"A good many things go around in the dark besides Sandy Claws." [3.5 Prestige Class]

[Temotei]

Ho-Ho-Horror

I'm a master of fright, and a demon of light, and I'll scare you right out of your pants.
-- Jack Skellington, ho-ho-horror

Deep in the night, he's looking to scare.
He's the ho-ho-horror, beware!
Laughing at your misfortune,
he'll make sure you get your portion.
Gifting and crafting and crafting and gifting,
in your bed you shall be shifting.
Beware of the ho-ho-horror,
or you'll be poorer and sorer than ever bef-ho-ho-ho-ore-er.

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements
To qualify to become a ho-ho-horror, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Skills: Craft (trinkets) 5 ranks, Handle Animal 3 ranks, Profession (gifter) 5 ranks.
Special: Must be able to cast hideous laughter.

Class Skills: The ho-ho-horror's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spot (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier

HO-HO-HORROR


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Spells


1st
+0
+2
+0
+0
Eschew Materials, gifts, HO-HO-HORROR
+1 level of existing spellcasting class


2nd
+1
+3
+0
+0
Special ability
+1 level of existing spellcasting class


3rd
+2
+3
+1
+1
Horrific humor translates perfectly
+1 level of existing spellcasting class


4th
+3
+4
+1
+1
Horrific holidays to all, special ability
+1 level of existing spellcasting class


5th
+3
+4
+1
+1
And to all a good-nightmare!
-



Class Features
All of the following are class features of the ho-ho-horror.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Ho-ho-horrors gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Eschew Materials: A ho-ho-horror gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat. In addition, this feat applies to crafting. If the material cost of crafting an item would be 1 gold piece or less, the ho-ho-horror ignores the cost.

Gifts (Ex): One of the ho-ho-horror's signature abilities is crafting gifts in almost no time. When using Craft (trinkets), the time to craft an item is one day per Craft check instead of one week per check. This cost of crafting the trinket remains the same. In addition, once per day as a free action, the ho-ho-horror can craft a trinket instantly and for free. If the ho-ho-horror attempts to sell this trinket, it explodes in his face, dealing 1d6 force damage.

After crafting a trinket, the ho-ho-horror can gift the trinket to a single creature as a standard action. The gift seems normal until opened, at which point the trinket scares the opener, forcing a Will save of DC 10 + class levels + Cha modifier. If the scare succeeds, the opener is shaken for 2 rounds. A creature that receives a gift immediately opens it at no action cost.

Finally, the ho-ho-horror gains a +4 competence bonus on all Craft (trinkets) checks and can take 10 on Craft (trinkets) and Profession (gifter) checks even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so.

HO-HO-HORROR: Ho-ho-horrors laugh and laugh, but their laughs spread no joy. Whenever a ho-ho-horror casts hideous laughter, he can laugh instead of casting it normally, ignoring the somatic components. In addition, every level in ho-ho-horror adds one creature to the maximum number of creatures that can be affected by hideous laughter (all of which must be within 30 feet of the original target).

Special Ability: At 2nd level and again at 4th level, a ho-ho-horror gains a special ability of his choice from among the following options.


Instant Crafter (Ex): The ho-ho-horror can craft 1 + Cha modifier trinkets per day as a free action and for free instead of just one. In addition, the ho-ho-horror's competence bonus on Craft (trinkets) checks rises to +8.

Master of Laughter: The ho-ho-horror gains two additional spell slots for hideous laughter per day. These spell slots cannot be used for any other spell. The spell slots are of the same level as hideous laughter, but may be modified by metamagic as per the usual.

Regifter (Ex): Once per encounter, the ho-ho-horror can regift a single trinket he gave to a creature after it succeeds on its saving throw against being shaken, forcing the creature to make another save. Alternatively, the ho-ho-horror can regift the trinket to a different creature within 10 feet. If the ho-ho-horror is 4th level, regifting affects all creatures within 30 feet of the opener.

Ubiquitous Laughter (Sp): Once per encounter, when a ho-ho-horror casts hideous laughter, he can affect allies as well as enemies, as long as his allies are within 30 feet of the original target. The ho-ho-horror can still only affect a number of creatures equal to 1 + class levels. Instead of negative effects from laughter, affected allies gain a heroism effect for the duration.

Wall of Humor (Su): Once per encounter, when a ho-ho-horror casts hideous laughter, he can create a wall of pure laughter within close range (25 + 5 feet/2 levels) instead of affecting specific targets. This wall is 30 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 30 feet tall and lasts for Cha modifier rounds (minimum 1). Any creature that enters a square with the wall of humor is affected by hideous laughter, though this does not affect creatures within 30 feet of the creature as a ho-ho-horrors usual hideous laughter does. The wall may be created in squares in which creatures already are. A Will saving throw is allowed, as usual.

