Ozodrin (5E Conversion, PEACH)

[Magikeeper]

Ozodrin
The wolf's fangs dig deeper into his side. No matter. The dwarf's own fangs, stronger and ever more numerous, tore faster and even deeper into his erstwhile foe. He had yet to lose an eating contest, for survival or otherwise.
_The elf emerges from the party, her hidden eyes quickly scouting in all directions for any onlookers. She smiles - the balcony is unwatched! With a moment's thought the woman's flesh subtly alters itself to blend into the wall. Her spikes, and her silk, would carry her through the rest of the night.
_The finned human quickly dives beneath the pier. He was new to town, and had learned a little trick to help him quickly take stock of the many cities he encountered during his travels. The carefully designed puppet, indistinguishable to the coming sailors from a real child, waits. Perhaps he should make it wave...?
_It is difficult to paint, in one stroke, a group so based in personal freedom. Are ozodrin quirky fellows? Are they pained individuals, spiraling down a path of transformation that bodily, mentally, and even spiritually warps them to the core? Perhaps they imagine themselves as pilgrims, seeking truths deeper than the reality you know. What it truly means to be an ozodrin likely differs for each one. What they have in common, however, are their powers: ozodrin posses the ability to freely modify their body in a variety of ways; adding eyes, tentacles, limbs, mouths, fins, and all manner of other changes and alterations to their bodies.

The Freedom of Flesh
There are many shapeshifting powers in the world, spells and techniques that allow their user to take the form of a suitable creature while their true self is concealed within. The world handles the details, allowing for the precise copying of other species. The physical alterations an ozodrin makes to themselves do not work this way and cannot work this way, for their power is not tied to the universe at large. Like molded clay, an ozodrin's body can only superficially mimic others. More often than not, they do not mimic anything at all, choosing instead to be a unique entity designed to their liking. If there is any point of spiritual commonality it would lie in the importance of their primary trait and its ethos, whether it be the one that manifested first or the one that overwhelmed all others upon its development. How they were set on this path varies from ozodrin to ozodrin. An aberrant bloodline, experimentation, divine manipulation, or exposure to forces beyond comprehension are just a few possibilities; in many ways their possible pasts are reminiscent of those that mark one as a sorcerer. The key difference is that while a sorcerer is filled and infused with power, an ozodrin is often severed. Clipped free of the world's tree so that their essence may grow in new and often bizarre ways.

An Interesting Life
Ozodrin are rare in the world, and the strongest among them are well-equipped to recede into myth. Younger ozodrin, however, are rather likely to take up adventuring. The power of an ozodrin comes from them alone but it rarely increases with time. Like how a warrior needs exercise to hone their muscles, an ozodrin needs personal trials to stress and temper their existence. A fraught and perilous journey through the wilds, a deadly struggle in the bowels of a city, a tense battle of wits and subterfuge between noble factions.. to an ozodrin these experiences are themselves of greater value than the treasures at the end. Whatever an individual ozodrin's hopes and dreams are, if they need strength to achieve those dreams and realize those hopes then what they need most is exactly what adventuring can provide.

Creating an Ozodrin
When making an ozodrin, consider when your growth began and how it has shaped you. Were you young? Were you old? What beliefs did you hold before your first transformation, and how have those beliefs changed? Have they changed? Perhaps your primary trait reflected your personality from the beginning, or perhaps you only grew to reflect it in time. Perhaps it does not reflect you still, a contradiction at the heart of your existence. Once the core manifestation of your power is settled, look outward. How have you chosen to interact with the world? How has the world chosen to interact with you? Are you close friends with one or more members of your party, or are you are only beginning to form (or reform) ties with those beyond yourself? Do you want those ties? If not, why are you traveling with a group - and why are they traveling with you?

Quick Build
You can build an Ozodrin quickly by following these suggestions. First, choose your Primary trait. Your highest ability score should either be Strength (Orifice, Flesh), Dexterity (Tentacle, Fin, Spike, Puppet), or Charisma (Eye) depending on your choice of Primary trait. Your second highest score should be Constitution (Any) or Wisdom (Eye). Second, choose the Outlander background.



[tr]
Level
Prof. Bonus
Features
Form Points
Max Tier (Primary)
Max Tier (Secondary)
Max Tier (Tertiary)


1
+2
Modify Form, Trait Archetype (Primary), Unarmored Defense
2
I
-
-


2
+2
Worldly Guise, Trait Archetype (Secondaries)
3
I
Base
-


3
+2
Focus Surge
4
I
Base
-


4
+2
Ability Score Improvement
5
I
Base
-


5
+3
MultiAssault, Unearthly Power
6
I
Base
-


6
+3
Trait Archetype (II/I/-)
7
II
I
-


7
+3
Colluding Anatomy, Trait Archetype (Tertiaries)
8
II
I
Base


8
+3
Ability Score Improvement
9
II
I
Base


9
+4
Overwrought Form
10
II
I
Base


10
+4
Aberrant Metamorphosis
11
II
I
Base


11
+4
Trait Archetype (III/II/I)
12
III
II
I


12
+4
Ability Score Improvement
13
III
II
I


13
+5
Decentralized Existence
14
III
II
I


14
+5
Irregular Mind
15
III
II
I


15
+5
Ageless Existence (Body)
16
III
II
I


16
+5
Ability Score Improvement, Trait Archetype(IV/III/II)
17
IV
III
II


17
+6
Ageless Existence (Mind)
18
IV
III
II


18
+6
Reified Image
19
IV
III
II


19
+6
Ability Score Improvement
20
IV
III
II


20
+6
Fateless
21
IV
III
II



Class Features
As an Ozodrin, you gain the following class features:

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per ozodrin level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per ozodrin level after 1st

Proficiencies
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor
Weapons: Clubs, daggers, darts, slings, light crossbows
Tools: None
Saves: Constitution and Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, Perception, Performance, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth

Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:


(a) any simple weapon, (b) a light crossbow and 20 bolts, or (c) 10 darts
(a) an explorer's pack or (b) a dungeoneer's pack
2 daggers

If you choose to use the alternative starting gold option (page 143 of the player's handbook), you start with 2d4 x 10 gold.

Modify Form
As an ozodrin, you are capable of altering your body with two kinds of alterations: Base alterations and Advanced alterations. Like mundanely shaped clay, spells and effects treat your current alterations as part of your original form. Some abilities granted by your Advanced alterations, however, are magical in nature. Each trait has a Base alteration, and then four tiers (I, II, III, IV) of Advanced alterations. Which alterations you have access to depends on your level and your Trait Archetype.

(_) Base alterations
Base alterations are simple alterations that modify your body in visible ways, such as by adding tentacles. Base alterations do not cost form points. You may add, remove, or otherwise modify your Base alterations as an action, and/or as a bonus action on your turn.

(_) Advanced alterations
Advance alterations do not inherently change what you look like, although they may give additional options when using your Base alterations. Advanced alterations cost form points. You gain 2 form points at 1st level, and then gain 1 additional form point at each subsequent level. You may redistribute all of your form points, removing any number of your chosen Advanced alterations and replacing them with others you have access to, when you finish a long rest.

Trait Archetype
Each ozodrin is better at making certain kinds of alterations to their form. This distinction runs deeper than looks - each trait has its own way of doing things, both in combat and outside of it. Whether this distinction is tied to an ozodrin's views on life itself, is just their preferred tool-set, or is something in between... well, that's a question only they can answer. Your Trait Archetype consists of one Primary trait and two Secondary traits, with the remaining traits being Tertiary, and is determined as follows:

At 1st level, choose one of the seven traits: Tentacle, Flesh, Eye, Orifice, Spike, Puppet, or Fin. This is your Primary trait. You gain access to the Tier I and Base alterations of the chosen trait, as shown in the Max Tier (Primary) column of the Ozodrin table.

At 2nd level, choose two of the remaining traits. These are your Secondary traits. At this level you gain access to the Base alterations of your Secondary traits, as shown in the Max Tier (Secondary) column of the Ozodrin table.

At level 6 you gain access to the Tier II alterations of your Primary trait and the Tier I alterations of your Secondary traits. At least half of your form points must be spent on Primary trait alterations.

At level 7, the remaining unchosen traits become your Tertiary traits. At this level you gain access to the Base alterations of your Tertiary traits, as shown in the Max Tier (Tertiary) column of the Ozodrin table.

At level 11 you gain access to the Tier III alterations of your Primary trait, the Tier II alterations of your Secondary traits, and the Tier I alterations of your Tertiary traits. You cannot spend more than 1/4th of your form points on Tertiary trait alterations.

At level 16 you gain access to the Tier IV alterations of your Primary trait, the Tier III alterations of your Secondary traits, and the Tier II alterations of your Tertiary traits.

Archetype Form Point Restriction: As noted above, at least half your form points must be spent on Advanced alterations granted by your Primary trait, and no more than one-fourth of your form points can be spent on Tertiary trait alterations. For example, if you had 13 form points you would have to spend 7 of them on your Primary trait alterations, and could not spend more than 3 on your Tertiary trait alterations.

Unarmored Defense
When wearing no armor and not using a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier.

Worldly Guise
At 2nd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

Blending In. You may add your proficiency bonus to any ability check made to disguise your alterations and their use as something ordinary, or at least not monstrous. For example, pretending your tentacles are whips. This ability cannot help you mimic anything specific, like a renowned whip.
Standing Out. You may add your proficiency bonus to any ability check made to look especially monstrous or otherworldly. This ability cannot help you mimic anything specific, like a legendary monster.

In either case, if you would already be able to add your proficiency bonus to such a check, such as due to being proficient with the related tool or skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled. This doubling does not stack with Expertise. You may change your choice whenever you reach a level in this class that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature.

Focus Surge
At third level and above, if you have not yet performed an action on your turn, you can enter a state of exceptional focus until the end of your turn. While in this state, you can only use your actions to use abilities granted by your Primary trait alteration(s) or make attacks granted by your Primary trait alteration(s). This includes regular attacks made by weapons formed via alterations (such as a primary(Tentacle) ozodrin's tentacles), but not special combat actions (unless a qualifying alteration says otherwise). While so focused, you can take one additional action, in addition to your action and possible bonus action.

Once you use this ability, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

MultiAssault
Starting at 5th level, whenever you spend an action on your turn to use an ability or attack that was granted by your Base and/or Advanced alteration(s) you may use a second ability or attack that was granted by your alterations. This includes regular attacks made by weapons formed via alterations (such as tentacles), but not special combat actions (unless one of your Advanced alterations says otherwise). Bonus actions are not effected by this feature - you don't get to use a second ability / attack.

Unearthly Power
Starting at 5th level, attacks granted by your alterations, and weapons formed by your alterations, count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Furthermore, the abilities granted by your alterations count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical effects.

Colluding Anatomy
Starting at 7th level, your internal organs and bodily processes become increasingly responsive to your will. You have advantage on saving throws made against poisons and diseases. Furthermore, you may use a bonus action on your turn to exercise conscious control over one or more of your automatic bodily functions (precisely control your heartbeat, stop sweating, blush, etc).

Overwrought Form
At 9th level, you become capable of warping your body beyond its limits, for a time. Upon gaining this ability, choose 3fp worth of Tier I advanced alterations you have access to. You can change this choice whenever you reach a level in this class that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, and starting at 12th level you can also choose Tier II alterations from your Primary and/or Secondary traits when you do so.

You can meditate for one minute in order to gain the benefits of one or more of these chosen alterations for one hour without using any form points. For each chosen alteration, you only gain its benefits if you both meet its prerequisites and have not already added it to your current form. In addition, if the alteration has a usage limit, the limit is reduced to a single use (e.g. "twice per long rest" -> "once per long rest") when you gain its benefits in this way. Once you use this feature you must complete a long rest before doing so again.

Aberrant Metamorphosis
Starting at 10th level you are forevermore an aberration instead of your previous type (usually humanoid). This changes how some spells and effects interact with you. However, you retain sufficient familiarity with your former state of being to partially conceal yourself; spells and effects that detect the presence of aberrations do not sense you unless you're within 10' of the source of the effect.

Furthermore, whenever you finish a long rest you may modify your non-trait body parts (such as your normal legs). This ability works as follows:
You may add/remove/relocate non-trait alteration body parts, up to a maximum of however many you would have had without this ability. For example, you could remove your normal eyes one day and regain them a different day or move them from one part of your body to another.
You can change the general shape and features of your Torso, Neck, and Head. For example, you could become a ball of flesh with limbs or some kind of dog-person. This ability cannot be used to change your size category.
You can freely change the form but not capabilities of your internal organs. For example, you can choose to be filled with a semi-solid goo that performs all of the actions your internal organs used to perform but you would still need to eat/drink/etc as normal. This anatomy change may protect you from certain kinds of attacks at the DM's option.

Decentralized Existence
Starting at 13th level, parts of you do not die when cut off and parts that would normally be dead (like visible hair) remain alive instead. You can reattach your dismembered pieces with an action. You have no control over your severed parts, and you cannot feel through them. If you die all of your severed parts die as well.

Furthermore, you always know the direction and distance to any part of your body, along with the nature [hair, leg, etc] and current condition of the body part. If someone uses a piece of you as a material component, you control the resulting effect rather than the caster.

Finally, you can survive and continue thinking without a head, brain, or any other equivalent; if you have a head losing it will not kill you.

Irregular Mind
Starting at 14th level, you may, whenever you fail a wisdom or intelligence saving throw, roll a charisma saving throw against the same DC. On a success, any non-instantaneous result of failing the wisdom or intelligence saving throw only lasts until the end of your next turn. For example, if you were charmed the effect would only last until the end of your next turn.

Ageless Existence
Starting at 15th level you may alter your physical age after finishing a long rest. Furthermore, you are no longer capable of dying of old age. Other paths only delay the inevitable, but it could be said your body is no longer on speaking terms with the natural order of things.

Starting at 17th level you may also alter your mind after finishing a long rest, potentially changing the way you think and even your memories. Examples of such changes include the development of multiple personalities, becoming mindless (not advised), becoming a sleeper agent, any of the truly alien mindsets aberrations are known for, etc.

Reified Image
Starting at 18th level, you can treat any intentional depiction of yourself (a drawing, a statue, etc - it need not be accurate but it must have been made to represent you, specifically) as a part of your body for the purposes of Decentralized Existence and this class feature. If the depiction is a small part of a much larger object - such as graffiti on a wall - only the depiction itself and connected parts within 5' of the depiction count as a part of your body.

Furthermore, as an action you may choose any part of your body that is currently solid (e.g. not water, light, etc), is not currently attached to you, and is not a part of any other creature to serve as your Proxy. You may use your base alterations to modify your Proxy as though it were you, such as by adding wings to a painting of yourself, and your Proxy benefits from all of your advanced alterations. You must use your own actions to control your Proxy, and can only directly manipulate the alterations you add to it - even if the object you chose to be your Proxy has moving parts it is still inanimate. For example, you would have to add tentacles, fins, or wings to give your Proxy a movement speed. Likewise, you must add sensory organs to your Proxy to see its surroundings. Any damage that would be dealt to your Proxy is dealt to you instead. If an effect would affect the mind of the Proxy or reduce its maximum hit point total, it affects you instead. Otherwise, any non-damaging effects of spells and abilities used on the Proxy only affect your Proxy. At the DM's option, there may be other spells and effects that affect you instead of your Proxy. This effect lasts for 10 minutes, even if the Proxy changes form/ceases to be solid/etc, or until you end it as an action. Any alterations made to the former Proxy immediately dissolve into nothingness.

Once you choose a Proxy, you must finish a long rest before doing so again.

Fateless
At 20th level you achieve a mastery over your existence that lesser beings can only imagine. You may choose to have your soul linger upon death; remaining in your own corpse or any other solid object that counts as a part of you for the purpose of the Decentralized Existence class feature. You may revive yourself in a year's time, budding off of the object/corpse, unless whatever your spirit inhabits is destroyed (or you are revived by other means). If your soul lingers in your own corpse (instead of some object or body part that was severed before your death) it only takes you a month to revive. The revival otherwise functions like True Resurrection. Objects containing your soul bleed when struck. You may telepathically communicate with any creature within 5' of whatever object/corpse holds your soul but are otherwise powerless while recovering (but see below).
Furthermore, whenever your soul would be extracted or destroyed, even if you are currently dead, you may make a Charisma saving throw to negate the effect. If the effect does not have a listed DC the saving throw DC is 17.

[Magikeeper]

Traits
Any given advanced alteration can only be made once at the same time (For example, you cannot spend 4fp to make the Long Tentacles alteration twice). Each trait has a specific tier - this effects when the trait can be chosen.

Tentacle
Many faiths have an origin story for the discovery of fire. But as important as that is, before it came the first grasp. The first step. The first creature to recognize that the ability to pick things up, manipulate them, and set them down elsewhere is itself a doorway to endless possibilities. Even magic could be described as just just a more esoteric way for a creature to use some part of themselves, their soul perhaps, to indirectly grasp and manipulate their surroundings.

The Tentacle trait emphasizes these simple acts, and in doing so is a trait that favors melee combat, tactile manipulation of your surroundings, and overland movement. It is one of the more offensively focused ozodrin traits - if taken as your primary your choice of Secondary traits will likely depend more on what non-combat options they bring to the table, although the Tentacle trait's lack of ranged capabilities is also something to consider.

Base Alteration: You can form/remove/modify additional tentacles/tails. Their exact form can vary - flesh, entwined hair, attached scarves, etc - but the appendages must be tentacle-shaped. These tentacles can be used as melee weapons (1d6 slashing damage, light, finesse). You are proficient with your tentacles. You can use two-weapon fighting with tentacle attacks. You may use any of your other available Base alterations to modify your tentacles (adding mouths, eyes, etc).

Your tentacles can be used to hold and manipulate objects, even while climbing, but cannot wield weapons and/or shields. Your tentacles can also be used to hold a single grappled creature, in addition to those held by your regular limbs.

You may also use your tentacles to move, granting you a 30' base walking speed unless you already have an equal or better walking speed.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Long Tentacles
You can form longer tentacles, giving them and any melee weapon you have formed on them (such as a bite attack) the Reach weapon property. In addition, you may use your tentacles' reach when determining what objects you can interact with.

As a bonus action on your turn you can stretch your tendrils further, increasing their reach by an additional 5' until the end of your turn.

2fp - Locomotive Limbs
You can form tentacles that are especially well-suited to overland movement. Such tentacles may superficially look as they did before or be less flexible, more defined limbs like a spider's legs. Your base walking speed increases by 10'.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, apply greater focus to the deft manipulation of your limbs. Until the end of your turn, you can climb at full speed, your jumping distance is doubled, and you have advantage on any Strength(Athletics) checks made as part of a jump or climbing attempt.

1fp - Tugging Tendrils
You may, as an action, choose another creature within the reach of your tentacles that is not restrained or grappled by a creature other than yourself. An unwilling creature must make a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). On a success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you may pull the target up to 10' to an unoccupied space that's also within the reach of your tentacles. If the creature is no more than one size larger than yourself you may choose to also knock them prone. If the target was already prone, you may choose to pull them back to their feet instead.

Furthermore, once per round when you hit a creature with a tentacle, provided the creature is no more than one size larger than yourself, you can pull them up to 5' closer to you (no save). If the creature is already adjacent to you, you can instead tug them up to 5' to a different unoccupied space that's also adjacent to you.

1fp - Devious Tentacles
Your tentacles are well-poised to be tweaked and shifted on the spot to maximize their capability for quickly performing a variety of fine, subtle motions. You gain proficiency in the Sleight of Hand skill. If you're already proficient in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check made with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, you may count using the Sleight of Hand skill as a Tentacle trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using it with the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

Finally, you gain an additional free object interaction each turn. For example, you could open a door during your move and then close it behind you. You may, as an action on your turn, increase your number of available interactions by another three. These benefits do not apply to objects you could not normally interact with without using an action (e.g. you can't activate two magic items or use two bags of caltrops).

2fp - Terpsichorean Limbs
Your tentacles can seamlessly weave and shift in an intricate dance well-suited to adjusting your stance and deflecting forceful blows. This capability increases your armor class by 2 whenever you benefit from your Unarmored Defense feature and are not wielding a shield.

Furthermore, you may, as bonus action on your turn, use such motions for guiding attention as well. Enemy creatures within the reach of your tentacles have disadvantage on opportunity attacks, Wisdom(Perception) checks, and Intelligence(Investigation) checks. Only creatures that can perceive you can be distracted in this way. These effects lasts until the beginning of your next turn.

Finally, you have advantage on Charisma(Performance) checks made to dance with the assistance of your tentacles.

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Deadly Limbs
You can more skillfully combine shaping and wielding, taking advantage of being able to tweak every twitch from thought to strike for maximum lethality. Your tentacles deal an additional 1d6 damage. This bonus damage does not apply to tentacles wielded as off-hand weapons; when you use two-weapon fighting the extra attack only deals 1d6 (not 2d6).

Furthermore, you can form tentacles that are especially well-suited for crushing foes. Such tentacles may be more defined limbs such as pincers or arms complete with humanoid hands. This allows you to form tentacles that deal bludgeoning damage instead of slashing damage.

Finally, your limbs can wield weapons. Melee weapons wielded this way can use your tentacles' reach in place of their own. You can use such weapons with the MultiAssault feature, but cannot use them with the Focus Surge feature. This ability does not grant you proficiency with any weapons.

1fp - Coiling Tendrils (Requires Tugging Tendrils)
You can, as a bonus action your turn, ready your tentacles to harass and partially restrict the movement of chosen foe you can see, like a mass of tugging vines. If you do, the chosen creature treats any space within the reach of your tentacles as difficult terrain. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.

Furthermore, when you use the abilities granted by the Tugging Tendrils alteration to knock a creature prone, if the creature is within 5' of you after being pulled, you may choose to have that creature be grappled instead.

Finally, when you use the abilities granted by the Tugging Tendrils alteration to move a willing creature you may lightly toss them an additional 5' in any direction. This additional distance does not have to be within the reach of your tentacles.

1fp - Gripping Limbs (Requires Locomotive Limbs)
You can form limbs that are particularly adept at holding onto and traversing surfaces (small hooks, suction cups, etc). This gives you the ability to climb across completely smooth surfaces and ceilings, and allows you to use your tentacles to hold up to four succesfully grappled creatures instead of only one.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, more firmly secure your grip on a creature you are currently grappling. The chosen creature has disadvantage on any ability check made to escape from the grapple. In addition, you may drag or carry the chosen creature at full speed as long as it is not one or more sizes larger than you. These benefits last until the beginning of your next turn.

Finally, you may count the grapple action as a Tentacle trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using it with the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

2fp - Magic Ripping Tentacles
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, sense whether or not your tentacles are in contact with a magical effect, magical object, and/or an object or creature with a spell on it. You have to touch the target, or wave your limbs within the area of the magical effect, to sense magic in this way. You do not learn any other information about the magic involved, only its presence and location.

Furthermore, your tendrils can slash apart magical energies. As an action you may choose any one creature, object, or magical effect within reach of your tentacles. Make a Strength or Dexterity ability check and add your Proficiency modifier to the result. Any spell on the target whose level is less than the result minus 10 ends. Spells with additional restrictions on dispelling attempts (Such as requiring a Dispel Magic spell cast as a 9th level spell) cannot be ripped apart in this way. After making two dispel attempts this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Whipping Tendrils
You may, as an action, do one of the following:

Swipe. Make a single tentacle attack with disadvantage and apply it to two or fewer opponents that are within reach of your tentacles and within 5' of each other.
Sweep. Choose three or fewer opponents within your tentacles' reach. Each opponent must be within 5' of at least one other effected opponent and no more than one size larger than yourself. Make a single tentacle attack with disadvantage. Any opponent that would be hit by the attack is knocked prone instead of taking damage. In either case, any advantage you would have against the target(s) is ignored unless your attack would have advantage against every target, in which case it cancels out the disadvantage as normal.

2fp - Rending Tendrils (Requires Devious Tentacles)
The refined motions of your limbs are as sharp as they are fine, aiding you in a a more violent sort of multitasking and coordinated tearing. Once per round, when you damage an opponent with two or more tentacle attacks on the same turn, or damage an opponent you are grappling with one or more tentacle attacks, you may have the damaged creature take an additional 2d6 slashing damage. If multiple opponents qualify for this damage in the same round, such as via the effects of the Whipping Tendrils alteration, choose one of them to take the additional damage.

Furthermore, at the end of any other creature's turn, you can use your reaction to make an attack with your tentacles. Once you have used three reactions this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp - Space Clutching Limbs (Requires Gripping Limbs)
If a creature you are grappling attempts to escape via teleportation or planar travel they must make Charisma saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). On a failure, they remain where they are.

Furthermore, you can, as an action, gain the ability to magically grasp space itself until the end of your next turn. This effectively allows you to grasp and/or step on spacial rods wherever you need them to be. This allows for such feats as climbing through water or jumping to a spot in the middle of the air. These spacial rods look like distorted space (like you were grasping part of a vast fabric), can bear any amount of weight, cannot be moved, and are large enough to grasp / step on with multiple limbs. Other creatures and objects cannot interact with these rods. These rods lasts until the end of your next turn or until you are no longer in contact with them, whichever comes first. Like dashing, this capability cannot be used for extended periods of time; you cannot use this ability for overland travel nor while resting.

2fp - Tactile Tentacles
Your tentacles' sense of touch and ability to discern vibrations is greatly refined, giving you 30 feet of Tremorsense. Your tendrils can sense perturbations in the air as well, giving you 5 feet of Blindsight.

Furthermore, you have advantage on touch-based Wisdom(Perception) and Intelligence(Investigation) checks.

Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

1fp - Magic Disarraying Tentacles (Requires Magic Ripping Tentacles)
Whenever you make a dispel attempt using the ability granted by the Magic Ripping Tentacles alteration you may choose to have the chosen creature, object, or magical effect additionally suffer as though it were within an Antimagic Field until the end of the current turn. This happens whether or not you successfully manage to end any spells on the target.

Furthermore, you may make one additional dispel attempt before needing to rest.

2fp - Destiny Seizing Limbs
If you would have disadvantage on an attack roll made with your tentacles on your turn you can, as a bonus action, forcefully bend fate to have neither advantage nor disadvantage on the roll instead.

Furthermore, when you or a creature within the reach of your tentacles rolls a d20 without advantage or disadvantage, you may use your reaction to impose advantage or disadvantage to the roll. Once you do this, no other effect except Wish or Legendary Resistance can manipulate the roll further. If you imposed advantage, you steal the low die. If you imposed disadvantage, you steal the high die. Until the end of your next turn, you may replace a single attack roll, saving throw, or ability check you make with the stolen roll. You must choose to do this before the roll is made. Once you've used a reaction in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp - Paradox Tendrils
You can form insubstantial limbs that are capable of interacting with creatures and objects as though they were real and solid. These limbs may look ghostly, transparent, or may have no visible form at all. These tendrils can be used to attack creatures, manipulate objects, use your movement, etc, but otherwise pass through objects and barriers (such as a Wall of Force). Worn/wielded objects count as being a part of a creature for this effect (e.g. if you attack a creature, its armor is still effective).

This benefit does not extend beyond the paradox tendrils and any alterations that add to them (E.g. a mouth on a paradox tendril would gain this alteration's benefit, but if the mouth had a breath weapon the breath would be stopped by barriers like it normally would. Likewise, an attached spike would benefit from this effect but it would lose this benefit if it was thrown/detached). These tendrils otherwise have the same reach, strength, etc. as your regular limbs.

2fp - Writhing Mass (Requires Devious Tentacles)
When you use a bonus action granted by a Tentacle trait alteration, you may use a second bonus action granted by a Tentacle trait alteration. For example, you could use the bonus action granted by the Destiny Seizing Limbs alteration twice, or use both it and the ability granted by the Locomotive Limbs alteration on the same turn (assuming you've added both of those alterations to your current form).

Furthermore, if you've made the Coiling Tendrils alteration, you can use the abilities granted by that alteration to grapple a creature even if you are already grappling a creature, forming additional tentacles/limbs to do so if needed.

Flesh
Survival of the Fittest does not refer to the strongest. It does not refer to the most accomplished, nor even the most numerous. It refers to the most adaptable, the one most capable of surviving not just today but also tomorrow. After all, the test of time is much more like an obstacle course than a marathon. In face of this truth, the Flesh trait emphasizes adaption above all else. Blend in, breathe deep, and prepare yourself for the long haul.

Flesh alterations favor close-quarters combat and general survivability. As such, if Flesh is taken as your primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely depend on what offensive and proactive non-combat options they bring to the table.

Base Alteration: You can modify your skin and hair, changing its color, texture, smell, forming attached clothing, etc. This allows you use your flesh as a disguise kit, and you are considered to be proficient in using your flesh for that purpose. If you try to mimic something specific getting your disguise just right may take several minutes or longer, but otherwise altering your flesh can be done as swiftly as modifying any other basic alteration.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

1fp - Tempered Body
You can transform your body into a literal weapon, toughening patches of skin, honing muscles, etc. You gain a slam attack that counts as a melee weapon (1d10 bludgeoning damage, heavy). You are proficient with your slam attacks.

Furthermore, your enhanced musculature can bear heavier loads; you count as one size larger for determining your carrying weight and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. This ability does not stack with other effects that allow you to count as one size larger for these capabilities. In addition, if you are a small creature you can wield heavy weapons without disadvantage.

Finally, your toughened flesh is difficult to injure; if your AC would be less than 14, it is 14 instead. You may, as a bonus action on your turn, further enhance this effect. If you do, your AC instead cannot be less than 17 until the beginning of your next turn. Once you've used two bonus actions in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp - Illuminating Flesh
Whenever you modify your flesh with the Base alteration granted by the Flesh Trait you may choose to make all or part(s) of your body faintly glow. You can likewise alter the intensity of the glow, to a maximum intensity of shedding bright light in a 20' radius and dim light for an additional 20'. The light can be any color(s) you desire.

Furthermore, you may use your reaction to shine a sudden burst of light towards a creature within 5' of you. If the creature is currently making an attack, it has disadvantage on the attack roll. If you are currently making an attack against the creature, you have advantage on the attack roll. If the creature cannot see you and/or is immune to being blinded this ability has no effect. You may use your reaction in this way twice. You regain all expended uses after a short or long rest.

2fp - Negating Flesh (Requires Tempered Body)
When a creature scores a hit against you, you can use your reaction to shift your flesh in order to more capably withstand the blow. Any bludgeoning, piercing, and/or slashing damage dealt by the attack is halved. Warping your flesh so suddenly has a price; your movement speed is halved until the end of your next turn.

Furthermore, you can form any non-magical light, medium, or heavy armor, such as half-plate, when you modify your flesh using the Base alteration of the Flesh trait. You must meet the Strength requirement for any armor you form this way. This armor need not look normal, but it can be clearly identified as armor. Regardless of how it looks, this armor is still an organic part of your body, and you are proficient with any armor formed this way. You cannot benefit from the Unarmored Defense feature, nor any ability with a similar restriction, while using this armor.

1fp - Adaptive Musculature
Your body is predisposed to being slightly shifted and tweaked on the spot to wring out a performance exceeding its natural limitations. As such, when you make a Strength or Dexterity ability check on your turn you may, as a bonus action, roll a d4 and add the result to the check. If the check succeeds and was being made against another creature, such as a Strength(Athletics) check made as part of a shove attempt, you may choose to have the opposing creature take bludgeoning damage equal to twice the result of the d4. If the ability check would also benefit from the Guidance cantrip, the effect does not stack; you instead gain the ability to re-roll the d4 and use the higher of the two results (including for damage).

Furthermore, when an opponent misses you with a melee attack that was made with disadvantage, if the opponent is no more than one size larger than yourself, you may use your reaction to knock them down. The creature must make a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (their choice, DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Strength modifier). On a failure, they are knocked prone and their speed is reduced to 0 until the beginning of their next turn.

Finally, you may count the Shove action as a Flesh trait alteration-granted ability for the purposes of using it with the Focus Surge and MultiAssault features.

1fp - Accommodating Flesh
When you make this alteration, choose two of the following options:

Regulate. You gain the ability to carefully manipulate the heat flow within your body. You count as being naturally adapted to hot and cold climates for the purpose of withstanding temperature-related environmental effects.
Conserve. Each hour that passes counts as 20 minutes for the purposes of hunger and thirst, and you may act as though your level of exhaustion were one less than it actually is (your level of exhaustion does not actually decrease, only its symptoms).
Recuperate. Whenever you regain at least 2 hit points by expending one or more hit dice, using an item, or via the effect of a spell, you may regain 2 additional hit points.
You may, as an action, remake your choice. Once you do so, you must finish a long rest before doing so again.

Furthermore, if you have the Colluding Anatomy feature, you gain the ability to breathe one non-magical liquid or gas you've been in contact with in the past hour in addition to your normal respiration. For example, you could choose water. You may change the chosen substance when you use the Colluding Anatomy feature.

Tier II Advanced Alterations

2fp - Energy Generating Flesh
As a bonus action on your turn you may wreathe yourself in energy; choose one of the following damage types: Fire, Cold, Acid, Lighting, Thunder. Any creature you score a hit against with a melee weapon that's a part of your body (e.g. your slam attack) takes 1d4 damage of the chosen type each time. They also take this damage if you come into physical contact with them, such as by succeeding on a shove or grapple attempt. This effect lasts until the end of your turn. Any creature already touching you (such as a snake constricting you or a foe held in your jaws) when you use this ability takes this damage as well. You can change the chosen damage type with each use of this ability.

Furthermore, as an action, you can perform any minor effect small amounts of such energies could accomplish (using your flesh in place of a match or stove, a bag of ice, a small spark, a vial of white vinegar, a whistle, etc).

2fp - Regenerative Flesh
You develop the ability to speed up and expand your body's healing capabilities. You may use a bonus action on your turn to do one of the following:

Forced Recovery. Expend any number of your remaining hit dice. Instead of their normal effect you regain 5 hit points for each hit die so expended. In addition, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal the number of expended hit dice multiplied by your Constitution modifier that last for 10 minutes. If you've made the Accommodating Flesh alteration, this effect counts for the Recuperate option.
Rapid Restoration. Expend three of your remaining hit dice to instantly restore one of your missing body parts (e.g. regrow a lost arm), end one effect reducing your hit point maximum or Strength score, or end one of the following conditions afflicting you: Blinded, Deafened. In addition, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 3 multiplied by your Constitution modifier that last for 10 minutes.
Vigor Surge. Gain 1d4 + your level in this class temporary hit points that last until the end of your next turn. This choice does not expend any hit dice.

After using two bonus actions in this way, you cannot do so again until you've finished a short or long rest.

2fp - Phantasmagoric Flesh (Requires Illuminating Flesh)
You may, as an action, magically manipulate the light shed by your body to create illusionary objects, creatures, and other visual phenomena. This illusions are purely visual in nature, and cannot extend farther than 20' from you nor past total cover. You can freely change and/or alter the movements of the created illusions, such as by making an illusionary creature walk or turning it into a cloud. These illusions last until the end of your next turn, until they have total cover from you, or until you are more than 20' away from them. Creatures that physically interact with the illusion(s), and creatures that use an action to study the illusion, may make an Intelligence(Investigation) check (DC 8 + Proficiency Modifier + Your Charisma Modifier) to recognize its false nature. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the creature can see through the illusion and any other illusion created by this ability for 10 minutes. You may automatically see through any illusions you make this way.

1fp - Energy Consuming Flesh (Requires Accommodating Flesh)
You count as being naturally adapted to hot and cold temperatures for the purpose of withstanding environmental effects. In addition, every four hours you spend within 5' of a source of heat or cold at least as powerful as a large campfire provides you with a day's worth of sustenance for the purpose of avoiding starvation/dehydration.

Furthermore, you may, as an action, prepare to rapidly devour a specific kind of energy. Each time you use this ability, choose one of the following damage types: Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid, Thunder, or Psychic. You gain resistance to the chosen damage type until the beginning of your next turn. If at least 10 damage is prevented by this effect, you gain a day's worth of sustenance for the purpose of avoiding starvation/dehydration.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Discrete Flesh
Your flesh is particularly adept at continuously adjusting itself to both minimize the sounds your motions make and aid in concealing the sounds and motions created by your internal biological functions (e.g. breathing). You have advantage on Dexterity(Stealth) checks and may count the Hide action as a Flesh trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using it with the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

Furthermore, when you use the Hide action you gain the benefits of the base alteration of the Flesh trait as well, allowing you to change the coloration, texture, smell, etc, of your flesh without needing to use another action and/or bonus action to do so.

3fp - Sizing Flesh
Whenever you use your Base flesh alteration to modify your body you may choose to magically increase or decrease your size. This effect lasts until you unmake this alteration or use your Base flesh trait alteration to change your size again. Anything you are wearing changes size with you, but returns to its previous size if dropped. Held weapons and other held items do not change size with you. This alteration does not stack with itself - only the most recent size change applies. The size change otherwise lasts until you use an action to end the effect or remove this alteration.

Increase. Your size category increases by one - from Medium to Large, for example. If there isn't enough room for a creature of that size you instead attain the maximum possible size in the space available. In addition, attacks made by weapons that are a part of your body deal an additional 1d4 damage.

Decrease. Your size category decreases by one - from Medium to Small, for example. You may choose to decrease your size category by two instead of one (Minimum Tiny); if you choose to do so, your reach decreases by 5'. In either case, your melee and ranged attacks deal 1d4 less damage (minimum 0).

Furthermore, when you use this alteration to modify your size you may choose to not have your worn/carried objects change size with you. If you do, the size change is non-magical. It otherwise works the same as normal.

2fp - Unearthly Flesh
Your unearthly power becomes more deeply entwined with your internal functions; when you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Constitution saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Furthermore, whenever a spell is cast with you as one of its chosen target(s), if you are aware of the spell, you may use your reaction to make a Constitution ability check with proficiency. If the spell's level is lower than the result of the ability check -10, the spell has no effect on you and you gain a day's worth of sustenance the purposes of avoiding starvation/dehydration. If the spell requires a saving throw, you must decide whether or not to use this ability before attempting the saving throw. This ability has no effect on area spells and other effects that do not target you specifically. After using two reactions in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp - Acclimating Flesh (Requires Energy Consuming Flesh)
Choose one of the following damage types: Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid, Thunder, Psychic, Poison. You gain resistance to damage of the chosen type. Furthermore, your body can adapt to sources of the chosen damage type over time - effects that would continue to deal continuous damage of the chosen type to you instead deal no further damage of that type. For example, if you chose "Fire" and jumped into a pool of lava you would take half the initial damage but would take no further damage unless you exited and re-entered the pool. You would still take damage from a Scorching Ray that hit you while you're swimming in lava, since that would be a different source of fire damage.

Furthermore, you may, as an action, change the chosen damage type. Once you've used an action in this way you may not do so again until you've finished a short or long rest.

Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Living Maelstrom (Requires Energy Generating Flesh)
When the bonus action granted by your Energy Generating Flesh deals damage, it deals an additional 1d4 damage of the same type (total of 2d4). In addition, you may choose to have the effect last until the beginning of your next turn. If you do, other creatures also take 2d4 damage when they hit you with a melee attack while within 5ft of you. A creature that both hits you with a melee attack and comes into physical contact with you at the same time (e.g. by attacking with a part of their body) only takes the damage once.

Furthermore, you can add Force, Necrotic, Radiant, and Psychic to the list of damage types you can choose from when using your Energy Generating Flesh.

2fp - Illusive Flesh (Requires Phantasmagoric Flesh)
You can, as a bonus action on your turn, become a living illusion. Being a living illusion has the following effects:

You cannot move, nor be moved in any way, more than 300' from the location where you became an illusion.
You appear the same as you did before. However, as all of your skills, abilities, etc are now illusionary, you cannot interact with or effect other creatures in any way a regular illusion (such as one created by the Major Image spell) would not be capable of. Likewise, you are unaffected by the spells and abilities of other creatures and objects. Your abilities, gear, etc still effect yourself.
Creatures that perceive you feel an instinctive inkling that you're not a harmless glamour. Once per turn, as an action, a creature may make a Charisma(Deception) check to fully believe in you (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier). Upon success, they can affect you and be affected by you, even if you're currently an illusion, for the next 10 minutes. Creatures perceiving you with Truesight automatically fail this check, as they are acutely aware that you are currently an illusion.
Unlike a normal illusion, you cannot be dispelled and do not vanish in an antimagic field.
You cannot pass through opaque surfaces, but can pass through any transparent object light can move through. If you become real again while inside a solid object, you are shunted to the nearest open space. You take force damage equal to half the distance you are shunted in this way.
You gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed.
You can end this effect as a bonus action on your turn. Once you've spent a combined total of 10 rounds as an illusion, across any number of uses of this ability, you immediately become real and cannot become an illusion again until you've finished a short or long rest. If you've made the Orifice trait Swallow alteration, any creatures within your stomach can interact with you and each other normally until they're regurgitated.

2fp - Concept Filtering Flesh
Choose anything, such as 'hope', 'blue', or 'square dancing'. As long as that thing is within 120' of your person you can breathe normally, even if you are in a void. Being metaphorically present is sufficient. If you remain within 120' of the chosen thing for an hour you also gain a day's worth of sustenance for the purpose of avoiding starvation/dehydration.

You automatically sense the presence/absence of the chosen thing, but not its specific location or nature. For example, if you chose "square dancing" you wouldn't be able to tell whether or not a dance was a traditional Yaversaki 'square dance', just that there is some kind of square dancing in the area. If the chosen thing, or its source, intentionally wishes to remain hidden from you they do not count towards this ability. For example, if you chose "deception" you could not sense someone trying to deceive you or a group of which you are a member, even if that group is something as vague as "people from out of town". Other forms of deception, such as someone lying to themselves, could still be sensed.

Furthermore, you may, as an action, change the chosen thing. Once you've used an action in this way you may not do so again until you've finished a short or long rest.

3fp - Abstract Flesh (Requires Acclimating Flesh)
Your ability to synchronize with the current state of reality deepens; you may add Radiant, Necrotic, and Force damage to the list of available choices for the abilities granted by your Acclimating Flesh and Energy Consuming Flesh.

Furthermore, you gain access to the Reified Image feature and regain all expended uses of that feature when you finish a short or long rest (instead of only when you finish a long rest). If you already have access to it, you also gain two additional uses of that feature per rest. You may only have one Proxy at the same time.

Finally, as an action you can briefly blur and extend your existence in order to mark an unattended object, surface, or willing creature within 15'. The mark is a bloodstain that can be in any pattern you desire, such as a symbol that represents you. The bloodstain cannot be larger than 10 cubic feet in area, and dissolves when you complete a short or long rest.

[Magikeeper]

Eye
"The World", by Everyone. A fascinating painting, one that's a little different with each viewing. The Eye trait could be viewed as most detached of the seven, a silent observer that calmly walks from one work to the next. It could be viewed as the most intimate of the seven, directly touching the minds of those it walks with, directly reaching out with a brush to leave its mark on reality's canvas. Is Eye the most horrifying trait? Perhaps it is the most comforting. They'll just have to wait and see.

As the most mage-like trait, the Eye trait's capabilities revolving around information gathering, debuffing, and ranged combat. If taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can expand your non-combat and maneuvering capabilities.

Base Alteration: You can freely form/remove/modify additional eyes. Eyes added this way need not look normal, nor do they need to be as vulnerable as humanoid eyes. They can even look like gems or eye-shaped tattoos with shifting irises. You can see through all of your eyes simultaneously with the same ease humans see through both of theirs. This can allow you to see in more directions than normally possible.

Furthermore, your eyes are capable of emitting rudimentary psychic emnations. As an action, you can do one of the following:
Whisper. Send a one-way telepathic message to a creature, that you share a language with, within 5' of you.
Wallop. You can rely on your eyes' disruptive emanations in place of might or nimbleness to land a blow. Choose a melee weapon that you are both wielding and proficient with, such as a sword or tentacle. You can then make a melee attack with that weapon against a creature, using Charisma instead of Strength for the attack roll. If the chosen weapon has the finesse property you may also use Charisma instead of Strength for the damage roll.


The Eye trait causes saving throws more frequently than other traits; if an Eye trait alteration has a saving throw, the DC is


8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

1fp - Rattling Eyes
You can, as an action, magically do one of the following:
Splintering Glare. One of your eyes unleashes a ray with the appearance of warped, shimmering air. Make a ranged spell attack roll (Proficiency Bonus + Charisma modifier) against a creature within 60'. On a hit, it takes 1d8 + your charisma modifier Psychic damage as a cracking pain rattles its mind. You may choose for this effect to be non-lethal. If you do, any creature that would be killed by this attack is instead rendered unconscious and stable at 0hp instead.
Exigent Glare. One of your eyes unleashes a ray of with the appearance focused, scintillating air. Make a ranged spell attack roll (Proficiency Bonus + Charisma modifier) against a creature within 60'. On a hit, it takes an amount of Psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier as the ray forcibly slams your will into the creature's psyche. If the creature has a language, and is not immune to psychic damage, you can descibe a one-sentence mental command for the struct creature to follow until the start of your next turn. If the creature willingly disobeys this command, it takes 1d8 Psychic damage and this effect ends. It does not take this damage as long as it genuinely attempts to carry out the command, regardless of success. The target inherently understands the command and how this effect works.
Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn, you may attempt to align yourself with a foe you can see within 60'. State an action you believe the target will perform, including any target(s) of that action, before the start of your next turn (e.g. "they will attack me with their sword"). If the target performs that action as predicted, you gain advantage on the first attack roll you make against that target before the end of your next turn. The target is inherently aware of both the attempted aligning and the prediction involved. Any target you attempt to align with in this way cannot be chosen again until you finish a short or long rest.

1fp - Focal Eyes
Your Eye trait alteration-granted abilities that would normally have a range of 60' have a range of 120' instead.

Furthermore, as an action you may focus your vision in one of the following ways:
Telescopic. You can determine the fine details of any creatures and/or objects you can see, regardless of distance, until the beginning of your next turn.
Magnifying. You have advantage on ability checks made to inspect or appraise items that are small or highly detailed until the beginning of your next turn.
Scotopic. You gain darkvision out to the range of 40' until the begining of your next turn. If you already have darkvision from a non-alteration source (e.g. racial bonus), you may increase the range of that darkvision by 20' instead.
Brushing. Your eyes magically take in, modify, and project back out light in order to paint up to 5 square feet of any unattended surface you can see within 120'. This paint, formed from light, lasts up to four hours before fading away (duration chosen when you use this ability). If you are in bright light the paint can be any color(s), otherwise the paint must be greyscale.

1fp - Soulful Nerves
You've strengthened the connection between your soul and your nervous system, allowing for vastly more efficient recall and a sensitivity to the more ephemeral aspects of others. You can recall, with perfect accuracy, anything you have seen within the last hour. In addition, as an action you may reach further back into your memories, recalling a specific piece of visual information with perfect accuracy regardless of the amount of time that has passed (you must, however, already know what you're trying to recall).

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, alter your vision to gain the ability to visually perceive the emotional state of all creatures you can see within 60' of you until the end of your next turn. While under this effect, you can visually perceive that creatures' emotions as a faint aura whose color, shape, and vibrancy corresponds to the emotion(s) that creature is feeling. Any creature that is actively trying to hide their true emotional state can fool this sense without needing to be aware of it, although you have advantage on any Wisdom(Insight) checks made to see through such deception. After using three bonus actions in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Finally, when you make a Wisdom(Insight) or Wisdom(Animal Handling) check you may use your reaction to gain advantage on the roll. After using your reaction in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp - Blurring Eyes (Requires Soulful Nerves)
You've turned your sensitivity into a more physical bond, making it possible to magically entwine your existence with that of others. You may, as a bonus action on your turn, choose a willing creature you can see within 60'. Until the beginning of your next turn, you may use your reaction to do any combination of the following, space rippling as a faint echo of your eye(s) overlap the target:
Until the end of the current turn, you can see from the target's location in all directions as though you were there yourself. You may also share your vision with the target.
Until the end of the current turn, you and the chosen target gain resistance to all damage. While under this effect, when one of you takes damage the other takes the same amount.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, choose a creature you can see within 60' of you. If the creature is unwilling, it must make a Constitution saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you and the chosen target swap locations. If either of you are restrained, grappled, and/or if there isn't enough space for the swap (e.g. you attempt to swap places with a dragon while hiding in a little hole) this teleportation effect does nothing.
Once you attempt to swap locations three times, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp - Heightened Senses
Your enhanced capability to handle sensory information grants you proficiency in the Perception skill. If you're already proficient in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check you make with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise. In addition, you can use the base alteration of the Eye trait to form eyes capable of sensing both light and sound.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, make a Wisdom(Perception) or Wisdom(Insight) check.

Finally, you may, as an action, analyze a target you can see within 60'. You have advantage on the next attack roll you make against that target before the end of your next turn. If the attack successfully damages the target, it deals an additional 2d4 damage.

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Hungry Eyes (Requires Rattling Eyes)
Your Splintering Glare deals an additional 1d6 damage, and creatures that willingly disobey your Exigent Glare take an additional 1d6 damge when they do so.

Furthermore, when you use your Splintering Glare you may choose to have it rend the physical existence of a target instead of its mind. If you do, it deals Force damage instead of Psychic damage and cannot be non-lethal. In addition, the effect draws sustenance from your foes, their dissolved essence instantly sucked through the ray of warped air as if it were a straw. Every 10 points of Force damage dealt by your Splintering Glare in a single attack gives you a day's worth of nourishment.

Finally, when you score a hit with the Wallop ability on your turn, you may use a bonus action to deal an additional 1d4 Psychic damage to the struck foe.

1fp - Eldritch Perception (requires Heightened Senses)
You may, as an action, visually focus on a single creature or object you can see within 60' of you to determine whether it bears magic or not. This effect does not reveal the school of magic, only whether or not magic is present. Any opaque barrier blocks this ability.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, magically extend your sight in one of the following ways:
Space. Choose one creature, object, section of wall, etc you can see within 60' of you that occupies no more than a 5' cube worth of space. Until the beginning or your next turn, you can see past the chosen target as though it did not exist. For example, you could target a small dresser to see all of its contents without opening it.
Time. Choose one object, section of wall, corpse, etc, or willing creature you can see within 60' of you that occupies no more than a 100' cube worth of space. Then choose a period of time, such as "100 years". You see how the target looked that far in the past. If the target did not exist at the chosen time, you feel a brief sense of pain and the attempt fails. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Layer. Until the beginning of your next turn, you can see up to 60' into the Ethereal Plane. Within this range you can also see invisible creatures and objects as though they were visible.
All of these uses count as divination effects, their benefits relying on shifting and interpreting the flow of magic that suffuses the multiverse. Once you have used three bonus actions to extend your vision in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp - Daunting Glare
You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. If you're already proficient in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check you make with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, as an action you can force a creature within 60' you can see, that is not immune to the Frightened condition, to make a Wisdom saving throw. Each creature can only be targeted by this ability once per turn. On a failure, you magically impose one of the following effects:
Scram. The creature has disadvantage on all attack rolls it makes against you. If it moves towards you, each 1ft it moves takes 2ft of movement. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Engage. The creature gains disadvantage on all attack rolls it makes against creatures other than you. In addition, if the creature moves away from you each 1ft it moves takes 2ft of movement. These effects lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Despair. The creature has disadvantage on all ability checks. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn. In addition, the first attack roll made against the targeted creature before this effect ends has advantage.

2fp - Murmuring Gaze (Requires Soulful Nerves or Rattling Eyes)
Your union of vision and spirit deepens, allowing you to empart your will to those you percieve. You may telepathically communicate with any creature(s) that you can see within 120'. If you do not share a language with the creature you can still communicate using simple concepts, emotions, and images. This communication may be blatant, causing the creature to be inherently aware of who is speaking to them, or subtle, in which case the source is not inherently obvious (although if they can see you staring at them it may be an easy guess). The creature is instinctively aware that they may mentally respond to your communication, although unlike you they must use an action to do so.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, attempt to form a more potent synaptic connection between yourself and a creature you can see within 60'. The chosen creature must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a failure, the connection successfully forms at the end of the current turn and lasts until the end of your next turn. Roll a 1d6. While the connection lasts, whenever the creature makes an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check you may use your reaction to subtract the amount you initially rolled from the result, befuddling the target with a debilitating psychic shriek. You must decide whether or not to mentally shriek before the success or failure of the roll in known. This ability does not stack with similar effects (such as the Mind Sliver or Bane spells). After you've used two bonus actions in this way, you must complete a short or long rest before doing so again.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Vehement Eyes
Whenever you deal Psychic damage, to a creature you can see within 60', you may use your reaction to intensify the effect. If you do, the creature takes an additional 1d4 Psychic damage has the creature disadvantage on Intelligence and Wisdom-based ability checks until the beginning of your next turn.

Furthermore, whenever you deal Force damage, to a creature you can see within 60', you may use your reaction to intensify the effect. If you do, the creature takes an additional 2d4 Force damage.

Finally, you may, as as an action, gain an additional reaction that lasts until the beginning of your next turn. This reaction can only be used for Eye trait reaction-using abilities and cannot be used the same turn you have used any other Eye trait reaction-using ability.

2fp - Nous Sight
You gain 20 feet of blindsight. This blindsight works via your eyes emitting subtle pulses of non-visible psychic energy and then interpreting the echo. Your blindsight can also differentiate between nonthinking objects, emotionless but thinking entities, and emotional entities. In addition, you can roughly sense the mood of emotional beings. If a thinking being is actively trying to conceal itself and/or hide their real emotional state within the range of your blindsight you must beat their Stealth and/or Deception check as normal but you have advantage on your Perception and/or Insight check to do so.

Furthermore, your blindsight can sense telepathic links and telepathic auras, along with the emotions of the ones currently communicating through it. You cannot otherwise sense the contents of the messages.

1fp - Encroaching Gaze (Requires Murmuring Gaze)
You may, as an action, magically connect your mind to that of a chosen creature you can see within 120'. If the target not both aware of this effect and willing, they must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a Success, this effect fails, you take 5d6 Psychic damage, and the creature becomes aware that something attempted to infiltrate its mind. Otherwise, you can telepathically communicate with the target across any distance and share its senses. You can choose to leave an unaware target unaware of the link, but if you do it becomes unstable. An unstable link ends the moment the target would actively wish to conceal what it is sensing and/or doing from others. All links otherwise last until you take any amount of Psychic damage, finish a short or long rest, 24 hours have passed, or you use an action to end the effect, whichever comes first. You can have up to 8 links at the same time.

Furthermore, when you use an action to end a link made with a target that was not both aware of this effect and willing, you may modify any memories the target formed while the link persisted. For example, if the link lasted an hour you could alter the memory, erase it, allow it be recalled with perfect detail, or replace it with up to an hour of something else entirely. The target fills in the blanks themselves without you needing to explain every detail. That said, if a falsified event is nonsensical, feels too out of character, etc., the target may reject it entirely and simply have no memory of the altered period of time. A Remove Curse or Greater Restoration spell cast on the target restores any altered memories and, if it still exists, breaks the link as well.

Finally, if you've made the Soulful Nerves alteration you may use the bonus action granted by it any number of times without needing to rest.

1fp - Decentralized Perception
You can, as an action, visually sense the surroundings of any part of your body (cut hair, severed limb, etc) within 1000 feet of you as though you were there. You cannot see through objects (e.g., if a bit of your hair is in a box you can only see the insides of the box). If you have made the Heightened Senses alteration this sense also includes hearing.

If you have the Decentralized Existence feature, this ability can instead be used across any distance. If you have the Reified Image feature, anything that counts as a part of your body for it also counts as a part of your body for this alteration. If you've made the Murmuring Gaze alteration, you may telepathically communicate with any creature you can see within 120' of a part of your body.

Tier IV Alterations

2fp - Unbound Perception (Requires Decentralized Perception)
Your senses extend beyond your current existence; you cannot be surprised.

Furthermore, whenever you make an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, or whenever an opponent makes an attack roll against you, you may use your reaction to roll an additional d20. You may choose to use this roll instead of the one that would normally be used for the attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. You can use this ability after the original roll, but before the outcome is revealed.

If you use this ability on a roll that an opponent is using the Lucky feat to manipulate, the two abilities cancel each other out, resulting in no additional dice as the inexplicable luck unravels and is unraveled by a deeper insight.

1fp - Piercing Vision (Requires Eldritch Perception)
When you attempt to see through an illusion, you can use Wisdom(Perception) instead of Intelligence(Investigation). In addition, you may count doing so as an Eye-trait granted ability for the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

Furthermore, as an action you may make a Wisdom(Perception) check opposed by the Charisma(Deception) check of a creature you can see. If you succeed, you determine whether or not the creature is in its true form (but not what that form is). If you fail, you sense that your attempt was inconclusive and cannot reattempt the check against that creature until you finish a short or long rest.

Finally, you may use the bonus action granted by your Eldritch Perception alteration any number of times without needing to finish a short or long rest.

1fp - Curator's Vision (Require Blurring Eyes)
As action, you can choose yourself, another creature, or an unattended object you can see within 60'. Each creature or object can only be targeted by this ability once per turn. An unwilling creature must make a Charisma saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you magically impose one of the following effects:
Reject. You partially remove a target from your sight - and existence itself. The target becomes partially intangible until the end of your next turn. While in this state, the target has resistance to all forms of damage, their weight is reduced to 1/100th of what it would normally be, and all damage they deal to other creatures and/or objects is halved (this does not stack with resistance).
Accept. You intensify the existence of the chosen target, causing it to become hyper-real and impossibly vivid. Until the beginning of your next turn, the chosen target's weight and carrying capacity (if any) are multiplied by 10, it has advantage on all saving throws if it is a creature, and it is immune to any new effect that would transform it (like a Polymorph or Flesh to Stone spell). Furthermore, any transformative effect already on the target (such as an already cast Polymorph) that would end before the beginning of your next turn lasts until the beginning of your next turn instead, at which point it immediately ends as normal.
Once you use this ability on two non-object targets, you must finish a short or long rest before using it on a non-object target again.

1fp - History Defining Eyes (Requires Encroaching Gaze)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, choose a willing creature you can see within 60'. Until the beginning of your next turn, you can automatically tell whether or not the creature is telling you the truth. This reveals both the truth of words, and the truth of visual indicators such as body language.

Finally, when a creature a creature you can see falls unconscious due to hit point damage within 60' of you, you can use your reaction to attempt to more forcefully interact with the target's mind. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing and the target becomes immune to this effect for one week. Otherwise, you may do one of the following:
Declare. Pick any statement and insert it into the target's mind. The target's memories will then revise themselves to be consistent with both the fact itself and how they know about it. For example, if you declared you were the target's true parent then they might 'remember' finding out they were adopted. Each time the target encounters a situation that conflicts with their revised memories, and each time they finish a short or long rest if they strongly wish the statement was not true, they can attempt another Wisdom saving throw. On a success, their former memories are restored. A Remove Curse or Greater Restoration spell cast on the target restores their former memories. You do not control what specific revisions were made. There is no limit on how far back the altered memories can be, but you do not learn what alterations were made to memories farther back than 24 hours. You do, however, learn of any revisions that were made to the previous 24 hour's worth of memories.
Reveal. Pick any question that can be given a Yes/No/Unsure answer. You learn the truthful answer to that question from the target's perspective. If the target would consider the one-word answer misleading, the answer also includes a short explanation to resolve the issue.
Once you have attempted to more forcefully interact with two minds this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Orifice
The Orifice trait is the most well-rounded of the seven. Non-combat, melee combat, short ranged combat, the Orifice trait does a little bit of everything like a variety platter of delectable hors d'oeuvres. Life is to be enjoyed, and the Orifice trait facilitates staying in the thick of it. Tentacles can be whips, eyes can be gems, but true gluttony is not so easily concealed. Why not have some fun with it? Of course, a mouth can be quite deceptive as well, and some comforts are more easily acquired through peaceful means. Others.. are more easily acquired through violence. Do you have a preferred dish? Comfort? Battle? Knowledge? The world's buffet has something for everyone. Satisfy yourself!

If Orifice is taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can enhanced your preferred combat style. That said, you might also wish to supplement the Orfice trait's weakest area - it's low maneuverability.

Base Alteration: You can form/remove/modify additional mouths, mandibles, etc. You may use your bite attacks as melee weapons (1d6 piecing damage, light). You are proficient in using your bites. You can use two-weapon fighting with your bite attacks.

Furthermore, these orifices can make nearly any sound, from a collection of whispers to a choir of screams. This works the same as regular noise-making; any human can whisper, scream, and make strange noises - just not to the extent you can. Likewise, mimicking specific noises is as difficult for you to do as a normal human trying to mimic a specific voice that's within their vocal range.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Ravenous Maws
You can digest ordinary food far faster than normal - you are never full unless you want to be. Your eating speed is likewise enhanced; you may, as an action, immediately consume a pound of unattended ordinary food within your reach.

Furthermore, if you have not yet performed an action on your turn, you may use a bonus action to enter an Esurient Craze. This state lasts until the beginning of your next turn. While in an Esurient Craze, you can only use your reactions to make opportunity attacks with your bites and you can only use your actions to eat food and make bite attacks. In addition, whenever you successfully hit a creature with a bite attack and/or eat a pound of food you gain 1d4 + your proficiency modifier temporary hit points. Any temporary hit points granted by this alteration do not stack*, and last until after you finish a short or long rest.

If you have other abilities granted by Advanced alterations that can give you sustenance, such as the Eye trait's Consuming Glare, you may also use those abilities while in an Esurient Craze. If they would successfully give you a day's worth of sustenance, you gain temporary hit points as described above instead.

*As per page 198 of the DMG, if you have 3 temporary hit points and gain 5 more from another bite, you have a total of 5 temporary hit points (the higher number).

2fp - Salivating Maws
You may use your spit as a ranged weapon (1d6 acid, range 30'/90'). You can use your strength modifier instead of your dexterity modifier for attack and damage rolls with your spit. You are proficient with your spit. You can NOT use two-weapon fighting with your spit attacks.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, change the damage type dealt by your spit to Acid, Lightning, or Necrotic. This change lasts until you change it again.

Finally, you can, as a bonus action on your turn, enhance the corrosive properties of your spit and saliva. Until the end of your turn, take note of any opponent successfully hit by one or more of your spit and/or bite attacks. The bodies of these opponents partially soften at the end of your turn. After your turn ends, any weapon attacks made against the softened opponent(s) score a critical on a roll of 19 or 20. This softening lasts until the end of your next turn. Once you've enhanced the corrosive properties of your spit three times, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp - Refined Palate
Whenever you successfully bite, swallow, lick, or otherwise consume part of a creature or object you may gain all of the following benefits:
Knowledge of what the target is made out of. If you aren't familiar with the precise material, you still learn the gist of it (e.g. You might learn a wooden desk is made of "An organic material that's tough and inflexible. There's a water-proof coating.")
Knowledge of roughly how old the target is (A couple years, a few decades, centuries, etc).
Knowledge of where the target has been ("tastes like a mixture of dusty room, woodland area, and.. lake?") and what it has come into contact with ("rubbed against some sort of furry animal") in the past 8 hours. The target's cleanliness (recent bath, never bathes, etc) can affect the length of the discernible time period.
The ability to add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks made to discern more esoteric/specific properties of the target, such as if it's resistant to fire, the exact type of wood, what illnesses it has, etc. If you were already proficient in a relevant skill, such as Intelligence(Nature) while tasting a tree, you may double your proficiency bonus for this purpose. This ability to make enhanced ability checks fades after 10 minutes, after which point you need another taste to renew the benefit. This ability does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, your tongues or tongue analogs can pick up and expertly distinguish scents in the air, giving you advantage on Wisdom(Perception) checks that rely on smell.

1fp - Hooked Teeth
Your orifices possess teeth, mandibles, etc that are especially well suited for tearing apart those that would leave your grip. Any creature you've grappled that uses its action to escape takes 1d6 slashing damage from your teeth whether or not they succeed. Furthermore, if a creature is released from your grapple due to you or it being forcibly pushed/pulled out of reach by a spell or effect the creature takes 2d6 slashing damage.

Finally, you may treat grapple attacks as an Orifice Trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using them with the MultiAssault and Focus Surge class features.

1fp - Famished Choir
Your mouth's capability for manipulating sound allows you to speak without making discernible lip/mandible/etc movements (although you may choose to make them anyway). In addition, you have advantage on Charisma(Performance) checks made to sing.

Furthermore, you can, as an action, magically throw your voice. This allows you to speak, whisper, and otherwise make noises from any location you can see within 120'. You can speak from multiple locations simultaneously as long as the combined sound is no louder than 20 humans screaming. If this is effect would overlap with the space of an unwilling creature, such as because you're trying to shout insults from someone else's mouth, the resulting sound is a garbled mess.

Finally, as a reaction, you can use your vocal projections to disrupt, consume, and erase ordinary sounds. Choose a point in space you can see that's within 120' feet. All non-magical sounds within a 5' radius sphere around that point are erased until the end of the current turn. No such sounds can be made within the sphere nor can such outside noises pass through it. You can allow specific sounds to be created and/or heard within this area, or even choose to only consume specific noises. Creatures within the area gain resistance to Thunder damage. Spells with verbal components can still be cast within this area, directing the flow of magic as normal, although such components cannot be heard. Once you've used three reactions this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Tier II Advanced Alterations

1fp - Noise that Knows (Requires Famished Choir)
Whenever you speak, you may choose which creatures can and/or cannot hear you. In addition, you may choose, within the limit of the sounds you are capable of making, what each creature hears. This allows you to say different things to different creatures at the same time. This effect does not increase the range of your voice - for example, you could choose to make a cry for help that only be heard by a certain friend of yours but if they aren't close enough to hear the shout the cry will simply go unheard. This is a magical effect.

Furthermore, you can, as an action, leave a message of up to 15 words and/or sounds at a location within 120' of you that will magically repeat itself for an hour. You may freely shorten this duration when you first leave the message. You can choose which creatures are capable of hearing this message, as normal. Once you have left three messages this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp - Dire Consumption
You can more skillfully combine shaping and wielding, taking advantage of being able to tweak every twitch from thought to strike for maximum lethality. Your bite and/or spit attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage. This bonus damage does not apply to bites wielded as off-hand weapons; when you use two-weapon fighting the extra attack only deals 1d6 (not 2d6).

Furthermore, if you have made the Ravenous Maws alteration you may dedicate yourself even more intensely to extracting every bit of vitality from your dining. Whenever you are granted temporary hit points by your Esurient Craze, you may choose to gain an additional amount equal to your proficiency modifier (for a total of 1d4 + twice your proficiency modifier). If you do, all other creatures have advantage on attack rolls made against you until the beginning of your next turn.

2fp - Windswept Maws
You can, as a bonus action on your turn, consume all lingering gasses and vapors within 5' of you that can be dispersed by wind. If the gas had some kind of additional effect, you are immediately affected as though you had begun your turn within the gas. You may alternately use this action to breath out, snuffing an unprotected flame of your choice, such as a candle or torch, within 10' of you.

Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn you can wield your breathing in a more deadly manner:

Inhale. A creature of your choice within 5' of you must make a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Strength modifier). On a failure, they take damage as though you hit them with a bite attack. If the creature is Huge or smaller they are also Grappled by you, even if you could not normally grapple a creature of that size.
Exhale. A chosen creature within 5' of you is subjected to a powerful gust of wind. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Strength modifier). On a success this effect does nothing. On a failure, the target takes 2d8 bludgeoning damage. In addition, if the target is no more than one size category larger than you it is also pushed back 10' on a failed save.
After using your breathing in a more deadly manner twice, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Finally, if you've made the Salivating Maws alteration, you may increase the range of your spit to (40'/120').

2fp - Swallow
You may, once per turn as an action, make a bite attack against a large sized or smaller target you are grappling (this may involve unhinging your jaw and the like). If the target is your size or larger you are disadvantaged on the attack roll. If the attack hits, the target is also swallowed, and the grapple ends.

While swallowed, the target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside of you, and it takes 3d6 acid damage at the start of each of your turns. The swallowed creature can still take actions, but the effects of its spells and abilities cannot extend beyond your stomach walls. The AC of your stomach walls is 12 + your Constitution Modifier + one-half your Proficiency Modifier (rounded down). If you take 10 damage or more on a single turn from a swallowed creature, you must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all creatures you have swallowed, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of you. Spells, attacks, and other effects originating from a currently swallowed creature that would grapple, shove, push, or otherwise restrain or relocate you fail to do so. A swallowed creature can, however, can escape via teleportation or interplanar travel should it have a way to do so without being able to see its destination.

You can choose to regurgitate all swallowed creatures as a bonus action on your turn. If you die, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by you and can escape from your corpse by using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone. If you remove this alteration any creatures you have swallowed are immediately regurgitated. If you teleport, any creatures in your stomach remain trapped within it. If a creature dies in your stomach, you may regurgitate any items it possessed as a bonus action. If you somehow end your turn within your own stomach (such as by swallowing yourself via the Reified Image feature), you and all other swallowed creatures are regurgitated, landing within 10' of the point in space where you entered your stomach.

Your stomach is warped by this alteration, becoming inexplicably larger within than without. This strange physiology does not count as being magical for spells and effects - like other entities whose bodies defy reason you don't suddenly die/explode if you enter an antimagic field. Your stomach can hold up to two Large creatures, with smaller creatures counting as the next highest level (i.e., your stomach can hold 1 huge creature, 2 large creatures, 4 medium creatures, 8 small creatures, or 16 tiny creatures). If a creature increases its size beyond the capacity of your stomach, it and all other creatures you have swallowed are immediately regurgitated.

Finally, you may use your base alterations to modify your stomach as well, allowing you to fill it with tentacles, eyes, etc.
Creatures swallowed by mouths in your stomach just.. end up back in the stomach.

1fp - Controlled Consumption(Requires Swallow)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, increase or decrease the number of d6 worth of damage dealt to creatures you have swallowed to a minimum of 0 damage and a maximum of 5d6. This change lasts until you change it again.

Furthermore, if you've made the Salivating Maws alteration, you may the damage dealt to creatures you have swallowed be the same damage type as your spit.

Finally, whenever you successfully score a hit with a bite attack made to swallow a creature, you may choose to have them take no damage from the attack. They are still swallowed as normal.

Tier III Alterations

1fp - Priming Breath (Requires Windswept Maws)
When you use the ability granted by the Windswept Maws alteration to wield your breathing in a more deadly manner, you gain a third option to choose from:

Unleash breath. You exhale corruptive gas in a 30' long line that is 5' wide. You can choose to exhale a shorter line, to a minimum length of 5'. This gas weakens the durability of those within it; whenever a creature or object within the gas is dealt damage, it takes an additional 1d6 damage of the same type. If such a creature is dealt multiple different kinds of damage at the same time (such as by the Flame Strike spell), the additional damage is of whichever type the creature was dealt more of. A wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses the gas. The gas otherwise lasts until the beginning of your next turn.

Furthermore, you may wield your breathing in a more deadly manner one additional time before needing to rest.

1fp - Barbarous Din (Requires Noise that Knows)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, let out a horrendous shriek that magically concentrates itself upon a creature or unattended object within 90'. Make an attack roll (Proficiency + Strength Modifier). On a hit, the target takes 2d6 + your Strength modifier Thunder damage. No other creature can hear this noise, although the target can tell which direction it came from.

Furthermore, if you've made the Salivating Maws alteration, you may add Thunder to the list of damage types you can change your spit to.

1fp - Digestive Rift
Your warped digestive track exceeds comprehension, granting you immunity to ingested poisons.

Furthermore, whenever you eat you can choose to store the nourishment it would provide instead of benefiting from it immediately. You may gain the benefit of any amount of this stored nourishment, using it up in the process, as an action on your turn. For example, you could eat a pound of meat today, gain no benefit of it (still hungry, etc), and then use an action the following week to suddenly gain the benefits of eating that pound of meat. There is no limit to how much nourishment you can store this way. You can use this ability while in an Esurient Craze.

Finally, if you've made the Swallow alteration and a creature or object attempts to use teleportation or planar travel to escape your stomach, you may use your reaction to disrupt the attempt. The creature must make a Charisma saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier). On a failure, the effect fails and the creature or object remains in your stomach.

1fp - Stomach Realm (Requires Controlled Consumption)
You can, as a bonus action on your turn, expand and/or alter the shape of your stomach, either restoring it to its original state or creating a space of any shape whose space is at most twenty 10' cubes. You can also split this area into multiple disconnected rooms. While your stomach is so shaped creatures you swallow are no longer automatically blinded and restrained (unless larger than the available space), although they still cannot see or move outside of your stomach. You may apply base alterations to the insides of your stomach whenever you shape it (such as using the flesh trait's base alteration to make the walls look different). When you swallow a creature you may choose which part of your stomach realm's walls they emerge from.

Furthermore, you can form furniture and the like out of your stomach walls while shaping it. Any such furniture is immobile but can have whatever texture you desire. The "furniture" is still a part of your body.

Finally, you may also transform one or more of your mouths into door-like openings leading directly into your stomach (or change them back into ordinary mouths) whenever you expand and/or alter your stomach. Spells and effects can pass through these doorways without issue.

Tier IV Alterations

1fp - Gluttonous Rift (Requires Digestive Rift and Ravenous Maws)
While you are in an Esurient Craze, you may, as an action, consume at least 10 pounds worth of stored sustenance. If you do, the number of temporary hit points you gain from the feast is increased by 2d4. This increase stacks with the benefit of Dire Consumption.

Furthermore, if you've made the Swallow alteration, you can swallow Gargantuan or smaller targets and the size of your stomach is doubled (allowing it to hold one Gargantuan creature, two Huge creatures, etc). If you've made the Stomach Realm alteration, the size of your expanded stomach is also doubled (40 cubes). If you've made the Windswept Maws alteration, you may use the Inhale option to grapple Gargantuan or smaller creatures.

This alteration does not give you the ability to target Gargantuan creatures with regular grapple attacks unless you could already do so.

1fp - Good Taste in People (Requires Refined Palate)
Whenever a creature qualifies for the benefit of your Refined Palate alteration you also get a taste for the more ephemeral aspects of their existence. You may add your proficiency bonus to any Wisdom(Insight) checks you make to learn more about the creature's motives, preferences, feelings, etc and on Charisma(Deception) checks made to act like them. If you're already proficient , your proficiency bonus is doubled when using it for this purpose. This ability does not stack with Expertise. This effect lasts for 10 minutes, after which you need another taste to renew the effect.

Furthermore, you may, a bonus action on your turn, take a deep breath and let your tongues and/or tongue-analogs really get a good whiff of your surroundings. If you do, you are treated as having tasted everything within 20' of you for the purposes of your Refined Palate alteration. Unlike a normal tasting, this benefit only lasts for 1 minute, after which point you need another taste to renew the benefit.

2fp - Deranged Hunger (Requires Ravenous Maws)
While in an Esurient Craze you have advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws and disadvantage on Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks. In addition, if you would be reduced to 0 HP while in an Esurient Craze you are instead reduced to 1 HP and the Esurient Craze immediately ends.

Furthermore, you may, as a reaction, enter an Esurient Craze. You may enter an Esurient Craze this way even if you've already taken an action on your turn. If you do, it lasts until the end of your next turn instead of its normal duration. Once you've used a reaction this way, you cannot do so again until after you finish a short or long rest.

2fp - Living Prison (Requires Swallow)
You gain resistance against damage dealt to you by creatures currently swallowed by you and/or in your stomach, and have advantage on any saving throws made against their abilities.

Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn you may prevent all teleportation and planar travel used by other creatures and objects from functioning within your stomach, whether your stomach is the destination or departure point for such travel. This effect continues until you end it as a bonus action or unmake this alteration.

[Magikeeper]

Spike
Swords. Spears. Pickaxes. History is filled with pointy edges, and the Spike trait is glad to add more to the pile. In some ways the Spike trait is the least aberrant of the seven - shoving sharp edges into your enemies is a very ordinary thing to do, after all. Spike is also among the most militant of the traits, offering a more professional, soldier-like approach to getting things done. Of course, not all professional killers are orderly.

Although the Spike trait has some non-combat and maneuvering capabilities it is largely an offensively-focused trait with an emphasis on ranged combat. If taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can expand your non-combat, defensive, and/or maneuvering capabilities.

Base Alteration: You can form/remove/modify additional spikes/spines/etc. If you add spikes to an unarmed strike or a melee weapon that is a part of your body (tentacle, fin, bite , etc), you may choose to have that weapon deal piercing damage instead of its usual type when you attack with it (e.g. you could deal piercing damage with a spiked fist). Furthermore, when you score a critical hit with a ballistic spike, a goring spike, an unarmed strike, or a melee weapon with your spikes on it, you may roll 1d4 and add that much piercing damage to the extra damage of the critical hit.

Spikes that are removed/detached/fired/etc from your body normally crumble to dust after four hours. However, your spikes are more than lifeless bone, and remain slightly responsive to your desires; you can will any number of your spikes within 150 feet of you to immediately crumble to dust as a bonus action on your turn. Finally, if you have the Decentralized Existence feature, you may will your spikes to crumble from any distance and can choose to have any of your detached spikes last until you complete a long rest instead of four hours.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

1fp - Hunting Spikes
Your spikes are well suited for being shaped into tough yet lightweight forms suitable for bolts, arrows, and especially dangerous shrapnel. You can create and use the following kinds of spikes:
[b]Ballistic Spikes. Ballistic spikes can be fired with muscular action, allowing you to use these them as ranged weapons (1d8 piercing damage, range 70'/210'). You can choose to use your strength modifier for your ballistic spike's attack and damage rolls instead of your dexterity modifier. You are proficient with these spikes. Fired spikes quickly regrow.
Caltrop Spikes. You may, as an action, form and fire a fragile container spike that breaks apart to unleash large numbers of tiny caltrop spikes at any location within 40' of you. These caltrop spikes fill a 5ft by 5ft area. Any creature that attempts to move into, out of, or through this area must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier). On a failure, they stop moving and take 1 piercing damage. You may add half your proficiency modifier to the damage dealt, rounded up. Until at least one point of this damage is healed, their speed is reduced by 10ft. The slowing effect does not stack. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn't need to make the saving throw.

2fp - Bone Implements
Your spikes are ideal for being hardened and more thoroughly shaped, allowing you to create and utilize the following kinds of spikes:
Goring Spikes. You can form spikes that are more suitable for melee combat, allowing you to use these goring spikes as melee weapons (2d4 piercing damage, finesse). You are proficient with these spikes.
Deadly Quills. You gain the ability extend especially thin and long spikes designed to break into sharp fragments when struck. You may, as a bonus action on your turn, cover yourself in these quills, causing creatures that successfully hit you with a non-reach melee attack and/or a part of their body to take 1 piercing damage. You may add half your proficiency modifier to the damage dealt, rounded up. These quills last until you use your movement, at which point they break apart and must be re-formed.
Carved Spikes. You can subtly alter your spikes as you form them: blunting them, adding sharp side edges, adding holes, and otherwise forming spikes that are in any rough shape a bone cylinder could be carved into. This allows you to change the damage type of any weapon formed from your spikes to bludgeoning and/or slashing damage. In addition, this also allows you to form spikes that create a whistling sound as they move through the air, pitons, tool handles, pick axe heads, chain links, small tools, etc. You may detach these modified spikes from your body as a part of any action, and may have new spikes quickly grow to replace them if you do. This alteration does not give you proficiency with any weapons and/or tools you were not already proficient in.
1fp - Poisonous Spikes
When you hit a creature with a melee or ranged attack made with your spikes, or a weapon with your spikes on it, you can immediately will the spike to generate a disruptive toxin as a bonus action. If the struck foe is not immune to the Poisoned condition, the struck foe has disadvantage on ability checks made with ability of your choice until the end of your next turn. You can choose a different ability each time you generate the toxin.

Furthermore, you gain the ability to produce a limited amount of a more potent venom. If you have not yet performed an action on your turn, you can will all of your spikes to generate this venom as a bonus action. At the end of your turn, each creature that was damaged by one or more of your spikes that turn, that is not immune to the Poisoned condition, must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier). On a failed save, the creature suffers from the effect of your choice:
Stiffened. The creature has disadvantage on Dexterity ability checks and its speed is halved until the end of your next turn.
Corroded. The creature takes 1 poison damage and cannot regain hit points until the end of your next turn. You may add one-half your proficiency modifier to the damage dealt, rounded up.
Addled. The creature has disadvantage on Intelligence and Wisdom ability checks until the end of your next turn. In addition, at the end of your next turn the creature forgets everything that happened while it was under this effect. It regains these memories whenever it next completes a long rest.If multiple creatures are effected by your venom on the same turn, you must choose the same additional effect for all of them. After using three bonus actions to produce this more potent venom, you cannot produce it again until you finish a short or long rest.

