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View Full Version : The Madcaller [3.5 Prestige Class, WIP / PEACH]



Palanan
2013-10-08, 11:33 PM
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"Just look at those silky tentacles, those glistening membranes, the lovely sheen of that exudate. Isn't she beautiful?"



The Madcaller

Far beyond the frigid heavens, past the rising curls of smoke from the dim candle of reality, unfold realms past all comprehension of mortal minds, sustained and permeated by entities already old when bone-dead worlds were new. Bizarre beyond understanding, implacably indifferent to the fragile motes of the human sphere, these ur-beings drift among the caliginous shoals of otherwhere, lost in primordial contemplation.

And always there are mortals--those vain, driven, half-mad few--who, once having learned that such far-realms exist, long to reach out and partake of their essence, craving profound secrets and, most foolishly, contact with their bearers, conduits to their power, ascension to their state.

These fools almost always perish, minds flayed wide by a flicker of attention from powers they thought to contain. But rarely, ever so rarely, one slightly less foolish, more circumspect in his aims and more diligent in his researches, makes a careful contact with some bit of aberrant froth flung up from the foaming shores of pseudoreality--and discovers the merest sliver of a pathway leading forward. What would turn a strong man's stomach only piques the madcaller's curiosity; and once having tasted the tang of an alien mind--if only for an instant--he is drawn ever, inexorably on.

Hit Die: d4.

Requirements

Before taking the first steps through the diaphanous veils of reality, a character must fulfill the following:
Alignment: any nonlawful.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 8 ranks.
Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration)
Spells: Able to cast at least one summoning spell of third level or higher.
Special: Must have made peaceful contact with an aberration or another madcaller.

Class Skills
The madcaller's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.


Table 1.1: The Madcaller

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Aberration summoning, aberration empathy|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Mad whispers, chthonic taint|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Aberrant familiar, aberrant tongues|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Wild rift 60', madlore|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Madness worm, unimpressed|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Deeper chthonic taint, wild rift 80', aberrant tongue|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Insidious whispers, othermind|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|The Madness Place, wild rift 100'|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Insane clarity, aberrant tongue|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Pseudomortality, spontaneous summoning, wild rift 120'|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]


Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Madcallers gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: The madcaller follows the spell progression rules for a typical full-casting prestige class.

Aberration Summoning: As an obsessive specialist in far-contact, the madcaller disdains ordinary summoning, instead learning to call a variety of aberrations for study, admiration, and occasionally more pragmatic uses. When casting any Summon Monster spell, the madcaller draws on the alternate list of summoned aberrations presented in Table 1.2. (For convenience this is referred to as Summon Aberration, but the mechanics of the spell remain the same.) A madcaller forsakes the ability to summon conventional monsters from the standard list.

Table 1.2: Aberration Summoning Options

Summon Aberration I
{table=head] Creature | Source
beholder eyeball | MoF p. 23
mindshredder larva | MM3 p. 102
tsochar strand | LoM p. 125
[/table]

Summon Aberration II
{table=head] Creature | Source
choker | MM1 p. 34
lurking strangler | MM3 p. 100
saltor | LoM p. 155
[/table]

Summon Aberration III
{table=head] Creature | Source
fihyr | MM2 p. 100
grell | LoM p. 107
grick | MM1 p. 139
runehound | MM3 p. 145
[/table]

Summon Aberration IV
{table=head] Creature | Source
carrion crawler | MM1 p. 30
mindshredder warrior | MM3 p. 103
otyugh | MM1 p. 204
tsochar | LoM p. 121
[/table]

Summon Aberration V
{table=head] Creature | Source
gibbering mouther | LoM p. 149
kigrid | LoM p. 154
nyth | MoF p. 68
wyste | MM2 p. 200
[/table]

Summon Aberration VI
{table=head] Creature | Source
chuul | MM1 p. 35
darktentacles | MM2 p. 54
hook horror | MM2 p. 126
[/table]

Summon Aberration VII
{table=head] Creature | Source
cildabrin | LoM p. 141
destrachan | MM1 p. 49
embrac | LoM p. 153
stonesinger | MM3 p. 168
[/table]

