Xefas
2007-11-14, 09:44 PM
It all started during one game session where the characters needed to have some sort of anatomical knowledge in order to successfully complete some bluff or some such. The players look around at: the savage Catfolk Scout, the even MORE savage Gnoll Cleric, the less savage and yet rather demented Tiefling Necromancer, and the extremely creepy and moderately savage Yuan-Ti Rogue, and wonder "Would any of these characters know anything about how a living body works?"
The Yuan-Ti's player's answer was "Well...I'm always stabbing people in the kidneys and threatening to pull out their spleen. I guess all rogues know a bit about biology, huh?"
This was enough for me, and I allowed it, making it a semi-running gag about all rogues being closet biologists in an age where all medicine was either divine magic or a hack saw to the afflicted area.
Anyway, so, new campaign, and one person is taking this to heart and playing the town doctor/surgeon as a rogue. In response, I'm making some appropriate feats. I'd really like opinions on **balance or even new submissions you can think of. Keep in mind that the campaign is lighthearted, so the fun of an ability trumps realism.
Precision Knowledge [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack
Benefits: You gain a competence bonus on all Heal and Profession (Doctor) checks equal to the number of Sneak Attack dice you have.
Special: If you possess one other Medical feat, and 5 ranks in Heal and Profession (Doctor), you deal an extra +4 damage when making a Sneak Attack.
Precision Surgery [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +2d6, Heal 5 ranks
Benefits: After rolling for Sneak Attack damage against a target, you may choose to exchange multiples of 3 points of Sneak Attack damage for bypassing 1 point of Natural Armor for that single attack. (3 for 1, 6 for 2, 9 for 3, etc)
Special: If you possess three other Medical feats, the ratio to bypass Natural Armor becomes 2 damage to 1 armor.
Asclepian Strike [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +3d6, *Cool Head, Heal 8 ranks
Benefits: When making a Sneak Attack, you can choose to instead delay all Sneak Attack damage for up to two rounds. In addition, the delayed damage will instead be nonlethal damage. During the rounds in which the damage is being delayed, the target's system is particularly vulnerable, giving them a -2 penalty on all fortitude saves versus poison and disease.
Special: If you possess three other Medical feats, you may delay the damage an addition round (for a total of up to three), and the penalty increases to -4.
The Healing Touch [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +4d6, Asclepian Strike, Heal 10 ranks
Benefits: A number of times per day equal to the number of Medical feats you possess, you can convert your Asclepian Strike into a Healing Touch. The ability acts the same, except that the amount of delayed damage that would be dealt is instead healed from the victim.
Malicious Malpractice [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +3d6, Profession (Doctor) 8 ranks, Arterial Strike
Benefits: When performing an Arterial Strike (CWar), you can sacrifice additional sneak attack dice equal to the number of Medical feats you have to increase the amount of damage each bleeding wound deals by the same number.
Normal: You can sacrifice one sneak attack die with Arterial Strike to give the victim a wound that deals 1 damage every round and does not heal naturally.
Master of Mutilation [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +4d6, Profession (Doctor) 10 ranks, Malicious Malpractice
Benefits: Any slashing or piercing weapon you wield has its critical multiplier increased by 1 (ex. x2 to x3). In addition, whenever you deal a critical hit, you create a wound that won't stop bleeding. Each wound caused in this manner deals 1 point of damage each round per critical multiplier of the weapon that dealt it (x3 deals 3 damage). The wound does not stop bleeding until a DC 20 Heal check has been applied or some form of magical healing. These wounds stack with those caused from Arterial Strike and Malicious Malpractice.
*=The feat "Cool Head" (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Cool_Head,all) is from Oriental Adventures, and is only available to people of the Unicorn clan, as I understand it. I felt it wouldn't do much harm to port it to Greyhawk, getting rid of that fluff prerequisite in the process.
**=The game will have Tome of Battle classes in it, so balancing to a fighter or monk is not desired.
The Yuan-Ti's player's answer was "Well...I'm always stabbing people in the kidneys and threatening to pull out their spleen. I guess all rogues know a bit about biology, huh?"
This was enough for me, and I allowed it, making it a semi-running gag about all rogues being closet biologists in an age where all medicine was either divine magic or a hack saw to the afflicted area.
Anyway, so, new campaign, and one person is taking this to heart and playing the town doctor/surgeon as a rogue. In response, I'm making some appropriate feats. I'd really like opinions on **balance or even new submissions you can think of. Keep in mind that the campaign is lighthearted, so the fun of an ability trumps realism.
Precision Knowledge [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack
Benefits: You gain a competence bonus on all Heal and Profession (Doctor) checks equal to the number of Sneak Attack dice you have.
Special: If you possess one other Medical feat, and 5 ranks in Heal and Profession (Doctor), you deal an extra +4 damage when making a Sneak Attack.
Precision Surgery [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +2d6, Heal 5 ranks
Benefits: After rolling for Sneak Attack damage against a target, you may choose to exchange multiples of 3 points of Sneak Attack damage for bypassing 1 point of Natural Armor for that single attack. (3 for 1, 6 for 2, 9 for 3, etc)
Special: If you possess three other Medical feats, the ratio to bypass Natural Armor becomes 2 damage to 1 armor.
Asclepian Strike [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +3d6, *Cool Head, Heal 8 ranks
Benefits: When making a Sneak Attack, you can choose to instead delay all Sneak Attack damage for up to two rounds. In addition, the delayed damage will instead be nonlethal damage. During the rounds in which the damage is being delayed, the target's system is particularly vulnerable, giving them a -2 penalty on all fortitude saves versus poison and disease.
Special: If you possess three other Medical feats, you may delay the damage an addition round (for a total of up to three), and the penalty increases to -4.
The Healing Touch [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +4d6, Asclepian Strike, Heal 10 ranks
Benefits: A number of times per day equal to the number of Medical feats you possess, you can convert your Asclepian Strike into a Healing Touch. The ability acts the same, except that the amount of delayed damage that would be dealt is instead healed from the victim.
Malicious Malpractice [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +3d6, Profession (Doctor) 8 ranks, Arterial Strike
Benefits: When performing an Arterial Strike (CWar), you can sacrifice additional sneak attack dice equal to the number of Medical feats you have to increase the amount of damage each bleeding wound deals by the same number.
Normal: You can sacrifice one sneak attack die with Arterial Strike to give the victim a wound that deals 1 damage every round and does not heal naturally.
Master of Mutilation [Medical]
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack +4d6, Profession (Doctor) 10 ranks, Malicious Malpractice
Benefits: Any slashing or piercing weapon you wield has its critical multiplier increased by 1 (ex. x2 to x3). In addition, whenever you deal a critical hit, you create a wound that won't stop bleeding. Each wound caused in this manner deals 1 point of damage each round per critical multiplier of the weapon that dealt it (x3 deals 3 damage). The wound does not stop bleeding until a DC 20 Heal check has been applied or some form of magical healing. These wounds stack with those caused from Arterial Strike and Malicious Malpractice.
*=The feat "Cool Head" (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Cool_Head,all) is from Oriental Adventures, and is only available to people of the Unicorn clan, as I understand it. I felt it wouldn't do much harm to port it to Greyhawk, getting rid of that fluff prerequisite in the process.
**=The game will have Tome of Battle classes in it, so balancing to a fighter or monk is not desired.