1fp - Tether (Requires Hunting Spikes or Bone Implements)
You can choose to have any of your detached spikes remain connected to you by some kind of secretion - spider silk, goo, etc - that hardens when your spike hits something or when you will it to do so (willing the material to harden before the spike hits something causes the attack to miss). This secretion has the durability of silk rope. A tether cannot be longer than 120'; if a spike is fired beyond that range the tether can still be formed but it will not be connected to you. Caltrop Spikes, if you can form them, cannot remain attached to you.

Any "rope" created this way lasts as long as your detatched spikes, dissolving when its time is up. You can detach the end of any number of "ropes" that are connected to you as a bonus action on your turn.

Using this ability with Carved Spikes, if you can form them, effectively allows you to use your spikes like grappling hooks, along with anything else you might use ropes with carved endpieces for.

2fp - Smoke Spikes
As a bonus action on your turn, you can choose to fill a single spike with a semi-stable mixture that will explode after a set period of time, to a maximum delay of 10 minutes. You may reduce this delay as a part of any action while the spike is still attached to you, and may also detach the spike as a part of any action. If you use this spike to make an attack, such as via the Hunting Spikes alteration, it explodes in the same space as the attacked creature or object whether or not it hits. If the attack does hit, the spike deals damage as normal before exploding.

The spike's explosion creates a 10' radius cloud of thick smog centered around the point of detonation that lasts for one round. This explosion, although loud, is not powerful enough to deafen or deal damage. The smog spreads around corners and its area is heavily obscured. You can choose the color(s) and faint smell of the smog, and can choose to create a cloud whose radius is less than 10ft. These choices must be made when the spike is fired and/or detached from you, or when the spike explodes if it was never detached. A wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses the cloud.

After using this ability three times, you may not do so again until you complete a short or long rest.

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Deadly Spikes (Requires Hunting Spikes or Bone Implements)
You can more skillfully combine shaping and wielding, taking advantage of being able to tweak every twitch from thought to strike for maximum lethality. Your ballistic spikes and/or goring spikes deal an additional 1d6 damage.

Furthermore, when you score a critical hit with a ballistic spike, a goring spike, or an attack with a melee weapon with your spikes on it, you may roll 2d4 additional damage instead of 1d4.

2fp - Noxious Spikes (Requires Poisonous Spikes)
Creatures affected by your disruptive toxin have disadvantage on saving throws made against poison and disease for the duration of the effect.

Furthermore, whenever a creature fails their Constitution saving throw against your more potent venom you may have them be Poisoned in addition to the venom's normal effect until the end of your next turn.

Finally, if you've made the Smoke Spikes alteration, when you choose the properties of the cloud you may also choose whether or not to make the cloud toxic. If you do, all creatures aside from yourself that enter and/or start their turn within the cloud, that are not immune to the Poisoned condition, have disadvantage on Intelligence(Investigation), Wisdom(Perception), and Wisdom(Insight) ability checks for one round. Creatures are affected even if they hold their breath or don't need to breathe.

1fp - Pneumatic Spikes (Requires Smoke Spikes)
The underlying bone, cartilage, and muscle structure of your body can be tweaked to support using muscular action and pneumatic force to powerfully twist your spikes in a drill-like motion. This capability provides the following benefits:
Melee attacks made with your spikes, or a weapon with your spikes on them, deal double damage to unattended objects and surfaces.
If you have made the Hunting Spikes alteration, your ballistic spikes can utilize this spinning motion to help stay on course - attacking at long range does not impose disadvantage on attack rolls made with your ballistic spikes and you can ignore half cover when making ranged attacks with your spikes.
You can embed your spikes into unattended objects and surfaces they damage. If the spike was attached to your body, it detaches. An embedded spike can be used as a foothold/handhold and can support up to 1000 pounds of weight without getting pulled out (the object it is embedded into, however, might not be so sturdy).
Furthermore, if you have no remaining uses of the ability granted by your Smoke Spikes alteration, you may concentrate for 5 minutes to regain a single expended use.

1fp - Vivifying Spikes (Requires Hunting Spikes)
Your spikes become capable of secreting a variety of medicinal elixirs. As an action you can make a special Wisdom(Medicine) check to attempt to stabilize a creature within your reach with the assistance of these curative spikes. You may add your Constitution modifier (minimum +1) to the result of the check.

Furthermore, as bonus action on your turn, you can will your spikes to secrete a preservation serum ideal for capturing foes alive. Until the beginning of your next turn, you can choose to knock out any creature that is reduced to 0 hit points by a ranged attack made with your ballistic spikes (as you could with a melee attack). If you've made the Rooting Spikes alteration, you may also choose to dissolve any spikes embedded in creatures that are knocked out in this manner.

Finally, as a bonus action on your turn, you can deal 5 damage to yourself in order to concentrate your life-force into a more general-purpose vitalizing serum and then inject that serum into a willing or unconscious creature within 70'. The injected creature gains 10 temporary hit points that last until the beginning of your next turn. Furthermore, their speed is doubled and they have advantage on saving throws made against disease and poison for the duration of the effect. The speed increase does not stack with the Haste spell. If the creature was unconscious, this effect does not change that. You can target yourself with this ability. After using this more general-purpose serum three times, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Shredding Volley (Requires Hunting Spikes)
When you use an action to attack with your ballistic spikes you may choose to form and fire a rapid flurry of spikes instead, the volley trading the possibility of an ideal strike for a better chance of hitting the target at all. If you do, you have advantage on the attack roll but the initial damage dealt by the attack is halved (e.g. extra damage from the Sharpshooter feat and/or a critical hit would be halved but if you've made the Rooting Spikes or Poisonous Spikes alteration the rooting/poison damage would not be halved).

Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn, you may ready yourself to unleash a truly staggering number of spikes upon your foes. If you do, your rapid flurries deal full damage instead of half damage until the end of your turn. Once you use a bonus action this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again. This bonus action cannot be used the same turn as the Focus Surge feature.

2fp - Rooting Spikes
You can form spikes that embed themselves in any creatures they damage, taking root/expanding/unfolding/etc to push themselves deeper into your foes. Creatures with one or more spikes embedded in them take 5 points of piercing damage at the beginning of each of their turns.

An afflicted opponent can use an action to remove all spikes embedded in themselves, dealing 1d6 slashing damage to themselves in the process.

If the spike was directly attached to your body (goring spikes, deadly quills) it detaches from you when embedding itself into a target. This ability can be used with the tether alteration, it stays connected to the 'rope'.

2fp - Rupture Seeds (Requires Rooting Spikes and Hunting Spikes)
You may have your spikes erupt forth from the body of any creature that dies with your rooting spikes embedded in them. If you do, the spikes burst forth and shatter, forming caltrop spikes that fill the area the deceased creature occupied. These caltrop spikes can potentially take root in other creatures as normal.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, choose up to four 5'x5' areas already filled with your caltrop spikes within 60ft of you, causing each area to erupt into a 5'x5'x10' bone hedge. A bone hedge is a tangled mess of sharp bones that has 20hp, AC 10, and counts as difficult terrain. The hedge partially blocks line of sight, providing half cover. The first time a creature enters or leaves the area of one or more bone hedges on their turn they must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier). On a failure, they take 3d8 piercing damage and are embedded with your rooting spikes. Creatures initially within the area of effect do not need to make a saving throw until they try to leave the hedge. The bone hedges last as long as your other detatched spikes, and can visually look like any sturdy material. If a bone hedge is destroyed through damage, it shatters back into caltrop spikes that fill its area.

1fp - Deleterious Existence (Requires Poisonous Spikes)
When you use the capabilities granted by the Poisonous Spikes alteration, you may choose to have them deal Necrotic damage instead of their usual type (if any). In addition, creatures normally immune to poison damage / the Poisoned condition are not immune to the effects your alteration-granted toxins, venoms, and toxic clouds unless they are also immune to Necrotic damage.

Furthermore, whenever a creature fails their Constitution saving throw against your more potent venom you may have them suffer from one of the following effects, in addition to its normal effect:
Dizzy. The creature falls prone at the end of their next turn. In addition, it has disadvantage on opportunity attacks until the end of your next turn.
Amnesic. The creature immediately forgets everything that happened in the past minute. It regains these memories whenever it next completes a long rest.
Frail. Until the end of your next turn, the creature takes an additional 1d4 necrotic damage from all melee and ranged attacks.
If multiple creatures are effected by your venom on the same turn, you must choose the same additional effect for all of them.

Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Biostraining Cannonade (Requires Hunting Spikes)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, secrete a propulsive mixture and/or otherwise contort your musculature to greatly increase the might of your ballistic spikes. If you do, your ballistic spikes deal an additional 1d6 damage, count as siege weapons, deal double damage to structures, and have a range of (300'/900') until the end of your turn. The resulting recoil has a price; until the end of your next turn your speed is reduced to 0, all attacks made against you have advantage, and you have disadvantage on all Strength and Dexterity ability checks. You cannot use this ability while suffering from the recoil effects.

1fp - Quivering Tether (Requires Tether)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, will one of the "ropes" created by the effects of your Tether alteration, that is still connected to you, to partially contract. This shortening effect rapidly pulls you and anything connected to you towards the spike on the other end with immense force (but does not exert any force on the spike itself). You can choose how much of the tether to contract each time, up to a maximum of 60' per use of this ability.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, secrete and seamlessly attach more "rope", adding up to 60' to the length of any or all tethers currently attached to you. This additional length can extend a tether beyond the normal maximum length of 120'.

Finally, the durability of your tethers improve, giving them the toughness of woven steel while still remaining as supple as silk.

2fp - Piercing Rain (Requires Shredding Volley)
When you use the action granted by the Shredding Volley alteration, you may choose to instead aim the volley of ballistic spikes at several foes at the same time. If you do, choose a point in space within the normal range of your ballistic spikes and make a single ballistic spike attack. You may apply the result of the attack against any number of creatures within 10' of the chosen point in space. If you score a critical hit, all chosen targets are automatically hit but do not take any additional damage from the critical. Roll damage a single time and apply half the result to any successfully hit targets. If your rapid flurries would deal full damage this turn, apply full damage (but not additional critical damage) to any successfully hit foe instead. This volley benefits from your other alterations as normal (Rooting Spikes, Poisonous Spikes, etc).

Furthermore, you may use the bonus action granted by your Shredding Volley alteration one additional time before needing to complete a rest.

2fp - Distorted Implements
You can choose to warp the existence of your spikes, causing them to have more edges than should be physically possible. Creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom(Perception) checks made to study these non-euclidean spikes and have disadvantage on all Dexterity saving throws made against abilities granted by your Spike trait alterations. In addition, when you score a critical hit with a ballistic spike, a goring spike, or an attack with a melee weapon with your spikes on it, you may roll 2d4 additional damage instead of 1d4. This stacks with the benefit of the Deadly Spikes alteration (3d4 total).

Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn, you can will your spikes to fade in and out of existence, taking on a phantasmal appearance. While flickering in this way, your spikes ignore cover and can pass through any physical and/or magical barrier between you and the target of your attacks. The range of your attacks does not change. If you cannot perceive your target, you can instead attempt to attack the square you think they're in with disadvantage. These attacks cannot benefit from the effects of the Tether alteration. This effect lasts until the end of your turn. After using three bonus actions in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Puppet
Ah, the wonders of friendship. Helping others and being helped by them in return is a powerful way to move up in a world just filled to the brim with minds and hearts. But making friends can be so very hard... if only you could do so a bit more... literally. Of course, a puppet master need not be so unsociable, perhaps you simply love people so much you'd like to be several of them yourself. Pets are quite popular as well, what wizard doesn't have a familiar by their side? Certainly not a wizard that thinks like you! Whether entertaining others, having them entertain you, or just embracing that warm feeling of collective unity is your preferred modus operandi the Puppet trait is here to help you put on a show that will never be forgotten.

Due to its focus on support, the Puppet trait itself is somewhat lacking when it comes to violence - if taken as your Primary Trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can expand your offensive capabilities. That said, increasing the breadth of your social capabilities might also be worth looking into.

Base Alteration:You can freely form/remove/modify tiny puppets, marionettes, and the like made of flesh/fur/etc.

These tiny puppets, called Toy puppets, share your space and have the following qualities:

Fixed Cord. The puppet is connected to you by one or more thin cords (which can look like flesh, hair, string, a leash, etc). These cords have a maximum range of 2' (the puppet cannot leave your square).
Cord Bound. If a puppet would end up beyond the reach of its cord through any means (such as by you or it being knocked out of range), the puppet immediately unforms instead.
Shared Existence. Like any body part, damage dealt to puppets is dealt to you and spells and effects targeted at them effect you as well. If a spell or effect targets an area, you are only effected once even if yourself and multiple puppets are within the area of effect (e.g. you would only take damage from a Fireball once). Likewise, spells or effects originating from you, that effect an area, treat you as one creature for the purpose of affecting others (If a spell or effect gave you a flame aura that damages nearby creatures, and a foe is near both you and a puppet, the foe would only take the damage once).
Shared Actions. You must use your actions, reactions, etc to control your puppets. They are just a part of your body, after all.
Shared Senses. You can, as an action to make a Wisdom(Perception) check from the location of one of your puppets. If you have access to the base alteration of the Eye trait, you are inherently aware of anything your puppets are sensing, allowing your passive perception to apply to them.
Limited Capabilities. Toy puppets have a carrying capacity of 1 pound cannot be used to perform any action, bonus action, or reaction, except for the Use an Object action and any ability granted by a Puppet trait alteration. The Use an Object action does not count count as an alteration-granted ability. Unlike other puppet types, anything carried by one or more Toy puppets counts against your own maximum carrying capacity.
Altered Alteration. Puppets benefit from any base and/or advanced alterations you've added to yourself (like any other body part), although they may not be able to utilize those benefits. You cannot form puppets that are attached to other puppets. If a puppet can somehow use an ability, any limitations of that ability are shared between yourself and all of your puppets. (e.g. if an ability can only be used twice before resting, and both you and a puppet use that ability, neither you nor your puppets can use it again before resting. If an ability can only effect a target once per round, that limit would also be shared between you and your puppets).


You may, as a bonus action on your turn, convert one of your Toy puppets into a Servant puppet. A Servant puppet can be tiny or small in size. You may only have one Servant puppet at a time. A Servant puppet has the following additional qualities:
Variable Cord. You can use a bonus action on your turn to change the length of one of your Servant puppet's cord(s), to a maximum range of 40'. The puppet must already be within its new range. For example, if you want to reduce a puppet's range from 40' to 20' it must already be within 20' of you.
Punchable. Your Servant puppet can be attacked separately, its armor class is the same as yours (although it does not benefit from worn armor unless it is also wearing it). Any damage dealt to the puppet is still dealt to you. Area effects that include both you and the puppet still only effect you once.
Tossable. Effects that would physically move or restrain the Servant puppet, such as a strong wind or a successful grapple, only effect it and not you. Likewise, effects that would physically move or restrain you do not effect your Servant puppet.
Maneuverable. Servant Puppets have their own movement. Their speed is the same as yours.
Lesser Capabilities. Replaces Limited Capabilities. Servant puppets have a carrying capacity of 5 pounds and cannot be used to perform any action, bonus action, or reaction, except for the Use an Object action, Help action, and any ability granted by a Puppet trait alteration. The Use an Object and Help actions do not count as alteration-granted abilities.

Tier 1 Advance Alterations:

1fp - Deadly Coordination
You can, as an action, have one of your puppets Oppose or Support a creature within 5' of them:
Oppose. The next attack roll made against the creature before your next turn has advantage. If the attack damages it, the creature takes an additional 1d6 damage of the same type.
Support. The next attack roll made against the creature before your next turn has disadvantage. If the attack misses, and the attacker is within 5' of the puppet, the attacker takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage.

Each puppet can only be used with this ability once per round. If you have enough actions you may, however, have multiple puppets Support or Oppose the same creature; the damage stacks. A puppet cannot Support itself, but it can support you or another puppet despite being a part of you.

Furthermore, you may count the Help action as a Puppet Trait alteration-granted ability for the purposes of using it with the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

1fp - Puppet Self
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, sacrifice any number of hit points in order to briefly convert yourself into a more durable semi-nonliving form. If you do, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to twice the amount sacrificed that last until the beginning of your next turn. You cannot sacrifice temporary hit points in this way.

Furthermore, as an action you may choose any period of time, such as "one minute" or "three weeks", and enter a hibernation state for that period of time. While in this state you are unconscious and each week that passes counts as one hour for the purpose of starvation, dehydration, and aging. If you take damage while in this state this effect immediately ends.

Finally, you can concentrate for 5 minutes in order to transfer your essence to one of your Servant or Substitute puppets. The puppet transforms into you while your former body transforms into the puppet. You may choose to have your worn and carried objects move with you, flowing into your body and then flowing back out of it as your destination body transforms into you. If your destination is too small to contain you, the transfer fails. This is a teleportation effect, but the swapped puppet does not unform. After transferring your essence in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp - Shifting Strings
You can convert up to three of your Toy puppets into Servant puppets as a bonus action on your turn. The maximum number of Servant puppets you can have at the same time is likewise increased to a total of three. In addition, you may extend the range of these puppet's cords to a maximum of 120' instead of 40'. The number of actions you can take each turn does not change.

Furthermore, you may form puppets that do not have solid cords. Such cords may have no form at all, as if they didn't exist, or you may have them look transparent/ghostly. The range of your puppets does not change - if a puppet would move out of its range it unforms as normal. Such puppets do not, however, need a physical path to you (you could keep them in a closed box, etc). They are still a part of your body.

2fp - Parasite Puppets
You can, as an action, have one of your Servant puppets attempt to attach themselves to a creature within 5' of them and within the maximum range of their cord. If unwilling, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier). On a success this effect does nothing. Otherwise, the puppet attaches itself to their body for one hour (after which point it detaches). The effected creature cannot move beyond the maximum reach of the attached puppet's cords while so attached and has disadvantage on any attack rolls they make against the attached puppet. An attached puppet moves with the target, shares the target's space, and has a movespeed of 0.

A creature attached to your puppet(s), that is not charmed by you, may use an action to make a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier). On a success the creature detaches itself from all puppets attached to it. You can choose to end this effect ahead of time as an action or bonus action, detaching any number of puppets. If you lose consciousness or move farther away from the creature than the maximum range of a puppets' cord the puppet(s) automatically detaches.

You can telepathically communicate with creatures attached to your puppets. This does not give you the ability to comprehend languages you do not know, but images/feelings/etc can also be communicated this way.

2fp - Adroit Handling
You have advantage on Dexterity(Sleight of Hand) checks involving your puppets. In addition, you can add your proficiency modifier to Charisma(Performance) checks used to perform puppet shows. If you were already proficient in Performance, your modifier is doubled for this purpose. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn, you can choose one of the following effects:
Usher. Until the beginning of your next turn, enemy creatures have disadvantage on opportunity attacks made against your Servant puppets and the speed of any of your Servant, Substitute, and/or Stage puppets, that have a movement speed greater than 0, is increased by 10'.
Abandon. Choose one of your puppets. Until the beginning of your next turn, the puppet gains resistance to all damage. If the puppet takes any damage while under this effect, it unforms at the end of the current turn. If a puppet unforms while under this effect, you cannot use the base alteration of the Puppet trait to create any new puppets for one minute.
Watch Over. Choose one of your Servant puppets. Until the beginning of your next turn, when an opponent you can see attempts to attack the chosen puppet you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. Alternately, you can use your reaction to give the chosen puppet advantage on a Dexterity saving throw.
Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Butchering Crew (Requires Deadly Coordination)
Whenever the ability granted by your Deadly Coordination alteration would deal damage, you may add your Dexterity or Charisma modifier to the damage dealt. If multiple puppets Support or Oppose the same creature, this damage stacks.

Furthermore, you gain the following capabilities:
Lethal Assurance. When an attack roll is made with advantage due to one or more Oppose actions, you can use your reaction to let the attacker reroll one of the dice.
Bloodied Bodyguard. When a creature scores a hit against a target, if the attack roll had disadvantage due to one or more Support actions, you can use your reaction to have any damage dealt by that attack be dealt to one of the puppets that had made the support action(s) instead.
You can use your reaction in either of the above ways, in any combination, a total of three times. You regain all expended uses when you complete a short or long rest.

2fp - Substitute Puppet
You may, as an action, convert one of Servant puppets, that is not currently attached to another creature, into a Substitute puppet. This allows you to create another Servant puppet. You may only have one Substitute puppet at a time. Substitute Puppets can be medium or small sized, and have the following additional quality:
Shared Capabilities. Replaces Lesser Capabilities. Substitute Puppets have the same carrying capacity you do and can be used to perform any action, reaction, and/or bonus action you could perform. Substitute Puppets cannot benefit from their own Oppose action. If you have made the Orifice trait's Swallow alteration, all creatures swallowed by your puppets end up in your stomach (you do not gain an arbitrary number of stomachs). The number of actions you can perform each round does not change. Substitute puppets otherwise have the same qualities as Servant puppets.

2fp - Collapsing Puppets
When you make this alteration or finish a long rest, you gain/replenish a separate reserve of 30 hit points that can only be used by your puppets. As long as the reserve as at least 1 hit point remaining, you can use an action to bind and/or unbind any number of your non-Toy puppets to the reserve. If a bound puppet would take damage, subtract that damage from the reserve instead. If the reserve would be reduced to 0 or less hit points, it is instead reduced to 0 hit points and all puppets bound to the reserve immediately unform. Any excess damage is ignored (it does not transfer to you).

You can concentrate for 5 minutes in order to sacrifice any number of hit points. If you do, the separate reserve regains an equal number of hit points (up to its maximum capacity). Once you do this, you must finish a short or long rest before restoring the reserve in this way again.

All of these changes override the "Shared Existence" quality. Area effects that deal damage affect each HP pool separately. For example, if both you and three puppets bound to the reserve were in the area of a fireball both you and the reserve would take the damage once. Non-damaging effects still affect you as per the "Shared Existence" quality.

1fp - Persuasive Parasites (Requires Parasite Puppet)
While one or more creatures are attached to your puppet(s), you can use a bonus action on your turn to do any one of the following:
Charm. Choose a creature currently attached to your puppet(s). That creature must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier). On a failure, the creature is charmed by you until the end of your next turn. If the creature is not currently fighting you or your companions they are instead charmed for one hour. In either case, this effect ends if the creature is freed from your puppet(s). While charmed, the creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance and believes they are willingly attached to your puppet. If you or one of your companions do anything harmful to the creature it ceases to be charmed (but is still attached to your puppet). When the effect ends, the creature knows it was charmed by you.
Assist. Choose a willing creature that is currently attached to your puppet(s) and not charmed. Until the creature is detached from the puppet(s) your telepathic link with them is enhanced, allowing you to occasionally assume direct control. When the creature makes an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma ability check, or makes a Concentration check, you can use your reaction to make the check in their place. In addition, you can use your reaction to stun the creature until the beginning of your next turn. If you do, this effect immediately ends and the stunned creature may immediately remake their saving throw (if there was one) against any effect(s) currently charming them.
You can use any of the above capabilities, in any combination, a total of two times. You regain any expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Unchained Doll (Requires Substitute Puppet and Shifting Strings)
Your Substitute and/or Stage puppets lose the Fixed Cord, Variable Cord, and Cord Bound qualities. They are no longer connected to you and have no maximum range, although they still count as being a part of your body. You must still use your own actions to control them.

Furthermore, you may have up to two Substitute puppets at the same time instead of just one.

Finally, if you possess the Reified Image feature any Substitute puppets formed from your Proxy continue to exist when the effect ends instead of dissolving into nothingness.

1fp - Barrier Puppets (Requires Collapsing Puppets)
Non-damaging spells and effects targeted at any of your puppets that are bound to the separate reserve do not effect you unless they affect the mind of their target. This also includes spells and effects whose area includes your puppets but not you (the puppets are still affected). Your own abilities, spells, etc treat the puppets as a part of you as normal. You may choose to share other effects as well, such as the effects of a spell cast by an ally. These changes override the "Shared Existence" quality.

Furthermore, the initial and maximum capacity of the separate reserve increases to 60 hit points.

1fp - Invasive Parasites (Requires Persuasive Parasites)
Whenever a creature fails their Wisdom saving throw against the charm effect granted by the Persuasive Parasites alteration, you may choose to have that creature forget everything that happened during the past ten minutes. In addition, after the charm effect ends the target forgets everything that that happened while they were charmed. This may result in them not even knowing they were charmed in the first place.

Furthermore, the benefit granted by the Assist option of the capability granted by the Persuasive Parasites alteration does not end when you stun the attached creature.

Finally, you may use the ability granted by your Persuasive Parasites alteration one additional time before needing to finish a rest.

2fp - Doll Breaking Motions
You can, as a bonus action on your turn, deal 10 damage to yourself in order to gain advantage on all Strength and Dexterity ability checks until the beginning of your next turn. Furthermore, your alteration-granted attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage until the beginning of your next turn. If you've made the Deadly Coordination alteration, its effect likewise deals an additional 1d6 damage.

If you've made the Collapsing Puppets alteration, you can choose to deal the 10 damage to the separate reserve instead. If you do, only puppets bound to the reserve gain the benefits of using this ability.

Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

3fp - Habile Locums (Requires Substitute Puppet)
You may count any alteration-granted attack or ability used by one of your Substitute puppets as a Puppet trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using it with the Focus Surge feature. For example, you could have a Substitute puppet attack with a tentacle twice.

Furthermore, you can use the Focus Surge feature one additional time before a rest, but only once on the same turn.

1fp - Subjugating Parasites (requires Parasite Puppets)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, give a command to one or more creatures attached to your puppets. Until the beginning of your next turn, the commanded creature(s) takes 2d10 psychic damage and are restrained until the end of your next turn the first time they intentionally attempt to disobey or refuse to obey the command. If the creature could not feasibly follow the order, or if doing so would be harmful to the creature, they still take the damage but are not restrained.

1fp - Myriad Self (Requires Barrier Puppets and Substitute Puppet)
You can form puppets connected to your Substitute and/or Stage puppets. These puppets function as normal, except their maximum range is how far they can move from the puppet they're attached to instead of you and they immediately unform if the puppet they're connected to unforms. You may convert up to three of these puppets into Servant puppets without them counting against the total number of Servant puppets you can have at the same time. You cannot connect Substitute Puppets to each other this way.

Furthermore, the initial and maximum capacity of the separate reserve increases to 90 hit points.

Finally, you may use a reaction to unform any number of your puppets. Once you use a reaction in this way, you cannot do so again until after you complete a short or long rest.

3fp - Rumbling Domain (Requires Substitute Puppet)
You may spend 10 minutes performing no other actions in order to convert one of your Substitute puppets into a Stage puppet. This allows you to create another Substitute Puppet. A Stage Puppet can be any shape and size that would fit within a 50'x50'x50' cube and has four times the carrying capacity of a Gargantuan creature (your STR score x 15 x 8 x 4 [STR x 480lb]). As the name implies, the Stage puppet is otherwise not as dangerous as it looks - even if it has the form of a mansion or a giant beast it's still only as durable and deadly as a Substitute puppet. At your DM's discretion the Stage puppet's massive size may give it advantage on certain ability checks.

You may unform the Stage puppet as an action and/or bonus action like any other puppet. Furthermore, you may you may freely add or remove other base trait alterations - such adding tentacles to one of the Stage puppet's "walls" or changing the design of the "carpets" via the base Flesh Trait alteration - to your Stage puppet as you would any other puppet.

You may only have one Stage puppet formed at a time. With the exception of its greatly increased carrying capacity and size, your Stage puppet otherwise has all the qualities of a Substitute Puppet. If you unmake this alteration, your Stage puppet immediately unforms as normal.

As referenced above, the lack of mechanical combat bonuses is intentional - your other alterations are needed to make the puppet more deadly than a glorified stage prop. Another thing to keep in mind is that Stage Puppets tend to be much lighter than they look - like a "stone wall" made of cardboard.

[Magikeeper]

Fin
To swim to uncharted depths and soar above the clouds… although many ozodrin appreciate freedom, the Fin trait truly cherishes the concept. Going where you want to go, and leaving where you want to leave. When it comes to battle, the Fin trait natural promotes fighting like a raging river – fast, upfront, and constantly in motion.

The Fin trait’s devotion to travel has left little room for unrelated matters – if taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they they can expand your non-combat capabilities or how they can offer new ways to take advantage of your mobility in battle.

Base Alteration: You can freely form/remove/modify additional fins. You can use these fins to move, granting you a swimming speed of 30’. Furthermore, you may form hardened fins suitable for use as melee weapons (1d4 bludgeoning damage, light, finesse). You are proficient with your fins. You can use two-weapon fighting with your fins.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Whirling Fins
When you hit a creature with a fin attack on your turn you may, as a bonus action, do one of the following if you're not wearing heavy armor:

Use the force of the blow to nimbly push yourself 5' in any direction. This movement does not provoke an opportunity attack.
Make a special Shove attempt against the struck creature. You may add your Dexterity modifier (minimum +0) to the Strength(Athletics) check made to do so.
Continue the flow, putting yourself in position to seamlessly punish your opponent's next misstep until the beginning of your next turn. If you do, the first time the struck creature misses you with a melee attack they take 1d6 bludgeoning damage and this effect ends.

Furthermore, you gain proficiency in Acrobatics. If you were already proficient, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check made with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

1fp – Momentous Fins
Like a tightly wound spring, your musculature is particularly adept at storing the kinetic force brought about by your motions but can’t hold it for long. When you damage an opponent with a fin attack, if you moved at least 10 feet in a straight line this turn, the struck foe takes an additional 1d6 damage. You can only apply this extra damage once per turn, but it can stack with the ability below.

Furthermore, you can store the kinetic force brought about by outside forces; when you take bludgeoning, slashing, and/or piercing damage you can use your reaction to store the force of the blow. You can then release the stored force the next time you successfully score a hit with a fin attack before the end of your next turn. If you do, the attack deals an additional amount of bludgeoning damage equal to half the total amount bludgeoning, piercing, and/or slashing damage you were previously dealt, rounded down (e.g. if you use your reaction after being hit with an arrow for 9 piercing damage, your fin attack would deal an additional 4 bludgeoning damage). Once you’ve used two reactions this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp – Swift Fins
You can subtly alter your body and fins/wings to better support speedy movement (aerodynamic shapes, releasing jets of air through muscle motions, etc). Your swimming speed increases by 15’ and your walking speed increases by 5' while you aren't wearing heavy armor.

Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn you may briefly replace your walking speed with your swimming speed, your movements causing spacial ripples like a fish swimming along the surface of a pond. For example, if your swimming speed was 45’ then you would have a walking speed of 45’. This effect lasts until the end of your turn. While under this effect you can use your movement to swim horizontally while falling, using up to 3 feet of movement for each foot you fall. In addition, while under this effect you can subtract up to 10 feet from the distance you fell when calculating falling damage and have resistance against any falling damage you do take.

1fp – Specialized Organs
You can modify your internal organs to better support continual movement and lengthy dives. You can hold your breath four times as long you would otherwise be able to, and become immune to atmospheric pressure effects and altitude sickness. You also have advantage on Constitution saving throws made to move/travel quickly for long periods of time and on any ability checks made to move in adverse conditions (stormy water, strong winds, etc).

Furthermore, at the end of any creature’s turn, if your speed is not currently 0, you can use your reaction to move 5’. This provokes opportunity attacks as normal. Once you’ve used two reactions this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp – Digging Fins
You can form tough, shovel-like fins that aid in excavating earth and soil and subtly modify your musculature to more efficiently perform the needed motions. This allows you to dig a 5'x5'x5' area (125 cubic ft) of loose dirt in 10 minutes, or 60 minutes if the dirt is tightly packed and/or clay. Digging through stone is only possible if it has already been shattered into smaller pebbles, in which case it can be treated like loose dirt.

Furthermore, digging is no more tiring for you than walking.
Note: That's 12.5 cubic ft / minute for loose dirt, ~2.08 cubic ft / minute for clay.

Tier II Advanced Alterations

1fp – Flowing Motions (Requires Specialized Organs)
You can tweak and refine the motor control capabilities of your neural system or its equivalent, allowing you to precisely and efficiently maximize your movements. You can count the Dash and Disengage actions as Fin trait alteration-granted abilities for the purpose of using them with the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

Furthermore, when you take the Dash action you can make an attack with a fin as a bonus action.

2fp – Razor Fins
Your fins may deal slashing damage instead of bludgeoning damage.

Furthermore, your body’s union of shaping and motion enable feats of traveling destruction more akin to a bladed gust of wind than a living thing. If you have not yet performed an action on your turn you can, as a bonus action, make a Strength or Dexterity ability check and add your proficiency modifier to the result. Until the end of your turn, any opponent you move within 5' of, whose armor class is less than the result of the check, takes 3d4 slashing damage. Roll this damage once and apply it to all effected creatures a single time. You cannot damage the same creature twice with the same use of this ability. Any opponent damaged this way cannot make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn. While benefiting from this ability, you can only use your actions to Dash, Disengage, Shove, and/or make ability checks. This does not give you the ability to use these actions with the MultiAssault feature unless you could already do so.

1fp – Dynamic Fins (Requires Momentous Fins)
You can expertly shift and tweak your musculature to change a single kinetic release into a continuous stream of violence. The extra 1d6 damage granted by your Momentous Fins alteration can be applied to any number of fin attacks each turn instead of just one.

Furthermore, when you successfully use the shove action to push a creature you may choose to move 5 feet in the same direction to continue the push. Doing this uses your movement as normal. If you do, the creature is pushed back an additional 5 feet.

Finally, you can count the Shove action as a Fin trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using it with the Focus Surge and MultiAssault features.

1fp - Spacial Diving (Requires Swift Fins)
You can, as a bonus action on your turn, use any amount of your remaining swimming movement to teleport the same distance to an unoccupied space you can see. From your perspective this feels the same as swimming through reality to the chosen location, although others simply see you disappear in a ripple and then reappear at your destination with another ripple (like watching a jumping fish enter and exit the sea).

After using this ability twice, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again.

Tier III Advanced Alterations

3fp – Wings
You can form wings in addition to fins. Wings can be feathered, scaly, furry, insectoid, etc. Forming wings grants you a flying speed of 30'. You can hover. If you have made the Swift Fins alteration, the benefit to your swimming speed also applies to your flying speed. You can use Wings as melee weapons (1d4 bludgeoning, light, finesse). Wings count as fins for all of your fin trait abilities (such as Whirling Fins and Momentous Fins). You can use two-weapon fighting with your wings.

Furthermore, you may form wings that are transparent/ghostly, or have no form at all. Such wings create faint spacial ripples when you fly and cannot be used to attack or deal damage.

1fp – Blitzing Fins (Requires Swift Fins)
You may, once per turn as an action, gain additional movement for one turn. This increase equals twice your speed, after applying any modifiers. This ability counts as using the Dash action for the purpose of other abilities and effects (such as Razor Fins). You can only use this ability on your turn, and only then if you are not wearing heavy armor.

Furthermore, whenever you use this alteration to gain additional movement you also gain the following benefits until the end of the current turn:

Enemy creatures have disadvantage on opportunity attacks made against you.
If you damage a creature with an attack or ability granted by a Fin trait alteration, such as by attacking with a fin, you may add twice your proficiency modifier to the damage dealt. You may only add this damage once per turn. If the ability damaged multiple creatures (e.g Razor Fins), choose one creature to take the additional damage.


1fp – Flexible Fins (Requires Whirling Fins)
Your ability to instinctually tweak your movements and musculature to make the most of your motions is further enhanced; when you fail to hit an opponent with a fin, you gain +2 on the next attack roll you make with a fin against that opponent on the same turn. If that attack hits, the struck foe takes an additional 1d4 damage.

Furthermore, your body can contort and shift itself with a degree of flexibility that strains the notion of what is physically possible. You have advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to escape from grapples and physical restraints. In addition, you can squeeze through openings as though you were half of the size you actually are.

1fp - Eternal Rhythm (Requires Specialized Organs)
Your body is utterly efficient in its motions, and is capable of resting in a manner reminiscent of some sharks and marine mammals. You automatically succeed on constitution saving throws made to move for long periods of time and can rest while moving. In addition, you can remain partially conscious while sleeping. While in this state you have disadvantage on all ability checks, cannot speak, and are incapacitated, but can still use your movement and vaguely sense your surroundings.

Furthermore, as an action, you can regain all expended uses of the ability granted by the Specialized Organs alteration.

Tier IV Advanced Alterations

1fp – Space Weaving Fins (Requires Spacial Diving)
Whenever you use the ability granted by your Spacial Diving alteration, you may multiply your spent swimming movement by three when determining how far you teleport. For example, you could spend 10 feet of movement to teleport 30 feet. You must still be able to see your destination.

Furthermore, you can use the ability granted by the Spacial Diving alteration one additional time before needing to rest.

2fp – Cosmic Fins (Requires Spacial Diving)
Whenever you use the ability granted by the Spacial Diving alteration you may instead choose to instead use all of your remaining movement to transport yourself to another plane. If you are attempting to travel to a location on another plane you have been to before, you arrive near the chosen location (within 30 miles, DM’s discretion). If part of you is already at the destination, such as a bundle of your hair, you can instead arrive at the closest available spot near that part. Otherwise, you can loosely describe the desired planar traits of your destination (“Evil-Aligned Plane, Watery Plane, etc"), but have no control over which plane you arrive at or where within that plane you arrive.

3fp – Immaculate Grace
Whenever you use the Dash action or replace your walking speed with your swimming speed, you gain the benefits of the Dodge action as well.

Furthermore, if you are not already proficient in Dexterity saving throws, you may add your proficiency bonus to any Dexterity saving throw made while using your movement. For example, while running through a wall of fire.

2fp - Chronal Ascent
You can, to a very limited extent, swim against the relentless flow of time to slightly extend critical moments. When you take the Ready action you may choose to move up to your speed and take an action, instead of doing one or the other. Alternately, you may choose move up to twice your speed instead of taking an action. You still cannot use the Ready action with the MultiAssault feature.

Furthermore, you may add your proficiency bonus to Initiative checks. In addition, if you are surprised at the beginning of combat and aren't incapacitated, you can act normally on your first turn.

[Magikeeper]

Ozodrin and Multiclassing

Prerequisites
To qualify for a new class, you must meet the ability score prerequisites for both your old and new classes. The ability score prerequisites for an Ozodrin are Dexterity 13 and Charisma 13.

Proficiencies Gained
When multiclassing into Ozodrin, you do not gain any of the class' proficiencies. You may, however, benefit from the proficiencies granted by your traits/alterations (if any).

Class Features
The following Ozodrin class features have special rules when used by multiclass characters:

Unarmored Defense - If you already have the Unarmored Defense feature, you can't gain it from another class.

Focus Surge - Once you use the Focus Surge feature or the Action Surge feature, you must finish a short or long rest before using the other feature (e.g. if you use Action Surge, you would have to complete a short or long rest before being able to use Focus Surge).

MultiAssault - The MultiAssault class feature cannot be used the same turn you use the Extra Attack class feature (or similar abilities) granted by other classes.


------------------------------------------------

Change Log

First Day Or So
> Fixed a bunch of Eye things.
> Changed Cost of Independent / True Spawn so that.. um.. you can actually use True Spawn.
> Fixed Long Tentacle's wording.
> Noted you can change torso/head/neck shape with Aberrant Metamorphosis.
> Devouring Mouths actually notes it can provide nourishment now, since the similar effects do that.
> Lingering Glare is now 2 times per alteration.
> Changed Lingering Sight from ten minutes to an hour.
> Long tentacle alteration now takes into account the idea of putting mouths and such on tentacles, implying you can do so, although it does not give hard rules for it. 5E seems to assume DM involvement to a degree 3E does not.
> Changed the scaling of swift fins to only be +1fp per additional application. This doesn't make a big difference early on, but helps fin-primary / secondary ozodrin. The tentacle movement alteration is remaining at +2fp, I don't find speed to be as central a focus for that trait.
> Wings alteration is now base 30' flight instead of having a base equal to your walking speed. This removes the weird interaction between tentacles and wings among other things.

7/1/2015
> I have nerfed Sinister Image. Only one object at a time, and you can't change objects until completing a short or long rest.
> Abnormal Perspective was changed to giving 1/2 prof intimidate vs non-aberrations and 1/2 prof Insight/Deception/Persuasion vs aberrations. This makes less incredibly niche.
> I added some clarifications to Decentralized Existence and Aberrant Metamorphosis.
> I removed the saving throw from rending tentacles. I don't think it is necessary.
> I swapped the damage change ability of Obliterating Toxins with the disadvantage giving ability of Overpowering Toxins. It makes more sense and a lot of creatures have poison immunity at mid-high levels.
> Overpowering Toxins also increases damage die now.
> The fluff of Hollow Spikes has been changed to something that makes more sense with volley and such. More importantly, it has been nerfed to being 1/turn. No more having to worry about 20th level ozodrin mass spamming 10d8 toxic spikes in terrifying first-turn novas.
> Hollow Spikes now grants 2 uses (+1 per additional alteration), and Endless Generation provides 2 uses if you have 0. I really want merely dabbling in poison to be viable for spike primary ozodrin (instead of it being "Go all-in or don't bother"). I also reworded the weaker venom effect to be less wordy.

7/2/1015
> Reduced cost of Stomach Realm to 3fp.
> Tweaked a bunch of flesh features a little. A big change is that Sizing Flesh (formerly Condensed/Engorged flesh) now allows you to freely change size (within limit) whenever you enter/alter your True Nature. Magic Consuming flesh also protects against magical effects now, not just spells.
> I added the Martial Fins alteration (3fp). Tier I fin was pretty useless unless you happened to be near the water all of the time. If you aren't fighting in the water, then all it offers is holding your breath, better forced marching, and having meh armor and weapons. Now fins have TWF and the ability to replace one or both of those attacks with shoves - which in turn means primary fin users can use mutliassault at level 5 with shoves .
> Added the ability to engage in TWF with fins in the first place, which should have been there.
> Noted that you cannot replace the Razor Fin attack with a shove. I think being able to potentially knock all of your enemies prone would be too strong?
> Added Multiclass rules for Ozodrin.

7/3/2015
> Tweaked Tier 4 Puppet alteration costs again. I also changed independent puppet to only effecting 1 puppet per alteration. is is no longer possible for a 20th level Ozodrin to have more than two independent puppets at the same time. I also specified that Independent puppets do not benefit from non-alteration class features - they can't MultiAssault.
> Changed the wording of Razor Fin to be.. better. I also added the benefit of prevent foes from making opportunity attacks against you until their next turn if you manage to damage them with your attack (because otherwise trying to use Razor Fin might be suicidal).
> Added the Goring Spikes augment, Primary Spike ozodrin can now do stuff in melee if they didn't choose tentacle or orifice as one of their secondaries.
> Replaced the bizarre energy flesh alterations with a single alteration that just expands what you cna choose with the lower tier options.
> Added Regenerative Flesh to Tier III flesh. I had been looking for a place to put that.
> Sizing flesh has been tweaked to actually work with Aberrant Metamorphosis.
> I have changed the Efficient Pathways alteration. I think the new version better fits 5E design philosophy, and it also gives low-level Eye-Primary Ozodrin something besides darkvision to spend extra fp on.

7/4/2015
> SO MUCH FLUFF! IT'S LIKE A TEDDY BEAR STUFFING SUPPLY TRUCK DUMPED ITS LOAD ALL OVER THIS THREAD!
> Removed "this is a magical effect" from a bunch of abilities, as 5E doesn't seem to do that anymore.
> Damage increased for all of the first tier attack alterations except Devouring Gaze and Mass Assault. Tentacle, Fins, and Goring spikes are now finesse weapons. Far Reaching Gazes was moved to Tier I Eye. Vicious Mouths was moved to Tier II orifice. I think originally basing the damage off of the monk was too conservative, and ozodrin ac is rather crappy.
> Changed Quickbuild suggestions to accommodate changes.

7/5/2015 - Complete Overhaul of FP costs
> Changed wording of trait focus to use more 5E-y terminology. It is now trait archtype.
> I have changed all of the alterations to fit the new 2fp at level 1, 1fp per level after that set up. That should make the math much easier. I have also changed what all of the "Deadly" augments and such did - based on the responses I have been getting from the damage benchmark thread I'm thinking ozodrin wasn't dealing enough damage. Although I might have overshot it a little...
> Or maybe not... Obliterating Toxin now lets you add your constitution modifier (once) to the poison damage. Endless Generation's weaker poison was altered to be 1 damage base instead of 2, although it can benefit from the +Con alteration. Again, trying to support being able to just dabble in poison instead of all-or-nothing.
> Added Rejecting Glare to Eye tier III.
> Dashing Fins boosts damage as well now.
> Deadly Breath benefits from Vicious Mouths again. I'm basically tweaking the offensive abilities of tier III / tier IV stuff to help keep the ozodrin relevant.
> Supreme Dash now costs 2fp and is now 2 uses + 1 use per additional alteration, but also doubles dashing fin's damage if you used it that turn.

> Dash wasn't worded how I thought it was. Dashing fins and such have been tweaked. Dashing fins also does a whole finslap worth of extra damage.
> Specialized Organs now lets Dash and Disengage count as fin trait-alteration granted abilities. It was.. really niche before and it helps fin users feel more... mobile. Which is sorta fin's thing.

7/6/2015
> Swapped Volley and Piercing Rain and changed what they did. Less ranger-copying. Made them once per turn simply because of the amount of time making a bunch of dexterity saves probably takes. Granted, you could use them together... but shredding volley's main benefit to guarantee some damage and poison delivery probably earn it 1/turn anyway.

7/9/2015
> Changed Efficient Pathways. It no longer has an always-on effect, but the reaction is more versatile.

7/10/2015
> Cleaned up a lot of alteration wordings. Changed intro to Eye.
> Added the Destructive Drool Tier III orifice alteration. Orifice was somewhat lacking in the high level damage department.
> Specified that Devouring Glare deals force damage.
> Reduced cost of magic eating flesh to 3. 4 was a bit high.
> Reduced cost of Cosmic fin from 5 to 3. I think it was overcosted.
> Improved Adamentine stomach. Lowing the damage threshold didn't make much/any sense.
> Increased cost of Sealed Stomach to 3.

7/11/2015
> I was talked into adding the Unarmored Defense class feature.
> Efficient Pathways AC option now sets it to 18.
> Tweaked wording of Sophisticated tentacles.
> Replaced Living Mail with Sleek Fins.

7/12/2015
> Added "to a creature" to Devouring Mouths. No more attacking walls for healing..
> Re-added a section noting how you when you can change alterations. Although people seemed to understand without it? Interesting.

8/14/2015
> Altered rending tendrils to be be str/dex instead of just str since the rest of tentacle supports dex and there isn't a reason for it.. well, to not do so too.

8/16/2015
> Fixed some typos in Tier II puppet alterations, reworded section of Advanced Puppet that dealt with making it multiple times so that it no longer implies you need to have your maximum number of advanced puppets formed (you don't).

8/17/2015
> Fixed Deadly [s]Gaze Glare, changing all references to "Gaze" to "Glare" as intended.
> Nth Dimensional Flesh now starts out at 10'. I felt it was kinda weak for 3fp at 5', but the effect itself should probably be at least 3fp so.. more range it was.

8/18/2015
> Fixed FP example since you CAN apply efficient pathways twice.
> Fixed some other minor typos.
> Traveling Tentacle only takes 5' strange movement per 20' now.
> Altered Blending Flesh to allow the Hide action to count as a Flesh-Trait alteration granted ability for the purposes of MultiAssualt/Focus Surge. It just makes sense, really.

8/20/2015
> Gave the base Eye alteration actual mechanical benefits (No disadvantage in dim light, advantage on saves against effects that would blind/deafen)
> Some more typo fixing.
> Specifically noted you can use TWF action w/tentacles.
> After looking through warlock and such once more, I decided to buff Devouring Glare/Deadly Glare, take a weakened version of spirit eye (no school, no life/death detection) and combine it with the incredibly niche otherworldly senses, and then replace spirit eye at Tier III with something that has a side effect of increasing damage (Parallel Pathways, letting you get glares off with a bonus action)
> Continuing "Let's make Eye better" day, Rejecting Glare now gets two more uses per alteration.

8/22/2015
> Added Writhing Mass alteration to Tier IV tentacle, bringing it up to 4 alterations.
> I added a question to MultiAssualt - it was never intended to effect bonus actions (and I don't want it to) but I'm not sure if the wording technically allows it as-is.
> I reduced the cost of Grasping Limbs to 1. The trait/class basically doesn't build on it at all, so the benefit is pretty minor IMO.
> I changed Deadly Fins to follow the same pattern as every other deadly (+1 die size, +1 die). I likewise changed Dashing Fins to mirror the new Deadly.
> Dashing Fins now uses strength or dex like regular fins do - if for some reason you're actually using strength I suppose there is no reason to penalize you for it.
> Replaced remaining mentions of "augments" with "alterations".
> Spitting mouths now note you can TWF with them, as I noticed they were missing that line.
> Decentralized Existence now specifies it lets you survive without a head. I might remove the smaller text clarifying you might already have been able to use aberrant metamorphosis to gain that ability...
> Magic Consuming Flesh in now 2fp, and has the same pound wording as similar abilities.
> Energy Consuming Flesh is now at-will after passing 90 instead of a 100, which allows Flesh Secondary ozodrin to gain it at-will at 20 (10fp).
> Added Durable Form to puppet tier I - This is because A) Puppet tier I was kinda pathetic in combat and possibly in general. B) Actually, A pretty much covered it but d8 is kinda small for a potentially front-line class anyway. C) Extra HP works well this the high-tier puppet stuff (although 2fp/5hp might be a bit weak. Would definitely need to test that.).
> Tweaked wording of Durable Form to be more clear.
> Mass Harass is now a bonus action. This makes it possibly worth using before level 6. Or worth using at all, really.
> Advanced Puppet was reduced to costing only 2fp. It isn't really worth 3fp on its own, I think.
> Durable Puppets was altered to no longer form a weird infinite self-healing combo with advanced puppets. Also, renamed Sturdy Puppets since Durable Form is now using that word and I'd rather keep the reference to the old Ozodrin HP feat.

8/23/2015
> Reducing Piercing Rain to 2fp. Among other things I noticed cover is more common in 5E.
> Changed unfolding spike. It now increases damage per round to 4, but no longer gives disadvantage on the strength saving throw. I decided making the condition actually worth caring about was more useful than making it harder to end.

8/24/2015
Flesh Overhaul Day! Tried to make flesh a little less... boring? More synergistic with other traits (since it pretty much relies on them for high level combat)?
> Iron Flesh now gives advantage to Death Saving Throws, as Iron flesh is less useful on a class with Unarmored Defense. Granted, I then proceeded to make flesh use strength as its attacking stat..
> Honed Muscles added to Tier I flesh. 1/2 athletics is.. well, at least more general utility than flesh had, and the unarmed strikes are crappy but allow use of the new EGF (and give an attack to focus surge).
> Energy Generating Flesh is now a bonus action that adds 1d6 to most attacking features (not spike/eye/puppet).
> Deadly Flesh altered to work with EG.
> Energy Secreting flesh altered. Deals 3d8, doesn't stack anymore or allow mixing damage types.

11/11/2015
> Changed all of the poison alterations - they just weren't very good and required you to dump most of your FP into them to be worthwhile. (Also, hollow spike didn't work in a way that made any IC sense).

11/12/2015
> Changed Superior Toxins to 2fp. Poisoned, even for 1 round, strikes me as quite a nasty condition to inflict. Changes tertiary spiked wielders to having to wait until level 12 if they want to use it instead of level 8.
>Spikes can no longer be TWF. Mouths, Tentacles, and Fins had their Deadly augment damage reduced to 2d6. Deadly flesh was changed to 3d6. This lowered average damage at level 6 to the 17.4-19.4 range, I think, which is less than some of the martial classes but still okay (I think).
> Changed Hollow Spike again. Spike Ozodrin no longer need their bonus action for anything else, so I changed it to make more sense.
> I finally rewrote Harpooning Spike. It is very different now.
> I altered unfolding spike, tether, Shedding Volley, and Piercing Rain to work with the new Harpooning Spike.
> Piercing Rain can no longer be used with MultiAssault, but it CAN deliver poison.

11/13/2015
> Harpooning Spike now costs 2fp. I think the main reason it cost 3fp before was simply how clunky it was. The new streamlined version can just be tossed on without taking up much OOC time and is quite simple to use. In many situations it's worse than just taking deadly spike an extra time, at least by itself.

11/14/2015
> Harpooning Spike now deals slashing damage (forgot to give it a type), and the damage triggers whenever the creature performs a physical action / uses their movement. Somewhat clunkier, but auto-damaging at the start of each turn didn't make sense for a non-magical effect. Worse on creatures that can attack without moving, better on fighters that run around hitting things.

11/15/2015
> I have pretty much rewritten Piercing Rain. The previous reason for it being restricted in use was the concern of how much OOC time spent rolling dice Shredding Volley + PR being used together might result in. Then I thought about how PR is VERY similar to SV in execution and realized I could just make PR an upgrade / new use of SV, allowing them to use the per rest and per round restrictions without being clunky. I also lowered the damage to 3d10, reduced the cost to 1, and tossed in the ability to start a combat with 1 use of SV if you had none remaining.

11/16/2015
Eye Overhaul Day!
> Every Tier IV eye alteration has been changed.
>> I felt it was okay for Unbound Reception to be at-will, albeit at 2fp instead of 1.
>> I removed lingering sight, which didn't really match the feel of the rest of the class, and replaced it with the similar Decentralized Perception.
>> I removed lingering gaze entirely, as a changed variant of that would basically be sinister image for eyes.
>> I added Enveloping Glare, which was pretty much me trying to think of an Int-Save glare with a high "coolness" factor without being clunky.
>> Speaking of clunky, I removed Devouring Gaze and replaced it with the more streamlined Crippling Gaze. This does mean Eye never gets an area attack, which I admit is kinda strange for the most caster-like feature.
>> Proclaiming Gaze is now only based on what you can see, no more need for gaze-meeting.
> I changed tier IV Coiling Tentacle. I never liked the no-physical-action effect, finally figured out something to replace it with (resisting magical transportation).
> Nerferd the damage of the various stomach alterations (I missed them during the big damage nerf). I also changed swallow to 3fp, changed it to starting with large sized creatures, increased the regurgitation DC to something an Ozodrin might actually fail at lower levels (14->18, Orifice Ozodrin have many reasons to raise Con and it's one of the class' good saves), and lowered the regurgitation damage threshold to 20.
> Stomach realm now gives more room per additional alteration (twice as much, in fact).
> Remembered to nerf Secreting Flesh
> Increased total, but not per-round, damage cap of Energy Consuming Flesh to 30 and the immunity point to 80 (still 8fp). I figure it's less confusing if they are different numbers.

11/18/2015
> Changed locomotive limbs to only increasing in cost by 1 per application. I think 12fp for +30ft was... a lot.. 9fp is still a large amount as it is.
> Nerfed Tether - rope can only be as long as your spikes' normal range. Frenzied contraction was just nuts when it was max range and the ways I thought of to fix that by just changing FC weren't very good.
> Durable Form is now +10hp instead of +5, but the cost is increased by 1 per application. Far more useful in small quantities, and better overall until tying the old version at max possible bonus hp at level 19 [Technically, you could hit a higher HP bonus at levels 17/18 w/ the old rate]. Old version was incredibly expensive for hitting a noticeable value at mid/high levels and low-level puppet was hardly a powerhouse.

3/26/2016
> Altered Rejecting Glare - it can now be used as an action and/or as a reaction instead of as just an action. Playtesting suggested using it as an action was usually a bad idea.

4/23/2016
> Replaced Traveling Tentacle with Extended Tendrils, and then replaced that with Stretchable Tentacles. TT was clunky and just not very good - it's only real purpose was to combo with Sinister image..

4/24/2016
> Replaced Stretchable Tentacles with Synchronizing Tentacles, as the former had some crippling wording issues.

4/29/2016
> Added a section to equipment noting what the Ozodrin gets a player chooses the page 143 starting gold option. Went with 5d4 gold, same as a monk.

4/30/2016
> Added Aerodynamic Fins to tier II fin, debated whether to make it tier I or not. Fin's power level varies too wildly between aquatic/navel games and regular ones at low levels... might alter this further in the future.
> Modified the wording of Specialized Organs to hopefully be a bit clearer. What it does has not changed.

5/2/2016
> Fin Day! - Massive overhaul of fin, to make it more useful at the earlier levels outside of aquatic campaigns.
>> Swift fin gives a lesser boost to walking speed in addition to the swim/fly benefit
>> Specialized Organs became 1fp, dash/disengage access moved to the new tier II Specialized Physique alteration along with some other benefits.
>> Elegant Fins removed, Unfettered split into two parts. Each part then had an extra effect added and became the new tier III Unfettered Motions and the tier IV Immaculate Grace.
>> Dashing fins bolsters speed in general now, and the alterations in general reference movement instead of just swim/fly. Immaculate Grace just gives prof to dex saves period now.

5/3/2016
>> Changed wording of Martial Fin. In practice it works out to be the same, but changing it to counting Shove as a Fin-Trait ability instead of the fin attack replacement effect allowed me to remove a potentially confusing "can't replace this..." sort of rule from Razor Fin.
>> Tweaked Grasping Limb - the held weapons count as Tentacle trait-granted attacks instead of just being any old trait-granted attacks. Primary(Tentacle) ozodrin can now use them with Focus Surge.
>> Reworded the explanation of how "costs X more each time" works.

5/8/2016
>> Changed the preamble for Fin to reflect its newly updated state.
>> Changed Cosmic Fin to 2fp.

7/27/2016
> Flesh Overhaul (Finally fixing the clunky Energy Consuming Flesh and such)
>> Energy Generating Flesh now effects claws/gore attacks as well and Psychic is a damage type option now.
>>> I've also changed Generating Flesh to 2 damage instead of 1d6, removed the ability to let you make the alteration multiple times, and changed it so you can just pick 2 energy types whenever you make the alteration. It was basically never worth it to take it more than once before, and +1d6 to every attack is too strong at low levels. A primary (Flesh) Ozodrin w/spike and tentacle secondary would have been dealing 1d6+1+1d6 energy each round at level one.
>> Moved Filtering Flesh to tier II and combined it with Liquid Converting Flesh
>> Drastically changed how Energy Consuming Flesh works and moved it to Tier I.
>> Added Energy Devouring Flesh to Tier II
>> Changed how Regenerating Flesh (still tier III flesh) works and increased its cost to 2fp. It basically uses Hit Dice as a resource now, replenishing them by eating food (1lb/dice) and letting you expend them as an action to regain 3hp per dice expended.
>> Added Acclimating Flesh to tier III, which is kinda really niche but covers the "I want high level Flesh Ozodrin to be able to survive dang near anywhere" issue without making Energy Consuming Flesh as clunkcy as it used to be...
>> Moved Bizarre Energy whatever (accidentally lost old version while updating) to tier IV and turned it into Bizarre Energy Metabolism.
>> Added Psychic to Secreting Flesh damage options. Basically just added it to all the "Energy" alterations, since that's sort of an aberration thing.

8/21/2016
> Massive overhaul. Much of this is less about balance and more about fixing some traits with monotonous early game play and tweaking the way damage works to better fit other classes. The deadly alterations worked so differently from how other classes did damage ( high base damage instead of lower base damage + powerful circumstantial effects) that it was very difficult to balance them. Furthermore, they suffered from trying to balance the traits combat-wise through 6-20 with a level 6 +damage ability. Design-wise I decided it'd be better to just tweak the higher level features.
> All deadly X alterations changed to just give +1dX damage, where X is the damage dice the weapon originally did. Deadly Flesh deals was changed to deal 2d6 damage. The ability to apply them multiple times was removed.
> Eye overhaul:
>> Move Disorienting Glare from tier II to tier I, made it clear you can't stealth disorient targets
>> Changed Devouring Glare to Dissolving Glare, reduced it to 1fp, removed healing effect.
>> Moved Far Reaching Glares from tier I to tier III, doubled benefit (15-30)
>> Removed Tremorsense from Tier II.
>> Added the healing effect of the old Devouring Glare to the tier II Devouring Glare alteration (1fp)
>> Changed Deadly Gaze to 1fp, since in practice it is the weakest deadly (Can't twf it, lacks spike's benefits).
>> Moved Rejecting Glare to tier II, removed the per-rest restriciton and made it 2fp. I might nerf it back to being X per rest...
>> Changed wording of Binding Glare, made it 2fp for 3 uses + 2 uses per additional alteration.
>> Removed the range limit from Proclaiming Gaze.

> Deadly Flesh was reduced to 1fp along with the damage nerf. Energy Generating flesh already costs 2fp.

> Finally replaced Coiling Tentacles with Paradox Tentacles.

> Orifice Overhaul:
>> Tweaked several wordings.
>> Spit attack wording changes - it is now a melee thrown weapon. This deals with the OP-with-Sharpshooter issue.
>> Tweaked Destructive Drool (Tier III) to be a bonus action effect. This was a nerf, might need to make this stronger again later.
>> Added Deranged Hunger to Tier III. Orifice's (sorta) tanking subtheme really needed to be thrown a bone at this tier.

> Changed base damage of Mass Assault (Tier I Puppet) to1d8+cha.
> Mass Harass now notes what kind of cover (3/4ths). That really needs to be playtested.

> Spike Overhaul:
>> I suggest completely re-reading this one.
>> Many wording changes.
>> Base Alteration now add 1d4 piercing to crits instead of +1 bonus damage always, and it effects your spikes as well. No more "Spike's base alteration does very little for spikes". I probably need to specify you can use poisonous spikes with it and such though..
>> Added Carved Spikes alteration to Tier I
>> Reworded Throwing Spikes and Renamed them Ballistic Spikes. Basically entirely so they can work with Sharpshooter feat. I thought they could before, but they technically did not qualify for the -5/+10. Ranged-spike-tossing Ozodrin don't want to be the only archery-sorts that can't make full use of the amazing archery feat..
>> Combined Hollow Spike and Superior Toxins alteration, lower the damage to 1 (plus other tweaks), and keep it at Tier I but change cost to 2fp.
>> Changed Hollow Spike (Now Poisonous Spikes) to 1 use, plus 2 uses per additional alteration. I might change this further in the future.. maybe have it cost more each time you add it? That'd be strange..
>> Moved Twisting Spikes to Tier II and changed how it works.
>> Added Smoke Spikes to Tier II
>> Slightly changed how Tether works - it no longer requires Harpooning Spikes.
>> Moved Harpooning Spikes to Tier III, rename it Burrowing Spikes and slightly re-fluff it. Changed the way the damaging effect works.
>> Tweak Obliterating Toxin's wording, have it add 1d6 damage.
>> Rearrange order of alterations (not a mechanical change, I think having Shredding Volley be first looks better)
> Removed Overpowering Toxins
> Change how Deleterious Existence works, change cost to 2fp
> Add Flickering Spikes to Tier IV

8/24-25/2016
> Made many changes to the Fin trait (will edit in changes later).
> All HP regaining was changed to be temp Hp. This was to help give Orifice a more dependable combat style, and the other changes were because mixing self-healing and temp HP could be problematic.
>> The Regenerating Flesh alteration was changed as well. It still enables self-healing but no longer makes it easy to heal large amounts every round in combat.
> Orifice's tier III breath weapon alteration is now stronger but only 2/short rest instead of at-will. Breathing every round would bog down combat.
> Moved Deranged Hunger to Orifice Tier IV, created the new Efficient Consumption for Orifice Tier III. I also combined the Iron Stomach / Antimagic Stomach alterations together to create the new Living Prison tier IV alteration. I tweaked Efficient Digestion as well (only 1/2 damage healing now) and renamed it Absolute Digestion

9/2/2016
> Overhauled Puppet, last of the major overhauls. Puppet now has mild parasite subtheme.
>> Added Parasitc Puppets (I), Covert Parasites (II), and Subjugating Parasites (III)
>> Removed Sturdy Puppets, changed Collapsing puppets to having a set upper HP sacrifice limit (15), and giving it the Sturdy benefit. Increased cost of collapsing puppets to 2fp.
>> Barrier Puppets now increase sacrifice limit to 40hp.
>> Added Frenzied Puppet alteration to tier III. Puppet needed a tier III +damage effect. It works well with other traits, but I've been dumping all general +damage special abilities into the bonus action slot so they compete with each other (and can't be focus spammed).
>> Removed some of the requirements of Independent Spawn
>> Seed puppet now allows dying as a reaction.
>> Removed Mass Harass
>> Moved Mass Support to tier II and renamed it Supportive Puppets. The real benefit is with Mutliassault anyway.
>> Added Twitching Strings to tier I
>> Increased initial distance of Lengthy Strings to +15', but removed the ability to retract as a bonus action.
>> Completely redid True Spawn. It just lets you build a monster from a multiple-choice list of sorts, give birth to it after a month. It works differently from all other Ozodrin alterations, being the only one you have to maintain for a long period (month) to get the effect, but I wanted to keep the ability to create monsters without giving the Ozodrin the ability to create setting-warping monstrosities. I may need to tweak this further in the future.

9/2/2016
> I completely changed how Martial Fin works. This means fin ozodrin can now do motion fighting from level 1. Instead of..trying to act like STR-based front-line warriors that are not really built for it at all.
> Razor Fin has the OA denial built-in again.
> I altered Tier I Tentacle, it now has the "Tugging Tendrils" alteration, to give tentacle more to actively do at low levels, and I changed how coordinated tentacles work to also have an activatable component. Tentacle has more of a move-stuff-around theme now, which I think is fitting.
> I changing Devouring Mouths to be a static amount of temp HP, and then raised the FP cost to three has balancing it for level 1 and having it work 2-4 just isn't possible. Reading up on moon druids in actual games suggests that early orifice, while not needing to be as high as that, was still way too low temp-hp wise. I improved the later temp HP abilities as well. Orifice seriously needs to be playtested, it's hard to guesstimate what these temp HP value should be.
>> The reason it became a set value is that making both the HP random, and tying it to an attack die roll, made orifice survivability far too swingy.
> I combined Furnished Stomach and Stomach Realm together, kept it at 1fp. That's still a total of 5fp for the whole thing.

9/4/2016
> Renamed Dashing Fins Sprinting Fins, reduced cost to 1fp, and made it require Specialized Organs. It's more flavorful and makes it easier to combine it with Specialized Physique. Noted its interaction with Martial fins here, removed it from Martial fins.
> Martial fins now triggers when you make a melee attack with a fin as well. It.. it's basically the martial arts ability, yeah. Fin needed more damage potential.
> Tweaked the wording Specialized Organs to be less swimming-specific.
> Tweaked Sleek Fins to be a little more generally useful, and to benefit all overland travel albeit with disadvantage.
> Wings no longer needed to be as wordy as before, since most of the swimming-specific augments are no longer swimming specific.
> I added a second option to Smashing fins (pushing yourself 5').
> Flesh:
>> I changed Honed Muscles to Tempered Body, it now gives a 1d8 slam attack in addition to the 1d4 unarmed strike.
>> I changed Energy Generating Flesh to also working with shoves and grapples.
>> I changed Iron Flesh, replacing the death saving throw benefit with a 1/short rest gain-resistance-verse B/S/P damage of a single attack. It now costs 2fp and can be made multiple times (+2 uses each time).
>>> The goal of all of these changes was to make low level flesh more interesting / less crappy in combat before level 6.
>> I changed Illuminated flesh to 10' bright, 10' Dim.

9/18/2016
> Eye: I combined Consuming Glare / Deadly Glare and removed the temp HP effect. It felt tacked-on and kinda clunky, didn't work with the rest of eye, and wasn't really strong enough of an effect anyway. I'd rather fit a more useful ability at that tier..
>> Speaking of which, I weakened Binding Glare, made it at-will, and moved it to tier II.
>> Enveloping Glare now deals 4d6 damage instead of 3d6.
>> Dissolving Glare now deals 1d8+cha damage instead of 1d6+cha, and the deadly was likewise bolstered.
>> Relentless Gaze doesn't give extra uses of eye trait abilities anymore (since only Enveloping has uses now), but it makes Enveloping full damage regardless of saving throw. Maybe I should have it just increase Enveloping's damage to 8d6 instead..
>> Added some text to Eye's base ability that makes it clear you can see through all eyes as easily as a human can see through theirs.
> Tentacle: I rearranged the tier I abilities. They otherwise were not changed.
> Flesh: I changed Deadly Flesh to instead deal 4d6 while using a focus surge. This is a weaker than before (since the 2d6/2d6 could be split), but is simpler to describe and stays closer to the goal of just ensuring flesh deals comparable-ish damage when focus surging.

1/15/2016
> Eye: I added the ability to see scents to crossed senses. Now with 100% more niche sensory prowess.
>> I then removed the ability to see scents, as I realized some issues that could cause (also, orifice already has an alteration for scent..).
>> I also replaced Enveloping Glare with Murmuring Glare. I think enveloping glare was difficult to adjudicate, and kinda shoe-horned into the class. Murmuring (imo) far better fits the classes' flavor and is clearer in what effects it does or does not have.
> Spike: Increased flickering spike to 2fp, changed it to being a bonus action that effects all spikes for 1 round, changed melee benefit to advantage, and made it 2 uses + 1/extra alteration. I might need to alter this further if it proves too strong in playtesting.
> Tentacle: Coordinated Tentacles is now any spot within your reach to any other spot within your reach. I think the opportunity cost of not, say, making an attack yourself is worth the ability to wield the party barbarian. The change only effects Ozodrin with extended reach anyway - the old 10' limit was enough for basic reach.

4/29/2017
> Tier I changes:
>> Devouring Mouths replaced with a 3fp Ravenous Maws.
>> Salivating Maws is now a ranged weapon you CANNOT use the TWF action with. Having it be a thrown melee weapon (to avoid sharpshooter + TWF) was just weird. You can, however, use strength on the attack rolls.
>> Sniping Mouths is now Free Flowing Drool, which costs 2FP, gives a larger range increase, and lets you attempt a spit attack (disadvantage -> neither advantage or disadvantage) whenever you successfully hit with a bite attack as a bonus action.
> Tier II changes:
>> Scent-Tasting tongues is now Refined Palette, which also lets you add your proficiency bonus to knowledge checks to determine the physical properties of things you've tasted (in addition to smelling things). Might be undercosted at 1fp.
>> Vicious Mouths is now Dire Consumption. It improves Ravenous Maw ability as well as damage (similar to before).
> Tier III changes:
>> Efficient Consumption has been replaced with Digestive Rift.
>> Destructive Drool, which is too similar (if better) to Free Flowing Drool, has been replaced by Butchering Fangs.
> Tier IV changes:
>> Absolute Digestion has been replaced by Haunted Stomach, which removes healing via digestive damage (Ravenous Maw works with digestion, unlike Devouring Mouths) in exchange for being a generally more interesting ability (IMO).
>> Some other minor wording tweaks (not mechanical changes).
>> Living Prison reduced to 2fp, and now requires Swallow. Swallow already costs 3fp as it is. Spending 9fp to have all the tier I-IV stomach alterations at once seems sufficient, maybe even a little high.

8/27/2017
> Replaced Crossed Senses with Listening Eyes. Same effect, only better described and a longer duration (1 round -> ten minutes but dismissable) per activation.
> Minor typo fixing
> Changed quick build to note dexterity is also an option for Primary(orifice) ozodrin. <- I undid this a few days later, should have slept first. >.>[/b[

[b]8/29/2017
> Removed restrictions on weapon wielding from tentacle - number of attacks isn't limb-number-based anyway. It's not really an issue, they have to gain proficiency from another source in the first place.
> Hooked Teeth alteration now allows grapple attacks to be used with MultiAssault and Focus Surge.
> Energy Secreting Flesh was rewritten to better match a balor's aura (closest equivalent). The damage was reduced to 2d6, but it is much easier to trigger the defensive damage now.

8/30/2017
> Tweaked wording of Smoke Spikes (to note shooting solid surfaces is fine).
> Tweaked wording of Deadly Quills, explicitly noted it works with all the various spike abilities, and removed ability to stack the effect.
> Changed Energy Secreting Flesh again, to now build off of Energy Generating flesh augment (given how similar it is it was rather strange it didn't..). Changed form point cost to 1.
> Changed how Concept Filtering Flesh worked - sensing presence/absence simply works but requires holding other forms of breath (solves lie detection problem, or at least makes it pretty obvious you're doing something). Also changed range to 120'.
> Adaptive flesh can be used while resting, which is rather essential to achieve the goal of enabling survival in environments that deal energy damage.
> Overpowering toxins replaces the 1 damage instead of being added to it now, and was generally changed to be less wordy.
> Various other small wording tweaks.

8/31/2017
> Changed the wording of Irregular Mind, as the old version's changing of the effects "maximum duration" could be viewed as making certain effects (like true polymorph) STRONGER due to making it easier to maintain for "the entire duration". This obviously wasn't the intent, and the new wording hopefully makes that clear.

9/3/2017
> Fateless ability no longer requires using a reaction to make charisma saves to avoid soul capture/destruction. No longer will Ozodrin be critically vulnerable to TWO foes trying to nom their soul at the same time. Honestly, soul attacks are very unlikely to come up but if they ever do the protection might as well be solid.

9/4/2017
> Changed how burrowing spike grappling works. The old version was more in line with 3.5 grapple rules and resulted in the strange situation of, say, reducing the movespeed of everything that hit you with a natural weapon to 0ft when combined with Deadly Quills. The new version makes it less gimmicky and gives much more of a reason to use it in a normal battle. It also promotes using goring spike and lets you do a fun combo with Frenzied Contraction which is a plus.

9/10/2017
> Replaced Strange Movement and Aberrant Perspective with Colluding Anatomy and Trait Overflow. The new powers better fit the fluff of the other main abilities.
> Overhauled Fin (again). New, more flavorful strange movement added to fin, digging weakened but moved to Tier I, Sleek Fins and Lethal Momentum removed, Deadly Fins slightly boosted in power (and cost), Cosmic Fins is now based on Strange Movement, Stranger Movement replaced with Space Weaving Fins, Grand Charge now turns hits into crits instead of giving melee advantage (will need to change tomorrow.. today.. gah the time.. to not boost ranged attacks), Eternal Rhythm added to tier IV.
> Unfettered Motions now gives advantage VS grapple as well.
> Specialized Physique gives +prof on Athletics made while moving instead of falling resistance. I like the falling resistance, but have no where else to put it and I dislike the idea of a Fin primary screwing themselves at char creation by not picking up the athletics razor fin needs.
> Changed Sprinting Fins from 1fp to 2fp. It's definitely worth 2fp.

> Puppet overhaul - I removed some unnecessary (IMO) clarification in the base trait and..
>> Changed Parasitic Puppets to last 20 minutes. 10 minutes was just long enough to be annoying.
>> Improved Covert Parasites - now at 1fp and +1 Parasitic use/rest.
>> Removed Supportive Puppets. The first part could arguable be done without needing an alteration. I do wonder if there's a way to sneak helping-as-a-trait-granted-ability back into the class but...
>> Added Essence Shift to Tier II. Basically swap places with your puppet as an action, except gear doesn't transfer.
>> Replaced Seed Puppets with Ephemeral Host (builds on Essence Shift - similar effect, but less passive & a bit stronger).

> Changed Tentacle a bit
>> Moved Magic Ripping Tentacles to tier II, changed how they worked to fit the tier. Tentacles needed something to use with trait overflow and that ability would work fine at lower levels. Might reduce the number of uses/rest to one..?
>> Added Magic Disarraying Tentacles to tier IV.

> Streamlined the "straining - yadayada" wordings. Hopefully they're all the same now. >.>

1/22/2018
Spike:
> Finally replaced Burrowing Spike with Rooting Spike. It's streamlined now, and less restrictive fluff-wise. I also decided explaining how it working with objects / doesn't result in leaving a trail of spike rooting into the ground in your wake wasn't worth the hassle. It just effects creatures now. 5 damage / round isn't enough to bypass the hardness of most things you'd want to destroy anyway, so it'd be a lot of clunkyness for something that's rarely ever going to come up.
>> Also removed the weird not-grapple effect. I liked it, but it's incredibly wordy and also something that's rather niche.
> Changed Deadly Quills to be more generally useful. The previous version was just as strong, but only in certain campaigns (ones vs monsters and not armed foes). I'd really like playtesting of this one though... anyhow, it can now be used as a bonus action / reaction so you don't need to walk around in porcupine form 24/7 to get any use out of it.
> Changed Frenzied Contraction to Quivering Tether, which is the same as before only much more versatile. Now you can partially contract and extend the "ropes". The verbiage detailing how it worked with burrowing spike's not-grapple was removed, so the total wordiness it about the same.
ALL:
> The "straining" wording was uniformly changed to just be "After using this ability twice," and such.

5/20/2020
Puppet
> Puppet Rework Day - Massive overhaul. Most alterations changed, replaced, or altered. The intent is for Primary(Puppet) to be something people actually pick. Like, ever. The parasite sub-theme was improved, the Trait is more versatile at low levels, and the early combat style was changed to focus on initially fighting alongside your puppets. This results in a more unique-feeling combat style to further differentiate it from the other traits.
>> Another particularly large change is that True Spawn was removed and replaced with Phantom Puppets. I liked True Spawn, but it's existence would have potential setting implications for any game Ozodrins are in (Ability to birth a new, if fairly weak, creature every month combined with high-level Ozodrin not having a maximum lifespan..). Phantom puppets continue the theme of nearly every Trait having some kind of existence/non-existence sort of alteration at Tier IV.
Eye:
> Altered Far Reaching Glares -> Far Reaching Gaze. Now a single alteration that increases range to 300' and telescopic vision out to 600' instead of a 1fp/30' multistackable alteration.
> Altered Unbound Vision, making it a lot better. Tier IV Eye could use the power, really. It's also 3fp now.
Flesh
> Altered Nth Dimensional Flesh to be 15' from start and not multi-stackable. It was basically never worth it to multi-stack it in the first place (+1 time at most).

11/26/2020
Eye:
> Replaced Blindsight with Nous Sight which is... Blindsight that actually describes how it works and gives some abilities related to that. Blindsight in D&D 5E usually comes with additional descriptions. Also the ability to take it multiple times was removed, but the range was increased from 15' to 20'.
> Changed Parrallel Pathways to more specifically allow use of the Search action instead of some vague "look at something without fear of distraction" thing. Also lets you multiassault w/the search action now, which seems fitting.
> Removed the range limitation on the telescopic vision benefit of Far Reaching Glare. Also made using the telescopic vision an action so the DM doesn't have to remember to include what Mr. 10,000ft gaze sees every single time they describe valley or something.

[Magikeeper]

Change Log Part 2 (We passed the 50k char limit!)
11/27/2020
Tentacle:
> Moved Sophisticated Tentacles to Tier II, making Primary(Tentacle) a less powerful multiclass dip. They also require Coordinated Tentacles now.
> Moved Climbing Limbs to Tier I, and gave them more fluff. How they worked suggested they should benefit grappling slightly, so the secondary benefit from Coordinated Tentacles was moved to them. They also give advantage to climb difficult surfaces.
> Coordinated Tentacles replaced their old secondary benefit with giving disadvantage to the attacks of grappled foes. Which will help low level STR-based tentacle Ozodrin - which likely have low AC and no ranged attacks - stay alive after moving Sophisticated Tentacles out of Tier I. Grappling is most of the reason to bother with a high-STR tentacle Ozodrin in the first place, after all.
> Since Climbing Limbs can include hooks now, I changed "Hooked Tentacles" to "Coiling Tendrils", recycling that old ability name that was no longer being used! Now the change log will be *extra* confusing to new people reading it from the start.