Summon Aberration VIII
{table=head] Creature | Source
hound o' gloom | LoM p. 152
[/table]

Summon Aberration IX
{table=head] Creature | Source
avolakia | MM2 p. 28
mooncalf | MM2 p. 150
[/table]


Key to Sources:

LoM Lords of Madness
MoF Magic of Faerūn
MM1-5 Monster Manual 1-5

Aberration Empathy (Ex): With hissing gurgles, spastic gestures and a weirdly distorted posture, a madcaller can improve the attitude of an aberration as if making a Diplomacy check. The madcaller rolls 1d20 and adds both his arcane character level (madcaller levels plus levels in any other arcane classes) and his Intelligence modifier to determine his aberration empathy check result.

To use this ability, the madcaller and the aberration must be within 30 feet of each other under normal conditions--although given the subjects involved, "normal" is open to interpretation. Aberrations typically have a starting attitude of unfriendly.

In addition, the madcaller gains a +4 bonus on the save DC whenever he casts Charm Monster on an aberration.

Regrettably, the madcaller's intuitive bond with aberrations comes at a cost to his interactions with mortals of his own kind. At first level, the madcaller takes a -2 penalty on all Charisma-based skill checks. This penalty increases by -2 with each new level of madcaller, with a cumulative penalty of -20 by tenth level.

Mad Whispers (Su): At second level, the madcaller's increasingly bold inquiries into the nature of otherthought begin to open tiny fissures in his psyche, through which the faintest echoes of inhuman minds begin to coldly percolate. This provides certain insights, but at an insidious cost. A madcaller gains +1 caster level to all divination spells, but also incurs a -4 penalty to all Wisdom-based skill checks.

Chthonic Taint (Su): The madcaller's near-constant exposure to otherworldly energies has begun to affect his mortal form. He gains a +5 circumstance bonus to Fortitude saves vs. sleep and paralysis effects, but any healing spell or potion heals 2 points less per die than it otherwise would. (As an example, a third-level cleric casting Cure Moderate Wounds might ordinarily heal 12 points of damage, but for the madcaller only 8 points of healing would be applied.)

Aberrant Familiar: By third level, the madcaller has allowed his mind to drift long enough in the great seas of far-reality (if only on their merest surface layers) that his brain has become permeated by the alien tendrils of otherthought. This in turn permits him to achieve deep bonds of what, with other creatures, might be called empathy, but which in the madcaller's case involve the beginnings of mutual comprehension with a compatible aberration.

As a result, if he so chooses, the madcaller may dismiss his current familiar (if any) without any negative consequences, and instead summon any of the aberrations available to him through Summon Aberration I. During a 24-hour ritual, the details of which are both incomprehensible and best left undescribed, the madcaller bonds the aberration to him as if it were one of the additional familiar options granted by the Improve Familiar feat. (Note it is not necessary for the madcaller to take the Improve Familiar feat; this class feature serves the same purpose.)

For the ritual to be successful, the madcaller must spend twelve hours in secluded meditation, during which he must not eat, sleep, cast spells, move from his location, speak with other humanoids or be disturbed in any other fashion, apart from the increasing mental disturbance of his chosen career path. At the end of this twelve-hour period, the madcaller must cast Summon Aberration I to call his familiar, and spend the next twelve hours in equally rigorous seclusion to complete the bonding process.

Aberrant Tongues (Ex): At third level, and every three levels thereafter, the madcaller learns one bonus language by dint of increasing exposure to the thought patterns of utterly alien minds. The madcaller may choose from the following inhuman tongues: Aboleth, Avolakia, Beholder, Grell, Runehound, Stonesinger, and Tsochar. A madcaller who speaks the native language of an aberration gains a +2 circumstance bonus on Aberrant Empathy checks when dealing with that aberration.

Although it is by no means their native tongue, many aberrations also understand or even speak Undercommon, and the madcaller may select this as a bonus language as well. The madcaller gains no bonus to Aberrant Empathy from using this language.

