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Roguenewb
2012-04-08, 03:35 PM
Torrent Master

The Torrent Master has mastered an element of the art of psionics that many others fear and ignore: the power of losing control. A torrent master focuses 100% of their art on the power of the Wild Surge, forsaking control, and possibly even their lives, all in the pursuit of more power. They laugh at the principled minds of Psions, the martial dedication of the Psychic Warrior, and the works of the Ardents and Divine Minds seem truly foolish to the Torrent Master. As a Torrent Master grows in power, they learn to risk all for more power than the other classes can even dream of.

Becoming a Torrent Master
Torrent masters are drawn almost exclusively from among the ranks of Wilders, though it is possible to also qualify from the Anarchic Initiate prestige class (Complete Psionic) However, the class offers the most to Wilders, and psions and psychic warriors will find little support from a class as dedicated to chaos.

Entry Requirements:
Alignment: Any chaotic
Skills: Autohypnosis 8 ranks, Psicraft 8 ranks, Concentration 8 ranks
Feats: Postpone Enervation, Body Fuel.
Psionics: Ability to manifest three augmentable powers
Special: Wild Surge +2 class feature.

Class Features
The torrent master does one thing, she wild surges as hard as she possibly can. As a result all of the teachings of the torrent masters boost this feature, allowing them to obtain levels of surging power beyond what any other character is capable of.
Powers Known: At every level, the Torrent Master gains new powers known, more power points, and an increase in manifester level as if she had gained a lever in the manifesting class she belonged to before becoming a Torrent Master.
Wild Surge (Su): At each level, a Torrent Master increases the maximum level she can boost her manifester level by while Wild Surging, to a total of +5 at 5th level. This stacks with any Wild Surge benefits granted by any other class.
Facilitative Torrent (Su): When a Wilder starts down the path of the Torrent Master, they abandon any sense of control they had over their manifesting. Whenever a Torrent Master manifests a power, they must do Wild Surge to the maximum they are capable of. This does come with some advantages however, the chance of Psychic Enervation is always reduced by 5% from what it would otherwise be. In addition, a torrent master may still wild surge while an enervation is postponed by Postpone Enervation. However, if they do so, and become enervated again, they immediately suffer both enervations, and are dazed for 2d4 rounds instead.
Risk the Body (Su): Starting at level 2, a Torrent Master can put more on the line when Wild Surging than just her reservoir of power points. If a torrent master applies her maximum Wild Surge bonus to manifester level, they may increase their manifester level 1 further. This increase doesn't increase the chances of psychic enervation, but it increases the penalties. If a torrent master elects to risk the body and becomes enervated, when the effects from the enervation apply, they take 1d6 points of ability burn to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, and become exhausted.
Risk the Mind (Su): Starting at level 3, a torrent master can further augment their wild surge. This effect is identical to Risk the Body, but if they become enervated, the Torrent Master becomes confused for 2d6 rounds. The confusion sets in immediately, and cannot be postponed, removed or limited in anyway. In addition, replace the Attack the Caster, and Attack the Nearest creature options on the behavior table “Manifest a power with full Wild Surge at an enemy (for attack the caster) or nearest creature (for attack the nearest creature nearest creature)”. Becoming psychically enervated during this confusion immediately ends the confusion, and the Torrent Master is stunned for 1 round. A torrent master may not Risk the Mind, Body and Gift on the same power until 5th level.
Risk the Gift (Su): At 4th level, the torrent master learns to put her most precious possession on the line to get more power, her psionic abilities. This ability functions like Risk the Body, except that it increases her manifester level by 2 instead of 1, and it carriers a more downside. If a Torrent Master who risks the gift becomes enervated, they permanently lose a number of power points equal to the total manifester level on the power that caused her to become enervated. These power points can only be recovered by use of Reality Revision, Wish, Miracle, or Psychic Chirurgery. A torrent master may not risk body, mind and gift on the same power until level 5.
Risk it All (Su): At 5th level the Torrent Master is ready to risk everything for even more manifesting power. At this level, when a torrent master boosts their manifester level by the maximum possible by Wild Surge, they may apply Risk the Body, Risk the Mind, and Risk the Gift all at once. In addition to the +4 manifester level applied by those abilities, Risk it All increases the manifester level by yet 1 more, for a total of +5 in addition to the maximum Wild Surge applied by the character. However, this comes with a risk, Risking it All increases the chance of enervation by 10%. The massive enervation created by risking it all and failing cannot be delayed, and the effects of Risk the Body, Risk the Mind and Risk the Gift are doubled.

