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The_listener
2012-05-09, 06:07 PM
Hi, this is my first real attempt at homebrew and the beginning of a rather large project to bring some of my favorite "Ahem" fantasy artifacts out into gameplay. The whole project of mine began when I ran a game linked around the players finding and utilizing a group of ancient artifacts to help fight off an evil god. But rather than simply use them as basic artifacts, I wanted to go a step further, and wrote Prestige classes linked to unlocking the power of the artifacts.
And so I'm presenting to the fine folks at Gianttip, my artifact based classes, horrifically ripped off from pop culture :smallbiggrin:

Keeping in mind the classes were built for tier 5 gameplay, I would love some help, mainly due to my horrifc inexperiance with writing classes :smalleek:, so any help would be much apprechiated :smallsmile:

Class below for simplification's sake :)

The_listener
2012-05-09, 06:42 PM
Wielder of The Darkness
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15776/436048-darkness1_super.jpg


“I am the Devil, the Devil I am and I wait for the coming of an innocent man. Be he young or old, be his pockets full of gold. Be he happy or rich or wise, be the ocean as blue as his eyes. I'll wait for his coming at the midnight hour, I'll pickle his soul and turn it sour. For once his innocent heart I see, that innocent man belongs to me.”

The Darkness is an ageless power dating back beyond human history. He is one of the two primal forces of the universe and is the equal and opposite of The Angelus. He and The Angelus have been at war since Creation, before which he was the original void of primordial Chaos.

Darkness has always taken a male human host. Usually passed like a virus from father to son, leaving the previous host, and taking his life, as his first child is conceived. The Darkness' powers remain dormant within the host until they awaken on the eve of the host's 21st birthday. The host of The Darkness carries the seed of Satan and The Darkness himself is known for creating a parade of killers and criminals down through history.

Requirements
Age: 21
Alignment: Any chaotic
Special: Must inherit or attain the power of The darkness. In addition, if a character with Wielder levels conceives a child, the character instantly dies. (When a Wielder conceives a child, that child will always be male to continue the bloodline of The Darkness) If a character with wielder levels dies of conception and is later raised or resurrected they suffer the normal penalties of Resurrection and in addition, lose all Wielder levels.

Hit dice: D10

Class skills: Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (The planes/ Religion/ Arcana) (Int), Move silently (Dex), Ride (Dex)

Skill Points per level: 4+Int modifier.

Becoming The Wielder of the Darkness
In every generation, there is only one Wielder, and there destiny his already beyond their control. Many Wielders were originally Rogues or Barbarians, as their natural chaotic tendencies tie in well with the Wielders requirements and needed skill set. Next most likely are fighters and rangers. Arcane spell-caster Wielders are all but unheard of, as they must sacrifice their spell casting abilties.

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

1st|+1|+2|+2|+0|Summon Darklings, Tendrils, Only in the dark, Overwhelmed by Darkness, Darkvision 120ft

2nd|+2|+3|+3|+0|Form the dark

3rd|+3|+3|+3|+1|Dark Armour

4th|+4|+4|+4|+1|Improved Tendrils, Snuff out the light

5th|+5|+4|+4|+1|Improved Form the Dark, Blindsight

6th|+6/+1|+5|+5|+2|Dark steps, Unholy power

7th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+2|Improved Darklings

8th|+8/+3|+6|+6|+2|Mastered Tendrils

9th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+3|Mastered Form the Dark

10th|+10/+5|+7|+7|+3|One with the Darkness

[/table]

Weapon and armour proficiency: You are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as all light and medium armour.

Only in the dark: The darkness is a supremely powerful force, but only in the absence of light. Exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) causes The Darknesses class abilities to stop functioning whilst in the light, the abilities return immediately when the Darkness re-enters the dark.

Overwhelmed By Darkness (Su) :Although many feel the power of The Darkness is theirs to control, they forget that The Darkness is an ageless, evil, sentient being that seeks to corrupt the soul of its host. Once per day, the wielder must succeed on Will save (DC 17) or be coerced by the Darkness into committing an evil act. If the wielder fails his Will save, he must then make a second Will save (DC 17) or be moved one step closer toward chaotic evil alignment. Once a wielder attains chaotic evil alignment, the alignment may never be altered by mundane or magical means. If a Character that has had his alignment changed in this way acquires a template that would change his alignment, the character may attempt a Will save vs DC 17, if they pass the character moves one alignment step closer to the templates pre-described alignment and is free to make alignment choices once again. However, they must still pass the daily Will save against this ability.