11/29/2020
> Revised Windswept Maws. It's a lot less clunky to actually use now. Also increased fp cost to 2 and made it a bit more versatile.
> Tweaked interaction between Sizing Flesh and Aberrant Metamorphosis

11/29/2020
> Removed "as a reaction" from Irregular Mind. There's more a precedent for passive effects like that in 5E than I thought. Having it as a reaction made it's usefulness vary wildly between different Ozodrin archetypes (as not all of them use reactions) in a pretty random-feeling way. Being able to passively reduce wis/int failures to 1 round indefinitely strikes me as being alright power-wise, since most int/wis saves are either instantaneous, 1 round effects, or allow a save at the end of each turn anyway.

12/19/2020
SPIKE
> Changed Rooting Spikes to deal damage at the beginning of each enemies’ turn. Having it deal damage during your turn was kinda strange since you’re not still controlling it or anything. Especially when it could be triggered by quills. This change makes Rooting slightly more powerful in most situations.
> Removed the cover limitation of Piercing Rain. Just let groups handle it however they handle other area AOEs. Also changed “all foes” to “any number of foes”, the ability is obviously letting you show discretion since it didn’t hit allies in the first place.
> Flickering Spikes now specifies it ignores cover.
> Longshot Spikes correctly note Ballistic Spikes (instead of the old Throwing Spike name).
> Tweaked smoke spike wording. Also, you can now choose to have some of your spikes NOT explode.
> Reduced Goring Spikes to 1d8, so they’re no longer the deadliest one-handed weapon in the game.

12/20/2020
FLESH
> Energy Devouring Flesh removed. It was never a very good fit for 5E and was overly silver-bullet ish.
> Moved Magic Consuming Flesh to Tier II and changed how it worked.
> Tweaked Acclimating Flesh to no longer depend on Devouring Flesh, removed need to choose a specific energy type.
> Added Efficient Metabolism to Tier IV to be a sort of capstone for the various reaction-based flesh traits.
> Changed Bizarre Energy Metabolism - it's cheaper but can't be multi-chosen anymore.
FIN
> Changed how Digging Fins worked. It's now clearer when it comes to what it can do.

12/21/2020
TENTACLE:
> Changed Long Tentacles -> Whip Tendrils. I'm generally not fond of the stack-this-to-raise-a-passive-bonus alterations as that's much more of a D&D 3.5 thing. Whip Tendrils is more useful to most Primary(Tentacle) Ozodrin.
> Changed Coiling to always by +2 size categories / no longer based on Long Tentacles.
> Graceful Tentacles -> Unerring Tentacles. The omni proficiency was.. something that would lead to heated table discussions I think. Now 2fp and just the disadvantage immunity.
> Writhing Mass up to 2fp, loses the must be different restriction. Mostly because Whip Tendrils has a bonus action that isn't triggered on a hit like every other tentacle trait bonus action.
> Added "Once per round" to Rending Tendrils as multi-using that is too strong.
> Nerfed Sweeping Tendrils as the changes to Unerring and Whip Tendrils would otherwise have made it extremely strong.

12/21/2020, cont
Spike:
> Longshot spikes is no longer multi-choosable. It gives 3fp worth of the old benefit for 2fp though.
> Nerfed Piercing Rain. Shredding Volley is now the go-to to make sure you hit, with Rain being specialized for trying to hit a large number of creatures.
> Changed Quivering Tether wording to work with the new Longshot Spikes.

12/22/2020
EYE OVERHAUL
> Finally came up with some ray-fluff I could live with - Dissolving/Consuming Glare is now an attack roll, a major buff from when it was a con save. I might nerf Consuming Glare's damage.
> Added 1d6 damage to Binding Glare and cleaned it up a bit wording wise.
> Got rid of Tier IV Relentless Glare, now that Dissolving is an attack roll its not really needed and would be strange fluff-wise.
> Added Mindsinking Glares to Tier IV, which I think is a fun ability that's fine at that level. A little overlap with the Tier IV Orifice trait Haunted Stomach but its not quite the same so that's probably fine?
Orifice/Tentacle:
> The "Deadly" alterations for both of these remove the "light" property / ability to use the effected natural weapons when TWF.
Tentacle:

12/23/2020
Tentacle:
> The bit describing how tentacle object use works is back.
> Sophisticated Tentacles and Grasping Limbs both allow for fine motions. Grasping Limbs allows for weapon wielding / it's explicitly forbidden for regular tentacles, which is likely for the best given how powerful Whip Tendrils would be for multiclass chars otherwise.
Orifice:
> Removed ability to take Free Flowing Drool multiple times, to better match changes to Spike range changes. Tweaked the Tier III breath weapon alteration whose name escapes me as well.
> Changed Salivating Maws to have Necrotic as an option instead of Thunder. Because.. Thunder drool never made any sense and you know it. It's now the only source of Necrotic damage for Ozodrin that aren't Tier IV Flesh/Orifice.
Eye:
> Reduced Consuming Glare to +1d6. It's an attack now, and 2d8+Cha FORCE damage per attack is a lot. Force is pretty much the best damage type. Dissolving+Consuming outdamages Eldritch Blast at 1d6, much less 1d8. Given the class differences and the shorter range (until level 11 anyway), dealing a little more damage is fine.
> Changed Binding Glare to a more powerful, limited # of uses effect. The mass slowing was likely OP in the first place, and limiting the # of uses synergies better with Disorienting Glare.
> Altered Unbound Reception to no longer have the "How does this work with Disadvantage??" issue the lucky feat has. Also removed the ability to nuke an opponents saving throws / opposed ability checks.
> Changed Murmuring Glare. This is.. sort of a nerf but the old glare was weird in that sometimes you would prefer to fail.. it was a mess. Also had a major typo no one noticed (check instead of save). :/

1/1/2021
Flesh:
> Changed Magic Consuming Flesh. The previous version wasn't very 5e-ish.
> Altered Efficient Metabolism

1/6/2021
Tentacle:
> Tugging Tendrils was completely reworked - instead of being an extremely niche 1fp at-will ability it's now a 2fp 2x per rest ability that's actually pretty strong.
> Removed ability to take Locomotive Limbs multiple times as part of effort to remove all "costs more each time" multi-stack abilities.
Spike:
> Tweaked Deadly Spike to match new, slightly lower DPR. Added a buff to critical.
Flesh:
> Changed how Sizing Flesh works, it is no longer multi-stackable and does not reference Enlarge/Reduce anymore (it had too many exceptions for that to be worthwhile).
> Changed Secreting Flesh to be a bonus action and only 1d6/1d8. The previous version was pretty much not worth using as an action outside of Focus Surge.
Fin:
> Changed Swift Fins. It's now 2fp, give 15' swimming instead of 10', cannot be taken multiple times, and let's you sub your swimming speed for your walking speed as a bonus action. Also gives fall damage resistance, which may have some out of combat use.
> Changed Deadly Fins to +1d4 to match changes to other Traits.
> Changed Sprinting Fins fin damage bonus to +1d8 to match the other DPR changes. Still +1d6 for Razor Fins.
Puppet:
> Tweaked Phantom Puppets but it's getting tweaked again.
> Lethal Puppeteering gives proficiency with Unarmed Strikes (They're simple weapons, but Ozodrin don't automatically gain proficiency with simple weapons.. bit of an oversight there)

1/7/2021
Puppet:
> Replaced Phantom Puppets with Rumbling Domain. Phantom Puppets were kind of a mess mechanically, and although neat would likely just be used to spy through walls in practice.
> Cleaned up some wording / interactions. This included specifying that Advanced Puppets can't be attached to creatures via Parasitic Puppets.
Orifice:
> Fixed wording of Swallow as "Colossal" is not a size category in 5E. Also doubled the amount of stomach space while I was at it, which makes it just large enough to generally not care about it unless you're doing something extreme. Likewise tweaked the Tier III ability that lets you form a larger space in your stomach to match.
Tentacle:
> Nerfed Rending Tendrils to match the new lower DPR of tentacle. The old version was competing with TWF Deadly Tentacles which is no longer a thing. Also clarified how to it interacts with Sweeping, which could be seen as another nerf depending on how you played that.
> Changed Synchronizing Tentacles from 2fp->1fp and clarified that it does not synch with previously existing effects. This is a buff if you were already playing it that way (it was intended). Letting it synch with previously existing buffs.. well, in 5E I suppose chars with multiple buffs on them is a lot rarer actually... anyway it makes the ability much simpler to run in-game.
Flesh:
> Noted that Magic Consuming Flesh can only dispel spells dispel magic can dispel.
Spikes:
> Cleaned up some wordings.
> Smoke Spikes now requires Ballistic Spikes or Goring Spikes.
> All "until the beginning of your next turn" spike buffs are now until the end of your turn. This weakens Deadly Quills (especially the DQ + Smoke Spikes combo) and removes the memory game as that extra duration would almost never come up.
> Piercing Rain 1fp -> 2fp.

1/8/2021
> Changed Murmuring Glare to an intelligence saving throw. If it were a spell it'd be of the illusion school, not enchantment - there's no compulsion involved. Also specified that it's a magical effect.
>> Also changed it from x2/r + 2x/r to 2x/rest + 1x/r as the saving throw change was a significant power boost.
Orifice OVERHAUL:
> Moved Free Flowing Drool to Tier III to fit new lower DPR balance point, changed how it worked.
> Removed the +crit range Tier III Orifice alteration. Honestly, it didn't make sense for Orifice to be the one to get that ability and it was only there for lack of a better idea.
> Moved Refined Palate to Tier I, tweaked how both it and Deceptive Mouths worked.
> Added Noise that Knows to Tier II Orifice.
> Changed how Hooked Teeth worked.
> Cleaned up various wordings.
> Reworked Windswept Maws - the Suck-In option is always 5' now.
> Remove the ability to take Controlled Digestion multiple times, but boosted its effect from 4d6->5d6. Orifice is generally starved for FP anyway so this is likely a buff.

1/10/2021
> Fixing wording of the add-half prof and situational alterations to be clearer. Still have many a few to go, got sidetracked with:
FLESH TRAIT OVERHAUL
> Tempered Body no longer gives half prof to Athletics checks.
> The slam attack granted by tempered body now deals 1d10.. and counts as a heavy weapon. It's now the only Ozodrin weapon that can be used with GWF. I'm not sure that's a good thing... but it's probably fine. Spike can be used with Sharpshooter, after all.
> Changed Energy Consuming Flesh and moved it to Tier II.
> Added Frantic Musculature from Tier I.
> Removed Scented Flesh and Deadly Flesh.
> Added smell to base flesh ability.
> Added Contorted Existence to Tier II.
> Altered all of the Tier IV Flesh alterations (Except Concept Filtering Flesh, which is unchanged).
> Replaced Nth Dimensional Flesh with Space that Thinks. Nth Dimensional was a neat effect but I'm not going to be at every table to explain Flatland.
> Tweaked Illuminated Flesh to have a stronger base effect and removed the ability to take it multiple times.
PUPPET:
> Essence Shift transports your worn and carried objects as well now. Came up with a fluff excuse for it.. which is good as it was otherwise kind of a pain to use.
ORIFICE:
> Nerfed Living Prison to only block teleportation instead of creating an antimagic field. Grapple+Swallow is WAY easier to pull off in high-level combat than it was in 3.5, so much so that the antimagic field version of this ability was just instant death to enemy spellcasters.
> Changed the Tier III breath weapon from bonus action to once per round as an action. That somewhat reduces how much rolling it can cause in a single round.
EYE:
> Specified "attack roll or saving throw" for Disorienting Glare. That's what it would be used for 90%+ of the time, and there were a lot of weird corner cases for ability checks. Most of which would allow a creature to avoid mostly avoid the debuff with a Perception Check or something. The inability to use it in grappling is.. actually it's probably for the best.
> Changing Efficient Pathways from half-prof Dexterity save to advantage, changed initial benefit from 1x->2x per rest.
> Changed Heightened Senses to 2fp, it grants Expertise now. Might change the extra memory effect to something else as that's more an intelligence thing.
> Heightened Sense extra effect is now ability to spend an action for 1-turn see invis. Which means...
> Otherworldly Vision has been removed from Tier II Eye, and has been replaced with Eldritch Sensitivity. Which can sense magic but no longer references detect magic as there really is no reason for an Ozodrin to differentiate between spell schools. It can also detect life, which.. was mostly added to make it clear the lack of spell school ID'ing is intentional. I never liked Otherworldly Vision anyway, it was a hold over from the 3.5e Ozodrin and I think it showed.
MAIN CLASS:
> Added Perception to the class skill list.

1/11/2021
MAIN CLASS OVERHAUL:
> Removed Inner Nature / Worldly Guise split. There was never a reason to use Worldly Guise in the 5E version of the class since looking "normal" can be done by unforming all of your base alterations as an action and/or bonus action.
> Cleaned up the wording of most base class features. Removing the Nature/Guise split helped quite a bit for this.
> Removed all references to Inner Nature / Worldy Guise in the alterations themselves. Revised wording of Sizing Flesh's second ability to work without Worldy Guise.
SPIKE:
> Reduced Longshot Spikes back to 1fp.
> Changed Poisonous Spikes from 1x + 2x/extra to 2x + 1x/extra and clarified that it does work with other weapons with your spikes on them.
> Poisonous Spikes now requires Carved Spikes. Although there is some fluff sense here, the actual reason is to make it impossible to take poisonous spikes at level 1 and use it while twf tentacles. Which in turn makes the change from 1x to 2x uses per rest work better power-wise.
> Altered Smoke Spikes, swapped it with Poisonous Spikes. This solves Poisonous feeling too strong at low levels and also gives low-level spike primary ozodrin more to do outside of combat. Poisonous Spikes no longer requires Carved Spikes.

1/12/2021
Tentacle:
> Replaced Synchronizing Tendrils aka "extremely niche power that can technically share healing spells when you're not getting yourself killed and/or making your DM cry by blind following a teleport" with Dimension Clutching Limbs. DCL also better fits the tentacle trait's theme than ST, which was.. sort of a stretch. It also give tentacle, one of the two traits with a +speed power, something movement related at higher levels.
> Changed Long Tendrils to Long Tentacles. Like, just a name change. Too many Tendril names.
Eye:
> Slightly buffed Eldritch Sensitivity (You can tell if information was gleaned or not), and reduced it to 1fp.
MAIN CLASS:
> Unearthly Power also overcomes resistance and immunity to non-magical effects.

1/14/2021
Puppet - bunch of changes to somewhat improve <lvl6 gameplay for primary(Puppet) Ozodrin.
> Combined Lengthy Cords and Missing Strings into the tier I "Shifting Strings". Missing Strings was only ever Tier II because Tier I didn't have room, and Puppet is FP starved enough as it is. At Tier 1 it opens up more options for using puppets, and from what I've learned most games are going to be at Tier I & II.
> Shifting String range increased from 40' -> 120'
> Parasite Puppets can be retracted without detatching now, since retracting can't reduce a puppet's range to less than its current position.
> Parasite Puppets now mention that the attached creature has disadvantage on attacks against it. Which is likely a nerf since it'll remind people the puppet can be attacked in the first place.
> Base trait updated to note what happens if a puppet is forced outside of its range, give them some sensory abilities without needing the eye trait, etc.

1/15/2021
FLESH:
> After reading through the 5E spell list more thoroughly I rewrote Magic Consuming Flesh to be more counterspell like instead of a self-debuff-dispeller as.. honestly the previous version was pretty bad at high levels. How many targeted spells have a duration & are hostile & don't prevent you from trying to dispel them & can be dispelled by dispelled magic & are worth using an action to get rid of? Not that many past level 10.
> Cleaned up Iron Flesh wording a bit.
> Altered Iron Flesh & Energy Consuming Flesh.
> Changed all the defensive/reactive Flesh alterations that could be taken multiple times to being max 2x applications.
> Tweaked Concept Filtering Flesh. Might alter the name of it.

1/17/2021
MAIN CLASS FLUFF OVERHAUL - So much refluffing! Main class description, a new fluff section matching the other D&D classes (the one that generally talks about that class' role in the world and such), and new much more flavorful openings for the traits that make them feel more like class archetypes. Also tweaked Base ability wordings to be clearer (new form/remove/modify phrasing).
> Cleaned up wording of Sinister Image. Among other things it's clearer what kinds of things you can use it on.
>> Also nerfed Sinister Image - 1x/Long Rest, lasts 10 minutes.
Puppet
> Empty Doll wording includes what happens if you unmake the alteration (might be uneeded). >> Also added that Empty Dolls formed from a Sinister Image proxy continue to exist after that effect ends. Like, there were other ways to achieve the same thing via Essence Shift but decided to have it be built-in. It makes sense for Puppet trait to be better at using Sinister Image.

EYE:
> Dissolving Glare -> Consuming Glare. Once you get consuming this line is just better than before, in that it has more options. It also ties in more to the Eye trait's theme instead of being a random force damage attack.
> Binding Glare -> Framing Glare. Combat-wise Framing is weaker than Binding was, although unlike binding Framing has actual non-combat use.
> Proclaiming Glare -> Encroaching Glare. Encroaching is just Proclaiming plus a new ability.
> Mindsinking -> Delving Sight. Delving is an entirely new ability, giving Eye the mind reading it really feels like it should have in a way that won't cause as many issues as detect thoughts.
> Decentralized Perception's wording was cleaned up.

1/18/2021
EYE:
> Changed Nous Sight to giving disadvantage on THEIR check instead of advantage on yours. That way the DM can ask you for a perception check without having to reveal there is someone within 20' of you.
ORIFICE:
> Removed Haunted Stomach. In 3.5e high-level spell casters had ways to at least bind souls, in 5e this ability is absent. So much so that Orifice Ozodrin would be the single best way of dealing with souls available to PCs by a fair margin. That is not a big part of Orifice's theme. Also, the Swallow line already takes a ton of FP so you'd generally only use Haunted in situations where the DM likely doesn't want you too.
> Removed Reflexive Nibbling. You'd generally use it to trigger Ravenous off turn, and it is far too unreliable. Also, making attacks during someone else's turn bogs down combat, especially when you have as much potentially effecting / being triggered by those attacks as Orifice ozodrin.
> Added Glutenous Rift - skip the Reflexive middleman and go straight to gaining temporary HP. 30 might be too much..
> Replaced Bizarre Liquids with the more powerful Priming Slurry. Changing energy type is really not as big a deal to Orifice as it would be to, say, a wizard, leaving Bizarre as a nice thing but kind of.. lackluster?
TENTACLE:
> Combined Grasping Limbs and Deadly Limbs to create Dexterous Limbs. You can no longer make "Claw attacks", but you can make hands. If you want to put spikes (which you will always have access to by level 6) on your hands and call them claws the fun police will not stop you.
>> More seriously though, Tentacle had 5 Tier II alterations instead of 4 because Grasping was something Ozodrin should be able to do at some point - form functional hands - but wasn't actually worth spending FP for. It couldn't be part of the base trait for multiclass reasons, but by level 6 it's mostly useless for tentacle Ozodrin. Most of the time it was just an FP tax for people that wanted to form hands for character design reasons.
>> I did remove the ability to use MultiAssault with weapons, a casualty of stuffing it into another trait, but that would likely only come up with bow-wielding tentacle Ozodrin that acquired proficiency from their race. I might re-add that ability.
> Moving fine manipulation to the closest thing to a mandatory alteration for primary(Tentacle) Ozodrin freed up Sophisticated Tentacle to have a tighter IC explanation for how it works. Thus, it became Terpsichorean Limbs which is basically the exact same thing as before only with more fluff and no fine motion bonus.
VARIOUS:
> I've realized all weapons in 5E only have one damage type. Also whips are slashing, crab claws are bludgeoning, etc. Tweaking alteration damage types to match.

1/19/2021
ORIFICE:
> Salivating Maws can no longer be taken multiple times. Might restore this.
> Removed Deadly Breath. It was only kept this long because the 3.5 Ozodrin had it and is a classic monster power. To be frank, Ozodrin use too many abilities each turn for one of them to be something that forces a bunch of enemies to make saving throws. Windswept is pushing it, but at least that doesn't have any damage rolling involved.
> Moved Priming Slurry down to tier III, changed it to Priming Breath, and changed how it worked. It being at will was... way too strong, and in retrospect does Orifice really need to be able to do every energy type?
> Added Barbarous Din to Tier IV. It gives Thunder as an option for all Orifice energy alterations in a reasonable manner and has an alright bonus effect as well. In the end Necrotic + Thunder should cover most creatures, really.
> Controlled Digestion allows for shifting damage type to match Salivating Maws now. Don't have to wait for Tier IV anymore at all.
> Changed Salivating Maws to finally have a version of "Drooling on things you bite" that isn't an issue to have at low levels.
> Removed Free-Flowing Drool and move Barbarous Din to Tier III. I feel like there's more fun to be had with BD than FFD, and there's no reason BD needs to be Tier IV. FFD and BD filled a very similar role.
> Added Good Taste in People to Tier IV. I like the alteration, but may change the name.
Puppet:
> Removed Skittering Gallery, as it was added for use with the long-removed Phantom puppets and it would mostly just serve to bog down gameplay.
> Renamed Puppeteer Puppets "Myriad Self", closed the multi-collapse stacking loophole, and otherwise buffed it to serve as the capstone of sorts for the collapsing line. Now Puppet has 4 alterations worth having instead of being one of the "5 because one of them is pretty meh and should be a part of something else" trait tiers. Almost all of the traits now follow the 5x first level 4x all other level pattern. Only remaining exceptions IIRC are Stomach TII which isn't changing (and I'm fine with that, Swallow/Stomach realm stuff are just too complicated to combine) and Fin Tier IV.
> Changed Independent Puppets to Habile Locums. IP was an alteration that was either overpowered or a trap option, I think it was too extreme to not be one or the other. No one's playtested Tier IV puppet and that was very much an alteration that would need to be seen in practice.
> Other small text clean-ups.
FLESH:
> Changed Frantic Musculature to Adaptive Musculature. AM is better in most situations, but lacks the burst potential Frantic had w/Guidance or Focus Surge. This change was mostly because the Flesh Trait has too many X per rest abilities and Frantic was the easiest one to replace with an at-will version.

1/20/2021
FLESH:
> Changed Iron Flesh to Negating Flesh. The halving is now an at-will reaction with a drawback, as part of an effort to reduce the number of X per rest abilities as Ozodrin felt like all the updates had kind of pushed Flesh into becoming some kind of defensive Vanacian caster.

1/21/2021
PUPPET:
> Early Puppet overhaul - Lethal Puppeteering was a step in the right direction, but I devised an idea that allows for simple Help-based attacking from level 1. Thus, Deadly Coordination was rewritten and moved to Tier I and Butchering Crew was created for Tier II. The new combat style feels very puppet master-y, IMO. It also gets rid of the weird unarmed strike stuff, probably dumping unarmed strikes from flesh as well tbh. The main downside is that low-level Puppet ozodrin without one of the attacking base traits has no way to attack w/proficiency unless their background/race gives them such a thing. Edit: It's also a major improvement for Puppet Secondaries, as Deadly Coordination might find use off-primary at level 6-10 while Lethal most certainly wouldn't until at least level 11 if even then.
> Added a line to Doll-Breaking Motions to work with the new Deadly Coordination.
> Renamed Advanced Puppet -> Substatute Puppet. I realized Advanced Puppet vs Advanced Alterations could be confusing in some of the rules text.
> Renamed Empty Dolls -> Unchained Dolls. Empty Doll, although cool-sounding, only made sense when there was an Independent Doll alteration at tier IV.
> Increased Deadly Coordination damage from 1d4 -> 1d6.
FLESH:
> Noted how long it takes to use Flesh as a disguise kit. It's fairly open-ended, but so is the PHB disguise kit. One of the later books gave a slightly more in-depth description, however, including a time-taken section that is way too long for most flesh visual tweaks so if you're using that book the updated description is a buff if you're just trying to look cool instead of copy someone.

1/22/2021
FIN:
> Combined the fluff aspects of Absent Fin into Wing, moved Eternal Rhythm to Tier III. Absent Fin's justification for existing was always pretty weak, paralysis is a very rare condition and it was mostly just there because you needed to get 1fp worth of benefits for something that really only existed to enable wingless flying aberration designs.
> Tweaked wording of Unfettered Motions. This gave me a more flavorful idea for Immaculate Grace, still working on that.

1/25/2021
MAIN CLASS:
> Moved Unearthly Power to level 5, as level 3 was rather unusually early for the effect. Ozodrin don't get Extra Attack so they really need it at level 5, moreso than monks who can at least double attack w/silver weapons and such.
> Added Worldly Guise to level 3. Mostly to help Ozodrin in settings where they need to hide what they are, that seems to be rather frequent. I went with the choice version though, as the somewhat stronger pure-hiding version just would not fit some ozodrin at all.
Eye:
> Wording clean-up. More clean-up coming. Fixed some remaining references to old ability names.
Tentacle:
> Replaced Absent Locomotion with Tactile Tentacles & changed Paradox Tendrils to be a 2fp standalone ability. Absent didn't really make all that much sense, honestly, and is nowhere near as big of a fluff deal as enabling non-winged flying.
Flesh:
> Changed Tempered Body. It no longer deals with unarmed strikes (which apparently are not weapons anymore, and can't be used with TWF), and instead gives a bonus action benefit that lets small PCs wield their Slam attack without disadvantage instead. It also gives some other niche non-combat uses, since its basically a temporary powerful build. PCs that aren't level 1-5 Flesh Primary ozodrin might actually take it now.

[1/26/2021]
FIN Overhaul
> Large changes to Tier II / Tier III, same combat style but reduced DPR. At least, reduced maximum DPR. Might nerf Razor Fin damage further, goal is for it to just be "good" in most combats. Eh, probably won't.
> Razor Fins did get one noticeable buff - it denies AoOs regardless of whether you hit or not. Because calculating that takes game time (Can this hit me? How about this? This?), and removing it gives Razor Fins another reason to use it besides raw damage.
>> Correction, two big buffs - it can use Dexterity(Acrobatics) now.
> Nerfed Cosmic Fins, I've realized it was better for return trips than the Plane Shift spell. Now DMs can stop it from wrecking their stuff as easily as they can Plane Shift. Moreso, actually.
> Replaced Space Weaving Fins with the weaker Diving Fins. Well, weaker for fast travel. Better for tactical movement. You can still mimic Space Weaving by double using the nerfed Cosmic Fins.
> Smashing Fins -> Whirling Fins. Fin is now NONE for saving throws, and is even less dependant on strength. There is no longer any reason to go Str for fin unless you're doing so for a secondary. Which.. is fine as there wasn't enough reason to go Str in the first place TBH.
> Blitzing also triggers on Disengage now.
MAIN CLASS:
> Multiclassing now takes Dex/Cha, not Con/Cha. Noticed some multiclass requirements did not match saving throws, and Con is too easy to have.
ORIFICE:
> Changed Saving Throws to being based on Strength, as I've realized the only saving throw ability it has left is Windswept Maws which is more of a Strength-ish ability in the first place. Virtually no PC ability save DCs are based on their Constitution, so reducing that looks better for first impressions as well.

1/27/2021
TENTACLE:
> Terpispherean Limbs moved back to Tier I, changed and made 2fp. Tugging Tendrils changed to be a situationally useful at-will 1fp ability (might increase it to 15 feet, although 10' might be enough). Tugging still far more worthwhile than the original 5' bonus action thing.
> Removed Coordinated Tendrils. Grappled creatures have disadvantage on attacks in the first place and the new tugging includes a weaker variant of Coordinated's first ability.
> Added Artful Tendril to Tier II to fill the void, and also be the new Sleight of Hand buffing alteration.
> Changed Rending Tendrils to be 2d6 slashing damage, but it no longer requires a bonus action to use. This removes the strange looking once-per-round bonus action thing it had going on and simplifies Writhing Mass. Also means it can be stacked with Energy Generating Flesh.
> Various wording clean-ups. Decided to remove Grapple + Reach reminder text.

2/1/2021
EYE:
> Added a sight restriction to several alterations that should have them.

2/4/2021
EYE:
> Rewrote Framing Gaze to be clearer. Among other things, I gave up the half damage on a failed save as that made the wording much simpler. Also changed uses to 3/rest and removed ability to multi-take.
> Slightly altered Murmuring Glare's wording. Effect is the same. Also changed uses to 3/rest and removed ability to multi-take.
> Change Encroaching Glare to Wisdom saves, but removed the one at a time limit.
> MAJOR CHANGE: Efficient Pathways -> Clear Reception. Murmering & Framing Glare changed to use motes of clarity, and also gained a minor passive effect. Encroaching Gaze also changed to use motes of clarity for its action-using effect.
TENTACLE:
> Magic Ripping Tendrils can no longer be taken multiple times. Magic Disarraying Tentacles now gives +1 use per rest.
> Dimension Clutching Limbs can no longer be used as a reaction, and it only lasts until the end of your turn. Although it's ability to be used in a Clutch has been greatly reduced, these changes all for removing the use restriction since you can't use it for cheap long distance flight anymore (Nor can it still be used to become basically immovable via caging yourself whenever you feel like it, which was pretty cool but also something that shouldn't be at-will). Now usable at-will, with grapple buffing ability becoming a passive benefit.
Flesh:
> Contorted Existence now limits you to openings 1/10th your size and the "not teleportation" reminder text was removed.
> Energy Consuming Flesh's resistance ability is now at-will, takes an action, and gives a max of 1x day of nourishment per activation.
> Bizarre Metabolism is now 2fp -> 1fp
> Removed the ability to take Magic Consuming Flesh and Contorted Existence multiple times, increased initial uses of MCF to 2x/rest.
> Regenerative Flesh now has to expend a hit die to convert temporary hp to healing, which means it now isn't continuous full non-combat healing when combined with Ravenous Maw. Regenerative Flesh also now lets you regain a Hit Die every short rest, making it more useful without the temporary HP connection. So basically, RF now doesn't feel like an Orifice trait that snuck into Flesh.

2/5/2021
MAIN CLASS
> Updated starting equipment to include some basic weaponry.

2/6/2021
MAIN CLASS
> Replaced Trait Overflow with Invigorating Surge. Most traits have 1-3 alterations with uses, and the remaining ones are increasingly combining multiple alterations into a single usage pool (like Windswept & Priming, or the Eye trait).
ORIFICE
> Changed Windswept Maws back to a bonus action. Removed the ability to take it multiple times.
> Priming Breath is now a 1fp extension to Windswept Maws that also gives +1 use/rest. Also removed ability to take it multiple times.
> Suck In / Blow out option of Windswept -> Inhale / Exhale
SPIKE:
> Goring Spike can now give advantage as a bonus action 1/rest.

2/7/2021
General
> Added a bunch of "on your turn" restrictions to bonus action abilities. Which doesn't change anything rules-wise IIRC but is reminder text WoTC uses on such abilities.

2/8/2021
Tentacle:
> Paradox Tentacles error fix - it still required absent locomotion.
> Sweep Tendril can no longer be taken multiple times, but increases to 3 when you Focus Surge. Multi-taking it was.. it was cool but either didn't work very often or was extremely powerful.
FLESH:
> Acclimating Flesh no longer prevents you from removing it if you used it while resting.
SPIKE
> Changed Shredding Volley and Piercing Rain to no longer require saving throws among other things. Their base effects can now be used at-will as well.
> Longshot Spikes replaced with Biostraining Cannonade, moved to Tier II.
> Tether moved to Tier I, now usable with Carved Spikes as well as Ballistic Spikes.
> Smoke Spikes altered to hopefully be less clunky. The mass explosions may have been cool but would likely be more of a nuisance than anything else.
> Poison now adds the damage to EVERY attack, as that makes it easier to figure out how to use it with other Spike abilities. Damage is 1/1d4 again. The constitution saving throw is now based on hitting, not dealing poison damage.
> Deleterious Existence saving throw penalty nerfed. Not that there are many Ozodrin abilities that benefited from the old version... it just isn't as strong when combined with spellcasters now. Which could have been an issue with the new Piercing Rain.
> Quivering Tether nerfed, now has a maximum contraction per round of 60' and can only contract as a bonus action.

2/9/2021
Spike
> Poisonous Spikes are back to damaging once per turn, but are 2 damage instead of 1d4 which solves the issue (of taking too much time w/PR). Obliterating Toxins is 3 damage.
> Removed unneeded reminder text from Deadly Quills, DQ is already referenced in Rooting Spikes.
> Other text clean-ups.
> Removed speed reduction from Biostraining Cannonade. Might remove all drawbacks and change the name, tbh.
Tentacle
> Reworded Tugging Tendril and how it works with restrained/grappled creature. Also added an auto-pull rider to grapple attempts.
> Moved around several capabilities to form new versions of Tugging Tendrils, Coiling Tendrils, and Climbing Limbs. Renamed Climbing Limbs Gripping Limbs.
> Renamed Dimension Clutching Limbs to Space Clutching Limbs.
> Tugging Tendrils now gives you Athletics prof to grapple/pull things, but not defensively.
MAIN CLASS
> Aberrant metamorphosis now lets you evade aberration detection effects unless you're within 10' of the course. This was a needed change as all 3rd level rangers can detect aberrations from miles away, but only in a yes/no fashion so your presence would basically ruin the party ranger's aberration sense. Moreover, it becomes a setting issue if every ranger senses you when you walk through a forest.

2/11/2021
FIN:
> Razor Fins is back to only negating Opportunity Attacks from damaged foes. I decided it didn't take that much more time to calculate, and made ignoring OAs too easy for Fin Ozodrin.
> Blitzing Fins gives +1d6 instead of +1d4 to regular Fin attacks. That's more in line with other traits.
> Renamed "Strange Movement" to "Spacial Diving" which.. just fits the Trait better. Renamed Diving Fins to Space Weaving Fins (again). Didn't change mechanics.
> Replaced Supreme Charge with Chronal Ascent. If you want to cover a vast amount of distance surging + dash pile + Space Weaving is almost as fast as Supreme was.

2/13/2021
ORIFICE:
> Deceptive Mouths now makes noises instead of specifying imitation, as obligate imitation is not really an Ozodrin thing. It also now includes a limited form of expertise should you want to imitate a noise.

2/18/2021
MAIN CLASS:
> HD is now a D10
> Now has Light and Medium Armor proficiency, this is a big deal for Orifice Primaries.
> Starting wealth increased to be more barbarian-like instead of monk-like.
FIN:
> Added "no armor / shield" restrictions to a bunch of Fin alterations.
Flesh:
> Changed Negating Flesh. Now forms armor / changed reaction drawback to reduced movement.
> Added a new reaction to Illuminating Flesh, giving it some offensive/defensive use.
> Changed Adaptive Flesh so that it only doesn't stack with spells. There are a few other sources, like Mark of Shadow elves, that give a 1d4 that stacks with Guidance.

2/20/21
Tentacle:
> Tugging Tendrils can also pull any creature small enough for them to shove to the ground, knocking them prone.
> Gripping Limbs improves the above to +2 size categories (same as grappling).
> Coiling Tendrils can now trigger off of pulling enemies to the ground as well.
Flesh:
> Tempered Body also lets you count Shoving as a Flesh alteration-granted trait. That means their are two alterations that do that now (TB & Whirling Fin), three if you include Tugging Tendrils, but I think that's fine.
> Filtering Flesh no longer lets you take it multiple times, but now lets you change your choice as a bonus action.

7/13/21
Spike:
> Base Alteration - gave additional spike duration options.
> Ballistic Spikes -> Hunting Spikes (Extra Caltrop option)
> Goring Spikes -> Clashing Spikes (Now includes a Deadly Quills variant)
> Removed Tier III Deadly Quills, replaced with Rupture Seeds alteration.
> Increased the cost of Clashing Spikes to 2fp.
> Deadly Quills changed from Bonus Action -> Action

7/15/21
Spike:
> Reduced Rupture Seed damage 3d8 -> 2d8.
> Extra Poison damage from Poisonous Spikes now 1 + half prof, same as caltrops/quills.
> Deadly Quills wording tweaked to use non-reach and/or body part wording again, as any contact wording could have applied to attacks w/spiked tentacles and such.

7/16/21
Spike:
> Moved Biostraining Cannonade TII -> TIV and changed how it works.
> Renamed Obliterating Toxins Deleterious Existence, changed how it worked, and got rid of the old Deleterious Existence.
> Added Vivifying Spikes to TII.

7/17/21
Flesh:
> Moved Regenerative Flesh to TII and changed how it worked.
> Moved Magic Consuming Flesh to TIII
> Overhauled Acclimating Flesh to be more generally useful, and reduced FP cost (2->1).
> Filtering Flesh now requires previous contact with chosen substance.

7/22/21
ALL:
> Saving throws now list the DC calculation in the alteration for all traits except Eye, which has its own section in its description. The "primary saves" system was misleading, as in many case the save stat is not the most important stat to focus on for the trait.
> The remaining "can take this multiple times" instances have all been removed - every advanced alteration can only be chosen once.
> 5E often adds "magical" / "magically" etc as a descriptive term to magical effects. This has been slipped into a number of alteration descriptions.
> Manifest Form -> Modify Form. "Manifest" hasn't made sense for awhile, tbh.
Orifice:
> MASSIVE OVERHAUL. Everything involving Ravenous Maws has been changed to take into account Ozodrin having more HP/Armor options. Swallow reduced to 10 damage to trigger regurgitation save. Windswept cone->line. All Tier IV alterations tweaked. Stomach Realm can't be taken multiple times, base effect is larger. Salivating has the bonus action 1d4 back. Refined Palate scent bonus changed to basically being Keen Nose.
Eye:
> Disorienting Gaze 2fp->1fp. EDIT: Also changed to separate out the saving throw debuff to a 1/rest reaction.
> Clear Reception 1fp->2fp, starts with 3 motes, initial abilities cost 1 mote, other alterations increase size of pool.
> Eldritch sight completely changed / made more useful, now benefits from Far-Reaching Gaze. Life sight was lost.
Spike:
> Deleterious Existence: Sluggish -> Dizzy, effect changed.

[7/23/2021]
Tentacle:
> Tepsichorea.. you know which one Limbs now gives advantage to dancing.
> Tugging Tendrils now auto-pulls-prone smaller creatures. Gripping limbs improves to your size or smaller.
> Coiling Tentacles 1fp -> 2fp, as it's pre-req Tugging is stronger now. Coiling also lets you MultiAssault grapple attacks now.
Orifice:
> Currently tweaking Hooked Teeth / Windswept Maws / Gluttonous Rift
> Tweaked the wording of swallow to better explain what a swallowed opponent can do. Also, 10hp -> 20hp.
>> Added text forcing regurgitation if you end your turn in your own stomach.
> Renamed Controlled Digestion -> Controlled Consumption. It now lets you swallow without dealing bite damage in addition to previous effect.
Puppet:
> Using Substitute Puppets to swallow yourself results in regurgitating all swallowed creatures. If you still manage to get trapped within your own stomach somehow you deserve it.
>> I've realized this isn't sufficient to stop looping your stomach infinitely, so it was removed in favor of adding text to Swallow itself.

[7/25/2021] - Fin - Blitzing Fins now requires Swift OR Martial Fins. Giving Martial Fins some hope of being used past level 6.
[7/26/2021]
MAJOR CHANGE - Advanced alterations are now changed via long rests only.
Main Class:
> Tweaked Alteration descriptions.
> Replaced "Invigorating Surges", which was more of a placeholder, with "Malleable Form", which allows for smaller short-action alteration changes (5 points over course of day).
Flesh:
> Now that you're stuck with it the whole day, Energy Consuming flesh 2fp -> 1fp.
>> Acclimating Flesh 1fp -> 2fp to maintain overall cost.
Eye:
> The base alteration now lets you use a bonus action to make perception checks. This makes eye stronger while not increasing the class power level much, as the bonus action slot is heavily contested for ozodrin. This also prompted tweaking the Listening Eyes alteration to match.
> Clear Reception 2fp -> 1fp. Murmuring 1fp -> 2fp.
> Disorienting 1fp -> 2fp, effect buffed/reworded.
Orifice:
> Dire Consumption now adds prof mod (total prof x2) instead of 1d4. This scales better and is more worth ever considering in combat.
> Base alteration gives advantage and eventually immunity to ingested poisons.
> Salviating Maws has been changed - it's down to just 3 energy types to tighten the flavor, and has a new 3/rest ability that debuffs the opponent for one round (crit range increase). It's.. iffy at 2fp but low level access to 3 energy types isn't terrible. Better in a party with rogues and paladins. Also, the damage is now Str/Dex based.
> Ravenous now permits using reactions to make opportunity attacks w/bites.
PUPPET:
> Base trait now allows for extending cords up to 40' for a single puppet (weaker version of shifting strings)
> Shifting strings modified to work with the above, same end result.
[7/27/2021]
> Puppet: Bunch of tweaks
> Tentacle: Terpsichorean Limbs changed to give disadvantage instead of negating opportunity attacks entirely.
Flesh:
> Energy Consuming Flesh: Removed "as tiring as.." wording.
>> Also changed feeding time from 1hr -> 4hrs
>> Misc wording tweaks.
> Energy Generating Flesh lets you change the chosen damage type 1/rest.
> Sizing Flesh can still reduce you to Tiny, but you can no longer become Huge.
> Reality Defining Flesh renamed Illusive Flesh

[7/28/2021]
Tentacle
- Locomotive Limbs can now boost jumps.
- Tugging Tendrils altered to not use Athletics anymore, can knock large or smaller prone.
- Gripping Limbs changed and move to TII.
- Artful Tentacles removed.
- Devious Tentacles added to TI.
- Long Tentacles reworded, clarified.
- Dexterous Limbs wording changed. Might change name.
- Coiling Tendrils tweaked.
Fin:
- The armor-restricted stuff now works with light armor (and technically shields).
- Moved Martial Fins to.. a different spot in the same tier. So the first impression of Fin isn't the most monk-like feature.

[7/30/2021]
Eye OVERHAUL
> Clear Reception changed to enable possibly going Cha/Wis for Eye.
> Framing Glare changed, moved to T1. It deals less damage but is otherwise much better now.
> Listening Eyes moved to TII. It's a useful effect, but Eye really needed more proactive stuff at TI
> Disorienting Glare back to 1fp, save debuff removed, ability debuff now 2/rest.
> Parallel Processing wording tweaked, now also lets you convert bonus actions into reactions.
> Murmuring Glare passive effect slightly buffed. redesigned and made MUCH stronger, and then nerfed a bit. Or rather, the ability to spam Whelm/Wonder was nerfed.
> Encroaching 2fp->1fp, now requires Murmuring. The new Murmuring clearly fits with it, and is no longer an extremely niche effect.
Tentacle - Sweeping Tendrils better at Sweeping. Less good at increasing DPS of Focus Surge.

[8/1/2021]
Flesh
> Replaced Filtering Flesh with the more versatile Protean Flesh, moved Protean to T1.
> Moved Energy Consuming Flesh to T2, now requires Protean. Reduced cost of Acclimating so that total cost of chain remains 3fp.
> Renamed Protean "Accommodating". Protean is a much cooler name but doesn't fit the ability as well.

[8/2/2021]
Tentacle:
> Base alteration notes you can use tentacles while climbing.
> Locomotive limb bonus action also lets you climb full speed.
> Gripping Limbs now requires Locomotive, basically gives spider climb.
> Space Clutching Limbs now 1fp, requires Tugging Tendrils Gripping Limbs, and works differently. It is now far more useful for fighting flying opponents.

[8/6/2021]
Fin - Swift Fins now let you use your movement to move 3' per 1' of falling.
Puppet:
> Collapsing Puppets is now 2->1fp and requires Puppet Self, removing a possible albeit incredible unlikely to be usable HP-gain combo.
> Puppet Self hibernation also slows down aging.

[8/8/2021]
Tentacle
> Tugging / Coiling reworked to use saving throws, similar to druid wildshape forms. Coiling reduced to 1fp and cannot multi-grapple but could possibly multi-tug.
> Writhing Mass reworked, increased to 3fp and also requires Devious Tendrils.
> Gripping Limbs changed to an action, now works with saving throw escapes.
> Nerfed Sweeping Tendrils. Rending changed to be based on damage instead of hitting.
> Dexterous -> Deft -> Deadly name change.

[8/9/2021]
Orifice - Wording tweaks.

[Magikeeper]

Change Log Part 3
[8/10/2021]
Flesh - Blizzard Metabolism replaced with Abstract Flesh, Acclimating now includes Poison.
Tentacle - Nerfed Writhing (Tentacle Alterations only for less complex turns), replaced the strong but boring Unerring with the more exciting Destiny Seizing Limbs. "Strong but boring" has no place at Tier IV, which almost no one plays outside of brief endgames.
Eye - Removed the advantage vs blinding, to reduce base alteration clutter.

[8/25/2021]
Tentacle:
- Reworked Coiling Tendrils. Restricting it to double-hits makes prone+grapple fine, main concern was having every single round wait on a saving throw in-between tentacle attacks (to see if you got advantage). No longer allows for normal grapple attacks, which removes the need for convoluted auto-free text.
- Moved the magic-sensing ability from Tactile to Magic Ripping Tentacles. MRT needed to be more generally useful and magic-sensing makes logical sense for it.
- Tactile now also gives advantage to touch-based Perception/Investigation.
Orifice: - Deceptive Mouths now lets you throw your voice.

[8/26/2021]
Spike - Reworded part of Shredding Volley, added +1 use/rest to Piercing Rain.
Tentacle - Magic Ripping uses ability checks now, dispel interactions clearer.

[8/31/2021]
Tentacle - Gave Tugging a second ability, redesigned Coiling to be more interesting/varied if not stronger. Deadly Limbs was buffed to still allow TWF (only 1d6) and multi-weapon use (no surge). Space-Clutching's wording was tweaked but same effect. Tepshic.. y'know now includes the dance bonus as part of the bonus action.
Flesh - Gave Acclimating Flesh a second ability. Gave minor extra ability to Energy Generating Flesh. Changed Regenerative Flesh's third option to 1d4+Class level. Same avg at level 6, scales better.
Orifice - Dire Consumption TWF like Deadly Limbs.
Spike - Quills are a bonus action again. Poisonous Spikes now has a second, at-will reaction to add just poison damage to a single attack. Deleterious Existence tweaked to match. Ballistic Spikes are now (70'/210') range, and caltrop spikes are 40' range.

[9/1/2021]
Spike - Poisonous Spike's new ability was over-tuned for optimized play, IMO. The new addition has been replaced with a non-damaging ability that uses a bonus action instead of a reaction. Wording of Deleterious slightly tweaked to match.
FIN OVERHAUL:
- Overall, changes were made to make Fin better at doing combat things that aren't Razor Fin, and make them more interesting levels 1-6. Less draining on FP to be able to do anything as well.
> Whirling changed, Martial Fins replaced with Momentous Fins, Swift Fins reduces fall 10', Specialized Organs gives a second ability 2/rest.
> Razor Fins changed, Blitzing replaced with Dynamic Fins, Flowing Motions changed. Spacial Diving requires Swift Fins and is 1fp but no other change (might change in future).
> Sprinting Fins renamed Blitzing Fins and reworked, Unfettered Motions replaced with Flexible Fins, Eternal Rhythm has second ability that builds on Specialized Organ's second ability.
ORIFICE - Noise creation moved to the base alteration of the Orifice trait. Deceptive Mouths replaced with the stronger and more versatile Beguiling Choir. Noise that Knows now includes a message function.
> Replaced Beguiling Choir with the stranger, less generally usable/powerful but a great deal more flavorful, Famished Choir.

[9/2/2021]
Spike - Poisonous Spikes - lesser toxin last until end of your next turn now, greater can be used 2/r->3/rest.

[9/3/2021]
Puppet - Butchering Crew has an additional 2/rest ability.
- Persuasive Parasites has a second option (shared usage) for attached allies.
- Invasive Parasites tweaked to work with new Persuasive.
- Deadly Coordination now lets puppets use healers kits and such.
- - Now edited so that the Use an Object action does NOT count as an alteration-granted trait.
- WORDING OVERHAUL. Various small changes. Stage puppets have 4x carrying capacity now. Hopefully the puppet trait is easier to understand now.

[9/6/2021]
MASSIVE EYE OVERHAUL - Most alterations have changed. Alterations that weren't changed, beyond possible wording/cost tweaks: Framing Gaze, Consuming Glare, Parallel Processing, Encroaching Gaze, Unbound Reception (Renamed Unbound Perception, 3fp->2fp, requires Decentralized Perception). That's it, everything else was altered.
> Listening Eyes removed, Heightened Senses gains listening eyes effect in place of the See Invisibility-type action.
> Splintering/Disorienting Glare combined together, loses ability check disadvantage reaction.
> Far Reaching Eyes -> Focal Eyes, moved to tier 1. 300ft -> 120ft, gains magnification option.
>> Ethereal-sensing effect added to Eldritch Sight as a third option. Maybe unnecessary..?
> New "Daunting Glare" alteration added to T2.
> Decentralized Perception tweaked, moved to T3.
> New "Profound Reception" alteration added to T4.
> Rejecting Glare completely overhauled, became "Curator's Vision".
> Various other tweaks.
--
Later Eye changes: Changed the "Time" option of Eldritch Sight.

[9/7/2021]
Flesh:
- Buffed Adaptive Musculature to also add optional damage to skill contests.
- Buffed Regnerative's Flesh HD-expending options to also give some temp HP.
Orifice:
- Buffed Windswept Maws and changed how "Exhale" works.

[9/8/2021]
Spikes:
- Buffed Vivifying Spikes to also give ranged knock-out and a minor medicine check bonus. Now requires Hunting Spikes.
- Reworked Twisting Spikes into Pneumatic Spikes, and it now requires Smoke Spikes instead of Hunting/Clashing. Same benefits, except you now regain uses of your Smoke Spikes, embed melee spikes into objects, deal the extra damage with weapons with your spikes on them, and the formatting is better.

[9/9/2021]
Puppet
- Shared Senses no longer has disadvantage, you just need the Eye trait to use passive perception w/puppets.

[9/13/2021]
Orifice - Famished Choir's voice-eating ability replaced with a more general-purpose sound negation. Better utility, more on-theme (compared to random voice eating that is never followed up on).

[9/15/2021]
Puppet -
- Essence Shift removed, a version of its ability was added to Puppet Self.
- Persuasive Parasites moved to Tier II, tweaked.
- Parasite Puppets changed to 1hr, Invasive Parasites tweaked.
- Meddlesome Playwright added to TI. Edit: Slightly tweaked/reworded.
- Butchering Crew's uses for the additional abilities increased to 3.
- Subjugating Parasites nerfed, cost reduced to 1fp.

[9/16/2021]
Puppet -
- Reworded Collapsing Puppets to tweak some corner case behavior and add 5 minutes of concentration to use it (to avoid the "endlessly form 2hp puppets every round as a bonus action" tactic).
- Tweaked Barrier Puppets
Flesh:
- Energy Generating Flesh reworded and altered to let you choose energy each time. Realistically, changing once per rest was sufficient for virtually all purposes and was thus needless complication. The minor effect for acid was changed from "vial of acid" to "vial of white vinegar" to bring it in line with other effects. The niche 2d4 -> 1d4 to more easily work with new wording.
- Living Maelstrom altered to work with new EGF.

[1/28/2022]
FIN - Nerfed Whirling Fins (Bonus damage is now conditional)
PUPPET - Toy Puppet Carrying Capacity Exploit Fixed.
STOMACH - Stomach has an AC total now, and specifies your other alterations can affect it.

[1/30/2022]
TENTACLE - Coiling Tentacle grapple now takes a reaction.
STOMACH - Digestive Rift can disrupt teleports, Swallow nerfed to trigger con save at 15->10 damage, Glutenous Rift doubles stomach size / stomach realm size.

[2/1/2022]
STOMACH - Refined Palate reworked to be less INT-dependent.
- Windswept Maw's Exhale has been changed (again) to be less complicated.

[2/3/2022]
Spike - Replaced Flickering Spikes with the stronger Distorted Implements. The advantage on melee attacks was lost in exchange for a few passive benefits and an increase to 3 uses of the bonus action instead of 2.

[2/6/2022]
Spike - Increased Bone Hedge damage to 3d8.
- Added a longevity extension to Carved Spikes and added a few more example creations. 1hr->4hr is a pretty big deal, imo.
EYE - Focal reduced to 1fp.

[2/9/2022]
EYE - Daunting's Despair option also gives advantage to Insight(Wisdom) now.
MAIN CLASS - Removed "Survival" from skills, added "Sleight of Hand" and "Performance". What Survival does in 5e doesn't have much of a thematic tie to Ozodrin.

[2/10/2022]
FLESH - Blending Flesh replaced with Discrete Flesh, because I finally did a careful read-through of the Hiding rules for 5E. The old wording didn't even make sense in 5E terminology! How did that survive as one of the longest never-changed alterations?! It's because Primary(Flesh) was unpopular for many years and this is a Tier III alteration whose intent could be easily grasped, isn't it...? >.> Eh, I suppose I've been planning to change it for a long time anyhow...
- Magic Consuming Flesh -> Unearthly Flesh. Now includes "evasion for Con saves" on top of the limited spell eating.

[2/13/2022]
FLESH - Altered Adaptive Musculature. The reaction-based dueling effect, combined with the damaging effect, was quite niche but very strong. Bit too much so in both respects, so it was replaced with a less niche, less powerful ability. Tweaked the no-stack wording to just single out Guidance.
- Buffed the "Rapid Restoration" option of Regenerative Flesh.
- Tweaked wording of Sizing Flesh. Could be considered a slight nerf (action to remove effect).
TENTACLE: Coiling Tentacle doesn't use "Escape DC" anymore, is just a regular grapple (albeit still automatic success).
PUPPET: Collapsing Puppets now outright prevents Aura of Life / G. Restoration combos instead of leaving them as a grey area.

[2/15/2022]
ORIFICE - Removed escape dc from Inhale grapple.

[2/18/2022]
TENTACLE - Cleaned up wording of Long Tentacles, the weapon-wielding section of Deadly Limbs, Gripping Limbs, and Writhing Mass.
- Changed position of Destiny Seizing Limbs in the T4 list, no other changes.

[2/20/2022]
- TENTACLE - added "attached scarves" to example list, to give an item example (whips are already used as an example for worldly guise).

[2/22/2022]
TENTACLE - Destiny Seizing Limbs explicitly noted to not stop Legendary Resistance.
FLESH - Negating Flesh now requires Tempered Body. It was really strong at level 1.
- Tempered Body buffed; powerful build variant is now passive and the weaker barkskin effect has returned. UPDATE: Added bonus action boost 2/SR, then buffed 16->17 for it.
- Ability to count Shove as a Flesh trait ability moved from Tempered to Adaptive.

[2/24/2022]
MAIN CLASS - Swapped Focus Surge and Worldly Guise. This is not a balance concern, but it reduces direct comparisons to Fighters (who don't have their subclass at level 2) and also results in Ozodrin getting the combat main class ability when most other classes are getting their archetype abilities. It also spreads out boosts to Ozodrin dps a bit better (1/3/5)

[2/25/2022]
FLESH - Changed Adaptive Musculature's reaction to just be an alternative option for opportunity attacks, that can only knock prone but can be done at-will. EDIT: And it's restricted to 5ft. Blame polrm mastery. >.> E2: Removed 5ft restrict, stacks with damage, usable 1/Rest. Blame quarterstaffs working with PAM.
TENTACLE - Gripping limbs also lets grappling count as a tentacle alteration ability. The new wording of Long Tentacles doesn't cause issues with that any more (only reason tentacle never got that power).

[3/2/2022]
ORIFICE - I took pity on the Actor feat and re-worded the base trait of Orifice. It also implies quite heavily the effect is non-magical (you just have a vocal range of "yes") now.

[3/5/2022]
Tentacle - Tugging Tendrils 2/SR ability changed to a more pull-centric ability that can't be used for free disengage anymore but is now at-will.
- Cleaned up / fixed wording of Coiling.

[3/6/2022]
MAIN CLASS - Replaced Malleable Form with Overwrought Form. This change allows for the existence of alterations that are not short-rest locked (WoTC is signalling that SR mechanics will be changing).

[3/11/2022]
Main Class - Changed name of Sinister Image -> Reified Image. Sinister is the cooler name, but it doesn't fit the tone of the 5e Ozodrin, tbh.
Flesh - Tweaked wording of Abstact Flesh. Same effect.

[3/13/2022]
Tentacle - Changed Tugging Tentacle's 2nd ability to 1/r (no reaction). The reaction version was too weak, even for a secondary at-will on a 1fp ability.
- - Also, the first ability can now be used on creatures YOU have grappled.

[3/24/2022]
Main Class -
- Reduced Level 1 form points -> 1fp. Level 2+ remains the same as before.
- Reverted change, moved choosing Secondary traits to lvl 2.
Tentacle - Removed "you cannot add tentacles to tentacles", the use of "other" already covers this and I decided I didn't want to emphasize it too much as a level 10 Ozodrin might want to replace their regular limbs with Deadly Tentacles and still have tentacles on them for aesthetic reasons.

[3/27/2022]
Flesh
- Added Recuperate option to Accommodating Flesh and changed choice mechanic to be more useful at low levels. Moved the upgrade to just Filtering as it would otherwise be too fiddly with the new option.
- Changed Adaptive Musculature's knock down ability to an at-will version that's more tactically interesting. The OA-based version wouldn't effect decision making much.

[3/29/2022]
Flesh - Cleaned up some wordings, no mechanical changes.
Puppet -
- Meddlesome Playwright renamed the less cool but more descriptive Adroit Handling.
-- Usher option tweaked to be more clear.
-- Conspire option, which was very niche given that puppets can use Help, replaced with the more generally useful Prepare option. Granted, Conspire could buff yourself but low level Puppet-Primary Ozodrin need more survival options.
- Substitute Puppet wording tweaked to be more clear.
- Completely reworked Collapsing Puppet. It is far less cumbersome / wordy now. Likely a nerf, but the old version was so complicated it was difficult to tell if it was balanced or not.
-- Tweaked Barrier Puppet / Myriad Self / Doll Breaking Motions to work with the new Collapsing.

[3/29/2022]
Tentacle
- Reduced cost of Paradox Tendrils to 1fp, reduced Writhing Mass to 2fp.
- Magic Disarraying now specifies "current turn", removing readied action abuse.

[3/31/2022]
SPIKE OVERHAUL
- Carved Spikes combined with Clashing Spikes (Bone Implements).
-- 4hr duration moved to base alteration.
- Fluff of Clashing / Hunting improved.
- Poisonous Spikes moved to T1, reduced to 1fp, and reworked.
- Noxious Spikes added to T2, Deleterious Existence reworked.

[4/5/2022]
MAIN CLASS - Moved Base Tertiary access to lvl 7, to reduce how much reading players have to do at level 6 (they already jump from 5 advanced options to 19! (20 if Primary Orifice))

[4/8/2022]
TENTACLE
- Rending Tendrils now requires Devious, has more fluff, and has been significantly buffed.
- Whipping Tendrils now specifies how advantage works, and limits the size of sweeped foes.
- Coiling Tendrils reaction now grapples INSTEAD of prone. Which makes some fluff sense and is also far less powerful in an optimized build.
SPIKE - Made bone hedges 10ft tall.
MAIN CLASS - Focus Surge now restricts ALL actions you perform on that turn, as the restriction was almost meaningless before level 5 otherwise.

[4/9+10/2022]
TENTACLE - Separated the advantage to dancing from the bonus action of Terpsichorean, to simplify how many things the bonus action does at the same time.
EYE - Renamed Eldritch Sight something that isn't already being used for an Invocation. >.>

[4/15/2022]
SPIKE - Changed based duration mechanics to always 4 hours + crumbling. This is part of change to justify slightly controlling detached spikes allowing for..
- Poisonous Spikes' at-will ability now triggers after hit instead of when attacking. This simplifies lvl 5+ attacking.
-- Buffed Stiffened effect (-10 -> -half speed)
TENTACLE - Reworked Coiling Tendrils to be less clunky. Probably a nerf for high-level builds, but it's more useful for most lvl6-10 ozodrin now.
FLESH - Adaptive deals twice the d4 instead of +Prof now. Simplifies the ability.

[4/16/2022]
MAIN - Simplified Focus Surge Multiclass rule.
Misc - Other verbage tweaks that don't change mechanics.

[1/28/2023]
EYE
- Changed Daunting Glare's "Demand" to always impose disadvantage.
- Fixed some typos and reworked some text to be clearer.
- Removed the potential backlash from Delving Glare's Demand option.
- Framing Gaze's non-mote ability can now look farther back.

[1/30/2023]
EYE
- Changed the BASE eye trait to give 10ft stacking darkvision instead of the prior dim-light benefit. WoTC clearly removed all forms of low-light vision from the game as an intentional choice, this isn't worth being weird about.
- Added a motion-sensing option to Focal Eyes. Also restricted using focal during overland travel (as motion sensing is quite valuable for that). Among other things this cancels out the disadvantage for most uses of heightened senses sound-vision (which was otherwise nerfed by the low-light change).
- Rearranged Order of T1 alterations.
- Added 2 mote perception advantage option to Clear Reception.

[2/1/2023]
FLESH - Changed Recuperate to work with potions but NOT Goodberry.
FIN - Swift Fins now works with Medium Armor to match the other restricted alterations.

[2/2/2023]
FLESH - Nerfed Regenerative Flesh's Vigor Surge option to lasting ~1 round.

[2/2/2023]
EYE - Changed base darkvision to 20ft, removed the stacking benefit.
- Removed Focal "Contrast", added "Projecting". This replaces mechanical power with something that's actually fun, imo.
- Renamed / Revised Projecting ability to feel more physiology-based and less wizard cantrip-y.

[2/4/2023]
EYE - Overhauled Framing Gaze.

[2/8/2023]
EYE - Replaced the crappy new version of Bind to Frame with the actually fun Duplicate Pattern.
- Changed Profound Reception to require an action for the extra reaction. This weakens interactions with Duplicate Pattern.

[11/12/2023]
- EYE OVERHAUL. Many changes made to make Eye better work with the other traits / be a bit more martial-y. All the clarity stuff was dropped in the process.
-- Reworded Murmering Gaze's illusionary thought stuff to make it easier to understand.
-- Nerfed History defining eyes / blocked easy servant-making strats like declaring "If they ever disobey me they'll be erased from existance just like their older brother!" to an only child.
SPIKE
-- Shredding Volley / Piercing Rain's full-damage bonus action can no longer be used the same turn as Focus Surge.

[4/12/2024]
- Minor Fixes

[4/16/2024]
EYE
- Murmuring Gaze's convoluted thought illusion replaced with a more combat-centric ability. In practice the new ability is likely a significant power boost to the alteration.
- Telepathy Nerfed (120', responding back takes an action), unless you weren't running it as 2-way before.
- Decentralized Perception altered to work with new Murmuring.
- Encroaching Gaze nerfed (300->120ft)

[4/17/2024]
EYE
- Cerebral Vault replaces with Soulful Nerves, other alterations modified occordingly.

[4/18/2024]
TENTACLE - Specified and restricted how many creatures you can hold with tentacles. D&D One's changes to multiclass rules will likely give grapple builds much easier access to the class. Restriction now loosend by Gripping Limbs (at level 6+).
MAIN CLASS - In MultiAssault, fixed wording to not imply there's a base alteration that add a special combat option (because there are none, nor have there ever been one, that does that).
FLESH - Altered Accomodating Flesh.

[4/27/2024]
EYE OVERHAUL - Many Tier I Eye changes, with the aim to be more tactically interesting at low-levels, and just more engaging in general. The base alteration lost darkvision, bonus action perception [both moved to other alterations]. Instead, it now allows for 5ft messaging and the Screaming Glare effect. This means Ozodrin now have the potential for low-level Cha-based builds without being Eye/Puppet primary (and lets Rattling Eyes be less of an required choice for Eye primary Ozodrin).


-----------------------------------------------------------

The first few responses that follow below were made before the FP system, the wording of archtypes, etc was overhauled. The first version was dealing with 62fp at level 20, had costs ranging from 1 to.. 15fp, didn't use archtype terminology, etc.

[JNAProductions]

Hang in there. Someone will take interest eventually.

I'd comment on it, but I'm really not sure what to say.

[Gnomes2169]

Now the class is insanely complex, so I'm not making a full review just yet (I'm on a phone right now, just waiting for my break to be over), but I will say that the lack of subclasses confuses me a bit. Is there a reason why you chose not to add any?

[Magikeeper]

Thanks for the responses!


but I will say that the lack of subclasses confuses me a bit. Is there a reason why you chose not to add any?

There are 60* different (Primary | Secondary, Secondary) trait combinations? Primary trait choice pretty much is a sublcass. Sure, you eventually get <limited> access to the traits you didn't pick but it isn't the same.
If my not-doublechecked math is right, anyway

The main reason, however, is that there is so much going on with the traits that I was iffy on adding a bunch of optional main class abilities on top of that. I did consider having more stuff like Focus Surge (main class abilities based on your primary trait choice to make it feel more subclass-y), but I haven't come up with any good ideas for such things.

Edit: In the long run I think adding "alternate traits" where each chosen alternate trait replaces one of the current 7 could work for expanding the class.

-----

Also, I keep rewriting how I describe forming things you can use as weapons. If anyone has a preference for how gaining a 1d6 finesse-able melee tentacle attack* should be worded by all means tell me. :D

*Just buffed most of the base weapons a little, more finesse as well as I've come to the conclusion that Ozodrin AC was pathetically low and maybe basing damage off of monks (who get more attacks) was being too conservative.

[Scarce]

Now the class is insanely complex

Full agreement here. I'm going to have to dig through this and parse it all out before I pass any mechanical judgments. I don't want to be critical, but this is a tough read and I have a lot of questions.

Traits are clearly the focus of the class, but the Trait Focus feature is either really confusing, or I'm really dumb. There appears to be three categories of traits (Primary, Secondary, and Other. Though, this should really be Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary, unless Other is distinguished in some way as being mechanically different from the other two.) How do these differ? This desperately needs to be rewritten for clarity, and I'd offer some help, but I don't understand how this is supposed to work. (Which traits do you have access to or know? Do you pick one for each and that's it? Can I change this later? It seems like I can reallocate my Form Points for the traits I've selected, which are locked in, and I can't pick other traits ever after level 1.)

There is a Max Tier for each of these categories specified on the table and Form Points, which are addressed on a different feature. Is there a place here that I don't see where you carefully clarify how these interact? The rules of Form points are problematic in and of themselves, and require a lot of math. I could fully see a player stopping the entire session, as if to pick out spells for the day, just to do the math to determine which traits he can select in which slot.

I'll look through the rest of the class later, since this was one of the most interesting offerings in 3.5, but at the moment I'm afraid that the class isn't communicating its mechanics in a clear enough manner for me to get through.

[Magikeeper]

At level 6 you gain access to the Tier II Advanced Alterations of your primary trait, the Tier I Advanced Alterations of your secondary traits, and the Base Alterations of all other traits.

I am not sure how to make this clearer? "Other" refers to all other traits. As in, every trait that is not Primary or Secondary.

At level 1 you pick a primary and two secondary traits. You gain Base/Tier I access at level 1 for the primary trait. You gain access to just the Base alterations of your two secondary traits at level 1. You do not gain any access to traits besides the three you have chosen at level 1. Every 5 levels (6,11,16) you gain access to the next highest tier for all traits (imagine Base being Tier 0, and having no access as being -1).

On FP and Tier interactions: 3.5 Ozodrin could spend FP on any augments they had access to, and their augments were restricted by feature and level. 5E Ozodrin can spend FP on any advance alterations they have access to, and their advanced alterations are restricted by Trait and Tier. For example, Wings is Tier III Fin. So if you don't have access to Tier III Fin, you can't spend FP on it. There is one more difference, however: As noted in the under form points you can only spend up to 1/2 your FP on non-primary trait alterations and only 1/4 on traits that are neither primary nor secondary. So a level 20 Ozodrin can spend at most 31fp on non-primary trait alterations, and at most 15 of that can be spent on non-primary non-secondary trait alterations.

You cannot re-pick which traits are primary/secondary after first level but you CAN redistribute form points. So your impression in that regard was correct.

Anyway, I think the confusion appears to be the concept of "alterations". You don't spend FP on Traits, your access to them just determines what alterations you can make. Advanced Alterations use FP.

For example: "Tentacle" is a trait. "Long Tentacle" is an advanced alteration. Choosing "Tentacle" to be your primary trait gives you access to "Long Tentacle" at level 1. Since "Long Tentacle" is an advanced alteration, you can only add/remove it (spending FP / regaining FP as appropriate) after a short or long rest.[/spoiler]

--

I think it ends up being less time intensive than the 3.5 update, which I feel was less time intensive than the original ozodrin. Most alterations cost 3-9fp and there are almost no +Number augments/alterations anymore which were the most fiddly. I kinda imagine most people will have a core fighting style that eats up much of their FP and then the rest is spent on their preferred utility? This class doesn't have much in the way of "silver bullet" abilities (at least, I try to avoid them), so unless someone's tastes drastically change after every rest I'd think small tweaks would be more common than respending all of your points? Eye has a bunch of cheap alterations, it is might be the most fiddly Trait. Although Tentacle probably has the most FP math going on. The least fiddly is probably.. Fin.

Granted, I could just limit how many points you can redistribute per rest but I think that could make it more complicated rather than less?

I have been a bit concerned about just how many alterations level 16 ozodrin have, and I did consider adding Tertiary Traits. Or possibly slowing down the rate you gain access to non-primary, non-secondary traits. On the other hand, I'm not sure it is really necessary. The pile of "other" alterations are fighting over a tiny amount of FP.

[Gnomes2169]

Alright, with a quick reading of the material here, I'ma give this advice... Take your traits, break them up into associated categories, and then make those categories into (3, maybe 4) separate subclasses. Tiers will be unlocked with each subclass feature (allowing you to remove that category from the table), the class will have more specific themes that just "eldritch abomination" (one subclass might be "Cthulu", another might be "The King in Yellow" (eyes in particular fit this one) and a third might be "Abbadon"), and it will help the class mesh into the rest of the system to have subclasses.

Next, the whole primary/ secondary/ other divide is complexity that the 5e system doesn't really support, and is just... Confusing. I do a lot of math in arguments on the internet, but doing it for all of these abilities at the end of each long/ short rest, or designing and memorizing multiple loadouts that I would have to update whenever I level up strikes me as... Daunting. I haven't read too much of the 3.5 ozodrin, but I do recall something like the divide being in it, so I see why you might want to port it into the 5e version. However, it just feels like added paperwork for the sake of added paperwork currently, which is something 5e has gone out of its way to avoid. And I'll be honest... I'm not sure what the purpose of each division is (other than increasing costs somehow), and I'm not sure how one goes about setting a primary/ secondary/ other.

I would definitely suggest simplifying and clarifying them (maybe by making each trait beyond the first cost extra evolution points to buy initially?), or just cutting them entirely. I also suggest defining what a primary/ secondary trait is, and stating if/ when you can exchange them if you decide to keep the divide around.

[ImSAMazing]

OMG, so much work to read xD.

[Magikeeper]

Hrm. The different terminology seems to really be that big of an issue. Let's try this:


Trait Archtype
Each ozodrin is better at making certain kinds of alterations to their form. Choose one of the seven Traits (Eye, Tentacle, Flesh, Orifice, Spike, Puppet, Fin). This is your "Primary" trait. Then choose two of the remaining traits. These are your "Secondary" traits. All of the remaining traits are henceforth considered as your "Tertiary" traits. These designations form your Trait Archtype, which does not change as you progress through the class.

Each Trait has a "Base" alteration, and then four tiers (I, II, III, IV) of "Advanced" alterations. At level 1, you gain access to the "Tier I" and "Base" alterations of your primary trait and access to just the base alterations of your secondary traits.

At level 6 you also gain access to the tier II alterations of your primary trait, the tier I alterations of your secondary traits, and the base alterations of your tertiary traits.

At level 11 you gain access to the tier III alterations of your primary trait, the tier II alterations of your secondary traits, and the tier I alterations of your tertiary traits.

At level 16 you gain access to the tier IV alterations of your primary trait, the tier III alterations of your secondary traits, and the tier II alterations of your tertiary traits.

Does that make more sense? Trait Archetype also determines how you can spend your FP but that would be in the Form Point section. "Tertiary" is what the class was calling "all other traits" but that seems to be confusing people as well so I gave it a special name too. This does not cover all concerns mentioned, but I'd like to be sure people understand what is going on currently for the sake of discussion. I could split the traits into subgroups tied to some flavor, yes, although that would be very different from old Ozodrin. I found that people's Ozodrin PCs were all over the place creed/flavor wise.

As for the daunting-ness, I suppose I could just make it long-rest only. I'd need to tweak a few alterations, but in general it would also reduce complexity since the number of viable set ups for a whole day is less than what you might be able to swing for a few hours. Spellcasters manage to pick their spells each day.

[PotatoGolem]

Wow. This is pretty cool, but it's really complex- hard to determine what's balanced. I agree with Gnomes that it could do with some heavy simplification. One thing that jumps out as iffy though is the +AC abilities. That's not really something 5e does (aside from shields and the shield spell)- armor and spells usually set your AC to a given value. One level of Eye or Fin Ozodrin for a permanent bonus to AC is a bit much on a Paladin or Fighter.

[Magikeeper]

One thing that jumps out as iffy though is the +AC abilities. That's not really something 5e does (aside from shields and the shield spell)- armor and spells usually set your AC to a given value. One level of Eye or Fin Ozodrin for a permanent bonus to AC is a bit much on a Paladin or Fighter.

I am aware of that, but the Eye/Fin +AC bonus does not stack with armor nor with each other (nor with monk bonus). Eye is sorta a variant unarmored defense while the fin +AC alteration is just light armor. Although now that you mention it, armor does seem to set AC to a value. As does unarmored defense? I think I'll reword those. Same mechanical effects, but they are both armor replacements.

Edit: Living Mail (fin) has been reworded to set AC. Not seeing an easy way to have Efficient Pathways (Eye) set your AC, since it only increases AC against opponents you are aware of in addition to only giving the benefit when unarmored (and you can't benefit from Unarmored Defense or similar abilities at the same time).

Hrm, I could just remove the need to be aware of your opponent, and then change the AC bonus to some static value (11 + Dex, reaction 14 + Dex?)

----------------------

Idea - If I tweaked the advanced alterations to all be multiples of 3, then divided all of the costs by 3 and just gave Ozodrin 1 form point per level (2 form points at level 1), would that help with the complexity?

Actually yeah, I'm going to just do that.

EDIT: I have changed all of the alterations to fit the new 2fp at level 1, 1fp per level after that set up. That should make the math much easier. I have also changed what all of the "Deadly" augments and such did - based on the responses I have been getting from the damage benchmark thread I'm thinking ozodrin wasn't dealing enough damage. Although I might have overshot it a little...

[Nezbit9]

First, a tip of the hat to you sir. This was no small undertaking.

I don't have much specific advice until I have a chance to playtest this (and I intend to), because its damage/general potential is too complicated to figure out theoretically. With this many moving parts, this class needs to be put on a character sheet.

The first suggestion I have:
Add a Barbarian-style Dex+Con unarmored class feature at first level. As a player looking to try this, one of the first things I noticed was that there is no reliable way to get decent AC. This class isn't a caster (even with Eye focus) and it isn't a skill monkey, so that means it has to be combat based. Every core combat class (heck, every core class except for wizard) has a means to boost it's AC to 15 (Dragon sorcerer) to 20 (heavy armor focused alt human fighter with a shield), with 16 being the most common.

The only way for this class to get anywhere to close to that is to take the Fin focus, which is extremely constricting. And even that isn't comparable to a dragon sorcerer's AC boost.

Replace the living scales trait with something else, make the efficient pathways trait more closely resemble a limited-use Danger Sense (Barbarian), and add unarmored defense at first level.

It shouldn't cause any issues with the sophisticated tentacles- that's basically just a shield with a little RP advantage.

With those alterations, minimum AC becomes 14, max becomes 18, which is about in line with core classes.

[Magikeeper]

Thanks! I look forward to hearing how the playtesting goes. :D

@AC: Hrm.. I admit, I had considered that a few times. I suppose I'll add it. *Does that*

I changed efficient pathway's AC option to 18, replaced Living Mail with Sleek Fins, and tweaked Sophisticated Tentacles to still work with UD. I know Barbarians can straight up use shields with their defense, but dexterity isn't a big stat for them and Ozodrin aren't even proficient in shields.

[Extra Anchovies]

What's this? Is it... Yes! It is! It's a version of the Ozodrin that I can actually wrap my head around! I love it.

Question: does altering your "mental age" have any mechanical effect?

[Kerleth]

Well done! I actually think this is much better than the original. Embracing 5E's simplicity has done wonders to make this class more accessible than the 3.X versions. It seems interesting, and it looks like you put a lot of work into keeping it fairly balanced. A couple of points.

1) The lack of a limit on how many form points you can spend on your primary feature means that it is possible to overspecialize. This means that, in damage in particular, you can outdo all but the most min-maxed multiclass comboey of builds, but will have almost nothing else. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the fact that you can change up on a short rest means that you could specialize for a specific scene/encounter then swap out to a more general build in the right situations. I don't think this is gamebreaking, but it is a point of concern. I have a feeling that the class as a whole is actually a touch weaker in total simultaneous abilities than the core classes, but makes up for it in adaptability. It's something to keep in mind and ask about as this gets playtested (looking forward to reading about that btw).

2)The healing mechanic. Allowing at will attacks that heal you based on damage is potentially problematic. For example, I attack the squirrel, or I attack the stick. This is just a general pitfall with these sorts of abilities, and can be easily handled by a gentleman's agreement between the dm and player not to abuse these with silly stuff. On the other hand, any campaign that allows that probably allows all sorts of other wild exploits, so it may actually not be gamebreaking in the end. I don't think that this potential problem is a good enough reason to trash fun and flavorful abilities, but it is another concern that deserves to be noted.

3) I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the lack of a subclass. By choosing a primary and two secondaries you have a sort of build your own subclass effect. Like having a specialist mage choose "subclass" by putting together a handful of small and focused spell lists and abilities. I know it breaks the 5E mold, but this is the friggin' OZODRIN! If there is any class that has a good reason to break away from the norm, it's this one. There's absolutely no reason why every class must follow that design. It's a good design and I quite like it, but the ozodrin offers plenty of customizability without needing it. And as was mentioned upthread, an ozodrin is pretty much designed to be a mix and match character, and any subclass system runs the risk of ruining that.

4) I just want to mention again how incredible a job you did at simplifying this thing. I've never actually managed to read through the 3.X Ozodrin in one sitting. This one, I skimmed and bookmarked yesterday, then read it this morning top to bottom. And it never felt like a chore. I don't even have a headache or that sinking feeling of confusion!!! *Slow Clap*


The ozodrin was a very ambitious and cool project by the original poster way back when. I can honestly say that though you may have "stood on the shoulders of geniuses" to get there, this is just the absolute best. My hat is off to you!

[Magikeeper]

Thanks! :D

I just noticed that the section noting.. how you actually change alterations... was somehow lost during earlier edits. Although how it works is heavily implied by the other abilities and such, and people don't seem to be confused by it? Anyway, I have added this to the end of the Form Points ability:

"Base trait alterations do not cost form points, and can be added/removed at any time as an action and/or bonus action. Advanced trait alterations can only be added/removed after completing a short or long rest."

Unless everyone thought base trait alterations could only be changed after resting as well? The idea is that changing general aesthetics (having your "sleeve" unravel into tentacles and such) is at-will while the mechanical effects (besides being able to form attacks or look different) only changed after resting.

---

@Mental age: Not that I know of, although it specifically notes "sleeper agent" as a possibility, which I imagine could give you advantage on deception checks and such (or more). Mostly a fluff thing.

@Damage: Hrm, the Damage Benchmark thread in the 5E section had convinced me that DPR at high levels was pretty high. Still, if that turns out to be the case I could change the damage scaling, or make the "Deadly" alterations cost more each time they are applied like the speed ones.

@Healing: Added "to a creature" to Devouring Mouths. Hauling around bags of rats to chug as healing potions is one thing, being able to attack walls is.. another. That said, Ozodrin is a largely martial class with a D8 hit die.

[Belac93]

I like this, seems a lot like the aquanaut class from the cerulean seas for pathfinder, but better.

[Scaileanna]

Would Decentralized Existence make me immune to vorpals instakill ability as my head does not die when severed and in essence could be reattached like any other limb ( and since I can make mouths,eyes,ears, etc. I wouldn't really suffer for being headless)

[Magikeeper]

Oops, missed the last question.


Would Decentralized Existence make me immune to vorpals instakill ability as my head does not die when severed and in essence could be reattached like any other limb ( and since I can make mouths,eyes,ears, etc. I wouldn't really suffer for being headless)

Personally, I'd say "yes". I currently left it up to the DM as to whether Aberrant Metamorphosis' ability to change your internal anatomy makes you immune to things, which is why I didn't specify such immunities in Decentralized form. Hrm.. maybe I should specify that immunity? Or specifically note it might grant immunities at the DM's discretion (like metamorphosis does).

I also altered rending tendrils to be be str/dex instead of just str since the rest of tentacle supports dex and there isn't a reason for it.. well, to not do so too

[Magikeeper]

Say, could the fantastic folks playtesting this class note what archetypes they are using? I'd rather not fiddle with traits that are currently being tested.


------
I'm currently fiddling with Eye - the base alteration was the only one that didn't really give a mechanical benefit so I added (an admittedly circumstantial) one.

Since Devouring Glare is one of the few Ozodrin attacks that can't be used with TWF I was thinking of boosting it to 1d6+Cha, and Deadly Glare to 2d8+Cha. Although maybe I could just break the pattern of "Deadly is +1 die size, +1 die" as it's really just the first 4 levels I'm worried about. See below..

I have heard that damage in 5E jumps ~level 11, but not all traits have a damage boosting tier III alteration. I wonder if this is a problem, or if the ability to keep taking deadly X for +2 each time makes it a non-issue.

EDIT: After looking through warlock and such once more, I decided to buff Devouring Glare/Deadly Glare, take a weakened version of spirit eye (no school, no life/death detection) and combine it with the incredibly niche otherworldly senses, and then replace spirit eye at Tier III with something that has a side effect of increasing damage (Parallel Pathways, letting you get glares off with a bonus action).

Edit 2: Among other things, I added Durable Form to tier I puppet:

2fp - Durable Form
Your body becomes more resilient and doll-like, increasing your current and maximum HP by 5. When this alteration is unmade you lose 5 hit points and your maximum HP is reduced by 5. You may apply this alteration multiple times, its effects stack.

^This is because A) Puppet tier I was kinda pathetic in combat and possibly in general. B) Actually, A pretty much covered it but d8 is kinda small for a potentially front-line class anyway. C) Extra HP works well this the high-tier puppet stuff (although 2fp/5hp might be a bit weak. Would definitely need to test that.).

[Magikeeper]

Major Overhaul of Poisons! Also, possible TWF changes.

After finally creating a high-level 5E ozodrin PC I have come to conclusion that the poison alterations are… not good. They demand you dump piles of FP into them to be of any use and what you get in exchange is… some sort of weird sneak attack variant. I think the new poison alterations eat less FP to be useful and do stuff besides damage (they admittedly don't do much damage anymore).

I’m also pondering changing/nerfing the mass amount of TWF-able weapons the class grants As I think it results in low-level damage being too high compared to other classes (assuming they aren’t being heavily optimized).

Without TWF a level 6 Spike Ozodrin is looking at 4d10 + 2x Dex, which is already on the high side.

OLD POISON ADVANCED ALTERATIONS

1fp – Hollow Spikes
Your spikes can generate poison. Once per turn, upon damaging a creature with one or more spikes, you can choose to have the damaged foe make a constitution save or take an additional 1d4 poison damage. You are immune to this poison.

After using this ability twice, you may not use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.

--

1fp – Superior Toxins (Requires Hollow Spikes)
The poison created by your hollow spikes deals an additional 1d4 poison damage. You may apply this alteration multiple times, the bonus to damage stacks.

---

1fp – Obliterating Toxins (Requires Hollow Spike)
The damage die of the poisons generated by your spikes is increased to 1d6 (this includes extra damage granted by Superior Toxins), and you may now add you constitution modifier (once) to the damage dealt. Furthermore, the poisons generated by your spikes can deal necrotic and/or force damage instead of poison damage. Creatures immune to poison are still effected by your altered toxins unless they are also immune to necrotic and/or force damage. Finally, the bodies of creatures slain by the damage dealt by your toxins dissolve into sludge or dust (your choice, their gear is not effected).

-----

1fp – Overpowering Toxins
The damage die of the poisons generated by your spikes is increased to 1d6, or 1d8 if they already dealt 1d6 (this includes extra damage granted by Superior Toxins). Furthermore, Creatures that successfully save against the effects of the poisons generated by your spikes still take half damage. Finally, any creature dealt damage by your poison(s) is disadvantaged on constitution saving throws made to resist poison(s) until the damage your poison(s) dealt to them is healed.

1fp – Endless Generation (Requires Hollow Spikes)
If you would start a combat without any remaining uses of the ability granted by the Hollow Spikes alteration, you start with two remaining uses instead. Furthermore, you can generate an endless amount of a weaker but more dependable toxin without needing to rest. This weaker poison deals 1 poison damage (no save), plus 1 for each time you have made the Superior Toxins alteration. Effects that would increase this weaker poison's damage die have no effect, although other bonuses (such as the ability to add your constitution modifier) to damage still apply. Your spikes can still only generate poison once per turn (either regular toxin or weaker toxin).

SHINY NEW POISON ALTERATIONS!!

1fp – Hollow Spikes
As a bonus action you can will your spikes to generate poison. Until the end of your next turn, any creature damaged by one or more of your spikes must make a constitution save or take 1d4 poison damage (if hit by multiple attacks they are still only effected once). You are immune to this poison.

After using this ability twice, you may not use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.

--

2fp – Superior Toxins (Requires Hollow Spikes)
You may add your constitution modifier to the amount of damage dealt by the poison your spikes generate. Furthermore, any creature damaged by your poison becomes poisoned for 1 round. You may apply this alteration multiple times, increasing the amount of damage your poison deals by 2 each time.

---

1fp – Obliterating Toxins (Requires Superior Toxins)
Choose force or necrotic. The poisons generated by your spikes deal can deal the chosen damage type instead of poison damage. Creatures immune to poison / the poisoned condition are still effected by your altered toxins unless they are also immune to necrotic and/or force damage (including becoming poisoned, if used with the Superior Toxins alteration). Furthermore, the bodies of creatures slain while poisoned by your toxins dissolve into sludge (necrotic) or dust (force). Their gear is not effected.

-----

2fp – Overpowering Toxins (Requires Superior Toxins)
Creatures have disadvantage on saving throws made against your spike-generated poison. Furthermore, creatures that fail their saving throw against your poison lose all damage resistances they possess for 1 round (apply poison damage after removing resistances). This ability does not remove damage immunities nor does it remove magic resistance.

1fp – Deleterious Existence (Requires Superior Toxins)
If you would start a combat without any remaining uses of the ability granted by the Hollow Spikes alteration, you start with two remaining uses instead. Furthermore, the amount of damage dealt by your poison increases to 2d6 + your constitution modifier.

Thoughts?

EDIT - I have lowered various damage totals, some attacks (like spikes) are no longer eligible for TWF, etc. I believe average DPR at level 6 now ranges from 17.4-19.8, not counting limited use abilities like poison [The way that fin is 1.8 higher than neo-spike's average of 18 is... eehhh... but fin is non-reach melee only....] or stuff that requires saves like Harpooning Spike.

I believe Spike previously had an average of ~27 at level 6, btw, at least following the same gist as https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Jy_EoOrlar_M6W_jsmJVJuXog1ULIT4SKINSiyHqaCQ/edit#gid=1473051734]This spreadsheet from the 5E damage benchmarks thread

[Magikeeper]

Updated Rejecting Glare to also be usable as a reaction, it's far too niche as just an action.

Alas, I only had a brief opportunity for playtesting. Has anyone else been using this class? I periodically search the forums for uses of the term "Ozodrin", but last I checked the 5E games on-site usually don't allow homebrew.

[AuraTwilight]

I've also been attempting to use it, but my 5E group's going through a bout of of real-life-interruptus disease. I'll try to keep you posted.

[Magikeeper]

I've also been attempting to use it, but my 5E group's going through a bout of of real-life-interruptus disease. I'll try to keep you posted.

Thanks! :D

Real-Life-Interruptus is pretty common in the RP community, yep.

[Faxn]

I read over the class and I'm leaving my notes here. I included the text of the subjects being commented on for quick reference and historical context.
The comments are obviously suggestions even though I may have worded some of them too strongly. Overall I think it's a great improvement over the original and a very fun looking class. Good Job.

I haven't gotten to playtest it yet, and I might not get to anytime soon. This has re-motivated me to try to get a group together though.

General changes
"Using this ability is tiring – after using it you must complete a short or long rest before being able to use it again. You may apply this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you may use the granted ability before needing to take a short or long rest by one."

I would take out all of this templating and replace it with a class wide single store of 'effort' similar to ki points. This makes the class somewhat simpler to keep track of in play, which matters since the form points are already quite a lot to keep track of compared to most 5e non-casters.
A cool way to do it might me to have these things powered by burning off form points(or active features), making them unusable until next rest. Having to burn off your puppet to block an attack with Efficient reactions seems like a cool tactical decision, but such a setup might be hard to explain and severely hamper an ozodrin's endurance.
Trait Tier Progression

As it is you get nothing for about four levels then a whole pile of new abilities. It might be smoother in play to stagger the tier increases so you get some new tiers of Traits every other level. This would give players more to time to get used to having these abilities, and lets them look forward to leveling more often than once every four.

2fp – Devouring Glare
As an action, you can attempt to tear away and consume bits and pieces of a foe you can see within 60’, the victim’s essence seemingly flowing into one or more of your eyes. This ability deals 1d6 + your charisma modifier force damage unless the target succeeds on a constitution saving throw. You regain hit points equal to half the damage dealt this way (rounded down). Every 10 hit points regained this way (or would be, if you cannot regain any more hp) provides as much nourishment as a pound of food and a glass of water. The ability granted by this alteration is considered to be a magical effect.

Leave the devouring niche for the mouths. Being able to hang back and bite someone and heal yourself with a glare is too nonsensical even for an ozodrin. It's okay it exists, but as it is; it sees to be the core power for an eye ozodrin's offense and it doesn't seem fit for that flavor-wise.
Kerleth also brought up concerns with heal on damage abilities, and I agree. At least ranged heal on damage shouldn't be one of the first abilities you get.
Consider replacing this with eyebeams based heavily after the Eldritch Blast cantrip. Eyebeams might not fit flavor though. I'm not sure.
Alternately you could just leave damage out of eyes and focus on it's role as a set of debuff abilities.

1fp – Proclaiming Gaze
You may telepathically communicate with any creature within 120’ that you can see. This does not give you the ability to comprehend languages you do not know, but images and the like can also be communicated this way.

Telepathy for monsters usually breaks language barriers allowing clear communication with anything that has a language. The idea it that pure concepts are being sent across so language is unnessary. The line of sight requirement already makes this weaker than telepathy.
Ambigous warning - Specify that the creature contacted can respond telepathically, or that it can't. You seem to intend that it can.
At least elaborate on "images and the like". something like "Images, Feelings and Vague Concepts". This ability shouldn't be nerfed by misunderstanding. This would leave it up to the GM wether to just treat it like sharing a language or force stream on nouns communication. Either way it's about as useful.

1fp - Traveling Tentacles
You may, as an action, flow through one of your tentacles and emerge from the other end, changing your location to any point within the tentacle’s reach. Using this ability is tiring – after using it you must complete a short or long rest before being able to use it again. You may apply this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you may use the granted ability before needing to take a short or long rest by one.
You may also sacrifice 5’ of your Strange Movement class feature per 20’ traveled this way to use this ability without it counting against the number of times you can use it before needing to rest.

Are opponents supposed to get opportunity attacks against this? As is they do. Either Way makes about as much sense in flavor, but spending an action to move 20' should offer some benefit. Currently It's almost only useful when used with tentacles on detached parts.

2fp - Coiling Tentacles
Your tentacles excel at maintaining their grasp, even when resisted by magical forces. Any creature that attempts to leave your grasp through magical means must make a charisma saving throw. If they fail they take 2d8 bludgeoning damage and their ability has no effect. If they succeed, the ability works normally except that you know the direction, but not distance, they traveled (I.E., as though they had physically tugged themselves free of your grip). If they traveled to another plane you know they did so but do not learn which one. This sensation is similar to feeling someone pull away from you. This is not a divination effect.

I don't like this. Freedom of movement and teleport are supposed to be hard counters to grapple. Putting an extra obstacle on these seems wrong. When fighting a foe with freedom of movement or plentiful teleports you should have to figure out other ways of dealing with him/her/it besides being an overspecialized grappler. Pulling out a narrow use hard-counter softener like this is just bad taste.

1fp - Regenerative Flesh
Whenever you eat a pound of food, or benefit from an effect that counts as a pound of food for the purposes of avoiding starvation, you may choose to regain 5 hp instead of gaining any sustenance from the meal.

Strength is a good stat for ozodrin and you don't need armor or weapons, so fill your pack with trail mix and gouge yourself every short rest. With filtering flesh[wood] and a nice mouth you could just go ahead and start eating trees to heal. Is this the intended use and power level? Probably needs play test info before it can really be judged, but it's something to examine further. It's really cool. I hope it's keepable.


3fp – Swallow
You may, once per turn as an action, make a bite attack against a large sized or smaller target you are grappling (this may involve unhinging your jaw and the like). If the target is your size or larger you are disadvantaged on the attack roll. If the attack hits, the target is also swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside of you, and it takes 3d6 acid damage at the start of each of the your turns. If you take 20 damage or more on a single turn from swallowed creatures, you must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all creatures you have swallowed, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of you. You can also choose to regurgitate all swallowed creatures as a bonus action. If you die, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by you and can escape from your corpse by using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone. If you change forms to one that does not benefit from this alteration any creatures you have swallowed are immediately regurgitated. If you teleport, any creatures you have swallowed remain in your stomach.

"large sized or smaller" If an ozodrin player really, really wants to swallow a titan I say let them. Do something to remove or soften this hard cap on swallowed creature size. Perhaps just remove it and let the inherent problems with grappling something four times your size be the issue.

3fp – True Spawn (Requires Independent Spawn, Barrier Puppets, and Collapsing Puppets)
The special puppets created by your Advance Puppet alteration, that have their own HP total, become separate creatures after being able to take their own actions for one consecutive week. You have no control over these creatures, who are free-willed aberrations that have your ability scores and any alterations you made to them. You can, however, decide their initial alignment and what initial languages they know (selected from ones you know). The resulting creatures have their own stomachs, and need to eat, drink, and sleep like normal creatures. The resulting creatures live about as long as a human but are infertile. You may choose to have the resulting creatures have lower ability scores than yours, but their intelligence must be at least 3. These free-willed aberration no longer count as puppets, are no longer considered a part of your body, and have souls.

Very interesting, but it's very complicated and out of the cracks come some questions on how exactly to handle this at a table.
When they become separate what happens if you remove the True Spawn feature or the Advanced puppet slot supporting them? Do they drop dead or are they independent enough to exist without your support? The latter allows you to bud off an army trainable and expendable ozolings. The former means reallocating your form points might be a moral dilemma.
If they aren't a part of your body anymore does that mean you can't alter their advanced alterations anymore? If you can't does that mean the points are still tied up? Do they get to have advanced alterations at all?

[Magikeeper]

Thanks for the critique!

Proclaiming Gaze - Yeah, replacing "images and the like" with something more descriptive sounds fine.

Traveling Tentacles - Not supposed to trigger AoOs. You have a point - it has a few other uses but could stand to be rewritten. It's mostly a hold over from 3.5 Ozodrin.

Coiling Tentacles - I haven't played enough 5E to know if high-level grappling is at all viable without something like this. That'd be quite the change from 3.5. I could probably replace this with a more interesting ability, possibly something involving Sinister Image. I'd like more folk to weigh in on this.

Devouring Glare -Less "biting" more.. dissolving and pulling in. A withering sort of gaze. It could also be described as ripping the life out of things, although that sounds more necromantic. I'll think about the description. I think, mechanically, it is interesting and plays nicer with the other class abilities than eye beams would. I also find Eyebeams less fitting the Ozodrin than doom glares.

Swallow - Last line: "You may make this alteration multiple times, increasing the maximum size category you are capable of swallowing by one each time." Max size also effects stomach size.

Regenerative Flesh - Really, if someone is determined to start every battle fresh Devouring Mouths and such would be sufficient. But yeah, that's fine. I've never had an issue with players being able to full-heal outside of combat in 3.5, and 5E seems to be even friendlier to the concept. Why would Filtering Flesh be involved though? It doesn't let you swiftly digest solids or otherwise speed up eating?


True Spawn: Yeah, you're supposed to get the FP back after they are no longer connected to / controlled by you in anyway I mixed up my memories of 3.5 and 5E - I worded the 5E version to make that a non-issue, you arent investing it in a specific spawn. I did add a bit noting they cannot be further modified by your abilities, since they aren't a part of you anymore). And becoming separate creatures is as it sounds - you no longer have any direct influence over them. They are a unique monster the ozodrin pretty much gave birth to. If the puppet had advanced alterations before becoming separate, those would still be there. Whatever abilities the puppet had is what the new creature has. Granted, the combined FP cost of True Spawn + everything it requires is so high that you can't fit many other abilities onto that (which is intentional).

[B]On tiers: It's set up like that because that's how most 5E classes are set up and I didn't feel that rocking the boat was necessary. Familiar form makes it easier to get it accepted, and any system of breaking it down further would require a fair amount of additional complexity anyhow. I'd pretty much have to re-write the system. Also, although this is less true at higher levels, the +1 fp/level does change how many of those new abilities you can reasonably use at the same time.

On "Using this ability is tiring/straining/etc" : Eye has several of these, but most of the others only use it 1-2 times or not at all. Most of the effects are at higher tiers as well. Outside of Eye-centric Ozodrin this is unlikely to really be that complex at all (and even then, it's like being part spellcaster if anything).

As for per-trait solutions, Spike has Shredding Volley / Piercing Rain use the same counter. The eye abilities don't require each other or really build on each other, so the same thing wouldn't work as well for them.


The burning thing, although interesting, would be quite hard to balance. It'd also make the class much more complex than it already is. Complexity is a scarce resource, it really needs to be saved for the most central aspects of a class. If the Ozodrin was woefully underpowered it might need such a meta-fp ability.. but I don't think that is the case.


----

It'll probably be a day or so before I make the minor updates / clarifications.

[Magikeeper]

Okay, finally did most of the stuff mentioned in my previous post!


I replaced traveling tentacle with Stretchable Tentacles:

2fp - Stretchable Tentacles
You may, by using your reaction, increase the effective reach of your tentacles/limbs by 10' for one round.This increase works like the benefit from the Long Tentacles alteration, and stacks with that benefit. If you have made the locomotive tendrils alteration, each use of this ability also increases your base walking speed by 10' for one round.

Tell me what you think!

---

Although I have not yet replaced it, I have been pondering possible abilities that could be used to replace Coiling Tentacles at Tier IV tentacle. My most recent ideas:

Ideas for replacing Coiling Tentacle (One of the Tier IV tentacle alterations):
2fp - Synchronizing Tendrils
While grappling or touching another creature, you may choose to have any magical effect that effects that creature effect you as well (For example, if they attempt to teleport away you may choose to be teleported with them). If the effect has a duration, it ends for you as soon as you are no longer touching the creature (even if its duration would normally be longer, for example if you touched a wizard casting Foresight you would lose the benefit as soon as you let go of them).

---

2fp - Seed Tendrils
Whenever your tentacles successfully strike a target you may, as a bonus action, have them place 'seeds' on the target the immediately erupt into a mass of tentacles. If the target fails a dexterity saving throw they take 2d6 bludgeoning damage and are restrained for 1 round. If it succeeds on the save, the target’s movement speed is instead halved for 1 round and they take half as much damage.

^
Eh, not sure I like this one.

---

2fp - Denying Tendrils
You may, as a reaction, make a tentacle/claw attack against any target you can reach. If the attack is successful, the target takes damage as normal and must make a constitution saving throw. If they fail the saving throw, any action they were performing before being effected by this ability fails (for example, if they were trying to case a spell, and we successfully hit be this ability, the spell would not be cast if they failed their saving throw).

Using this ability is straining - once you've used it twice you cannot use it again until completing a long or short rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, increasing the number of times you may use it before needing to rest by one each time.

^
Not sure how I feel about this one either...

[Faxn]

2fp - Stretchable Tentacles
You may, by using your reaction, increase the effective reach of your tentacles/limbs by 10' for one round.This increase works like the benefit from the Long Tentacles alteration, and stacks with that benefit. If you have made the locomotive tendrils alteration, each use of this ability also increases your base walking speed by 10' for one round.

Tell me what you think!


I don't think that's how you are supposed to use reactions.
A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else’s. This use of reaction has no trigger. On top of that, you usually only get one reaction a turn, so if you use this to extend reach, you can't then opportunity attack with your new reach. Perhaps make it not cost and action, be usable at any time and be straining/tiring.

Synchronizing Tendrils: narrow scope but not too narrow. Just the sort of thing an Ozodrin should have in it's extra-dimensional pocket.

Seed Tendrils: I wish I could offer better critique, but I agree with "Eh".

Denying Tendrils: Even worse reaction abuse, turning the reaction into another attack action.

Seed tentacles got me to think of how I would imagine a Ozodrin would infect someone if it could, and I would have the tentacles going in and lurking, instead of erupting immediately. This would make for more of a utility Alteration. It would probably use affliction rules, taking hours or days to set in, and successful infection would give the Ozodrin tremendous power over the victim. Something like being able to inflict damage and disadvantage on all rolls to them as a bonus action(no save, they already failed all the saves). You might also get telepathy with them and perhaps even count them as part of your body like sinister images.

[Magikeeper]

Hrm, yeah, opportunity attacks are a reaction and that's the situation you'd want to suddenly have more reach as a reaction in. 5E does not have free actions, and making it a bonus action wouldn't play nice with the rest of tentacle (which was an earlier draft of it). I'll have to think of something else. Edit: Ended up replacing it with Synchronizing Tentacles.

Still thinking of something to replace Coiling with.


1fp - Shadow Tendrils (Requires Absent Absent Locomotion)
You may form ghostly, shadowy, or other, similar tendrils that are intangible but still capable of being used to attack with. Such tendrils deal force or psychic damage (your choice, chosen each time you attack) instead of bludgeoning or slashing damage, and do not trigger effects involving physical contact (e.g., if creatures that strike an opponent take 1d6 fire damage when attacking it with a body part, you wouldn't take that damage when striking it with your shadow tendrils). Any creatures damaged by these tendrils must make a charisma saving throw. If they fail the save, they count as a part of your body for the purposes of the Decentralized Form and/or Sinister Image class features for ten minutes (but not for any other purpose). Your shadow tendrils can be used to manipulate objects and make grapple attacks, and can pass though solid objects without effecting them.

^
Well, it's certainly an interesting ability. I had already been thinking about connecting it to sinister image, but my earlier ideas were just sorta.. clunky. Also, I tried to keep the effects of advance alterations short in duration - otherwise you could just use them in your down time and just swap them out for other alterations when actually adventuring. True Spawn is about the only exception to that trend.

Edit: yeah, as written the decentralized existence bit is confusing Will fix, I am leaning towards this one. Edit 2: Tweaked it.
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3fp - Seed Tendrils
As an action, you may will one of the tips of your tendrils to detatch, leaving it at any location within their reach. The detached tip erupts into a 5' radius mass of tendrils that attempt to bind any opponents within their reach at the end of each of your turns. Effected creatures must make a dexterity saving throw. If they succeed, their movement speed is halved (rounded down to the nearest 5ft increment) for 1 round. If they fail their save, they are restrained and may attempt to free themselves each turn by making a strength saving throw as an action. Upon a success, their movement speed is halved for 1 round but they are no longer restrained. If they fail, they take 2d6 bludgeoning damage from the tendrils. The tendrils dissolve after 1 minute, freeing anyone still restrained by them. The tip of your tendril regrows immediately.

Using this ability is straining - after using it twice you cannot use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may apply this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use the granted ability before completing a short or long rest by one.

^
Main issue is how wordy it is, and that it currently results in tendrils that float in mid-air if not near ground, which doesn't make much sense.

[Magikeeper]

So! You may have noticed I severally overhauled fin to remove its aquaman-esq dependency on being near the water for a third of its earlier alterations to do anything. I also fixed up some wordings.


As for Tendril, my latest idea for replacing coiling is this:
1fp – Paradox Tendrils (Requires Absent Locomotion)
Your absent limbs can do more than move – you can form missing/ghostly/etc limbs that are capable of interacting with creatures and objects as though they were real and solid. This means these tendrils can be used to attack creatures, manipulate objects, make grapple attempts, etc, but otherwise pass through objects and barriers (such as a wall of force, flaming spheres, etc). Worn/wielded objects count as being a part of a creature for this effect (e.g. if you attack a creature, its armor is still effective). This benefit does not extend beyond the paradox tendrils and any alterations that add to them (E.g. a mouth on a paradox tendril would gain this alteration’s benefit, but if the mouth had a breath weapon the breath would be stopped by barriers like it normally would. Likewise, an attached spike would benefit from this effect but it would lose this benefit if it was thrown/detached). The tendrils otherwise have the same reach, strength, etc. as your regular limbs.

Basically a modification of shadow tendrils. I realized just the passing-through-stuff ability was rather complex and interesting without tossing in the Sinister Image bonus. Tell me what you think!

[Gideon Falcon]

So, am I right in assuming that you have abandoned the 3.5e reboot in order to focus on this one?

[Qwertystop]

Typo in Focus Surge: "At level second level and above"

EDIT: For MultiAssault, I would think that if you want bonus actions to not count you need to actually say so.

[Magikeeper]

Huh, once again I vanish for awhile and then the responses start flowing in. :P


So, am I right in assuming that you have abandoned the 3.5e reboot in order to focus on this one?

If anyone wants me to post on that thread so they could suggest stuff and such that's fine, in that case I'd check up on it now and then.

I suppose I never did update the prestige classes.. Updating Cosmic Horror / finishing Menacing Manor (which is already playable but isn't quite finished) would be simple enough. Malshaper.. I'd really need to get back into a 3E mindset to update that one, it'd be very tough to balance.

The 3.5 base class itself plus feats and such are done - it could be altered further, but the class doesn't have any holes in it (aside from missing prestige classes, but Ozodrin was always built to make 1-20 a fine option, and the changed Farspawn makes it more multi-class friendly than the original). It's very playable.

I don't really get the impression that class is even being used, which is sad given the ridiculous amount of time I put into it :P. On rare occasions I search the site for the term and/or google, but.. to give an example, the only recent use is someone suggesting the previous 3.5 version to someone else. I was genuinely surprised to see you bring it up, tbh.

----

I play in a 5E game every other week now, which allows me to finally get some playtesting in. There's also a few things about this class I don't feel completely confident in balance-wise yet (I want to see damage in practice, and such), and a few alterations (like energy consuming flesh) that I'm not happy with.


-------

Qwertystop: Thanks!

[Qwertystop]

I don't really get the impression that class is even being used, which is sad given the ridiculous amount of time I put into it :P. On rare occasions I search the site for the term and/or google, but.. to give an example, the only recent use is someone suggesting the previous 3.5 version to someone else. I was genuinely surprised to see you bring it up, tbh.

Personally, I was using it, but then the game died. At least, I think it was that version of it - it's been a while. Can't really sustain more than one or two games at once when they're moving at a good pace, or I'd be looking for somewhere to play this one - even though I haven't actually played 5e before.

[Magikeeper]

Qwertystop: Glad to hear it! :D Do tell if you ever find time to join such a game.


I just made a pile of changes to the flesh feature!

> Energy Generating Flesh now effects claws/gore attacks as well and Psychic is a damage type option now. EDIT: I've also changed Generating Flesh to 2 damage instead of 1d6, removed the ability to let you make the alteration multiple times, and changed it so you can just pick 2 energy types whenever you make the alteration. It was basically never worth it to take it more than once before, and +1d6 to every attack is too strong at low levels. A primary (Flesh) Ozodrin w/spike and tentacle secondary would have been dealing 1d6+1+1d6 energy each round at level one.
> Moved Filtering Flesh to tier II and combined it with Liquid Converting Flesh
> Drastically Changed how Energy Consuming Flesh works and moved it to Tier I.
> Added Energy Devouring Flesh to Tier II
> Changed how Regenerating Flesh (still tier III flesh) works and increased its cost to 2fp. It basically uses Hit Dice as a resource now, replenishing them by eating food (1lb/dice) and letting you expend them as an action to regain 3hp per dice expended. Please tell me what you think about this change!
2fp – Regenerative Flesh
Whenever you would consume, or effectively consume for the purposes of avoiding starvation/thirst, a pound of food you may regain an expended hit die instead of gaining sustenance. You also gain greater control over your metabolism, allowing you to digest eaten food as quickly or slowly has you desire.

Furthermore, you may, as an action, expend any number of hit dice. Instead of their normal effect you regain 3 hp for each hit die so expended.

> Added Acclimating Flesh to tier III, which is kinda really niche but covers the "I want high level Flesh Ozodrin to be able to survive dang near anywhere" issue without making Energy Consuming Flesh as clunkcy as it used to be...

> Moved Bizarre Energy whatever (accidentally lost old version while updating) to tier IV and turned it into Bizarre Energy Metabolism.

> Added Psychic to Secreting Flesh damage options. Basically just added it to all the "Energy" alterations, since that's sort of an aberration thing.



---

In other news, if no one sees an issue with it I'm going to replace Coiling Tendrils with Paradox Tendrils.

[Magikeeper]

What's this? Another round of "Magikeeper howls possible class changes into the empty void?"

It is! This is a big one though.. I started working on some small tweaks of the Spike feature and ended up overhauling the whole thing. Too much +damage at level 6, far too many passive abilities, some of the stuff isn't worded all that well, and the higher level alterations are mostly +damage.

So here is what I'm thinking about:

NEW:
Base Alteration: You can add spikes/spines/etc to your true nature. Their exact form can vary, but they are sharp. These spikes add 1 piercing damage to any tentacle/tail attacks, claw attacks, fin/wing slap attacks and unarmed strikes you make. This alteration does not grant you any of the above attacks if you are not already capable of making them. Spikes removed from your body deteriorate after one hour.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

1fp – Throwing Spikes
You can fire or hurl your spikes as a ranged attack action (1d8 + Strength or Dexterity modifier piercing damage, thrown (range 60'/180'), finesse). Your attack roll is equal to your proficiency bonus plus either your strength or dexterity modifier (as normal). You cannot use the two-weapon fighting action with this attack. Fired/Hurled spikes quickly regrow.

1fp – Longshot Spikes (Requires Throwing Spikes)
The range of the ranged attack granted by your Throwing Spike alteration is increased by 20’/60’. This alteration may be made multiple times, the range increase stacks.

1fp - Goring Spikes
You can form spikes that are more suitable for melee combat, granting you the ability to use your spikes to make melee gore attacks (1d8 + Strength or Dexterity modifier piercing damage, finesse). Your bonus on the attack roll is your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier. You cannot use the two-weapon fighting action with this attack.

1fp - Carved Spikes
You can subtly alter your spikes, dulling them, adding sharp side edges, adding holes, and otherwise form spikes in any rough shape they could be quickly carved into. This allows you to form spikes that deal bludgeoning and/or slashing damage, spikes that create a whistling sound as they move through the air, etc. You may detach these spikes from your body as a part of any action (A new spike quickly grows to replace it).

2fp – Hollow Spikes
As a bonus action you can will your spikes to generate poison. Until the beginning of your next turn, any creature damaged by one or more of your spikes takes 1 poison damage and must make a constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned until the end of your next turn. You are immune to this poison. A creature hit by multiple spikes in the same round only takes the poison damage once / makes a single saving throw.

After using this ability twice, you may not use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Deadly Spikes (Requires Throwing Spikes or Goring Spikes)
Your spikes are especially lethal in their design (Sharper, larger, etc). The ranged attack action granted by your Throwing Spikes alteration and/or the melee attack granted by your Goring Spikes alteration deals 2d10 + your ability modifier damage instead of their regular amount. You may apply this alteration multiple times, increasing the amount of damage by 2 each time.

2fp – Smoke Spikes
As a bonus action you may fill your spikes with an unstable mixture. Until the beginning of your next turn, whenever one of your spikes strikes a targeted creature or object (such as by using the ranged attack granted by the Throwing Spikes alteration) it deals damage as normal before exploding. This explosion deals 2 points of bludgeoning damage to the struck target (no save) and creates a 10’ radius cloud of thick smog centered around the point of detonation. This smog lasts for 1 round and its area is heavily obscured. A wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses the cloud. You can choose the color and smell of the smog, and can choose to create a cloud whose radius is less than 10ft.

You may choose to have only some of your spikes explode. If an exploding spike was still attached to you, you take 2 bludgeoning damage when it explodes.

Using this ability is straining. After using it three times, you may not use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by two.

1fp – Tether (Requires Throwing Spikes)
You can choose to have any of your fired/thrown spikes remain connected to you by some kind of secretion – spider silk, goo, etc - that hardens when your spike hits something or when you will it to do so (willing the material to harden before the spike hits something causes the attack to miss). This secretion has the durability of silk rope. A tether cannot be longer than your spikes' normal range (not maximum range) - if the spike is fired beyond that range the tether can still be formed but it will not be connected to you. Using this with the Carved Spikes alteration effectively allows you to use your spikes like grappling hooks, along with anything else you might use a rope for.

Any “rope” created this way dissolves in an hour and can easily be identified as a material that isn’t going to last very long. You can detach the end of a “rope” that is connected to you as a bonus action.

1fp – Twisting Spikes
You can use muscular action to powerfully twist your spikes in a drill-like motion, doubling the amount of damage they deal to objects. Such spikes also embed themselves into any objects they damage. An embedded spike can support up to 1000 pounds of weight without getting pulled out.

Furthermore, this spinning motion can aid in keeping a fired spike on course – attacking at long range does not impose disadvantage on your ranged spike attack rolls and you may ignore half cover when making ranged spike attacks. This alteration doesn’t give you the ability to make ranged spike attacks if you cannot already do so.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Shredding Volley (Requires Throwing Spikes)
You may, once per round as an action, make a single ranged attack as described in the Throwing Spikes alteration and apply it against any opponent within range of your throwing spikes. All other foes within 5' of the targeted opponent must make a dexterity saving throw or take damage as though they were hit by the attack (even if the attack misses). If the attack misses, the targeted opponent still takes half damage (no save). The flurry of spikes benefits from your other alterations (tether, etc) as normal.

Using this ability is straining - once you use it twice you cannot use it again until after you complete a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each instance increasing the number of times you can use it before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.

2fp – Burrowing Spikes
Your spikes embed themselves in any creatures they damage, expanding/unfolding/etc to push themselves deeper into your foes. An opponent with one or more spikes embedded in them takes 3 points of slashing damage at the start of each of your turns. They also take 5 points of slashing damage whenever they use their movement and/or are successfully shoved/pushed.

An afflicted opponent can use an action to remove all spikes embedded in themselves, dealing 1d10 slashing damage to themselves in the process.

If you damage a creature with a spike that is still attached to your body (such as via the Goring Spike or Deadly Quills alteration), you may choose to have the spike detach itself from you when it embeds itself in a foe. If you don't detach the spike, both you and the damaged opponent gain the grappled condition until the opponent removes the embedded spike or you choose to have the spike detach itself from you (like releasing a creature from a grapple). If an afflicted opponent is more than two size categories larger than you it does not gain the grappled condition, but any movement it makes carries you with it until you detach the spike or the opponent removes it. As with throwing spikes, new spikes grow to replace any detached spikes.

1fp – Obliterating Toxins (Requires Hollow Spikes)
Choose force or necrotic. The poison generated by your spikes deals 1 point of the chosen damage type in addition to the 1 point of poison damage. Creatures immune to poison / the poisoned condition are still effected by your altered toxins (including becoming poisoned) unless they are also immune to the chosen damage type. Furthermore, the bodies of any creatures that die while poisoned by your spikes’ toxin dissolve into sludge (necrotic) or dust (force). Their gear is not effected.

2fp – Deadly Quills
Creatures that attack you with an unarmed strike or a weapon that is a part of their body takes 2 piercing damage from your spikes. This alteration may be made multiple times, increasing the amount of damage dealt by 1 each time.

Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Deleterious Existence (Requires Hollow Spikes)
Creatures have disadvantage on constitution saving throws made against the effects of your secreted toxins. Furthermore, any creature damaged by your spike’s poison has disadvantage on all constitution, strength, and dexterity saving throws for 1 round (even if they succeed on their constitution saving throw).

If you would start a combat without any remaining uses of the ability granted by the Hollow Spikes alteration, you start with one remaining use instead.

1fp – Frenzied Contraction (Requires Tether)
You may, as an action and/or bonus action, will one of the “ropes” created by the effects of your Tether alteration, that is still connected to you, to contract. This effect rapidly pulls you and anything connected to you towards the spike on the other end with immense force (but does not exert any force on the spike itself). The spike on the other end re-attaches to your body when you reach it (if it is embedded in a creature, both you and the creature are now grappled as noted in the Burrowing Spikes alteration).

1fp – Piercing Rain (Requires Shredding Volley)
Whenever you use the ability granted by Shredding Volley you may choose to unleash a storm of spikes in all directions instead of focusing on a single target. When you do so, all foes within 40', that do not have cover, must make a dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d10 damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The flurry of spikes benefits from your other alterations (tether, etc) as normal. The range of this effect increases by 5' for each time you have made the longshot spikes alteration.

Furthermore, if you would start a combat without any remaining uses of the ability granted by the Shredding Volley alteration you start with one remaining use instead.

1fp – Flickering Spikes (requires Throwing Spikes or Goring Spikes)
As an action, you may make a single attack with one of your spikes (as granted by your Throwing Spikes and/or Goring Spikes alterations). This spike fades in and out of existence, taking on a phantasmal appearance as it passes through any barrier between it and the target of your attack. The range of your attack does not change. If you cannot perceive your target, you can instead attempt to attack the square you think they’re in with disadvantage (like attacking a creature in a heavily obscured area). This spike cannot benefit from the effects of the Tether alteration.

Using this ability is straining - after using it twice, you may not use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.

OLD:

Base Alteration: You can add spikes/spines/etc to your true nature. Their exact form can vary, but they are sharp. These spikes add 1 piercing damage to any tentacle/tail attacks, claw attacks, fin/wing slap attacks and unarmed strikes you make. This alteration does not grant you any of the above attacks if you are not already capable of making them.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

1fp – Throwing Spikes
You can fire or hurl your spikes as a ranged attack action (1d8 + Strength or Dexterity modifier piercing damage, thrown (range 60'/180'), finesse). Your attack roll is equal to your proficiency bonus plus either your strength or dexterity modifier (as normal). You cannot use the two-weapon fighting action with this attack. Fired/Hurled spikes quickly regrow.

1fp – Longshot Spikes (Requires Throwing Spikes)
The range of the ranged attack granted by your Throwing Spike alteration is increased by 20’/60’. This alteration may be made multiple times, the range increase stacks.

1fp - Goring Spikes
You can form spikes that are more suitable for melee combat, granting you the ability to use your spikes to make melee gore attacks (1d8 + Strength or Dexterity modifier piercing damage, finesse). Your bonus on the attack roll is your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier. You cannot use the two-weapon fighting action with this attack.

1fp – Twisting Spikes
Your spikes can deal any combination of slashing and piercing damage instead of just piercing damage, including the damage added to tentacles, claw attacks, etc (although, being a single point, this latter damage must be one or the other). Furthermore, any slashing damage your spikes deal to objects is doubled. If you have a burrow speed, this alteration lets you burrow through solid stone.

1fp – Hollow Spikes
As a bonus action you can will your spikes to generate poison. Until the beginning of your next turn, any creature damaged by one or more of your spikes must make a constitution save or take 1d4 poison damage (if hit by multiple attacks they are still only effected once). You are immune to this poison.

After using this ability twice, you may not use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.
Note: I changed this one to beginning, as "end of.." was a typo I noticed while making this post.

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Superior Toxins (Requires Hollow Spikes)
You may add your constitution modifier to the amount of damage dealt by the poison your spikes generate. Furthermore, any creature damaged by your poison becomes poisoned for 1 round. You may apply this alteration multiple times, increasing the amount of damage your poison deals by 2 each time.

2fp - Deadly Spikes (Requires Throwing Spikes or Goring Spikes)
Your spikes are especially lethal in their design (Sharper, larger, etc). The ranged attack action granted by your Throwing Spikes alteration and/or the melee attack granted by your Goring Spikes alteration deals 2d10 + your ability modifier damage instead of their regular amount. You may apply this alteration multiple times, increasing the amount of damage by 2 each time.

2fp – Harpooning Spikes
Your spikes embed themselves in any creatures they damage (via sharp barbs, segments that slightly unfold upon impact, etc). An opponent with one or more spikes embedded in them takes 2 points of slashing damage whenever they perform a physical action (such as using multiattack) or use their movement. An afflicted opponent can use an action to remove all spikes embedded in themselves (taking 2 slashing damage in the process).

If you damage a creature with a spike that is still attached to your body (such as via the Goring Spike or Deadly Quills alteration), you may choose to have the spike detach itself from you when it embeds itself in a foe. If you don't detach the spike, both you and the damaged opponent gain the grappled condition until the opponent removes the embedded spike or you choose to have the spike detach itself from you (like releasing a creature from a grapple). If an afflicted opponent is more than two size categories larger than you it does not gain the grappled condition, but any movement it makes carries you with it until you detach the spike or the opponent removes it. As with throwing spikes, new spikes grow to replace any detached spikes.[/i]

1fp – Tether (Requires Harpooning Spikes and Throwing Spikes)
You can choose to have your fired/thrown spikes remain connected to you by some kind of secretion – spider silk, goo, etc - that hardens when your spike hits something or when you will it to do so (willing the material to harden before the spike hits something causes the attack to miss). This secretion has the durability of silk rope and effectively allows you to use your spikes as grappling hooks. A tether cannot be longer than your spikes' normal range (not maximum range) - if the spike is fired beyond that range the tether can still be formed but it will not be connected to you.

Any “rope” created this way dissolves in about ten minutes and can easily be identified as a material that isn’t going to last very long. You can detach the end of a “rope” that is connected to you as a bonus action.

Furthermore, your spikes can embed themselves into any objects they damage. Such objects do not take any additional damage, but an embedded spike can support up to 500 pounds of weight without getting pulled out. Any creature can spend an action to remove all spikes from an object.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

1fp – Obliterating Toxins (Requires Superior Toxins)
Choose force or necrotic. The poisons generated by your spikes deal can deal the chosen damage type instead of poison damage. Creatures immune to poison / the poisoned condition are still effected by your altered toxins (including becoming poisoned) unless they are also immune to the chosen damage type. Furthermore, the bodies of creatures slain while poisoned by your toxins dissolve into sludge (necrotic) or dust (force). Their gear is not effected.

1fp – Unfolding Spikes (Requires Harpooning Spikes)
Your spikes powerfully unfold after reaching their target (or missing), forming barbed X-shaped hooks or other similar designs. Creatures with such spikes embedded in them take 3 damage whenever the perform an action or use their movement instead of 2, and any creature that removes one or more embedded spikes from their body takes and additional 1d10 slashing damage in the process.

Furthermore, if you have made the tether alteration, your embedded spikes can support up to 2000 pounds of weight without getting pulled out.

2fp – Shredding Volley (Requires Throwing Spikes)
You may, once per round as an action, make a single ranged attack as described in the Throwing Spikes alteration and apply it against any opponent within range of your throwing spikes. All other foes within 5' of the targeted opponent must make a dexterity saving throw or take damage as though they were hit by the attack (even if the attack misses). If the attack misses, the targeted opponent still takes half damage (no save). The flurry of spikes benefits from your other alterations (tether, etc) as normal.

Using this ability is tiring - once you use twice you cannot use it again until after you complete a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each instance increasing the number of times you can use it before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.

2fp – Deadly Quills
Creatures that attack you with an unarmed strike or a weapon that is a part of their body take 2 piercing damage from your spikes. This alteration may be made multiple times, increasing the amount of damage dealt by 1 each time.

Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Overpowering Toxins (Requires Superior Toxins)
Creatures have disadvantage on saving throws made against your spike-generated poison. Furthermore, creatures that fail their saving throw against your poison lose all damage resistances they possess for 1 round (apply poison damage after removing resistances). This ability does not remove damage immunities nor does it remove magic resistance.

1fp – Deleterious Existence (Requires Superior Toxins)
If you would start a combat without any remaining uses of the ability granted by the Hollow Spikes alteration, you start with two remaining uses instead. Furthermore, the amount of damage dealt by your poison increases to 2d6 + your constitution modifier.

1fp – Frenzied Contraction (Requires Tether)
You may, as an action and/or bonus action, will one of the “ropes” created by the effects of your Tether alteration, that is still connected to you, to contract. This effect rapidly pulls you and anything connected to you towards the spike on the other end with immense force (but does not exert any force on the spike itself). The spike on the other end re-attaches to your body when you reach it (if it is embedded in a creature, both you and the creature are now grappled as noted in the Harpooning Spikes alteration).

1fp – Piercing Rain (Requires Shredding Volley)
Whenever you use the ability granted by Shredding Volley you may choose to unleash a storm of spikes in all directions instead of focusing on a single target. When you do so, all foes within 40', that do not have cover, must make a dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d10 damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The flurry of spikes benefits from your other alterations (tether, etc) as normal. The range of this effect increases by 5' for each time you have made the longshot spikes alteration.

Furthermore, if you would start a combat without any remaining uses of the ability granted by the Shredding Volley alteration you start with one remaining use instead.

Summary of Proposed Changes:

> Add Carved Spikes alteration to Tier I
> Combine Hollow Spike and Superior Toxins alteration, lower the damage to 1 (plus other tweaks), and keep it at Tier I but change cost to 2fp.

> Move Twisting Spikes to Tier II and change how it works.
> Add Smoke Spikes to Tier II
> Slightly change how Tether works - it no longer requires Harpooning Spikes.

> Move Harpooning Spikes to Tier III, rename it Burrowing Spikes and slightly re-fluff it. Change the way the damaging effect works.
> Tweak Obliterating Toxin's wording.
> Rearrange order of alterations (not a mechanical change, I think having Shredding Volley be first looks better)

> Remove Overpowering Toxins
> Change how Deleterious Existence works, change cost to 2fp
> Add Flickering Spikes to Tier IV

Anyway, thoughts? Knee-jerk reactions are also useful.

[Qwertystop]

Anyway, thoughts? Knee-jerk reactions are also useful.

Ask and ye shall receive (though not much for balance, since I still don't know much 5e):

Twisting is effectively completely different, and since it's in a different tier as well, comparison is difficult. The old one was certainly relatively boring.

Carved could use some more detail on what you can do - "create a whistling sound" is not insignificant in terms of the amount of control implied. Can you make them curve in flight, allowing ranged attacks around cover/corners? That seems well within reach of the described ability (given that it can reasonably be done with a Frisbee) but is also pretty big tactically. Can you give them barbs, so they get stuck and must be ripped out? Can you make hollow-point bullets, or ones fragile enough to shatter on launching and get a spray of (non-harmful, but painful in the eyes) fragments? Again, within the description but potentially a significant impact on combat. Also, it allows you to detach them at will - which means that even if you don't have Throwing Spikes, you could still throw them. Probably need rules for that.

Hm. Guaranteed minimum damage with the possibility of disadvantage, instead of a chance of varying damage and no disadvantage. I don't have practical 5e experience but I would mark that as probably a decent buff overall - disadvantage being better than what's probably only a one-point damage increase on average, and it's even better against enemies with high Constitution throws.

Not needing Harpooning to be able to use Tether is good - "I want rope" doesn't automatically mean "I want to grapple at range". On the other hand, sticking it to objects now requires Twisting - I would have thought it made reasonable sense as part of Harpooning. Tether-to-objects is now 3fp where it was 4fp, and tether-to-opponents is unchanged at 4fp, but getting both now totals 5fp where it was 4fp.

Typo in Obliterating Toxin - "deal" should be "deals". Unclear point: If they are not immune to poison, but are immune to what you chose, what happens?

Deleterious Existence - poison is less unending so resource management still matters (no situation where it becomes a good idea to waste your last shot so that if a fight comes up you'll have two, which the old version could do). Also, sticking with the model of poison as a debuff first, extra damage second. That's good.

Flickering Spikes doesn't make much sense with Goring - if it's a melee attack, and only the spikes can pass through things (not your entire limb/body), it's not going to help you hit through much that you couldn't just punch through. Possible modification: Reduced effect of nonmagical armor or shields if used with Goring rather than Throwing? Also, it might be fitting (in flavor, no idea whether it's needed for balance) to make it require Carved.

[Magikeeper]

Whooo, comments! *Hits the 'rain internet cookies' button*

@Carving
Hrm. You could do much of that with that wizard conjuration option, but I admit the surroundings of Carved Spike imply a more combat-centric bent. As for the specific ideas:
> Hollow Point: I think this would be interesting but not really abusive, and hitting eyes and stuff might be called shot territory which generally isn't allowed anyway.
> Barbs: Hrm.. wouldn't normal arrows typically get stuck in their targets? That's one of the reason why I changed Harpooning's fluff to better imply it is more than just getting stuck - it goes above and beyond regular arrows in its continual damage dealing.
> Greater Elvish Dire War Frisbees - Yep, this is a problem. Throwing Spikes + Carved sorta imply you can shoot any shape and make it work. I need to come up with a line noting that's not so, or else.. Frisbees.
> Look Ma, No Throwing Spikes! - Also a problem. I guess I could just change it so it is only detachable if you have throwing spikes. Detached spikes don't last longer than a short rest right now, so that should work. Otherwise I think any restricting text I write to prevent such use is going to sound nonsensical.

@Hollow Spikes (whose name I should change..)
Yeah, if anything I'm worried it might a little too good. It's kind of similar to the first level spell Ray of Sickness, at least until you get multiassault.

Harpooning and Objects
Hrm.. I originally had harpooning sticking to both, but removed "and objects" because I realized a single burrowing spike - if left in a section of wall for an entire hour - would deal 1800 damage, and if I specified objects weren't effected I'd have a... actually, I could just specify object embedding at the end. I guess that wouldn't be very clunky. Or just let burrowing spikes destroy objects, it's not nonsensical that a spike continuously trying to unfold could break something and you could break most things faster by just attacking them for a couple minutes. Switch it to just effect anything it strikes, maybe? I will ponder this.

@Obliterating

Unclear point: If they are not immune to poison, but are immune to what you chose, what happens?
Then you have made a poor life decision. :P
Seriously, though, I think I'll just add a "both poison and.." so you only get blocked if they are immune to both. Edit: Currently going with it dealing an extra point of damage instead of replacing the poison damage. That implies the "also" later in the ability works both ways, I think.

@Deleterious Existence
Huh. I had not noticed that 2-shot issue. Yeah, that'd need to be fixed in anycase.
I think moving away from having the poison be all about damage was a good idea, yeah.

@Flickering Spikes
Yeah, interaction with Goring is very iffy. I don't want to mess around with negating armor and such as that's really more a 3E thing - 5E seems determined to keep AC mostly static in combat for streamlining purposes, relying on advantage/disadvantage instead of changing the number.
I could have Flickering Spikes have advantage vs armored foes, but.. eh, not sure about that.

I'll ponder this one as well. Also, I could see a fluff connection between Flickering/Carving, but as far as dependencies are concerned I try to avoid them whenever it is reasonable to do so.

[Qwertystop]

Whooo, comments! *Hits the 'rain internet cookies' button*

@Carving
Hrm. You could do much of that with that wizard conjuration option, but I admit the surroundings of Carved Spike imply a more combat-centric bent. As for the specific ideas:
> Hollow Point: I think this would be interesting but not really abusive, and hitting eyes and stuff might be called shot territory which generally isn't allowed anyway.
> Barbs: Hrm.. wouldn't normal arrows typically get stuck in their targets? That's one of the reason why I changed Harpooning's fluff to better imply it is more than just getting stuck - it goes above and beyond regular arrows in its continual damage dealing.
> Greater Elvish Dire War Frisbees - Yep, this is a problem. Throwing Spikes + Carved sorta imply you can shoot any shape and make it work. I need to come up with a line noting that's not so, or else.. Frisbees.
> Look Ma, No Throwing Spikes! - Also a problem. I guess I could just change it so it is only detachable if you have throwing spikes. Detached spikes don't last longer than a short rest right now, so that should work. Otherwise I think any restricting text I write to prevent such use is going to sound nonsensical.

Hollow-point rounds and called shots are nothing to do with each other - it's roughly 'shortly after impact, splashes, causing massive internal hemorrhaging'.

Yes, arrows would tend to get stuck - but then, IRL arrows would be problematic in general, especially if someone's moving the hit area, and the game doesn't model that. It's one of those vague areas where effects that would reasonably be default are instead tied to specific extras, which makes it hard to figure out what other things relating to those effects would do. If nothing else, adding extra barbs might be seen as increasing the difficulty of removing a Burrowing spike.

Re: Frisbees: The specific shape isn't an issue - just the fact that if you allow things like whistling (caused by making a shape that produces different airflow), it's not far from there to curving in the air (same). Boomerangs would be the same problem. Frankly, spheres would be the same problem - it's called a curveball.

As far as throwing - you could just say in Throwing that without Throwing, spikes are not ranged weapons (even if detached some other way). There are still rules for improvised thrown weapons, right? Without spending points on making them throwable, they won't be any better than grabbing a tent spike or a shortsword and throwing that.

[Magikeeper]

Okay, I've been pondering a number of changes these past two weeks, and today was the day I made them all.

Some of these were the proposed Spike changes, so I'll note how I changed the proposed.. changes:

> Had carved note it doesn't give any proficiency. Since I changed the wording of Ballistic/Goring spikes it's pretty clear you need those alterations to be proficient in those weapons so that's that. As for frisbees and stuff, after more thought I decided most of those wouldn't really be that bad in practice. Everyone can move and shoot in 5E. Hollow point, if it came up, would need to be DM/player thing, it is dealing with aspects of archery 5E doesn't go into and the ability doesn't explicitly suggest making those so.. same as archer making hollow point arrows - DM has to decide on something. There are other abilities in the game that could do similar things (but don't suggest doing them either).

> Currently set Poisonous (formerly hollow) spikes to 1 use / 2fp and then each additional alteration is +2 uses. Might change this further.

> The base alteration of spikes now lets you deal piercing instead of regular damage type when you choose, and adds 1d4 piercing damage to critical hits. The latter effect benefits Ballistic/Goring spikes as well, which fixes the issue that the base spike alteration... did very little for the spike trait itself.

> Throwing Spikes became Ballistic Spikes. Not being a ranged weapon apparently prevents full use of the Sharpshooter feat, which when allowed is just too important for archery types. So it's now explicitly a ranged weapon with reverse finesse (you can use strength for it).

> Flickering Spikes deny reactions when opponent is within 5ft. There, it does something for Goring spikes.

> Burrowing Spikes can hit objects again.

> Smoke Spikes no longer damage you in melee. Trying to make Goring more viable.

> Other wording tweaks

> Massive overhaul. Much of this is less about balance and more about fixing some traits with monotonous early game play and tweaking the way damage works to better fit other classes. The deadly alterations worked so differently from how other classes did damage ( high base damage instead of lower base damage + powerful circumstantial effects) that it was very difficult to balance them. Furthermore, they suffered from trying to balance the traits combat-wise through 6-20 with a level 6 +damage ability. Design-wise I decided it'd be better to just tweak the higher level alterations.
> All deadly X alterations changed to just give +1dX damage, where X is the damage dice the weapon originally did. Deadly Flesh deals was changed to deal 2d6 damage. The ability to apply them multiple times was removed.
> Eye overhaul:
>> Move Disorienting Glare from tier II to tier I, made it clear you can't stealth disorient targets
>> Changed Devouring Glare to Dissolving Glare, reduced it to 1fp, removed healing effect.
>> Moved Far Reaching Glares from tier I to tier III, doubled benefit (15-30)
>> Removed Tremorsense from Tier II.
>> Added the healing effect of the old Devouring Glare to the tier II Devouring Glare alteration (1fp)
>> Changed Deadly Gaze to 1fp, since in practice it is the weakest deadly (Can't twf it, lacks spike's benefits).
>> Moved Rejecting Glare to tier II, removed the per-rest restriciton and made it 2fp. I might nerf it back to being X per rest...
>> Changed wording of Binding Glare, made it 2fp for 3 uses + 2 uses per additional alteration.
>> Removed the range limit from Proclaiming Gaze.

> Deadly Flesh was reduced to 1fp along with the damage nerf. Energy Generating flesh already costs 2fp.

> Finally replaced Coiling Tentacles with Paradox Tentacles.

> Orifice Overhaul:
>> Tweaked several wordings.
>> Spit attack wording changes - it is now a melee thrown weapon. This deals with the OP-with-Sharpshooter issue.
>> Tweaked Destructive Drool (Tier III) to be a bonus action effect. This was a nerf, might need to make this stronger again later.
>> Added Deranged Hunger to Tier III. Orifice's (sorta) tanking subtheme really needed to be thrown a bone at this tier.

> Changed base damage of Mass Assault (Tier I Puppet) to1d8+cha.
> Mass Harass now notes what kind of cover (3/4ths). That really needs to be playtested.

> Spike Overhaul:
>> I suggest completely re-reading this one.
>> Many wording changes.
>> Base Alteration now add 1d4 piercing to crits instead of +1 bonus damage always, and it effects your spikes as well. No more "Spike's base alteration does very little for spikes". I probably need to specify you can use poisonous spikes with it and such though..
>> Added Carved Spikes alteration to Tier I
>> Reworded Throwing Spikes and Renamed them Ballistic Spikes. Basically entirely so they can work with Sharpshooter feat. I thought they could before, but they technically did not qualify for the -5/+10. Ranged-spike-tossing Ozodrin don't want to be the only archery-sorts that can't make full use of the amazing archery feat..
>> Combined Hollow Spike and Superior Toxins alteration, lower the damage to 1 (plus other tweaks), and keep it at Tier I but change cost to 2fp.
>> Changed Hollow Spike (Now Poisonous Spikes) to 1 use, plus 2 uses per additional alteration. I might change this further in the future.. maybe have it cost more each time you add it? That'd be strange..
>> Moved Twisting Spikes to Tier II and changed how it works.
>> Added Smoke Spikes to Tier II
>> Slightly changed how Tether works - it no longer requires Harpooning Spikes.
>> Moved Harpooning Spikes to Tier III, rename it Burrowing Spikes and slightly re-fluff it. Changed the way the damaging effect works.
>> Tweak Obliterating Toxin's wording, have it add 1d6 damage.
>> Rearrange order of alterations (not a mechanical change, I think having Shredding Volley be first looks better)
> Removed Overpowering Toxins
> Change how Deleterious Existence works, change cost to 2fp
> Add Flickering Spikes to Tier IV

I noted a new ability for Tier III Orifice in the above. It is this:

2fp - Deranged Hunger (Requires Devouring Mouths)
Whenever you successfully deal bludgeoning or piercing damage to a creature with your bite attack you may use a bonus action to enter a feeding frenzy for one round. While in this state you have advantage on wisdom and charisma saving throws and disadvantage on wisdom ability checks and intelligence ability checks. Furthermore, if you would be reduced to 0 HP while in this state you are instead reduced to 1 HP and this effect immediately ends.

High-tier orifice felt like it was really lacking something in the combat department, at least for anyone that didn't want to focus on spit/breath.

I seriously overhauled eye, I suggest just re-reading it. Hopefully the changes make it more enjoyable to play in an actual game over numerous encounters and such, although removing the per-rest restriction from Rejecting Glare might not be a good idea..

EDIT: I overhauled eye again, I'll add the changes to the log tomorrow.
> Removed darkvision, added Crossed Senses
> Altered Heightened Senses. It's slightly stronger now, but the change was to decomplicate using it with passive perception.
> Moved Rejecting Glare to tier IV, tweaked fluff and weight reduction amount (1/10 -> 1/100). It is still at-will.
> Moved Enveloping Glare to tier II, changed how it works.
> Changed Relentless Glare to 2fp, it now also lets you regain a use of a single eye-trait ability you're out of each combat.
> Removed Crippling Gaze, eye has 4 pretty nice IV traits now.

EDIT: Major Overhaul of Fin. I started the overhaul to make it more interesting during the first 5 levels, then those changes propagated through the upper tiers. I also modified the alterations to make more combinations viable (Fin had more-or-less the most linear progression. Well, aside from Puppet (which needs some tweaks as well)).

[Magikeeper]

Updates!

EYE:

> Enveloping Gaze, although interesting, is something that could well cause table-side arguments in play. It could be obnoxiously powerful or not that strong at all, and fixing the wording would make it rather verbose. On top of that it always felt rather shoehorned in... in anycase, while working on fixes I thought about replacing it with Murmuring Glare:

2fp – Murmuring Glare
You can, as an action, force a thought of your choice (such as “something is watching me” or “A pie would taste real good right now”) upon a target within 60’ of you, forcing them to make a wisdom check. On a failure the thought gets stuck in their head for the next minute or hour (your choice), like an annoyingly catchy song. The target is not compelled in any way to obey the thought, but someone thinking about how great a pie would be right now might be more easily convinced to buy one. On a success the target only hears the thought a single time. In either case, you may choose whether the thought feels foreign or if it feels like it came from their own mind (although some thoughts, such as "I should swear fealty to the stranger that just walked up to me", may cause suspicion of foul play).

Using this ability is straining– once you use the ability granted by this alteration twice you may not use it again until you complete a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, increasing the number of times you can use the granted ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one each time.

--

^I think this fits the flavor better, and would be more interesting in play without causing the same issues as Enveloping. The change reduces the peak damage of Eye, true, but not by that much?

The now removed Enveloping Glare:

2fp – Enveloping Glare
You can, once per round as an action, force an opponent you can see within 60' of you to make an intelligence saving throw. On a failure, they take 4d6 psychic damage and become unable to sense anything except for themselves and you for one round, as though you were both floating in an empty void. On a success they take half as much damage and their senses are not effected. Creatures with truesight or similar abilities have advantage on this saving throw, but such abilities do not overcome the effect. This ability is a magical effect.

Using this ability is straining– once you use the ability granted by this alteration twice you may not use it again until you complete a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, increasing the number of times you can use the granted ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one each time.

-----

SPIKE:
> Tweaking Flickering Spike. The old version empowers singular attacks.. but a single spike attack doesn't do all that much. Even the poison isn't useful without other attacks (that aren't flickering) being involved.
New Version:

2fp – Flickering Spikes (requires Ballistic Spikes or Goring Spikes)
As a bonus action, you can will your spikes to fade in an out of existence, taking on a phantasmal appearance. While flickering, your spikes can pass through any barrier between you and the target of your attacks. The range of your attacks do not change. If you cannot perceive your target, you can instead attempt to attack the square you think they’re in with disadvantage (like attacking a creature in a heavily obscured area). This attack cannot benefit from the effects of the Tether alteration. Furthermore, any melee attacks made with your spikes have advantage. This effect lasts for 1 round.

Using this ability is straining - after using it twice, you may not use it again until completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to complete a short or long rest by one.

^ Changed the melee benefit to just having advantage.


----
TENTACLE:

> Coordinated Tentacles no longer has a 10' limit - it is now any spot within reach to any other spot within reach. If you want to basically wield the party barbarian I think that's fine (there is obviously a sizable opportunity cost in not, y'know, attacking yourself). Also, this only effects Ozodrin with extended reach since the old limit was enough for a 5' reach PC.


--


Any and all comments very welcome!

Edit: Decided against adding scent to Crossed Senses.

[Hanuman]

Hey magikeeper I'm planning on playing your class :smallsmile: not too familiar with 5e yet so I don't have much to PEACH.



The Freedom of Flesh
There are many shapeshifitng powers in the world,

Would it be unbalanced to instead of one element for energy producing flesh, add extra bludgeoning damage (for kinetic energy :smallbiggrin:)? Perhaps make it not able to crit, anything else balance-wise?

[Magikeeper]

Hey magikeeper I'm planning on playing your class :smallsmile: not too familiar with 5e yet so I don't have much to PEACH.



Would it be unbalanced to instead of one element for energy producing flesh, add extra bludgeoning damage (for kinetic energy :smallbiggrin:)? Perhaps make it not able to crit, anything else balance-wise?

A comment!?

I should probably set up some kind of notification system for when people respond to this thread. >.>

On energy producing flesh: That justification sounds more like Force energy, really. I don't think I'd mind tossing it in if asked by a player while running a game but I think adding bludgeoning to the actual class ability is iffy.

Thanks for the typo notification!

-----------------

A while back I was planning on pushing an overhaul of Orifice but then life stuff happened and I haven't had the chance. I suppose I have it mostly typed up.. somewhere....

Well, I need to still remember what all I was changing but I'll stash some of the stuff here:

Things would replace the current temp HP alterations (haunted stomach would replace the current soul-eating alteration):

Tier I changes:

2fp - Ravenous Maws
Whenever you eat a pound of food, successfully hit a creature with a bite attack, or deal damage to a creature in your stomach, you may gain 5 temporary hit points and enter a Digestive Surge for one minute. While surging, you gain 3 temporary hit points at the start of each of your turns. Any temporary hit points granted by this alteration do not stack*, and last until after you complete a short or long rest. Using this ability removes any nourishment you would have otherwise recieved from the meal (as though you had not eaten it in the first place). Effects that are equivalent to eating a pound of food, such as receiving nourishment from the Energy Consuming Flesh alteration (See Flesh trait), may be used to fuel this ability.
*As per page 187 of the DMG, if you have 3 temporary hit points and gain 5 more from another bite, you have a total of 5 temporary hit points (the higher number)

Tier II changes:

1fp - Refined Digestion
Whenever you successfully bite, swallow, lick, or otherwise consume part of a creature or object you gain advantage on all knowledge checks made to discern its physical properties (what it's made of, how old it is, if its resistant to fire, etc). This benefit lasts for 10 minutes.

Furthermore, if you have made the Ravenous Maws alteration the number of temporary hit points granted by it are increased by 100% (5/3 -> 10/6).

Tier III changes:

1fp - Digestive Rift
Your warped digestive track exceeds comprehension, granting you immunity to ingested poisons.

Furthermore, whenever you eat you can choose to store the nourishment it would provide instead of benefiting from it immediately. You may gain the benefit of any amount of this stored nourishment, using it up in the process, as a bonus action. For example, you could eat a pound of meat today, gain no benefit of it (still hungry, etc), and then use a bonus action the following week to suddenly gain the benefits of eating that pound of meat (nourishing yourself, fueling a digestive surge if you have made the Ravenous Maws alteration, etc). There is no limit to how much nourishment you can store this way.

Furthermore, if you have made the Ravenous Maws alteration, the number of temporary hit points granted by it are increased by 100% (5/3 -> 10/6). This benefit stacks with the increase granted by Refined Digestion alteration (10/6 -> 15/9).

Tier 4 Changes:

2fp - Haunted Stomach
Whenever a creature dies in your stomach, you may choose to keep its soul trapped within you instead of letting it pass on. You can telepathically communicate with the bound spirit, although you can choose to silence it as well. Furthermore, you can trap the dead spirit in inescapable nightmares (or dreams) of your own design. You gain advantage on all ability checks made to interact with the trapped soul, and on any Intelligence checks made to know things about the spirits' lives/feelings/etc. This ability might give advantage on other checks as well, at the DM’s discretion. The spirit cannot be resurrected while so trapped. You can choose to release a trapped soul as a bonus action.

Whenever you take a short or long rest you may choose to begin digesting one or more bound souls, erasing them entirely upon successfully completing the rest.

If you unform this feature, all currently trapped spirits are released.


Largely changing the core "eat stuff for temp HP" mechanic to be more dependable round-by-round instead of relying on a large pre-battle HP buffer. I think I was going to have a Tier 4 ability that increased the temp HP gain by another 100%, but I don't see it in my notes..? Other than that this would bring back the refined palate ability ozodrin could get via feat in 3.5 and one of the interesting Cosmic Horror powers in a pre-epic way (haunted stomach).

I also believe I was planning on removing using TWF with spit attacks, and maybe from bite attacks as well. Other aspects of the trait would be changed accordingly. It's been a few months though, so I'd need to refresh my memory. >.>

Old Alterations:

3fp – Devouring Mouths
Whenever you deal damage to a creature with your bite attack you gain 5 temporary hit points. Furthermore, whenever you eat three or more pounds of food in a single meal you gain 12 temporary hit points. You can digest ordinary food far faster than normal - you are never full unless you want to be. Temporary hit points granted by this alteration last until you finish a short or long rest.
Reminder: Temporary hits points do not stack. See page 198 of the Player's Handbook for more details.

1fp – Salivating Maws
Choose the damage type when making this alteration (Acid, Fire, Cold, Lightning, or Thunder). You may use your drool/spit as a melee weapon (special, light, finesse, thrown (range 30/90)), that deals 1d6 + your constitution modifier damage of the chosen damage type. You are proficient with your spit. You can use the two weapon fighting action with spit attacks.

This alteration may be made multiple times, each additional application lets you choose another energy type. You may have your spit attacks be any combination of your chosen types (for example, you could have a spit attack's damage be half fire and half acid damage).
Note: Melee spit is weird (licking?), but it stops dual wielding sharpshooter -5/+10 and generally works better for the class.

1fp – Sniping Mouths (Requires Spitting Mouths)
The range of your thrown spit attacks increase by 10’/30’. You may make this alteration multiple times, the range increase stacks.

1fp - Destructive Drool (Requires Spitting Mouths)
Whenever you successfully hit a creature with a bite attack, you may use a bonus action to add your drool/spit's damage to the result of the attack (e.g., if your spit dealt 1d6 + your constitution modifier fire damage you would add that to the damage dealt by your bite attack).

1fp - Efficient Consumption (Requires Devouring Mouths)
Whenever you would gain temporary hit points via the abilities granted by your Devouring Mouths alteration, you gain that many + 5 instead. For example, if you would gain 5 temporary hit points you would gain 10 instead.

2fp – Absolute Digestion (Requires Swallow)
Whenever a creature takes damage due to the ability granted by your Swallow alteration you regain hp equal to half the damage dealt. Furthermore, whenever a creature dies in your stomach you may choose to begin digesting its soul. This process takes 24 hours but does not take up space in your stomach. If the soul is digested, it ceases to exist entirely and you gain advantage on any ability checks made to remember interesting facts about the digested creature’s life and/or to impersonate that creature.

[Sariel Vailo]

I am now intrested prepare to have this tested alot.

[Magikeeper]

I am now intrested prepare to have this tested alot.

Great! :D


----

Alright, I've overhauled Orifice. Changes:

> Tier I changes:
>> Devouring Mouths replaced with a 3fp Ravenous Maws. It's a bit wordier, but I think it plays nicer with the other traits and alterations now. Also, the digestive surges fix the issue of this ability being very swingy (with devouring mouths you either were hitting and gaining temp HP, or missing and not gaining any temp HP at all). Might change the name "digestive surge" to not use the word "surge", however...
>> Salivating Maws is now a ranged weapon you CANNOT use the TWF action with. Having it be a thrown melee weapon (to avoid sharpshooter + TWF) was just weird. You can, however, use strength on the attack rolls.
>> Sniping Mouths is now Free Flowing Drool, which costs twice as much (2FP), gives double the range increase (same as 2x sniping), and lets you attempt a spit attack (disadvantage -> neither advantage or disadvantage) whenever you successfully hit with a bite attack as a bonus action. (Deadly Breath is now improved for every FFD instead of once per 2xSniping Mouths, since FFD costs 2fp instead of 1fp).
> Tier II changes:
>> Scent-Tasting tongues is now Refined Palette, which also lets you add your proficiency bonus to knowledge checks to determine the physical properties of things you've tasted (in addition to smelling things). Might be undercosted at 1fp.
>> Vicious Mouths is now Dire Consumption. It improves Ravenous Maw ability as well as damage (similar to before).
> Tier III changes:
>> Efficient Consumption has been replaced with Digestive Rift.
>> Destructive Drool, which is too similar (if better) to Free Flowing Drool, has been replaced by Butchering Fangs.
> Tier IV changes:
>> Absolute Digestion has been replaced by Haunted Stomach, which removes healing via digestive damage (Ravenous Maw works with digestion, unlike Devouring Mouths) in exchange for being a generally more interesting ability (IMO).
>> Some other minor wording tweaks (not mechanical changes).

That was the last overhaul I had planned. Please feel free to critique these changes!

[Blindseer]

While I haven't had the chance to playtest this masterpiece, I would just like to ask how this class "keeps up" at higher levels? Some of it doesn't seem as leveling friendly, with so many abilities and attacks specifically stating numerical damage instead of rolls. While that predictability is a strength in its own right, I don't think bombarding dragons with predictability is as effective as power.

Also I just want to thank you for making this and putting so much time in to it. I've been looking for a Homebrew class to allow me minor shapeshifting effects like this for a month, and while it's unlikely I'll get a chance to use it soon this is by far (no contest whatsoever) my favorite class I've ever seen for flavor. I've wanted to play as an aberration for the longest time and this is so much better than I could have expected.

[Magikeeper]

@Blindseer Thanks!

On numerical damage: This seems to be Spike-Trait specific - the only other numerical damage that comes to mind is tier I flesh, and the tier II deadly flesh augment changes that.

Spike trait does have a number of X damage abilities, but most of those are main effect+small amount of extra damage. The exception would be burrowing spike, and I do not yet know for sure how well that works in practice - I am playtesting a primary spike Ozodrin but they've only reached level 6 so far.

More generally, I did consult various spreadsheets and such that detailed expected damage per round for various class/feat combinations while making this class. Based on that, I think the class keeps up at high levels - it seems PC damage tends to greatly increase around level 6, increase again around level 11, and then stay the same or only slightly increase after that. That said, I would greatly appreciate playtesting data should you ever get the chance to play this class!

[Blindseer]

@Magikeeper

Thank you for the explanation, it really cleared it up for me. Part of my concern grew from inexperience, I suppose I was thinking of this too much in castor terms when in reality this is more versatile with more uses. Where castors are locked up by slots, this class can keep renewed and constant effectiveness. Not to mention it's better at hand to hand than a wizard or the like. Thanks again.

[Magikeeper]

Should Ozodrin have the Shapechanger subtype (when they become aberrations)?

For: In the MM, monsters that "magically" polymorph are not shapechangers (Change Shape ability), but those that do not mention the change being magical are shapechangers (Shapechanger ability). Also, shapechanger appears to be more of an innate ability (they keep their abilities, etc). Ozodrin are more similar shapechangers than change shape users.

Against: Ozodrin do not have the "Shapechanger" ability all shapechangers appear to have.

On the other hand: There aren't any monsters whose abilities work like an Ozodrin's. Shapechangers are seemingly the closest of those that exist.


Thoughts?

[JBPuffin]

Should Ozodrin have the Shapechanger subtype (when they become aberrations)?

For: In the MM, monsters that "magically" polymorph are not shapechangers (Change Shape ability), but those that do not mention the change being magical are shapechangers (Shapechanger ability). Also, shapechanger appears to be more of an innate ability (they keep their abilities, etc). Ozodrin are more similar shapechangers than change shape users.

Against: Ozodrin do not have the "Shapechanger" ability all shapechangers appear to have.

On the other hand: There aren't any monsters whose abilities work like an Ozodrin's. Shapechangers are seemingly the closest of those that exist.


Thoughts?

I'd say it depends on just how "wtf is this?" you want the flavor to be. There are many shapechangers; do you want the Ozodrin in that box, or set it free by releasing it from those chains of stereotyping (also, I missed the shapechanging aberrations - which ones would those be)?

[Magikeeper]

I'd say it depends on just how "wtf is this?" you want the flavor to be. There are many shapechangers; do you want the Ozodrin in that box, or set it free by releasing it from those chains of stereotyping (also, I missed the shapechanging aberrations - which ones would those be)?

There are no shapechanger aberrations in 5E that I know of. On one hand, it really isn't quite the same as the other shapechangers, on the other hand 'shapechanger' is apparently also the box for creatures with enough control over their own bodies to not be effected by polymorphing magic and the like. I kinda DO want Ozodrin to be in that group but... eh, I guess I'll leave it off.

Speaking of polymorphing, I realized the old wording of Irregular Mind (which changed the maximum duration of the effect) might be viewed as increasing the power of spells that do horrible things if maintained for their "entire duration". The new version is slightly wordier but avoids the issue. It took.. quite awhile to settle on a new wording for that one.

[JBPuffin]

There are no shapechanger aberrations in 5E that I know of. On one hand, it really isn't quite the same as the other shapechangers, on the other hand 'shapechanger' is apparently also the box for creatures with enough control over their own bodies to not be affected by polymorphing magic and the like. I kinda DO want Ozodrin to be in that group but... eh, I guess I'll leave it off.

That would actually be pretty nice - if being a shapechanger gives you that immunity, I'd totally want that as a player. You could also have that subtype replace their normal racial subtype - they're no longer human or whatever, they're full-on aberration (shapechanger)s.

[Magikeeper]

Question: Does this ability make sense / is it needlessly complex?:

2fp – Burrowing Spikes
You can form spikes that embed themselves in any creatures or objects they damage, expanding/unfolding/etc to push themselves deeper into your foes. Creatures and objects with one or more spikes embedded in them take 3 points of slashing damage at the start of each of your turns. Creatures so afflicted also take 5 points of slashing damage whenever they use their movement.

An afflicted opponent can use an action to remove all spikes embedded in themselves, dealing 1d10 slashing damage to themselves in the process.

If you damage a creature or object with a spike that is still directly attached to your body (such as via the Goring Spike or Deadly Quills alteration), you may choose to have the spike instantly detach itself from you when it embeds itself into them. If not, you are effectively grappled by the target unless you are two or more size categories larger than them, in which case they are instead effectively grappled by you. In either case, unlike a normal grapple, you can end/automatically break free of all opponents grappling/grappled by you this way as bonus action that removes the spike(s) and deals 1d10 slashing damage to each opponent. Furthermore, your opponent cannot willingly release you/break free of the grapple without removing the embedded spike (as noted above), which automatically ends the grapple. Any other effect that ends the grapple removes the embedded spike and deals 1d10 slashing damage to your opponent.


-----

I think it's the second third fourth wordiest advanced alteration, and I've pondered just removing all the grapple stuff (just have it always detatch). At some point I want to make a proper PDF and spread the class around, so stuff like "this ability is too complicated for its own good" is a concern.

[Qwertystop]

Question: Does this ability make sense / is it needlessly complex?:

2fp – Burrowing Spikes
You can form spikes that embed themselves in any creatures or objects they damage, expanding/unfolding/etc to push themselves deeper into your foes. Creatures and objects with one or more spikes embedded in them take 3 points of slashing damage at the start of each of your turns. Creatures so afflicted also take 5 points of slashing damage whenever they use their movement.

An afflicted opponent can use an action to remove all spikes embedded in themselves, dealing 1d10 slashing damage to themselves in the process.

If you damage a creature or object with a spike that is still directly attached to your body (such as via the Goring Spike or Deadly Quills alteration), you may choose to have the spike instantly detach itself from you when it embeds itself into them. If not, you are effectively grappled by the target unless you are two or more size categories larger than them, in which case they are instead effectively grappled by you. In either case, unlike a normal grapple, you can end/automatically break free of all opponents grappling/grappled by you this way as bonus action that removes the spike(s) and deals 1d10 slashing damage to each opponent. Furthermore, your opponent cannot willingly release you/break free of the grapple without removing the embedded spike (as noted above), which automatically ends the grapple. Any other effect that ends the grapple removes the embedded spike and deals 1d10 slashing damage to your opponent.


-----

I think it's the second third fourth wordiest advanced alteration, and I've pondered just removing all the grapple stuff (just have it always detatch). At some point I want to make a proper PDF and spread the class around, so stuff like "this ability is too complicated for its own good" is a concern.