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

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Wild Surge +1, Facilitative Torrent| +1 Level of Existing Manifesting Class

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3|Wild Surge +2, Risk the Body|+1 Level of Existing Manifesting Class

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3|Wild Surge +3, Risk the Mind|+1 Level of Existing Manifesting Class

4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Wild Surge +4, Risk the Gift|+1 Level of Existing Manifesting Class

5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Wild Surge +5, Risk it All|+1 Level of Existing Manifesting Class [/table]

Playing a Torrent Master
When you play a torrent master, you want to do only one thing, be the biggest power in the room. By the time you finish the class, you will be able to create powers at a total manifester level of 22! But to reach this Epic power level, you'll need to risk everything... and 40% of the time you'll lose, and if you lose, you'll lose a lot. The extreme power of the Torrent Master is girded by a lingering cloud of possible doom. A failed Risk the Body can fill you, or at least take you out of the fight, a failed Risk the Mind can turn you on your friends, possibly hurting or killing them, and worst of all, if you Risk your gift and fail, you'll never be as powerful again. These risks weigh on the Torrent Master, and most only wild surge fully when the challenge demands it, and only risk what needs to be risked. But most is not all, a small minority of Torrent Masters choose to risk as much as they can whenever they can. Some are lucky enough (perhaps with luck feats from Complete Scoundrel) to still be unscathed, and some are haunted remnants of their former glory, their bodies, minds, and gifts ravaged by drawing more power than soul should...
Mechanically, you'll want to learn many powers with open-ended augments to allow you to get the full use of your massive Surge benefits, and powers like Vigor, Energy Stun, Mindwipe, Psionic Daze, and Biofeedback make very powerful choices for you. A Torrent Master will use less power points than other casters, due to the massive free augmentation they can acquire, Risking it All, a Torrent Master could manifest a power that would normally cost 13 power points (the equivalent of a 7th level power) for 1 PP! And if you find yourself need yet more power, Body Fuel can provide an additional reserve, but watch out for Body Fuel and Risking the Body, or you could find yourself dying along with the enemy!




Aside: My guess is that this class is probably really, really powerful. To powerful? Not sure. It may be that risking a 1 in 3 chance of losing 15 power points forever, or being confused for more than a minute or take 6 points of CON damage is too much, but the +5 wild surge from the class levels is really the problem. As a result I'm also considering doing it with +1 wild surge at levels 1, 3 and 5.

I made this class because when I play wilders I always wanna wild surge more to make up for my limited powers, and the effect from the class is competive for a while (like lvl 10) then I feel I'm falling behind. So here's something I think of as super flavorful to really kick some backside.

JoshuaZ
2012-04-08, 03:52 PM
The permanent loss of abilities as a consequence of a regular class feature is pretty problematic, even if one can then spend a lot of xp to get it back. It might make more sense to have the lost power points go back 1 per a day or something like that, or instead of that at all, take ability burn to their primary manifesting stat. There are definite balance issues. One obvious way of handling them would be to lose a manifester level at 1 for start.

Steward
2012-04-08, 04:49 PM
Yeah, I'd probably stay away from that too. The benefits of the class are great, and it's definitely an interesting and flavorful mechanic, but I don't think I could ever use a class feature that will probably remove my ability to manifest powers, any more than a wizard or sorcerer will use an ability that would permanently remove several spell slots. I definitely like the idea, but I would favor the change suggested by JoshuaZ -- make it so that the points return slowly, over the course of several days or something like that.

Roguenewb
2012-04-08, 08:30 PM
Okay, so Risk the Gift isn't striking the cool "edge of your seat" and more the "dreadfully scary" line. How about: "Power points lost to Risk the Gift can only be recovered by any spell or ability that could restore levels permanently drained". That opens up a fix as low as 4th level magic.

Jodah
2012-04-09, 01:32 AM
...My very first thought was "does it work well with pirates?"

I like the class, and I don't think it is OP. It is designed to facilitate going nova and it does it well. I think the aforementioned "comes back 1/day" is a more strict penalty and also a more flavorful one: this is how I imagine a story about a torrent master would start, "Sure, he destroyed the archdemon and saved the world from utter annihilation, but it wasn't until a week later that we saw just how much a toll the battle took on him. A great dragon attacked the town and he stumbled out to help us defend, still feeling the effects of the battle - his strength was still sapped, he still felt shaky and looked like he might fall over, he couldn't even walk straight yet...but worst of all - he hadn't yet regained access all of his great power and we knew it would take everything he had left for us to survive this fight..."

All in all, I think you balanced the gains with decent drawbacks.

Roguenewb
2012-04-11, 05:48 PM
So, 1/day alone, or 1/day, and the option of magic restoration?

Jodah
2012-04-15, 10:29 PM
I like the idea of it not being able to be boosted with magic. It just seems to fit the flavor and make it an actual risk (otherwise you can even self heal the burn with other powers later).

Roguenewb
2012-05-06, 01:29 PM
Shameless self-bump