Darkvision (Su): The Wielder gains dark-vision 120ft.

Tendrils (Su): While you are in the dark as a Standard Action, you can summon an incredibly strong a fanged and clawed tentacle to eviscerate your opponents and lift objects. At 6th level, you gain a second tentacle. The tentacles have a reach of 15 feet but threaten all spaces within those 15 feet. The reach increased to 20 feet at 4th level and to 25 feet at 8th level . The tentacles have a strength score equal to the wielder's strength score plus 1 for each level of wielder class he or she possesses. The tendrils count as natural weapons. Tendrils deal damage according to the ambient light levels surrounding the target. Consult the following table for damage before adding strength modifiers. The tendrils also act as grabbing implements, allowing the wielder to hold objects with them, as well as throw them at others as a ranged attack. Tendrils can deal either slashing, bludgeoning or piercing damage as the wielder sees fit. If the tendrils throw an object it has the same range as the tendril. A 15 foot tendril has a throwing range of 15 feet. At 8th level, when attacking a foe in complete Darkness with the Tendril, the target must pass a Fortitude save (DC 10+Class levels+ tendril's Str modifier) or instantly die, if the target passes the save, they still take 8d8 damage.



{table=head]|Light level|Base Tendril Damage|Improved damage|Mastered Damage|

|[Complete Darkness]|[5d6]|[6d6]|[Death/8d8]|

|[Match]|[4d6]|[5d6]|[6d8]|

|[Candle]|[3d6]|[4d6]|[5d8]|

|[Torch]|[2d6]|[3d6]|[4d8]|

|[Lantern]|[1d8]|[2d6]|[3d8]|

|[Campfire]|[1d6]|[1d8]|[2d8]|

|[Daylight]|[-]|[-]|[-]|[/table]




Summon Darklings (Su): One of the most prominent abilities of the darkness is the power to summon forth Darklings. Sentient, barbaric and slightly humorous imp-like creatures formed from the will of the Darkness alone. As a full round action, The wielder can summon forth a number of Darklings equal to his class level. The Wielder may have a number of hit dice worth of darklings equal to his class level times Four.

Darkling Racial traits
+2 dexterity, +2 strength, -2 intelligence, -2 wisdom, -2 charisma: Darklings are fast and strong, but lack intelligence and social skills.
Outsider
Small (A darkling stands at 3'11 when stood straight, a rare occurrence normally a darkling hunches at 3'6)
Natural weapons: Claws or Bite 1d6
Base land speed is 40ft
Dark-vision 80ft
Destroyed by the light: Darklings are creatures made of utter darkness, and as such are incredibly weak to sunlight, and are in fact destroyed by it. If a Darkling is exposed to direct sunlight (or a similar effect, such as a very bright light or the sunlight spell) they are immediately destroyed.
+2 racial bonus to listen, spot, move silently, hide and climb checks.
Hide in plain sight.
Automatic languages: Broken common
Extra languages: Dwarfish, gnome, under common.

Example Darkling

Blargh
Male Darkling
Small Outsider 1
Hit Dice: 1d8+0 (8hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40ft.
AC: 14, Touch 14, Flat footed 11
Attacks: +5 Claw
Damage: 1d6 +2
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./ 5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Darkling qualities
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +8, Listen +7, Spot +7, Move Silently +9, Hide +13, Open lock +7, Jump +6
Feats: Weapon finesse (Claws)
Climate/Terrain: Shadow plane
Organization: Solitary or pack 2-6
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 2-5 Hit dice Monstrous Humanoid; 6+ by Class level
At first, Darklings must advance as Monstrous humanoids, but at six hit dice, a Darkling may begin to take class levels. No individual Darkling can possess more Hit Dice than the wielder.

