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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class Dvati Paragon (3 Level Racial Paragon Class)



Zaydos
2016-09-05, 12:17 PM
Dvati Paragon

Before I actually start the fluff of the class the base race has to be looked at and how they play in a game. It is spoilered below partially because it ended up long and really do I need to soap box rant about how I would fix them while on 4 hours of sleep due to the cursed furred creatures that dwell beside me? I actually assume some of the voters want that so yes, but it isn't actually necessary to use the spoilered stuff to use the racial paragon class below.

On Paizo's forums there were some official answers which made them pretty much unplayable. At the same time going with the laxest interpretation (2 full round actions, no limit on non-spell actions other than use limits) opens them to a ton of abuse with things like ToB (warblade where one uses maneuvers as the other recovers them to make maneuvers at-will, even if you rule you can't recover while using maneuvers on your twin there's recovering counters to use them every round). It's better with binding, and incarnum is either crazy for +1 LA (they each get full suite of soulmelds which can be different things and different chakra binds) or useless (they get a full suite of soulmelds between the two).

So simple fixes time:
Dvati may each take their own full suite of Standard, Move, and Swift action each round, however they always act on the same initiative count.
If one twin readies an action or delays or performs another action which affects their initiative their twin's initiative changes to match but they do not act till the next time (after their twin acted upon it) that initiative count comes, but one twin cannot Refocus without the other twin doing so. For ready and delayed this means they work pretty much like normal (twin A takes full attack action and twin B readies an action to hit a spellcaster on initiative count 13, the spellcaster casts on 8, twin B hits them and their initiative count becomes 8, next time 8 shows up they both act, and twin A does not continue acting on count 13; normal would be Character readies an action to hit a spellcaster on initiative count 13, the spellcaster casts on 8, Character hits them on count 8 and their initiative count becomes 8). The only things that can change your initiative count without waiting till you act on that count to o it (and typically show up) are the refocus action which raises it to as if you rolled a nat 20 (here made so both must do it to avoid Twin A takes full round at end of the round, Twin B refocuses, Twin A and Twin B take full round at start of the round) and White Raven Tactics; this does admittedly make dvati a poorer target for WRT.
If one dvati uses a Standard action to use a spell, spell-like ability, command word, spell trigger/completion item, shifts essentia, martial maneuver, use a supernatural or extraordinary ability with a usage limit (this includes a limit of must wait 1d4 rounds, or 1/encounter, and so forth) to recover a martial maneuver the other twin may not use their standard action to do so as well (even if it falls under a different category). The same holds true for move actions (i.e. if one twin uses a move action to activate a martial maneuver the other twin may not use a move action to activate a martial maneuver), and note that a full round action uses both your standard and move so if one twin uses a full-round action maneuver the other twin cannot also initiate a maneuver. Finally the same holds true for swift actions, however immediate actions must be noted and resolved, in that an immediate action counts as the next round's swift action for these purposes. Finally if both twins gain an extra action(s) from the same source (for example one twin cast Celerity) then this applies to that action or those actions, if one twin gets an extra action but the other does not (for example one twin used a Belt of Battle) then that twin gets those actions and their use does not affect the other twin's ability to act one way or another.
An example of a supernatural ability with a use limit might be binder's vestige ability (must wait 5 rounds), or a dragonfire adept's breath weapon when augmented with a breath effect. So if one twin used slow breath the other twin could not also use a breath effect, however as dragonfire adept's breath weapon does not normally have a use limit they could still use it.
Meldshaping: Each twin gets their full complement of soulmelds, but they are the same soulmelds and use the same essentia pool. Same is true of chakra binds.
Binding: Each twin has the same bound vestiges, they have one soul after all. Dvati gain a +2 racial bonus on binding checks as they provide the vestiges with two perspectives on life at once and thus have more to offer from the vestige's point of view.
Psionic Focus: The twins share a psionic focus.


Are these balanced? Well the first 3 ought to be better balanced than the official race, but how much splitting wealth by level hurts I cannot say. That's the big thing really, it's two characters 1 level lower with ~75-90% hp each and wbl divided between them. How much does it hurt to divvy up WBL like that and how much does it balance against twice as many actions? It'd need playtesting and I don't think the Dragon Magazine Compendium gave them any. As for the bottom three they're just me trying to make sense of how three things that weren't in the original's scope should be affected. Heck the Ex ability one is purely for dealing with homebrew that tries to make Tier 1 mundanes by giving them Ex spells. My experience with dvati has been limited to the lower tiers at level 4-6 where... they're actually overpowered compared to LA 0 races because the gear splitting hasn't gotten bad enough to critically hurt them, the loss of 15 hp is painful but not crippling (especially since you have another to soak) and the doubled actions means they're dealing twice the damage which means they lose half as much hp in 1 on 1 encounters and reduced in general since AoEs are far from prevalent. The above does nothing to fix those issues, focusing instead on the issues with them doing that and also being able to nova maneuvers round 1, while also addressing the fact that dvati casters are extremely penalized (one pool of spells per day and they lose all advantages of their race while casting) to the point of unplayability. Also even with the above there will be gray areas that come up (what counts as a usage limit? Well to be honest the only reason that its there is so that both dragonfire adept twins may breathe in the same round).

So for real this time...


Dvati Paragon

One soul spread between two bodies the dvati are a strange race first birthed on the Outer Plane of the Outlands (at least the chant says, if they came from an obscure Prime none of the greybeards I have contacted have been able to tell me) though from there they have spread to other planes both Outer and Prime. Simultaneously one and two beings, the dvati paragons take this dual oneness to the extreme pushing their two halves as far as possible from each other even as they tie them more tightly together.

Adventures: Dvati are natural philosophers and, although some dvati paragons are motivated to adventure due simply to wanderlust, it is this which causes dvati to adventure more than others of their kind. A dvati paragon is capable of viewing things from other viewpoints with relative ease, ease enough that they often realize that given their limited experience they cannot find even a close approximation of the truth. As such many dvati paragons adventure not for wealth or power, but to see and experience the world, and to learn what motivates sapient life to act the way they do, what forces shaped the Great Wheel into its design. Most dvati paragons eventually find themselves leaving the safety that most of their kin cling too for this reason.

Characteristics: Dvati paragons are two halves in balance but different. While all dvati paragons develop abilities to help these two halves meld together it is the differences in these two halves which truly define a dvati paragon. These differences manifest in a variety of skills and talents each unique to only one of the two twins, for some this is a development of arcane or divine magic, for others psionic powers, and for others still raw martial talent and might. Dvati paragons naturally learn to wield these differing powers together, a twin with martial power shielding their arcane twin as their twin releases destruction upon foes or an arcanist twin using magic to enhance the combat abilities of their martial twin, and many bring these powers together once more developing them further in each half by becoming abjurant champions, mystic theurges, and the like after their time as a dvati paragon.

Alignment: Dvati paragons tend towards a balanced view of things. This means that they typically end up as Neutral, or Good with an emphasis on harmony of living things over the destruction of Evil. Many dvati paragons believe that even Evil must have its place, but few dvati paragons give themselves over to it. A Lawful Dvati Paragon often devotes themselves to natural and cosmic order with an emphasis on balance and knowing when restrictions are too tight. A Chaotic Dvati Paragon may emphasize that equilibrium is only found in freedom, and that if left unrestrained harmony will find its way. A Good Dvati Paragon works to help form mutualistic relations between people and races, helping to teach others to help themselves, and the like. Those rare Evil Dvati Paragons often know recognize that what they do causes harm to others but justify themselves with how Evil serves as a furnace to test the mettle of life, and that in the long run their actions simply serve to cull the weak and strengthen sapient life as a whole.

Religion: Thelmeth the Unifier is the patron god of the Dvati, but Dvati Paragons tend to emphasize philosophical pursuits over their god. Those dvati paragons which do delve deeply into religion worship balanced such as Thelmeth, Boccob, or Fharlangh, or two sided deities such as Thelmeth, Olidammara, or in some traditions the halfling goddess Yondalla; some even worship such odd pairs as Garl and Gelf, Corellon and Gruumsh, in the heterodoxy, or full blown heresy, that they are in truth merely two manifestations of the same whole, these heretical dvati paragons rarely gain divine spellcasting. Dvati paragons are more likely, however, to find themselves swept up in the factions which hold such great influence on Sigil. Indeps are common due to the power of the faction on the dvati's home plane of the Outlands, but Believers, Ciphers, and Sensates are also exceedingly common. The imbalanced and single worldview of the Harmonium tends to drive dvati away, and Lawful dvati tend towards the Guvners. Chaotic dvati paragons tend towards Bleakers of the Chaotic aligned factions.

Background: Most dvati paragons begin as philosophers and borderline monastics, where a human monastic might focus on their harmony with reality, and perfection of the body and soul and become a monk, a dvati rarely can narrow their focus so, and instead focus on perfection of their soul in its dualistic state. At first they learn to make two one, working to reconcile two viewpoints into one, to bring two halves into unison, then they explore outwards using their own split soul to experience two sets of self, dedicating their halves to intensive and differing training regimes.

Races: Dvati paragons get along well with elves, like most of their race, sharing similar values in art and a penchant for philosophizing. They rarely get along well with gnomes and halflings due to the dvati emphasis on honesty and the small races' tendencies towards deceit, though their basic trust can overcome this at least until they've met too many halflings (gnomes fair better). The single right way of thought that so many dwarves espouse puts them at odds with dvati paragons but even there they understand and value the input and ideas that such a singular focus might give.

Game Rule Information:
Dvati Paragons have the following game statistics.
Ability Scores: Dvati paragons can fulfill a variety of roles depending upon which power sources they pick up. That said due to the split nature of their power sources dvati paragons typically need a large range of ability scores, and as dvati need a particularly high Constitution.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Dice: d8.
Starting Wealth: As barbarian.
Starting Age: As fighter.

Class Skills:
The dvati paragon's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Cimb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

DVATI PARAGON


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special


1st

+0

+0

+0

+2
Balanced Mediator, Improved Echo Attack, Improved Pair Link


2nd

+1

+0

+0

+3
Dualistic Power, Improved Spell Conduit, Revivifying Touch


3rd

+1

+1

+1

+3
+2 Con, Improved Dualistic Power, Planar Blood


The following are all class features of the Dvati Paragon:

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A dvati paragon naturally takes to weapons gaining proficiency in all simple and martial weapons. In addition they learn skills in armor and shields gaining proficiency in light and medium armor and shields (except tower shields).

Balanced Mediator (Ex): The dvati within a twin pair balance each other. They are both one being, but not wholly the same, a dualistic fusion which allows them to easily look at things from the point of view of other creatures. A dvati paragon gains a +2 bonus to Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks due to their dual viewpoints.

Improved Echo Attack (Ex): A dvati paragon gains the Improved Echo Attack feat as a bonus feat.

Improved Echo Attack [Racial]
Your echo attack has a longer lasting and more powerful effect.
Prerequisites: Dvati.
Benefit: Your echo attack affects a creature for a number of rounds equal to 1 plus your Constitution modifier. In addition you gain +2 to attack or +2 to AC for the duration.

Improved Pair Link: A dvati paragon's teamwork within their pair goes beyond merely that in combat, and their mental connection goes deeper than the superficial. When a dvati paragon uses aid another to aid their twin on a skill (or ability) check they gain a +4 instead of a +2 just like they do for AC and attack rolls. In addition they may learn their twin's mental state as a free action (instead of a full-round action) and may perceive what their twin perceives as a standard action.

Dualistic Power: Dvati paragons are a balance of the dualism of their race. While most dvati remain identical to their twin, perfectly the same, the soul of a dvati paragon is not so homogeneously divided. At 2nd level a dvati paragon choose 2 power sources from the list below, one for each twin. The twin that is chosen for that power source gains the benefit listed and the other twin does not. If the benefit is spellcasting the chosen twin gets casting as a 1st level member of that class, if the pair have levels in that class (or gains them) instead the chosen twin casts as a member of that class one higher, their caster level is increased by 1 over their other twin, and the spell slots granted by their highest level in that class are only available to be cast by that twin in the pair; they do not gain any other benefits of that class (for example a dvati twin that selects Arcane does not gain the ability to summon a familiar) and importantly dvati twin that selects divine does not gain Domains unless they also have levels in Cleric. If the benefit is skill points the skill points in question are only gained by the chosen twin and the bonus from those ranks is unavailable to the other in the pair. If the benefit is an increase to BAB or a base save again it is only applied to the twin that chose that power source and not the other twin potentially resulting in one twin having a lower BAB or saving throws than their partner. Dvati paragons may use the abilities granted by Dualistic Power to fulfill prerequisites, however that does not necessarily allow them to make use of those abilities; for example a dvati paragon 3/Mystic Theurge 2 (using early entry to enter Mystic Theurge for the sake of expounding on it) could cast as a 2nd level Wizard and 2nd level Cleric on both twins and a 4th level Wizard on one twin and 4th level Cleric on the other, a dvati paragon who selected Power Attack as a bonus feat with the Martial power source could use Cleave as either twin, but Leap Attack would be useless to the twin that could not actually use the Power Attack feat (similarly if a PrC granted an ability that required one to use a 4th level spell slot and only one twin had 4th level spell slots only they could use it). In the case of limited use abilities (spellcasting) any uses gained from Dualistic Power are assumed to be used first. In the case of the Song power source (would have preferred to stick to only prepared or fixed list casters but bard is their favored class and Echo Attack is Perform based) you may only use spells known gained at your highest level(s) of bard with the twin that selected Song. Initiating and Soulbinding were not placed on this list because they overly complicate things with the one twin having higher level but both twins having the same maneuvers known or vestiges bound. Similarly Invocations were not included because the ability to share personal spells either you have to go with can't share spell-like abilities or advancing one and not the other is mostly meaningless with the number that are 24 hour personal buffs. Meldshaping was not included because it is the stuff of your soul and while the soul isn't perfectly homogeneous it felt odd to have meldshaping be disbalanced due to it.

Arcane: +1 level of Wizard spellcasting.
Divine: +1 level of Cleric spellcasting.
Martial: +1 BAB, +4 HP, +2 Fort, heavy armor proficiency, and a bonus fighter feat.
Natural: +1 level of Druid spellcasting.
Psionic: +1 level of Psion manifesting.
Shadow: +1 level of Shadowcaster mysteries (note: if this gives you Journeyman or Master mysteries only those Mysteries used by the twin that has Journeyman/Master Mysteries benefit from the shift to Spell-like Abilities/Supernatural abilities, and only that twin can use the additional use per day of lower level mysteries).
Skill: +6 skill points, or +12 if your 1st level was in dvati paragon, +2 Ref, +2 hp, Skill Focus in 2 skills of choice.
Song: +1 level of Bard spellcasting, and +1 level of bardic music.

Improved Spell Conduit (Su): A dvati paragon is adept at balancing energy between their souls. Beginning at 2nd level whenever a spell, or spell-like ability, is cast upon a dvati paragon they may choose to have it affect both twins equally.

Revivifying Touch (Su): Both dvati twins share a soul and a life, both being part of the same whole. Beginning at 2nd level if one twin in a dvati paragon pair dies the other twin may, as a standard action, press part of their life into their dead twin with a touch. In doing so they take a negative level (this reduces their max and current hp by 5). Their twin is revived as if with Raise Dead except without level loss (they are at -1 hp and have a negative level but no level loss), but is in a comatose state for 1 minute. The negative level from this ability fades after 12 hours without ever resulting in permanent level loss. A dvati paragon may use this ability on their twin as long as their twin has not been dead for longer than 1 minute per 2 character levels, and has an intact body, even if they died due to a death effect that does not prevent the paragon from using this ability. An ability cannot trap the soul of a dead dvati twin unless it also traps the soul of their twin as they are the same soul.

+2 Constitution: A dvati paragon's body is tougher than that of others, their divided soul hanging on just that much more tightly. At 3rd level a dvati paragon gains a +2 to their Constitution. This is there because of their lower hp.

Improved Dualistic Power: At 3rd level the split disciplines of the dvati twins continue to improve. A dvati paragon gains the following benefits based upon their choices of dualistic power. This functions with all the restrictions of dualistic power, and as before only the twin that chose the power source for dualistic power gains the listed benefit. I will admit (Improved) Dualistic Power gives me some worries, but let's look at some of the splits, Martial/X goes for a good gish build, which ok, could be good if you made it so they could act as fighter and mage in the same round but shouldn't be extremely better than a normal gish. Martial/Skill is able to help in a variety of situations and able to fight, but will be a worse fighter than a dvati fighter which is admittedly actually strong in low levels but still means it's probably not breaking things. Skill/X offers interesting things, but Skill is generally hampered by their crappy class skill list. Caster/Caster is playing to dvati's weakness and I feel the LA and 1 level of casting loss balances it out against Mystic Theurge so shouldn't break things.

Arcane: +1 level of Wizard spellcasting.
Divine: +1 level of Cleric spellcasting.
Martial: +1 BAB, +4 HP, proficiency in tower shields or an exotic shield of choice, and a bonus fighter feat.
Natural: +1 level of Druid spellcasting.
Psionic: +1 level of Psion manifesting.
Shadow: +1 level of Shadowcaster mysteries (note: if this gives you Journeyman or Master mysteries only those Mysteries used by the twin that has Journeyman/Master Mysteries benefit from the shift to Spell-like Abilities/Supernatural abilities, and only that twin can use the additional use per day of lower level mysteries).
Skill: +6 skill points, or +12 if your 1st level was in dvati paragon, +1 BAB, +2 hp, Skill Focus in 2 skills of choice.
Song: +1 level of Bard spellcasting, and +1 level of bardic music.

Planar Blood (Ex): Dvati are initially from the Outlands, and even though they lack the strong planar connection of true planar exemplars they have some connection to the planes. A dvati paragon's type changes to Outsider gaining the native and augmented humanoid subtypes. In addition if an alignment based effect has a reduced effect against neutral creatures it affects them as if they were neutral or their true alignment whichever is more beneficial, this has no effect on abilities which only affect certain alignments and have no effect on neutral characters (or which have wholly different and not just reduced effects on neutral characters).

khadgar567
2016-09-05, 12:35 PM
small question about both dvati and warlock
1. what this class gives to warlock
2. is it possible to make dvati warlock twins

JNAProductions
2016-09-05, 12:41 PM
Two things:

One, a lot of this references Goliath Paragons. Typo.

Two, you say Echo lasts a number of rounds equal to your Constitution. Score or Modifier?

khadgar567
2016-09-05, 12:47 PM
Two things:

One, a lot of this references Goliath Paragons. Typo.

Two, you say Echo lasts a number of rounds equal to your Constitution. Score or Modifier?
he says he is gonna fix it on vote treat

Zaydos
2016-09-05, 12:47 PM
small question about both dvati and warlock
1. what this class gives to warlock
2. is it possible to make dvati warlock twins

1) Pretty much nothing. Dualistic Power doesn't advance invocations because the at-will 24 hour buff nature of it makes it just be shared, and when it's not, well ok I could probably make it advance warlock but it feels off to me because the impact of only one twin gaining the advancement is so reduced.

2) In theory, the fact that they don't get extra actions for spells (and probably spell-like abilities, Dragon Compendium isn't the best written/edited source) means they're probably a bad choice for it.

Corollary) A dvati warlock PrC that allowed both to eldritch blast/use invocations at the same time could probably be designed (my own way I'd house rule dvati already allows DFAs to double breathe but excepting 1-3rd level + Entangling Breath DFA breath weapon is worse than Eldritch Blast*), but that isn't the place for a Paragon Class.

*Eldritch Blast damage is easier to increase even diving into questionable rulings and metabreath feats, in addition eldritch blast can debuff and damage at once as opposed to debuff or damage. While eventually 5-Fold Breath comes online to blow damage out of the water with Maximize Breath (if the DM will allow it since 5-fold breath has a full round action time already and there's just questionability about metabreath on DFA to begin with) dealing 330 damage, a warlock can deal 306 3/day with triple save versus debuff and that's without Legacy Champion.


Two things:

One, a lot of this references Goliath Paragons. Typo.

Two, you say Echo lasts a number of rounds equal to your Constitution. Score or Modifier?

Yeah hit post instead of preview and was using Goliath Paragon as template because it was easily available, so all the fluff is still for Goliath Paragon. Edit: All goliath references should be gone now. Rushed and bad fluff but... I hate writing class fluff, especially for racial paragon classes. End Edit

And that should be modifier, and actually should be 1 + mod so it will typically be at least 2-4 rounds (upwards to a minute at high levels with Con focus).