Wild Rift (Su): By fourth level, the uncanny distortions of the madcaller's trade affect not only himself, but a fluctuating zone of reality around him. Whenever a summoning spell is cast by another individual within a radius of 60 feet of the madcaller, there is a 40% chance that the intended creature is replaced by an aberration of equal strength from the madcaller's summoning list. This uninvited guest, however, is not under the control of either the madcaller or the unsuspecting caster, although the madcaller may attempt to use any of his usual methods to improve the aberration's attitude.

A spellcaster who is aware of this effect--either from past experience or, far less likely, an explanation from the madcaller--may make a Spellcraft check (as a free action while casting) to ensure the intended creature is actually summoned. The DC of this check is 10 plus the madcaller's arcane character level.

At fifth level the chance of an unexpected aberration increases to 50%, and this continues to rise by 10% for each additional madcaller level. At sixth level the wild zone extends to an 80-foot radius around the madcaller; it further widens to 100 feet at eighth level and reaches a 120-ft. radius at tenth level.

Madlore (Ex): At fourth level, the madcaller gains some degree of control over the sporadic flashes of insight which so often stab through his mind. Once per day per madcaller level, he may make a madlore check (with a bonus equal to his character level plus his Intelligence modifier) to see whether he gleans some crucial tidbit of vanished knowledge from sources best not pondered. This ability otherwise functions as bardic knowledge.

Madness Worm (Su): At fifth level, the madcaller may make an unarmed touch attack to infect his target with a fragment of hungry, writhing otherthought. The target must make a Will save (DC 20 + the madcaller's arcane character level) or suffer a progressive Wisdom penalty, dealing 1 point of Wisdom damage per minute for a total Wisdom damage equal to the madcaller levels the attacker possesses. The madcaller gains a number of daily uses equal to his Intelligence modifier.

The same target cannot be affected more than once by this attack in a single 24-hour period. The madness worm has no effect on constructs, elementals, incorporeal creatures, outsiders or undead of any kind, but a successful touch attack against such a target still expends one daily use of this ability.

A character attempting to cast a restoration spell on a creature afflicted with a madness worm must succeed on a DC 20 caster level check, or the spell has no effect on the afflicted creature.

Unimpressed (Ex): By fifth level, the madcaller has seen far too much of distant alien horrors to take much notice of the cheap theatrics of lesser forms. The madcaller gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Will saves against fear effects.

Deeper Chthonic Taint (Su): At sixth level, the madcaller gains an immunity to sleep and paralysis effects, and a +5 circumstance bonus to Fortitude saves vs. poison, but healing magic and potions cure 4 points less per die than they otherwise would.

Insidious Whispers (Su): By seventh level, the madcaller has learned to focus his otherwise random insights into the fragile veils of reality rippling all around him. Once per day per madcaller level, he may spend one minute in quiet contemplation (some muttering and gibbering is allowed) to gain a +5 insight bonus to the next skill check he makes.

Regrettably, the madcaller's keen attention to these distant whisperings leaves him rather absent to more immediate concerns. Whenever the madcaller rolls for Initiative, he must roll a second time and take the lesser of the two results.

Othermind (Ex): At this advanced stage of his far-delvings, the workings of the madcaller's mind are so bizarre that other mortals recoil at the first taste of contact. Any attempt to penetrate the madcaller's thoughts, whether through magical or telepathic means, automatically fails for any creature without the aberration type.

The Madness Place (Ex): At eighth level, through a combination of determined effort and a decidedly unhinged mind, the madcaller may spend a full-round action to increase his Intelligence score by a number equal to 3 + his Constitution modifier. This increase may last for a number of minutes equal to his madcaller level, but he also takes one point of Wisdom damage for each minute he remains in this heightened state. As a free action, the madcaller may leave the Madness Place at any time during this duration, after which he becomes exhausted. The madcaller may use this ability only once in any 24-hour period.

Insane Clarity (Ex): By ninth level, the long descent into far-reality has left the madcaller's mind savagely distorted, but these very distortions sometimes provide fleeting instants of profound comprehension. Once per day, the madcaller may add a +20 insight bonus to any single attack roll, skill check or saving throw; this use must be declared before the roll is made.