Form the dark: At second level The wielder can begin to create any non magical tools, light armour or weapons, you need merely place your hands into the shadows and draw forth the desired item. Using form the dark is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. You can create one item weighing a number of pounds equal to twice your class level or two or more items weighing no more than this total. If an item leaves your possession it dissipates into nothingness after 1d4 rounds, otherwise the item dissipates after one hour per class level. In addition, no item created via form the dark can exist in the light. To craft an item like this you must pass a craft check Dc 20.

Snuff out the light (Su):As a move action, a Wielder can sacrifice 1d6 damage and attempt to destroy the closest source of its greatest weakness:light. Treat this as if a dispel magic spell with CL equal to the Wielder's HD against magical light sources. The light source must be within reach of your tendrils. This ability can be used while in light, unlike other Wielder abilities.

Dark armour (Su): Starting at 3rd level you may take a standard action to clad yourself in dark Armour, formed out of the shadows, this armour grants the Wielder a deflection bonus to their Ac equal to half their class level, this armour lasts for 10 minutes and can be used a number of times a day equal to half his class level (minimum 1).

Improved form the dark (Su): At level 5 The Wielder can begin to enhance his creations, giving them a magical enhancement bonus equal to half their Wielder levels, to do this requires the wielder spend a full-round action crafting the item rather than a standard action, as well as a craft check of Dc 20 + the enchantment bonus you wish to add. Any weapon or light armour you create can survive in any light, with the exception of direct sunlight.
In addition, the wielder can now create medium armour and the total weight of items the wielder can create is increased to his class level x10 in pounds.

Blindsight (Su): In the Dark, nothing escapes the Wielders notice. Whilst in the dark a Wielder gains Blindsight 100ft.

Dark steps (Su): The Wielder can now move through across massive distances in only seconds. a number of times per day equal to half the wielders wielder level., the wielder can use greater teleport as the spell, but only to travel between two shadowed areas.

Unholy power (Su): Whilst clad in his dark armour, the wielder becomes faster, stronger, more resilient. When utilizing the Dark armour class feature, the wielder gains +10ft movement speed, and a +4 bonus to Strength and constitution.

Improved Darklings (Su): By level 7, the Wielder has manifested enough power to alter his Darklings, making them more powerful in the process. When creating his Darklings, the wielder may add one of the special abilities listed below for every 4HD the Darkling has.


Scales: +4 natural armour, +2 fort saves

Size increase:Increase by one size category

Wings: Gains a fly speed of 40ft, good manoeuvrability.

Vicious attack: Increase the damage of the Darklings natural weapon by one size category, in addition, those struck by the Darkling suffer bleeding wounds, taking an additional 2 damage every round until healed by any healing spell or a Dc 20 heal check.

Poisonous: The Darklings natural weapon is coated in an injury poison, with a Dc of 10+1/2 the Darklings hit-dice with an initial damage of 1d6 dex and a secondary damage of paralysis.

Uncommon speed: All movement speeds increase by 10ft, and the Darkling gains run as a feat.

Quick-witted: The Darkling gains +4 wisdom and one of the following feats: Alertness or track.

Climbing ability:The Darkling gains a +8 bonus on climb checks, and moves at it's base speed whilst climbing.

Gills:The Darkling can breathe underwater and gains a swim speed of 20ft.

Intelligent: The Darkling gains +4 intelligence and one of the following feats: Combat expertise or skill focus.

Sneaky: The Darkling's racial bonuses to hide and move silently are improved to +8 and the Darkling can sneak attack as a rogue of half his Hit dice, if the Darkling can already sneak attack, his sneak attack dice become d8's.


Mastered form the dark (Su): The wielder has mastered the art of creation, now able to create non-magical items as a free action and magical items as a standard action. In addition, any items that the Wielder creates are permanent unless he wishes them not to be (in which case the item disintegrates) and any creaton can survive in any light, with the exception of direct sunlight. Finally, the Wielder can now create life. As a full-round action, the wielder can create any 1HD creature he wishes, in any form he desires. These creations serve the wielder loyally, and will sacrifice their lives for the wielder and obey any order given to them. The Wielder may only have a number of HD equal to his class level alive via the use of this ability, any creatures created that would place the Wielder over his limit automatically disintegrate. (If used to create a sexual partner for the wielder, the Wielder may have sex without the risk of conception)

One with the darkness (Su): The wielder has mastered the Darknesses myriad abilities, fusing partly with the ancient evil, and that evil...will never let the wielder die. Upon reaching 10th level, the Wielder gains Damage reduction 10/Law and good and fast healing 5, No-longer needs to breathe, becomes immune to mind effecting abilities (except those that are utilized by The Darkness itself see YOU ARE MINE!).

Death Does not Become you (Su): The Darkness found a powerful host, and he has no intention of letting him go. If the Wielder should die, they may make a level check vs Dc 25, if they pass the character is returned to life 1d4 days later as The Darkness slowly repairs the Wielders body. Note: This ability will not activate if the wielder dies from conceiving a child. (see requirements)

Playing A Wielder


As the Wielder, you have access to near limitless power, the ability to create life, to control the dark around you and most of all, the power to destroy. Most Wielders become arrogant, power-hungry individuals, completely focused on their own desires, with little regard for whomever is in their way. And that's how the Darkness likes it.

But occasionally a wielder will fight The Darkness, strive to be better, to ignore the voices in his head and put his new found power to good use in the world...The Darkness doesn't like that, not one bit.

When playing a Wielder, you should keep in mind your characters stance on his new abilities. Will he embrace The Darkness and set forth to wipe out all natural life? Or will he fight The Darkness? And confront the ancient evils actions with his own Rebellion.


Combat

A Wielder has the ability to adapt to almost any combat situation, with his Darklings being his most powerful asset. Darklings can form any type of force the Wielder needs, from a horde to slow down and tear at his foe, to a small group of elite killing machines and at level 7 their usefulness only increases by allowing the Wielder to choose from a list of abilities that can be tailored to certain situations. Of course even without his Darklings, due to his Tendrils, the wielder is still a potent threat able to cause massive amounts of damage to foes from a range.

The Wielders ability to Manifest Dark Armour allows him to step into the thick of combat alongside his Darklings, where he can guarantee the maximum amount of carnage.

Along side his ability to create any weapon he needs, as well as a vast variety of Armour (and the ability to enhance these items) The Wielder can almost guarantee he always has the tools he needs for any combat situation...at least until the lights come on.

Advancement

Once The Darkness takes it's place in a host it is there until the host dies, locking him into a long and dark path. No-one can teach A wielder how best to use his abilities, and so most advanced training is self taught.
Each wielder I different in one way or another, some wade into battle, others hide in the shadows and pick off their targets. The Main influence on a wielders fighting style comes from their previous class choices and building upon them.

Resources

The Wielder has literally limitless resources, their only boundary is there own knowledge. AT lower levels, the Wielder can create temporary items and at higher they can begin to enhance these items, finally they are able to create any item they wish, as well as allow them to exist in the light. By 9th level, a wielder need never carry mundane goods again, as they can create them with but a thought.

Wielders in the world

“...The almighty Darkness, A Glorious entity of Chaos and wild abandon. It's wielder’s are blessed with the power of creation and can form whatever shapes and entities they choose, and use them to reap bloody murder on the world as they see fit...”
- Davis Merrati Darkness scholar

The Wielder class allows Dm's to create a powerful enemy for the Pc's, or allow a Pc to meet part of a dark heritage. But either way it introduces a Dark and terrible evil into any world.

Daily Life

On the outside, A Wielder seems normal and can continue to live how they choose, if that be a mercenary, a thief or even an adventurer. However, The Darkness does have enemies, powerful ones, who will seek to strike at the Wielder when he is most vulnerable, during the day. This does mean that life, may never be the same.
If the true power of the Darkness ever becomes apparent to the public however, one can be sure that fear and hate will follow the Wielder.

Notables

The Last wielder of the Darkness was a Teifling by the name of Drazk (Dark-ruler) who plagued trading routes for years, before finally loosing his life on the bed of a whore after razing a church to the ground.

Organisation

The Wielders are loners by nature, followed only by their Darklings.

NPC reactions

The strange and unholy powers of the Darkness are terrifying to those who do not understand them, causing people to fear or hate them. NPC's who are unaware of the Wielders abilities will treat them no-differently than how they would normally. However most NPC's who witness their abilities will fear them, doing all they can to avoid conflict with the character usually becoming unfriendly or aggressive.

