs, charisma for max spell level & bonus spells/day) means you either have to focus on casting and forget your melee ability (dumping str and maybe dex to focus on wisdom AND charisma) and still be sub-par compared to the one-stat casters or you can be a divine gish and focus on buffs and recovery magic and the odd no-save spell.

This is an odd dichonomy for a primary divine spellcaster because it means it can be good at anything except being a primary spellcaster.
At best, it's a wierd compromise by being essentially a class that's halfway between the paladin and cleric without being particularly unique from either one.

This REALLY needs to be fixed and this is one of the hardest things TO fix.
For starters, its spells known and per day lists need to be brought in-line with hte other pathfinder spontaneous casters - particularly the oracle and sorcerer and it should have ONE primary casting stat - probably charisma so it can be a primary caster like the cleric or oracle if it chose to be and eliminate the MAD that would naturally come from trying to be a spontaneous cleric.

I'm going to agree partially in this with you. The Favored Soul DOES have MAD issues. When you depend on two stats to cast spells AND is expected to help with the fight, things can get nasty. FS's main dump stat is... INT. And INT should never be a dump stat, specially when the class is "2+Int" skills per level. It already has plenty to worry about with melee stats, it certainly does not need to worry with WIS. I think it is safe to make it cast based on CHA only, and it certainly fits with class flavor.

On the second point, the fact is that the Favored Soul was never in-line with the 3.5 Sorcerer, for starters. Let's compare their spells per day and spells known table from 3.5:

Spells per Day, Favored Soul at the left, Sorcerer at the right
{table=head]Level|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th|-|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

2nd|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

3rd|
6|
5|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
5|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

4th|
6|
6|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

5th|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

6th|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

7th|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

8th|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

9th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

10th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-

11th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-

12th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-

13th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-|
-

14th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-

15th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-|
-

16th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3|
-

17th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4|
-

18th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
3

19th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
4

20th|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6| |
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6[/table]

Spells Known, Favored Soul on the left, Sorcerer on the right
{table=head]Level|
0|
1st|
2nd|
3rd|
4th|
5th|
6th|
7th|
8th|
9th|-|
0|
1st|
2nd|
3rd|
4th|
5th|
6th|
7th|
8th|
9th

1st|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
4|
2|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

2nd|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
5|
2|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

3rd|
5|
4|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

4th|
6|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
3|
1|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

5th|
6|
5|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
6|
4|
2|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

6th|
7|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
7|
4|
2|
1|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

7th|
7|
6|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
7|
5|
3|
2|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

8th|
8|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
8|
5|
3|
2|
1|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

9th|
8|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
8|
5|
4|
3|
2|
-|
-|
-|
-|
-

10th|
9|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
9|
5|
4|
3|
2|
1|
-|
-|
-|
-

11th|
9|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-|
-| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
3|
2|
-|
-|
-|
-

12th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
3|
2|
1|
-|
-|
-

13th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-|
-| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
3|
2|
-|
-|
-

14th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
3|
2|
1|
-|
-

15th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-|
-| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
4|
3|
2|
-|
-

16th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
4|
3|
2|
1|
-

17th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3|
-| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
4|
3|
3|
2|
-

18th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
4|
3|
3|
2|
1

19th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4|
3| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
4|
3|
3|
3|
2

20th|
9|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
6|
5|
4| |
9|
5|
5|
4|
4|
4|
3|
3|
3|
3
[/table]

The two classes had the same amount of spells per day on 3.5, but the Favored Soul always could learn more spells than the Sorcerer.

I was going to reproduce the PFRPG tables for both the Oracle and the Sorcerer, but suffice it to say, they are both the same as the 3.5 Sorcerer's tables, minus the 0 level spells per day, since now they can be cast unlimited times per day. Equalizing something that had actually always set the FS apart isn't going to make it any more different from the Oracle or the Sorcerer.


If you're going to have another spontaneous divine caster, it needs to be more unique from both the cleric and the oracle (and the paladin).
Like the witch, it should probably get this from class abilities, primarily but there are a number of ways to attack this.

I'll agree on this with you. As it stands, it really is a generic spontaneous-casting cleric. I think it deserves a treatment like the Sorcerer got in the PFRPG. More on that later.

I wouldn't take the same path as you, though. Even if flavor-wise it matches on some points, those changes you propose would basically make an entirely new class. For me, a conversion has not only to keep the same flavor, but most of the same chassis as the base class. Homebrewing new classes can be very great and a lot of fun, but is not the same as converting old ones.


--snip--

This is a major no-no.
Despite Pathfinder's relaxation of the +1 saving throw DC taboo from 3.5 edition, it's still difficult to gain bonuses to saving throw DCs - especially up to +5 to the saving throw DC of any set of spells. Increases to caster level are likewise restricted.
I would eliminate this ability entirely - you're already reflecting your 'deity's will" both by being a favored soul and gaining your deity's domains.

You do have a point here. But let's take a look at the spells available to the FS, shall we?

[Chaotic] - Chaos Hammer, Cloak of Chaos, Dispel Law, Magic Circle against Law, Protection from Law, Word of Chaos.
[Evil] - Animate Dead, Blasphemy, Contagion, Create Greater Undead, Create Undead, Curse Water, Death Knell, Desecrate, Dispel Good, Magic Circle against Good, Protection from Good, Symbol of Pain, Unhallow, Unholy Aura, Unholy Blight.
[Good] - Bless Water, Consecrate, Dispel Evil, Hallow, Holy Aura, Holy Smite, Holy Word, Magic Circle against Evil, Protection from Evil.
[Lawful] - Dictum, Dispel Chaos, Magic Circle against Chaos, Order's Wrath, Protection from Chaos, Shield of Law.

Bolded are the spells in which the caster level matters power-wise, in italic are the spells which have a save DC, underlined are the spells in which the caster level matter for stuff like range and duration. Now, in a universe with 36 spells, we have 11 bolded spells, 22 spells in italic, 26 underlined spells (and 6 bolded AND underlined spells) and only 2 spells that are neither. This makes the ability indeed quite strong, and since there are no [Neutral] descriptor spells, a huge disadvantage to FSs of True Neutral deities. This means that this Soul Potency, in its current incarnation is too broken to stay, if only for intra-class balancing issues. But does this mean that it couldn't be fixed? I don't think so. Take a look at this:

Soul Potency (Ex): The favored soul's divine casting comes from a deep spiritual connection with her patron deity. When casting spells that truly represent her deity's will, the favored soul's convictions strengthen them past her normal limits.
When a favored soul casts a spell whose alignment descriptor matches a component of her deity's alignment (such as a favored soul of a Lawful Good deity casting a spell with the [Lawful] or [Good] descriptor), she receives a +1 bonus to her caster level for that spell. This bonus does not apply to range, area, or duration of the spell, just to effects detailed in the spell's descriptive text.
At 5th level, and every 5 levels after that, the bonuses to caster level and save DC for these spells increase by an additional +1, to a maximum of +5 caster level at level 20.

Now, let's see what this version of the ability does. It affects two spells in each alignment descriptor (Chaos Hammer/Unholy Blight/Holy Smite/Order's Wrath and Word of Chaos/Blasphemy/Holy Word/Dictum), plus three spells with the [Evil] descriptor (Animate Dead/Create Undead/Create Greater Undead).

The Holy Smite family becomes available at the 8th FS level, having maximum damage at caster level 10. With Soul Potency, the FS gets the spell at maximum damage from the start, since between levels 5 and 9 the bonus would be +2. So you're turning 4d8 to 5d8 and 8d6 and 9d6 to 10d6, an average gain of 4, 6 and 3 damage points, respectively. A good increase, to be sure, but not a broken increase, specially because the advantage will only lasts for two levels.

The Holy Word family becomes available at the 14th FS level. With Soul Potency, the FS would get a +3 increase for a level, +4 for five levels and +5 for one level and thereafter. Hence, the caster level progression would be 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, level+5. This would make this family MUCH better. You would be able to affect creatures with 5 HD more than you, kill creatures with 5 HD less than you and impose three effects on creatures with the same HD as you (while using Holy Word, for example, a 20th level Favored Soul would be able to inflict a 20 HD creature with paralysis, blindness and deafness, while a 20th level Cleric would only be able to aflict the same creature with deafness). But this analysis can go further. We have only four creatures at CR 20 in the Bestiary, namely: balor, ancient gold dragon, pit fiend, tarn linnorm. The balor has 20 HD, as do the pit fiend. The tarn linnorm has 22 HD, and the ancient gold dragon has 26 HD. So, if you're a 20th level cleric, you get to affect only the balor and the pit fiend with your Holy Word, and inflict them with... Deafness. Really? With this ability, the FS get to actually do something worthwhile with the spell, all the while affecting the linnorm (the gold dragon is still off bounds). Also, he gets to affect all the CR 19 creatures (23 HD: shoggoth; 25 HD: ancient silver dragon and ancient red dragon), all the CR 18 creatures (24 HD: ancient bronze dragon and ancient blue dragon; the other CR 18 creature, the Kraken, has 20 HD, so it would only be affected by deafness if the spell was cast by a 20th level Cleric), all the CR 17 creatures (23 HD: ancient copper dragon and ancient green dragon; the other two CR 17 creatures could at least be reliably hit by a 20th level Cleric with blindness, though the ice linnorm, having scent, could manage the fight just right even under this), and so on. So basically, with Soul Potency, a very situational spell becomes somewhat more useful. The +5 might seem a little excessive, since the Caster Level - 5 effect, paralysis, is very strong, but remember that, up until level 19, the ability only confers +4 to caster level. Consider the +5 as part of the level 20 capstone :)

The Animate Dead family, available only to FSs of Evil deities, deserves a little more thought. Animate Dead would be available starting at 6th FS level, and would enable the FS to create more undead with a single casting, as well as controlling more undead at any given time. Create Undead, available starting at 12th FS level, would allow the FS to create a mummy right away, and a mohrg starting at level 15. Create Greater Undead, available starting at 16th FS level, would allow the FS to create a Devourer from the bat. That seems great, but... The FS doesn't have a way to control the undead created by Create Undead and Create Greater Undead as easily, as he lacks any way to rebuke them. The Animate Dead spell lets a 20th level FS control 100 HD worth of undead, against the 80 HD of a 20th level Cleric, and create 50 HD worth of undead with a single casting, against the 40 HD of the Cleric. A significant improvement? Certainly. But I don't think its game-breaking.

So, what do you think? Myself, I think that it's appropriately fixed: while not as warped as before, it is still significant enough to stay.


--snip--

Why can't the favored soul just select one or two domains at level one and gain the powers normally like a cleric?
That is to say it is either gaining the spells known as additional spells known on the spell list (which can be selected like normal spells known) OR gaining them as bonus spells like the bloodline spells known of hte sorcerer or mystery bonus spells of the oracle.

Gaining domain spells would only make the FS more alike to the Cleric. You can't make a class more different from another by making them more alike. But I have an idea on this, more on that later.


The favored soul should really gain channel energy (or perhaps a lesser version of it) so it can take advantage of certain domain powers - such as the sun domain's "Sun's Blessing" ability for those favoured souls of lathander or Horus-Re.

You could always take one/a few levels in cleric. This is really a tradeoff: you either have channel energy and take advantage of all the nice stuff that comes with it OR you are a spontaneous-casting Favored Soul. But again, I have a few ideas on this, more on this later.


--snip--

I would specify that if the favored soul grossly violate's his or her diety's dogma as few deities have a "code of conduct" or just copy-paste the similar thing from the cleric description.

The Cleric entry says the following:


Ex-Clerics

A cleric who grossly violates the code of conduct required by her god loses all spells and class features, except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons. She cannot thereafter gain levels as a cleric of that god until she atones for her deeds (see the atonement spell description).

>>LINK<< (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/cleric.html#_ex-clerics)

It is exactly the same.

Anyways, your critiques have given me something to think about. After fiddling with possibilities, I decided to change the class around, adding customizable options, in line with the Sorcerer's Bloodlines. These are the changes:

Changelog:

From 1.3 to 1.4

-The DC against a favored soul's spell is now 10 + the spell level + the favored soul's Charisma modifier.

-Renamed the Domain Powers ability to just Domain. The ability is otherwise unchanged.

-Renamed the Soul Potency ability to Spellpower of the Soul. Changed the description of the ability.

-Moved the Wings ability to 13th level.

-Removed Deity's Weapon Focus, Deity's Weapon Specialization and Greater Deity's Weapon Focus abilities.

-Added Devotion Specializations; read the full class description to know what it does.

-Listed Domain Feats and Domain Powers in the class's level table.

(PFRPG) Favored Soul 1.4 (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0wxJ-HF7zhJOTVqOFRVa0pRYzZ4dkZIdzBlN3hEUQ) (see the first post in this thread)

These "Devotions Specializations" represent the favored soul devotion to a facet of his patron deity's persona. They are not unlike the Sorcerer's Bloodlines or the Oracle's Mysteries. "Devotion Feats" are bonus feats available to a certain devotion, and "Devotion Powers" are the other bonuses a devotion confer. Also, keep in mind that I didn't go for more unique, I went for increased variety. Take a look:

Favored Soul Devotions

When she starts walking her destined path, the favored soul is a beacon of divine will on the mortal realms. After some time, she starts feeling more familiar with some facet of her deity's power. It is not known whether this is just one more blessing bestowed by the divinity or a conscious (or maybe even unconscious) choice made by the favored soul herself. The fact is that the favored soul emulates an aspect of the divine being, and gains further powers by doing so.

At 3rd level, the favored soul must choose which attribute of her patron deity she will devote herself to. Once made, this choice cannot be changed. This will give her access to devotion powers, which will enable the favored soul to reveal her deity's will in greater ways, as well as allow the learning of devotion feats, bonus feats connected to her specialization in some way.

At 3rd level, and every two levels thereafter, a favored soul devotion power gets stronger. The way this gain in strength will materialize itself depends on the specialization chosen, and is expanded upon on each specialization entry.

At 5th level, and every six levels thereafter, a favored soul gains access to devotion feats, bonus feats which must be chosen from the list in each specialization entry.

Channeling Expertise

You have the uncanny ability to channel your patron deity's power. By holding up your holy symbol, you can channel energy not unlike a cleric of your faith.

Devotion Power: The favored soul can release a wave of energy by channeling the power of her deity through her holy (or unholy) symbol. This energy can be used to cause or heal damage, depending on the type of energy channeled and the creatures targeted.

A favored soul who worships a good deity channels positive energy and can choose to deal damage to undead creatures or to heal living creatures. A favored soul who worships an evil deity channels negative energy and can choose to deal damage to living creatures or to heal undead creatures. A favored soul who worships a neutral deity must choose whether she channels positive or negative energy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed.

Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the favored soul. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two favored soul levels beyond 3rd (2d6 at 5th, 3d6 at 7th, and so on). Creatures that take damage from channeled energy receive a Will save to halve the damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the favored soul's level + the favored soul's Charisma modifier. Creatures healed by channeled energy cannot exceed their maximum hit point total—all excess healing is lost. A favored soul may channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. This is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A favored soul can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect. A favored soul must be able to present her holy symbol to use this ability.

Devotion Feats: Alignment Channel, Channel Smite, Command Undead, Elemental Channel, Extra Channel, Improved Channel, Selective Channeling, Turn Undead.