This ability does not stack with the Mad Whispers, Insidious Whispers or Madlore class features. It will, however, stack with an Aberration Empathy check. (When you absolutely, positively have to charm every aberration in the room....)

Pseudomortality (Su): At tenth level, a madcaller's tortured mental journey culminates in a profound transformation to his body as well. His type changes to aberration, and he gains immunity to poison, disease, and all fear effects, as well as damage reduction 5/magic. Owing to these changes, the madcaller gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all Aberration Empathy checks.

However, the harmonic fabric of his body has become so fundamentally warped that it no longer responds normally to conventional healing. Healing magic now has no effect on the madcaller's pseudomortal form.

Spontaneous Summoning (Sp): By tenth level, the madcaller learns to manipulate the zone of wild-summoning which now extends far around him. Each day, the madcaller may convert a number of arcane spell slots equal to his Intelligence modifier into summoning spells of equal level. These spell slots may only be used to summon aberrations, and the number of spell slots per day cannot be altered by entering the Madness Place.



Notes:

Some months ago, I was working up several twelfth-level characters to serve as regional rulers in my last campaign. I wanted one of them to be an alienist--the most disturbing and unpredictable of the lot--but, small picky detail, I wanted him to be summoning actual aberrations. My original plan was just to work up a list of aberrations at his beck and call, and then build him as a standard alienist.

Along the way, however, I made a point-by-point comparison of the 3.0 and 3.5 versions, and in the process realized that neither of them really has much to do with aberrations at all--which to me is the core of the whole concept. There was no real thematic connection between their rather piddly class features, no sense of a slow, inexorable progression towards a state of disturbing otherness.

The campaign ended before I could introduce the alienist and his fellow rulers, so the idea slipped to one side; but one night a couple of weeks ago, walking beneath the chill distant stars, my mind lit up and the ideas started pouring out in a mad, fervent rush. It's taken a while to make it presentable, and I expect there are a great many details that still need to be worked out, but I'm at the point where I'm ready for some peaching.

Speaking of which, my main concerns are 1) that I've packed in too many class features, and 2) I might not have allocated the summoned aberrations to the appropriate spell levels. I was using the options for Summon Nature's Ally as my guide, since I'm more familiar with that list. I expect the aberrations might be a little more powerful than a conventional summoned monster of the same level, but up to a certain point I'm okay with that.

Appreciation:

Many thanks to Cipherthe3vil for her outstandingly helpful tutorial on table-making (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205677), including blank tables for nearly every combination of BAB and save progressions. What could have been a chthonic nightmare of table-formatting became an easy breeze instead.

Also, thanks to Novawurmson for generously sharing a huge list of aberrations and other creatures that he compiled. And thanks to Glyphstone, for encouraging me (a while ago) to post whatever I came up with in Homebrew.

:smalltongue:

.

Aldurin
2013-10-09, 03:54 AM
Looks good except for the fact that with the way that the healing downside works, this class becomes not at all worth it to use. The only ways to get around the immunity to healing is to convince your DM that Tomb-Tainted Soul bypasses this restriction or to have Extraordinary fast healing. DR X/magic might as well not exist at level 15 (the earliest you get that DR with this PrC), so you either have to completely avoid all damage or sit in a seal box for days while you naturally regain lost health, as the inability to heal with damage reduction that almost everything bypasses is pretty awful.

Maybe give DR X/-, but make the damage reduction also reduce incoming healing. This way the DR is worthwhile, and the healing reduction is bearable and reasonable. But as it is taking the 10th level of this is a shot in the foot.

Palanan
2013-10-09, 09:15 AM
Thanks for your comments, especially on the healing situation. In fact I thought about fast healing, but wasn't sure if it was entirely necessary; I'd been thinking a sixteenth-level wizard could probably come up with some clever workaround.

However, I agree that building the need for that into the capstone probably isn't a good approach. Fast healing sounds like a decent option, but I'm open to other ideas.

Also, is it worth keeping the DR, or should I just remove that in favor of something else? I'd wanted to include darkvision at some point, but the class features were getting a little crowded. Since darkvision is part of the aberration type, should I just add that rather than DR?