It's definitely complex. It basically does two things - a DOT plus move-punishing, no matter what, and a grapple effect only if they're attached.

I would say... make them always detach. Make another feature for the grapple effect - it is a neat one, it's just too much to put in one feature. Maybe "Barbed Spikes"? Or this one could be Barbed and the other could be, I dunno, Strong Roots or something. Not sure whether that would require this or be separate from it.

I think the damage might be a bit high? Entirely separate from whether the numbers are appropriate for when you get it (you didn't specify a tier), just the different kinds of damage relative to each other. Losing an action is a high cost for tearing out already, without the damage; if you remove that damage and the per-turn damage, it becomes a much more interesting question of "lose an action, or take damage every move". Or maybe make it a small tick on every move and every action, and then make the tear-out damage scale with how long you left them in (up to a cap)? Not sure. Would need playtesting.

[Magikeeper]

It'd still be tier III spike. Right now the holes it fills are-
A) Tier III spike needs a "more damage" option. It's typical for classes to have a damage increase ~lv11 and none of the other spike alterations at tier III really fit the bill.
B) It gives more combat applications for tether.

--

Removal tweaks: Given that they're probably just going to get more spikes stuck in them next round, and the relatively small amount of damage, it's generally only worth removing the spikes when trying to run away anyway.

Having it be based on the number of rounds they've been afflicted could get bookeeping intensive, which is an issue for an ability that would be going off every round and possibly effecting large numbers of creatures (w/Shredding Volley & Piercing Rain). I'm trying to keep the constant burrowing effect simple to run.

--

On damage on actions: A long time ago I did play around with a version of burrowing spike that dealt damage whenever the foe took an action instead of DOT. Then I realized that most foes are going to take an action every turn anyway. It would make the effect stronger against foes with legendary actions, but I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Hrm, "Rooting Spike" better fits how I imagine the effect looking.

Maybe...

2fp – Rooting Spikes
You can form spikes that embed themselves in any creatures or objects they damage, taking root/expanding/unfolding/etc to push themselves deeper into your foes. Creatures and objects with one or more spikes embedded in them take 3 points of slashing damage at the start of each of your turns. Creatures so afflicted also take 5 points of slashing damage whenever they use their movement.

An afflicted opponent can use an action to remove all spikes embedded in themselves, dealing 1d8 slashing damage to themselves in the process.

If the spike was directly attached to your body (Goring Spike, Deadly Quills) it detaches from you when embedding itself into a target. This ability can be used with the tether alteration, it stays connected to the 'rope'.

1fp - Latching Spikes (Requires Rooting Spikes)
You are capable of exerting finer control over your rooting spikes. If you damage a creature or object with a rooting spike that is still directly attached to your body (such as via the Goring Spike or Deadly Quills alteration), you may choose to have the spike remain attached to your body. If you do, you are effectively grappled by the target unless you are two or more size categories larger than them, in which case they are instead effectively grappled by you.

Unlike a normal grapple, you can end/automatically break free of all opponents grappling/grappled by you in this way as bonus action that removes the spike(s) and deals 1d8 slashing damage to each opponent. Any other effect that ends the grapple, such as your opponent releasing you, removes the embedded spike and deals 1d8 slashing damage to your opponent.

The rooting spike otherwise functions as normal (the opponent takes damage at the start of each of your turns, etc).

Damage of removal was determined for Latching Spike rather than Rooting Spike - I'd like it to stay the same and it's much more important for the former.

[Pampukin]

First, awesome work.
Second, I was working on a class like this (had no idea the ozodrin was a thing) based on the totemist, except its more like base natural weapon features and separate movement features, and the ability to combo them for added effects, might still write up something.
Third, really kept looking for a rolling ball of spikes-like ability.
Fourth, I am probably englishing wrong, its not my native tongue and my phone is trying to spellcheck everything to spanish.

[Magikeeper]

Third, really kept looking for a rolling ball of spikes-like ability.


You could use the Razor Fin alteration, cover yourself in spikes, and fluff your destructive movement as being a rolling spike death ball. Other fin-trait abilities could then be used to shove opponents and such while 'rolling'.

Each of the offensive traits went in a different direction combat-style wise, with Fin being the movement fighting trait.

--------

Say, something said to me earlier reminded me of my pondering on Strange Movement: It's always been an Ozodrin staple but.. it no longer has an obvious fluff relationship with the class. Only Primary(Orifice) Ozodrin are doing strange stomach stuff as early as level 7. I'm thinking of tweaking the ability. Not sure how though...

[Qwertystop]

I would agree that it feels less relevant now that Ozodrin has solidified as "freeform shapeshifter" with the specifically extradimensional-eldritch fluff falling by the wayside. Also, it's not explicitly Stomach-related anymore.

One idea: Drop it. Instead, give every type of feature a teleportation ability as a Tier 2, with different limitations. I like the idea of making each one's limitations based conceptually on the feature.

Eyes are for looking. You can teleport to anywhere you can see, and from which you can see your original location. Peepholes no (can't see back), reflections yes.
Tentacles are for touching. Touch something, teleport to anywhere else from which you can touch that thing. Line of sight not required. Put a limit on object size, so "the ground" doesn't count unless it's a distinct boulder or something.
Flesh is for feeling. Not sure what to do here. Teleport things-that-injure-you, instead of yourself? Alternately, flesh is for being, teleport to parts of yourself. Good for going back if you leave a trail of blood or something, bad for going farther forwards unless you can throw bits of yourself really far.
Orifices are for eating. Eating is fundamentally destructive. If you eat the distance from here to there, it's gone (temporarily), so someone else can follow you. You can't go through nonempty space.
Spikes are for combat. Teleportation must be followed by an attack, on a target in-line for your direction of travel. You don't get the attack for free - you still have to take the action. So this one is less useful for noncombat movement (someone must be there to take the hit).
Puppets are for secrets. You can't be observed when you leave, and you can't be observed arriving. Observed locations count as inside solid objects - be shunted out, and take damage for the distance. Also, you swap with a puppet.
Fins are for swimming, and more generally, for movement. Teleporting isn't moving, not really; you just stop being one place and start being another place; on the other hand, the fin is all about mobility. So... Many microjumps. Teleport distance limited to 10', but you can make as many teleports in one action as you like, as long as all intermediate locations are valid (not occupied by another object, not in midair unless you can fly, et cetera). Also, each 10' jump only counts as 5' for the limit, so you can go faster/farther than the other kinds as long as you have safe stepping-stones.

All of these features would share one 5'-per-class-level-per-day limit, which would be stated in the Strange Movement feature.

I'm not sure about some of these - the limits are of vastly different scope. On the other hand, all the features are already different in what they can do, that's the point, so maybe it's okay if some are better at teleporting than others.

[Magikeeper]

Hrm, folding it into some tier abilities might work.. although maybe I should just drop it entirely. Most traits already have some sort of existence fading in/out thing at tier IV. Your orifice idea is particularly cool, but it might be too difficult to describe in a way that wouldn't imply all sorts of side effects.

Still, I'd need to replace the ability either way:

Trait Overflow - Starting at 9th level you may, as an action, choose a single advance alteration you have currently made (such as "Poisonous Spikes"). You regain all uses of the ability(s) granted by that alteration as though you had completed a short rest. The chosen alteration must be from your primary or secondary traits.

Once you use this ability, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

-----

I made it primary OR secondary because Tentacle never gets an alteration with per-rest uses, and Fin doesn't get any until Tier IV. Anyway, it also helps stabilize the class in games that have unusually few short rests per long rest.

Edit: I've realized the it's possible to use a trait archtype that cannot use this ability at level 9, and has very little use of it at 11. Removing all restrictions at least makes it useful to such archtypes at 11. Being able to use a tertiery low-tier ability a few more times per day is a fine use anyway.

Since you get Tier II at level 6, getting the extra uses at level 7 seems to soon. So this would make Abnormal Perspective the level 7 ability.

Frankly, I'm not that pleased with Abnormal Perspective either. None of the rest of the class is focused on being buddies with aberrations, and aberrations aren't known for having an easier time getting along with other horrors. It feels like a random filler ability because.. well, it IS a random filler ability. But it's tied to fluff there isn't any real reason for the rest of the class to follow.

Maybe..


Obedient Anatomy - Starting at 7th level, your internal organs and processes become mildly responsive to your will.
You have advantage on saving throws made against poisons and diseases.

Furthermore, you may use a bonus action to exercise conscious control over one or more of your automatic bodily functions (control your heartbeat, stop sweating, etc).

^It's sufficiently minor and serves as a better lead-up to the body altering later abilities.

--------

Flesh Over Mind - Starting at 7th level you may, as an action, suppress any of your memories and/or create false memories. You may choose for this to effect both of your forms, or just one of them (Worldly Guise or True Nature).

Your memories return to their original state whenever you complete a short or long rest. Starting at 17th level, you may instead have the changes last until a some sort of trigger occurs ("10 hours pass", "I see the color red", "I fear for my life", etc).

^This is neat, but really focused for a certain kind of character. Also, at level 17 you could already do this (only better) every long rest and that's probably the better place for it.

[Magikeeper]

So, I replaced Strange Movement and Aberrant Perspective with Colluding Anatomy and Trait Overflow. Keeping the main ability fluff a bit more focused.

I created a Tier II, more flavorful Strange Movement alteration for Fin (Which led to a fin overhaul).

I also created a Tier II alteration for Puppet that basically lets you trade places with a puppet, which led to a couple other Puppet changes.

Tentacle needed to have a low-tier alteration that can be used with overflow, so I ended up moving Magic Ripping Tendrils down and changing it to fit Tier II power level (might reduce uses to 1/r). Added Magic Disarraying Tentacles to Tier IV.

I'd go more into it but then everyone's eyes would glaze over so... um.. thoughts on changes would be appreciated!

[Qwertystop]

The phrasing on the X-times-per-rest limits seems awkward. I'm not sure off the top of my head of a better phrasing, since you seem to be conspicuously avoiding phrasings like "You may use this {N times} per short rest".

[JBPuffin]

The phrasing on the X-times-per-rest limits seems awkward. I'm not sure off the top of my head of a better phrasing, since you seem to be conspicuously avoiding phrasings like "You may use this {N times} per short rest".

That's one thing I miss about 4e's syntax - being aloud to use "per short rest" as shorthand for "you regain all uses of this ability after a short or long rest."

Which ability has this wording?
I can't find it right now, but once i take a look I should have an alternative that might sound better to you, Qwerty.

[Qwertystop]

That's one thing I miss about 4e's syntax - being aloud to use "per short rest" as shorthand for "you regain all uses of this ability after a short or long rest."

Which ability has this wording?
I can't find it right now, but once i take a look I should have an alternative that might sound better to you, Qwerty.

At minimum, the two new Tier II alterations. Probably other things as well.

What, doesn't the system have a standard phrasing for this? I know 3.x was perfectly fine with saying "per day".

[JBPuffin]

At minimum, the two new Tier II alterations. Probably other things as well.

What, doesn't the system have a standard phrasing for this? I know 3.x was perfectly fine with saying "per day".

It does, but it's that long chunk I just quoted (sometimes short rest isn't there, sometimes it's "the use", and so on). Easy enough to copy and paste, but it's quite long.

For Essence Shift and similar...Lemme see here...

"You may use this ability a number of times equal to 2 plus the number of times you make this alteration, and regain all uses of this ability after a short or long rest." Slightly more compact, at least?

[Magikeeper]

What, doesn't the system have a standard phrasing for this? I know 3.x was perfectly fine with saying "per day".

I based the phrasing on the 5E fighter's Action Surge class feature, which is:


Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or Long Rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level, you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.


Another variation is:


You can use this feature twice. You regain expended uses when you finish a short or Long Rest.


Other abilities seem to use a similar wording. I agree that "X per rest" would be less verbose, but I would prefer to match the wording used by the official classes whenever possible.


I suppose I could remove the "Using this ability is straining - " part, however? Have it more directly match the action surge wording.

------------------------

Edit: Later is now:
@JBPuffin: An advanced alteration can't be made multiple times unless is says so, so the wording has to include "You may..." in it. With that addition, I don't think it'd end up being much more compact.

[JBPuffin]

I suppose I could remove the "Using this ability is straining - " part, however? Have it more directly match the action surge wording.

I definitely suggest removing that tagline before describing the usage limits, as they're actually rather loose for something supposedly difficult. A better model would actually be the paladin's Divine Sense - "You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses." Add the "short or" before long rest and change the number to "2 + the number of times you make this alteration," and...you end up with what I got. Huh. I didn't even remember that's how Divine Sense worked until I pulled it up in the PHB...

Edit: "You may make this alteration multiple times. You may use this ability a number of times equal to 2 + the number of times you make this alteration, and regain all uses of this ability after a short or long rest."

[Magikeeper]

I finally changed the per-rest alteration wording to remove the "straining" bit.

Also, Burrowing Spike has been replaced with a new version of Rooting Spike. I decided the latching effect was too niche and wordy to be worth it, and the damage-upon-moving only worked for specific fluff and required more memorization than just damage-at-start. The damage-at-start was increased from 3 to 5, and the damage upon removal was decreased to 1d6. It also deals piercing instead of slashing each round, but still does slashing when removed.

It also only effects creatures now. The object stuff created a bunch of niche complications and most objects you'd actually want to destroy have hardness >5 so the ability wouldn't have much of an effect.

----

Deadly Quills have been made more generally useful (effects melee non-reach attacks as well as body part ones) and can be retracted/extended as a reaction/bonus action so you don't have to look like a porcupine 24/7 to use it. I'd really like playtest data on this one (and Rooting Spike, for that matter)...

-----

Frenzied Contraction has been replaced with Quivering Tether, which is just somewhat more versatile Frenzied Contraction. It's not much wordier than it was before we removed the latching stuff.


-----------------

As always, comments and playtest data are very welcome!

[Darthteddybear]

I made an account just so I could post to this, I find the idea of this class really cool I will send play-test data if my DM will let me play it.

[Magikeeper]

I made an account just so I could post to this, I find the idea of this class really cool I will send play-test data if my DM will let me play it.

Hope that worked out for you!

[thargent]

I've been following this thread on and off for years now, and just now made an account to share my joy with you that I'm finally playing an Ozodrin. Currently level 3.
We rolled for stats (which is important to mention because it left us with an average equivalent of like, 40 point buy), so my data might be a bit skewed.

We've had a minimum of combat so far, and I am never going to take my points out of Ravenous Maws: They're very helpful for my self-assigned role as the party's tank.

[sallyisgreat]

I've been interested in this thread for a long time. Just wondering if you have any plans to format the class and post it on dmsguil d in the future. Even if it ends up costing something to purchase I'm all for it.

[Magikeeper]

@thargent - Sounds great! Thank you for sharing, I always wonder if folk are actually playing this class outside of my own tests. How has the class fared so far?

@sallyisgreat - I've considered doing so. Uploading it there would likely get the Ozodrin more widely played, which would be very nice given the truckload of work that's gone into this class. Why that hasn't been done already:

1) I'd still like to get a little more playtesting feedback before creating what would effectively be a finalized document - the class has handled fine thus far but, to give an example, I have no data on Primary(Puppet) Ozodrin at all and very little data regarding Ozodrin at high levels. Theoretically there shouldn't be any issues - research into what other classes can do, DPS capabilities, etc was certainly done - but I'd like to have that confirmed. Obviously it'd be infeasible to test every single archtype combination, but having all 7 Primary possibilities tested at low, mid, and high levels would be nice.

2) Formatting that will take a ton of time. I'd also like to get some actual art for the document, and the person I'd likely ask to do it is completely swamped for the foreseeable future.

[Magikeeper]

With playtesting resuming, I've been pondering about Ozodrin-As-PDF, which led me thinking about the current wording of "Manifest Form" - it's basically a carry over of the old terms and I think it could be clearer.

So the change would be:

Manifest Form
In addition to your original form, henceforth referred to as your “Worldly Guise”, you have a second form – your True Nature. This second form is altered via your other class abilities, and is otherwise the same as your worldly guise. Whichever form you are currently in is considered to be your “true form” for spells and effects. You may freely switch from one form to another as an action and/or as a bonus action.

To:

Manifest Form
You have two forms. The first, your “Worldly Form” looks like your old self without alteration. The second, your “Inner Nature”, can be modified by your Trait Archetype and Form Points class abilities. You can change which of these forms you’re in as an action and/or bonus action, and remain in that form indefinitely.

To an Ozodrin like yourself, this ability is as mundane as a human combing their hair. Spells and effects treat whichever of these forms you’re currently in as your “Original Form”. Upon death, an Ozodrin remains in whichever of these forms it was in.

I'm thinking of changing Worldly Guise / True Nature -> Worldly Form / Inner Nature so it's less confusing how whichever one you're in counts as your Original / True Form.


I also considered just altering it so you only have one form, but that would make wording the abilities a lot harder.

That said, does anyone have an opinion on the Manifest Form wordings?

[Qwertystop]

With playtesting resuming, I've been pondering about Ozodrin-As-PDF, which led me thinking about the current wording of "Manifest Form" - it's basically a carry over of the old terms and I think it could be clearer.

So the change would be:

Manifest Form
In addition to your original form, henceforth referred to as your “Worldly Guise”, you have a second form – your True Nature. This second form is altered via your other class abilities, and is otherwise the same as your worldly guise. Whichever form you are currently in is considered to be your “true form” for spells and effects. You may freely switch from one form to another as an action and/or as a bonus action.

To:

Manifest Form
You have two forms. The first, your “Worldly Form” looks like your old self without alteration. The second, your “Inner Nature”, can be modified by your Trait Archetype and Form Points class abilities. You can change which of these forms you’re in as an action and/or bonus action, and remain in that form indefinitely.

To an Ozodrin like yourself, this ability is as mundane as a human combing their hair. Spells and effects treat whichever of these forms you’re currently in as your “Original Form”. Upon death, an Ozodrin remains in whichever of these forms it was in.

I'm thinking of changing Worldly Guise / True Nature -> Worldly Form / Inner Nature so it's less confusing how whichever one you're in counts as your Original / True Form.


I also considered just altering it so you only have one form, but that would make wording the abilities a lot harder.

That said, does anyone have an opinion on the Manifest Form wordings?

The new wording is better.

[Magikeeper]

Well alright then, change made!

I also greatly overhauled Aberrant Metamorphosis while I was at it.

Aberrant Metamorphosis
Starting at 10th level you are forevermore an aberration instead of your previous type (usually humanoid). This changes how some spells and effects interact with you. Furthermore, you gain the ability to modify your Worldly Guise after a long rest. This works like altering your True Nature except as follows:

> You may add/remove non-trait alteration body parts, up to a maximum of however many you would have had without this ability (For example, you could remove your normal legs one day and regain them a different day or move them from one part of your body to another). You can also change the general shape of your torso, neck, and head.
> You cannot remove any alterations made this way when entering your True Nature (For example, if you make an advanced alteration to your worldly guise that alteration is also present when you enter your true nature, just as though it were one of your non-alteration granted abilities/body parts). You can remove the alterations as normal the next time you change your worldly guise.
> You can freely change the form but not capabilities of your internal organs. For example, you can choose to be filled with a semi-solid goo that performs all of the actions your internal organs used to perform but you would still need to eat/drink/etc as normal. This anatomy change may protect you from certain kinds of attacks at the DM's option.

Aberrant Metamorphosis
Starting at 10th level you are forevermore an aberration instead of your previous type (usually humanoid). This changes how some spells and effects interact with you.

Furthermore, you may use your Base Alterations and currently chosen Advance Alterations to modify your Worldly Form instead of / in addition to your Inner Nature. This does NOT let you choose any more Advance Alterations than your form points allow. Any Advance Alteration costs/effects based on how many times you've currently made them to your Inner Nature are instead based on how many times you've made them to either of your forms.

Finally, you gain the ability modify your non-trait body parts (such as your normal legs). This ability works as follows:

> Unlike other alterations, you can only modify non-trait body parts after completing a long rest.
> Changes made this way effect both your Inner Nature AND your Worldly Form.
> You can change the general shape and features of your Torso, Neck, and Head. For example, you could become a ball of flesh with limbs or some kind of dog-person.
> You may add/remove/relocate non-trait alteration body parts, up to a maximum of however many you would have had without this ability. For example, you could remove your normal eyes one day and regain them a different day or move them from one part of your body to another.
> You can freely change the form but not capabilities of your internal organs. For example, you can choose to be filled with a semi-solid goo that performs all of the actions your internal organs used to perform but you would still need to eat/drink/etc as normal. This anatomy change may protect you from certain kinds of attacks at the DM's option.

I think the new version is much clearer. It also changes the ability mechanically - Altering non-trait body parts can still only be done after a long rest but your Worldly Form can be modified by your Base/Advance Alterations whenever you could modify your Inner Nature. This avoids the issue of potentially having Advance Alterations you can't remove after a short rest. The only reasons to limit using the alterations on your worldly form are fluff and at level 10 you become an aberration anyway.

Thoughts?

[Qwertystop]

Well alright then, change made!

I also greatly overhauled Aberrant Metamorphosis while I was at it.

Aberrant Metamorphosis
Starting at 10th level you are forevermore an aberration instead of your previous type (usually humanoid). This changes how some spells and effects interact with you. Furthermore, you gain the ability to modify your Worldly Guise after a long rest. This works like altering your True Nature except as follows:

> You may add/remove non-trait alteration body parts, up to a maximum of however many you would have had without this ability (For example, you could remove your normal legs one day and regain them a different day or move them from one part of your body to another). You can also change the general shape of your torso, neck, and head.
> You cannot remove any alterations made this way when entering your True Nature (For example, if you make an advanced alteration to your worldly guise that alteration is also present when you enter your true nature, just as though it were one of your non-alteration granted abilities/body parts). You can remove the alterations as normal the next time you change your worldly guise.
> You can freely change the form but not capabilities of your internal organs. For example, you can choose to be filled with a semi-solid goo that performs all of the actions your internal organs used to perform but you would still need to eat/drink/etc as normal. This anatomy change may protect you from certain kinds of attacks at the DM's option.

Aberrant Metamorphosis
Starting at 10th level you are forevermore an aberration instead of your previous type (usually humanoid). This changes how some spells and effects interact with you.

Furthermore, you may use your Base Alterations and currently chosen Advance Alterations to modify your Worldly Form instead of / in addition to your Inner Nature. This does NOT let you choose any more Advance Alterations than your form points allow. Any Advance Alteration costs/effects based on how many times you've currently made them to your Inner Nature are instead based on how many times you've made them to either of your forms.

Finally, you gain the ability modify your non-trait body parts (such as your normal legs). This ability works as follows:

> Unlike other alterations, you can only modify non-trait body parts after completing a long rest.
> Changes made this way effect both your Inner Nature AND your Worldly Form.
> You can change the general shape and features of your Torso, Neck, and Head. For example, you could become a ball of flesh with limbs or some kind of dog-person.
> You may add/remove/relocate non-trait alteration body parts, up to a maximum of however many you would have had without this ability. For example, you could remove your normal eyes one day and regain them a different day or move them from one part of your body to another.
> You can freely change the form but not capabilities of your internal organs. For example, you can choose to be filled with a semi-solid goo that performs all of the actions your internal organs used to perform but you would still need to eat/drink/etc as normal. This anatomy change may protect you from certain kinds of attacks at the DM's option.

I think the new version is much clearer. It also changes the ability mechanically - Altering non-trait body parts can still only be done after a long rest but your Worldly Form can be modified by your Base/Advance Alterations whenever you could modify your Inner Nature. This avoids the issue of potentially having Advance Alterations you can't remove after a short rest. The only reasons to limit using the alterations on your worldly form are fluff and at level 10 you become an aberration anyway.

Thoughts?

1: "Advance" should really be "Advanced".
2: "how many times you've made them to either of your forms" should be either "how many times you've made them to both of your forms" if it sums, or "how many times you've made them to one of your forms (whichever has more)" if it doesn't sum. Or perhaps "how many times you've made them to your current form". Possibly there's a better phrasing, but the current one is unclear.
3: It's more generally unclear – Say I'm level 10. Without this ability I have 11 form points, so I could take five 2fp alterations and a single 1fp alteration. With this ability, can I make five 2fp alterations and a 1fp alteration to my Inner Nature and a different set of five-and-one to my Worldly Form, or is the total limited (so I could, for example, put three-and-one on my Inner Nature and the rest on my Worldly Form)?
4: "Changes made this way effect"... pretty sure that should be "affect".
5: "Torso, Neck, and Head" shouldn't be capitalized.
6: The first point and the last three points on the final ability can basically be combined and simplified a lot without significant mechanical change; it ends up as roughly "You can change your non-Trait body shape however you want when you complete a long rest. This does not give you new natural weapons, change your movement speed, or change or remove basic requirements of your body (such as the need to eat, drink, and breathe). It may provide protection from certain specific-anatomy-based attacks, at the DM's option." (and then tack on examples like "you can be a goo-filled skin-bag, a ball of arms, or a dog-monster").

Also, if you're planning the PDF release as any sort of finalization (which it will be; the PDF will almost certainly circulate if people take interest), you should probably try to get someone to do a serious editing pass. And more structured playtesting, perhaps.

[Magikeeper]

It'll likely be a good long while before any sort of PDF release, but yes it'll need to be carefully gone through and de-typo-fied.

Anyhow, based on the questions the re-wording was much more confusing than I thought. I'd explain intent, but I'd rather see if I can reword it so the intent is clear. >.>

On Affect and Effect: *Consults Google* You... you might actually have used "affect" correctly. Good lord, you really are an otherworldly horror. "The Letters of a Pale Sun", perhaps? Or maybe "The Tapping Sound's End". Something like that, don't eat me.

Anyway, that'd be:

-----------
Furthermore, you may use your Base Alterations to modify your Worldly Form. In addition, whenever you modify your Inner Nature with an Advanced Alteration you may choose to have that advanced alteration affect both your Worldly Form and your Inner Nature.
-----------

The re-wording did tweak the mechanics a bit, in that it is no longer possible to have an advanced alteration just affecting one's Worldly Form.

As for shortening the list somehow, I'll think about it. I feel that's an area where someone completely new to the class will be more confused than someone more familiar with the Ozodrin. Also, being able to specifically re-add what you remove becomes important if a PC has body parts they can't mimic with their Ozodrin class abilities (Like wings if not focusing on Fin, or anything with unique mechanics attached to it) or body parts that would cost form points to mimic instead of being free (like noses). I'd rather be a little longer and very clear than shorter and potentially confusing for this one.

Aberrant Metamorphosis
Starting at 10th level you are forevermore an aberration instead of your previous type (usually humanoid). This changes how some spells and effects interact with you.

Furthermore, you may use your Base Alterations to modify your Worldly Form. In addition, whenever you modify your Inner Nature with an Advanced Alteration you may choose to have that advanced alteration affect both your Worldly Form and your Inner Nature.

Finally, you gain the ability modify your non-trait body parts (such as your normal legs). This ability works as follows:

> Unlike other alterations, you can only modify non-trait body parts after completing a long rest.
> Changes made this way affect both your Inner Nature AND your Worldly Form.
> You can change the general shape and features of your torso, neck, and head. For example, you could become a ball of flesh with limbs or some kind of dog-person.
> You may add/remove/relocate non-trait alteration body parts, up to a maximum of however many you would have had without this ability. For example, you could remove your normal eyes one day and regain them a different day or move them from one part of your body to another.
> You can freely change the form but not capabilities of your internal organs. For example, you can choose to be filled with a semi-solid goo that performs all of the actions your internal organs used to perform but you would still need to eat/drink/etc as normal. This anatomy change may protect you from certain kinds of attacks at the DM's option.

[sallyisgreat]

I really enjoy the mechanics of this class, but have been wondering about what kind of lore one would use for a character with this class. I enjoy the bit where it talks about being severed from the world, but it is very open ended. Anyone that has played this class and can share their background, I would be interested to hear it.

[Qwertystop]

I really enjoy the mechanics of this class, but have been wondering about what kind of lore one would use for a character with this class. I enjoy the bit where it talks about being severed from the world, but it is very open ended. Anyone that has played this class and can share their background, I would be interested to hear it.

I've tried a few times but never in a game that went very far (and with a different version of the class, in 3.P). The first one thought he was normal – that is, that everyone could and did shift freely, teleport short distances, etc. (but it was "more polite" to e.g. make a point of going through B when going from A to C). His backstory didn't check out against actual history; every PC in that game was half-siblings initially meeting up for their mutual father's funeral; the father never actually met my character's mother (but they had a lot of near-misses and he slipped in from a maybe). He didn't know that last bit. Game was a PbP on here, died when DM left, came back when replacement DM turned up, died again when the replacement left.

The next one had always been an Ozodrin and was strongly discouraged from using them early on by a nonparental caregiver, without any good explanation. Came up with his own explanation, which was that everyone was acting and nobody gave him the script, but he should try not to disrupt things too badly. Never talked about this, rarely broke role. That game made it about half a session before I left – I'm not good at in-person.

[sallyisgreat]

I had a potential character backstory. My character is an aasimar and this granted him his powers as an ozodrin. This is inspired by stories of the strange and alien nephilim, another take on half-angels. His father, the angel Thorzial, had him in order to act as a mortal example to inspire a newborn god, statted as a hundun in The Tome of Foes, in order to teach it to become a diety of good. The character would be reluctant, and have arguments with a tiny Angel on his shoulder that only he can see.

[Magikeeper]

The one I played the longest did make a big deal out of being an Ozodrin / had a more elaborate origin (more on that below, see the spoiler box), but most other PCs, NPCS, PCs I've been in the same group as / DM'd for didn't make that their focus.

The simple "somewhere in my family tree lies either a horrifying otherworldly horror and/or someone that had quite the adventure" has been the usual backstory. Not all sorcerers make why they're a sorcerer the main focus of their backstory - that's just what they are. Many Ozodrin PCs I've had/seen likewise didn't make a big deal of their origin. Granted, they virtually always creeped out the other party members just by existing (even if they were otherwise friendly individuals).

It's like how I had this one wizard that had a long backstory explaining why he was an illusionist specifically while most other illusionist PCs I played just chose the school because they liked it.

I also did the "was the victim of a mad science experiment" route once but that campaign was too short to really work with the concept~


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One I played the longest:

The Ozodrin I played the longest (~4-5 years, first the original 3.5 version and then the 3.5 update) had encountered a unique opportunity in the far realms during a multiplanar war as a minor soldier, effectively getting broken down and having to pull themselves together in what felt like an eternity to become that level 1 Ozodrin. There was more to it than that, but that was the gist of that part of their backstory.

For them, becoming what they later called an Ozodrin was more a sacrifice they had consciously made to become something unique enough to really make a difference.They were pretty much the embodiment of Chaotic Good, or at least the party/DM felt so (I generally left alignment blank on my chars and just played their personality). "Cthulu Jesus" was a term thrown around OOC a few times during the later campaigning years :P.

Some of the campaign stuff was pretty interesting (well I think it all was but I digress), as I rarely see folk talk about arguments on the Chaos/Law axis of the 3.5 alignments while basically all of the heated inter-party stuff in that game was between the Ozodrin and the Paladin arguing about how to best help others. It was a terrible day when someone finally gave the Paladin a Freedom-Of-Movement granting item. >.>

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The Ozodrin I played the second longest (5E, Primary(Spike), Secondary (Eye, Flesh)), had a fleshed-out backstory but that was a campaign where even being a regular spellcaster was a very mysterious inherited trait tied to a secret of the setting so being an Ozodrin specifically wasn't a big(er) deal than anything else.

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Also for some reason my Ozodrin PCs pretty much always end up as the party diplomat despite being about as suave as a post and a little quirky. Yes, even in the game with the Far-Realms incursion where being an aberration was a serious problem*. Why, why is the horrifying tentacle monster always the party face!?
*Nothing says "best choice for diplomat" like having to first convince the other side to not kill you on sight every time.

[sallyisgreat]

I know I've asked before, but after the site went down for awhile it I thought the question relevant again. Since this is currently the only place to get this class I was wondering if you were still considering posting a version on dmsguild, or if not, maybe sharing a google document with a copy of the most recent version. The class seems in a mostly finished, or at least playable, state currently, so it would be nice to have a version of it available without using these forums. Thanks again for spending so much effort in making what is probably my favorite piece of homebrew out there.

[Qwertystop]

Looking through this in preparation for an upcoming game (my first in years). Noticed something – the quick-build section at the top says:

First, your highest ability score should either be Strength (Orifice, Flesh, Tentacle, Fin) or Dexterity (Tentacle, Fin, Spike) or Charisma (Eye, Puppet) depending on your primary trait and how you intend on attacking in combat.
but while Tentacle has finesse, and Spike has a ranged-weapon option for Dexterity, Fin doesn't have finesse. Until you get wings, because wings are finesse weapons when regular fins aren't. This seems like a mistake?

[Magikeeper]

It is clearly a divine rule, a fact of the universe, that no matter how many months I check in on this thread someone is going to post as soon as I stop for a couple months. Every. Single. Time.


I know I've asked before, but after the site went down for awhile it I thought the question relevant again. Since this is currently the only place to get this class I was wondering if you were still considering posting a version on dmsguild, or if not, maybe sharing a google document with a copy of the most recent version. The class seems in a mostly finished, or at least playable, state currently, so it would be nice to have a version of it available without using these forums. Thanks again for spending so much effort in making what is probably my favorite piece of homebrew out there.

There are two/three things I still want to do, and they're mostly finished so I should sit down and DO THEM at some point. There is technically a 4th thing - and that would be to get art for a pdf version - but my artist associate is far too busy on other projects so that'd be at least another year.

The other two/three things I want to do are:

> Greatly revamp the puppet trait. Right now puppet is.. rough... and not all that great as a primary. It has some things going for it but aside from novelty I don't see people choosing it as a primary more than once if at that. It's not all that exciting at low levels. I have no playtest data for puppet primaries, because that's how unpopular it is. Also the Tier IV ability True Spawn, although very cool, causes setting issues (As it allows for a single ozodrin to eventually spawn an entire - albeit no that strong and infertile - race by itself. It'd take a long time, but high level Ozodrin don't die of old age soooo....). I feel that might stop the class from getting into games.
^This is actually almost done, I have a re-write of the entire trait ready to go, I suppose I could do the swap this weekend.

> Do something with the tier IV fin alteration "Grand Charge" - It's also cool, but under very specific conditions that are unlikely to ever come up in a game it allow an ozodrin to slaughter thousands in one round. It's not really a big deal - you'd need the enemy to line up an entire army just right and if you pull that off you've practically earned the charge - but I fear the possibility of it also hindering game acceptance.

> I have also been very seriously considering moving "unarmored defense" to level 2 as the current Ozodrin is a super-strong 1-level dip but a fairly reasonable 2-level dip. I'm not sure this is the change I want to make, but the sheer power of a 1-level dip concerns me even with the con/cha 13 restriction.

IIRC I had some other tiny tweaks as well but most of those were clarifying how abilities worked and such.

After that I should start posting it more places, I agree. The art just isn't going to be available anytime soon and I should just accept that.

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@Qwertystop: You are correct, it is an error! Now I just need to remember if the error is the guide... or fins not having finesse... I'm pretty sure the error is fins not having finesse but I need to go back over that. I can do that this weekend as well.

[Qwertystop]

It is clearly a divine rule, a fact of the universe, that no matter how many months I check in on this thread someone is going to post as soon as I stop for a couple months. Every. Single. Time.



There are two/three things I still want to do, and they're mostly finished so I should sit down and DO THEM at some point. There is technically a 4th thing - and that would be to get art for a pdf version - but my artist associate is far too busy on other projects so that'd be at least another year.

The other two/three things I want to do are:

> Greatly revamp the puppet trait. Right now puppet is.. rough... and not all that great as a primary. It has some things going for it but aside from novelty I don't see people choosing it as a primary more than once if at that. It's not all that exciting at low levels. I have no playtest data for puppet primaries, because that's how unpopular it is. Also the Tier IV ability True Spawn, although very cool, causes setting issues (As it allows for a single ozodrin to eventually spawn an entire - albeit no that strong and infertile - race by itself. It'd take a long time, but high level Ozodrin don't die of old age soooo....). I feel that might stop the class from getting into games.
^This is actually almost done, I have a re-write of the entire trait ready to go, I suppose I could do the swap this weekend.

> Do something with the tier IV fin alteration "Grand Charge" - It's also cool, but under very specific conditions that are unlikely to ever come up in a game it allow an ozodrin to slaughter thousands in one round. It's not really a big deal - you'd need the enemy to line up an entire army just right and if you pull that off you've practically earned the charge - but I fear the possibility of it also hindering game acceptance.

> I have also been very seriously considering moving "unarmored defense" to level 2 as the current Ozodrin is a super-strong 1-level dip but a fairly reasonable 2-level dip. I'm not sure this is the change I want to make, but the sheer power of a 1-level dip concerns me even with the con/cha 13 restriction.

IIRC I had some other tiny tweaks as well but most of those were clarifying how abilities worked and such.

After that I should start posting it more places, I agree. The art just isn't going to be available anytime soon and I should just accept that.

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@Qwertystop: You are correct, it is an error! Now I just need to remember if the error is the guide... or fins not having finesse... I'm pretty sure the error is fins not having finesse but I need to go back over that. I can do that this weekend as well.

I think the main issue with Puppet is it's really weird both thematically and mechanically – it's the only thing that's not a readily envisionable ordinary body part, the best analogy I could find was "anglerfish, I guess" and that's not very close. And then, as far as what it actually does – they can move within 5' of you, and then you can have them attack within 5' of them. So... basically, a Puppet primary is the reach-weapon option? But it's never explicitly stated like that, and it's weirdly put together, in that your attack range with puppets without any range extension is not the same as it would be with reach weapons. And some of it seems to imply that puppets can't leave your 5' square without range extensions, but 5' away from you is plenty to be in an adjacent square. But then, since base features are free and Mass Assault can trigger all your puppets to attack at once... if it's one puppet in each square adjacent to you, you can probably get three puppets attacking one enemy for 3d8+(3*CHA) untyped damage at first level. If puppets share your space, because they're tiny and part of you... then it's unbounded, anything within 5' of you is within 5' of the swarm of hundreds of thousands of tiny dolls you're covered in (two puppets per six seconds since you first became an Ozodrin, minus any moments when you needed to use an action or bonus action to do something other than make puppets).

You can't do much other than use them as weird reach weapons (plus a Charm effect) until tier 2, at which point it's still very expensive in FP to do much. You need Advanced and a range extension to have them be capable of doing much more than a ten-foot pole could, and Collapsing to even approach the additional safety provided by such a pole. Oh, but getting extra distance on them could let you do weird things with AOOs, by spreading them out so that your threatened area is large but has holes in it... but you need a lot of extra range to do that, and Advanced to broaden their actions enough to let you take reactions, and then if you don't also put Collapsing on all of them the enemy could just attack whichever is closest, and it would take a lot to have that going on more than one side of yourself. And you still only get one extra attack per turn out of it for all that investment.

I get the general feeling that it mostly exists because previous versions of Ozodrin had it, but where Strange Movement fits well enough on fins, and all the stomach stuff streamlined pretty well into Orifice without losing too much (e.g. an Orifice/Flesh combo can still pretend to be architecture), Puppet is just weird and doesn't fit with the rest of the class so well. Lots more mechanical juggling, too, with the separate HP from Collapsing and the general positional management. It looks like it ought to be a summoner, but it really just isn't, until high levels.

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Grand Charge is differently weird. Unless I'm missing something there's not an easy way to actually turn that movement into an army-killer as you describe? Razor Fins isn't an attack so wouldn't auto-crit, for one thing. Multiassault gives you one attack at the end of it. Focus Surge gives you a second, which Multiassault turns into a third. Your bonus action is Razor Fins, so no using Martial Fins there for an extra attack at the end. That's three attacks, which auto-crit if they hit, plus Razor Fins, which seems like a pretty piddly amount of damage by the time you have T4 alterations. You'll provoke AOO from everyone you run past, too, unless you use one of those actions on Disengage instead of attacking. But it's not anything you couldn't do with earlier movement-boosters, just over a shorter distance. Sprinting Fins plus Specialized Physique plus Multiassault plus a Focus Surge gives you six times movement (base, plus double base from Sprinting Fins, plus Specialized lets you Multiassault and Focus Surge for another three dashes), still has the bonus for Razor Fins, doesn't have to be in a straight line, and you can get most of it (not the Focus Surge) constantly instead of once per day, and at a lower level.

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Meanwhile, things that are missing that could be potential replacements for some of this:

Fins let you dig fast early, but never graduate to landsharking. Four people with shovels still takes hours to dig a big enough hole for a grave, let alone a tunnel that needs to not collapse on itself.
Tentacles can't be made to give reach?
It would be quite nice, with how Fins allow attacks to be made while disengaging, to also get some kind of AOO booster – getting an AOO on people who move into your reach would be very good, if perhaps too powerful without something to moderate it.
These were from a separate branch of the class lineage than your own, but Hanuman's 3.PF Ozodrin had some neat creepy effects in skill tricks. Learning about things by tasting them with Palate and Food for Thought, Whispers to talk to people in line-of-sight silently, and Selective Invisibility to make people aware that you're present when they can't actually see you (note: does not make the hiding part easier). Very good for haunting-y stuff, but not just for that.


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Regarding the finesse-on-fins thing – it makes sense. You did put it on wings, and mobility goes with finesse thematically.

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Oh, regarding art – as I said, I'm playing this in an upcoming game, and at least seriously considering doing character art for it. Haven't had the time and energy lately, with everything going on, but I'm hopeful at getting around to it some time this month.

[Magikeeper]

@Qwertystop: On Grand..err.. Supreme Charge - Razor Fins prevent AoOs from anything you damage. As for the damage, no you're not missing anything (except maybe using sizing flesh / long tentacle alteration to hit far more enemies and Sprinting Fins to up Razor Fin damage) - one of the very specific requirements to pull it off is that you must be fighting an army comprised of low-level enemies that can be killed by 3d6 damage. In 3.5 it'd be a non-issue, but in 5E there's been a clear design philosophy to prevent high-level PCs from killing arbitrary numbers of weak enemies with one mighty flex. Supreme Charge lets you razor fin hundreds of enemies in one round if the positioning is right.

I don't imagine it ever coming up in an actual game unless the player actively tries to make it happen, but a level 16 PC basically having a 2/short rest 3d6 AOE line attack that's possibly over 1000 feet long might scare some 5E DMs.

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On the other non-puppet comments:
> There is a tentacle alteration that increases range (Long Tentacles), Palette ability (Which was first a bonus feat for the OG Ozodrin IIRC) became the Refined Palette tier II Orifice alteration, Eye trait has Proclaiming Gaze.
> 5E has definitely made a serious effort to stop PCs from being able to play burrow whack-a-mole and I think that's for the best as it is such a strong maneuver. That said, Digging Fins was kind of lackluster the one game I saw it used, it could probably be buffed to 8 people.

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PUPPET

@Qwertystop: Mass Assault is meant to be 1d8 no matter how many.. but honestly it's a badly written alteration and it was removed in the new version. I generally agree with everything you said - the current puppet does almost nothing until the upper tiers, and even then what it does is very expensive.

I'm going to share my Puppet rewrite here:


Base Alteration: You can freely form tiny puppets, marionettes, and the like made of flesh/fur/etc. These creations are connected to you by one or more thin cords (which can be flesh, hair, etc), and count as you for the purposes of spells and effects. You can move your puppets like any other body part. The cords can lengthen and retract as needed, with a maximum range of 5’. Puppets can benefit from any of your other alterations, although the puppets created by this base alteration cannot be used to attack or perform fine motions (although you can see through eyes you give them and the like). Puppets cannot move objects that weigh more than 1lb. Like any body part, damage dealt to puppets is dealt to you and spells and effects targeted at them are actually targeted at you. You cannot form puppets that are attached to other puppets, and all puppets you form must initially be within 5’ of yourself.


Tier 1 Advance Alterations:

1fp – Lethal Puppeteering
You can use your dexterity modifier instead of strength for determining the damage of your unarmed strikes. Furthermore, you can, as an action, have one of your puppets make an unarmed strike (1 + strength or dexterity modifier bludgeoning damage) against any creature within 5’ of them.

Whenever you or one of your puppets make a melee attack against a creature, you may use a bonus action to have a different puppet within 5’ of that creature make an unarmed strike against the same target. If both attacks hit, the target takes an additional 1d4 bludgeoning damage.

2fp - Parasite Puppets
You can, as an action, have one of your puppets attempt to attach themselves to a creature within 5' of them and within the maximum range of their cord. If unwilling, the creature must make a dexterity saving throw. On a success this effect does nothing. Otherwise, the puppet attaches itself to their body for 10 minutes (after which point it detaches). The effected creature cannot move beyond the maximum reach of your cords while so attached. A creature attached to your puppet(s), that is not charmed, may use an action to make a strength saving throw. On a success the creature detaches itself from the puppet. You can choose to end this effect ahead of time as an action or bonus action, detaching any number of puppets. If you move farther away from the creature than the maximum range of your cords the puppet automatically detatches.

You can telepathically communicate with creatures attached to your puppets. This does not give you the ability to comprehend languages you do not know, but images/feelings/etc can also be communicated this way.

1fp – Persuasive Parasites (Requires Parasite Puppet)
You can, as a bonus action, choose a creature currently attached to your puppet(s). That creature must make a wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature is charmed by you while attached to the puppet. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. If you or one of your companions do anything harmful to the creature it ceases to be charmed (but is still attached to your puppet). When this effect ends, the target knows they were charmed.

After using this ability, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you may use this ability before resting by one.

1fp – Puppet Self
Your body becomes more resilient and puppet-like, increasing your current and maximum HP by 5. When this alteration is unmade you lose 5 hit points and your maximum HP is reduced by 5.

Furthermore, as an action you may choose any period of time, such as “one minute” or “three weeks”, and enter a hibernation state for that period of time. While in this state you are unconscious and each week that passes counts as one hour for the purpose of starvation and dehydration. If you take damage while in this state this effect immediately ends.

1fp – Lengthy Cords
The maximum range of the cords connecting your puppets increases to 40’. Moving your puppets away from you uses your movement. For example, if you had 30' of movement you could move 15' with your puppets, then have one of your puppets move 15' away from you on their own.

If your puppets are in a different square they can be attacked separately, although they are still actually a part of you for all purposes including armor class (although puppets do not benefit from any worn armor / shields you possess).

1fp - Twitching Strings (Requires Lengthy Cords)
You can, a bonus action, gain additional movement for one turn. This increase is equal to your speed. This additional movement can only be used by your puppets (I.E. you can use it to move your puppets around but not yourself).

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Deadly Coordination (Requires Lethal Puppeteering)
Once per turn, when a creature is successfully attacked by at least two of your puppets in the same turn, or by you and at least one of your puppets in the same turn, or by at least one of your puppets whose attack roll had advantage due to a Help action, you may have the attacked creature take an additional 2d4 bludgeoning damage.

In addition, you can treat the Help action as a Puppet Trait alteration-granted ability for the purposes of Multi-Assault and Focus Surge. Furthermore, you can, as an action, have one of your puppets use the Help action. This functions as normal, except your puppets can also use the Help action to aid you or one of your other puppets in combat despite being a part of you. You still cannot use the Help action to give yourself advantage on an ability check.

2fp – Advanced Puppet (Requires Lengthy Cords)
You can form up to a single puppet at a time that is as large as you are or one size category smaller. This more powerful puppet can move any objects you could and can be used to perform any actions you could perform (such as attacking with a weapon). You must spend your own actions to have the puppet do this – it is still just a part of your body. Any use limitations are shared between yourself and all of your puppets (e.g. if an ability can only be used twice before resting, and both you and a puppet use that ability, neither you nor your puppets can use it again before resting). If you make the Swallow alteration (from the Orifice Trait), all creatures swallowed by your puppets end up in your stomach (you do not gain an arbitrary number of stomachs).

You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of advanced puppets you can have formed at the same time by one.

2fp – Collapsing Puppets
Whenever you use your base puppet alteration to change your Inner Nature you may choose to sacrifice up to 25hp, reducing your maximum HP by the same amount. Your puppets gain a separate HP total equal to twice the amount of HP sacrificed (50hp). If the puppets are dealt damage it is subtracted from their own HP instead of yours. If your puppet(s) would be reduced to 0 HP they are instead unformed. Whenever the puppet(s) are unformed (whether by damage or as a part of altering your Inner Nature) you regain HP equal to one half the amount of HP the puppet(s) had remaining (rounded down), and your maximum HP total is increased by one-half the unformed puppet(s) maximum HP.

You may choose to further define the HP totals of individual puppets so long as the total sum is equal to the amount you sacrificed when creating them, puppets that would have 0hp are simply not effected by this alteration. Non-damaging effects targeting the puppets still effect you as normal.

For example, you could choose to have all of your puppets share their 50hp. Damage dealt to any puppet would reduce this total, and at 0hp they would all unform. Alternately, you could give 25hp to one puppet and 25hp to another puppet. Damage dealt to other puppets would not effect the hp total of these chosen puppets, and damage dealt to any puppet not effected by this ability would be dealt to you as normal.

You cannot use this ability if any of your puppets already have an HP total (e.g. you cannot use it twice to give puppets even more hp).

1fp – Missing Strings
Your puppets may have cords that technically don’t exist. Such strings may have no form at all, or they might look transparent/ghostly. The range of your puppets does not change – if a puppet would move out of range it is restrained as though it still had a cord connecting it to you.

2fp - Essence Shift
You may, as an action, transfer your essence to one of your puppets. The puppet transforms into you while your former body transforms into the puppet. Any gear worn by you and/or the puppet remains at its previous location (if it does not fit you/your puppet it falls to the ground). Any other puppets connected to you either reform within 5’ of your new location or unform (your choice).

After using this ability twice, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to finish a short or long rest by one.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Empty Doll (Requires Advanced Puppet and Missing Strings)
The special puppets created by your Advanced Puppet alteration are no longer connected to you and have no maximum range, although they still count as being a part of your body. These empty dolls still do not have their own actions, although they can use their own movement. Such puppets have a walking speed of 30’.

1fp – Barrier Puppets (Requires Collapsing Puppets)
Spells and effects targeted at any of your puppets that have their own HP total do not effect you unless they affect the mind of their target. This also includes spells and effects whose area includes your puppets but not you (the puppets are still affected). Your own abilities, spells, etc treat the puppets as a part of you as normal.

Furthermore, you may choose to sacrifice up to 60hp instead of 25hp when using the ability granted by your Collapsing Puppets alteration.

1fp - Invasive Parasites (Requires Persuasive Parasites)
Whenever a creature fails their wisdom saving throw against the ability granted by the Persuasive Parasites alteration, you may choose to have that creature forget everything that happened during the past ten minutes. Furthermore, after the charm effect ends the target forgets everything that that happened while they were charmed. This may result in them not even knowing they were charmed in the first place.

Finally, when you use the ability granted by the Parasitic Puppets alteration you may increase the duration from from 10 minutes to one hour.

2fp – Doll Breaking Motions
You can, as a bonus action, deal 10 damage to yourself in order to gain advantage on all strength-based skill and ability checks until the beginning of your next turn. Furthermore, your alteration-granted attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage until the beginning of your next turn.

If you’ve made the “Collapsing Puppets” alteration, you can choose to deal the 10 damage to one or more of your puppets instead. If you do, only puppets damaged this way gain the benefits of using this ability.


Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

6fp – Independent Dolls (Requires Advanced Puppet)
You gain one additional action per turn that can only be used by the special puppets created by your Advanced Puppet alteration. This action does not benefit from Multiassault, Extra Attack, or similar class features.

2fp - Subjugating Parasites (requires Parasite Puppets)
Once per turn, you may use a bonus action to give a command to one or more creatures attached to your puppets. Until the beginning of your next turn, the commanded creatures take 2d10 psychic damage and become restrained until the beginning of your next turn the first time they intentionally disobey or refuse to obey the command.

2fp – Ephemeral Host (Requires Essence Shift)
You can use the ability granted by the Essence Shift alteration as a reaction. Once you use the ability this way you must finish a short or long rest before using it as a reaction again. You can still use the ability as a regular action, should you have any remaining uses.

2fp – Phantom Puppets
You can create ghostly puppets that have no physical form. Both these puppets and their cords can look like anything you want, up to a maximum size of Colossal and a minimum size of tiny, but are insubstantial and cannot interact with anything regardless of what other abilities they possess (For example, they could not attack a creature with “Dissolving Glare”). These puppets are similar to illusions except they cannot be dispelled. The puppets can be seen, heard, and smelled but not touched. You can use the puppet’s senses as normal. The puppets can walk in any direction (effectively flight). These insubstantial puppets can pass through any kind of barrier, such as a door or a wall of force. If you have made the essence shift alteration you may use it with any phantom puppets that are not currently overlapping with a solid object.

Only puppets connected to you can be phantom puppets, you can’t use this ability with puppets benefiting from the Empty Dolls alteration. Puppets effected by the Missing Strings alteration can still be Phantom Puppets as long as they’re still connected to you.

1fp – Puppeteer Puppets (Requires Advanced Puppets)
You can form puppets connected to the special puppets created by your Advanced Puppet alteration. These puppets treat the advanced puppet they’re connected to as “You”.

Biggest changes:

> The charming aspect of parasite was split from the base attachment ability. The base ability is now an at-will movement limiter that doubles as early telepathy (with a lot of caveats). Charming is still use-based.
> The combat abilities of puppet now revolve around group combat and work WITH attacking methods of other traits instead of being bad replacements.
> Puppet tier III replaced Crazed Puppeteering with something more dependable.
> True Spawn was replaced with Phantom Puppets, which I think is pretty cool without the setting-breaking potential.


I agree that puppet is only a part of this class because it's always been a part of the Ozodrin. But the effect is so complex it can't reasonably be folded into another trait as 1-2 alterations.

@Qwertystop (x3): On the art.. neat! :D

[Qwertystop]

@Qwertystop: On Grand..err.. Supreme Charge - Razor Fins prevent AoOs from anything you damage. As for the damage, no you're not missing anything (except maybe using sizing flesh / long tentacle alteration to hit far more enemies and Sprinting Fins to up Razor Fin damage) - one of the very specific requirements to pull it off is that you must be fighting an army comprised of low-level enemies that can be killed by 3d6 damage. In 3.5 it'd be a non-issue, but in 5E there's been a clear design philosophy to prevent high-level PCs from killing arbitrary numbers of weak enemies with one mighty flex. Supreme Charge lets you razor fin hundreds of enemies in one round if the positioning is right.

I don't imagine it ever coming up in an actual game unless the player actively tries to make it happen, but a level 16 PC basically having a 2/short rest 3d6 AOE line attack that's possibly over 1000 feet long might scare some 5E DMs.



As written:
- Razor Fins' range doesn't care about your reach; 5' no matter what you might do. And I would argue that it doesn't necessarily even fall under the "if it makes sense" expansion on Long Tentacles, because if your tentacles are long enough to hit someone ten feet from you they're going to whack hard on someone five feet from you. Unless you go straight through them which is admittedly plausible on a decent roll. Fine, granted.
- I did miss the Sprinting Fins boost to Razor Fins.
- There's still that the other combo I listed gives you most of the same mass-shredder combo – only six times base speed, instead of a potential... ten to fifty (?) depending on how many actions go to Dash vs. proper attacks... but you can turn, which makes it a lot easier to hit more targets with it. And unlike Supreme Charge it's not per-day limited.




On the other non-puppet comments:
> There is a tentacle alteration that increases range (Long Tentacles), Palette ability (Which was first a bonus feat for the OG Ozodrin IIRC) became the Refined Palette tier II Orifice alteration, Eye trait has Proclaiming Gaze.
> 5E has definitely made a serious effort to stop PCs from being able to play burrow whack-a-mole and I think that's for the best as it is such a strong maneuver. That said, Digging Fins was kind of lackluster the one game I saw it used, it could probably be buffed to 8 people.



Okay, another couple of things I missed. Typo, incidentally – the mouthpart is "palate", a "palette" is where paints go. I did miss Proclaiming Gaze entirely; it seems a bit higher-level that I would expect? Especially as compared to Murmuring Glare... they're both situational, and fairly similar. Fair point on the strength of a burrow speed, but even so, landshark. Perhaps if you couldn't Withdraw and earth-swim at the same time, so the melee enemies always get AOO chances in addition to the existing ranged enemies being able to ready actions for you? Or the transition from above to under is slower than the movement under, because limbs above ground aren't helping dig, so there's a round to hit you while you're diving? Or, I don't know, at least adjust Digging Fins to allow, say, construction of tunnels at a specified rate, instead of DMs needing to ad-hoc a number based on whatever knowledge they may or may not have of hole-digging? Assuming there's not a table for that in the corebooks somewhere I haven't read.




PUPPET

@Qwertystop: Mass Assault is meant to be 1d8 no matter how many.. but honestly it's a badly written alteration and it was removed in the new version. I generally agree with everything you said - the current puppet does almost nothing until the upper tiers, and even then what it does is very expensive.

I'm going to share my Puppet rewrite here:


Base Alteration: You can freely form tiny puppets, marionettes, and the like made of flesh/fur/etc. These creations are connected to you by one or more thin cords (which can be flesh, hair, etc), and count as you for the purposes of spells and effects. You can move your puppets like any other body part. The cords can lengthen and retract as needed, with a maximum range of 5’. Puppets can benefit from any of your other alterations, although the puppets created by this base alteration cannot be used to attack or perform fine motions (although you can see through eyes you give them and the like). Puppets cannot move objects that weigh more than 1lb. Like any body part, damage dealt to puppets is dealt to you and spells and effects targeted at them are actually targeted at you. You cannot form puppets that are attached to other puppets, and all puppets you form must initially be within 5’ of yourself.


Tier 1 Advance Alterations:

1fp – Lethal Puppeteering
You can use your dexterity modifier instead of strength for determining the damage of your unarmed strikes. Furthermore, you can, as an action, have one of your puppets make an unarmed strike (1 + strength or dexterity modifier bludgeoning damage) against any creature within 5’ of them.

Whenever you or one of your puppets make a melee attack against a creature, you may use a bonus action to have a different puppet within 5’ of that creature make an unarmed strike against the same target. If both attacks hit, the target takes an additional 1d4 bludgeoning damage.

2fp - Parasite Puppets
You can, as an action, have one of your puppets attempt to attach themselves to a creature within 5' of them and within the maximum range of their cord. If unwilling, the creature must make a dexterity saving throw. On a success this effect does nothing. Otherwise, the puppet attaches itself to their body for 10 minutes (after which point it detaches). The effected creature cannot move beyond the maximum reach of your cords while so attached. A creature attached to your puppet(s), that is not charmed, may use an action to make a strength saving throw. On a success the creature detaches itself from the puppet. You can choose to end this effect ahead of time as an action or bonus action, detaching any number of puppets. If you move farther away from the creature than the maximum range of your cords the puppet automatically detatches.

You can telepathically communicate with creatures attached to your puppets. This does not give you the ability to comprehend languages you do not know, but images/feelings/etc can also be communicated this way.

1fp – Persuasive Parasites (Requires Parasite Puppet)
You can, as a bonus action, choose a creature currently attached to your puppet(s). That creature must make a wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature is charmed by you while attached to the puppet. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. If you or one of your companions do anything harmful to the creature it ceases to be charmed (but is still attached to your puppet). When this effect ends, the target knows they were charmed.

After using this ability, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you may use this ability before resting by one.

1fp – Puppet Self
Your body becomes more resilient and puppet-like, increasing your current and maximum HP by 5. When this alteration is unmade you lose 5 hit points and your maximum HP is reduced by 5.

Furthermore, as an action you may choose any period of time, such as “one minute” or “three weeks”, and enter a hibernation state for that period of time. While in this state you are unconscious and each week that passes counts as one hour for the purpose of starvation and dehydration. If you take damage while in this state this effect immediately ends.

1fp – Lengthy Cords
The maximum range of the cords connecting your puppets increases to 40’. Moving your puppets away from you uses your movement. For example, if you had 30' of movement you could move 15' with your puppets, then have one of your puppets move 15' away from you on their own.

If your puppets are in a different square they can be attacked separately, although they are still actually a part of you for all purposes including armor class (although puppets do not benefit from any worn armor / shields you possess).

1fp - Twitching Strings (Requires Lengthy Cords)
You can, a bonus action, gain additional movement for one turn. This increase is equal to your speed. This additional movement can only be used by your puppets (I.E. you can use it to move your puppets around but not yourself).

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Deadly Coordination (Requires Lethal Puppeteering)
Once per turn, when a creature is successfully attacked by at least two of your puppets in the same turn, or by you and at least one of your puppets in the same turn, or by at least one of your puppets whose attack roll had advantage due to a Help action, you may have the attacked creature take an additional 2d4 bludgeoning damage.

In addition, you can treat the Help action as a Puppet Trait alteration-granted ability for the purposes of Multi-Assault and Focus Surge. Furthermore, you can, as an action, have one of your puppets use the Help action. This functions as normal, except your puppets can also use the Help action to aid you or one of your other puppets in combat despite being a part of you. You still cannot use the Help action to give yourself advantage on an ability check.

2fp – Advanced Puppet (Requires Lengthy Cords)
You can form up to a single puppet at a time that is as large as you are or one size category smaller. This more powerful puppet can move any objects you could and can be used to perform any actions you could perform (such as attacking with a weapon). You must spend your own actions to have the puppet do this – it is still just a part of your body. Any use limitations are shared between yourself and all of your puppets (e.g. if an ability can only be used twice before resting, and both you and a puppet use that ability, neither you nor your puppets can use it again before resting). If you make the Swallow alteration (from the Orifice Trait), all creatures swallowed by your puppets end up in your stomach (you do not gain an arbitrary number of stomachs).

You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of advanced puppets you can have formed at the same time by one.

2fp – Collapsing Puppets
Whenever you use your base puppet alteration to change your Inner Nature you may choose to sacrifice up to 25hp, reducing your maximum HP by the same amount. Your puppets gain a separate HP total equal to twice the amount of HP sacrificed (50hp). If the puppets are dealt damage it is subtracted from their own HP instead of yours. If your puppet(s) would be reduced to 0 HP they are instead unformed. Whenever the puppet(s) are unformed (whether by damage or as a part of altering your Inner Nature) you regain HP equal to one half the amount of HP the puppet(s) had remaining (rounded down), and your maximum HP total is increased by one-half the unformed puppet(s) maximum HP.

You may choose to further define the HP totals of individual puppets so long as the total sum is equal to the amount you sacrificed when creating them, puppets that would have 0hp are simply not effected by this alteration. Non-damaging effects targeting the puppets still effect you as normal.

For example, you could choose to have all of your puppets share their 50hp. Damage dealt to any puppet would reduce this total, and at 0hp they would all unform. Alternately, you could give 25hp to one puppet and 25hp to another puppet. Damage dealt to other puppets would not effect the hp total of these chosen puppets, and damage dealt to any puppet not effected by this ability would be dealt to you as normal.

You cannot use this ability if any of your puppets already have an HP total (e.g. you cannot use it twice to give puppets even more hp).

1fp – Missing Strings
Your puppets may have cords that technically don’t exist. Such strings may have no form at all, or they might look transparent/ghostly. The range of your puppets does not change – if a puppet would move out of range it is restrained as though it still had a cord connecting it to you.

2fp - Essence Shift
You may, as an action, transfer your essence to one of your puppets. The puppet transforms into you while your former body transforms into the puppet. Any gear worn by you and/or the puppet remains at its previous location (if it does not fit you/your puppet it falls to the ground). Any other puppets connected to you either reform within 5’ of your new location or unform (your choice).

After using this ability twice, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use this ability before needing to finish a short or long rest by one.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Empty Doll (Requires Advanced Puppet and Missing Strings)
The special puppets created by your Advanced Puppet alteration are no longer connected to you and have no maximum range, although they still count as being a part of your body. These empty dolls still do not have their own actions, although they can use their own movement. Such puppets have a walking speed of 30’.

1fp – Barrier Puppets (Requires Collapsing Puppets)
Spells and effects targeted at any of your puppets that have their own HP total do not effect you unless they affect the mind of their target. This also includes spells and effects whose area includes your puppets but not you (the puppets are still affected). Your own abilities, spells, etc treat the puppets as a part of you as normal.

Furthermore, you may choose to sacrifice up to 60hp instead of 25hp when using the ability granted by your Collapsing Puppets alteration.

1fp - Invasive Parasites (Requires Persuasive Parasites)
Whenever a creature fails their wisdom saving throw against the ability granted by the Persuasive Parasites alteration, you may choose to have that creature forget everything that happened during the past ten minutes. Furthermore, after the charm effect ends the target forgets everything that that happened while they were charmed. This may result in them not even knowing they were charmed in the first place.

Finally, when you use the ability granted by the Parasitic Puppets alteration you may increase the duration from from 10 minutes to one hour.

2fp – Doll Breaking Motions
You can, as a bonus action, deal 10 damage to yourself in order to gain advantage on all strength-based skill and ability checks until the beginning of your next turn. Furthermore, your alteration-granted attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage until the beginning of your next turn.

If you’ve made the “Collapsing Puppets” alteration, you can choose to deal the 10 damage to one or more of your puppets instead. If you do, only puppets damaged this way gain the benefits of using this ability.


Tier IV Advanced Alterations:

6fp – Independent Dolls (Requires Advanced Puppet)
You gain one additional action per turn that can only be used by the special puppets created by your Advanced Puppet alteration. This action does not benefit from Multiassault, Extra Attack, or similar class features.

2fp - Subjugating Parasites (requires Parasite Puppets)
Once per turn, you may use a bonus action to give a command to one or more creatures attached to your puppets. Until the beginning of your next turn, the commanded creatures take 2d10 psychic damage and become restrained until the beginning of your next turn the first time they intentionally disobey or refuse to obey the command.

2fp – Ephemeral Host (Requires Essence Shift)
You can use the ability granted by the Essence Shift alteration as a reaction. Once you use the ability this way you must finish a short or long rest before using it as a reaction again. You can still use the ability as a regular action, should you have any remaining uses.

2fp – Phantom Puppets
You can create ghostly puppets that have no physical form. Both these puppets and their cords can look like anything you want, up to a maximum size of Colossal and a minimum size of tiny, but are insubstantial and cannot interact with anything regardless of what other abilities they possess (For example, they could not attack a creature with “Dissolving Glare”). These puppets are similar to illusions except they cannot be dispelled. The puppets can be seen, heard, and smelled but not touched. You can use the puppet’s senses as normal. The puppets can walk in any direction (effectively flight). These insubstantial puppets can pass through any kind of barrier, such as a door or a wall of force. If you have made the essence shift alteration you may use it with any phantom puppets that are not currently overlapping with a solid object.

Only puppets connected to you can be phantom puppets, you can’t use this ability with puppets benefiting from the Empty Dolls alteration. Puppets effected by the Missing Strings alteration can still be Phantom Puppets as long as they’re still connected to you.

1fp – Puppeteer Puppets (Requires Advanced Puppets)
You can form puppets connected to the special puppets created by your Advanced Puppet alteration. These puppets treat the advanced puppet they’re connected to as “You”.

Biggest changes:

> The charming aspect of parasite was split from the base attachment ability. The base ability is now an at-will movement limiter that doubles as early telepathy (with a lot of caveats). Charming is still use-based.
> The combat abilities of puppet now revolve around group combat and work WITH attacking methods of other traits instead of being bad replacements.
> Puppet tier III replaced Crazed Puppeteering with something more dependable.
> True Spawn was replaced with Phantom Puppets, which I think is pretty cool without the setting-breaking potential.


I agree that puppet is only a part of this class because it's always been a part of the Ozodrin. But the effect is so complex it can't reasonably be folded into another trait as 1-2 alterations.

@Qwertystop (x3): On the art.. neat! :D

Lethal Puppeteering is more reasonable. Splitting off the Charm from the Parasite is maybe not necessary, but sure. There's still a mention of the Charm effect in the Parasite part. Lengthy Cords... moving away costs movement, moving towards doesn't? Still feels weird overall, as the one non-body-part thing, but you at least took out the most broken single thing and put a bit more focus in.

[Magikeeper]

Okay, I was busier this weekend than expected. Let's pretend Monday is part of the weekend. >.>

On Fins: I forgot it was changed to 5', tbh. I also forgot that the combo could pass a mile in distance, that better matches my feeling regarding it. >.>

On typos: Thanks for catching those! I'll fix them when I update puppet.

Glares: Proclaiming is with anything you can see, which is a bit better than most telepathy abilities (particularly for an Ozodrin). Also, Tier II is the last tier of abilities all Ozodrin get (At level 16), while Tier III and above are things that can only be acquired via archetype choices. I felt at-will sight-range telepathy should be tied more strongly to the Eye trait. Murmoring could be used for communication in a pinch but it's more a variation on suggestion-type effects.

Digging: Digging fins was really meant more for trenches, pits, etc, as another circumstantial non-combat capability since I tried to ensure all early level Ozodrin have some of those. Any kind of super tunneling alteration would need to be at a higher tier, and tier II/III fin are already pretty good. Also take note Tier 2 stomach alteration could be combined with your idea to have the entire party rising and sinking from the earth. Being the Party Bus is harder to pull off than in 3.5 but not impossible.

On Parasite: Charm had to be split off because the base effect is now at-will, and an at-will charm effect that effects all creature types would be too powerful in 5E. Lengthy Cords... that's not how it's supposed to work, no. Puppet movement has always been a convoluted mess. :/


Had an idea for Fin Tier IV... unfortunately it's also convoluted or rather the basic idea is simple but there are too many corner cases and I don't know how easy it is to understand it... which is a shame as it's a neat ability with quite a variety of uses:


2fp – Chronal Diving (Requires Strange Movement)
Whenever you use the ability granted by your Strange Movement alteration, you may choose to not arrive anywhere at all, effectively ceasing to exist for up to one hour as you dive into the future. While in this state you are aware of what is happening in your surroundings but cannot otherwise move, take actions, or interact with anything that is going on. The duration of any spells or effects currently effecting you do not count the time you spend not existing. You may choose to end this effect at any time.

When the effect ends, you immediately reappear in the nearest open space and take the rest of your turn. If you ended this effect during one or more other creatures’ turn, those creature(s) do not get to finish their turn until after you have finished yours at which point the temporal ripples caused by your actions have completely straightened out. You do not provoke AoOs until the end of your turn.

If there are any creatures inside you (such as by using the Stomach alteration from the orifice trait), they likewise cease to exist when you do and reappear (still inside of you) when you do. For example, if a creature inside you was dying it would not need to make any death saving throws until reappearing. HOWEVER, upon reappearing any such creatures are Incapacitated until the end of your turn, at which point they can roll for initiative normally and/or go when their next turn comes up as normal.

[Magikeeper]

I have updated puppet. I also removed the Tier I alteration "Twitching Strings" and the tier IV alteration "Ephemeral Host". I rewrote Lengthy Cords and added "Skittering Gallery" to tier IV. Some other small changes were made as well.


Tier 1

1fp – Lengthy Cords
As a bonus action, you can extend the range of the cords connecting you to up to three of your puppets to a maximum of 40'. Whenever you use your movement you may move these puppets the same amount of distance. Alternately, you may also use your movement to move your puppets without moving yourself. For example, if you had 30' of movement you could move 15' forward while having three of your puppets move 15' forward and 15' to the side (a total of 30').

If your puppets are in a different square they can be attacked separately, although they are still actually a part of you for all purposes including armor class (although puppets do not benefit from any worn armor / shields you possess).

If you are already extending the range of three puppets beyond 5' you cannot extend the range of any other puppets at the same time.

Furthermore, as a bonus action you can reduce the maximum range of any puppet effected by this alteration. The puppet must already be within its new range. For example, if you want to reduce a puppet's range from 40' to 20' it must already be within 20' of you.

---------------
Tier IV

2fp - Skittering Gallery
The maximum range of all of your puppets increases from 5' to 20'. Whenever you use your movement you may move these puppets the same amount of distance. Alternately, you may also use your movement to move your puppets without moving yourself. For example, if you had 30' of movement you could move 15' forward while having three of your puppets move 15' forward and 15' to the side (a total of 30').

If your puppets are in a different square they can be attacked separately, although they are still actually a part of you for all purposes including armor class (although puppets do not benefit from any worn armor / shields you possess).

If you have made the Lengthy Cords alteration, puppets effected by the ability it grants can have their maximum range extended to a maximum of 120' instead of 40'.

As a reminder, regular puppets can't attack or perform fine motions.

Edit: I also changed Far Reaching Glares (Eye Tier III alteration), now Far Reaching Gaze, and buffed unbound reception (Can no longer be surprised / gain advantage on perception checks in addition to previous benefit).


2fp – Far Reaching Gaze
The range of the abilities granted by your Dissolving, Disorienting, Rejecting, Binding, and/or Murmuring Glare alterations increases to 300'. This alteration does not give you access to any abilities you do not already have.

Furthermore, distance does not hinder your ability to determine the fine details of objects and creatures within 600' of your eyes.

EDIT: I have changed Unbound Reception again. It no longer gives advantage on perception checks (RIP ability buff that lasted ~12 hours), but the base effect is stronger now. You still can't be surprised. I also slightly tweaked the wording of Decentralized Perception but the effect is the same.

EDIT 2: Unbound Reception is now 2->3fp, because.. well because I think its worth it now. The Tier IV Nth Dimensional Flesh alteration has had the ability to take it multiple times removed, was increased to 15' range, and now lets you squeeze into mundane spaces in addition to extra dimensional ones. ...And I've just realized that possibly creates an utterly absurd attacking strategy... I might need to remove the mundane space squeezing...

EDIT 3: Removed the mundane space squeezing, too many completely broken things you could do with that.

[Qwertystop]

Oh, regarding art – as I said, I'm playing this in an upcoming game, and at least seriously considering doing character art for it. Haven't had the time and energy lately, with everything going on, but I'm hopeful at getting around to it some time this month.

Forgot I'd said this when I did the art, but here it is. Κανείς (Kaneis), the Neverwas (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2207174). Fin primary, Flesh/Spike secondary, homebrew Nyxborn race by LaZodiac (https://forums.giantitp.com/member.php?57862-LaZodiac), who is running that game.

https://qwertystop.github.io/assets/img/portfolio/kaneis.jpg

[Magikeeper]

Forgot I'd said this when I did the art, but here it is. Κανείς (Kaneis), the Neverwas (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2207174). Fin primary, Flesh/Spike secondary, homebrew Nyxborn race by LaZodiac (https://forums.giantitp.com/member.php?57862-LaZodiac), who is running that game.[/SPOILER]


Neat! I never did think of something to do with Supreme Charge (Chronal Diving wasn't very popular, alas). Hrm.. was there anything else I was going to work on before making a pdf...?

Please do share how it goes~

[Qwertystop]

You could get a lot of the same effect as Chronal Diving out of something like ghosts' Etherealness, which is much shorter. Alternately, you could cut a lot out of Chronal Diving just by removing the bit where you can explicitly use it to insert your turn into the middle of someone else's.

EDIT: Oh, I saw above you were considering moving Unarmored Defense from level 1 to 2 to reduce the power of a one-level dip – currently, level 3 is less impressive than either, Unearthly Power is very situational.

[sallyisgreat]

Excited to hear a preliminary version of the pdf might be coming soon. Will you be using GMbinder or Homebrewery to make it, or another service? In addition you might want to consider running everything through a spelling and grammar checker. Most of it is fine, and the checkers can be annoying about proper nouns and game terms, but it could do with a little bit of polish.

[babus]

As a massive fan of the class through its release across multiple editions, I'm super excited to try it, but after thinking of trying a Puppet Primary character, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do with it. I also saw after reading through some old notes that there hasn't really been a lot of feedback on it. What is the intention, combat-wise?

If you were allowed to pick Tentacle as a Secondary and put them on puppets, that seems fairly solid, since it would allow you to attack targets farther away than normal (even if they understandably didn't threaten for AoOs), but it looks like that's expressly forbidden. The damage from Lethal Puppeteering also seems negligeable, especially given that the puppets are still vulnerable to Attacks of Opportunity and count as you for the purpose of getting attacked. Parasite Puppets seems like a really cool ability, but it also mostly keeps people near your d8, generally low AC squishy body. Persuasive Parasites is very neat. Lengthy Cords is also good, but as noted above, if they can't be the source of an attack (such as a tentacle feature placed on them), there's really no reason to move them around the battlefield, as you're basically just giving the bad guys more surface area to kill you. I could kind of see Lethal Puppeteering doing something to help, but I can't see its numbers getting me through to level 6 when you start having access to fancy stuff in your Secondaries.

Barring the tentacles on the puppets being able to attack, you're basically going to have to be protected, keep your puppets fully reeled in so you don't get targeted, and attack with your d6 tentacle from your own square until level 6, while occasionally getting off a charm if you're close.

This isn't a criticism, I just feel like I'm probably missing something that makes this a whole lot less scary.

[Magikeeper]

Puppet Primary: We don't have much/any playtest data for puppet, no. On surviving the first six levels:
> It has unarmored defense and doesn't really need anything except DEX and CON which happen to also be what its AC is based off of. It's better off than most monks, at least. EDIT: I forgot I changed Puppet DCs back to be being Cha-based. Okay, it's in a similar boat to monks then, although (Puppet)Ozodrin are hurt less by low CHA than monks are from low CON.
> The "Puppet Self" alteration gives +5hp, which is more like having a d10/d12 hit die early on.
>Lethal puppeteering early on could be done with two puppets (Max 1d4+2+2xDEX dmg) but can also be combined with tentacles and such for a max damage that's more like 1d6 + 1d4 + 1 + 2xDEX if you hit with both attacks. So more like you and your puppet attacking enemies together. TWF at those levels is generally something like 2d6 + DEX before factoring in other abilities. Puppet Ozodrin are among the most fragile but their early damage potential is pretty good albeit less dependable than other options.

You're right there isn't much reason to have puppets running around 40' away from you - lengthy cords is more for parasite/persuasive at that level. There are some niche things you can do - like using Manifest Form to unmake puppets that have been surrounded, delivering potions, checking out small openings, etc - but its not particularly useful in combat until you get advanced / barrier puppets at level 6.

Parasite Puppet's strongest use is likely how its a way to telepathically link your party members for short periods of time.

In general, early puppet expects you to be fighting alongside your puppets more often than not.

-------

All of that said, it might be weak at low levels. We haven't had anyone try it in practice since it was overhauled (or before, for that matter). I considered increasing the +1d4 damage from lethal to +1d6... I'm not sure that's needed though...

[babus]

Well, in that case, I'll be playtesting it, barring the game exploding, which I have no reason to believe it will. Thank you very much for the response and clarification! As a quick note, I think the Short Rest mechanic benefits the Ozodrin, as it's in a good place between only changing things every 24 hours and being able to just do it whenever.

In that spirit, here is the character I will be playing.

Siobhan Naisade

Race: Half Elf (Variant: Elf Weapon Training)
Background: Variant Entertainer (Puppeteer)
Class: Ozodrin (Primary: Puppet; Secondary: Eye, Tentacle) [Level 2]
Hit Points: 17/17 (22/22 with Puppet Self)
AC: 15

Attributes (Rolled)

Strength: 7 (+1) = 8
Dexterity: 15 (+1) = 16
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 16 (+2) = 18

Skill Proficiencies:
Stealth
Intimidation
Performance
Persuassion

Armor Proficiencies:
None

Weapon Proficiancies:
Longsword
Shortsword
Shortbow
Longbow

Custom Background: Variant Entertainer (Puppeteer)
Skill Proficiencies: Persuassion, Perform
Tool Proficiencies: Puppet Crafting Kit, one type of musical instrument
Equipment A musical instrument (one of your choice), the favor of an admirer (love letter, lock of hair, or trinket), a pair of puppets, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp
Feature: See Entertainer

Build Notes: Took Half-Elf with Weapon Proficiencies variant in order to qualify for a feat later that upgrades Unarmed Strike damage. Won't really affect the early game for playtesting purposes, but the shortsword and longbow should give me something to do with my Dex if I'm stuck in my Worldly Guise for whatever reason.

Starting with Puppet Self, Lethal Puppeteering and Lengthy Strings.

Will try to give some battle data as soon as possible, though it may be a few weeks. The good news is that it's play by post, so it'll be easy to record keep. If you have any requests for specific data or even character advice, I'd be happy to hear it.

[Magikeeper]

They're quite different from most of the other play-test chars I've tried/seen/etc, very interested in seeing how that goes. I am surprised you picked up intimidation instead of deception, though, give the smoothtalking party face feeling the rest of the char stats are giving off.

Some data on out-of-combat usefulness of the puppet trait would be good as well~

Thanks for sharing!

[Magikeeper]

Alright, I believe I responded to all PMs this time. >.>

Also cleared out part of my inbox so my messages get sent..


---------------------

Anyway, in D&D 5E blindsight usually describes how it works. I didn't really like Eye's blindsight trait in the first place, and so came up with:

2fp - Nous Sight
You gain blindsight 20ft. This blindsight works via your eyes emitting subtle pulses of non-visible psychic energy and then interpreting the echo. Your blindsight can also differentiate between nonthinking objects, emotionless but thinking entities, and emotional entities. In addition, you can roughly sense the mood of emotional beings. If a thinking being is actively trying to conceal itself and/or hide their real emotional state within the range of your blindsight you must beat their hide and/or deception check as normal but gain advantage on the roll made to oppose their check.

Furthermore, your blindsight can sense telepathic links and telepathic auras, along with the emotions of the ones currently communicating through it. You cannot otherwise sense the contents of the messages.


---------------------------------

This gives more flavor to the blindsight and also continues the telepathic sub-theme Eye has going on.


I also think I'm going to remove the 600ft limitation on the non-attack telescopic ability of Far Reaching Glare.


------------------------

I've also been looking at "Energy Devouring Flesh". It's currently very silver-bullet-y, which I don't like.. but just making it more general is iffy as energy immunity - even for one round - is nearly impossible to get in D&D 5E. On the other hand, I want Ozodrin's to be able to "eat" energy to survive which requires they have an ability that is better than just resistance.

I considered moving Acclimating Flesh to Tier II, changing it to 2fp and removing the prerequisite and then removing Energy Devouring Flesh and adding a new T3 Flesh ability... but... Acclimating is even more niche than Energy Devouring Flesh - unless I made it effect all viable energy types which would mean immunity to most forms of continuous energy damage which seems like it might feel too strong..


EDIT:

I think I'm going to swap Sophisticated Tentacles and Climbing Limbs. Also swap their costs (Climbing -> 1fp, Sophisticated -> 2fp) and let Climbing Limbs also give advantage to checks made to climb difficult surfaces / avoid being knocked off. This makes Tentacle primary a less mechanically powerful dipping class and gives low-level tentacle primary Ozodrin more out-of-combat use. It does make early tentacle Ozodrin more fragile, granted.


EDIT 2:
Went further and changed Coordinated Tentacles as well. Now Climbing Limbs gives the lesser grapple proficiency & Coordinated Tendrils gives grappled foes disadvantage on attacks made against you. This solves STR-based grapplin' Ozodrin having often having low ACs.

Edit 3: Sophisticated 1fp ->2fp

Edit 4: Sophisticated 2fp ->1fp

1fp – Climbing Limbs
You can form limbs that are particularly adept at holding onto and traversing vertical surfaces (small hooks, suction cups, etc). These alterations grants you a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. In addition, you have advantage on ability checks made to climb difficult surfaces.

Furthermore, you may add half your proficiency modifier to Strength(Athletics) checks made to make grapple attacks.

1fp - Coordinated Tentacles
The design of your tendrils facilitates combined usage. As an action, you may move a willing creature within your reach to any other spot within your reach.

Furthermore, creatures grappled by you have disadvantage on all attack rolls made against you.

2fp – Sophisticated Tentacles (Requires Coordinated Tentacles)
Your tentacles are especially well-suited for defending you from attacks, increasing your armor class by 2 whenever you benefit from your Unarmored Defense class feature and are not wearing a shield.

Furthermore, the refined motions of your tendrils allow you to add half your proficiency bonus to any Dexterity(Sleight of Hand) ability checks made with them. You may treat Dexterity(Slight of Hand) checks as a tentacle-trait granted ability for the purpose of using them with the MultiAssault and/or Focus Surge class features.


EDIT 5: Revised Windswept Maws to be less cumbersome to use in actual gameplay. New version:

2fp – Windswept Maws
You may, as a bonus action, suck in or expel large amounts of air. Creatures in a 15’ cone must make a strength saving throw. On a failure, they are pulled 5ft towards you (if you sucked in air) or pushed 10ft away from you (if you expelled air). If you choose to suck in air and a creature that is already adjacent to you fails their strength saving throw, they take damage as though hit by your bite attack. If the creature is large or smaller it is also grappled by you.

You may choose to instead affect a smaller area, to a minimum cone size of 5’.

After using this ability twice, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again. You may make this alteration multiple times, each time increasing the number of times you can use the granted ability before needing to finish a short or long rest by two.

Note: Since it’s a cone attack there is only ever one square/hex that is adjacent to you.

[Kerleth]

I love this class and how it is still being refined and updated. Question. Is the add half proficiency intended to stack with normal proficiency?

[Magikeeper]

I love this class and how it is still being refined and updated. Question. Is the add half proficiency intended to stack with normal proficiency?

Thanks! Also, it does not, no, nor was it intended to do so.

-----------

Currently looking into tweaking flesh, specifically the energy devouring stuff. I think Energy Devouring Flesh in particular manages to be fairly weak in most games while sounding OP, is too silver-bullet-ish which I tried to avoid with alterations, is kinda clunky, and gives something that's nearly impossible for a player to get in 5E. Edit: Oh I already mentioned this above in more detail. >.>

Need to change the Simulacrum example in Decentralized Form as aberrations are not valid targets for that spell in 5E in the first place.

For Grand Charge... I'm thinking of just reducing the movement multiplier from 10x to something less extreme.

Also, yes, revamp digging fins somehow. I know people want that.

[Magikeeper]

BIG QUESTION:

Should I slightly reduce the basic weapon DPR of some of the Ozodrin traits? This would be:
>> Changing deadly spike to +1d6 (so spikes would be 1d8 + 1d6 instead of 2d8)
>> Removing the ability to TWF with tentacles.
>> Removing the ability to TWF with mouths.
>> Change Consuming Glare to +1d6 (So eyes would be 1d8 + 1d6 instead of 2d8)

I really dislike having different dice for the same damage type tbh, but these numbers would bring Ozodrin more in-line with the basic weapon damage of martials that aren't optimizing w/feats and/or expending resources like Hunter's Mark*. Ozodrin don't have as many ways of temporarily boosting damage as martials have, which mostly balances out the current damage but I want Ozodrin to make its way into as many games as possible and having the highest 24/7 weapon damage out of all classes and such wonders as TWFing with a 2d6 tentacle has some scare factor. Also, it seems that houserules to reduce the number of available rests are common which might make Ozodrin all-day-every-day base damage advantage proportionally stronger.

Unless someone talks me out of it I'll probably make the change, might slightly tweak other things to give less always-on ways of boosting the damage.

*Also note several other classes, particularly for archery, have ways of boosting attack rolls while Ozodrin have none. Ozodrin usually don't benefit from magic weapons either. This is significant, and one of the reasons this is more an issue of being strange and having usually high no-rest endurance than actual damage at the table.

------------------

There have been a LOT of tweaks lately as I go over everything before making a pdf. Stuff that I was iffy about is finally getting visited, all of it. Still need to find some free artists to make art for it, granted.

I'm also trying to figure out how to justify changing consuming glare into an attack roll despite not being an eye-beam. I've always wanted it to be an attack roll, but I just.. can't.. justify it! ;.;

[Qwertystop]

I've been playing a game as an Ozodrin (Fin primary, Spike/Flesh secondary) (sheet here (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2207174)) with otherwise no homebrew classes, and I don't think I'm overly strong? And that's with a recent ruling by the GM that Specialized Physique can stack with already having Athletics proficiency (contrary to what you'd intended, assuming the same goes for that as for the half-proficiency that you answered above), though admittedly my Strength is only 10 so it really just situationally compensates for that to bring my Razor Fins roll up to the same bonus as my normal attack.

[LaZodiac]

BIG QUESTION:

Should I slightly reduce the basic weapon DPR of some of the Ozodrin traits? This would be:
>> Changing deadly spike to +1d6 (so spikes would be 1d8 + 1d6 instead of 2d8)
>> Removing the ability to TWF with tentacles.
>> Removing the ability to TWF with mouths.
>> Change Consuming Glare to +1d6 (So eyes would be 1d8 + 1d6 instead of 2d8)

I really dislike having different dice for the same damage type tbh, but these numbers would bring Ozodrin more in-line with the basic weapon damage of martials that aren't optimizing w/feats and/or expending resources like Hunter's Mark*. Ozodrin don't have as many ways of temporarily boosting damage as martials have, which mostly balances out the current damage but I want Ozodrin to make its way into as many games as possible and having the highest 24/7 weapon damage out of all classes and such wonders as TWFing with a 2d6 tentacle has some scare factor. Also, it seems that houserules to reduce the number of available rests are common which might make Ozodrin all-day-every-day base damage advantage proportionally stronger.

Unless someone talks me out of it I'll probably make the change, might slightly tweak other things to give less always-on ways of boosting the damage.

*Also note several other classes, particularly for archery, have ways of boosting attack rolls while Ozodrin have none. Ozodrin usually don't benefit from magic weapons either. This is significant, and one of the reasons this is more an issue of being strange and having usually high no-rest endurance than actual damage at the table.

------------------

There have been a LOT of tweaks lately as I go over everything before making a pdf. Stuff that I was iffy about is finally getting visited, all of it. Still need to find some free artists to make art for it, granted.

I'm also trying to figure out how to justify changing consuming glare into an attack roll despite not being an eye-beam. I've always wanted it to be an attack roll, but I just.. can't.. justify it! ;.;

If I may present my two cents.

I feel like keeping Deadly Spikes at 2d8 is reasonable. It takes till level 6 to get to it, and while yes other classes can use resources to match that, given how the Ozodrin fiddles around with its abilities, I'd say it compares well. Also, given fighters do get access to magic weapons, and get access to base damage that the Ozodrin can't (2d6 great swords and so on), I think it is fair. Ozodrin gives up the excellence of a Fighter being able to focus on strong weapons, in exchange for having a little higher base stuff for cheaper stuff. On the scale of damage vs speed, Monk's are weaker but just vomit out dice, fighters are stronger but slightly less fast, and Ozodrin is the middle ground.

With that in mind I do think you should keep Two Weapon Fighting being a thing with tentacles and mouth. Mouth is a bit harder to swallow (badumtish) but the flavour of the class feels like, if you're gonna be using mouths in a way where TWF would be employed, it is vital for the experience. On that same note, it just makes sense for tentacles to be TWF capable, though I do get the fear of multiple 2d6s a round; that being said, I don't think it is that overpowering, especially with the lack of magic item enchantment. They get two 2d6 blows, which assuming the fighter has a Great Sword (something they can totally have) that is identical to what they can do every turn without issue.

Also if I may I'm actually rather curious if you have any rules/thoughts about the fact that technically with tentacles they basically have infinite hands to hold things. Could be a neat zero cost form power to just inform "hey as long as you have these you can pick up basically any number of objects to hold onto"? Unless there is something like that and I missed it.

As for Consuming Glare; right now it is just an addition to Dissolving Glare. However, it's really not a useful addition! How many times are you going to get over ten damage with 1d8+modifier, really? So make Consuming Glare be a full on side-grade to Dissolving Glare. Have it be an eye beam that IS an attack roll, that does however much damage is reasonable PLUS incurs the Dissolving Glare con save. Then the damage all told gets added together and for every ten damage you get fed.

[Qwertystop]

(And here's the GM of that aforementioned game weighing in.)


If I may present my two cents.

I feel like keeping Deadly Spikes at 2d8 is reasonable. It takes till level 6 to get to it, and while yes other classes can use resources to match that, given how the Ozodrin fiddles around with its abilities, I'd say it compares well. Also, given fighters do get access to magic weapons, and get access to base damage that the Ozodrin can't (2d6 great swords and so on), I think it is fair. Ozodrin gives up the excellence of a Fighter being able to focus on strong weapons, in exchange for having a little higher base stuff for cheaper stuff. On the scale of damage vs speed, Monk's are weaker but just vomit out dice, fighters are stronger but slightly less fast, and Ozodrin is the middle ground.

With that in mind I do think you should keep Two Weapon Fighting being a thing with tentacles and mouth. Mouth is a bit harder to swallow (badumtish) but the flavour of the class feels like, if you're gonna be using mouths in a way where TWF would be employed, it is vital for the experience. On that same note, it just makes sense for tentacles to be TWF capable, though I do get the fear of multiple 2d6s a round; that being said, I don't think it is that overpowering, especially with the lack of magic item enchantment. They get two 2d6 blows, which assuming the fighter has a Great Sword (something they can totally have) that is identical to what they can do every turn without issue.

Also if I may I'm actually rather curious if you have any rules/thoughts about the fact that technically with tentacles they basically have infinite hands to hold things. Could be a neat zero cost form power to just inform "hey as long as you have these you can pick up basically any number of objects to hold onto"? Unless there is something like that and I missed it.

As for Consuming Glare; right now it is just an addition to Dissolving Glare. However, it's really not a useful addition! How many times are you going to get over ten damage with 1d8+modifier, really? So make Consuming Glare be a full on side-grade to Dissolving Glare. Have it be an eye beam that IS an attack roll, that does however much damage is reasonable PLUS incurs the Dissolving Glare con save. Then the damage all told gets added together and for every ten damage you get fed.

Hm. From continued comparison (TWF Ozodrin getting three attacks, vs Greatsword Fighter with two or TWF Fighter with three smaller weapons but getting to add strength to all three, all at 6th level)... I think I'd say, maybe don't drop TWF from mouths and tentacles entirely (and why from those but not from fins?), but instead say that the damage-amped version of the feature (Deadly Limbs, Dire Consumption, Deadly Fins) is no longer a light weapon (not TWF-able) if it's really an issue? Certainly removing TWF from those three features in general doesn't make sense when the damage without spending FP is the same as a fighter dual-wielding non-magical hand-axes. So then you have the same choice as the Fighter, two swings with a big weapon or three with a smaller one. Technically I guess you could actually TWF two swings of a smaller weapon and MultiAssault a third swing with a big one, but that still only adds up to 4d6, same as if you'd just done two attacks with a 2d6 and no TWF.

Except fighters can use magic weapons to boost their to-hit; Ozodrin don't get that so easily. And Fighters keep getting more attacks as they level, while Ozodrin get an increasing variety of options but remain restricted by the action economy. And Unarmored Defense starts out compensating for a lack of armor proficiency but isn't magic armor.

Grasping Limbs implies tentacles without that alteration have some lack of dexterity, but then, Whip Tendrils implies the ability to grapple. So presumably they can grab things but not do much in the way of fine manipulation.

Consuming Glare also adds 1d8 damage, so it's over ten damage with 2d8+modifier. With a +0 modifier, I get an average damage of just a smidge over 9 on several thousand samples. An Eye-specialist probably has enough Charisma for at least +2 or +3. So it seems pretty likely that a fight or two worth of creepy staring would provide plenty of food for a day.

[Magikeeper]

EDIT: Oh, there was a 3rd response. Reading now.

As it were, I am currently turning Dissolving Glare into an attack roll, thought up some ray fluff I can live with:

1fp – Dissolving Glare
As an action, your eyes can unleash a ray with the appearance of warped, shimmering air. Make an attack roll (Proficiency Bonus + Charisma modifier) against a creature within 60ft. On a hit, it takes 1d8 + your Charisma modifier Force damage. This is a magical effect.

Also cleaning up the wording of binding glare and giving it 1d6 psychic damage on a failed save. Need to change Relentless Gaze as well now, which is fine - becoming an attack is a major buff.

---------------------------------------

The TWF issue isn't 2x 2d6 tentacle attacks, it's making three of them (2 normal ones plus TWF). There are ways for other classes to do this, but Ozodrin does it very easily. - Qwerty's solution is great, went with that for the TWF.

On the damage, I don't think it's unbalanced, it wouldn't have stayed like this for so many years if it was - I did consult various damage benchmark spreadsheets and such - but it is on the strong side and more importantly could sour DMs skimming through the class. Which is an issue homebrew has to deal with.

What initially prompted this was me trying to figure out which feature to put first in the PDF. First impressions are important, and if not for the unusually high base damage (for a ranged attack no less!) Spike is the most normal-ish feature. Ranged attack matters as well - it compares fine in a group of somewhat optimized archers but will stomp unoptimized ones (and be surpassed by heavily optimized ones). Edit: whoops, typo

Relatively, anyway. If this was a 3.5 era class you could just note the damage totals are the correct order of magnitude in all cases and call them the same. :P

--

As a note, we're talking about an average of 2 points of damage per round for level 6+ Spike/Eye primaries, and maybe.. 4ish points for tentacle/orifice when you factor in miss chance? A really small difference. If feats like sharpshooter are involved it's not going to be noticeable. Particularly since Ozodrin is the worst sharpshooter among the usual archer-types (no +2 to hit).

------------------------------------------

On tentacles: Being able to hold arbitrary numbers of objects in 5e doesn't matter much, since # of attacks isn't effected by limb total and magic items don't have body slots anymore. If the rules text went out of its way to highlight that point people might think there's supposed to be some kind of extra benefit there. I assume Ozodrin can do that, yes, but I've never had that actually come up even among the more optimization-centric types that have had a spin at the class. Ozodrin generally have their hands free anyway and 2 hands worth of non-weapon stuff is usually enough.

Like, it helps with hand crossbows I guess and allows for holding both ranged and melee weapons simultaneously but Ozodrin don't benefit from shields and don't gain proficiency with any weapons in-class. Even then, it's pretty minor benefit that would generally be rendered irrelevant by common feats (crossbow expert, etc).

Being able to grapple arbitrary number of creatures.. would take many rounds to pull off and is one of those extremely scary things that is completely fine in practice.

EDIT EVEN MORE LATER THAN THE OTHERS: I decided to add "Your tentacles can be used to hold and manipulate creatures/objects." to the base trait and change the "more" in Grasping Limbs to "especially", since it was unclear whether tentacles can hold any objects at all which matters given their extended reach. May tweak wording further. Still not emphasizing the ability to hold arbitrarily large numbers of objects but I do see the need to specify. Will probably change the "Whip" in "Whip Tendrils" to something else.

EDIT.. YOU KNOW: Changed base trait to "Your tentacles can be used to hold and roughly manipulate creatures/objects, but cannot wield weapons and/or shields". I think it had something like that long ago and.. yeah, with the new Whip Tendrils blocking weapon use is probably a good thing to catch wrt multi-classing. Sophisticated Tentacles and Grasping limbs both improve roughly to fine while the latter allows for weapon usage.

-----------------

On consuming glare: It already adds 1d8, for a total of 2d8+Cha. That's an average of 9+cha damage. 1d8 + 1d6 + cha would be an average of 8 + cha damage. The sustenance effect is just a small extra that has some use with the Orifice trait.

--------------
EDIT: I like the weapon type changing idea! I think I'll do that. The question is if I should just remove the light descriptor, or change it to heavy... hrm... probably just remove light.

EDIT AGAIN: I do think mass holding things is neat though. It's just that DMs that don't have an issue with it will likely allow it without it being explicitly specified and those that DO have an issue with it.. well it's not fight worth fighting I think.

EDIT MUCH LATER THAN THE OTHERS: Overhauled the Eye trait, kept the damage the same for now.

EDIT EVEN LATER: Made the weapon type change. Fixes 6+ without affecting levels 1-5, exactly what I wanted to do there.

[Magikeeper]

First up, on the damage:

> As noted in the many edits of the previous post, went with Qwertystop's great idea for the light -> reg for tentacle/bite.
> Changed Devouring Gaze to +1d6, it's force damage as it is.
> I think I'm going to change deadly spikes to:
2fp - Deadly Spikes (Requires Ballistic Spikes or Goring Spikes)
You can more skillfully combine shaping and wielding, taking advantage of being able to tweak every twitch from thought to strike for maximum lethality. Your ballistic spikes and/or goring spikes deal an additional 1d6 damage.

Furthermore, when you score a critical hit with a ballistic spike, a goring spike, or an attack with a melee weapon with your spikes on it, you may roll 2d4 additional damage instead of 1d4.
^ TLDR: Increased Crit damage +1d4, reduced reg bonus to 1d6.

---

So, there were three remaining features that do the whole "costs more each time you take this" thing. Sizing Flesh in particular has a major typo and didn't take into account that 5E doesn't have a colossal size category, suggesting no one's ever multi-stacked it in the first place. The other two are swift fin, which is probably too strong in combat when you factor in how much dashing fin gets, and Locomotive Limbs which likely has never been stacked more than once if even that (5fp for +20' isn't bad, but not great either).

My thoughts for how to change them to remove the multi-stacking:
2fp – Swift Fins
You can subtly alter your body and fins/wings to better support speedy movement (aerodynamic shapes, releasing jets of air through muscle motions, etc). Your swimming speed increases by 15’ and your walking speed increases by 5'.

As a bonus action, you can replace your walking speed with your swimming speed until the end of your turn. For example, if your swimming speed was 45’ then you would have a walking speed of 45’ until the end of your turn. Furthermore, while under this effect you gain resistance to falling damage and your movements cause spacial ripples like a fish swimming along the surface of a pond.

3fp – Sizing Flesh
Whenever you enter or alter your Inner Nature you may choose to increase or decrease your size. This effect lasts until you enter your Worldly Form or alter your Inner Nature. Anything you are wearing changes size with you, but returns to its previous size if dropped. Held weapons and other held items do not change size with you. This is a magical effect.

Increase. Your size category increases by one - from Medium to Large, for example. If there isn't enough room for a creature of that size you instead attain the maximum possible size in the space available. You may choose to increase your size category by two instead of one (Medium -> Huge) - if you do, your reach increases by 5’. In either case, attacks made by weapons that are a part of your body deal an additional 1d4 damage.

Decrease. Your size category decreases by one – from Medium to Small, for example. You may choose to decrease your size category by two instead of one (Medium -> Tiny) - if you do, your reach decreases by 5’. In either case, your melee and ranged attacks deal 1d4 less damage (minimum 0).

If you make this alteration to your Worldly Form via the Aberrant Metamorphosis class feature, immediately choose to increase or decrease your size. Objects you are wearing do not change size with you, the effect is non-magical, and the effect lasts until you next alter your Worldly Form and cannot otherwise be changed.

Sizing Flesh was just completely re-written. 3fp is a bit much, but it does include both directions x2. Making the non-worldly version magical fixes clothing issues for all those Ozodrin that aren't just forming clothes via the base flesh trait for some crazy reason. Removed the Enlarged/Reduce connection as the effect description I was previously writing had way too many exceptions.

As for Swift Fins, it would now be a larger boost at low levels, and has some additional out-of-combat use, but fights for the valuable bonus action slot in combat. In the mid-levels (the most played levels) this would make it much harder to combine with Razor Fins in combat and then once you get wings it's about the same as before but without the possibility of taking it a third time for extra ridiculous speeds (after effectively 2-3x dashing). This change would also make combining it with Locomotive Fins infeasible / not very useful which I think is for the best.

As for Locomotive Limbs, I think I'll just remove the ability to take it multiple times and leave it at that. It's still a good alteration people will frequently take, and adding anything else to it would likely be too strong for 2fp.

------

I also tweaked Magic-Consuming Flesh again a few days ago as the first re-write would result in a rather complex set of things happening as a reaction which was iffy.

[Qwertystop]

One thing – you didn't apply the "no TWF if Deadly" thing to Fins. Intentional, or oversight?

(Also, some of the changes you mention aren't in the main post yet)

(also, Devouring Gaze isn't a thing – assume you meant Consuming Glare?)

[Magikeeper]

One thing – you didn't apply the "no TWF if Deadly" thing to Fins. Intentional, or oversight?

Although it is intentional, since Martial Fins let's you do super TWF anyway, I am considering reducing deadly fins to +1d4, which it was originally. It was changed to 1d6 to better match the DPR of the other traits at the time.

(I wanted to see if what people had to say before making the changes to.. Swift Fin mostly. I'm not sure how many people have actually used Tier III Flesh alterations before since Flesh is generally taken as a secondary.)

(Yes, I meant Consuming Gaze)

[Qwertystop]

Although it is intentional, since Martial Fins let's you do super TWF anyway, I am considering reducing deadly fins to +1d4, which it was originally. It was changed to 1d6 to better match the DPR of the other traits at the time.

(I wanted to see if what people had to say before making the changes to.. Swift Fin mostly. I'm not sure how many people have actually used Tier III Flesh alterations before since Flesh is generally taken as a secondary.)

(Yes, I meant Consuming Gaze)

Well, Kaneis has never yet doubled up on Swift Fins, so it's technically a small buff, but the biggest use for increased speed so far seems to be Razor Fins since big twisty paths to hit more targets take a lot of movement, and the buff doesn't help there. So I think it's probably fine. At most, it cuts down on the number of times when things turn out such that they're spending their entire turn on moving rather than actually contributing.

(Incidentally, I still don't think the various situational proficiency or half-proficiency bonuses would be broken if they stacked with regular proficiency - our game's doing that anyway and it seems fine so far - but either way it should probably be stated explicitly in the relevant features instead of being left to be explained later in thread as it currently is).

[Magikeeper]

(Incidentally, I still don't think the various situational proficiency or half-proficiency bonuses would be broken if they stacked with regular proficiency - our game's doing that anyway and it seems fine so far - but either way it should probably be stated explicitly in the relevant features instead of being left to be explained later in thread as it currently is).

Pg. 173 of the PHB notes:

Your proficiency bonus can’t be added to a single die roll or other number more than once. For example, if two different rules say you can add your proficiency bonus to a Wisdom saving throw, you nevertheless add
the bonus only once when you make the save.
That said, this rule seems to be one that doesn't normally come up very often, so I think I'll add something specifying how it works / noting pg 173 in the general trait overview section.

Edit: Hrm.. half prof actually is a bit unusual as the prof stacking rules don't state how to handle it if the values are different. Maybe I will reword those alterations a bit.

-----

The swift fins change is also 2fp instead of 1fp but is still only +5' so it's a nerf to its interaction w/razor fin but otherwise a buff for low-level general movement outside of aquatic campaigns yes.

------

Okay, I changed a bunch of things. In addition to what I talked about above, including Fin DPR changes, I also completely re-did Tugging Tendrils. It's gone from being an at-will incredibly niche 1fp effect, to being a 2fp, 2x per rest ability that's actually pretty strong. I tweaked Immaculate Grace as well, as 2fp was too little for it but it needed a little more oomph to be 3fp.

While cleaning up the wording of some puppet abilities, I came to the conclusion that Phantom Puppets, while neat, are sort of a mechanical mess. They're illusions that aren't illusions and the main use of them is going to be to spy on the other side of walls more likely than not. While brainstorming better wordings, I thought of what might be a better ability:

Edit: Fixed Wording
Edit: Fixed it again and made the change to the main page.


3fp - Rumbling Domain (Requires Advanced Puppet)
You may spend 10 minutes performing no other actions in order to convert one of your Advanced Puppets into a Stage Puppet. A Stage Puppet can be any shape and size that would fit within a 50’x50x50’ cube and has double the carrying capacity of a Gargantuan creature (your STR score x 15 x 8 x 2 [STR x 240lb]). As the name implies, the Stage Puppet is otherwise not as dangerous as it looks - even if it has the form of a mansion or a giant beast it's still only as durable and deadly as an Advanced Puppet. At your DM's discretion the Stage Puppet's massive size may give it advantage on certain ability checks.

You may unform the Stage Puppet as an action and/or bonus action like any other puppet. Furthermore, you may you may freely add or remove other base trait alterations – such adding tentacles to one of the Stage Puppet’s “walls” or changing the design of the “carpets” via the base Flesh Trait alteration – to your Stage Puppet as you would any other puppet.

You may only have one Stage Puppet formed at a time, even if you are capable of forming multiple Advanced Puppets at the same time. Your Stage Puppet otherwise has all the abilities and limitations of an Advanced Puppet, including those granted by other alterations (e.g. Empty Doll), and counts against the maximum number of Advanced Puppets you can have formed at the same time. If you unmake this alteration, your Stage Puppet immediately unforms as normal. You cannot use the ability granted by the Essence Shift alteration with your Stage Puppet.

As referenced above, the lack of mechanical combat bonuses is intentional – your other alterations are needed to make the puppet more deadly than a glorified stage prop. Another thing to keep in mind is that Stage Puppets tend to be much lighter than they look - like a "stone wall" made of cardboard.

[Magikeeper]

Alright, I just overhauled a ton of stuff. Mostly Tier I/II/IV Flesh, TI/II Orifice and TI/II Eye. This included some things that had been mostly untouched since the start (and I think it showed). I also dealt with all the half prof stuff... I think. I'll be going through it again to make sure I didn't miss any. The half prof rewordings sparked the flurry of updates as it were. Main class has Perception as a skill option now, since Eye trait no longer needs niche protection for it (and might want to take it now).

-------------------

As I go through this with a willingness to bring a hatchet to stuff that's been around forever just because its been around forever, I'm reminded of Manifest Form itself.



QUESTION: Has anyone ever used their Worldly Guise? I'll be honest here, I've never used it. It's not because I've never been stealthy - even in the campaign where my PC was pretending to be a completely mundane bone-knife throwing warrior they never shifted out of their Inner Nature. Not once. There just isn't any reason to ever do so - you can form/unform all of your basic alterations using an action/bonus action and none of the advanced alterations change what you look like (some change what your basic alterations look like, or give you the option to change size whenever you can change your basic alterations but that's it).

Like, is Worldly Guise only still a part of this class because having an "Inner Nature" makes wording some of the abilities easier? And I guess the most recent version of Sizing Flesh?

[Qwertystop]

Alright, I just overhauled a ton of stuff. Mostly Tier I/II/IV Flesh, TI/II Orifice and TI/II Eye. This included some things that had been mostly untouched since the start (and I think it showed). I also dealt with all the half prof stuff... I think. I'll be going through it again to make sure I didn't miss any. The half prof rewordings sparked the flurry of updates as it were. Main class has Perception as a skill option now, since Eye trait no longer needs niche protection for it (and might want to take it now).

-------------------

As I go through this with a willingness to bring a hatchet to stuff that's been around forever just because its been around forever, I'm reminded of Manifest Form itself.



QUESTION: Has anyone ever used their Worldly Guise? I'll be honest here, I've never used it. It's not because I've never been stealthy - even in the campaign where my PC was pretending to be a completely mundane bone-knife throwing warrior they never shifted out of their Inner Nature. Not once. There just isn't any reason to ever do so - you can form/unform all of your basic alterations using an action/bonus action and none of the advanced alterations change what you look like (some change what your basic alterations look like, or give you the option to change size whenever you can change your basic alterations but that's it).

Like, is Worldly Guise only still a part of this class because having an "Inner Nature" makes wording some of the abilities easier? And I guess the most recent version of Sizing Flesh?

My campaign hasn't paid especially much attention to it, honestly – in hindsight, the Flesh basic ability to do disguises probably shouldn't have been especially available with fins not visible. Might get some more use now that we've hit level 6 and Kaneis' usual Inner Nature setup has gone from "person, with serrated fins on forearms and calves" (Fin/Flesh/Spike), which is plausibly just a weird merfolk in-setting, to a sort of whirling medusa/squid/jellyfish/ballgown thing due to the unlocking of basic Tentacles and also Razor Fins (the jellyfish bell is "attached clothing" provided by Flesh, being a sheer and floaty capelet, and there's still a person-shape somewhere inside/under all that until 10th level allows removing it). Then again, it might not; that came along with a good bit of introspection, so they might just not care so much anymore about not fitting in.

I would argue that if you've unformed all of your basic alterations, the advanced ones can't be active; in almost all cases, they explicitly relate to increasing the capability of the basic ones. If you wanted Worldly Guise to matter more, but didn't want to add too much extra cruft to mostly-cosmetic rearrangements of basic features, perhaps make it explicit that if you have an Advanced Feature, your Inner Nature has to include the appropriate Basic Feature for it to apply to?

[sallyisgreat]

You are right that the worldly guise's use isn't really incentivized, so maybe it should get the axe. In doing so I hope you keep most aspects of the aberrant metamorphosis trait gained at tenth level that allow alterations to non-trait body parts and physiology. The trait is flavorful and the change to the aberration type instead of humanoid with its knock-on spell interactions make it good enough that you could probably keep the trait as it is aside from cutting the part saying "Furthermore, you may use your Base Alterations and currently chosen Advance Alterations to modify your Worldly Form instead of / in addition to your Inner Nature. This does NOT let you choose any more Advance Alterations than your form points allow. Any Advance Alteration costs/effects based on how many times you've currently made them to your Inner Nature are instead based on how many times you've made them to either of your forms,". If you wanted to keep the worldly guise then perhaps you could incentivize using it by allowing ozodrin in their worldly guise to count as humanoids instead of aberrations for the purpose of spell and ability interaction after level 10. It would be niche, but would have some use in some situations, such as evading detection from spells like Detect Evil and Good. But having a trait from first level that only becomes valuable in rare situations after level 10 may mean even providing that use for the worldly guise might not be worth it. The original 3.5 class, reading it over, seemed to incentivize using the worldly guise by having a debuff applied to enemies that saw the ozodrin switch to their inner natures, "When the ozodrin manifests its true nature, all creatures possessing a line of sight with it that the ozodrin doesn't choose to exclude must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier) or become shaken for one minute or until the end of the encounter, whichever comes last. Creatures that succeed on this saving throw are immune to this effect when used by that particular ozodrin for 24 hours,". Maybe adding that debuff ability to the feature, in a form adapted to the balance of 5e, might make the worldly guise worthwhile.

[Qwertystop]

You are right that the worldly guise's use isn't really incentivized, so maybe it should get the axe. In doing so I hope you keep most aspects of the aberrant metamorphosis trait gained at tenth level that allow alterations to non-trait body parts and physiology. The trait is flavorful and the change to the aberration type instead of humanoid with its knock-on spell interactions make it good enough that you could probably keep the trait as it is aside from cutting the part saying "Furthermore, you may use your Base Alterations and currently chosen Advance Alterations to modify your Worldly Form instead of / in addition to your Inner Nature. This does NOT let you choose any more Advance Alterations than your form points allow. Any Advance Alteration costs/effects based on how many times you've currently made them to your Inner Nature are instead based on how many times you've made them to either of your forms,". If you wanted to keep the worldly guise then perhaps you could incentivize using it by allowing ozodrin in their worldly guise to count as humanoids instead of aberrations for the purpose of spell and ability interaction after level 10. It would be niche, but would have some use in some situations, such as evading detection from spells like Detect Evil and Good. But having a trait from first level that only becomes valuable in rare situations after level 10 may mean even providing that use for the worldly guise might not be worth it. The original 3.5 class, reading it over, seemed to incentivize using the worldly guise by having a debuff applied to enemies that saw the ozodrin switch to their inner natures, "When the ozodrin manifests its true nature, all creatures possessing a line of sight with it that the ozodrin doesn't choose to exclude must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier) or become shaken for one minute or until the end of the encounter, whichever comes last. Creatures that succeed on this saving throw are immune to this effect when used by that particular ozodrin for 24 hours,". Maybe adding that debuff ability to the feature, in a form adapted to the balance of 5e, might make the worldly guise worthwhile.

I think the original also might have made it more complicated/take longer to change out features, instead of collapsing it all as "simple things in one action for as many as you like, bigger things all at once after a rest"? Might be misremembering though.

[Magikeeper]

@Qwertystop:
Interesting char design!


I would argue that if you've unformed all of your basic alterations, the advanced ones can't be active; in almost all cases, they explicitly relate to increasing the capability of the basic ones. If you wanted Worldly Guise to matter more, but didn't want to add too much extra cruft to mostly-cosmetic rearrangements of basic features, perhaps make it explicit that if you have an Advanced Feature, your Inner Nature has to include the appropriate Basic Feature for it to apply to?

They wouldn't be active in Worldly Guise either though - my argument is that Worldly Guise is, at least visually, exactly the same as unforming all of your basic alterations and takes the same amount of time to do. There are a few advanced alterations - mostly Flesh, but also some other ones like Orfice's stomach realm stuff and Fin internal organ buffing - that should still be present without any of the base alterations but none of those change what you look like so having access to them is just better than not having access to them.

I feel the only reason to keep Worldly Guise would be if people find it easier imagine it as two forms when first reading the class, since it isn't obvious that all physical changes come from basic alterations (possible enhanced by advanced alterations) until you've played with the class a bit. Then again, it's likely possible to write a version that makes that clear without having two forms. Or just have a way to suppress all changes.

@sallyisgreat:

On Aberrant Metamorphosis: Yeah, I was intending to keep that. In fact, simplifying Aberrant Metamorphosis is one of the reasons I want to cut Worldly Guise as it could easily just be an ability that lets you alter non-trait stuff + creature type change. The whole Worldly Guise section is unneeded.

Worldly Guise Hiding: I did ponder that, but as you say it'd be a niche thing that only matters after level 10. If I wanted that to be an option, it'd be better to include it as part of the level 10 ability.

@All

Original Ozodrin (3.5) vs 5e:
Original version was MUCH more complicated to set up, with each tentacle being a separate thing that was heavily customizable and everything was a mechanic. The later 3.5 update streamlined this with the [Fluctuating] tag and such, but it was still the case that a specific form set-up would take quite awhile to do - both in-game and out of game. You would generally have one core set up that you only slightly altered and rely on Wordly Guise to look normal if that was ever needed. A mass suppress was needed; the class couldn't make changing your looks easy because your looks were too closely tied to your combat abilities.

The 5e version took the direction the updated 3.5 version (and I think the PF version?) had started moving in and ran with it, creating a class where altering what you look like is fast and easy and all the powerful mechanics were a separate thing you don't alter as much. I greatly prefer the current 5e Ozodrin design philosophy, tbh.
On Fear:
The fear effect was an additional bonus, that fit into the base effect Aberrant Feats had on characters in 3.5. In 5E Ozodrin aren't assumed to have massive +Intimidate / -Diplomacy whenever they switch form and such, which was very much a thing even if you were playing a heroic CG Ozodrin in that version.

Moreover, PCs just have less stuff going on in 5E - that's mostly why most of the Ozodrin core class features generally do not help in combat at all, and are pretty niche even outside of combat, aside from Focus Surge and Trait Overflow (Both of which boost alteration stuff instead of being their own thing). Sinister Image is strong and unique but also level 18. Adding a 5E fear effect would be like an extra 2fp power, moreso if it was at-will, and I think it doesn't fit the class as well as it did in 3.5e.

-----

In general, I don't want to keep Worldly Guise but I'm wondering if anyone would miss it if it were gone, basically. Just removing it and altering the wording of everything else to match would be fine - it doesn't need to be a thing if all the players using the class would be fine without it.

Granted, this assumes I can come up with a good description that removes the need for Worldly Guise to get a good first impression of the class. :P


---------------------------

EDIT: Initial Draft of new base class feature changes:

Manifest Form
As an ozodrin, you are capable of altering your body with two kinds of alterations: Base trait alterations and Advanced alterations. To an ozodrin like yourself, this ability is as mundane as a human combing their hair; spells and effects treat your current alterations as part of your original form. Which alterations you have access to depends on your level and your Trait Archetype.

(_) Base trait alterations
Base trait alterations do not cost form points. You may add, remove, or otherwise modify any number Base trait alterations as an action and/or bonus action. Base trait alterations are simple alterations that modify your body in visible ways, such as by adding tentacles. The number of attacks you can make does not change; you still only have one action and possible bonus action per turn.

(_) Advanced trait alterations
You gain 2 form points at level 1, and gain an additional form point at each subsequent level. These form points are used to pay for Advanced trait alterations, and are regained when the chosen alterations are removed. Advanced trait alterations can only be added/removed after completing a short or long rest. Unlike Base trait alterations, Advance trait alterations do not inherently change what you look like - although they may give additional options when altering your Base trait alterations.

Trait Archetype
Each ozodrin is better at making certain kinds of alterations to their form. Choose one of the seven Traits: Eye, Tentacle, Flesh, Orifice, Spike, Puppet, or Fin. This is your "Primary" trait. Then choose two of the remaining traits. These are your "Secondary" traits. All of the remaining traits are henceforth considered as your "Tertiary" traits. These designations form your Trait Archetype, which does not change as you progress through the class.

Each Trait has a "Base" alteration, and then four tiers (I, II, III, IV) of "Advanced" alterations. At level 1, you gain access to the "Tier I" and "Base" alterations of your primary trait and access to just the base alterations of your secondary traits.

At level 6 you also gain access to the tier II alterations of your primary trait, the tier I alterations of your secondary traits, and the base alterations of your tertiary traits.

At level 11 you gain access to the tier III alterations of your primary trait, the tier II alterations of your secondary traits, and the tier I alterations of your tertiary traits.

At level 16 you gain access to the tier IV alterations of your primary trait, the tier III alterations of your secondary traits, and the tier II alterations of your tertiary traits.

Form Point Restriction: You cannot spend more than half of your form points on the Advanced alterations granted by your non-primary traits, and you cannot spend more than one quarter of your form points on the Advanced alterations granted by your Tertiary traits. Round Down in both cases. For example, if you were a level 11 Ozodrin with 12fp you could spend 6fp on secondary alterations, or 3fp on secondary alterations and 3fp on tertiary alterations, but you could not spend 6fp on secondary alterations and 3fp on tertiary alterations because 6+3 = 9 which is more than half of 12. Likewise, you could not spend more than 4fp on alterations granted by your Tertiary traits because 4 is more than one-quarter of 12.

Aberrant Metamorphosis
Starting at 10th level you are forevermore an aberration instead of your previous type (usually humanoid). This changes how some spells and effects interact with you.

Furthermore, whenever you complete a long rest you may modify your non-trait body parts (such as your normal legs). This ability works as follows:
> You may add/remove/relocate non-trait alteration body parts, up to a maximum of however many you would have had without this ability. For example, you could remove your normal eyes one day and regain them a different day or move them from one part of your body to another.
> You can change the general shape and features of your Torso, Neck, and Head. For example, you could become a ball of flesh with limbs or some kind of dog-person.
> You can freely change the form but not capabilities of your internal organs. For example, you can choose to be filled with a semi-solid goo that performs all of the actions your internal organs used to perform but you would still need to eat/drink/etc as normal. This anatomy change may protect you from certain kinds of attacks at the DM's option.

Decentralized Existence
Starting at 13th level, parts of you do not die when cut off and parts that would normally be dead (like visible hair) remain alive instead. You can reattach your dismembered pieces with an action. You have no control over your severed parts, and you cannot feel through them. If you die all of your severed parts die as well.

Furthermore, you always know the direction and distance to any part of your body, along with the nature [hair, leg, etc] and current condition of the body part. If someone uses a piece of you as a material component, you control the resulting effect rather than the caster.

Finally, you can survive and continue thinking without a head, brain, or any other equivalent; if you have a head losing it will not kill you.

[sallyisgreat]

The new draft looks good. Maybe a little intimidating, without some of the fluff of the worldly guise mixed in with the crunch, but the other features that you didn't edit have enough fluff still to make up for that.

[Magikeeper]

The new draft looks good. Maybe a little intimidating, without some of the fluff of the worldly guise mixed in with the crunch, but the other features that you didn't edit have enough fluff still to make up for that.

Hrm I could fluff it up a bit,

Trait Archetype
Each ozodrin is better at making certain kinds of alterations to their form. This distinction runs deeper than looks - each trait has its own way of doing things, both in combat and outside of it. Whether this distinction is tied to an ozodrin's views on life itself, is just their preferred tool-set, or is something in between... well, that's a question only they can answer. Choose one of the seven Traits: Eye, Tentacle, Flesh, Orifice, Spike, Puppet, or Fin. This is your Primary trait. Then choose two of the remaining traits. These are your Secondary traits. All of the remaining traits are henceforth considered your Tertiary traits. These designations form your Trait Archetype.

I also need to go back through all the Trait intros as I think they're rather dated.

-----------------

In other news I tweaked Tier I Spike, mostly poisonous spikes. That said, I also changed the wording of carved spikes to better specify what kind of objects it can make (e.g. anything you could roughly carve a bone cylinder into). This isn't.. exactly a buff as it is how I always ran it but I've realized there was a lot of room for interpretation there. Implying the idea of using carved spikes to create tool parts you then assemble into the tool itself was a particularly big one, I think. I mean sure, you could just use mundane starting gear for most/all of that but I found being able to carve tools on the go pretty fun when I was playing a spike(Primary) PC. Without that interpretation of Carved Spikes that PC would have had a lot less to do.

1fp - Carved Spikes
You can subtly alter your spikes, dulling them, adding sharp side edges, adding holes, and otherwise form spikes in any rough shape a bone cylinder could be carved into. This allows you to form spikes that deal bludgeoning and/or slashing damage, spikes that create a whistling sound as they move through the air, pitons, tool handles, pick axe heads, etc. You may detach these spikes from your body as a part of any action (A new spike quickly grows to replace it). This alteration does not give you proficiency with any items you create.

As for Poisonous Spikes, I just made it require Carved Spikes (so you can't take it at level 1), and changed it to 2x/rest + 1x/Rest per additional alteration instead of the reverse.

... I'm considering swapping Poisonous Spikes and Smoke Spikes tbh. Probably change how often you can use Smoke Spikes then. That would also give spikes more variety in combat as well.. yeah let's make it happen.

Yet another edit: Made the swap, and also altered Smoke Spikes to be a bit more useful out of combat.

[sallyisgreat]

Looks good. With the edit to carved spikes you might wish to clarify whether, "You may detach these spikes from your body as a part of any action (A new spike quickly grows to replace it). This alteration does not give you proficiency with any items you create," means that your alterations remain in affect for the spike you removed, and whether if they do they also apply to the new spike you grow as well, or if you could choose one. If the alterations did apply to the carved spike you could use it to create a ghetto magic item similar to the way artificers can. If you do go in that direction I assume changing the spike alterations would edit the item and removing the carved spike alteration would remove the item from existence.

[Magikeeper]

@sallyisgreat

Hrm, that did prompt me to tweak the wording of Carved Spike a little to better note when choices are made and to make the regrowth optional. Also changed Smoke Spikes to give the delayed spike a detach option.

1fp - Carved Spikes
You can subtly alter your spikes as you form them: blunting them, adding sharp side edges, adding holes, and otherwise forming spikes that are in any rough shape a bone cylinder could be carved into. This allows you to form spikes that deal bludgeoning and/or slashing damage, spikes that create a whistling sound as they move through the air, pitons, tool handles, pick axe heads, etc. This alteration does not give you proficiency with any items you create. You may detach these spikes from your body as a part of any action, and may have new spikes quickly grow to replace them if you do.


As for alteration changes, as noted in the base trait detached/fired/etc spikes only last an hour and a short rest takes an hour so it'll only come up if the DM has houserules or the party is using some other spell/ability to shorten a rest (in which case they've earned the overlap). So what happens when you remove the alteration is unlikely to ever come up. Since most spike alterations say "you can form spikes that" or something similar making new alterations wouldn't apply to detached spikes.

Other than that..I guess the spikes do count as magical for passing resistance/immunity but there isn't a way for a non-ozodrin to be proficient with them. It could also be argued that non-Ozodrin can't even use ballistic spikes / goring spikes as weapons even if they've been detached, making them only usable as improvised if magical weapons. The only non-carved/tether/smoke alteration whose effect lasts longer than a round without already having rules is rooting. Rooting basically uses up the spike, if people want to pass around carved rooting spikes that wouldn't be all that strong.

I might change Deadly Spikes to having a "you wield" in there, at which point even the most permissive interpretation aka "sure, fighters are somehow auto-proficient with detached ballistic rooting spikes" would only be decent power-wise.

--------------
--------------

So! I've been working on new opening descriptions for the Traits, to help Archetypes feel more like they do for other classes.

I think Tentacle and Spike are in a pretty decent spot:


Tentacle
Many faiths have an origin story for the discovery of fire. But as important as that is, before it came the first grasp. The first step. The first creature to recognize that the ability to pick things up, manipulate them, and set them down elsewhere is itself a doorway to endless possibilities. Even magic could be described as just just a more esoteric way for a creature to use some part of themselves, their soul perhaps, to indirectly grasp and manipulate their surroundings.

The Tentacle trait emphasizes these simple acts, and in doing so is a trait that favors melee combat, tactile manipulation of your surroundings, and overland movement. It is one of the more offensively focused ozodrin traits – if taken as your primary your choice of Secondary traits will likely depend more on what non-combat options they bring to the table, although the Tentacle trait’s lack of ranged capabilities is also something to consider.

-

Spike
Swords. Spears. Pickaxes. History is filled with pointy edges, and the Spike trait is glad to add more to the pile. In some ways the Spike trait is the least aberrant of the seven – shoving sharp edges into your enemies is a very ordinary thing to do, after all. Spike is also among the most militant of the traits, offering a more professional, soldier-like approach to getting things done. Of course, not all professional killers are orderly.

Although the Spike trait has some non-combat and maneuvering capabilities it is largely an offensively-focused trait with an emphasis on ranged combat. If taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can expand your non-combat, defensive, and/or maneuvering capabilities.

Puppet/Orifice/Fin are in the right direction:
Puppet
It’s good to be king... but if you want something right you should do it yourself. The Puppet trait embodies both of these sayings, offering a way of getting things done with a direct yet disposable embodiment of your will. The Puppet trait also favors the wonders of friendship, which naturally still counts if your friends are also you.

Due to its focus on creating puppets, the Puppet trait itself is somewhat lacking when it comes to violence - if taken as a your Primary Trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can expand your offensive capabilities.

-

Orifice
The Orifice Trait is the most well-rounded of the seven. Non-combat, melee combat, ranged combat, the Orifice trait does a little of everything like a variety platter of delectable hors d'oeuvres . The core of the Orifice Trait, however, is definitely the act of eating. So much so that Orifice is the most difficult trait to hide – tentacles can be whips, eyes can be gems, but the act of tasting everything in sight is going to stand out no matter what your mouths look like. If taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can enhanced your preferred combat style, although you might also wish to supplement the Orfice trait’s weakest area – it’s low maneuverability.

-

Fin
Although ozodrin may appreciate the freedom of flesh, the fin trait truly cherishes the concept. Going where you want to go, and leaving where you want to leave. This emphasis on mobility above all else makes Fin one of the most focused of the seven traits – if taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they they can expand your non-combat capabilities or how they can offer new ways to take advantage of your mobility in battle.

Eye is crying, and is only being shared to not leave it out. >.>
Eye
To pierce the veil, comprehend all that lies before you, and through this comprehension bend the path ahead through will alone. In this way the Eye trait is the most mage-like of the seven traits, its capabilities dealing with information gathering, debuffing, and ranged combat. If taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can expand your non-combat and maneuvering capabilities.

----

Ah right, I might also be editing all of the base trait wordings to use "You can form/remove/modify additional eyes" and such instead of their current opening wording which only uses "add". Or perhaps just form/remove, still pondering. I might also specify the inability to alter your original body parts in manifest form, but it might not be needed.

[sallyisgreat]

I hadn't realized spikes only lasted an hour, its been a while since I've glanced at the spike's base trait. Its never been the trait that most interested me, so I missed that. I enjoy the fluffy intro to the traits. By the way the poisonous spikes feature says it requires carved spikes in the changelog, but isn't actually edited into the trait yet as a prerequisite. While you add these intros you might want to make a quick pass over things to check the changes in the log are all implemented and the spelling/grammar is up to snuff.

[Magikeeper]

By the way the poisonous spikes feature says it requires carved spikes in the changelog, but isn't actually edited into the trait yet as a prerequisite. While you add these intros you might want to make a quick pass over things to check the changes in the log are all implemented and the spelling/grammar is up to snuff.

It was removed again later when I swapped Poisonous Spikes and Smoke spikes. Updated change log, thanks. The log is always updated after changes so there isn't anything in them that wasn't done at some point but it's possible the reverse is true.

Spelling and Grammar passes are constant, do mention if you see anything. The biggest remaining thing in that regard is likely deciding what should be capitalized when and sticking to it. The most thorough pass will be done when moving stuff to the pdf.


EDIT: New intros!


Orifice
The Orifice trait is the most well-rounded of the seven. Non-combat, melee combat, ranged combat, the Orifice trait does a little bit of everything like a variety platter of delectable hors d'oeuvres. Life is to be enjoyed, and the Orifice trait facilitates staying in the thick of it. Tentacles can be whips, eyes can be gems, but true gluttony is going to stand out no matter what your mouths look like so why not have some fun with it? Of course, a mouth can be quite deceptive as well, and some comforts are more easily acquired through peaceful means. Others.. are more easily acquired through violence. Do you have a preferred dish? Comfort? Battle? Knowledge? The world’s buffet has something for everyone. Satisfy yourself!

If Orifice is taken as your Primary trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can enhanced your preferred combat style. That said, you might also wish to supplement the Orfice trait’s weakest area – it’s low maneuverability.

--

Puppet
Ah, the wonders of friendship. Helping others and being helped by them in return is a powerful way to move up in a world just filled to the brim with minds and hearts. But making friends can be so very hard… if only you could do so a bit more… literally. Of course, a puppet master need not be so unsociable, perhaps you simply love people so much you’d like to be several of them yourself. Pets are quite popular as well, what wizard doesn’t have a familiar by their side? Certainly not a wizard that thinks like you! Whether entertaining others, having them entertain you, or just embracing that warm feeling of collective unity is your preferred modus operandi the Puppet trait is here to help you put on a show that will never be forgotten.

Due to its focus on creating puppets, the Puppet trait itself is somewhat lacking when it comes to violence - if taken as your Primary Trait your choice of Secondary traits will likely be based on how they can expand your offensive capabilities. That said, increasing the breadth of your social capabilities might also be worth looking into.

I like these more than the tentacle/spike ones, I might revisit those.

[Magikeeper]

SO! You may have noticed I've made quite a few changes this past week. One of the major goals, beyond giving Eye more of an identity / things to do besides look at things and deal damage, was to deal with most of the cases where a trait had a tier above I with 5 alterations. All Traits have 5 alterations at Tier I, but 4 at all others. Most exceptions to this were because one or more of the alterations were just not very good and/or extremely niche and was more of a "you should really just be able to do this at this level" and the like. I believe we're down to only 2 exceptions now - Orifice Tier II (Which is not changing, Swallow/Controlled digestion was mostly split because its just too much rules text for one alteration) and Fin Tier IV. The recent changes did heavily alter Orifice though, especially the saliva/breath/sound/tasting stuff.

An example would be Grasping Limbs - for multiclass reasons Tentacle can't wield weapons at level 1 but by level 6 just giving it to them wouldn't be an issue. More importantly, a lot of neat character designs need hands. That 1fp was more often than not a tax for chars that want hands. I combined Grasping with Deadly Limbs and changed it to Dexterous Limbs IIRC. The ability to use MultiAssault with weapons was lost as a part of that, might add that back.

I've currently been looking into reducing the amount of X per rest stuff as it had gotten a bit excessive. Might be good now.

Okay, so what I'm pondering now is a significant change to the early Puppet trait. I already combined Missing Strings and Lengthy Cords to form the Tier I Shifting Strings (5x TII alts -> 4x). Now I am thinking of replacing the Tier I Lethal Puppeteering with:

1fp – Deadly Coordination
You can, as an action, have one of your puppets Oppose or Support a creature within 5’ of them:
Oppose. The next attack roll made against the creature has advantage. If that attack hits, the creature takes an additional 1d6 damage.
Support. The next attack roll made against the creature has disadvantage. If the attack misses, and the attacker is within 5’ of the puppet, the attacker takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage.

Each puppet can only be used with this ability once per round. If you have enough actions you may, however, have multiple puppets Support or Oppose the same creature; the damage stacks.

Furthermore, you may count the Help action as a Puppet Trait alteration-granted ability for the purposes of using it with MultiAssault and Focus Surge.
Edit: Tweaked Support to be any attack roll, and specified that the attacker has to be within 5' of puppet to take damage. So if you want to stand behind a creature and support them, you can, but it is less effective.

And the current Tier 2 Deadly Coordination with:
2fp – Butchering Crew (Requires Deadly Coordination)
Whenever the ability granted by your Deadly Coordination alteration would deal damage, you may add your Dexterity or Charisma modifier to the damage dealt. If multiple puppets Support or Oppose the same creature, this damage stacks.
Edit: May slightly tweak wording and such of the above but it'd be close to that.

On one hand, this is very in-theme and different from what other characters are doing. On the other hand, this means primary(Puppet) Ozodrin do not gain proficiency with any kind of attack until level 6 unless they have a Tentacle, Orifice, or Fin secondary. I'm also not sure letting Butchering Crew add Charisma makes sense. I'm also not sure it makes sense how these puppets that have no attacking ability on their own are dealing 1d4 damage. I can sort of imagine it, at least?

Any input on this or other ways to go about it would be appreciated.

Edit.. ?3?: Swapped FP costs. Although 1fp feels kinda cheap for the new Deadly Coordination it works much better for low level puppet ozodrin, it's not something that'll cause lvl 1 multiclass issues, and for other ozodrin abilities it's often better to just attack twice. It is nice for attacking once and then setting up for an ally, yes, but 1fp seems enough for that? Puppet Secondaries could use another alteration that's potentially worth taking in some situations off-Primary and the new Deadly Coordination fits the bill.
Edit 4: Damage 1d4 -> 1d6.

[Qwertystop]

I haven't played a Puppeteer Ozodrin, but I do like the feel of these. It fits well with Puppet filling a support role in combat, and the extra damage can be things like "get the enemy to stumble into the attack" and "nudge a swing into just the right place" – basically crits, but less.

[Magikeeper]

Pms and otherwise, it seems like the change is liked. I increased the 1d4 to 1d6.


So, I've returned to pondering whether to let Razor fin use "Strength(Athletics) or Dexterity(Acrobatics)" instead of just athletics. It certainly makes sense - fins are finesse weapons and I can imagine Razor fin being done in a style that favors dexterity. I would need to change Unfettered Motions and Immaculate Grace if I did so but am likely changing those two again anyway.

One thing it does is make Fin much more SAD - there's only one ability in all of Fin that uses saving throws*, so going Dex-based is the usual choice. Athletics-based Razor makes it more difficult to have good fin attacks, good AC, and a high razor success rate on the same ozodrin. On the other hand, athletics is a generally more useful skill than acrobatics and Fin does not give psuedo-prof in acrobatics. If Razor usually succeeds lvl 6-11 Fin ozodrin have the highest DPR of any trait primary by a fair margin. Assuming there are 3+ enemies, anyway, which is pretty common.

I'm also considering changing Razor Fin to be an action usable once per round instead of a bonus action. The skill option buff could be easily added in that case, and Fin's DPR would be more comparable to other traits in most combats. Sprinting Fins might be changed to using a bonus action if I did that, and would likely have its damage buff nerfed to match.

Changing Razor's 2d6 -> 1d8 or something is also an option (would probably buff Sprinting's bonus to Razor in that case).

-----

*if I thought of a way to rewrite smashing fins it'd change to a "None" in the saving throw department. How has Smashing Fins been, btw?

[Qwertystop]

Pms and otherwise, it seems like the change is liked. I increased the 1d4 to 1d6.


So, I've returned to pondering whether to let Razor fin use "Strength(Athletics) or Dexterity(Acrobatics)" instead of just athletics. It certainly makes sense - fins are finesse weapons and I can imagine Razor fin being done in a style that favors dexterity. I would need to change Unfettered Motions and Immaculate Grace if I did so but am likely changing those two again anyway.

One thing it does is make Fin much more SAD - there's only one ability in all of Fin that uses saving throws*, so going Dex-based is the usual choice. Athletics-based Razor makes it more difficult to have good fin attacks, good AC, and a high razor success rate on the same ozodrin. On the other hand, athletics is a generally more useful skill than acrobatics and Fin does not give psuedo-prof in acrobatics. If Razor usually succeeds lvl 6-11 Fin ozodrin have the highest DPR of any trait primary by a fair margin. Assuming there are 3+ enemies, anyway, which is pretty common.

I'm also considering changing Razor Fin to be an action usable once per round instead of a bonus action. The skill option buff could be easily added in that case, and Fin's DPR would be more comparable to other traits in most combats. Sprinting Fins might be changed to using a bonus action if I did that, and would likely have its damage buff nerfed to match.

Changing Razor's 2d6 -> 1d8 or something is also an option (would probably buff Sprinting's bonus to Razor in that case).

-----

*if I thought of a way to rewrite smashing fins it'd change to a "None" in the saving throw department. How has Smashing Fins been, btw?

I tried to use Smashing Fins and it was occasionally useful at low levels, but that was with a Dex/Con build and no strength bonus. The shove-away was only rarely in a position to even potentially be useful (one kill on a catwalk, a few environmental hazards), but the bonus-action withdraw was nice. Might have tried to use it more if I had a higher Strength.

Razor Fins taking an action instead of a bonus action... might situationally be a buff, actually. If you're capping it to one use per round so you can't double up with Multiassault, you lose the "Focus Surge to double Razor Fins" option, but it opens up lots of other bonus-action enhancers – Adaptive Musculature at 6th level is one useful one for improving your hit rate, but then at 11th level you get Poisonous Spikes and/or Energy Generating Flesh. Or just combo in Swift Fins to hit more targets. All those would previously require consuming a use of Focus Surge. That change trades off "more attacks per round" for "more ability to stack enhancements onto what's probably your biggest attack".

On the whole, though, I think it's a good change – I don't think there's anything else in the Ozodrin that just straight up makes an attack as a bonus action? It's usually adding extra effects to other attacks, or doing non-damaging things. It's a weird mechanical inversion, a Fin Ozodrin could use all their actions on running and their bonus to attack, as it stands (and in fact that was the very case that you were worried about, a while ago).

[babus]

This post is a long time coming, but the game has been relatively leisurely in its pace. We're actually still level 2 (which is what we started at), but will be level 3 soon, and it has been a good experience so far. Some of these may be repeats of things mentioned in PM. Some of this is direct feedback from playing, and some of this is a commentary on recent updates since I started playing.

Observations on Social Ozodrin:
1. The greater freedom on describing features makes the Ozodrin much less Masquerade Dependent. Having reviewed comments by others, I wouldn't necessarily say Worldy Guise is worthless as is, but it is campaign dependent. For example, the setting I'm currently playing in would see fleshy strings emerging from a young woman's body as a sign that she was a monster and execute her. It works best in places where being a goblin would get you chased out of town, and less well in places where being a many mouthed tentacle puppet master is labeled 'eccentric'. Hiding such features is also its own sort of fun, but telling my GM when I'm changing back and forth between my Worldly Guise happens a lot when the possibility of being searched exists.
2. Shifting Strings sounds wonderful and is now a very interesting selection to spend FP on for multiple reasons. I feel like there should be some sort of downside to having the strings invisible, but in general, it's super neat to be able to keep your puppets in a box you carry around with you.
Favorite Social Thing I Did: Put on a puppet show by creating a large number of puppets spontaneously, while still hiding my nature by doing the adding and removing of the Base Features out of view.

Observations on Combat Ozodrin:
1. Even before the update made Puppet entirely support (at least as far as standard attacks go), it was clear that picking a Secondary Feature that granted a form of damaging attack as a base feature (ie Tentacle) was somewhat necessary. Lacking even Simple Weapon Proficiencies puts it in a very unique place, and the new Deadly Coordination, while one of my new favorite features on the Ozodrin, formalizes that dependency. Had I at least the option of falling back on a semi-effective dagger proficiency while alone would make it feel less inherently necessary to take a specific Secondary Feature, allowing for more combinations.
2. I really like the surface area economy of the Puppet Primary Ozodrin. By which I mean the increased vulnerability for being able to affect more of the battlefield. It's terrifying and tends to punish me, but it really makes the class feel unique in playstyle, rather than just in flavor. A+ idea, great implementation, and so far, I haven't died horribly in battle from the increased risk. Later options to help mitigate that risk look neat, but it'll be a while.
3. I actually liked the way the old Puppet attacks worked, but I like the new concept even better, and I feel like it captures the essence of what made the old-style work. Going to try it in the next fight with GM permission.
4. Current implementation of Deadly Coordination and Butchering Crew makes Puppet Primary an incredibly interesting take on a SAD class because being able to deal your Charisma mod as damage means you could go straight Con/Cha. The major downside is that you'd then require an ally to be able to deal damage. I also think that being able to deal your Charisma mod as makes sense, as you're putting on a performance to confuse or otherwise frustrate the enemy's efforts. Making it use Dex instead of Cha would solve the 'issue' of a SAD Puppet Primary, but I feel like requiring allies to deal damage is a more than fair counterbalance.
5. I was getting hit a lot, though the monsters were rolling pretty high to my recollection. d8 Hit Die while spread out so is slightly suss. Further data collection needed.

DM's Thoughts I am Passing Along:
(Disclaimer: These are her own opinions, and I don't necessarily agree or disagree with them)
1. That giving the Ozodrin the same Proficiencies of at least the Wizard is necessary, especially when taking into consideration the Worldly Guise's lack of options to defend oneself without immediately revealing what you are.
2. That level 3 is too early for attacks to constantly count as magic, and that it should be delayed somewhat.
3. She suggested a possible alternative as "Level 3 you can, say, add a single t1 ability to your base form that hides when not in use and doesn't require an activation and comes from your primary (I.E. Tentacle with hair spikes can just suddenly run up walls with their hair. )"
4. That Constitution and Wisdom might make more sense for saves than Constitution and Charisma because Wisdom covers things like not going mad. It was more of an idle thought in this case, however, as she's aware that 5e has classes take a Common and Uncommon save.

Edit: I hadn't realized so much work had been done on the class since I last checked it.

I haven't looked over all of it, but Rumbling Domain is the coolest thing I've seen and my jaw hit the floor after I read it. Even with all its limitations, it's just such a perfect Spectacle, and exactly the sort of thing I'd fight to reach level 16 for a chance to use. Just absolutely amazing. It is not too much. It's a cool reward for making it so far in a game and just bursts with creative potential. It's also the sort of thing that really doesn't work thematically unless you're late level, so I'm not even disappointed that the player will have to wait so long to get it.

Also a huge fan of the fluff changes to Eye's attack. The reality sucking straw had me laughing.

[Magikeeper]

@babus

> Puppet Self gives +5 HP, which was intended to help with the low HD issue early Puppet has. Has that not been enough?
> I think the Con/Cha puppet is fine, its AC isn't going to be very good without dex. It also lets it work better with an Eye secondary.
> On the removal of worldly - the biggest thing was that you could and still can just unmake all of your basic alterations as an action and/or bonus action. All physical changes, aside from the level 10 ability, are either coming from basic alterations or from abilities that add new options when altering your basic alterations (e.g. Sizing Flesh). So you could always return to looking normal without using worldly. Is that currently unclear in the text?

@babus' DM
> Giving Ozodrin a few weapon profs does solve a lot of issues, so I've finally given them a weaker wizard list (quarterstaff -> club) now. If an Ozodrin wants a melee attack better than using a dagger they'll need to pick up one of the archetypes that gives such a thing. I do think there are other ways to disguise some of the alterations but that doesn't work in all cases.
> Moving Unearthly Power elsewhere means most low-level Ozodrin archetype combinations have no way to overcome non-magical immunity (can't make silver tentacles, after all). Ozodrin don't get Extra Attack, so only Eye/Puppet/Orifice would be able to deal damage with MultiAssault at level 5. Primary(Spike) Ozodrin have it the worst, a level 5 monk would have it MUCH better then them. That's not even taking into account the possibility of mages with the magic weapon spell.
>> As for what to swap it with, level 4/5/6 class abilities can't be moved, so if I moved it I'd probably swap Unearthly Power with Colluding Anatomy at level 7. Other classes.. or at least Paladins get some anti-disease/poison stuff early on and Colluding is just advantage instead of immunity so that'd be fine.
>> Granted, I could have Unearthly Power and MultiAssualt be the same level, which would create room for an entirely new class feature (reaction umaking of alterations or something?), but I had been trying to keep to 1x class feature per level. I guess in retrospect there are more classes that have 2x feature levels past lvls 1-3 than I thought.
If I did make a new level 3 it'd probably be something like
Worldly Guise
Beginning at 3rd level, you can use your reaction to unform any number of your Basic alterations.

Furthermore, you may add your proficiency bonus to any ability check made disguise your alterations and their use as mere objects. For example, pretending your tentacles are whips or your ballistic spikes are some kind of exotic dart. If you would already be able to add your proficiency bonus to such a check, such as due to being proficient with the related tool or skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

I originally had it as "all" basic alterations just be clear, but some Ozodrin will be forming their clothes via the Flesh trait so let's just.. leave some discretion there.

On the saves, aside from the Major/Minor I feel the last 10 levels work well with Charisma fluff-wise. 3.5e Ozodrin did have good will saves though, yes.

---------------------

Edit: I thought more about the Neo Worldly Guise. Although I liked it, I felt the main issue is that it wouldn't fit all ozodrin. Now, some classes have "pick a feature:" going on, so I could do that, but the ability is too verbose. If I dropped the reaction unforming though, I could do this:

Worldly Guise
At 3rd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice:

Blending In. You may add your proficiency bonus to any ability check made disguise your alterations and their use as something ordinary, or at least not monstrous. For example, pretending your tentacles are whips. This ability cannot help you mimic anything specific, like a renown whip.
Standing Out. You may add your proficiency bonus to any ability check made to look especially monstrous or otherworldly. This ability cannot help you mimic anything specific, like a legendary monster.

In either case, if you would already be able to add your proficiency bonus to such a check, such as due to being proficient with the related tool or skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Which seems reasonable and would work for ozodrin in general.

[sandmote]

This looks really fascinating, although I'm not familiar with the 3.5e version.

Considering the number of updates you've done, I'd like to go though and try to catch things that slipped through from earlier versions or haven't been updated to fit 5e language. I'll go through the base class and Eye trait to test if this is helpful. If you'd like me to cover more of it please let me know: otherwise I'll avoid cluttering up the thread.

Trait Archetype notes
Although this is entirely a concern about futureproofing the concept, I'd specify you get four tertiary traits in some way. That way, if someone writes up a bunch of additional Trait (Tail, Chitin, and Discharge come to mind as hypotheticals) it gives an individual PC more options total but not in the middle of a single game. I realize that's a major principle of the class, but at some point I think there needs to be a limit to the number of Base alterations and backup options available to a high level PC.

Separate from the above, I think the explanation of the Archetype Form Point Restriction isn't written in the simplest to explain manner. Currently you suggest counting up the fp you've spent across a bunch of Traits, check them against a number, then add them to the fp you've spent on multiple other Traits. I would instead say that you must spend "at least half your fp on your primary trait, rounded up," and can spend "no more than one quarter your fp on advanced tertiary traits, rounded down." If I understood you correctly this has the same limits, but I think it'll be easier for someone using this class for the first time to check they've done it correctly.

Eye Trait:
Base Alteration: Ignoring disadvantage on perception checks made in dim light is a bit odd. It stacks with darkvision in 5e, but if you don't have darkvision already is actually weaker. Maybe give darkvision/increased range on existing darkvision instead, and provide devil's sight (or something mechanically identical) as an advanced alteration?

Listening Eyes: 10 minutes or a bonus action feels weird to me. Maybe write it as a passive buff and add "you can suppress or resume the effect as a bonus action," on the end?

Heightened Senses: 5e features typically list a maximum range to special forms of sight.

Splintering Glare: It should either be "(d20 + Proficiency Bonus + Charisma modifier)" or "using you Charisma modifier." Non-lethal also isn't a term in 5e, so I'd maybe specifiy "you can attempt to knock out a creature using this attack," instead. see page 198 of the PH for that rule.

Disorienting Glare: in 5e features don't stack with themselves (or another feature of the same name created by a different creature) by default.

Efficient Pathways[1]: "As a reaction," is the usual verbiage, and it should probably be "or increase your AC to 18 against a single attack," for that last bit.Eldritch Sensitivity: I'm not clear what information this would grant a player. I'd steal the language from the Detect magic spell: "your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic," then add a similar reading for anything alive. Also copy the section about the aura's school of magic if that applies.

Consuming Glare: For simplicities' sake, I'd just say it "provides enough nourishment to sustain you for one day." Similarly, replace the comment about non-lethal damage with "and cannot be used to knock out a creature."

Framing Glare[1]: I don't see it specify the target disappears, where they go, who decided it deals damage, or that you must see the target, and the duration could be instantaneous if they're next in the initiative order. I'm just going to take a stab at rewriting it:

"An action, choose a creature you can see within 60 feet, which must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save the creature take 3d8 psychic damage and is banished to a harmless demiplane until the start of your next turn, when it reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. On a failed save, the creature takes half a much damage, and isn't banished. A willing creature can choose to fail this saving throw. When you use your Framing Glare, you can choose to reduce the damage dealt to 0."

Murmuring Glare: the verbiage is "on a failed save," and "on a success" iff a success still does anything. "Magical effect," isn't a term in 5e. Maybe specify "the effect is suppressed while in an antimagic field, and ends if Dispel Magic or Remove curse is cast on the creature."Nous Sight: Lot a 3.5e lingo. You gain "20 feet of blindsight." The last part should just be "creatures within your Nous Sight have disadvantage on Charisma (Deception) checks to disguise their emotional state from you."

Encroaching Gaze: Descriptions of telepathy distinguishes between sending and understanding in 5e. Maybe try "The creature understands your speech only if the two of you share a language, but you can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images with any creature that can understand a language."

Parallel Pathways: I don't see a "Dissolving Glare." Otherwise I'd try this:

"You can use any Eye Trait alteration or take the Search action as a bonus action. The Search action counts as an ability granted by this trait alteration for the purposes of your Ozodrin features."

Far Reaching Gaze: I don't see any Dissolving or Binding Glares listed.Unbound Reception: Lucky lets you reroll a die, not add a die. I also don't know of what rule explains how to interpret an "additional" die. If have disadvantage, do I have to take the lowest of the three?

Decentralized Perception: Maybe "you can see from the body part's location as if you were there," or something? Note "obscuring objects" isn't defined; in 5e you specify allowed types of special senses to explain what is lightly or heavily obscured instead, because this depends on special senses like darvision.

Delving Sight: "Otherwise" should probably be "on a failed save," and there isn't a "magical effect," defined by 5e.

Rejecting Glare: Just say "other creatures and object have resistance to all damage dealt by the target." Is this intended to let you target a creature you can't see?

[1] Limited Use Features
Variations of the following show up regularly:

"After using this ability twice, you cannot do so again until after completing a short or long rest. You may make this alteration multiple times, increasing the number of times you can use a reaction this way before needing to complete a short or long rest by one each time."
I think the 5e language is closer to the following:

"You can use this ability twice and gain one additional use for every two additional fp you spend on this alteration. You regain all uses at the end of a short or long rest."
This helps with how in 5e you only apply the strongest version of any effect with the same name.

[Magikeeper]

Oh, absolutely go ahead with that! Not being previously familiar with it is a plus. Among other things, you caught some major update failures with Far Reaching / Parallel Processing mentioning renamed/removed alterations. Err, I mean failures from recent revisions to the 5e version - the change log is now two posts long because it hit max capacity over the years. I'm also reminded that a different trait should be moved to the first spot PDF, Eye's kind of weird.

@Magical effect: A term anti-magical-effect abilities use but not a term abilities use to describe themselves. It's almost exclusive to the Eye trait, and is due to forming alterations being stated as being mundane in the Manifest Form description. I have considered dropping the magical effect stuff, as it should be obvious those effects are magical, but would likely need to tweak some wordings to better emphasis the possibility of an alteration-granted ability being magical. Which.. I probably will do, yeah. Honestly, having the forming of alterations be non-magical is much less important in 5e than it was in 3e.


Responses:
Trait Archetype: I think if anyone wants to add more traits they should do it as an alternate class feature that swaps places with a preexisting trait. I'll think about the suggested restriction rewording, that section is currently rather verbose on top of everything else.

Eye Trait:
Base Alteration: Low light vision is pretty weak, yes. 360' vision doesn't mean much mechanically but could be useful RP-wise. Darkvision.. at level 6 an Ozodrin gets access to all the base alterations so they'd auto-get darkvision and I'm not sure about that. I do think this is the weakest base trait, outside of groups that utilize the 360'.

Listening Eyes: I had this be 10 minutes for what I imagine is the reason why detect magic requires an action to see auras: So the table only has to keep this ability in mind when the player is actively using it. It's a strange effect. Unless the PC really wants it up 24/7, in which case they're liable to remember it themselves, giving it a duration prevents it staying on and burdening the DM when the player isn't even thinking about it. That said, maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here.

Heightened Senses: Although 5E usually lists maximum ranges, it does not do so for See Invisibility, which has infinite range and is where the effect is being taken from.

Splintering Glare: Hrm. I'll look more into the attack roll wordings. The other alterations just use the weapon rules, so this is an eye-specific issue. It is true that the word non-lethal isn't used anywhere in the knock-out description.. but on the other hand I'm concerned that "attempt to knock out" will confuse players (and DMs) that aren't familiar with the knockout rule. I was actually in a game two days ago where I noted we should aim to knock out a target and people were confused until I specified non-lethal. EDIT: I suppose the main issue here is that Non-lethal is no longer a game term, but it is by far the better understood English-language term IME. Referring to non-lethal and then explaining what that choice means leaves no room for confusion. I'm not sure any current D&D effect uses "attempt to knock out" or mentions the knock-out rule outside of the rule itself.

Disorienting Glare: It is true they normally don't do so and there is no need for reminder text. This is a case where I felt like a wanted to make *very* sure the player and their DM remembers that rule. EDIT: Eh, I think I'll remove it though, it's pretty obvious since it says "next".

Efficient Pathways[1]: Should be as a reaction, yeah. On the AC.. a quick search for players confused about barkskin suggests the reminder text might be worth keeping.

Eldritch Sensitivity: Hrm. Might need to go back over the wording for the first section if it's that unclear. As for the second ability, it's already using the "any visible creature.." wording from detect magic? Maybe I should remove the and/or, it's just to note that they can tell the difference between nonmagical, magical, alive, not alive, and all combinations of that. The lack of school of magic was an intentional drop, since they're not spellcasters.

Consuming Glare: There's a TI Orifice alteration that can be triggered off of food consumption, the specific wording is due to that. The current wording is.. verbose and I'm not thrilled about it but changing it would be tricky.

Framing Glare: The target doesn't go anywhere - they can do whatever they want during their turn, but at the end of it they go back to where they were when you used the ability. Like you saved their position and then forcefully reloaded the save at the end of their next turn. It triggers at the end of their turn, not the beginning. It's like a delayed teleport aimed at wherever the target currently is. I will probably use the "reduce damage to 0" wording though, that's quite a bit cleaner than the convoluted current situation where they only take damage if they try to resist even if it's flavorful. It should specify a sight requirement, yeah.

Murmuring Glare: I specify it does nothing on a success as I've gotten the impression that many tables would argue over whether or not the target creature becomes aware of the effect on a success and this ability is unreliable enough even if it succeeds that it would be safe to let it work in social situations (unlike suggestion). It does "nothing" is meant to mean it does literally nothing instead of alerting the creature as to what happened. This is another case of reminder text the ability shouldn't need but might still be useful. There are other ways this could be conveyed, granted, including ones that would be more to the point.

Nous Sight: Will tweak blindsight wording. As for the last part, it also effect wisdom (Perception) checks and was written that way mostly to explain that hiding is still possible. Whether stealth works vs blindsight is rather unclear in the rules IIRC and a passive ability that auto-negates stealth would be extremely powerful in a PCs hands. It should say Stealth instead of hide though. Granted, just noting the disadvantage on Stealth/Deception would imply it isn't automatic so that is an option. I'll think about that part.

Encroaching Gaze: Might change that, yeah. EDIT: Changed it to "If you do not share a language with the creature you can still communicate using simple concepts, emotions, and images." Which is also slightly less text as well! Being able to speak with animals and weird otherworldly creatures that don't speak anything is intentional. One of those is more on-theme than the other, but animals is definitely going to come up more often.

Parallel Pathways: Dissolving became splintering, need to fix that, thanks. I am iffy on not specifying more directly what Search action counts for & why it matters.

