PDA

View Full Version : Blue Mage[Class, Psionic]



Karma Guard
2007-07-18, 04:27 AM
I've clearly gone insane, as I've attempted to make a Blue Mage class for D&D. However, it's ended up a Psionics class, and therefore technically not a Mage anymore. I need to change it's name, but I has no clues :| I'm open to ideas.

Like everything else I make, I have no idea if this is balanced, and this probably isn't. For the record, I'm fairly sure the prices for hearts/brains/corpses are in the BoVD. If they are, I'll repost them here. I've blatantly ripped the Archivist's Dark Knowledge ability to make the Blue Mage's Assay ability. Ssh, don't tell anyone.

I'll post the fluff parts when I finish the Urban Druid's fluff. :V

Thanks to Kyace for the Ranger-like 1/2 caster psionics.

PS: MADNESS 8|
PPS: oh god those two dead levels are MOCKING ME D:

EDiT: Realized I was mad, reduced Known Blue Arts from the Psion's to the Psychic Warrior's Powers Known Progression.
E2: D8 -> D6, Aura cost increased and limited added in, additional limitations to Blue Arts added.
E3: Fluff Installed. B|
---
The Blue Mage

"Wait, that's a rare white allip! I've never seen one of those before! Listen to its babble, have you ever heard such a great sound?"
-Resshaulk, Human blue mage.

And now, fluff.
Dressed in blue and often wearing some sort of mask, blue mages are, to say the least, unique. They track wild monsters and animals of all kinds, from the smallest mouse to the greatest of dragons. Despite their unusual dress and even more unusual behavior, they all share in common the ability to mimic monstrous abilities. They can breathe fire and turn their enemies to stone with a gaze, if they're lucky enough to survive the original's attack.

Hailing from anywhere from the heart of a city to the most barren of outposts, blue mages use their intuitive mental abilities to learn, understand, and become part of nature by taking its power into themselves. They dub themselves blue mages as a reflection of this; by wearing the color of the sky and sea, they show themselves as being an...unconventional part of nature.

Adventures: Blue mages seek adventure to empower their abilities. Why they are seeking to empower themselves differ from mage to mage, but that is the one singular constant. They also travel for any of the usual reasons that adventurers do, from seeking fabulous treasure to meeting new people and seeing new things. They often seek to learn more about the creatures they mimic, hunting down old bestiaries or rare creatures, to both learn about and from them.

Characteristics: Blue mages are paradoxically known for both their flexibility and their narrow focus. They use monstrous abilities through sheer force of will and mental prowess, learning them through methods that are gross at best and grotesque at worse. They read and know monsters like most people read books and know the palm of their hands. Their small amount of psionics is useful rather than flashy; their unique Blue Arts covers that department more than well enough. They may not be very good at it, but their psionics gives them a dependable tool-set for when the prey is scarce.

Alignment: Blue mages are seekers, actively looking for more and stronger creatures to learn from, in one way or another. They show no particular inclination towards any one alignment. A Good blue mage sometimes seeks out a Good creature, such as a Silver Dragon, to mentor and learn from him and his abilities. An Evil one does no such thing, seeking to kill and devour creatures that might be useful, to become more powerful and take their power into him. Lawful blue mages tend to be methodolical in their learnings, with rigid practices and rituals in their manifestations, while Chaotic ones are as capricious as the wind and water they take their name from.

Religion: In contrast to many psionic classes and races, blue mages are often active followers of a religion, perhaps because of their unusually dangerous way of learning and need of luck in surviving the process. Good blue mages tend to worship Ehlonna, goddess of the woodlands, and Evil ones usually follow Vecna, the dark god of secrets. Neutral or partially Neutral blue mages tend to worship Fharlanghn or Obad-Hai; as travellers and people who work extensively in nature, it's completely natural for them to do so. As a psionic class, there's also a few followers of Zuoken, the demigod of perfection of mind and body.

Background: Blue mages are born, not made. They come from all walks of life, but tend they often realise their natures much more quickly when raised in communities where psionics are known and accepted and nature is deeply revered.

Races: Humans and their half-kin sometimes become blue mages, but the majority of blue mages are of the more naturally psionic races, especially Thri-keen and Xephs, with Dromites coming in a close third. However, because of their in-born nature, any race can be a blue mage, even monstrous ones.

Other Classes: Blue mages, who are exceptionally close to nature, in one way or another, regard Rangers and Druids highly, and consider their fellows, despite the fact that many Rangers and Druids distrust or outright despise blue mages for their methods. They also enjoy being around Sorcerers and Wilders, who both share with the blue mage the inborn nature of their powers. They respect Wizards and Clerics, even if they don't, or can't dedicate themselves so completely to their own learning. They think that many of the martial classes could do with a little more flair and flash, but they generally appreciate them for what they can do (to them).

Role: Blue serve a strange part in the party. Despite their passable physical prowess, they lack the weapon and armor proficiencies to properly serve in the middle of combat. However, they need to be in the middle of combat to learn (and use) their Blue Arts. They can fight longer than many spellcasters because of their psionic nature, but are often severely limted in their options until they become stronger and gain access to more Blue Arts.

Alignment: Any.
HD: D6
Class Skills: The Blue Mage's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis(Wis), Climb(Str), Concentration(Con), Craft(Int), Handle Animal(Cha), Jump(Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually)(Int), Listen(Wis), Psycraft(Int), Ride(Dex), and Swim(Str)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4+int mod.) x4
Skill Points onwards: 4 + Int mod.

Table: The Blue Mage
Blue Mage
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Class Abilities|Power[br]Points|Powers[br]Known|Highest Power[br]Known|Blue Arts[b]Known
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Assay(tactics) 3/day, Blue Arts|2|-|-|1

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Passive Arts, Track|6|-|-|2

3rd|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+3|Assay 4/day|11|-|-|3

4th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Psionics|17|1|1|4

5th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Augmentation (Die up), Assay(Puissance)|25|2|1|5

6th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+5|Assay 5/day|35|2|1|6

7th|
+5|
+2|
+2|
+5|Passive Arts(+2)|46|3|1|7

8th|
+6|
+2|
+2|
+6|Assay(foe)|58|3|2|8

9th|
+6|
+3|
+3|
+6|Assay 6/day|72|4|2|9

10th|
+7|
+3|
+3|
+7|Augmentation (Die up+1, Increase DC)|88|4|2|10

11th|
+8|
+3|
+3|
+7|Assay(Dizzying)|106|5|3|11

12th|
+9|
+4|
+4|
+8|Assay 7/day|126|5|3|12

13th|
+9|
+4|
+4|
+8|Swift Tracker|147|6|3|13

14th|
+10|
+4|
+4|
+9|Assay(Foreknowledge), Passive Arts(x3)|170|6|4|14

15th|
+11|
+5|
+5|
+9|Greater Blue Arts, Assay 8/day|195|7|4|15

16th|
+12|
+5|
+5|
+10|-|221|7|4|16

17th|
+12|
+5|
+5|
+10|-|250|8|4|17

18th|
+13|
+6|
+6|
+11|Assay 9/day|280|8|4|18

19th|
+14|
+6|
+6|
+11|Passive Arts(x4)|311|9|4|19

20th|
+15|
+6|
+6|
+12|Superior Blue Arts|343|9|4|20[/table]

Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Blue mages are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, quarterstaff, shortspear, kukri, scimitar, and saber. They are proficient with light armor, but not shields.

Power Points/Day: A blue mage's ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. His base daily allotment of power points is given on Table: The Blue Mage. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Wisdom score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points). His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items.

Blue Arts (Su): A blue mage's signature ability is the capability to manifest a creature's Supernatural abilities after learning them. A Dragon's breath attack, a Gorgon's gaze, even a Vampire's blood drain; all of these are potential Blue Arts. These are, at first, abilities the creature uses as an action, such as a breath attack. At second level, the blue mage may learn 'always on' abilities, such as an Archon's Aura of Menace.

How to learn Blue Arts:
To learn a Blue Art, a Blue Mage has 4 routes open to him. The first is the 'classic' way: being struck by the ability. For this to work, the Blue Mage must take at least one point of damage or otherwise be affected by the special attack. The second way is by ingesting the creature he wishes to draw the ability from. He must eat either the heart, brain, or more than half of the creature. If the creature has no discernable brain or heart, such as an Ooze, then they must ingest more than half of it. It must be the only thing he eats, drinking only water, or eating only hardtack if he is drinking it. If he cannot ingest the creature in a single meal, he may spread it out over a number of meals, so long as it is the only thing he eats. Third, he may use his Assay's Foreknowledge ability to learn it instantly. Finally, he may learn abilities from other blue mages, but this must be though taking damage. Ingesting one does not work, nor does the Foreknowledge ability, because a blue mage's blue arts are unique in manifestation and memorization from the original creature.

If he chooses to ingest a creature, the blue mage must first know what blue art he may learn from the creature, and he may only learn one at a time. After he finishes eating it, he makes a Fortitude save, DC 20+the ingested creature's CR. This save may not be made easier by spells, powers, items, or any ability that is not inherent to the blue mage (in short, racial abilities). This is in addition to whatever hazards there might be to eating the creature (There's always room for Gelatinous Cube jell-o!). He may learn only one ability per creature through this route.

A Blue mage may not learn abilities from creatures that have a CR of more than his blue mage level + his wisdom modifier, or from blue mages that have more levels in blue mage than he does. Any attempts to do so will automatically fail. He may also not learn any (Su) ability that mimics or otherwise produces the same effect as an Evocation or Conjuration spells. He may only possess a number of (Su) Traits (Such an Archon's Aura of Menace or a Devil's See in Darkness) equal to his wisdom modifier. He may also not mix-and-match Traits that come from opposed-alignment creatures (No Archon ability with a Devilish one, but he could cross Archon and Angel or Devil and Demon.)

He may unlearn blue arts he no longer wishes to memorize by completing a ritual that lasts 24 hours, and requires the blue mage's complete attention. After completing the ritual, he may unlearn any number of blue arts he wishes. He may relearn any of the abilities he has forgone, with no penalty.

These have no set name, and the player may choose whatever name he desires for his blue arts. This name is chosen the first time the blue mage rests to regain his PP after learning the ability. The 'default' name is '{creature's name} {Name of (Su) ability}'.

Manifesting Blue Arts: To manifest the Blue Art, the Blue Mage's level and Wisdom must be at or above the creature's CR. All damage die are changed to D6, if it's worse, and all Saves' DCs are changed to DC 10+1/2 Blue Mage level+Wis mod. If the Art inflicts a disease, it does so with it's DC reduced by 5 (to a minimum of 5). The number of damage die are based on the creature it was taken from. For example, a blue mage who learns a Wyrmling Red Dragon's breath attack will always deal 2d6 damage, although the save will continue to climb.) This is to ensure the blue mage seeks out more creatures for his repertoire. For the purpose of spells, the manifester level of the blue mage is the same as his blue mage class level. In addition, he must be able to properly mimic the original monster's mode of delivery. A blue mage must have a mouth to expel a dragon's breath attack from, and at least one functioning eye to use a gorgon's Stone Gaze.

The cost of a blue art is exactly the same as the creature's CR. A Wyrmling Red Dragon's Breath attack costs 4 PP, as it's CR is 4. However, a passive ability, such as the Archon's Aura of Menace, costs the CR plus half itself. (CR+1/2CR)

The Psicraft check to recognize a Blue Art is made with a +5 penalty; Blue Arts are strikingly unique and difficult to identify, as they differ from mage to mage. However, do not add the power level, because there isn't one.

Assay(Su): Three times per day, a blue mage can draw upon his intuitive ability to read a creature's essense, granting his allies benefits against the creatures they face. Doing this counts as a move action. The secrets of assay pertain only to aberrations, animals, elementals, magical beasts, outsiders, or undead.

A blue mage unlocks new assay abilities as his level increases and can also call upon his assay more often, gaining one additional daily use for every three blue mage levels (4/day at 3rd level, 5/day at 6th level, and so forth).

Using assay requires a special Knowledge check of a type appropriate to the creature faced. A Knowledge (arcana) check reveals secrets of magical beasts, Knowledge (dungeoneering) pertains to aberrations, Knowledge (nature) is for animals, Knowledge (religion) covers undead, and Knowledge (the planes) applies to outsiders and elementals. The DC of the check is 15, and this is Wisdom based, despite being a Knowledge (and therefore Int) check. Most of the blue mage's assay abilities increase in effectiveness if he succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more. Assay can only be used once against any given creature.

The blue mage's assay can affect a single creature or all creatures of the same race, depending on the effect used. A target creature must be within 60 feet, and the blue mage must be aware of the creature's presence, although he need not have a line of sight to it. The effects of assay last for 1 minute, unless stated otherwise.

Assay Abilities
Tactics: The blue mage knows the general combat behaviors of creatures of that race, granting his allies a +1 bonus on attack rolls made against them. For example, a blue mage confronted by aboleths who succeeded on his Knowledge (dungeoneering) check would grant his allies the attack bonus against all the corruption eaters they fought in that encounter. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to +2. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to +3.

Puissance: Starting at 5th level, the blue mage can use his assay to help his allies fight off the corrupting influence of other creatures. Allies within 60 feet of the blue mage gain a +1 bonus on saving throws against the affected creature's abilities. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, this bonus increases to +2. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, this bonus increases to +3.

Foe: Starting at 8th level, a blue mage can direct his allies to attack vital spots of his enemies. On a successful Knowledge check, he grants them a bonus to weapon damage rolls made against the target creatures equal to 1d6 points of damage. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to 2d6. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to 3d6.

Dizzying: By raking the essence of the target creature, a blue mage of 11th level or higher can dazzle a target creature for 1 round. Unlike other assay, this ability can be used only against a single creature. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, then the target is dazed for 1 round. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, then the target is stunned for 1 round (if the target is immune to being stunned but not immune to being dazed, such as most undead, then the blue mage can choose to daze the target instead of stunning it).

Foreknowledge: Starting at 14th level, a blue mage can supernaturally learn new Blue Arts from the target creature. Unlike other assay, this ability can be used only against a single creature. This is also a full round action, as the blue mage must focus completely on the target. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, then he grants all allies within 30' a +2 AC bonus against the ability he learned from this. If the blue mage succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to +3 AC.

Passive Arts(Su): A blue mage of 2nd level and higher may now learn and use passive (Su) abilities of creatures. These are abilities that are always active, such as an Archon's Aura of Menace or a Babau's Protective Slime. It remains in effect for 1d4+wisdom modifier rounds. Every five levels, the wisdom modifier is multiplied by 2, 3, and 4. (7, 14, and 19th level to x2, x3, and x4, respectively). These may only be learned through eating the creature, and cost an amount of PP equal to the CR plus half the CR again, rounded up (CR+ 1/2CR).

Track: A blue mage gains Track as a bonus feat at 2nd level.

Psionics: Beginning at 4th level, a blue mage gains the ability to manifest a small number of psionic powers. He spontaneously learns one power, and each other time he achieves a new level, he unlocks the knowledge of a new power. Choose the powers known from the psychic warrior power list, with the exception of any Psychometabolism or Clarisentience power. This is because the blue mage focuses any potential talent to use those psionics towards his blue arts instead. A blue mage can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his manifester level.
The total number of powers a blue mage can manifest in a day is limited only by his daily power points.
A blue mage simply knows his powers; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his spent power points.
The Difficulty Class for saving throws against blue mage powers is 10 + the power’s level + the blue mage’s Wisdom modifier.

For the purposes of augmentation and checks, a blue mage's manifestation level is equal to 1/2 of his blue mage level, rounded down, minimum 1.

Augmentation(Su): Beginning at 5th level, a blue mage may augment his abilities. At 5th level, he may increase the damage die in a blue art by one step (D6 to D8, for example) by spending 5 more points. At 10th level, he may increase it another step (D6 to D8 to D10) by spending an additional 3 points, for a total of 8 points. He may also, at 10th level, increase the Save DC's base from 10 to 15, making the new save DC 15+1/2 blue mage level +wisdom modifier, by spending an additional 8 points. He may use both the die-increasing and the DC-increasing abilities on one ability.

Swift Tracker(Ex): Beginning at 13th level, a blue mage can move at his normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal -5 penalty. He takes only a -10 penalty (instead of the normal -20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking.

Greater Blue Arts: At 15th level, the blue mage's knowledge of blue arts becomes strong enough to combine 2 arts together. The cost is equal to both of the attacks, added together, and he may not augment it. The blue mage must use the worse of the two Arts' ranges. A line is worse than a cone, and a cone is worse than a radius, if the sizes are the same. (A Blue mage combining a Red Dragon's breath weapon and a Frost Worm's trill uses the 30' Cone of the breath weapon to determine who is affected by both, not the 100' radius of the trill.) Finally, the combined cost of this new attack may not be more than the level of the Blue Mage plus his wisdom modifier.

Superior Blue Arts: At 20th level, the blue mage's knowledge of blue arts has grown to an amazing depth and breath, enough to combine 3 abilities together, and better combine 2 abilities. He may combine 3 blue arts exactly as the Greater Blue Arts ability, and may now combine two Arts together with a maximum cost equal to his blue mage level plus his wisdom score, and use the better of the two ranges. He may still not augment any combined Art.

Roderick_BR
2007-07-18, 06:41 AM
Just be careful, because when Sarda uses a spell to hurt you, you learn a spell to hurt you.

Eh... just needed to say that. I can't say if it's balanced because I didn't read the psyonic books yet... ^^;;

Zeta Kai
2007-07-18, 06:52 AM
Regardless of balance (I'm unfamiliar with psionics, as well), this is awesome. Finally, I can stat out Quina Quen from Final Fantasy IX! And Strago from Final Fantasy VI/III! And Kimarhi from Final Fantasy X! And... uh... well, I'm sure that there are more. Anyway, this is most sweet.

Please fluff this class up soon, as I am most intrigued.

Korias
2007-07-18, 08:27 AM
Theirs only one thing I see that might be a problemb: The fact is that certain abilities are much more powerful than other abilities. Whilst this is reflected in the amount of danger the Blue mage puts him/herself in when learning the ability, Its not enough. A 20th Level blue mage can learn a very large number of potent attacks and abilities. He can learn multiple breath attacks, Multiple Auras and possibly Traits (Such as Celestial) that provide bonuses to him and those around him.

Might I suggest putting limits on the amount of abilities that a Blue Mage can learn of a certain type? Such as a limit of two breathweapons, one set of Traits, no more than 2 auras, ect?

Other than that, It needs Fluff. And Badly.

Also, others have beaten you to the punch. Theirs a Blue Mage Class over on the Wizards forum, which uses an arcane spell progression. Theirs also a variant which uses the UA Spell Points of that very class.

Karma Guard
2007-07-18, 12:43 PM
Werds.

I've seen it, and it works for other casters hitting you with a spell. Not monsters. Which is the point of the class. It's not bad, I've seen it, but...yeah. :B A Blue Mage's shtick is learning enemy skills, not another wizard's. :I

In addition, he can only learn (Su) abilities. No matter what it was before, now it deals only D6 or worse, and the DC(s) is(are) always going to be DC 10+1/2 Blue Mage level+Wis mod. The best you can get is +2 die size and a DC of 15+(stuff). Admittedly, I fergot (:B) about the 'ha ha, we're going to let Archons teleport at will! :D' thing, but that can be solved with extending the two psionic discipline barring into the magic side of things. No Conjuration or Evocation spells or SLAs. Is that a good deal?

The breath weapons, no matter how many you have, are snapped to the 'Once a {blue mage} breathes, it can’t breathe again until 1d4 rounds later. If a {blue mage} has more than one type of breath weapon, it still can breathe only once every 1d4 rounds.' rule. No matter if you're Tiamat herself, you're stuck to this rule. (Then again, she has 5 heads, soooo-)

Not to mention that to learn Auras and anything else that does not cause damage, he has to pass a DC 20+the ingested creature's CR. That can't be made easier in any way barring being a race with fort bonuses. That's a pretty hard DC. :I I should make the auras cost more, and specify how to learn those. (Eating only B| )

I might also drop the HD to D6. More than a wizard, less than Every Other Non-full-BAB class.

So new proposed rules: No Conjuration or Evocation spells/SLAs, and only one 'set' of traits, such as only an Archon's, or only a Devil's, and never the twain shall meet. Also, Auras (and other passive abilities) cost 'CR+1/2CR', to reflect the awesomeness of them. You can also only learn passive abilities through om nom nom.

Fluff is forthcoming! D|

Fishies
2007-07-18, 04:18 PM
Aw, we can't ingest Blue Mages to get their abilities?

Zeta Kai
2007-07-18, 04:50 PM
Hmm... that's pretty well thought out, KG. I would go with d6 Hit Die. It makes more sense.

Also, you might want to consider some extraordinary abilities. I often find that they can be a lot of fun. Especially in anti-magic fields, which my old party ran into far too often. Thank god for monks.

Neek
2007-07-18, 05:14 PM
There should be some more limitations on the types of abilities he can learn: if the aura is alignment dependent, he cannot learn an alignment opposite of his own. If he is neutral, he shouldn't be able to mix opposing alignments.

Also, this seems like an odd question: the Blue Mage learns (Su) abilities from other creatures. Are they considered (Su) when he uses Blue Arts? Or are they are (Psy)? This is an important consideration seeing as how it would effect its position in psionic-magic transparencies.

Karma Guard
2007-07-18, 05:59 PM
There should be some more limitations on the types of abilities he can learn: if the aura is alignment dependent, he cannot learn an alignment opposite of his own. If he is neutral, he shouldn't be able to mix opposing alignments.

Also, this seems like an odd question: the Blue Mage learns (Su) abilities from other creatures. Are they considered (Su) when he uses Blue Arts? Or are they are (Psy)? This is an important consideration seeing as how it would effect its position in psionic-magic transparencies.

I agree about the Auras. The problem comes in that you only learn auras when you eat people. I don't remember the exact rules, but I'm pretty sure that unless you ask the Archon politely and get permission, eating an Archon is, if not a Vile action, an Evil one. That's without the problems of getting an Archon's heart/brain/corpse. Another Vile/Evil act.

Also, their Arts are (Su). (Ps), Psi-like abilities, are exactly like SLAs, but with powers instead of spells. They're Psionic (Su)s; they stop working in a Null-Psionics area instead of a Null-magic one. This is from the XPH:


Supernatural Abilities: Some creatures have psionic abilities that are considered supernatural. Psionic feats are also supernatural abilities. These abilities cannot be disrupted in combat, as powers can be, and do not provoke attacks of opportunity (except as noted in their descriptions). Supernatural abilities are not subject to power resistance and cannot be negated or dispelled; however, they do not function in areas where psionics is suppressed, such as a null psionics field.

SO :V Yeah. They're the psionic variant of the Su. Which is Su. Instead of something else. I probably just said what you meant. :I


Hmm... that's pretty well thought out, KG. I would go with d6 Hit Die. It makes more sense.

Also, you might want to consider some extraordinary abilities. I often find that they can be a lot of fun. Especially in anti-magic fields, which my old party ran into far too often. Thank god for monks.

I agree. I'll edit it in.

I would, but I have no idea what. Before I stumbled on the Dark Knowledge-- I mean, Assay >_> ability, I had given the blue mage the Ranger's Favored Enemy ability, which was a good thing. Now I dunno what to do.

Maybe I'll change the Assays (except for the Foreknowledge and Dizzying one) to (Ex)s. :I I don't want them to be completely gimped in a Null-Psi field, but I also don't want them to just shrug it off.

Karma Guard
2007-07-19, 04:00 AM
Fluff Installed, complete with a silly quote. I almost, almost used the word 'crikey' in it.

But I didn't. :smallcool:

Zeta Kai
2007-07-19, 05:13 AM
Since you're eating monsters by the dozen, might I suggest that you use my Secret Ingredient (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51093)? It makes everything taste better, when used in moderation.

DarennySmith
2007-07-19, 05:40 AM
Hi all, this is my second post here, 1st was the "hello" one..
I'm a seasoned FFXI player, let me explain how the blue mage class works there (and forgive me for my eventual grammar errors, english is not my birth language)..
Basically u can learn certain abilities from enemies, u just need to flfill certain conditions.
1) the monster must NOT give u XP, u can be a lv1 BLU in party w a lv75 white mage, yet if u still see the monster doing that ability u have a chance to learn it.
2) your "Blue Magic" skill must be high enough to "understand" the magic.
Example:a level 3 blue mage w capped skill will learn spells faster than a lv 5 blue mage w only a few points.
3) U don't actually HAVE to be hit, just to observe the magic. By doing this part of your soul get a synch w the monster's, so no eating or biting
4) You CANNOT learn blue magic from another blue mage, since it's not the ORIGINAL soul using his trademark attack

For further explanations, i'll post u a link where everything is explained in details. Be aware that Blue Mage, especially w Dual Wield, is one of the most versatile and damaging class, w spell varying from just self target healing to fivefold attacks+poison to mass stoneskin (Diamondhide)


http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Blue_Mage

Korias
2007-07-19, 05:44 AM
On the topic of Traits and Auras, there has to be another way of getting the power other than eating.

Just being effected by the aura would be too easy. Then, we'd have a bunch of blue mages walking around the town with Auras of Menace.

I mean, there are probably some campaign ways to fit in the eating (I, the dying archon, give thou permission to marinate me in barbacue sauce and grill me over a charcoal flame), but other than some convulted plot point from the DM, I doubt it could happen.

Perhaps you have to stay effected by an aura for a prolonged period of time? Such as the HD Of the Creature times 2, or perhaps Giving auras a reduced effect?

Example

BlueMageA is in an Aura of Menace. Because of this, he uses his abilities to draw on that power. However, because he doesnt have the same kind of vestige and power, The aura only works to 1/2 of the normal effect: Half Range, Half Power, Half Penalties, Half Bonuses.

To the Above Poster: While thats how Blue Mage works in the FFX Game, Blue Magic has had incarnations in Final Fantasy Tactics, FFTA, FFs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Monster Skill materia), 8, and 9.

DarennySmith
2007-07-19, 05:54 AM
Wait.. u HAVE a chanche to learn that ability, based on the level of the ability u're wishing to learn and your skill.. forget to learn an Aura from an Archon if your "blue magic lore" is not high enough, the formula used in FFXI to calculate your maximum blue magic skill is (LV*3)+3 till level 50
So if u want to learn a skill (must be a skill that the enemy CAN trigger, no way to learn frightful presence from a dragon, as i remember this trait is always active, dragons can just choose who they affect and who they don't)
you MUST do a roll based on the level of the skill and add a mod based on your blue magic lore.
Besides this, u can combo some abilities to get passive traits like the "killer traits", (example, Dragon Killer trait will enable u to intimidate (sometimes) dragons, based on a chr check, Arcana Killer will let u intimidate un-living beings).
As i said, it's hard to put such an owerpowered job like blue mage in a D20 game like D&D, but trust me, learning all the blue magic spells is quite a pain in the ass..

Korias
2007-07-19, 06:22 AM
BY all means yes, the Blue mage can be an overpowered class in the FF Games due to the skills and their lethality when formed into a combo.

Also, let me give you a few tips.


Forums are about writing. Remember to type out your "You"s instead of "u". It makes it easier to read.
Your spelling could use some work. Try typing the message into Word, and spell check it.
Grammer is essential. If English isn't your first language, you have an exscuse. But try to capitalize and punctuate.

DarennySmith
2007-07-19, 07:13 AM
Ok, you're right, i need to work a lot more on my grammar and spelling (shouldn't it be "typing" since we're in a forum?)
Besides, have u taken a look at the link i posted? It gives u plenty of informations about the blue mage..
I suggest not giving to the D20 blu the bonuses the setting of a spells give when u decide to put in your rooster.

Korias
2007-07-19, 09:33 AM
I did take a look at the link. Thats good, and it does give alot of info. However, its also the fact that its only detailing the FFX Version.

As I stated above, Blue mages have been around for a while (Except in FFT. That was a mistake. I mistook them for mimes), and have had alot of incarnations. One has to take a look at the complete amount of information and form a balanced class for DND. Converting System A to System B is harder than it seems. Because of this, One has to incorporate the most common elements into the class. The most common element is using enemy skills, which is all well and good in this class. Its the METHOD that changes from game to game. And when converting into DND, you have to think: How does the Blue Mage get his skills? The FF9 BM Ate his foes, but the FFTA BM simply observed.

Koji
2007-07-19, 09:56 AM
This is awesome because of the eating part. I can totally imagine a believable evil blue mage, hunting and killing monsters regardless of what they'd done, and eating their hearts.

Nothing motivates a party like a dead nymph. Try it.

Neek
2007-07-19, 11:06 AM
I did take a look at the link. Thats good, and it does give alot of info. However, its also the fact that its only detailing the FFX Version.

As I stated above, Blue mages have been around for a while (Except in FFT. That was a mistake. I mistook them for mimes), and have had alot of incarnations. One has to take a look at the complete amount of information and form a balanced class for DND.

Tactics and Tactics being considered a spin-off to the main series, it was featured in most of of the available games: V as a class, VI as Strago, VII as materia, was a limit break of Quistis in VIII, in IX Quina, X Kimahri, X-2 as Gun Mage, featured in an expansion of FFXI, and in FFX. Of 12 games published so far, 8 (10 if you count X-2 and FFT/FFTA) represent this class.

So there are at least 8 incarnations of this game in existence. You must understand it takes some work to get a class like this balanced and working for a different system, like Korias said. Not only must you capture the essence of the fluff from ALL the previous games it was featured in, but you must also capture the crunch.

I've always wanted to do a materia system, but a direct port would just be way too overkill...

DarennySmith
2007-07-19, 12:09 PM
I still think a serie of blue magic lore required to learn the spell would be needed, kinda like a brd w his epic songs and the entertainment thing..
The only difference would be u need to do outrageous hard rolls to learn a spell, and only from monsters, and only certain spells..
I suggest also the blue mage can only learn "abilities" and not spells
Example: u can learn frost breath from a silver/white dragon, there's the counterpart "cone of cold" learnable by magic classes, but u cannot learn "prismatic spray" from a prismatic dragon because even it's a breath attack it's also a magic..
Ok.. better example...
Ambusher Antlion... it's a huge antlion, w 2 scythe-like jaws, he can use them to perform a move called "mandibular bite" (wow such an ingegnous name..) that u can learn.. he can also cast stone-based spells that a black mage can do, spells u cannot learn
The Damselfly family can use an attack called "Cursed Sphere", an AoE water based damage, that grows stronger as u level up, starting as a simple Waterga and ending like a WatergaIII

I hope u find this interesting and useful