Wielder lore – The Planes.-

Dc 10: Wielders are warriors who can summon dark creatures.

Dc 15: Wielders have a variety of dark powers, creating powerful items and summoning powerful demon like beings to serve his will.

Dc 20: The Wielders are host to an ancient evil known only as The Darkness and are all males, and are known to hold an ancient and horrific power. Their abilities however, can only manifest in the dark.

Dc 25: The Power of the Darkness is passed on from father to son at the moment of conception, this transfer however, kills the original host.

Dc 30: A character reaching this level of knowledge could obtain secret lore or information about a certain wielder

The_listener
2012-05-10, 06:15 PM
Bump?

Would really love some comments guys, please critique away, I could do with the creative criticism :smallsmile:

zegram 33
2012-05-10, 06:23 PM
theres a table creating guide in the stickied thread "previous stickied threads" thats exceptionally useful

as for the class.... the tendril damages confuse me. jumps between crazy high and useless.


Dark steps: The Wielder can now move through across massive distances in only seconds. Once per day equal to half the wielders class level, the wielder can use greater teleport as the spell, but only to travel between two shadowed areas.

a better way to say it would be "a number of times per day equal to half the wielders wielder level..."

i've gotta say, its a good concept, but imo FAR too weak right now.
you lose ALL of your powers if a sorceror casts daylight ( a 3rd level spell) on you, or sets you on fire, or...really does anything flashy at all.
it definatley needs darkvision and maybe blindsight.

also: id advise giving it the ability to cast darkness or greater darkness as spell-like abilities, so if you get jumped on a sunny day you're able to at least set up an area you can defend.

im not very good at critiquing PrC's, but thats my opinion.
regardless, a damn sight better than my first attempt at homebrew. :smallwink:

The_listener
2012-05-10, 06:24 PM
Brilliant, thank you a lot :smallsmile:

I must agree with the Tendrils, I was unsure of how strong to make them, and found that they pack a definate punch no-matter what dice roll once you include their pretty high strength score...but I do agree with your point, any other ideas going?

As for the light weakness, I found that was the main weakness of the class, making the character somewhat a walking god of destruction when in the dark, and a normal man in the light. But if it is said that the class is weak with this ability, I'm pondering what to do to equal out the balance, possibly make him stronger still in the dark?

Darkvision and blindsight have been added, and thank you for noticing I missed them, my bad :smalleek:

The_listener
2012-05-11, 05:17 PM
Any more comments ladies and gentlemen?

zegram 33
2012-05-11, 07:02 PM
hmn, i get where your coming from about the shadow type thing.
upon reading the srd, "light" is a 0th level spell for pretty much all casting classes.
with that said, now that iv thought about it, it is a pretty obscure weakness for someone to cast "light" upon meeting a crazy demon thingy, so it probably works quite well.
maybe replace it with scaling penalties depending on the illumination level, but thats something that could definatley do with a second opinion on.

Steward
2012-05-11, 07:43 PM
with that said, now that iv thought about it, it is a pretty obscure weakness for someone to cast "light" upon meeting a crazy demon thingy, so it probably works quite well.

True, but isn't casting 'light' or holding up a lantern/torch etc. pretty standard when adventurers are moving around in the dark where a guy like this would be hiding? I mean, unless they all have darkvision and/or lowlight vision, one of them is probably going to want to keep things well-illuminated. It's not so much that they'll cast light when they see this guy but will probably have a light source brandished whenever they're in a pitch-black environment.

This is a pretty solid homebrew class though, and I really like the flavor and the mechanics a lot. I really like classes that can summon minions, and while it does seem a little top-heavy at first glance (getting, what, four class features at 1st level?) you still encourage people to continue in the class by making the first level abilities improve steadily if you stick with the class, which is really good.

The part about creating entities from the darkness to have sex with is kind of creepy, but that can definitely work depending of the tone of a given campaign and if it doesn't it could easily be houseruled away since it doesn't pervade the entire class.


