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View Full Version : Pathfinder [Cobalt Sages Creations] Announces: the Viiz Matrices and Species Playtest



Deviston
2018-01-30, 11:56 AM
Greetings! Cobalt Sages Creations is a new company - but we have a lot of talent behind us, with some great designers working on our initial project. Although we are brand new, we have been working hard on producing quality work. Right now, however, we need help from some quality gamers. Yes, it is playtesting time.

Our first offering is a setting world called Theia - which is intended to be different from other Pathfinder worlds (and which will also eventually be converted to 5th Edition). The world is a dimensional magnet with magic that literally grows on trees and can be mined from the ground, an alien place where different species mingle. Barshin, the main continent, offers very different takes on dwarves and halflings, and a world where, for example, “common” is not a human language at all.

Which means, right now, we need to test those species and other content, which are also designed to be suitable to slot into your own new or existing campaign world. You can use them in any way you want, adjust them as needed, but for playtesting purposes we’re interested in how they play as they are written and what balance and other problems might come up.

Halflings are humans that evolved to better suit an environment with limited space. Hilada are a standard species modified to become something closer to undead through a ritual to give them nearly eternal “life”. The kashaan are draconic humanoids with some primal tendencies. And viiz matrices are a new type of intangible magical item that requires a consumable for fuel.

The playtest can be found linked here. We are opening this up to playtesting so we can ensure we test balance, playability, and, of course, player interest. Obviously, you can feel free to keep your new character to the end of your campaign!

The document provided includes:


An overview of the race and its concept, helping players and GMs know how it might fit into their world, including their location, preferred climate, etc.


Standard and Alternate Racial Traits.


New Feats for the race and its culture.


Basic information on culture and physiology so players know how to RP the race and come up with cool stories.


Rules and mechanics for the utilization of viiz matrices.


Basic rules on the fuel required to power viiz matrices.


This is a great opportunity to be amongst the first to play with the halfling, hilada, and kashaan species and to contribute to our creative endeavors. We welcome feedback from all players and GMs.
Direct Link (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hY_x_wb8Ra8aOL3EFPsN29RuOES6GuQp)
Text Only (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qe-hTKn3pJoM62wcioo2PeN3CN5ebBnoJVmN2npBPy4/edit?usp=sharing)

Mairn
2018-01-30, 03:56 PM
Hey there everyone! My name is Mairn (aka Hal), and I wrote the Hilada & Kashaan race and abilities and the Kashaan's racial feats. I'm going to keep a close eye on this thread so I can answer any questions and fix any problems that I might have overlooked while writing it. Hope you enjoy my work!

Jeff the Green
2018-01-30, 04:21 PM
And I'm Jeff; you may know me from the Spheres of Power Fate handbook playtest. I wrote the feats for the Hilada as well as the matrix rules. I'm looking forward to comments and questions.

stack
2018-01-30, 04:25 PM
Heretic hilada - +1 CL globally in return for having to burn off your spell slots before resting. Seems strong unless you get ambushed at night a lot.

The base race arcane spell failure seems like a fake drawback. It will never inconvenience a PC because they simply won't take arcane caster classes.

Being best suited for clerics (+WIS/CHA) seems odd for their fluff.

Mairn
2018-01-30, 06:25 PM
Heretic hilada - +1 CL globally in return for having to burn off your spell slots before resting. Seems strong unless you get ambushed at night a lot.

The base race arcane spell failure seems like a fake drawback. It will never inconvenience a PC because they simply won't take arcane caster classes.

Being best suited for clerics (+WIS/CHA) seems odd for their fluff.

+Wis/Cha, -Con was chosen based on a combination of their fluff (wise scholars), and their nature (pseudo-undead).

The base arcane spell failure is a nod to the races fluff, and how they came to be in Thea. It isn't really a penalty for the majority of Hilada by design. Their other abilities were not designed around it being a true drawback.

Heretic Hilada: It also has an effect on the sort of spells you can safely prepare, unless your DM allows you to cast spells with no target. Spells with expensive material components, for example, can be dangerous for a Heretic to prepare because if they don't end up using it they are forced to either take the ability damage or waste their money. I do agree that the penalty may be too easy to avoid for a Spontaneous caster. I don't think +1 CL is too strong an effect, its generally only a duration increase or a small increase in damage for the majority of spells.

Mehangel
2018-01-30, 07:37 PM
Small Knit-Pick, the Greater Draconic Magic (Kashaan) feat lists green as granting the plant growth spell-like ability 1/day, even though it was already an ability granted by the base race. This error is present in both the text document and the pdf preview.

Also, as a sidenote, it might be useful to allow comments to be made directly in the plain-text document, so that minor issues like this can be pointed out quickly.

Deviston
2018-01-30, 08:03 PM
Appreciate the feedback stack, make some good points there. Looks like we have a "revisit" action item based on them so it'll be something we look into, again thanks.

Mehangel, went ahead and grabbed that little error and updated the versions for it so thank you as well for that one!

Mairn
2018-01-30, 09:03 PM
Small Knit-Pick, the Greater Draconic Magic (Kashaan) feat lists green as granting the plant growth spell-like ability 1/day, even though it was already an ability granted by the base race. This error is present in both the text document and the pdf preview.

Also, as a sidenote, it might be useful to allow comments to be made directly in the plain-text document, so that minor issues like this can be pointed out quickly.

The Greater Draconic Magic feat for Green should be:

Awaken Treant 1/day (Su)
You can call upon the forest itself to aid you as a standard action, animating a single tree to serve as a Treant to protect you.
This treant can be called from any Huge or larger living tree. This treant is under your control, and remains animated for 1 hour, afterwhich it reverts to being an ordinary tree.

Deviston
2018-02-04, 10:18 AM
One of the most important things we would like critiqued here is the general cost of viiz doses compared to the cost in doses for the matrices. If someone with a better math/balance mind than myself could give it a look and provide some feedback, I'd greatly appreciate it!