Plato Play-Doh
2013-10-09, 05:09 PM
I might replace summoning with Planar Ally or Planar Binding, which would give a real use for that Aberration Empathy. Just say that you may only call Aberrations, but you get the benefit of Aberration Empathy. Then, you could replace Spontaneous Summoning with the ability to cast Gate to call in Abberations a certain number of times a day, or something like that. I feel like that could work really well. Just a thought, do with it what you will.

Aldurin
2013-10-09, 07:08 PM
Thanks for your comments, especially on the healing situation. In fact I thought about fast healing, but wasn't sure if it was entirely necessary; I'd been thinking a sixteenth-level wizard could probably come up with some clever workaround.

However, I agree that building the need for that into the capstone probably isn't a good approach. Fast healing sounds like a decent option, but I'm open to other ideas.

Also, is it worth keeping the DR, or should I just remove that in favor of something else? I'd wanted to include darkvision at some point, but the class features were getting a little crowded. Since darkvision is part of the aberration type, should I just add that rather than DR?

Darkvision is not something fantastic to hand out, since only very few races start without it (Shadowcaster gives it at low level and everyone considers it to be not worth it). Damage reduction should be kept, because it's a reasonable incentive that can also mitigate healing in a manageable way, and fluff-wise it makes sense with the fact that the Madcaller's body is slowly being twisted into some incomprehensible form and thus does not take damage as easily as a regular person.


I might replace summoning with Planar Ally or Planar Binding, which would give a real use for that Aberration Empathy. Just say that you may only call Aberrations, but you get the benefit of Aberration Empathy. Then, you could replace Spontaneous Summoning with the ability to cast Gate to call in Abberations a certain number of times a day, or something like that. I feel like that could work really well. Just a thought, do with it what you will.

That actually makes sense for this class, and would really make this class fun for the fluff aspect of negotiating with aberrations.

Palanan
2013-10-09, 09:41 PM
Originally Posted by Plato Play-Doh
I might replace summoning with Planar Ally or Planar Binding, which would give a real use for that Aberration Empathy. Just say that you may only call Aberrations, but you get the benefit of Aberration Empathy.

Hmm. I've mainly played divine casters, and especially druids and other nature-y folk, so I'm not at all familiar with the planar spells you mention.

*flip flip flip*

--Hmm, okay. I suppose someone could make the substitution if they wanted, but it's really not the approach I was going for. Planar Ally specifically involves a higher power granting the caster's request, and the madcaller by definition is dealing with things that don't do requests.

As for Planar Binding, that makes for a lot of work on the madcaller's part, especially when compared to a simple summon spell. And the point of Planar Binding seems to be to compel long-duration service, which isn't really the madcaller's thing. It's also a spell that takes quite a while to cast (100 rounds) which limits its utility in combat.

Also, both of these are higher-level spells, and I like the idea of the madcaller being able to use even his humblest spell slots to summon a handy tsochar strand or whatnot when he needs it. As I mentioned, I'm basing this on the Summon Nature's Ally line, because that's what I'm most familiar with.

The planar suggestions are interesting, and I appreciate the idea, just not quite the direction I was thinking.


Originally Posted by Aldurin
Damage reduction should be kept, because it's a reasonable incentive that can also mitigate healing in a manageable way, and fluff-wise it makes sense with the fact that the Madcaller's body is slowly being twisted into some incomprehensible form and thus does not take damage as easily as a regular person.

Thanks, that's very much the direction I'd been originally thinking. Should I nudge the DR up to 10? At the time it seemed like too much, but given the healing issues I'm having second thoughts.

Aldurin
2013-10-09, 09:58 PM
Thanks, that's very much the direction I'd been originally thinking. Should I nudge the DR up to 10? At the time it seemed like too much, but given the healing issues I'm having second thoughts.

Maybe grant it in increments. Like DR 2/- at Cthonic Taint, DR 5/- at Deeper Cthonic Taint and DR 10/- at Pseudomortality. If you make the DR mitigate healing as well, then it makes sense for the class and acts as a balancing factor for what is toward the upper end of acceptable DR.