Dark armour: Starting at 3rd level you may take a standard action to clad yourself in dark armour, formed out of the shadows, this armour grants the Wielder a deflection bonus to their Ac equal to half their class level, this armour lasts for 10 minutes and can be used a number of times a day equal to half his class level.

I think that you should specify a minimum number of uses per day (traditionally, '1'). This is because, at first level, half of that would be .5, which doesn't quite work.

I noticed you gave the darkling a name. Assuming it doesn't die, can the same darkling be summoned on multiple separate occasions? It might be a great roleplaying opportunity, if a Wielder can develop an emotional bond of companionship with a creature of pure darkness (and it could be a good way for the Darkness to pull them over to the side of evil).

The_listener
2012-05-12, 02:49 AM
Hmmm I'll add a minimum to the Dark Armour feature, thanks for pointing that out to me :)

And yes, the same Darkling can continuously be summoned, in fact I deeply recommend it :)

As for the light, I was thinking of implementing an sort of spell Resistance to light spells, thoughts?

Man on Fire
2012-05-12, 08:48 PM
I don't like the idea that Darkness can attempt changing wielder alignment only once a week, unless that's some stuff from the comics, it would make more sense for it to strike at the moment of weakness, like when wielder rolls critical failure on the will check.

Necroticplague
2012-05-12, 09:21 PM
To counter their light weakness, they could get some scaling form of darkness sla that they are able to see through, or maybe something like

Light-lashing tendril:As a move action, a Wielder can attempt to destroy the closest source of its greatest weakness:light. Treat this as if a dispel magic spell with CL equal to the Wielder's HD against magical light sources, or a sunder attempt against nonmagical light sources. The light source must be within reach of your tendrils. This ability can be used while in light, unlike other Wielder abilities.

Trodon
2012-05-12, 10:30 PM
This looks awesome. How many tentacles do they get?

The_listener
2012-05-13, 08:50 AM
@Trodon: One, but consiering adding another at 6th level...

@Necroticplague: hmmm, i like it, wht level whould you recomend?

@Man on Fire: I see where you're coming from, I'll give it a look.

The_listener
2012-05-15, 04:21 AM
Added more information on the class as well as a few rewrites, any more ideas or input from anyone?

Man on Fire
2012-05-15, 05:08 AM
Now mechanics for You are mine are much more climatic, I like it.

zegram 33
2012-05-15, 07:58 AM
not sure i'm a massive fan of "YOU ARE MINE" being based off of character level. combined with this guys moderate to poor will save, that means that the higher level you are, the more likely you are to fail., basically (over 10 levels he gets +3 to the save but +5 to the dc)

the for tendrils damage..what IS the tendrils strength modifier?

and for the light problem, what about granting scaling darkvision to allies?
fluffed as your powers being mildly "infectious" or something?
that way you at least get around your allies eliminating pretty much all your combat power if they cant see in the dark, cuz as is, if anyone doesnt have darksight or blindsight, then either they lose half there power from blindness, or you lose half your power from light. thats not a good situation to put a group in.

The_listener
2012-05-15, 08:18 AM
The tentacles have a strength score equal to the characters strength score plus class levels

In answer to the strength question :)

"YOU ARE MINE" is not meant to be easy to save against, after all, The Darkness is not a forgiving creature, but maybe a scaling down could be in order, not sure yet.

Finally, The Darkness is not a giving entity in any way, so it handing out bonuses to party members could break the fluff, but in some situations, keep in mind that the Wielder could create Darkvision goggles for party members utilizing "Form the Dark" if you disagree, please say why, still open to ideas and I'm new to this :smallsmile:

The_listener
2012-05-16, 05:24 PM
Finalising class, any final notes?

Necroticplague
2012-05-16, 06:47 PM
@Necroticplague: hmmm, i like it, wht level whould you recomend?



Thinking 4th, about halfway through, and on the same level as improved tendrils. Just my 2 cents.

Owrtho
2012-05-17, 12:24 PM
Well, as a fan of Top Cow! I felt it worth taking a look at this. Anyway, first from what I can tell, this seems based more off the video games than the comic. With that I wonder if there was any particular reason for that or if it was just personal preference, and if so will the Witchblade, Excalibur (if you do it), and the Angelus classes follow the comics more closely?

As for what I speak of in mentioning that the class follows the games more closely, in the comics the Darkness had no will of its own, and did exclusively what the wielder wanted it to do (possibly related to the in comic myth that placed the Darkness as representing chaos and free will, while the Angelus was order and subjugation or some such). Its even specifically noted in the Darkness Witchblade crossover that any actions the darklings are taking that seem opposed to what Jackie desires are them following his subconscious desires. The Angelus on the other hand subsumes the will and personality of the host soon after entering them. The Witchblade in turn is closer to what you represent here (as is the depiction of the Darkness in the games):
At least until Jackie uses the Darkness to pull out the black heart of the Witchblade in the Darkness Witchblade crossover rendering it docile.

Other As for other things I noticed, the Darkness is only wielded by men, and seems to ensure that the host always bears male children:The two exceptions being Jackie's twin sister, and Jackie's daughter who for reasons I won't go into also resulted in him not passing on the darkness when it temporarily controlled him to conceive her. Similarly all examples of women making use of the powers of the darkness have special situations allowing it:Jackie's grandmother was fatally wounded while pregnant with his father, she gained some of the Darkness' power when it healed her to ensure his birth.
Apolonia Franchetti used a wish granting artefact to gain them.
Jackie's twin sister seems to have some on account of being twins.

On a minor note, you have an opening parenthesis in YOU ARE MINE! where there should be a closing one.

You should go into more detail on the creation of Darklings. Do they use class levels, do they just gain HD, are there limits on how the HD may be divided between them, etc.?

All said though, on the whole the class seems nice.

Owrtho

The_listener
2012-05-17, 04:33 PM
Thank you for the long review Owrtho :smallsmile: In short, I was trying to replicate the comics abilities slightly more than the game abilities (besides being a massive fan of both), but found that the powers granted within the comics to be far more difficult to pin down mechanics wise. After all, how can one fully describe the infinite abilities of the Darkness?
However as I have said I am new to the creation of prestige classes so would love to hear your ideas on the matter :smallbiggrin:

I must admit that my addition of The Darkness's will as a mechanic was built around a balancing issue in my mind, in addition I wanted to replicate the subtle whispers of The Darkness in comics, urging Jackie (and other wielders) to open themselves to the Darkness and simply wreak chaos and destruction on the world.

The Wielder bearing only male children seems as more of a fluff issue, but will however be noted within the requirements, as for women wielders, I have decided to avoid this.

I will go back and edit the Darkling passage, I had a feeling i needed to elaborate more :smallsmile:

Also, I am currently working on a prestige class based around The Angelus and am curious if you have any ideas on class features?

Looking forward to a response :smallbiggrin:

EDIT: Darkling Changes are up.

Debihuman
2012-05-17, 05:58 PM
I am assuming this is an NPC class since most PCs cannot qualify (starting age is too low for most races).

How much strength does a tendril have and can it be severed? The save DC shouldn't be in the chart since you have it in the text but it doesn't say what a successful save does. And you can lose the brackets too. Also, you forgot to mention what the strength of a tendril is and how many hit points it has.

Your text needs a bit of proofreading:

Tendrils (Su): While you are in the dark as a Standard Action, you can summon an incredibly strong a fanged and clawed tentacle to eviscerate your opponents and lift objects. At 6th level, you gain a second tentacle. The tentacles have a reach of 15 feet but threaten all spaces within those 15 feet. The reach increased to 20 feet at 4th level and to 25 feet at 8th level . The tentacles have a strength score equal to the wielder's strength score plus 1 for each level of wielder class he or she possesses. The tendrils count as natural weapons. Tendrils deal damage according to the ambient light levels surrounding the target. Consult the following table for damage before adding strength modifiers. The tendrils also act as grabbing implements, allowing the wielder to hold objects with them, as well as throw them at others as a ranged attack. Tendrils can deal either slashing, bludgeoning or piercing damage as the wielder sees fit. If the tendrils throw an object it has the same range as the tendril. A 15 foot tendril has a throwing range of 15 feet.

Debby

The_listener
2012-05-17, 06:14 PM
Thank you very much Debbie :smallsmile: I will alter the Text appropriately :smallsmile: I shall add in that Tendrils can be severed, but I am unsure on health, Perhaps Hp equal to double the wielders class level...

