PDA

View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class Alchemical Adept Spellthief



Balthanon
2022-04-10, 03:34 PM
This is an alternate class version of Spellthief that I'm making available to a player in a campaign that I'm starting soon and I'm looking to get some feedback on areas where it is potentially problematic both from a "this is going to break things" standpoint and/or "this isn't going to feel great in actual play" element. (Since I haven't actually DM'd or played a spellthief in the past.) It is essentially trying to address the primary concern with the spellthief's abilities which is that they don't really have much going on when they're not facing down spellcasters or creatures with spell-like abilities.

I'm building this out for a campaign where the player is frankly unlikely to have access to higher levels of spellthief as a class (because classes available vary based on the setting and I expect players to jump settings every two to three levels), so I'm not particularly concerned with those abilities at the moment, but I wrote them up anyway.

This isn't particularly balanced against the original spellthief despite the moderate sacrifices on the spellcasting side, but I was aiming more for Tome of Battle when considering balance. I have a habit of sticking maneuvers on underpowered classes to address their deficits since that was released and this is really no exception. If you think Tome of Battle is overpowered, this probably isn't going to fare well in your eyes, if you're in the "anything that isn't a tier 1 caster is underpowered" camp it's probably significantly undertuned.


ALCHEMICAL ADEPT SPELLTHIEF
Spellthieves excel at stealing and manipulation of arcane energies; an alchemical adept takes that a step further—studying a variety of techniques from alchemy to martial arts (notably those focused upon redirecting the kinetic energy involved in attacks), an alchemical adept learns to capture some of the energies that they steal in alchemical solutions and then use them over longer periods of time.

Level 4 Changes:

Alchemical Adept: Lose all spellcasting slots, but retain spellcasting ability—bonus slots for high Charisma are retained and the spellthief can still use stolen spell energy to cast spells known. Gains the ability to capture spells stolen that are one level below maximum level that the spellthief can steal in vials of specially prepared alchemical solutions.

Due to the potent interactions of the thaumic fields their spell flasks emit, a spellthief can only have one spell flask prepared with a given spell in it and is limited in the number of spell levels that can be captured like this much like his steal spell ability is limited, though this is a separate “pool”

Using a spell flask is a standard action that involves drinking the fluid within as if it were a potion; if it is a spell that is cast upon the caster, then this casts the spell automatically, otherwise, the spellthief can cast the spell contained as an immediate action. Unlike casting a spell with steal spell, the caster level , spell DC, and so forth is determined by the spellthief, rather than the original caster it was stolen from.

Cost of creating a spell flask is 50 gold x spell level and it cannot be used by anyone other than a spellthief.
Maneuvers: Readies Setting Sun maneuvers, Manipulation skill tricks, Movement skill tricks, and spell flasks (see below); learns a Setting Sun maneuver known at 5th level and every other level after that. At 6th level and every other level, one maneuver may be swapped with another you qualify for. Two maneuver readied at 4th level and one additional maneuver readied every three levels after that (4th, 7th, 10th, etc…). Spellthieves can also “ready” an alchemical spell flask as if it were a maneuver; this does not use up the spell in question, though as with other maneuvers, it needs to be refreshed before it can be used again in the same encounter.

Spells that can be readied in this way are limited in the same manner described as the arcane variant for swordsage (abjuration, evocation, and transmutation; range of personal or touch; and DM has final say on whether a spell will work). Additionally, durations for spells readied in this manner are reduced to a maximum of 5 rounds. (Round/level = 1 round, minute per level = 3 rounds, hour/level = 5 rounds.)

There is a 5% chance of the flask being destroyed upon use each time it is used as a maneuver; if it has an attack roll, a natural 1 indicates the flask was destroyed. Otherwise, roll a d20 separately to determine this. If the spellthief is high enough level to have the absorb spell class ability, they may make an attempt to absorb the energies of the spell flask that was shattered and recreate it later.

A spellthief’s initiator level is equal to his spellthief level – 2 plus any levels in other martial adept classes and ½ his levels in non-martial adept classes.

You can recover maneuvers with a single a swift action after successfully dealing sneak attack damage to a living creature. You cannot initiate a maneuver, change your stance (if you have one through another class or a feat), or cast a spell in the same round.

Level 8 Changes

Spellflask Switch: At 8th level, the spellthief gains the ability to swap the spell energies in a spell flask with a new spell that he has stolen three times per day without expending additional materials. The existing spell energies in the flask are lost when this switch is performed and the spell in the spell flask used for the swap must be of equal or higher level to the spell replacing it.

Level 12 Changes
Brew Spellflask: At 12th level, the spellthief learns to adapt their spell flasks so that other individuals can benefit from them. For any spell that would be cast upon the user that is not a personal spell, the spellthief may hand off the flask to a companion to quaff instead. Any flask carried by another individual is removed from the total spell levels that the spellthief can hold at any one time, but the flask will destabilize within 1d4 minutes without the delicate balancing act that the spellthief maintains subconsciously on those he holds. This will result in an explosion dealing 1d6 points of damage per spell level in the flask.

Level 16 Changes

Sacrificial Spellflask: If a spellthief fails to absorb a spell targeting him, a 16th level or higher spellthief can sacrifice spell flasks with a total spell level equal to the level of the spell targeting him plus two to treat the spell as if he had successfully saved against it. This does not allow the spellthief to absorb the spell in question, simply reduces the effects of the spell upon him.


Feats
Agnostic Energy Leech: In addition to living creatures, you can also steal energy to refresh your maneuvers from undead, constructs, and other creatures that are animated by more esoteric energies. If you perform an attack that would otherwise be a sneak attack if not for immunity and deal damage, then you may refresh maneuvers as if you had attacked a living creature instead.


Notable Changes to Discuss

Loses: All spellcasting slots, but not spellcasting. Dependent upon stealing spells or bonus slots from a high ability score to cast spellthief spells.
Gains: Spell flasks-- basically doubles the capacity of spells that the spell thief can retain (albeit not in the middle of combat), but the spell flasks are kept indefinitely rather than 1 hour and are limited to one level lower than the max the spellthief can steal. Essentially super charged potions that are self-only.
Balance Point: Spell flasks cost gold; not as much as brewing a potion (caster level doesn't factor in), but using them constantly will add up over time. Is it too much? I'm considering giving some for free each day.
Gains: Maneuvers

Readied amount-- 2 at 4th level, increasing to 7 at 20th level. Given that it isn't a primary martial adept, this may be too much. It starts with half the maneuvers readied that the warblade has, but catches up by 13th level and actually hits 7 a level before warblade. I initially had it at 1 to start and then bumped it up to 2, but I might need to reduce the progression after doing that.
Gains: Initiator level, progresses with class level, but starts out two behind a standard martial adept.
Gains: Maneuvers known are from Setting Sun (redirecting energy felt like a fit), also skill tricks from the Movement and Manipulation categories are treated as maneuvers. And the big one is spell flasks readied (see below).
Gains: Use spell flasks as maneuvers if they are the right type of spell (basically the same as arcane swordsage), also buffing spells have significantly reduced durations-- 1 to 5 rounds.

Gains: Ability to swap spells in spell-flasks without cost.
Gains: Ability to let other people use spell flasks, but not hold them indefinitely; fairly high level.
Gains: Ability to sacrifice spell flasks for a successful save basically.

Jervis
2022-04-18, 02:47 PM
That’s actually pretty interesting. I’m usually against putting casting and manuvers on the same base class, that’s more the realm of PrCs. I’m also not a massive fan of keeping bonus spell slot, it seems like it would be better to lean more into caster hate and manuvers with this. I do like keeping spells stores physically though, I love that sort of thing

Balthanon
2022-04-18, 05:24 PM
I was originally going to strip out the spellcasting completely; given the focus of the class on stealing spells though, I liked this as a middleground.

I could see dropping the bonus slots potentially. I'll have to give that some thought-- honestly, given that they're not primary casters, it's probably pretty unlikely a spellthief is going to have many bonus spells. (Unless they're a Master Spellthief, of course.)

Any thoughts on the costs associated with the permanent storage?