Palanan
2013-10-10, 07:18 AM
Originally Posted by Aldurin
Maybe grant it in increments. Like DR 2/- at Cthonic Taint, DR 5/- at Deeper Cthonic Taint and DR 10/- at Pseudomortality.

I like that idea, thanks. That does integrate it better with the healing penalties, and helps give the sense of a body that is slowly being twisted away from its humanity.



So, how does the rest of it look? Would anyone actually play this?

Zakaroth
2013-10-10, 05:13 PM
This is some nice work. It's well written, and has some cool, -fitting abilities. I can't really find any big issues, although it might be a bit powerful. It gives extra powers to already full casters. The healing penalties does off-set it somewhat, but spellcasters could just circumvent this by slipping to a private plain with a faster time-trait (and probably a lot of other gimmicky stuff). Maybe add another feat requirement? Hard to tell, but I do like the class a lot. Reading this also motivated me to finish up a Far Realm based martial discipline I have been working on for some time (just two maneuvers to go..)

To answer your question; Not sure if I would play this, but thats purely because I'm not that keen on playing a summoner. Actually, this kind of makes it tempting to try one nonetheless.

Palanan
2013-10-10, 08:46 PM
Hey there, thanks very much for the comments, I appreciate it.

To address one point:


Originally Posted by Zakaroth
...it might be a bit powerful. It gives extra powers to already full casters.

I did think of that, but apart from the healing issues, there's also a hefty penalty to all social skills and all Wisdom-based skill checks, plus the double-take effect of the two initiative rolls.

As you point out, clever folks can circumvent some of this, so it may not be perfect.

One other mild penalty I've been thinking of is a requirement to ban one extra school of magic, or possibly two extra, to reflect the madcaller's monomania on aberrations and their summoning. Any thoughts on that?

Plato Play-Doh
2013-10-11, 01:17 PM
The ban might work. Maybe you could give an additional penalty when conversing with good-aligned creatures? Maybe a smaller penalty also applies to anyone who is known to be associated with the Madcaller, since anyone who takes this class probably is allowing others to do the talking for them? That way, it would have a much more noticeable effect.

Palanan
2013-10-11, 04:34 PM
Originally Posted by Plato Play-Doh
The ban might work.

Yar, I've pretty much decided to go with banning at least one extra school, possibly two. The madcaller can't work with all those distractions. :smalltongue:


Originally Posted by Plato Play-Doh
Maybe you could give an additional penalty when conversing with good-aligned creatures? Maybe a smaller penalty also applies to anyone who is known to be associated with the Madcaller....

I've tried to avoid highlighting the good/evil axis, since the madcaller really is indifferent to that sort of thing. I also don't want to channel people into playing only Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Evil types; I think there's space for a Chaotic Good bard/madcaller, or any number of other options.

As for a penalty on known associates, I'd definitely slap that on people in my own campaign, but it would probably be a DM-specific call.

Zakaroth
2013-10-12, 08:14 AM
One other mild penalty I've been thinking of is a requirement to ban one extra school of magic, or possibly two extra, to reflect the madcaller's monomania on aberrations and their summoning. Any thoughts on that?

That could work. Conjuration, Divination, Illusion and Transmutation all kind of fit the Far Realm theme. So, I would say necromancy, because it manipulates life energy, which seems to be something this class is fairly distant from. My second pick would be enchantment, I think.. not to sure though.

Palanan
2013-10-12, 09:44 PM
I think one additional banned school would work, a lį the 3.5 Incantatrix. Apart from making sure it's not Conjuration, I probably won't specify a particular school for banning, although I do agree that necro would be a good choice to lose.

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

AttilaTheGeek
2013-10-13, 08:29 AM
Under Aberration Empathy, why does becoming more connected to abberations penalize all Cha- based skills? Use Magic Device, for example, shouln't be penalized, or, at least, it wouldn't make sense to do so. I'd specify just Bluff and Diplomacy, and maybe Intimidate. I am of the opinion that it should give a bonus to Intimidate instead of a penalty, but that's your call.

Mad Whispers is cool. It doesn't do much, and that's a good thing. It's a small mechanical effect meant to give meaning to the fluff, which is great, because I really like that fluff.

Chthonic Taint, in the same vein, is also cool. Grammatically, it should read "2 fewer points per die", but that's just a nitpick. How does that affect being hit by negative energy? Does it make it also harder to be hurt by negative energy, or easier? Also, you might want to give a percent chance for sneak attacks and crits to fail as your anatomy becomes stranger, cumulating in immunity as the capstone.

My first reaction after reading Aberrant familiar is "man, that's great writing". Just the fluff of it- this class is fantastically cool. I feel like I should have more to say about it, but it seems like a natural extension of the class's descent into madness.

Aberrant Tongues is also just plain cool. Perhaps, instead of learning a new language every three levels thereafter, the madcaller could instead have the option to instead study the culture and lifestyle of a group of aberrations whose language he already knows, giving a bonus to empathy with them instead of learning another language.

Wild Rift is incredibly awesome. That's just so cool! I don't even know what to say about it, maybe the DC could be raised, but I can see a Madcaller going up against an army of conjurers and then having their own summons turn on them. Man, that's just awesome.

Madlore is confusing, because I don't know the rules for bardic knowledge off the top of my head. I could look them up, which I am, but it would be easier for anyone reading your class just to copy over the text of bardic knowledge and adapt it.

Why is the DC for Madness Worm 20 + level? Shouldn't it be 10 + (equivalent spell level, which can be 10) + Intelligence? I'd also reword it for clarity to "...or suffer a progressive Wisdom penalty, dealing 1 point of Wisdom damage per minute for a number of minute equal to the madcaller's level".

Unimpressed seems fine. The fact that it's a nearly irrelevant bonus is counteracted by the fact that it's a really big bonus.

Deeper Chthonic Taint, like Chthonic Taint, should read "4 fewer points per die" for grammar, but other than that seems fine.

Insidious Whispers seems like a great example of what you're doing with the entire class. It's easy to say "full spellcasting, a bunch of class features, and not difficult entry requirements? Overpowered!", but almost every class feature actually has a drawback that goes with it to keep it from being too powerful. I like that!

Othermind is cool. Like Aberrant Familiar, it seems only natural that this would happen. Perhaps, as a capstone, the madcaller could make anyone who tries to enter their mind feebleminded, just like some bigger aberrations do? You could also say "attempts to penetrate the madcaller's mind have a 15% per madcaller level chance to fail, until the madcaller becomes completely immune at 7th level".

Madness Place is... interesting! I would have thought you'd fluff it as "connecting his mind to the darkest voids of space, where eldritch abominations guard ancient knowledge too terrible for a mortal mind". Or something like that, with the idea that the madcaller is connecting to a literal place of madness.

Insane Clarity is really strong. After reading the rest of the class features, I expected it to have a downside, but I'm not sure what I'd put for it.

And, finally, Pseudomortality. A +4 empathy bonus seems almost redundant because of all the other bonuses to it, but that's no excuse to weaken a capstone. DR 5/magic seems weak, very weak. By that level, 5 damage is nothing, and pretty much every weapon is magic. I'd raise it to DR 10/Lawful and regeneration 10, or, actually, regeneration 20 would be even better. Fluffed as being able to grow new tentacular appendages faster than they can be cut off, that would be a much stronger capstone. (Don't forget a huge Intimidate bonus!) As is, having the capstone is almost worse than not having it.

Last, but not least, Spontaneous Summoning. I am of the opinion that this should just be given earlier, because it's really what the class is all about.

Grinner
2013-10-13, 09:23 AM
To beat the dead horse, that is some fine prose. I can't speak for the mechanics, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Zakaroth
2013-10-13, 04:46 PM
I agree with AttilaTheGeek on the Spontaneous Summoning part, this could come earlier. As a capstone ability you could maybe make a sort of aberrant variation of Control Undead spell. Maybe it could even affect all aberrations within the Wild Rift area.