Also, whereas the Class is based around NPC use, it is usable with Dm consent as with all classes.

Again thank you very much for the proof-read :smallbiggrin:

Debihuman
2012-05-18, 09:51 AM
I think YOU ARE MINE! is poorly named. Using all caps and punctuation is poor form for special abilities. I know many that do this, but it makes me think it is a joke ability and not one to take seriously. Discretionary abilities should not be left to DM's choice for a PC.

Make it a static save to see if the PC commits an evil act and if he does, then let him make another save to see if his alignment changes. The DC for a suggestion spell is normally 10 + spell's level + caster's charisma but I think since the Darkness is sentient, that the DC should be based on the Darkness' charisma (18 should be sufficient). The DC would then be 10 +3 +4 or 17. Basing the save on the wielder's scores only hurts those with high modifiers which seems inherently unfair. Since you want the Darkness to be really powerful, how about these changes:


Overwhelmed By Darkness (Su) :Although many feel the power of The Darkness is theirs to control, they forget that The Darkness is an ageless, evil, sentient being that seeks to corrupt the soul of its host. Once per day, the wielder must succeed on Will save (DC 17) or be coerced by the Darkness into committing an evil act. If the wielder fails his Will save, he must then make a second Will save (DC 17) or be moved one step closer toward chaotic evil alignment. Once a wielder attains chaotic evil alignment, the alignment may never be altered by mundane or magical means.

What happens if the wielder gains a template that changes his alignment?

One more thing seems necessary. Since the wielder is killed by The Darkness once the wielder sires a son, can he be raised or resurrected? If not, you should make that clear. You could theoretically have an ex-wielder of the darkness in a campaign. I'm not sure what the significance, if any, would be.

Debby

The_listener
2012-05-20, 05:27 PM
I do like that idea, thank you Debihuman :)
As for Resurrection, yes it's possible, but I think the character would lose all levels in wielder....

AlexanderRM
2012-05-22, 05:10 PM
FYI, you left in the reference to "YOU ARE MINE" under "One with the darkness", need to change that as well.
Also IMHO, 1/day will saves seem a bit frequent, even for 2 saves to avoid going another step; I know nothing about the comics, but this gives me the impression of a much slower slide. I also LOVE the idea of it striking at a moment of weakness; that needs to be in there.




To counter their light weakness, they could get some scaling form of darkness sla that they are able to see through, or maybe something like


Hmm. to The_listener, if you're considering this, might I suggest the See In Darkness ability of Devils? Or for a more conventional route, Blindsight... but I'd say definitely go with See In Darkness even if they don't get a Darkness SLA. Now that I think about it it doesn't seem right for darkness to interfere with their senses at all, since for the most part they get weaker in light. At least at higher levels; maybe they could first gain Darkvision 60 ft, then 120 ft or w/e, and then See In Darkness. I'd go with something like 5th level, don't make them wait too long.

For that matter... hmm. You could do that without the class ability by giving them levels in Warlock beforehand (Darkness + Devil's Sight is already a well-known combo for Warlocks just for the advantage of being able to see when your enemies can't).





Finally, The Darkness is not a giving entity in any way, so it handing out bonuses to party members could break the fluff, but in some situations, keep in mind that the Wielder could create Darkvision goggles for party members utilizing "Form the Dark" if you disagree, please say why, still open to ideas and I'm new to this :smallsmile:

Ah... interesting. I'd suggest specifically noting this under Improved Form The Dark or whatever grants them that, maybe even noting a new type of item that grants Devil's Sight, if that's intended as a potential use. Just to make it clear that it's OK for them not to inconvenience their allies that way.

Actually... if they and their allies can see in darkness, and they or one of their allies can cast Darkness or Deeper Darkness (not so hard to do), this seems like it might actually be pretty darn powerful. I suppose it would be harder to pull off outside of dungeons, or at least it feels that way. Also if people found about about the weakness, casting Daylight, even twice (to counter the darkness spell and then produce light) is a simple matter. It's certainly a very interesting balance dynamic; not a normal class. It's cool though.