Magical Awareness

Your deep connection to your deity lets you access some more of its magical powers. You can learn spells normally reserved to your faith's clerics.

Devotion Power: The favored soul gains access to spells characteristic to her deity. She can learn her chosen domains' spells as if they were part of the favored soul's spell list.

The favored soul can learn progressively stronger domain spells, starting with 1st level domain spells at 3rd favored soul level and going up one spell level for every two favored soul levels thereafter (2nd spell level at 5th favored soul level, 3rd at 7th, and so on). She can learn only one domain spell for each level of favored soul spells she can cast. If a domain spell is on the favored soul spell list, learning that spell does not count against this limit.

Whenever a favored soul could learn a new spell in place of one she already knows, she can, in addition to that, replace a known domain spell with another she has access to but hasn't learned. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and the limit of one domain spell for each level of favored soul spells must be respected.

This ability does not, in any way, increase the favored soul's number of spells per day and spells known. It just adds more spells to choose from when learning new ones.

Devotion Feats: Empower Spell, Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Heighten Spell, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Silent Spell, Still Spell, Widen Spell.

Martial Prowess

You have developed an affinity to your deity's favored weapon not commonly seen among followers of your faith. You can best make the will of your god known in the heat of battle.

Devotion Power: The favored soul holds her deity's favored weapon with the certainty of a divine champion. She gets prodigiously familiar with it, and, with time, can imbue a weapon of the appropriate type with a fragment of her deity's will.

The favored soul gains bonus devotion feats at 3rd, 9th and 15th levels. The weapon selected for all devotion feats, if any, must be the same as her deity's favored weapon. A character's favored soul levels stack with any fighter levels she might possess when determining which devotion feats she has access to. If she doesn't have any fighter levels, just treat her as a fighter of her favored soul level.

Furthermore, starting at 5th level, the favored soul can imbue a weapon with her deity's will. To do so, she must pray for 24 hours over the weapon, witch must match her deity's favored weapon type and be of at least masterwork quality. This prepares the weapon as a recipient for a small part of her deity's power. From then on, the favored soul can enhance her weapon as a standard action by invoking the will of her deity for 1 minute per favored soul level. At 5th level, this spirit grants the weapon a +1 enhancement bonus. At 7th, 11th, 13th, 17th and 19th levels , the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +6 at 19th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add special properties to the weapon. Which special properties can be selected depend on the deity and its domains. A lawful good goddess of the sun could offer the axiomatic, brilliant energy, disruption, flaming, flaming burst, and holy properties, for example, while a chaotic evil god of the undead would offer entirely different properties. The player should check with the DM which properties are available to her. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's cost (see Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities). These bonuses are added to any properties the weapon already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. The bonus and properties granted by the deity are determined when the deity's will is invoked and cannot be changed until it is invoked again. The weapon will lose these bonuses if it is held by anyone other than the favored soul but regain them if returned to her. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon. A favored soul can use this ability once per day at 5th level, and one additional time per day for every four levels beyond 5th, to a total of four times per day at 17th level.

Even though she must pray over it if she intends to use it for the purpose of this ability, there is no special bond between the favored soul and her weapon. If she so wishes, she can pray over a new weapon to prepare it for the use of this ability. This can happen for any number of reasons, such as the previous weapon being lost or destroyed or the favored soul wishing to use a different weapon. The previous weapon, if existent, loses its capacity to be used by the favored soul to invoke her deity's will as soon as she starts praying over the new one. For the prayer to have any effect, however, the favored soul must wait for 30 days, after praying over a previous weapon, before trying to imbue a new one. If a lost weapon is found before the favored soul decided to pray over a new one, it will function just as well as it did before being lost for the purposes of this ability.

Devotion Feats: Dazzling Display, Deadly Stroke, Greater Penetrating Strike, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Critical, Penetrating Strike, Shatter Defenses, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization.