[PEACH] New Skill: Corrupt (Int)

[Primal Fury]

I got this idea from Kazyan's Missingno (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?337909-The-Missingno-(No-really-it-s-serious-PEACH)) class, specifically the Corrupt skill. I decided to make something a bit more applicable to other situations. I have a few concerns right of the bat: I'm not sure about making it a class skill or a cross-class skill with the feat. Is it too broad? Should the other applications require feats? Is the wording clear?

Prying Open the Evil Eye
Your eyes have been opened to the true nature of the world, allowing you to twist and change it as you desire.
Prerequisites: Either one of the following - The Deformity (Eyes) feat, or the Inhuman Vision feat; You must also receive "tutelage" from an intelligent aberration
Benefits: Choose one of your class skills; it ceases to be a class skill, all skill points dedicated to it are refunded. It its place, you gain Corrupt as a cross-class skill, which you can immediately dedicate skill points to. In addition, you instantly recognize anyone who has at least one level in the Illuminatus class, or someone else who possesses this feat.
Special: If you would learn this feat through knowledge of Deformity (Eyes), then it is a [Vile] feat. If you would learn this feat through knowledge of Inhuman Vision, then it is instead [Aberrant]. If you know both feats when you purchase this one, it is both [Aberrant] and [Vile].
Special: "Tutelage" is a very loose term with regard to learning from an aberration; it may include anything from patient one-on-one instruction over the course of months, to a single night of abject terror wherein it destroys your entire village, leaving you as the sole survivor.

New Skill - Corrupt (Int)
The Corrupt skill is a dark art developed by Tharizdun, the Enemy of All Things, to hasten the dissolution of the omniverse. Contrary to what one might believe, it is a relatively simple skill to learn. It is built on the ability to view the "Merkaba", or Lightbody, of an object or creature. Merkaba are matrices of divine energy that form the building blocks of everything, from rocks to angels; the only difference is their underlying complexity. Being able to see Merkaba allows you to manipulate them as easily as you would build a sandcastle... or tear one down.

Check: You can use this skill to weaken and destroy inanimate objects, inflict terrible wounds, and activate magical items, though doing risks their destruction.

Corroding Inanimate Objects
You may corrode inanimate objects with a touch; the DC for such a check is (10 + Object's Hardness). Success indicates that you reduce the objects hardness by an amount equal to your Intelligence Modifier. If your result exceeds (Object's Hardness + Object's Hit Points), it breaks instantly. You may use Corrupt this way in combat, but you must succeed on a melee touch attack against the object that provokes attacks of opportunity.

Inflicting Wounds
If you succeed on a melee touch attack against a foe, you can deal extra damage to them based on the result of a Corrupt check. This damage is untyped, representing the pure entropy you've forced upon them, causing their body to simply rot away. Creatures that die as a result of this damage have their bodies reduced to stinking black sludge, making spells and rituals that require a corpse to resurrect them impossible to perform.



Check ResultExtra Damage
[/th]


10-15
+1d4


16-20
+2d4


21-25
+3d4


26-30
+4d4


31-35
+5d4


36-40
+6d4


41-45
+7d4


46-50 (Maximum)
+8d4


You may make this check through weapon attacks as well, though only with weapons that deal piercing damage, and doing so counts as a Corrosion check against the weapon used.

"Hacking" Magic Items
You may activate magic items as the Use Magic Devise skill, though all DCs are reduced by 5. Succeeding on a Corrupt check in this way requires you to roll a d100; if the result is 50 or lower, the item is destroyed. You must also make this roll if you fail the check, though in that case, the item breaks if your result is 75 or lower.

6/10/2015: Changed the prerequisite to intelligent aberration. Too specific the other way.

[AuraTwilight]

What's the illuminatus class?

[Primal Fury]

Something else I'm working on, but I've since removed it.

[qazzquimby]

You might want to look at the game Axiom Verge. One of the core concepts is pretty much this, plus its metroidvania and very fun.

[Primal Fury]

Throwin' up a bump for more criticism. Is it too strong? Applicable to too many situations?

[Qwertystop]

Let's see...
On objects, out of combat it's decent utility. Roughly on par with at-will Shatter - no area effect, but no weight limit either. Slower against really hard things. I note that once you've lowered hardness to 0, repeated checks do nothing unless you beat their HP, which may or may not be intended. Also, negative hardness is not forbidden - which seems like an interesting effect, sufficiently corroded objects still standing firm but collapsing to bits at the slightest touch - but I don't know if you meant to do it. Works on magic items - not sure if that was intended. In combat - most things like this allow the holder of the item, wearer of the armor, etc. to make a save on behalf of the item, especially if it's a magic item. In addition, you might want to reference the rules for sundering carried/worn items.

The use to damage a creature reminds me of Iajutsu Focus. Less damage, but you don't need to jump though hoops to get it every round. On the other hand, it works with only a few weapons, and you risk breaking them quickly if you don't devote money or spell slots to Mending them. One note: it should probably be allowed to work on unarmed strikes and natural weapon attacks, even though those aren't usually piercing damage.

UMD use is sort of skew, thematically, to the rest of the skill, and in my opinion far too risky. I'd only ever use it if it was either an emergency situation or a throwaway item anyway. Or if I was trying to destroy it, but Corrode might be more effective there - if the item needs destroying you might not want to fire it wildly in doing so. Maybe make the destruction based on how much you pass the check by, so if you're really good at it it's safe?

[Zaydos]

It's slightly awkward in that it brings back Exclusive Skills which were dropped between 3.0 and 3.5, and the feat merely makes it cross-class. I'd say the Exclusive bit is fine, the idea of a feat which grants a new skill is neat, it's cool, but I'd suggest making it a class skill though it would require rebalancing DCs a bit.

Corroding Inanimate Objects: Well besides being able to silently destroy a door by poking it till it's hardness is 0 (which shouldn't work because of stacking rules) and then hoping to overcome its hardness + hit points this really works for making sundering easier. I'd not spend a feat for this, much less feat plus skill ranks.

Inflicting Wounds: This'll slow down face to face games with the extra two rolls each attack, and makes it a better Knowledge Devotion. While Knowledge Devotion can get +5 to hit and +5 damage (+15 damage with PA) it's a typed bonus, requires you to invest heavily in multiple skills, and have them all as class skills. This gives +10 damage with an average roll and only investing in one skill and has no stacking issues. I am assuming the black sludge can be used, like Disintegrate ashes, for Resurrection otherwise it has another advantage.

Hack Items: If this wasn't always a cross-class skill it would make it a useful UMD replacement for scrolls, but too costly with wands, as a little side-beni on what is ultimately a +damage feat though that's fine.

From a balance viewpoint I'd rework it a bit, and balance around it as a class skill by increasing the DCs. This makes things like Item Familiar, +X item, Skill Focus, Int modifier, etc have less of an impact giving a more controlled range, and making it an evil option to replace Knowledge Devotion or supplement it. Probably make the DC for Inflicting Wounds go in 8 point increments (10-18 1d4, 19-26 2d4, 27-34 3d4, 35-42 4d4, and 43-50 5d4) and make it so you only roll once per round with Inflicting Wounds to speed up game play.