Palanan
2013-10-13, 08:30 PM
Thanks for the additional comments, guys, and especially to AttilaTheGeek for the point-by-point analysis, it's very much appreciated. A few comments below:


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
I am of the opinion that it should give a bonus to Intimidate instead of a penalty, but that's your call.

In fact, I'd thought about giving the madcaller some sort of bonus to Intimidate, but I set it aside in the sketching stage and never came back to it. I'll give that a second look.

As for UMD...that completely went past me. I'm assuming that wizards, sorcerers and maybe bards would be the most common entrants to the class, so the need to protect UMD never occurred to me. Hmm.


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
Chthonic Taint, in the same vein, is also cool. Grammatically, it should read "2 fewer points per die", but that's just a nitpick.

Ahh, thank you. I have a really hard time writing the text for game mechanics, and sometimes it comes out really stilted. --And then, sometimes it comes out plain wrong.

:smallredface:


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
My first reaction after reading Aberrant familiar is "man, that's great writing". Just the fluff of it- this class is fantastically cool. I feel like I should have more to say about it, but it seems like a natural extension of the class's descent into madness.

Thank you, indeed. I really enjoyed writing it, although sometimes I'd end up creeping myself out. Sometimes I came up with images I did not set down.

:smalleek:


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
Perhaps, instead of learning a new language every three levels thereafter, the madcaller could instead have the option to instead study the culture and lifestyle of a group of aberrations whose language he already knows, giving a bonus to empathy with them instead of learning another language.

Outstanding idea. I'll have to think about how I want to implement that, but I really like that approach.

One thing that hampers the Aberrant Tongues feature is how few aberration languages there are to work with. I went through five and a half monster manuals and those were all the ones I could come up with. A lot of times the monster designers apparently just said, "Eh, it's creepy and lives in dark places, let's give it Undercommon." I'm not sure why creatures from the far reaches of primordial chaos would even want to know Undercommon. What does an aberration have to say to a gnome, anyway?


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
Madlore is confusing, because I don't know the rules for bardic knowledge off the top of my head. I could look them up, which I am, but it would be easier for anyone reading your class just to copy over the text of bardic knowledge and adapt it.

Yoicks, sorry about that. I figured that the basic rules for bardic knowledge were fairly well-known, but I'll put in a link to their section in the SRD.


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
Why is the DC for Madness Worm 20 + level? Shouldn't it be 10 + (equivalent spell level, which can be 10) + Intelligence? I'd also reword it for clarity to "...or suffer a progressive Wisdom penalty, dealing 1 point of Wisdom damage per minute for a number of minute equal to the madcaller's level".

Hmm. I'll roll that around inside my noggin.

*rattle rattle rattle*


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
Othermind is cool. Like Aberrant Familiar, it seems only natural that this would happen. Perhaps, as a capstone, the madcaller could make anyone who tries to enter their mind feebleminded, just like some bigger aberrations do?

Another really cool idea. More noggin-rolling shall ensue.


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
Madness Place is... interesting!

In fact, The Madness Place was my attempt at taking a little mad-sparkiness straight from Girl Genius (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/), with the idea that the madcaller could jumpstart his mental operations in moments of crisis. It's a little generic for the overall theme, I agree, but it does tie in (however loosely) with the notion that the madcaller's mind is starting to work in profoundly altered ways.


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
And, finally, Pseudomortality...having the capstone is almost worse than not having it.

Urf, that bad? I've rarely played above 14th-15th level, so I don't have much of a feel for how gameplay works immediately pre-epic. I'll...have to work on that, then. Hmmm.


Originally Posted by AttilaTheGeek
Last, but not least, Spontaneous Summoning. I am of the opinion that this should just be given earlier, because it's really what the class is all about.


Originally Posted by Zakaroth
I agree with AttilaTheGeek on the Spontaneous Summoning part, this could come earlier.

Now that I think about it, this does seem to be something that could show up sooner. As I look at the table, I'm thinking sixth or seventh level. How does that sound?


Originally Posted by Grinner
To beat the dead horse, that is some fine prose. I can't speak for the mechanics, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Why, thank you very much.

*bows*