Far Reaching Gaze: Yeah, that's an update failure, good catch.

Unbound Reception: Lucky rolls an additional die, it is not a reroll on any site listing it I've seen (Did it get errate'd somewhere, I'm doing another search but that doesn't seem to be the case..?). That exact question is one many ask about Lucky, which is less clear in its wording than UR. Lucky says "You choose which of the d20s", which according to Sage Advice means Lucky turns disadvantage into best of three as per RAW. I had hoped to avoid this issue (and the absurd disadvantage -> super advantage case) by noting that you can choose to use it instead of what you would "normally" use. If you have disadvantage, you would normally use the lower die of the two you rolled. So you can use the UR die or the lower die. If the wording is still unclear I'm open to suggestions but I spent a fair amount of time reading about reroll feats and Lucky specifically for this one.

Decentralized Perception: Hrm, could tweak this a bit. As long as I keep the box example whatever wording I go with should be fine, so may as well make it less wordy.

Delving Sight: I used otherwise because.. it made sense in a previous version of that ability >.>. Yeah, it should be on a failure.

Rejecting Glare: Will add sight restriction. I forget why I used the halving wording (RG's been unchanged for years), that change seems like it'd be clearer.

Limited Use Features - It varies in 5e as well, the current wording was expanded from the Action Surge wording. I'll consider it, although I prefer the multi-take wording to specifying X per Y additional FP as I think multi-taking is more quickly grasped. Also, there are some alterations that can only be taken one additional time. I think that's down to 3 cases though, I've been trying to reduce the number of X per rest abilities in general as of late.

---------------------

In other news, moved Unearthly Power to lvl 5, added the new version of Worldly Guise to lvl 3.

EDIT: I'm editing in more commentary regarding what I changed for the stuff I mentioned I'd look into later as I go over the more complicated changes that involve more than just a quick typo fixing.

[babus]

@Magikeeper

Puppet Self: It's enough so far. I'm just saying I'll need more data to really say, as it was closer than I'd like. We have another fight coming up very soon, which is where I'll get a chance to get smacked a bit again and test out the new Deadly Coordination, as my DM approved me making the switch.
SAD Puppet: Glad you like it. Looks like a fun sort of build. Good note on pairing it with Eye.
Wordly: Ah, yes, I see the issue now. I think maybe I was just missing that because of preconceptions. New Worldly Guise looks wonderful and while some people might prefer getting effective Expertise in Intimidation, there are a lot of fun tricks to be had with Blending In. I like the option of a choice, and just as much as it is a personal choice on the player, it could also be a good distinction when taking into consideration the game type. A dungeon crawl Ozodrin is probably going to want Standing Out. (Minor note of possible spelling error with 'a renown whip', rather than 'a renowned whip')

DM:
Wizard Weapon Proficiency: We both love this. It being only the basics is perfect, as it should only ever be a fallback in emergencies.
Unearthly Power: Wonderful idea to combine with MultiAssault, and +1 on it being fine for there to be more than one feature per level, as it is, as you noted, more common in 5e. My DM still complains that MultiAssault is not instead called Aberrant Assault, but that isn't really mechanical feedback.


I originally had it as "all" basic alterations just be clear, but some Ozodrin will be forming their clothes via the Flesh trait so let's just.. leave some discretion there.
Agreed. Also, this made me laugh.

Saves: Understandable, and the Level 10+ Feature thing is noted.

Edit: As a fun thing, I have gotten together a group of about 5 players to run an All Ozodrin Campaign on Tuesday mornings in Discord, so will see how that goes. Doing text for the sake of keeping good records.

Second Edit: While it hasn't come up yet, because my own character is only Tetacle secondary, the DM has agreed to let me treat Tentacle (Strength) as if it said Tentacle (Strength or Dexterity). Is this likely to break anything important?

[Magikeeper]

Renowned is the correct term, thanks.


Second Edit: While it hasn't come up yet, because my own character is only Tetacle secondary, the DM has agreed to let me treat Tentacle (Strength) as if it said Tentacle (Strength or Dexterity). Is this likely to break anything important?

Tugging Tendrils and Space Clutching Limbs are the only tentacle alterations that deal with saving throws. So, not particularly.

MultiAssault - The name is a variation of Multiattack, the common monster ability MultiAssault is pretty much the PC version of.

5 Ozodrin Campaign: Sounds great! Edit: Fin changes made Edit 2: One more early fin change (Smashing -> Whirling), also some of the Eye slight wording tweaks filtered in I would note I'm going to be reworking Tier II/III Fin trait pretty heavily soon. Well, it'll still be the same battle style but the numbers / action types / etc will be moved around as it currently has a noticeably higher DPR in most combats than other traits. Razor fin will have a Dex option, making strength even less worthwhile for Fin Ozodrin. Considering tweaking Smashing Fins so it doesn't need to involve a saving throw (at which point Fin would become Fin(None) instead of Fin(Strength)).

BIG EDIT: Hello people checking this, the most recent post I've made in this thread, every day to see if I've added new edits. I like to pretend you exist~

I'm thinking about removing Coordinated Tentacles, moving Terpsichorean Limbs to Tier I, and changing the following alterations as so:

1fp - Tugging Tendrils
You may, as an action, choose a creature within the reach of your tentacles. An unwilling creature can make a Strength(Athletics) or Dexterity(Acrobatics) check opposed by your Strength(Athletics) check. If they win the contest, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you may pull the target up to 10’ to another location that’s also within the reach of your tentacles. If the target is currently restrained this effect does nothing.

2fp – Terpsichorean Limbs
The coordination between your tentacles reaches even greater heights, their movements shifting like an intricate dance well-suited to adjusting your stance and deflecting forceful blows. This capability increases your armor class by 2 whenever you benefit from your Unarmored Defense class feature and are not wearing a shield.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action, use such motions for guiding attention as well. Enemy creatures that can see you have disadvantage on Wisdom(Perception) checks, and cannot make opportunity attacks, while within the reach of your tentacles. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.

Ability to fill in the hole created in tentacle Tier II:

1fp – Artful Tendrils
Your tentacles are well-poised to be tweaked and shifted on the spot to maximize their capability for fine, subtle motions. Whenever you make a Dexterity ability check while using a Tool or a Dexterity (Slight of Hand) check you may, as a bonus action, roll a d6 and add the result to the check. This capability does not lend itself well to mixing with other forms of guidance; if another ability or spell would add an additional die's result to the roll, such as the Guidance spell, use whichever additional die had the highest result.

Furthermore, you may count using the Slight of Hand skill as a Tentacle trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using it with MultiAssault and Focus Surge.

[sallyisgreat]

I exist~

You said you were trying to get rid of the PC ability save DCs based on Constitution for first impressions, so after awhile are you gonna change spike?

[babus]

Seeing how active you are on the class is actually super motivating for the people I've had make characters. I have not gotten anyone to take Fin Primary yet, but surprise surprise, someone is actually trying Flesh Primary. And they already have many thoughts, which I will convey once I have them in a summarized form. It's actually good stuff I think, but long conversations take time to make readable.

I wanted to ask if there are any specific playtesting encounters you'd feel interested in seeing me run the group through. Whether it be specific enemies, certain challenges, or even just hitting the party with certain spells. The current makeup is:
Player 1
Primary: Orifice
Secondary: Tentacle, Flesh
Player 2
Primary: Eye
Secondary: Puppet, Fin
Player 3
Primary: Tentacle
Secondary: Puppet, Fin
Player 4
Primary: Spike
Secondary: Eye, Flesh
Player 5
Primary: Flesh
Secondary: ???
Player 6
Class: Bard

If all goes well, we'll run session one this Tuesday, starting at level 1, staying there a few sessions, and then maybe having them jump to 4ish.

[Magikeeper]

@sallyisgreat: The number of saving throw alterations has fallen to the point where I can likely remove the general saving throw case - move that bit into Eye and for all the other alterations just have them note the 8 + Prof + Mod like subclasses do for Barbarian and such. That'll resolve spike's issue as I think poison should still be con-based. Edit: Aside from Eye, Orifice and Tentacle only have one ability that uses saving throws, and Puppet/Spike only have two.

@babus - Orifice can't use Ravenous Maws until level 2, which is a big change for them. The potential for mass focus surge is liable to result in some crazy first rounds. Other than that, not particularly. A variety of challenges is good. Three sessions in, the bard has changed his name to Lovecraft.

Also, I made some sizable changes to Tentacle today (well, they were mostly shown in the previous edits above). I think it improves low-level tentacle overall, especially when it comes to survivability.

Upcoming Eye stuff is just cleaning up the wording of some things, I don't think I'm planning on changing any mechanics at this time. Aside from adding sight requirements to some of the glares that are missing them.

Qwertystop is playing a Fin primary, as it were.

[Kerleth]

So, many, updates!!! I don't really have anything of value to add. I just really love this project and want to say what a great job you're doing. It is so cool to see this idea still getting love after all this time. If this thing ever makes it to the DM's guild in a pretty pdf, you'd have one buyer for sure.

[Magikeeper]

@Kerleth: Thanks!

For quite awhile now, I’ve been thinking of the alterations that can be made multiple times in exchange for additional uses. Specifically, removing the ability to do that. For the ones that only grant one extra use it’s not worth it outside of using it with Trait Overflow. Even then, it’s not worth applying the alteration more than twice outside of the specific case of preparing Magic Ripping Tentacles / Magic Consuming Flesh multiple times before fighting a spellcaster (and even then it’d only be like 3 times).

For most traits this change likely won’t be noticed. I imagine the only two it’ll be an issue for are Eye and Flesh. Well, puppet needs to do something for the charm.

I am considering having Eye use a second resource, perhaps change Efficient Pathways to enable access to it. So it would be even more mage-like. I’m not sure sure about that, however… maybe I could just increase the uses of framing/murmuring to 3..?

As for Flesh.. I don’t know. I was considering having it use the expending Hit Die mechanic more but hit dice operate on a long-rest timescale and alterations operate on a short-rest one. That’s iffy. Might just increase initial uses for Energy/Magic eating to 2x/rest.

I might also change Trait Overflow to something else as a part of these changes, depends on how many X per rest abilities remain.

[sallyisgreat]

I know that the current wording of aberrant metamorphosis is that your former creature type is replaced with aberration, but there are a few recent 5e options that deal with type, such as the UA gothic lineages, that have characters with multiple creature types. Will you keep the "replace" wording? If so you should be aware that the current ruling is that if one of your creature types would allow you to be affected by a spell or effect then it effects you even if your other type wouldn't be affected. A humanoid/construct could be affected by cure wounds, and a humanoid/undead could be affected by turn undead. If you do rewrite the trait so that the aberration creature type is added, rather than replacing another type, then you may wish to write in another benefit for the trait, since you don't gain any immunity to effects that target humanoids, and only gain additional vulnerability to effects that specifically target aberrations, which lack any positive effects that apply only to their creature type.

[Magikeeper]

Although there are few ways for PCs to be non-humanoid entirely, it isn't impossible in 5E. Dual typing would turn it into a purely negative ability and outside of that UA document it isn't common enough for me to feel like we need to do it that way. It's a level 10 ability after all. So it'll be staying replace.

[Magikeeper]

Lot of changes! In fact, let's just copy paste the change log..


2/1/2021
EYE:
> Added a sight restriction to several alterations that should have them.

2/4/2021
EYE:
> Rewrote Framing Gaze to be clearer. Among other things, I gave up the half damage on a failed save as that made the wording much simpler. Also changed uses to 3/rest and removed ability to multi-take.
> Slightly altered Murmuring Glare's wording. Effect is the same. Also changed uses to 3/rest and removed ability to multi-take.
> Change Encroaching Glare to Wisdom saves, but removed the one at a time limit.
> MAJOR CHANGE: Efficient Pathways -> Clear Reception. Murmering & Framing Glare changed to use motes of clarity, and also gained a minor passive effect. Encroaching Gaze also changed to use motes of clarity for its action-using effect.
TENTACLE:
> Magic Ripping Tendrils can no longer be taken multiple times. Magic Disarraying Tentacles now gives +1 use per rest.
> Dimension Clutching Limbs can no longer be used as a reaction, and it only lasts until the end of your turn. Although it's ability to be used in a Clutch has been greatly reduced, these changes all for removing the use restriction since you can't use it for cheap long distance flight anymore (Nor can it still be used to become basically immovable via caging yourself whenever you feel like it, which was pretty cool but also something that shouldn't be at-will). Now usable at-will, with grapple buffing ability becoming a passive benefit.
Flesh:
> Contorted Existence now limits you to openings 1/10th your size and the "not teleportation" reminder text was removed.
> Energy Consuming Flesh's resistance ability is now at-will, takes an action, and gives a max of 1x day of nourishment per activation.
> Bizarre Metabolism is now 2fp -> 1fp
> Removed the ability to take Magic Consuming Flesh and Contorted Existence multiple times, increased initial uses of MCF to 2x/rest.
> Regenerative Flesh now has to expend a hit die to convert temporary hp to healing, which means it now isn't continuous full non-combat healing when combined with Ravenous Maw. Regenerative Flesh also now lets you regain a Hit Die every short rest, making it more useful without the temporary HP connection. So basically, RF now doesn't feel like an Orifice trait that snuck into Flesh.

[2/5/2021]
MAIN CLASS
> Updated starting equipment to include some basic weaponry.

[2/6/2021]
MAIN CLASS
> Replaced Trait Overflow with Invigorating Surge. Most traits have 1-3 alterations with uses, and the remaining ones are increasingly combining multiple alterations into a single usage pool (like Windswept & Priming, or the Eye trait).
ORIFICE
> Changed Windswept Maws back to a bonus action. Removed the ability to take it multiple times.
> Priming Breath is now a 1fp extension to Windswept Maws that also gives +1 use/rest. Also removed ability to take it multiple times.
SPIKE:
> Goring Spike can now give advantage as a bonus action 1/rest.

Mostly streamlining things, and reducing the number of X per rest abilities and multi-taking in general (outside of cases like Swallow). Changing Eye to using a single pool was a big deal, please do tell me how you feel about that. Also replaced Trait Overflow with Invigorating Surge. I'm hoping Invigorating Surge is useful but not extremely so as Ozodrin main class features are intentionally not all that strong combat-wise since that's coming from the traits.

For Fin, I am thinking of replacing Supreme Charge with:

2fp - Chronal Diving
You can, to a very limited extent, swim against the relentless flow of time to slightly extend critical moments. When you take the Ready action you may choose to move up to your speed AND take an action, instead of doing one or the other. Alternately, you may choose move up to twice your speed instead of taking an action. You still cannot use the Ready action with the MultiAssault feature.

Furthermore, you may add your proficiency bonus to Initiative checks.

EDIT: Realized there's a way to use the new Chronal to get 3 attacks/ability usages per turn so need to tweak it again before making any changes. :(
EDIT 2: Removed ability to use the Ready action with MultiAssault, added text specifying you still can't do so in order to avoid any confusion.

EDIT: New versions of Shredding Volley / Piercing Rain. If the wording is understandable I'm making the switch (finally almost got rid of all the AoO effects, Ozodrin does too much each turn to have abilities that require multiple saving throws worth of time IMO):

2fp - Shredding Volley (Requires Ballistic Spikes)
When you use an action to attack with your ballistic spikes you may choose to form and fire a rapid flurry of spikes instead, the volley trading the possibility of an ideal strike for a better chance of hitting the target at all. If you do, you have advantage on the attack roll but any damage dealt by the attack is halved. The flurry of spikes benefits from your other alterations as normal (Rooting Spikes, Poisonous Spikes, etc).

Furthermore, as a bonus action on your turn you may ready yourself to unleash a truly staggering number of spikes upon your foes. If you do, your rapid flurries deal full damage instead of half damage until the end of your turn. Once you use a bonus action this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp - Piercing Rain (requires Shredding Volley)
When you use the ability granted by the Shredding Volley alteration, you may choose to instead aim the volley of ballistic spikes at several foes at the same time. If you do, choose a point in space within the normal range of your ballistic spikes and make a single ballistic spike attack. You may apply the result of the attack against any number of creatures within 10’ of the chosen point in space. If you score a critical hit, all chosen targets are automatically hit but do not take any additional damage from the critical. Roll damage a single time and apply half the result to any successfully hit targets. If your rapid flurries would deal full damage this turn, apply full damage (but not additional critical damage) to any successfully hit foe instead. This volley benefits from your other alterations as normal (Rooting Spikes, Poisonous Spikes, etc).

Yet another edit: Changed more things. Buffed Blitzing Fin's damage bonus for regular fins, changed Razor Fins back to only preventing OAs from damaged enemies. Made the Chronal Diving change, added the ability to act while surprised. Shuffled around the benefits for Climbing Limbs (Now Gripping Limbs), Tugging Tendrils, and Coiling Tendrils. A little stronger overall. Changed some ability names.

[babus]

My Ozodrin Group finished its first proper session, and there were lots of opinions. Would you like me to PM you the session's logs? We ended up with just four characters this time, but I made sure people rolled in the channel with the RP so it would provide good data. All OOC talk was kept separate from it.

[Qwertystop]

My Ozodrin Group finished its first proper session, and there were lots of opinions. Would you like me to PM you the session's logs? We ended up with just four characters this time, but I made sure people rolled in the channel with the RP so it would provide good data. All OOC talk was kept separate from it.

Could be interesting to just show here, honestly – as another Ozodrin player, I know I'd like to see it.

[babus]

Could be interesting to just show here, honestly – as another Ozodrin player, I know I'd like to see it.

Alright, then.

https://pastebin.com/323CY0wm These are the transcripts. Sorry if they're not in the best format, but I had to export them from Discord with a special program.


Partway through, the person playing Quinala had to leave, so another player took over their character for them, on request. It is fairly obvious when this happens.

Graci
Primary: Orifice
Secondary: Tentacle, Flesh
Zhane
Primary: Eye
Secondary: Puppet, Fin
Cherise
Primary: Tentacle
Secondary: Puppet, Fin
Amicia
Primary: Spike
Secondary: Eye, Flesh
Abernath
Primary: Flesh
Secondary: Puppet, Spike

More details upon request.

Edit: In Hindsight, I should probably include running HP totals in the logs, as well. That went down real fast for both of the more melee oriented characters. Part of it was Level 1, however, so we'll need to see. The Flesh Primary character in particular did not find it especially positive that Negating Flesh only works against one attack per round, considering its downside, but I can tell you've been working on getting it just right. He was admittedly comparing it to the Bear Barbarian's ability and suggested that using up your reaction for a full round of resistance is probably fine, even sans the Disadvantage on attacks and such.

Other things to note were the lack of healing options, but that's kind of more an issue of an all Ozo party. There was a bard, but they had to leave early as noted.

We'll see how it goes as we move forward, as the HP issues at first level are usually a concern for any class, but that was the main feedback.

Finally I should mention that one of the players felt the class might be better served being split into 3 based on its role (Tank/DPS/Support). I know you've heard things like that before, but the player asked I share it. I'll drill them for more things they enjoyed, though the Eye Primary liked having Cha to hit.

[Magikeeper]

If negating was improved much further it'd need to be 3fp to avoid multiclass power issues. Barbarians can only rage 2/day at level 1 and can't cast spells while doing so. Giving any class basically 24/7 resistance for a 1-level dip is a bit much, I'd say?

Idea for a new version:

3fp – Negating Flesh
You can modify your flesh to resist blows and better distribute force. If your armor class would be less than 16, it is 16 instead.

Furthermore, as a bonus action you can ready your flesh to continually shift, tighten, and loosen as it reconfigures itself to receive each blow. You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the beginning of your next turn. Such focus, however, drains your attention; you cannot take reactions and have disadvantage on wisdom ability checks until the beginning of your next turn.

----

I'm thinking about swapping Regenerative Flesh and Contorted Existence as well, which would make Regenerative Flesh available at level 6.

EDIT:

Maybe:
"Such focus, however, drains your attention; you cannot make opportunity attacks, have disadvantage on Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma ability checks, and cannot concentrate on spells until the beginning of your next turn."

Denying reactions messes with Magic Consuming Flesh, and I don't think in a good way. Of the listed types, its Dex/Wis that matter the most - perception and initiative make it unlikely someone will just use it infinitely outside of combat. This second restriction list pretty much stops it from being better rage for spellcasters and gives reason to not have it up all the time. The OA stuff combined with using up the bonus action gives barbarians reason to be less concerned.

Edit 2: Might remove OA restriction. In addition, thinking of adding the following to the BASE Flesh trait:

"Furthermore, when you use the Focus Surge feature, if Flesh is your Primary trait, you may gain resistance to all forms of damage until the beginning of your next turn. "

Edit 3: Doing all of that leaves level 1 Flesh as particularly helpless. Like, they can either use a crossbow without Dex or throw daggers. Ozodrin do start with daggers now.. but... hrm.. maybe give Illuminating Flesh some kind of limited combat-relevant ability?

Edit 4: Maybe:
Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, unleash a blindingly bright glow that sheds bright light in a 60’ radius and dim light for an additional 60’. Creatures within 5’ of you, that are not immune to being blinded, have disadvantage on attack rolls made against you while you glow in this way. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn. You may use a bonus action this way twice. You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

[babus]

The problem with Flesh seems to be that it's trying to make up for the inherent issues with Ozodrin's survivability, which means you're spending a lot of creative energy and mechanical potency on making it work more as a tank, and a lot less on the cool features that make Ozodrin unique. In general, I'd say the Core of the class might need adjustment there so that you don't need to account for it as much. With any of the options the class has to offer.

I personally feel that if you strengthened the base class, you could focus a lot more on the interesting, weird stuff, across all the traits. It would also cut down on the cascade effect that comes from changing one thing creating potential complications with all the rest.

A few suggestions:

- Change from D8 to D10. We're far too melee at base, and even the ranger has a d10 along with the fighter. Monk has its own quirks to help, but the Ozodrin does not (without taking into account certain options from traits). Without getting into subclass options, Warlock has its own tricks, as well and the Rogue has about four things. I understand that the idea is to account for those things with the traits, but it puts a rather large design burden on you to get everything exactly right for every variation. Of which there are many.

-Either provide armor proficiencies, or...

Level 1
-Unarmored Defense - make it Dex + your Primary's stat. It's worse than monk and barbarian in most ways as it is.


Monk is encouraged to use Dex from its main level one ability - Martial Arts. It keys of Dex, and lets you do Dex to damage and adjusts various things.
Then you get your unarmored defense which uses Dex and your secondary monk ability, which keys into your saves. Boom. Only need two stats to be exceptionally high. Con comes next.

Barbarian isn't encouraged to use either at base, it's encouraged to shove everything into Strength because its defenses are taken care of. Rage only works with Strength melee, to start with, and it also helps with Strength stuff that you're likely to do.

Meanwhile it gives you access to Half Plate and Shields to further help you survive. 19 AC with only 14 Dex and 10 Con. You have time to build it up.

Meanwhile Ozodrin has none of that. At its base, its a Strength based class, but isn't encouraged to use Strength, is only half encouraged to use Dex, and that depends on what you're going for, and you still will not use Dex for your saves, you'll either be using Strength, Con, or Charisma - potentially all three. So you'll need not one, not two, not three, but four stats to be pretty high.

Edit: Apologies for bumping this thread to the next page when you probably still want to get direct feedback on your post.

[Magikeeper]

Pages depend on people's settings, as it were.

Hit Die: I've considered changing the hit die to d10, yes. The main issue would probably be Fin in that regard, which is very monk-ish. I've also considered armor proficiency - it's not like Ozodrin are blocking attacks with martial arts.

Primary stats: I've been planning to move the big saves-based-on-stat-X thing into just Eye and move away from the primary stat concept. Aside from Eye, all the other traits have very few save-using abilities.

Tentacle: Should always go Dex/Con. Yes, it has a couple grapple-based abilities, and that takes STR. But unless you're in an only-fighting-giants campaign most monsters are pretty bad at resisting grapples. Once you've removed the monster's size-based immunity a STR 10 Ozodrin would have, like, a 40-50% success rate with bonus action coiling vs most things. With the current tugging they don't even need the Athletics skill. Thus, I feel having the (Strength) is misleading and view removing this as one of the reasons for making the saving throw change. Having STR would be nice but it is not essential to get value from the grapple stuff.

Spike: Should always go Dex/Con. It's one saving throw is con-based, even. Spike primaries can dump STR entirely if they want, they can even create most of the usual mundane adventuring gear on the fly so they likely won't even miss the carrying capacity.

Fin: Dex/Con. Changing Smashing->Whirling and letting Razor use acrobatics removed the only reasons to ever go STR with fin primary.

Eye: Cha/Con, but it's all ranged abilities so lower AC is not the end of the world. Dex is useful for some secondary trait usage.

Puppet: Either Dex/Con or Cha/Con, Cha/Con puppets can have issues.

Flesh: Str/Con, has issues. Flesh secondaries aren't going to need STR to get good use out of it, however.

Orifice: Str/Con, has issues vs large groups although it does have a STR-based ranged option. Only ability with a saving throw is STR based.


Aside from Parasite Puppet stuff, very few offensive Ozodrin abilities use saving throws. You could gain some benefit from 4 good stats but having 2 good stats will generally suffice. It is hard for most traits to use Ravanous Maws w/Orifice Secondary, true, but changing Unarmored Defense wouldn't change that.

EDIT: After looking more into melee rogues/monks/warlocks/etc, I'm leaning towards changing the HD to a D10 and giving armor proficiency.

[babus]

I definitely understand the move away from the Primary Trait system for the reasons you mentioned. When you originally stated that Dex for Tentacle saves was probably fine as very little keyed off it, my eyebrow was admittedly raised. I think it would be good to keep some of the "You can use x or y" language since that allows for certain fun variations (ie Puppet's Charisma to damage on its little support attacks), mind.

Glad to hear about the AC and HP consideration. My Flesh Primary player actually wrote up an alternate progression for the trait, some of which might be obsoleted with the adjustments you mentioned, but it might have some ideas you like, regardless.

So I've been working on these off and on for a bit, and this is what I've come up with for what I think flesh (and the form point system) should look like:

Negating Flesh: Instead of 15ac, grant 2hp/level.
Tier 1: As reflexive action, reduce crit to normal hit.
Alternative: Bonus action to grant enemies disadvantage to hit for a round.
Tier 2: Resistance to all physical. Always On.
Tier 3: Resistance to all damage. Always On.
Tier 4: Fast healing 5. Bonus action to activate, works for minutes/level.

Tempered Body: Bonus action to grant d10 slam attack (bludgeoning, Heavy)
Tier 1: Bonus action, Grant weapon property (ie reach, trip, grab)
Tier 2: +1 Weapon
Tier 3: +2 Weapon
Tier 4: +3 Weapon

Illuminating Flesh: Your flesh glows or soaks up light in a small area around yourself.
Tier 1: Bonus action to increase or decrease light level.
Tier 2: Create Darkness or Daylight as the spell Con Mod/per day.
Tier 3: Cast Blind as the spell Con mod/per day
Tier 4: Cast Sunbeam 1/day as the spell.

Energy Consuming Flesh: Treat as acclimated for environment.
Tier 1: Absorb Elements reflexive con mod/day as the spell
Tier 2: As a bonus action, wreathe yourself in the type of energy of your choice. Your natural attacks now deal 1d6 of this energy type in addition to normal damage.
Tier 3: If you are taking continuous damage at the beginning of your turn, you may make a save to end this effect at the beginning and end of your turn.
Tier 4: Energy generating flesh becomes 2d4, and allows you to choose Radiant, Necrotic, or Force for all of the previous tiers.

Base powers to each piece, which cost 0 form points, and a tier 1-4 that cost 1-4 form point each.

While he's focusing more on what might be a reasonable progression of practical effects for a more tanky Ozo, I did particularly like his idea for Illuminating Flesh. As I said, a lot of the problems he's trying to address here would be less present with a d10 hit die and armor, but yeah.

[NinjaZergling]

Hi, I'm the guy who is working on testing flesh with Babus.

Obviously we've had limiting testing time, and mine is unfortunately getting more limited as time goes on right now. While I'm aware some of my suggestions are 'boring', or include other features from higher tiers in the base suggestion, I think it's worth note I focused on mechanically balanced options for the most part. Negating Flesh could also have it's tier 2/3 mechancis moved to level+1 times per day, with a duration of con-mod rounds or something along those lines.

These are also not balanced against other features that are not Flesh related, and I'd suggest also having 2 new power choices at each tier after 1st so there's a little more selection capability for that mix and match feel. I'll be looking at Spike next most likely, and if you'd like I can organize it along the same line, or just look at balancing aspects.

Truth is, I'd probably split this class into three frames- one for a dps, one for a caster, and a tank, but that's probably not the feedback your looking for, so I'll refrain from pressing down that avenue, and if you don't like the tier system I won't push for that organization again.

[Magikeeper]

You may have noticed I’ve already made the d8 -> d10 hp change and added the armor profs. I also changed starting gear / wealth to make selling stuff to buy decent armor actually an option (wealth is more comparable to barbarian than monk now). Gave fin some no-armor restrictions. Change log over the past two weeks also included some tweaks for the tentacle grapple abilities and such so do check those if you haven’t already~

Primary Saves: I meant just removing the general concept of “Specific Stat for the saves of each Trait”. The few alterations with saving throws would just note what modifier is used to calculate the DC, like how it works for some barbarian paths. Most traits only have 0-2 alterations with saving throws, outside of Eye having it be a whole system is unneeded.

----

Comments on Flesh suggestion:
First, on more base effects - having more 0 point benefits means a level 6 Ozodrin would have at least 18 always-on abilities at level 6. Even if that were somehow balanced, its very complicated. Tertiary stuff would be right out – having 42 always active abilities at level 11 would just be.. no. One-level multiclass dips would also be an issue. The intent may be to add an additional system where you select a number of available alterations and then add points to that that group to make them stronger. Similar to the Meldshaping system from 3.5, but with an additional layer of the 7 trait split. That would resolve power issues, but would be additional complication.

Stepping back a bit, what does changing the architecture like this add to the class? It might fix Flesh, but that has more to do with Flesh having power/design issues. If Flesh had a series of abilities like “Defiant Flesh (Requires Negating Flesh)” at each tier that gave similar abilities instead of stuff like Sizing Flesh it’d be about the same effect-wise. Unless the intent was to have every trait be modular based on the form points spent on it, with higher-tier traits still existing, but in that case we’re back to “massive complexity increase”. The new organization of abilities would make it easier to have a smaller set of abilities that increase in power appropriately over the course of the class.

One of the limitations of the Primary/Secondary/Tertiaty system is that all of the traits need to operate on the same timescale (“short rests”, currently) and need to have similar action usage. The main reason why even Eye falls short of being a caster, mage-like as it is, is because MultiAssault limits how much out of game time it can takes to calculate the effects of its alterations. A wide-area AOE, for example, takes too long to adjudicate when that’s not your only offensive action in a round.

Would it be possible to have main class abilities, like MulitAssault, vary based on Archetype choice? You could.. but again the class would get a lot more complicated and the Secondary/Tertairy system would likely need to be dropped. Otherwise you’d end up with Eye secondaries with MultiAssault and such.

Changing HP/Armor Proficiency could more easily be done… an ability that gives extra HP/profs based on primary would work for that. Have every base trait have an additional “If X is your primary trait, >Benefit<”, for example.

That said, aside from possibly Fin I’m not sure d10 for all is really an issue. That makes Eye unusually tanky for a mage-type, but it’s secondaries will be more combat-centric / overall its more like a partial caster martial anyway. The d8 was a hold-over from 3.5, when every Ozodrin had eat-healing.. I kept it as some traits felt more rogue/monk-esq but melee rogues generally need specific builds to function while most Ozodrin traits are very melee-centric.

For a long time Flesh was like a closet passive abilities other traits wanted, either for mechanical or just for fluff reasons, would be stuffed into. More recent rewrites made it feel more like something someone might take ever - as is evident by someone actually playtesting a Flesh primary for what.. might be the first time... but it still suffers from not being very good at its role IMO. It also has some of the most niche effects in the class (like Filtering Flesh), and was dealing with a chasis that was very bad for tanking.

I’ve tried to avoid silver buillet effects with the alterations, and focus on swapping alterations being more of a style choice rather than a make-X-for-Y-situation-and-no-other-time, but there’s still quite a few of those in Flesh. Filtering Flesh, Acclimating Flesh, etc. The likelyhood of needing to stand in a wall of fire or something is.. extremely small, you’d need to be planning to stand in an allies’ AOE effect to reliably make use of it. Acclimating is a cool concept but surviving inside a pool of lava and such is unlikely to come up in a game (or there will be some other way for the party to survive provided even if it does come up). As a side note, the fluff reasons Acclimating exists for - adapting to extremely hostile environments - needs to use prevention wording over ending as lava pools and such don't end. TI flesh doesn’t even have combat style options, really. Tweaking Illuminating Flesh might help fix that, I hadn't thought about expanding on the light idea.

On swapping in general: Changing alteration swapping to require completing a * Long Rest * instead of a short rest is a possibility, and that would open up design space for stronger abilities. I’m not sure how often short-rest swapping is currently used, tbh. Below level 6 hardly at all IME, but at 7+ the ozodrin has their core combat style set up and can keep a few FP more variable. Anyway, without changing that alterations can’t have long-rest based abilities.

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Anyway, I’ve been blathering in all directions here, but the solution for Flesh is probably to overhaul most of its stuff.

I'm likely to be tied up until sometime next week though.

I did think of a new version of Negating Flesh, though, now that Ozodrin having armor proficiencies is a thing:

2fp – Negating Flesh
You can form any non-magical light, medium, or heavy armor, such as half-plate, whenever you modify your flesh using the Base alteration of the Flesh trait. This armor need not look normal, but it can be clearly identified as armor. Regardless of how it looks, this armor is still an organic part of your body, and you are proficient with the armor you form this way. You must meet the Strength requirement for any armor you form this way. You cannot benefit from the Unarmored Defense feature while using this armor.

Furthermore, whenever a creature scores a hit against you, you may use a reaction to shift your flesh to more capably withstand the blow. Any bludgeoning, piercing, and/or slashing damage dealt by the attack is halved. Warping your flesh so suddenly has a price; your movement speed is halved until the end of your next turn.

Once it stops mimicking Barkskin there's no longer a direct comparison when it basically gives access to fullplate at level 1. D10 + Fullplate + 1/round halving is pretty good early on. I also changed the negate drawback to something that'll hurt other traits and classes more than flesh (movement reduction). I'm also thinking of folding the slam attack into the base alteration of the Flesh trait, among other things, so they don't need to use an alteration just to have a melee attack.

---

Edit: Energy Producing Flesh is 1d4 so the slam lines up damage-wise with Spike, as Flesh would otherwise have the highest weapon damage at levels 6-10. Also because EPF and Sizing both stack with most trait alterations, making such things as 2d6+2d4 tentacles possible at level 11. It's assumed most Flesh ozodrin will stop relying on the slam attack at high levels unless they're using the GWM feat (although 1d10+2d4 isn't bad). Granted, that second issue could be resolved by having Slams deal more energy damage than other alteration weapons.

[Qwertystop]

Honestly, I sort of feel like the bump to d10 is unwarranted? My experience has been... mostly not getting hit, occasionally taking a big hit or two, but so far being fine without much in the way of healing other than short rests between some (not all) fights.

EDIT: Though on further thought this is perhaps the DM making things slightly underthreatening.

[Magikeeper]

Honestly, I sort of feel like the bump to d10 is unwarranted? My experience has been... mostly not getting hit, occasionally taking a big hit or two, but so far being fine without much in the way of healing other than short rests between some (not all) fights.

EDIT: Though on further thought this is perhaps the DM making things slightly underthreatening.

Aren't you playing a Fin Primary as well? Fin trait was my main concern with the hit die buff, as IME with much harder fights fin still doesn't need the extra HP. It's similar to a monk, only with less BOOM and more WOOSH. Which means it's even harder to land a hit on than a monk in most combats. Edit: Although with the Fin rework a few ?months? ago its ability to run away from the battlefield in-bewteen its turns has been reduced.

So the question is.. is Fin overpowered with a d10 hit die? If so, I may need to go back to d8 and have +1hp/level be specific to Flesh, Orifice, Puppet, and.. maybe Tentacle primary Ozodrin.

[Qwertystop]

Aren't you playing a Fin Primary as well? Fin trait was my main concern with the hit die buff, as IME with much harder fights fin still doesn't need the extra HP. It's similar to a monk, only with less BOOM and more WOOSH. Which means it's even harder to land a hit on than a monk in most combats. Edit: Although with the Fin rework a few ?months? ago its ability to run away from the battlefield in-bewteen its turns has been reduced.

So the question is.. is Fin overpowered with a d10 hit die? If so, I may need to go back to d8 and have +1hp/level be specific to Flesh, Orifice, Puppet, and.. maybe Tentacle primary Ozodrin.

Fin primary, yes, but never did the "run away between turns" thing. 16 AC currently. Honestly the whole party has been reliably pretty safe, this may just be an issue of encounter understrength.

[Magikeeper]

Fin primary, yes, but never did the "run away between turns" thing. 16 AC currently. Honestly the whole party has been reliably pretty safe, this may just be an issue of encounter understrength.

Ah, yeah that sounds like it. I thought more about Fin in general - it's maneuverability has generally been balanced with reduced DPR. At no point has it been depending on low HP to be balanced - like a crossbow fighter having a d10 HD may be needlessly high but it generally isn't an issue. On the contrary, having a d10 may support Fin relying less on hit-and-run tactics in more dangerous fights. Or at least having more of an option to not do that.

Edit: Made the armor change to Negating Flesh / created a new reaction-using ability for Illuminating Flesh and some small changes to Adaptive Flesh (only doesn't stack with spells now) and Tempered Body (Second ability lasts until beginning of next turn and extended use is only as tiring as jogging, e.g. you can use it for longer activities now.) Edit 2: Tempered Body lets Shove count as an alteration-granted ability now. Other changes later this week.


Edit 3: I'm wondering if Orifice is getting too much temp HP at Tier II now that Ozodrin armor wearing is a thing. Thoughts? 10thp/turn is doable at level 6.

Edit 4: Idea for a new Acclimating Flesh:
2 1fp – Acclimating Flesh (Requires Energy Consuming Flesh)
Choose one of the following damage types: Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid, Psychic, Thunder, Psychic, Radiant, Necrotic, Force. You gain resistance to damage of the chosen type. Furthermore, your body can adapt to sources of the chosen damage type over time – effects that would continue to deal continuous damage of the chosen type to you instead deal no further damage of that type. For example, if you chose “Fire” and jumped into a pool of lava you would take half the initial damage but would take no further damage unless you exited and re-entered the pool. You would still take damage from a Scorching ray that hit you while you’re swimming in lava, since that would be a different source of fire damage.

You may change the chosen damage type as a bonus action on your turn.

Edit 5: In general, thinking of reworking Regenerating Flesh, moving it to tier II, moving magic consuming flesh to tier III, and replacing Contorted Existence with a Tier II ability that has both offensive and non-combat use.

Edit 6: Possible replacement:
2fp - Phantasmagoric Flesh (Requires Illuminated Flesh)
You may, as an action, manipulate the light shed by your body to create illusionary objects, creatures, and other visual phenomena. This illusions are purely visual in nature, and cannot extend farther than 20’ from you nor past total cover. You can freely change and/or alter the movements of the created illusions, such as by making an illusionary creature walk or turning it into a cloud. These illusions last until the end of your next turn, until they have total cover from you, or until you are more than 20’ away from them. Creatures that physically interact with the illusion(s), and creatures that use an action to study the illusion, may make an Intelligence(Investigation) check (DC 8 + Proficiency Modifier + Your Charisma Modifier) to recognize its false nature. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the creature can see through the illusion and any other illusion created by this ability for 10 minutes. You may automatically see through any illusions you make this way.

Furthermore, your flesh can perform photosynthesis; every 12 hours you spend in sunlight counts as consuming a pound of food for the purposes of avoiding starvation.

Edit 7: Possible change to Biostraining Cannonade:
1fp 2fp – Biorupture Cannonade (Requires Ballistic Spikes)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, secrete a propulsive mixture and/or otherwise contort your musculature to greatly increase the range of your Ballistic spikes. If you do, the range of your Ballistic Spikes increases to (180’/540’) until the end of your turn. When you use this ability, you may choose to sacrifice 10 hit points. If you do, your ballistic spikes instead have a range of (240’/ 720’) and deal an additional 1d6 damage until the end of your turn. Either way, the resulting recoil has a price; You have disadvantage on all Strength and Dexterity ability checks until the beginning of your next turn.

Might have it change places with Shredding Volley (TII <-> TIII) as well.

[NinjaZergling]

Architecture: That's a pretty fair assessment, and one that I hadn't considered (haven't made it that far in playtesting). Probably just push the base and tier 1 effects from my setup together then. You actually hit the nail on the head with my goal of modularity. Flesh primary would have to choose (#) traits per long rest, but be able to spend their points each short rest to enhance those abilities. Definitely does increase the complexity, so I see why you'd go against that model. The goal for tiering up each base form was to keep it in a similar streamline to existing classes capabilities that would keep these abilities useful at any given level. Granted, I'm not a 5e mechanics expert- I haven't actually played it aside from this play test in about a year.

Chassis: I'm definitely noticing that. This delves into why I'd separate it into three distinct classes (tank, dps, support). Significant time and work would be involved, of course, and if you ever feel the interest, I'd be happy to help you break that down. Probably use monk/rogue, fighter/barbarian, and cleric/bard as the source comparisons for each, and work from there.

Woes of Flesh: That was why I worked out Energy Consuming flesh the way I did in my adaptation. Reflexive Absorb Elements is really good for a tanky character, buffs your damage. Again, haven't made it far, so this is all just initial feedback work. I'd honestly move things like filtering flesh out completely, as cool and niche as they are. In a PF2 style system they'd make great feats, but in 5e you really have to make every level count.

I love your new negating and illuminating flesh by the way.

[babus]

Hello again. Session two has finished, but they're mid-battle, so I'm waiting for that to finish before posting the next set of logs. Armor and Hit Dice bumps seem to be making a difference, though if you see HP dropping a bit quick in the numbers, it's more because the squid I have them fighting keeps rolling really crazy well.

Spike Player had some thoughts and suggestions. It's... a lot, but I'm honesty thrilled to hear my Players so excited about the class that they really dig into the mechanics. Ozodrin really does inspire people.

The Tiers should be reworked as well, for general feel.
T1 should be the workhorse, trait defining abilities.
T2 should introduce new, often esoteric abilities that aren't just direct upgrades to t1. Expand on your capabilities
T3 should upgrade your "main" defining abilities, and provide you with new ways to utilize them, or otherwise alter them in some way to be better
T4 should introduce new, way crazier stuff. These are your capstones - they should feel like it. This is an Artillerist's Fortified Position, a Grave Cleric's Keeper of Souls, a Drunken Master's Intoxicated Frenzy.

The problem is that it doesn't really seem to be a niche it precisely fills at Tier 1.

Math:
Assuming a damage mod of +3, you have a 1d8+3. Average 8 damage.
Flesh has an average of 9 damage
Fin has an average 9 damage
Tentacle has an average 11 damage
Orifice has an average 11 damage

With nothing more than the base alterations (or Flesh's damage alteration) vs Spike's 1fp alteration(s). It equals to Eye, and Puppet doesn't have an attack. TWF is notably the only thing keeping Fin, Tentacle, and Orifice ahead.

A lot of my thought process comes down to "is this as useful/more useful than a first level cleric casting guiding bolt? If not, make it so.". Or Bless or any of the Wizard spells with understanding that I mean "for the daily limited abilities".

Comparing, say, Fighter to it at level 5 with both classes having +4 damage mod and both using one handed 1d8 weapons
Fighter gets two attacks at 1d8+6
Spike gets two attacks at 1d8+4
And that's their basic 'workhorse'.
They both have the short rest use of their level 2 ability to double that, which only makes this worse.
Then you have the Fighter's limited abilities that let you either
-do unique fighter stuff (battlemaster) with additional damage
-get advantage until the end of your turn on all attacks as well as temporary hp 3 times per long rest
-do magic and be the tankiest fellow in the game
-whatever other else your main shtick is from your subclass
-and you have the rest of your core features
Meanwhile spike still doesn't have its secondary features, and what t1 features exist are mostly not great about actually making you militant.

It basically just gives you a bow, a longsword, some limited use rope, a smokebomb, and Versatile Fighter.

1fp - Ballistic Spikes
[[You can form spikes that can be fired with muscular action, allowing you to use these ballistic spikes as ranged weapons (1d8 piercing damage, range 80/200'). You can choose to use your strength modifier for your ballistic spike's attack and damage rolls instead of your dexterity modifier. You are proficient with these spikes. Fired/Hurled spikes quickly regrow.]]

In addition, as a bonus action you may prepare yourself to make piercing strikes. Until the end of your turn, your ranged spike attacks pierce cover and resistances within your first range increment, ignoring AC bonuses from cover, though total cover applies disadvantage. In addition, each attack against a target ignores resistances and multiple attacks are treated as one for the purposes of reactions. E.G. you hurl or fire two spikes at a Venom Troll/Monk, and its Poison Splash/Catch Arrows would only be applied once.

This ability cannot pierce particularly durable materials such as adamantine and mithril and walls of force, but it can pierce up to 2 feet of stone, or half a foot of metal.

You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

1fp - Goring Spikes
[[You can form spikes that are more suitable for melee combat, allowing you to use these goring spikes as melee weapons (1d8 piercing damage, finesse). You are proficient with these spikes.]]

In addition, as a bonus action you may cause your next successful melee spike attack to cause bleeding before the end of your turn, dealing an additional amount of damage equal to (Half Ozo level? Constitution Modifier? Proficiency bonus?). This is not weapon damage. At the start of the creatures turn, it takes this bleed damage again. This effect lasts for 1 minute, or until it receives healing. Healing is reduced by an amount equal to the damage it would have taken and must exceed the bleed amount to remove it. E.G. a creature heals 8 and you bleed it for 5, it only receives 3 and the bleed is removed.

This bleed cannot be applied to the same target more than once.

You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

1fp - (Vorpal) Spike
You can form a single large spike designed purely to cause as much damage as possible, granting you a melee weapon (2d6 piercing damage, heavy). You are proficient with this spike.

In addition, as a bonus action you can ready yourself to deliver a devastating blow. Until the end of your turn, you can use an Action to target a creature within your melee reach no bigger than 1 size category larger than yourself to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a success, the target takes your spike damage. On a failure, the target takes your spike damage and is Impaled.
An Impaled target becomes Restrained while impaled and automatically takes your weapon damage at the beginning of its turn. An impaled target may use an action, or have someone else their action, to remove the target from your spike. You may not use the impaling spike to make additional attacks, and it must remain attached to you and you may only have one target impaled at a time.

You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

1fp - Flurry Spikes
You can form spikes more suited to rapid melee and medium distance combat, granting you a melee weapon (1d6 piercing damage, light, finesse, thrown 30/90). You are proficient with these spikes. Fired/Hurled spikes quickly regrow.

In addition, as a bonus action you can ready yourself to blossom into a barrage of spikes. Until the end of your turn you may take an action to attack twice, targeting anything within 30 feet. These attacks cannot benefit from advantage, but apply effects as normal.

You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

1fp - Carved Spikes
[[No change]]

1fp - Tether (Requires Ballistic Spikes, Carved Spikes, or Flurry Spikes)
[[No Change]]

2fp - Smoke Spikes
[[No change]]
2fp - Deadly Spikes (Requires Ballistic Spikes, Goring Spikes, Flurry Spikes, or Vorpal Spike)
[[No change.]]

2fp - Poisonous Spikes
[[As a bonus action on your turn you can will your spikes to generate poison for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier. Any creature damaged by one or more of your spikes takes 2 poison damage and must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned until the end of your next turn. A creature hit by multiple spikes in the same round only takes the poison damage once / makes a single saving throw.

After using this ability twice, you may not do so again until you complete a short or long rest.]]

1fp - Twisting Spikes (Requires Ballistic Spikes, Goring Spikes, Flurry Spikes, or Vorpal Spike)
[[No change.]]

2fp - Rooting Spikes
[[You can form spikes that embed themselves in any creatures they damage, taking root/expanding/unfolding/etc to push themselves deeper into your foes. Creatures with one or more spikes embedded in them take your Constitution modifier piercing damage at the beginning of each of their turns.

An afflicted opponent can use an action to remove all spikes embedded in themselves, dealing 1d6 slashing damage to themselves in the process.

If the spike was directly attached to your body (Goring Spike, Vorpal Spike, Deadly Quills) it detaches from you when embedding itself into a target. This ability can be used with the tether alteration, it stays connected to the 'rope'.]]

2fp - Deadly Quills
[[You gain the ability to instantly extend and retract especially thin and long spikes designed to break into sharp fragments when struck. As a reaction you may cover yourself in these quills until the start of your next turn, causing creatures that successfully make a melee attack against you with a part of their body or a non-reach weapon take 2 piercing damage from your spikes.]]

1fp – Quivering Tether (Requires Tether)
[[No change]]
(Why was Deadly Quills rated so high for two piercing damage? Not even a rolled thing, either)

??fp - Ballistic Cannonade (Requires Ballistic Spikes)
You further alter your spikes to absolute perfection and altering your musculature to better serve its new purpose. You may now use Ballistic Spike's piercing ability regardless of range increment, may pierce walls of force, and Total Cover no longer provides disadvantage on your attack.

In addition, when using its piercing ability, successful ranged attacks shred the target's resistances, nullifying any resistances not overcome by magic until the beginning of your next turn.

??fp - Sever (Requires Goring Spikes)
You further alter your spikes to absolute perfection and altering your musculature to better serve its new purpose. Whenever you would use Goring Spike's bleed ability, you can instead target an appendage (such as a wing, arm, leg, or other limb not a head) on a successful attack. This provokes a Constitution Saving Throw. On a failure, you sever the targeted appendage.

-Arm (and other applicable appendages). Any special abilities tied to the appendage are removed (Such as a Manticore's tail spikes). if no special abilities are tied to the limb, it loses one attack on a Multiattack action.
-Leg (or other applicable appendage such as a wing). The creature halves its movement speed and if it moves more than 10 feet (or 5 feet if it only has a 10 foot speed), it must succeed a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone immediately, losing any further movement.
-Eyes. The target gains the Blinded condition permanently.

??fp - Terrifying Pierce (Requires Vorpal Spikes)
You further alter your spikes to absolute perfection and altering your musculature to better serve its new purpose. You may now form up to two Vorpal Spikes. In addition, whenever you have a creature impaled you may use them as living shields. Creatures of your size provide half cover, while creatures one size larger provide three-fourths cover.

You may have two creatures impaled, but may only use one for cover.

??fp - Virulent Smog (Requires Poisonous Spikes and Smoke Spikes)
Your biochemistry alters to become a more perfect expression of toxicology. Your Smoke Spikes radius increases to 20 feet, and you gain the ability to see through smoke you generate. Your Poisonous Spikes damage adds an additional 1d4, and you may affect creatures normally immune to poison provided they are not also immune to the damage type that delivered it.

In addition, you may spend an action to deliver a specially prepared spike anywhere within 120 feet of you. On impact, the spike explodes into a 20-foot radius sphere of poisonous smog that spreads around corners. It lasts for up to five minutes, or until Strong Wind disperses it. Its area is heavily obscured.

When a creature enters the smog's area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, that creature must make a Constitution saving throw. The creature takes 3d8 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Creatures are affected even if they hold their breath or don't need to breathe.

The fog moves 10 feet away from you at the start of each of your turns, rolling along the surface of the ground. The vapors, being heavier than air, sink to the lowest level of the land, even pouring down openings.

The smog treats immunity and resistance as if they were one step lower (E.g. Immunity becomes resistance, and Resistance is removed. This does not stack with itself.)

You may use this ability two times per long rest.

??fp - Walking Fire (Requires Flurry Spike)
You further alter your spikes to absolute perfection and altering your musculature to better serve its new purpose. Your Flurry from the prerequisite now can benefit from advantage, and its range increases to 60 feet.

In addition, when you use a MultiAssault with this flurry, you may focus all your attacks and effects on one target in a suppressive rush, imparting disadvantage on attack rolls and perception checks for one round.
2fp – Deleterious Vapor (Virulent Smog)
(Fluff Goes Here). You may expel a 30 foot radius cloud centered on yourself. The cloud spreads around corners. It lasts for one minute or until Strong Wind disperses it. The type and action needed is dependent on the type of traits you have formed.

Poisonous (Requires Poisonous Spikes) - You expel a compressed chlorine gas as an action. All creatures within its radius must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, they take 5d8 poison damage and are Poisoned for one minute and have disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws while Poisoned. On a success they are not poisoned and take half damage. The area is lightly obscured.

Smoke (Requires Poisonous Spikes) - You expel an obscuring cloud of debilitating smoke as a bonus action. All creatures within its radius must succeed a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, they are beset by a fit of coughing and burning, finding it difficult to focus on one task and receive disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Skill Checks for one minute. In addition, while within the cloud, no creature can make attacks as a Reaction. The area is heavily obscured for everyone but you.

You may use this ability twice per long rest.

2fp - Death Blossom (Requires Ballistic Cannonade or Walking Fire)
(Fluff goes here). As an action, you may produce any of the following abilities if you meet its prerequisite.

Piercing Shot (Requires Ballistic Cannonade) - You fire a large, piercing spike in a 60 foot line that pierces all enemies hit, and passes through all cover you are capable of breaching with Ballistic Cannonade. Each enemy suffers 7d8 piercing damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw, or half as much on a success. In addition, you may instead choose to pierce one enemy to a wall or sturdy surface in its path within range, rather than pierce through it. If you do so, that creature must make a Strength saving throw. On a failure, they suffer 7d8 Piercing damage and are forced to move adjacent to the wall and are Restrained. On a success, they take half damage, are not restrained, and make no movement. Each creature hit with Piercing Shot has their resistances shredded as though hit by Ballistic Cannonade.

Cone of Death (Requires Walking Fire) - You explode an unrelenting volley of spikes in a 30 foot cone, damaging creatures and unattended objects. Creatures within the cone must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 7d8 piercing damage. On a success, the damage is halved. Each creature within the cone additionally suffer disadvantage on attack rolls and perception checks for one round, and causes the area to become difficult terrain for one minute.
Caladbolg (Requires Walking Fire and Ballistic Cannonade) - You may fire a spike at a point within 120 feet of you, passing through any barriers you could pierce with Ballistic Cannonade. The spike detonates into a 20ft radius sphere dealing 7d8 piercing damage to all creatures and unattended objects ignoring resistance on a failed Dexterity saving throw. On a success, the damage is halved. All creatures affected suffer disadvantage on perception checks for one round, and the area becomes difficult terrain for one minute.

You may apply alterations as normal to these attacks as normal, but may not apply Tether to Cone of Death or Caladbolg.

You may use this ability twice per long rest.

2fp - Queen's Wrath (Requires Terrifying Pierce or Sever)
(Fluff goes here). As an action, you may produce any of the following abilities if you meet its prerequisite:

Groundspike Graveyard (Requires Terrifying Pierce) - Slamming your hands into the ground you cause spikes to erupt from the ground in a 15ft radius around you. Each creature within reach must succeed a dexterity saving throw or suffer 7d8 piercing damage and become impaled as though struck by Vorpal Spike's ability. On a success, the creature takes half damage and does not become impaled. While impaled, the recurring damage is 3d6, and may remove themselves as normal. This spikes last for one minute before crumbling.

Critical Pain (Requires Sever) - Lashing out at a creature within 30 feet, you cause them to suffer 7d10 piercing damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw. On a success, they suffer half damage. In addition, the affected creature must succeed a Constitution saving throw or suffer two Sever effects at random. On a success, they suffer only one. If the target has Evasion and succeeds the initial dexterity saving throw, they are not subject to the following Constitution saving throw.

Judgment (Requires Terrifying Pierce and Sever) - Target a creature up to two size categories larger than yourself within 40 feet of you. You lash out with devastating efficiency, moving immediately to become adjacent with the creature without provoking attacks of opportunity including from abilities such as Sentinel. The chosen creature suffers 7d10 piercing damage on a failed dexterity saving throw and becomes Impaled. On a success, the creature suffers half damage and negates the impalement. In addition, all adjacent enemies and the target suffer piercing damage equal to your Ozodrin level as spikes tear their way out from within.

You may apply alterations to these attacks as normal, but may not apply Tether to Groundspike Graveyard.

You may use this ability twice per long rest.

2fp – Flickering Spikes (requires Ballistic Spikes, Goring Spikes, Flurry Spikes, or Vorpal Spikes)
[[As a bonus action on your turn, you can will your spikes to fade in an out of existence, taking on a phantasmal appearance for one minute. While flickering, your attacks may strike targets in the ethereal plane and bypass constructs created through magical force. Furthermore, any melee attacks made with your spikes have advantage.

After using this ability twice, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again.
Bonus Thought: "Goring Spike" and "Vorpal Spike" should perhaps have their name swapped?

On a personal note, I love pretty much everything about Puppet so far besides its Base Alteration. I realize its meant to be the starting point from which one leaps, but an extra 5 feet of reach for the purposes of lifting one pound or less feels like it's significantly less impressive than the others. There really seems to be more wordcount devoted to what it can't do than what it can. Disadvantage with Perception Checks originating from within 5 feet of you also feels a bit silly, as it means you aren't going to even have much luck peeking around corners. Like, even Mage Hand gives us 10 Pounds of lift and that has a range of 30 feet.

To be honest, I think it would be perfectly balanced to say that Puppets aren't coordinated enough to attack, but can lift as much as you can. Maybe have going beyond 5 feet with Shifting Strings make that impossible, or don't, as carrying stuff isn't really that mechanically potent, and they can still be attacked. I also feel like the 5 foot limitation might make Shifting Strings a bit too inherently important, but that's an issue that will likely disappear as I level up.

Despite that, most of my Players took Puppet as a secondary for how cool it is, it should be noted.

[Magikeeper]

Busy week. Might be another week before more changes are done, tbh. I haven’t forgotten about Flesh >.>

Puppet’s base trait would really need to have part of Shifting Strings folded into it to be useful for carrying things and such, and it’s already a large text block that every Ozodrin has access to at all times level 6+. It’s true that it is the least useful base trait by itself, outside of some RP opportunities. That’s partially so any Ozodrin not focusing on puppets can ignore it and its text pile, granted. I’ll think about making it useful.

__________________

Spike Commentary:
I see more per-long-rest suggestions, I feel short-rest swapping matters more 6+ than 1-5 though so I’m iffy on changing that based on this feedback. The class can’t have both – if an ability can be swapped out it needs to base its limitations on short rests unless it burns hit die or some other long-rest resource that’s not an alteration.

One of the things they’re suggesting is to restructure the # of abilities per level. Have more Tier 1 abilities, basically. Low level Ozodrin don’t have many FP, however, so there’s limits to what could be done with that. It’d also increase the sheer number of choices they get at level 6 by quite a bit (assuming all features were changed instead of just spike).

The general idea, though, seems to be that low-level spike is not particularly interesting in combat. When I playtested spike a long time ago it had Ballistic/Extra Range/Goring(no second ability)/Carved/Poison. In-combat was okay, mostly overshadowed by sharpshooter, out of combat contribution from the class was Flesh Trait secondary and a lot of Carved Spike use.. which was all right but I felt that would be very game/table dependent. Thus, more OoC stuff ended up at T1 spike during the various revisions. At the end of this post I have some ideas for making T1 spike more interesting in combat as well. It also sounds like higher-level spike isn't particularly exciting, which I'll get to later.

Comments on some of the suggested abilities:

Walking Fire: I like the general idea of this. Not sure about the exact mechanics though.

Flurry: 4x spike attacks at level 6 suffers from the existence of the Sharpshooter feat more than anything. Sharpshooter is the only reason Orifice’s spit attacks can’t be used with TWF, for example. Range builds usually end up with hand crossbows + the master feat because each extra attack is that big of a deal, pretty much because of Sharpshooter.

Body part targeting: Some of the suggested spike stuff calls into question how other classes’ abilities work. Called shots are just something the game doesn’t deal with, outside of legacy vorpal stuff, and it doesn’t offer a general used-by-every-group reason for *why * you can’t aim for the eyes with a regular arrow. It’s something 5E goes out of its way to keep abstract in most situations.

AoEs: A lot of the spike suggestions involve AoE save effects. Having more than one of those going off in a turn would bog down combat. This is an issue specific to Ozodrin, who often use 2-3 abilities per round. This means their abilities need to be fairly quick to resolve. I have considered making smoke spikes become a toxic cloud before, the time it’d take to run the ability is the main reason I haven’t done so. When I go over the T2+ spike stuff I might think of a way to do so without bogging down combat, though.

Bleeding: Same idea as rooting, only earlier and harder to remove. The reduction effect as described is complexity without much pay-off, past early levels at least. An enemy healing themselves almost never comes up and if it does it’s going to be more than enough. Could be an ability though, yes. Would also need to include a fluff reason why this bleeding is different from the bleeding that could result from any other weapon attack (which is easy enough given spike’s themes). Such a fluff reason also support a more powerful anti-healing effect.

Impaling: The old version of rooting did impaling-type things, and the 3E ozodrin had harpooning mechanics. It was converted to rooting to be less convoluted, although having them be auto-restrained would resolve most of the movement issues. That wording would still need to handle how it effects your own movement (or not) while the creature is impaled and a way to release them yourself. The using enemies as shields effect would be fun though.

Ballistic Range: At 60’/180’ they’re already the longest ranged STR-capable PC weapon in the game. That said, I’ve considered possibly bumping them up to 80’, which would make them 80’/240’ following the x3 long range convention for thrown weapons.

Rooting Spike: Nerfing it to be based on constitution.. it makes fluff sense but damage-wise being 5 at level 11 is fine? 5+Con might be a little much. 3+Con is more feasible but not all damage abilities are stat-based so I question if this needs to be changed. That might have been done as part of adding all of those other abilities, granted.

Early Piercing Effects: Wall-piercing is a cool ability, but also rather niche. It gains more use when facing enemies that can make walls in the middle of combat, which is unlikely to happen at low levels. It's also useful for assassinations and making the DM cry, but that's not the best way to get homebrew accepted into a game. Many DMS are not going to know how thick random wall X is, so that's also an issue. I feel the effect is better off at high levels where it avoids almost all of these issues. Bypassing cover is more useful, however. I had a different idea for Ballistic but doing anti-cover stuff earlier is a consideration. Unearthly Power covers nearly all piercing resistance in the game at level 5 though, and Carved Spikes handles most of the rest.

Flickering: Outside of specific campaigns, more of a nerf overall since this version wouldn’t be able to shoot through regular walls. Although that’s surely due to the suggested Ballistic taking the wall bypassing effect. The suggested Flickering aside, current Flickering might not have enough uses though, and could likely be reworked entirely... I generally don’t have Ozodrin bonus actions give effects that last for more than one round in favor of having them possess a sizable number of bonus action abilities fighting for the slot that are fairly potent.

Quivering is currently 60’ movement as a bonus action (or bonus action + action). That would be rather strong at Tier II. Not as strong as before it got nerfed, granted, so possibly workable.

Deadly Quills used to benefit from poison/smoke instead of just rooting. Otherwise.. not much reason to be Tier III but not much reason to move it to Tier II either. For some reason I thought I had them dealing damage on a miss, which would be a lot stronger. Having them be more temporary is an interesting idea.. hrm.. what fluff reason to go with for that..

“Vorpal” has a long D&D history of being connected with beheading effects, the one exception to the general no-called-shots rule.

I did think of a more interesting Ballistic Spikes, however, a related change to Tether, and a Goring Spikes change:


1fp – Hunting Spikes
You gain the ability to form and utilize the following kinds of spikes:

Ballistic Spikes. Ballistic spikes that can be fired with muscular action, allowing you to use these them as ranged weapons (1d8 piercing damage, range 60'/180'). You can choose to use your strength modifier for your ballistic spike's attack and damage rolls instead of your dexterity modifier. You are proficient with these spikes. Fired/Hurled spikes quickly regrow.
Caltrop Spikes. You may, as an action, form and fire a fragile container spike that breaks apart to unleash large numbers of tiny caltrop spikes at any location within 30’ of you. These caltrop spikes fill a 5ft by 5ft area. Any creature that attempts to move into, out of, or through this area must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they stop moving and take 1 piercing damage. You may add half your proficiency modifier to the damage dealt, rounded up. Until at least one point of this damage is healed, their speed is reduced by 10ft. The slowing effect does not stack. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn't need to make the saving throw.


1fp – Tether (Requires Hunting Spikes or Carved Spikes)
As a bonus action on your turn you may choose to have one of your detached spikes remain connected to you by some kind of secretion – spider silk, goo, etc - that hardens when your spike hits something or when you will it to do so (willing the material to harden before the spike hits something causes the attack to miss). This secretion has the durability of silk rope. This tether cannot be longer than 120'; if a spike is fired beyond that range the tether can still be formed but it will not be connected to you. Any “rope” created this way dissolves in an hour. You can detach the end of any number of “ropes” that are connected to you as a bonus action on your turn. Using this ability with the Carved Spikes alteration effectively allows you to use your spikes like grappling hooks, along with anything else you might use ropes with carved endpieces for.

Caltrop Spikes, if you can form them, cannot remain attached to you. However, when you use an action to use your caltrop spikes you may use your bonus action to have one set of them be connected to each other. If you do, their container spike breaks in mid-air to unleash a spiked net instead of its normal effect. Unlike a regular net, this fragile spiked net has a range of (10’/30’), a break DC and AC of 5, takes 1 damage to destroy, and does not limit your actions (e.g. If you have the MultiAssault feature you may attack with a spiked net and also make a regular attack). In addition, unlike a normal net the spiked net can be broken by any damage type except Psychic and Poison. Finally, any creature that attempts to free itself by making a strength check or attacking your spiked net takes 2d4 piercing damage.

1fp – Clashing Spikes
You gain the ability to form and utilize the following kinds of spikes:

Goring Spikes. You can form spikes that are more suitable for melee combat, allowing you to use these goring spikes as melee weapons (2d4 piercing damage, finesse). You are proficient with these spikes.
Deadly Quills. You gain the ability extend especially thin and long spikes designed to break into sharp fragments when struck. As a bonus action on your turn you may cover yourself in these quills, causing creatures that come into physical contact with you and/or successfully hit you with a non-reach melee attack to take 1 piercing damage. You may add half your proficiency modifier to the damage dealt, rounded up. These quills last until you use your movement, at which point they break apart and must be re-formed.


^The Caltrop spikes involve saving throws but using it multiple times in a round doesn’t drag out your turn and it’s only a 5ft square per action. You’d think the enemy should possibly take damage or something the turn it’s used.. but I don’t think it’s worth the descriptive text much less the game time to add that. As for the spiked nets, even if they’re much easier to break nets are really strong when you remove the bookeeping aspect. I’m concerned that it might be OP at 10’/30’ range, tbh. Making Tether take a bonus action.. quivering will need to be tweaked to work with that. Caltrop spikes also helps sets the stage for possibly having some more dramatic higher level spike stuff.

Maybe tweak Goring spikes further.

[Magikeeper]

All right, I'm going to be updating the class again later this week~

@babus - Was there any other feedback? Decided to ask that before I go through my next sweep. I'm definitely making some Spike tweaks, although the Net ability is probably not going to make it in (did you by chance try that one?).

Likely tweak Flesh a bit as well, Contorted Existence doesn't really fit the rest of Flesh all that well.

Edit: Started changing spike, starting with Hunting Spikes / Clashing Spikes / something I hadn't shared before but had started working on before the pause called Rupture Seeds.
I'm going to replace Biostraining cannonnade with.. something.. or at least tweak it. Maybe do something about obliterating toxins as well. Or both of them.

[sallyisgreat]

Glad to hear you're adding more soon. Should we expect any big fundamental changes, or more just a bit of polish.

[Kerleth]

Gonna be honest, commenting on you updating the ozodrin is the only reason I still have to log into my account here, lol. Someone mentioned they were planning on running a halloween one shot this year and asked me if I'd like to come and I thought of this. Shiny!

[Magikeeper]

I made some of the previously discussed changes to spike, with some further tweaks to them. I also added the Rupture Seeds alteration I was working on before the pause to Tier III (replacing Deadly Quills, which became a part of the Tier I Clashing Spikes). As for the higher levels, I am considering:

> Moving Biostraining to tier IV and changing how it works.
> Replacing Obliterating toxins with a new version.
> Removing Deleterious Existence, give its name to the new version of Obliterating.
> Adding Vivifying Spikes to Tier II.

The new alterations in question:

1fp – Vivifying Spikes
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, deal 5 damage to yourself in order to concentrate your life-force into a vitalizing serum and then inject that serum into a creature within your reach. The injected creature gains 10 temporary hit points that last until the beginning of your next turn. Furthermore, their speed is doubled and they have advantage on saving throws made against disease and poison for the duration of the effect. After the effect ends, the creature cannot benefit from any further injections for 10 minutes. The speed increase does not stack with the Haste spell. You can target yourself with this ability. If you’ve made the Hunting Spikes alteration, you may instead inject the serum into any creature within 60’.

After using this ability three times, you may not do so again until you complete a short or long rest.

^Concerns for this one, aside from power balance, was not wanting to step on the toes of Flesh/Orifice/Fin. I think the current version is unique enough, and it takes advantage of a ranged martial with a Con emphasis not particularly needing a D10 HD.

1fp – Deleterious Existence (Require Poisonous Spikes)
Whenever you use the ability granted by your Poisonous Spikes alteration, you may choose to have your poison deal Necrotic damage instead of its usual type. Creatures normally immune to poison damage / the poisoned condition are not immune to your toxin unless they are also immune to Necrotic damage.

Furthermore, whenever a creature fails their Constitution saving throw against your poison you may have them additionally suffer from one of the following effects:

Infirm. The creature cannot regain hit points and has disadvantage on saving throws against poison and disease until the end of your next turn.
Sluggish. The creature cannot take reactions and has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws until the end of your next turn.
Amnesic. The creature forgets anything that happened in the past minute. At the end of your next turn it additionally forgets anything that happened in the previous round. It regains these memories whenever it next completes a long rest.

If multiple creatures are effected by your poison on the same turn, you must choose the same additional effect for all of them.
^Coming up with the 3 ability options wasn't easy >.>. They couldn't be anything that makes it easier to hit the enemy, because then you need to wait for the DM to save against the first hit before making any other attacks and I don't want to bog down combat with that. The poisoned condition itself is actually really strong, which further limits ways to improve it. Damage-wise.. I think TIII spike already has enough DPS? I might make poisonous spikes itself scale though..
This change does mean poison remains 2/rest indefinitely which.. may or may not be okay?

2fp – Biostraining Cannonade (Requires Hunting Spikes)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, secrete a propulsive mixture and/or otherwise contort your musculature to greatly increase the might of your ballistic spikes. If you do, your ballistic spikes deal an additional 1d6 damage, count as siege weapons, deal double damage to structures, and have a range of (300’/900’) until the end of your turn. The resulting recoil has a price; until the end of your next turn your speed is reduced to 0, all attacks made against you have advantage, and you have disadvantage on all Strength and Dexterity ability checks. You cannot use this ability while suffering from the recoil effects.
^ TIV spikes... feels like it should have a big super-attack but having per-long-rest abilities doesn't mesh with Ozodrin's alteration mechanics. This was an attempt to create that feel with an ability that doesn't have a use limit (aside from the can't-use-during-recoil restriction). Dunno what people are going to think about this one.

Flesh changes are also going to be happening.

Edit: Changed Vivifying to not require you to keep the temp HP for the other benefits.
Edit 2: Considering removing the use limitation on Vivifying
Edit 3: Added "After the effect ends, the creature cannot benefit from any further injections for 10 minutes." Which resolves all issues regarding combos with continuous sources of temp HP.
Edit 4: I'm probably going to reduce the Rupture Seeds bone hedge damage 3d8 -> 2d8. It's an at-will bonus action ability, after all, and it embeds rooting spikes. Any damage is enough to ensure opponents will go around unless they have to enter it to reach you. 3d8 would probably be fine but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

[sallyisgreat]

Everything is looking pretty good for spike now. The idea of those abilities really gels and clicks for me in a way it didn't used to. The new edits to the abilities and the new-ish flavor text really lets me better picture the feel and thematics of a character that would use Spike abilities better than I have in past.

[Magikeeper]

@Kerleth: Belated :D. Do tell me how that one-shot turns out~!

@sallyisgreat - Sounds good! I made the spike changes. I also decided to change vivifying back to the 3/rest instead of 10 minute immunity, just to keep the cooldown mechanics more similar. That does mean spike has 3 different per-rest abilities.. but that's probably fine. I think spike is looking good as well. I had wanted to do more with smoke spikes, but there isn't space for it and much of what it could be used for would overlap with Rupture Seeds which I think is a more interesting area control ability. Also unsure if 2/uses rest is enough for poison, or if Deleterious should add 1 more.

Anyway, I'll be looking at mid-high Flesh next. Then... probably Eye and the base Puppet trait. Not sure I can do much with the base puppet trait though.

[sallyisgreat]

Not sure I can do much with the base puppet trait though.

There is some wording in the base puppet trait that establishes the puppets as being both tiny and unable to exceed a 5' range with alterations being able to change these things. At the risk of overcomplicating things, what I would consider is either having a larger puppet with the same short range, a smaller puppet with longer range, or some way to switch between the two baked into the base trait. The advantages of a smaller puppet at longer range is the ability to act with some measure of stealth, hiding that you and your puppet are connected and giving a good really sneaky feel to the character. It allows reconnaissance and creates semi-expendable minions to frustrate and confuse enemies that struggle to find you, the mastermind. A larger puppet at shorter range has the advantage of actually catching your enemy's attention and drawing it away from you, the controller of the puppet. If in combat its a choice between attacking the tiny puppet or the larger controller its connected to the natural choice seems to be attacking the puppeteer. Having this larger short range puppet allows using the base trait to actually control how enemies behave and move in combat and what choices they make to a larger degree. It allows more gambits and tricks, perhaps even a fake out where you pretend to be the puppet and pretend your puppet is you.

[Magikeeper]

@sallyisgreat - That is something to consider, yes. I'll note the main issue with improving the base puppet trait is how wordy it is / the shear complexity of an ability all level 6+ Ozodrin have.


So! I have changed Flesh a bit. Regenerative Flesh was altered and moved to TII, Magic Consuming Flesh was moved to TIII as-is, Acclimating Flesh was overhauled. I haven't changed Contorted Existence yet - how did people feel about Phantasmagoric Flesh?


TII
2fp – Regenerative Flesh
You develop the ability to speed up and expand your body's healing capabilities. You may use a bonus action on your turn to do one of the following:

Forced Recovery. Expend any number of your remaining hit dice. Instead of their normal effect you regain 5 hit points for each hit die so expended.
Rapid Restoration. Expend three of your remaining hit dice to instantly restore one of your missing body parts (e.g. regrow a lost arm) or end one effect reducing your hit point maximum.
Vigor Surge. Gain 1d10 + your proficiency modifier temporary hit points that last for one minute. This choice does not expend any hit dice.

Once you’ve use two bonus actions in this way, you cannot do so again until you complete a short or long rest.

TIII
1fp – Acclimating Flesh (Requires Energy Consuming Flesh)
Choose one of the following damage types: Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid, Thunder, Psychic. You gain resistance to damage of the chosen type. Furthermore, your body can adapt to sources of the chosen damage type over time – effects that would continue to deal continuous damage of the chosen type to you instead deal no further damage of that type. For example, if you chose “Fire” and jumped into a pool of lava you would take half the initial damage but would take no further damage unless you exited and re-entered the pool. You would still take damage from a Scorching ray that hit you while you’re swimming in lava, since that would be a different source of fire damage.

Furthermore, you may, as an action, change the chosen damage type. Once you’ve used an action this way you may not do so again until you’ve completed a short or long rest.

Also, I changed filtering flesh such that you can only choose substances you've come into contact with before.

For those that missed it in the earlier post before the pause:

2fp - Phantasmagoric Flesh (Requires Illuminated Flesh)
You may, as an action, manipulate the light shed by your body to create illusionary objects, creatures, and other visual phenomena. This illusions are purely visual in nature, and cannot extend farther than 20’ from you nor past total cover. You can freely change and/or alter the movements of the created illusions, such as by making an illusionary creature walk or turning it into a cloud. These illusions last until the end of your next turn, until they have total cover from you, or until you are more than 20’ away from them. Creatures that physically interact with the illusion(s), and creatures that use an action to study the illusion, may make an Intelligence(Investigation) check (DC 8 + Proficiency Modifier + Your Charisma Modifier) to recognize its false nature. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the creature can see through the illusion and any other illusion created by this ability for 10 minutes. You may automatically see through any illusions you make this way.

Furthermore, your flesh can perform photosynthesis; every 12 hours you spend in sunlight counts as consuming a pound of food for the purposes of avoiding starvation.

EDIT: If Contorted Existence was replaced, Space That Thinks would also need to be replaced. A rough draft of what I'm generally thinking of for that:

2fp – Reality Defining Flesh (Requires Phantasmagoric Flesh)
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, become a living illusion. Being a living illusion has the following effects:
> You cannot move, nor be moved in any way, more than 300’ from the location where you became an illusion.
> You appear the same as you did before. However, as all of your skills, abilities, etc are now illusionary, you cannot interact with or effect other creatures in any way a regular illusion (such as one created by the Major Image spell) would not be capable of. Likewise, you are unaffected by the spells and abilities of other creatures and objects. Your abilities, gear, etc still effect yourself.
> Creatures that perceive you feel an instinctive inkling that you’re not a harmless glamour. Once per turn, as an action, a creature may make a Charisma(Deception) check to fully believe in you (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier). Upon success, they can affect you and be affected by you, even if you’re currently an illusion, for the next 10 minutes. Creatures perceiving you with Truesight automatically fail this check, as they are acutely aware that you are currently an illusion.
> Unlike a normal illusion, you cannot be dispelled and do not vanish in an antimagic field.
> You cannot pass through opaque surfaces, but can pass through any transparent object light can move through. If you become real again while inside a solid object, you are shunted to the nearest open space.

You can end this effect as a bonus action on your turn. Once you’ve spent a combined total of 10 rounds as an illusion, across any number of uses of this ability, you immediately become real and cannot become an illusion again until you’ve completed a short or long rest.

Illusionist wizards can already make illusions real, but I don't recall any spells/abilities that turns yourself into an illusion, which is rather Ozodrin-y.

[Qwertystop]

I'm not sure how to judge balance on something like that, but conceptually both of those illusion-y things are very interesting.

[Magikeeper]

For Phantasmagoric, warlocks can get silent image at will early on, and looking around online suggests that isn't an issue. It's a good effect, but not OP. Phatasmogoric has a larger radius of effect (20' vs 15'), but it follows you and has a lower range (self vs 60ft). It doesn't take the Ozodrin's whole turn to cast it, but they have to use up one of their attacks to maintain it while silent image uses concentration. Out of combat it's about the same as silent image at will, at least in most situations. At high levels a warlock probably has better things to be concentrating on.

----

Reality Defining Flesh is trickier - it can be used to bypass any non-creature guardians, has a high chance of being a "you can't hit me" effect, but distance limit and inability to move through closed doors limits the bypass benefits and wizards get resilient sphere much earlier. EDIT: That said, I'm not sure about this one. In many situations it's 10 rounds / rest of invincibility, albeit all you can do is move around and maybe help party members that used an action to believe in you.

I also forgot the following from Reality Defining Flesh:

> You may interact with other illusions you can see as though they were solid force constructs, including those created by your Phantasmagoric Flesh. They remain ordinary illusions to all other creatures.
> While illusionary, you gain a flight speed equal to your walking speed.

Although I suppose neither one is necessary. Interacting with other illusions is cool, but doesn't have any purpose besides moving around and exactly how that would work with Phantasmagoric is.. iffy. The flight speed is more to avoid wondering if you fall through transparent objects.

[sallyisgreat]

I think the Reality Defining Flesh is very interesting. The check to "suspend your disbelief" is a very interesting concept. I'm just wondering about what the use case you picture for this ability is. When would you use this in a combat situation, if at all? The use-cases for moving through a space and past obstacles are more obvious, but I'd be so eager to use such an interesting ability in combat and am struggling to figure out how I'd do so without just making things unnecessarily complicated or annoying for everyone while I effectively sit out of combat doing nothing for a full ten rounds. Maybe if the ability included some way to use some synergy with Phantasmagoric Flesh where enemies that "suspend their disbelief" cannot see through the illusions produced by Phantasmagoric Flesh or else automatically fail to "suspend their disbelief". You either disbelieve in and see through ALL the illusions, or NONE. That makes the choice whether or not to engage with the illusion to harm the ozodrin a bit more high stakes and interesting. The balance of it is questionable though. It makes it so either you believe the illusions and let them influence you, or you disbelieve and make the illusionist intangible and impossible for you to harm(or be harmed by). A very cool and thematic concept regardless though that fits well with the feeling invoked by the Sinister Image ability, where you ARE the images of yourself. Becoming 'only an image' the same way you can make images into more than just that seems to fit very well.

[Magikeeper]

I'm just wondering about what the use case you picture for this ability is. When would you use this in a combat situation, if at all? The use-cases for moving through a space and past obstacles are more obvious, but I'd be so eager to use such an interesting ability in combat and am struggling to figure out how I'd do so without just making things unnecessarily complicated or annoying for everyone while I effectively sit out of combat doing nothing for a full ten rounds.

10 rounds, no, but you can use your bonus action at the end of your turn to become an illusion and then end the effect as a bonus action at the beginning of your next turn. Using up 2 bonus actions is not cheap for an Ozodrin, but if you charge in ahead of the party that's a round of one-sided attacking. Moving past obstacles can sometimes have in-combat use, and once I add the fly speed that's also a potential use. These are all niche uses, granted. I would say, however, that being an illusion in between two sets of actions would be the main combat use of the ability. That, and maybe some Swallow abuse.

I think I'm going to make the Flesh change, although Reality Defining Flesh may be tweaked further before that.

-------------

So! I've been looking into temporary hit points lately. Edit: You may have seen my thread in the 5e section asking about it, before I read a ton of commentary around the web on the Tasha's classes that grant temp HP and how powerful they were in practice / general perception of such abilities. Orifice originally had a very powerful and reliable temp HP source to make up for them generally having bad AC and a d8 HD. Now they have a D10 HD & Armor proficiencies. That's not even including the possibility of being a flesh secondary and grabbing Negating Flesh at level 6. Anyway, I decided to rework Ravenous Maws (which will also require changing a bunch of other stuff).

Current draft of the new Ravenous Maws:
2fp - Ravenous Maws
You can digest ordinary food far faster than normal – you are never full unless you want to be. Your eating speed is likewise enhanced; you may, as an action, immediately consume a pound of unattended ordinary food within your reach.

Furthermore, if you have not yet performed an action on your turn, you may use a bonus action to enter an Esurient Craze. This state lasts until the beginning of your next turn. While in an Esurient Craze, you cannot use reactions and can only use your actions to eat food and make bite attacks. In addition, whenever you successfully hit a creature with a bite attack and/or eat a pound of food you gain 1d4 + your proficiency modifier temporary hit points. Any temporary hit points granted by this alteration do not stack*, and last until after you complete a short or long rest.

If you have other abilities granted by Advanced alterations that can give you sustenance, such as the Eye trait’s Consuming Glare, you may also use those abilities while in an Esurient Craze. If they would successfully give you a day’s worth of sustenance, you gain temporary hit points as described above instead.

*As per page 198 of the DMG, if you have 3 temporary hit points and gain 5 more from another bite, you have a total of 5 temporary hit points (the higher number).

The new Ravenous is a far less passive ability. I actually like the flavor of this version a lot more, although it is definitely a nerf. If I went with this iteration, at least one other alteration would increase the temp HP, probably to a max of 2d4+Prof as that hits around the same range as for former version. Edit 2: Also, it would now be 2fp instead of 3fp. The new version of Ravenous isn't the multiclass risk the previous one was.

[Kerleth]

A friend of a friend is planning on running a high level Halloween one shot, so I might actually get to play an ozodrin!

Just noticed something with hooked teeth. It says "Opponents that are larger than you do not automatically succeed on attempts made to escape your grapples." Except there is no such rule in the phb! The Grappler feat mentions a similar thing, but this is an artifact of rules changing in design, and the errata actually says to ignore that part of the feat.

Perhaps Hooked Teeth should instead read "You may attempt to grapple creatures more than one size larger than you." This would provide a similar benefit and work with the RAW in the phb. Furthermore, it would allow you to stay completely within Orifice and go for a Swallow build, since right now you can swallow grappled gargantuan creatures but can't actually grapple gargantuan creatures without Inhaling Maw or Sizing Flesh. Inhaling Maw is limited use, and Sizing Flesh is outside of Orifice specialty, which just feels odd since it's the eat you alive specialty.

[Magikeeper]

EDIT: Also, made a number of edits over the past couple days, so people watching the thread should check those out! Orifice was overhauled, and a number of Eye trait alterations were changed as well. Also Saving throws are not using the Primary-Save mechanic anymore, as it was very misleading to new players (as the primary save stat was often not one of the stats they should be focusing on), and all instances of multi-taking an alteration have been removed.


A friend of a friend is planning on running a high level Halloween one shot, so I might actually get to play an ozodrin!

Just noticed something with hooked teeth. It says "Opponents that are larger than you do not automatically succeed on attempts made to escape your grapples." Except there is no such rule in the phb! The Grappler feat mentions a similar thing, but this is an artifact of rules changing in design, and the errata actually says to ignore that part of the feat.

Perhaps Hooked Teeth should instead read "You may attempt to grapple creatures more than one size larger than you." This would provide a similar benefit and work with the RAW in the phb. Furthermore, it would allow you to stay completely within Orifice and go for a Swallow build, since right now you can swallow grappled gargantuan creatures but can't actually grapple gargantuan creatures without Inhaling Maw or Sizing Flesh. Inhaling Maw is limited use, and Sizing Flesh is outside of Orifice specialty, which just feels odd since it's the eat you alive specialty.

Good catch on the Hooked Teeth text! I've replaced that with extra damage if a grappled creature is pushed/pulled out of your reach. I've also increased Windswept to Huge or smaller so the idea of it being usable to grapple larger foes comes online earlier.

On grappling - the first thing to note is that Gargantuan-size monsters are almost all boss-types that are very vulnerable to getting grappled/swallowed if you remove the size category restriction. They almost never have athletics and their strength is only +8/+10 or so. So if a T1 alteration like Hooked Teeth let you grapple any-sized opponents, pretty much any high-level Ozodrin with a STR of 10 could have decent odds of grappling ancient dragons and the Tarrasque for 1fp and no assistance from the party. The multiclass potential would be even greater.

As for swallowing, Primary(Flesh) Ozodrin cannot swallow Gargantuan creatures at all, while Primary(Orifice) Ozodrin at level 16+ that don't want to risk legendary resistance (or save on fp) likely need to use other alterations and/or an ally's spells to pull it off. It's honestly more there to increase the size of your stomach (as per the "rift" idea) and also for flavor (of being able to potentially eat anything, even it it'd be a little tricky) than as an effective bread-and-butter combat option. Gluttonous Rift would be worth 2fp without that add-on. I'm also wondering if Sizing Flesh should be 4fp, although it's probably fine at 3. I suspect people would still consider taking it at 4fp though, which is not a great sign.

On a related note, the main reason I've been playing around with the amount of damage needed to bust out of swallow (Originally 20, currently 10, which is likely too low.. maybe 15? At 16+ you'll have resistance), is because swallowing a creature means you're now trying to solo it. Yes, you could set up a battle room *in* your stomach where everyone takes on the opponent but that's generally only worthwhile if you need to block teleportation or the party is already lounging in your stomach and want to order take-out. As such, I think holding a powerful foe in your stomach should be rather difficult (or at least require you to make the Con saves).

I've also realized that, as written, swallow has no way (before level 11) to swallow someone without making them take bite damage. Everyone I've seen use swallow has completely ignored that, including in my own playtesting. I think the class should explicitly allow for doing that, maybe as a part of controlled digestion..?

I'm also thinking of reducing Swallow to 2fp, which would admittedly be a big deal. People already take it at 3fp.... but only to use the party bus style as far as I can tell. Maybe make swallow 2fp.. and controlled digestion 2fp..?

.... I've also realized that, as written, a creature in your stomach can technically grapple you and/or shove you prone. Monsters that eat players don't mention this issue, and they're unlikely to try (because it's such an absurd concept), but there are a number of monsters that auto-grapple and such so it'll come up when a player is the one swallowing people. Maybe I should note something about that...?

EDIT 2: Swallow up to 15hp, tweaked wording. Controlled Digestion -> Controlled Consumption, lets you swallow without dealing bite damage in addition to previous benefit. Kept it at a 3fp / 1fp split as swallow is just that convoluted.

[sallyisgreat]

Really like the new changes. A lot of great polish. Just noticed how Stomach Realm combined with Sinister Images turns your stomach into a possible teleportation hub with door mouths on distant images of or parts of yourself allowing instantaneous long distance travel. Coming up with new cool ideas every time I look at the class.

[Qwertystop]

Oh, one other thing - Reality Defining Flesh is a bit awkward, as a name. Not sure what to replace it with, though... Phantasmal? Shadow? Trying to think of words generally associated with illusions-that-are-real in D&D, those are the two main ones that come to mind

[Magikeeper]

Really like the new changes. A lot of great polish. Just noticed how Stomach Realm combined with Sinister Images turns your stomach into a possible teleportation hub with door mouths on distant images of or parts of yourself allowing instantaneous long distance travel. Coming up with new cool ideas every time I look at the class.

Ah, right. The puppet thing is not the only way to trap yourself in your own stomach. Using your stomach to transport yourself at level 18 is fine - there are several ways to use Sinister Image to travel (although stomach gates are best for relocating the party) - but the self-trapping needs to be dealt with. Okay, added:

"If you somehow end your turn within your own stomach (such as by swallowing yourself via the Sinister Image feature), you and all other swallowed creatures are regurgitated, landing within 10' of the point in space where you entered your stomach."

To swallow and removed the regurgitation text from Substitute Puppet. You can visit your stomach, but you can't stay there!

I might have accidentally added some other weird abusable trait to stomachs with all the recent edits. Wait, is teleporting out now technically blocked at tier II because of the.. aarrrgg..

----------------------------

Reality Defining Flesh: I'm not sold on RDF's name, no. The issue with shadow is that it is a bit of a loaded term D&D-lore-wise, and phantasmal is too similar to phantasmagoric. Hrm..I'll think about it.

[Magikeeper]

Alright, I have a big question for anyone that's played a level 6+ Ozodrin:

How would you have been effected if Ozodrin changed their advanced alterations on Long rests instead of Short rests?

This is less for design space - I'd likely keep Ozodrin ability refreshing keyed to short rests as they are not casters - and more to make determining balance easier. From what I can tell, most Ozodrin players only switch out a couple FP per rest and otherwise maintain a single combat style. But the class currently needs to stay balanced even if the player is willing to completely reform all of their FP every rest, or is willing to ask the party to rest in order to grab a particularly useful alteration for the situation. As it is, Ozodrin keep up pretty well with other martial classes without needing to be a short rest away from whichever non-combat alteration would be the best tool for the job. Even level 6 is a little early to be asking this one, more like level 8+ is likely when the Ozodrin has enough FP to seriously be swapping stuff in and out. Considering most 5E games go from 1-12ish that's another reason to consider the switch, as it makes balancing simpler by sacrificing something most Ozodrin PCs barely use.

Thoughts?

[Qwertystop]

Alright, I have a big question for anyone that's played a level 6+ Ozodrin:

How would you have been effected if Ozodrin changed their advanced alterations on Long rests instead of Short rests?

This is less for design space - I'd likely keep Ozodrin ability refreshing keyed to short rests as they are not casters - and more to make determining balance easier. From what I can tell, most Ozodrin players only switch out a couple FP per rest and otherwise maintain a single combat style. But the class currently needs to stay balanced even if the player is willing to completely reform all of their FP every rest, or is willing to ask the party to rest in order to grab a particularly useful alteration for the situation. As it is, Ozodrin keep up pretty well with other martial classes without needing to be a short rest away from whichever non-combat alteration would be the best tool for the job. Even level 6 is a little early to be asking this one, more like level 8+ is likely when the Ozodrin has enough FP to seriously be swapping stuff in and out. Considering most 5E games go from 1-12ish that's another reason to consider the switch, as it makes balancing simpler by sacrificing something most Ozodrin PCs barely use.

Thoughts?

Very little; I've only changed things once or twice a level, really, up through level 7. In our game, at least, "just wait an hour to reconfigure" does not tend to feel like much of an option for most problems; changes are more likely to be from thinking of a new idea or reconsidering what seems generally most useful, or because the class has been edited. Currently this has settled on "Digging Fins, Carved Spikes, and Tether for utility, Razor Fins, Specialized Organs, and Flowing Motions for combat, and then there's only one point left and all the other notable stuff costs 2 so grab Adaptive Musculature I guess?"

Also, keeping that utility on all the time has proved to be helpful for the DM, who can therefore take into account that the party will reliably have access to small tools, rope, and rapid excavation when planning a scenario. And there's not much that would seem worth waiting an hour for? Maaaybe smokebombs, but everything else runs into the whole "if you're waiting an hour to prep for combat, whoever you're planning to fight might have just left or done whatever you're fighting to stop" problem.

Part of it might be that our usual modus operandi is "investigate, find something that maybe leads to a situation where combat or other abilities would be useful, rest after". There tends to be enough urgency or other change-over-time that taking a break between "investigate" and "act on findings" is only an option for the long-term stuff, across an arc of multiple sessions, and therefore it doesn't really matter whether it's a change at short rests or at long rests.

[Magikeeper]

Well, I've received 2 opinions on the "short rest FP redistribution -> long rest redistribution" matter, both from players with Fin primary experience (once of which is as above [thank you for the input! :D], other off-site). Naturally, they have the exact opposite view. ;.;

Edit: To share more, the other one was Fin/Orifice/Eye (older version of all of them) at level 11+ and they frequently changed between scouting / party bus / pure combat builds, and would have had "a lot less fun" if they had to wait a long rest in-between.


Anyone else have input they'd like to give on this matter?

Edit 2: Having a limit to how much you can change during a short rest would most directly resolve all of these concerns but how to simply word it - as in *very* simply as this is a core class mechanic and *any* additional complication could turn groups off of it - is tricky.

Edit 3: Maybe:
(_) Advanced alterations
You gain 2 form points at level 1, and gain an additional form point at each subsequent level. These form points are used to pay for Advanced alterations, and are regained when the chosen alterations are removed. You may redistribute up to half your form points, rounded up, whenever you complete a short rest. You may redistribute all of your form points whenever you complete a long rest. Advance alterations do not inherently change what you look like - although they may give additional options when altering your Base alterations.
??

I just need to find some people with zero knowledge of the class to see if that makes sense..

Edit 4: Wait, no, that leaves open the possibility of double short resting. The number of players willing to do that is tiny, I imagine, but it'd be there. Hrm.

Edit 5: Maybe something like.. (quick draft)
Mallable Form
Starting at 9th level, you may redistribute up to 5 of your form points when you complete a short rest. Once you’ve redistributed a total of 5 form points this way, you must finish a long rest before doing so again.

[sallyisgreat]

Your solution seems reasonable to me. You could probably consider borrowing some of the language of arcane recovery.

You have learned to regain some of your magical energy by studying your Spellbook. Once per day when you finish a Short Rest, you can choose expended Spell Slots to recover. The Spell Slots can have a combined level that is equal to or less than half your Wizard level (rounded up), and none of the slots can be 6th level or higher.For example, if you’re a 4th-level Wizard, you can recover up to two levels worth of Spell Slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level spell slot or two 1st-level Spell Slots.


More specifically I would suggest drawing on "Once per day when you finish a Short Rest, you can choose..." which limits the number of times you can rearrange form points using a short rest without over complicating things. Whether or not the rest of it is of any use in balancing your trait would depend on how you value form points in relation to spell slots and such.

[Magikeeper]

@sallyisgreat: Having the daily limit be the same as the per-rest limit removes the incentive to double rest and such, and 5fp will usually only be enough for 1-2 rests. Limiting it to once a day would be more restrictive, and it would also remove the possibility of swapping 1-2fp and then doing so again after a later rest, which I imagine would be a common use case. I don't think swapping in/out 1-2fp at that level is a balance concern, so I'd rather let it remain possible. I think FP usage is more comparable to divine spells known than spell slots, although it's not quite the same thing.

I've gone with:

Malleable Form
Starting at 9th level, you may redistribute up to 5 of your form points when you finish a short rest. Once you’ve redistributed a total of 5 form points this way, over one or more short rests, you must finish a long rest before doing so again.

The lone off-site spokesperson for the constant-shift faction is good with the above.

----

Energy Consuming Flesh 2fp->1fp, now that you're stuck with it for the whole day. Acclimating Flesh was likewise changed from 1fp->2fp, to keep it at a total of 3fp w/Energy Consuming Flesh.

[Magikeeper]

The day @babus has been waiting for has arrived: I have finally made the base puppet trait do something. As expected, this doubled the length of the puppet description. I basically moved a weaker version of the Shifting Strings cord extension ability (1 cord, 40' max) and altered Shifting Strings to improve that (still 3x cord, 120' max). Un-extended puppets cannot leave your space EDIT: Well, "cannot leave" bit was sort of always the intent, in a confusing manner that's now in the past >.>. Wording was updated as well, notable changes are 1lb->5lb, some clarification on puppets using Oppose/Support on each other/themselves, Myriad Self getting updated to match current puppet (it had some text that made no sense), and misc wording tweaks to match the new base trait.

I also tweaked the puppet description in general, I think it better describes what puppets can and cannot do now. Most recent addition was noting that if you're hit with an AOE you're only effected once. 400% damage from fireballs is not risk vs reward, it's a crippling design flaw. Granted, you could have already interpreted it to only effect you once (since not doing so is dooming the character), but now it is specified.

----

Base Eye trait can now make perception checks as a bonus action. I might remove the advantage VS blinding to reduce Base Alteration bonus clutter.

-----

I also nerfed Terpsichorean Limbs - the bonus action gives disadvantage on AoO's instead of negating them entirely. It also gives disadvantage to Investigation checks, which.. generally only has synergy with illusions but some Ozodrin will have access to those.

Other stuff was done this week as well, it's in the log~

-----------------

Edit: More Tentacle tweaks. Aim is for Tentacle to be more interesting at low levels. I like how Devious Tentacles turned out. Edit: I might change the slight of hands thing to a bonus die. The Free Object interaction stuff I think is good, though.

Edit: BIG CHANGES for EYE trait. Especially TI. I think Murmuring at TII should probably be looked at.. but TI eye should be a fair bit more dynamic now. Also might be possible to pull a wis/cha Eye build now.

Edit: More changes to Eye, including Murmuring! Also some other tweaks. Filtering Flesh was replaced with Accommodating Flesh and moved to T1 (Energy Consuming moved to T2). Accommodating Flesh is something that could not have been balanced at T1 before the change to long-rest reforming, imo (it gains the ability to be altered at-will when you get Colluding Anatomy [before you get Mallable Flesh]).

Over all, the intent of these changes are to make lvl 1-5 Ozodrin more interesting to play, as most campaigns are in the 1-11 range and for many traits the first 5 levels were kind of dry. Also trying to make the more niche alterations (Filtering, Murmuring) more general-purpose in use. The "choose an option" mechanic is seeing far more use now as a way to combine smaller thematic effects into one ability, hope people like that. >.>

[sallyisgreat]

Looking at some of the new flesh changes, like Abstract Flesh, I really enjoy the synergy and interaction between the alterations and the core class's main features, especially given that said interacted with feature is just about my favorite of the bunch Sinister Image. While the lore of "spreading your existence to leave a bloodstain" seems like the wording could do with some reworking I love the idea. Maybe you could have the mechanism by which the bloodstain is left be a little more mundane, spurting blood in a gory explosion, or maybe you could make it so that the stain left behind is less explicitly blood and a more platonic, metaphysical sort of corruption so that the "spreading your existence" thing still meshes well. In addition the formatting for the Illusive Flesh alteration could use a little fiddling to get the list function working properly.

[Magikeeper]

Maybe you could have the mechanism by which the bloodstain is left be a little more mundane, spurting blood in a gory explosion, or maybe you could make it so that the stain left behind is less explicitly blood and a more platonic, metaphysical sort of corruption so that the "spreading your existence" thing still meshes well. In addition the formatting for the Illusive Flesh alteration could use a little fiddling to get the list function working properly.

I was thinking more of a horror movie-esq "blood seeping into the walls around you" sort of thing. But, eh, I can see your point. I haven't thought of a better solution yet, though. Having it not be blood leads to the question of "well, what IS it?" and the splurting.. shooting blood at things seems kinda iffy. Having blood seep out of you and spread could work, but then it would need be limited to touch range..

---

In the meantime, I've tweaked Coiling again and finally made Magic Ripping more generally usable (folded the magic detection into it).

[sallyisgreat]

I was thinking more of a horror movie-esq "blood seeping into the walls around you" sort of thing.

Maybe you could have the target take on some characteristics of flesh, expanding and bowing inward as if breathing, becoming warm and pliable, and maybe even echoing with the sound of a pulse. Assimilating the environment into a horrifying flesh mass that oozes out and stains with blood only enhances the horror theme while also gelling with the "spreading your existence thing". You could write it up like, "As an action you can blur and extend your existence in order to quickly and temporarily infect an unattended object or surface within 15’ of you with your essence. It briefly takes on the qualities of your flesh, shuddering with breath and beating with a pulse whose rhythm is in time with your own. So affected, it's newly gained pores will seep out and stain it with your blood, or whatever equivelant fluid you possess, before the fleshly qualities of the target fade and only your stain remains. This bloodstain can be any pattern you desire, such as a symbol that represents you, and this blood dissolves when you complete a short or long rest,". That write-up could be too long though, especially when most of the length comes from fluff and lore.

Edit:Just thought of a good example, like the breathing door from Haunted Mansion, the one with Eddie Murphy.

[Magikeeper]

@sallyisgreat - I had some versions like that, it has the issue of leaving people to wonder if attacking the flesh hurts the Ozodrin and the like. The bloodstain is clearly just a symbol. Still pondering.

--

In the meantime, I've been thinking of a Fin overhaul. The intent is to make low-level Fin more interesting in combat and a little more versatile, and to make doing things besides Razor Fin a more viable option. I’m not editing in the fin changes just yet, as this would include some sizable changes. Overall, easier to deal reasonable damage with regular fin attacks / cheaper FP-wise. Razor Fin would be a bonus action again that deals 3d4 but it would now restrict your actions to only using Dash/Disengage/Shove/Ability checks. The main issue with balancing Razor Fin and improving fin attacks was using them together, after all.

TI:
2fp - Whirling Fins
When you hit a creature with a fin attack on your turn you may, as a bonus action, do one of the following if you're not wearing heavy armor:

Use the force of the blow to push yourself 5' in any direction. This movement does not provoke an opportunity attack.
Deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage to the stuck creature.
Make a special Shove attempt against the struck creature. You may add your Dexterity modifier (minimum +0) to the Strength(Athletics) check made to do so.

Furthermore, you gain proficiency in Acrobatics. If you were already proficient, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check made with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

1fp – Momentous Fins [Replacing Martial Fins]
Like a tightly wound spring, your musculature is particularly adept at storing the kinetic force brought about by your motions but can’t hold it for long. When you damage an opponent with a fin attack, if you moved at least 10 feet in a straight line this turn, the struck foe takes an additional 1d6 damage. You can only apply this extra damage once per turn, but it can stack with the ability below.

Furthermore, you can store the kinetic force brought about by outside forces; when you take bludgeoning, slashing, and/or piercing damage you can use your reaction to store the force of the blow. You can then release the stored force the next time you successfully score a hit with a fin attack before the end of your next turn. If you do, the attack deals an additional amount of bludgeoning damage equal to half the total amount bludgeoning, piercing, and/or slashing damage you were previously dealt, rounded down (e.g. if you use your reaction after being hit with an arrow for 9 piercing damage, your fin attack would deal an additional 4 bludgeoning damage). Once you’ve used two reactions this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp - Swift Fins – Same as before, but you can also subtract 10 feet when calculating falling damage.

1fp – Specialized Organs
You can modify your internal organs to better support continual movement and lengthy dives. You can hold your breath four times as long you would otherwise be able to, and become immune to atmospheric pressure effects and altitude sickness. You also have advantage on Constitution saving throws made to move/travel quickly for long periods of time and on any ability checks made to move in adverse conditions (stormy water, strong winds, etc).

Furthermore, at the end of any creature’s turn you can use your reaction to move 5’. This provokes opportunity attacks as normal. Once you’ve used two reactions this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

1fp - Digging Fins – No Change. Should this change?

TII:
1fp – Flowing Motions (Requires Specialized Organs)
You can tweak and refine the motor control capabilities of your neural system or its equivalent, allowing you to precisely and efficiently maximize your movements. You can count the Dash and Disengage actions as Fin trait alteration-granted abilities for the purpose of using them with the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

Furthermore, when you take the Dash action you can make an attack with a fin as a bonus action.

2fp – Razor Fins
Your fins may deal slashing damage instead of bludgeoning damage.

Furthermore, your body’s union of shaping and motion enable feats of traveling destruction more akin to a bladed gust of wind than a living thing. If you have not yet performed an action on your turn you can, as a bonus action, make a Strength or Dexterity ability check and add your proficiency modifier to the result. Until the end of your turn, any opponent you move within 5' of, whose armor class is less than the result of the check, takes 3d4 slashing damage. Roll this damage once and apply it to all effected creatures a single time. You cannot damage the same creature twice with the same use of this ability. Any opponent damaged this way cannot make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn. Until the end of your turn, you can only use your actions to Dash, Disengage, Shove, and/or make ability checks. This does not give you the ability to use these actions with MultiAssault unless you could already do so.

1fp – Dynamic Fins (Requires Momentous Fins) [Replacing Blitzing Fins]
You can expertly shift and tweak your musculature to change a single kinetic release into a continuous stream of violence. The extra 1d6 damage granted by your Momentous Fins alteration can be applied to any number of fin attacks each turn instead of just one.

Furthermore, when you successfully use the shove action to push a creature you may choose to move 5 feet in the same direction to continue the push. Doing this uses your movement as normal. If you do, the creature is pushed back an additional 5 feet.

Finally, you can count the Shove action as a Fin trait alteration-granted ability for the purpose of using it with the Focus Surge and MultiAssault features.

1fp - Diving Fins (Requires Swift Fins) - Otherwise same ability.

TIII:
1fp – Blitzing Fins (Requires Swift Fins) [Neo Sprinting Fins]
You may, once per turn as an action, gain additional movement for one turn. This increase equals twice your speed, after applying any modifiers. This ability counts as using the Dash action for the purpose of other abilities and effects (such as Razor Fins). You can only use this ability on your turn, and only then if you are not wearing heavy armor.

Furthermore, whenever you use this alteration to gain additional movement you also gain the following benefits until the end of the current turn:

Enemy creatures have disadvantage on opportunity attacks made against you.
If you damage a creature with an attack or ability granted by a Fin trait alteration, such as by attacking with a fin, you may add twice your proficiency modifier to the damage dealt. You may only add this damage once per turn. If the ability damaged multiple creatures (e.g Razor Fins), choose one creature to take the additional damage.


1fp – Flexible Fins (Requires Whirling Fins) [Replaces Unfettered Motions]
Your ability to instinctually tweak your movements and musculature to make the most of your motions is further enhanced; when you fail to hit an opponent with a fin, you gain +2 on the next attack roll you make with a fin against that opponent on the same turn. If that attack hits, the struck foe takes an additional 1d4 damage.

Furthermore, your body can contort and shift itself with a degree of flexibility that strains the notion of what is physically possible. You have advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to escape from grapples and physical restraints. In addition, you can squeeze through openings as though you were half of the size you actually are.

1fp - Eternal Rhythm (Requires Specialized Organs)
Your body is utterly efficient in its motions, and is capable of resting in a manner reminiscent of some sharks and marine mammals. You automatically succeed on constitution saving throws made to move for long periods of time and can rest while moving. In addition, you can remain partially conscious while sleeping. While in this state you have disadvantage on all ability checks, cannot speak, and are incapacitated, but can still use your movement and vaguely sense your surroundings.

Furthermore, as an action, you can regain all expended uses of the ability granted by the Specialized Organs alteration.

Wings – No change


I also thought of a better way of handling the level 6 bonus damage alterations – specifically the two-weapon fighting aspect. Just don’t let the off-hand weapon get the bonus damage, done. That brings Ozodrin damage more in line with other attack suites. Also tweaking some other things with those.


2fp – Deadly Limbs
You can more skillfully combine shaping and wielding, taking advantage of being able to tweak every twitch from thought to strike for maximum lethality. Your tentacles deal an additional 1d6 damage. This bonus damage does not apply to tentacles wielded as off-hand weapons; when you use two-weapon fighting the extra attack only deals 1d6 (not 2d6).

Furthermore, you can form tentacles that are especially well-suited for crushing foes. Such tentacles may be more defined limbs such as pincers or arms complete with humanoid hands. This allows you to form tentacles that deal bludgeoning damage instead of slashing damage.

Finally, your limbs can wield weapons, and can treat attacks with such weapons as alteration-granted attacks for the purpose of using them with the MultiAssault feature. Such attacks do not count as Tentacle trait alteration-granted attacks, nor any other trait, and thus cannot be used with the Focus Surge feature. This ability does not grant you proficiency with any weapons.

2fp – Energy Generating Flesh
Choose one of the following damage types when making this alteration: Fire, Cold, Acid, Lighting, Thunder. As a bonus action on your turn you may wreathe yourself in energy; Any creature you successfully shove, grapple, or score a hit against with a melee weapon that's a part of your body (e.g. your slam attack) takes 1d4 damage of the chosen type each time. This effect lasts until the end of your turn. Any creature already touching you (such as a snake constricting you or a foe held in your jaws) when you use this ability takes 2d4 damage of the chosen type.

Furthermore, as an action, you can perform any minor effect small amounts of the chosen energy could accomplish (using your flesh in place of a match or stove, a bag of ice, a small spark, a vial of acid, a tiny whistle, etc).

Finally, as an action, you can change the chosen damage type. Once you’ve changed the damage type in this way you may not do so again until you’ve finished a short or long rest.

2fp – Dire Consumption
You can more skillfully combine shaping and wielding, taking advantage of being able to tweak every twitch from thought to strike for maximum lethality. Your bite and/or spit attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage. This bonus damage does not apply to bites wielded as off-hand weapons; when you use two-weapon fighting the extra attack only deals 1d6 (not 2d6).

Furthermore, if you have made the Ravenous Maws alteration you may dedicate yourself even more intensely to extracting every bit of vitality from your dining. Whenever you are granted temporary hit points by your Esurient Craze, you may choose to gain an additional amount equal to your proficiency modifier (for a total of 1d4 + twice your proficiency modifier). If you do, all other creatures have advantage on attack rolls made against you until the beginning of your next turn.

Edit: I still haven't made the Fin changes, but I have tweaked several other things. Mostly along the lines of taking the early alterations with more lackluster/niche abilities and adding a second minor ability that is at-will if the original ability was limited in use, or limited in use if the original ability was at-will. Some other tweaks and buffs as well. Although they are different from their suggestions, you can draw a line between some of these changes and the playtest results / critique given by that all-ozodrin group. Do continue to make your voice heard, random person reading this~

[Qwertystop]

Though I'm still not confident in judging numbers, I do very much like the idea of the new fin stuff.

[Magikeeper]

@Qwertystop: I was hoping for your thoughts, and with that the Fin changes have been made! Well, they were made after your response with this post being a few days afterword.. *anyway*


In addition to the Fin overhaul, and some recent puppet changes, the Eye trait was overhauled this morning/last night! Most of the Eye trait has been tweaked to some degree. This was a side effect of trying to make Tier I/II Eye more interesting to play. I had also felt the Tier IV Eye was kind of lackluster and less thematic than some of the other Tier IV traits. I am iffy about the new version of Delving Sight though, as it is very wordy right now and I'm not sure what it does is worth the text wall.

I'm also iffy about the (reworked) "Time" option for Eldritch Sight. It's an extremely niche ability that is generally going to do nothing or provide a fast solution to something that might have been more interesting to figure out the long way. Aside from that, it's mostly just useful for snooping on someone you were afraid to get too close to but the 10 minute limit probably isn't enough for that. But making it longer would dramatically increase its potential to mess up any kind of whodunit type plot. It might help in a chase sequence? Maybe?

Edit: I'm thinking of replacing Time with:

Time. Choose one object, section of wall, corpse, etc, or willing creature you can see within 60' of you that occupies no more than a 100’ cube worth of space. Then choose a period of time, such as “100 years”. You see how the target looked at that period of time. If the target did not exist at the chosen time, you feel a brief sense of pain and the attempt fails. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn.
Time. You gaze up to 10 minutes into the past as if you were standing at your current location at that time, beginning at the most distant point in time you wish to view and perceiving time from that point onward. You remain aware of your surroundings in the present while viewing the past, and can make Wisdom(Perception) checks, but are otherwise Incapacitated for the duration of the effect. If you’ve made the Heightened Senses alteration you can hear the past as well as see it. This effect lasts for 10 minutes or until you choose to end it on your turn.

Neo Time is also super niche but has more random "fun" or at least interesting uses and when it does come up it is unlikely to be automatically resolving a challenge.

Edit: The first version of time originally gave the possibility of seeing much farther into the past (DM discretion) but was kind of clunky and "the DM can use you to exposition dump if they feel like it otherwise this does nothing"-y.

[deliverything]

This class makes me wish I could find a 5E game to get into (and the time to play).
I do have a couple of questions, though.
First of all: what AC does a swallowed creature attack against? RAW would seem to suggest the same AC for people attacking from outside, but how would your scale mail (for example) protect someone's insides? Maybe it could use Unarmored Defense, with the excuse of the ozodrin's stomach being just that eldritch and protean? Also, in the interests of helping Swallow remain relevant at higher levels: does Stomach Realm permit the ozodrin to form natural weapons internally to deal extra damage? This could possibly be another Advanced Alteration, so those dedicated to using Swallow as a combat strategy would be investing more into boosting its effectiveness.
Also: Many of the base alterations permit the creation of additional body parts but no limit is mentioned. This probably matters most for puppet, which (rules as written) permits infinite Toy puppets capable of carrying 1 pound each. Presumably the DM'd veto carrying off the entire dungeon this way, but where's the cutoff point?

[Kerleth]

Building a level 16 ozodrin for a Halloween one-shot and noticed something. Tier 4 orifice ability Gluttonous Rift allows you to potentially swallow gargantuan targets, but it technically doesn't increase the size of your stomach to hold them. The original swallow allows for two large sized, so I'm assuming this would become 2 gargantuan. Perhaps add in the following in between the first and second sentence of the ability description of Gluttonous Rift. "Your stomach can now hold up to two Gargantuan creatures, with smaller creatures counting as ½ the next highest level (i.e., your stomach can hold 4 huge creature, 8 large creatures, 16 medium creatures, 32 small creatures, or 64 tiny creatures)."

[Magikeeper]

Responses!

@ Swallow AC: A good question! I suppose I'll be needing to make the swallow description even longer to specify. Hrm.. how to best handle this.. having it not include worn armor creates the situation where someone wearing armor would.. have a lower stomach AC than someone not wearing armor (and thus benefiting from unarmored defense??)? That doesn't make sense either. I'll think about it this weekend.

@ Internal weapons: I've assumed yes, since it's a part of your body, but perhaps it should be more directly specified..?

@ Body Part limit: Given how 5E abstracts the taking of actions having it be arbitrarily large isn't a big deal... except for toy puppet. I'll tweak toy puppet this weekend to stop it from increasing your carrying capacity. Otherwise unlimited as there isn't a mechanical benefit for having every strand of hair be a separate tentacle and the like.

@ Stomach Size: I'll figure something out this weekend. IIRC it used to be 1x of the largest thing you could swallow but got changed to specifying 2x large (i.e., 1x Huge). In the meantime, assume you can hold a gargantuan creature in your stomach should it come up.

[sallyisgreat]

Hello, I know you were working out some kinks on the orifice and puppet traits recently, but did you see an end in sight as far as major edits to class features go? I know that as far back as May last year you were considering some version of the pdf.


The other two/three things I want to do are:

> Greatly revamp the puppet trait. Right now puppet is.. rough... and not all that great as a primary. It has some things going for it but aside from novelty I don't see people choosing it as a primary more than once if at that. It's not all that exciting at low levels. I have no playtest data for puppet primaries, because that's how unpopular it is. Also the Tier IV ability True Spawn, although very cool, causes setting issues (As it allows for a single ozodrin to eventually spawn an entire - albeit no that strong and infertile - race by itself. It'd take a long time, but high level Ozodrin don't die of old age soooo....). I feel that might stop the class from getting into games.
^This is actually almost done, I have a re-write of the entire trait ready to go, I suppose I could do the swap this weekend.

> Do something with the tier IV fin alteration "Grand Charge" - It's also cool, but under very specific conditions that are unlikely to ever come up in a game it allow an ozodrin to slaughter thousands in one round. It's not really a big deal - you'd need the enemy to line up an entire army just right and if you pull that off you've practically earned the charge - but I fear the possibility of it also hindering game acceptance.

> I have also been very seriously considering moving "unarmored defense" to level 2 as the current Ozodrin is a super-strong 1-level dip but a fairly reasonable 2-level dip. I'm not sure this is the change I want to make, but the sheer power of a 1-level dip concerns me even with the con/cha 13 restriction.

IIRC I had some other tiny tweaks as well but most of those were clarifying how abilities worked and such.

After that I should start posting it more places, I agree. The art just isn't going to be available anytime soon and I should just accept that.

I think you've done a lot of what you said you still had to do at the time, commendations for that by the way, so if a PDF version is on the horizon I'd be really excited to hear it.

[Magikeeper]

I still need to get to the puppet/orifice stuff.

That said, it is unlikely that I'll have the time to properly get into the Ozodrin updating mindset until late this month or sometime next month. I'll answer the "how much longer until it is PDF time?!" once I've properly gone over the class again.

Edit: Some tweaks made. More probably.. in a week or two.
Edit: Or the next day, sure. More tweaks likely to come.

[Magikeeper]

So! I've been making some more tweaks recently. Of the issues others brought up in the comments above, I believe the pdf and doing >something< with the fluff of Abstract Flesh's symbol are the only things left.

If anyone has more playtest information to share, comments, etc, please do so~

Edit: Some recent changes (updated less frequently than the update log):

[1/28/2022]
FIN - Nerfed Whirling Fins (Bonus damage is now conditional)
PUPPET - Toy Puppet Carrying Capacity Exploit Fixed.
STOMACH - Stomach has an AC total now, and specifies your other alterations can affect it.

[1/30/2022]
TENTACLE - Coiling Tentacle grapple now takes a reaction.
STOMACH - Digestive Rift can disrupt teleports, Swallow nerfed to trigger con save at 15->10 damage, Glutenous Rift doubles stomach size / stomach realm size.

[2/1/2022]
STOMACH - Refined Palate reworked to be less INT-dependent.
- Windswept Maw's Exhale has been changed (again) to be less complicated.

[2/3/2022]
Spike - Replaced Flickering Spikes with the stronger Distorted Implements. The advantage on melee attacks was lost in exchange for a few passive benefits and an increase to 3 uses of the bonus action instead of 2.

[2/6/2022]
Spike - Increased Bone Hedge damage to 3d8.
- Added a longevity extension to Carved Spikes and added a few more example creations. 1hr->4hr is a pretty big deal, imo.
EYE - Focal reduced to 1fp.

[2/9/2022]
EYE - Daunting's Despair option also gives advantage to Insight(Wisdom) now.
MAIN CLASS - Removed "Survival" from skills, added "Sleight of Hand" and "Performance". What Survival does in 5e doesn't have much of a thematic tie to Ozodrin.

[2/10/2022]
FLESH - Blending Flesh replaced with Discrete Flesh, because I finally did a careful read-through of the Hiding rules for 5E. The old wording didn't even make sense in 5E terminology! How did that survive as one of the longest never-changed alterations?! It's because Primary(Flesh) was unpopular for many years and this is a Tier III alteration whose intent could be easily grasped, isn't it...? >.>
- Magic Consuming Flesh -> Unearthly Flesh. Now includes "evasion for Con saves" on top of the limited spell eating.

Eh, I didn't note it anywhere but "do something with Blending Flesh" has been on my mental checklist for quite some time so I guess it wasn't really getting a bye.

[LecternOfJasper]

Ooh, very fun, very cool! Glad to see this still being combed through and fiddled with!

[Magikeeper]

Thanks!

------

I've noticed most of the spell/martial/etc systems have an "Initiate"-type feat

I had discarded the notion before, as it's hard to give limited access to Ozodrin abilities, but I think I got one:

Protean Initiate
Choose one of the Traits of the ozodrin class (Tentacle, Flesh, Spike, Eye, Orifice, Fin, or Puppet). You gain access to the base alteration of that Trait, and can freely use it as a bonus action on your turn.

Furthermore, choose two Tier I advanced alterations of your selected Trait that do not have any prerequisites. As an action, you can gain the benefits of one of the chosen advanced alterations for 10 minutes. After using this ability, you must finish a long rest before using another action this way.

----

I'm likely going to change Base Alterations such that they can only be altered as a bonus action. The situations where you would want to alter them as an action are fairly niche, I think? Has this actually come up in anyone's game?

----

I am also considering swapping the levels of Worldly Guise and Focus Surge (lv3 and lv2).

----

I've also noticed that WotC has moved away from having any new abilities be based on short rests for some time now. The thought that WotC is going to remove short rests in the 2024 PHB has some merit. :/

[Magikeeper]

Given the likeyhood of WotC changing short rests somehow in 2024, I've started looking into how to minimize the Ozodrin's usage of them. In some cases (Focus Surge) I'm not going to change anything until I see exactly what WotC is planning there.

The main limiter, though, is Malleable Form. Without MF there's nothing in the core class that forces the Ozodrin alterations to stick to short rest mechanics. I also compiled a list of all alterations with short rest recharges.. it's not a large list. Eye and Spike are mostly the only issues. Anyway, idea for replacing Malleable Form.

New lvl9 idea:

Overwrought Form
At 9th level, you become capable of warping your body beyond its limits, for a time. Upon gaining this ability, choose 3fp worth of Tier I advanced alterations you have access to. You can remake this choice whenever you reach a level in this class that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, and starting at 12th level you can also choose Tier II alterations from your Primary and/or Secondary traits when you do so.

You can meditate for one minute in order to gain the benefits of one or more of these chosen alterations for one hour without using any form points. For each chosen alteration, you only gain its benefits if you both meet its prerequisites and have not already added it to your current form. In addition, if the alteration has a usage limit, the limit is reduced to a single use (e.g. “twice per long rest” → “once per long rest”) when you gain its benefits in this way. Once you use this feature you must complete a long rest before doing so again.

Old:
Starting at 9th level, you may redistribute up to 5 of your form points when you finish a short rest. Once you’ve redistributed a total of 5 form points this way, over one or more short rests, you must finish a long rest before doing so again.

Thoughts?

[Qwertystop]

Seems more interesting; I like "temporary capbreaker" more than "limited early respec".

[Magikeeper]

Went with overwrought form.

----


I am considering changing the Form Point progression:
- 1fp at level 1
- Everything else is the same (3fp at level 2, 4 at 3rd, etc)

Every trait has at least 2 1fp alterations. I feel this would bring Ozodrin level 1 more in line with the first level of other classes. In fact, I think I'll just do that now..

EDIT: As that change made lvl 1 kind of miserable for some traits, changed it back to 2fp at level 1 and moved choosing secondary traits to level 2. It makes the rules text a bit clunky but reduces the amount of 'stuff' level 1 Ozodrin get without nuking their combat ability.

[Magikeeper]

SPIKE OVERHAUL

I combined Carved Spikes with Clashing spikes, moved a new version of Poisonous Spikes to Tier 1, added Noxious Spikes to T2 and reworked Deleterious Existence. I also moved the 4hr duration to the base alteration.

The end result, I believe is:
- Level 1->5 Spike is more interesting in combat. Deciding what alterations to make is also more difficult (well, especially since you can't grab everything at level 5 anymore). Low level spike has to actually make difficult choices now.
- The poison mechanics in general are more interesting, and you can finally make a toxic cloud even if it isn't very strong (so as to avoid needing to add a save to it).
- Clashing Spikes Bone Implements feels more like a significant choice.
- The fluff is tighter.

The major downside is that the most dip-able alteration spike had, carved spikes, now comes packaged with two other spike types (Goring/Quills) that some of the other traits likely have little or no use for.

On the other hand, the new poison is 1fp and very dip-able now. Which.. might not be a good thing either.. I have some concerns about the "Addled" option. The at-will ability disadvantage, while good, is likely fine. Hex already gives that, although it can't keep switching the chosen ability it's rare that you'd want to do so anyhow (at least when it is tied to hitting with an attack like the poison is).

Thoughts?

[sallyisgreat]

I quite enjoy the changes to spike. Folding carved spikes in with a few other abilities helps me better parse the list of spike alterations, and having the option to use an actually decent poison ability is rather novel in 5e as far as I am aware. Even if it is a little too powerful, it’s filling a niche that is neglected enough that I don’t really mind. Poison is also rather notorious in 5e for being underpowered, with way too many monsters immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition, so allowing it to be powerful allows the times when it does work to shine and makes up a bit for the many times it just won’t work.

[Magikeeper]

Well, it's good that it is liked!

On the power though, it's less "I see a way that this is unbalanced" and more "Addled in particular, while simple, is so unusual that I'm wondering if there is a way to abuse it I haven't thought of". There are cantrips that reduce movement speed on a hit, most forms of enemy self-heal have a way to halt it for a round (and +2 dmg is fine). If anything it's currently a collection of individually niche effects. It's possible the differences from Hex results in the at-will ability check debuff being used in a larger variety of ways, but that's still rather niche - the main use would just be helping allies grapple/shove and maybe stop illusions from being discovered. Even then, it competes for the bonus action slot so even multiclass builds would get limited use from the at-will effect.

[sallyisgreat]

Will this thread be receiving any more updates soon? I understand if the answer is no, it’s been a difficult time recently and I can understand having other priorities. I wish OP and everyone else who might read well.

[Magikeeper]

I am considering updating the Ozodrin for D&D 5.5e/ 6e / "One D&D", and having that be the PDF.

Then again, I should perhaps make a new thread for the D&D 6 version?


... oh the previous comment was made in August. Well, that continues the trend of people posting in this thread as soon as I stop checking for awhile. >.>

------

As for other updates... I'll go over it again but I don't recall there being anything besides needing to organize it into a PDF. Of course, I will almost surely find some things to tweak/refine in the process of doing that. If anyone has playtest feedback they'd like to share, by all means do so.

[sallyisgreat]

I am considering updating the Ozodrin for D&D 5.5e/ 6e / "One D&D", and having that be the PDF.

Then again, I should perhaps make a new thread for the D&D 6 version?

Has the OGL drama changed your plans at all? Are you still going to continue, and will you still be working on a One D&D version? I’d still enjoy having a pdf version of the ozodrin despite everything going on with WoTC, but would understand if things had been a bit soured for you. I wish you well muddling through our weird wide world.

[Magikeeper]

Has the OGL drama changed your plans at all? Are you still going to continue, and will you still be working on a One D&D version? I’d still enjoy having a pdf version of the ozodrin despite everything going on with WoTC, but would understand if things had been a bit soured for you. I wish you well muddling through our weird wide world.

First off, how did I not see this for two days? I have been tweaking some stuff / actively checking this thread the past couple... ah, I see, you slipped in right after a check. Figures. :P

OGL drama hasn't changed anything currently, given the rollback.

---


Currently I'm dealing with what may be the main hurdle for a One D&D version - the split between Warrior/Mage/Priest/Expert. Most Ozodrin fit Warrior, but then you have Eye/Puppet and a few other builds that are iffy.

Puppet: If I changed Parasite to being a dex-based saving throw (for attaching, still Cha for charm) that would help... but its still iffy, I think? Puppet really needs a way to attack in the event its the party's only frontliner and didn't grab tentacle as a secondary, but that's hard to fit in. Could rework puppet self some more, I guess.

Eye: Might need to be overhauled to fit that box, tbh. Has anyone played an Eye-Primary Ozodrin in an extended campaign? I feel like it is the least popular/playtested trait (as a primary, at least). Been working on Eye recently as it is, although those changes were for other reasons. I like the new middle option for Framing Gaze although the name "Duplicate Motion" could use some work...

On another note, I made a few eye changes recently. I also very recently made a puppet change I'm more iffy on:

I changed Puppet Self to replace the +5 max hp with something that would still help with surviving but would scale better while being less powerful at level 1 (bonus action, sac any amount of non-temp HP to gain twice as much temp HP until start of next turn).

[Magikeeper]

About to make a massive overhaul of the Eye trait.

Changes:
- All the clarity stuff is gone, with the involved alterations re-worked. Especially the mind effecting ones.
- Eye is now more a little more warrior-y (mostly due to tweaks to T1 alterations). At least once I change Ozodrin to having prof in all simple weapons.
- I didn't have any place to put the sound-sight so that's gone too, alas.
- Telepathy is now T2.

Tier I Advanced Alterations:

1fp – Rattling Eyes
You can, as an action, magically do one of the following:
Splintering Glare. One of your eyes unleashes a ray with the appearance of warped, shimmering air. Make a ranged spell attack roll (Proficiency Bonus + Charisma modifier) against a creature within 60’. On a hit, it takes 1d8 + your charisma modifier Psychic damage as a cracking pain rattles its mind. You may choose for this effect to be non-lethal. If you do, any creature that would be killed by this attack is instead rendered unconscious and stable at 0hp instead.
Screaming Glare. - You can attempt to rely on your eyes' disruptive emanations in place of might or nimbleness to land a blow. Choose a melee weapon that you are both wielding and proficient with, such as a sword or tentacle. You can then make a melee attack with that weapon against a creature, using Charisma instead of Strength for the attack roll. If you're using a finesse weapon, you may also use Charisma instead of Strength for the damage roll.
Disorienting Glare. Choose a creature you can see within 60' of you. The targeted foe is disoriented until the beginning of your next turn. While disoriented, it has disadvantage on the first attack roll it makes during its turn. In addition, it has disadvantage on any opportunity attack rolls and Dexterity ability checks it makes.
1fp – Focal Eyes
Your Eye trait alteration-granted abilities that would normally have a range of 60' have a range of 120' instead.

Furthermore, as an action you may focus your vision in one of the following ways:
Telescopic. You can determine the fine details of any creatures and/or objects you can see, regardless of distance, until the beginning of your next turn.
Magnifying. You have advantage on ability checks made to inspect or appraise items that are small or highly detailed until the beginning of your next turn.
Brushing. Your eyes magically take in, modify, and project back out light in order to paint up to 5 square feet of any unattended surface you can see within 120'. This paint, formed from light, lasts up to four hours before fading away (duration chosen when you use this ability). If you are in bright light the paint can be any color(s), otherwise the paint must be greyscale.
1fp – Cerebral Vault
You can recall, with perfect accuracy, anything you have seen within the last hour. In addition, as an action you may reach further back into your memories, recalling a specific piece of visual information with perfect accuracy regardless of the amount of time that has passed (you must, however, already know what you're trying to recall).

Furthermore, you gain a limited ability to interact with the memories of others, as well. When a creature dies or falls unconscious within 60’ of you, or when a willing creature allows you to do so, you may use your reaction to acquire its last 10 minute’s worth of visual memories.

Finally, as bonus action on your turn, you may telepathically share your visual memories, including what you are currently looking at and any acquired memories, with one or more creatures you can see within 60’.

2fp - Blurring Eyes (Requires Cerebral Vault)
Your eyes become even more keenly adapted to magically entwining your existence with that of others. You may, as a bonus action on your turn, choose a willing creature you can see within 60’. Until the beginning of your next turn, you may use your reaction to do any combination of the following, space rippling as a faint echo of your eye(s) overlap the target:
Until the end of the current turn, you can see from the target’s location in all directions as though you were there yourself. You may also share your vision with the target.
Until the end of the current turn, you and the chosen target gain resistance to all damage. While under this effect, when one of you takes damage the other takes the same amount with one difference. This difference is that the damage dealt to the second creature ignores temporary hit points.
Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, choose a creature you can see within 60' of you. If the creature is unwilling, it must make a Constitution saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you and the chosen target swap locations. If either of you are restrained, grappled, and/or if there isn't enough space for the swap (e.g. you attempt to swap places with a dragon while hiding in a little hole) this teleportation effect does nothing.
Once you attempt to swap locations three times, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp – Heightened Senses
Your enhanced capability to handle sensory information grants you proficiency in the Perception skill. If you’re already proficient in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check you make with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, you can use the base alteration of the Eye trait to form eyes capable of sensing both light and sound. This allows you to use the bonus action granted by the base alteration of the Eye feature to make both visual and auditory Wisdom(Perception) checks.

Finally, you may, as an action, analyze a target you can see within 60’. You have advantage on the next attack roll you make against that target before the end of your next turn. If the attack successfully damages the target, it deals an additional 2d4 damage.

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Hungry Eyes (Requires Rattling Eyes)
Your Splintering Glare deals an additional 1d6 damage.

Furthermore, whenever you use your Splintering Glare, you may choose to have it rend the physical existence of a target instead of its mind. If you do, it deals Force damage instead of Psychic damage and cannot be non-lethal. In addition, you draw sustenance from your foes, their dissolved essence instantly sucked through the ray of warped air like it were a straw. Every 10 points of Force damage dealt by your Splintering Glare in a single attack gives you a day's worth of nourishment.

Finally, when you score a hit with your Screaming Glare on your turn, you may use a bonus action to deal an additional 1d4 Psychic damage to the struck foe.

1fp – Eldritch Perception (requires Heightened Senses)
You may, as an action, visually focus on a single creature or object you can see within 60’ of you to determine whether it bears magic or not. This effect does not reveal the school of magic, only whether or not magic is present. Any opaque barrier blocks this ability.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, magically extend your sight in one of the following ways:
Space. Choose one creature, object, section of wall, etc you can see within 60' of you that occupies no more than a 5’ cube worth of space. Until the beginning or your next turn, you can see past the chosen target as though it did not exist. For example, you could target a small dresser to see all of its contents without opening it.
Time. Choose one object, section of wall, corpse, etc, or willing creature you can see within 60' of you that occupies no more than a 100’ cube worth of space. Then choose a period of time, such as “100 years”. You see how the target looked that far in the past. If the target did not exist at the chosen time, you feel a brief sense of pain and the attempt fails. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Layer. Until the beginning of your next turn, you can see up to 60' into the Ethereal Plane. Within this range you can also see invisible creatures and objects as though they were visible.
All of these uses count as divination effects, their benefits relying on shifting and interpreting the flow of magic that suffuses the multiverse. Once you have used three bonus actions to extend your vision in this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

2fp - Daunting Glare
You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. If you’re already proficient in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check you make with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, as an action you can force a creature within 60’ you can see, that is not immune to the Frightened condition, to make a Wisdom saving throw. Each creature can only be targeted by this ability once per turn. On a failure, you magically impose one of the following effects:
Scram. The creature has disadvantage on all attack rolls it makes against you. If it moves towards you, each 1ft it moves takes 2ft of movement. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Engage. The creature gains disadvantage on all attack rolls it makes against creatures other than you. In addition, if the creature moves away from you each 1ft it moves takes 2ft of movement. These effects lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Despair. The creature has disadvantage on all ability checks. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn. In addition, the first attack roll made against the targeted creature before this effect ends has advantage.

2fp – Murmuring Gaze (Requires Cerebral Vault)
The abilities granted by your Cerebral Vault alteration now include all sensory information (sounds, smells, etc).

Furthermore, you may telepathically communicate with any creature that you can see, regardless of distance. If you do not share a language with the creature you can still communicate using simple concepts, emotions, and images.

Finally, as an action you can attempt to magically slip an illusionary thought into a creature’s mind. Choose a creature you can see within 60’. The chosen target must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a success, the target passively resists this effect without notice and becomes immune to further attempts for 24 hours. Otherwise, the target experiences an illusionary thought and/or gut instinct of your choice, such as “something is watching me” or “That pie would taste real good right now”, that sounds as if they had thought or felt it themselves. Especially absurd notions, out-of-character thoughts, and any thought related to a secret the target is keeping are still rejected outright, causing the effect to end. If the thought doesn’t concern a secret, and is at least somewhat plausible, it lingers like a song stuck in the target’s head until they finish a short rest or perform an action that should make it stop (Such as eating that pie). The target is NOT compelled to obey this thought, and simply reacts to it as they would any other nagging thought. You only know whether or not the thought lingered.
Once you attempt to insert an illusionary thought three times you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp – Vehement Eyes
Whenever you deal Psychic damage to a creature you can see within 60’ you may use your reaction to intensify the effect, dealing it an additional 1d4 Psychic damage and giving it disadvantage on Intelligence and Wisdom-based ability checks until the beginning of your next turn.

Furthermore, whenever you deal Force damage to a creature you can see within 60’ you may use your reaction to intensify the effect, dealing it an additional 2d4 Force damage.

Finally, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, gain an additional reaction that lasts until the beginning of your next turn. This additional reaction cannot be used the same turn you use any other reaction, and can only be used to make attacks of opportunity and use Eye trait reaction-based abilities.

2fp - Nous Sight
You gain 20 feet of blindsight. This blindsight works via your eyes emitting subtle pulses of non-visible psychic energy and then interpreting the echo. Your blindsight can also differentiate between nonthinking objects, emotionless but thinking entities, and emotional entities. In addition, you can roughly sense the mood of emotional beings. If a thinking being is actively trying to conceal itself and/or hide their real emotional state within the range of your blindsight you must beat their Stealth and/or Deception check as normal but you have advantage on your Perception and/or Insight check to do so.

Furthermore, your blindsight can sense telepathic links and telepathic auras, along with the emotions of the ones currently communicating through it. You cannot otherwise sense the contents of the messages.

1fp – Encroaching Gaze (Requires Murmuring Gaze)
Your ability to acquire memories now acquires the prior 24 hours instead of just 10 minutes.

Furthermore, as an action, you may magically connect your mind to that of a chosen creature you can see within 300’. If the target not both aware of this effect and willing, they must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a Success, this effect fails, you take 5d6 Psychic damage, and the creature becomes aware that something attempted to infiltrate its mind. Otherwise, you can telepathically communicate with the target across any distance and share its senses. You can choose to leave an unaware target unaware of the link, but if you do it becomes unstable. An unstable link ends the moment the target would actively wish to conceal what it is sensing and/or doing from others. All links otherwise last until you take any kind of damage, finish a short or long rest, 24 hours have passed, or you use an action to end the effect, whichever comes first. You can have up to 8 links at the same time.

Finally, when you use an action to end a link made with a target that is still unaware it, you may modify any memories the target formed while the link persisted. For example, if the link lasted an hour you could alter the memory, erase it, allow it be recalled with perfect detail, or replace it with up to an hour of something else entirely. The target fills in the blanks themselves without you needing to explain every detail. That said, if a falsified event is nonsensical, feels too out of character, etc., the target may reject it entirely and simply have no memory of the altered period of time. A Remove Curse or Greater Restoration spell cast on the target breaks the link (if it still exists) and restores any altered memories.

1fp – Decentralized Perception
You can, as an action, visually sense the surroundings of any part of your body (cut hair, severed limb, etc) within 1000 feet of you as though you were there. You cannot see through objects (e.g., if a bit of your hair is in a box you can only see the insides of the box). If you have made the Heightened Senses alteration this sense also includes hearing.

If you have the Decentralized Existence feature, this ability can instead be used across any distance. If you have the Reified Image feature, anything that counts as a part of your body for it also counts as a part of your body for this alteration.

Tier IV Alterations

2fp – Unbound Perception (Requires Decentralized Perception)
Your senses extend beyond your current existence; you cannot be surprised. Furthermore, whenever you make an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, or whenever an opponent makes an attack roll against you, you may use your reaction to roll an additional d20. You may choose to use this roll instead of the one that would normally be used for the attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. You can use this ability after the original roll, but before the outcome is revealed.

If you use this ability on a roll that an opponent is using the Lucky feat to manipulate, the two abilities cancel each other out, resulting in no additional dice as the inexplicable luck unravels and is unraveled by a deeper insight.

1fp – Piercing Vision (Requires Eldritch Perception)
When you attempt to see through an illusion, you can use Wisdom(Perception) instead of Intelligence(Investigation). In addition, you may count doing so as an Eye-trait granted ability for the MultiAssault and Focus Surge features.

Furthermore, as an action you can make a Wisdom(Perception) check opposed by the Charisma(Deception) check of a creature you can see. If you succeed, you determine whether or not the creature is in its true form (but not what that form is). If you fail, you sense that your attempt was inconclusive and cannot reattempt the check against that creature until you finish a short or long rest.

Finally, you may use the bonus action granted by your Eldritch Perception alteration any number of times without needing to finish a short or long rest.

1fp – Curator’s Vision (Require Blurring Eyes)
As action, you can choose yourself, another creature, or an unattended object you can see within 60’. Each creature or object can only be targeted by this ability once per turn. An unwilling creature must make a Charisma saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you magically impose one of the following effects:
Reject. You partially remove a target from your sight - and existence itself. The target becomes partially intangible until the end of your next turn. While in this state, the target has resistance to all forms of damage, their weight is reduced to 1/100th of what it would normally be, and all damage they deal to other creatures and/or objects is halved (this does not stack with resistance).
Accept. You intensify the existence of the chosen target, causing it to become hyper-real and impossibly vivid. Until the beginning of your next turn, the chosen target’s weight and carrying capacity (if any) are multiplied by 10, it has advantage on all saving throws if it is a creature, and it is immune to any new effect that would transform it (like a Polymorph or Flesh to Stone spell). Furthermore, any transformative effect already on the target (such as an already cast Polymorph) that would end before the beginning of your next turn lasts until the beginning of your next turn instead, at which point it immediately ends as normal.
Once you use this ability on two non-object targets, you must finish a short or long rest before using it on a non-object target again.

1fp – History Defining Eyes (Requires Encroaching Gaze)
You can, as a bonus action on your turn, choose a willing creature you can see within 60’. Until the beginning of your next turn, you can automatically tell whether or not the creature is telling you the truth. This reveals both the truth of words, and the truth of visual indicators such as body language.

Furthermore, your ability to acquire memories, when used on a creature that has fallen unconscious due to hit point damage within 60’ of you, can also attempt to more forcefully interact with the target’s mind. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing and the target becomes immune to this effect for one week. Otherwise, you may do one of the following:
Declare. Pick any statement and insert it into the target’s mind. The target’s memories will then revise themselves to be consistent with both the fact itself and how they know about it. For example, if you declared you were the target’s parent then they will remember finding out they were adopted. Each time the target encounters a situation that conflicts with their revised memories they can attempt another Wisdom saving throw. On a success, their former memories are restored. A Remove Curse or Greater Restoration spell cast on the target restores their former memories. There is no limit on how far back the altered memories can be, but you do not learn what alterations were made to memories farther back than 24 hours. You do, however, learn any recent revisions in addition to the original memories within the usual 24 hour period.
Reveal. Pick any question that can be given Yes/No/Unsure answer. You learn the truthful answer to that question from the target’s perspective. If the target would consider the one-word answer misleading, the answer also includes a short explanation to resolve the issue.
Once you have attempted to more forcefully interact with two minds this way, you must finish a short or long rest before doing so again.

Old version:
Tier I Advanced Alterations:

1fp – Clear Reception
You gain a clarity usage pool that consists of 3 motes of clarity. You regain all expended motes of clarity when you finish a short or long rest. As a reaction, you may spend 1 mote of clarity to gain advantage on an initiative check, or spend 2 motes of clarity to gain advantage on an attack roll or a Wisdom(Perception) check.

Furthermore, you can enter a state in which you continuously take in your surroundings and magically force yourself out of the way of danger. When you benefit from the Unarmored Defense feature, you may, as an action, have your armor class become 10 + your Wisdom modifier + your Charisma Modifier instead of the usual benefit of your Unarmored Defense feature. This effect lasts until you would no longer benefit from the Unarmored Defense feature, complete a short or long rest, or use an action to end the effect.

1fp – Ferocious Glares
You can, as an action, do either of the following:
Splintering Glare. One of your eyes unleashes a magical ray with the appearance of warped, shimmering air. Make a ranged spell attack roll (Proficiency Bonus + Charisma modifier) against a creature within 60’. On a hit, it takes 1d8 + your charisma modifier Psychic damage as a cracking pain rattles its mind. You may choose for this effect to be non-lethal. If you do, any creature that would be killed by this attack is instead rendered unconscious and stable at 0hp instead.
Disorienting Glare. Choose a creature you can see within 60' of you. The targeted foe is magically disoriented until the beginning of your next turn. While disoriented, it has disadvantage on the first attack roll it makes during its turn. In addition, it has disadvantage on any opportunity attack rolls and Dexterity ability checks it makes.
1fp – Focal Eyes
Your Eye trait alteration-granted abilities that would normally have a range of 60' have a range of 120' instead.

Furthermore, as an action you may focus your vision in one of the following ways:
Telescopic. You can determine the fine details of any creatures and/or objects you can see, regardless of distance, until the beginning of your next turn.
Magnifying. You have advantage on ability checks made to inspect or appraise items that are small or highly detailed until the beginning of your next turn.
Recycling. Your eyes magically take in, modify, and project back out light in order to create a 2-dimensional image on any unattended surface you can see within 120'. Using this ability is similar to painting the surface, albeit with light instead of physical paint. The painting must fit within a 5' radius circle. The painting instantly vanishes if you are no longer within sight of it. Otherwise, the painting fades at beginning of your next turn unless you use another action to maintain it. If you are in bright light the painting can be in color, otherwise the painting must be greyscale.
2fp – Framing Gaze (Requires Clear Reception)
You can recall, with perfect accuracy, anything you have seen within the last hour. In addition, as an action you may reach further back into your memories, recalling a specific piece of visual information with perfect accuracy regardless of the amount of time that has passed (you must, however, already know what you're trying to recall).

Furthermore, by spending a mote of clarity as an action, you can choose yourself or another creature you can see within 60’ of you. If the creature is unwilling, it can make a Constitution saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, until the beginning of your next turn, you may use your reaction(s) to magically do one of the following:

Restore Position. At the end of the current turn, the target is teleported to where it was at the start of the current turn. For example, if it was the target's turn and it moved 30’ it would return to where it was before it used its movement. This effect works across any distance, even across planes, but fails if the return destination is currently occupied.
Duplicate Pattern. At the end of the current turn, choose one non-spell melee attack, ranged attack, or ability check the target performed during that turn. If the chosen attack/check has any kind of per-rest or daily limit (e.g. smite, ki points, 1/day, etc.) this effect does nothing. Otherwise, a mirror image of the target appears at the location of your choice within 60' and repeats the chosen attack/check before fading away. For example, if the target made two claw attacks that turn you could have the mirror image make a single claw attack against any target within 60' (including itself). The image benefits from any ongoing effects on the copied target (bless, rage, etc), even if the effects themselves would not qualify for this ability.
Portrait Swap. At the end of the current turn, if you or the target took any damage during that turn, you may transfer up to 2d8 + your Charisma modifier points of that damage to yourself or the target. You can choose to transfer less than the result of the roll. This damage cannot be reduced or prevented, and bypasses temporary hit points. If both you and the target could fit in each other's space, you may choose to also swap locations with the target.
Finally, the size of your clarity usage pool is increased by 1.

2fp – Heightened Senses
Your enhanced capability to handle sensory information grants you proficiency in the Perception skill. If you’re already proficient in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check you make with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, you can use the base alteration of the Eye trait to form eyes capable of both hearing and vision. This allows you to use the bonus action granted by the base alteration of the Eye feature to make both vision and hearing-based Wisdom(Perception) checks.

Finally, you can, as an action or reaction, alter your vision to perceive sound as light. From your perspective, a shouting human casts bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet, while a softly talking human would only shed dim light in a 5-foot radius. The faint glow of even more subtle noises may be visible in dark, quiet environments. This allows you to see in dark but noisy areas, even in magical darkness, and quickly locate the sources of loud noises as though they were flashing lights. This effect lasts until you dismiss it as a part of any action on your turn.

Tier II Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Consuming Glare (Requires Ferocious Glares)
Your Splintering Glare deals an additional 1d6 damage.

Furthermore, whenever you use your Splintering Glare, you may choose to have it rend the physical existence of a target instead of its mind. If you do, it deals Force damage instead of Psychic damage and cannot be non-lethal. Furthermore, you draw sustenance from your foes, their dissolved essence instantly sucked through the ray of warped air like it were a straw. Every 10 points of Force damage dealt by your Splintering Glare in a single attack gives you a day's worth of nourishment.

1fp – Eldritch Perception (Requires Clear Reception)
You may, as an action, visually focus on a single creature or object you can see within 60’ of you to determine whether it bears magic or not. This effect does not reveal the school of magic, only whether or not magic is present. Any opaque barrier blocks this ability. This action does not expend clarity.

Furthermore, you may, as an action, expend a mote of clarity to magically extend your sight in one of the following ways:

Space. Choose one creature, object, section of wall, etc you can see within 60' of you that occupies no more than a 5’ cube worth of space. Until the end of your next turn, you can see past the chosen target as though it did not exist. For example, you could target a small dresser to see all of its contents without opening it.
Time. Choose one object, section of wall, corpse, etc, or willing creature you can see within 60' of you that occupies no more than a 100’ cube worth of space. Then choose a period of time, such as “100 years”. You see how the target looked that far in the past. If the target did not exist at the chosen time, you feel a brief sense of pain and the attempt fails. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn.
Layer. Until the end of your next turn, you can see up to 60' into the Ethereal Plane. Within this range you can also see invisible creatures and objects as though they were visible.All of these uses count as divination effects, their benefits relying on shifting and interpreting the flow of magic that suffuses the multiverse.

Finally, the size of your clarity usage pool increases by 1.

2fp – Murmuring Gaze (Requires Clear Reception)
Your mind has been tweaked to more easily sync with the thoughts of others. You have advantage on any ability check made to understand what creatures within your sight are trying to convey to you and/or others.

Furthermore, by spending a mote of clarity as an action, you may choose a creature you can see within 60’ of you. If the creature is not both aware of this effect and willing, it must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a success, this effect remains unnoticed but has no other effect (the target passively resisted it). Otherwise, until the beginning of your next turn, you may use your reaction(s) to magically do one of the following:

Whisper. The target mentally hears an illusionary thought and/or gut instinct of your choice (such as “something is watching me” or “A pie would taste real good right now”) that sounds as if they had thought or felt it themselves. The target is not compelled in any way to obey this thought, but someone thinking about how great a pie would be right now might be more easily convinced to buy one and many a close decision has come down to a “gut feeling”. Especially absurd thoughts, like “I should swear eternal loyalty to this random stranger”, may still cause suspicion of foul play. The target is not otherwise aware of what has happened unless you want them to be.
Whelm. The target is flooded with a cacophony of illusionary sights, sounds, etc, rending it effectively be blinded, deafened, and unable to use special senses such as blindsight until the end of the current turn. The target becomes aware that you invaded its mind and gains advantage on further saving throws against this ability for 1 minute.
Wonder. The link between yourself and the target is partially reversed, causing you to hallucinate sights and sounds related to whatever the creature is currently thinking about. This effect lasts until the end of the current turn. The target becomes aware that you invaded its mind.

Finally, the size of your clarity usage pool is increased by 1.

2fp - Daunting Glare
You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. If you’re already proficient in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any check you make with it. This doubling does not stack with Expertise.

Furthermore, as an action you can force a creature within 60’ you can see, that is not immune to the Frightened condition, to make a Wisdom saving throw. Each creature can only be targeted by this ability once per turn. On a failure, you magically impose one of the following effects:
Scram. The creature has disadvantage on all attack rolls it makes against you. If it moves towards you, each 1ft it moves takes 2ft of movement. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Engage. The creature gains disadvantage on all attack rolls it makes against creatures other than you. In addition, if the creature moves away from you each 1ft it moves takes 2ft of movement. These effects lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Despair. The creature has disadvantage on all ability checks, and all other creatures have advantage on Wisdom(Insight) checks made against the target. This effect lasts until the end of your next turn. In addition, the first attack roll made against the targeted creature before this effect ends has advantage.

Tier III Advanced Alterations:

2fp - Parallel Pathways
You may, as a bonus action on your turn, use an ability granted to you by an Eye trait alteration that would normally require an action to use.

Furthermore, you may, as a bonus action on your turn, gain an additional reaction that lasts until the beginning of your next turn. This reaction can only be used for abilities granted by Eye trait alterations that would normally take a reaction to use.

Finally, you may count the Search action as an Eye Trait alteration-granted ability for the purposes of using it with this alteration, the Focus Surge feature, and/or the MultiAssault feature.

2fp - Nous Sight
You gain 20 feet of blindsight. This blindsight works via your eyes emitting subtle pulses of non-visible psychic energy and then interpreting the echo. Your blindsight can also differentiate between nonthinking objects, emotionless but thinking entities, and emotional entities. In addition, you can roughly sense the mood of emotional beings. If a thinking being is actively trying to conceal itself and/or hide their real emotional state within the range of your blindsight you must beat their Stealth and/or Deception check as normal but you have advantage on your Perception and/or Insight check to do so.

Furthermore, your blindsight can sense telepathic links and telepathic auras, along with the emotions of the ones currently communicating through it. You cannot otherwise sense the contents of the messages.

1fp – Encroaching Gaze (Requires Murmuring Gaze)
You may telepathically communicate with any creature that you can see, regardless of distance. If you do not share a language with the creature you can still communicate using simple concepts, emotions, and images.

Furthermore, by spending a mote of clarity as an action, you may magically connect your mind to that of a chosen creature you can see. If the target is unwilling, they can make a Wisdom saving throw. On a Success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you can telepathically communicate with the creature across any distance and see what it sees. This effect lasts until you unmake this alteration, finish a short or long rest, or 24 hours have passed.

Finally, the size of your clarity usage pool is increased by 1.

1fp – Decentralized Perception
You can, as an action, sense the surroundings of any part of your body (cut hair, severed limb, etc) within 1000 feet of you as though you were there. This includes hearing, vision, and any other senses you posses, although you cannot see through objects (e.g., if a bit of your hair is in a box you can only see the insides of the box).

If you have the Decentralized Existence feature, this ability can instead be used across any distance. If you have the Reified Image feature, anything that counts as a part of your body for it also counts as a part of your body for this alteration.

Tier IV Alterations

2fp – Unbound Perception (Requires Decentralized Perception)
Your senses extend beyond your current existence; you cannot be surprised. Furthermore, whenever you make an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, or whenever an opponent makes an attack roll against you, you may use your reaction to roll an additional d20. You may choose to use this roll instead of the one that would normally be used for the attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. You can use this ability after the original roll, but before the outcome is revealed.

If you use this ability on a roll that an opponent is using the Lucky feat to manipulate, the two abilities cancel each other out, resulting in no additional dice as the inexplicable luck unravels and is unraveled by a deeper insight. This ability does not stack with itself; if you have two reactions you cannot apply it to the same roll twice.

2fp – Profound Reception (Require Clear Reception)
If you have less than half your clarity usage pool remaining, you can meditate for 5 minutes in order to regain 1 expended mote of clarity.

Furthermore, when you expend a mote of clarity you can, as an action, gain an additional reaction that lasts until the beginning of your next turn. This reaction can only be used for abilities granted by Eye trait alterations that would normally take a reaction to use. This benefit stacks with the ability granted by the Parallel Processing alteration.

1fp – Curator’s Vision (Requires Framing Gaze)
You can use Wisdom(Perception) instead of Intelligence(Investigation) when attempting to see through an illusion.

Furthermore, as an action you can make a Wisdom(Perception) check opposed by the Charisma(Deception) check of a creature you can see. If you succeed, you determine whether or not the creature is in its true form (but not what that form is). If you fail, you sense that your attempt was inconclusive and cannot reattempt the check against that creature until you finish a short or long rest. This action does not expend clarity.

Finally, by spending 2 motes of clarity as an action, you can choose yourself, another creature, or an unattended object you can see within 60’. Each creature or object can only be targeted by this ability once per turn. An unwilling creature must make a Charisma saving throw. On a success, this effect does nothing. Otherwise, you magically impose one of the following effects:
Reject. You partially remove a target from your sight - and existence itself. The target becomes partially intangible until the end of your next turn. While in this state, the target has resistance to all forms of damage, their weight is reduced to 1/100th of what it would normally be, and all damage they deal to other creatures and/or objects is halved (this does not stack with resistance).
Accept. You intensify the existence of the chosen target, causing it to become hyper-real and impossibly vivid. Until the beginning of your next turn, the chosen target’s weight and carrying capacity (if any) are multiplied by 10, it has advantage on all saving throws if it is a creature, and it is immune to any new effect that would transform it (like a Polymorph or Flesh to Stone spell). Furthermore, any transformative effect already on the target (such as an already cast Polymorph) that would end before the beginning of your next turn lasts until the beginning of your next turn instead, at which point it immediately ends as normal.
Furthermore, the size of your clarity usage pool is increased by 1.

1fp – Delving Sight (Requires Murmuring Gaze)
You can, as a bonus action on your turn, gain advantage on Wisdom(Insight) checks you make against other creatures until the end of your turn. This ability is a divination effect, and using this bonus action does not expend clarity.

Furthermore, by spending a mote of clarity as an action, you can attempt to mentally question a creature you can see that shares a language with you. If the creature is not both aware of this effect and willing, it must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a success, this effect remains unnoticed but has no other effect (the target passively resisted it). Otherwise, you magically do one of the following:
Request. You mentally request the answer to a question. If the creature considers the answer something they actively wish to conceal from someone – anyone at all – this effect fails. The effect also fails if the creature cannot understand the question or feels that they are not the one to ask (e.g. lack of confidence, chain of command, they’re not one to gossip, etc). Otherwise, you receive what they consider to be an honest answer to the question. Either way, the creature remains unaware of the mental probing.
Demand. You attempt to forcefully wrest the answer to a question from the target’s mind. The creature becomes aware of the mental probing, knows what question is being asked of them, and can choose to make a Wisdom saving throw. If they are proficient in Deception they have advantage on the save. On a success, this effect fails. Otherwise, you receive what the target considers to be the most informative, honest answer it can give (even if that answer is “I don’t know”). Either way, the creature becomes immune to this ability for one week.
Hearken. You learn the question the creature most strongly wishes to ask you, or static noise if it doesn’t want to ask you anything. The creature remains unaware of the mental probing.If the chosen effect fails for any reason, you receive static noise but do not know precisely why the failure occurred. This ability counts as a divination effect.

Furthermore, the size of your clarity usage pool is increased by 1.

Edit: Buffed Vehement Eyes self-use, removed ability to trigger off of outside sources.
Edit 2: Heightened Senses analysis range 15->60.
Not fond of Existential Blur, tbh, but duplicate pattern would be too strong at-will.
Edit 3: Replaced Existential Blur with Blurstrike, which greatly improves Framing Gaze's combat usability (by having a default "well, if I didn't need anything else I guess I'll just attack..." option).
Edit 4: Reworked Blurring Eyes to be balanced around bonus action usage.
Edit 5: Screaming Glare allows for Cha to damage if you're using it with a Finesse weapon.
Edit 6: Reworked Recycling option of Focal to be... better. Simpler, as well.

[Qwertystop]

have not yet read this (lotta IRL stress since... August...) but looking forward to it

[Magikeeper]

have not yet read this (lotta IRL stress since... August...) but looking forward to it

Happens. Hope things improve for you!

As you can tell by the edit chain I'm still fiddling a bit with Eye as it is anyhow. :P

EDIT: And still am, although it'll probably be another week before I get back to it.

EDIT2: Still am. >.> Although now I need to remember what I was going to do next...