Feat: A ho-ho-horror may choose a bonus feat instead of taking a special ability.

Horrific Humor Translates Perfectly: At 3rd level, a ho-ho-horror's hideous laughter ignores the bonus to saves a creature of a different type gets.

At 5th level, it ignores immunity to mind-affecting effects and can affect creatures with Intelligence scores of 2 or lower.

Horrific Holidays to All: At 4th level, whenever a ho-ho-horror gifts a trinket to a creature, the scare it gives affects all creatures within 30 feet of the opener, subjecting them to the saving throw as well. In addition, the duration of the scare is now Cha modifier rounds for all affected creatures unless 2 rounds would be more.

And to All a Good-Nightmare: At 5th level, a ho-ho-horror can wish everyone a good-night once per day as a full-round action. Any creature that hears this wish within 30 feet dies unless it succeeds on a Will saving throw of DC 20 + Cha modifier. If a creature succeeds on this saving throw, the creature falls asleep for 1 round, suffering from vivid nightmares during this sleep. The ho-ho-horror can specify which creatures are affected (such as all enemies).

[Xallace]

Wow do I want to play one. You did fantastically. I'll come back when I get the chance to pick through and give some more thorough criticism.

[Omnicrat]

The wording in master of laughter implies the two extra spell slots could be of any level. In theory, this could be abused to give a ridiculously high level spell slot holding hideous laughter with tons of metamagic feats placed on it.

Also, And to all a Good-Nightmare is a better name for the capstone.

[Vauron]

My concern is the friendly fire possibilities of the capstone.

[Debihuman]

Nice Prestige Class but it could use a little work to make it sparkle for the holidays.

Gifts Special Ability could use a bit of tweaking.

1st, specify how much time exactly it takes to craft a trinket. It seems that according to the Craft skill, it takes one week to craft an item (even a silly trinket would need some time to create). 1/10th of one week is an odd time. I recommend that you change to 1 day instead of one week.

2nd, you still need to set the DC of trinket. Since these are cheap and easy to make the DC would be 5 although you state the ho-ho-horror automatically succeeds at this. I find that a little silly since it seems there should be some chance of failure. Plus, you later give them a competence bonus on their craft skill, which they don't need if they auto-succeed.

Rather than auto-success, I'd give the ho-ho-horror a +4 competence bonus to craft (trinket) and allow the ho-ho-horror to take 10 even if he is threatened or distracted. Normally the craft skill requires the crafter to pay the cost (1/3 of the item's price). The most the ho-ho-horror would be paying for an item is 16 gp 5 sp in any case. Eliminating the cost is fine but he must still have the materials.

Is the creature who receives the gift compelled in any way to open it immediately? Seem like this would be a mind-affecting ability and should a allow a Will save to resist.

Ho-Ho-Horror is the name of the class and I recommend that you change the special ability of of the same to name to something else to avoid confusion. If you are stuck for a name, may I suggest Ho-Ho-Horror's Hideous Laughter.

Okay calling your "Special Ability" by that name is redundant and not terribly evocative. I recommend changing it. The bonus feat just feels tacked on and required no thought at all. At least you could have limited to a choice of 4 to 6 feats.

Since I previously suggested changes to how craft should work, you'd also have change Instant Crafter. It didn't make sense to give the ho-ho-horror a competence bonus here when he didn't need it in the first place the way you had it.

Rewording this might be useful.

[I]Instant Crafter (Ex): The ho-ho-horror can craft a number of trinkets per day equal to his charisma modifier +1 as a free action. His competence bonus to Craft (trinkets) increases to +6.

I think you need to reword Horrific Humor Translates Perfectly. Mindless creatures, Oozes and Vermin probably shouldn't be affected.

Horrific Humor Translates Perfectly: At 3rd level a ho-ho-horror's hideous laughter laughter becomes more comprehensible to others. A creature whose type is different from the ho-ho-horror's loses its +4 bonus on its saving throw. At 5th level, creatures who are immune to mind-affecting effects and those with Intelligence of 2 or less can now be affected by the ho-ho-horror's hideous laughter, except for Mindless creatures, Oozes and Vermin.

Debby

[Mystic Muse]

For another reference to Nightmare Before Christmas, you could use the title "A good many things go around in the dark besides Sandy Claws."

Don't have any helpful critique for the homebrew itself, other than that it does seem a little too prone to friendly fire.

[Temotei]

Lots of posts since last night. Phew. Good. :smallsmile:


Wow do I want to play one. You did fantastically. I'll come back when I get the chance to pick through and give some more thorough criticism.

Cool beans. Thanks.


The wording in master of laughter implies the two extra spell slots could be of any level. In theory, this could be abused to give a ridiculously high level spell slot holding hideous laughter with tons of metamagic feats placed on it.

Also, And to all a Good-Nightmare is a better name for the capstone.

Huh. I thought I had edited that. Must have fallen asleep or something. Thanks for pointing that out.

Agreed. I like it.


My concern is the friendly fire possibilities of the capstone.

Yeah, maybe I should change that.


1st, specify how much time exactly it takes to craft a trinket. It seems that according to the Craft skill, it takes one week to craft an item (even a silly trinket would need some time to create). 1/10th of one week is an odd time. I recommend that you change to 1 day instead of one week.

That sounds good to me.


2nd, you still need to set the DC of trinket. Since these are cheap and easy to make the DC would be 5 although you state the ho-ho-horror automatically succeeds at this. I find that a little silly since it seems there should be some chance of failure. Plus, you later give them a competence bonus on their craft skill, which they don't need if they auto-succeed.

The ho-ho-horror only auto-succeeds on its free trinket per day. To give more than one gift per day, he has to make more, making the Craft check every time, which also takes time itself. Besides, if the DC was 5 he auto-succeeds anyway since a roll of 1 on skill checks isn't a failure if you still meet the DC (because he needs 5 ranks in it anyway).


Rather than auto-success, I'd give the ho-ho-horror a +4 competence bonus to craft (trinket) [it makes having this skill worth something at least] and allow the ho-ho-horror to take 10 even if he is threatened or distracted. Normally the craft skill requires the crafter to pay the cost (1/3 of the item's price). The most the ho-ho-horror would be paying for an item is 16 gp 5 sp in any case. Eliminating the cost is fine but he must still have the materials.

I agree with a higher bonus rather than an auto-success. Taking 10 while threatened or distracted seems really unnecessary (it's Craft), but whatever. It might come up in some twisted game, which this would probably fit right into. :smalltongue:

Eh. Requiring the materials but not the cost is weird. Santa doesn't need materials! He's magic! BOOM TOYS is his style when he needs it to be. :smallcool:


Is the creature who receives the gift compelled in any way to open it immediately? Seem like this would be a mind-affecting ability and should a allow a Will save to resist.

They're forced to open it. Giving them another Will save to resist would be annoying since that gives them another chance to avoid it. One save should be enough to avoid the shaken condition. If that bothers, one can always refluff it to be that the ho-ho-horror opens it for the target like a naughty person.


Ho-Ho-Horror is the name of the class and I recommend that you change the special ability of of the same to name to something else to avoid confusion. If you are stuck for a name, may I suggest Ho-Ho-Horror's Hideous Laughter.

The ability is in all caps and is only referred to as such in the table and as a name of the ability. It's a modifier for hideous laughter, so it doesn't need to be referred to again, really. I don't see where the confusion would come in.


Okay calling your "Special Ability" by that name is redundant and not terribly evocative. I recommend changing it. The bonus feat just feels tacked on and required no thought at all. At least you could have limited to a choice of 4 to 6 feats.

"Feat" is pretty much always a choice under Special Ability, a feature for a few classes (such as the rogue) that allows choices. The actual special ability you choose is the name of the special ability (such as Instant Crafter or Master of Laughter). On limiting the feat choices: I thought about giving the Item Creation feats as choices (along with Skill Focus (Craft (trinkets)) and Skill Focus (Profession (gifter))), but I decided that a more general choice would be fine. If you disagree a lot, some reasoning behind that would make a good discussion.


Since I previously suggested changes to how craft should work, you'd also have change Instant Crafter. It didn't make sense to give the ho-ho-horror a competence bonus here when he didn't need it in the first place the way you had it.

Yus. Changes will have to be made to that if Gifts is changed.


I think you need to reword Horrific Humor Translates Perfectly. Mindless creatures, Oozes and Vermin probably shouldn't be affected.

Well, first, oozes and vermin are mindless, so that would be redundant. Second, that was kind of the point of the ability. It's a passive capstone and part of the reason you lose a caster level at 5th.


For another reference to Nightmare Before Christmas, you could use the title "A good many things go around in the dark besides Sandy Claws."

Don't have any helpful critique for the homebrew itself, other than that it does seem a little too prone to friendly fire.

The original quote is from Herbert Hoover, though modifying it a little would be fine, I think.

Thanks, everyone. I'll see what I can do in the next few minutes.

EDIT: Changes have been made. I also added in Eschew Materials that if crafting materials cost 1 gp or less, the ho-ho-horror ignores that cost entirely. It'll likely never come up, but it's flavorful.

Also, got permission for a nice image from D3RX. Yus. :smallcool: